The B-Boy of Hongdae
"Anyway, I am currently searching for companions who can defeat the Demon Dragon King. And I believed that Demian, who also regressed, would be more than enough to help me defeat the Demon Dragon King Halles. But then I witnessed you, someone even more powerful than Demian, and that is why I sought you out. Slender Forearms!"
"Ah! I'm not Slender Forearms, I'm Lim Yunjae! And I'm just slender overall!"
"That doesn't matter!"
"Ah! Why not?!"
"Regardless, you must join me in defeating the Demon Dragon King Halles and saving humanity! Otherwise, in fifteen years, humanity will face total annihilation!"
At that desperate shout, Yunjae looked utterly bewildered.
"So regressors are actually quite common... I thought it was a pretty cool concept..."
"How could that possibly be common, you dummy?"
"Ah, but they seem to pop up every five years!"
At those words, even Mari was left speechless.
"Honestly..."
Damion didn't seem to be lying, but could such a thing really be possible?
"But no matter how I look at it, this is so weird! The timeline went from ten years to fifteen, they slightly upgraded Demian's stats, and just swapped the girlfriend setting to a younger sister!"
At Akemi's sharp observation, Damion let out a heavy sigh and shook his head.
"Now is not the time for such trivialities. It is true that he and I are shockingly similar. But that is not what is important. You wouldn't know because you went missing before Kadmus appeared, but the Demon Dragon King Halles is on a completely different level!"
"Ah!"
He even knew that Akemi had gone missing before Kadmus in the future! Watching Damion answer with such dead seriousness made it impossible to dismiss everything as a lie.
"But I can easily solo Halles too. He's a bit stronger than Kadmus, but he's really not that difficult."
Indeed, Halles posed no real threat to Yunjae. At his casual remark that it wouldn't be hard,
"W-What did you say?!"
Damion was utterly shell-shocked! Even this reaction was so identical to Demian's that Yunjae couldn't help but feel a bit put off as he spoke.
"So, I'll take care of Halles for you over the weekend!"
"Foolishness! This is a matter of utmost urgency, where every second counts!"
Though the identical setups left him bewildered, he couldn't very well help Demian and ignore Damion. Since the future of humanity hung in the balance for both, what choice did he have?
"Since it's fifteen years in the future anyway, even if we go now, it won't be his true body—just like Kadmus. He'll probably just be like a regular field boss monster. It won't take more than ten seconds to defeat him. I have to go to work on weekdays, so I can't spare any time then. Just contact me in advance around Friday!"
He had to work on weekdays! At the office assistant's declaration that he would save the future of humanity over the weekend, Damion cried out in sheer desperation.
"The Demon Dragon King Halles is on a completely different dimension compared to Kadmus!"
"He doesn't have physical attack immunity like Kadmus, but his base defense is high and his magic resistance is twice as high. Once you know that, he's not that hard. Even if it's his true body, I can vaporize him in no time."
He had defeated the Demon God Mamon a thousand times; how could this be difficult? At the max-level player's casual dismissal, the other regressor, Damion, stared at him with a face full of disbelief.
"H-How can this be?!"
To speak so lightly of defeating the Demon Dragon King, the very being destined to destroy humanity fifteen years from now!
"Well, we're off to our welcome dinner now, Mr. Damion!"
"A welcome dinner?! When the Demon Dragon King Halles looms over us?!"
"Ah! It's a prior engagement, so... I'm so sorry!"
With that, Yunjae bowed politely and gave Miju a look signaling it was time to go.
"Ah, yes."
Guided by Miju, the four of them began walking toward the Red House.
"I had no idea Damion was so similar to Demian."
"I know, right?"
Akemi and Suyeon knew of an ability user named 'Damion of the Lightning', but they apparently hadn't realized he was so identical to Demian.
"I guess traveling from the future to the past is incredibly easy."
As Mari muttered this, looking equally put off, a brief silence fell over the group.
Then, looking anxious that he might be forced to spend all his weekends hunting for the sake of humanity, Yunjae turned to her and asked,
"You don't think someone named Domian will show up next, right?"
"I mean, Mr. Demian and Mr. Damion are the only ones, right?"
"Hmm, there are no other ability users with aliases starting with 'Lightning'. Since there's no one else who fits the profile, Demian and Damion are probably the only ones."
Having quickly checked the hunter registry at the Blast Guild headquarters using her teleportation, Akemi offered this reassurance, prompting Yunjae to let out a deep sigh of relief.
"Phew, thank goodness. If a Mr. Domian showed up too, I really..."
He had finally secured a mundane office job, yet these regressors kept popping up, trying to drag him back to hunting under the pretext of saving humanity!
"Ah, but weekends are meant for lazing around. It looks like I'm doomed to go hunting this weekend too!"
Though he was relieved there was no Domian, the thought of losing his entire weekend made Yunjae's face fall into a pout.
"But there's nothing we can do. If what Damion said is true..."
If humanity was destined for ruin in fifteen years, he had no choice but to step up.
"Well, with so many of them, it does make you wonder."
