258 – Returner (3)
“Keu~”
It was an amazing morning.
When I just returned to this world, I knew nothing, had nothing, and had no place to return to, so I was actively considering homelessness.
Now, I woke up in a suite at the Wen Goga Hotel, which is said to represent Korea, and was leisurely looking down at the panoramic view of the city.
‘This is the same again…’ ‘
The modern world has become a completely different world from the one I knew, but on the surface, it is not much different from the world I used to know.
Cars still rolled on four wheels.
People’s fashion stayed within the range I could understand.
The smartphone was still in his hand.
Gate and Mana.
It feels like only those two things were added to the original world.
I felt the same strangeness as pineapple pizza in that something strange was added to the originally normal world – but I thought I could somehow accept it at this level.
As someone who has experienced game possession, there are some things I cannot accept.
‘Ah, that’s right. ‘Game possession.’
From Noble mtl dot com
A thought suddenly occurred to me at that time.
I put everything aside and took out my cell phone from my pocket.
Lee Hwa-rin and Kim Gyu-hwan opened the service last night so that if you need anything, you can tell them right away.
‘This cool and heavy feeling. ‘It’s time to return to being a modern person addicted to cell phones.’
The reason I suddenly took out my cell phone was because I missed the quick and easy dopamine that the cell phone gave me-
This was the most urgent business right now.
[Search: Game ‘Another World’]
The game that kidnapped me to another world.
I was curious about how this game would remain on a changed Earth.
[No search results exist]
“…What?”
The results were surprising.
The other world had completely disappeared, leaving no trace, as if it had never existed from the beginning.
‘Did the Girl of Light do something?’
I was confused.
My head was complicated.
But the feeling wasn’t all that bad.
Rather the opposite.
For me, this world is no longer a virtual world that only exists in games.
It is another world that exists-
It is a world that I feel as attached to as my home world, perhaps even more.
But, if there are still games set in that world-
Also, people I know existed as NPCs in the game?
And so many players consume the world and its people as entertainment?
It would have been difficult to endure.
It feels like my world is being invaded.
In that sense, the disappearance of the game could be said to be a fortunate thing for me.
‘Yes. ‘It’s a good thing.’
I took a moment to gather my thoughts while looking at the scene unfolding outside the window.
“…”
Once my thoughts are organized, another question-curiosity comes to mind again.
‘Turn on King Moo Wiki.’
I heard about the changed world from Lee Hwa-rin and Kim Gyu-hwan.
Approximately so.
Currently, my knowledge and common sense are as flimsy as a sponge with many holes in it.
It was necessary to understand it in much more detail than we do now.
If only to become a guide that is not embarrassing to our friends who will arrive soon.
“…Hmm?”
How long has it been since we continued to update the Earth Knowledge Dictionary with the help of Kingmu Wiki?
“Oh, so… “
In the process, I was able to realize why Lee Hwa-rin and Kim Gyu-hwan showed an unnatural attitude toward me.
[Gate structure]
According to Kingmu Wiki, the size of the gate is proportional to the amount of mana possessed by the object or creature within the gate.
Inside the space-type gate, which was the largest ever, a dungeon of the largest scale ever was discovered.
From the largest release gate ever, the strongest monster of all time pops out – that kind of mechanism.
[Historical emission gate ranking]
Here.
There is an item written based on that mechanism.
[1. [Beijing super large gate]
And here is the gate that took first place in this category.
[Until the gate occurred, China had almost swept away the world’s talented hunters with Chinese money and had risen to the ranks of hunter powerhouses in name and reality.]
[However, everything changes due to that gate.]
[The gate, which had an unprecedented scale, was opened less than 15 days after it occurred in Beijing, the capital of China.]
– Even when compared to the second-place gate, which was considered the largest gate in history and treated as a nightmare by many hunters, you can see how ridiculous its scale is-
[A huge ‘dragon’ tens of meters tall leaked out of the opened gate.]
[The dragon, named Gold dragon, was expected to launch an indiscriminate attack on Beijing as soon as it left the gate.]
[China attempted to subdue the dragon on its own with its excellent hunter talent pool, but-]
[During this process, 2 S-class hunters died, 13 A-class hunters died, and 67 B-class hunters died.]
