The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

The first thing Davey noticed after exiting the virtual space was Darian. The little lad was sound asleep, lying between him and Perserque.

“Davey?”

“Shh.”

It looked like he had gotten hot, as he'd kicked off his blanket and was sleeping with his stomach exposed.

Finding the sight cute and heartwarming, Davey was about to pull the blanket back over him when he suddenly paused.

Darian.

The person he saw in the virtual space was clearly Darian. He couldn’t help but think of his son being right next to him as more than just a coincidence.

Even Perserque, feeling more confusion than affection, kept silent.

Davey noticed a piece of virtual reality equipment that looked like someone had used it recently. “That...”

“No way... did Darian really?” Perserque’s face immediately turned pale. Had Darian snuck in and caused trouble while they were away? If so, how were Davey and Perserque supposed to deal with him? It couldn't have possibly been intentional, so punishing him wouldn't feel right.

Davey pulled the blanket over the soundly sleeping Darian and carefully rose to his feet.

“Davey.”

“For now, we don’t have anything solid.”

Davey woke up Kouna, who groggily sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Huh?”

“Shh. Darian’s sleeping, so be quiet.”

“Ah...” She was bewildered since she’d just been hearing that Darian was the one who trashed the primitive dimension.

“Let’s just let him sleep for now. Nothing’s confirmed yet.”

Yet, if Darian really had used Willow’s access device to run rampant inside, Davey had no clue what he should do about it.

“Dear sweet Darian, what could you be hiding from us?”

* * *

Once Davey’s companions gathered again, the atmosphere was as heavy as could be.

Aeria looked like she couldn’t believe it, and Illyna, with a firm expression, summarized the situation.

Aeria muttered, “That can’t be. Darian’s clearly...”

“As you know, he was definitely next to me when we came out from the virtual world. Plus, we can't ignore that thing over there.”

Willow, who was sitting to the side checking the access device, sighed. “You’re right, Dad. There are signs of Darian accessing it.”

Aeria showed a troubled face and lowered her head. Her slight trembling revealed just how worried she was about him.

“How could Darian... he’s still a kid! How could a child who can’t even talk properly wreck the world?”

“The Darian I saw in the virtual world wasn’t a child. At this point, we can at least be certain that there’s something dormant inside him.”

“Like Neltarid’s prophecy,” Willow mumbled. “Dad, do you remember?”

“Hmm?”

“Remember what Neltarid said before they died.”

- When the flowers fall and the sky grows high, the divine child with the destiny of a god will get one single chance to overturn their fate.

“I remember you telling me about once.”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe that divine child refers to Darian,” Willow suggested. “And ‘when the flowers fall and the sky grows high’ is referring to...”

“Autumn.”

Considering that they were in the autumn season, everything seemed to fit.

“However, I’m not sure about the part where he gets one single chance to overturn his fate. Even when I tried to read the memories of the former Neltarid, I couldn't see anything about that.”

“Then why don’t we ask Solomonia?” Illyna suggested.

Everything fit too well. Her judgment was that Solomonia had to be involved in the incident.

“I already asked Reina for a favor...”

As soon as he said that, the door flew open, and the woman herself walked in.

“Did you find him?” he quickly asked her.

“First off, I’m sorry, but it was impossible to avoid his surveillance within his domain,” she informed him.

“Did he leave any message?”

Reina put on a bitter expression. “He said he didn't know anything, and was just following Goddess Freyja’s orders. He asked me to pass along a message promising it’s the truth, even if it sounds hard to believe.”

In the end, the investigation had indeed been carried out, but Solomonia had unfortunately found out.

“Do you think he’s the culprit?” she asked Davey.

“I don’t think so.”

“And do you have a basis for that?”

“Call it a hunch.” That was all he could say for the time being. “I’m sorry, Willow, but I’ll need you to keep an eye on Darian for a while.”

It sucked having to suspect his son of committing such an act, treating him like a criminal, but he had no choice.

“Oh, and he told us not to enter the bubble worlds for a while,” Reina added.

That surprised Davey. “Not to enter the bubble worlds?”

“Yes. He said there’s some kind of problem. He asked us to wait until it’s resolved, because it could cause an issue between dimensions.”

“Alright. For now, let’s just watch how Darian does.”

“That’s probably the best thing to do right now. If the Darian you saw in the bubble world really was the Darian we know, checking any changes in him makes more sense, rather than hunting for those things in the bubble worlds.”

If Darian and the person Davey met back then were completely different, it meant he had barked up the wrong tree.

However, since they knew Darian had used the access device, they were beginning to suspect that the mature Darian from the virtual world and the Darian standing before them were actually the same person.

* * *

Waving his tentacles, Solomonia’s single eyeball twitched. “How strange... I’ve never seen a case like this before.”

He sighed, looking at the multitude of bubble worlds floating before him. They were dimensions that were still young and unstable. Thus, they required continuous care and needed to settle in a stable void.

