The Hero Returns

Su-hyeun could tell even without being told what that was.

It was indeed a palm, but it was filled with liver spots and wrinkles. Then, he sensed vast quantities of energy and pressure coming from the palm.

"Is he coming here personally now that the fissures have stopped appearing?"

Buddha had been trying to close the fissures in the space caused by Yggdrasil's root being set on fire. During the process, he could not make a move on his own. However, now that a brief lull in chaos had presented itself, he chose to travel to the God Realm directly.

"Even so, only showing up after the party's over, huh?"

In the eyes of Su-hyeun and Sun Wukong, who had been running around madly as if their feet were on fire, Buddha was nothing but a student who was showing up very late to a class.

That was all the impression Su-hyeun had at this moment as he watched Buddha's descending palm. He didn't think much about why Buddha would show his palm in the first place.

But then...

"What's this? How far is he planning to—?"

SLAP—!

"Huh?!"

Su-hyeun's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets from the sudden impact landing on top of his body.

For a moment there, he couldn't understand what had just happened.

Boom, ka-boooooom—!

BANG—!

His figure was thrown far away before scraping the ground and completely overturning the earth. Su-hyeun now found himself buried rather deeply in the ground. He dazedly stood back up and exited the crater.

He looked around and saw that his new location was somewhere in the middle of some rubble that used to be an Asgardian building.

"What the hell—?"

That was definitely a palm.

And he just received one hell of a slap from it. Without that explanation, he wouldn't have flown away from this far.

The problem was, this was no ordinary slap. He just got hit by a palm so massive that it even momentarily covered the entire sky.

"What about Third Brother? Is he alright?" Su-hyeun thought.

Sun Wukong was right next to Su-hyeun, so without a doubt, he too must've been swept up in that attack. The power behind the slap was considerable, so Su-hyeun couldn't help but wonder about where Sun Wukong could have ended up.

But then...

"Little bro!"

Swiiiiiish—

Sun Wukong riding on the cloud was already searching for Su-hyeun by then. "Heeey! You alright?!"

"Third Brother?"

Sun Wukong was unscathed. Not a speck of dust was on him, which was markedly different from Su-hyeun's condition.

But they were right next to each other, so the descending palm must've...

"He slapped only me, huh?" A murderous expression suddenly appeared on Su-hyeun's face as he turned his head.

Step—

That was where he saw Buddha trudging closer.

"Your expression is certainly a sight for sore eyes, young man," Buddha greeted.

"Sorry, but I'm not nice enough to smile after getting slapped around."

"And you are also not the type to make that kind of face, either," Buddha replied, resting his hands behind his back.

Smaaack—!

Ruyi Jingu Bang suddenly flew out and slammed into Buddha's head. It only looked that way, however.

The lengthened staff couldn't reach Buddha's head. It was stopped midway by his palm, its shaft bending in the center.

Whoooosh—!

Bang—!

Sun Wukong flew forward along the shaft and landed a kick on Buddha's abdomen.

A dull noise akin to kicking a lump of metal resounded. Finally, having succeeded in his attack, Sun Wukong flew back and landed on his feet.

"Are you done venting your anger, Wukong?"

"Nope, not even close." Sun Wukong made a face he had never made before and then shot a glare in Buddha's direction. There was no killing intent or anything like that, but he certainly looked angry. "What is the meaning of this crap, Buddha?"

Buddha showed up unannounced and slapped Su-hyeun without any warning whatsoever.

Watching this series of events from the side, Sun Wukong was stunned. Su-hyeun was the only one who got slapped, resulting in him flying far away. Sun Wukong became worried about his little brother's wellbeing, so he got on the cloud and hurriedly chased after Su-hyeun.

But now, here was Buddha, leisurely standing around with his hands resting on his back as if nothing happened just now.

Of course, as the "older brother," Sun Wukong was angry.

"I wanted him to get a hold of himself, of course."

"Get hold of himself? What?"

"It'll be better to ask your little brother next to you for more information," Buddha replied casually, prompting Sun Wukong to sneak a glance at Su-hyeun.

For sure, he had changed.

It had been very noticeable, starting from the look in his eyes. The past Su-hyeun would have gotten irritated and demanded an explanation, but he would never glare murderously at someone else like this.

Su-hyeun growled in anger, "Even so, how dare you hit someone like this?"

"Sometimes, a shock to one's system will do some wonders," Buddha replied.

"Is it fine for me to return that saying right back at you?"

