What Manner of Place Is This?
"Wh-what is this place—"
Cheok Wol glanced wildly about her. Everything was strange and new. More than anything, the sound of cars coursing along the road was torment to her sharply attuned ears.
"What is that…? Some kind of cosplay?"
"Let's get a picture from a distance."
The crowd's whispers reached her, and Cheok Wol flew into a towering rage.
"Insolence—! Do you know who I am?!"
"Kyaa! She's calling us insolent."
"How cute……."
If anything, they liked her all the more for it. Cheok Wol was dumbfounded.
……To think they feel no fear before me, the Heaven-Slaying Saint. Were the people of my homeland always this strong?
However far in the past it lay, everything before her eyes had changed so drastically that nothing resembled the world she remembered. In the Goryeo era she had lived in, it had truly been an age of warriors—yet the streets now thronged with ordinary folk who seemed to have never touched a blade in their lives. And there were so many of them……!
What scandalous indecency is this…! The short skirts on the women, especially, were nearly beyond bearing with open eyes.
"D-damn it all. Has the hour of the world's ending finally come?"
Thus drifting through the streets, Cheok Wol looked up at the sky.
— EMPLOYMENT CENTER —
"So this is where one washes away the stench of one's deeds. Good. I have taken many lives in my day. The life I live here, I would have peaceful."
Centuries she had spent at war. Having finally come home, she had no desire to live a blood-soaked life here as well. Peace would do nicely—and in that respect, she could not have stumbled upon a more fitting place.
"What brings you in today?"
Cheok Wol answered with perfect confidence.
"I have committed rather a lot of sins in my time."
"I'm sorry?"
The clerk faltered for a heartbeat, then covered her mouth and chuckled. A tiny little thing posturing like that was adorable—and honestly, hilarious.
"What sins could someone your age possibly have racked up?"
"I have slain many lives—humans and beasts alike—"
"Ah— pfft. I see, I see. Then might I ask why you've come here, of all places?"
"One who has committed villainies of that magnitude is stained through. So I have come to wash my hands of it."
The clerk turned her head aside for a moment, strangling her laughter. Tiny or not, a visitor was still a visitor, and laughing would have been discourteous.
"Of course. Then let's begin with an identity check. May I have your hand?"
"Where to?"
"The square device you see there—just rest your thumb on it."
It is high. Cheok Wol swallowed hard. She was tenser now than she had ever been scaling the summit of the Infinite Corridor. Rising onto her toes, she strained with everything she had to reach.
Beep—! Her height permitted it—by the narrowest of margins.
"Huh? Could you do that one more time?" The clerk, who had been smiling at her monitor, sounded bewildered.
A crease pinched itself between Cheok Wol's brows as she stretched again and pressed her thumb down.
"Huh…? That can't be right. Just once more……"
After several rounds of this, even Cheok Wol's patience began to crack.
"Argh! Just how long am I meant to keep this up?!"
"……My apologies, but might I see some identification?"
"Here."
Cheok Wol set something down on the desk with a clunk. The clerk looked at it and froze. It was a tooth.
"…Huh?"
"It certifies this one's identity, naturally. The tooth of a White Wolf. A truly enormous beast, that one was."
"……?"
Cheok Wol squared her shoulders as she spoke, brimming with pride. Beyond the haze of her fading memory, the era she came from had measured a warrior's renown by the great beasts they brought down. White wolves, at least, had roamed her homeland too—though the White Wolves of the Infinite Corridor were creatures so colossal the people of this world could never have imagined them.
"Do you finally grasp the scale of this one's feats? Heh heh."
"A White Wolf…… you say?"
"Just so!"
Hands propped on her hips, Cheok Wol fairly glowed. The clerk's face, meanwhile, had set into grave lines. Without a moment's hesitation, she lifted the desk phone and dialed 0.
"I've found an individual believed to be a Returnee…… please send in the personal security team."
"Hmhm?"
"U-um… Miss Returnee?"
"Oho—to think you would recognize this one as a returnee. You are a sharper woman than you appear. I hereby permit you to become my thirty-first wife."
"……Thirty-first? I'd like to think I'm at least somewhat pretty— no, wait, that isn't the point."
The clerk gestured carefully. "W-would you go take a seat over there? Someone will be along shortly to assist you. Oh, and—"
With a clatter, a handful of candies appeared in her palm. "Please have some of these while you wait."
"Oho, so you know the custom of tribute? You are a more agreeable woman than I took you for. Very well. In view of your sincerity, I shall hear out your plea."
Cheok Wol accepted the candy and took a seat. After holding it up to the fluorescent light for a good long while, she popped it into her mouth, wrapper and all, and chewed.
Crinkle, crinkle.
"What a truly dreadful candy."
National Hunter Intelligence Service.
Lee Ji-eun, a Rank 1 agent, was at a complete loss as she watched Cheok Wol wander the halls, gawking at everything as though it were a marvel.
A returnee come home to Korea after who knows how long, yes……
The 22nd century was an age of contest—every nation fighting over how many hunters it could secure. Hunters came in exactly two varieties: those who Awakened here in the modern era, and those who were abducted into the Corridor and fought their way back alive. The latter were prized above all, for most who survived the notorious Corridor returned bearing overwhelming power.
