The Second Salvation Myth of a Retired Regressed Hero

“…What is it?”

Tutting sounds came from the surrounding students. This minotaur’s reputation wasn’t particularly good, even among the other students besides Doyun.

Torn flared his ring-adorned nostrils, twisting his ugly face.

It was always like this. Ever since the mana test, Torn had harbored ill feelings towards Doyun, childishly and persistently picking fights with him.

According to the other students, Torn was the one who became a laughingstock among the instructors by asking, “What happens if I break the plate?” during the test.

It seemed he resented Doyun for stealing the spotlight of breaking the plate, which was supposed to be his performance. Such a petty grudge.

“Piss off. That female is mine.”

And the fact that he had become infatuated with Sophie played a part as well.

‘Quite persistent…’

Doyun didn’t dislike the Torn before him. As a former guild master, he tended to be rather generous towards talents.

While not on Sophie’s level, Torn was still a considerable talent – comparable to Dewshy’s level, worth being called gifted.

Although he severely lacked wisdom and patience, Doyun, who had experienced countless races through traveling the continent, didn’t find those aspects too objectionable.

The troll and werewolf races Doyun favored were just as hot-tempered.

‘But it’s these kinds of fellows that truly deserve to be called warriors.’

Living together, they came across as foolish and impatient. But on the battlefield, they were unmatched in valor and resilience.

Doyun was certain the minotaur race was no different.

However, the current situation was quite troublesome regardless.

Doyun studied Sophie’s expression. She seemed fidgety about the situation, feeling guilty for causing Doyun trouble.

Torn might only find Doyun likable. Sophie was likely quite stressed by this situation.

Just as Doyun pondered how to get rid of him, about six female students swarmed over, standing between Torn and them.

Torn frowned.

“Piss off.”

“The cow is starting again?”

“I’m not a cow. I don’t produce milk. Piss off.”

“Go take a shower, cow. You reek of spoiled milk.”

“I’m not a cow. I have no interest in low-quality females like you. Piss off.”

“You dare covet even Lady Sophie? Know your place, cow.”

“I’m not a cow, you idiotic females. Piss off right now.”

A confrontation began between Torn and the female students.

Violence was strictly prohibited within the Cradle. Thanks to that, Torn could only growl menacingly.

He had already committed a major incident and been penalized. The instructors’ use of force had been enough to instill the rules into even his foolish head.

Sophie took Doyun’s hand and left the area. Torn was foolish enough to be completely baited by their provocations, unable to pay Doyun any mind – like a bull seeing only the red cape before him.

“…I should thank them sometime. I’m always receiving help like this.”

“Ah, I’ll pass on your gratitude! It was my fault this happened in the first place…”

The female students from earlier were Sophie’s followers.

Just like anywhere else, cliques had formed at the Cradle as well.

After over three weeks had passed, the students had grasped the atmosphere quite well.

Everyone knew that their Cradle grades would greatly impact their lives afterward – in other words, being scouted by guilds.

Hence, the centers of the cliques were always the top-performing talents. Sophie, considered one of the prime talents of this batch, was at the very center of the Cradle’s largest clique.

This aspect had been quite unexpected for Doyun.

‘I had worried she might face ostracization from the other girls.’

Doyun remembered the envious gazes the female students had directed at Sophie during her debut at the mana test.

Moreover, in Doyun’s view, Sophie seemed introverted and delicate in personality. So he had partly stuck by her side out of concern, only to later learn she was the top power player at the Cradle.

It seemed Sophie’s capabilities exceeded Doyun’s expectations. According to rumors, she had charmed the students with her unique, graceful yet steely queen-like charisma.

‘…Steely? Queen?’

From Doyun’s perspective, such rumors were quite puzzling… but then, rumors were always exaggerated and distorted. He let it go with a shrug.

Of course, Torn was also an excellent talent. But unlike the gentle, charismatic Sophie who embraced and coordinated others, Torn was simply crude and foolish.

He was also a top talent expected to be scouted by a prestigious guild… but no one wanted to be around him.

Sophie tugged Doyun’s sleeve, leading him away. His gaze was once again drawn to her swaying lower body.

‘…Must be unfounded rumors?’

Another rumor Doyun had heard claimed that Torn had been knocked out by one of Sophie’s high kicks.

Doyun shook his head. No matter how angry she got, there was no way the kind and gentle Sophie could have done such a thing.

Before Doyun, Sophie was simply an infinitely refined lady.

+++

Four weeks had passed since the Cradle opened.

At the end of the 4th week, the tournament evaluation began.

“The rules are simple. You’ll receive the armaments of your choice and enter the ring for 1-on-1 fights. Killing is absolutely prohibited, as is continuing to fight after a surrender or incapacitation.”

Even if body parts were damaged or severe injuries sustained, the waiting healers would fully restore them.

It was truly the perfect environment to fully showcase one’s abilities.

Cradle grades were displayed as rankings and made public. These grades were determined by compiling the scores from each class.

In other words, aspects unrelated to classes wouldn’t be graded.

However, the students were dimensional immigrants with diverse talents beyond what was covered in classes.

