The Returner

Choi Jeong-Hoon waited for Alpha’s arrival with an anxious expression.

“Why is he so late?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

A nuke was flying in towards Korea right now, so how could he be so late in such an urgent situation?

“...It’s not like I wanted to be late, you know?” (Alpha)

Choi Jeong-Hoon was shocked by a voice suddenly coming from somewhere behind and quickly turned around. That’s where he discovered Alpha and his slightly pouty face.

“What were you expecting when you just called me out of the blue? I’m not as good at teleporting as Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk, you know? Plus, you should’ve also told me how to find this place as well. If not, maybe even the address would have sufficed.” (Alpha)

“...Even if I told you the address, would you have been able to find this place anyway?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Oh hey, long time no see.” (Alpha)

Alpha smiled brightly and changed the subject.

“I heard that a truly wonderful event of Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk needing my help has happened, so I dropped everything just to come here as soon as possible.” (Alpha)

Yi Ji-Hyuk replied with an unimpressed expression.

“But, you don’t look like you have anything else to do?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Correct. Ah, wait a minute. No, actually, I’m quite a busy man, myself. I was merely taking a short break so that I can take a very good care of the next assignment, as it were.” (Alpha)

“Sure. Whatever.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk scratched his head.

“There’s something you gotta do for us.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Of course. If you need my help, I’m only happy to oblige. Okay, so. What do you want me to do?” (Alpha)

Yi Ji-Hyuk replied nonchalantly.

“You know that a nuke is headed this way, don’t you?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I heard that nukes are headed to all corners of the globe, but didn’t know that there was one coming over here. As expected of China. Or should I say that, as expected of humanity?

“I went through so much hoops and troubles just to open a doorway to the demon world, yet it all took one moment for humanity to scatter nukes throughout the world. And all I can say to that is, well, I raise my hands and maybe even both my feet in defeat at the grand scale the species called humanity is capable of unleashing.

“After what happened, I can’t help but think that maybe the doorway to the demon world has opened for the purpose of humanity’s ultimate salvation instead. If we were left alone, we’d have killed ourselves in this manner sooner or later. Also, I kind of feel guilty when asking myself, did I open the doorway in order to do this? It’s really tormenting me deep inside.” (Alpha)

“...What’s this loon even talking about?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Alpha’s head faltered, his face showing how deeply hurt he was just then.

Choi Jeong-Hoon thought that anyone yapping on so passionately like that would be deeply hurt when the listener responded in such a manner, and quickly spoke to Yi Ji-Hyuk.

“For now, just brief him on our current situation first. We don’t have much time.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Okay, fine. Hey man, there’s a nuke flying over here, so...” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Yes?” (Alpha)

“Make it stop flying.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Yes?” (Alpha)

“You stop it, then I break it. Okay?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Yes?” (Alpha)

Alpha’s expression betrayed how dumbfounded he was right now.

“Okay, so. Here’s the thing. Honestly speaking, I can definitely, proudly say that I’m the world’s strongest ability user. Sure, you can argue about whether I’m the best or not, but...

“Of course, if the discussion includes you, Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk, then I can’t claim to be the strongest, but let’s be objective here, you are not really an ability user, are you? I mean, your ability is strictly meant to support you and nothing much besides, so rather than an ability user, it’ll be more correct to call you a sorcerer or a caster, instead.

“Getting back to our initial discussion, then. After excluding you, I’m the world’s strongest sorcerer... Oops, that’s a slip of my tongue. Excluding you, I can confidently say that I’m the world’s strongest ability user, but that doesn’t mean I’m capable of doing everything and anything my heart desires.

“Of course, it’s true that I do possess multiple excellent abilities when compared to other ability users, but even then, I...” (Alpha)

“Shut up for a second, you loon!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk stared at Alpha with a fed-up expression.

He certainly wouldn’t lose to anyone when it came to how talkative he was. He even heard the old saying of ‘When a loudmouth drowns, only his mouth will float up’ way too many times until he felt genuinely sick and tired of it.

However, Alpha was so talkative that even the one and only Yi Ji-Hyuk felt fed up by him.

‘What the hell, was his personality originally like this?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk felt queasy after suddenly thinking that in the past, Alpha wasn’t fluent in Korean and he couldn’t yap as much as he wanted.

To put that in another way, one would have no choice but to sit through this much claptrap whenever a need to deal with Alpha cropped up in the future.

