Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Return
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“Last question, just to confirm one more time. Do you truly wish to return to your original world?”
“Yes.”
In front of the foundation that served the gods.
In the vast open space, a man and a woman faced each other.
“Now cut the crap and send me back already. You’ve used me enough by now.”
The man, who had been kneeling on one knee in a gesture of respect, abruptly stood up.
He was Kim Min-jun, the Korean known here as Minold.
“Haa…”
The woman called the Saintess let out a sigh, as if this scene was all too familiar.
“To reiterate, we didn’t assign you the black mage class because we hated you.”
“I hate you enough to want you dead.”
“Your rough mouth is a bit of an issue, but I’m truly grateful for all the silent support you’ve given our empire from the shadows.”
The Saintess continued coaxing him like one would a stubborn child, trying to persuade him.
“Black mages have a bad reputation in this world, but you’ve given us the chance to change that perception. Your achievements are too numerous to count.”
“So what? The people here still look at me like I’m a monster.”
“That… I’m sorry about that.”
Kim Min-jun firmly rejected the Saintess’s attempts to sway him.
Even while facing discrimination in this other world, he had risen to the pinnacle of black magic.
Power, honor, and wealth.
A position where he could have any woman he wanted.
‘Why…’
Yet Kim Min-jun showed no attachment whatsoever to abandoning it all.
“With the power you possess, the honor, the immense wealth—if you wanted, you could have anything. Why throw it all away?”
“Enough with this shitty playacting.”
“Huh?”
“It’s making me nauseous.”
Kim Min-jun glared at the Saintess.
His eyes burned with murderous intent.
The Saintess flinched and took a step back.
“You drag me here against my will, work me to the bone like a madman, and now what? You expect me to stay and kiss your asses?”
He raised his right arm pointedly toward her.
“You know what? If I could remove this mark, you’d be the first one I’d kill.”
Currently, a blessing from the Saintess was engraved on the back of Kim Min-jun’s hand.
A blessing in name only—it was no different from a collar around his neck.
“We regret the way you’ve been treated so far. If you just stay here, I’ll do anything. Minold! Without you, our empire…”
“Bring me some fried chicken.”
“…Pardon?”
“And jokbal too.”
The unfamiliar words made the Saintess’s eyes go wide.
“You know what? The food here tastes like absolute garbage. They feed me these high-calorie snacks like that’s supposed to sustain me. What the hell have I even been living for?”
“Th-that! We’ll improve it from now on!”
“Fine, whatever. Next up, super-fast internet and a beast of a gaming PC.”
“……”
The Saintess clamped her mouth shut and stayed silent.
Of course it was impossible.
*This* was why he wanted to return to his original world.
Sure, the fact that the Saintess had saddled him with the trash-tier black mage class—a garbage job in terms of perception and performance—played a part too.
“…If that’s truly your wish, Minold, I understand. Let’s begin the return ritual.”
In the end, the Saintess nodded in resignation and headed toward the magic circle set up to her right.
“Make it quick. I’ve got 4th Awakening in Dungeon & Fighter waiting for me when I get back. Or maybe even 5th by now.”
“Dun… Fighter? What’s that?”
“God game of god games. First thing I’m doing is logging in for attendance, then grabbing those inactive player rewards.”
“…Haa. Understood.”
Fried chicken, Dungeon & Fighter—she had no clue what any of it meant.
Ultimately, the Saintess gave up on Minold cleanly.
She didn’t want to provoke him further and risk some crazy outburst.
A moment later.
The return ritual began atop the magic circle.
“No need to call the knights? If you remove the mark, you might die by my hand.”
“I’ll gladly accept that. It’s all my own doing.”
“How boring.”
Kim Min-jun waited silently until the Saintess’s blessing vanished.
“Now for the next ritual.”
“From here on, I’ll handle it. You get out.”
“…Pardon? Ack!”
The moment he confirmed the mark on his hand was gone, Kim Min-jun scooped up the Saintess and hurled her far away.
Of course, with minimal courtesy, he gentlemanly tossed her toward a spot with soft cloth laid down.
“You think I’d built up all this power just to leave it behind? Giving up my power? Obviously a lie.”
Ssssh—
Black mana rippled from both of Kim Min-jun’s hands and began surging forth fiercely.
In an instant, the mana formed a portal large enough for a person to pass through.
“It’s been a shitshow meeting you all. If we meet again, you’re getting your skull cracked.”
“Minold! Dimensional travel isn’t something to rush into so recklessly…”
“I know.”
That’s why he’d practiced it over 1,000 times.
He, who had reached the peak of black magic.
Kim Min-jun flipped the Saintess off once, then leaped into the portal.
“May your parents live long and prosper, you bitch!”
Kiiiek!
The black portal let out a deafening screech and vanished the moment Kim Min-jun entered.
“Ah…”
Left alone, the Saintess closed her eyes, rubbing her aching head.
“Who the hell does this for fun? Crazy bastard.”
**
Zzzt!
A portal opened in a one-room apartment about 2 pyeong in size.
“Gah!”
It spat out a man, then scattered into tiny particles.
“Whew… Thought I was gonna get crushed during the dimensional jump.”
Kim Min-jun got to his feet and slowly looked around.
He’d honed this black magic in his spare time preparing for his return, but actually using it was a first.
