The Returner
chapter-31

Chapter 31: I will protect my own home (1)

Yi Ji-Hyuk was enraged.

Seriously now, didn’t that monster not know what lied in that direction?

It was his home! His sweet, sweet home, for chrissakes!!

It was Yi Ji-Hyuk’s crib, full of snacks and playthings and happiness!!

It was Yi Ji-Hyuk’s shelter from the storm!!

It was a place of his dreams, his hopes, and most importantly, his computer!! Yes, his most beloved computer was there! In other words, it was his beautiful, wonderful, gorgeous house!!

It really didn’t matter to Yi Ji-Hyuk whatever the Stone Golem chose to do, but the story drastically changed if his home was involved in that ‘whatever’.

Especially so now, when it was still unknown whether his mom had left for work or not. Not to forget, he was also unsure of the exact time his sister came back from the school, too. Obviously, this was so not on for the dang thing to head in that direction! Obviously, super uncool, dude!

Soon, though, steam was rapidly filling up his head and began leaking outside.

‘But, seriously now, what am I supposed to do to stop that thing?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

If this was Berafe, he’d destroy that Golem in one shot.

Literally, he’d been able to make it disappear with the snap of his fingers.

But, here on Earth?

Uh...

“Hmm.........”

Yi Ji-Hyuk groaned out.

“I really don’t like this, but...” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Step, step.

Yi Ji-Hyuk walked the opposite direction to the Golem.

And his destination was where the Gate was.

The Gate itself had already dissipated after spitting out all those Braads. When he got there, he took several deep breaths as if to double down on his resolve.

Only his eyes could detect several clumps of magical energy floating around this place.

All the energy – Mana – from the Braads killed off by Seo Ah-Young that didn’t dissipate immediately remained here.

This was the exact same phenomenon back when the Kodiac Monkey was killed.

Yi Ji-Hyuk was a bit worried that there might be problems if this Mana was not identical to Mana he was familiar with.

But, what could he do? He was in a serious bind.

“Drain.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk reached out with both of his hands to absorb all the residual Mana. His body felt sated as Mana filled him up.

As expected of monsters made up entirely of Mana; other monsters couldn’t even hope to come close to the amount of Mana each Braad contained.

‘Hmm, looks like there is no difference, huh.’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

It seemed that his worries over the potential side effects were unwarranted.

After sucking in every bit of the residual Mana from the surroundings, Yi Ji-Hyuk converted it into the Darkness energy that he preferred so much.

“Oh well. With this much, I can probably take care of this crisis, I guess.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Compared to the amount of Mana he used to wield in the past, this was a really pitiful amount, but still, he had Mana to play around with, so that was something.

Of course, back then, he would open a warp gate to the demon world to supply himself almost endlessly with this delicious Darkness energy, so that was par for the course, really.

‘Well now. This feeling... it’s been a while, hasn’t it?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Although, truth be told, it had barely been over two months...

Just by the fact that some Mana was circulating within his body, he felt like vitality was overflowing within his veins.

It sure felt like he could do anything, and surely, nothing would dare to get in his way, either.

Yi Ji-Hyuk shivered in glee from the powerful, addictive sensation of liberation coursing throughout his body and he glared at the distant Stone Golem.

“Well, now. Shall I...?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

And, just like that, Yi Ji-Hyuk’s body went poof! and disappeared from the spot.

*

Yi Ji-Hyuk reappeared on the rooftop of the building the Stone Golem was walking towards to.

Seeing the stone creature, Yi Ji-Hyuk shook his head in disgust.

“You’ve made quite a mess already, huh.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

There was utter chaos unfolding down below.

Left behind in the wake of the Stone Golem’s determined stroll, were several demolished structures and a couple of them were even engulfed in a raging inferno.

If those Braads appeared in Berafe, such a chaos wouldn’t have unfolded at all.

