The Hero Returns

“The hound of the gods, hmm,” Luslec muttered softly before finally replying, “Technically speaking, it’s not wrong. Although we don’t call ourselves that.”

“We?”

“The term ‘hound’ is a slang word, actually. A term that has been spread like a rumor among the predators, or more correctly, the ones that had come into some kind of contact with the gods and also possess clear awareness.”

“So, you are saying it’s not an official title?”

“Well, the ‘hound’ isn’t really a nice name, is it?”

Su-hyeun nodded at Luslec’s reply.

Indeed, it would be tough to say that the intent behind calling people “hounds” was a nice one. Unless it was an extraordinary circumstance, you wouldn’t call people working for you, or even yourself for that matter, as “hounds,” after all.

“Okay, then what’s the original title?”

“A proxy…That’s the usual title, but we are also known as apostles.”

“A proxy? Apostles?”

“Both terms have roughly similar meanings. Well, a proxy means you’re acting on behalf of another, while an apostle implies that you were sent by someone. So, instead of god’s hound, it’d be more like a god’s proxy or god’s apostle. Something like that.”

“You really are connected to the gods?”

“It’s not as grandiose as that, though. You already know this, don’t you? Anyone coming to possess one or more qualifications of godhood basically has earned the right to be recognized as a low-ranking god. So, being a god’s apostle isn’t all that amazing or exceptional.”

That assertion wasn’t wrong.

Su-hyeun accepted it without making any fuss about it back then, but the truth was, anyone who acquired the qualification of godhood was all grouped together under the label of “low-ranking gods.”

When looked at in that way, Su-hyeun too was a low-ranking god now. Therefore, being called a proxy or an apostle of such a “god” like himself didn’t sound all that impressive or special.

Su-hyeun asked again, “What’s the role of an apostle?”

“It’s doing something similar to this mission.”

“You mean, hunting predators down?”

“That’s not really wrong, but it’s a bit more complicated than simply ‘hunting’ predators down.”

Luslec rubbed his chin in contemplation for a little while as if he wanted to figure out how to explain himself.

In the middle of that, he threw a question in Su-hyeun’s way, “Mister Su-hyeun, in your opinion, why do you think the predator of this world created a society like this one?”

“It’s probably to devour even more people and to fulfill its own craving.”

“That’s correct. However, would that be the sole reason?”

“There’s another reason?”

“A predator is basically a monster who has failed to become a god. Some say they are ‘antipodes’ of the gods or simply call them ‘evil’ gods. These creatures thirst constantly to satisfy their desires and greed.”

“I’m more or less aware of that.”

“In that case, what would be their common desire?”

Su-hyeun became momentarily speechless at the follow-up question.

The common desire of the predators?

He hadn’t thought about that until now.

For Gluttony, who was a “prey” that gradually morphed into a predator, its desire was to satisfy its hunger. As for the predator from the 103rd floor, it was the desire to laze around.

However, there was a common thread among them all.

Su-hyeun could imagine that one desire that all the predators might harbor. “To become a god…”

“As I thought, you’re quick on the uptake.”

Snap—

Luslec snapped his fingers and leaned his torso forward. “You’re correct. To become a god. It’s a dream that won’t come true—a desire that can never be fulfilled—yet some will go to great lengths to fulfill their ambitions.”

“And this is one of those lengths? Creating a world of its own?”

“Yes. Even though it comes across as nothing more than an attempt to satisfy one’s own desires to others like us.”

“Hah-ah—”

Su-hyeun couldn’t even get angry here.

He already knew that these creatures were fully capable of pulling off such a stunt.

These bastards devoured the living and various worlds as if it was nothing. To them, it would be the most obvious thing imaginable, like a lion hunting and devouring prey.

So, creating a system like the one found in this world and fashioning itself into a god just so that it could feel the gratification of it all shouldn’t be all that surprising.

“That’s making me sick.”

Rather than anger, Su-hyeun felt sickened by their actions instead.

Su-hyeun abruptly became conscious of the fact that far more monstrous beings than all the monsters he had encountered so far existed somewhere out there.

“Well, yes…Indeed.”

“Okay, so the role of these servants is to prevent things like this?”

“What do you mean, servants? In some worlds, the apostles are treated like demigods, you know.”

“Didn’t you say it just now? According to the standard you mentioned, I’m basically half a god by now. That’s why it really doesn’t matter what the label is. We shouldn’t even care about that.”

“Indeed, you’re right. In any case, yes, that’s our role, and that’s also the reason why the predators call us hounds. After all, it’s our job to hunt down predators.”

“I more or less understand.”

To the predators, “hounds” referred to the apostles that hunted predators down. Su-hyeun understood up to that point and asked his second question, “Well, how did you become an apostle? You have some kind of a connection to a god?”

“Do I look like someone with a devout religious belief, who also likes to devote and sacrifice himself?”

Su-hyeun resolutely shook his head.

The bit about religious belief was unknown, but Luslec simply didn’t suit such beautiful concepts as devotion or sacrificing oneself for the greater good.

Although they hadn’t known each other for a long time, the “Luslec” Su-hyeun witnessed so far was someone fully capable of murdering another person while smiling away. Sacrificing oneself and devotion? Rather obviously, he seemed quite far removed from such concepts.

“You figured me out correctly. I don’t care about such things. I simply hate the predators, that’s all. That’s why I want to kill them all,” Luslec smirked deeply after saying that.

However, he wasn’t smirking out of amusement or happiness. A person would oftentimes resort to forcibly squeezing out a smile to hide their true expressions.

The reason for that was simple enough—it’d be the easiest mask to put on.

