Translator: HunterW
Editor: RED
As I left the room where I had killed Luana, I saw the mortals that had fled the room out in the hall, huddled together and trembling. They had just seen their exalted Liberator meet her end.
The same man who got angry with me for asking Luana if she was the Liberator got up and glared at me, still trembling in fear. “Our…Liberator…cannot…” He didn’t get to finish as I stabbed him through the chest. He slumped to the floor dead, eyes wide open in shock and without even a scream. Blood poured from the open wound.
This was only the second time I had killed a mortal.
“Anyone else got something to say?”
“…”
I tasted the same bitter bile from when I had killed Oh Hyungjae, but I swallowed through it. I didn’t have any other way to convince them to listen to me, nor did I have the time. At least it looked like it worked.
“Call every single broadcasting station on Earth and have them send their reporters here. You have ten hours. Call newspaper reporters if you have to.”
“…” They didn’t reply.
I raised my spear and slammed the spearhead into the ground, creating a deep crack into the stone floor of the hallway. “If you want to see the same demon that killed your Liberator, keep looking at me like that. I’ll start with you,” I said in a low voice and pointed to one of the guards.
“Yes…yes sir!”
“We’ll do as you say. We’ll… contact them right away!” Frederic cried.
“Oh, and it would be a good idea to not think about running away. I will find you if you do, even if I have to search all of Earth.”
“What…whatever do you mean? We won’t run away. If we use the Saviors’ authority, we can bring everyone here in five hours, not ten.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. You have ten hours.”
“Yes sir,” the five guards and Frederic said in unison as they scrambled away.
——
I entered Luana’s private study and threw myself into an expensive-looking armchair to get my thoughts in order. I could just disappear from Earth now, but I had already drawn the sword, and used it to kill Luana and a mortal. I made my decision to see this through to the end and reveal the truth to everything.
—–
Ten hours later, in the Savior’s press room…
“So what the heck is going on?”
“I don’t know. They just told me to come.”
“It must be pretty important if the Liberator’s own officials sounded that urgent…”
“Do you think so, too?”
“Of course I do. They’re the only Rank 1 humans on Earth. I never saw them act so hastily before.”
“Huh…whatever it is, it can’t be good.”
“But am I the only one here who felt it?”
“You too?”
“Me too.”
“I felt it too. It’s so depressing here, but it’s not like I can actually ask them directly.”
——
The closer I approached the press room, the more I could hear the whispering coming from it, but that was only me. The five officials who followed me to the press room had their heads hung low and remained quiet.
When we got to the press room, I sent the officials in first. When they entered, the reporters inside the press room settled down almost instantly. Once the room was quiet, I entered the press room as well. As I walked in, I saw that a few of the reporters recognized me.
“Isn’t that… Lee Jiwon?”
“I think it is.”
“How is he here?”
“I thought all of the devas and deities, except for the Liberator, were all sent to the Judge’s Continent.”
“Silence!” One of the officials shouted. “This is…”
“You be quiet,” I said curtly. I knew that he was trying to suck up to me. “I don’t mind if this goes out live. Actually, let’s make this live.” Almost instantly, all cameras and microphones were focused onto me.
“I am Lee Jiwon. Yes, I am the same Lee Jiwon, the deva who was taken to the Judge’s Continent about two years ago. But I have come back to Earth. How you might ask? It’s simple; Earth has just about won the war on the Continent.” I looked at the cameras before continuing. “But, when I came back to Earth, I noticed something. Someone was calling themselves the Liberator and doing some really stupid shit. That’s why I killed her. Earlier today, in fact, and with my own hands.”
I saw the shocked and horrified expressions of the reporters in the press room. Unfazed, I calmly continued on. “We will be back soon. All of us. Why? Because as I just said, we have almost won the war. We will win the war. Earth will survive. In other words, you lot will become Tardy Devas. So there’s no reason to divide yourselves up into Ranks and argue who’s better and who’s worse. You will all become Tardy Devas.”
“…” They seemed more shocked from that than when they heard their exalted leader was now dead.
“The devas and deities on the Continent are now a hundred times stronger than they were when we left. So you don’t need to fight amongst yourselves. You’re all equally shit. We will be back and Earth will return to the way it was before. So stop with this nonsense and just get ready to welcome us.”
I had wondered about what to say while I waited in Luana’s private study for the past ten hours. I wondered if I should break the news nicely, but I decided not to. There was no reason to sugarcoat reality. What I told them was all true. They were going to return to the lives they lived as mortals under the service of devas and deities. Those devas and deities who had literally fought with their lives on the lines were going to come back to Earth much stronger than before.
“That’s all I have for you all. Try to live the best life you can in a world without the Liberator and wait for the second coming.” If after all that, they still had a Rank system, I wasn’t going to care anymore. I did the best I could for them and whatever they did afterwards was up to them.
I slowly walked out of the press room, ignoring the five officials following me like stray dogs. Once I was out, I quickly Blinked out of there.
——
Three days later…
“Nothing beats pork belly,” I said with a burp. When I left the Savior’s base, I went all around the world as much as I could. Coming back to Earth after two years felt like a homecoming, so I went around, eating whatever I wanted while doing some hardcore sightseeing. I had taken a good chunk of cash from Luana’s private study, so I didn’t need to worry about that.
