Return
"Let me ask you one last time. Do you truly wish to return to your original world?"
"Yes."
Before the altar that served the god.
In the vast hall, a man and a woman faced each other.
"Just stop and send me back. You've exploited me enough."
The man, who had been kneeling in formal salute, suddenly rose to his feet.
He was the Korean known here as Minold—Kim Min-jun.
"Haah…."
The woman called the Saintess let out a sigh, as if she were used to this scene.
"As I've said, I didn't give you the Dark Magician class because I hate you."
"I hate you enough to die, Saintess."
"Your tongue is a bit sharp, but I'm truly grateful for how you quietly helped our empire from the shadows."
To persuade Kim Min-jun, the Saintess kept speaking in the tone one uses to soothe a child.
"In this world, Dark Magicians had a bad reputation, but because of you, there's a chance to change that. Your achievements are too many to count."
"So what? People here still look at me like I'm a monster."
"For that… I'm sorry."
Kim Min-jun firmly rejected the Saintess's attempt to win him over.
Even while being treated like dirt in this other world, he had climbed to the very top of the Dark Magicians.
Power, honor, and wealth.
If he wanted, he could have women at his beck and call.
And yet…
But Kim Min-jun seemed to have no regrets about throwing all of that away.
"Your strength. Your honor. Your immense wealth. You could take whatever you want—why throw it away?"
"Let's drop this pathetic little play already."
"…What?"
"It's making me sick."
Kim Min-jun glared at the Saintess.
Eyes that looked ready to kill at any moment.
She flinched at that gaze and took a step back.
"You dragged me here by force and worked me like a dog. And now what? You want me to stay and keep wiping your asses?"
Then, as if to show her, he raised his right arm.
"You know what? If I could erase this sigil, you'd be the first to die."
At the moment, the Saintess's benediction was engraved on the back of his hand.
"Benediction" in name only—a sigil no different from a leash around his neck.
"For the way you've been treated, I'm sorry. If you'll just stay here, I'll do anything. Minold! Without you, our empire…"
"Bring me fried chicken."
"…Pardon?"
"And jokbal."
At the unfamiliar words, the Saintess's eyes went wide.
"You know this? The food here tastes like crap. You feed people sugary junk with sky-high calories. How is anyone supposed to enjoy life?"
"T-that! We'll improve that from now on!"
"Good. Next, get me blazing-fast internet and a monster-spec computer."
"...."
The Saintess closed her mouth and kept silent.
Of course it was impossible.
This is why I'm going back to my original world.
Granted, the fact that the class she gave him—Dark Magician—was trash in both reputation and performance played its part too.
"…If Sir Minold truly wishes it, very well. We'll begin the Return Ritual."
At last, the Saintess nodded as though resigned and headed for the magic circle set up to the right.
"Make it quick. My fourth Awakening in DFO is waiting for me when I get back. Maybe the fifth has dropped already."
"D-D… F-O? What is that?"
"A god-tier game among god-tier games. First thing I'll do when I'm back is check in. Then I'm claiming my returning-player rewards."
"…Haah. Understood."
Chicken? DFO? She had no idea what any of that meant.
In the end, the Saintess cleanly gave up on Minold.
If she provoked him any further, who knew what kind of rampage he'd go on.
A short while later.
The Return Ritual began atop the magic circle.
"Not calling in the knights? If you remove the sigil, I might kill you."
"I'll gladly accept it. This is all of my own making."
"Boring."
Kim Min-jun waited in silence until the Saintess's benediction disappeared.
"We'll proceed to the next rite."
"From here on, I'll handle it. You, get out."
"…Pardon? Kyaa!"
The instant he confirmed the sigil on his hand was gone, Kim Min-jun grabbed the Saintess and hurled her far away.
Of course, like a gentleman, he aimed for a spot padded with soft cloth—at least a minimum courtesy.
"You think I'd leave behind the power I've built? Giving up my strength was obviously a lie."
Ssssss—
Black mana rippled from both his hands and began to surge violently.
In an instant, the mana formed a portal large enough for a person to pass through.
"It's been real crappy. If we meet again, I'll crack your skull."
"Sir Minold! Dimensional travel isn't something to take so lightly—"
"I know."
That's why I practiced over a thousand times.
Because I've reached the pinnacle of dark magic.
Kim Min-jun raised his middle finger to the Saintess once and dove into the portal.
"May your mom and dad live long and prosper—you fing bh!"
Grrrkk!
The black portal vanished with a raucous noise the moment he went in.
"Ah…."
Left alone, the Saintess closed her eyes as if struck by a headache.
"You think I enjoy doing this? Crazy bastard."
**
Crackle!
A portal opened inside a cramped one-room studio, barely two pyeong in size.
"Guh!"
It spat out a man, then dispersed into tiny motes.
"Phew… I almost got crushed mid-warp."
Kim Min-jun pushed himself up and slowly looked around.
It was dark magic he'd honed bit by bit in preparation for returning, but this was his first time actually going through.
"I don't care if it's not Korea—just let it be Earth. Please."
If he'd shifted to a dimension that wasn't Earth, things would get messy.
In that case, he'd have to re-examine all the coordinates he'd tested so far.
First, he picked up the smartphone on the desk.
