Chapter 1: Returning Home Part 1

“This is the kind of world we live in.”

The oldest memory I have with that person.

Most of our assets disappeared in the midst of various misfortunes piling up, and I ended up moving to a semi-basement apartment with my single mother.

She helped me during that time and said those words.

In my memory, was she still a middle schooler then? I found out only a little while later that she was three years older than me, even though she still had a touch of youth in her face.

Back then, I was still an elementary school student.

I was shorter than her, and whenever I looked up at her in her school uniform as she kindly took care of me, I always thought she seemed so grown-up.

No, thinking about it now, it feels like she became an adult earlier than others.

She always seemed mature.

Even when I reached the age she had experienced before me, she still felt that way.

Even when I eventually grew taller than her, I never felt like I had caught up to her.

Her family, who lived just upstairs from our semi-basement, wasn’t well-off either.

I at least always had my mother, who cared for me, but her parents constantly yelled and fought.

Sometimes, it was so loud upstairs that it kept me from sleeping.

Occasionally, she would come down to our place, weary from her parents’ fighting, just to rest.

So, she didn’t have anything better than I did.

But she was always cheerful.

At least, she tried to appear that way.

In my memory, no matter how tough things were, she always smiled at me, held my hand, and took me around with her.

She’d help an old lady picking up scraps along the road and put a thousand-won bill into the Salvation Army’s red kettle whenever she saw one.

“Why do you help people like that?”

One winter, I once asked her that as she put a thousand-won bill into the red kettle.

That was probably all the money she had in her pocket.

A thousand won couldn’t buy a lot, but it could still get something sweet from the neighborhood store.

Knowing her personality, if she bought something, she would share half with me, and I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

Maybe she sensed my feelings.

She rolled her eyes for a moment, as if she was struggling to answer, and then replied.

“…This is the kind of world we live in.”

“This kind of world?”

At my follow-up question, she rolled her eyes again.

We stood in front of the Salvation Army’s red kettle for a while.

The volunteer ringing the bell beside us listened to our conversation with interest.

“Yes, because this is the kind of world we live in….”

Noticing our conversation, her face turned red.

Embarrassed, she pondered a bit more and finally added softly.

“Because this is the kind of world we live in, it’s nice if we can help each other….”

She said it in a voice that was barely audible.

Because this is the kind of world we live in, we help each other.

Although I was too young to understand most of what adults said back then, I immediately understood what she meant by those words.

She always helped me in difficult situations.

When my mother went to work, she would come to keep me company, care for me, and play with me.

Even in my childhood, when I just enjoyed playing with her, I vaguely sensed that it wasn’t easy for her.

No matter how difficult the situation, just helping each other and living like this gave us immense strength.

“I see.”

Because this is the kind of world we live in.

The world we live in is like this.

So, helping each other is good.

After all, it’s a world we all have to live in together.

Of course, not many people genuinely think that way.

Even if I didn’t understand it as a child, I know that now.

In this world, you don’t lose anything by not helping others.

And on the other hand, nothing special comes from helping others either.

I wonder why, at such a young age, she could realize that. Even now, I don’t know.

Maybe it was because she was that kind and remarkable.

I looked up at her, holding my hand, like a hero from a comic.

She, clearly embarrassed by her words, glanced away from my gaze, her face flushed bright red.

I took out my pocket money, a five-hundred-won coin, and put it into the Salvation Army’s red kettle, just like her.

Clink.

The sound echoed as it collided with other coins inside the kettle.

And that memory became the most important moment in my life.

I blinked.

What I saw before me was a majestic temple.

The pillars were intricately carved, each design unique, as if every one of them had been carved by hand.

It looked like a scene from a myth, or maybe a condensed depiction of human history.

There weren’t just one or two of those grand pillars.

Many rose in intervals, supporting the vast ceiling of the temple that seemed to extend endlessly.

I’d seen this sight once before.

The first time I died, before crossing to another world, I received powers here from the goddess.

I was asked to save a world in danger, and with the help of my comrades, I somehow managed to defeat the Demon King…

…Although it seems I died once more during that process.

“I see you’ve sacrificed yourself again.”

A voice echoed.

It was a voice I remembered.

The same one I heard when I first came here.

As I turned my head, a beautiful woman came into view.

“With skin as white as porcelain and pink hair, she walked toward me with the sound of her heels clicking, wearing a white garment intricately embroidered with gold thread.”

‘Are your companions safe?’

‘Yes, thanks to your sacrifice.’

‘…That’s a relief.’

She frowned slightly upon hearing my murmur.

Even with that expression, her beauty remained untouched—it truly felt like she was indeed a goddess.

‘They’ll be very saddened for a while, though.’

‘…Will they?’

‘Of course they will.’

She let out a deep sigh and spoke.

‘You were the hero, after all. You were the most important person in the party. Do you not realize how much those kids depended on you?’

‘They were all quite strong, weren’t they?’

An archer chosen unanimously by the elder elves.

The kingdom’s top knight and youngest captain.

A genius mage who single-handedly rewrote the history of magic.

A saint who healed people with the goddess’s power whenever needed.

I didn’t meet all of them at once.

Along the journey to defeat the Demon King, we got involved in various incidents, grew close, and eventually became companions we could trust with our lives.

In the end, it was thanks to them that I could defeat the Demon King.

‘Even if they are strong…’

The goddess began to speak but then fell silent.

After a moment, she smiled and said,

‘Well, I suppose there’s no need to say more here.’

She nodded to herself, as if understanding something, and continued,

‘Yes, they’ll overcome it eventually. They’re strong, just as you said.’

‘They will, right?’

I regretted not being able to say a final goodbye.

…I hope my choice didn’t hurt them too much.

Though I have already left that world, they still have things to do.

The Demon King has fallen, but remnants of the demon race remain, and the tainted lands need purifying.

They have to rebuild the empty towns, create new villages, and cultivate the long-abandoned, desolate lands for food production.

Well, even if I were still alive, those responsibilities wouldn’t have been mine.

It was the duty of the kingdom’s leaders and those who already held important positions among my companions.

‘Did you just think, “I was useless except for defeating the Demon King”?’

‘…No, I didn’t think that far.’

I protested as the goddess looked at me with a sly smile.

Of course, I actually did think that.

The goddess sighed deeply, running her hand over her face.

‘Why is it that every hero summoned from another world to save this one thinks like that…’

‘Wait, was there someone else besides me?’

The goddess paused in thought, then replied,

‘Well, I met one before I came here—a goddess who, after saving the world, ended up diving into work to avoid people’s attention.’

‘…Is there another goddess besides you?’

‘Huh? Oh, right?’

The goddess scratched the back of her head with her hand.

‘Well…if I start talking about this, it’ll go on forever.’

‘No, it sounds like a very important story—’

‘Ah, I’m telling you it’s nothing you need to worry about.’

She waved her hand dismissively.