The Hero Returns - Chapter 4

A dull voice was heard as the scene before Su-hyeun’s eyes changed.

The white scene from before had colors added to it. The precious scene was one of those that couldn’t be seen outside the Tower of Trials.

The chilly air tickled his skin.

The background of the trials was the Colosseum.

Grrr—

Kyaaa—!

The Colosseum was empty, but the cries of the monsters could be heard from somewhere.

What great sound effects.

Starting from the first floor, the background looked great.

One floor, ten levels — he knew about its theme.

Though the trials vary from the second floor onwards, the first level’s trial was determined by its difficulty.

There was almost no one who cleared the first level trials.

Su-hyeun, too, had internal conflicts.

Would this be the right choice? On the contrary, wouldn’t choosing those with greater difficulties bring worse results?

But his concern did not last long.

Nothing changes if there are no differences.

Change does not come without one’s will. There’s nothing else as stupid and selfish as expecting positive changes while doing nothing.

[Choose your weapon.]

A variety of weapons appeared around Su-hyeun.

Sword, spear, katana, ax, hammer, bow, etc.

Just the weapon types alone went well over the hundreds.

And Su-hyeun knew how to use more than half the weapons.

But there was no need to contemplate over which weapon to choose. Though Su-hyeun knew how to use more than half of them, there was the only one which he knew inside out.

Click—

Su-hyeun grabbed the sword.

The best weapon that was prepared to deal with Fafnir, the Balmung.

It was a sword type weapon, and Su-hyeun had used it for the longest time.

In terms of skills, no other weapons are on par with the sword.

[You have chosen the ‘Silver Longsword.’]

[Check its state.]

As Su-hyeun ascended the levels, the explanations would get less amiable, and the difficulty would get higher. Compared to that, the description now was so much friendlier.

“State.”

[Name: Kim Su-hyeun]

[Strength: 11] [Agility: 12]

[Health: 10] [Reflex: 14]

[Fatigue: 10]

Its overall stats were not inferior.

The average stats could be seen as 10, so there weren’t any stats lower than that.

Particularly, the reflex stat was well above average.

“Why did I get beaten up so much with such stats?”

Perhaps Su-hyeun’s personality was the most significant contributing factor.

“Although my magic level and magic count were not evaluated…”

It was not bad at this level.

All preparations were completed.

Up until then, nothing had happened in the Colosseum.

It seemed that time was given to the newcomer to check his own condition and adapt to the new environment.

No matter how Su-hyeun thought about it, the system was treating him quite well up until now.

Of course, Su-hyeun didn’t need this friendliness.

Su-hyeun stood in the middle of the Colosseum and looked up into the sky.

“Stop wasting time and start now.”

[Do you wish to start now?]

Indeed, the system here felt vaguely like a game.

Like a meticulously built artificial intelligence, it understood every intention and gave the right replies.

It was a very convenient point.

“Yes.”

[The trials starts now.]

[Fight and obtain victory.]

Simple and concise.

There’s no need to complicate things. Su-hyeun knew what to do as soon as he saw the monsters appear in front of him.

Plonk, grrrr—

A red-furred wolf growled as it watched Su-hyeun.

If there was one more unique feature, it would be its third eye.

He wasn’t sure where it came from. Not from the sky, nor from the ground.

There would be people flustered at the monster which appeared suddenly. But Su-hyeun knew about the trials beforehand, as well as the beast standing before him.

The Vampire Wolf.

Amongst all monsters, the Vampire Wolf was considered the weakest and of the lowest rank.

Its physical and abilities did not have much of a difference from ordinary wolves.

But the tricky part was its “bloodsucking” trait.

“Its bloodsucking trait helps strengthen itself. On the other hand, a small amount of poison on its teeth reduces its movement speed.”

Plonk—!

The Vampire Wolf dashed towards Su-hyeun.

At that moment.

Slam—!

Splat—!

Su-hyeun swung his sword at the charging Vampire Wolf and chopped off half its head.

It was a masterpiece done at a timely moment with a fully prepared stance.

Although Su-hyeun could not completely chop off its head due to lack of strength, it made the Vampire Wolf plunge headfirst onto the floor as if losing its breath.

Squash—!

Su-hyeun picked up his sword and swung in the opposite direction, cutting off the wolf’s head entirely.

Its breathing stopped.

[You have gained 10 achievement points.]

[You have killed your first enemy.]

[You have gained 1 strength point.]

The reward at the beginning was great.

It was a great kill that gained Su-hyeun a precious point in stats.

Could there be more rewards?

Every time a floor was cleared in the Tower of Trials, rewards were given based on the results and permission to advance to the next floor was given.

In some cases, rewards were also given while clearing the floor. But those were sporadic cases.

Grrrr—

Plonk, plonk—!

The slain Vampire Wolf’s corpse disappeared, and two other Vampire Wolves materialized.

Two more.

It was still manageable.

Su-hyeun raised his sword again.

This time, Su-hyeun made his move first.

Slide—

Su-hyeun slid his newfound body between the two Vampire Wolves.

