The Second Salvation Myth of a Retired Regressed Hero

‘Let’s do it.’

Steadying his mind, he clenched his fist tightly.

A belligerent aura boiled up from within, causing the veins on Doyun’s arm to bulge prominently.

While Doyun focused his mind, the students one by one underwent the mana test.

Tap.

“Next!”

Thump!

“Next!”

Smack.

“Next!”

Various impact sounds rang out. But most were dull noises, and only a few could genuinely be called impact sounds.

‘No, no… no.’

The archery instructor concentrated all his senses whenever infusing mana, searching for the boss monster killer.

But then…

‘…Hm?’

A female student appeared, distracting not just the archery instructor’s focus, but capturing the gaze of every male present.

‘Wow…’

‘Hi, hips… Whoa…’

‘That ass, f*ck… I’m getting hard, seriously.’

Below her slender waist without an ounce of fat, her hips explosively flared out.

Her ass seemed like it would jiggle enticingly if smacked, boasting an impressive resilience just from looking at it.

The firm thighs smoothly descending from there were neither excessively fleshy to appear unsightly nor overly muscular to diminish her femininity.

Thick yet shapely, brimming with healthy voluptuousness while exuding sensuality – thighs that would divide no one’s preferences.

“…What’s her name?”

“Sophie. Our class already has rumors about her. The ‘Ass Bitch’ is what the girls call her.”

“Your class? Lucky you…”

However, contrary to her lewd body and vulgar nickname, Sophie’s face was as round and innocent as could be.

A look that seemed to politely decline any request yet oblige anything, the kind that would normally stimulate a man’s protective instinct. But thanks to her lascivious body, it only incited crass lust and a desire to conquer.

Ripples spread wherever groups of male students were gathered, creating an uproar.

“Quiet! Be quiet!”

“These brats… No discipline?! They came to fool around!”

The female instructors tried to quell the commotion. The male instructors, like the students, were completely entranced by her.

Despite her excessively assertive lower body, her meek, timid gait like a frightened rabbit only fanned the flames of the males’ sadistic urges.

Just as the males showered her with excessive attention, the female students also shot her scathing looks.

“Ugh, that attention whore… Look at her prancing around.”

“Hah, isn’t she crazy? Why is she the only one wearing leggings?”

Of course, what Sophie wore was not leggings but the same Cradle uniform as them.

“Hm? She has a horn on her forehead?”

“Doesn’t your class have horned students? We have about three. With so many different origins, it’s not that strange.”

“But that’s not it, why is she wrapping cloth around her horn?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah?”

“Look at her eye color! Pink irises, I’ve never seen that before. Like gems…”

“Well, not gems but… uh… something seems a bit off…”

There were quite a few other unique points, but they were overshadowed by her lower body and beauty, garnering little attention.

“Phew…”

Sophie took a deep breath, biting down on a hair tie in her mouth. Then she raised both hands to her head.

Her long, pale nape was revealed from beneath her silvery bedhead hair. With dexterous movements, she tied a refreshing ponytail.

The speechless librarian look transformed into an unexpected athletic charm, like a girl who enjoyed track and field as a hobby.

“I…”

“…Yes?”

The archery instructor, who had been peeking at her underarms as pale as her nape, snapped to attention at Sophie’s voice.

“Need to receive the mana…”

“Ah, ah! Right, uh, okay.”

Sophie turned her back. The instructor, his gaze fixed on her buttocks without realizing it, placed his hands on her back.

The sensation of her skin under his palms was also quite pleasant. Despite her slender, fatless back, it retained a distinctly feminine softness… a feeling that made his loins stir.

But then he regained his senses from an unexpected sensation.

‘Hm? Oh… look at this?’

Almost none of the mana was repelled into the air. Most of it flowed smoothly into her channels, without any obstructions.

In terms of sheer mana affinity talent, she seemed like a remarkable genius who could easily join even the ‘World Tree’, the top guild in this country.

“Phew…”

After receiving the mana infusion, Sophie took another deep breath in front of the plate.

She bounced lightly on the spot. An exceptionally agile movement.

‘Not a fist style, but a kicking style?’

It was a clear kicking stance. The test instructor’s eyes sparkled as he watched.

“Begin.”

At the instructor’s command…

“Hah!”

With a sharp kiai, Sophie spun her body and extended her firm leg.

