The Returner

Chapter 318: Ahjussi, why are you coming out from there? (3)

“I have finally returned home from that hellish land.” (Song Jeong-Su)

So heroic.

His tone of voice alone made it sound like he was a noble warrior returning from Hell itself.

‘No, hang on a minute, it really does feel that way, doesn’t it?’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

The old image of a sly-fox politician was washed away clean and now, Song Jeong-Su resembled a veteran warrior of hundreds of battles.

Choi Jeong-Hoon awkwardly approached Song Jeong-Su’s figure so heroic that it might even get a starring role in a movie as its protagonist.

“....You must’ve suffered a lot.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Song Jeong-Su looked up at Choi Jeong-Hoon with remorse-filled eyes, before tilting his head a little.

“Who are you?” (Song Jeong-Su)

“It’s Choi Jeong-Hoon. We met just before you.... crossed over.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Mm, I think I can remember you, just about.” (Song Jeong-Su)

Choi Jeong-Hoon swallowed back his tears.

Experiencing twenty years in only two days, just how much suffering did this man experience?

“But, your face doesn’t seem to have aged at all.” (Song Jeong-Su)

“It should be so. It’s only been two days this side, after all.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“T-two days?!” (Song Jeong-Su)

Song Jeong-Su’s expression crumpled.

“I spent over a dozen years in that place, yet it’s only been two days here?! I believed all this time that I had been forgotten since no one looked for me. But now you’re telling me that it’s only been two measly days?!?!” (Song Jeong-Su)

Uhm, excuse me....

You’re right about no one looking for you. Although, it’s only been two days, so.... (Choi Jeong-Hoon’s inner monologue)

“So, I wasn’t abandoned, was it....” (Song Jeong-Su)

Moisture rapidly welled up in Song Jeong-Su’s aged eyes.

‘No, hang on. This isn’t it.’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon hurriedly and vigorously shook his head.

He definitely didn’t want to see a drama containing emotions of an old man. Heck, this picture used to be a war/military genre piece only until a few moments ago, and now it felt like the genre had switched in an instant.

‘What are we doing here when things are this urgent?’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

There was a literal swarm of monsters before his eyes, so what on earth was up with this black comedy? Choi Jeong-Hoon couldn’t tell whether he should laugh or cry here.

The current situation was tear-inducing, sure, but he couldn’t do anything about his laughter threatening to break out the longer he watched on. He was fully aware that, as a fellow human being possessing empathy, he shouldn’t be laughing in this situation. What a relief it was that he managed to control himself.

“That place was hell.”

‘P-please, don’t start reminiscing now!’

One should reminisce only after checking out the situation first!

Now was not the best time to change the scene. Choi Jeong-Hoon began worrying that, left as is, this whole event might turn into a reminiscence of the past.

“We’ll listen to your tale a little later. An intense battle is unfolding right now, so why don’t we evacuate to a safer place?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“What was that?! I’ve only just begun, young man!!” (Song Jeong-Su)

Song Jeong-Su roared out in anger, but Choi Jeong-Hoon resolutely ignored that and pulled at the former’s arm. However, the old man must’ve transformed into the elusive Mt. Tai or something, because he didn’t budge an inch.

‘What kind of an old man has such ridiculous strength....’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

As if to emphasize that the muscles on display weren’t just for show, Song Jeong-Su’s body exhibited the physical strength that Choi Jeong-Hoon couldn’t even come anywhere remotely close. The thing was, it didn’t matter whether you were an athlete or a bodybuilder, a healthy adult male tugging at you would still cause your body to move at least a little bit. However, this old man didn’t even show a hint of doing that.

“Wowsers, would you look at this grandpa’s body?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Even Yi Ji-Hyuk was impressed by this transformation.

Indeed, you couldn’t help but wonder just what the heck happened on the other side with things like this.

“Fufufu.... That place was Hell. Initially, I truly believed that someone will come and take me back home soon enough. However, no one, absolutely no one, came to find me.” (Song Jeong-Su)

Song Jeong-Su’s voice was filled with unmistakable despair and remorse.

“Only then did I realise the truth. No one will protect me. In that case, I need to protect myself. And so, I began training seriously, and eventually....” (Song Jeong-Su)

“Yes yes, I get it, but let’s hear the rest later!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“I said, this is only at the beginning! You’re a young man, so you should at least pretend to hear what an older man is trying to say to you! Young people nowadays....” (Song Jeong-Su)

‘Ah, so this is the side effect, then.’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

The twenty-or-so years spent in the other world had changed Song Jeong-Su from a clean-cut, meticulous politician to a stubborn old man.

