The Returner

Chapter 246: Can you get me a phone number? (1)

He was a lifeform that didn’t know the meaning of ‘defeat’.

Although he couldn’t proudly boast that he was the strongest existence under the sun, he’d still be able to achieve victory against an opponent he chose to bare his fangs at.

From where he came from, the differences in species were simply too wide. No matter how powerful one was, one couldn’t bridge that cruel gap. However, he won against creatures similar or on the same level as him over and over again.

Not one defeat, and a continuous chain of victories.

Wild beasts lowered their heads before him, and demonic creatures were too busy getting out of his way.

What about humans, then?

Well, humans weren’t even worthy of becoming his meals.

He was the destroyer.

He was the slaughterer.

He was the pillager of the lands.

And such a being was staring with tense eyes at the new opponent before him. All the fur on his body was standing up.

The white living thing right before its eyes was definitely a bad match-up with his natural inclination. Just by staring at it, his rage instinctively boiled over, and his ultra-sharp claws began quivering in anticipation. He wanted to rip that white body apart and drink its blood.

The urge to destroy was dyeing his eyes crimson red.

It seemed to be the same story for the other party, though.

Groooowl.....

A sharp, low-pitched growling could be heard now.

They were beings at odds with each other from birth.

Two creatures, bound by the chains of fate to destroy each other if they ever came face to face, and grow listless if they couldn’t kill each other quickly enough.

Such creatures had finally met on a grand stage, with no room to retreat.

He issued a loud roar containing his rage that welled up from the deepest part of his belly.

Woof!

Eh? That’s wrong, though?

Bark!

Uh! That’s also wrong??

Oh-Sik was flustered by the cute little yelps coming out from his throat. Unfortunately, his current body was too weak and small to roar out a spirited Howling.

Smirk.

He could hear his opponent’s mocking laughter.

To think that a fox-like creature would mock him to the point that a sound of leaking wind came out from that body!

Veins bulged on Oh-Sik’s forehead.

Woof! Woof, woof! Bark!!

Now thoroughly irritated, Oh-Sik slammed his cute little paw on the ground.

Boom! Boom!!

His mouth might not be able to produce a proper roar, but his paw still managed to create a powerful impact noise. Finally feeling satisfied now, Oh-Sik raised his head and bared his fangs.

The pure-white fox on the other hand, though, rocked her head around a few times as if this whole thing was laughably ridiculous. She then bared her own pure-white fangs and glared back at Oh-Sik.

She was none other than the Behemoth.

A divine beast and a demonic beast couldn’t get along and ended up baring their ultra-sharp fangs at each other.

Grrrr....

Growl....

Remaining wary still, they shot intense glares for a long while before circling around each other, their eyes locked and unmoving. Slowly, and carefully.

The Behemoth, referred to as the top dog in the echelons of divine beasts, and an Ogre, the top dog among the demonic beasts out there.

Now originally, an Ogre wouldn’t dare to fight against a Behemoth. However, Oh-Sik was the red-furred Ogre Lord, and in terms of power he was more or less on the same level as the Behemoth.

On top of that, didn’t he grow ridiculously strong thanks to Yi Ji-Hyuk?

Grrrr.....

Oh-Sik’s threatening growl overflowing with confidence prompted the Behemoth to stare back with slightly tenser eyes than before.

She had finally realised that the small puppy before her was no ordinary creature, that’s why.

Keu-reuk.

Behemoth gritted her teeth.

How dare a measly little demonic beast bare its fangs at her? A measly little thing that would be too busy running away with his tail between his legs if this was Berafe!

Behemoth’s eyes glowed in the pure azure light.

How dare that insolent creature!

However, Oh-Sik wasn’t pushed back at all.

Even if the Behemoth was a tough divine beast for an Ogre to handle, Oh-Sik was not just any regular Ogre, but one that was put through his paces by none other than Yi Ji-Hyuk himself.

Meaning, there was a huge gulp in experience points. That’s right, experience points!

Oh-Sik’s crimson-red eyes glared straight at the Behemoth’s face.

On the outside, this might have looked like a stand-off between a slick, slender fox and a cute little puppy, but in reality, this was a face-off between a demonic beast and a divine beast capable of completely throwing a whole continent into chaos.

Palpable, heightened tension flowed between these two creatures.

Shu-shut!

Paht!!

In that blink of an eye, the two wild beasts pounced on each other.

Ku-rah-rahrahrah!!

Wooooof!!

Their ‘Howlings’ resonated throughout the surroundings.

And right afterwards...

