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Chapter 1
Prologue
A massive sphere of light flashed brilliantly, illuminating everything around it.
Then—
A colossal explosion erupted.
Rumble…
The veil of dust and debris was torn apart, revealing a ferocious dragon beyond it, roaring as if it could shatter the heavens.
Its razor-sharp claws, powerful enough to crush steel beams as though they were tofu, descended toward the ground.
Just before they struck—
Space itself trembled.
A sword slash of unimaginable power split the battlefield from above, cleaving downward with overwhelming force.
KYAAAAAAAH!
The dragon let out a scream so agonizing it seemed capable of tearing even souls apart.
Its claws stopped in midair.
“…You stubborn bastard.”
Even the most resilient lich dies once its head is completely obliterated.
And a living creature, unlike an undead, has no chance of surviving after its skull is destroyed.
[Notice]
[One of the Three Calamities, the Annihilation Dragon Atranaza, has been defeated and erased.]
[As a result, Earth’s subjugation has been postponed.]
Looking at the system message floating before him, Jung Hyun-soo couldn’t help but curse.
“Bullshit.”
If he could, he’d slice that so-called system into pieces before anything else.
Clang.
But in his current condition, he couldn’t do a thing.
The greatsword he had been barely holding with his mangled hand slipped from his grasp and crashed onto the ground.
Hyun-soo lowered his gaze.
The divine weapon that had fought beside him for countless years had completely lost its blade.
“…Yeah.”
“You’ve endured enough too.”
He placed a hand over his abdomen.
Warm, sticky blood soaked his palm.
The dragon’s claws had carved a trench through his stomach.
His internal organs were undoubtedly shredded.
Even he couldn’t believe he’d managed to fight such a battle in this condition.
The Three Calamities had invaded Earth together, seeking to enslave humanity.
Among them, the Annihilation Dragon—who sought to reduce mankind to slaves and claim even their souls—had finally been slain.
Now…
Humanity’s counterattack could begin.
Of course, Hyun-soo hadn’t fought out of some noble desire to save mankind.
“Holy Maiden. Hurry and cast your miracle.”
“Y-Yes! Thank you for your hard work!”
He simply had a way to cheat death.
He had something to rely on.
Or so he believed.
“Cough…?!”
Blood suddenly poured from the Holy Maiden’s mouth.
A hand had burst through her back…
And was clutching her heart.
Even as blood spilled from her lips, she stared in disbelief.
“P-President… why…?”
The owner of that hand…
Was Sun Woo-hyun, President of the World Hunter Association.
Even Hyun-soo, who had survived countless hardships as the infamous Black Hunter and one of the world’s most wanted criminals, froze at the sight.
It made no sense.
Why?
The Holy Maiden wasn’t truly immortal, but under the right conditions she was effectively an extra life.
Why kill her now?
“Sun Woo-hyun! What the hell are you doing?!”
Hyun-soo roared.
The only response was a smile.
“You’ve worked hard.”
Still gripping the Holy Maiden’s heart, Sun Woo-hyun smiled warmly.
The reason the President of the World Hunter Association and the notorious criminal known as the Dark King had formed an alliance was simple.
They both wanted humanity to survive.
After the cursed System appeared…
The countdown to Earth’s destruction had begun.
Alien races invaded.
All previous conflicts had been cast aside.
After all, there would be nothing left to fight over if the world itself disappeared.
“So don’t look at me like that.”
“If you come back to life…”
“And if you defeat the last remaining Calamity…”
“What do you think happens afterward?”
“…What?”
“I’m sorry.”
“But I realized I no longer have confidence.”
“In the end…”
“It’s your fault.”
Hyun-soo couldn’t understand.
The Annihilation Dragon and the Giant King were dead.
But one Calamity still remained.
Both he and the Holy Maiden were absolutely essential to defeating it.
“If I can’t possess the world…”
“Then it has no value.”
“I’d rather challenge the last Calamity alone and become the sole supreme ruler.”
“Sharing the world with you afterward…”
“Or losing it…”
“Neither interests me.”
“You insane bastard…!”
Blood burst from Hyun-soo’s mouth.
“This world belongs to me.”
“No one else will take it.”
“If I can’t have it…”
“It deserves to perish.”
The smile on Sun Woo-hyun’s face was that of a complete madman.
Then he spoke again.
And Hyun-soo froze.
“I never imagined inheriting only one of the Five King Martial Arts would make someone this powerful.”
“So in that regard…”
“I’m truly grateful.”
Hyun-soo’s thoughts came to a halt.
Runes surrounded Sun Woo-hyun.
Countless magical characters intertwined around him.
As the world’s greatest archmage, his magic completely overwhelmed Hyun-soo’s dying body.
“Guaaah!”
Mana exploded inside him.
Blood and shattered organs poured from his mouth like a waterfall.
Yet Hyun-soo still struggled to move.
Because the words Sun Woo-hyun had just spoken…
Connected every missing piece.
For years he had searched for the truth behind the massacre of his family—the prestigious clan that had mastered the Five King Martial Arts.
The clues he’d never been able to connect…
Suddenly fit together.
“Sun Woo-hyun…”
“It was… you?”
“Farewell.”
“Your Jung family has always been both my greatest threat…”
“And my greatest stepping stone.”
