The Returner Chapter 287

"You aren’t… thinking of opening a Gate on that side, now are you?" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
That was the very first thing Choi Jeong-Hoon thought of when ‘Gates’ were mentioned. Indeed, if Yi Ji-Hyuk opened a Gate that side and summoned a whole bunch of demonic creatures, things would get ‘resolved’ pretty quickly.
Well, North Korea would cease to exist, after all.
Although someone sane-minded wouldn’t resort to something that drastic, when it came to Yi Ji-Hyuk, all bets were off. That’s what made Choi Jeong-Hoon rather nervous.
"Uh?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk suddenly clapped his hands as if he realised something.
"Ahhh, there was that too, wasn’t it?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Hul…." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
Choi Jeong-Hoon dazedly stared at Yi Ji-Hyuk.
What the hell?
Did I just dig my own grave? (Choi Jeong-Hoon’s inner monologue)
"Now that I think about it, that’s also a Gate, right? I haven’t thought of that. Should I alter its direction that way, then?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"I’m very sorry. It’s my fault." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
"Eh? About what? You told me something good just now, didn’t you?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"No, not at all. I made a serious mistake." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
"What a strange man you are." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk began smiling innocently, and that prompted Choi Jeong-Hoon to grow even urgent and tightly hold onto the former’s arm.
"P-please tell me that you aren’t really thinking of opening a Gate over there." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
"I originally didn’t, but now that I heard you, it does sound like a good idea. Those creatures should be getting really hungry by now, too. If I don’t do something soon, they might starve to death. I’ve completely forgotten about them."
Demonic monsters dying of starvation is a veeeery sad thing, sure.
However, don’t you think it’s wrong to serve people as food just so that a bunch of monsters don’t die of hunger??
Seriously, if you at least pretend to wear a human’s skin, then you should not come up with such things.
So, like, what I’m saying here is, are you even a real human being?! (Choi Jeong-Hoon’s inner monologue)
Choi Jeong-Hoon’s aura surged powerfully as if he’d spit out flames next.
"You definitely mustn’t!" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
"Ehng?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Definitely, never!" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
"No need to be that serious, you know." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
A smirk broke out on Yi Ji-Hyuk’s lips.
"You really think I’ll summon up a Gate on that side?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yup.
If it’s you, then sure, you might. (Choi Jeong-Hoon’s inner monologue)
"You shouldn’t score someone that low, you know." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Scoring someone, is it…. (Choi Jeong-Hoon’s inner monologue)
Choi Jeong-Hoon instinctively started assigning the score but promptly gave up. It was a sorrowful thing for Yi Ji-Hyuk, and also for Choi Jeong-Hoon as well, as he had to cling onto such a man himself.
‘Still, that’s a relief.’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
The situation would’ve become a chaotic mess the moment Yi Ji-Hyuk opened a Gate on the other side of the border.
Legally, it’d be impossible to find any physical evidence of him opening a Gate, but then, there was the issue of ethics to consider. And also, if the damage to the North grew far too great, then there was a pretty good chance that a problem would occur in South Korea as well.
If the situation of North Korea not dealing the monster invasion on time overlapped with new Gates opening up, and worse still, if that situation repeated itself, then well, North would turn into a land of death in the blink of an eye.
Hadn’t Africa already demonstrated what would happen to human land when the balance tilted towards the Gates?
In just over three months, Africa had turned into a wasteland where no human could survive. It was not a land teeming with wildlife anymore, but rapidly transforming into a pure hell populated by countless monsters, instead.
Those folks that were trying to stem the tide, as well as various warlords and their military factions that ruled Africa, had given up and were busy escaping to Europe and Middle East, causing quite a flood of refugees at the moment.
What if something similar happened to North, then?
South Korea and China would have to share the burden. China was a humongous nation so they’d have no problem dealing with refugees of that scale, but for South, never mind the financial side of things, receiving that many refugees would probably lead to the collapse of the social order.
If the North Korean refugees spoke in one voice, then the potential societal chaos would be no laughing matter, indeed. The country wouldn’t be able to shoulder all that burden so the proposed idea must never become reality.
Objectively speaking, the current state of South Korea meant that it barely had enough leeway to support the North to prevent its destruction.
However, Yi Ji-Hyuk wanted to drop a Gate in North Korea?
It’d be a small mercy if it only ended in a political spat between the North and South. But one wrong move, and the North’s government might crumble.
‘Why did the man holding the key to that have to be this dude, though?!’
That was the gist of all the problems right now.
