Chapter 4. The Age of Heroes Pt. 2
“Exactly how many did he kill?”
“Looks like four goblins?”
“He must have awakened, right?”
With a hazy mind, I could hear voices one after another as I felt the hands of someone moving me.
“Be it the lack of weapons and armor and the fact that he’s a new face in this area…”
“It looks like it’s a case of a civilian entering a gate and awakening.”
“Let’s move for now.”
There were quite a few different voices. I focused on the sounds and their conversation and was soon able to deduce their identities.
Hunters.
It was clear that Hunters had rescued me. I continued to listen to them talk around me.
“By the way, I heard that gates have been popping up more frequently these days.”
“What did the Hunter Association say about it?”
I trembled at that word.
‘The Hunter Association.’
It had been so long since that word had last been used, and the only place one could see it was in textbooks.
In the early days, the governments of the world, large corporations, and guilds came together and formed an organization to manage Hunters and gates. However, the organization was later co-opted by the Twelve Heroes and renamed Eden.
This organization’s original name was the very word that the voices were brazenly throwing around.
‘What is this…’
It wasn’t easy grasping whatever was happening around me. I was exhausted. Exhausted from having to fight something to survive, and exhausted from having to accept impossible conditions. I was overwhelmed by fatigue from all directions.
“Let’s go to the hospital first.”
That was the last I heard before I fainted again.
***
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The muffled sound of machinery rang in my ears. I carefully opened my eyes to a white ceiling and a dim light illuminating the room.
'Where...'
I slowly pulled myself up and looked around. My body felt lighter than before. As I looked around, I realized where I was.
“A hospital…?”
There were machines around me, and an IV pierced into my wrist. The IV was connected to a tube full of a glowing red substance. I immediately knew what it was.
‘Even a potion… how…’
My body may have felt lighter, but my head felt like it would explode. Why was I in a hospital, and why was there an expensive potion in my IV?
Potions.
A treatment method that had a much better effect than anything humans could have created in the pre-Gate era. I had heard that Hunters would drink it like water, but it was something an ordinary person like me would never have been able to even see, let alone use.
I had only ever had the chance to use a potion once.
'It was after I had been in the accident when I was younger… They said that the hunter had used one on me.’
It was a memory from my childhood I couldn’t even remember, but there was a Hunter who had said they had hit me with a car while driving drunk. After I had collapsed in a critical state, the drunk Hunter pitied me and used a potion. It was funny thinking back on it. To be saved by the mercy of a drunk Hunter.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts, my memories slowly returning.
‘That’s right.’
I had met Athena and found out that the hyung I was close to, who ran the convenience store, was Heimdall. Furthermore, Heimdall had stabbed me in the chest, and I woke up to find myself in a dungeon gate. I had even killed a goblin there.
“Are you starting to feel better, sir?”
Someone had opened the door to the hospital room and came in as I was organizing my thoughts.
“...”
I stared at the girl, startled by the sudden situation. The image of a person popped into my mind at the sight of her white clothes.
Athena.
However, there was a big difference between the girl in front of me and the person I remembered. The girl calmly said while checking over the machinery, “You’re really lucky. Thankfully the League Guild was dispatched to that area. Otherwise… this could have been very bad.”
I looked at her, surprised at the sudden name, and asked, “The League Guild…?”
“Yes. The League Guild’s members saved you, sir,” she said with a slight smile. “It’s a relief that your injuries weren’t too serious. Someone from the Hunter Association should be arriving soon. Until then, please rest for a little while.”
The girl turned to the hospital door, about to leave after finishing her work. I quickly snapped myself out of my shock and called for her, “Excuse me!”
“Yes?” She turned around.
“What year is it…?”
There was an odd sense of dissimilarity and strangeness. I had to ask to confirm my suspicions. She soon nodded as if she understood why I had to ask.
“It seems as though you are having memory issues. The year…”
While the girl’s face was clear and flawless, my mind was wrought with confusion.
“...is 2022, sir.”
“...”
2022. The gates had appeared in 2020, and the year I lived in was…
‘This is more than a hundred years ago…?’
It was an era in a completely different century, and something was clearly wrong. Somehow, I had gone back to a hundred years ago. How…?
And if it was 2022, then it was now…
‘The birth of the Heroes.’
Hero Class Hunters. It was a time when special Hunters began to appear. I stared blankly at her with a confused expression.
“Please get some rest.”
She shrugged her shoulders at my astonished face and left the hospital room.
All I could say to this situation was, “How…”
***
Under mysterious circumstances, I had returned to the past. It was hard to believe this was even possible. No Hunter could control time, even in the days when Hunters ruled the world and people called themselves Gods. Not even the Twelve Gods who created Eden.
‘But I’m in the past…’
It was clear that I had returned to the past. Moreover, it was more than a hundred years ago, well before I was even born. The time when everything was about to begin. It was an impossible situation to believe in.
‘Even if I had believed that this was the past…’
What kind of person would prepare to head into the past? While everyone may imagine returning from time to time, no one would actually think it was possible. It was the same for me as well. No, actually, I was different. I had never even fathomed this could happen, that I would be thrown into an impossible situation like going back in time.
‘The book.’
The book that had been pierced along with my chest by Heimdall. The book that had contained the story of one of the forgotten Heroes. The strongest Hero. The Demon King. I had read this book dozens, no, hundreds of times. Not only that but there was also a time in which I had been interested in history in order to become a civil servant. Therefore, I knew quite a bit about the significant events in this era. Because I was also interested in the existence of monsters, I had also often searched for information about them as well.
‘While it wasn’t because I had plans to return to the past, this will be helpful in the future.’
