The Returner

"Cough!" (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

Rhee Jin-Cheol emerged from the Gate and coughed a bucketful of blood on the floor, prompting the NDF agents to freak out and hurriedly retreat.

Now normally, the first thing they would think about when seeing a person do that might have been to rush in and provide medical a.s.sistance, but they couldn't help but get fl.u.s.tered when a Gate suddenly popped up without warning and a somewhat familiar man emerged from there only to bleed profusely right before their eyes.

Especially more so, when they also knew that this man was a North Korean ability user. That fact alone made it doubly harder for them to get closer.

"Oh, wow?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk soon emerged from the Gate himself and clicked his tongue after witnessing Rhee Jin-Cheol coughing blood.

"I guess you ain't ready to die yet, what with all that blood still coming out of your mouth and all." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"What a devil!"

"He's a monster!"

The NDF agents began booing Yi Ji-Hyuk, but too bad for them, he didn't give a toss regardless.

"Wait, isn't that Rhee Jin-Cheol? It's that son of a b*tch, isn't he?" (Park Seong-Chan)

Park Seong-Chan heavily scowled, but didn't do anything and simply watched on. He could very well be the one holding the worst opinion on Rhee Jin-Cheol among everyone here, and he might have rushed in and tore the b*stard to pieces if the latter was in a better physical shape. However, he wasn't merciless enough to get violent with a half-dead man busy vomiting blood on the floor.

‘I mean, I'm still a human being, aren't I?' (Park Seong-Chan)

If you were indeed a human being with morals, then you shouldn't be thinking of doing something untoward to your sworn enemy when in a similar situation as this one.

"Argh, step aside, will ya." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk used his foot to push Rhee Jin-Cheol's side and laid the man flat on his back.

"He's not even human." (Park Seong-Chan)

Park Seong-Chan shook his head.

"Where is Affeldrichae?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"She didn't come to the office today."

"Really?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk tilted his head.

"Now that I think about it…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He hadn't thought about it since she was always by his side, but well, if Affeldrichae wanted to go underground, then there was no way to locate her as she didn't even carry a mobile phone. If she wasn't at Yi Ji-Hyuk's house right now, then it was impossible to contact her.

"…..Eh?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk formed a somewhat fl.u.s.tered expression and stared at Rhee Jin-Cheol.

"Hey, man. Someone who knows how to use healing magic was supposed to be here but apparently, she isn't? What should we do now? You might really die at this rate." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Cough, cough!! You… you stinking….!" (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

"Seeing how you still can swear like a sailor, I guess that means you won't die anytime soon." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk scratched his head as if a nasty migraine was a.s.saulting him. This feeling was similar to that feeling you get when you urgently needed to drive to a distant location today but for some reason, couldn't find the b.l.o.o.d.y car keys.

"Yup, that's exactly it." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Choi Jeong-Hoon was the last to emerge from the Gate. His expression hardened after looking at the collapsed Rhee Jin-Cheol.

"He will really die without immediate treatment." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"I'm trying to get him fixed up, you know. But I don't know how to…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Choi Jeong-Hoon more or less figured out the gist of the situation, and his expression became sombre. If Rhee Jin-Cheol really died like this, then all of their time and effort put in would've been precisely for big fat zero.

"Is there any other methods besides healing magic?" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"Mm…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk pondered for a bit, before nodding his head.

"Should I turn him into a zombie?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"…….."

"No, wait. A zombie is pretty stupid so that might be a problem. Okay, how about I turn him into some sort of a monster, then? If I pour in a bit of magical energy, there is roughly 30% chance that he will morph into a monster, you see?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"What about the other 70%?" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"Death." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

That simple explanation brought about a wide grin on Choi Jeong-Hoon's lips. He then turned around to shout out loudly.

"Hurry and locate Lady Affeldrichae, please! Do whatever it takes, broadcasts, anything, and find her!" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"….And so, we now even have to find missing people, too."

"At this rate, we might get asked to retrieve kittens stuck in tall trees."

All these agents were supposed to be the best of the best the Korean Republic had to offer, but all they could do now was to trudge outside the office with expressions of shame, still unable to get a recognition befitting their positions.

"Uh? Hey, hang on a minute. There is another one who can use healing magic." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Fortunately enough, a voice managed to stop their feet.

"Who is it?" (Kim Dah-Hyun)

Kim Dah-Hyun shouted back with a genuinely relieved face, prompting Choi Jeong-Hoon to reply with a smooth grin.

"Do you know where your sister is currently?" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"I don't want to." (Kim Dah-Som)

Kim Dah-Som stared at Rhee Jin-Cheol with eyes reserved for disgusting worms. For a moment there, Choi Jeong-Hoon had to question whether it was possible or not for anyone to hold that much disgust towards another person like that.

"P-please, don't be like that, and…." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

The clearly-fl.u.s.tered Choi Jeong-Hoon tried to reason with her somehow, but Kim Dah-Som simply continued to emit this biting chill, regardless of what was being said.