"Just because an old man slapped you, you lose all respect toward the elderly? Young man, that is uncalled for."

"You're the one who attacked me first, so what the—?"

"Now, now, have you finally regained yourself?"

Su-hyeun faltered a little at what Buddha said just then.

The latter continued to speak, his expression belonging to a man who knew everything, "The ones killed by your hands all have thought about the same thing. No, in all honesty, they were probably far more resentful and angrier—tormented, too."

Su-hyeun didn't know what to say.

He was right. What all those innumerable people killed during his rampage had to suffer from was easily well beyond getting slapped around while minding his own business. They were suddenly stabbed in the back or had their head severed without warning, so there was no comparing this and that.

Besides that...

"Does he already know everything?" he asked inwardly.

It was a certainty at this point. Buddha knew about Su-hyeun's past life—whether that past life was about Set and how it was connected to Osiris or the lives of villains such as Cheon Mu-jin or Jang Chun.

Buddha knew something.

"Dammit," Su-hyeun scratched his head in irritation before suddenly using the Earth Shrink Technique.

Pah-aht—

Su-hyeun folded space, only to reappear quite far away. Maybe he wanted to go somewhere where no one could find him; he continued to perform the Earth Shrink Technique.

Soon afterward, his figure could no longer be seen. Sun Wukong shot a silent glare at Buddha before saying something, "Imma beat you up real good after I come back, got that?"

Pah-aht—!

Sun Wukong also vanished from the spot. He went after Su-hyeun before it became too difficult to find him.

"Hmm..."

And so, only Buddha was left behind. He stood wordlessly on the spot, watching the duo grow distant in his view.

"You still haven't left, it seems," he turned around and suddenly spoke, his hands still resting on his back. "Osiris."

* * *

"Heeey! Little bro!" Sun Wukong hurriedly called out to Su-hyeun.

As it turned out, Su-hyeun hadn't gone somewhere far. He acted as though he would disappear somewhere remote, but all he did was go somewhere out of sight.

When his name was yelled out incredibly loudly, Su-hyeun turned his head to look. He was standing amid the crumbled remnants of some buildings. "Why did you follow me, Third Brother?"

"Hey, dude, are you in... what do they call it, growth spurt? Ah, right. Puberty! Is it your puberty?" Sun Wukong walked right up to Su-hyeun's face, his brows arching up high. "You better come clean, bro."

"Sorry?"

"I'm telling you, you better tell me everything that happened."

In the end, Sun Wukong couldn't suppress his curiosity and had to ask. He had to know what had happened.

Su-hyeun contemplated his answer for a little while, eventually nodding his head in agreement. Buddha already knew, anyway; what was the point of keeping it a secret anymore, then?

But where should he start the tale?

He pondered it some more before finally starting with how he began recalling his past lives through the Six Paths of Past Lives. Then, he went to speak about Set's stories and the villainous lives led by Cheon Mu-jin, Jang Chun, and a few others.

The explanation was undoubtedly a long one.

He talked about other lives he recalled, plus those unique and extraordinary lives of Cheon Mu-jin, Jang Chun, and Set. Before he noticed it, half a day had shot past them.

"Okay, so—this dude named Set—ah, wait a sec. That's you, right? It's quite confusing, dude. In any case, Set and Osiris were buddies. Is that it?"

"Yes."

"This fool named Osiris was known as a deity in some ancient world, and to put it simply, the current you and the ancient Osiris have swapped roles?"

"The reason why he's changed probably has something to do with me."

"Wow. How bizarre, remembering all of your past lives. Remembering one, sure, but remembering them all? I don't think I've ever heard about anything even remotely like that before."

Sun Wukong had summoned a cloud to lie comfortably on it. Since the explanation had taken so long, it seemed that he wanted to be in a more comfortable position.

"Okay, so? Is your dilemma about which one you are? Set or Su-hyeun?"

Su-hyeun shook his head, "No, it's not as simple as that."

"Okay, what then?"

"Honestly, a part of me has been wondering about something."

A scene brushed past Su-hyeun's mind just then: all those passersby who didn't lend any helping hand when his daughter was dying, as well as the figures of the nobleman and his servant kicking him when he was holding onto his daughter's lifeless body.

"Wondering about... If this universe is destroyed and like how it always has, what if a new universe is born, wouldn't it be better than the current one?"

In truth, it wasn't only those people. Even during this life, Su-hyeun had come across many people like that: Jung Dong-yeong, who exploited Hak-joon's weakness, the leader of the Dump Guild, Hwang Jun-peong, and even Adel Castle.

