n

nThe five cadets remained still for a long time, only looking around themselves intermittently. Their bodies and consciousness seemingly frozen.

n

nThe mountain suddenly became flat.

n

nAnd Kim Hajin disappeared.

n

nTo make things worse, another strange thing occurred. Almost as though time was being wound backwards, the scenery around them began to change rapidly.

n

nThe sun that was hanging in the middle of the sky disappeared as though it was falling down. Then, darkness was cast over them like a shadow. Such incomprehensible supernatural phenomenon evoked fear and panic, and the five cadets could only crowd together nervously.

n

n“…Hiik.”

n

nYoo Yeonha was especially in a poor state. Her eyes were wet with tears. As she was someone who couldn’t even look at a poster of a horror movie, she was unable to endure such a frightening phenomenon.

n

n“Let’s… stay calm.”

n

nKim Suho snapped out first, and Shin Jonghak then stepped up as though he was afraid of losing.

n

n“Calm down. Since that Kim Hajon is a bit dull, he might have just gotten lost. Or maybe, he found something and sneaked away to claim it for himself. After all, we’re on Wind Mountain.”

n

n“It’s Kim Hajin, not Kim Hajon.”

n

nWind Mountain was private property of the Jinsung group. Without their permission, no one was allowed to enter it, meaning it was likely that precious herbs were growing on it. Shin Jonghak theorized that Kim Hajin came across one by luck and sneaked away to take it.

n

n“What? Then how do you explain this? Not only did the mountain suddenly become flat, the sun disappeared from the sky!”

n

nChae Nayun raised her hands and pointed around her.

n

nThey were surrounded by dense darkness and thick, overgrown weeds that seemed to be at least 80 centimeters tall.

n

n“That’s….”

n

nWhen Shin Jonghak was at a loss for words…

n

nPsss—

n

nThe sound of an animal moving through grass rang out.

n

nYoo Yeonha shrunk back like a frightened rabbit, while Kim Suho and Shin Jonghak pointed their weapons in that direction.

n

nSsss— Ssss—

n

nSomething was approaching them rustling through the leaves.

n

nGulp.

n

nFor three minutes, they waited nervously.

n

nWhat finally appeared from the thick grass was…

n

n“I thought it was a mountain beast. Who would have thought it was a bunch of kids?”

n

nA man who seemed to be in his mid-forties.

n

nHe was wearing dark blue pants and a baggy dress shirt. To put it to words, he looked like a typical salaryman from the 70’s and 80’s.

n

n“What are you kids doing here?”

n

nHe spoke with somewhat of an old accent. The cadets examined him silently.

n

nThe man also scrutinized them back, especially the female cadets.

n

n“…Eh? Why aren’t you talking?”

n

nWhen the middle-aged man urged them, Shin Jonghak stepped up.

n

n“Oy, you. Where is—”

n

nKim Suho quickly stopped Shin Jonghak’s ill-mannered talking.

n

n“Um, sir, where are we?”

n

n“…Huh?”

n

nThe man stared at Kim Suho with an incredulous look, then suddenly smirked.

n

n“What do you mean? We’re in Gwangmyeong. This is a danger zone. We don’t know when magic power will explode again.”

n

n“…Magic power explosion?”

n

nKim Suho murmured quietly.

n

nMagic power explosion was a word he was familiar with.

n

nA phenomenon where unstable mana explodes. For three years after Outcall, the world’s unstable mana frequently exploded.

n

nThat was what he recalled reading from the textbook.

n

n“That’s right. You’ll die if you stay here, so follow me.”

n

n“….”

n

nThe man was talking about a phenomenon that was extinct in the modern world like it was still happening.

n

nKim Suho fell into thought.

n

nMagic power explosion.

n

nA mountain that turned into flat ground.

n

nThe man’s old-fashioned clothes…

n

n“Let’s follow him for now.”

n

nTo understand the current situation, it was necessary to follow this man. All five cadets seemed to be thinking this as they nodded somewhat reluctantly.

n

nShin Jonghak then said to the man.

