Chapter 126 – Hometown Living (2)

“…”

“……”

The immigrants from the moderate faction seemed unable to adjust to their long-awaited return home.

It was understandable; there were things here that shouldn’t even exist in this world.

Setting aside the fitness equipment, the residents of this world were cooking and eating ramen.

No, let’s say that was acceptable.

“Isn’t that protein powder?”

“Why is something like that here…”

They were items that, at a glance, could not have come from this world.

The moment she saw them, Seo Hyun-ji felt a throbbing headache coming on.

Because there was only one person who would do something like this.

“Surely they don’t do that ‘prayer’ thing every day, do they…?”

“…”

One of her kinsmen spoke, but no one could answer.

It seemed this place was no longer the world they knew.

One piece of evidence was unfolding right before their eyes.

They saw two men fighting over a woman in the street.

The woman was awkwardly stuck between them, while the two men in front of the grand plaza hurled threatening and aggressive words at each other.

“Fine, let’s settle this.”

“Just what I wanted!”

And so, a contest of the two men’s pride began.

Dueling is illegal in this world. This is because it was all too common for someone to die when people fought with sharp weapons in the name of defending their honor.

“What’ll it be?”

“Deadlifts.”

“Deal.”

In the grand plaza, where the Hero’s statue stood, a powerful contest between two men to win a woman’s heart unfolded.

“Hey, hey. Is this for real?!”

Spectators gathered to watch the clash between the two men, their muscles rippling.

Since they weren’t swinging swords, it was a relatively peaceful way to resolve things.

But there was something unsettling about the madness in their devotion to muscle.

“It’s just as you’d expect from a place connected to *him*.”

Seo Hyun-ji let out a quiet sigh.

“Still, it’s a good sight, isn’t it?”

“What’s good about it? It’s a mess. They all have V-shaped bodies, like they walked straight out of an American superhero comic.”

“But it’s so vibrant.”

That wasn’t wrong.

Though the fact that it seemed *overly* vibrant was a bit of a flaw.

“We’re going inside to talk about the future.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“You should rest. You were practically the head of the household back in the modern world, taking care of all of us.”

It was the truth.

Seo Hyun-ji gave a bitter smile at her companions’ words.

Looking back, it felt like she had lived a frantic life.

Seo Hyun-ji had crossed over through dimensional travel before the apocalypse came to the continent. Because of that, she didn’t know much about the city’s situation before then.

“It was hell back then.”

To say it felt like being trapped in a cage, waiting for the day you’d die, would be accurate.

Seo Hyun-ji fell silent at the man’s words.

Certainly, looking at the city’s people now, you couldn’t tell they were people who had experienced an apocalypse.

Now that they were in better shape, some were even treating the work of constructing the city walls as a form of exercise.

Even an elderly man who looked quite old had a six-pack carved into his abdomen.

‘It’s always like this wherever he is.’

Wherever Team Leader Lee Hyunbin was, even if the atmosphere felt like a screw was loose, everyone had hope.

Team 3, where she had been, was the same.

Seo Hyun-ji, who was cautious around people, naturally fell into a sibling-like relationship with Kim In-ho and Kim Tae-yang.

‘Of course, the way he worked us like crazy was a bit much.’

No matter how much it was training for strengthening, it was so grueling you’d think it was torture.

Seo Hyun-ji recalled old memories.

Seeing the scenery of her hometown, where she had lived, her childhood memories began to surface one by one.

Her mother was a songstress.

Her beautiful voice as she sang, and the graceful lines her movements drew to the music, were so mystical that even as a child, she was mesmerized.

She, too, wanted to become a beautiful songstress like her mother.

-So, like a girl group?

Suddenly, Seo Hyun-ji recalled something someone had said.

‘Huh?’

She felt bewildered by the memory that came to her without warning.

She had definitely lived in this city as a child.

Looking at the grand plaza, memories came back one by one.

The wooden benches lining the plaza. And if you walked down the side street, it would be packed with street stalls.

Of course, they had been gone for a long time now, since the economy wasn’t functioning properly.