A kick imbued with ample power yet keen sharpness. To the students who couldn’t track her leg’s movement, its blurred outline seemed like a skewer.

CRACK!

“Ooh…!”

An impeccable, beautiful spinning hook kick.

The most vicious impact sound yet heard elicited gasps of admiration from some.

Despite her tightly flexed buttocks and sleekly extended thighs, not a single lewd thought arose – it was a movement of sheer beauty.

Sophie retracted her leg. The plate was deeply indented in the shape of her shoe’s sole, even leaving two large cracks penetrating the edges.

The mark’s color was a brilliant red, the most vibrant color change so far, radiating outward to cover half the plate.

“Excellent.”

At the instructor’s praise, Sophie timidly lowered her body in a bow – an innocent reaction completely at odds with the splendid display.

Sophie placed her hands on her chest, let out a sigh of relief, and trotted back to her spot with a slightly flushed face.

Doyun nodded as he watched her.

‘Good.’

The movement Sophie showed was truly excellent, enough to satisfy even Doyun, who had watched countless geniuses over more than a century. She was undoubtedly a coveted talent.

If not for Doyun, she would have easily secured the top spot in this Cradle batch.

‘If only she could have trained a little under Hecleus, she really could have become a masterpiece.’

It was a meaningless hypothetical, but he still felt a tinge of regret.

Then, as Sophie returned to her spot, her gaze briefly met Doyun’s.

‘Hm?’

She flinched in surprise and quickly looked away.

Doyun didn’t think too much of the coincidence.

‘Her eyes are rather peculiar.’

But after that, Sophie kept glancing at Doyun while fidgeting with the cloth-wrapped horn on her head.

Meanwhile, the instructors who had observed her from afar gave assessments similar to Doyun’s.

“A drool-worthy talent.”

“Unless something unexpected happens, she’ll likely be the top student this batch.”

“What’s that friend’s name?”

The unarmed combat instructor beside them answered with a satisfied look.

“Student Sophie.”

Sophie was a talent the combat instructor had been watching closely since the first week, a fact the other instructors were aware of.

As expected, she had admirably demonstrated her quality before everyone, leaving him feeling unduly proud, as if it were his own achievement.

“It’s been a while since a top talent candidate entered the unarmed combat class?”

“Yes. This batch seems quite rewarding.”

Although there was a slightly materialistic logic of being sponsored by guilds, they were fundamentally instructors – those who made teaching new apostles their profession and found fulfillment in it.

Teaching talented individuals was always a joy. Especially in a field like unarmed combat, which chronically suffered from a dearth of talent.

Additionally, the position closest to the students was that of the respective class instructor.

Connections with promising students held immense value in themselves. And if that led to being scouted by their sponsoring guild, even better.

‘Just looking at her physical balance… she may not have a huge advantage in fist styles, but her innate talent for kicking styles is outstanding enough to completely make up for it. Not just a natural sense, but her God-given lower body physique is truly artistic.’

He too was observing Sophie’s lower body with a covetous gaze. Of course, it wasn’t out of vulgar lust, but a pure instructor’s desire for talent.

Next was the turn of the minotaur who had earlier questioned about breaking the plate.

‘Hmm…!’

The archery instructor infusing the mana let out another admiring sound. Not as impressive as Sophie, but this minotaur was also quite a remarkable talent.

The footprint and color left by Sophie had already self-repaired – a special mana-infused alloy commonly used in training facilities.

“Begin.”

His thick forearms and fists were pulled back.

“Hrraaah!”

WHAM!

A weighty impact sound thundered through the hall.

“Whoaaa…”

The depth of the indent was much shallower than Sophie’s, but his large fist left a wider mark, leaving a strong impression on many students.

However, unlike Sophie, he couldn’t create any cracks on the plate.

“Excellent.”

The instructor’s praise came again. But Torn, unable to break the plate, sullenly stomped back to his spot with a bruised ego.

And right after him, it was Doyun’s turn as he brushed past.

“Turn your back.”

The archery instructor placed his hands on Doyun’s back and infused him with mana.

‘Hmm…?’

He frowned.

‘His channels are completely blocked?’

Not even a tiny amount of mana could enter his body, all of it leaking out into the air instead.

‘An unremarkable human. Decent musculature but soft, untrained hands. Fair skin with little outdoor exposure. And mana deficiency.’

