[Year 500]

Time went by so fast. Before I knew it, 500 years had already gone by. However, the funny thing was, the memories of both my past and present were all so vivid.

I spent more time idly staring at the sky. Although the nights at the Hall of Heroes were dark, the morning skies were so beautiful. I came to question why I worked so tirelessly only to get beaten up, learning these things, when I couldn’t even leave this place.

Apparently, heroes could create something new with their own knowledge, but couldn't pass on their existing knowledge. However, I seem to be the only exception. Maybe that’s why…all they did was overwork me all day!

[Year 700]

I’m slowly starting to see why they said that time was the best medicine. As I spent more time alone, counting the days passing by, I felt like I’m returning to my old self again. I guess acting all serious never really suited me.

Perhaps, living amongst these people, who have lived as souls for thousands of years, has rubbed off on me. I wondered why all these old fellas were so frivolous, and it turned out that time was at fault.

Saintess Daphne, who was casting and reversing hundreds of curses to teach about holy power and curses, came to see me. She seemed strangely happy; maybe she gave Apollo, the fella who kept hitting on her, a kick in the balls. It seemed like she got her hands on a bottle of quality liquor, and wanted to have a drink. But…oddly, I had a weird feeling that she was possibly hiding something…

[Year 950]

Most of the heroes who taught me came to see me. Dokgo Jun, the old man who was too lazy to show up most of the time, was here, and so was the mister who always boasted about his time as a great emperor and the conquests he made whenever he drank.

Most of them were heroes whom I had some sort of connection with, and they all ‘trained’ me, which was just torture in disguise. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been beaten half to death for talking back about how useful this training would be when I couldn’t even leave.

As I greeted the heroes with a grumpy attitude, Hypocria, the God of Medicine who took care of me the most, approached me with a melancholic smile. She never had an interest in me since my arrival, but from some point on, she started taking care of me like a real sister.

An unintentional but boisterous banquet went on for days and days. The banquet came to an end as Hypocria, who was quietly sipping her drink, gently spoke, “Our little one. We found a way for you to go back.”

I was speechless for a while. I had this strange feeling.

[Year 999]

Firstly, they remembered that it was my birthday. I stopped keeping track of my age because I was so old, but it was still a small anniversary nonetheless.

They began to unite. They didn’t tell me why, and for some reason, they didn’t even tell me how. They were beings that could no longer meddle in the world, after all. They would never unite even if the world was coming to an end and yet, they had decided to come together behind one idea.

I knew that this day would come when–all of a sudden–they started treating me well and showering me with blessings instead of their usual nagging and scolding. It was like they were high or something.

And when they asked me, ‘What have you always wanted to do?’, I told them it was to live the remainder of my life happily ever after. It seemed like this was the first step to achieving that dream. I was safe here as long as I had power, but I didn't feel like I was living. They also asked me if I had any last words.

Master Elementalist Yuriana in the back corner was starting to get teary. Once, she dropped me into the deep sea and tried to throw me into the magma pool to strengthen my connection to nature. And yet… Aw, my heart ached for some unknown reason.

As they asked their last question, a bright light began to surround my body regardless of my answer. It was really the end, wasn't it? With that thought, I smiled at them. “You know what? Let’s never see each other again! And also, how long are you grannies going to act like young ladies?”

Their last expressions that I saw were certainly a pretty sight. The most outraged of them all was Saintess Daphne. “Hey! You fxxking little sh…”

Some people said nothing, as if they knew how sad I was. I didn’t want to say goodbye like a crybaby.

At long last, I just smiled instead of waving back at them. Then, the world changed.

* * *

Flap!!

“Ha… Ha…” He glanced around at his surroundings in a daze; it was as if he had woken from a long dream. His blurry eyes felt like they were burning from seeing light for the first time in a while. Through his hazy view, he noticed a strange liquid hanging from his IV with a mana stone.

[Restore.]

He mumbled for a bit. But to his surprise, he couldn’t feel anything at his fingertips. That was when it sank in; he had returned from the Hall of Heroes into his body as Prince Davey.

3. The Prince who has Returned

Davey couldn’t think of what to explain or where to even begin. He relaxed his entire body and closed his eyes as feelings of bitterness flooded him. He was so exhausted; all he wanted to do was stare into space for the time being.

