The Return of the Disaster-Class Hero-Novel

Chapter 303: Life Stage 4 (2)

‘Ah! This is what it’s like to die.’

If the man was being honest, he was afraid. He had no idea where he was.

If he had to make a comparison, he was in a world of microbes. He was an existence smaller than dust. He was much smaller than a molecule. It felt as if he were eternally floating through the world in an amorphous form.

In the end, he would probably forget who he was. That was why he was afraid.

‘When I was young, I was afraid that the reaper would greet me when I died.’

He would have preferred the reaper greeting him rather than this. Right now, he felt nothing. It was just a world of vast darkness. The sensations his body felt and his memories were all disappearing slowly.

However, one thing still bothered the man’s heart. It concerned the woman who had been fighting the monster.

‘Ah! I hope she’s still alive.’

He couldn’t remember her name. He had put his body in front of the attack to protect the shelter, all for her. However, he had no idea what had happened afterward.

This made him desperate. He was about to move to check if she was alive when…

Koo-oohng!!

An enormous gust of wind suddenly swept him up.

‘Kuhk!’

Then a pitch-black space appeared in front of his eyes. The man felt a chill run up his body.

‘Shit! What the hell is that…!’

It looked like the lair of the devils. Lights of unknown origin were being sucked into the space. Those lights looked like they didn’t want to be sucked into that space.

It felt as though nothing could come back out if one entered that place. Having a realization, the man despaired.

‘Damn it! This is the end for me.’

He was scared. His senses, including his ability to feel pain, were gone, yet his body felt a coldness that could freeze the soul.

So he tried to run away, but in the end, he was about to get dragged into the devil’s lair! But…

[Return.]

“!”

He heard someone’s voice. In this world of coldness, it was the only warmth he could feel.

As if he was drawn to the voice, he was forcefully dragged toward somewhere.

He didn’t know whose power it was. However, he had a feeling that if he tried to run away, he would get beaten to a pulp by the owner of the voice.

The man felt as if someone was dragging him by the head and he was taking a beating and as though it was happening over and over!

“Kuh-huhk!!”

The man gasped as if he were a drowning man who had been pulled out of the water.

“Huh, huh-uhk…!”

His vision was blurry, so he couldn’t see it well. However, he could somewhat see a large crowd in front of him.

He realized they were reporters when he saw the broadcast cameras. The man felt a sense of relief for some reason.

However, he didn’t even have the time to enjoy that relief before his eardrums were almost destroyed.

“Kyahhhk!!”

“Ahhhhk!!!”

“M-My god!!! He brought someone back from the dead!!!”

“…????”

Yes, Benjamin Goat, a dead person, had come back to life again.

The reporters couldn’t believe their eyes.

“M-My god…!”

“H…He was dead, yet he’s alive again?!”

They were shocked when they witnessed something impossible. Their gazes headed toward Lee Gun!

“Lee Gun-nim brought a person back to life?!”

The people who had brought white sheets were in a state of pandemonium. The people holding the cameras rushed toward the pale-faced Goat.

“G-Goat-nim? Are you really Goat-nim?”

“Are you ok? Are you able to speak?”

“What did life after death look like?!”

“My god! I confirmed that his heart had stopped…!”

Yooha also looked at the revived Goat with surprise.

On the other hand, Goat looked confused after opening his eyes. “What the hell happened— Kuh-huhk!!”

“Goat-nim!!!”

“Ahhhk! My stomach! My shoulders! My legs! Someone get me a doctor!!”

People panicked when they heard Goat’s scream. Then…

“Hey, don’t be such a crybaby.”

“Kuh-huhk!!!”

Lee Gun, who was crouched next to Goat, clicked his tongue. He brought down his hand on Goat’s head since he was being too noisy.

Despite it being the hand of a kid, Goat felt like he had been hit by a monster. Goat vomited blood as he groaned.