“Argh, too dang noisy!!!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Whimper!!

Whimper....

Yi Ji-Hyuk easily grabbed the backs of the necks belonging to a flying baby fox and a pouncing puppy in mid-air.

“You think this is your living room or something?!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Shake, shake.

Both the divine beast and the demonic beast shook their heads in perfect unison.

“Why are a couple of stupid stray mutts whimpering and howling and making a d*mn ruckus so early in the morning?! And you ain’t even protecting the house as I told you to! Both of you, no food for the rest of the day!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk lightly tossed the two creatures away to the opposite sides from each other. Behemoth flew away without any resistance, but Oh-Sik actually clung onto Yi Ji-Hyuk’s hand.

“Oho?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He wondered what’s gotten into the puppy, only to find Oh-Sik desperately lick his hand and go on a full-on aegyo attack.

Seriously though, he already was stingy with food, but now, Oh-Sik had to starve for the rest of the day, too?! No way!

Behemoth fell into a bit of dilemma watching Oh-Sik’s unsightly behaviour, but as if she hadn’t yet thrown away her dignity, all she could do was open and close her mouth a few times and whimper repeatedly.

Never mind her pride and whatever, there was once upon a time she was having an epic throwdown with that d*mn human being, so was it really okay to start her own aegyo attack, too?

Soon, Behemoth found herself falling deeper into a massive identity crisis.

Indeed, she was the noble, proud Behemoth. Wasn’t she the divine beast of Berafe, tasked with destroying evil and defending all that was holy?

Even if this was another world, how could she wag her tail to a dark wizard overflowing with such an evil, despicable aura?!

Such a thing could not....

“And who you glaring at, ah??” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Whimper....

Behemoth looking up at him slowly lowered her tail dejectedly.

“What the hell? I was gonna slather you in doenjang and eat you up but didn’t, cuz I thought you looked pitiful and all that, yet you dare to glare at me? You wanna hold your funeral today? I mean, I’ve been holding back this urge to strip you off your leather and sell it cuz it looks like it’ll fetch a good price on the market, so what’s up with you eyeballing me?!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

The true sorrow in the Behemoth’s heart was that she could understand human speech.

No, it wasn’t as if both the divine beast and the demonic beast understood what was being said, but instead, understood the meanings behind the words. Thanks to that, she could definitely understand what Yi Ji-Hyuk was saying, even though he was busy yapping on in Korean.

Behemoth suddenly raised her head high up, and bluish light filled up her eyes.

“Uh?”

She then walked slowly towards Yi Ji-Hyuk in an elegant gait. It was so elegant that she even resembled a supermodel, albeit in a canine form.

“What are you doing?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Step, step.

She walked in pure elegance and arrived right next to Yi Ji-Hyuk. She then raised her head to glance at him before leaning just a wee bit closer to lick his hand.

Spare me.

Her intentions were so, so clear that a hollow chuckle leaked out of his mouth.

“Awww! How annoying!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk used his foot to lightly push the two licking animals away to the corner of his front yard and opened his mouth.

“What are you two good for, anyway?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

The two creatures dropped their heads.

“Is there something for you to hunt here, or do monsters suddenly come attacking out of nowhere? Or is there a war breaking out nearby? A couple of food-wasting bugs, that’s what you are. You should at least try to defend my home better. I mean, you two chow down a truck-full of grub everyday, right?!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Whimper....

“You make a ruckus one more time, Imma really coat you two in doenjang, got it? You hear me?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Woof!

Bark!

“Hah, at least you know how to reply. How nice.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk clicked his tongue and went back inside the building.

Whimper.

Oh-Sik planted his butt on the ground and powerlessly sagged down. Behemoth watched this scene for a bit, before her own head drooped low, low towards the ground, too.

Just who were they?

No one would ever ignore these two back in Berafe.

Before religious organisations were properly established, the divine beast Behemoth was worshipped as a god by a small tribe.

Didn’t matter which monster, wizard, or priest, no one could ignore her status.

Indeed, regardless of who or what in which position, no one could ignore her. Demonic beasts were her prey, and dark wizards quaked in their boots at her mere presence.

Didn’t she even stand at the forefront of resistance when the demon king suddenly made its descent all those years ago, too?!

But now...

Nothing seemed to work out after arriving in this d*mn place.

Not only did a stinking little demonic beast bare his fangs at her, Berafe’s worst nightmare was slumming around as if he was the neighbourhood boss or some such.

Whimper....

Behemoth spat out a pained whimper unconsciously.

Pat, pat.

Whimper?

