Heading to the New House (1)
The red and blue patterns at the edge of the one-room apartment swirled and intertwined, and soon a massive gate appeared.
The first to step out from there were Mark One and Ibella, who had perfectly completed all their missions and returned.
Then, from the crimson-red gate that appeared beside them, Mark Two returned to the one-room apartment.
“Mark Two? You were summoned already? Faster than I thought.”
“It is an honor to greet you both! Mark One-nim, Ibella-nim! While you two were away, something unpleasant happened to the master, so I was summoned urgently to handle it.”
“I see. Speaking of which, where is the master?”
Ibella scanned the interior of the one-room apartment, looking for Ha Yuna to deliver the neatly edited video of Dmitri and the Russian hunters performing PT gymnastics.
But nowhere in sight was the master.
At that moment, when the three undead felt an overwhelming surge of mana bursting from the gate entrance that Alkerniman had set up, they all rushed in at once.
And there, in the center of it all:
“Long live the Elder Lich! Long live Ha Yuna! Long live the Elder Lich! Long live Ha Yuna! Long live the Elder Lich! Long live Ha Yuna! Long live the Elder Lich! Long live Ha Yuna! Long live the Elder Lich! Long live Ha Yuna!”
“The master is the strongest! No one can stop him! Strength, power, and cuteness—the best in the world!”
“Hahaha! Who’s gonna stop me?! Who dares to stop this Elder Lich Ha Yuna?!”
The two elderly undead alternately raised their hands and spun around in circles,
and Mark One discovered the master in the center, arms crossed, energetically riding the rhythm with a proud swagger.
Mark One stood still for a moment, stunned by the unexpected sight, then quietly muttered in a very small voice.
“...While I was out on a mission, Mordane showed up too? The atmosphere’s gotten way too lively.”
“I agree. When I was summoned, everyone wasn’t nearly this excited.”
Ibella watched the two old geezers and the master with a blank expression for a moment, then activated the system camera and began recording the three beings joyfully dancing.
Mark One glanced at her.
“Ibella, make sure the master’s appearance comes out clearly. Don’t let anything weird appear. If you mess up, you’ll get your butt spanked by that terrifying-looking Dokkaebi Club next to you.”
Ibella shrugged.
“Of course. After analyzing the remaining traces, it seems Alkerniman-nim has been thoroughly beaten for over an hour.”
“...Tsk, even 2000 PT gymnastics weren’t enough...”
From the middle of the research lab, another “Long live!” rang out even louder.
Mordane laid down even thicker soundproofing magic while never missing a single chant.
Alkerniman waved two high-grade recovery potions in both hands like he was shaking a bottle of liquor, thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere.
And then:
“Finally, I can sleep in a proper house! Long live!”
Ha Yuna, the happiest of all the undead, headbanging wildly with her mental leash completely loosened, was the one who looked the most ecstatic.
***
About ten minutes later, the frenzy of excitement finally subsided.
Mordane, sensing the presence of the three, calmed the master and Alkerniman and shouted:
“Master! Mark One, Mark Two, and Ibella are all gathered.”
“Oh! You guys did great!”
Mark One, Mark Two, and Ibella knelt on one knee simultaneously.
In front of them, Ha Yuna, cheeks still flushed, raised both hands.
“Good, good. You handled the tasks I assigned, right?”
Mark One was the first to report.
“Yes, we completely subdued Dmitri and the Russian hunters and brought back the PT gymnastics video.”
“Any casualties?”
“We eliminated two humans who disobeyed orders.”
“Hmm... They must have been pretty nasty.”
With a slightly suspicious look, I asked. Ibella, kneeling beside me, continued the explanation.
“After tracing the remnants of memory, they were the kind of filthy criminals who would be branded as super-class criminals even in Barzena. If you command it, I can show you their entire memories right now.”
“No way. If Ibella says they’re that bad, they really are human garbage.”
Branding them as super-class criminals in Barzena meant they had committed crimes dirty enough to warrant life imprisonment in modern society.
I didn’t even need to doubt the loyalty of the ones who had followed my orders.
“Anyway, you’re all good... Mark Two, what about the association head?”
“After giving the association head 3000 PT gymnastics, we neatly finished him. As ordered, we kept the victim secretary alive with no traces left.”
“Okay, perfect.”
I clapped a few times toward the three undead still kneeling, then called the two old geezers who had been watching from behind.
“Now, I need to explain why we’re so excited.”
“Ah, I heard a bit earlier. It seems you’ve acquired a new residence.”
“Exactly! We’re moving right away, so get ready.”
This was how I assigned the number one spot to Mark One.
He was quick-witted and had excellent action. I liked him a lot.
“Alkerniman, quickly clean up the gate. Mordane-nim, use polymorph magic on them so they look like ordinary Koreans.”
“Understood.”
“Starting immediately.”
“And Mark One and Mark Two, after the polymorph, we’ll move the luggage first. But we must bring that bed no matter what.”
“Understood!”