Then, he became relieved when he realized that Yooha was ok. “What happened, Lee Gun-nim?”

“What do you mean, what happened? You died, then came back to life.”

“What… What?!”

“Ah! I hadn’t known that you would be in such a state. I didn’t heal you before I revived you. Thank you! I’ll keep it in mind.”

“Y-You’ll keep it in mind!” Goat was having a hard time stringing his words together. “J-Jaewon Hyung-nim!”

It was because of Lee Jaewon, who was lying next to him. Unlike Goat, Lee Jaewon was in a grave condition.

While Goat was hurt all over the place, he hadn’t lost any body parts. It was different for Lee Jaewon, who Confusion had attacked directly.

Lee Jaewon had lost an arm, and his legs were crushed. His bloody face was half crushed, so it was hard to recognize him.

On top of all that, his stomach had a hole. It was almost hard to look at him sober.

Goat’s face turned pale, but Lee Gun just stroked Lee Jaewon’s head.

‘You did well in trying to protect them.’

Then, something surprising happened.

“G-General Lee Jaewon’s body is…!”

Along with the golden green light, Lee Jaewon’s body started returning to its normal state.

[Super Regeneration]

Bones, nerves, muscles, cells, and skin grew where his arm had been severed. His crushed legs were restored. Then, his face was perfectly restored.

He looked like a person again, but in his current state, he was merely a corpse.

Lee Gun used the Life stage 4 skill once again.

[Return.]

Something surprising happened. The golden-green light infused itself into Lee Jaewon’s body. And the same phenomena that had occurred with Goat took place.

[You have found the wandering soul.]

[If you wish to use the power of Life, you have to fulfill the conditions.]

[1. It must be a soul that hasn’t perished.]

[2. It has to be the soul of a human.]

[3. It has to be the soul of someone who had died within the last 24 hours.]

[The relevant soul has been dead for less than 24 hours.]

[You won’t take on any risk.]

Accompanying the notification, a light emanated from Lee Jaewon’s body. Then people started screaming.

“G-General Lee Jaewon-nim!”

“Ah!”

Lee Jaewon gasped as he took a breath.

Both Goat and Yooha covered their mouths. “Jaewon Oppa…!”

Lee Jaewon looked confused because of his noisy surroundings. It was as if he didn’t know what kind of situation he was in. He looked like he didn’t know who he was.

However, the first thing he saw was Lee Gun stroking his head.

“… Lee Gun-nim?”

“I’m sorry for not being able to be faster in saving you.”

“…!”

It was the first time he had seen such warmth in Lee Gun’s eyes.

Lee Jaewon finally realized which miracle had been performed on him. However, his relief at coming back to life lasted only a moment. He looked at his surroundings.

Lee Gun seemed to know what he was thinking and said, “Don’t worry! Yooha and Goat are next to you. Sungjae is with his father.”

“…!”

When Lee Jaewon confirmed that those two were next to him, he lowered his head. He was deeply relieved. It seemed he had been worried for his juniors until the moment of his death.

On the other hand, the crowd was silent, as if they were in disbelief. However, it took them only a moment to start cheering.

“Lee Gun-nim brought them back from life!”

“My god! How is this possible?!”

“The Serpent Bearer temple is the temple of revival!”

Then, something surprising happened.

[The power of Confusion has weakened.]

[The confused feelings have consolidated through Faith.]

[Faith toward you has increased.]

It seemed the feeling of wonder and faith could take control away from confusion. The power of Confusion that was surrounding the world weakened. It was the same for the power surrounding Lee Gun.

[The power of Confusion that is acting on your body has weakened.]

That wasn’t all. The evolution of Life seemed to have a role in it.

[Life stage 4 is categorizing Confusion as an abnormal status. It can get rid of the Confusion status.]

[The abnormal status Confusion has been eliminated.]

The removal was accompanied by a change to the little Lee Gun.

“Ah— Lee Gun-nim!!”

