Chapter 2
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Something's Different
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"Ah. I should have asked all those questions I was curious about."
I clicked my tongue while looking down at the corpse.
Normally, I wouldn't have made such a rookie mistake, but it seemed my excitement from returning after 10,000 years had gotten the better of me.
'Calm down, calm down.'
I settled my racing heart.
For now, I decided to loot the spoils and sort out my thoughts.
I rummaged through the pockets of the headless corpses scattered on the floor, checking their belongings.
From the men in black suits came ID cards marking them as Cheonhwa Security. Just as I'd suspected—they were bodyguards.
From the shady man's pocket came a dagger and an intricately carved wooden skull ornament that looked like a medium for necromancy.
'What a nobody.'
To use trash like this as a medium. No wonder he died without putting up a fight.
And from the last scumbag's pocket came a fancy-looking leather wallet, cigarettes, and a lighter.
"Why don't any of these bastards carry phones?"
I pocketed just the wallet and tossed the rest into a corner of the warehouse. Nothing else was useful anyway.
After that, I slipped out of the blood-scented warehouse.
A refreshing night breeze greeted me outside.
"Huuu."
Taking a deep breath made me feel better instantly.
Compared to the hellishly polluted air of that place, this was pristine—practically purified.
Just breathing it cleared my mind.
A smile crept onto my lips unbidden.
"Hmm~ hmm~"
Whistling a tune, I strolled out to the main road and followed it along.
I had no idea where it led. But there was no need to worry. Roads always take you somewhere if you follow them.
More importantly, I needed to think about how to gather information.
'I don't know a damn thing.'
For starters, I didn't even know what year it was.
I'd rolled around in hell for 10,000 years, but clearly that much time hadn't passed on Earth.
People weren't dressed in weird sci-fi outfits, and the birthdate on that scumbag's ID in the wallet was pretty recent.
'Hell and Earth's timelines must be different.'
Good for me, anyway.
I'd returned to a familiar era, not some bizarre cyberpunk future.
Though it didn't seem perfectly familiar either.
'Humans wielding mana...'
I recalled the bodyguards I'd killed.
One thing was certain: the Earth I remembered had no one who could handle mana.
No superhuman physical abilities either. And definitely no necromantic black magicians.
Humans were just humans.
But this place was different.
"Well, I can figure it all out slowly."
I looked up.
It was the dead of night, the quiet street empty. In the distance, a flashing sign caught my eye.
[Blue Force PC Cafe]
"Found it."
Choi Jin-woo, the night-shift part-timer at Blue Force PC Cafe, was about to greet an incoming customer when he did a double-take.
'What the...?'
He couldn't help it—the woman's outfit was disastrously bold.
A spotless white suit with a blood-red tie.
Any normal person would fear it was a fashion crime and never dare try it.
But...
'Whoa...'
They said the face completes the outfit.
And this woman pulled it off perfectly. Her stunning beauty left Choi Jin-woo forgetting his greeting as he stared blankly while she walked past.
'A celebrity...?'
How else could someone look like that?
'But why would a celeb come here?'
The PC cafe where he worked was in a quiet residential neighborhood on the outskirts of a small city in Gyeonggi Province—not even the downtown area.
And it was the dead of night.
Even locals rarely came at this hour.
No way a stunner like that just wandered in by chance.
'Filming something? Haven't heard anything.'
Choi Jin-woo peeked around. No cameras in sight. If it were real filming, they'd have notified the part-timer.
So why was a woman like that here?
No way she was a regular. Her outfit didn't make sense for that.
'Eh, whatever. At least it's eye candy.'
He shrugged.
Right then.
"Part-timer?"
The beauty suddenly poked her head over the counter.
'Whoa, you scared me!'
He didn't show it, but his heart pounded. Calming it, he flashed a business smile.
"Yes? How can I help?"
"Can't sign up for membership."
Huh? Membership signup issue? What did that mean?
'And why the casual tone? She looks younger than me...'
Puzzled, but he let it slide.
Plenty of people talked down to part-timers.
Usually older guys, but young women did it too.
"One moment. Let me check."
Smiling, he headed to her seat.
"What exactly isn't working with signup?"
"It says I need phone verification."
'Phone?'
Phone? Smartwatches had replaced phones over a decade ago.
As Choi Jin-woo blinked in confusion...