Yi Ji-Hyuk finally gained some enlightenment on why people dealing with him were gritting their teeth so much until now. This was... a kind of psychological attack. He flung around attack magic with his hands while his mouth was busy flinging around psychological attacks, so how could anyone withstand this combined assault?

‘Yup, I better take some pointers from him.’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He simply had to acknowledge that Alpha was above him when it came to psychological attacks using one’s mouth. If someone else had this one good point that you didn’t have, then wouldn’t it be the correct stance of an intellectual being to learn and embrace it for himself later?

“Okay, so basically, you won’t do it?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“It’s not that I won’t, but more like I can’t. Please be more considerate towards the slight difference in the verbs used. In any case, this is not something I can do.” (Alpha)

“But, no one else but you can do it, though?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“...”

“And if you can’t then well, everyone will die.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Mm, please hang on for a second. You should’ve told me stuff like this sooner, you know.” (Alpha)

While looking deeply troubled, Alpha crossed his arms then turned his head to look at Yi Ji-Hyuk.

“When your head is in a mess, you should smoke to clear your mind. Do you have any cigarettes on you?” (Alpha)

“I only realised it now, but I think you’re the first person to ask me for a smoke ever since I came back to this world.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Honestly, I don’t really enjoy smoking but there are those times when you just need to puff away, wouldn’t you say? Like right now.” (Alpha)

Yi Ji-Hyuk didn’t say anything else and pulled out a cigarette to pass over to Alpha. Although he thought that it was one thing or the other with this loon, what could he do anyway? The one needing something should just shut up and endure.

“Ah, thanks so much. But, uh, is it OK to smoke here? Where’s the smoking area?” (Alpha)

“Just smoke the dang thing, will ya. Everyone’s been evacuated, so who cares about smoking areas and whatnot?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I may not look it, but I’m actually a model law-abiding citizen.” (Alpha)

“You ain’t even a Korean citizen, so who cares?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Ah, you’re right. I guess I can just smoke away, then. It’s certainly more convenient that way, I guess.” (Alpha)

Alpha replied in a joking tone of voice, then lit up his cigarette.

“Okay, so. You want me to stop the incoming missile, yes? Do I have to stop it temporarily, or just decrease its speed somehow?” (Alpha)

“Doesn’t matter. Do what you think is convenient for you. It’ll be fine as long as it won’t make me fail during the casting and blow up the rocket inadvertently.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“M-mm...” (Alpha)

Alpha sucked in the cigarette smoke deeply before nodding his head.

“Hah, this... Why does it feel like I’ll be in the red... Currently all of my slots are full so it means I gotta discard one. But, like, I’ve grown attached to all of them, you know... Well, you guys owe me one with this.” (Alpha)

“What are you even yapping on about?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“...It’s like, explaining it to you is the same thing as revealing my hand too early so I’m kinda reluctant to do that. But not telling you anything will probably mean that Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk won’t appreciate how much I must sacrifice because of this event so that’s gonna be a big loss on my side, either way.” (Alpha)

“It’s fine.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Pardon me? It’s fine? Is that something your side should be saying right now? Wait, maybe I’m not totally fluent in Korean or something?” (Alpha)

“I ain’t gonna feel grateful or apologetic just because you told me about your sacrifice anyway, so it’s fine even if you don’t tell me.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“...Well, aren’t you a cool guy or what.” (Alpha)

Alpha groaned several times in a row.

“Alright, I got it. I’ll make some preparations and return in five minutes, so please wait for me. This is something the main body has to get involved, you see.” (Alpha)

“Sure, whatever.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Alright, later.” (Alpha)

Alpha’s body emitted bright light as he teleported away. Choi Jeong-Hoon stared at the empty spot where Alpha used to be, then spoke up.

“Can we even trust that guy?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“We’re riding in the same boat anyway, so it’s fine.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Even then, I still can’t trust him.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“I think you’re mistaken about something here...” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk shrugged his shoulders.

“Let’s say that that guy changes his mind. Or maybe I do. When that happens, this planet will be finished for sure. In that case, everyone will end up dead, so I don’t think there’s a need to worry about trust or whatever. If things go sideways, we’ll just die and that will be that. It’s simply a question of whether you’ll die a bit earlier or later, anyway.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“...That’s true.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Of course, the problem here was that humans simply couldn’t do it – while it was easy to say that they would unite in front of a common, powerful enemy, humans at the end of the day were animals driven by emotions. So it wasn’t really possible to completely let go of one’s resentment and hatred accumulated for a long time and truly trust your former enemy.

