The Returner

Chapter 235

Wuuuoong-!!!

The Gate opened up abruptly, just like that, and monsters began pouring out from the portal .

“What the hell is this?!”

The crowd screamed out in fear .

A Gate opening up was a common occurrence nowadays . Also, one opening up in the middle of a city happened every now and then, so it wasn’t much of a surprise in that case, either .

However, it was a first for such a huge Gate to suddenly pop up in the middle of a city and then, open up right away without giving anyone a chance to get surprised .

Those folks who got curious after a Gate appeared and sneaked closer to take a better look all screamed out in panic after witnessing the blue colour change to red in an instant . As soon as the portal opened up, they all began running away without question or argument .

“Run away!!”

“Report this!! Someone report it, right now!!”

Screams and roars created a scene of complete, utter chaos .

Kha-aaaah!!

The horde of monsters rushed out from inside the Gate .

Now normally, there was this certain rule regarding monsters coming out from the Gates . For instance, only Goblins came out from the Gate that Yi Ji-Hyuk encountered for the first time . Meaning, no other types of monsters appeared, other than Goblins .

It was the same story with other Gates so far .

However, the current Gate was somewhat different from the rest .

All sorts of monsters emerged at the same time from this giant portal – from the familiar Builder Monkeys and Goblins, to Wyverns taking to the skies and Giant Worms burrowing into the ground . Countless other types of monsters rushed out from the portal as if it was the gate of Hell .

“Help me!!”

People desperately ran away, but it was impossible to escape from monsters with human legs .

“Aaaahhk!!”

Soon enough, victims lost to the monster horde began appearing from here and there .

“What is the KSF doing?!”

“People are getting killed here!! Those incompetent b*stards!!”

Yi Ji-Hyuk trudged outside the cafe and placed a cigarette between his lips .

“Hah… . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

What a complicated situation this was .

Indeed, it’d have been far easier to deal with if it was a Dragon or something; he was facing a horde comprising of many different monster types, which meant that he had to personally kill them one at a time and well, that would be one heck of an annoying thing to do .

“I’ve already requested for support . ” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“Sure . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Call completed . Will arrive, soon . ” (Doh Gah-Yun)

“Mm?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk shifted his gaze and found Doh Gah-Yun had sneaked closer to him before he had fully noticed it . She had oh-so perfectly concealed herself until now, but was forced to appear like this due to the developing situation .

“What about Dah-Som?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Over there . ” (Doh Gah-Yun)

“Take her to a safe place and then come back . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Roger . ” (Doh Gah-Yun)

Doh Gah-Yun nodded her head before melting into the scenery and disappeared from the view . He then shifted his gaze over to Jeong Hae-Min and spoke to her .

“And you, isn’t this going to be too dangerous for you?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“If it gets too dangerous, I can just teleport outta here . ” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“… . What a cheat character . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Now that he thought about it, this girl wouldn’t get done in by anyone, really . Now that he finished sorting out his own situation, he could pay more attention to the monster horde .

“H-mm… . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He observed the rampaging monsters for a bit before looking at Kwok Myung-Hoon next to him .

“Are you going to help?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Of course . ” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

“Aren’t you a kind-hearted person . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Kwok Myung-Hoon heard Yi Ji-Hyuk’s slightly sarcastic remark and his cheeks reddened slightly . It was true that he had suffered abuse from the public, but that didn’t mean he could leave these dying people behind and escape from here .

“It’s my duty . ” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

“That’s a commendable thought process . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk nodded his head .

It was at this moment that they saw a patrol car hurriedly driving over to where they were .

“P-please, do something!!”

The vehicle was manned by none other than the two officers who tried to arrest Kwok Myung-Hoon earlier . Back then, they used excessive force to suppress an innocent man, but now that they desperately needed something, they showed up here to ask for help .

“Wowsers, what a couple of shameless geezers . Seriously now . Don’t you guys have any conscience?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

The complexions of the cops reddened immediately after Yi Ji-Hyuk rebuked them .

“Don’t worry, I understand . ” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

However, Kwok Myung-Hoon answered the cops’ call with an earnest face .

“Ahjussi, aren’t you unhappy about this situation?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Pardon me?” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

“You got treat that badly, yet it looks like you still want to help these people out . Were you Gandhi in your past life or something?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Hahaha… . ” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

Kwok Myung-Hoon replied with an awkward laughter .

“Isn’t this something that happens often?” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

“Eh?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“What was different before these events began happening around us? It was the same story before Black Monday . People berated soldiers for being lazy b*stards and got angry at them for being incompetent… . They always did that . However, didn’t those very soldiers end up protecting this country?” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

“Mm… . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“People not respecting you is the same back then or now . But you didn’t earn any points with the public for wasting two years of your life through hard labour in the past . Compared to back then, we’re being treated somewhat better, wouldn’t you say?” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

Yi Ji-Hyuk nodded his head .