‘I guess his political career is now as good as over....’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Intertwining his past smarts with his improved physique could really help him out in reinforcing his public image, but well, it’d be near-impossible to recover one’s political sense after spending around 20 years away from the scene.

“T-this isn’t it!” (Song Jeong-Su)

Suddenly, fires of madness burned fiercely within Song Jeong-Su’s eyes.

“Yi Ji-Hyuk!!! Where is Yi Ji-Hyuk!!” (Song Jeong-Su)

Murderous aura exploded from his eyes as he roared out.

‘Aigoooo, representative-nim!!’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Several of your bones might break at this rate. I understand where you’re coming from, but do you have any idea how many people ended up even worse than you at Yi Ji-Hyuk’s hands?

Sure, I guess you have been through an extremely rough ordeal, but even then, it’ll be wiser not to demand answers from Yi Ji-Hyuk. (Choi Jeong-Hoon’s inner monologue)

“Oh, hey. Ahjussi.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

‘Stahp itttt!’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

If only he stayed hidden in a corner somewhere, this situation would’ve been resolved by Choi Jeong-Hoon soon enough, so why did he have to come out and actually answer??

“Yi Ji-Hyuuuuuk!!” (Song Jeong-Su)

Song Jeong-Su roared out that name with a voice of pure resentment, then madly dashed towards him.

“Oho?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk watched that scene and suddenly clapped his hand.

“Hang on for a second! Hold up!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“N-ng??” (Song Jeong-Su)

Song Jeong-Su came to a stop after hearing that.

“What is it?! If it’s your last will, then I shall at least listen to it.” (Song Jeong-Su)

“....A will might be something you should be thinking about, but.... Anyways, never mind that for now.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk scanned Song Jeong-Su from top to bottom, and with a genuinely stunned expression, raised his voice.

“You’ve been revitalised, no?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“N-ng??” (Song Jeong-Su)

“Ahjussi, your physique is way better than what you had before? And also, your body age seemed to have gotten younger, too.... Just where did I send you off to, anyway?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Song Jeong-Su flinched slightly after hearing what Yi Ji-Hyuk had to say.

Body age?

“I guess your lifespan has increased, too? Wowsers, with this, can’t I like, start a new line of business?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“....M-my lifespan has increased??” (Song Jeong-Su)

Song Jeong-Su stared at Yi Ji-Hyuk with completely dumbfounded eyes.

“Really??” (Song Jeong-Su)

“Were you lied to all your life or something?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Song Jeong-Su began hesitating greatly with an expression of not knowing what to do next.

“You, you think my resentment towards you will disappear with only that?!” (Song Jeong-Su)

“Well, that. I’m really sorry about that.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk smiled awkwardly.

Ever since he returned to the modern world, he believed that he had never wronged another human being, but at least this time, he admitted to committing a pretty sizeable blunder.

“I-in any case, the end result was good, wasn’t it?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk sneakily averted his gaze.

When looking at the results only, then it was a good one for Yi Ji-Hyuk, too.

If he simply remained in this world, his life would just end as a civilian with especially terrible personality, but after his sojourn to Berafe, he was now the world’s greatest ability user.

Sure, everything would look excellent when only considering the end results. Just the results alone!! (Author’s inner monologue)

“I’m sorry.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk apologised when no one told him to and bowed his head.

“Don’t apologise!! It’s actually better for you to stay as the bad guy, you b*stard!!” (Song Jeong-Su)

“No, hang on. I’m really sorry about....” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I said, don’t apologise!!” (Song Jeong-Su)

“....Please calm down for a second. Watching your muscles ripple like that is making me queasy inside.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He wasn’t exaggerating things. He really did feel a bit weirded out right now.

It was already plenty weird for an old man in his 60s, nay, in his 80s, to possess muscles that easily slapped a pro bodybuilder’s cheeks around, but now, those muscles were rippling and wiggling as if they had minds of their own.

Seeing them like that really did make him feel queasy.

“Besides all that. Why don’t we talk about this later? I mean, now isn’t really the situation to fool around like this.....” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Keu-heum.” (Song Jeong-Su)

Song Jeong-Su shifted his head and looked at the distant monsters before nodding his head.

Even if he spent many years as a caveman in another world, he was still Song Jeong-Su. He used to be referred to as a 9th dan politician and was the leader of the ruling party.

His mindset was that a private affair couldn’t trump the matters of national importance, so with a heart akin to swallowing a hot stone, he squatted down in front of Yi Ji-Hyuk.

