Episode 1.
The downtown had been reduced to ruins.
The people standing among the wreckage of collapsed buildings looked up at the sky with dazed expressions.
Where everyone's gaze was directed.
Kwoooooh!
Something trailing a red tail was falling.
"We're… finished."
A parched voice rang out.
And no wonder—a meteorite of unfathomable size was falling right above their heads.
Should that calamity fall, it wouldn't merely destroy the city; a significant portion of Earth would be annihilated.
There was no room for hope.
"Everyone, do not lose hope!"
A resonant voice pierced the ears of those engulfed in despair.
"Hope? Fuck, what hope!"
"Which crazy bastard…"
Despair turned to rage.
People with bloodshot eyes turned toward the source of the voice to vent their anger, but.
"Ah!"
What came out instead of curses was an exclamation of awe.
They had seen.
A man draped in the white reinforced coat that symbolized a Hero.
"T-Ten Stars?!"
An era where superhumans ran rampant due to the manifestation of Traits.
Thus, the appearance of a Hero was hardly surprising.
But the ten stars engraved on the reinforced coat were different.
Because there was only one person on Earth granted ten stars symbolizing a superhuman's might.
"It's Lord Sinyul!"
"We're saved. We can live now!"
The atmosphere in the area shifted dramatically.
It was a dramatic change that only one person on Earth could bring about.
Sinyul the Almighty.
The one and only to have ten stars engraved on his coat.
The one who had earned the epithet 'Almighty' through overwhelming power.
The strongest man on Earth, above both Heroes and Villains.
Many words described him, but if there was one thing his myriad titles shared, it was overwhelming strength.
There had never been an incident he stepped into and failed to resolve.
Therefore, everyone believed.
That Sinyul could put an end to this hopeless situation.
But.
Drip—
"Huh?"
The people had to witness an unbelievable sight.
Drip, drip—
Blood was trickling down his pure white reinforced coat.
Flutter!
The coat flapped in the wind, finally revealing his figure.
"Good heavens!"
"H-how?"
Sinyul's physical condition, confirmed belatedly, was horrendous.
His flesh was torn all over, as if bitten by beasts.
'For wiping out the entire Seven Evils, I got off cheap.'
The worst of villains, each bearing nine stars.
Until mere moments ago, Sinyul had been tied down by the Seven Evils, called 'the Exalted.'
Of course, no matter how the Seven Evils combined their attacks, Sinyul was the world's strongest, recognized by all.
He had claimed victory even against the combined assault of those who had staked everything on a final showdown.
The price was having a third of his flesh torn away, and he had left unchecked a meteor-summoning magic cast at the cost of their lives.
That was why he had come here.
To save the pitiful citizens swept up in the great calamity.
"I am Sinyul! As if I'd fall here!"
He screamed as if making a last stand, squeezing out his remaining strength.
Hwaak!
An intense golden aura began to burst forth.
"Ooh!"
"To think I'd witness this with my own eyes!"
Transcendence.
A symbolic trait that temporarily surpasses human limits, manifesting truly transcendent power.
Kwaang!
The moment he stomped the ground, his body transcended space and reached the heavens.
Kukukuku!
What appeared before him was a meteorite of staggering size.
Should it crash into the ground, it would become a seed of ruin leading humanity to destruction, an enormous calamity.
'Can I do it?'
A moment of doubt surfaced.
A doubt he wouldn't have had normally, but his current physical condition was horrendous.
'No. I have to do it.'
He erased the word 'impossible' from his mind.
I'll do it. I absolutely must.
"Hup!"
He took a light breath and assumed a ready stance.
"Uwaaaaah!"
Letting out a shout like a death cry, he threw his fist with all his might.
Flash!
Along with it, a brilliant radiance burst like fireworks.
That was a power different from Transcendence; its source was 'Life.'
Sinyul burned even his own lifeforce to save the people fallen into despair.
The moment his fist, containing the power of Transcendence and Life, touched the meteorite.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
The meteorite, causing a tremendous explosion as if detonating from within, shattered into pieces.
But that wasn't the end.
Kwoooooh!
Hundreds, thousands of fragments remained from the shock.
Though shattered into small pieces, each one was inevitably a fatal threat to humanity.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Therefore, Sinyul moved without rest.
Kwang!
He used no technique whatsoever.
Kwakwang!
What he performed was an honest straight punch.
Kwakwakwakwakwang!
His fists, tracing optimal paths and pursuing nothing but straight lines, moved at speeds akin to lightning and began pulverizing the fragments.
"Aaaah!"
"This, this is a miracle!"
Those witnessing the spectacle were busy shedding tears and mucus in awe.
