…

"Look at what I got here."

A hoarse bass voice like an echo in an empty house spoke aloud. Looking at the unmoving and lifeless corpse in front of him, he sat with his hand against his cheek, observing it carefully. It was like he waited for it to move, but nothing happened as he continued to stare into the eyes of the corpse.

"You have surprised me the last weeks' time since your rebirth. But what surprised me the most after watching you closely in the five years' time you have been in this world. Is that your hearth never seemed to be corrupted."

He showed a little smile when talking to the nonresponsive corpse. And even though he looked like a maniac when doing so, he continued his speech.

"I know you have had your ups and downs, sometimes getting so mad that you lose yourself. However, you always get back on track, and you continue to fight towards your goal. I find that very remarkable."

He said and raised himself from his throne as he strolled towards the corpse.

"But all that is useless. When being dead, you can't accomplish one's goals, meaning you are pretty much worthless in that state. However, I have to congratulate you on clearing the quest I gave you. Though you didn't know what it was, you still completed it."

The echoing voice got louder, and it resounded in the enormous throne room.

"I might not be the creator of the system all you players are using, but I am a higher being myself, so I make my own rules in this world. And since you are destined to become a God Slayer, I can't let you die so easily."

He stated and waved his hand over the corpse, and a dark, mysterious light soon began to surround it. The corpse lifted from the ground, and its dead limbs flailed around as more and more darkness engulfed it.

"You can thank me again next time we meet, though, don't be too rash; I can't be bothered to revive you every time you die… And by the way, I left you a gift for completing the quest. You probably won't find out about it for a long while, but just know, when the time comes, the gift will be a lifesaving one."

He exclaimed happily about what he had given the corpse as a reward. And without another second wasted, the light engulfed body soon disappeared from the enormous hall it had previously laid in. And the Demon King just stared into nothingness, smiling a big grin.

…

Creaking-!

The dark and desolate forest looked the same as I had always been. The wind blew strong, but nothing other than the dead branches could be heard creaking a hair-raising sound. And there, on the cold floor, a man laid inside a little patch surrounded by dead trees and breath heavily.

"Hu..hu..h"

He groaned loudly, twisting his body around like if he was in great pain. Though nothing was wrong with him, and it just seemed that he had a terrible nightmare.

"Ha!"

A loud yell echoed the forest, and his eyes suddenly opened wide, and a dripping wet man sat himself up and wiped his forehead off from all the sweat.

"What just happened?"

He questioned with a rash voice, the look in his eyes was lost, and his body trembled uncontrollably. He looked like a lost puppy in a busy street.

'I'm not dead? But…'

Trying to think about his situation, however, nothing logical could be found in his chaotic brain at the moment.

'I definitely got penetrated by a sword, and I saw my health deplete to zero. Nothing could have possibly saved me from that.'

He thought as he calmed himself. His body stopped trembling, and life in his eyes soon appeared again.

'It was this exact spot I fought the Headless Horseman…'

Confused and a closer look at the terrain, he spotted multiple signs of fighting around the area.

'It wasn't a dream; I thought for a second it could have been a special spell someone cast on me. However, this damage to the forest could only be done by that monster…'

He finally got a few pieces together and found head and tail for at least some of his questions. It calmed him a bit knowing it wasn't a dream, but the fact that he survived something he shouldn't, greatly worried him.

"Damn it!"

He suddenly yelled angrily at the empty and dark abyss of the forest. And with his face buried in his hands, he got more frustrated about not knowing precisely what had happened when his eyes darkened.

'I can't focus on this now. Everything just doesn't make sense, and I don't think it ever will… I just have to keep going.'

He threw away his concerns, and with his impressive courage that shined through again, he stood up on his feet, forgetting about what just happened. His feet were a bit shaky, and it felt like there hadn't been blood circulation in them for a while. But taking a few steps quickly made them feel right again.

'What do I need to do now?'

Thinking back to what he did before encountering the Headless Horseman, he quickly realized that there was someone he had forgotten all about.

"That's right! I left the little girl alone!"

Exclaiming aloud, he hurriedly began to scout the forest to look around for the path he took when he left the girl alone.

'I shouldn't have run this far… But then again, I wanted the girl to be save.'

He got a flashback to when he first encountered the monster.

'I remember we began to look for her mom after I met her and accepted the quest. And after walking quite far into the forest, something appeared walking around the desolate forest—'

He stopped midsentence as he noticed a few similar trees he had seen before and soon began taking the path because it might be the one he took to get there in the first place.

'I quickly pushed us onto the ground when I noticed this monster, and when hiding from it, I could scout what it was. However, the girl accidentally rolled onto a branch and snapped it in two, notifying the monster we were there…'

Thinking about the events, he disheartened looked at the ground, thinking that everything could have been avoided.

'The monster didn't even bother to check what was hiding; it just attacked us immediately the moment it heard a snapping sound… Either way, I had to lure the monster away since I didn't want my quest giver to get killed, and I ran to this place.'

He looked around to double-check that he was on the right path, and as he did, he suddenly heard something running through dead branches, making many noises.

"Oppaaaaaa!"

A silhouette yelled and got closer to Sung-jin fast. The shape appeared to be a little girl crying and screaming a Korean honorific.

Thunk-!

The girl jumped into Sung-jin, embracing him while still crying, she landed in his chest area, and Sung-jin grabbed her and hugged her himself.

"What are you doing here?"

He asked her, wiping the tears away and calming her down.

"You said you would be back soon, but you never came. Sniff… I was really scared and worried…"

Remembering back, she began to tear up again and bury her face even deeper into his chest.

"I'm sorry about that. But it was a little more complicated than I would have liked it to be. Though, I'm still alive."

He jokingly said, trying to make the girl stop crying. However, it didn't work, and he was worried that waiting for her to stop crying was the only option at this rate.

'I'm really not good with children…'

He thought, but the way the girl made him feel when she embraced him was a feeling that he couldn't live without anymore.

"The sooner you stop crying, the faster we can begin to look for your mom."

The last attempt to stop her crying was desperately thrown out, but the last-ditch effort seemed to pay off.

Sniff-!

"Okay, I'm ready."

The girl wiped her nose and let go of Sung-jin. She stood on the ground, grabbing his hand in hers, and gestured that she wanted to go quickly.

"Fine, don't hurry too much; with your courage, we will find your mom in no time."

Sung-jin smiled a friendly smile and quickly began to walk with the girl holding his hands.