But, well, a modern cityscape had way too many places that could be so wonderfully destroyed. There was also the thing about repairs for the damage being very difficult and costly, too.

Heck, a monster of such a low calibre caused this much chaos and destruction to a modern city. That... was the truth about the modern world, really.

‘But, it doesn’t matter to...’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

No, wait, it does matter to me, doesn’t it?

If that dang thing continued to rampage around like that, then water mains, power lines and internet connections would be cut off. Also, it’d become difficult for the local convenience stores to stock daily necessities, which meant that Yi Ji-Hyuk’s planned ‘free’ lifestyle would be affected negatively.

‘Yep. We really need to move house. And soon, too.’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

However, that was a bridge to cross at a later date. For now, he needed to take care of this b*stard, first.

“Hmph!”

Yi Ji-Hyuk glared at the Stone Golem approaching the building and dusted his hands.

From his entire body, jet-black fog began leaking out.

The ominous black aura, dancing around like flames, cocooned his body and violently flared up.

That was Yi Ji-Hyuk’s magical power exploding out like a budding flower, the sinister power that Dioreh the First christened as the Petals of Hell.

The dark energy quivered and slithered in the air, and when he pointed to a spot in the sky, this energy heeded his silent command and began gathering there.

GUOOOOOOOH!!

And in that spot of the sky, a storm of dark magical energy whipped up viciously.

All those who were chasing after the Stone Golem detected this strange event and looked into the sky, only to freeze dead still in their tracks.

They failed to understand what was happening.

There was not one person among them that could explain just what that mass of swirling black aura was.

However, they all instinctively realised one thing.

They should not get close to it.

They should not even think of walking towards it.

The survival instincts of humans sensed the ominous, evil aura that dark energy spat out, and urgently screamed at them, telling them to run away.

“Wha... what am I looking at right now?” (Seo Ah-Young)

Seo Ah-Young muttered out while her entire being trembled in fear.

Before she realised it, her hands were searching for something, anything, to grab hold onto.

Grasp...

Choi Jung-Hoon had come near her and held her hand tightly.

“Please, you need to calm down.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“Ah.... Thanks.” (Seo Ah-Young)

Choi Jung-Hoon looked a lot worse for wear with dust and dirt covering him when compared to her, but strangely enough, he wasn’t shaking in fear like Seo Ah-Young, not as badly anyways.

After calming her down, he took quick look around.

Thankfully, soldiers were somehow keeping their reasoning intact, but the KSF agents, the ability users, were all shaking in their boots, scared completely out of their wits.

‘Could it be that only the ability users are sensing something truly dangerous?’ (Choi Jung-Hoon)

It was then – Choi Jung-Hoon’s eyes widened even more as he shifted his gaze back to the ominous tornado of black aura in the sky.

*

“What the... this might get a wee bit annoying...” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk couldn’t help but frown deeply.

Back in Berafe, he simply gathered Mana and fired out, sweeping away whatever was in front without even the slightest hint of giving a damn.

Didn’t matter whether he hit his allies or not.

Well, in all honesty, his so-called allies and underlings were nothing more than just a collection of monsters and demons, anyways.

So, there was obviously no particular reason to hold back because of the possibilities of friendly fire.

However, he couldn’t do that here.

If he carelessly fling the attack down now, then, all of the buildings in the vicinity would be flattened, as if a dang meteor had fallen from the sky. Or worse, he might go down in history as the world’s worst mass murderer.

So, he had to minimise the radius of the attack, and control the wild magical energy to the best of his abilities, so the collateral damage to the surroundings would be kept as low as possible. Which turned out to be a lot of work for his brain to process – even though his natural talent and the considerable experience was guiding the half of the proceedings already.

Well, at least, soldiers and the ability users who had been busy chasing after the Stone Golem, had all retreated way back, so he didn’t have to worry about them getting killed inadvertently, so that was nice.

When he finalised the calculation for the formula of the spell, Yi Ji-Hyuk’s eyes were set ablaze.