That was a story no longer related to him, but well, it was true that you couldn’t even use euphemism to dress up the way people treated common soldiers .

That wasn’t all, though . Like, the firefighters who had to jump into the raging flames when they couldn’t even get a proper pair of gloves from the higher-ups, for instance… .

The world functioned as it did because of those folks who silently did their jobs behind the scenes .

‘However, how long will that last?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

A foundation built upon one-sided sacrifices was destined to buckle under its own weight sooner or later .

“Besides, I believe now isn’t the time to worry about such things . I must look like a weak combatant to your eyes, but I’m fully prepared to lend you my support, regardless . ” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

“Uhm, well, the thing is…” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

I’m not planning to do anything particular here, you know?(Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

Yi Ji-Hyuk scratched his head .

“You know, I was thinking of just spectating today . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Spectating? What are you talking about?” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

Kwok Myung-Hoon sounded dumbfounded during his questioning .

“Well, I’m off work and I just came out to have fun today so there isn’t something for me to do here, you see? It’s the KSF that should do the work, instead . If that’s not it, then some of our agents with nothing better to do will show up to take care of this . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Kwok Myung-Hoon frowned deeply .

“You possess such an incredible power, yet you are simply going to watch people getting killed and do nothing?” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

“I’m kinda like a battery that doesn’t get recharged, so… . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

I mean, what if a Demon King shows up later, and I can’t fight it because I spent Mana sorting out this situation? That’d be the end of humanity, you see?

It’s not like I don’t wanna do anything cuz I’m too lazy… . (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

“This is no time for jokes . ” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

“I wasn’t joking, though… . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Kwok Myung-Hoon’s face hardened .

“Looks like I was wrong about you . ” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

“Excuse me, we haven’t known each other that long to say something like that . It’s not even a hour since you saw my face for the first time, you know . And also, you get swept up in incidents because you jump to conclusions and judge people unnecessarily . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I’ll reflect on that . ” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

Kwok Myung-Hoon replied as thus, but his expression didn’t change .

“I don’t have any more time to waste like this . Excuse me . ” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

As soon as he was finished, Kwok Myung-Hoon dashed towards the Gate without even bothering to wait for Yi Ji-Hyuk’s reply .

“M-mm… . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk watched him go and spat out a sigh .

What a nice guy .

Yup, a really nice guy . (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

He might have almost caused a huge incident, but he didn’t seem to be a bad guy, that Kwok Myung-Hoon . Even Yi Ji-Hyuk would want to flip everything up if he were to be subjected under such abuse after going through a month of non-stop hardship .

Watching that man jumping into the fire while still wanting to help people even after experiencing that c**p made Yi Ji-Hyuk feel weird, though .

“Aren’t you going to help?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“Why should I?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Because, watching people die will make you feel bad, right?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Well, that is true, but still…” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Actually, he didn’t really feel all that bad, to be honest… .

Yi Ji-Hyuk scratched his head again . Talking to her like this seemed to only confirm that his mind wasn’t normal and that sure made him feel complicated right now .

“Dang it . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

His gaze landed on the back of Kwok Myung-Hoon .

*

“Keuh-heuk!” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

Kwok Myung-Hoon gritted his teeth .

Being pushed back by the overwhelming numbers was the apt description for this situation . Seemingly an endless number of monsters were pouring out from the Gate .

He had become stronger compared to the past . It had been two months since he began training under the agents of NDF coming to visit his branch office at regular intervals, the folks that he genuinely looked up to .

The training proved to be incredibly harsh, but it allowed him to get much more familiar with effectively utilising his Ether, and as a result, he could proudly say that he was at least twice as strong compared to himself of two months ago .

Unfortunately, this situation wasn’t something that could be resolved by himself just because he was twice as strong .

Indeed, even if there were a hundred of him present, it still wouldn’t be enough to solve this situation . That didn’t mean he could stay back and watch on disinterestedly, though .

If he couldn’t solo this, then he’d try to cling onto its pant leg with everything he had . He should be able to save at least one more life this way . That was all he wished for right now .

BOOM!!

Something exploded right next to him .

His hearing became numb in an instant, and his vision grew fuzzy and blurry .

“Keuk . ” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

Even then, Kwok Myung-Hoon didn’t falter . He reflexively fired electricity all around him while trying to re-orient his shaking body .

Kuwaaahh!!

And his eyes caught the sight of a giant Builder Monkey swinging its huge arm towards him .

