The Returner

There was one person partic.i.p.ating in the training with everything she had . Unexpectedly, it was none other than Doh Gah-Yun . Currently, she was facing off against the black jaguar created by Yi Ji-Hyuk .

There was not a whole lot of people in the world capable of training her, who just so happened to specialise in stealth and a.s.sa.s.sination . Even then, those folks wouldn’t have the first clue as to how to best train her .

That was why the stealthy movements of the jaguar, a creature born from the darkness, proved to be such a great boon for her .

Inside the dense forest located in the middle of the tropical island, she carefully and meticulously searched for the trace of the jaguar, hiding within the shadows . She too had blended into the darkness, as well .

‘Where?’

Even though the sunlight penetrated halfway into the forest, once the jaguar had melted into the shadows, it became nigh-on impossible to locate the creature . She closed her eyes and tried her best to sense the presence of her target, only to pick up on a low-pitched growling .

Kheureuk .

It came from right behind her .

She hadn’t sensed its movements, yet the jaguar was already behind her .

Doh Gah-Yun gritted her teeth .

Slam!

A powerful slam from the jaguar’s front paw landed on her back .

Her innards twisted and churned, and something rushed up through her throat – the bitter taste of blood trying to break out of her mouth .

However, the bitter, acrid scent of her blood got diluted by the rising curtain of dust as she fell down on the ground, hard .

It had been like this since the beginning of the training .

Even if she tried so hard to chase after her target, she couldn’t . No matter how hard she tried to find the jaguar, she continued to fail . Always, her back was exposed and she had to experience h.e.l.lish pain .

Just as she was about to lose her mind over this repeating pattern, she heard a certain voice coming from the side .

“You’re wrong about something . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Doh Gah-Yun raised her head and looked at the owner of the voice .

With a cigarette stuck to his lips, Yi Ji-Hyuk was walking towards her direction in brisk steps .

“Wrong about?” (Gah-Yun)

Doh Gah-Yun tried to stand back up . However, she lost her balance and as a result, she had no choice but to support her weight by grabbing onto Yi Ji-Hyuk’s clothes .

“Ah… . . ”

Yi Ji-Hyuk helped her up and clicked his tongue .

“If you honestly think that hard work is the only way to being successful, then let me ask you this . Why isn’t everyone else in the world successful? Use your head, will you? Your head!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“My head?” (Gah-Yun)

Yi Ji-Hyuk let go of her hand and took a couple of steps back .

“Look . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Then, he extended his own hand out .

Doh Gah-Yun tilted her head sideways, not getting the reasoning for his actions .

‘What’s he doing?’ (Gah-Yun)

Yi Ji-Hyuk frowned slightly, withdrew his hand, then stabbed the empty air with it . No matter how odd he looked as he repeated this motion over and over again, Doh Gah-Yun poured all of her attention in order to find the meaning of his act .

She knew very well that, even though

this guy was very peculiar, he’d never do something totally meaningless . That’s what her observation of the man taught her .

She required quite some time to study his actions before she let out a gasp of surprise .

That repeated action wasn’t for himself, but for her benefit .

She finally sensed the difference of ‘presence’ when Yi Ji-Hyuk extended his hand out and when he retracted it . No, to be more precise, it wasn’t that his ‘presence’ was changing, but instead, it was actually her perception of him shifting ever so slightly every time he moved .

“And this here is the boundary . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk drew a line on the ground with his foot . She lowered her gaze to stare at it .

She could clearly see that line was bisecting the s.p.a.ce his hand was moving back and forth until now .

“You wanna follow with your eyes? Or, with your so-called sixth sense? You think you’ll find your target with those when it’s hiding from you? You are not supposed to follow, but to feel it . This here is the boundary of your area of cognisance . Find a way to extend it beyond this line . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“… . My area of cognisance . ” (Gah-Yun)

“There’s no point in talking about it any further . I’ve given you what you need already . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“… . Ng . ”

Yi Ji-Hyuk turned around to leave, and as his feet took him away, he threw out an unexpected remark .

“That j.a.panese healer can remove scars . That thing on your arm… . Ask him to take care of it . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Naturally, her eyes lowered to look at her own arm, where the lengthy scar from the flying lizard incident still remained .

She raised her gaze up and fixed it on Yi Ji-Hyuk’s back as he made his way out of the jungle .

‘What an odd man . ’

As soon as Yi Ji-Hyuk saw the state Jeong Hae-Min was in, he began clicking his tongue .

It was indeed a pathetic and sorry sight to see the so-called idol busy convulsing on the ground while her tongue was sticking out .

“Oi . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Euh… . ”

“Oiii . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Suddenly, venomous light returned to her eyes as she began glaring at him . However, even though the will to pounce and beat him up good burned fiercely in her heart, her body could only remain shuddering and wiggling on the ground .

