ALL NOVEL Chapter 0 - Return
Enoch Ruszvolnik. He saved the world.
17 deaths, 17 regressions, 18 lives. At the end, he defeated the Demon Lord.
He was born with humble talents as a child of refugees, but he began with an insignificant life of starving on the streets.
Yet the end was magnificent.
However…
His opponent was the Demon Lord, a being on the verge of reaching the divine realm. Until the very last moment when a blade pierced her heart, she remained an existence beyond Enoch’s expectations.
He was prepared for betrayal and a curse of inevitable death. He never underestimated the malice that even a Demon Lord would unleash at the moment of death.
And yet…
‘…Dimensional banishment, I never could have imagined it in my wildest dreams.’
The Demon Lord sacrificed her own life to banish Enoch to another dimension. Even he, who had lived on the battlefield for hundreds of years, never expected such a move.
His original body was torn to shreds by the shock of dimensional travel, and only his soul was safely transmitted. Thus, Enoch was reborn on Earth.
‘Well… it wasn’t too bad.’
The 21st century Earth was the most ideal, peaceful world that he had dreamed of in his original world.
He forcibly eroded the precious connections he had made. It was a survival method from stress that he learned through 17 regressions. If he clung to the connections from his previous life, he would eventually go insane.
Considering it a well-deserved vacation after hundreds of years of bloody battles, he lived comfortably.
He was still puzzled by the reason the Demon Lord disregarded her own life to banish him… but he didn’t dwell on it too deeply.
It was all over now. She must have been really angry.
However, until the very end, the Demon Lord remained an existence that defied Enoch’s expectations.
‘…So this was her hidden scheme.’
Who would have thought she had made plans for the future.
One day, suddenly, Enoch was teleported to an unfamiliar room. No, not teleported. This feeling, he had felt it before.
25 years ago, when he was forcibly transported by the Demon Lord – that sensation. A dimensional transfer.
Then, a translucent message window appeared in the air, just like the interface of a game he enjoyed on Earth.
Introducing itself as the ‘System’, it said:
[100 years ago, the great hero Enoch defeated the Demon Lord. However, the Demon Lord’s daughter later ascended as the new Demon Lord, once again threatening the peace of the continent.]
“What?”
A new Demon Lord? The Demon Lord’s daughter?
Enoch was shocked and enraged that the world he had saved was under threat again.
He wasn’t too surprised by the mention of 100 years, as he had heard the hypothesis in his previous life that time could flow differently between dimensions.
[However, there is no hero now. The hero joined forces with the Demon Lord until the very end, sacrificing his life for the continent.]
Wait a minute.
‘Joined forces?’
Who decided he joined forces with her?
‘It was my… victory!’
It wasn’t a draw. I plunged my blade into the Demon Lord’s heart.
But when he returned to his hometown, history remembered it differently. Enoch’s heart sank.
‘So my comrades… think I’m dead?’
Even though no one could have stood by his side in that chaotic final moment, there was a God.
He believed that God watched the duel from the heavens and would inform everyone of the result. Even if his comrades were briefly shocked by the news of his dimensional banishment, he had hoped they would pray for his well-being, thinking, ‘If it’s Enoch, he’ll live well in another dimension.’ He had hoped for such a warm ending.
But it seems even that God failed to see through the Demon Lord’s final deadly strike of dimensional banishment.
‘…’
Doyun stood still, stunned by the shock.
The guild members who were like family after building connections over many lifetimes. And the countless people who had believed in him.
They must have cried a lot, no doubt.
[This System was created to nurture a new hero to succeed the original hero Enoch. It is a divine blessing optimized to assist the growth of the apostles. Apostle Han Doyun, please grow stronger with the System’s power, defeat the Demon Lord, and protect the continent.]
As the System’s voice continued, Doyun regained his senses and looked up at the sky.
“…God. Can you hear me? I am Enoch Ruszvolnik.”
[I will now move you to the ‘Hall of Trials’ to help you adapt. Survive for 5 days, or defeat the boss monster.]
There was no response. Only an artificial voice, as if pre-recorded, reached his ears.
‘…Let’s meet and talk.’
He would meet them in person and tell them. That he is Enoch Ruszvolnik. That he has returned alive, not dead. He would compensate for their 100 years of sorrow.
Of course, except for long-lived races like elves, there would only be a handful of them still alive after 100 years.
But even so, Doyun’s determination did not waver.
Doyun would defeat the Demon Lord once again. And he would make his name known across the continent, proclaiming himself to be the reincarnation of Enoch Ruszvolnik. The continent would tremble at the hero’s return.
Then, he could at least soothe the souls of those who had grieved Enoch’s death, even in the afterlife.
After saving the world once more and enjoying a peaceful life, when he ascended to the heavens in the future, he would meet those who had died and dispel their sorrow.
[Good luck, seedling of the hero.]
Doyun steeled his resolve as he accepted the enveloping light.
+++
Four days had passed since then.
“Doyun! Don’t just stand there, run away! That’s a monster!!”
On the fourth day of the Trial Hall, with only 3 hours remaining until completion.
The teammates he had met in the Trial Hall were running away in panic.
It was understandable. For them, who had just been summoned to this world, that creature must have seemed like an terrifying monster they had no way of dealing with.
Doyun left them fleeing and calmly turned his head.
‘Still, isn’t this a testing ground for fledglings? They brought a rather vicious boss monster, though.’
A massive 7-meter wart. That must be the boss monster the System mentioned.
Yet Doyun, facing such a monster, showed not even a hint of tension.
‘I really have returned to my homeland.’
Rather, he even felt a sense of welcome at encountering a large monster, something absent on the peaceful planet Earth.
‘Time to get a taste after so long.’
Dragging a rusty longsword along the ground, he walked towards the boss monster. His frightened teammates brushed past him.
Compared to his previous life, his current physical body was in a pitiful state. His magic channels were completely empty, without a trace of mana.
On the other hand, the monster’s sickle was sharp enough to slice through Doyun’s waist twice over, and its lower jaw was powerful enough to crush Doyun’s skull.
But it was fine. A sword was gripped in his hand, so what was there to be afraid of?
‘When the Sword Saint Busker pierced through the enemy lines with just a twig, he looked so cool.’
His steps showed not a hint of tension.
‘Well… even a rusty sword has a certain mood to it.’
No matter how low his physical specs had become, a mere overgrown insect like that posed no threat to Doyun at all.
That was the kind of existence Enoch Ruszvolnik, the great hero who defeated the Demon Lord, was.
The fleeing teammates paused and looked back at Doyun.
“What, what the… Is he insane?”
“Doyun, no!”
“Sis, leave him! We have to survive!”
No matter how extraordinary he had seemed, leading the team during the tutorial, that monster was too hopeless. That’s what his teammates thought.
“It’s been a while…”
A murmur filled with nostalgia and leisure flowed along the dull blade.
Doyun raised the longsword diagonally.
“26 years since returning to my homeland.”
The rusty longsword, dull and seemingly about to break at any moment, shone brilliantly in the hero’s hand.
The 7-meter giant instinctively flinched at that impossible phenomenon. Doyun’s teammates, entranced by that brilliance, also stopped in their tracks and stared blankly. Then, they gasped in shock.
The keen longsword cleaved through the air.
It was the return of the retired hero, Enoch Ruszvolnik.