“Heh.”
Hyun-soo desperately reached for the Ghost King’s Sword lying nearby.
But Sun Woo-hyun was faster.
Already restored by the Holy Maiden’s miracle before killing her…
He stood at full strength.
Hyun-soo had no chance.
Slash.
The world flipped upside down.
Only then did Hyun-soo realize…
His head had been severed.
He couldn’t speak.
Not… like this…
He couldn’t die.
Not after finally discovering who had destroyed his family.
His clan had been annihilated.
He himself had been framed as an international criminal.
Forced into the underworld…
He gathered followers.
Built an empire.
Spent decades searching for the mastermind.
Only to discover…
It had been the Hunter Association President all along.
Now that he finally knew…
He had to kill that smug piece of trash.
He couldn’t die.
But above him…
For the first time in ages, the sky was perfectly blue.
The clouds had disappeared with the death of the Annihilation Dragon.
The sky knew nothing…
Of his despair.
*
Why…
Was life so cruel?
So painful?
So cursed?
He had never dreamed of glory or success.
He only wanted two things.
To clear his name.
And to avenge the family who had cared for him despite his miserable life.
When the world began collapsing, he stepped forward to save it.
And in the end…
All he accomplished was helping his true enemy.
Only to lose his own head.
“Young Master.”
“If you keep lying there like that, you’ll really get your head chopped off in the cradle.”
“I don’t care.”
“Let him.”
“Everything he does is a waste anyway.”
“Miss…”
“Please don’t say things like that…”
“Did I say anything wrong?”
Voices.
Familiar.
Painfully familiar.
Where have I heard these…?
His surroundings were shrouded in darkness.
Then…
A ridiculous thought crossed his mind.
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Normally you’d already be bragging about yourself.”
The darkness suddenly disappeared.
Standing before him…
Was a girl with a neat bob haircut glaring daggers at him.
“…Hyun-ah?”
Jung Hyun-ah.
His younger sister.
She had died alongside the rest of the guild when he was nineteen.
It couldn’t be.
The world had changed.
Magic and monsters existed.
But the dead didn’t simply return.
Unless…
It was the most powerful illusion magic imaginable.
Sun Woo-hyun…?
Was this another illusion?
No.
Every instinct screamed otherwise.
“Don’t drop my family name.”
“Just call me properly.”
“Hearing you say it like that makes me sick.”
“…It really is you.”
No illusion could perfectly recreate his sister.
Especially not her sharp tongue, filled with resentment toward the worthless older brother she’d always known.
“Jung Hyun-ah.”
A deep, commanding voice interrupted them.
Hyun-soo instinctively turned.
“No matter what happened…”
“How can you speak to your brother like that?”
“I-I’m sorry…”
“And you, Hyun—”
Before the man could finish…
Hyun-soo embraced him.
His father.
The sturdy, powerful frame built through decades of martial training.
It was the first time he had ever truly felt his father’s warmth.
Crack.
“Ugh!”
“What exactly are you trying to do?”
The embrace lasted only a moment.
A powerful grip seized him.
The world spun.
He was forced to his knees.
The technique…
He knew it instantly.
“Musang Jin-gyeol…”
It really was his father.
One of the Five King Martial Arts developed and perfected by the Jung family.
Feeling that familiar technique, Hyun-soo looked up at his father with trembling eyes.
His gaze was filled with longing.
Regret.
Grief.
It made Jung Cheol hesitate for a brief moment.
It was nothing like his troublesome eldest son.
But…
“That changes nothing.”
“I…”
“Jung Hyun-soo.”
His father looked down coldly.
“I don’t want to see your face right now.”
“Go to your room.”
A memory surfaced.
This had happened before.
When he was nineteen…
The day he’d caused trouble at school and been suspended.
“…What’s going on?”
“Hurry up already!”
“Can’t you see you ruined everyone’s mood?”
“Hyun-ah…”
“How old are you now…?”
Bang!
The bedroom door slammed shut.
He looked around.
His room.
A Hunter Academy cadet uniform hung neatly on the wall.
Beside it rested a decorative longsword he had once carried simply because it looked cool.
“…I really was all style and no substance.”
It was unmistakably his room.
On the desk…
A framed photograph.
His mother’s smiling face.
The face he’d never managed to recover after his family was destroyed and he became a fugitive.
“…Mom.”
His voice trembled.
He looked into the mirror.
The face staring back at him was young.
Gone were the scars from battling the Annihilation Dragon.
Gone were the decades of hardship.
The reflection belonged to his teenage self.
Every sense screamed the same answer.
This was real.
I’ve… returned to the past?
Hyun-soo slowly sat on the bed.
Next to his pillow lay another photograph.
His expression twisted.
It was a picture of the girl he had secretly loved as a teenager.
One of the greatest embarrassments of his youth.
Proof that this really was that time.
“…Damn it.”
He really had come back.
Once…
His father, Jung Cheol, had led Garam, one of South Korea’s Ten Great Guilds, a swordsmanship guild expected to become one of the world’s strongest.
And now…
The feared Black Hunter known as the Dark King, leader of the world’s most notorious criminal organization…
Had returned to the body of Jung Cheol’s nineteen-year-old son.
His life…
Had begun again.