However, after Davey crossed into the primitive dimension and clashed with the being he met there, some kind of change began. The dimension had started to twist as if it were influenced by some gigantic entity.

The problem was that the influence was spreading beyond the bubble worlds and into the virtual space. In other words, there was a chance that its influence could even affect the humans accessing the system from Earth.

“We must avoid that at all costs.”

Sinners though they may be, Goddess Freyja had given his kind a chance. She gave them an opportunity for forgiveness—an opportunity they’d never receive otherwise.

Their only job was not to miss the chance the goddess gave them.

“Oh no!”

Just then, one of the bubble worlds began to violently convulse, and Solomonia hurriedly intervened, moving it to a safe zone. However, a part of it resisted and left wounds on Solomonia.

He tried to suppress it again in a hurry, but his power couldn’t completely stop it.

“Thankfully, it won’t last long and will die out eventually. What in the world is going on inside...”

He could only hope that the ominous something that escaped his grasp and disappeared through the virtual space’s route to the bubble worlds wouldn’t cause any further trouble.

* * *

Earth.

Park Woo-Sung, who was deeply engrossed in the virtual reality game the Sacred Group had recently released, was about to head home after a long night of heavy drinking with friends.

“Hic! Hey, I’m telling you, you should’ve gone in and fought him.”

“You’re crazy. If I did, one hit would’ve wiped me out, you dumbass. Stop saying bullshit and go home, wash up, and sleep!!”

One friend was completely drunk, and the other seemed relatively sober. It was a common sight to see on a night district street.

“Hey, is the surgery tomorrow?”

When his extremely drunk friend asked that with a smirk, the young man supporting him gave a wry smile. “Yeah. Tomorrow, you jerk.”

“Yo, this time it’s really gonna go well. I—hic!—guarantee it one hundred percent. Your parents will definitely get better.”

“Bullshit, you're talking out your ass. Thanks, though. Thanks to you, I managed to save up for my mom’s surgery. I’ll never forget what you did for me.”

“My ass, bro! Hic! If you’re that thankful, just buy me dinner later, you jerk. And pay me back on time.”

“Don’t worry...” Park Woo-Sung patted his decade-long friend, Byung-Chul, on the shoulder. He then stumbled to stand on his own.

“Alright, I’m gonna get going. You should head home too.”

“You gonna be okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? Don’t worry and go. You know my place is right up ahead.”

Byung-Chul let out a chuckle and patted Woo-Sung on the shoulder. “Thanks, Park Woo-Sung. I really won’t ever forget this favor.”

“Stop talking nonsense and get lost, you weirdo!”

Byung-Chul turned away as he watched his friend wave his hand with strange body movements.

After they had gone their separate ways, Byung-Chul suddenly turned back as if he had just remembered something and called out to Park Woo-Sung. “Oh, right! Yo, the promise we made for a week from now...”

It was then.

He saw Woo-Sung suddenly grab a brick lying near a streetlamp and rush at him.

CRACK!

A bone-chilling sound spread through the alley.

* * *

- At around 2 a.m. yesterday, there was an incident where a Mr. Ahn, who was walking home after drinking, was attacked by his friend, a Mr. Park. Fortunately, the intervention of a passing pedestrian prevented the murder. However, reports say that Mr. Park was extremely agitated, continuing to rage for several hours even after being apprehended by the police. Police officials are looking into any resentment between the two, but are facing difficulties with the investigation due to the victim Mr. Ahn’s testimony, as well as the fact that the two were normally very close. Some are speculating that it was the work of an Awakened with special powers, while others suggest it was mental derangement from being too immersed in a virtual reality game that was—

Beep.

“Ugh... Seriously!” Hyun-Ah, sitting at her office desk, screamed and covered her face with both hands.

Just then, her older sister Yeon-Hee entered and placed some approval documents on the desk. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Ugh. Nothing. Just that our company’s stock is plummeting.”

That was unusual for such a big company. “Hmm? What happened?”

“A case of attempted murder happened. It’s not an ordinary case, either.”

“Hmm.”

“Haah. What the heck’s even going on right now... I’m already exhausted from the frequent crimes committed by those Awakened assholes.”

Whether the Awakened were the cause or virtual reality was involved, the Sacred Group was bound to be in an uproar. That was an inevitable fact.

After being caught up on the case, Yeon-Hee asked, “He just attacked him suddenly like that?”

“Yeah. Officials say they’re super close friends, yet one of them suddenly flipped out. The victim is in the hospital, and the assailant kept raging before suddenly losing consciousness.”

While it was the police’s job to suppress information on active cases, the incident caused widespread rumors, and the Sacred Group was suffering reputational and financial damage for no good reason.

“Relax,” Yeon-Hee assured her. “The police will take care of it.”

“I wish they would...”

Worrying wouldn’t change anything, of course.

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