“...Why don’t you go and sit over there?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“With that scrawny, weak-a*s body of yours, you’ll die the moment monsters sneak-attack you! I won’t allow you to die until I have my vengeance!!!” (Song Jeong-Su)

As if to protect Yi Ji-Hyuk, Song Jeong-Su settled down with a straight back.

“You know, it kinda worked out nicely somehow?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk was trying to summon a commander but it felt like he ended up summoning a guard instead, but whatever the case might be, he did summon something, alright.

“....Pulled out the wrong card from my deck, that’s all.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“What are you talking about?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

When Choi Jeong-Hoon asked back in confusion, Yi Ji-Hyuk shook his head as his reply.

“Well, it’s nothing important. Not enough to sweat over it, in any case.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

For now, he should focus on resolving this situation.

Yi Ji-Hyuk extended his hand.

No mistake this time and summon properly!

“Oh-Sik-ah!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He opened the Gate; its innards seemed to swirl and then, Oh-Sik sporting a small puppy’s physique popped out from there, his short legs spread open.

Kkyu??

“What’s up with a cutesy ‘kkyu’, you dumba*s!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk stabbed his tentacle into Oh-Sik and injected the magical energy.

Ku-aaaaaah!!

Oh-Sik ballooned up in an instant and returned to the proud figure of an Ogre. Well, it was a bit uncertain to call him an Ogre now, however. It seemed that a new species called ‘Oh-Sik’ needed to be classified now.

Keu-ruk.

Oh-Sik’s glare shifted over to the monsters yet to escape from Yi Ji-Hyuk’s pressure.

Ku-rururu....

Perhaps recalling the time it spent back in Yi Ji-Hyuk’s monster army, Oh-Sik suddenly began displaying its vicious side.

Kah-aaaaaaah!!

“Argh, so dang noisy!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Unfortunately, that vicious nature was reined in almost immediately.

“They should be running out soon enough....” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk pulled down and began petting the viciously-growling head of Oh-Sik while observing the North Korean army.

Currently, they were continuously firing away as if to melt down their own cannons, perhaps not wanting to miss out on this great opportunity he had created by pressuring the monsters.

‘There shouldn’t be much difference in ammo, right?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

The ammo types used by the North shouldn’t be that different from other armies in the world, other than the difference in the ability to fire higher number in the shorter time frame at targets further away.

With that in mind, the fact that North Korean army’s firepower not having much of an effect right now should serve as a proof that the levels of monsters had reached the point where modern firearm no longer worked on them.

Or, in other words....

“There is no meaning in military support anymore, is there?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

A first-world country might try to support you through bombing raids or long distance missiles. The thing was, though, if one only looked at the size of an army, then North Korea would rank among the top in the world.

If the North was unable to provide any meaningful support, then the story should be the same with other nations.

“So, then. It has begun.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Soon, this world would start revolving purely around the ability users. Yi Ji-Hyuk could already tell.

The cause of splitting the hierarchy between commoners and not-commoners back in Berafe was also the monsters. When a monster on the level of an Ogre showed up, you should just forget about subjugating it without the presence of a sorcerer or a knight. Kinda like how a hundred rabbits couldn’t deal with a lion.

So, powerless civilians would have to lower their heads and go under the wings of those who could potentially protect them from external shocks. As such things continued on, the idea of knights and sorcerers being nobles would become commonly accepted.

What about Earth, though?

Ability users here would no doubt misuse their abilities far more rampantly compared to Berafe. Well, the level of education, as well as the speed of information network were different, so...

So, the most dangerous aspect of all that was....

Yi Ji-Hyuk shook his head.

‘I’m thinking of a lot of useless stuff today.’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He just couldn’t figure out why he felt so worried like this. When in doubt, the best remedy was to blow everything away cleanly with one shot.

“Erukana!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I’m here waiting, darling.” (Erukana)

“I’m gonna nicely flip the table once, so get ready with your charm technique, alright?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I’m still waiting, darling.” (Erukana)

Erukana smiled deeply and flew towards him. She then wrapped her arms around his neck and clung onto him.

“I can recall so many wonderful memories like this, you know? You looked so cool back then when you were rampaging around the demon world, darling.” (Erukana)

“I don’t care about looking cool, and just wanna live in comfort, okay?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk gathered Mana on both of his hands.

Go-oooooooh!

Highly-concentrated Mana oozed out and began forming lumps in his hands next. Erukana enjoyed this goosebumps-inducing sensation and watched on.

‘This is it.’ (Erukana)

Yi Ji-Hyuk’s powers that earned him the title of a demon king as a mere human.

The true form of the power that made other demon kings involuntarily worship it even though they were supposed to be the same, was descending to this place.

< 318. Ahjussi, why are you coming out from there? -3 > Fin.

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