A lot did happen during those three days. The Savior’s base was completely destroyed and abandoned and the Rank system had just about disappeared overnight. The mortals just worried about how to welcome the devas and deities that were supposed to return soon.
When I had about one hour left on Earth, I decided to wait in peace. When the time came, a message appeared before me.
==[The 3 days you have been allowed to stay on World 1455 have come to an end.
You will now be forcibly returned to the Judge’s Continent.]==
The same light that had enveloped me when I was first taken to the Continent shone around me again. This time, I wasn’t taken by surprise or afraid. Soon, I found myself in front of the giant Don Gate again.
==[You will be rewarded a bonus based on your accomplishments
Lee Jiwon’s level, total stat points, skills, and items will be calculated into points and compared to all devas and deities of World 1455. (Items obtained to sell will not be counted.)
Calculating Lee Jiwon’s points…]==
“Eh?” I didn’t expect this message to appear. I had already received it when I had first arrived in front of the giant Don Gate two years ago, and gotten some amazing rewards from it. I was taken aback, but only for a moment as I smiled.
This meant I was going to get more rewards.
“Hehehe.” I knew it was going to take the system some time to calculate all of my points, but I didn’t care. I knew it was going to be worth it. A few hours later, the message I was waiting for finally appeared.
==[Lee Jiwon has earned a total of 4,218,856,392 points.
Congratulations. You have earned the most points of World 1455.]==
“Whoa…” I remembered my first points. I had earned more than three hundred million points, but those points went up by tenfold.
==[You are the fifth deva of all Otadolon-completed Worlds to surpass 100,000,000 points. You have reached the pinnacle form. You will now receive your rewards.
Rank 10 Random Item Chest.
5000 Stat points.
5 skill points.
5,000,000,000 golden rings.]==
==[Congratulations for becoming the best in your Otadolon-stage world. An even better reward awaits you if you keep up the good work. Good luck out there, Lee Jiwon!]==
“Tsk.” The rewards were the same as before. It seemed a waste of points, but I shook off my disappointment. It was time to go back to the Continent.
==[You will be moved to the Judge’s Continent.]==
“It was a perfect little vacation.” I was pretty satisfied with the three-day break. I really had to thank the Dungeon Mole for allowing this to happen. “I’ll give you all the banana candies you want once we get back,” I said to myself with a small smile as I felt myself get moved to the Continent.
—–
Section 35 of the Judge’s Continent…
I landed hard on the ground. When I got back up, I noticed that I was back at Section 35. “It looks like nothing’s changed.” It looked just how I had left it.
“Huh?” But I felt a strange aura flowing around the Section and realized right away the source of the problem. Section 35 was where the Empire’s base was located. It was the safest Section of all of Earth’s territories, so anyone who lived here were usually full of pep and joy, especially after the Empire’s string of victories. But I barely saw anyone walking down the streets of Section 35, making the whole place eerily quiet.
Just then, my Comm Link rang. It didn’t ring back on Earth. I tried using it, but it didn’t connect there. I quickly picked it up, since I was just about to call my mother and the Empire.
“Hello.”
“Commander Lee!” the person on the other end shouted. “Commander Lee! Is that really you?”
“Yes, it’s me, Taniya,” I replied, noticing that the person calling was Taniya.
“Where have you been all this time? Why couldn’t we connect to your Comm Link?”
“I… went on a short vacation.” She was going to find out for herself once Earth won the war, but I didn’t want to explain everything on the spot.
“We’ve been looking everywhere for you. Where are you now? Surely you aren’t far, right?”
“I just arrived at Section 35.”
“Whew… please hurry back. Hurry!”
“I will.” Taniya’s voice sounded very urgent. That was enough to tell me that something bad had happened. But I would find out for myself later, and quickly called my mother.
“Hello?”
“Mom.”
“Jiwon? Is that you?”
“Yeah.”
“You little shit! Where have you been all this time? Why couldn’t anyone contact you?”
“I… well… I had to go someplace far away.”
“You still should have called!”
“I’m sorry. I wanted to, but my Comm Link didn’t work there…”
“Where are you now?”
“Section 35. I just got here. I’m about to return to base. I’ll be home once I talk to them.”
“Okay. Make sure you come straight home from there.”
“I will.” I knew I had only stayed three days on Earth, but the problem was the Don Gate. Last time, I had arrived much later than everyone else, so the same must have happened this time.
“But it looks like something had happened during that time.” I used both Blinks and quickly headed for the Empire’s base. I was curious, but I was also confident I could fix whatever it was, especially after what I had earned from my little trip to Earth.
—
The Empire’s headquarters at Section 35…
A huge crowd was waiting for me outside the base’s gates. When they saw me, the Empire’s guild masters and officers all ran out to meet me.
“Where have you been the past three months, Jiwon?” Song Daechul asked.
“Every time we tried to contact you, we were told by the system that you were out of range. Where did you go?”
“There can’t be somewhere outside Comm Link range here on the Continent. Just what…?”
I was shocked at their questions. I was gone for three months? I did not see that one coming! “Let’s head inside for now.”
