The World After Three Years

The government responded with remarkable speed. To be precise, it would be more accurate to say that the awakened individuals within the government instantly seized control and moved with decisive efficiency.

And just as so many had predicted… at one moment the movement of the tectonic plates simply stopped. Then it began to reverse.

Those who had sneered that it was all nonsense, the ravings of cultists and conspiracy novels, closed their mouths.

The Rapture theory surged in popularity. Mass suicides followed.

Yet compared to the past, the numbers were insignificant.

“There wasn’t much chaos,” the youngest brother said. “Everyone moved exactly as they had prepared. The damage didn’t exceed what you’d expect from a natural disaster.”

Of course there had been people who hoarded daily necessities in anticipation of the turmoil, but the government had already foreseen that and taken measures well in advance.

“What about the North?”

“They had awakened individuals from that region too, after all.”

Even though the North had lost the war and the state itself had vanished, there had still been awakened citizens of former North Korea. They, too, had returned to the past.

“Our country was a bit chaotic at the beginning as well, but things were sorted out fairly quickly.”

“What was?”

“The coup.”

“……”

“Looks like they couldn’t unify their opinions up there.”

Some had wanted to use that power to create a truly strong Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Others insisted the Kim dynasty, fat with luxury, had to be overthrown. Some argued for unification with the South, while others claimed they should ally with China or Russia. Each faction wielded power under its own banner and justification.

“It was a civil war.”

And during that conflict, nuclear weapons had nearly been used.

Fortunately, just as in the previous timeline, forces dispatched in advance managed to stop it. This time the units involved were composed of hunters, which made suppression even easier.

In the end, unification with the North was achieved, but the northern territories were left devastated by the civil war. A little more time passed, and within the borders of the Republic of Korea two medieval-style nations burst up through the earth.

Or rather, they were still in the process of emerging.

It seemed the crustal shifts were still ongoing.

“It’s been a little ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠over three years. Since you first disappeared, Hyung.”

Three years.

Perhaps the Saintess’s efforts had borne fruit after all.

But Kang Tae-sung squeezed his eyes shut and lifted his chin.

“If I hadn’t used safety as an excuse…”

If he hadn’t, he could have awakened his parents and younger sister as well.

Awakening itself wasn’t particularly difficult. All they had to do was kill the monsters he brought to them.

Yet he had blocked that path with every excuse he could muster. If the only way to awaken was by taking a life, he believed it was better for his parents and sister to remain ordinary. A person’s mind could not possibly stay intact after killing.

So he had used aggro values as his shield. His second brother, Kang Han-sung, had understood his intention and supported the story. But because of that decision, the rest of the family had not returned.

“I failed to protect them.”

“That’s not true, Hyung.”

His youngest brother placed a hand on his shoulder.

“The family we have now is still our family. They aren’t any different.”

We haven’t lost our family, the youngest told him.

“Besides, Mom and Dad got younger. They’ve always worked hard, but compared to the five years of suffering they went through before… Well, it’s a little awkward that Noona is now younger than me, but she’s still our big sister. That hasn’t changed.”

Three years.

The initial confusion and panic had slowly melted away inside the protective circle of family.

During that time the world had undergone tremendous change, yet the family—with two Level 2 awakened members—had managed to live quite well through it all.

“I naturally dropped out of school. As for Second Brother… I guess you could call it fortunate. He returned right before he was supposed to enlist, and he was relieved. After North Korea collapsed on its own and unification happened, the military switched to a volunteer system.”

The pay stayed the same, but once news about monsters and awakening spread, enlistment applications flooded in.

The government had prepared countermeasures for the rifts early on. They calculated data on the expanded Earth, built satellites capable of functioning without issue, and launched them into orbit using the remaining rocket facilities in former North Korean territory.

They also created a dedicated department to integrate real-time rift detection, response protocols, civilian evacuation, and the mobilization of military units or hunters.

In the private sector, clans and guilds had begun forming even before rifts appeared. They started recruiting physically capable civilians in a manner similar to selecting soldiers.

“Recently they’ve announced new internet technology too. Everything is progressing incredibly fast.”

Several companies unveiled unheard-of new technologies, ushering in a true era of ultra-high-speed wireless internet. These days they had begun accepting pre-orders at the steep price of two hundred thousand won per month.

“Most people’s reaction was ‘who would pay that much?’ But I imagine a lot of people will be using it before long.”

Earthquakes were becoming more frequent. Ground-based cable infrastructure would be too damaged to repair. The severance of undersea cables connecting nations was also inevitable.

Of course, the magic-infused internet of that time only worked within Korea, and outside rumors came only from users near the borders. Still, the fact that it could be used freely within this land was valuable enough.

The biggest difference from the past was that the companies once linked with the government had now split apart and were competing against one another.

“A lot has changed.”