She came here after her brother Kim Dah-Hyun called her up, but when she got here, she was utterly flabbergasted to learn that her healing skills were required to mend his orangutan-looking b*stard. Sure, she did learn how to perform healing magic, but she certainly didn't learn it to use in events like this one.

"He's a very important person to us." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"What's that got to do with me?" (Kim Dah-Som)

"I-if you say it like that…." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

….I've got nothing to retort with.

This might be a government business, but that was no reason for a citizen to one-sidedly go along with it. Also, she might be Kim Dah-Hyun's little sister, but she was just a regular civilian, not someone in the government's payroll. Basically, she had no duty to catch a spy even if one was right next to her.

"The fate of our nation depends on it." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

In the end, he ended up resorting to spouting the most obvious line he could think of. Choi Jeong-Hoon inwardly lamented his inability to come up with a much-more urgent sounding and creative argument, and spat out a long sigh.

"Still doesn't concern me." (Kim Dah-Som)

Choi Jeong-Hoon had failed to break through Kim Dah-Som's perfect iron wall-like defence, and resorted to sneaking a glance at Kim Dah-Hyun, instead.

"Ahaha, Dah-Som-ah." (Kim Dah-Hyun)

After receiving the baton, he immediately went to convincing his little sister.

"It's not a difficult job, right?" (Kim Dah-Hyun)

"….Not difficult?" (Kim Dah-Som)

She stared straight at Rhee Jin-Cheol, which led her brother to look at the downed North Korean without giving it too much thought as well.

"…What the h.e.l.l? Who brought a corpse in here?" (Kim Dah-Hyun)

Wasn't this kinda like a cla.s.s where one was tasked with reviving an already-dead specimen?

He s.h.i.+fted his gaze over to Choi Jeong-Hoon and formed an expression that asked, ‘Hey, isn't this too much?', which prompted the latter to open his mouth quite painfully.

"O-one hundred million!" (Choi Jeong-Hoon) (TL: around $85,770)

"He wants to pay you one hundred million Won." (Kim Dah-Hyun)

"It doesn't matter whether it's one hundred or something else, that's not really important right now. I won't do it." (Kim Dah-Som)

"H-hang on…." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Kim Dah-Som's expression hardened, and all of a sudden, this deathly chill flooded in and began circulating within the office. It was so cold that even the downed Rhee Jin-Cheol began flinching uncomfortably.

"h.e.l.l. Instead of saving the dude, he's gonna get iced, instead." (Park Seong-Chan)

Park Seong-Chan tutted as if this whole thing was regrettable.

"D-don't be like that, and…." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon tried to continue the persuasion, but Kim Dah-Som used her cold air-emitting expression to utterly shut him up, spun her body away, then began looking around her vicinity.

"…Oppa!" (Kim Dah-Som)

Her expression filled with wintery chill suddenly melted down as if warm rays of spring had enveloped it. She discovered Yi Ji-Hyuk currently engaged in his game in the distant corner, and quickly trotted over there while completely disregarding everyone else.

"Argh, come on, man!!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk shot up from his chair, his glare fixed to the monitor.

"Why aren't my stupid hands getting better yet?!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Maybe his eyes were feeling fatigued or something, he had turned the screen to grey, and right now, he was noisily grinding his teeth while looking at his K.O.'ed avatar on the ground.

"If only it wasn't for that d*mn jungler, I'd have taken it!!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Choi Jeong-Hoon bore witness to this scene and could only shake his head.

Being able to concentrate on gaming when a person was dying right next to you, now that took some mental strength, alright. Sure, he never thought of Yi Ji-Hyuk as ‘normal', but in times like this, he'd get this powerful urge to crack open that man's brain and see just what kind of thoughts were percolating inside it.

"What are you playing?" (Kim Dah-Som)

"Hah, I don't think I can keep doing this anymore." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk yanked out a cigarette from his pocket, threw the mouse away and walked outside the office. Kim Dah-Som hurriedly stuck real close and followed him.

"M-Miss Dah-Som!" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon chased after them and began his nagging, too.

"Can't you do this just once? Let's say you're saving a person's life." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"It's not ‘let's say', but it's really about saving a life, isn't it?" (Kim Dah-Som)

""O-of course! You're indeed saving a life! There is nothing more important than that." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"Instead of wasting time like this, please call 119." (Kim Dah-Som) (TL: 119 is the South Korean emergency number.)

"Although that is a constructive method, indeed…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

You think I'd be doing this if calling 119 can solve everything?! (Choi Jeong-Hoon's inner monologue)

The only reason why that man continued to breathe was because of his c.o.c.kroach-like resilience of an ability user; if a doctor saw him now, he'd shout out, "Aigo, he's already on his way to his funeral". Even if the legendary Chinese physician Hua Tuo came back from the afterlife, he'd still not be able to do anything medically in this situation.