“It’s even simpler than you think. The beings possessing enough strength to fight predators, the ones that possess enough drive to fight the predators—these people are given the position of apostles by the gods, and they go on to fight the predators.”

“In that case, I—”

“Your case is a bit unique, Mister Su-hyeun. Instead of an apostle, you’re far closer to a pioneer, actually.”

“A pioneer? What’s that?”

“The ones that battle predators even though they aren’t apostles—they are referred to as pioneers. Honestly, isn’t that what you’re doing right now?”

Su-hyeun thought about this for a bit but, in the end, had to nod in agreement.

Whether it was out of his own choice or not, all the trials he found himself in after the 100th floor had been related to the predators.

“A pioneer, huh?” he thought.

A person who turned a wasteland into fertile land, that’s the “pioneer.”

Su-hyeun turned his head and stared outside the wide-open window for a little while.

In some distance away, he could see a crowd of people had gathered outside the imperial palace.

Many different races, such as humans, elves, and dwarves, were there. The vitality that couldn’t be seen before was now visible in their various expressions of anxiety, relief, and happiness.

Su-hyeun rested his chin on his hand and thought about it some more.

Whether it was a hound, an apostle, or even a pioneer, it didn’t really matter what they were supposed to be, but one thing was certain.

“It doesn’t feel so bad,” he inwardly mused.

* * *

After that discussion ended, Su-hyeun and Luslec chatted about many other things, such as how Luslec came to acquire this level of strength, how he became an apostle, how many apostles were out there, and how many people that could be labeled as pioneers existed.

Although there was a ton of things Su-hyeun was curious about, he didn’t receive all that many satisfactory answers. Even Luslec didn’t have much idea on most of the subjects.

However, Luslec’s answer for how he acquired his strength proved to be quite simple in nature.

“My case isn’t all that different from yours, Mister Su-hyeun. I received trials through the system and got stronger that way. You’re already quite familiar with this arrangement, aren’t you?”

Su-hyeun was speechless at the information that Luslec’s case was not different from his.

In all honesty, he should’ve expected such an answer without racking his brain over it. When he thought about it, he unexpectedly ran into people climbing the tower through the trials or who had acquired power through the system more often than not.

“As for being selected as an apostle, honestly, I also don’t know how. I didn’t choose to become one, you see. I have no idea why the folks that called themselves gods chose me. Maybe it’s because I have a grudge against the predators,” Luslec said.

Not even Luslec himself knew the reason why, and Su-hyeun almost asked what Luslec’s grudge was about after hearing that explanation but stopped himself. He thought that it would not be a good memory to bring up.

Besides, it wasn’t even a must-hear story, anyway. He also didn’t want to dig out unpleasant memories of someone else.

Their discussion soon came to an end. After one hour of asking questions, Su-hyeun decided that his curiosity had been satisfied.

“Thank you for answering me without holding back,” he said and slowly got up from his seat.

“I also enjoyed chatting to you,” Luslec replied. “Ah, please wait a moment…Here.”

Luslec stopped Su-hyeun who was about to fully stand up on his feet and then reached inside his own pocket. He then pulled out a small, round marble and handed it over to Su-hyeun.

“Please take this with you.”

“And this is?”

“It’s a medium that displays the dimensional coordinates, as well as enables communication to other people. It might get difficult to confirm or call someone if the distance is too great, but such things happen rarely.”

“But why are you giving me this…?”

“I told you, I’m a fan. I wanted to get in touch with you every now and then, you see. And also, you can call on me whenever you need help on something,” Luslec said while securely placing the marble in Su-hyeun’s hand.

The marble was quite small at only around the size of a pinky fingernail. Carrying it around like this might be difficult, so Su-hyeun thought that he should turn it into either a bracelet or a ring to wear it like a piece of equipment instead.

A device that could send or receive communication through the dimensions—although its utility didn’t seem all that useful, there was still no doubting how impressive this item was.

“Well then, I’ll be in your care every now and then from this moment.”

“You can call on me any time,” Luslec replied and also stood up from his seat like Su-hyeun. As he did that, his figure began growing blurrier. Su-hyeun was slightly taken aback by this development and stared at the disappearing figure, only for a smirk to appear on Luslec’s face. He even waved his hand.

“It seems that I must depart before you. I’m busier than I look, you see.”

“I didn’t know you had a lot on your plate. My bad for holding you up.”

“Nah, it’s nothing as serious. No need to apologize. Actually…” Luslec made a somewhat sheepish face and scratched his head before turning his face away, “It was my honor to meet you. For real.”

“Me too. I’m glad that I met you as well,” Su-hyeun answered and bowed his head just a little. Luslec got flustered and hurriedly lowered his head even further.

Soon after that, his figure completely disappeared from view.

Su-hyeun raised his head and sighed deeply.

“It somehow feels like a lot has happened,” he thought.

More correctly, he got to learn about a lot of things—apostles, pioneers, the common desire of the predators…and the twisted worlds they had created.

Su-hyeun opened his hand and stared at the small marble left behind by Luslec.

There should come a moment when he would get to contact Luslec again, and maybe, they might get to meet each other again.

“One day, he might tell me about it first.”

Su-hyeun became rather curious about Luslec’s past. The past of a man who seemed to respect and revere him a bit too excessively—he wondered if he would get to learn more about it when they meet again in the future.

Su-hyeun stored the marble away in the subspace. It would be fine to ask Kim Dae-ho later to fashion the marble into a bracelet or a ring.

“Well, the rumor should’ve completely spread around more or less by now,” he thought.

The trial was already over. He could’ve entered the next floor at any time he wanted.

“It’s about time I get going as well.”