Return.
Return.
"Are you really leaving?"
A small girl said with a face holding back tears.
Her usual neatly combed blonde hair was a messy tangle today, and there were traces of slight puffiness around her eyes, as if she had already shed quite a few tears.
"Yes."
I looked at that child's face and smiled bitterly.
"You know it well too, don't you."
I looked down at my hand, which had become noticeably weaker than before.
No matter how strong I had been in the past, the ravages of old age were something I couldn't do anything about.
As a human who is born, lives, grows old, and dies... as long as we are bound by that natural order, it was an unavoidable destiny.
I said while lightly stroking the small child's head.
"A human lifespan is far too short compared to yours. It's hard to even surpass a hundred years."
"Th-then... if I share my heart with you...!"
"No. It's fine."
I shook my head slightly. Because I didn't want to prolong this life by using the heart of the disciple I had raised like a child.
Besides, it wasn't that there weren't secret arts to extend one's lifespan, but I had refused all of those methods.
I had lived enough in this world. I had fallen into an incomprehensible otherworld, struggled desperately, grown strong, and in the end became a hero who saved the world.
The only lingering attachment I had left was.
"It's not that I want to live longer. I just want to see my homeland one last time with my own eyes."
"But...."
"Don't say anything more. No matter what you say, my mind won't change."
So, after lightly patting my young disciple's shoulder, I looked at the large pot placed over the fire.
A special reagent made by processing and mixing various precious materials, then using alchemy to amplify its effects.
It wasn't finished yet... but once this was completed, I planned to spend the final part of my life, my last gamble.
"I understand. I will follow Teacher-nim's will."
"Then would you go check the magic circuit of Celestial Castle needed for the ritual? Because it seems my mana alone isn't enough."
Actually, that was a blatant lie. Even my mana alone was more than enough, but I didn't want to involve this child in the aftermath of a possible failure.
I didn't care if I died, but I didn't want that child to die.
"I understand. I'll be back soon then!"
"Thank you."
Watching the small back of my disciple quickly running off at my final request, I apologized quietly.
"I'm sorry, Asha."
And unlike me, whose allotted time was running out, that child still had a lot of time ahead... I had to send her away even with a lie.
It was a bit worrying to have to leave that small child behind, but I could only believe that she would do well.
Thus, I prepared to finish the reagent.
The last ingredient was none other than blood imbued with mana. For mages, it's the easiest material to obtain and the most useful medium.
So, I picked up the small dagger lying on the table.
The amount needed... about a teaspoon. A simple task of cutting a fingertip and adding it.
But the hand holding the dagger was trembling slightly.
Even though when I was young I handled the blade like part of my body, now it feels so awkward. Time is truly cruel.
But the time allowed to me now was not plentiful.
I adjusted the dagger—
"Cough! Cough!!!"
Suddenly, a burst of coughing made me drop the dagger in my hand.
I hurriedly stepped back, so I wasn't injured by the falling dagger...
"Oh dear..."
The hand that had covered my mouth during the cough was stained with red blood.
Whether my internal organs were damaged or my airway was injured, a cough mixed with blood came out. I didn't want to show that child this sight any longer.
I stared at the red blood on my hand. Hmm... could I just use this blood without making a cut?
Although it was blood from a cough, it contained enough mana that a faint blue light surrounded it... It seemed sufficient for use as a reagent ingredient.
Using the blood that conveniently came out like this seems better than making a new cut on my fingertip. I've never done it before though.
I carefully collected the blood on my hand and dropped it into the gently boiling reagent. Then, the blue reagent turned into a light purple color, just as I had thought.
After quickly cooling the pot of completed reagent with freezing magic, I poured it into the magic circle I had previously inscribed on the floor, completing the preparation of the magic circle.
With this... all preparations were finished.
"Alright. Let's give it a try."
What I'm about to do now is the final gamble of my life. The last challenge I can undertake after having fallen into another world.
If I succeed, I'll be able to see my homeland; if I fail, it will end here.
"Please, let me see my homeland one last time."
