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HELHEIM SCANS
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Chapter 1: The Returned World Feels Strange.
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Back in my school days, everything except studying was fun.
Games were obviously entertaining, and as long as it wasn’t studying, I could enjoy books, novels, and comics just as well.
I was what you’d call an "omni-nerd," enjoying not only martial arts and fantasy, which were popular among guys, but also cringeworthy rom-coms.
Realistically speaking, I figured I was more suited for a laid-back and pleasant life, like in a rom-com, rather than living a fierce or tragic existence.
I used to think that from time to time.
─Fwaaaaah.
[‘The Guardian of Order and Causality’ is summoning a hero.]
“……Huh?”
Since I was that kind of person, I didn’t wander around lost for long when I was suddenly enveloped in light and summoned to an unknown place.
Sure, I blinked in disbelief at first.
But then, I immediately caught sight of a goddess with an otherworldly, breathtaking beauty.
I knew right away.
……Wait, is this some kind of hero summoning?
Nod.
The goddess gently nodded with a benevolent smile, as if affirming my thoughts.
Though I was naturally bewildered by the sudden event, I couldn’t help but feel my heart start to race.
‘Is this the beginning of a harem hero party?’
Of course, I couldn’t let my guard down completely—it could still turn out to be a dark fantasy setting.
[You will not die.]
Strangely enough, the contract conditions were extremely favorable.
I would hunt monsters with my limitless growth potential, and the goddess’s church would provide full support, ensuring that my chances of dying were practically nonexistent.
She even personally vowed that I wouldn’t be betrayed or discarded later on.
She claimed that if I started doubting my allies, I wouldn’t be able to focus on my mission.
On top of that, she promised to grant me a wish once everything here was over.
‘If she’s being honest, this isn’t bad at all.’
Honestly, considering I was half-abducted into this situation, there wasn’t much I could do.
If the negotiations fell through, I’d be the only one screwed.
Since the contract terms were decent, I figured I might as well believe in it for now.
[The contract is established.]
It was surprising how smoothly we saw eye to eye right from the start.
Considering all the recent grimdark depictions of hero parties in creative works, this was an astonishingly wholesome beginning.
No backstabbing or exploitation—just mutual trust.
She and I smiled brightly as we shook hands.
[Now, let’s form your party.]
“Oh.”
Finally, the harem party formation was about to begin.
* * *
“Yo, nice to meet you.”
Just as the goddess promised, the support was top-notch.
The hero party was formed with only the continent’s strongest combatants.
“Is this kid really the hero?”
“Cute, huh?”
“Why don’t you go level up a bit first?”
“Heh, don’t worry. We old-timers will lead you well.”
The team consisted of:
The strongest barbarian warrior of the North,
An all-purpose dwarf craftsman,
A sturdy elf prince with thick bowstrings and massive forearms,
A cardinal-level cleric,
And the King of Thieves from the underworld, known as the God of Stealth and Assassination.
It was truly the continent’s most elite party, chosen solely based on teamwork, character, and current skill level.
‘It’s a little odd that there isn’t a single woman, though.’
I could accept a male warrior, but shouldn’t there at least be a female archer?
Or maybe a saintess?
Yet, there were no special exceptions—it was just a lineup of seasoned, muscle-bound veterans.
[You will not die.]
……Well, as long as that promise held true, I had no complaints.
And indeed, even when we hunted mutated monster hordes and assassinated demon spies lurking in the shadows, I never once felt any real danger.
With ample supplies of food and resources, there were moments when it genuinely felt like I was inside a VR game where I was the protagonist.
Even if the party was filled with burly old men instead of cute female characters.
‘Oh well. I can always meet women after I finish my hero duties.’
I gradually became accustomed to my role as a hero, even while cleaving through armies of monsters.
They said awakening my aura would slow my aging, so I figured I had all the time in the world.
Someday, when peace finally came, I’d create my own legend of endless feasting and revelry.
Though, admittedly, that still seemed like a distant dream.
