The Returner

Chapter 201

Chapter 201: What’s up with this chill (1)

“Euh, euh… . ”

Yi Ji-Hyuk emerging from the Gate suddenly shuddered and quickly hugged himself .

“What’s up with this chill, man?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He couldn’t quite understand the reason . It wasn’t as if he felt sick or something, yet why did he suddenly feel this ominous chill?

“Did something strange happen to me?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk took a look at his body .

“There’s nothing wrong with me, though?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

What a strange thing this was, this creeping chill overtaking him . It kind of felt like the last time he sensed such a chill was quite a long time ago .

Just like back when……

“… . It can’t be that . No way . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk shuddered again and shook his head around violently .

Such a thing should not happen . Never!

“No, it can’t be!!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Kim Dah-Hyun next to him frowned deeply .

“What can’t be it?” (Kim Dah-Hyun)

“Groan… . ”

Kim Dah-Hyun had recovered some of his sanity while going through the Gate and stopped treating Yi Ji-Hyuk as crazily as before . However, his still-sullen tone of voice hadn’t been addressed yet .

Yi Ji-Hyuk knew what the best method to deal with that attitude was, but doing that to Kim Dah-Hyun right now didn’t really seem all that kosher for some reason .

‘Like, it’s tugging at my mind, you see . ’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

This whole thing was Affeldrichae’s fault, but then again, if one thought about why that d*mn lizard woman was here in the first place, even Yi Ji-Hyuk himself could not completely escape the blame for this one .

“Groan… . ”

If only he was completely not guilty here . He’d have proceeded to beat that mouth up until it resembled a bill of a duck already . But now… .

“Okay, so where are we supposed to go now?” (Kim Dah-Hyun)

“She’s back in the office . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Eh?”

Kim Dah-Hyun asked back in a rather displeased tone of voice .

“She’s hurt, so why is she at our office?!” (Kim Dah-Hyun)

“I told you, it’s not that serious . Besides, that injury? That’s not something a doctor can fix, you see . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Eiii, sh*t!!” (Kim Dah-Hyun)

Kim Dah-Hyun managed to convey his thoughts of ‘I might not be able to retort to that, but doesn’t mean I have to like it’ rather succinctly .

‘… . Should I just beat him up?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Since when did I ever get p*ssed off while talking about who’s in the right or wrong?!

Should I just pretend I didn’t see anything and slap him silly now?(Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

Kim Dah-Hyun left behind Yi Ji-Hyuk stewing in serious contemplation and strode gallantly towards the NDF office .

“Eh-whew… . ”

Yi Ji-Hyuk failed to reach a decision in time and simply shook his head before following after him .

*

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“Dah-Som-ah!!” (Kim Dah-Hyun)

Kim Dah-Hyun saw his little sister Kim Dah-Som lying on a bed and tears erupted out of his eyes . He quickly ran over to her side and held her hand .

Kim Dah-Som was half asleep by then, but she woke up and opened her eyes to stare in Kim Dah-Hyun’s general direction .

“… . Oppa?” (Kim Dah-Som)

“Yes, Dah-Som-ah! It’s your oppa!” (Kim Dah-Hyun)

“Ji-Hyuk oppa?” (Kim Dah-Som)

“…………”

Kim Dah-Som’s eyes drifted towards Yi Ji-Hyuk walking in right behind Kim Dah-Hyun . Suddenly relegated to the role of an invisible man, his dejected, tearful face confronted Yi Ji-Hyuk .

The latter nodded his head in the direction of the former .

Yes, I understand how you feel .

I know all about it, dude . So stop crying . (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

“…Hey . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk replied somewhat awkwardly .

Since the girl was hurt, he did think about being a bit more gentler and friendlier than before, but then again, he might get burned alive by the laser beams shooting out from Kim Dah-Hyun’s eyes if he did that . So, in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to sound friendly at all .

‘How can a human being carry such an amount of intense hatred for anything?!’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk shook his head helplessly .

He had been subjected to countless people’s grudges . But, he could swear that this would be his first time being subjected to this sort of grudge in his entire life .

Griiit… .

Yi Ji-Hyuk heard Kim Dah-Hyun grit his teeth and began wondering just what rotting pile of rubbish was stinking up this fool’s head . It was at this point that Affeldrichae walked into the room .

“Just what the hell happened back there?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk had heard the gist of the situation, but details hadn’t been provided yet . Affeldrichae heard his question, but she answered in a nonchalant manner .

“It’s just the Mana Deviation . ” (Affeldrichae)

“You taught her magic?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Yes . ” (Affeldrichae)

Yi Ji-Hyuk tilted his head .

“But how? There’s no Mana in this world… . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“We still have Mana crystals, yes?” (Affeldrichae)

“Ohh… . ”

Right, we still have some Mana crystals left, don’t we?

