The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1024

"So? What do you think? Worse than you expected, eh?"

"Why in the world did you recommend something like this? This thing is completely useless now,” Davey answered firmly.

The Wraith Frost had lost all balance.

Though he didn’t have as much experience with handling Wraith Frost as Woochi did, even he could tell that the one before him was dangerous.

Instead of acting as a catalyst to awaken the life essence orb, it seemed it would likely consume it whole.

"A Frost has to be at least this strong in order to act as a catalyst for activating the orb. If Bi Yeon were more adept at controlling her power, maybe we wouldn’t need to do this, but she didn’t live those thousands of years properly—she survived just through hibernation.”

Davey closed his eyes, taking a moment to think.

"Think of Wraith Frost like this," Woochi continued. He drew a circle in the air, then divided it in half with a single line.

"Imagine one side is pure, deep resentment. The other side is the power that grows from it. I already explained this part to you before."

"Yeah, I remember."

"But here’s what you’re dealing with now." He drew another line, making the resentment side take up an even larger portion of the circle.

"This wraith’s resentment has grown way outta line. The power it gained over time has reached its limit, but the resentment and obsession kept growing. Your job here is to restore the balance—bring it back to fifty-fifty. You feel me?”

"Aren’t you supposed to be a sorcerer? What the hell is going on with that accent of yours?”

"Even Shiverwock got a taste of America, so why shouldn’t I? Gotta keep up with the modern era, man."

"You have got to be kidding me..."

Davey let out a short laugh of disbelief.

If the traumatic experiences had happened relatively recently, he would have plenty of ways to fix it.

Unfortunately, the wraith he needed to use was born thousands of years before, leaving him unsure of where to start.

"So then how am I supposed to do this?"

"Think about it—think about it real hard. Consider this a test I’m giving you."

"Bullshit. You’re just dumping this on me because you can’t handle it either."

He didn’t even bother hiding his annoyance.

Woochi just smirked. "Oopsie daisies, you caught me."

‘This goddamn master...’

He had to figure out a way to restore balance to the Wraith Frost when he couldn’t even talk to it properly.

Creating a parallel world where the wraith could unleash its revenge freely would be nothing more than a temporary fix. In the worst case, it might even backfire.

Even the wraith itself probably understood that there was no remaining opportunity for its resentment to be resolved.

"Take your time. It’s not like the life essence orb is going anywhere, and then once you’ve made your decision? Act without hesitation.”

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Who do you think I learned all this from?”

* * *

Unlike what Davey had expected, two weeks passed in the blink of an eye.

In the meantime, both Tionis and Earth had undergone significant changes.

South Korea had unveiled its nuclear waste purification and recycling technology to the global market, and even begun trial applications. Naturally, many countries quickly took interest.

The U.S. had temporarily resolved its own nuclear waste issue in the past when Megalodria devoured their radiation in one go, but that had only been a short-term fix. As such, they were also looking to adopt the new technology.

Korea's stock market skyrocketed overnight, leading to celebrations within the government.

On the other hand, China and Japan—longtime regional rivals—showed mixed reactions. Some factions within the countries sought to secure the technology through trade, while others wanted to explore ways to steal it or discredit South Korea’s achievement.

Tiara, who was packing up to return to Tionis, mumbled to herself as she watched the news. "Why do people have to fight so much?"

"That’s just how neighboring countries work. The closer they are, the worse their relationships tend to be," Davey bluntly answered, not bothering to sugarcoat the reality.

"Have you finished packing to go back home?"

"Yeah. I had my fair share of fun here."

"What about Aeonitia?"

"Ah. Well," Tiara hesitated, her expression turning awkward as she avoided his gaze.

A bad feeling crept over him. Without another word, he bolted up the stairs.

Originally, Davey had planned to bring them back over a week before. But since both Tiara and Aeonitia had insisted on staying a little longer to enjoy all that Earth had to offer, he’d decided to let them be for a little longer.

Technically, their extended stay was a violation of their immigration agreement, but he knew the Korean government wouldn't be strict about it.

They had promised to return after a week, but it had been nearly two weeks—still no word from Aeonitia.

Davey stopped in front of her door.

"Aeonitia. I’m coming in.” He banged on the door twice before swinging it open.

"What the hell is this?"

"Oh! Davey? Watch your step."

Alone in her pitch-dark room, she was maniacally holding onto a handheld gaming console in the corner, eyes glued to the screen.

* * *

“Aeonitia.”

"Wait, wait, Davey! Just one more boss, and I'll complete all the achievements—!"

Without hesitation, he yanked the power cord.

"Kyaaah!!! My no-hit achievement!!” she screamed in despair.

Davey closed his eyes, exhaling slowly. He had given her games to help her relax—to stop her from being such a ridiculous workaholic at her age. Yet instead of balancing out, she had gone completely off the rails in the other direction.

"Davey."

He turned to see Perserque staring at him, her expression unreadable.

"Well, I didn’t expect things to get this extreme either."

With a deep sigh, Perserque gave the disastrous room a brief scan. She then hopped off of his shoulder, returning to her original form. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

Taking one look at Aeonitia—who was still curled up on the floor, clutching her head and rolling around—Perserque picked up a few empty snack bags lying around.

"I’ll clean up. You deal with her."

She smacked his back before getting to work.

Looking at Aeonitia, he couldn’t help but sigh.

"No... No! I was so close, Davey!!"

"Hey!!!" he snapped, raising his voice.

She flinched at the outburst. "D-Davey?"

"How is it that you never find a middle ground?"

She was always one extreme or the other. Workaholic, or complete shut-in.

