Chapter 1: Blue Temple (1)

“Huuk!”

Muyoung opened his eyes.

His whole body was covered with cold sweat.

As he wiped his sweat, he took a deep breath.

Whoo! Whoo!

He slightly frowned as he felt something strange.

‘How am I able to breathe?’

He definitely remembered dying after wiping out the Forest of Death.

He was also aware that his heart stopped when he took his life.

‘Am I… alive?’

‘But what is this vividness I am feeling right now?’

Even doctors who have reached heavenly levels wouldn’t have been able to heal him.

It was definite that he was going to die.

But he didn’t.

The heart he thought that had stopped was thumping harder than ever.

All his senses of smell, hearing, touch, taste and sight were normal.

These weren’t the only weird points.

He turned his head.

There were almost 50 people around him.

“Wh-where is this?”

“I was definitely working at my company?”

“Mommy, mommy!”

There were many different types of people, ranging from children to the elderly.

Muyoung had seen this before.

It was a vague, faded memory, but this was the scene he saw 40 years ago, when he was first summoned into the Underworld.

He also remembered the hell that happened afterwards.

‘I don’t have any calluses,’ he thought as he examined his hands.

The rough calluses that were formed from using weapons for 40 years were nowhere to be seen.

The scars and wounds that were riddled throughout his body were gone as well.

‘Everything is refreshed.’

The past events he had endured were gone like it never happened.

Even the great Muyoung was taken back.

‘Did I return?’

It was hard to believe.

Time traveling.

‘But if this truly is the past, then I might know where this is.’

‘The Blue Temple.’

A half destroyed temple.

It was the place where people who are summoned arrive first.

He has to survive here for a month to reach the next stage.

‘I guess it’ll come up soon.’

Muyoung gazed in front of him.

Shortly, the expected phrase floated up.

“What?”

“It’s telling us to choose weapons?”

“Fuck! What’s that supposed to mean!”

While everyone was confused, only Muyoung moved out.

Of the hundred weapons strewn along the wall, he grasped a shining blue weapon.

Then a message appeared in front of him.

Name: Scimitar of Strength

Rank: E

Classification: Flange-mounted

Endurance: 300

Effect: Strength +1

‘Ha!’

It was the same as before.

If there was a difference, it would be that he reacted and moved faster than others.

Everyone turned to look at Muyoung.

Soon, out of nowhere, an armor made out of leather floated in front of him.

Muyoung wordlessly packed the armor.

‘Completing the missions fast is good.’

That way he could receive these extra rewards as well.

The Underworld was swelling with various monsters.

A regular human was unable to survive in this environment.

That was the reason why there was the ‘Law of Solomon’.

The Underworld was created by the 72 Demon Gods trapped under Lemegeton (Note: Lesser Key of Solomon) as they wake up.

Baal, Agares, Amon as well as the other Demon Gods were the strongest among the monsters.

Solomon, who originally trapped the 72 Demon Gods, predicted this outcome and, to give humanity hope, forcefully made this system to fight against the 72 Demon Gods.

‘But the real enemies were the humans.’

That was right.

The enemy of humans were humans themselves.

The work Muyoung carried out was of the same nature.

People with promising futures or those that would be of a hindrance were requested to be eliminated by the Forest of Death.

Because of that small belief, they became narrow-minded.

Since he arrived 40 years in the past, 20 years from now, the will strike and summon all of humanity to the Underworld. That was when the Demon Gods would make their move.

However, to protect their small belief, humans hid their trump cards in fear of losing them and were divided and eventually conquered.

Even then, the amount of people requesting assassinations from the Forest of Death never dropped.

By the time Muyoung destroyed the Forest of Death, humanity was already on the brink of defeat.

“Is, isn’t it best if we all chose a weapon?”

A woman gave her opinion.

They all remembered the words and the leather armor floating in front of them.

They realized that this wasn’t just a trivial matter.

But they were a step too late.

Screech!

Screech! Screech! Screeeech!

As the temple doors opened, 2-meter-tall birds were slowly flying towards them.

Because their tails always emit fire, they were monsters known as the fire eagles.

These eagles used their long sharp beaks to tear out the human guts.

A good number of 100 Fire Eagles landed.

‘It has begun.’

Muyoung calmly gazed at his surroundings.

“Caww!”

“Wh-what is heck is that!”

The fire eagles fearless entered the temple and started their attack.

Only five people were able to react quickly to the situation and grabbed a weapon.

“Argh…”

A big, unarmed man standing at the front was the first to be eaten.

He died as soon as a fire eagles stabbed him through his throat with its beak.

Afterwards three fire eagles sat down and started to feast on the man’s carcass.

“S-save me!”

“Please!”

It was total madness.

Hell had arisen.

‘It could be said that dying here could even be a blessing.’

Muyoung was cool-headed.

If they couldn’t handle this sort of situation, once they were out in the Underworld, they would meet even more terrifying ends.

If he was to save them with half-baked sympathy, it wouldn’t last long.

If he wasn’t going to take care of them until the end, it was better to not start in the first place.

Also, with the body he returned to, he was unable to eliminate all 100 of the fire eagles.

‘The fire eagles aren’t capable of doing two things at once.’

Especially when they were eating, they do not pay attention to their surroundings.

To defeat the swarm of fire eagles, a few people had to be sacrificed.

Although he returned to the past, he still kept the accumulated experiences he gained in the past 40 years.

And though his body was not like before, he expected that he will adjust to it quickly.

‘Even though these birds will return once they are full…’

If that was to happen, he wouldn’t be able to get any reward.

Swish!

He cut the head of the oncoming fire eagle.

Screech!

Will the eagles rage once they see their companion die?

‘Of course not.’

Surprisingly a few eagles flew down to feast on the guts of their dead comrade.

These bastards would even revert to cannibalism to sate their hunger.

It was because at this moment, they were at their hungriest.

For this reason, it wasn’t hard to fight against the eagles.

If he was alone, it would have been difficult, but there was prey all around him.

While the eagles were preoccupied with eating, he had to take them down one by one.

“Hey, that guy is fighting! Everyone, lift your weapons and fight!”

“The, the throat! Aim for the throat!”

Everyone was in a panic.

Fortunately, it seemed like there was someone who was thinking straight.

After observing Muyoung’s actions, the person started to lead the others.

The five people who picked out weapons from the wall earlier, led others to also pick their weapons.

But there were also a few who didn’t move.

“Like the voice said… if there are only 30 people left, the birds will return.”

“I. I. I can’t do it. I won’t.”

They were the ones that were too frightened to act.

But did they know that if they don’t hold a weapon, they become the main targets of the fire eagles?

‘If I was given the choice, would I have lived a different life?’

Muyoung thought that all the time.

He drew a different image of himself, not as a member of the Forest of Death.

A dream that could never be achieved.

But by some miracle, he was brought back to the past and was given a choice.

‘At least this time, I won’t be used by others.’

I am tired of doing other people’s bidding.

Slash!

The scimitar was smeared with blood.