Player who Returned 10,000 years Later

"Th-that…"

"You dirty and mean person!"

Reinald shouted as if the situation was unfair.

'Eh? Just why?'

He had won while fighting fairly.

It was true that he’d shouted the name of a technique to confuse the opponent, but that had only worked because Reinald was stupid.

'So what's dirty and mean about what I've done?'

To be honest, the ones who were dirty and mean were them—their party was composed of five people.

'Is this how a demon king in manhwas feels after losing against the hero's party?'

At that point, he felt that the whole situation was unfair.

KangWoo thought there wasn't anything more to consider and was about to use the Authority of Explosions on them.

"Oh, yeah."

"What…?"

"Maybe…?"

KangWoo was about to finish them when he suddenly stopped.

The demonic energy orb disappeared from his hand.

As the demonic energy orb disappeared, hope seemed to appear on Reina and Reinald's faces.

"It would be a shame if the equipment broke."

Just at a glance, Reinald's equipment was worth quite a lot of money.

He didn't want to use any of it because it was too fancy, but he thought he'd be able to sell them to Chae YeonJoo for quite an interesting sum of money.

'Especially that golden sword…'

There was a chance that his sword, capable of shooting an energy that exploded like a bomb, was a legendary-ranked item.

'How much money could I get for something like that?'

KangWoo gulped while looking at Reinald's items.

"Ugh! Y-you evil…!"

Reinald trembled in anger after seeing that KangWoo was willing to take the items that belonged to a dead person.

KangWoo didn't care about how he felt about that, so he created a spear using the Authority of Dark Spear.

'I guess using this to pierce his neck should be enough.'

He was approaching Reinald while thinking that when suddenly…

Ting-

[Other entities besides the summoned monster have been detected.]

[All foreign entities are being erased through the Gaia System.]

"Huh…?!"

Reinald's party members began disappearing as those messages appeared before him.

KangWoo quickly tried to pierce Reinald with the spear, but it got stuck in the ground.

"Fuck!"

KangWoo cursed.

He frowned while looking at the blue message window.

'Why now!'

It said at first that invaders couldn't be blocked because of an error of the Gaia System. But then, out of the blue, it began working and said it would eliminate them.

KangWoo smashed the innocent ground, but in the end, he could only watch them disappear.

Ting-

[The Gaia System has successfully eliminated foreign entities.]

"Oof…"

KangWoo sighed.

'Wait…'

KangWoo anxiously turned his head around to Echidna.

He thought that maybe she'd also returned to her original world for a moment.

"Oof."

KangWoo sighed in relief after seeing Echidna on the floor.

Thankfully, Echidna hadn't returned to her original world.

'Just what is the Gaia System?'

KangWoo thought of that word he’d seen for the first time when he’d appeared on Earth.

'Is it some sort of protective shield that defends against alien invasion…?'

Something like the Earth's atmosphere that prevents asteroids from falling on Earth.

—That was what he could conclude with the information he had at the moment.

'It said that the Gaia System was damaged.'

When the gate that led toward the Ernor continent opened, it said that, because the Gaia System was damaged, it couldn't properly block the connection that led toward another world.

'Is this how demonic monsters from Hell have been appearing?'

Variant monsters had been appearing only recently.

In terms of time…

* * *

"Huh?'

At that moment, a thought crossed KangWoo's mind.

'The time when demonic monsters started to appear is similar to when I returned to Earth.'

And the reason why demonic monsters began appearing was probably that the Gaia System had been damaged.

"That means…"

KangWoo laughed in disbelief.

"Am I the one who damaged the Gaia System?"

It made sense, considering when the demonic monsters started to appear.

"Oof…"

KangWoo put his hand on top of his head.

He seemed troubled after realizing that he was the reason why demonic monsters had begun appearing on Earth.

'Is there a way to restore the Gaia System?'

The best thing he could do in that situation was to restore the Gaia System.

But he didn't know exactly what the Gaia System was and if there was a way to restore it.

'It seems like the only thing I can do is hunt as many demonic monsters as possible.'

It was like pouring water into a bottomless jar, but there was nothing else he could do at the moment.

While thinking he should ask Chae YeonJoo about the Gaia System, he walked toward where Echidna was.