"Aeonitia. Get up and come with me."

"Ugh. But I don’t want to!”

"Come,” he firmly commanded.

"Can’t I just stay here?"

"Are you seriously the same Aeonitia who was literally losing sleep over research just a few weeks ago?"

She hesitated.

"Research pfft, it’ll always be there later..."

He stared at her, exasperated and appalled. Meanwhile, Perserque—who had returned with a trash bag—kicked him in the calf.

"This is your problem. Fix it."

Davey just silently nodded.

* * *

"You idiot. You absolute idiot! You were supposed to send the kid outside to play, not lock her in with video games!" Hyun-Ah immediately scolded him once he explained what had happened.

"Mmmn. Even your uncle has to agree—this one’s on you, Hyun-Soo," his uncle muttered as he shuffled through a thick stack of documents.

"Games are pretty dangerous."

Even Yeon-Hee chimed in against him.

Davey was completely cornered, so he couldn’t help but frown.

"Look, she was a complete workaholic to the point where it was destroying her childhood. I had no choice but to teach her how to have fun."

The only forms of entertainment when he was on Earth were video games and movies. So, naturally, those were the only things he could think of showing her.

"What about riding bikes? Traveling? Or even hiking?"

"Why would anyone wanna do those things? They're exhausting—that’s not relaxing."

Hyun-Ah shook her head in disbelief. "I thought you’d changed, but at your core you’re still the same as ever. Who the hell taught you to be this lazy?"

There was a guy in the Hall of Heroes whose ears were likely burning. They called him the Sword God.

"Ugh."

Between dealing with the Wraith Frost and now Aeonitia, Davey began to have a headache.

"Calm down. I know you’re not really that lazy.”

"Then you tell me what I should have chosen instead—how do kids her age normally have fun here on Earth?"

"There are plenty of options, you fool! Ugh. Anyways, what’s happening with her now?"

"I dragged her out and sent her shopping with Perserque."

Thanks to the face blindness spell, there wouldn’t be any risk of crowds gathering or causing unnecessary trouble. Judging by the update Perserque had given, it had only been thirty minutes, yet Aeonitia was already saying she was bored out of her mind.

"I don’t know what to say. I’m not sure what can be done with her, Davey.” His uncle let out a long, exhausted sigh.

“What have I done...” Davey muttered in despair.

Feeling utterly lost, he turned to Yeon-Hee.

"Is there anything we can do?"

"Hmm. Hyun-Soo, I do have one rather extreme method."

"Extreme?"

"Yeah. My friend's little brother had the same problem before."

She flashed a sweet smile, and he smiled back.

"Tell me."

"Sure. But let’s confirm one thing first. Aeonitia—she’s royalty, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"That’s all I needed to hear." She immediately disappeared into another room.

A moment later, she returned with a massive box in her arms.

"What is that?"

"Your solution."

He opened the lid. Inside, he found an insane amount of snacks and sweets.

"But before that, Hyun-Soo, you and I need to have a little chat—you deserve a good scolding."

He had nothing to say in his defense.

Unlike Baris and Winley, who had grown up with actual common sense instilled in them, he had been the one to raise Aeonitia.

And now, he was paying the price for it.

* * *

"You fucking idiot.”

Davey scowled at her foul insult.

"Is that kind of language really necessary?"

"Yes, you dumbass. Look at what you've done to your own sister."

"She was overworking herself—"

"Kids like that don’t understand the concept of balance, you moron! That’s why you should’ve been keeping her in check!" she retorted.

“Sigh.”

"Awwwh. Even when she’s angry, my darling Daphne is still so beautif—Gaaak!!!!"

Apollo, who had just come up to put an arm around her shoulder, was promptly knocked the hell out with a single punch.

"So, what’s the plan?"

After he explained Yeon-Hee’s extreme solution to her, Daphne let out a long sigh.

"Okay. Hmm. I guess it really is the only option left. There could be side effects, though. I guess we’ll see how things turn out in a week."

Even Daphne was shaking her head.

By that point, he had no choice but to shut his mouth and accept reality.

* * *

There was no saving Aeonitia from the transition she had already gone through, going from being a workaholic to a game addict. Humans were surprisingly adaptable creatures, which meant that, though extreme, Yeon-Hee’s method was the best way to fix her problem—the only solution was to cut her off from games completely.

Exactly one week after Yeon-Hee had begun enacting the cure, he heard a scream from Aeonitia.

"Kyaaah!!!"

He immediately rushed to her room. "What’s going on?"

As soon as he opened the door, Aeonitia shrieked, "Knock first!!”

Then, she curled up in her blanket and resumed sobbing uncontrollably.

"T-Three. Three kilos..."

"You... gained weight?"

Aeonitia, who always maintained her composure, was now in a full-blown panic. It seemed like the treatment had indeed worked, though there were a few side effects.

"Of course you gained weight! All you did before was sit around playing games, stuffing yourself with soda and snacks."

"T-This... this can’t be happening! You!! You’re the one who gave me all of that!!!"

"That’s right, I did. But you’re the one who failed to control yourself."

Aeonitia collapsed onto the floor, bursting into more tears.

Normally, he’d comfort her. But not this time.

"Aeonitia."

"Hic. Wahhhh.”

"There’s a way to fix this."

Whatever was broken simply had to be restored.

She needed to understand moderation and balance.

"Starting today, you’re going to be exercising with me."

‘Of course, that means training at my standards too.’

"You’re not gonna turn her into a musclehead, are you?"

"No? I’ll go easy on her."

His priorities instantly shifted—the problem regarding the Wraith Frost got pushed way down the list.

Rehabilitating his sister came first.