Past that, at the end of an alley, was an empty lot. It was far from the entertainment district, so few people passed through.

It felt like her own secret hideout, but at some point, an uninvited guest had appeared in her hideout.

‘I remember hearing that from someone when I was little.’

It could just be a simple case of déjà vu.

The term ‘girl group’ didn’t exist in a place like this.

-What’s a girl gwoop?

-A job where you sing and dance. And make people happy.

-Then I wanna do that.

She tilted her head.

It felt like she’d had a conversation with someone.

‘Ah.’

She remembered.

It was a young man with black hair.

The other knights who trained with swords were scary, but strangely, he wasn’t.

“The Hero…”

A word she remembered even from her childhood.

That man was called the Hero.

Her mother had said that young man was the only hope to save this world.

She hadn’t found that very convincing.

The black-haired man she saw didn’t look strong.

In her eyes, strong people were those with scars on their faces or intimidating looks.

-Mister. Are you a dummy?

One day, she had asked the Hero.

-Why do you always lift wocks up and down?

-It’s a workout.

-Workout?

-Yeah, strength training.

-It looks bowing.

-It’s fun. I can feel these kids starting to talk to me.

-These kids?

-Yeah. This one here is a kid named Traps, say hi. You can call this cute one here Biceps.

The conversation, boasting about muscles, reminded her of someone.

‘No way.’

Seo Hyun-ji was only six years old back then. The Hero she saw was an adult.

‘Wasn’t the age difference between me and the Team Leader six years?’

No matter how she thought about it, there was no way he was that person.

In her childhood, playing with kids her age was boring, so the playmate she found was the Hero.

The Hero was an adult, but he didn’t feel like one. And he was a good conversation partner, which she liked.

It was on one particular day.

She had brought along some bread she had made, helping her mother out.

It was to both show off her test creation to the Hero and have him try it.

-Hi…!

She was about to greet him cheerfully, but the atmosphere around the Hero in the hideout was strange.

Startled, she hesitated for a moment.

Sensing her presence, the Hero looked up.

It was awkward when their eyes met.

-Mister, wanna eat this?

-…What is it? A pebble?

-That’s so wude.

She answered sullenly.

The corners of the Hero’s mouth curled up playfully. And this from a grown man who had been whining and crying just a moment ago.

Still, when she gave him the bread, he ate it quietly.

-Did your fwiends disappear again?

-…

The Hero was an adult.

He didn’t cry because there was something he didn’t like in his food, nor did he cry when he saw a bug.

Instead, he grew sad when he couldn’t meet his friends anymore.

-I’ll be your fwiend, so don’t cwy anymore.

-You, a little kid?

-I even made you bwead.

-Right, you did give me some.

The Hero muttered as he took another bite of the bread in his hand.

‘What is this.’

Seo Hyun-ji felt a sense of wonder.

The memories had started to surface one by one, and now they were flooding in.

Before she knew it, Seo Hyun-ji had reached the city wall beyond her secret hideout.

One day, a horde of monsters had come near the city in search of food.

The Goddess’s city was protected by a blessing, so it was safe from monster invasions. But the people outside were an exception.

A group of traveling merchants, who happened to be entering the city, began to be chased by the monster horde.

Although there were warriors escorting the merchants, the number of monsters seemed quite large.

She thought the soldiers would help the poor merchants. But the soldiers only jeered at them.

Saying they’d be eaten for walking so slowly.

The reason they didn’t help was obvious.

Traveling merchants were often wanderers without a nationality.

And the soldiers had no obligation to protect outsiders.

In fact, it was better for them if the merchants died, as they could then collect all the leftover goods and money.

She saw a girl her own age among the merchant family.

She couldn’t bear to watch those poor people die.

She hurriedly looked for an adult who could help.

Only one person came to mind.

The Hero was still training in his hideout. In her desperation, she spoke to him.

Just as she expected, the Hero, unlike other adults, acted without calculating any personal gain or loss.

