Haa— Haa—
Dark crimson blood stained the floor.
Baek Yuhyun looked down at the massive corpse of the Demon King sprawled at his feet.
The sword, plunged deep into the heart of the dark crimson body, had pierced its core.
The once cruelly gleaming red eyes had faded to a dull, ashen black.
“Phew, cough! Damn it… Even a monstrous bastard like this finally kicks the bucket if you keep stabbing it.”
The curse, thick and guttural, spilled out along with the blood, echoing through the half-ruined Demon King’s castle like a haunting reverberation.
It had been a truly long, tedious, and grueling time.
But those wretched days had finally come to an end today.
As he stared down at the Demon King’s corpse, a hollow emptiness and a sense of futility welled up from deep within his chest.
Ten years.
A whole damn ten years.
Kidnapped into this cursed world while playing a game, forced to endure the nonsense of being called a “hero” and dragged through hellish trials.
The scars and ugly marks etched across his entire body bore testament to the weight of that time.
“Urghhh…”
Yuhyun let out a groan as he stretched his aching back, his body creaking in protest.
And then it happened.
Saaaaaa—
Suddenly, a formless cluster of light emerged above the Demon King’s corpse.
From within that light, a familiar voice flowed forth.
[…Hero, at long last, you have saved this world.]
The voice whispered in his ears, a tone so enchanting it could make one’s mind drift into a haze.
But the moment Yuhyun heard it, irritation surged within him like a tidal wave.
Of course, it would.
This was the very culprit that had kidnapped him and dumped him into this hopeless, godforsaken world.
This being, who had “guided” Baek Yuhyun since the moment of his summoning, called itself a goddess.
“Yeah, sure, Ball of Light. I killed the Demon King like you wanted. So now, send me back home already.”
Yuhyun swallowed the rising anger with effort and responded in a calm, measured tone.
[…Do not call me, the Goddess of Light, by such a vulgar name! How many times have I—!!]
“Beach Goddess, Light Goddess, whatever. You’re a glowing orb. A Ball of Light.”
[Eeeek—!! Even to the very end, you truly—!]
A faint tremor rippled through the cluster of light.
Conversations with this being had always gone like this.
For ten years.
Yuhyun felt a small, petty satisfaction at the goddess’s agitation and shrugged his shoulders.
“Enough. Just send me back to Earth. I did everything you asked. You said if I defeated the Demon King, you’d send me home, didn’t you?”
[That is true. You have fulfilled my mission beyond admirably… Thus, I must grant your wish. However…]
The light hesitated, its words trailing off uncertainly.
“Hey.”
Yuhyun cut her off, his voice dropping to a cold, steely edge as he addressed her.
“Damn it, did I ask for anything complicated? Did I ask to become a god? To turn back time and go to the past? No. I asked for one thing.”
“Just one. Send me back to Earth. That’s all I wanted. Don’t tell me, after all this, you’re going to say there’s no way to send me back, are you…?”
He yanked the sword from the Demon King’s heart.
Dark crimson blood, still warm, dripped from the blade in thick, heavy drops.
“If this was all a lie to make me kill the Demon King, you’re dead. The moment you admit that, the second Demon King is born right here, right now.”
Goooooo—
A powerful aura surged from Yuhyun’s body, rippling and roiling with intensity.
The cluster of light flickered in panic, scattering and reforming in rapid succession.
[N-No, Hero! The promise to send you back will be kept! How could I break an oath sworn on my divine name?!]
“Then why are you hesitating, damn it?”
[I-It’s just… your homeland…]
“My homeland?”
[Yes, your homeland, Earth, is not exactly in a peaceful state right now…]
The goddess’s voice shrank, faltering under Yuhyun’s sharp scrutiny.
Not in a peaceful state?
Yuhyun tilted his head, a creeping sense of unease slithering up his spine.
“Wait a second. You said the time ratio here was ten to one!”
[…Indeed. Though you spent ten years here, only one year has passed on Earth, a different dimension.]
“…And in that one year, what, gates opened and awakened beings and monsters are running rampant or something?”
[Gates? Awakened beings? What are those?]
Huh.
Back in my day, the standard trope was that when a returnee came back to Earth, gates would be open everywhere. Guess that’s not the case here.
“If it’s not that, then what’s this ‘not peaceful’ situation?”
Yuhyun asked, his voice tinged with awkward curiosity.
[A war. A nuclear war has broken out.]
At those words, Yuhyun’s jaw dropped.
“…A nuclear war?”
