The Hero Returns

Act 4

The world began moving forward again, leaving only Su-hyeun behind as the odd man out.

He watched recreated events unfold after being separated from the rest of the world. He was now looking at the actual events of this world.

'Bradley…'

Bradley's figure was the very first thing that Su-hyeun had laid eyes on.

He had been talking to himself for a long time. People could not decipher what he was talking about; Bradley's words didn't make sense. He was a nutcase.

As he continued to utter meaningless words, a fissure suddenly occurred in front of him.

It simply appeared out of nowhere. He reached out his hand, and the fissure opened further.

Rip.

And then, the small opening eventually widened.

Su-hyeun had seen a similar scenario many times.

'It's similar to when one enters the tower.'

Indeed, it resembled the phenomenon of the awakeners of the outside world crossing over to the Tower of Trials after acquiring their powers.

Su-hyeun carefully observed as the scenery changed. Shortly after, he could now see the new world Bradley had gone into.

Nothing existed in this new world.

The land was ruined and deserted, and the sky was dark. There were no signs of life anywhere, and Su-hyeun could only see a vast, empty land, and the skies that stretched beyond the horizon.

Ki-aaah!

This was where Bradley encountered the black dragon.

It was a massive dragon, and it devoured everything in this world.

"I found it."

Bradley's voice could be heard next.

He was smiling. He had been searching nonstop for that one possibility, and it finally appeared before his eyes.

Bradley met the gaze of the black dragon.

At that moment, he decisively turned around and returned to his own world. He was not confident enough to defeat the dragon alone. That's why.

Shu-wuwu—

The world Su-hyeun was watching became blurry and disorientating as if it was a smudged painting.

How much time had passed by?

The mix-up world began regaining its original look. It eventually returned to how it once was and now displayed a completely shocking scenery.

It was the scene with the black dragon appearing in the skies above along with the countless knights below.

'It's a war against the black dragon…'

The battle plan Bradley chose to go with was somewhat similar to when fighting alongside Su-hyeun.

He dragged a meteor from space to force the black dragon down to the ground and then sent out the knights to kill the huge creature.

One could easily tell who would emerge as the victor in this battle. However, Bradley didn't make any move until the final moment.

Numerous knights died. In the end, Bradley was the only one remaining.

Only then he finally made his move.

And eventually…

BANG!

He struck the dragon with his sword. It squirmed and then died.

Pant. Pant.

Despite his labored breathing, Bradley had a big grin on his face. The dragon attacked him with its deadly breath earlier. As a result, his body was gradually decaying, yet he didn't even feel any pain from it.

He began digging into the dead dragon's remains. He ripped open its chest, extracted its heart, and cautiously held it in his hands.

Crunch!

Then he started to devour it.

Crunch, chew, crunch…

Was it good?

Bradley could not help but smile as he consumed the dragon's heart. When he was done, however, he hurriedly covered his mouth and began to vomit.

"Wuu-wuuk…"

His whole body convulsed as he threw up.

Was this some kind of a side effect?

Bradley quivered for a moment, then he calmed down. When Bradley raised his head again, Su-hyeun saw that he was transforming.

'Scales…'

He saw scales spreading from Bradley's throat area.

Bradley's skin started to peel off layer by layer. He was slowly transforming into a human covered with dragon's scales.

His eyes turned red. His madness-filled face shifted to another direction.

He then began walking towards the dead dragon.

Crunch…

He started to eat what was left of the corpse without hesitation.

Crunch, chew, crunch..

'It must have been really…satisfying.' That's all Su-hyeun could think about.

How did a dragon taste like? Was it really satisfying for Bradley to devour it? Su-hyeun scowled as he stared at the former emperor. He couldn't hide his disgust.

The black dragon had a huge physique that would make up a quarter of the city. Yet Bradley continued to consume its carcasses. He chewed and swallowed until his stomach could not take it anymore. He rested for a while, then continued to devour the remains when able. He kept doing this for some time until he finally consumed everything.

How many years did it take Bradley to eat all of the dragon's remains?

When Bradley was done digesting the last piece he consumed, he looked different—his appearance had been completely transformed.

And he seemed to look exactly like…

"Faf…nir…"

A creature Su-hyeun was all too familiar with.

Gulp.

It was a giant with the head of a dragon.

It was the boss of the purple dungeon, as well as the vilest monster that destroyed Su-hyeun's world.

And also…

"It's an absolute predator."

Su-hyeun heard a voice coming from his side, and he quickly turned his head in its direction.

Then, he spoke. "Is it over?"

The world before him reverted to nothingness.

Su-hyeun silently scanned his surroundings for a while before shifting his gaze back to the person talking to him. It was the 100th floor's administrator that he encountered before the start of the trial.

"Yes, it's over. And you were excellent at it."

"Is this how it really ends?"

Su-hyeun looked bitter and unsatisfied.

He had been planning for a battle against Bradley. He felt he had a good chance of defeating him. Besides, the emperor was about to make his move, too.

The administrator replied, "There's no point."

"What point?"

"You have already completed this trial's goals. After all, you did prevent the birth of the predator, the one you saw at the end."

The 'predator'… The administrator called Fafnir from Su-hyeun's memories as the predator.

He asked, "That thing… Was it the predator?"

"That's right."

"Just what exactly is it, this monster you are referring to as the predator?"

Su-hyeun tensed up.

