The Returner Chapter 9

"So, I did make it back home, but…."
Yi Ji-Hyuk counted the cash in his hands while whistling out loudly. Things did get complicated for a bit back there, but he still ended up with free cash. This was a fine profit for wasting a couple of hours being dragged around here and there, that's for sure.
Besides, he got to find out just what had been cooking on this side for free as well, so he killed two birds with one stone, indeed.
The most important fact was that, it had been only five years since he got sucked into the world of Berafe.
Only five years!!
He imagined the worst case scenario of this world in total ruins. If the time flow was the same between here and Berafe, then it wouldn't have been strange to see the mankind nuked themselves to oblivion, and for a new dominant species to emerge and rule the planet afterwards.
But, it's been only five years!
How wonderful this was from his point of view, since, at a bare minimum, he wouldn't have to squeeze his brain dry while trying to come up with ways to eradicate some mutated cockroaches or stuff like that.
Also, it looked like he had found the correct dimension, too. Although monsters and strange stuff have been happening here, fortunately enough, his original identity was still intact.
In the end, he had escaped that hellish world of Berafe for real.
On top of that, this body of his had sustained an injury.
After experiencing nosebleed, his nose stung, even now. He hadn't fully recovered yet, in other words. This was unimaginable back in Berafe, where his body would revive in full from a handful of ashes in three seconds flat.
He would be able to get hurt here, and also, die.
Yes, he had reverted back to being a 'human'.
Unknown emotions welled up inside him.
The things that caused the most suffering during the intolerable length of time that side, weren't the loneliness he felt by finding himself in a foreign world, nor was it the insatiable longing for his homeworld.
No, he overcame those pretty quickly. Probably around 150 years after he was stranded in Berafe?
What caused him endless grief was the fact that he couldn't forget, and couldn't die.
He wouldn't have gone uber-nuts insane trying to return home, if he could just forget about the things on this version of earth with the natural passing of time and/or if he was able to die, even if that meant he'd be ripped apart limb from limb.
He would've lived in Berafe and died there eventually.
But, the forgetfulness had not been granted to him. And with the body that didn't want to die and didn't want to age, he was forced to live on forever.
He was a human who wasn't a human.
That was the Bringer of Apocalypse, Yi Ji-Hyuk, in a nutshell.
But now, he could get injured! He could die, too! He was now a human, through and through.
However…. now that he had returned with nothing but the unbending desire to return, he was at a loss. Well, he didn't return here because he wanted to do something, after all….
"Okay, let's go home, for now."
He decided on what to do next.
He should head home. Home.
But, before that….
Yi Ji-Hyuk looked down at his get-up.
"Time to buy some new duds."
It was a wise decision.
He sought out the nearest shopping mall, and entered the shop with 'SPA' written out in front. With his hood deeply covering his face, Yi Ji-Hyuk began picking out clothes. It felt like that all the stares he received while walking to this store were lots more than total number of stares he had received in his entire life.
It'd been more preferable to be looked at like a caged monkey in a zoo. Stares of pity, as if he was some sort of a hopeless loon, were making him cringe inside so much.
'Feels like I might die from the embarrassment…'
Well, he didn't deliberately choose this get-up. Oh no. Initially, when he got to Berafe, he sought to stake out his own identity so he tried to make denim by his own hands. He tried to imitate modern clothing, too. But after one year, two years, hundred years, two hundred years later, all of that lost meaning. So, in the end, he chose to fuhgeddabout style for performance, instead!
The robe of his that others thought of as an old doormat, was a precious treasure that any self-respecting wizards in Berafe would resort to selling their own spouses to buy. It featured physical damage resistance, magic damage resistance, and on top of that, automatic correction of the Mana flow and assist in magic formulas as well.
Most importantly, it possessed its own magic circuit, so even with a simple chant, he could get a magic spell activated. In other words, it was a treasure beyond the level of an artifact and into the realms of a gift from the gods.
'Doesn't matter, does it? It's just a trash now.'
What an unfortunate thing, the robe that showcased cheat-like powers in Berafe was no different than trash here. Mana that used to flow richly within the magic circuit now was completely dried up. And even when he forcibly shoved Mana into the darn thing, nothing happened.
He had no idea where should he even begin mending this thing, since the very laws of this world were different from that of Berafe's.
Which meant that he should change his clothes without regrets. No, rather, even if this robe was performing to 120% of its capacity, he needed to throw it away. Yi Ji-Hyuk was no longer an immortal. He might die of embarrassment and shame if any more people saw him in this rag.
Although, it was a trending fashion item back in Berafe…
He picked up a nice enough shirt and pants, some underwear and socks, even a pair of shoes as well. When he headed towards the changing room, one of the employees blocked his path.
"Dear customer, you must purchase the items first!!"
"Since when must I pay for clothes that I want to try on first? Something like this never happened five years ago!!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"We're fine with clothes, but socks and underpants are not. While you're on it, you should pay for the rest as well."
"What the?! What do you take me for, a bum or something?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
The employee's eyes and facial expression said 'obviously'. Yes, Yi Ji-Hyuk's outer appearance did resemble a bum, sure. No, well, he was flat-out broke until a few minutes ago, so technically, he was a bum.
'Aaand, I can't even beat this guy up now…'
Yi Ji-Hyuk licked his lips.
He might have made a killing if it weren't for the Latrel's Eye completely destroying all of his magic accessories like the dragon heart and stuff; only possessions he had on himself were the robe with its broken magic circuit, and the other items of clothing that had lost their resistance to magic.