[Tensions between China and the United States escalated, and they resorted to nuclear weapons. As a result, most nations are on the brink of collapse. And your homeland, Korea, caught between the two…]
The goddess didn’t finish, but the implication was clear enough.
If China and the U.S. had unleashed nuclear arsenals on each other, there was no way Korea, sandwiched between them, could have escaped unscathed.
It was absurd.
Dragged into this wretched world while playing a game, forced to slog through ten years of hell as a so-called hero—already an injustice beyond words.
And now, just when he thought he could escape the misery and enjoy a peaceful life…
What?
A war had broken out?
Not just any war, but a nuclear war?
Thud—
Yuhyun, overwhelmed by futility, lowered his sword and slumped onto the Demon King’s corpse as if it were a chair.
“Ha, damn it.”
He buried his face in his hands, a curse slipping from his lips.
There was no way to hold back the profanity in a situation like this.
Why was his life always such a tangled, cursed mess?
‘Is this right?’
Wooong— Wooong—
[Th-Thus, I wished to offer you two choices! I swear, I had no ulterior motives!]
“Two choices…?”
Yuhyun lifted only his eyes, staring intently at the goddess.
[Yes. The first is to return to your homeland, Earth, as originally promised. In this case, you can take all the transcendent strength, abilities, and physical prowess you’ve gained here with you.]
‘Take this power back with me…?’
The offer was better than expected.
Certainly, with this power, he could shrug off radiation or anything else.
And rebuilding after a nuclear war? Given the vast territories of the U.S. and China, it would take time, but it was doable.
However…
A phrase he’d once read on Earth flashed through his mind.
If World War III broke out, the weapons of World War IV would be sticks and stones.
In a world where modern civilization was utterly destroyed, what was the point of being a big shot?
There’d be no reason to return to Earth from this dark fantasy world.
After all, here, Yuhyun was already treated like a king.
Now that he’d defeated the Demon King, that treatment would likely only intensify.
“So, what’s the other option?”
[The other option is to send you to a parallel world similar to the one you came from.]
“A parallel world? Is there no nuclear war there?”
[Indeed. There may be slight social and cultural differences, but I can assure you, there is absolutely no nuclear war.]
‘A parallel world with slight cultural differences…?’
Yuhyun mulled over the goddess’s proposal.
That changed things.
No, it wasn’t a bad deal.
[However, in this case, you cannot take your current body with you.]
“Why not?”
[First, I must explain. In that parallel world, there was a version of you, but that person recently passed away.]
“The parallel world’s me is dead?”
Yuhyun flinched, his body trembling at the goddess’s words.
[Yes. The version of you in that parallel world saved up to buy the gaming console of their dreams. But the moment they started the first game, they saw a monster on the screen and collapsed from a sudden heart attack. With no one around, they passed away as is.]
A heart attack from being startled by a monster in the opening scene of a game?
Just how frail was this other version of himself?
Yuhyun couldn’t hide the wry expression on his face.
“…Anyway, go on.”
[You would transfer your soul into that body. Thus, you cannot take the power you currently possess with you. O-Of course! In consideration of your efforts, I plan to bestow a minor blessing…!]
Ah.
So, in summary:
Go back to a nuclear-war-torn world with all his current power.
VS
Lose all his power and go to a peaceful parallel world.
For someone else, it might have been a tough choice, a real balancing act.
But for him, the decision was easy.
“I’ll go to the parallel world.”
Surprisingly, it was the goddess who seemed taken aback.
[Are you sure? You’d lose all the power you worked so hard to gain here and start over in an unfamiliar world.]
“Yeah.”
Yuhyun nodded firmly.
“I don’t care about losing power. I just want peace.”
Even if it was a parallel world, if it was similar to the Earth he knew, adapting wouldn’t be a problem.
More importantly, avoiding a nuclear war in exchange for enduring ten years in this world felt like a fair trade.
‘Delivery! Internet! Food! Cleanliness! Dopamine! To me, those are worth more than any superpower!’
Sensing the resolve in his decision, the light dimmed for a moment before glowing brightly.
[Then, in gratitude for your dedication and toil, I, the Goddess of Light, shall grant your wish.]
The light grew brighter and brighter.
The ruined surroundings filled with a blinding white glow.
As the light bathed him, a tingling sensation spread through his body.
[May you find happiness in your new world. I wish you the best, Hero.]
The goddess’s voice faded like a dream, growing distant.
And when he opened his eyes…
.
.
.
“What the hell… The ‘social and cultural difference’… was a gender-reversed world!?”
Yuhyun found himself dropped into a world where genders were swapped.
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