And this was an extremely important area when scouting for talents.

An opportunity to display their hidden talents without reservation, reflecting them in their scores and raising their value – that was the significance of this tournament.

“The winners will be chosen from each of the 4 groups, one from each, for a total of 4 winners. And for this tournament, elixirs have been prepared as prizes for the winners, so give it your all!”

The instructors muttered among themselves. Although they had been informed in advance, this unprecedented situation remained unchanged.

Not that there were any complaints. The fairness of publicly awarding winners through open competition, the transparency of being sponsored by the Headmaster’s personal funds, and the presence of a far greater topic of interest that rendered this a trivial matter.

Everyone was simply curious about the Headmaster’s intentions.

‘Elixirs, huh…’

Doyun briefly indulged in nostalgia.

It had been quite a while since he had elixirs – items that didn’t exist on Earth.

In his previous life, Enoch had consumed all sorts of elixirs.

He had regressed 17 times. With each regression, his knowledge of the future accumulated, including the locations, acquisition methods, and consumption methods of various elixirs.

Perhaps no one across the entire continent had consumed as many elixirs as Enoch.

‘Come to think of it, will this body’s elixir absorption rate be different?’

Elixir absorption rates were also determined by one’s constitution, considered an aspect of talent.

The divine beast body. This vessel had displayed outstanding talent in all areas. Its elixir absorption rate was an aspect with considerable expectations.

Moreover, elixirs were a kind of delicacy. Having enjoyed fine dining while traveling across the continent, Doyun looked forward to the elixir he would receive in more ways than one.

“Now then, let’s begin the tournament!”

The students looked around, sensing a peculiar tension.

“Why are there so many instructors? It’s like they’ve all gathered here.”

“…Isn’t this just a grading tournament?”

Just like during the mana test, an exceptionally large number of instructors had taken positions around the area.

While some students thought, ‘I guess this tournament is a major event like the mana test,’ quite a few sensed a different tension compared to the mana test.

The instructors’ demeanor was far more serious than usual. Not just serious, but some instructors looked ready to breathe fire.

All of this was because of the boss monster killer – in other words, Doyun.

‘The 4th week is ending. If we can’t identify them here, we’ll really fall behind in the recruitment race.’

‘…Just who are they to still be hidden at this point?’

‘Shit… If we can’t find them, our sponsorship will really be cut…’

The rumors about the boss monster killer that had begun spreading in the 2nd week were now known to every instructor at the Cradle.

One of only two boss monster killers in the Cradle’s 70-year history. The appearance of this gem had not just the instructors, but even the guilds outside the Cradle, in an uproar.

There was an information control pact to prevent foreign guild interference, fierce contention between major guilds, and pressure demanding information disclosure from the Cradle.

It even reached the point where the royal family had to intervene as mediators to prevent an outright war between guilds.

The result was the current tense atmosphere in the arena. On this rare opportunity to directly observe the combat abilities of students from other positions, an exceptionally heavy tension had formed, centered around the instructors sponsored by major guilds.

In particular, their attention was focused on the students from the swordsmanship class.

‘According to the rumors, the boss monster’s corpse was covered in sword wounds.’

This was one reason Doyun, initially a strong boss monster killer candidate, had fallen out of the spotlight.

Currently, only Sophie knew that Doyun’s main weapon at the Cradle was the sword, and that he would be using one in this tournament.

Of course, Doyun, who had been utterly focused on training while maintaining a private life, was completely oblivious to these circumstances surrounding him.

“The tournament brackets will be determined by draws conducted here, and students from non-combat and support positions will be excluded from the bracket.”

A massive tournament with around 220 participants out of roughly 300 students. The 110 matches comprising a sort of preliminary round would likely conclude faster than expected.

Makeshift matches held simultaneously with only a single supervising instructor and no properly equipped ring. The pace had to be brisk.

Moreover, around 20 of those matches were bound to have forfeits. Some students would give up on their grades, while others would be drastically mismatched in ability.

“First, before creating the brackets, we’ll accept any requested matches.”

The brackets were basically randomized, but requested matches were accepted if both sides agreed.

Requesting didn’t guarantee approval. To prevent match-fixing, partial consent from the instructors was required.

But such consent was rarely withheld. How could the administrators instantly discern match-fixing or not in this setting? From their perspective, random pairings without any potential issues were naturally preferred.

However, there were rare cases where consent was given.

After all, this was ultimately a stage to showcase the talents’ skills as a performance. If a highly anticipated big match that piqued everyone’s interest was arranged, approval tended to be granted.

And right now, one such big match was about to be arranged.

“Alright, the cow with his hand raised. Speak.”

Torn twisted his nose at being called a cow, but only briefly. He licked his lips at the attention focused on him.

Yes, this was the privilege he should have received – the attention of these scoundrels and the sense of superiority, not that lowly human bastard.

“I’ll make a nomination.”

Letting the limelight stiffen his loins slightly, Torn pointed a finger at Han Doyun.

“Come out, human.”

Sensing he had been dragged into a troublesome situation, Doyun frowned.

“Let’s see which of us is the superior male.”

Torn snorted, jiggling his golden nose-ring.