Swaaa…..
It was raining heavily outside the window.
Jin-seong remained silent sitting in front of the table without even turning the lights on in the office. A suffocating silence overwhelmed the space.
Jin-seong was recalling Yushin’s face, his voice, and his movements.
With the hood taken off, Yushin showed a benevolent smile that was no different from any other day. It was a much brighter smile compared to what Jin-seong saw before his return
“…..Yushin.”
Yushin’s bright smile meant that things were going as he planned. One day, Yushin told Jin-seong with a big smile on his face.
‘This return is going more smoothly than any other returns I’ve experienced.’
Yushin never mentioned in detail how many times he experienced return. All he said was that by the time he could guess the number of grains of the sand that he was covered with when he woke up, he stopped counting his returns.
Yushin also told Jin-seong.
‘I’m glad I found you.’
“…….”
He carefully looked at the magic power battery on the table. It was once a crystal ball with mana swirling inside like a Milky Way.
Jin-seong’s face reflected on the empty crystal ball. Instead of the face of a tired warrior full of scars, a young man with no single blemishes was looking into it expressionlessly.
Jin-seong recalled Yushin’s last words.
‘Jin-seong, see you again.’
Yushin’s clone promised their next meeting as he smiled. There’s only one thing that Jin-seong could think of.
‘There must be a reason why Yushin revealed himself in front of me.’
The reason why he appeared.
The reason why he resurrected the magic swordsman to interfere with his plan.
Yushin was a perfectionist.
He might look dull and gentle on the outside, but he was flawless that he would only speak and move after thinking a step ahead.
‘If his goal was to kill me, he wouldn’t have granted the magic swordsman free will.’
Yushin had many chances to kill Jin-seong. If he intended to kill him in the first place, there was no reason for him to wait until Jin-seong wipes out the dead and destroys the heart of corruption.
Jin-seong reached the following conclusion.
[Yushin has no intention to kill me.]
Jin-seong wrote that in his notebook. Black, clearly written words appeared on a white paper.
Jin-seong began to think deeper.
‘But why is he using the magic swordsman to threaten me when he has no intention to kill me?’
[The magic swordsman, Yushin.]
He wrote that in his notebook.
Tk, tk, tk…..
Jin-seong lightly tapped the notebook with the tip of his pen.
First, he thought about the magic swordsman.
[How did he bring the magic swordsman.]
The dead body of the magic swordsman was entombed in the Laterano Cathedral as he was regarded as the great hero by the popes.
After 50 years from then, he returned to the Forest of Decay as an undead.
‘…..Is it possible that the Holy Kingdom made their move?’
Jin-seong thought that Europe’s last sanctuary, Holy Kingdom, was involved behind the scenes.
‘I will hear more about that when the guest comes.’
Jin-seong moved on to the next question.
[The reason why Yushin appeared.]
The reason behind the appearance of Yushin could be summed up into two reasons.
[To steal tools that he cannot achieve.]
This was the first reason and yet, the most convincing.
Yushin’s clone said it clearly.
‘I will take the holy spear, Gae Assail.’
He even tried to run away with the holy spear so it could be a direct reason.
‘But there’s one flaw to this assumption.’
And Yushin proved that in front of Lee Jin-seong.
[The clone of Yushin decreased the size of gigantic holy spear and wielded it.]
This meant that Yushin could’ve taken the holy spear even before Jin-seong arrived at the tomb of the Lord of Corruption. Jin-seong drew two lines on the first reason.
[Yushin is not aiming the holy spear.]
Through Acacic Record, Jin-seong knew what Yushin did during his last return. Yushin killed Kang Min-ah who became a devil, obtained the holy spear and Tyrfing at the Forest of Decay, and annihilated the Lord of Corruption.
But this time, Yushin neither took the magic sword nor the holy spear. This meant there was another reason why Yushin came to the Forest of Decay.
Sk, sk, sk….
Jin-seong wrote the last reason in the notebook.
[To test me.]
“……”
Yushin let Jin-seong obtain the magic sword and the holy spear, and destroy the heart of corruption. Although the magic swordsman interfered in the middle, he couldn’t fight him back with all his might since he had free will.
All the magic swordsman did was check the maximum power that Jin-seong could use.
Jin-seong was convinced.
‘Yushin wants me to become stronger.’
Tk……
Jin-seong took off his shirt as he put the pen on the table. But still, there was a question that was yet answered.