I pushed all the mana I had into the magic circle, and in the center of the circle, space began to crack like glass, revealing a pitch-black void in the gaps.
Fortunately, the magic circle I had researched and prepared over many long years was functioning successfully.
A magic circle that creates a temporary passage by piercing a hole through the solid wall separating worlds.
The world set as the destination was the world I was born and raised in, my homeland. The world set through the coordinates engraved in my soul. Earth.
That passage that opens because of it... no, since it can be seen as a door to another world, it would be right to call it a Gate.
Although I can't see beyond the Gate properly right now... if the magic circle is working normally, Earth should be beyond it.
Since the time the magic circle can be maintained is proportional to the mana injected, the Gate wouldn't stay open for long. There was no time to hesitate.
I hurriedly stepped toward the Gate, which had grown to a size that one person could easily pass through.
Praying that this old and sickly body could see the scenery of Earth one last time.
Earnestly wishing to return to Earth.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Fortunately, the magic circle worked normally and sent me to Earth.
The nostalgic and familiar smell of exhaust fumes brushing my nose. The sound of cars from outside the window. And even the rare wallpaper patterns of that world.
The chance of failure was high, and since the time allowed to me wasn't long, I attempted it almost with a gambler's heart, but fortunately, I succeeded safely.
But whether it was an unexpected problem, an error in the magic circle due to insufficient mana, or the coordinates engraved in my soul having deteriorated, or maybe the problem was using the blood coughed up...
A small problem occurred.
"It's good to be back on Earth, but..."
I let out a small sigh and looked at my reflection in the mirror.
I don't know where in the process the bug occurred... but let's just say I returned to a time slightly earlier than when I fell into the other world.
"How did this happen...?"
In the mirror, a pretty girl with black hair long past her waist was reflected.
Not yet a full adult, but she had a fairly mature appearance for a teenager.
A pretty girl who would clearly grow into a beauty in a year or two was my current appearance.
"The only fortunate thing... is that the memories of being a woman also coexist."
The memories from childhood to now were all intact in my head, so I could properly grasp my current situation.
After comparing the memories as a woman and the memories as an old man one by one, the very first difference was only one thing. Just my gender.
The name is the same as when I was male: Kim Su-yeon. Age 19, or 18 in international age? I still don't understand international age well.
A senior in high school who took the CSAT just a few months ago, a girl who became free after escaping the shackles of a test-taker.
Other than that, the family, hometown, and overall home environment were the same, but because of that one difference in gender, there were many differences.
Especially the part where the biggest difference appears.
"The CSAT... I completely messed it up..."
Because it happened to overlap with the magic day cycle on the CSAT day, and various problems from the menstruation medicine I took to avoid a catastrophe, combined with the difficulty that was called 'hell CSAT,' I completely ruined the exam.
As a result, there was a difference: instead of the university I had considered while taking mock exams, I had no choice but to apply to a much lower-tier school.
Unlike when I was male, when I entered a decent university in Seoul... now I am in a state of having submitted an application to a decent private university in Busan.
"Ugh... it's already in the past, so there's nothing I can do."
It's already past, so there's nothing I can do about it, and in the first place, I'm just an ordinary human with the memories of a girl who just graduated high school and an 80-year-old old man half-occupying my head.
It's not like there's mana in this world, and even though I have experience handling a sword, there's no way to use that experience here.
I returned from another world, but there was nothing to show for it.
"Plus... I need to figure out what to do about the girl's personality as well."
My current situation is a combination of the memories and personality of an old man from the future and the personality of a young girl not yet an adult, at an 8:2 ratio.
The dominance is with me, the old man... but this feels like I've stolen the body of the woman, which makes me uncomfortable in many ways.
Especially since among the enemies I faced, the demons included ones who stole others' bodies and pretended to be them.
I don't want to do such a thing. If possible, I want to return the body to the woman that is me...
But there's no naturally existing mana on Earth! Because of the big problem that magic cannot be used by ordinary methods, I can't resolve it.
Haah. Why did it turn out like this? I really don't understand.