The group of merchants had luckily survived so far. But the magical beasts chasing them were relentless, driven by their gluttonous appetites.

Seeing the city gates that wouldn’t open, the Hero leaped off the wall.

The people who had been watching the merchant family’s crisis let out quiet gasps of awe.

The Hero single-handedly wiped out all the magical beasts. Without receiving a single scratch.

People clapped as they watched the Hero safely rescue the merchant family.

The soldiers, however, watched this with great displeasure.

King Aitesos was a very cunning man, and the more the Hero’s fame grew, the more it seemed to expose his own incompetence, which made him uncomfortable.

Soon, the Hero was dispatched to the battlefield.

-Can’t you not go?

Even as young as she was, she knew it was an impossible request.

The Hero exists to defeat the Demon King. The Hero who came here to fight had to fulfill his mission.

She didn’t like that.

There were plenty of others who could wield a sword. In her eyes, the Hero was not someone suited for the sword.

-This will probably be the last war. So eat well, and stay well.

With that, the Hero smiled gently and patted her head.

Many people’s eyes grew teary as they watched the back of the Hero heading to the battlefield for the final war against the Demon King.

She, too, could not forget that sight.

Because it was the last time she ever saw the Hero.

Afterward, rumors spread that the Hero had succeeded in defeating the Demon King but had died from the Demon King’s curse.

Some even said that King Aitesos had plotted against him.

She cried a lot. It was probably her first love.

***

“……”

Wandering the streets where she had played as a child after so long, forgotten memories surfaced one after another.

“I must be going crazy.”

Seo Hyun-ji thought that the gentle, smiling face of the Hero she had seen back then looked exactly like Hyunbin’s now.

That couldn’t be right. For one, the age difference didn’t make sense.

Besides, there was no way that grumpy man would ever smile so kindly.

‘It’s just my memory romanticizing my first love.’

Seo Hyun-ji thought, a bitter smile on her face.

Even thinking about it now, he was a foolish person.

Even to her younger self, it was clear he was going to a place where he would likely die. To go to a battlefield for people who had nothing to do with him.

The Hyunbin she knew wasn’t that kind of person.

Her heart just felt troubled for no reason.

Anyway, she had already decided to be with her kinsmen now.

A cold man who didn’t even come to see her off when she was returning to her original world probably wouldn’t feel sad about it either.

“Hoo…”

Seo Hyun-ji brushed her hair back and gave a bitter smile.

In truth, her mind had been made up from the start. She had only followed them this far because she was sad to part with people who were like family.

The city looked peaceful.

There was no despair of not knowing when you might die at the hands of the Demon King, only the hope of a new beginning.

Here, her companions would be safe.

Seo Hyun-ji turned back with light steps.

To say goodbye to her companions.

“Shit, the Goddess’s religion doesn’t do this crap…!”

“The Hero’s religion is different, brother. Why don’t you understand that tempering oneself and self-reflection is the true meaning of ‘love’?”

“Are you crazy? Are you all crazy?”

“Yes, I am crazy. Crazy with faith in the Hero’s religion! Crazy with the love of our faith! You must be able to lift a total of 100 or more in the big three to pray properly!”

Of course, seeing the remnants of Team Leader Hyunbin’s legacy, she did feel a little worried for her companions.

Still, having tried it herself, fitness training was good for both maintaining one’s figure and one’s health.

Just then, she heard the short screams of her companions.

‘Maybe it’s a little bad for your health?’

The elder blankly watched as his people were training—no, praying.

He, too, was just as bewildered, having never imagined the city would change like this.

He had been excluded for now due to his age, but he couldn’t guarantee he would be safe forever.

“You look like you have something to attend to?”

“Yes, Elder.”

Seeing Seo Hyun-ji’s face, the elder gave a gentle smile.

“Yes, that would be good too.”

“I still have things to do. I was going to say my goodbyes once everyone is done praying.”

“There’s no need to wait. Everyone was expecting it, anyway.”

“Expecting it?”

The elder smiled gently.

“This time, don’t let him go. Stay by his side.”

“…?”