"Ah… this familiar feel."
With slightly clumsy fingers he brought up the screen; alongside the wallpaper he'd set, Korean local time popped up.
[January 25, 2020]
[5:01 a.m.]
"Yep, this is definitely my phone."
Seeing the Dungeon & Fighter illustration he'd set as his wallpaper, Kim Min-jun smiled in satisfaction.
He'd once paid out of pocket to commission that drawing from an aspiring webtoon artist.
"And this is the one-room studio I used to live in."
Mold on the walls and ceiling.
"One gaming laptop sitting on the desk."
"I'm back… I'm really back!"
Kim Min-jun shouted for joy at returning to his hometown.
"Ah—get it together. Only 50 minutes left until the DFO fatigue reset!"
He swiftly worked the laptop and booted up the game.
For a man who'd spent over twenty years in another world, his hands moved like he'd never left.
"Just as I figured—the fourth Awakening's out. Wonder if I can still claim the returning-player rewards."
**
Kim Min-jun.
As of 2020, he's a 21-year-old young man.
Back in 2018, during his senior year of high school while cramming for the CSAT, he was summoned to another world by the Saintess.
That world's name was Isgard.
A place crawling with monsters you'd expect only in games.
If this were your standard power-fantasy webnovel cliché, he would've gotten a special blessing from the Saintess and gone on a rampage. But that didn't happen at all.
He received the class of Dark Magician from the Saintess and worked from the shadows without ever officially revealing his name.
Why?
Because Dark Magicians were that despised.
"What a load of crap. I never had the slightest intention of helping those bastards."
To grow stronger—no.
To get back to Earth—Kim Min-jun fought like a madman against nearby monsters and sometimes even the soldiers of enemy nations.
He figured if he got strong enough, he'd surely gain at least one skill that could move between dimensions.
Of course, he only realized later that all of this brought huge benefits to the empire that had summoned him.
"After I nearly killed myself getting stronger, give it up and leave it behind? That's insane."
Right now his body's mana was bone-dry, and his physical abilities weren't what they used to be—but it didn't matter.
He wasn't going to need that power much from here on out anyway.
A hundred years like this—no.
If Dungeon & Fighter ever went under, he'd just buy the company and keep enjoying life.
Humming to himself, Kim Min-jun waited for the game screen to load.
"Come on. What's with this internet? Is 200 KB/s download speed a joke?"
"Kreeee!"
While he was griping about the slow connection—
A monster's shriek echoed from outside.
Bang! Bang!
Then came a string of gunshots.
"Too loud. Did a Hound show up around here or something?"
He didn't pay it much mind and kept carefully reading the patch notes.
Was the appearance of dungeons when I was seven?
I remember monsters showing up back then and soldiers taking them down.
"Grrrr!"
"Dammit! You mutts! You're so loud I can't think!"
The gunfire and howls just wouldn't stop.
Min-jun opened the window to see what kind of crap was going on out there.
"…Hold on."
At the sight outside, he hurried out of the apartment.
Something was off.
This wasn't the Korea he knew.
"What the hell? What's going on?"
Roughly a hundred meters away, soldiers in Hunter Army uniforms were battling Hounds.
Which, sure, could happen.
Sometimes monsters swarmed out of dungeons in packs.
"Did a dungeon pop up here?"
He looked around.
There were only monster corpses.
The stench of rotting carcasses and blood.
Collapsed buildings, too.
Like a war zone?
No—more like an apocalypse.
"Gasp! Did a dungeon break hit here or what? Why are there so many Hounds?!"
"I'm just a corporal—how would I know?! One's heading your way!"
A squad of about ten soldiers divided roles and dispatched the Hounds with practiced ease.
"I should ask those guys something. This is way too different from the Korea I know."
Leisurely stretching, Min-jun decided to wait until the soldiers finished their fight.
"Hey? Corporal Choi In-ho!"
"I'm dying here—what!"
"Th-there! We've got a civilian!"
"What?"
Corporal Choi In-ho, who'd been stabbing a Hound in the ribs in the front line, turned at his junior's urgent shout.
Just as the kid said, a single student was watching them with curious eyes.
"Are you kidding me?! This is a restricted zone for civilians! He looks like a high-schooler at a glance—what are the sentries even doing?!"
Choi In-ho immediately broke formation.
Per Hunter Army protocol, civilians were to be protected first.
"What's up with that guy? Why's he coming over to me?"
Min-jun tilted his head as he saw a soldier waving him over.
The guy's expression was urgent, too.
Does he need the bathroom or something?
"Kid! Get over here, quick!"
"Corporal Choi! Another Hound on the right! It's dangerous!"
"Son of a—!"
At those words, the soldier drew a mana gun from his belt.
He fired warning shots at a Hound sprinting in from Min-jun's right.
"Grrk! Grrrk!"
But the Hound, not giving a damn, slammed its four legs into the ground and launched itself at Kim Min-jun.
"Aaagh—!"
Sensing the tragedy about to unfold, Choi In-ho squeezed his eyes shut for a split second.
Any moment now, that Hound would mercilessly clamp down on a defenseless civilian's neck.
And he'd have to watch it happen right in front of him.
"…Huh?"
But what he imagined never happened.