“Leave it to us!”
Just like that, we began moving to the new residence less than a day after returning to Earth.
***
After all preparations were complete, we emerged from the basement one-room apartment and were on our way to the address provided by the S-rank slime, receiving every passerby’s gaze at once.
Why every passerby’s gaze?
Well...
“Hey, this isn’t Barzena, you crazy bastards! Stop doing something so noticeable...!”
These crazy loyal knights of mine—Death Knights who said the king doesn’t walk on two legs—sat me down on a chair they picked up from somewhere and carried me like a palanquin, so the stares couldn’t be avoided.
“It is impossible. In Barzena, the master never walked while we carried him like this, did he? Now you want to walk?”
“Mark One-nim is right. And how are we supposed to walk on those two fragile-looking legs in the first place? Please do not worry. We are sturdy!”
“You crazy bastards... I’m not worried about that. I’m embarrassed because of you...”
The residents’ gazes were unbearably burdensome.
Two college students passing by stopped, staring blankly while sipping coffee, then whispered.
“Hey... what’s that? Is it a Joseon Dynasty cosplay?”
“If it’s Joseon Dynasty cosplay, shouldn’t they be wearing hanbok? Too half-hearted. Still, the girl sitting is super cute.”
An uncle stopped while walking his dog with a stick in its mouth.
“...?”
“Woof...?”
They all stared with the same expression: “Who the hell are these people?”
Three kids playing at the nearby playground shouted with sparkling eyes.
“Waaaaah! Knights! Knights! Let’s go see the big brother knights!”
“Mom! I want to ride that too!”
“It looks like a drama shoot, or maybe an ad? All the actors are so handsome.”
Meanwhile, two teenage girls in the front row were filming us and whispering.
“Hey, that girl sitting on the chair... isn’t she cute?”
“Admit it... that embarrassed + deadpan combo is somehow disgustingly cute...”
“...”
After confirming every single one of the reactions, I finally gritted my teeth.
These crazy bastards... are they trying to humiliate me? I’m going crazy.
“Please... can’t you just let me down?”
I begged the two knights with a voice like an ant crawling, using my last shred of pride.
But the only response I got was:
“Impossible.”
“Unacceptable.”
“...Are you really going to die? Want to feel the Dokkaebi Club?”
“...”
Mark One added calmly, like he was giving a business report.
“The master never walked even once in Barzena. Therefore, the act of ‘walking’ itself does not match the master’s status.”
“This isn’t Barzena, you idiots!!”
Mark Two remained completely unfazed.
“Please do not worry. I will block all the gazes.”
He gathered pitch-black mana in one place and raised his hand as if about to explode it at any moment.
At that sight, I slapped Mark Two on the back of the head and shouted reflexively.
“You crazy bastard, stop! People will faint from fear! The news will come out!”
“S-sorry...”
Mark Two quickly lowered his hand and scratched the back of his head with his left hand.
Mark One smirked and continued walking silently, while Ibella, as if she were about to become a YouTuber, filmed our movements diligently from the side.
Apparently, she really liked the filming and broadcasting functions.
Alkerniman and Mordane followed behind, raising both hands in a “long live” pose like bodyguards.
At that moment...
“...Huh? What’s this feeling?”
A very strange mana aura was felt from not far away.
Not only me, but all the undead felt the aura at the same time, and without hesitation, everyone moved toward the place where the mana was felt.
And there:
A circular gate, similar to the one Alkerniman had created but slightly different, was spinning as if the wind was being sucked in backward, with blue and purple colors overlapping and flickering.
“A gate?”
“A gate?”
“It’s a gate.”
Ibella opened the analysis window.
“The regularity of the patterns... This is a bit different from Barzena’s mana patterns. The gate mana rank is estimated to be at least A-rank or higher.”
“Ah~ So this is the gate that started appearing since the great catastrophe ten years ago.”
Curious about the different mana pattern from Barzena, I slowly approached the gate.
But the residents who had been peacefully living their daily lives just a moment ago completely changed their reactions upon discovering the gate.
“Kyaaaaak! Run! It’s a gate!”
“Is it really a gate? The one we saw on the news?!”
“Hey, we have to run!”
“Run before I ask! That crazy-colored thing means a gate break is about to happen!”
“Gate... gate break? Run!”
In an instant, the people observing us from around scattered, screaming.
Mark One slowly approached my side and asked.
“Master, give the order. Shall we clean it up? Or observe?”
“Just one word, and anyone who interferes here will—”
“Wait.”
I kept my eyes on the gate and lightly raised my hand to stop them.
And very quietly, I muttered.
“First, let’s see what comes out. Since the mana patterns are different from Barzena, it means monsters we couldn’t see in Barzena will come out, right?”
“Master, you don’t mean...?”
“Exactly! We’re meeting new comrades!”
The waves from the gate grew stronger.
The surrounding air violently churned, and the walls and signs shook as if an earthquake had hit.
Crack—!
And soon, cracks began to slowly form in the gate.