If you extract some Mana out of those and let it enter a person’s body, then well, humans of this world should be able to use magic as well . (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

“How long have you been teaching her magic?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Not that long . ” (Affeldrichae)

“But then, she experienced the Mana Deviation?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Yes . ” (Affeldrichae)

Yi Ji-Hyuk stared at Affeldrichae with an expression that clearly said, “I don’t get it . ”

Simply put, ‘Mana Deviation’ was kinda like a job-related illness unique only to wizards .

When you failed to control Mana properly and it deviated from the correct pathway to go on a rampage, that phenomenon was called the Mana Deviation .

The weird point here was – such a phenomenon would only occur to a wizard of certain calibre who possessed a fair amount of Mana in the first place . So, the fact that a girl who didn’t learn magic for that long, and the fact that she experienced this phenomenon, simply contradicted each other .

“How did that happen?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“It’ll be a long story if I were to get into the details . ” (Affeldrichae)

“M-mm… . ”

Yi Ji-Hyuk glared at Affeldrichae with deeply unconvinced eyes, before asking her another question .

“Okay, but why did you even teach her magic in the first place?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“She wanted to learn it . ” (Affeldrichae)

“Why?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“She wanted to become stronger . ” (Affeldrichae)

“……… . . ”

Yi Ji-Hyuk found it hard to understand . Why did a regular person like this girl want to learn magic so that she could become ‘stronger’?

“H-mm… . ”

He realised that the origin of the problem wasn’t Affeldrichae and shifted his gaze over to Kim Dah-Som .

“Dah-Som-ah, are you in pain? Did you go to a hospital before coming here? Did the doctors say anything? Your complexion look so pale, so like, shouldn’t we go and get you another test? Or, should I kidnap a doctor and bring him over here?” (Kim Dah-Hyun)

“Oppa . ” (Kim Dah-Som)

“Ng?”

“You’re making me dizzy, so please step outside the room for a while . ” (Kim Dah-Som)

“…… . . ”

“Hurry . ” (Kim Dah-Som)

“M-mm . ” (Kim Dah-Hyun)

Kim Dah-Hyun now resembled a dejected dog with his tail lowered all the way to the ground . He then slunk off to the outside of the room .

“Euh-heuph… . ” (Kim Dah-Hyun)

Yi Ji-Hyuk heard the sounds of a man trying to hold back his tears and looked at the back of departing Kim Dah-Hyun with a bit of pity .

‘What a helpless idiot . ’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Initially, he felt a bit of kinship due to the fact that they shared a similar sort of violent little sisters, but now that he got to know that fool a bit better, there was no doubt in his mind that Kim Dah-Hyun needed more beatings in his life .

He now even felt sorry for Kim Dah-Som since she had to live with a brother like that everyday .

Yi Ji-Hyuk shifted his gaze back over to the girl and asked .

“Okay so . Why were you doing something so useless?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

She didn’t reply and sneakily avoided meeting his gaze .

“What’s wrong? Did you feel left out cuz everyone around you was an ability user while you were a regular person?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“No, not really . ” (Kim Dah-Som)

“Okay, then why?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“………”

Yi Ji-Hyuk spat out a helpless sigh .

“Here’s the thing about being ability users or wizards or whatever . You think people became one of those because they really enjoy being one?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Pardon?” (Kim Dah-Som)

“A person is at their happiest when they are being themselves . You see those ability users on TV doing their thing and you think it looks cool and all that, don’t you?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“…………”

“No, it ain’t . Being normal is for the best . I’m telling you . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk closed shut his mouth at the end of those words .

Kim Dah-Som saw the bitter, lonesome expression on his face and cautiously reached out to grasp his hand .

“Mm?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“… . I’m sorry . ” (Kim Dah-Som)

“About what?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I made you worry . ” (Kim Dah-Som)

“Haaah?”

What U on about, me worry?

Why would I worry about you?!

It’s already a full-time job worrying about my own life, so where would I find time to worry about someone else?(Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

Yi Ji-Hyuk snorted right away . However, he didn’t yank his hand loose from her grasp, either .

Well, she was a patient, after all . She wasn’t feeling okay, so he might as well behave a little bit better .

“Don’t push yourself, got it?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I won’t . ” (Kim Dah-Som)

“You planning to keep learning magic?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I’ll be more careful in the future . ” (Kim Dah-Som)

“……It’s your life, so you do what you want . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

In all honesty, this matter didn’t have a lot to do with him . It was an incident involving Affeldrichae and Kim Dah-Som, so he didn’t really have any right to butt in and tell them what to do .

No, he could only lament to himself . By her wanting to learn magic, that also implied that she wished to live in the frontlines, as well .

She may lament the fact that she had no powers right now . However, the moment she witnessed blood being spilt and torn flesh flying up in the air, her thoughts would do a 180 quickly enough .

Just who out there fought because they liked it?