“You… . ” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“Tsk, tsk . ”

She couldn’t really be counted on to provide direct combat support . And, even if he tried to raise her combat prowess, her limits were just too dang low for that, too . So, her training focused solely on increasing the number of people she could teleport at once, as well as the number of times she could perform it .

The methods of that were pretty simple, too . Just keep teleporting all over the place . That was all .

The only problem, though, was that seemingly simple ‘teleportation’ still exhausted a great deal of stamina and caused heavy mental strain .

“I told you, don’t just teleport to wherever! Use your brain first! Form a clear picture of where you want to go first, and set the proper coordinates for yourself!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Honorifics… . ” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“… . She’s beyond help . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

She’s worried about honorifics at a time like

like this? She’s definitely nuts .

Well, I gotta hand it to that stubbornness of hers, though .

I mean, it’s really difficult to remain so stubbornly stupid for this long, no? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

Yi Ji-Hyuk lightly picked her up and tossed her into the beach chair he’d been using until now .

“I’ll acknowledge all the effort you put in before you ended up looking like now . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Seriously, even he couldn’t dismiss her hard work after seeing her face caked with sand and mud like that .

It was unknown whether this kind of training would result in her abilities becoming more powerful . But still, he felt rather pleased to see her doing her best to follow his guidance . Especially so, if he considered how hard it would be to earn her – and other ability user’s – trust .

It was then, Yi Ji-Hyuk felt a certain emotion that was pretty hard to describe with words . Now that he thought about it, being trusted by other humans was indeed a very rare thing for him .

After all, most humans he met until now treated him like a sworn enemy .

So, what could this emotion be?

Why did it feel so… . itch, all of a sudden?

Yi Ji-Hyuk chuckled to himself and shook his head in a wry manner .

A strange sense of appreciation was beginning to bloom in his mind . Just a tiny little bit .

Next up, Yi Ji-Hyuk checked on the situation with Oh-Sik and his enslaved monsters still engaging in a mock battle against the ability users .

“Euh… . ”

He watched as Oh-Sik struck ‘Iron’ Park Sung-Chan and launched him into orbit . Yi Ji-Hyuk shrugged his shoulders, unsatisfied .

‘They are not really improving much, are they?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He made these users go through as many h.e.l.lish battles as humanly possible in a short s.p.a.ce of time, but he still couldn’t see any outright improvements just yet . However, that could be due to Yi Ji-Hyuk’s standard being just too high and thus making him unable to appreciate the improvements already made .

Also, it took him more than 1000 years to get to where he was . So, perhaps it was unreasonable to expect these users to improve to a level he could more or less accept in just two weeks .

‘Still, I can’t let them just be, right?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

If the Gates were targeting only him, maybe the story would’ve been quite different . However, they opened up all over the world . And once the delicate balance collapsed, then it was only a matter of time before everything else collapsed, too .

And when those monsters continue to pile up, and eventually cover up the entire world… Now, that would be the day of the Apocalypse, for sure .

Even if the monster hordes were beaten back, the only person remaining would most likely be Yi Ji-Hyuk and him alone . So, without a doubt, he needed p.a.w.ns who could buy him time to freely enact his plans .

These users right here, they needed to become his p.a.w.ns . They needed to take the experience gained here and utilise that to enhance the overall levels of other ability users, too .

*SFX for flames erupting*

As he stood there thinking, a ball of flames flew rapidly towards Yi Ji-Hyuk’s direction . It was hard to tell whether it was accidental or not .

“Ho-oh?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk tilted slightly out of

out of the way and avoided the flame ball .

And the person responsible for that, Seo Ah-Young, was busy licking her lips in regret, as if she had missed a terrific chance just now or something .

That girl… .

“… . She’s taking it too easy, eh . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Jet-black magic circles suddenly rose up from Yi Ji-Hyuk’s hands . Soon afterwards, two more Mancreated monsters joined the fray .

“Uwaaaahck?!!”

“HEY!! You stinking son of a b*tch!!!!!!!!”

While listening to the unending stream of curse words and abuses, Yi Ji-Hyuk formed a content smile .

“You should’ve thought twice before flinging a flame ball around . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

How impudent these kids could be sometimes!

In any case, he was seeing the signs that the near-inexhaustible stamina and energy of the monsters were getting low as well, after going through constant battles .

It seemed that the time for Yi Ji-Hyuk to start doing his thing had arrived .

“Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk!!” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

It was then, Choi Jung-Hoon ran up to him while shouting out in an urgent voice .

“Yes?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“We just received a request for reinforcement . A Gate is about to open up, apparently . ” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“And why is the request coming in so late?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“The Gate’s opening speed is apparently unstable . Its level is rated 5 as well . ” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“Hmm… . ”

Hearing this, light returned to the eyes of the trainees .

If the Gate was rated 5, then another ma.s.sive monster would emerge from it . However, that was still 100 times more preferable than facing these many monsters similar in strength over here .