The rough but comforting blanket also made it tempting to stay in bed all day. But the God honest truth was that…Davey just couldn’t even lift a finger right now.

As he stared into space while lying in bed, his eyes slowly began to adjust to the glaring light. Although his vision hadn’t completely returned yet and was still out of focus, it was enough to see with more clarity now.

“Ugh…” Davey groaned softly, the only sound to escape when he opened his mouth. His memories were hazy but distinct. Thinking it strange that his memories had such clarity even after a thousand years, a bitter smile appeared on his face.

“Ah… Ah ah ah. Ah ah ah~” As Davey began to vocalize like he was in vocal training, his crackly voice slowly started to change.

“Hem hem..” Davey spoke again and again. After being able to enunciate properly, a familiar, soft voice finally tickled his ears. Those guys thought his voice had a mellow tone, but it just felt alright to him.

“Restore.” Davey tried again. Still, there wasn’t any meaningful change, but he didn’t really feel anxious. Davey had experienced all kinds of things during the thousand years of labor disguised as ‘training’ and has had situations like this happen before.

‘Hia said that when someone becomes unconscious, their mana and holy power becomes inactive and hardens. It’s just like how muscles atrophy.’

Davey was probably the only one who called Hypocria, the God of Medicine, that. Whatever, she wanted me to call her that. It’s not my problem. 

Hia, the God of Medicine who taught Davey the art, had him heal various patients using her unique abilities. Among them, there most certainly was a patient in the same situation. The solution was…

‘Time’.

Trying to heal muscles damaged from long-term malnutrition and lack of exercise in a short period of time would only make things worse. After all, haste would make waste. Davey had to build up enough strength to be able to move.

At least he had a mana stone IV that was supplying him with adequate nutrition. Otherwise, not being able to move and having no visitors would be the perfect recipe for starvation. I don’t think I would be too fond of a situation like that. 

Yet, Davey felt so at ease. He couldn’t help but smile. With a soft chuckle, he began to focus on moving his fingers. Rehab starts with the fingertips, does it not?

Right now, Davey just wanted to enjoy the feeling of being back home.

* * *

The past few days went by without anyone entering this room, which remained silent. In fact, anyone entering this entire palace would be a rare occasion. If anyone did, it would be a couple of maids responsible for Davey’s nutrition. It was like that before he became unconscious and went to the Hall of Heroes, so he guessed it was still the same.

Trembling, Davey reached out and read the wooden calendar. [Valdis Calendar Year 278]. The hunting competition, where he was shot with an arrow, was definitely held in Year 272. He arrived at the Hall right away after that, so around six years had passed while Davey's physical body was in this state. That meant that Davey was now 16, legally an adult in this land.

A thousand years in the Hall was only six years here. Was this due to the Hall being a different dimension? Or was it some other unknown reason? Whatever it was, distorted time wasn’t unfamiliar. Time became all wonky in space compared to Earth, right?

Davey wasn’t on Earth, but the Tionis Continent. This was a different dimension than Earth, and was also the home to Davey’s second life. It was a hell of a place, but people still lived here.

“Guess lying in bed all day is harder than you think.” Even while grumbling, Davey closed his eyes and started to concentrate as always.

Other than rehab training, Davey has been following this routine for the past few days. And thanks to his painstaking effort, he could now lift his entire upper body when he could barely lift a finger at first. Of course, the amount of work it took was unimaginable, and being used to pain didn’t make him immune to it.

“Restore.” Davey closed his eyes and concentrated on awakening the light inside him. It was the holy power. As Saintess Daphne remarked, it was impossible to contain more holy power than those who were born gifted, but no one could surpass him in terms of mastery except her. No one, not even the high priest or any saintess.

That wasn’t to say that Davey had little holy power. Daphne was a legendary hero who was said to have received God, so obviously Davey couldn’t compete with her, but the fact that he was second to her showed how much effort he had put in.

People typically strengthen their holy power by praying and hoping for the best. Thus, it was natural for Davey to be stronger than them, as he was the paragon of growth. Holy power was a type of strength. It was impossible to fully master it with just blind prayers.

As a matter of fact, that devil of a woman hardly praised God when she taught Davey.

Tut tut, what an ungrateful saintess.

…

Davey reminisced about his first step to training his holy power. It was to clean the entire Passage. Calmly, he tried to control his holy power by poking around here and there, but it didn't budge. “God, you’re stubborn.”