Player who Returned 10,000 years Later
chapter-74

"KangWoo, wake up."

The next morning…

KangWoo woke up due to Echidna shaking him awake.

After having a simple breakfast, KangWoo went outside with Echidna and Han Seol-ah.

They went to a giant mall in Mokdong, Yeongdeungpo.

At first, they seemed to be wary about each other, but they soon began choosing clothes with their eyes shining.

'They're getting along better than expected.'

Because Echidna was introverted, he thought she'd be wary about Han Seol-ah.

The previous day, she’d just glared at Seol-ah until they’d completely unpacked.

But right then, they were both looking around the shopping mall and talking as if they were sisters.

'Is this the power of women?'

KangWoo couldn't understand what was so fun about picking clothes. To him, they all looked very similar.

"Oh, look at this. I think it's going to suit Echidna."

"Will KangWoo like it...?"

"Hehe. Yes, of course."

"Then I want to try it on."

Han Seol-ah wandered around picking out clothes for Echidna as if she were her little sister.

It seemed like Echidna started to like shopping, so she followed Seol-ah around with her eyes shining.

'I guess it's okay as long as both of them like it.'

It wasn't a bad idea for Echidna to make other friends and not rely on him too much.

Her relying on him too much would cloud her ability to make decisions.

"Mr. KangWoo, come here for a bit."

"KangWoo, does it suit me?"

As he turned his head around, he saw Echidna looking at him nervously.

Echidna was wearing a beige jacket and a checker-pattern skirt that reached her knees—she looked surprisingly cute.

'It's as if she’s wearing a uniform.'

Leaving aside her real age, because she looked so young, it seemed like she was wearing a uniform.

"Yes, it suits you."

"Hng! Hng!"

Echidna snorted and blushed at his answer.

She looked at Han Seol-ah with shining eyes.

"I want this."

"Fufu. Okay. I'll buy it for you."

"Thank you. Seol-ah, so you were a good person."

Echidna had changed her opinion too easily thanks to clothes.

She smiled while grabbing Han Seol-ah's clothes.

"Haaa! She's too cute!"

"Seol-ah... I can't breathe."

Han Seol-ah rubbed her face against Echidna's cheeks.

KangWoo smiled at the two of them, satisfied.

'I'm glad I took a break.'

Seeing both of them having fun made him smile.

After they finished paying, they clung to each of KangWoo's arms and pulled him along.

He had two flowers in his hands.

He could feel people watching him with envy, and KangWoo followed them while smiling like a victor.

'This is life.'

He thought of the days he’d spent living among demons who were interested in nothing but fighting.

…After all the days he’d spent suffering because of tentacled monsters, he feared they'd appear in his dreams.

KangWoo was so happy that he thought that maybe all those times he’d spent suffering were so that he could live that moment.

An hour passed.

"Echidna, how about this outfit?"

"Seol-ah, it suits you."

'Hmm. Very nice. It seems like they've become closer.'

Two hours passed.

"Hoho. Mr. KangWoo! Please try this on!"

"KangWoo, you look cool."

'Hmm.'

Three hours passed.

"KangWoo, KangWoo. Let's go back to the 2nd floor. I think it was better there."

"Ah. I also want to go back to where we were an hour ago."

'What's this?'

Four hours passed.

"Ah. I think we should go back to the first place."

"Yes, I think that it was better there."

'Why isn't this ending?'

Even after four hours, the shopping was still going on.

KangWoo looked at them with a confused expression on his face.

The problem wasn't that they were looking around all the shops, but that they’d suddenly change their hearts and return to shops they’d already been to.

'We’ve been to this shop four times already.'

KangWoo had a pale expression on his face.

Unlike him, both girls looked at the clothes without taking a break.

It was as if they'd used the Authority of Energy.

He felt like he'd been locked up in an endless mobius strip.

'Is this life?'

It wasn't that he was physically tired…

But repeating a task that seemed meaningless made him mentally tired.

'Is this really taking a break?'

He'd gone to the shopping center to take a break before things got busier.

But rather than resting, he felt that he was becoming even more tired than when he fought.

His mind was about to reach its limit when suddenly…

"Now that we've looked around enough, should we take a break?"

"You've... Looked around enough?"

"Fufu. We're going to see other things besides clothes in the afternoon."

"..."

* * *

Those words felt like thunder in a blue sky to him.

KangWoo became even paler.

"KangWoo, I'm hungry."

"Oh yeah. It's already past lunchtime. Should we go to the food court and eat something?"

"Food court?"

KangWoo tilted his head, and Han Seol-ah was surprised at his reaction.

"You don't know what a food court is?"

"No. This is my first time hearing about one."

Back then, when’d lived on Earth in the past, not only had never been to a food court, but he hadn't even gone shopping.

Han Seol-ah seemed troubled.

