Hero

“Where am I?”

A pure-white space.

College student Im Jun could not understand his current situation.

“The Backrooms? Something like that?”

He remembered seeing posts about it on social media, calling it an urban legend.

A strange place with no sound and no objects.

It did not resemble anywhere he knew, and yet, for some reason, he thought it felt cozy.

Was there a front, a side, a ceiling, a floor?

He could not tell whether anything existed at all.

In that alien space where he felt no sense of distance whatsoever, Im Jun decided to try moving forward for now.

That was the conclusion he reached after standing still for a while and looking around.

Because there was nothing he could do by staying in place.

Hoping that even the smallest clue might appear, Jun took a step.

At the same time, Jun thought about why he had ended up here.

For one thing, he had no memory of crashing into a wall.

It probably was not a case of discovering Platform 9 and Three-Quarters from some novel, or a bug that let him clip through a map in a game.

As he slowly searched his memories, his head throbbed.

“That’s right… I was studying late at a study café.”

And then, on the way back to his studio apartment.

The traffic light turned green.

The moment he tried to cross the crosswalk….

A truck slammed into Jun.

It was an undeniable fact.

“Haa…. Did I die? Me?”

Faced with a shocking truth too difficult to bear, Jun clutched his face and sank down.

His mind went blank.

Then he looked around with feelings different from before.

“So this is the afterlife? It’s a lot different from what I expected.”

A land flowing with milk and honey, where lions ate and drank alongside lambs, with a castle built of gold.

A journey after being judged for the sins committed in life.

Or perhaps a cauldron burning with brimstone fire?

All sorts of possibilities came to mind, but he had never imagined an empty, formless space like this.

How long would he have to stay here?

A faint fear began to bloom in Jun.

Would his consciousness simply fade if he stayed like this?

Or would he spend five hundred million years, eternity, a whole lifetime, in this vast empty plain?

If he let his hopes run a little wild, he even imagined that perhaps, after staying here for a short while, he might wake up back in his original world.

As if this were a dream, or some waiting room within his own unconscious.

A little time passed.

Jun no longer walked.

Repeated emptiness.

An unchanging landscape and an unchanging state of being.

He was sick of it.

How maddening it was to keep moving forward without any goal.

He simply crouched down and kept imagining old memories, or what might have happened if he had not been hit by that truck.

With no wall to lean on, he changed posture countless times, sometimes sprawling out flat, sometimes standing back up.

Feeling stifled, he even tried sprinting blindly.

But confronted by the cruel reality that he could not even feel wind brushing against his skin, Jun despaired.

In this place, he could not really feel the passage of time either.

He did not feel sleepy, hungry, or thirsty.

“Uaaaaaaaah!”

Even if he screamed.

“One million and twenty-one, one million and twenty-two…!”

Even if he exercised like a madman.

It was a strange place where he did not grow tired and did not sweat.

In order not to go insane, Jun moved his body every day.

Though he did not know where he was going, he ran.

Though nothing changed, he trained.

Though he was not tired, he slept.

And in order not to forget himself, he continued to recall who he was.

How many days had passed?

With no pen, and with no way to carve even the slightest mark into the floor, Jun could not know.

But it was certain that quite a long time had passed.

The last thing Jun remembered was that his life in this place had exceeded one year.

And he also remembered that so much time had passed that even that first year had faded from memory.

It was a situation that would drive anyone out of their mind.

Jun endured and endured.

Though he did not know the reason, he constantly thought up and created reasons why he had to be here.

When he had even forgotten those reasons, and his repeated days had become a kind of instinct,

a change came to Jun’s daily life.

When he woke after imitating sleep as usual, it was there before his eyes.

A small light.

When something alien appeared in the air of this place where there had been nothing, Jun was afraid.

What in the world was this?

If he had still been the person he was on Earth, he would have thought of various explanations—fireflies, flashlights, lasers—but having changed in many ways, he did not.

And so, after spending what felt like an age with that light floating in the air, observing it from nearby,

Jun finally made up his mind and reached out toward the light.

Flaaaash—.

A brilliant cluster of light that reminded him of his final memory before falling into this space.

“Uaaaaaagh!”

Before he knew it, he curled up around himself and screamed.

“It’s nice to meet you, Im Jun.”

A warm woman’s voice.

How long had it been since he had heard another person’s voice?

“Ah… aaaah….”

Jun could not even utter meaningful words and burst into sobs.

He carefully examined the woman’s appearance.

A beautiful form.

A white dress.

Even without being told, anyone would know.

A god.

That was what she was.

“Who… are you?”

“I am the goddess of Glacius. Glacian.”

“Aah, Lady Glacian….”

It was a name he had never heard in his life, but in Im Jun’s situation, he could not help but believe it.

There were surely people who would resent the one who had sent them to this place.

But for Jun, such feelings were a luxury.

Isolation.

Loneliness.

Depression.

No matter who had appeared in this place, they would have been able to exert an influence over Jun akin to that of a god.

“Lady Glacian, why have you appeared before me?”

“Im Jun. You have been chosen as the hero of my Glacius.”

“A hero?”

Jun searched his memory.

To him, a hero was someone from fantasy stories who defeated the Demon King.