"No phone, so can't verify."
"Pardon? What about a watch?"
"What's a watch?"
What kind of nonsense is this?
But her face was dead serious.
"Whatever. I need to use the computer. Just make me an account."
"Uh, well. Let me see if that's possible. But from what I know, our PC cafe requires watch verification for signup."
"So what do I do?"
She narrowed her eyes.
Normally, Choi Jin-woo would've pegged her as a problem customer and brushed her off.
But looks mattered. He decided to help this beauty. It wasn't hard anyway.
"You can use a prepaid card."
"Oh?"
She nodded and pulled a wallet from her pocket, fishing out a card.
"Do it."
"...Sure."
Choi Jin-woo nodded with a cooled expression.
Her brazen nonsense marked her as a high-level problem customer despite the looks. Unless he wanted a fight, best to just do it.
He took the card and glanced at the name.
'Huh?'
Somehow, it read "Park Jung-woo"—a man's name.
'Dad's card? Boyfriend?'
Neither.
It was the Cheonhwa Group's young master's card—the one whose head exploded in the warehouse.
Of course, Choi Jin-woo had no way of knowing that.
So he sighed inwardly and headed to the prepaid machine.
All while thinking of posting to the gallery about the supermodel who walked in.
It had been ages since I'd been to a PC cafe.
Slouched deep in the classic PC cafe chair, I leisurely browsed the internet.
Not much had changed. The games I'd played way back were still running, and the communities I'd haunted were still full of shitposts.
"Heh...'
PC cafe after so long, computer after so long, internet after so long.
Before digging for info, time to enjoy.
I dove headfirst into internet bliss.
Skimmed trending YouTube Shorts, cruised every gallery picking out the best posts.
'Gotta order food at a PC cafe.'
I got my usual ramen with egg rice, mixed it up hearty. Great service too—kimchi and pickled radish together. Solid place.
"Whew."
I shoved the empty dishes to the seat next to me. Time for business.
Wikis, news, communities.
After checking everywhere, I finally grasped the situation.
"What? Only 15 years passed?"
I'd been dragged to hell in 2025. Now it was 2040.
Lots of changes on Earth in between.
"Gates, monsters, hunters."
15 years ago.
Right after I got dragged to hell, gates appeared.
Connected to worlds of vicious monsters and otherworldly invaders, plunging the globe into chaos.
Luckily, people started awakening superhuman powers right on time, and missing folks returned from other worlds, quickly stabilizing things...
'Smells fishy. Someone's behind it.'
Too many coincidences fitting like gears. Call it chance, and you're an idiot.
Though the mainstream theory was dimensional overlap with Earth spawning awakeners.
"Anyway."
Thus, hunters were born.
Hunters hunted monsters and invaders in gates, harvested otherworldly resources. Top dream job for teens.
'Back in my day, it was YouTubers and streamers.'
Obviously, one big reason: hunters raked in insane cash.
Even lowest rank out-earned salarymen; top ranks hit nine figures...
Money could wait.
"So those guys were hunters."
Makes sense. Mana users couldn't be ordinary.
'Hmm. What rank were they?'
Hunters ranked S to E—S strongest, E weakest.
"That can wait too."
So, what now?
With my power, world conquest was possible.
'Slowly, my true strength is returning.'
Once I regained enough, I could open a gate to hell and bring my real self to Earth.
With true power, forget conquest—blowing up the planet was doable.
But.
No interest.
'What's the point of conquering Earth?'
World ruler? Boring.
'Lonely, annoying, isolating.'
I'd done it in hell. Knew it well.
Didn't want that solitude again.
I leaned back fully in the chair.
"Rolled in hell 10,000 years. Time to rest."
This wasn't hell's life-or-death grind. Super peaceful compared to that. No need for tension.
Plus, I needed to stabilize my mind.
10,000 years of hell warps you. My mindset was more demon than human now.
"Gotta ease into modern life, heal up a bit."
That was the plan.
'Alright then...'
First things first.
'Recover my identity.'
Gender swap on arrival meant no proof of who I was.
'Game account still here, so it's my Earth. Pre-hell identity should remain...'
Pretend to be a returnee, maybe recover it?
Thinking that, I searched maps for the nearest police station. Closer than expected. I mused inwardly.
'Police station's gotta hook me up with some noodle soup, right?'