These features pointed to only one meaning.

‘An Earthling.’

Earth, devoid of mana, filled only with dust in the air. Earthlings born and raised there had their channels clogged by dust, causing nine out of ten to start with the acquired trait ‘Mana Deficiency’.

They had to invest the first few months in unblocking their channels, and even after that, their potential was only so-so at best.

From a guild’s perspective, a unpopular race requiring high upfront investment but yielding low returns – in other words, a bad deal.

‘The divine force is perhaps the only redeeming factor for their race, but that’s meaningless talk for now.’

Not just a boss monster killer, but a subpar talent even a medium-sized guild like his own sponsoring guild would reject.

“Tch.”

He openly clicked his tongue and pushed Doyun’s back with a slap.

“…?”

Doyun was puzzled by the instructor’s suddenly cold attitude. Did I make some mistake?

“What are you doing? Go to the plate.”

Doyun furrowed his brows at the instructor’s unusually curt manner and made his way to the plate.

The unarmed combat instructor overseeing the test shook his head at the archery instructor’s behavior – acting solely on base instincts rather than the basic decency of an instructor.

In any case, the test instructor had also grasped the situation. Based on the other’s reaction, this student must have mana deficiency.

With deeper experience than the archery instructor, he immediately drew the same conclusion from Doyun’s appearance – an Earthling.

Of course, he did not act as rudely as the archery instructor. Without any particular expectations, he simply proceeded with the test in silence.

“Stand before the plate.”

Doyun stood in front of the fully restored plate.

‘Even if the system raved about me having a divine beast body… for a fledgling body, it should at least withstand this much.’

Doyun closed his eyes, focused his mind, and took a deep breath.

“Ssshhh…”

Hecleus’ Fist Style.

Hecleus was one of Enoch’s comrades 100 years ago, a man known as the Fist Saint.

Along with the Sword Saint Busker, the Fist Saint Hecleus was considered one of the greatest geniuses in Enoch’s life spanning over a century.

In fact, this martial art wasn’t something the Fist Saint himself created, but simply his instinctive way of moving his body. Even naming those movements was done by Enoch.

‘But it was more destructive and ruthless than any other martial art in the world.’

Without learning from anyone, he simply swung his fists according to the instincts ingrained within, earning him the title of Fist Saint. He was truly an awe-inspiring genius.

However, the Fist Saint’s fists were never passed down to future generations in any of the 18 lifetimes Enoch lived through.

Hecleus’ Fist Style. This martial art could only be used by Hecleus himself.

To strike hard (强打). This simple and concise will was the very essence of Hecleus’ Style.

A belligerent art focused solely on destructive power. As such, it placed an excessive burden on the practitioner’s body.

Countless martial arts geniuses tried to learn this style only to self-destruct.

Only Hecleus’ sturdy body could withstand the recoil.

‘I could barely mimic it from my 15th regression onward.’

Indeed, how much could this new body endure?

“Huuuuh……”

The deep exhalation from his inhaled breath stirred up dust from the training ground beneath his feet. Despite containing no mana, it was a deep, weighty breath that reverberated across the entire field.

‘Hmm…?’

Only then did the test instructor beside him and a few other veteran instructors sense something amiss.

The large intake of oxygen from the deep breathing – every muscle in his body seemed to greedily absorb it. A faint vapor rose from the excessively preheated muscles.

Doyun closed his eyes, lowered his stance, and pulled his right hand back.

Seeing that pose, the test instructor’s eyes widened.

‘Oh-ho… look at this?’

Legs spread in a rigid horse stance, solidly rooted like pine trees. A sturdy waist twisted to the limit yet uncompromising. The muscles of his upper body twitching, poised to unleash his right hand like a cannon.

And… the force felt from the right fist cocked beside his waist was downright belligerent.

‘So he wasn’t just a soft-looking Earthling… but a young master from a renowned martial arts family?’

But since he had mana deficiency, he likely wouldn’t achieve outstanding results.

No matter how skilled in body arts, he couldn’t compare to mana-enhanced bodies.

“Begin!”

At the instructor’s start command, Doyun’s blazing eyes snapped open.

None present realized the preciousness of the sight they were about to witness – that before their very eyes, the Fist Saint’s fist was about to be unleashed.

That the one delivering that fist was the great hero Enoch Ruszvolnik himself.

No one knew.

KWAAANG–!!