The Returner

Chapter 237

“Are you really leaving?!” (Seo Ah-Young)

She already knew very well that he was capable of really leaving, and then some . Indeed, if it was Yi Ji-Hyuk, he’d definitely leave and not even look back .

“Uh-whew! What a completely hopeless man!” (Seo Ah-Young)

Seo Ah-Young gritted her teeth .

If only the Gate didn’t open up in the middle of the city and created an emergency situation, Seo Ah-Young wouldn’t have asked Yi Ji-Hyuk for his help either .

Without enough rest, one couldn’t respond properly – she knew that being in top condition was incredibly important for the agents of NDF, who had to risk their lives everyday fighting against monster threats .

She got really p*ssed off about the unfair working conditions many times during her tenure at the KSF, after all . One of the main reasons for establishing the NDF was to change such unfairness, wasn’t it?

“Groan… . ”

Even still .

He should’ve at least stuck around and see what was coming out .

“Argh, whatever! I don’t care anymore!” (Seo Ah-Young)

Seo Ah-Young angrily spat out and spun her head around . Whatever came out from that Gate, all she had to do was to take care of it . Simple .

*

“Where are you going?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“Home . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Jeong Hae-Min’s question was met with Yi Ji-Hyuk’s bright smile .

“But, isn’t something about to come out of that thing?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“I guess so?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“But, you want to leave? Shouldn’t you stay and see what comes out or find out if Ah-Young can deal with it, at least?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“Mm?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk tilted his head .

“Why should I?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Fine . Never mind . ” (Jeong Hae-Min)

Yi Ji-Hyuk smirked deeply after seeing how quickly Jeong Hae-Min gave up like that .

If only she spoke to me nicely, I’d have helped out already .

But these fools, now that I’ve begun helping them out properly, you’re all taking me for granted nowadays . (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

Back in the beginning, he figured that things might get way too hectic later, so he spent his own time and effort to train up these NDF fools to sub for him . Yet, if they continued to call on him every time there was an incident such as this one, then what was the point of all the hard work he put in back then?

That was why he wouldn’t help out today . Definitely not because he was too lazy or anything like that at all .

Jeong Hae-Min quietly stared at Yi Ji-Hyuk for a bit, before opening her mouth .

“Okay, so . Where are you going now, for real?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“I said, home . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“But, what about our movie?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“Ng??”

What the heck . Who cares about a movie now, when things are like this?

Can’t she see all the unfolding chaos because of the Gate?(Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

“A Gate opened here, yet you still want to watch a movie??” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“But, you already clocked off, didn’t you?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“Yeah?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“So, what does it matter?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

Jeong Hae-Min’s words had driven Yi Ji-Hyuk to a corner . Now that he thought about it, what she said was technically not wrong .

“B-but, all the cinemas have closed their doors now??” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Ng?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

Jeong Hae-Min tilted her head this time .

She wasn’t doing that because she failed to understand him . No, one could actually sense that she did it deliberately to silently convey her confusion regarding why Yi Ji-Hyuk couldn’t even think up of something so simple like this .

“You’ve forgotten about who I am, haven’t you?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“… . . Oh . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Wait, now that I think about it some more, this kid here wouldn’t be affected by anything, even if it’s a Gate opening, a bomb going off somewhere, or even a meteor falling from the sky… . (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

“Should we go to Busan? Or Daegu?” (Jeong Hae-Min) (TL: Both are major Korean cities . )

“……… . ”

Yi Ji-Hyuk shut his mouth up real tight .

No excuse would work here . If he were to argue that he didn’t want to get involved with the Gate due to the simple fact of being off duty right now, then he’d be left with no choice but to get dragged to a cinema by her, instead .

“Grooooan… . ”

Yi Ji-Hyuk spat out a pained moan .

“As a man, you ain’t thinking of going back on your word, now are you?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“But, I do that all the time?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“You won’t do that this time . You wouldn’t, riiight?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

Jeong Hae-Min smiled oh-so good-naturedly as she began to pressure Yi Ji-Hyuk .

“Aha, hahaha… . . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk used his awkward laughter to ‘ably’ deal with her pressuring attempt .

“So . Are you going to watch the movie, or are you going to solve that problem?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“Does that mean, as long as I solve the Gate issue, I don’t have to watch the movie with you?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Ng . I’ll let it slide this time . Because, you’d be too tired afterwards . ” (Jeong Hae-Min)

Yi Ji-Hyuk let out a grand sigh and turned around to trudge towards the Gate . She saw this wonderful spectacle and waved her hand .

“Do your best, okay?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“Eh-whew…” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He continuously spat out one sigh after another . Meanwhile, she was grinning refreshingly while watching him walk away .