It was hard to guess the reason why Yushin acted like an enemy and tried to steal the holy spear.
‘….Why is Yushin hiding his intention to help me? Is he pretending to attack me because of the unknown force out there?’
“……”
Nothing was confirmed.
‘Investigation is needed.’
Then,
Knock, knock, knock…..
Someone knocked on Jin-seong’s professor lab.
Creak….
It was Muhyuk.
He spoke as he lowered his head.
“We’re ready.”
“…..Okay.”
Jin-seong stood from his seat. Then, he ripped off the papers from the notebook and put them in the trash can.
After a while.
At Setz’s research building in the military academy.
“Oh, the warrior arrived!”
The magic swordsman, tangled in green vines, greeted Jin-seong.
“….How are you feeling?”
“Except that my arms and legs fell apart and I lost my appetite, everything’s fine.”
“….Good to hear.”
Hearing Jin-seong’s calm response, the magic swordsman smiled.
The body of the magic swordsman should’ve collapsed after Yushin disappeared, but Jin-seong became the new owner of the magic swordsman by the power of the unnamed god.
But with the power of the unnamed god, he could neither save the dead nor stop his body from collapsing.
He had to find another way.
Chssss…..
Before proceeding with the seal, he retrieved the tarot card from the magic swordsman.
The tarot card with a drawing of a man hanging upside down on the tree.
It was ‘The Hanged Man.’
The Hanged Man card delayed the collapse of the magic swordsman’s body that even the unnamed god couldn’t stop.
But it was time to seal the magic swordsman.
[The tarot obtained from the shuffle, The Hanged Man is retrieved.]
[The Hanged Man returns to the deck!]
Srrrrk….!
The tarot card in Jin-seong’s hand disappeared in the air.
The magic swordsman, wrapped in the vine of life which will preserve the magic swordsman’s body, spoke as he smiled.
“…..Please take care of Setz.”
He turned to Setz and spoke.
“Stay safe.”
Setz stroked the magic swordsman’s face and tried to smile.
“Yes… By the time you wake up again, the demon king would be gone.”
Hearing that, the magic swordsman lost in thoughts with his eyes closed.
“….The world without it would be heaven.”
“But don’t be too relieved. We’ll wake you up when we need more hands.”
The magic swordsman smiled at Setz.
“Bye.”
With that said,
Chsssss…
The magic swordsman’s body became completely wrapped by the vine and sunk into the ground.
Tiring!
[You prevented the disappearance of the magic swordsman. Achievement ‘See you at the Paradise’ is completed!]
[Achivement award ‘Rusty Key’ is now in the inventory!]
Checking the alarm, Jin-seong took a look around. Major professors and a few government officials were watching the seal of the magic swordsman.
“…..”
Setz couldn’t lift her head for a while. She wanted to cry but she knew that she wasn’t in the position to do that.
One government official walked up to Setz.
“…..Professor?”
Ssk….
Setz lifted her head.
“Please speak.”
“Ah, yes….. So, when will the magic swordsman be able to resurrect?”
The world was showing great interest in the resurrection of the first hero. And people were talking about how there’s a way to completely resurrect the magic swordsman.
Setz explained without any hesitation.
“We will proceed with it as soon as we find the new potential.”
“By meaning potential, are you talking about Homunculus?”
“We will consider many ways. And….”
Setz had to answer a barrage of questions from the officials.
“……”
Seeing his teacher’s calm response, Jin-seong left the place.
“……What are you going to do now?”
Kang Min-ah quietly followed Jin-seong.
“I will take some rest. Are you okay, Professor?”
“Ah…. The reporters are kind of annoying but I’m good.”
Then she added.
“Thank you. I wouldn’t have been able to come back to Korea without your help.”
“….We still have a lot more things to get done.”
Hearing that, Kang Min-ah asked in worry.
“You tell me that every time we meet. You’re going to give us time to sleep at least, right?”
Jin-seong smiled.
A several days have passed since they returned from the Forest of Decay.
Jin-seong was looking at the newspaper headline in his office.
-…..Professor Kang Min-ah said in her interview that she wanted to leave Korea for a while because of her sudden mood change. She said she needed to relieve stress that…..
-…..Surprisingly, it was revealed that the two bureaucrats who were chasing Professor Kang Min-ah were in fact high-ranking dead, and also priests. It is said that the two tried to kill the good members of the management bureau, but were eventually killed by Muhyuk, who is considered to be the next hero…..