The meteorite that would have turned Earth to ashes was split and split again before their eyes, vanishing completely.
As expected of the strongest man on Earth.
It was a miraculous feat that absolutely no one but Sinyul the Almighty could accomplish.
"Kuk!"
But the one who had performed the miracle staggered precariously.
Shwoook!
Soon, his body that had remained in the air began to descend rapidly.
And a moment later.
Kwaang!
Without the slightest mitigation of impact, he crashed straight into the ground.
"Kuhluk!"
Having suffered fatal injuries, he coughed up blood even from the light(?) impact.
"Tss. I'm alive, so that's what matters."
Sinyul, lying spread-eagled, barely spat out a word.
It was a fatal wound that would normally kill him instantly, but it couldn't take his life.
Thanks to his 'Indomitable' Trait.
An immortal trait where the flame of life does not extinguish unless it's instant death, such as a burst heart or severed head.
Moreover, what was surprising was that it didn't end there.
Tzzzzt!
Light began to leak from his body.
Each time a faint green light leaked out, his wounds healed.
The trait he hadn't been able to manifest in time to break the meteorite—'Hyper-Regeneration'—was manifesting.
"Tss, it's been a while since I've been beaten this badly."
The most miserable he'd been since awakening Transcendence.
However.
'This tedious war is over, too.'
This battle was a great war for survival between Heroes and Villains that had long divided the world.
The result was plain to see.
The seven pillars of the villains had fallen by Sinyul's hand.
The forbidden magic meteor cast at the cost of their lives was also destroyed.
The remaining remnants were being cleaned up by Tera-affiliated Heroes, so the war was practically over.
'I should stop thinking about anything for a while and go on a trip.'
Just as Sinyul, lying spread-eagled on the ground, was formulating sweet vacation plans.
Uuuung!
His sharp senses didn't miss the change in his surroundings.
The spatial distortion dominating the area was.
'A Barrier!'
It was what occurred when a barrier was deployed.
Was there still an enemy left?
As he arduously raised his body and assumed a stance.
"Huh?!"
A bright smile bloomed on his scrunched face.
Because unlike his fears, those who revealed themselves were people in white coats.
"Baegun!"
The first to enter his sight was a man with hair turned completely white, his companion of twenty years, Seong Baegun, who seemed like a noble crane.
"Sinyul…"
The leader of Tera, the Hero Alliance, and the possessor of the 'Sage' Trait called 'Baegun the Brain' alongside 'Sinyul the Might.'
"You jerk, you scared me!"
Saying so, he looked at the beauty in the red robe to Baegun's right.
Fwoooosh—
Radiating a blazing momentum as if flames were burning, she was Elise the Crimson Magician, a genius American magician with the Witch Trait.
Surely she was the power behind this barrier.
"Tsuyoshi, Alexei, and even Maria. Looks like you handled things well over there too?"
He looked at those standing in a row.
Tsuyoshi, the Swordmaster of Japan.
Alexei, the Iron Fortress of Russia.
Maria, the Saint of Spain.
Including Elise, these four were comrades of the special task force team bearing the number 'Zero,' teamed with Sinyul.
And the fact that they appeared here meant the remnant cleanup had been safely completed.
"Now it's really over."
They had won the war against the villains that had confronted them for a long time.
Of course, evil forces as tenacious as cockroaches wouldn't be completely eradicated, but at least there would be no situation dividing the world and exacerbating chaos.
"Yes. As you said, we've come to the end of the plan. Except for one last thing."
Baegun's gaze, trailing off, reached Sinyul.
Pupils shaking uneasily, unlike usual.
But Sinyul, severely injured, failed to read his inner thoughts and let out a smirk.
"If it's about cleaning up remnants, there's no need to worry…"
Sinyul had just opened his mouth,
but he couldn't finish his sentence.
Puuk—
"…?"
A burning pain blooming in his left chest.
His wide eyes turned toward the source of the pain.
Gush!
Crimson blood flowed.
A dark red wooden sword pierced through his chest and out his back.
'Mistilteinn!'
One of the divine artifacts Sinyul obtained in the past by slaying the demonic beast called 'Calamity.'
That secret weapon he had given to help Baegun, who was relatively weak(?) in might, had pierced Sinyul's chest.
"Kuhluk!"
He immediately coughed up blood.
The Adamantine that blocked all attacks, and the astonishing Hyper-Regeneration, were useless before Mistilteinn.
Because this divine artifact's effect was 'Nullification of all Traits.'
"Why…?"
Doubt was the first thing that came.
Why on earth?
Anyone but Baegun—Baegun, of all people, betraying him?
"To think you're alive even with your heart pierced by Mistilteinn. Truly a monster."