She raised her head after feeling something touch her back, and found Oh-Sik gently patting her with a face that said “Yes, I know how you feel.”

His short front paw continued to pat her on the back.

Did this d*mn demonic beast lose his marbles?

She stared at Oh-Sik with a dumbfounded expression, but he simply shook his head.

But, what could this be?

This feeling of... being consoled?

When she thought about it, though, this demonic beast also must’ve gone through hell and back many times over by now.

Just like Behemoth, one could legitimately claim that an Ogre Lord was at the top of the demonic beast hierarchy. Seeing how a top-class monster capable of driving an entire continent into chaos just by showing up in Berafe, had fallen unceremoniously to the position of a house dog, something felt incredibly sad to her.

What rotten luck it was, they had to run into the man called Yi Ji-Hyuk.

From her perspective, that human being was the worst, peerless devil in existence, but to Oh-Sik, Yi Ji-Hyuk was the de facto ruler of the demons itself. Meaning, he was like the emperor of that world.

So, how badly would he have drove around the Ogre like a slave?

It was unimaginable the level of cruelty and hardship the Ogre had to experience by being under the thumb of that human with a rotten personality for hundreds of years.

Transcending the gap of their species, she felt sympathy for Oh-Sik now. Seriously speaking, she’d been here only for a few days and already found things so unbearable, so how bad would it have been for Oh-Sik after all this time?

Whimper....

She extended her long, slick leg to lightly pat Oh-Sik’s back.

Mists from the heart pooled at the edges of Ogre’s eyes.

Behemoth fell into a state of panic after witnessing that.

It was already strangely funny to see a horrifying monster like an Ogre living in the form of a cute little puppy, but having seen him tear up like that, her own emotions became very complicated as well.

By the way, isn’t he, like, surprisingly cute?

No, but, I can’t openly admit that.... (Behemoth’s inner monologue)

Whimper....

Woof....

As the two of them continued to console each other’s sorrow, the front entrance was flung open violently once more.

“Argh! You’re still making a ruckus, so stop whining, will ya!! You stupid mutts!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Two puppies lowered their heads in despondency, and Yi Ji-Hyuk slammed the door shut in sheer irritation, going back inside.

What was the grim reaper doing, not taking a guy like that away already?

*

“Uh-whew! What crimes did I commit in my past life to deserve this?!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk shook his head in helplessness as he continued to walk forward.

It was already tough trying to feed Oh-Sik alone, yet now he had to take care of a Behemoth, too? What kind of a burden, nay, a ticking time bomb was this?

How hopelessly inept was the so-called ‘High’ Elf that she didn’t even have enough money to buy pet food and end up coming to Yi Ji-Hyuk for help?

They were nominally a High Elf and an Elf, but in this world, they were a couple of swans that looked pretty and not much else besides.

If only the public’s perception towards the ability users were good, like in the past – then he’d be able to pimp them out as ability user-c*m-entertainers, but now, unless they were willing to cut off their pointy ears, they should forget about setting foot in the entertainment industry.

“Wasn’t there something like Photoshop or something?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

If not, he could argue that those ears were synthetic and push those two Elves to become fashion models.

But then again, they might faint with bubbles in their mouths if asked to wear leather products, so that’s a no.

He also thought about this before, but well, these creatures called Elves were truly a useless bunch. He much preferred Dark Elves, in all honesty.

Yi Ji-Hyuk shook his head again and pushed the door to the NDF offices wide open to enter the premises.

“Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“Argh! Stop! Enough! Stop! Please!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Eh?” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“You only use that tone of voice to say that ‘Something urgent has come up’, don’t you?!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Are you a phantom??” (Choi Jung-Hoon) (TL: In Korea, you call someone with scary-sharp intuition/wit as a ghost/phantom.)

“Groan....”

Yi Ji-Hyuk’s frown got deeper and deeper, and Choi Jung-Hoon could only break out in an awkward grin.

The thing was, Yi Ji-Hyuk hadn’t had a proper day of rest recently and was forced to expend himself again and again in many different places of the country. He knew that well.

But, what could he do?

Yi Ji-Hyuk was basically 90% of all NDF’s combat potential.

Without him, the NDF was as good as a steamed bun without its red bean paste inside. The requests coming in from other countries or the Korean government itself were normally made under the assumption that Yi Ji-Hyuk would tag along, so there was little Choi Jung-Hoon could do here.

“Fine, fine. What happened this time?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Actually....” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

Choi Jung-Hoon kept his awkward smile and continued on.

< 246. Can you get me a phone number? -1 > Fin.

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