Chapter 76: Velator the Hero (5)

“What exactly… is a hero supposed to be?”

Hosik Jeong threw out the kind of fundamental question everyone in the room must have wondered.

“A hero is someone chosen by the goddess. A symbolic existence who defeats all darkness and evil.”

To that question, I gave a textbook definition of a hero.

“What I want to know isn’t that. What is the hero’s true purpose—whether he’s really on humanity’s side or not.”

The Demon Clan ruled the world.

The emergence of a hero might be something worth celebrating, but the world wasn’t so simple.

These were harsh times when you couldn’t even trust your own family.

It was only natural that we couldn’t be sure whether this so-called hero, who’d appeared out of nowhere, was truly on humanity’s side.

“Public opinion is a mess these days. Everyone’s getting interested in the guild Velator the Hero founded, and they’re starting to move in that direction.”

What Hosik Jeong was worried about was the movement toward Light, the guild Velator had created.

Humanity, impressed by the exploits of the hero and his party—who had wiped out parts of the Demon King’s Army—began to follow him.

And then, by founding the guild called Light and gathering those who wished to resist the Demon Clan, public sentiment started to sway dramatically.

[Velator the Hero, he is the savior sent by the gods to rescue humanity.]

– If you’re with the hero, even the Demon Clan isn’t scary. 

– Rise, everyone, and resist the Demon Clan with him.

[It is obvious that following the hero is the only way to save humanity and the world!]

The effect was incomparable to when I had stormed the Demon King’s Castle.

That’s just how the media and human psychology work. 

They always favor the new and holy over the old. 

Velator the Hero’s appearance skillfully aligned with both the media and public sentiment.

Moreover, the flashy title of “hero” was more than enough to attract attention.

And Hosik Jeong felt anxious about the hero’s arrival.

He wasn’t the only one.

All of South Korea must have felt the same.

Why? 

Because Awakeners from South Korea were leaving to join the Light guild founded by the hero.

It all started with the Awakened Bamboo Grove.

— A hero, huh. If some lunatic just called himself a hero, I would’ve cursed him out, but after watching the video, I couldn’t help but nod.

ㄴDid you see that holy power? No matter how you look at it, that’s not the kind of power the Demon Clan or any villain could use.

ㄴIf it’s all an act, the least we can do is play along.

— But didn’t he appear way too suddenly?

ㄴHeroes always appear in troubled times. The Demon Clan showed up, so of course a hero did too.

ㄴYou haven’t forgotten we have God Siwon, right?

ㄴThat was ages ago. Now Velator the Hero is all the rage.

— I used to praise God Siwon, but honestly, isn’t it kind of weird? The power he uses looks way too much like the Demon Clan’s. Makes me nervous.

ㄴIt’s not just similar—it’s practically Demon Clan power, right? What if Kim Si-won is in league with the Demon Clan or something?

— If I had to bet my life, I’d go with the hero over Kim Si-won.

— When in doubt, just pick Light. As long as both of them want to save humanity, there’s nothing to lose, right?

It wasn’t just a story unique to South Korea.

Survivors from the Demon Clan’s grasp began migrating en masse to Light, where Velator the Hero was.

Some of them hadn’t budged, no matter how much I had achieved so far.

That’s why Hosik Jeong couldn’t accept the situation so easily.

Since he’d formed an alliance with me, joining the hero’s side wasn’t an option.

Of course, if Velator was truly acting for humanity, if he was genuinely on our side, then perhaps that would offer some comfort.

“The hero…….”

And so, he gave his answer to the question that was on everyone’s mind in the room.

“…He is undoubtedly on humanity’s side.”

The hero’s very nature was to fight for humanity.

His mission was to defeat the Demon Clan—and ultimately the Demon King—to protect humanity from them.

“Then that’s a relief…….”

I added one more thing for Hosik Jeong, who was trying to be reassured.

“But his arrival isn’t necessarily a good thing for the world.”

“But you just said he was on humanity’s side…….”

“Yes. He’ll fight the Demon Clan for humanity. But in doing so, a cursed cycle will once again be laid upon the world.”

“A cursed cycle?”

“That’s right. The cycle of light and darkness, good and evil. The curse that goes on forever.”

It all began with the first murder in ancient times.

The god of darkness created the Demon Clan, who killed humans created by the god of light.

Because of that, the god of darkness was forced to follow the rules made by the god of light.

The rule that light must always prevail—the eternal contest of hero and Demon King.

It’s not just a simple role-play.

“The conflict of hero and Demon King, human and Demon Clan, is what brings the forgotten gods back into this world.”

People think gods are perfect beings but they’re not.

Entities called gods, their divinity, are like parasites.

They survive by feeding on the faith and belief of living beings.

“The story of the hero and Demon King, the opposition of light and darkness, good and evil—it’s nothing but a device to strengthen the gods’ power.”

The purpose of this endlessly repeating tale is to empower the gods.