Among the people he had met already, he recalled so many names. As for those he hadn't met, such as people who were complete strangers, there must've been so many that he probably couldn't even count.

"But, uh, it could be the exact opposite." However, Sun Wukong's thoughts were a bit different. "It could get much worse, you know."

"That's also a possibility, isn't it?"

"Urgh..." Sun Wukong held his head with both of his hands.

He looked like he wanted to say something but could not come up with anything particular. As a listener, this was probably the most challenging situation imaginable.

A bout of silence descended between them.

Quite sometime later, Sun Wukong finally broke the ice, "W—well, you know how your Third Brother isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, right?"

"Yes."

"Right, so—Hey, wait a minute, what was that?! Argh, really? Fine, although I'm not happy about it. In any case, I don't know how to dress it up all nice and pretty. And I'm not like our First Brother, so I don't have a silver tongue, either. Since that's the case, I'm gonna say it in an 'if I were in your shoes, I'd do it this way,' kind of way."

Now that was a bit of a preamble.

It seemed that Sun Wukong had thought long and hard about this.

Curious about what the Monkey King would say, Su-hyeun turned his head and looked at him.

"For a while now, you've been talking about what's right and wrong, this and that about the universe, good and evil, destroying and getting a new start, blah-blah-blah. You know what, I don't care about any of those. They are not important to me, anyway. You see, I only care about my family and myself. That's all."

Su-hyeun chuckled at what Sun Wukong said.

For sure, the Monkey King was someone like that. He didn't complicate things and kept it super simple. As such, he could come to a quick decision regardless of the problem. That was why he could act freely and in an unrestrained way, too.

If this event had happened to Sun Wukong and not Su-hyeun, then he would most likely come to a decision by now, regardless of which way he chose to go with.

"Stop worrying about which one is the right choice. Just do what you want. What's the point of making it so complicated? Since you remember all of those things, they are all a part of you, anyway."

The moment he heard that, it felt like the complicated knot tangled up in his mind was coming undone.

"Do what I want, hm?" Su-hyeun pondered.

If he followed that advice, the answer to his dilemma would become so much simpler. Sure, he might not be able to decide right at this moment, but it at least eliminated the need to wring his head and agonize over his choice.

"I guess you're right, Third Brother."

Indeed, there was no reason to come to a decision right now.

Whether it was Set or Cheon Mu-jin, they were all him now.

"Right. No need to think about it as many different people."

Su-hyeun, who had been denying that point until now, finally accepted this fact.

"They are all me, anyway."

Su-hyeun's expression straightened up noticeably. He then addressed Sun Wukong, who was sitting on the cloud, "Third Brother."

"Ng?"

"Can you protect me for a little while?"

The look in Su-hyeun's eyes had changed. Ever since his meeting with Osiris, those eyes contained a trace of murderous intent and remained as sharp as a knife, yet now, they had reverted to how he used to be.

Sun Wukong peered deep into those eyes before breaking out into a confident smirk. He then rubbed his belly, "I'm getting hungry, so wrap it up quickly."

"Can't make any promises on that one."

Su-hyeun sat down cross-legged on the ground. He then closed his eyes before diving deep into his consciousness.

"Just like how it was with Britra..."

He already experienced peeking into the visualized state of his consciousness several times by now.

Just like those times, Su-hyeun dove into his inner self. Up to this point, he had been subconsciously scared and avoided entering here, but he felt it was all fine now.

He was confident of winning, after all.

"Come out!" Su-hyeun roared out inside his mind.

His consciousness sunk even deeper, and a sensation of sinking into the unfathomable depth of water enveloped him.

When he opened his closed eyes, he was greeted by the sight of the interior of an ocean as dark as ink.

It was the darkest of dark oceans, the Ocean of Inner Demons.

Now submerged inside it, Su-hyeun spoke loudly once more, "Are you scared?"

"Why do you—"

Shwa-aaaah—

The once-calm currents began to focus in one direction. The Ocean of Inner Demons condensed to create a single silhouette.

"Say something that makes me so sad?"

The voice itself was pretty familiar.

It was like listening to an echo coming back to him. Su-hyeun had expected this, yet it still felt so weird and wrong.

The silhouette—the figure created by the condensed Ocean of Inner Demons—was...

"Nice to meet you," Su-hyeun waved at another version of himself, which had black irises on pure-white eyes. "My desire."