But it wasn't all benefit. The Corridor was utter lawlessness, and the first lesson of surviving it was to cast aside one's 'humanity.'
And of all things, a returnee who'd walked out of the 10th-floor Corridor had gone and caused a major incident just recently.
A Corridor's rank was set by the 'floor count' attached to its name, and a 10-floor returnee was one who had come home with achievements rare even on a global scale. The problem was that their tempers tended to be every bit as formidable. The PTSD particular to returnees ran so deep it could wreak staggering damage on ordinary society—and these were superhumans, so talking down a returnee whose mind had snapped was no simple matter.
……That returnee had already killed more than twenty people who'd never wronged anyone. The press was being barely kept under control for the moment, but there was no telling how long that would hold. If this new returnee turned out to be cut from the same cloth……
Then again, what was with this one…?
"Careful—that's a trash can."
"What! Are you calling this one trash?!"
"N-no, of course not!"
Ji-eun smiled awkwardly. Nothing about the girl's appearance was the least bit threatening—quite the opposite, in fact: she was cute enough to pass for an idol. But the white hair and jade-green eyes made it plain she was a returnee, since appearance changes after a trip through the Corridor were hardly unusual. Which meant no one could say what might be hidden inside that adorable exterior.
"Well then, before we proceed with the formalities, let's start with a simple test."
"Ho. So you dare put me to the test?"
Cheok Wol's brows twitched as she lowered her head, eyes going flat. "Desist. You die."
"……"
Anyone else would have laughed and called it adorable. To Ji-eun, it landed as a very real threat on her life. A returnee was a bomb that could go off anywhere, at any moment. She swallowed drily and pressed on.
"Oh no, how could I ever look down on a returnee? It's simply a measure to help you settle into society properly. And it's less a test than a routine examination—please think of it that way. Would you place your hand on this device?"
"Hm? My hand?"
"Can you handle magic power, mana, or qi?"
"What do you take this one for? Any warrior worth the name can wield such things."
"Just place your hand on the machine and draw it up, and we'll be able to assist you properly."
Ji-eun's pleasant tone softened Cheok Wol a degree. Only then did she take her seat and lay her hand upon the cube-shaped device.
At once—vrrrm—the cube whirred to life and began measuring the mana within Cheok Wol's body.
If only she were a moderately capable hunter……
The reading displayed as color: the closer to black, the mightier the hunter; the closer to white, the weaker. It was hardly a perfect instrument—even modern science had yet to fully grasp mana, the sixth element, so it captured only rough estimates. Even so, this cube could read up to roughly 720 million MP, the reserve possessed by the strongest hunter in existence. And whatever else a returnee might be, the accepted wisdom held that none could outmatch the hunter who had conquered the 50th-floor Corridor—so overloading the machine was hardly a concern.
Except.
"……!"
"Finished?"
Cheok Wol's color was a very faint red. It nearly passed for pink. In other words, she was no powerhouse among returnees.
Now and then we do get returnees who've only cleared the 1st-floor Corridor. But one this weak was a genuinely rare case—it puzzled her a little. Even so, Ji-eun let out a sigh of relief. At least it meant the being before her wasn't about to go on a rampage.
"Well?! Have you properly beheld my power? Not that I expected such a shoddy trinket to gauge me in the first place."
"Ahaha…… I can certainly tell you're an Awakened with very impressive abilities."
"Hmph, you state the obvious. No human living in this world could ever hope to best me—"
Now that she could finally relax and find her adorable, Ji-eun beamed as she guided her through the required steps.
"Look this way for just a moment, please~"
"Mm."
Click.
First came the photo, then her ID and an Awakened Certificate classifying her as an F-Rank Hunter.
"This is your settlement grant—ten million won. It's precious, so don't lose it."
Then the accompanying bank card and passbook.
"This here is a government rental apartment. You mustn't make too much of a racket at night."
And since it was obvious at a glance that social graces were not her strong suit, Ji-eun walked her through the basics of getting by.
With Ji-eun suddenly taking care of her every need, Cheok Wol grew a little smug.
A strange world, this—but they treat me properly, and I like it.
She had entirely convinced herself that she was being shown tremendous honor. Well, in the age she came from, such treatment had been beyond even her dreams.
"You're free to go now."
"But tell me—what am I to do with myself from here on?"
Ji-eun pondered for a moment. She's F-Rank, so making a living as a hunter won't be easy…… and she looks about fifteen, so I'd rather not recommend that path anyway.
She studied Cheok Wol for a long moment, then nodded. "How about trying streaming?"
"Streaming? Would people shower me with praise for that?"
"Well, in a sense…… you'd probably receive more praise than in any other job out there……?"
Cheok Wol let out a short laugh. "I am grateful. I hereby appoint you my Believer No. 1. See that you proclaim my greatness from this day on."
"If you ever start streaming, I'll even sign up for your fan club! And if you run into any trouble, contact me anytime."
"Very well. I shall send word by carrier pigeon. Farewell."
Waving grandly, Cheok Wol strode off in style—
Bonk.
"Aaagh."
"Aigoo. Do be careful."
……She had failed to see the automatic glass door and smacked her forehead straight into it.