Listening to his youngest brother’s continued explanation, Kang Tae-sung mentally prepared himself to adapt once more to this world.

The major changes were that, aside from the tectonic shifts, there had been relatively little damage. From the beginning they had approached the newly emerged nations with friendship in mind and achieved favorable results.

Most fortunate of all was that, unlike his previous hometown, many people here were still alive. The hundreds of thousands of young men who had died in the war with the North, those killed in monster attacks, and the victims of lawless looting—many of those people were still breathing in this timeline.

“Oh. What about In-hye?”

He suddenly remembered Kang In-hye, whose whereabouts he hadn’t heard since she went to the shelter. When he asked, his youngest brother flinched and let out an awkward laugh. It was strange.

“Her whole family is alive. She was shocked when the neighborhood brothers suddenly became older, but…”

Yet no matter how he looked at it, Yeon-sung’s expression while talking about In-hye was odd.

“Is there something going on with that girl?”

“Huh? Ah…”

“Are you dating?”

From his previous memories, the two had been fairly close. It had even looked like they might be dating. That was why he asked. Kang Yeon-sung nodded with that same strange expression.

“Wait a minute.”

Kang Tae-sung slowed his pace, thinking.

“Three years ago…”

When he had been summoned to the otherworld, the neighbor girl In-hye had been thirteen. Since his youngest brother was two years older than her, that was certain.

“You…”

“No! It wasn’t right away, of course.”

Apparently unable to meet his sharp gaze with just one eye, Yeon-sung looked away and waved his hands. He eventually admitted that he simply couldn’t forget the girl from that past—which-was-also-the-future.

“She’s growing up nicely. I wanted to protect her.”

“How long have you been dating?”

“About a year…”

“Hey.”

“…We haven’t done anything weird yet.”

“Yet?”

“It’s not a lie. I want to protect her. In every way.”

“Well… that’s your problem to handle.”

In this situation he had no intention of lecturing his younger brother about relationships. Strictly speaking the age gap was only two years, so there would be no legal issues. However, Kang Yeon-sung’s current physical age—starting from his original fifteen, plus five years, plus another three—put him around twenty-three.

“Still, you little punk.”

“……”

When Tae-sung narrowed his eyes again, Yeon-sung simply shrank his shoulders and said nothing.

“This is our house?”

“We don’t know what might happen, so we’ve been saving most of what we earn.”

That was why they hadn’t bought a bigger house, his youngest brother explained. But to Kang Tae-sung’s eyes the current house was plenty large. The single-story home had its own yard, garden, and parking ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠space; its floor area looked substantial.

“You said rifts still haven’t appeared properly yet?”

Without hunting monsters there shouldn’t be many ways to earn money.

But after listening to Kang Yeon-sung, Tae-sung gave a small nod.

“You know those countries with the mages? Because we approached them with friendship from the beginning this time, the exchange of technology has gone much more smoothly than before.”

New technologies fusing magic and science—things like the internet—had appeared in the world earlier. They had also transmitted their scientific knowledge to the other side while magical goods and materials flowed back.

The ‘portals’ were technology from that side.

Passages that allowed instantaneous long-distance travel.

The concept resembled rifts, but they were far more stable. They did not appear or disappear suddenly and were strictly managed.

Awakened individuals, instead of hunting monsters from rifts that had yet to appear properly, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠traveled through portals to other countries on expeditions and hunted the monsters that lived there.

“The System applies over there too.”

It seemed his youngest brother had only recently returned from an expedition. For nearly half a year afterward he had spent every day training in the mountains.

“I worked hard for about a year and managed to save just under a billion won. It was a decent team, but they emphasized safety first so there were a lot of people. The profit share per person ended up smaller…”

As Yeon-sung spoke, calluses were visible all over his right hand—unmistakable signs of someone who used a bow.

“What about Han-sung?”

“Second Brother has a connection in the government. They asked him to help for a year, so he’s been working there. It should be finished next month.”

The government?

Kang Tae-sung tilted his head, wondering what kind of work his brother could be doing for the government. Then his youngest brother pressed the doorbell. A high-pitched “Kyaaak!” came through the intercom, followed by the sound of a side gate beside the large front gate opening. Tae-sung stood quietly and waited.

“Big Brother!”

As they stepped through the side gate and walked along the stepping stones set in the well-tended garden, the front door of the house burst open. Someone came running out, shouting.

“Ah.”

It was his younger sister, Kang Yu-ri.

Because of the strange shift in ages, Kang Tae-sung could only pat her back with an awkward expression as he hugged her. Just as his youngest brother had said, she now looked slightly younger than Yeon-sung.

Still, she had passed twenty, so that was fortunate.

Compared to when he had last seen her, her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠skin was in better condition and—most importantly—her expression was bright. It put his mind at ease.