‘Anyhow, he’s just so dishonest with himself . ’ (Jeong Hae-Min)

A dude who showed no resistance towards watching a movie up until a few minutes ago suddenly began acting as if he hated doing exactly that?

Even though he pretended to not care with excuses of being off duty and whatever, in reality, he really did care .

The Jeong Hae-Min of the past would’ve lost her marbles and berate him for being such a bad person, but she had piled up enough knowledge on how to handle Yi Ji-Hyuk by now .

Mm?

You asking why Choi Jung-Hoon can’t do that?

Because, he’s a dude, that’s why .

If a dude used the same tactic, then he’d get beaten up half to death . (Jeong Hae-Min’s inner monologue)

Yi Ji-Hyuk was somewhat weak against women . No, hang on a minute – he was openly weak against them, instead . All those people he found hard to deal with or couldn’t stand were all women .

“He surprisingly has a tendency of a playboy, doesn’t he?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

Jeong Hae-Min’s cheeks puffed up ever so slightly .

*

“What do you want now?!” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Argh, will you just stop . It’s too annoying to explain, and it’s too much of a bother, and it’s too sad anyway and I might end up crying, even . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“… . I’ve no idea what you’re on about . ” (Seo Ah-Young)

Seo Ah-Young stared at Yi Ji-Hyuk with a dumbfounded face .

Why was he, escaping while cackling like a villain, walking right back with a despondent expression on his face now?

“If you were going to do this, then why did you try to leave in the first place?” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Argh… Just stop . That’s not important now, is it?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk found it too much of a bother to explain and just waved his hand about .

“What’s the current situation like?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“As you can see . ” (Seo Ah-Young)

She pointed to the Gate . Seeing how that huge thing was being distorted to an unrecognisable degree, it was rather likely that a pretty powerful being was trying to cross over .

Indeed, that large portal couldn’t endure the aura of the monster crossing over and was now stretched to resemble a big oval now .

“What about other places?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Last I heard, things were almost mopped up there, too . ” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Hmm…” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

By the time Yi Ji-Hyuk ‘discovered’ the Gate, many monsters had already emerged and dispersed throughout the surroundings . He knew that, because he saw it happen with his own two eyes .

But to think, that many monsters were almost all taken care of in such a short period of time; one could confidently say that was one hell of an achievement . An evidence as good as any that the folks of the NDF all had experienced an eye-opening growth, that was .

“I guess you weren’t fooling around and sucking on your thumbs, then . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Fooling around? We worked our butts off, didn’t we?” (Seo Ah-Young)

Well, she wasn’t wrong there .

They didn’t prove to be much of a help, but still, they did go up against the second demon king to step on to this world . The agents of NDF had withstood the absolute worst situation imaginable, where being brushed by that creature would’ve resulted in quick, painful death .

Sure, that feat was only possible thanks to Park Sung-Chan and Kim Dah-Hyun’s wonderful work up front, but in truth, if they weren’t strong enough to begin with, none of them would’ve survived no matter how much help was provided from the back .

And also, during the zombie crisis, it wasn’t Yi Ji-Hyuk but these folks who worked their butts off to resolve that, too .

‘So, uh, they did get a bit stronger, didn’t they?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

It wasn’t easy to accurately measure just how much stronger they had become . Not only was Ether not Yi Ji-Hyuk’s speciality, he also didn’t possess any talent whatsoever in measuring the strengths of those weaker than he was .

Well, from a lion’s perspective, both the hare and the racoon would be pretty much the same thing, which was ‘food’ . And it wouldn’t be all that interested in which of the two was more powerful than the other .

“H-mm, so that leaves only this Gate, then . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk stared at the portal .

Sure enough, a huge, pitch-black silhouette could be seen through the distorted Gate now . It was so huge that the enormous portal was completely filled up by the shadow cast by that creature .

Yi Ji-Hyuk narrowed his eyes to a slit .

Shouldn’t a Dragon or a Giant be the only creatures capable of filling up a Gate of this size? Things might get annoying if either one of those showed up here .

Not because it’d be difficult in taking care of them, no, but because they were in the middle of a city, that was why .

“…Uh?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Unfortunately, the monster revealing itself was a type that Yi Ji-Hyuk didn’t expect at all . One couldn’t say he was wrong with his guess here, though . Technically speaking, he wasn’t, really .

If one were to classify that monster by species, it would definitely fall under ‘Giant’ category, after all . It’s got that humanoid shape big enough to shame a regular Giant, for instance .

Now normally, Yi Ji-Hyuk would’ve been happy about this creature’s appearance . Although it possessed a similar physique to a real Giant, it was comparatively weaker than one and was easier to deal with as a consequence .