“Do what you want . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk shook his head and left the room as well . Affeldrichae cast sleeping magic on Kim Dah-Som and followed after him .

“What are you trying to do here?” (Yi ji-hyuk)

Affeldrichae’s expression didn’t even flicker once as she replied .

“She wanted to learn, so I only taught her some magic . ” (Affeldrichae)

“But then, she experienced the Mana Deviation?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“… . She possesses talent . ” (Affeldrichae)

“What was that?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

She turned her head towards the now-closed door and spoke .

“She is very talented . Her skill level rose up so fast that I almost ended up thinking that maybe, all the humans of this world would be like her if they got to learn magic . ” (Affeldrichae)

“Hmm… . ”

“If we’re talking purely about talent, then it’s possible that she exceeds even you, Mister Ji-Hyuk . So, she kept pushing herself a bit more and more, until she stumbled over her own limit . ” (Affeldrichae)

“You’re supposed to be a Dragon, so couldn’t you have made a logical deduction? Or did you lose your sanity for real now?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Well, technically, what she experienced wasn’t Mana Deviation . Simply put, her physical body couldn’t handle the sudden increase of her Mana reserve . ” (Affeldrichae)

“So? What’s the conclusion, then?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“She’s a born wizard . It is worth teaching her, I think . ” (Affeldrichae)

“Hah??”

Yi Ji-Hyuk glared straight into Affeldrichae’s eyes and spoke .

“Now listen here, lizard woman . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“…………”

“Have you thought about how long the ‘born wizard’ might need before becoming a part of our combat force?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I’m sure it might take a bit of time . ” (Affeldrichae)

“A talent exceeding mine? Even I needed over a thousand years to get to where I am . No matter how much of a genius you are, nearly ten years are needed before you can realistically participate in a serious battle . It looks like the notion of a decade comes across as a blink in the perspective of a Dragon, but let’s be logical here . You can’t even guarantee that this world will last even that long . So, what are you trying to achieve by teaching her magic now?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“You do have a point . ” (Affeldrichae)

“Hah… . ”

Yi Ji-Hyuk bared his fangs and growled menacingly .

“Stop with your unnecessary rubbish, okay? I’m telling you, stop trying to mess with my surroundings . If you insist on doing that, I might not be so gracious anymore . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Affeldrichae stared at Yi Ji-Hyuk with puzzled look on her face .

“This is so strange . ” (Affeldrichae)

“What now?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I had no idea that you had any awareness of your surroundings . ” (Affeldrichae)

“………… . . ”

“Haven’t you always divided the world as you and everyone else? Are you actually feeling some sort of an emotional attachment with that little girl?” (Affeldrichae)

“Don’t make me laugh . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk snorted derisively again .

“In that case, isn’t it fine?” (Affeldrichae)

“Looky here, lizard . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Yes?” (Affeldrichae)

“Humans are social creatures, got it? Doesn’t matter if I’m emotionally attached or not, I’ll still end up minding whatever happens around me . You understand what I’m saying to you?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“But, if you wish to talk about humanity’s social norms, I should understand it far better than you, Mister Ji-Hyuk . Weren’t you the very person that broke away from all the social norms in the first place?” (Affeldrichae)

“I didn’t break away from it . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

No, I just chose to stay away from it, you dang dumba*s lizard woman .

Humans of Berafe and I had nothing to do with each other .

Besides, they didn’t even see me as a human, anyway . (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

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“I guess there’s always something that you would never understand, regardless of how smart you are . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Affeldrichae tilted her head this way and that as if she was lost in a maze .

“I’ve been feeling this often in the past, but well, talking to you makes me feel confused and lost . ” (Affeldrichae)

“What a relief, then . I thought it was only me . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Confused and lost .

Even Yi Ji-Hyuk was feeling the contradiction in his heart as he spoke those words . In all honesty, he was not related to this thing of Kim Dah-Som wanting to learn magic and Affeldrichae teaching her .

She might have gotten hurt during the process, sure, but the onus was on Kim Dah-Som and no one else .

But then, why was he getting this annoyed?

His head kept saying that he shouldn’t get annoyed at this development, but then, he was still getting rather p*ssed off about it .

‘Well, I’ve been feeling pretty unhappy the whole day… . ’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

His thoughts were too muddied right now to figure out whether his annoyance stemmed from his unhappiness, or it was the other way around .

Still feeling dissatisfied, he decided to close the lid on the situation, It was right then, his smartwatch suddenly issued a ring .

“Hello?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

– “Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk, this is Choi Jung-Hoon speaking . ”

“I have functioning eyes that can see the caller ID . Speak, please . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

– “… . The American ability users have arrived . ” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“… . Well, now . That’s excellent news . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Cuz, I was looking for something to do, you see .

Annoyance disappeared from Yi Ji-Hyuk’s face, only to be replaced by a streak of mischievousness .

< 201 . What’s up with this chill -1 > Fin .