The Returner

The manager of the KSF Gangdong branch, Wu Myeong-Sik glared at the rooftop of a certain building and gnashed his teeth.

"That G.o.dd*mn son of a…." (Woo Myeong-Sik)

How could he not gnash his teeth when thinking back to the phone call he got from the director of the KSF?

Regardless of what, how could the boss man say he'd skin the manager alive if the team didn't reach the destination on time? They weren't living in some Fifth Republic but in South Korea for Chrissake, so how could a KSF director utter something like that in the open?

The impression he gave off when the branch manager first met him was a refined gentleman, but who knew he was hiding such a fierce, combative temperament?

‘No, hang on. It's not like this is unexpected.' (Woo Myeong-Sik)

The cause was standing over there, after all.

Every time the KSF director said something, his sentences would always, always end with "Yi Ji-Hyuk this" or "Yi Ji-Hyuk that".

It was only one phone call, yet it felt like the name "Yi Ji-Hyuk" had been branded into his eardrums.

"Besides all that, who does he think he is, our superior or something?!" (Woo Myeong-Sik)

That oh-so important personage should have been oh-so busy with the NDF matters, but his meddling streak ran oh-so wide as well, it seemed; otherwise, why would he be oh-so worried about the KSF dispatch time, too?

The branch manager felt oh-so thankful that his teeth were gnas.h.i.+ng all by themselves.

"I mean, we still have a ton of time left, too!" (Woo Myeong-Sik)

"Branch manager! The Gate seems to be almost ready to open up?!"

"Hey, you dumba*s! Where's your sense of timing, man!!" (Woo Myeong-Sik)

"Eh?"

"c.r.a.p. Forget what I said, you dumba*s!" (Woo Myeong-Sik)

Woo Myeong-Sik did his best to calm his boiling innards and glared at the Gate next. Seeing how its blue hue was almost gone, it seemed that the portal was ready to open up at any second now.

He didn't want to admit it, but well, if his team left the branch as previously scheduled, then they wouldn't have made it before the d*mn Gate opened first.

"Hey, you! Stop the bus and get everyone ready! Hurry up!" (Woo Myeong-Sik)

"Sir, yessir!"

Screeeech-!

The bus issued a sharp screeching brake noise and came to a stop. The vehicle leaned forward just a bit from the momentum before righting itself, and the moment its exit opened, the KSF agents flooded out.

Woo Myeong-Sik observed the agents finding their spots, exited the bus himself, and lightly leapt up to the rooftop.

"You are late, it seems." (Park Su-Hwan)

Park Su-Hwan's unimpressed voice caused Woo Myeong-Sik to lower his head a little and speak up.

"Well, technically, we're just in time since the Gate hasn't opened yet." (Woo Myeong-Sik)

"That's a relief, then. If you arrived any later than this, you might have been treated to a really impressive sight." (Park Su-Hwan)

"I guess so. How unfortunate." (Woo Myeong-Sik)

"What was that??" (Park Su-Hwan)

Park Su-Hwan and Woo Myeong-Sik glared at each other and gnashed their teeth.

Even after Choi Jeong-Hoon and Seo Ah-Young left the scene, the cats-and-dogs relations.h.i.+p between the defence command and the KSF hadn't improved one bit. No, wait - maybe it had worsened ever so slightly, instead.

At the very least, both sides didn't openly bare their fangs when Choi Jeong-Hoon was around.

"….The victor is always the right one." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Keuh-hmm!"

"Keuh-hhhmmm!!"

Perhaps the two men thought they showed something unsightly in front of Yi Ji-Hyuk, because they coughed loudly to clear their throats. They then turned their heads towards the latter.

"Nice to meet you, Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk." (Woo Myeong-Sik)

"Who are you, mister?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"I'm Woo Myeong-Sik, manager of the Gangdong branch."

"Ah, is that so? By the way…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk replied with a less-than-impressed face.

"Looks like your Gangdong branch is swarmed with work recently? I mean, you guys sure showed up super late today and all." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"….Well, uh, yes, we were somewhat occupied." (Woo Myeong-Sik)

"If you were suffering from the lack of personnel, you could've sent a request to other branches and sh.o.r.e yourselves up that way. I hear you guys are always late like this. Don't you think that's just wrong?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Wu Myeong-Sik quietly glared at Park Su-Hwan.

Yi Ji-Hyuk was renowned for not caring much about worldly affairs, so he wouldn't have known about anything if it weren't for the stinking colonel from the defence command deciding to become a rat.

"Everyone is suffering from personnel shortage, so…." (Woo Myeong-Sik)

"You don't have enough agents? I mean, the NDF is getting dispatched to practically everywhere as if their feet are on fire, yet you still don't have enough personnel?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Right at that moment, Woo Myeong-Sik's lips clamped shut as if someone applied superglue there.