It wasn’t as quick. This was the movement limit of Su-hyeun’s newfound body.

The Vampire Wolves, too, began running at the same time Su-hyeun did.

And at that moment, Su-hyeun withdrew his body deep into the ground.

At the same time, he swung his sword upwards.

Slit—

Slash—

A large cut was made across the Vampire Wolf’s abdomen as it flew above Su-hyeun.

The other Vampire Wolf missed its target and landed lightly. The injured wolf cried painfully while squirming about on the floor.

Dash—!

It wasn’t certain if it was because of the death of its friend or its instinctive hunger for blood, but the remaining Vampire Wolf ran tirelessly towards Su-hyeun.

And…

Rip—!

Su-hyeun’s sword ripped the running Vampire Wolf’s mouth apart.

Thud—!

The two injured Vampire Wolves were not dead.

Of course, they would gradually die if he left them alone.

Shaking off the blood off his sword, Su-hyeun muttered.

“Indeed… I still haven’t gotten used to it.”

He was hospitalized for a month and still hasn’t gotten used to fighting in a new body.

If he could use his strength to the fullest, he could have amputated the heads of the Vampire Wolves.

“But it was pretty good earlier,” he added, referring to him making use of the opponent’s charging momentum to fly the counter.

It was the best way that Su-hyeun could come up with from his current strength and agility, which were lower than before.

To make use of the counter, Su-hyeun had to continuously observe his opponent’s movement and lure them into action.

“I’ll just have to get used to it bit by bit.”

The trials on the first floor until then were splendid.

As the theme was the Colosseum, only simple battles with the low-rank monsters occurred.

There was no better way than this for Su-hyeun to adjust to his new body.

Poke, poke—

Su-hyeun did not forget to kill off the Vampire Wolves that were lying on the floor.

[You have gained 20 achievement points.]

The second reward popped up in Su-hyeun’s mind.

Unfortunately, no stats were increased this time.

What was the difference?

There was no other way to test the hypothesis that he came up with besides continuing the battle.

Grrr—

Plonk, plonk—!

Another two Vampire Wolves appeared before Su-hyeun.

This time, it wasn’t just the Vampire Wolves.

Different from the Vampire Wolves, what could be called something close to a real monster had appeared.

Grrr—

A beast with dark red fur and a build smaller than the Vampire wolf.

Even though it had two eyes closed, its third eye was wide open. It was drooling as if watching Su-hyeun as its meal.

“Mad Wolf.”

Also known as the Rabid Wolf.

The reason why the level 10 trial was so tough was due to this beast.

Of course, the Vampire Wolf was not an easy opponent for normal humans, but as long as one had a weapon in his hands, it was manageable.

But the beast ahead was the real deal.

It wasn’t one that should appear on the first floor.

It was a monster that even well-trained soldiers couldn’t catch.

“That’s why it’s level 10.”

Grin—

It had been a while.

Su-hyeun felt as though he was back in his past life.

The bodily senses from his past life seemed to have recovered.

But Su-hyeun was still alert.

“I’m Su-hyeun.”

He mustn’t be mistaken.

Any small delusion would bring about a considerable side effect.

Putting aside his emotions, he had to view this situation objectively.

And objectively…

“Now.”

Step—

Su-hyeun took a step towards the Mad Wolf and two Vampire Wolves.

“I’m stronger.”

Plonk, plonk—!

Grrr—

The Vampire Wolves and Mad Wolf howled menacingly at Su-hyeun.

But Su-hyeun didn’t even snort.

Su-hyeun had fought with monsters for many years in his past life.

And he knew instinctively that the monsters are scared of him now.

If so…

“Let’s go.”

It was now or never.

Tap—

The Mad Wolf was running towards Su-hyeun.

At the same time, the Mad Wolf, who was the size of a tiger, stretched its claws swiftly towards Su-hyeun. The Vampire Wolves were no different.

Slide—

Rip—

Su-hyeun did not go deep.

Instead, he dodged the Mad Wolf’s claws and left a long cut along its side.

At the same time he dodged, his body flew past the Vampire Wolves, taking care to avoid their sharp claws and teeth.

A dig, and an immediate escape. Su-hyeun’s lack of agility was replaced with his high concentration and broad vision.

That was Su-hyeun’s strategy.

But it was only for that moment.

Grr—

Plonk, plonk—

The reactions of the two Vampire Wolves had changed.

The Vampire Wolves that barred their teeth at Su-hyeun looked at Mad Wolf.

“The unique feature of the Vampire Wolf is that it can’t use blood unnecessarily.”

It couldn’t have the blood of the same race; unfortunately, for the Mad Wolf, he was not a member of their family.

It was just a coincidence that their priority was focused on Su-hyeun.

But since the Vampire Wolves have smelt blood…

Plonk, plonk—!

They started dashing towards the Mad Wolf.

And soon a fight between the two Vampire Wolves and the Mad Wolf started.

Not a three vs one, but a one vs one vs two fight.

No, more accurately…

“Only the winner comes this way.”

The winner from their fight would go against Su-hyeun.