“Yuseong! Hurry over here! The sausages are getting cold!”
“Man, this beer tastes amazing!”
“Hey, give this old man’s shoulders a massage!”
“……Come on, I’ve been in this party for years, too.”
“Nah, nah! Your hands have the magic touch. I’ll treat you to a full royal course meal later!”
By the third year of being a hero, I still believed that the day would come when I could escape from this party of muscleheads.
At least there was one silver lining: unlike in some stories where betrayal and backstabbing ran rampant, my party was full of camaraderie and loyalty.
‘Yeah, fighting alongside these men and defeating demons for a few years isn’t so bad.’
There were times when I grew weary of the stench of sweat and blood, but until peace came, I knew I had to stick with the party and do my part.
“You’re serious this time, right? If you’re lying again, there’ll be no free service next time.”
“C’mon! You still don’t trust me?!”
“Okay! Just one more time, I’ll believe you!”
“Bwahaha!”
I had no idea at the time that I’d end up spending 20 years with them.
* * *
The reason everything dragged on for so long was simple.
The source of the demon scourge that plagued the world wasn’t even from this world—it came from another planet.
Like the Zerg in Starcraft, they were extraterrestrial beings.
‘What the hell kind of bullshit is this?’
At first, I thought it was complete nonsense.
I even grabbed the continent’s top magic engineer by the collar and demanded an explanation.
But the fact remained: the demon bastards were actually extraterrestrial beings.
I kept wondering where they kept appearing from—turns out they were being sent periodically from another planet beyond the cosmos to build a colony here.
I wanted to slap myself for thinking it was simply a typical "heroes vs. demons" scenario.
‘Wait, this was actually a space-scale battle?’
At that moment, I felt like not just the goddess who summoned me but fate itself was screwing me over.
…Ah, damn contract.
I should’ve made sure it included no life-threatening dangers, abundant support, and an easy escape route during the campaign.
[Huh? No way, right?]
“……”
I suddenly wanted to quit the party, but it was a bit too late for that.
The perfectly balanced difficulty made it just challenging enough to be doable, so I kept rolling along.
Until we wiped out the demons from the continent and obliterated their home base.
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HELHEIM SCANS
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That took twenty years.
Only after we fused magitech rockets with the goddess’s power for interstellar travel, stormed the demons’ homeworld, and razed it to the ground did peace finally return to this damned world.
Throughout it all, the musclehead party remained by my side.
“Hahahaha!!”
“Beer and sausage is the greatest combo in the world!”
These guys, all half-superhuman, barely aged and were still the same.
Honestly, by this point, we were so close that it was more fun than frustrating.
Still, I couldn’t help but think:
‘Would it have killed them to add a cool-headed elf archer, a saintess, or even a tsundere rogue to the party?’
The pent-up frustration from the lack of a proper harem party briefly welled up inside me.
“Thinking back, it was definitely harsh, but I would never blame the goddess. It was all my fault. Yep, absolutely.”
[Ahem, hmm.]
“Being celebrated as the hero who saved the world is a rare experience, isn’t it?”
Our party became living legends.
Especially me—I grew into a full-fledged hero over the years and was revered as a mythical figure.
After all, I was the man who saved this backward world by traveling to another planet and wiping out its demons.
Honestly, that alone was a god-tier achievement worthy of being worshiped.
“Even the emperor of the empire, the pope of the goddess’s church, and the arrogant high elf chieftain all speak to me with reverence. They don’t see me as a mere human anymore. I mean, by the end, I could practically slice an entire planet in half. Of course they treat me like some divine being walking the earth.”
It was only natural.
I had transcended kingdoms, continents, and even the world itself—I was the war hero who saved the universe.
It was natural for people to revere me as more than a man—a living myth.
And to be honest, I didn’t mind being admired as such a great figure.
The only problem was:
‘I became too famous to do anything indecent.’
I had no plans to commit any crimes, but still—
As the savior of the world, I couldn’t even casually enjoy a royal banquet without causing a scene.