In all honesty, it wasn't as if his branch was really suffering from a lack of personnel. If they wanted to get a move on a bit early, then sure, they could have.

The truth was, they started arriving on location a little later than usual without saying anything to anyone after realising that things proved to be just a bit more convenient for them by showing up only after the defence command had finished setting up defensive perimeters.

‘Well, it's true that we were beginning to get really late these days.' (Woo Myeong-Sik)

Human nature meant that once they started arriving late, they would progressively become tardier and tardier.

Now normally, there should be someone to mediate everyone involved when such problems crop up, but too bad, the defence command belonged to the Ministry of Defense, while the KSF belonged directly to the Presidency. So, any complaints the defence command people had, they never directly reached the ears of the higher-ups in the KSF or the Blue House.

"Eh, well, that is…" (Woo Myeong-Sik)

Yi Ji-Hyuk's brows rose up ever so slightly.

"I see." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Eh?" (Woo Myeong-Sik)

"I do get that you don't have enough people. Sure. However, when you said that you couldn't come here on time because of the lack of agents, that automatically implies your people were being dispatched somewhere else prior to this event, right? So, when was the last time you guys got dispatched?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"…………"

Woo Myeong-Sik couldn't readily reply to Yi Ji-Hyuk's question.

"Ahjussi." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Yes, Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk." (Wu Myeong-Sik)

"Why don't I make it so that you don't need lots of agents anymore? Just one week, and I guarantee you, I can turn you into someone who can solo a Gate of this size while half asleep. When that happens, surely you won't complain about the lack of personnel or whatever, am I wrong?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Cold sweat began trickling down Woo Myeong-Sik's back.

The story of Yi Ji-Hyuk shoving the regular KSF agents into living h.e.l.l and transforming them into the NDF-level people was a really famous anecdote around these parts.

In a way, you could say it was a life-changing, once in a lifetime opportunity. Raising the skill level of the ability users was that difficult, after all. Indeed, they couldn't rely on getting stronger naturally, yet Yi Ji-Hyuk here was capable of increasing one's rank in a proverbial blink.

However, not one among the KSF wished for that.

Partly because the rumours detailing what happened to the NDF agents ‘trained' by Yi Ji-Hyuk made rounds already, but the real clincher was actually something else.

‘If you go through it, then you'd be promoted to the NDF.' (Woo Myeong-Sik)

The amount of dogsh*t labour the NDF agents had to go through so far was the stuff of legends by now.

When something big happened locally, no, globally, then the ones called into action before anyone else were none other than the NDF agents.

They must've been half-way brainwashed at this point, seeing how they didn't complain much. But there was little doubt that having ten lives wouldn't be enough judging from all the stuff the NDF had to do.

So, who would want to get ‘promoted' to the NDF?

Every now and then, the NDF would say they don't have enough agents and start an evaluation process to pick new blood. However, that would mysteriously instigate a flood of sick leave applications, and some people actually even developed sudden bouts of illness, too. And when the branch managers were asked to ‘recommend' people to be promoted, it became rather common to see despairing KSF agents showing up on the doorsteps of their superiors to plead, beg, and even threaten their way out of the predicament.

"From now on, we'll arrive on time." (Woo Myeong-Sik)

"Hmm." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk shook his head as if he still wasn't happy.

"You know, I don't really like to nag, but…" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

‘Ah, so you like nagging people, then.' (Woo Myeong-Sik)

The branch manager only needed to interpret what's being said here in the other direction.

"But, Mister Branch Manager." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Yes?" (Woo Myeong-Sik)

"You do know that you arriving late might result in the deaths of people, don't you?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"We make sure to evacuate any and all civilians first." (Woo Myeong-Sik)

"What about soldiers, though?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Excuse me?" (Woo Myeong-Sik)

"Soldiers aren't humans to you? What, you think they are made out of sand or something?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"…….."

"You know, I really don't understand why you're letting this situation be, where people might end up dying because of your little bit of convenience. Am I wrong to feel this way?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"No, you're absolutely correct." (Woo Myeong-Sik)

Woo Myeong-Sik's expression hardened completely.

Here was a problem that even an elementary school kid could have figured out. Yet, he couldn't understand how he had failed to perceive it until now.

Yi Ji-Hyuk quietly stared at Woo Myeong-Sik, before turning his head away.

‘They are getting fractured.' (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

It hadn't been that long, yet the concept of ‘humans' was changing within the consciousness of the ability users. Without them noticing it, too.

However, this wasn't all that strange to him.

It was the same story back in Berafe, too. Those wielding magic or divinity believed themselves to be from the superior race and treated those without special abilities as slaves or livestock.