“Doesn’t have to be Korea, just please let it be Earth. I beg you.”
If it wasn’t Earth but some other dimension, that’d be a headache.
He’d have to recheck all the coordinates he’d tested so far.
First, he picked up the smartphone on his desk.
“Ah… this familiar feel.”
With slightly clumsy movements, he turned on the screen. There was his set wallpaper, and the Korean time.
[January 25, 2020]
[5:01 AM]
“My phone’s still good.”
Kim Min-jun grinned in satisfaction at the Dungeon & Fighter illustration he’d commissioned from an aspiring webtoon artist with his own money back in the day.
“And this is my old one-room.”
Moldy walls and ceiling.
A gaming laptop on the desk.
“I’m back… I’m home!”
Overjoyed at returning to his homeland, Kim Min-jun let out a shout.
“Ah, get it together. Dungeon & Fighter fatigue reset in 50 minutes!”
He quickly fiddled with the laptop and launched the game.
For a man who’d lived over 20 years in another world, the familiar motions came naturally.
“As expected, 4th Awakening dropped. Wonder if I can claim inactive rewards.”
**
Kim Min-jun.
As of 2020, a 21-year-old young man.
Back in 2018, while cramming for his college entrance exams as a high school senior, he’d been summoned to another world by the Saintess.
That other world was called Isgard.
A place teeming with monsters straight out of games.
If it had been a typical overpowered isekai cliché where the Saintess granted him special powers for a rampage, that would’ve been nice—but it was nothing like that.
Kim Min-jun received the black mage class from the Saintess and operated in the shadows, never officially revealing his name.
Why?
Because black mages were that despised.
“Fucking hell. I never intended to help those bastards even a little.”
To grow stronger—no.
To return to Earth—he fought like a maniac against nearby monsters, and sometimes even enemy soldiers.
He figured that if he got strong enough, a dimensional travel skill would eventually unlock.
Of course, only later did he realize how much that benefited the empire that summoned him.
“I trained to the brink of death all that time, and now I’m handing it back? Insane.”
His body’s mana was currently depleted, and his physical abilities weren’t what they used to be, but it didn’t matter.
He wouldn’t have much use for this power going forward anyway.
He’d live it up like this for the next 100 years—no.
If Dungeon & Fighter tanked, he’d buy out the company and enjoy life anyway.
Humming to himself, Kim Min-jun waited for the game screen to load.
“Damn, why’s the internet here so shit? Download speed 200kbps for real?”
“Craaack!”
As he griped about the slow connection.
A monster’s roar echoed from outside.
Bang! Bang!
Followed by gunfire.
“Noisy as hell. Did a hound show up nearby?”
He paid it no mind and meticulously read through the game patch notes.
Pretty sure dungeons first appeared when I was 7 or so.
I remember monsters popping up back then too, and soldiers taking them down.
“Grrr!”
“Goddamn it! You mutts! So freaking loud!”
The endless gunfire and roars showed no sign of stopping.
Kim Min-jun threw open the window to see what the hell was going on.
“…Hold up.”
Seeing the scene outside, he rushed out of the house.
Something was off.
This wasn’t the Korea he knew.
“What the? What’s going on?”
About 100 meters away, hounds were clashing with soldiers in hunter uniforms.
Sure, that could happen.
Monsters sometimes swarmed out of dungeons.
“Did a dungeon spawn here?”
Looking around.
Nothing but monster corpses.
The stench of rotting monster bodies and blood.
Collapsed buildings too.
Like a warzone?
No, like an apocalypse.
“Heave! Did a dungeon break happen here?! Why are there so many hounds?!”
“The hell does a mere sergeant like me know! One’s heading your way!”
The ten or so soldiers divided roles efficiently, handling the hounds with skill.
“Gotta ask those old guys something. This doesn’t match the Korea I know at all.”
Kim Min-jun stretched leisurely, deciding to wait until the soldiers finished fighting.
“Huh? Sergeant Choi In-ho!”
“I’m dying out here, what?!”
“O-over there! There’s a civilian!”
“What?”
Choi In-ho, who’d been stabbing a hound in the flank from the front line, whipped his head around at his junior’s urgent shout.
Just as the kid said, a lone student was watching them with curious eyes.
“What the fuck! This is a restricted civilian zone! He looks like a high schooler— what the hell are the perimeter guards doing?!”
Choi In-ho broke formation immediately.
Per hunter corps protocol, prioritizing civilian protection.
“What? Why’s that old guy coming at me?”
Kim Min-jun tilted his head at the soldier beckoning him over.
The guy even looked panicked.
Does he need the bathroom or something?
“Kid! Get over here quick!”
“Sergeant Choi In-ho! Another hound on the right flank! It’s dangerous!”
“Shit!”
The soldier drew a mana gun from his belt.
He fired warning shots at the hound charging from Kim Min-jun’s right.
“Grrk! Grrk!”
But the hound didn’t care, digging its four legs into the ground and lunging straight at Kim Min-jun.
“Student!”
Choi In-ho sensed the impending tragedy and squeezed his eyes shut.
The hound would mercilessly tear into the defenseless civilian’s neck now.
And he’d have to witness it right before his eyes.
“…Huh?”
But what he imagined didn’t happen.