As light emanated from him, Lee Gun started growing in no time. Of course, his figure couldn’t be seen clearly thanks to the light. However, the disciples reared back in shock when the small children’s clothes were ripped apart.

“Ah! Lee Gun-nim’s clothes…!”

Unclear where it came from, but at that moment, the slime wrapped itself around Lee Gun’s body.

Flash!

Then, Lime changed into a suit.

[Clump of Creation Clay says it could create clothes using Creation of Life stage 3.]

[It personally likes a pink dress for you.]

Instead of answering, Lee Gun pinched the suit.

Lime whimpered, as if it wanted to die from the pain. Everyone was shocked by what had happened. However, one person was shocked more than anyone else.

“This makes no sense…!”

It was Confusion. The cracked electronic display TV showed Lee Gun and the three people who had been revived.

Hugo also couldn’t shut his mouth. He had immediately run past them, but Lee Jaewon and Goat had been dead. He had even witnessed the healer disciples shake their heads. He saw people trying to place white sheets over their bodies.

“They’ve been revived….”

At that moment, Lee Gun seemed to have realized that Hugo had been about to go berserk after seeing his dead subordinates.

[Idiot! They are ok. Don’t lose control of yourself.]

“…!!!”

When Hugo heard Lee Gun’s voice, his magical energy, which had been about to go berserk, calmed down.

Boom!!!

“!”

Hugo immediately raised his guard as he separated himself from Confusion.

Confusion’s terrifying power destroyed the buildings as it surged into the sky. The phenomenon surging into the sky wasn’t something created by a human. It was a phenomenon created by a monarch.

Confusion glared at the electronic display. His body shook as it emitted chaotic energy. This was more of a mental breakdown than rage.

‘This is nuts!! He reached Life stage 4?!’

Confusion had turned pale, and he bit his lips so hard that blood started to flow. His eyes were bloodshot. It was to be expected.

‘Life is supposed to be capable of only healing, yet he used it to kill my children? Moreover, he used that EXP to reach stage 4?!’

In his quest to grow Lee Gun as the god of Death, Confusion had awakened the useless Life instead!

“Shit! He was supposed to awaken as the god of Death! How dare Life mess up all my plans!”

This was a precarious situation for him.

‘Life and Death respectively reached stage 4.’

By the skin of his teeth, Lee Gun might be able to become the god of Life.

‘Depending on which one level up first, the other Divine status disappears.’

There was no way Lee Gun could use both at the same time. This put Confusion in a bind.

‘If Life reaches stage 4, it’ll suppress Death more strongly!’

Stage 4 was right before the final stage, so the difference in power was stark.

This was why Confusion had tried to make Lee Gun lose his temper at stage 3 of Life. It was an ambiguous stage to use the power of Life, and he wanted Lee Gun to evolve into the stage-6 demonic god!

‘That bastard Lee Gun is psychotic. How can his mind be fine after seeing the death of his niece and the subordinates, who he reared?!’

There was no way he was of sound mind.

‘Is he a psychopath?’

Kwahng!!!

“!!!”

At that moment, a terrifying attack came flying toward Confusion. Confusion’s eyes remained bloodshot as he blocked the attack. He saw Hugo, who was preparing for his next attack. He seemed furious, having realized Confusion’s plan.

“What do you plan on doing after awakening Gun as the god of Death?”

At that moment, the look in Confusion’s eyes changed as he looked at Hugo. His despairing lips curled up.

Yes. This was it. He hadn’t wanted to kill a divine-rank being since it might affect the law of cause and effect. However, his plan of killing people close to Lee Gun had failed.

However, what would happen if Lee Gun’s best friend was killed? Would Lee Gun awaken at once?

As if he had lost his mind at the thought, Confusion moved oddly.

Hugo reflexively flinched. He retreated when he felt Confusion’s wicked killing intent. However, someone grabbed Confusion at that moment.