He ardently prayed that he was mistaken. In an instant, gloomy thoughts filled his head. He shut his eyes. He quietly waited for the administrator's reply.

That moment felt agonizingly long.

Then came the response.

"Well, they are something like that. Actually, the one you saw was more like a mutant, but still…"

"You said 'they'…"

The administrator wasn't talking about one Fafnir. Su-hyeun felt his heart sank. A sad, sinking feeling filled his chest.

Su-hyeun hoped that the monster he remembered as Fafnir was simply called the predator by the administrators and that the word 'predator' was not a generalized term to denote a type of monsters.

But his hope had been shattered to bits in an instant.

"There are more than one?!"

As it turned out, Fafnir, the monster who brought Su-hyeun's world down to its knees, was not the only one.

"This discussion would take a while."

Snap.

The administrator snapped his fingers and a chair appeared behind Su-hyeun. He then continued, "Take a seat so we could discuss properly."

"Very well."

Su-hyeun pulled the chair and sat down.

During this lull in their conversation, Su-hyeun took deep breaths to calm his pounding chest. The revelation from the administrator was the most shocking news he had ever heard in his life.

What if there were two or three predators like Fafnir out there? What if there were much more than that?

'Does this mean there's something else beyond it, too?'

Grit.

Nothing was certain at this stage.

Even if there were several 'predators' out there, the odds were that they might never appear in Su-hyeun's world. Maybe Fafnir would be the only one.

But the current Su-hyeun had no way of confirming that right now.

"First of all, my apologies. You see, this is classified information. Oh, you know how talkative I can be," the administrator playfully said.

It seemed that he was trying to put Su-hyeun at ease. He was anxious since the administrator informed him about the existence of other predators.

Su-hyeun nodded and replied, "I'm grateful for that."

"Even then, I can't tell you everything. Honestly, the information I revealed to you earlier already crossed the line, too."

"What line are you talking about?"

"Are you confident of," the administrator began casually as he settled on his own chair, "not falling into despair after listening to me?"

That was a ridiculous question.

Su-hyeun didn't know about the 'truth' of this world. He might have seen or experienced a little of it, but so many things had remained a complete mystery to him even now.

Was he confident enough to take what the administrator was about to impart to him?

Of course, he couldn't be sure.

No, the truth was…

"I'm not confident at all," Su-hyeun replied honestly.

The administrator was taken aback by Su-hyeun's response. He was clearly not expecting it from him.

Su-hyeun breathed deeply, calming himself, and then went on, "To be honest, what you said just now was too shocking for me. To learn that there are more than one of those things out there, it…that revelation took the wind out of my sails."

The administrator said 'they' when referring to Fafnir. Being informed that there more than the likes of Fafnir had shaken Su-hyeun.

And if he were to be honest, he did feel despair for a moment. Then again, when he thought about what the administrator had said, he realized that it wasn't all there was to that revelation.

"Come to think of it, it's better to be informed now rather than be kept in the dark in the end," Su-hyeun said.

"Is that so? I thought 'ignorance is bliss'?"

"That's one of Earth's proverbs. Where did you hear that from?"

"I have my ways…" The administrator smiled.

"The moment you told me that there were more than one of such a monster, I admit, I was shocked. Thoughts of despair immediately popped into my mind. I even questioned my abilities. I wondered, 'Would I even be able to defeat just one?'"

Su-hyeun was thinking that it wouldn't take too long for Fafnir to appear in his world. Since several indigo-colored dungeons had already appeared, it would take five years at most for a purple one to show up.

No. Maybe one would appear much sooner than that.

Su-hyeun met Bradley. He witnessed the latter devour a dragon's heart and even went on to eat the rest of the huge serpent's remains, too.

That's how Fafnir was born. Su-hyeun could never defeat the creature with his current level of strength. And now, there was a lot of Fafnir?

"But what can I do?" Su-hyeun asked, smiling. "I can only go as far as I can. That's all."

He knew this was no laughing matter. Even then, he still smiled. He thought that this was the only way to at least stay optimistic.

He had not given up yet.

"If I were to give up, I would have done so a long time ago."

Su-hyeun had lived a life far more miserable than this one. He existed and fought for many years in a world where everyone else died.

There was more to hope for at present than in the past.

"Is that so?"

The administrator patiently listened to Su-hyeun's replies and slowly cupped his chin. Judging by his expression, he was contemplating.

Eventually, he nodded and grinned. "That's a relief in that case," he commented. He then straightened his back and stood up. "Don't be in such a rush. Forget about knowing or not knowing for now… I don't think you're on the wrong track."

"In that case, I'm also relieved."

"I'm pleased. It's now time to reward you for passing the trial exceptionally. Wouldn't you agree?"

The subject of their discussion changed abruptly. Su-hyeun asked in a puzzled expression. "But what about the predators? What do we make of them?" Su-hyeun asked, confused.

"Receive the reward first. Think about the predators later. The thing is, I've argued and fought pretty hard to choose a reward that's perfectly suited for you, you know?"

Su-hyeun didn't say anything. The administrator reached inside his inner pocket and pulled something out, then presented it before Su-hyeun.

"I'm pretty sure you're gonna love it. I'm telling you, it's one of a kind."

Su-hyeun stared at the item the administrator gave him, and then, he formed an expression of a man chewing on a bug.

"You mean…this?"

[Broken Sandglass]

The item was a small hourglass that didn't work.