episode_0001

I returned.

I lived until exactly 35 years old and went back to the past.

Right before the return.

The world was like hell on earth.

The owner of the forest became a monster.

The rural village became a meal for monsters.

The city turned into a slaughterhouse.

The streets flowed with rivers of blood.

The capitals of each country collapsed under the direct march of demons.

It’s a tough world to survive as a local commoner.

But I made it.

I survived for a whopping 10 years after the apocalypse.

No gifts, no magic, no luck. Just a resilience that could be likened to a cockroach.

The reason I, an ordinary person, could survive for 10 years was luck.

Arrows missing their mark, avoiding poisoned food, and other strokes of luck that kept me going.

Thanks to that, I could continue my tough life.

But the goddess of luck never smiled on me till the end.

Struggling with hunger, I mistakenly ate food that fell on the ground and died of food poisoning.

The last thing I saw before the return was the blue sky.

I thought the sky would turn dark with the apocalypse, but surprisingly, it didn’t.

Thinking I was going to face death and ascend to the afterlife, I opened my eyes to find my long-deceased parents sitting there.

My parents who had suddenly lost their lives in a carriage accident.

When I first saw my parents, I thought I had arrived in hell.

Return was a phenomenon that only existed in fantasies.

In this world, there were many with great power like the Pope, kings, nobles, and powerful warriors.

It was unlikely for an ordinary person like me to be chosen for a return.

But as time passed, I gradually accepted it.

I had returned to the past.

20 years ago.

To a point before my parents had their accident.

I cheered inwardly.

My mind was filled with information about the future.

Knowledge gained from surviving like a cockroach.

The information about the future was embedded in my mind.

And I was almost certain that I would become a hero.

There was no one else but a god who possessed the ability to return to the past.

Out of the countless people from my past life, I was chosen for a return. It meant that the god had marked me as the hero to prevent the apocalypse.

“If I become a hero, our family can rise to the ranks of the nobility.”

It wasn’t that I lacked the drive for success. It was just that I didn’t have the opportunity.

I also wanted to succeed and rise to the ranks of the nobility.

Becoming a hero and establishing a legend was not just a dream.

That was not all. I went a step further.

If I prevented the apocalypse, it was even possible to marry the princess.

Becoming the next emperor was not a mere dream.

“Please grant me strength quickly, my lord.”

I prayed to the god in the sky.

The depth and incomprehensibility of the god’s plan were beyond measure.

But I wanted to be recognized as a hero and grow stronger even one day faster.

The difference in skill between someone who became a hero at 10 and someone who became a hero at 30 was greater than the gap between heaven and earth.

“It’s done!”

It had been a month and 21 days since I realized the return.

A light descended from the sky.

The god had appointed me as a hero.

I raised both arms to the sky and cheered.

Now, with the prophecy, I too was a hero.

I calmed my pounding heart and waited for the prophecy.

“Destroy this world.”

But the prophecy I hoped for was not at all what I received.

*

“Did I, did I hear it wrong?”

I blinked my eyes.

My head wasn’t working properly.

A prophecy that was not meant to come down had come down.

“The world is to be destroyed… I must have misheard, right? That’s right, isn’t it?”

The voice that came after being chosen as a hero.

Decree.

Decree was no different from the mission given to the hero.

If the mission is violated, divine punishment will come, and if the mission is faithfully carried out, blessings will come.

Decree was like a guidepost for the hero.

“Well, that’s how it’s going to be. Whether it’s true or not. There’s no way that God would say to destroy this world, right?”

I thought I had misheard the decree.

The merciful God would not say to destroy this world.

“Oh God, has this unworthy one not listened to your words well? Please give me the decree once again.”

I kneeled and prayed to God.

Even if the merciful God did not hear the decree once, it did not cancel the hero’s status.

“Destroy this world!”

God immediately answered.

It was the second decree.

“Is there something wrong with my ears these days? Why do I keep hearing strange sounds?”

I rubbed my ears. The devil whispered his plans into my ears.

The devil intercepted God’s voice and conveyed his own intentions.

I ignored the devil’s words and asked God loudly.

“Oh God. I am truly sorry. Please, just once more, please tell me.”

I kneeled and prayed to God.

God would not have said to destroy this world.

Even if divine punishment came, I had to listen to the decree once again.

