Jung Seo-joon stared at the two warrior women in front of him, brain cells firing in rapid confusion, denial, disbelief— and somewhere in the mess, awe.
No, no way.
It was the hair. No, the entire face! The entire woman in fact! He recognized all of it.
The braid. The glimmering headpiece shaped like metal feathers. That gold battle gear that exposed way too much flesh to be practical. That massive sword on her back that could transform into any war weapon based on her will.
Astensia.
It was her!
The golden-haired goddess. Heroine of Blade and War Affairs. Voted Best Girl three years in a row in the fandom polls. He knew her. Knew that exact look of devotion in her eyes. He'd seen it illustrated countless times by fan artists online.
And the woman beside her…
He knew her too.
Her silver hair. Her stark blue eyes like a northern war goddess. The gear she donned forged in crimson and steel, with valkyrie tattoos drawn in bold red strokes on her arms and face. Her cape fluttered behind her even though there was zero wind in the room.
She was Thor.
Heroine of Thunder and Celestial Strength. The hammer she held glowed faintly, humming with stormlight. That was Mjölnir-Seraph. The game wiki said it could crush meteors and dispel illusions at the same time.
Seo-joon knew these two women as the first characters written in the novel. Yet somehow, they were looking down at him.
They were real.
And they had just called him…
"Heavenly Hero," Astensia breathed, lowering her hand, still outstretched to him with the reverence of someone welcoming a god back from exile.
Seo-joon blinked. Then blinked again. 'This has to be some kind of dream.'
He accepted her hand.
It was warm. Firm. Stronger than any hand he'd ever held. She pulled him out of the cramped sarcophagus-like box without effort. His legs stumbled. Astensia caught him gently, like cradling a prince too holy to fall.
"It truly is you, Heavenly Hero! We searched the ends of Cinriten for you," she said, her voice trembling with emotion. "It was Delphina who saw that you were sealed in the ruins of Valorend; hidden where no one would think to look."
Seo-joon was still out of it. He could not fathom if this was reality or not. Did he really just transmigrate into the body of Asleroc Leogardt?
That had to be the case because he knew this scene. He remembered those exact words from Astensia. Even this place appeared familiar from the images he'd conjured in his mind when he read the first pages of Heavenly Hero.
'How could this be?'
She stepped back and gestured around the shattered chamber of stone and magic. "It was Heilmaster," she declared, and Seo-joon realized he had asked that out loud.
"He forced Delphina to reveal your identity and your hiding place. Once he knew, he ambushed you before you could awaken your power or claim your weapon."
Seo-joon's mouth parted. "Heilmaster?" he echoed numbly, remembering the name of the main antagonist.
Astensia nodded firmly. "Yes. He sealed you here using the Soulbind Sigil of Eternal Drowse. It took Thor and I three months to retrieve the Unbinding Shard from the Crypt of Teeth to free you."
Three months? A magic sigil? Crypt of Teeth?
Seo-joon's heart pounded in his chest. He knew all of this. He'd heard Astensia say those words before even though it was in writing.
He looked at her.
But the thing was, hearing it in person felt different. Perhaps it was his sense of honor as the Heavenly Hero but Seo-joon recognized her instantly.
This impossibly faithful, proud woman standing tall in the debris of a forgotten ruin.
She had really done all of that for him?
He remembered Astensia's loyalty being one of her core traits in the wiki entries and lore discussions, but hearing it from her own lips — it didn't feel like fiction anymore. It felt real. Earned. Heavy.
"…Thank you," he said quietly.
Astensia bowed her head. "It is our honor, my Worship."
He turned to Thor, who stood by a fractured window arch, arms crossed with an expression of ice on her iron face.
"…Thanks to you too," he added.
Thor didn't meet his eyes. "I did not do it for you," she said. "I did it for Cinriten."
Astensia winced. "Forgive her, my Worship," she said quickly. "Her words are… blunt. But her loyalty is true. She fought as fiercely as I did to bring you back."
Seo-joon nodded his head. "I understand."
Astensia turned solemn, her tone darkening. "You see, Lady Thor takes pride in the defense of the realm. Since your disappearance, it has only suffered. The Rupturing Abyss came without resistance. The Heroines all fell in battle and many vanished into hiding. A few… succumbed to the evil and now rule over Ruptured Regions as Villainesses."
Seo-joon creased his brow at the mention of the word. Villainesses were the polar opposites of Heroines. They were soldiers of evil, doing the deeds of Heilmaster against the Heroines who were Asleroc's soldiers, bound to protect the world from the same evil.
"The people of Cinriten are enslaved," Astensia continued. "Our mana is poisoned — tainted by demon essence. The rivers bleed. The skies tremble. Hope is but a whisper."
There was silence for a short moment.
"All of this…" Thor added, "while you slept."
"Please, Thor. Let us not berate our Worship for circumstances he could not control." Astensia pleaded.
The Heroine scoffed and returned to the window.
"Do not take her words to heart, my Worship. Lady Thor is still a loyal disciple to your cause."
Seo-joon lowered his head, taking it all in. And his brain just... glitched for a moment.
He had read hundreds of isekai stories. He'd dissected tropes. He'd argued online over plot armor and immersion-breaking mechanics.
None of this was new to him.
But also, it was.
He was here.
Like actually inside a fantasy world as the main character. And for the sake of curiosity, what media form was he actually in?
The web novel? Or the game?
No.
It had to be the game.
He remembered the notification on his phone after he opened it:
「 ✦ Congratulations on Winning the Competition ✦ 」
That had to mean something. Maybe there was never a real game. Maybe it was just a front: some kind of hidden transmigration competition and only one person got in.
And that person was him.
Jung Seo-joon.
He had actually isekai'd.
And he wasn't just anyone in this world, he was Asleroc Leogardt. The Heavenly Hero himself.
He was the main character of his favorite story.
Okay.
Okay. He could work with that.
He exhaled shakily. His head was clearing.
He eyed Thor, who stood like a marble statue by the archway. Then he turned to Astensia. "What now?"
She looked to the sky outside. "Now… we leave Valorend."
She stepped toward the window beside Thor. "Because once Heilmaster senses you've awakened, he'll send more of them."
Seo-joon frowned. "More of what?"
KRAAAAAAAK!!!
A sound cracked through the air like an infernal thunderclap.
The wall some distance in front of them exploded inward in a blast of molten red light. Shards of stone and flame slammed into the floor, tossing dust and magic into the air.
The temperature dropped, and the shadows on the wall twisted unnaturally.
Through the smoke, something crawled in— no, several somethings.
Their forms were grotesque. They were at least ten-feet tall with skins appearing to be made with only muscles stitched with bone. Their body rippled with twitching runes, and their faces — if they could be called that — were covered in mouths. Just mouths. Rows and rows of teeth gnashing and grinning.
Black flame flickered from their claws, and from their backs sprouted cracked wings that didn't flap, only pulsed like diseased lungs.
Above their heads, Seo-joon saw health bars.
「Demon Spawn – Lv. 12」
「Demon Spawn – Lv. 14」
「Higher Demon Spawn – Lv. 16 – Bleeding Aura」
He flinched. 'At least now I know for sure that I'm inside the game.'
"Demon spawns!" Astensia yelled, drawing her greatsword in a flash of gold light. "Stay behind me, my Worship! I'll protect you!"