“Does that mean you trust Alpha?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Of course not.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk was quite clear on where he stood.

“I don’t trust him at all. However, we ain’t in the realm of trust but necessity right now. If we can survive by trusting, then... well, sure, why not. This is the most optimal solution available, after all.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Mm...” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon gravely nodded. Casting Alpha aside because of the bitter taste in your mouth would mean that they wouldn’t be able to stop the incoming nuke. As that was the case, he didn’t have much of a choice but to trust Alpha.

“You know, life can be so unpredictable. Who knew we’d be working together with that guy. You seriously can’t tell what’s going to happen tomorrow, can you?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“You can’t?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk cocked his head to the side.

“That guy probably had planned for this eventuality in the first place, so why do you say that?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Excuse me?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Even as he was planning to open the doorway to the demon world, he probably kept me firmly in his calculations. And that’s why he brazenly showed up and asked for my cooperation.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Are you implying that this is what he predicted would happen?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Well, I’m guessing that events have unfolded almost exactly as he had planned so far. Although, I’m pretty sure even he didn’t anticipate the current nuke crisis.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Choi Jeong-Hoon felt creeped out and held his shoulders.

‘He... planned for all this?’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Does that mean he opened the doorway just to join hands with you?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“I don’t think so. But, he must’ve realised that as long as the doorway opens up, I won’t have a choice but to cooperate with him. No one on this planet knows more about how I operate better than him, I think? Maybe he even knows about the colour of my underwear, too.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“...Why go that far, though?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Not sure. Who knows? But I have my suspicions.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Choi Jeong-Hoon quietly waited for the next part of Yi Ji-Hyuk’s observation.

“A guy like him would never let someone else do all the work and wait for a favourable result in the end. Also, despite causing all sorts of crazy events everywhere, he’s definitely not the type to wait for the demon kings to obliterate this planet to dust, either. No, to him, even the demon kings are nothing more than disposable means to an end.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Even though the demon kings are so much stronger?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Humans don’t use nukes because we’re stronger than an ICBM, now do we? There’s actually no point in worrying about whether your means to an end are stronger than you or not. No, whether or not you can make them act according to your plan is a thousand times more important.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Mm...” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon slowly nodded in understanding.

“Does that mean you joined hands with Alpha despite being aware of all this?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Well, he’s a necessity, after all.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Choi Jeong-Hoon narrowed his eyes.

‘Although I can’t fully understand it, but...’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

He could instinctively tell. The amount of information about each other Alpha and Yi Ji-Hyuk gleaned while they conversed should be several times greater than what Choi Jeong-Hoon could hear and understand while listening on the sideline. Even if they sounded so... ‘natural’ during the conversation, they were probably analysing each other constantly and waging a bitter psychological warfare.

This was not the realm Choi Jeong-Hoon could haphazardly interfere with. 𝙛r𝚎𝐞𝑤𝚎𝗯𝗻𝗼𝐯e𝚕.𝒄𝐨𝓂

“...Well, I could be wrong, though.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Sorry?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“It’s nothing.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon kind of thought that such a thing might be true for Alpha but maybe Yi Ji-Hyuk didn’t care one way or the other.

Who knows, maybe this dude was simply thinking of killing Alpha if things got too complicated or something. He hated complicated things, after all.

“Man, if only Affeldrichae or Erukana was here with me. I wouldn’t have to work my butt off here.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk grumbled with a face full of irritation.

He didn’t know what they were doing these days, but it sure was getting harder to see their mugs recently.

Well, even he could tell that they were doing something on their own for the sake of this world, but since he didn’t know what exactly they were doing or what their end goals were in the first place, he just couldn’t get rid of this frustration welling up in his chest.

‘But who’s fault is it to begin with, anyway...’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

All throughout his life, he took care of things with his own strength, and as such he never paid much attention to what others around him did on their own. If he hadn’t lost his powers then even now he wouldn’t have cared much about their absence. Which meant they wouldn’t feel all that compelled to explain what they were doing to Yi Ji-Hyuk as well.

Just as he began thinking that he should find a way to fix the state of his strange relationships, blinding rays of lights suddenly went off and Alpha revealed himself once more.

< 434. Ah, shucks... This might not work after all? -4 > Fin.