Chapter 1
Chapter 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Return
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Hoo..."
"What, you scared?"
"Nah. You're the one shaking, aren't you? Your hands are trembling."
Everyone was forcing cheerfulness to hide their tension.
"Quiet, everyone. The gate's about to open."
Twenty years after the first gate incident erupted, the world had made tremendous progress.
Gates tore open through space, spilling unknown energy—mana—into the world.
And only a select few who could absorb that mana into their bodies became gate hunters.
They became hunters, gaining immense power.
'Soon.'
Seong Hyun-woo, one of the world's thirty S-Rank Hunters, stared at the ominous energy before him.
The highest mana concentration in history.
Endless ominous power poured from the warping space.
Only one gate could compare.
The one that nearly destroyed a nation—one even America's peak hunters couldn't stop.
San Francisco's Hell.
Even that paled in comparison.
As tension peaked, space twisted, revealing a massive gate.
"Battle stations, everyone. We're going in."
The raid team consisted of Korea's—no, the world's—top hunters.
If we couldn't stop it, the world was doomed.
Seong Hyun-woo swallowed dryly and plunged into the gate.
Right after entering the gate, there wasn't even a shadow of a mana beast—our worries seemed unfounded.
Just an endless cave stretching into darkness.
"What? Nothing here?"
"Hold on, let me scan."
A-Rank magic hunter Cha Seo-yoon placed her hand on the ground, sending out mana.
"Door 8km ahead. No mana beasts until then."
"Can you scan beyond the door?"
Seo-yoon shook her head.
"No. Mana's blocked."
"Got it. Stay alert and move fast."
Who knew what lay beyond that door? We hurried forward to save time.
A few minutes of cautious running later, we spotted the door Seo-yoon had detected.
A stone door.
Adorned with grotesque carvings and indecipherable runes, like a warning.
Even seasoned hunters felt intimidated.
Seo-yoon tried scanning again, hand on the door.
"See anything?"
"No, still blocked. Mana won't flow at all."
The real gate must be beyond.
"Prepare for battle. Something's on the other side."
Hyun-woo issued calm orders, masking his tension.
The team straightened ranks and focused.
Whatever lay ahead, we had to stop it.
Hyun-woo glanced at his sword on his belt.
"I'll do it. On three. One, two, three!"
The raid's tank, Quasi S-Rank hunter Kang Jeong-woo, signaled and shoved the door open.
Kuung— The heavy door groaned open.
Light streamed through, revealing the other side.
No mana beasts this time either.
Just endless fields of yellow and pink flowers under a cloudless sky.
"Seo-yoon, scan again."
Another scan in a gate this massive, yet no mana beasts.
Something was off.
"Something ahead. Let me check... Huh? Mana... levels..."
"Stay calm. What's the mana like?"
"It matches... the gate's total mana output."
Worst-case scenario.
All that mana from a single mana beast.
Turning, I saw the raid team pale and silent.
"Just one? We're good. We can handle it. If we fail, it's all over anyway."
"Y-yeah! About 4km straight ahead. Can't make out the shape—too much mana blocking it."
Seong Hyun-woo put a finger to his lips, signaling silence, then advanced.
Soon, the unknown enemy entered view.
A girl sleeping peacefully on a massive sky-blue throne.
Soft white hair reflecting scattered sunlight on flower petals.
Strands shimmering like silver scales in the breeze.
Long lashes casting shadows like petals on water.
The most beautiful girl I'd ever seen.
Her regal poise, as if she owned this space, left the raid silent.
"Scan again. Is it really her?"
"Hard to believe, but... yes. A mana beast this human-like? Anyone seen one?"
Everyone shook their heads at Seo-yoon's question.
Then, stirred by the noise, the girl slowly opened her eyes.
Clear pink irises reflected us.
"Mm... Huh?!"
Her cry put everyone on defense.
If she was the mana beast... would our guard hold?
A chill ran down my spine.
"Battle ready!"
Fortunately, she just stared.
Finally, people—and Koreans, no less.
How long since I'd thrown myself into that warp? An eternity.
Relief at surviving was short-lived; this world was utterly empty.
Endless flower fields. One chair.
My hero's trained mind wouldn't allow madness, so sleep was all I could do.
Now people at last—why so guarded?
"So glad to see you!"
I smiled brightly, no hostility, but their wariness grew.
My head tilted instinctively.
"Are you... human?"
"Of course. I swear no ill intent—lower the weapons? Fellow countryman after so long. This hurts."
"Fellow countryman? Who are you? Explain how you're inside a gate."
The man before me questioned without relaxing.
I recounted everything.
Hit by a truck, reincarnated, to the world's end and the warp.
My neck ached from looking up so long.
Explanation done, tension eased somewhat.
The man, dubious, glanced at the woman behind.
"...No lies."
"Really true..."
They'd been using mana to detect lies— that tickling feeling.
"My turn to ask? Questions piling up."
Who they were, how they entered, gates, hunters, outside world.
Much changed, but Earth.
I couldn't stifle the grin.
"Really? Overjoyed! So, how do we exit?"
"Gates... collapse after 72 hours. Exit opens. But..."
Unsure if safe to release me.
No matter.
I'd escape anyway—they couldn't kill me.
"Earth...!"
I pondered happily, ignoring their whispers.
Out first: what to eat? Games too—still around?
Time passed. Flowers began collapsing.
Hunters undecided, chose to exit together.
"Haa... really okay?"
"Don't worry. You know you can't harm me."
To help decide, I'd let them attack.
Result: obvious.
"Outside'll be noisy."
"Fine. I like lively."
"Not that kind..."
I grinned at the bearish hunter Jeong-woo's mutter, surrendering to the collapse.
The noise warning was spot on.
Eyes open: crowds of armed hunters, weapons raised. Probably reinforcements.
Earth for real.
Korea, my home. High-rises everywhere. Nostalgia hit.
Then a tall, burly man in a sharp suit rushed us.
"Hyun-woo? Seo-yoon? What happened? Who's this? Gate collapsed—we prepped... mana beasts? All cleared?"
"D-Director... somewhere quiet first."
Soon, the suited man pulled back his wary hunters, loaded us into a car. Hunter Management Bureau Director, apparently.
"So... just her inside? No mana beasts?"
"Yes. Precisely..."
Seong Hyun-woo repeated my story to the director.
"No—haa... talk at the Bureau."
Craved the outside—window too high.
While they talked, I knelt on the seat, glued to the window, drinking in Seoul.
'Nothing changed.'
1,000 years in Elysia, but only 20 on Earth.
"Uh... name? Over 1,000 years old, but look like this—awkward."
The director finally addressed me amid my sightseeing.
"Arshirientra. Call me casually, please."
"Uh... yeah. Ar... what?"
Tough in Korean.
"Just Ar's fine."
"Got it, Ar. Gu Gi-wook. Nice to meet you."
I nodded and resumed gazing.
[Like Request] Live Gate Front Situation.mp4
— Hunter Info Tong
(Video of gate collapsing) Just filmed. Upvotes please.
"Haa..."
Info leaked again.
Hunter Management Bureau agent Kim Seung-ah clutched her throbbing head.