“I will protect my own home....” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Home. Sweet my home. (TL: this grammar faux pas is intentional. MC is thinking in English in the raw.)

He couldn’t really remember whether these English words were correct or not, but regardless, he would protect his beautiful place.

“....You stupid piece of sh*t b*stard!!”

When Yi Ji-Hyuk’s raised hand descended, the black aura in the sky also descended and flew towards the Stone Golem.

*SFX for a loud.... uh, not sure myself, actually. Sorry.*

The tornado of dark energy descended slowly while accompanied by a loud roar, before suddenly condensing in the blink of an eye, then shot towards the ground as if propelled by an explosion.

KKKWWWAAABOOOM!!

Choi Jung-Hoon screamed as he covered his ears up.

The explosion was so powerful, he thought that his eardrums were ruptured open and his body got pummeled by the ripples of air.

What mystified him more than anything else at that moment, though, was how he wasn’t sent flying from the shockwaves.

Tears streaming out from his eyes, Choi Jung-Hoon somehow managed to regain his sight and looked to his front, only to find a ginormous waves of darkness pounding into the ground.

The whole thing reminded him of a scene where a Titan from the Greek pantheon stabbed its massive spear into the planet’s surface.

His hands were trembling now.

His body was shaking uncontrollably.

Just... just what the hell was that?

He always thought that, after he saw the appearances of monsters and the ability users, the boundaries of his common sense had expanded a great deal.

However, that.... that thing quite easily exceeded way, way past his expanded boundary, and then some.

*SFX for when a flame suddenly dies out*

And like a mirage, the massive black spear seemingly filling up the entire world simply vanished.

Unbeknownst to even himself, Choi Jung-Hoon’s body began walking towards the spot where that spear had stabbed into.

Not only him, though – even Seo Ah-Young did...

...As well as every ability user still standing all dazedly approached the spot as if entranced by a siren.

Were they trying to see the remains of the Golem?

They couldn’t, even if they wanted to.

When they finally arrived at their destination and peered over the edge, all they could see was a humongous crater with a bottom so deep, it couldn’t be seen with naked eyes.

No one could estimate just how deep this crater was, what with the shade cast by its walls hiding the bottom of the crater so completely.

Choi Jung-Hoon’s eyes were trembling even harder now.

Seo Ah-Young’s facial expression was just as poor as she quickly raised her head and stared at the rooftop of a certain building.

Meanwhile, the protagonist responsible for this spectacle was in the middle of palming the living hell out of his face.

“I, I really went and done iiiiittt!!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

No, not this!

I wasn’t planning to do this, honest!!

I definitely did not want to cause a big mess, you know!!! (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

“But, but why? What did I do wrong?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

His calculations were perfect. The application of the spell was on the level of a God of Magic, even. Or something.

But then, just how did he make such a massive mistake?

According to his calculations, the crater shouldn’t even be deeper than a metre, at most. However, the bottom of the crater couldn’t even be seen right now.

Did he make a mistake during the calculation of the formula?

No, he had absolute confidence in himself that he had constructed the correct formula. Which meant that, when he activated the spell, something in this world caused the deviation to occur.

However... uncovering the reason for his mistake did not take the priority. What was important... was the aftermath!

Look at that huge crater.

Uh, if left alone, what would happen to it? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

Yi Ji-Hyuk shivered like a wet dog and desperately wrecked his brain.

If he was any other high-class sorcerer, then he’d be able to fill the earth back up with a simple wave of his hands, but who was he? He was Yi Ji-Hyuk.

He was the Attack Magic Molppang Char personified. (TL note at the end)

Never before in his entire life had he dabbled in piffling things like the defensive or conversion magics. What he was truly proficient with were the dimensional magic that required an extreme amount of calculative ability, as well as those attack spells which, as demonstrated just now, he had reached the level of godhood already.