However, the story was different today . That thing was one of those creatures that he’d prefer not to see in this place .

The huge grey-coloured torso; lower half covered in a leather of an unknown creature; two arms rippling with ballooned-up muscles threatening to burst open at any second… .

And then…

Its distinctive feather that signified its identity – the lone, large eye shooting a fierce glare .

It was a Cyclops .

Again, Yi Ji-Hyuk wouldn’t be flustered by a Cyclops’ appearance like this in any other circumstances . Never .

However, things were different now . Hell, he’d actually prefer to see a Dragon emerge from there, instead .

The huge mace held in the Cyclops’ hand was swung towards the ground, then .

“N-no! Stop that thing!!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk cried out in panic .

‘God d*mn it!!’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He couldn’t do anything about that mace hitting ground from where he was .

But, why was he so flustered like this?

Because, that mace is a magic artefact!!(Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

More specifically, whenever a Cyclops swung around its mace, the weapon would briefly transform into an artefact . You see, that thing held by the monster was referred to as the Earth Mace, and its effect was…

Ruuuumbleeeee… .

When the mace slammed to the ground, gigantic ripples began spreading out with the monster as its centre .

“We’re all screwed . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk’s head faltered to the ground .

“W-what’s going on?! Just what happened here??” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Ehh, well, the thing is… . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

How should he go about explaining this situation to her?

His body began oscillating along with the rippling ground by then .

“Mm, well, that mace has magic cast on it, you see . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Magic? What kind of magic??” (Seo Ah-Young)

“I wonder if you know about what ‘Earthquake’ is?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“An ‘Earthquake’?” (Seo Ah-Young)

Seo Ah-Young tilted her head . This… Didn’t she heard that word from somewhere before?”

“What does that mean?” (Seo Ah-Young)

“The direct translation is an earthquake . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Ahh, an earthquake, is it?” (Seo Ah-Young)

She nodded her head as if she finally got it, before screaming out loudly enough to tear our her vocal cords . (TL: The word ‘Earthquake’ was written in English, while lower-case ‘earthquake’ was written in Korean . )

“An e-earthquake?!” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Ng . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

W-wait, that means my body shaking around is because… . ??(Seo Ah-Young’s inner monologue)

“A-are you talking about this, you know, the ground shaking around?” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Let’s just say that this is the precursor to what’s to come . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“T-then, what about the real earthquake?!” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Yeah, well… . It’ll come soon . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“D-do something!!” (Seo Ah-Young)

“I wonder . It’s impossible to cancel a magic spell that’s been activated already, so… . . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“No way!!” (Seo Ah-Young)

Wudududuk!!

Suddenly, the ground violently quaked around, and with the Cyclops as the centre, the earth began splitting up in all directions .

“This is insane!! We’re in the middle of the city!!” (Seo Ah-Young)

“I know that already, but… . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk could only chuckle hollowly .

“What can I do?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Kyaaaaahk!!” (Seo Ah-Young)

RUMBLE!!!

The ground overturned en masse as if they were exploding, and a massive ripple spread out with the monster at its centre . Seo Ah-Young witnessed that spectacle in despair . Her eyes then caught the sight of countless skyscrapers in the vicinity .

Just how many people were still inside those structures? Just how many of them would be sacrificed today after those structures came crashing down?

That horrifying image managed to completely blank out the inside of her head . This was, without a doubt, a massive incident .

“Please, just do something!!” (Seo Ah-Young)

“No, hang on . Even if it’s me… . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk spat out another sigh .

He also knew that he had to do something here, but there was no way to stop magic that had already been activated . Of course, that didn’t mean he’d do nothing, though .

“Groan…” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

In that case, he’d try to grasp at straws, then .

He quickly gathered Mana in both of his hands . Now wasn’t the time to relaxedly complain about wasting his Mana or whatever . He formed a quick hand sign and created a magic circle in the air, before shouting out towards it .

“Open up!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

The circle emitted blackish light and then, its mouth split open widely .

“Ng?!” (Seo Ah-Young)

Seo Ah-Young dazedly stared at the newly-generated Gate .

“What are you trying to do?” (Seo Ah-Young)

“I summoned something . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Okay, what did you summon, then?” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Mm, well… . I’m not sure whether it’ll work out well or not, but this is the best I can do in this situation, okay?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Fine, just tell me what you summoned already!” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Uh, well, it’s a… . . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

What should I say here so that she can easily understand it?

That it’s a mollusc?

The mascot of countless video games?

The most-friendly monster that everyone knows?(Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

Yi Ji-Hyuk uttered out this one word that contained all of those explanations .

“… . Slime . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Eh?”

From the mouth of black Gate, something thick and viscous began flowing out .

< 237 . What did you summon, then? -2 > Fin .