[In addition, dozens of hunters suffered major and minor injuries, and China’s hunter corps was destroyed.]
[Hwangryong suffered serious injuries due to the hunters’ joint attack, but he struggled until his life was completely lost.]
[In the end, Beijing, the capital of China, was devastated and polluted by the dragon’s mana, putting it in a state similar to (and possibly worse than) Hiroshima.]
[Based on this incident, China gave up its title as a hunter powerhouse and at the same time-…]
As a gate that took first place on King Moo Wiki, its majesty was truly enormous.
It was enough to cause the collapse of a huge country called China in an instant.
Now.
So.
What does this have to do with the fact that Lee Hwa-rin and Kim Gyu-hwan vaguely realized that I was the owner of the gate and their attitude towards me became unnatural?
You can tell by looking at the surrender right below it.
[0. Seoul super large gate?]
A familiar sight was seen in the photo attached to this item.
That’s right.
This was the gate I jumped out of.
Someone took a picture of the gate I came out of and posted it on the Internet.
Now.
It is said that there is a debate on the Internet about whether that photo is a composite or not.
It is said that most of them are raising their voices on the side of ‘it is synthetic.’
[It has no choice but to be like that.]
[According to the testimony of some hunters at the scene, the gate disappeared immediately after opening-]
[This is the general emission pattern of an emission gate-]
[Compared to the number one spatial gate of all time, the gate is much larger in size and is proof that it is an ’emission type’.]
[Let’s check Photo 1 (1. Beijing Super Large Gate) again here.]
[And compare it with Photo 2 (0. Seoul super large gate).]
[The Seoul mega-gate is much bigger than the Beijing mega-gate that devastated Beijing.]
[If the gate was really an emission type and monsters came out from there, Seoul should have disappeared from the map a long time ago.]
[Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the photo in question is a composite, and it is also reasonable to judge that testimonies and rumors related to the gate are nonsense.]
That is.
In the eyes of Lee Hwa-rin and Kim Gyu-hwan, I am a monster that cannot exist in reality –
He appears to be someone who can completely level Seoul and lay waste to it if he puts his mind to it.
‘I’m embarrassed…’
How incredible is the power I have gained?
Through the series of events I experienced in this world, I knew it better than anyone else.
But I didn’t know that that standard would apply to Earth as well.
‘A premonition of blue…!’
Who would be happy to see someone worse than the monster that brought down the great nation of China roaming around the world at will?
‘What should I do?’
How can I prove to people that I am a harmless person?
It truly felt like a nightmare from the Harashin era repeating itself.
I was desperate and racked my brain to find a solution.
However, that feeling of desperation did not last that long.
Suddenly a thought occurred to me.
‘Do I need to think so hard in this low-key manner?’
Why did I grit my teeth and keep a low profile and seek people’s understanding even though I had this kind of power in the previous world?
It was to see the true ending.
But what about this world?
There was a true ending and nothing else.
Therefore, there was no reason to go to great lengths to seek people’s understanding.
Are you uncomfortable because I came out of a gate bigger than Jjangryong?
What should I do?
Does the power I’m using look a little suspicious?
What should I do?
‘Now I will live for myself.’
My goal now was not to act altruistically, gain the heroes’ understanding, gain their respect, and get the true ending.
The goal was to find a way for our friends to return to their original world, and to establish a foundation for them to live without any inconvenience in the meantime.
And in that case.
Rather than stubbornly hiding my power, it might be the right choice to actively use it.
The hotel suite I am currently in was proof of that.
This suite was prepared for me by Lee Hwa-rin and Kim Gyu-hwan.
And those two people were hunters.
A-class hunter and S-class hunter.
According to what I learned thanks to Wasteland Wiki, the position of hunters in society far exceeded my expectations.
Hunters were worthy of being called the nobility of the New World.
Also, A-class hunters and S-class hunters are those who are at the highest level of the hunter class.
They were those who could be said to be noble among nobles.
The nobles among the nobles granted me this convenience even though I did not ask for anything.
Why?
Because of the power I have.
If you continue to feel this way, you can easily lay the foundation and-
Furthermore, wouldn’t it be possible to get help from someone in this world who has knowledge or technology about dimensional movement?