But the threat had been real with Kadmus too. It was only because Yunjae had vaporized him so effortlessly that it lacked impact. In reality, the thousands of exotic birds and mermen were a force of monsters that would have required a coalition of nations, not just a single guild, to mobilize against.
"But this has to be the last one, right? There are no other Demian knockoffs besides Damion."
"Ah, Mari! Calling him a knockoff is a bit..."
"He's clearly a knockoff, so who cares?"
Perhaps the fact that Damion followed Demian, and no other similar regressors existed, meant that humanity really had been completely wiped out by the Demon Dragon King Halles.
"Anyway, Akemi searched the association's registry and found no one else. So Halles is definitely the last one!"
Whatever might happen years down the line with other resurrections or threats, Halles would surely be the final time Yunjae would have to intervene.
Those words seemed to cheer Yunjae up.
"Yes! I'll just think of it as taking a weekend trip! It won't take long to deal with him anyway!"
At Yunjae's sudden shift to ultra-positive thinking, Suyeon spoke up with a serious expression.
"I will help too."
Having received the Saint's Gloves from him, she was finally able to live a normal life. Naturally, she wanted to help in any way she could.
"Ah, no, it's fine! It's about as much trouble as going to the restroom to wash my hands."
Yunjae waved his hands frantically, dismissing the need.
"Is... is the Demon Dragon King really that trivial?"
Her eyes widened. Since Suyeon hadn't witnessed his battle with Kadmus yet, this was only a natural reaction.
"Yes, even his true body isn't particularly difficult. Anyway, I hope the Demon Dragon King is somewhere like Hong Kong or Osaka! I've never been on a proper trip abroad, so I'd love to go on a culinary tour!"
The Demon Dragon King was already forgotten; sightseeing had clearly become the main objective.
"True. We basically just played around when we went to Sumatra."
It was true. While it took eleven hours to travel to Sumatra to defeat Kadmus, the actual hunt was over in three seconds. Since Yunjae, Mari, and Akemi had spent the rest of their three-day, two-night stay relaxing at the hotel and looking at the ocean, it wasn't strange at all that sightseeing was now the priority.
"In that case, I should ask Mr. Damion where it is and plan a sightseeing route!"
"I want to go too! If it's Osaka, I can give the best tour!"
"Ah! Akemi, are you from Osaka?"
"No! I'm from Yokohama, but I go to Osaka to play all the time!"
Even though Japan wasn't even confirmed as the destination, Akemi's sheer excitement made Mari let out a dry chuckle.
"We don't even know where we're going yet, you dummy."
"I'm just saying I'll guide you if it's Japan! Since we're all going on a trip together! Suyeon, you're coming too, right?"
"Me? Oh, um... yes. If you'll have me..."
First a family restaurant, and now a trip abroad! Although she had traveled overseas frequently for work, she had always stayed cooped up alone in her lodgings, never venturing out. She seemed incredibly happy at the prospect.
Seeing Suyeon as giddy as a schoolgirl, Mari shook her head.
"Still, the future of humanity is on the line. Aren't you guys a bit too excited?"
"But Yunjae can summon Gyarados, and he vaporized Kadmus in a single strike."
Because of the game mechanics in Mamon Saga where a name once chosen could never be changed, he hadn't been able to rename Gyarados to Lugia. In any case, what he had shown that day was surely not the full extent of Yunjae's power.
Since he possessed an overwhelming, unimaginable strength despite his clumsy appearance, Akemi argued that it didn't matter, and Mari found herself nodding along.
"...Anyway."
She then looked over at the Support Part staff. Intimidated by Damion's sudden appearance, as well as the presence of Akemi and Suyeon, they were quietly eating and talking only amongst themselves.
I do feel a bit bad.
Though Mari didn't care much about office work, this dinner was meant to help them bond, so she felt a twinge of guilt.
"The food is really delicious."
Despite her prickly exterior, Mari was soft-hearted. When she struck up a conversation with Miju, who was sitting next to her,
"Ah, I'm glad you like it! I heard you used to be a hunter, Mari..."
Miju, who had been listening to their conversation with rapt interest, asked.
"Yes, well. I was just an ordinary hunter. I wasn't particularly good or anything."
"But still, it's so cool! And you're so pretty!"
"Pretty? I'm not..."
Though Miju's compliment made Mari feel secretly pleased, she found it hard to accept and glanced over at Suyeon.
"...I think she's the prettiest one here."
Unfortunately, even Suyeon seemed somewhat overshadowed by Yunjae, whose expressions were so bright and colorful.
"Y-Yeah, I see what you mean. Haha..."
While Miju agreed with a laugh,
"South America sounds nice too!"
"I hope it's Northern Europe..."
The others were still sharing their dream destinations, wondering where Halles's portal would appear.
"They really don't care about the threat at all."
At this point, she almost felt a bit sorry for both the Demon Dragon King Halles and Damion.
"Anyway, thanks for being so considerate. These guys tend to march to the beat of their own drum..."
"Not at all! I really wanted to get closer to you, Mari, so thank you for talking to me first!"
