Chapter 275. Epilogue  

A long flash of light filled his eyes. It was something that Lee Jun-Kyeong couldn’t take his eyes off of for a long time.

‘I can feel it.’

Everything was changing. Lee Jun-Kyeong focused on his senses. It was warm.

‘It’s comfortable.’

For the first time, Lee Jun-Kyeong felt like he was experiencing rest. He didn’t know how long the flash would last, but at this moment, he hoped it would last forever. Soon, the feeling changed, and the warm flash of light became colder and colder before it soon disappeared. Lee Jun-Kyeong felt the air dampen around him as he carefully opened his eyes.

“This place...”

His vision was blurred because of the flash he had watched for so long. However, as it slowly returned, he could see clear outlines. He found himself in a damp and dark place.

“This is the gate where the goblins emerged...”

He was right where he had appeared when he had regressed the first time.

“Ha...” Lee Jun-Kyeong laughed as a smile spread on his lips. “Hahaha.”

A small laugh, filled with a feeling of absurdity, echoed through the cave. For a long while, Lee Jun-Kyeong sat where he had woken up.

“It’s real... I’ve returned.”

He had regressed to the very moment he had started. Dazed, he sat there and closed his eyes, just wanting to feel all of the sensations around him: the damp, the dark, and the feeling of this cave.

“Hup.”

Only after some time had passed did he stand up. The water falling from the stalactites formed puddles.

“Everything is the same.”

Nothing had changed in the reflection he saw in a puddle. He wasn’t referring to how he had looked when he had first returned. Instead, he looked exactly the same as he did from the battle with the Demon King, even down to the blood covering him and scorched clothes.

“Surtr...”

As soon as the word escaped Lee Jun-Kyeong’s mouth, a spear appeared in his right hand as if it had been sucked right into his palm.

“So you’ve come, too.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at Surtr and smiled. He had come back.

“I really... I really came back.”

He still couldn’t believe it.

Mana filled him and as it circulated, he found something condensed in his chest. The powers of the source that he could feel in his chest were a little different now than what he remembered. It still felt like it was something that circulated through his body like mana did, but there was something else.

“Did it condense into something?”

The powers of the source seemed to have condensed into a single form, taking on the appearance of a crystal. Although Lee Jun-Kyeong couldn’t see it, it felt almost like another heart in his chest.

“Ha...”

There were so many things he wanted to inspect, one by one. At that moment, Lee Jun-Kyeong couldn’t help but smile even more brightly.

Thud.

There were footsteps approaching him. Although they were inside the gate, the creatures were walking without any caution.

"Keruk."

They were goblins. When he had first returned, he had been attacked by goblins. At that time, they had been the most terrifying enemy, and he had no choice but to fight with everything he had. However, everything was different now.

He could feel everything in its entirety. Everything down to the minute amount of mana the goblins possessed. Lee Jun-Kyeong could even predict where they would move. The number of approaching monsters wasn’t small.

“So this is how you hid and approached me then, huh.”

The day that he had first returned, after slaying a goblin, another one would take its place. He had thought that it was the noise of the battles that caused goblins to approach him, but instead, they had already surrounded him from the very beginning.

“You intelligent little tykes,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said with a smile.

They had been the most terrifying enemies in his past, but now, they were just incredibly cute. Lee Jun-Kyeong held Surtr’s Spear up for a moment.

“Go back for now.”

The spear returned to his inventory as Lee Jun-Kyeong stood tall with bare hands, the same as the first day.

“AGH!!!!!!”

Just like then, Lee Jun-Kyeong shouted as he had the first time, feeling the approaching goblins cover their ears and fall down.

***

There were beings kneeling in front of Lee Jun-Kyeong.

“You...”

He hadn’t forgotten them, but he hadn’t asked Jupiter about them as he had known that they were safe.

“Hyeon-Mu. Hel.”

The two figures knelt down before Lee Jun-Kyeong. They were his Familiars and the old Familiars of the Demon King. “I apologize...”

“I’m sorry!”

They both shouted at the same time.

“We weren’t able to be of any help...”

They hadn’t participated in the final battle. No, they hadn’t even been able to enter Gehenna in the first place because the Demon King hadn’t allowed it.

‘The Demon King...’

It seemed as though he had really thought about them, and he probably had not wanted to kill them with his own hands.

“I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Despite Lee Jun-Kyeong’s words, the two still knelt before him.

Pat, pat!

At that time, a cheerful sound was heard, bouncing on the floor.

“Fenrir!”

He saw another of his Familiars, the one who never answered whenever he called.

“What happened to you?!”

Moreover, Fenrir was approaching him in the form of a fluffy white puppy.

“I have no strength.”

“What?”

“I haven’t recovered yet. I want to sleep,” the puppy said before immediately falling asleep.

Lee Jun-Kyeong smiled slightly at the absurdity.

–I’m fine too, master.

He heard Jormungandr’s voice next.

–However, all of the people you assigned me to protect have disappeared.

Lee Jun-Kyeong had already expected that.

“Where the hell are you?”

Jormungandr actually lived within the space between dimensions. Now that everything had changed due to the regression, Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t know where the massive serpent would be.

