People Are a Hundred Times More Tiring
"Dealing with people is a hundred times more tiring."
"Waaah—!"
"They're out! It's Korea's hunters!"
Hundreds of reporters charged forward like they were about to smash through the barricades, thrusting bundles of microphones at them.
"Hunter Kang Tae-ho! Did you successfully clear the gate?!"
"What are the confirmed ranks and types of the monsters inside? Could you please say a word about the survival status of the Japanese advance team?!"
A wave of acrid exhaust fumes and the stench of sweat from hundreds of bodies hit them all at once.
The barrage of questions was all sensational and superficial.
Staring blankly at the crowd beyond the lenses, she let out a low sigh.
To them, fresh from debating the fate of worlds with the Elf Queen in that otherworldly forest, this clamor felt utterly detached from reality.
They had no inkling of the elven nation rooted around the massive World Tree beyond that gate.
The public still saw it only as a catastrophic hole that could doom humanity, panting in fear and morbid curiosity.
"Dealing with people is a hundred times more tiring than those gate beast pups!"
Baek Ho-young plugged his ears—mismatched with his massive frame—and groaned.
To him, with his beastly senses, the roar of hundreds and the shutter clicks were pure torture.
Park So-jin, standing beside him, tugged her coat closed irritably, her dark circles even more pronounced.
"Hey now, folks from the press! You'll blind us—cut the flashes!"
Thankfully, Association President Park Jin-cheol stepped up like a sly old fox, blocking the reporters with good-natured bluster.
"As you can see, me and our hunters just rolled back from the front lines looking like we could drop dead any second. Scoops are great, but let's keep people alive first! I'll spill all the details myself at tomorrow morning's briefing, so please, clear a path today, yeah?"
At his signal, the sweating Japanese Self-Defense Force troops and association guards who'd been waiting raised their shields, forming layer after layer of human wall.
Ignoring the flood of questions, they slipped through the opened path to the top-of-the-line limousine waiting at the edge of the plaza.
Clunk, vroom!
Only after the heavy car door shut and the limo smoothly pulled away did the infernal noise cut off like magic.
Cool air-con breeze and the scent of fine leather seats. In the sealed space, the group exhaled deeply in unison, as if on cue.
"Haa... feels like I can breathe now."
Ryu Ji-hwan muttered as he loosened his tie a bit.
Through the window, ecstatic crowds and reporters' mouthing faces flashed by like a silent film.
Before long, the limo glided into the underground parking of the luxury hotel prepared by the Japanese side.
"Everyone, wash up and crash hard tonight. We've got an intel-sharing meeting tomorrow morning with top brass from both Japan and Korea."
Back in the room, she flopped onto the plush bed.
Mentally drained from the media onslaught the moment they returned to reality.
But there was one chore before sleep.
She pulled her smartphone from her pocket and jabbed the speed dial.
It connected before the first ring finished, like they'd been waiting.
“Mom.”
-Tae-ho! My puppy! You're safe, right? No injuries anywhere?
Her mother's urgent, trembling voice burst from the receiver.
She could imagine how much nail-biting she'd done watching the live gate entry broadcast.
“You saw the broadcast, so you know—I'm fine, not a scratch. Just talked with their leaders and came out. No big deal.”
-Phew, thank goodness, really. Everyone else is safe too?
“Yeah. All good. You had dinner?”
As she exchanged brief check-ins with her mom to unwind, a familiar troublemaker's voice cut in from across the line.
-Oppa! Kang Tae-ho! Can you hear me? You're really not hurt at all, right?
"My eardrums are gonna burst. I'm fine, so quit yelling. Wasn't even a fight to begin with."
-Haa... seriously, what a relief. You scared the hell outta me. To celebrate you coming back safe, I'll treat you to some prime meat with my paycheck! Name whatever you want.
Hiding the worry that had shaken her voice, the girl forcibly switched to an exaggeratedly cheerful tone.
"You, treating? Don't blow all my card's limit and use your own money."
-Hey, when the hero comes back alive, the little sis has to take the hit! When you get to Korea, come straight home—no detours. Got it?
"Got it, so don't burn the meat waiting. Tired, hanging up."
She cut the call over Ha-eun's grumbling laced with relief.
She tossed the smartphone onto the table and hurled herself onto the bed.
The soft mattress enveloped her, finally making it sink in that this was Earth.
Tomorrow morning, she'd be dragged back to the politicians' nauseating power plays, but for this moment, she wanted to think of nothing.
The next morning, at the temporary command bunker near the Osaka Gate.
The air in the lead-shielded conference room hung heavy and stale.
Piles of papers shuttling nonstop across the table, stale coffee scent, and the sharper reek of human ambition mingled into something fishy.
Korea's government delegation faced off against Japan's top officials. But sides didn't matter.
“This is about monopoly! The moment we go public worldwide, our two nations lose all leverage!”
A young Japanese official slammed the desk, shouting.
Greed flashing behind his glasses.
To him, that other world wasn't a disaster—it was a massive resource vault to secure his elite status.
“Monopoly? You saying that now? If those world monsters pour out here, Osaka gets wiped off the map!”
A Korean Foreign Ministry rep snorted, cutting him off.
“Whether we can fully handle their monsters' destructive power comes first. Better to sell what we know about this unknown world to the US or EU at a premium—squeeze out as much food and resources as possible for our depleted stocks.”
“Hand over the golden goose for some resources? We haven't even seen those monsters ourselves!”
The room devolved into chaos in seconds.
Pro-alliance faction pushing ties with the other world versus anti-faction distrusting the unknowns.
Nationality irrelevant, they ping-ponged lines fueled by their own fears and greed.
“Elves protecting Earthlings? You believe that's goodwill? Ever think it could be livestock farming for labor exploitation or experiments?”
“Watch your mouth! You outright denying the testimony of the hunters who saw it firsthand?”
Sharp yells. Twisted faces.
Lounging slantwise in an observer's chair in the shelter corner, she watched the spectacle.
Their tie-loosened, spittle-flying brawl looked more primal and gross than the gate beasts.
She checked her watch. Two hours since the meeting started.
Pointless war of attrition. Peak armchair theorizing.
Even with the world half-doomed, these tie-choked suits obsessed over votes and their rice bowls.
They'd shoved the world-saving onto a 140cm kid, and now squabbled over petty crumbs.
Nausea surged to her throat.
“Old man. I'm heading out first.”
She murmured low enough only for Park Jin-cheol, silently stirring his instant coffee beside her.
“Already? Hang in a bit longer. Might need you back if they decide something.”
“They won't decide shit, those guys. Obvious they'll fight till sunset then break for food. Get a plane ready.”
She eased her chair back and stood quietly.
None of the engrossed bureaucrats noticed her slip from the room.
The heavy iron door swung open, and the cold hallway air from the vents washed her clogged lungs clean.
“Haa... feels like I can breathe now.”
She plopped on a bench at the corridor's end, pulling her cap low. Moments later, the president strolled up, hands behind his back, and sat beside her.
“Called ahead already, kid. Airport's set—you can take off right away.”
“Heh, our old man's preparedness is top-notch as always.”
“Buy me a soju back in Korea. Feels like handling this shaved five years off my life.”
Over his hearty chuckle, she boarded the limo.
Japan's doom, world's fate—all those grand phrases, she mentally shoved into that stuffy conference room.
What she desperately needed now wasn't claiming Dokdo or safeguarding world peace.
Just going home, slurping Mom's hot kimchi jjigae, sprawling on the sofa, and crashing like the dead.
Beyond the window toward Osaka Airport, the blood-red sunset was brutally peaceful.