Choi Jeong-Hoon might be quite clueless regarding medicine, but he still could tell that much. As his proof, not one among the dozens of the NDF agents present were bothering to dial 119.

"He is in possession of a vital information." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"Wasn't he the person who attacked our side?" (Kim Dah-Som)

"Excuse me?" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"I heard he badmouthed Ji-Hyuk oppa a lot, too." (Kim Dah-Som)

"W-where exactly did you hear such things?" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"From my oppa." (Kim Dah-Som)

Kim Dah-Hyun, you rotten son of a b*tch!

Having realised the reason for Kim Dah-Som's chilly air, Choi Jeong-Hoon quietly gnashed his teeth.

"Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk…." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

In the end, he had only Yi Ji-Hyuk to fall back on, so while cautiously minding the latter's mood, he called out the name.

"What do you want now?!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Choi Jeong-Hoon squeezed his eyes shut ever so slightly.

Please, please! Don't take out the stress you got from gaming on me, please!! (Choi Jeong-Hoon's inner monologue)

"We, uh, we definitely need to save that man, you see." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"Okay, save him, then." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"In order to do that, we need Miss Kim Dah-Som's aid." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"Ng?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk glanced at Kim Dah-Som and smirked softly.

"Ah, that's right. She also learned healing magic, didn't she? Heh, she's getting treated like a full-on healer now." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"My Mana reserve isn't even sufficient for you alone, oppa." (Kim Dah-Som)

Kim Dah-Som unhesitatingly stated her position, but Yi Ji-Hyuk simply nodded his head after taking another look at Choi Jeong-Hoon's troubled expression.

"Go and save that guy." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"But, not enough Mana…." (Kim Dah-Som)

"I'll tell Affel to share some with you later, so for now, go make sure that fool keeps breathing. I mean, I had to work my b.u.t.t off to bring him here, so it'll be a problem if he dies now." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Okay!" (Kim Dah-Som)

Kim Dah-Som quickly turned around and walked back inside the office. Seeing that, Choi Jeong-Hoon could only s.h.i.+ft his gaze to the heavens as this vague, weird emotion began filling him up.

‘Should I just resign and call it a day?' (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

He was staring at the clear sky with an especially sorrowful pair of eyes today.

"Cough!" (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

Rhee Jin-Cheol coughed out blood several times more before raising his upper torso up. His clothes were stained from top to bottom in claret colour, but at the very least, there was genuine hints of vitality visible on his skin now.

"It's done." (Kim Dah-Som)

Kim Dah-Som jumped up from her spot and quickly trotted towards Yi Ji-Hyuk again.

"………" (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

Rhee Jin-Cheol watched her distancing back and spoke with a hint of emptiness.

"A healer, is it? I heard South Korea didn't have one?" (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

"That's not important right now." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon cut into the middle of Rhee Jin-Cheol's questions.

"We've already invested a lot in you, Mister Rhee Jin-Cheol. And now, it's time to reap our rewards. We'd like to hear about what is going on in North Korea, now." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"…..I can't speak in this place." (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

Rhee Jin-Cheol replied after scanning his vicinity.

That caused Park Seong-Chan's expression to crumple and he took several large strides towards the North Korean.

"Are you suspecting us of something?!" (Park Seong-Chan)

"No." (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

Rhee Jin-Cheol chuckled wryly and shook his head.

"Let's call it a misunderstanding if you heard me that way. What I'm saying is that, people here don't have the authority to choose the next course of action after hearing my information." (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

"……….." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon's expression grew dead serious.

"I need either the top military commander or a defence minister. I'm talking about a truly grave matter here." (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

"A top military commander??" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon had this ominous foreboding after hearing Rhee Jin-Cheol, and his expression hardened even further.

"Is it at the level of war?" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"If your side is willing to, then it will go that far." (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

"…..Please wait for a moment. I shall immediately contact Defense Mini….. Hang on. Let's just go there ourselves." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon then addressed Yi Ji-Hyuk.

"Please open a Gate. It seems that the situation is far worse than we thought." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

"H-ng." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk nodded his head and promptly opened a Gate. However, as the portal leading to the Blue House was generated, Park Seong-Chan suddenly stuck very close to Rhee Jin-Cheol's side.

"Where are you trying to take this b*stard?? What will you do if he suddenly commits acts of terror over there? You all being too naïve, men!" (Park Seong-Chan)

Choi Jeong-Hoon went "Oops!" after hearing that and quickly turned his head towards Rhee Jin-Cheol, but Yi Ji-Hyuk was equally quick to come up with a solution.

"In that case, ahjussi? Stick close to him and if you think he's gonna do something, beat his a*s up." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"….Roger that." (Park Seong-Chan)

Park Seong-Chan grinned deeply and stuck even closer to Rhee Jin-Cheol's side. The North Korean shook his head with an uncomfortable expression.

"You South Joseon lot can be pretty extreme sometimes." (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

That's not something you should be saying, comrade.

Fin.

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