The Returner

(Not edited, unfortunately.)

"Of course, what you said about them is all good and stuff! Fine! But, can't you see what's going on over there?! That place has been breached!! We might have several millions more zombies before our people realise the extent of their own powers! The damages will be far too severe by then!" (Choi Jung-Hoon)
"You know, I think…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"I know what???" (Choi Jung-Hoon)
"I think, the one underestimating his own agents the most might be you, Mister Choi Jung-Hoon." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Eh?"
As if to solidify Yi Ji-Hyuk's argument, a lone man suddenly dropped into the middle of the opening in the barricade. Choi Jung-Hoon looked at that and cried out.
"Mister Park Sung-Chan?!" (Choi Jung-Hoon)
The ‘Iron' Park Sung-Chan landed hard on the ground, and then proceeded to grab the zombies trying to pounce on new victims. He then chucked them back into the midst of the horde a far away.
"Please, be careful!! What if they get hurt??" (Choi Jung-Hoon)
"Be serious!" (Park Sung-Chan)
Park Sung-Chan shot a glare back.
"You think one or two getting hurt under the circ.u.mstances is a problem?! If they are unhappy about it, tell them to sort this sh*t out by themselves! Isn't this a pure bullsh*t request to begin with?!" (Park Sung-Chan)
No, hang on! It's not just one or two getting hurt here!
Those you just threw at the zombie horde flew like cannon sh.e.l.ls and blew away the others as if they are bowling pins, you know?!
Please think first before saying such a things!! (Choi Jung-Hoon's inner monologue)
Of course, Choi Jung-Hoon was the type to think first before saying his piece, so he didn't mutter any of that out this time.
"In any case, please be more cautious!" (Choi Jung-Hoon)
"Cautious can kiss my a*s!!" (Park Sung-Chan)
Park Sung-Chan chucked every single zombie that broke through the barricade back to the rest of the horde, picked the overturned military vehicle up, and placed it where it used to be.
"Can't you all make a better barricade or something? You think this is enough for a barricade?" (Park Sung-Chan)
"….If we were to barricade you in, we'd need the Grand Canyon." (Choi Jung-Hoon)
Don't judge everything according to your standards!! (Choi Jung-Hoon's inner monologue)
Park Sung-Chan finished sorting out the situation, more or less, and jumped back into the zombie horde.
"Argh, again?! Now you want me to go where??" (Park Sung-Chan)
Watching Park Sung-Chan shout at the smart.w.a.tch device on his wrist like that, Choi Jung-Hoon was overcome with this thought that he was looking at a husband getting ordered around by his wife to run an errand just now.
‘No, hang on a minute. A wife?!' (Choi Jung-Hoon)
How dare he, Park Sung-Chan!!
Choi Jung-Hoon's head was suddenly filled with that thought, but he quickly shook his head to shake it off.
"Am I going mad as well?" (Choi Jung-Hoon)
"What are you talking about?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"It's nothing." (Choi Jung-Hoon)
Choi Jung-Hoon blushed slightly and glanced at Seo Ah-Young a bit further away.

"This is endless." (Seo Ah-Young)
Seo Ah-Young bit her nails.
She was all gung-ho about the whole thing when she started this mission, but now…. As it turned out, it was the case of easier said then done.
Purifying once or twice wasn't all that difficult, sure, but repeating that process tens of thousands of times proved to be really problematic.
"Hmm…."
This was going to take too long. She brought the smart.w.a.tch device closer and pressed the ‘Call' b.u.t.ton.
"Mister Choi Jung-Hoon?" (Seo Ah-Young)
– "Yes, I'm here. Please speak." (Choi Jung-Hoon)
"For the time being, I'll be sending half of our agents back to the barricade. Please distribute them appropriately. I'll also hand over the command to you." (Seo Ah-Young)
– "Understood." (Choi Jung-Hoon)
If she handed the reins over like this, then Choi Jung-Hoon would do a fine job on his own. In all honesty, leaving the command of this mission to him from the get-go would have been far more efficient, and she knew that fact very well.
However, she also wanted to show that she wasn't some useless figurehead.
….To the rest of the world, and more specifically, that d*mn detestable Yi Ji-Hyuk, too.
It wasn't as if she didn't feel a pang of regret about needlessly trying to show off here, but in order for her to stand tall as the boss of the NDF, this simply had to be done.
Because, she herself had acutely sensed herself morphing into a nominal leader after Yi Ji-Hyuk made his appearance.
There was no need for a Flame Witch that listened to someone else's orders and did what she was told. What she wanted was the ‘Seo Ah-Young' that thought for herself and fought for herself.
"Well, that's another easier said than done, isn't it?" (Seo Ah-Young)
Although she was still complaining to herself, she didn't stop her quest to push the zombies around with her flames.

"I'm really getting dizzy here." (Jeong Hae-Min)
Jeong Hae-Min grabbed her forehead and slowly shook her head. She had to give up on the markers she left all over the world and placed them near this location.
Meaning, with the sole exception of the marker in Korea so they could go back home later, she had spent all of her available markers in this place.
Thanks to that, she was now able to go where her presence was required. Unfortunately, even though she was teleporting only one person to a short distance, repeating this action over and over again to this degree would tire her out greatly.
"Heh-eh?"
If it weren't for Yi Ji-Hyuk putting her through the special training by teleporting all over the world for several days in the past, she'd be laid out flat on the ground by now while watching the stars spin around above her head.
In that sense, she should be feeling rather grateful for what he had done for her, but well, it had to be Yi Ji-Hyuk's special trait that people couldn't feel grateful towards him for some reason.
Everyone had gotten way stronger than before after encountering Yi Ji-Hyuk, they gained a certain influence for themselves that other nations could no longer ignore, and some of them even received scouting offers every now and then, too - it was a fact that everyone had become ‘better', yet why did

Fin.

(If you've been following me on Twitter, then you probably have heard of the ongoing electricity problem where I live at the moment. Chapter release could get erratic, depending how prolonged the blackouts get. I really hope this ridiculousness won't persist for long and the the situation normalises soon.)