“Destroy this world! Destroy this world! Destroy this world! Destroy this world!

Destroy this world! Destroy this world! Destroy this world! Destroy this world!

Destroy this world! Destroy this world! Destroy this world! Destroy this world! Destroy this world! Destroy this world! Destroy this world! Destroy this world!”

“This world is full of greed and filth. Purify this land with the power I have bestowed upon you!”

A voice like thunder echoed in my ears.

My head was spinning.

Boom. Crash!

Lightning struck from the sky.

It shattered the roof of the house and hit me squarely on the head.

“It is a sin to deliberately ignore my words. Bear the consequences sweetly.”

With that, God’s voice disappeared.

“Ke-e-ek.”

I endured the pain of being struck by lightning.

There was no part of me that didn’t hurt.

A tingling pain was rising from my body.

“What is going on?”

The door burst open.

My parents came in.

“Son, are you okay? Should I call Hansun?”

My mother grabbed my shoulders and shook me.

It was clear that I was in a very bad state.

“I’m okay. But I have something to tell you.”

My current condition was not important.

“Father… Mother, cough, I have been chosen as a hero.”

I told my parents that I had been chosen as a hero.

If I hid the fact that I had been chosen as a hero, it seemed like divine punishment would come again.

I covered the letters carved on the floor with my foot.

I had inadvertently carved the words “destroy this world” on the floor.

“Yes, what kind of hero?”

They saw the scar on the back of my hand.

Only then did they seem to believe that I was a hero.

“Cough. I am the hero of lightning.”

Black smoke flowed from my mouth.

The smoke formed letters.

It was the words ‘You are the hero of destruction.’

I waved my hand to erase the letters.

Fortunately, before my parents could read the letters, I dissipated the smoke.

“Emil, there is already a hero of lightning. Don’t you know that two heroes with the same symbol cannot exist in the same era?”

Ah, I didn’t know that fact.

I didn’t think there was already a hero of lightning.

I didn’t remember that.

It seemed like I had been alive up to this point.

“Then I’ll be the hero of the bedroom. No, no, I’ll be the hero of smoke instead. Did you see smoke coming out of my mouth earlier? I am the hero of smoke. Smoker Punch. Smoke Punch.”

I attached a random symbol.

Actually, it didn’t matter what symbol I used.

As long as I didn’t reveal that I was the hero of destruction.

“What?”

My father looked incredulous.

“For now… go get treated by Hanson.”

Hanson was a priest living in our village.

It seemed like he thought I wasn’t in my right mind due to the aftereffects of being struck by lightning.

“My body is fine, right?”

My body had fully recovered.

A side effect of being appointed as a hero was a quick recovery.

“Yes! I understand. I’ll be back!”

It was a perfect opportunity to escape from my father.

I quickly replied that I understood and left the castle.

I walked to the village church on my own.

“This is a hero’s scar! Welcome, hero.”

I arrived at the church.

Mr. Hanson welcomed me with open arms.

“For the full course of holy power. And for dessert, please serve the apples grown by Aunt Emily herself.”

“How do you know about the apples Aunt Emily gave?”

“I have a soft spot for Aunt Emily. There were rumors, right? She bought unsellable apples from the market. Just give them to me.”

The era of priests not being able to entertain was over.

Thanks to the decree of the current pope, priests could confidently marry and even entertain.

“I want apples. I want apples and juice after this.”

I teased Mr. Hanson while receiving treatment.

Seeing Mr. Hanson’s face again after a long time raised my spirits.

The day the destruction began.

The devil’s influence had reached the realm.

Mr. Hanson threw himself in the way to give the villagers time to escape.

I was able to escape while Mr. Hanson bought me time.

A grateful and appreciative person.

The number one person I wanted to repay when I returned to the past.

Oh, of course, my parents were number zero.

“But now I have to bring about destruction…”

But I never got the chance to repay him.

I wanted to become a hero and prevent destruction, but I ended up becoming the hero who brought about destruction.

The opportunity to repay the favor before the destruction did not come.

“I’m sorry. I’ll make sure to live it up before the end.”

I made a huge success and earned a lot of money.

I sent money to Mr. Hanson.

It was the only way to ease my guilty conscience.

“Why did this prophecy come to me?”

I asked the gods, but there was no answer.

Quietly shedding tears, I fell asleep.