‘I can’t dodge this?!’ (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

The end .

It was more than likely that he had over-extended himself . At a bare minimum, several KSF branches should have combined their resources together to defend against such a Gate . However, he tried to solo it, so this was an inevitable result .

He had been foolish .

He knew it oh so well .

The thing was, though – there were certain matters in this world that a man simply had to do it even if he knew that he was being foolish .

The Builder Monkey’s arm was almost at a touching distance to his head now .

‘D*mn it’ . (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

Kwok Myung-Hoon kept his eyes wide open . He didn’t want to die with his eyes closed .

“Oh? Would you look at this uncle?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

It was right then, he heard a hallucination-like voice coming from behind him .

BANG!

Accompanied by a sound akin to a leather drum being banged on, the Builder Monkey flew up high into the air .

Khhhaaaahk?!?!

It flew so, so high that it became just a little speck in the blue sky before it began its rapid descent back to Earth .

“Hul… . . ” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

Kwok Myung-Hoon’s jaw dropped to the floor after witnessing this unrealistic sight .

“I’m telling you, guys like you get killed first, you know? Mister uncle? You’ll get killed at this rate . So, you should pull yourself together . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“M-mister Yi Ji-Hyuk??” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

He looked behind him to discover Yi Ji-Hyuk busy clicking his tongue .

“Are you here to help us?” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

“I thought about it for a bit, and… . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Yes?” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

“Mana might not, but as it turns out, Ether does get recharged . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Eh?” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

Kwok Myung-Hoon had no clue what that even meant so he asked back, but Yi Ji-Hyuk wasn’t planning to explain himself and simply glared at the monsters, instead .

“I was kinda curious how powerful I’d be using only Ether, so, like, might as well, right?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk grinned confidently and spoke up .

“Let’s see here . Should we confirm how good you are? Stick to my back, okay? All you have to do is shock the monsters that I kick away once . Do your best to get that final hit in . Cool?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Ehh?” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

“Let’s go!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk left behind those words and began dashing forward . Unable to understand anything he said, Kwok Myung-Hoon just chose to chase after him, instead .

And that’s when the older ability user saw it . He saw why the name Yi Ji-Hyuk was stuck on everyone’s lips again and again in South Korean ability user community .

Boom! Bang! Thud! Pow! Bam!

It was like listening to musical notes .

Monsters unlucky enough to find themselves in front of Yi Ji-Hyuk didn’t even have any time to do something about it before getting flung away . He swung his arms as if he was playing around, yet all those terrifying creatures were sent flying away while disregarding the laws of physics .

“What the hell is this??” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

Kwok Myung-Hoon’s eyes might be seeing this spectacle, but it was still hard to believe it was happening . How could such a thing even be possible?

Boomboomboomboom!!

Yi Ji-Hyuk increased his speed and his arms and legs began moving even faster than before . A huge monster getting struck by his fist flung backwards while spinning like a storm cloud!

Other monsters getting swept up in that storm screamed loudly .

“Urgh, this is so inefficient . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

However, Yi Ji-Hyuk continued to tilt his head this way and that as if something still wasn’t up to his liking .

“Hey, I told you to get the final hits in!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Ah!! Y-yes . Yes!” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

They weren’t even playing a game here, so why the ‘final hit’?!

This wasn’t the right time to argue on that one, so all Kwok Myung-Hoon could do now was to do as he was told . He fired electrical energy at the collapsed monsters .

“Don’t kill them!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“How can I even control that?!” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

“You just gotta do it right, you know! Just do it!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“…………… . . ”

What the hell, this kid?? Isn’t he a bit of a dumba*s??(Kwok Myung-Hoon’s inner monologue)

Kwok Myung-Hoon was steadily realising that the good impression he had of Yi Ji-Hyuk was eroding away with every passing second .

“Argh! I said, don’t kill them!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

What was he even talking about?!

When Yi Ji-Hyuk suddenly shouted out like that, Kwok Myung-Hoon got flustered and hurriedly took a look around . And then, he felt his mind blank out for a second there .

An endless rain of flames were falling on the area where he and Yi Ji-Hyuk, plus the monsters, were . He quickly realised the identity of those flames and ended up shouting out loudly, as well .

“There are people in here, you crazy idioooooot!!” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

“Kekekeke . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk heard Kwok Myung-Hoon’s screaming and formed an ear-piercing cackling . He should’ve believed the rumour that said the folks from the NDF were a bunch of moronic thugs . Despair quickly filled up his face .

“I shouldn’t have gotten involved… . ” (Kwok Myung-Hoon)

Well, too late now, mister .

< 235 . Can’t even say it when in front > Fin .