I had suddenly gone back in time. However, I had no intention of ever returning to my time. I was currently in what was referred to as ‘the Age of Beginnings.’
“The Age of Heroes.”
I realized that this was the time when Heroes were born.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
I couldn’t control my racing heart. This was a chance.
I had been an ordinary person who couldn’t do anything at a time when even becoming a Hunter was at the whim of Eden. But it was different now.
I slowly rose and headed towards the bathroom inside the hospital room. My body felt lighter and faster than ever before. I turned on the tap and looked into the mirror.
“...”
Though I had seen it several times before, I still wasn’t used to it. The person in the mirror staring back at me was different from the person I had known. There were a few areas in the reflection that resembled my original appearance, but that was only a small part of the overall image. I had been quite short, but now I was over a hundred and ninety centimeters in height. In addition, my round facial features had sharpened. While there were definitely some parts of my original self, overall, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that I had become a completely different person.
I wasn’t used to it. It was an unquestionably different body. Still, I had no major issues with moving around. I stood there for a while, trying to get used to my new appearance.
Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice said, “Is anyone here?”
Someone had entered the hospital room.
***
"I’ve come from the Hunter Association."
The man talked to me as he handed me a business card. On the card was the name Kim Su-Yeong, Department of Hunter Management.
“You were rescued from the gate. I heard that you were also having some trouble with your memory. Is that correct?”
That information would have come from the nurse. It wouldn’t be a surprise since I must have seemed confused and had asked various questions.
“Yes.”
Plus, this misunderstanding would be better for me too.
The man scratched his head.
“Then would you mind telling me what parts you do remember? Your name… or your family… or perhaps how you ended up inside that gate…”
I had been taken to the hospital, and the hospital and the Hunter Association had tried to collect my information. While it was standard procedure, they told me they couldn’t collect any of my information. No name, no family, nothing. While it wasn’t normal, it wasn’t uncommon in this era. Humanity had lost a great deal with the advent of the gates and the surge of monsters. Moreover, it was common to have difficulty identifying people who had entered gates due to changes in their bodies.
"…"
It wasn’t a question I could answer easily.
“Please don’t be nervous. You can speak to me casually. You have been rescued, sir. There is no need to be on edge.”
He asked me again. I thought for a long time—my name. Naturally, I remembered the name that I had used before I returned to the past. However, I wasn’t sure whether it would be fitting to use it at this point.
“My name is Lee Jun-Kyeong.”
After pondering my choices for a while, I gave him a name. Lee Jun-Kyeong wasn’t my original name or anyone else’s.
‘The Demon King’s name and my name…’
It was a name made by mixing his and my name. I had no idea why I had mixed my name with the Demon King’s.
‘For some reason… It feels right.’
Kim Su-Yeong nodded after hearing the name.
“Then I will refer to you as Lee Jun-Kyeong, sir.”
After writing something down on the paperwork, he continued with his questions.
“How old are you? Could you state your parents' name or where you had lived…”
“I’m twenty-three… and can’t seem to remember the rest.”
I answered in a manner that was favorable for me. There wouldn’t have been any information about me, who had gone back in time. While there wasn’t any way to return to the future, it was not like I intended to do so. So from this point on, I had decided to live in this era. To do so, I had to answer in a manner that would benefit me.
“This might be an issue.” Kim Su-Yeong said, scratching his head as if it was rare to have such little information to work with.
“Well… Do you feel different anywhere? Like compared to before?”
I paused for a moment at his question and looked back at him. I knew what he was trying to get at and that I could give him a satisfying answer.
I admitted, “I heard a voice.”
"…!"
His eyes grew round like a full moon, sparking as if he had found a treasure.[1] I had not disappointed him with my answer.
I continued, “I heard someone saying, ‘I will support you.’”
“... I understand. Mr. Lee, it seems as though you are…”
He had to swallow his saliva and then continued speaking.
“It seems as though you have become a Hunter. Do you remember anything regarding Hunters?”
“I only remember that they were a special sort of people.”
He nodded and continued, “While I’m not sure who, it may be me or someone else… But someone from the Association will come to find you soon.”
Most likely, they had wanted to verify if I really was a Hunter or not. It shouldn’t be an issue. While I had understood everything, I still nodded, portraying a confused expression.
“I understand that this can be quite a shock. However, Mr. Lee, you have become an important person the world needs now.”
Kim Su-Yeong then rose from his seat.
“I’ll come to find you again soon,” he said, leaving the hospital room.
I looked at the hospital room door where he had left for a moment and then quietly said, “Status window.”
Suddenly, a blue window only visible to me opened up. Moreover, this was a completely different window that the ordinary Hunters had. I knew what this was.
‘The power of the Demon King.’
The reason why the Twelve Heroes had suppressed the Demon King. The reason behind why he was so powerful. The reason why they had tried to erase even the slightest traces of him. The Demon King was special, even amongst all the Hunters. To be precise, he wasn’t actually a Hunter. He was a different being than that of a Hunter. Better than a Hunter.
[Player]
It was clearly written on the blue window.
‘A Player…’
Unlike Hunters, who grew through the aid of Sponsors, Players could grow through their own efforts. They were given infinitely more opportunities than anyone else, so it was an ability with great potential. A Player could grow by hunting monsters and wouldn’t have to rely on anything or anyone else.
It was the ability to grow alone, with a growth rate incomparable to that of a Hunter.
This was the ‘Player.’
It was an ability only the Demon King had had in this world.
The only existence that could become stronger through hunting.
But that was the Demon King.
‘Now I’m the Player.’
1. The original writes round like a bunny, but that’s not a normal thing to say in English. However, I kept on with the bunny theme by using the moon, as there is a fable in Korea about rabbits on the moon.
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