His mouth said he was surprised, but his expression remained calm.
"Sinyul, unprecedented peace will now come to the world."
With the victory in war, the villains would walk a path of ruin, and the heroes would gain the precious reward of 'peace' they so desired.
"But there is one obstacle to this peace."
Baegun's heated gaze.
What it meant was only one thing.
"That is you, Sinyul. You."
Unfathomable eyes flashed.
"You are a time bomb. The moment you, with absolute power, change your mind, the peace we've worked so hard to build will easily collapse."
"You crazy bastard. The peace I built with my own hands…"
"No. Nothing is impossible in this world. Moreover, I'm in a position where I must consider every possibility, so I can't rule out even a 0.1% chance."
It wasn't Sinyul that Baegun couldn't believe in.
It was human nature, something humans inevitably have. It was distrust of that.
While leading the great Hero organization Tera, he had suffered countless betrayals.
Among the traitors, the majority were those he thought would never betray him, those he believed would absolutely never do so.
Thanks to that, he had to pay enormous sacrifices, and because of that, Baegun's inner self was stained with distrust of humanity.
The same went for Sinyul, his close friend.
"Blame me all you want. But I want to eliminate everything that threatens this peace. Even if that is you, my only close friend."
Now that the villains had been toppled, Sinyul was like a bomb with its safety pin removed.
A bomb that could explode at any time. Therefore, the cold-hearted Baegun chose 'elimination' for everyone's safety.
"Crazy— Kuhluk!"
Sinyul, coughing up blood again, turned his gaze to the remaining four in turn.
The answer to his gaze was silence.
"So, you were all in on it."
The moment he realized they were all in it together.
"Fuck, you bastards worse than dogs! Who do you think you got this far because of!"
Uncontrollable rage surged.
It couldn't be helped, for Sinyul's active support had been behind the growth of those called the pillars of Tera.
If he hadn't conquered the Unfathomable Tower.
If it weren't for the spoils obtained by slaying villains, calamities, and nightmares, they would never have reached this position.
Yet they were swayed by Baegun's sophistry and betrayed him?
"And Baegun, you fucking bastard."
Eyes as sharp as a wounded predator's glared straight at Baegun.
"What? You can't trust people? Is that something I'd hear from the bastard who shared the trenches with me for twenty years, dedicating body and mind to peace?"
For all his grand words, Baegun was the one who betrayed first.
How paradoxical his words were.
"Yes. Say what you will. In the end, the fact that I betrayed you doesn't change."
"Fuck, is that how you— Kuk!"
He fell to one knee while speaking.
Because the power dwelling in Mistilteinn was devouring even his Indomitable and Hyper-Regeneration, stealing his life.
'Fuck, fuck, fuc-ack!'
He wanted to get up right then and tear the dirty traitors to shreds, but there was nothing Sinyul could do right now.
"I'm not saying I did well. I stabbed my friend, and betrayed you worrying about things that haven't happened. But all of that was the best choice to maintain this peace, not selfish desire…"
"Ptooey!"
Splat!
Blood-mixed spit dirtied Baegun's face.
Though he could have easily avoided it, he didn't make any move to stop it.
He merely looked at Sinyul with those emotionless eyes.
"Don't give me petty reasons, be honest. You were envious of me at the summit you could never reach no matter what, and thus afraid."
Peace of the world?
Removal of a threat?
All lies.
Sinyul knew.
That their purpose in eliminating him was mixed with envy, jealousy, and fear.
"Yeah. This time I got beaten fair and square. As you said, humans aren't to be trusted."
He had paid too great a price to learn this simple truth.
But it was fine.
"The victors right now are you. So enjoy this moment, you motherfucking bastards. But just you wait. How long that joy of victory will last. I will definitely return from the pits of hell and tear every last limb from your motherfucking bodies."
Though he had clearly lost all his strength due to Mistilteinn, that laugh rang out thunderously throughout the area.
And.
Puhwak!
Blood poured from every hole in his body, and Sinyul collapsed.
And he moved no more.
The true strongest Hero in the world, the one called Almighty, met a lonely death at the hands of his most trusted friend and comrades.
The Reincarnated Hero Became a Villain
Author: Ppaeppi
Publisher: Son Byeongtae
Published by: RS Media Co., Ltd.
Address: 201-dong 503-ho, Chunui Technopark 2-cha, 18, Bucheon-ro 198beon-gil, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do
Tel: 032-651-8576
E-mail: [email protected]
ISBN: 979-11-6949-170-9
All editing rights to the contents of this book belong to RS Media Co., Ltd. by contract with the author; unauthorized reproduction, modification, or distribution is prohibited.