“Ah! Right, I can use that!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

It didn’t take too long for Yi Ji-Hyuk shouted out.

“Earth Wave.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

*SFX for rocks and things shaking and rising up*

The deep crater rapidly began to fill up with dirt and rocks just like the way new flesh and skin would grow on a deep wound.

Filling up the dark hole in the ground in the blink of an eye, Yi Ji-Hyuk plopped down and let out a long sigh of relief.

“Whew.”

Well, he sorted that one out quickly enough.

So, now that was done and dusted....

Yi Ji-Hyuk sensed the gazes of the ability users on the ground and ducked his body lower.

‘They didn’t see me, right?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He was so far away from them, after all.

Seriously, unless they all possessed hawk-like vision, there was no way they would recognise him from this far....

*

“Just now, there was a person on that rooftop, right?” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Yes, ma’am. I also saw him.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“And he was wearing blue-coloured clothing, right?” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Yes, ma’am. I saw it clearly.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“Isn’t that blue colour exactly the same as the blue tracksuit Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk was wearing?” (Seo Ah-Young)

“That’s my thoughts exactly.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“Then, that had to be Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk, yes?” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Yes, ma’am. I think it is h.... No, wait. Honestly speaking, I’m wishing that it wasn’t him. However...” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

Indeed, Choi Jung-Hoon was seriously hoping that this was the case.

Because, Yi Ji-Hyuk... he was a dangerous individual.

An extremely dangerous individual, no less.

Technically speaking, from the normal people’s point of view, all ability users were dangerous individuals.

If a normal person got p*ss drunk and caused an incident, then that would be not much more than ‘disturbing the public peace’. But, if an ability user got drunk and went on a rampage, well, that would be a big disaster.

Although the KSF did its best to gag the media and swept everything under the proverbial rug, there had been several incidents like that already.

If an ability user decided to kill people, then normal civilians had no real avenue to defend themselves, nor could they run away, either.

That was why so many restrictions designed to rein in the ability users, several times more severe compared to the ones on regular citizens, were an absolute necessity. Wasn’t it precisely the reason why the Special Laws governing the ability users were enacted, so they could all be reined in?

However, Yi Ji-Hyuk continuously proved that he could not be held back by conventional means.

Not only was he beyond the reach of the law, he also found uncanny ways to remain unbounded by the normal rules and conventions.

He probably was unaware of this fact, but if Yi Ji-Hyuk hadn’t been suspected of possessing a teleport-type ability, something Seo Ah-Young was desperately hoping to add to the KSF’s arsenal, he’d already been thrown into a jail cell by now.

So, imagine such a person wielding that much power.

Now, that was the definition of true catastrophe.

After all, depending on what his mood was like on any given day, a city or two might disappear from the face of this planet.

If this fact got out, well... Not one soul would want to live within ten kilometre radius of his house.

No, wait – people might vigorously protest to the government, telling those in authority to lock him up.

However, would Yi Ji-Hyuk take that lying down?

‘Dear lord, let it be not him. Please.’ (Choi Jung-Hoon)

It must not be him. That man on the rooftop must not be Yi Ji-Hyuk.

Unfortunately, though – Choi Jung-Hoon knew very well that nothing would be resolved if he tried to ignore the truth sitting right in front of him.

‘This is the worst.’ (Choi Jung-Hoon)

While trying to think of a way to resolve this situation, Choi Jung-Hoon could feel numbness rapidly filling up his head.

< 31. I will protect my own home -1 > Fin

(TL: A Molppang Char, according to my Google research, is a character in a game that specialises in one job/class/skill/whatever religiously. Not sure what the origin of the word is, though – however, “Char” is a Korean gaming slang term derived from the English word “character”. And now, there’s a fair number of slang words incorporating the char word in it in Korea, all to denote different types of people. For instance, a seemingly OP person would be referred to as Saghi Char, which loosely translates to “Cheat Character.”)