Chapter 0 Part 1: Return

When I close my eyes, memories of the past come flooding back.

Even though 10 years have passed, the memories have not faded but become clearer.

The life where I risked my life as a porter inside the gate, surviving day by day.

The ridicule and persecution I received every time I formed a party.

The sudden memory of being transported to this world, Grandia.

The promise I made with the goddess to become the hero who defeats the Demon King.

The endless training to become a hero.

The long war against the demon race.

The days of suffering from war-related PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).

The memory of going back and forth between life and death in every battle I fought.

The struggles of a modern person among medieval barbarians.

And finally.

I beheaded the Demon King at the end of the journey.

The only reason I could endure these hellish days was because of the promise I made with the goddess.

The promise that when I beheaded the Demon King, I would be able to return to the modern world where I lived.

“You fcking btch.”

I couldn’t hold back my anger, and a curse word slipped out.

I wasn’t originally like this, really.

I was just an ordinary person living an ordinary life, but after 10 years of slashing with these ‘ooga booga’ medieval barbarian bastards, I changed.

“Are you not going to answer?”

“Y-Yes. Yes, Hero.”

When I lower my gaze, I see a trembling woman.

She definitely used to have a noble and dignified atmosphere when I saw her before, but now she’s trembling like a drowned rat, far from noble.

If I had my way, I’d like to separate the upper and lower body of this incompetent goddess, just like the king who discriminated against and despised the hero who came to save their world as a black-haired barbarian, but I exerted superhuman patience and put my sword back.

I really held back because she was a woman.

I took a deep breath and asked again calmly.

“Why can’t I return? Didn’t you promise? You said I could return to my original world if I cut off the Demon King’s head.”

“Th-That’s. It’s not really my fault…”

“What the f*ck?”

“Eek, eeek…! Please put down the sword…! I’ll explain…!”

When I drew my lovely partner, the greatsword Cutie♡Angel (Greatsword/Ego Sword/2m/22kg/Virgin) that accompanied me through many battlefields, the goddess freaked out and continued.

“Th-That’s. You became much stronger than I expected, so I don’t think I can stably open a portal strong enough to withstand your power, even if I gather all my remaining power. Dimensional travel is originally a somewhat unstable technology…”

“Just get to the point.”

“…To return to your world, you must leave all your current strength and prowess behind. N-Not that you’re throwing it away! You’re just sealing it temporarily…!

Even if you seal it, your skills and techniques won’t disappear, but you need to seal your inherent mana and absolute power so that I can stably…”

I clearly told her to get to the point, but the goddess continued to mumble for a long time afterward.

To summarize the goddess’s words:

1. To return to my original world stably, I must seal the power I’ve accumulated in this world.

2. Even if the power is sealed, the technical aspects will not disappear.

3. As I grow in my original world, the seal will gradually be released, and my power will be restored.

4. It is uncertain whether I can return to the exact world I lived in. It could be a different world with one or two common sense changed.

The goddess lowered her head, probably feeling ashamed even after saying it.

For 10 years, I was treated like an unpaid s*ave and went through all sorts of hardships, but when it’s time to give compensation, there’s no special reward, and I have to seal the power I’ve worked so hard to build. It’s like saying, ‘You’ve worked hard all this time, so take care of your future yourself.’

Most other heroes would probably just cut off the head of the goddess in front of them and try to become the new god of this world.

The goddess knows that, too, so that’s why she’s trembling like that.

But that had nothing to do with me.

“I don’t care.”

“Eh, yes?”

“I don’t care about being sealed. Just open the portal to the modern world quickly.”

The goddess looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“It-It’s the power you’ve accumulated for ten years! How can you give it up so easily?”

“Well.”

I want to go back to Earth quickly and drink cola.

I couldn’t say that confidently.

I still had my pride as a hero.

“Because I just did what I had to do as a hero.”

“H-Hero…!”

The goddess, with a touched face, clung to me and said she would give me some rewards from a higher dimension.

A handsome appearance, an inventory, and Cutie♡Angel.

I understand, so just open the portal quickly.

I crossed the portal.

The sensation of falling through the void continued endlessly.

It was a similar feeling when I was summoned to Grandia.

While having random thoughts, I gradually began to feel my five senses one by one.

“Okay! Everyone, you all did a great job!”

The first sense I felt was hearing. Then vision followed.

Naturally, my gaze turned to the source of the sound.

A brown-haired, ordinary-looking woman was shaking hands with the gate raid party members, saying they did a great job.

Then I remembered.

‘Before being summoned to Grandia, I was on a gate raid.’

I vaguely remembered being a porter in a party and being bullied.

‘I ended up joining a crazy all-male party.’

All the stress from the usual power struggles between men was directed at me.

I was bullied and even beaten up.

It feels like yesterday that I lived as a punching bag, but when I opened my eyes, I saved another world and returned.

It’s like something out of a novel, really.

As I dazedly looked around, I felt something strange.

‘Why are there only women?’

It should be a situation where we just came out of a gate raid, but I only saw women around.

The party I entered was definitely a sausage fest with only men.

For some reason, they were all changed to female hunters, and among them, I was the only man.

Moreover, these women were exposing themselves to the point where the bottom of their breasts were clearly visible, or they were giving me strangely sticky glances, even though I, a man, was right next to them.

My gaze naturally followed, driven by male instinct, but I tried to avoid it to prevent any misunderstanding, when someone grabbed my hand.

It was the brown-haired woman who was greeting the hunters.

“Ah, Han Suhyeon! You did a great job today. It must have been really difficult for a man, not a woman, to play the role of a porter, but you really, really did a great job!”

“Ah, yes. It was nothing.”

I really didn’t remember, so I just said it was nothing, and the woman continued with an excited reaction.

“No! I was really touched! Most women, when assigned as porters, usually cause schedule disruptions and run away. It’s the first time I’ve seen a male porter while working as a hunter, and seeing you work hard without complaint really…”

The brown-haired woman continued to talk after that, but I couldn’t follow the conversation.

I felt like something was off in the conversation. Besides…

‘Women do the porter work? A male porter is the first time?’

The porters I know and have experienced are extreme jobs that risk their lives for profit.

It’s a job where non-hunters carry their luggage, potions, food, and other items inside the gate, and do all sorts of chores except for combat.

In the process, they may be attacked by monsters, injured, or even killed, so most porters are strong men who have done a lot of hard work or are struggling financially.

Due to the nature of this profession, even women in dangerous livelihoods leave the job of porter as a last resort, and do not even consider the porter job itself.

But listening to this brown-haired woman’s words, I became increasingly puzzled.

The men and women I know.

And the men and women the brown-haired woman knows.

Are these really the same men and women?

It feels like the men and women I knew as common sense have been reversed.

Come to think of it, the goddess said before crossing the return portal.

One or two common sense of the returned world may have been changed.

‘Could it be that this world is a world where the common sense of men and women I knew has been reversed?’

“…Mr. Hyun, Suhyeon! Are you listening?”

“Ah, yes.”

The one who called me out of my stray thoughts was the brown-haired woman.

The woman grabbed my hand again and said with a slightly flushed face.

“To celebrate the successful completion of today’s gate raid, we’re planning a small after-party. I-I hope Mr. Suhyeon can grace us with your presence-“

“I’m sorry. I have a schedule.”

At my quick answer, the woman’s face froze.

I’m sorry, but I really have a schedule.

A very important schedule, to buy cola.