Chapter 28: Reunion with Unexpected Friends (3)

As if floating solitarily in that sky.

Faintly glittering silver hair reached her waist.

Below her soft eyelashes, golden eyes filled with curiosity surveyed her surroundings.

It was inevitable that those golden eyes would soon meet Yu-shin.

Yu-shin, meeting those familiar golden eyes, swallowed dry.

This was because a completely unexpected figure had appeared before him.

Why on earth was this person here?

The woman with golden eyes looked at Yu-shin and spoke.

“Are you a resident of this world?”

‘…Ah, right, I’m in Baek Yu-shin’s body right now!’

Yu-shin, realizing the question mixed in her clear voice, finally came to his senses.

Yu-shin had momentarily forgotten his own appearance because she appeared so suddenly.

But he couldn’t be careless.

Because his opponent was none other than Athena.

Athena Eugleves.

A demigod born between the Moon God and a human, a hero who had saved countless people long before I arrived.

She was actually incredibly strong.

But the most terrifying thing about Athena was.

Despite everything, she was called a god and was immortal.

Her venomous determination to simply rely on her immortality and fight until she won, if things didn’t go her way.

In fact, Yu-shin had a major conflict of opinion with Athena before.

After winning that duel against Athena, he was constantly tormented by her.

[I cannot accept this!
This is invalid!]

[Let’s duel again.]

[Hmm!
Do you have time?
Then how about a duel?]

‘Fck, just imagining it makes me want to puke.’

What’s more, how should I put it?

She relied too much on her immortality and used her body recklessly.

Thanks to that, when she met strong enemies, dismemberment was a given.

She even scattered her intestines in front of her comrades before.

Thanks to that, Yu-shin found Athena reassuring yet very troublesome.

But why had she come all the way here?

The answer was obvious.

She had come looking for Yu-shin, meaning his past self who was active as the hero in the exile story.

Why?
To redo the duels that had been left unfinished, of course.

‘This crazy btch has actually crossed dimensions to find me.’

Thanks to that, Yu-shin resolved to thoroughly hide himself from Athena.

He had already suffered a fcking lot in the exile story, and now he was going to suffer here too?

He would probably seriously consider suicide from that day on.

Of course, naturally, that was Yu-shin’s misunderstanding.

No, rather, it should be called a conclusion he arbitrarily reached based on facts.

First of all, it was true that Athena had come down to this world to find the hero.

However, the reason she sought the hero was not the one Yu-shin had arbitrarily concluded.

‘Where are you, Hero.’

To see you.

I came to such a strange world for you.

Yet you are still not before me.

A voice tinged with longing echoed in Athena’s chest.

But Athena could not show weakness.

If there was even a glimmer of possibility.

Then she would simply move forward steadfastly.

Just as you led us before.

In the past, Athena was very arrogant.

Of course, even then she was indeed a hero who saved people, but it was similar to the feeling of a strong person showing mercy to the weak.

Foolish and pathetic humans.

As expected, they can’t do without me.

Instead, you shall serve me.

One could say it was this kind of feeling.

However, that arrogance was shattered upon meeting a certain human.

He was a hero called the Hero among humans.

[Are you the hero called the Hero among humans?]

The hero was actually a being that only appeared in legends.

Therefore, Athena didn’t pay much attention at first.

Why?
Because she knew it was just bluff anyway.

Humans are weak and foolish.

They naturally create heroes in whom they can place their hopes.

It was an act that could rather be called gilding.

She thought the hero this time was also such a being.

But that was her misunderstanding.

Certainly, the hero she first met was much weaker than she had imagined.

However, as time passed, the hero gradually began to grow stronger.

To the point where even Athena herself became impatient.

Jealousy, inferiority complex, anger.

Countless emotions had dominated her.

How dare a mere human.

In the end, unable to bear it.

Athena challenged Yu-shin to a duel.

A demigod who protects people envies a human.

It was a truly laughable story now that she thought about it, but her past self had already been blinded by arrogance then.

And so, she dueled the hero.