That was why he couldn't use any magic whatsoever back when dealing with that monster known as the Jarchev. If he hadn't learned body fortification technique back in Berafe while wandering aimlessly, he might have become a headless corpse by now.
After paying cash for the clothes, Yi Ji-Hyuk was finally allowed to use the changing room. The employees behind the cash register shot him a suspicious glare while Yi Ji-Hyuk pulled the cash out from his pocket, but thankfully, no incidents involving policemen occurred.
Once he was finished changing, and tied the laces of his shoes, he began worrying about how to dispose these junk clothes from Berafe.
They were too useless to take with him, but it also felt somewhat regretful to simply chuck them away in a trash can.
In the end, Yi Ji-Hyuk threw all the clothing and the shoes from Berafe into a paper bag to carry them with him.
He exited the changing room and took one more look at the body-length mirror, and a handsome youth was smiling back in the reflection.
"Nice."
He felt good, now that he was wearing modern clothes. While grinning like a fool, he left the store and immediately, all those stares that were trained on him as if he were some sort of ape in a cage all disappeared.
While carrying the paper bag, he headed off to the subway.
He got slightly worried about making a hash of boarding a train, yet his body seemed to know what to do and he smoothly bought a ticket - one advantage of his memories not fading even after all those years.
There was no need for him to re-acclimatise, at all.
His body might have been stuck in Berafe, but his memories and soul still belonged here. Everything felt so natural.
He rode on the subway just fine and finally arrived at his old suburb.
With mixed emotions, Yi Ji-Hyuk looked at the old and shabby Jugong apartment building. He was always embarrassed by the fact that he had to call this place home, yet for some weird reason, now it felt really nice seeing that old building today. (TL: "Jugong" is an abridged name of the Korean government entity that builds low-cost housing complexes. Houses and apartment buildings built by them are all referred to as Jugong this and that.)
He climbed on the elevator and soon, stood before the door to his family's old apartment.
'Ah, I guess I'm not that calm, after all.'
He felt his emotions well up.
He thought that, due to his never changing memories, he'd feel quite indifferent about returning home that he proverbially had left yesterday, but, judging by his emotions fluctuating like this, it seemed that all that time wasted in Berafe wasn't a child's play, after all.
If not that, maybe the restrictions placed on his memories had been lost and his experiences in Berafe were now affecting his old ones. But who the hell cares.
*SFX for a doorbell chiming*
Yi Ji-Hyuk pressed the doorbell.
"Who is it?"
He heard a voice of a middle-aged woman through the door. Yi Ji-Hyuk suppressed this powerful, surging tide of emotions and made his reply.
"It's me, mom."
I sounded a bit shaky there, didn't I…?
But, it should be fine, right?
From mom's point of view, it's been five years already, so she must be really surprised, probably? What if she asks me what I have been doing until now? How should I answer her?
So many thoughts danced around in his mind, but he still felt good in this very moment. The most important fact was that he had finally returned to the loving embrace of his family.
"My son?!"
The door flew open and a middle aged woman dashed out.
I've come home.
Finally, I've returned.
Just as Yi Ji-Hyuk forced back the tears laden to the brim with powerful emotions, the woman asked him loudly.
"Who are you?"
"…………"
Did this ahjumma forgot the face of her own son only after five years?
Yi Ji-Hyuk ended up shouting out in a voice full of disappointment and irritation.
"And who are you supposed to be?"
The two of them stared at each other for a while, not saying anything else.
*
They knew they would see him again.
Pretty soon, even.
That was the reason why they let him go without too much fuss. Because… a suitable excuse would arise after they had observed him for a period of time.
Seeing him as quickly as possible naturally meant that an excuse had been found quickly, which also meant that the skills of the agents observing the target were excellent as well, so it would be good either way.
Unfortunately, there was a small fly in that ointment.
"Isn't this way too soon?" (Seo Ah-Young)
Seo Ah-Young massaged her temples fiercely. Her head hurt like hell. She let loose a rabbit caught in the trap after it resisted way too much, and stuck a tail on it in the meantime. But then, this rabbit walked right back in with his own two feet after not even half a day had passed by.
Seo Ah-Young glared at the slightly embarrassed rabbit, no, Yi Ji-Hyuk, standing in front of her.
"Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk." (Seo Ah-Young)
"……..Yes, ma'am." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"You must take us for granted or something, but in truth, we are very busy people, do you understand? Over there, can't you see Mister Choi Jung-Hoon? He can only go home every three days or so. That's how busy we are. But, what do you expect us to do, when you just barge in here, demanding to see us and speak to us, like this?" (Seo Ah-Young)
Yi Ji-Hyuk's shoulders shrivelled even further.
"So, what's the matter this time? Didn't you say you were going home?" (Seo Ah-Young)
"I did, but…" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"But, what?" (Seo Ah-Young)
Yi Ji-Hyuk's lips trembled noticeably.
He trembled in embarrassment like this for a while before finally speaking up in a very weak voice.
"They…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"They?" (Seo Ah-Young)
"They moved house…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Seo Ah-Young became utterly speechless.
Choi Jung-Hoon continuously wiped the corners of rapidly-reddening eyes.
Coming home after five years of absence, and the family had moved on to an address unknown.
Of course, they thought it was only five years.
Yi Ji-Hyuk forced down his quivering shoulders and screamed inside his head.
'But, I didn't return to do this!'
Yi Ji-Hyuk was reminded once more how tough the life on the planet Earth could be.
Fin.