“We will… . ”

“Wow, you can still speak? That is quite amazing . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“…… . . ”

The mouths of the trainees snapped shut like bear traps right away .

“I alone will go . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“You alone?” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“You think me alone won’t be enough?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Well, if you’re personally going, then… . ” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

… . That would certainly be far more rea.s.suring than everyone else going there, instead .

As Choi Jung-Hoon nodded his head, Yi Ji-Hyuk turned his attention towards Seo Ah-Young and barked out his orders .

“Don’t even think of taking it easy . Train hard until it’s time to get off work . Got it?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“We will!” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Huh . Still able to speak, eh?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“……… . . ”

Yi Ji-Hyuk spat out another long groan and added one more Mana monster to the mix before turning around to leave . From behind him, an orchestra of swearing and curse words exploded forth, but to Yi Ji-Hyuk’s ears, they sounded like the music from the heavens .

“Hey, get up!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk lightly slapped the back of Jeong Hae-Min still collapsed on the beach chair .

“M, mm?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“Let’s go . It’s work . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“…I really can’t move . I’m just too tired . ” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“We go now, and I’ll let you off for today . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Okay, where to?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

Seeing her eyes burning ablaze with renewed vigour, Yi Ji-Hyuk smirked deeply .

“Go and get the coordinates . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Jeong Hae-Min stood right back up and ran towards Choi Jung-Hoon . After she got the necessary info, Yi Ji-Hyuk grasped her hand, and they disappeared into the thin air .

And as soon as that happened, Oh-Sik roared out even louder than before .

*SFX for a ma.s.sive roar*

The trainees couldn’t help but panic when witnessingpanic when witnessing this extreme change in Oh-Sik’s behaviour . It was as if the repressed violent nature of the creature due to Yi Ji-Hyuk’s presence had finally shook off its shackles as soon as he was gone .

“N, no way… . ” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

Choi Jung-Hoon began shuddering from this unexpected situation . If those monsters were no longer under the control of Yi Ji-Hyuk, then everyone here would be ma.s.sacred in no time on this tiny little island with no avenues of escape .

Kheureureu~!

Oh-Sik revealed his fangs and growled menacingly, before plopping down on his b.u.t.t . Then, as if a weight was taken off his shoulders, the Ogre spat out a long sigh and lay down on the ground .

“Eh?”

It wasn’t just Oh-Sik, either . Other monsters also lay down on the ground in unison .

“H, huh?”

The ability users looked around with dumbfounded expressions etched on their faces . The huge snake, Dae-Mang, even lazily slinked off to the nearby ocean and submerged itself in it .

“… . Yeah, now that I think about it, even these guys must’ve had it hard, too . ”

“But, do monsters even need to take a break?”

“I mean, they are living creatures, right?”

“Oh . Uh, so . We can also take a break, too?”

“… . Mm?” (Seo Ah-Young)

Seo Ah-Young and Oh-Sik exchanged silent but poignant glances . The short and wordless exchange ended with them nodding their heads in understanding .

For the first time ever, humans and the monsters, who were both the victims of the category 5 tropical storm called Yi Ji-Hyuk, had formed an united front .

The horrible training regime of Yi Ji-Hyuk ended up bearing an unexpected fruit, in other words .

*SFX for fabrics rustling*

“Heok?!”

Colonel Jeong In-Soo’s heart nearly jumped out of his mouth when the silhouettes of two people suddenly materialised out of thin air right in front of his nose . He hurriedly pulled out his pistol and got ready .

“Hey! We were supposed to appear in the air!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“… . Argh, I don’t care . I told you, I’m tired . ” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“Eii! Useless . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk pushed the slumped and struggling Jeong Hae-Min to the back and turned his attention towards Jeong In-Soo .

“What’s the situation like?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Are you here to support us? Where are the others?” (Jeong In-Soo)

“It’s me alone . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Alone… . ” (Jeong In-Soo)

Jeong In-Soo recalled Yi Ji-Hyuk displaying his G.o.d-like powers, and nodded his head in acceptance . If it was him, then it’d be better than the entirety of NDF’s forces showing up here .

“I’m sure you’ve reacted accordingly to the situation until now, but still, make sure to stay mindful of whatever happens . Jumping in w.i.l.l.y-nilly will get people hurt . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Understood . ” (Jeong In-Soo)

Yi Ji-Hyuk was thinking of ending this real quickly and return to the island . And just as he thought of this, the Gate began emitting bright light and began opening up .

“Oh, nice timing . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

So, time to quickly… .

“Huh?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk’s expression froze up stiff as soon as he clapped his eyes on the lifeform walking out of the Gate .

That… . why the h.e.l.l is that thing appearing here?!

Just what the f*ck is going on?! (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

As if there was an earthquake happening right now, Yi Ji-Hyuk’s eyes shook very, very hard .

< 78="" .="" anyone="" unwilling="" to="" train?="" -3=""> Fin .