"Pardon?"
"Even as another woman, I just think you're so cool...!"
It seemed Miju had wanted to become friends with Mari, drawn to her model-like appearance and chic personality.
"I-I'm really not..."
In truth, Mari was incredibly weak to compliments. As her face flushed red, Miju giggled softly.
Though they had seemed to belong to completely different worlds at first, once Mari and Miju started chatting, the other members of the Support Part gained confidence and began to chime in.
"By the way, Yunjae, what did you do before coming here? You're just so good at your job."
When the department manager, Woo Yeonhui, voiced her curiosity about the past of Yunjae—who was so competent he could practically be called the incarnation of office work—
"Ah! I've been dying to know this too!"
Akemi leaped out of her seat, declaring it an excellent question.
"Ah... I..."
With everyone's eyes locked onto him, the absolute epitome of introverted shyness blushed furiously, looking incredibly embarrassed.
"I know! An art student from Hongdae! Working a part-time job wearing a mascot suit!"
Akemi raised her hand high, shouting out her guess.
"Ah!"
Yunjae stared at her, looking utterly bewildered.
"I've never drawn a picture in my life, Akemi!"
To think he wasn't an art student!
"Eee?! Then what about the mascot suit?"
"Ah, I've never done that either...!"
Where on earth did she get the art student and mascot suit ideas from? Seeing Yunjae's flustered expression, Minseon, the senior manager, raised her hand next.
"A librarian!"
Now that Yunjae was the center of attention, the female employees grew even more enthusiastic.
"Ah, actually, I don't really like reading!"
"Oh my! That's so unexpected!"
They had thought a librarian would suit Yunjae perfectly, but to think he didn't even like books!
"Hmm... what about a chef?"
Suyeon, who secretly wanted to join in, timidly raised her hand and asked after some serious thought. Yunjae shook his head with an awkward smile.
"Ah, I only started cooking yesterday! There's no way I was a chef...!"
"Then a barista!"
"I would actually like to try that sometime in the future!"
What started with Akemi's random guess had somehow devolved into a full-blown game of Guess Lim Yunjae's Past Job!
"Ugh, what is it then?! I have no idea!"
They threw out all sorts of jobs that seemed to fit him, but surprisingly, none of them were correct.
"Maybe a Hongdae club?"
The only hint they had was Hongdae! Though it seemed highly unlikely, someone asked just in case, and Yunjae's face brightened slightly as he nodded.
"Yes, actually, it's not entirely..."
"Huh?!"
At that moment, everyone, including Mari, stared at him in shock.
"Ah, it's not completely unrelated..."
Seeing his cheeks flush pink with embarrassment, everyone's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"A hip-hop musician?"
Miju, the youngest, asked with a face full of admiration for the boy who looked to be around her age.
"Ah! You're so close! I did interact with people in that scene quite a bit!"
Yunjae cried out, indicating they were right on the verge of the correct answer.
"No, seriously, what is it?! I can't even begin to imagine!"
What could it possibly be? The fact that this absolute epitome of introverted shyness hung out in Hongdae clubs and associated with hip-hop musicians sent a wave of excitement and chatter through the group.
"An indie band!"
"Ah, not quite..."
"Eee?!"
He was related to the hip-hop scene that represented Hongdae, but far from the indie scene!
"Ugh, I have absolutely no idea! What is it?!"
When Akemi looked on the verge of tears from sheer frustration at not knowing, Yunjae let out a soft, bashful chuckle.
"Seriously, what did you do before?"
Mari, who had unconsciously developed a warm, motherly smile, urged him to spill the beans. Yunjae answered with an incredibly embarrassed face.
"Ah... I was a b-boy."
A sudden silence fell over the table.
"Wh-What?"
"A b-boy?!"
An answer from a completely unexpected realm had just dropped.
"Ah, to be precise, I did street dancing! I originally joined a crew, but instead of practicing, they kept telling me to play games and offering to carry me. So I quit and transitioned to solo street dancing."
So that was why he knew gaming terms despite claiming to dislike games.
"Is that why you said you didn't even like watching games?"
"Yes! Every time I went to the practice room, that's all they were doing. After I quit, I entered competitions and won prize money. And if only I hadn't won that specific thing as a prize back then...!"
At this long-awaited revelation of his past, everyone was left in utter disbelief.
"No way..."
"Ah, but it's true!"
"Really?"
Slender Forearms was a b-boy! Out of everyone, Mari was the most shocked by this unimaginable past.
"Ah, yes! Actually, when I was in school, I majored in traditional Korean dance!"
He had a background in dance, a field that hadn't even crossed anyone's mind as a possibility!
"But you're so shy. How was that even possible?"
"I was fine whenever I was dancing. So..."
But that was a story from fifty-seven years ago. As Yunjae fell into a quiet reverie, his memories seemingly hazy, the others spoke up with bright, eager smiles.
"Then you must be an amazing dancer, Yunjae!"
"I want to see!"
"Ah! But doing it here is a bit too..."
"Oh, come on! Just show us a body wave!"
"Yeah! We want to see!"