The longer the war goes on and the harsher the world gets, the more humans cry out to the god of light and the Demon Clan to the god of darkness.

Through their faith and belief, these two gods gain the power worthy of being called supreme deities.

And now, a hero has appeared in modern times.

What does that mean?

“Unwanted divine intervention. And the start of their interference.”

At my words, silence fell over the chamber.

Not only Hosik Jeong, who had formally become president, but Minister Kim Chaun and the newly promoted high-ranking officials all fell silent.

“Divine intervention… you say?”

Because it was unbelievable.

Gods, of all things.

Most, except the religious, probably didn’t believe in gods at all.

Especially in modern times.

There was no sign or trace of these so-called gods to be found.

And now, suddenly, gods?

It was natural to feel confused.

“I can’t quite grasp it. This intervention by the gods—is that a good thing, or a bad thing?”

The Tower had appeared, and so had the Demon Clan.

Who was to say a god couldn’t show up?

Hosik Jeong, who valued efficiency above all, was focused on how divine intervention would affect humanity.

“It is… extremely bad.”

Gods.

They see humans as nothing more than tools.

Chess pieces to maintain their own stature and for their own power, they will not hesitate to sacrifice any tool as much as they please.

You can see it from the endless cycles of hero and Demon King, good and evil.

Countless lives are lost in these wars.

And the more dire the crisis, the more people believe in gods, and that’s what raises their stature.

“Is there any way to stop it?”

The hero has already appeared.

Soon, the Demon King will show up, and the two forces will clash in earnest. 

The gods’ power will only grow, and their influence over the world will expand.

When that happens, this world could end up like the Gritia Continent of the past, ruled by the gods, humanity trapped forever in the strings of fate.

And in that moment, one could realize—

‘It seems the gods have been involved in everything—the dimensional transfer, the appearance of the Tower, all of it.’

The Tower, containing my memories, rising up.

The Demon Clan hiding in the modern world through dimensional transfer.

Behind all of it were the gods.

Especially those two—gods of light and darkness—who have a deep and twisted fate with me.

Well.

After suffering such humiliation in the past, I can see why they’d bear a grudge.

But still.

‘Things won’t go your way.’

Just like before, this time will be the same.

Their plans will fail.

“In the past, I broke that cycle of the gods.”

I didn’t plan to elaborate in detail.

But I felt the need to reveal some of the truth to these people—my allies who must eventually stand against the gods.

“To say you broke the cycle, do you mean… you dealt with the gods?”

“Yes. In a world where the gods interfered, I erased their power completely.”

The Gritia Continent, a world under the gods’ influence but at some point, their interference vanished because of me.

“Is it really possible to destroy gods? No matter how you put it, aren’t you just a human?”

That question was only natural.

Gods, Transcendent beings with the power of creation and destruction.

How could a mere human like me erase them?

Of course, it’s possible.

I’m living proof of it but it wasn’t through something as drastic or direct as storming the gods’ realm and killing them.

The way a mere creature—a human—can destroy gods is by erasing faith and that began with the death of the hero.

I killed the hero, breaking the cycle of light and darkness.

Actually, in this cycle, the hero must never die.

No—if they do, it must be by the Demon King’s hand.

That’s how the next hero is born, even stronger but because I interfered, the hero died.

The cycle was broken, and the Demon King, who should have continued the eternal struggle, cursed me and disappeared because everything fell apart the moment the hero died.

With the Demon King vanishing in a situation that had never occurred before, the Demon Clan also fell apart.

And because of this, I was cursed by the gods.

Not just by the gods of light and darkness.

By breaking the cycle that brought the most faith and power to the gods, I became a target for all of them.

I knew it would happen but I had no choice.

Because in the cycle of light and darkness, the role of the Corps Commander was to die heroically at the hands of the hero.

From low-tier Demon Clan, to mid-tier, high-tier, peak-tier, and finally the Corps Commander—the hero would grow strong enough to face the Demon King.

In that process, I, as the Corps Commander, was supposed to die.

But I refused to become fodder for the hero. 

So I broke the absolute rule and killed the hero myself.

Thus, I became a target for the gods and was attacked by believers and apostles from Law Country and many others.

But I defeated them all, and erased the gods from the Gritia Continent.

Of course, it wasn’t by my strength alone.

King Ekion, the Hero King.

The King of Asran Kingdom, my comrade who ended the world of gods alongside me.

And the only one who unified the continent.

“Then… will you do it again this time?” Hosik Jeong spoke.

Asking whether I would destroy the gods again.

“Of course.” Naturally, that’s my plan.

It would be troublesome if the gods regained their power.

Even if others don’t realize, the gods would surely recognize me.

If they recover their strength, I’ll be in more danger than ever.

I have to stop it.

And for that, the first thing I need to do is—

“I have to kill the hero.”

Just like in the past, I must kill the hero.

To break the cycle of light and darkness—the eternal curse that has begun to turn once more—I have to kill the hero.