32 – Returnees (2)
At her words, the returnees’ gazes concentrated on Yeowell as if they were waiting for her.
With the charismatic aura that they emitted as returnees, who had diverse and colorful faces, it would have been a tense situation for an ordinary person, but Yeowell spoke calmly.
“I’m Song Yeowell.”
That’s it?
The returnees were left dumbstruck by Yeowell’s endlessly simple self-introduction.
However, the silence didn’t last long, and the voices of the returnees soon filled the room.
“Is it true that you have no magic powers?”
“Are you lying, returnee?”
“What kind of backing did you have to be recognized as a returnee even though you have no magic powers?”
“How were you able to return without any magical powers?”
“Which other world were you in?”
“How powerful are you?”
The returnees poured out their individual doubts, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a chaotic market.
Their doubts were valid.
When a being that denied common sense appeared, how many people would silently believe it?
For example, if someone in the Earth before the great upheaval claimed, “I am a supernatural being,” how many people would believe it without hesitation?
However, that didn’t mean that Yeowell being a returnee was a lie.
Yeowell simply remained silent.
Not only did she not have confidence in convincing them with just words, but even if they didn’t believe, it wouldn’t change anything.
Once the words were spoken, they would continue to spread like wildfire.
The atmosphere became so chaotic that the chairman seemed to be on the verge of exploding. Just when it seemed to reach that point, the woman sitting in the prestigious seat had no choice but to open her mouth.
“Everyone, calm down.”
Amidst the chaos, her words reverberated distinctly in the chairman’s ears.
It seemed like her words contained some kind of power, as the voices of the returnees gradually subsided even though she only spoke.
“Stop. We will end today’s gathering here.”
And.
She continues to speak.
“Yeo Ul, please follow me for a moment.”
* * *
Newly emerged occupations or classes after the major upheaval.
Returnees and hunters.
They receive various benefits from the government.
They have the right to sell ma seok (a special stone) or carry weapons such as swords without any special qualifications. There are also special laws that apply to them.
However, as much as they receive benefits, they also have responsibilities to fulfill.
In the case of hunters, larger hunter companies are responsible for managing sudden dimensional rifts─similar to the one Yeo Ul dealt with─that occur in their respective regions.
They have to take responsibility for their occurrence and handle them.
That is one of the obligations they are given.
And in the case of returnees.
It is their duty to manage persistent open-type (also known as erosive-type) dimensional rifts that remain unclosed once opened.
Why does the country entrust this task to hunters and returnees who can be considered civilians, rather than, for example, extraordinary police?
The reason is simple.
The country’s power was insufficient.
Currently, maintaining public order was already overwhelming due to extraordinary crimes and managing criminals. Therefore, there was no other choice but to assign them obligations.
It was only natural that there were also those among hunters and returnees who were dissatisfied.
Why do I have to go through such a troublesome task? Especially when I possess this much power.
However, if they did not fulfill their obligations, their hunter and returnee licenses were revoked.
If that happened, they would be pursued by the country’s extraordinary individuals and be forced to live in obscurity for the rest of their lives.
That is why hunters and returnees were aware that, even with the power of strategic weapons, they had to endure certain things in order to live peacefully in the realm.
“You understand, right? I really don’t recommend becoming a personal extraordinary criminal. It can only end badly.”
The woman who took Yeo Ul said.
What Yeo Ul thought of from her words were early seok, the CEO of the company where So Young used to work, whom he personally killed.
There were people who committed crimes but still lived openly in the realm.
They weren’t arrested, yet those who failed to fulfill their obligations had their licenses immediately revoked.
It was contradictory. Yeo Ul thought that society had become quite difficult to understand.
“Yeo Ul is a non-combat returnee, right? So, from now on, you will have to fulfill the same obligations I mentioned earlier.”
I thought it wasn’t important and forgot about it, but hearing her words, it felt like there was indeed such an obligation, just like what I heard when I received the Returner assessment.
“In our Returners group, we help each other to conveniently fulfill that obligation. We even deduct the number of times traveled together for up to two people.”
As I listened to her, I realized something.
That attending the regular meetings for Returners was a good decision.
It was okay for now since it hadn’t been long since I returned, but as time passed, I would inevitably have to fulfill the obligation, so it was comforting to be part of the Returner community.
Furthermore, it wasn’t just that. It was also good in terms of being able to share information.
“In that sense, I will let you know how to fulfill the obligation today.”
She said so and took out a smartphone from her pocket.
“Oh, you received a smartphone as part of the Returner support policy, right?”
Yeo-ul nodded her head.
“Then, if you look here, there should be this app. If you do this, like this…”
Yeo-ul also took out a smartphone and followed along as she instructed.
First, they activated an app that was already installed on his device, which was probably installed by the country.
Then, an instruction appeared on the back of the smartphone, saying to place the Returner card against it.
Yeo-ul did as instructed, and his information was registered in the app.
『Grade 4 “Powerless” Returner Song Yeo-ul』
『Open-type Dimension Gate Management: 0/10 for Grade 6 and above』
It was an interface of a game that he used to play before being transferred. It represented the obligation she mentioned quantitatively.
“Oh. You’ve already done that much.”
A woman beside them glanced at Yeo-ul’s smartphone and said.
“Next, if you press here, a list of nearby open-type Dimension Gates will appear.”
Indeed, they could easily check the nearby open-type Dimension Gates.
“After selecting a suitable one from here and accepting it, all you have to do is go there and resolve it. Simple, right?”
It wasn’t particularly difficult as she said.
Moreover, the Dimension Gate he had to manage was at least Grade 6.
He knew from the news that the monster he dealt with before came out of a Grade 3 Dimension Gate, so a weaker Grade 6 should be even easier than a piece of cake.
But to think that such things were entrusted to hunters and Returners.
Just as the woman next to him said, it seemed like the national power was lacking in many aspects.
Well, it was possible for such management to take place because Yeoul lived in a big city.
During the three months of adapting to Earth, Yeoul learned that most cities outside the city were already occupied by monsters.
He had felt this when he went to rescue the kidnapped aliens before. Even though he was just a little outside the city, maintaining security was impossible.
The government claimed to be making efforts to restore the territory, but it was only a desk theory.
The situation was such that they lacked the power to manage even the territory they had in their hands and relied on the power of hunters and returnees.
Still, Korea was better off than most countries.
Weaker countries before the great upheaval had practically fallen into a state of anarchy.
And in the case of the surviving advanced countries, those with large territories suffered a devastating blow due to the difficulty of managing them.
Even neighboring China, as always, controlled information and missed the timing, causing the entire country to be destroyed by monsters.
In the upside-down world, Korea, tightly packed in a small territory, was actually suited to survive.
“It has truly become a difficult world,” Yeoul muttered.
“Yeoulssi, Yeoulssi.”
Lost in his thoughts, he suddenly heard a voice calling his name.
Ah, he wasn’t alone.
He turned his head in the direction of the voice.
A small, petite woman who had helped him, looking as if she could touch his chest, spoke to Yeoul.
“Since it’s your first time today, I’ll go to the scene and help you.”
Hmm.
It wouldn’t be difficult to go alone, but if he received someone’s help, he could adapt easily and quickly.
Yeoul thought there was no reason to refuse and replied that he wouldn’t decline her offer.
“Yes. You thought well. Oh, by the way, I haven’t introduced myself yet.”
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She hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“I’m Yang Jiwoo. A Class 1 returnee from South Korea.”
Looking up at Yeoul, she smiled.