Humans would suddenly start believing that they were ent.i.tled to something special the moment they acquired just a little of power.

People with no differences in special abilities had already been dividing cla.s.ses using the yardsticks of wealth and political power. So, when people were divided through innately-manifesting special abilities, how badly would the resulting chasm be?

n.o.body seemed to have thought about a way to counter that at the moment. No, a group hoping to exploit that chasm had popped up first, instead.

‘Alpha.' (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

The image of Alpha fleeted in and out of Yi Ji-Hyuk's head.

To the current him, Alpha was a little worm that could be killed off with just a flick of his finger. Yet, why couldn't he stop worrying about that b*stard?

‘Right. B*stards like him always end up doing something huge.' (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

According to the extensive experience earned through living a very long life, ent.i.ties like Alpha would always end up causing huge incidents.

That was probably why Yi Ji-Hyuk was worried about that guy.

But, he shook his head, at least for now.

If Alpha was scheming something, killing him off would be the end of it. Yi Ji-Hyuk had enough venom and power to pursue that course of action.

‘In any case, I better tell someone about this.' (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

There was no guarantee that only the Gangdong branch was like this.

The NDF, where a powerless person like Choi Jeong-Hoon was employed among the ability users, was faring a lot better than the rest. Even then, didn't the NDF too also show the signs of fracture not too long ago?

If so, one had to a.s.sume that other branches were going through the fundamental s.h.i.+ft in consciousness not too different from what the Gangdong branch had experienced.

"The Gate is opening up."

Yi Ji-Hyuk stopped his thoughts on that subject matter right there.

Preventing such things were all good and well, but they needed to take care of the crisis unfolding before their eyes first.

"Every personnel, maintain your positions! We'll open fire when the monsters make their appearance." (Park Su-Hwan)

Park Su-Hwan issued his orders, and soon, spine-tingling tension ran down the spines of the soldiers.

‘Have I become too relaxed?' (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

For some reason, Yi Ji-Hyuk felt nostalgic. Perhaps not personally partic.i.p.ating in an anti-Gate operation for a long while was to blame here.

Not to mention, this wasn't even a fun event to spectate, too.

Soon, the Gate distorted, and dark monsters began leaping out from there.

"Fire!!"

Blamblamblamblamblamblam!!

Guns and support artillery began spitting out flames at the same time. Didn't matter what came out from the portal - they were all monsters, anyway.

"Oh, that's a Feldrick, isn't it?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

It was a horse-type monster.

The equivalent in this world's lore should be something like a Pegasus? Although the Feldricks didn't have wings, their mobility was truly top-notch. So much so that some races with intelligence level higher than Orcs would sometimes catch and tame them.

"Eh? Isn't that Izuka?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk saw the large silhouette of a snake leaping out after Feldricks and smirked.

Seeing one after such a long time sure made him feel nostalgic, alright.

"Eh, Polts and Eka, too…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

At this point, his expression began to crumple a little.

They were all too familiar.

Monsters emerging from the Gate were just too familiar to his eyes.

What, you think monsters looking familiar to him was unsurprising?

No freaking way!

The frequency of monsters that Yi Ji-Hyuk recognised appearing from the Gates were less than 30 percent overall. Sure, monsters with similar traits from the ones he saw back in Berafe did appear occasionally, but they all had some vague differences.

But every single one his eyes could see today happened to be creatures Yi Ji-Hyuk recognised immediately.

"Made in Berafe, is that it?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk's voice was getting stiffer.

If this was all just a coincidence, fine. But if not, then something very untoward was happening with these Gates.

"I gotta confirm it." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

While still carrying a hardened expression, Yi Ji-Hyuk stepped up to the railing of the rooftop.

"M-Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk?!" (Park Su-Hwan)

Wuuu-oooong!

It was then, black Mana began coagulating rapidly on Yi Ji-Hyuk's right hand before shooting up to the skies.

"N-ng??"

And then, that black Mana created thunderbolts and slammed hard into the ground.

Kwaaaaboooom!

Kwaaboooom!!

Just two thunderbolts, and all the monsters coming out from the Gates were turned into charcoal.

"Holy cow…." (Park Su-Hwan)

Park Su-Hwan's jaw fell to the floor after witnessing that spectacle. The power of Yi Ji-Hyuk he only ever heard about in gossip turned out to be even more ridiculous than his imaginations.

Not only that, the area of effect also happened to be perfect, as well. Not a single soldier surrounding the Gate was affected by the attack just now.

"I'll be leaving first, okay!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk said that, opened a black Gate, and jumped inside. Woo Myeong-Sik, unable to say anything for a long time, finally managed to open his mouth.

"….If you were going to do this, why did you even summon us here?!" (Woo Myeong-Sik)

You crazy son of a….

Fin.

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