Strolling into a tavern for a drink was obviously impossible.
And meeting women?
Forget it.
“I mean, people treat me more like the incarnation of destruction than a man or a hero.”
They put me on a pedestal so high it was suffocating.
Not as a fellow human, but as a transcendent figure, a near-divine being destined to become a constellation in the night sky.
In fact, if I so much as commanded it, people would offer themselves to serve me without hesitation.
But having finally escaped the musclehead party, the last thing I wanted was to be worshiped like some divine figure.
I just wanted to experience normal, heart-pounding romance…!
But that was now completely out of reach.
Forget a normal relationship—the moment I stepped outside the temple, people would drop to their knees in reverence.
My portrait was plastered everywhere, and they’d even built statues of me, so everyone recognized my face.
The only silver lining was that I had amassed enough wealth and fame to live without a single worry.
But what was the point when I had barely enjoyed any of it, having spent all my time working?
[Ah… yes… I bear much of the blame. You were still so young when you arrived in this world.]
“Hey, I’m not blaming you or anything. I’m just saying that the world around me is… a tad bit overheated.”
[No, no. It’s my fault. I kept you here for too long without even knowing the demons’ true origins.]
The goddess hurriedly replied, then fell into deep thought, absentmindedly touching her lips.
After a long silence, she spoke with a graceful yet solemn voice:
[It seems I should be the one to fix this. Would you prefer if everyone simply forgot about your existence…?]
“Uh, no thanks.”
I had gone through too much hell for my achievements to be forgotten.
I wasn’t about to pull a fantasy Spider-Man and have everyone forget me.
An alternate identity might work, but it wouldn’t quite feel like "me."
After pondering for a while, I finally made up my mind.
“I’m starting to miss modern technology. Just send me back so I can live a happy, peaceful life there.”
Living in a fantasy world where everyone worshiped me wasn’t bad.
But after twenty years, I’d had my fill.
No matter how fun a game is, if you keep replaying the same content, you’ll eventually get sick of it.
And hey, wasn’t this exactly the kind of moment where I should cash in on my wish from the original contract?
“I’ll only show up when those old bastards kick the bucket. Can you believe those guys are still looking for me even after hitting their seventies?”
[Hmm, are you sure about that?]
“Yeah, and considering all the suffering I went through, you’d better throw in some extra compensation. Oh, and it’d be nice if I could bring some of my power with me.”
[Hmm… Alright. I’ll arrange that.]
“Oh? Seriously?”
The power I had accumulated was on a divine level, unmatched by anything except the gods themselves.
Even if I only took a fraction of it back, I’d be practically immortal—immune to accidents or diseases.
I was expecting the goddess to be picky about causality rules or some nonsense.
[Also, I’ll make sure you can enjoy romance properly in your world.]
“Huh…? You promise?”
[Of course. You’ve been singing love songs under your breath for the past twenty years. I know the hero’s heart is still young and yearning for romance.]
“Hey, it wasn’t that often…”
[Haha, don’t play coy. You and I are practically like family now. Just tell me what you want.]
“Ahem.”
I didn’t expect her to be so thoughtful.
But now, it was all over.
I hadn’t even dared to hope for this much consideration.
I got to keep part of my power, was financially set for life, and was blessed with good fortune, making everything—including romance—go smoothly.
‘It almost feels too perfect… like the first time I met her. Suspicious.’
Still, a divine contract couldn’t be broken, not even by a god.
And we had been bound by twenty years of camaraderie.
Surely, she would do right by me this time.
…Or so I believed.
* * *
“What the fuck.”
Oh, right.
Of course I was an idiot for trusting her.
[Blue Dragon Guild clears an A-rank dungeon with zero casualties, demonstrating textbook strategy.]
[BoyzDays dominates domestic and international music charts with their hit song ‘Male President.’]
[The Sword Saint remains in seclusion for ten years, reportedly due to his only daughter’s prolonged illness.]
“Wait, Goddess?”
The world I returned to was…
somehow strange.
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HELHEIM SCANS
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