And suffered a crushing defeat.

She couldn’t believe it.

I lost to a mere human?

So again and again, again and again.

She continued to challenge that human.

As she continued to challenge the human, the world Athena knew began to shatter.

But could that truly be called a bad thing?

No, it was not.

Her world shattered.

What unfolded before her eyes was a vast, new world.

Thanks to that, Athena could learn many things.

At the same time, she realized how arrogant her past self had been.

This was all thanks to the hero.

If not for the hero.

She would never have awakened from her arrogance.

However, when she turned her head to express her gratitude.

That person had already vanished from her sight.

I came to know another world thanks to you.

Yet you, who showed it to me, are gone from that world.

Where on earth are you?

To think that she, an immortal, would miss a mere mortal.

Her past self would probably have called her foolish and cursed at her.

But even that was an emotion I could learn from you.

Because you are that precious, and because I miss you.

To see you once more, I came all the way here.

That was why Athena descended here.

‘Damn it, I just want to avoid being tormented by requests for duels again.’

The problem, however, was that Yu-shin, the person concerned, had been so tormented that he was doing his utmost not to let Athena discover his true identity.

As a result, Yu-shin was able to avoid Athena’s suspicion for now.

Well, of course.

No matter how he looked, the only thing similar to the original hero’s appearance was his hair color.

Yu-shin opened his mouth with relief.

“Who are you?”

His voice was like that of a common soldier, cautiously wary.

Even Yu-shin, with his clear convictions, would want to avoid a persistent barnacle.

What if that barnacle was immortal?

What if there was no way to get rid of her at all?

Then avoiding her was the top priority.

You don’t avoid sht because you’re scared of it, you avoid it because it’s dirty.

“I am Athena Eugleves, child of the Moon Goddess.
And Her knight.”

‘Knight of feelings?
A strange new description has been added.’

Usually, she ended her introduction by saying she was the child of the Moon Goddess.

During my absence, did she perhaps meet a lord she serves?

Yu-shin cleared his throat and said.

“Do you expect me to believe that?”

Good, this should make me look sufficiently ordinary.

Just as he was inwardly satisfied with his acting, Athena spoke with a meaningful gaze.

“I feel a very familiar presence.”

“…”

“Hmm, it must be my imagination.”

‘Whoa, f*ck, you scared me.’

Did they say a frog dies when hit by a random stone?

His current situation was exactly that.

Athena’s silver hair fluttered as she continued to look around.

She looked like she had been searching for someone constantly.

Yu-shin suddenly recalled the days he was constantly tormented by her.

Given her mumbling earlier, if this continues, she might actually figure it out.

Fortunately, Yu-shin was able to successfully change the subject.

This was because the Ogre’s massive corpse vanished into dust, and soon a familiar face appeared before his eyes.

Yu-shin frowned and said.

“Instructor Lee Young-seok?”

That’s right.

The Ogre’s identity was none other than Lee Young-seok, the instructor in charge of Class C.

That’s why he immediately became enraged and charged at Yu-shin upon seeing him.

He didn’t know what story led him to become an Ogre.

Right now, Young-seok was lying on the ground, unconscious.

Thanks to that, Athena was naturally drawn towards Lee Young-seok, whom Yu-shin was looking at.

“Is he someone you know?”

“Well, we know each other, at least.”

“Hmm, he’s under a curse.”

Is it because she’s a demigod after all?

Athena could instantly grasp Lee Young-seok’s condition.

He was cursed by someone and transformed into a monster.

Surprisingly, curses that turn people into monsters are quite common.

The problem was how Lee Young-seok ended up under such a curse in the first place.
Honestly, there’s no way to find out right now, so he just had to let it go.

‘It feels familiar somehow.’

However, Yu-shin thought he had naturally changed the subject.
Yet Athena was unswervingly feeling a familiar and longing presence from Yu-shin.

Well, of course.

After traveling together for years, whether she liked it or not, his way of speaking and even small habits.

To Athena, who had memorized everything.
There was no way he could escape, no matter how much his outward appearance had changed.