“Do you mean the kind of hero I know?”

“Yes. In another world, different from Earth, you will bear the duty of a hero.”

“Aah. So everything up until now was all the hero’s trial…!”

The goddess smiled gently.

Only now did Jun understand.

No—he had to understand his cruel experience that way, at least.

A trial to purify his body and mind from the forces of evil.

God had watched him endure all this time, and when he had met the standard, she had come to him.

However, Jun had no way of knowing that the goddess had simply forgotten that time flowed differently in this space and in the world, and had come late.

Had Jun known that dreadful truth, a new god-slayer might have been born on the spot.

“Then are you ready, Jun?”

“Yes. I will save Glacius!”

“Then I leave it to you. I will grant you convenient abilities to help you adapt easily in the other world, so be certain to save the world.”

With solemn resolve, Jun was transported to the other world.

“Hehehe. That Earth bitch said she just threw her piece into Glacius with nothing but his bare body, didn’t she? This is as good as mine! Ohohohoho!”

Without even knowing what role he had been given between the god of another world and the god of Earth.

###

Colorful streams of light wrapped around Im Jun’s body.

Then they slowly disappeared, and the scenery around him came into view.

How long had it been since he had seen any color other than white?

And when was the last time he had seen so many different people?

“Your Majesty! The summoning ritual has succeeded!”

“Ooh! Everyone has done well! The goddess has heard our prayers!”

People rejoiced as they surrounded Im Jun.

“Welcome, Hero! I am the king who rules this nation. I am called Bieo II.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, King Bieo. I am Jun, who has received the mission to save the world in accordance with Lady Glacian’s will.”

It was a language Jun had never heard before, yet he felt the words flowing smoothly and the sentences coming out elegantly.

So this was the goddess’s ability.

“Now, now, the Hero has arrived, so prepare a grand banquet!”

When a retainer beside him clapped his hands, people began moving busily.

“Hero, if you would come this way, we will help you make preparations.”

A woman approached and guided Jun.

“My name is Sophia. I have been assigned to assist you from now on, Hero, so if there is anything you need, please tell me at any time.”

“Sophia. Has my schedule from here on been decided?”

Now that he thought about it, the goddess had not told him his exact mission.

“According to the oracle bestowed by the goddess, your power is not yet complete, Hero, so the kingdom must make every effort to help you. For that reason, an occasion has been prepared tomorrow to confirm your strength.”

“I see. Understood.”

For now, the test came first.

Jun felt both worried and expectant.

He wondered what kind of power the goddess had given him.

A grand banquet.

Jun met various dignitaries and received greetings asking him to take good care of the kingdom.

The fate bestowed upon Jun.

To the people of this other world, it was only natural.

To place their expectations on the hero sent by the goddess and entrust everything to him.

Perhaps it was from this time that Jun began to feel something strange.

Blatant gazes and pressure.

Im Jun’s hope—that it was merely his imagination and that the goddess must have a plan—would not take long to shatter.

The next day, at the place prepared to test the hero’s strength.

High officials and royalty.

Priests of the temple, knights, and mages.

Workers of the royal palace and other spectators.

Jun tried to display his abilities with great vigor.

Sword strikes that merely cut through empty air.

A mere handful of mana.

Unremarkable martial skill.

Something was wrong.

Then what had become of all the years Jun had thrown away in subspace?

Naturally, rolling his body around alone without any effect had not helped him.

Nor had the goddess granted him any extraordinary power.

In truth, he had planned to trust the goddess and show off impressively.

But the goddess had not given Jun any amazing supernatural ability.

“As expected.”

“Hero, there is no need to worry. We already knew you would not possess tremendous ability from the very beginning.”

The king’s face, which had been full of expectation, cooled at once, and his eyes lost interest.

“After all, the kingdom must train you regardless. We were merely confirming what level of ability you had. Knight Commander!”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Work together with the Magic Tower and teach the Hero well. When he has reached a perfect level, that will be when we reveal him to the people.”

“I shall obey your command.”

And so the hero’s lessons began.

Jun had more than enough talent.

Moreover, though it was not an ability visible to the eye, the goddess had given Jun a blessing that allowed him to grow faster.

However, Im Jun’s trust in the goddess had already begun to crack little by little.

“The Knight Commander said you improved greatly in today’s lesson. He said it was the goddess’s blessing.”

“Yes.”

“The mages of the Magic Tower also praised how swiftly your level is improving, Hero. They said the goddess is watching over you.”

“Yes.”

“I also heard from the temple that reaching this level within half a year would be difficult for anyone who was not quite the genius.”

“Sophia. At this rate, I won’t even reach the threshold of the Demon King’s castle.”

“…I apologize.”

Half a year had passed since Jun arrived in the kingdom.

Jun had become extremely cynical.

“Would you like some refreshments?”

“No.”

“Then, right away….”

Sophia gently embraced Jun from behind.

Their gazes crossed.

The two of them collapsed as if falling onto the soft blanket.

“Ha… Hero.”

“…”

“As expected, your skills seem to improve by the day, Hero. Is it all because of the goddess’s protection?”

“Sophia. Right now, focus on me, not the goddess.”

Jun was no longer very pleased with the goddess.