"Lie down for a moment. I'll finish curing you."

What he had done previously was just first aid.

For Echidna to be able to move again freely, he needed a bit more time.

KangWoo cut the palms of his hands and poured his blood into the wound.

Echidna turned her head toward KangWoo.

[I didn't do it.]

[I didn't cause drought or spread a plague.]

"Yeah."

Tears flowed down Echidna's eyes.

[I told them that I hadn't done it… But no one believed me.]

"…"

[Will you trust me…?]

Her voice was full of fear.

She had the eyes of a child who had been abandoned by her parents that was asking for love.

KangWoo knew those eyes.

'I was also like that.'

KangWoo had been abandoned by his parents when he was a kid.

From the moment he was able to think, he’d grown up in an orphanage.

He never thought he'd like to meet his birth parents or be embraced by them.

He just wanted to receive someone's love. He wanted to be protected and be recognized by someone.

Seeing Echidna reminded him of his past self.

'Did this happen because I said to leave emotions to TV dramas?'

KangWoo smiled bitterly while feeling his heart tingling.

The words that he had said to Reinald had sharp points and had returned to him.

There was a saying: If I do it, it is romance, but if another person does it, it's an affair.

'Well, the answer has already been decided.'

Echidna was his important summoned monster and was someone who had to live with him.

So even if that wasn’t the case, his answer had already been decided from the start.

"I trust you."

[…]

"Even if the rest of the world blames you, I will at least believe in you."

As someone wielding a weapon should be prepared to accept death, becoming someone's owner also came with a set of responsibilities.

KangWoo had no intention of dodging or ignoring those responsibilities.

He wasn't planning on using his summoned monster as something disposable.

[You…]

Echidna looked at KangWoo with trembling eyes.

There was a heavy silence.

Amid that heavy silence, KangWoo kept healing Echidna.

He began sweating.

'Did I overdo it today?'

He had summoned a demonic monster, fought some enemies, and even cured.

Although he had obtained quite a lot of demonic energy after completing the fifth Awakening, he had done many burdensome things.

'I want to go back and rest.'

It was the first time he’d wanted to take a rest so badly.

"But…"

KangWoo looked at Echidna, who was over 20 meters long.

'How should I move her?'

If he took her out in that state, people would probably start to panic.

In the worst-case scenario, the Hwarang Squad could attack her.

'It also doesn't seem like something that could be resolved by explaining the situation.'

If she was as big as a person, he could probably walk out with her just by saying she was his summoned monster.

'I heard that there are other players who can control summoned monsters…'

But even so, the size was too much.

There was no way the Hwarang Squadron would let him go.

"Echidna, can you change the size of your body?"

[Change?]

"Yes, make your size as small as possible."

Wasn’t it said that dragons could polymorph?

KangWoo looked at her expectantly.

[I can.]

'Nice!'

KangWoo smiled, satisfied at her answer.

"Then turn to the smallest size possible."

[Okay.]

After recovering a bit, Echidna nodded and began chanting in a language he couldn't understand.

Whish-!

A bright light covered her, and her body started to get smaller.

"Woah."

KangWoo's eyes shone while looking at her, whose size became about 30 centimeters.

'Cute.'

As a giant dragon's body had shrunk to about 30 centimeters, it felt cute.

Rather than feeling like a summoned monster, she felt like a pet.

'Can't she transform into a human?'

KangWoo, who had hoped for her to transform into a human, felt slightly disappointed. He lifted her and then held her in his arms.

[It's okay, I can fly.]

"Stay still. Your wounds still haven't fully recovered."

After saying that, KangWoo turned his body to the gate's entrance.

[…]

Echidna, staring at KangWoo, carefully opened her mouth.

[You…]

"Hmm?"

[Name. Tell me your name.]

"Oh, yeah. I didn't tell you my name yet."

It was then that KangWoo realized he hadn't introduced himself yet.

"Oh KangWoo. My name is Oh KangWoo."

[Oh KangWoo…]

Echidna, who was in KangWoo's arms, kept mumbling his name.

[I'll remember it.]

"Hmm?"

[Your name. I'll definitely remember it.]

Echidna said it in a determined voice.

KangWoo nodded with a smile on his face.