"Hmm... It's a place where there are many different restaurants gathered together. There's usually a wide variety of restaurants, and the price isn't that high."

"Oh!"

KangWoo's eyes shone. Eating was one of the things he'd been enjoying the most since returning to Earth.

"Let's go."

KangWoo's eyes recovered their brightness.

What he saw next shocked him.

"C-can I order all this here...?"

"Yes. You can say what you want over there and get a food coupon.

"Woah..."

As he looked at the menu with more than a hundred different options, KangWoo couldn't help but feel a thrill.

'Is this heaven?'

There were three different types of kimchi stew: one with tuna, another one with ham, and finally, one with meat.

‘This has to be heaven.’

"To think that there’s a place like this."

KangWoo began regretting having missed out on places like that because he'd been crazy about hunting and growing.

'I've been forgetting about the most important thing…'

Why had he returned to Earth in the first place?

Wasn't it to enjoy eating and playing?

He could feel his desire boiling. It wasn't a simple desire but one that had been multiplied because of the body of a demon.

He could feel the desire devouring his reason.

"KangWoo, what should we eat?"

"Everything."

"Everything?"

"I want everything. From numbers 1 to 168. I also want 10 of numbers 67, 68, and 69," KangWoo said in a serious tone.

He had obviously ordered 10 plates of kimchi stew.

"Mr. K-KangWoo! Calm down!"

Han Seol-ah came running.

"Why?"

"You can't eat that much."

"If there are leftovers, we could take them home.

"The food's going to go bad before you can finish it all."

"Don't worry. I know how to make food not go bad."

Han Seol-ah began thinking fast after seeing KangWoo's serious attitude.

"The food court has a diverse menu, but the food isn't that delicious. Rather than eating it here, it's better to eat my home-cooked food."

"Hmm. If it isn't delicious..."

After hearing that it wasn't that delicious, his lust and desire quickly died down.

Disappointed, KangWoo just ordered the three types of kimchi stew, pizza, chicken, and tangsuyuk. It was still quite a lot, but it wasn't that much compared to what he’d originally planned to order.

"I want to eat the same things as KangWoo."

Echidna ordered the same things as her with her eyes shining.

Han Seol-ah tried to stop her but failed in doing so after seeing her eyes.

"I'll just have an udon..."

The food they had ordered was ready pretty fast.

KangWoo and Echidna had ordered so much food that even a table of four wasn't enough to put everything on the table.

"Then, should I eat?"

KangWoo drank a spoon of the pork kimchi stew.

"Hmm."

Just like Han Seol-ah said, it was a bit lackluster compared to the one she prepared.

'But…'

KangWoo's eyes shone. Although it may not have been that delicious, there was a wide variety of food that he could choose from.

—It was a combination of food he could have never imagined while in Hell.

It was a very important opportunity for him to make his dreams a reality.

KangWoo turned his head to the pizza and put a slice of it on top of the kimchi stew.

"Mr. KangWoo...?"

A low voice came out of Han Seol-ah's mouth.

KangWoo ate a slice of pizza with kimchi stew simultaneously.

It wasn't just the pizza; he also mixed the tangsuyuk and chicken with the kimchi stew.

"Slurp! Woah, this is better than I imagined!"

KangWoo ate the kimchi stew with pizza, tangsuyuk, and chicken with a smile on his face.

"Am I supposed to mix all that in?" Echidna asked Seol-ah while tilting her head.

"No..."

"But KangWoo is doing it."

"That's because Mr. KangWoo..."

‘Is weird.’

She barely managed to stop herself from saying that and looked at KangWoo in surprise.

It was at that moment…

Slide-!

"You really know how to eat! Mixing things up is the best way to eat kimchi stew!"

A man approached them out of nowhere and said that in a dialect that clearly marked him as from a different province.

Without asking for anyone's permission, he sat in front of KangWoo.

KangWoo stopped eating and glared at the man in front of him.

The man had an out-of-fashion aloha shirt and a gold chain. He had a muscular body and tan skin. It was like looking at a smaller version of TaeSoo.

"Who are you...?" KangWoo said in an annoyed tone.

The man smiled.

"I'm Baek KangHyun from the Hanul Guild. Have you heard of me?"

"..."

KangWoo's expression hardened.

There probably wasn't anyone in Korea who hadn't heard the name Baek KangHyun.

"You're the rookie of the Red Rose Guild. Right?"

Baek KangHyun laughed and kept talking.

"I have a proposal for you."

"Proposal?"

"I'll give you 50 million USD. I'll give you items that are at least unique-rank. I'll also provide you with a car and house that can't be compared to what you have right now. Come join our guild. I'll also make you an executive member."

Han Seol-ah's mouth fell open after hearing the ridiculous amount of money and conditions offered.

But KangWoo's expression didn't change.

KangWoo smirked and leaned back on the chair.

He opened his mouth in a relaxed manner.

"The offer is too low."