‘Okay.’
I felt like I had a sense of how to conduct myself from now on.
I immediately went to the refrigerator installed inside the suite and opened the door.
All kinds of drinks were provided.
Something to pay attention to here.
These guys.
‘It’s not free…!’
It’s even eye-poppingly expensive.
The drinks on display at 24-hour convenience stores make you feel cognitive dissonance, wondering, ‘Maybe we are the conscientious side?’
For that reason, drinking drinks from the refrigerator in hotels was considered an absolute taboo.
But!
It had nothing to do with me.
‘What if I drink it?’
According to the stories circulating in the world, the personalities of all the returnees are quite indifferent.
I thoughtlessly took a drink out of the refrigerator and opened it without hesitation.
-Chiik
It was the sound of money leaking out.
Lee Hwa-rin and Kim Gyu-hwan’s money!
“Tsk tsk tsk.”
I am such a careless person.
With a narrow-eyed, sinister smile, I savored the innocent taste of Hyundai in the can.
-Knock knock
“Hmm?”
When I went to the door to the sound of a knock, Lee Hwa-rin was standing there.
“Ah, Hwarin Lee. Good morning!”
I greeted him slyly as usual.
“Good morning. How was your sleep comfortable?”
Then, an unexpected reaction came from Lee Hwa-rin.
I thought you would be uncomfortable dealing with me after knowing that I am the owner of the gate.
In fact, it was the opposite.
Lee Hwa-rin treated me kindly and friendly.
It was a look worthy of his reputation as an ideal hunter.
But is it because of my mood?
Lee Hwa-rin’s ideal smile somehow felt artificial to me.
That’s my opinion.
Maybe Lee Hwa-rin is a much more interesting person than is known to the public?
“hahahaha, of course. Thanks to Lee Hwa-rin, I had a very comfortable stay last night. Considering that I originally intended to sleep on the street, is there any other luxury like this? By the way, is Lee Hwa-rin okay?”
“Yes?”
“Just looking at this accommodation, it looks like the cost of renting it is high-“
“…”
When I spoke with a worried face, Lee Hwa-rin looked at me quietly and-
“Foot.”
She covered her mouth with her hand and let out a light laugh.
“Ah! What is that reaction!?”
“Ah. I’m sorry. That’s because I thought a returner was definitely a returnee.”
Lee Hwa-rin smiled at me softly, yet confidently.
“The only person who is worried about my financial situation because of something like this is probably my teacher.”
Why?
It must have been the smile of an ideal hero, but to me, it somehow looked like the smile of a narcissistic person.
“Oh, then the reason why I drank this cola-“
“If you want, you can order the most expensive drink on the menu.”
“… Then do you really want me to do it?”
“Yes, it’s okay.”
“Oh…”
When I responded with genuine admiration for Lee Hwa-rin’s financial prowess – she smiled her hero’s smile but was unable to hide the shrug of her shoulders.
“Oh, look at me, teacher. I’m sorry for the sudden visit so early in the morning. It’s just that there was someone who wanted to see you.”
“Me?”
“Yes. By the way, he is also a returnee. He is well-versed in the knowledge of magic. Was there magic in the world you were transferred to?”
“Oh…”
He is well-versed in the knowledge of magic.
I had a good feeling about this.
‘Then, do you also know about dimensional movement magic?’
Maybe that person knows a way for me and my friends to return to the original world?
***
“…”
Same time.
The person who requested to meet with Ceylon was staring blankly at some mechanical device placed on the desk.
The night before.
It was the measuring instrument that was in the hands of Ceylon.
He held the measuring instrument in his hand and looked at it with a serious face.
Not long.
The meter made a sound.
[Class: Not measurable]
“Okay.”
He smiled with satisfaction as he thought he had figured out why the machine in the hands of ‘the returner’ had malfunctioned.
***
And again at the same time.
A back alley where people can’t see.
It happened suddenly without any sign.
Gate.
Compared to the gate that is currently heating up the Republic of Korea, a very ordinary gate appeared and was opened immediately, releasing the contents and then immediately disappearing.
‘Ceylon…?’
After coming out of the gate, she was taken aback by the unknown world that unfolded before her eyes.