The biggest mistake God made would be giving birth to Yi Ji-Hyuk, and then sending the fool away to Berafe.
That chain of events led to the creation of history’s worst headache.
"Y-you aren’t really going to do it, yes?" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
"Weeeell, you know, you keep bringing it up and it’s sounding more and more appealing?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Please don’t!!" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
Yi Ji-Hyuk cackled loudly.
"There are plenty of other ways besides that, so why should I waste my energy?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Didn’t you say that monsters will die of starvation??" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
"Oh? They’ll just devour each other, than." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
What a vicious man.
Even if they are all monsters, decreasing their numbers in such a manner is…
….Uh, it’s good for us? (Choi Jeong-Hoon’s inner monologue)
Choi Jeong-Hoon tilted his head.
Talking to Yi Ji-Hyuk at length seemed to have this effect of blurring the line between good and evil, or the boundary separating one’s ally and the enemy. Maybe, this was the state of chaos one would fall into from the mere fact that the worst inducer of headaches happened to be his ally.
"It does sound like an entertaining idea when I hear it, but…." (Jeong In-Soo)
Jeong In-Soo’s voice came from their behind, so Choi Jeong-Hoon shifted his head to look at the Colonel.
"We’re in the middle of combat, so how about we stop our yapping and focus on resolving the current situation first?" (Jeong In-Soo)
The voice might have been rather gentle, but the glare accompanying it was anything but. He spoke gently since he couldn’t be too harsh with Yi Ji-Hyuk, but as far as looking at Choi Jeong-Hoon was concerned….
‘Why are you only tormenting me??’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
Choi Jeong-Hoon felt wronged here, but he couldn’t argue his innocence at all.
"You’re right." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
He got flustered from the idea that Yi Ji-Hyuk might end up doing something unexpected.
It was Choi Jeong-Hoon who was thinking of starting something earlier, but after Yi Ji-Hyuk got involved, he became scared that ‘something’ might morph into a huuuge thing instead.
It wasn’t his fault, though. Anyone would’ve reacted in a similar manner as he did. Cider would only be cider when consumed in a bottle, and no one out there would love the idea of chugging a whole barrel down.
"Comrades, my apologies. Well, we were trying to be cautious, but things keep falling that side. So, wouldn’t you agree that taking a shelter somewhere is the only way you can go back home in one piece?" (Rhee Jin-Cheol)
Rhee Jin-Cheol’s voice came from the distance, but Choi Jeong-Hoon simply shook his head. He couldn’t even get angry anymore.
Back when the matter was at the level of him and the NDF resolving it, it was okay for him to get angry, but now that Yi Ji-Hyuk has stood up from his chair, a calamity was about to descend, one that the poor North Koreans were about to bear the full brunt of.
Choi Jeong-Hoon looked beyond the DMZ line with a pitying face.
‘Oh, you poor fools.’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
Even if that was North Korea, how could they not have heard about the rumours related to Yi Ji-Hyuk?
If other countries learned of Yi Ji-Hyuk being around, they would send along something like an entertainment troupe just to not get on his bad side, so Choi Jeong-Hoon couldn’t understand with what balls of steel those North Korean folks were behaving this way.
‘Do they really not know?’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
He began thinking that it might be possible, what with the North being a closed-off society and all.
The truth of the world’s best ability user living in South Korea wouldn’t be good towards boosting morale of your citizens, so the information could’ve been tightly controlled.
However, if the ones in charge had any functioning brain cells, they would’ve issued orders not to provoke the South simply because there was a good chance that Yi Ji-Hyuk might show up today.
Either they really had no brains, or they were cooking up something else - both of those instances wouldn’t be a good thing regardless.
"You’re angry, comrade?" (Rhee Jin-Cheol)
Rhee Jin-Cheol began cackling out, and Choi Jeong-Hoon could only sigh.
You dumb*ss, it’s no time for you to laugh like that.
You should’ve checked who you were provoking today. (Choi Jeong-Hoon’s inner monologue)
Choi Jeong-Hoon sneaked a glance at Yi Ji-Hyuk next to him cackling away as well, and sent the North Korean Senior Colonel a look of pity.
He doesn’t know it yet.
Doesn’t know what he had started here.
Actually, even I’m not sure. (Choi Jeong-Hoon’s inner monologue)
"Erukana!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk called out, and Erukana suddenly revealed herself from behind his back.
"Ng, darling?" (Erukana)
"That’s where you were?" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
Choi Jeong-Hoon was wondering why he couldn’t see her earlier.