Slither.

Then, something crawled out of Lee Jun-Kyeong’s arms: a small white snake.

"You...!”

This snake was Jormungandr, and he had been hiding within his arms at such a tiny size.

–I also have no strength. Since we’ve returned to the past, my body was forced to be smaller. I need time.

“Hahaha.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong laughed as the snake said the same thing as the puppy and went to sleep. Whatever happened, no matter what his Familiars looked like, they were alive and well.

“This is amazing...” Lee Jun-Kyeong said to everyone. He suddenly picked up the snake and the puppy, but his mood was so good that it felt as though he was flying.

“What do you think about those...” he asked.

Hel stood up and looked over at the goblins, half of whom had already died.

Tremble.

The other half trembled with their heads between their knees.

“Hyeon-Mu, what about your troops?”

“All of them have disappeared.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong nodded.

“Then how about we start with those?”

Hel and Hyeon-Mu looked at each other. Soon, they shouted in an excited voice.

“We obey your orders!”

“With the strongest soldiers...!”

“We will make them into troops that even Jormungandr can’t ignore!”

For some reason, the two of them suddenly radiated tremendous will. Lee Jun-Kyeong then gestured to the two, with both of them quickly nodding and disappearing alongside the goblins nearby.

Thud.

He heard footsteps once again. They weren’t goblins this time, but figures who slightly adjusted every step in order to silence the sound of their footsteps as much as possible. They were Hunters, and there was no way that Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t know who they were. Lee Jun-Kyeong called out once more, “Hel!”

Just as Hel appeared and was about to kneel down, he entrusted Fenrir and Jormungandr to her.

“Take them too!”

Hel nodded and disappeared as the footsteps were gradually approaching.

Thud.

It was so difficult for Lee Jun-Kyeong to suppress the laughter that bloomed from his chest. It was only after he continuously laughed to himself for a while that he was able to lie down on the cold floor.

‘Just like the first time.’

Back then, he had lost consciousness due to the goblins’ attack, and the League Guild had saved him then. He would be able to meet those he had wanted to see for so long. Lee Jun-Kyeong slowly began to fall asleep, believing that there was no being that could harm him. All he had to do was sleep and wake up. There was only one thing that he worried about.

‘If you made a mark on their lives, they’ll remember you.’

Would everyone remember him?

Lee Jun-Kyeong quickly shook his head. It didn’t matter whether they remembered him or not. As Jupiter had said, all he had to do was build new bonds.

He closed his eyes again and fell into a deep sleep.

***

“...!”

He wondered how long it had been. Lee Jun-Kyeong couldn’t even remember the last time he had slept this deeply. He felt refreshed like he had a great dream. The only reason he had woken up was because of the voices that rang in his ears.

“...Lee...!”

Lee Jun-Kyeong slowly prepared to open his mouth. He had thought a lot about what to say first, but had decided that it would be nice to say the same thing he had the first time.

“A hospital...?”

He first opened his mouth to speak, and only after saying his well-curated “first words” did he open his eyes. The light from the incandescent bulb stung his eyes.

“Pfft.”

Then, he heard laughter, the sound of suppressed laughter.

“Puhahahaha!”

Soon, it broke out into raucous laughter as if it couldn’t be held back.

“Mr. Lee!”

A voice called out to him as Lee Jun-Kyeong slowly turned his head. There, he saw Jeong In-Chang standing there.

“That’s right, this is a hospital!”

Although he definitely looked different than before, it was definitely Jeong In-Chang. Moreover, there was also Won-Hwa, and...

“Ungnyeo...?”

Even Ungnyeo, who was supposed to currently be leading Heaven Lake Village on Mt. Baekdu. Lee Jun-Kyeong opened his eyes blankly, not knowing what was going on. It wasn’t just them.

“Heracles... Odysseus...!”

All around him were happy faces.

“Merlin, Arthur! Horus!!”

Happy faces filled up the hospital room. Even Liu Bei, his brothers, and the others were also here. Lee Jun-Kyeong felt his vision go hazy. Everyone was here.

Finally, he saw them.

“Welcome back.”

“...”

Heimdall and Athena. Lee Jun-Kyeong wiped his tears and looked at Jeong In-Chang.

“How on earth...”

He couldn’t understand it. How could they all be here in one place? All of them looked slightly different as their faces and bodies were not exactly like what he remembered from before.

‘Wait, could it be...’

“Did I fail...?”

Had he failed to return to the past? Had he died in battle with the Demon King, and was all of this nothing but a dream? Just imagining it made him begin to feel a terrible pain in his chest.

“No,” Jeong In-Chang replied calmly. “Although your regression point may have been here... we’ve already awakened our memories of you from the past timeline.”

“Ah...”

Clench!

No sooner had Jeong In-Chang finished speaking when Lee Jun-Kyeong felt a strong body wrapping around him

“Welcome back.”

When he tried to say something, all he heard was a warm voice ringing in his ears.

“Son.”

It was Heimdall. He was hugging him warmly.

Lee Jun-Kyeong’s shoulders began to get wet.

[The End.]