Chapter 1 – Finally Seoul!
(TLN: Just a little warning. There are a lot of swearing in this chapter.)
His body was surrounded by light that flowed out from the Dimensional Administrator. His entire body was broken down at the cellular level, and then he felt the curious experience of his cells dispersing as the darkness found him.
He was in a faraway place, where he almost forgot about time. He tried hard but was barely able to hold onto his consciousness.
‘Gang-woojin! Wake up.’
He didn’t know how much time had passed, but light grew from the darkness. The light approached him, and he was swallowed by it. Then, the world became bright and the smell of trash filled him.
‘Oooh ooh.’
He moaned, but he couldn’t make any other noises. He was barely able to open his eyes, and all he could see was a battered slate roof. After a long time, he felt sensation return to his fingertips.
He felt around his surrounding. He was on top of a recyclable burlap sack. The unidentified trash smell was emanating from there.
‘I’ve returned.”
He thought he knew where this was. He remembered when he caught a glimpse of his memories, which had sank to the bottom.
‘The school’s incineration plant.’
He had gone over to ‘that place’ twenty years ago at this location. Anyways, he had returned to the starting point.
‘It’s been twenty years, but everything looks the same.’
It looked a little big more worn down, but the incineration plant looked the same. As he slowly waited for his sense to return, he waited for his body to recover.
“Hey. Fuck. Hurry up. You son of a bitch.”
He was barely able to turn his head when he heard sudden noises. Students wearing familiar uniforms descended upon the incineration plant.
‘The uniforms are the same.’
It wouldn’t have surprised him if the uniform’s design had changed since twenty years had passed. However, it still looked the same so it was a welcoming sight. When he saw the people, he knew he had really returned to earth, so he couldn’t control his emotions.
At a glance, three uniformed students were dragging along another student. He looked too normal to be bullied. He was actually a handsome student.
“You son of a bitch. Let’s begin after I hit you.”
“Why should I get hit?”
“What? You son of a bitch.”
Their fists started to fly, and the two were entangled in a dog fight. The bullies next to them started to join in, and the fight became a one-sided beating.
“You fucking dick, dare to challenge me?”
“You are really a fucking eyesore. Just attend school quietly.”
He was having fun looking at the three of them step on the one student. Somehow, it made him think of the past. Maybe it was because he went through a wretched experience for 20 years, but the childrens’ antics were cute to him.
They beat him until he thought the boy might die. However, the group stopped as they gasped for breath. The student had covered his head with his arms. He was twitching and had various scrapes and wounds. However, his eyes were still giving off a fierce light.
The group’s leader, Lee-joonhyuk, didn’t like the light in Do-jaemin’s eyes. All of the students were afraid to look at him. They either avoided eye contact or looked at him with envy in their eyes. However, this son of a bitch was looking at him with such eyes.
“Ha, fuck. Yo, Jaemin. Does it hurt? Does it hella hurt? Didn’t I tell you to stop doing irritating things in front of me? Just go to school quietly, all right?”
“Beat it. Fuck.”
Irritating things? Jaemin had been studying quietly and did nothing wrong. The problem was that he was too handsome. He was being beaten because a girl had a crush on Jaemin, and she was someone Lee-soonhyuk liked.
“Ha. This son of a bitch hasn’t come to his senses yet? He needs a good beating. Grab this bastard’s body so he can’t move.”
The bullies grabbed Jae-min in place and pushed him down. Soohyuk let out a dangerous kick into the air. By the look of it, it seemed like he was going to unleash a soccer kick to the other party’s head.
At that moment, all of Woojin’s senses returned to him.
“Ah, that’s enough.”
At the sudden sound, the kids began to look around their surrounding in surprise. They saw a man wearing strange clothes getting up from atop the recyclable burlap sack.
“Fuck. What’s your deal? How long have you been there?”
“Huh, fuck? The only things these brats can say is fuck when they meet a big senior that is like the heavens?”
Woojin got off the burlap sack as if he had been riding it. Ah, the Earth’s surface. It has been 20 years since he had been able to step on it.
Even if they were delinquents, they were just kids in front of an adult. They were taken aback, so they started looking around furtively. Usually, the delinquents were more strict in respecting the school’s lineage… (TLN: Koreans are very respectful towards the alumni of their school)
“Fuck. Who cares if you are our senior?”
…I guess not.
“Why don’t you stop paying attention to us and go on on your way? I don’t know why some beggar is fucking butting in. We high-schoolers aren’t afraid of anything these days, Uncle. Just go on your way.”
Soohyuk was very outspoken. His bluster dispeled his companions’ uncertainty. Soohyuk had somewhat thought through everything. The man was here at this time in their school which meant he wasn’t a teacher. Moreover, he was at the incineration plant. He was sure this guy was the neighborhood’s idiot. He was also wearing very thread-bare clothes.
“Huh. Why are kids these days so rude, especially in front of a big senior with twenty years on you?”
Now Sooyuk was sure after he heard Woojin mumbled to himself. At the very least, this bastard looked to be a college student and he should still be in his 20s. He was sure this guy had lost his mind.
“If you don’t want to be hit, then get lost. You little bitches.”
He thought these nitwits would runaway if he scared them a little bit. Instead of being afraid, they responded with expressions of disbelief at the threateningly raised hand.
“Huh. This won’t do.”
Woojin pushed his hand forward, and Soohyuk flinched.
“…….”
“…….”
Woojin was taken aback as he extended his arm again. Why wasn’t the Binding Magic forming? Soohyuk frowned at the surprised Woojin.
“Shit. What are you doing?”
“Uh? Why is it being like this? Bind!”
Woojin, who was taken aback, continuously extended his hand as he shouted. However, the magic didn’t form. Soohyuk spat out insults at him.
“Shit. I got scared for nothing by this Otaku bastard.”
Soohyuk was sure.
He had been scared for a moment by the village idiot, so his pride was hurt. He reflexively ran forward and swung his fist.
Before Soohyuk’s fist could land on Woojin’s head, he tilted it and stepped to the side.
Woosh.
“Huh. You fucking avoided it?”
Woosh.
“You son of a bitch. You’re looking to die. Fuck this guy up!”
At Soohyuk’s outburst, the lackeys ran in.
‘Huh. I can’t feel the fucking magic.’
Woojin was taken aback when the magical energy, which had basically been his hands and feet for the past 20 years, didn’t respond to him. However, even if he did lose his magic, he wasn’t weak enough to be hit by the fist of a mere high school boy.
Magicians were known to be physically weaker than the warriors, but this was only true in the other world. In this place, his physical ability would blow the Special Forces out of the water.
If he wanted to survive in a place crawling with monsters, his fitness had to be at such levels.
Woojin evaded each of the annoying lackeys’ punches. Then, he lightly punched them in the solar plexus.
Puh-puh-puk.
“Ook.”
The three precise attacks made all three of them sprawl on the floor. It happened so fast that Do-jaemin forgot about his hurting body and stared on dumbly.
“Aw..awesome.”
After Woojin defeated the annoying people, he pressed his hand on his temple. When his thoughts became complicated, he had a habit of unintentionally doing this motion.
“Well, I guess it won’t matter?”
Maybe it was a side-effect of the dimensional travel. He wasn’t sure if he had lost his magic or it had been sealed. However, it might not have matter.
This place was Seoul.
Monsters will no longer threaten him, and he wouldn’t need to fight to the death to survive.
Maybe….?