You aren’t even some scary ghost, so why do you keep popping up from a person’s shadow….
Ah, wait. She’s a demonic being, wasn’t she. (Choi Jeong-Hoon’s inner monologue)
Now that he thought about it, Yi Ji-Hyuk seemed to carry lots of things on his back. For one, his shadow had Doh Gah-Yun installed inside like a passive ability, then a Darkness Spirit made her home in him, too. And now, Erukana was appearing from behind his back, as well.
At this point, one had to suspect whether he had a portable Gate on his back or something.
"Can you control those monsters?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Ng? Well, it won’t be that difficult, but…." (Erukana)
"But?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Erukana blushed and moistened her lips, before leaning closer to Yi Ji-Hyuk’s ear to whisper softly.
"I heard that if a wife tries to step up in her husband’s workplace, it will become inauspicious." (Erukana)
"……."
Yi Ji-Hyuk cocked an eyebrow and stared at her, clearly unimpressed.
"But, that’s what I heard…." (Erukana)
What’s up with this demon?
She’s a dang demon, but did she suddenly decide to take up a hobby in occult or something?
How dare she start superstitious nonsense around me? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
"You’re not a human, so it’s fine." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Ng? You think so?" (Erukana)
"Right. That thing only applies to people. You don’t have much of a relation with that, so you can do whatever you want." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Ah, ahhh…." (Erukana)
Erukana nodded her head after hearing Yi Ji-Hyuk’s logical explanation.
"But, do I have to?" (Erukana)
"What now?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"I don’t have much Mana left, you know?" (Erukana)
"Why do you need Mana when you’re dealing with those creatures?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Because, I have never seen those things before. If we’re talking about demonic beasts, fine, but creatures from different dimensions aren’t susceptible to the demon king’s authority. That means I need to use power to suppress them, but then I’ll have to waste Mana to do that." (Erukana)
"Groan…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk nodded his head.
Erukana’s explanation was not wrong. No, it was him who made a mistake thinking that all monsters could be suppressed through the demon king’s authority.
"Oh well. Can’t be helped, then." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
If subduing with power was the only option, then why not.
Losing some Mana in the process was a bit of a shame, but heck, his body was overflowing with the stuff right now, anyway.
After he absorbed the pure dark Mana that a dying demon king gave away, about half of the Mana reserve he used to have during his peak was currently filling up his body.
"Fu-wu-heuph." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk grunted out a low groan, and jet-black clouds suddenly began bubbling out from him.
"W-what are you trying to do?!" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
Choi Jeong-Hoon cried out in sheer panic.
Yi Ji-Hyuk emitting that black Mana in such a quantity meant that he was getting ready to cause a huge event - that knowledge had been branded into Choi Jeong-Hoon’s brain by now. They weren’t facing a demon king here, nor did a gigantic monster showed itself, so wasn’t him getting ready to rampage around like this a bit too over the top?
"Other Gates are about to open up." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Keuk!" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
Choi Jeong-Hoon hurriedly turned his head.
Currently, all the NDF agents were focused on the southernmost Gate that had opened up so far. But now, in addition to that, other Gates were showing the signs of simultaneously opening up.
"But, why now?!" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
Would it hurt them to open up in sequence?! Seriously??
Why did they have to open at the same time?
"Niiiice timing!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"What do you mean, nice?!" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
Yi Ji-Hyuk grinned brightly.
"Why don’t you just sit back and watch?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Monsters began pouring out from the Gates next.
Choi Jeong-Hoon hurriedly shouted out.
"Evacuate!! Evacuate to your rear!! Hurry!!" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
It was unknown what Yi Ji-Hyuk was about to do here, but even a small kid knew that one shouldn’t get swept up in whatever that was.
"Get out of there!!" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
"What’s gotten into that dude?" (Park Seong-Chan)
Park Seong-Chan tilted his head.
It was their job to stand before a Gate when it opened, so why was he shouting at them to evacuate?
"Did he finally let go of his sanity?" (Park Seong-Chan)
It was then Choi Jeong-Hoon’s urgent voice crashed into their ears.
"Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk is about to do something!!" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)
Even before his brain could process it, Park Seong-Chan’s mouth exploded first.
"Everyone, get the hell out of here!!" (Park Seong-Chan)
However, even before his shouting came to an end, the surrounding ability users had already turned around to run away in full power.
"You disloyal b*stards…." (Park Seong-Chan)
Park Seong-Chan swallowed back the pang of tears welling up and began running after them, too.
"That fool, what is he planning to do this time??" (Park Seong-Chan)
Fin.
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