n

n“Lead the way.”

n

n“…Eh?”

n

nKim Suho quickly pushed Shin Jonghak to the side and corrected him.

n

n“Ahaha, this is our first time here, so we’ll have to ask you to guide us.”

n

n“What, Kim Suho, you’re gonna provoke me even in this situation?”

n

n“Shut up….”

n

n“Just stay quiet and follow along.”

n

nJust like that, they followed the middle-aged man.

n

nWalking through tall grass and passing by occasional strange howls, they eventually reached what seemed like a city.

n

n“This is….”

n

nAt that moment, the cadets halted.

n

nThey stared in front of them blankly.

n

nCollapsed buildings and barricades made up of scrap cars and iron bars… smoke and flames were rising from the city.

n

n“Yo, Myungjong, have you been doing a good job?”

n

n“Of course, Ajusshi. But um… who are they?”

n

n“Haha.”

n

nThe middle-aged man greeted a young man guarding the entrance. The young man glanced at the cadets and made a blooming smile.

n

nThe middle-aged man turned back to the cadets and spoke.

n

n“What’s up? Come in.”

n

n“…Um, first, where is this?”

n

nHearing Kim Suho’s serious tone, the middle-aged man grinned.

n

n“It’s the safest place around, Gwangmyeong City Hall.”

n

nGwangmyeong City Hall.

n

nThey had driven by it earlier in the day in a limousine. However, the Gwangmyeong City Hall they saw wasn’t a dilapidated place like this.

n

nIt was then that Kim Suho began to understand the situation.

n

nThe man’s clothes.

n

nMagic power explosion.

n

n“Can you tell me today’s date?”

n

n“Date?”

n

nKim Suho asked in a stiff voice. The man rubbed his chin at the sudden question, then shook his head side to side.

n

n“Don’t know. Who has the time to count nowadays? I guess it’s about 72 now.”

n

nHearing this, the cadets fell in a daze once again.

n

nDing— Their heads seemed to be ringing.

n

n“72 as in… 1972?”

n

n“Well it sure isn’t 1872.”

n

nThis time, the young man guarding the entrance walked up.

n

nThen, several men appeared from on top of the barricades. Their eyes flickered coldly as they looked down at the cadets.

n

n“Come in. It’s dangerous to stay outside at this time.”

n

nThe young man grabbed Chae Nayun’s wrist as he said so.

n

n“Hey, let her go.”

n

nKim Suho quickly pushed him away and pulled out the branch he brought just in case.

n

n“…A branch?”

n

n“Hey kiddo, put that down. We’re not bad people.”

n

n“….”

n

nKim Suho tried to unleash his magic power to intimidate them.

n

nRight, he tried.

n

nUnfortunately, he couldn’t bring out his magic power.

n

n“Hey, Kim Suho, I can’t use my magic power!”

n

nChae Nayun seemed to be experiencing the same thing as her flustered voice rang out. Meanwhile, the men standing on top of the barricades jumped down and surrounded them.

n

nEven at a glance, there were at least twenty of them.

n

nTo make things worse, they imbued magic power into the iron bars they brought.

n

n“These pieces of trash dare to….”

n

nWhen the enraged Shin Jonghak was about to curse at them… a neon light flashed from the distance.

n

n

nEveryone’s attention fell on the light. There… they saw a man wearing a helmet and riding on a high-tech bike.

n

n“A-Ah! That son of a bitch is back! Run back inside guys!”

n

nThe middle-aged man quickly urged his friends.

n

n“Hurry! He’s a man-eating monster! Stop dilly-dallying! Alert Asura-nim… aak!”

n

nThen suddenly, a white flashed erupted and something penetrated the man’s shoulder in the blink of an eye.

n

nThe attack didn’t end there.

n

nSeveral streaks of light shot forward, lighting up the darkness.

n

nYoo Yeonha could easily identify the streaks of light flying past them.

n

n“Bullets…?”

n

n“Uuk—”

n

nThe continued barrage of bullets dissolved the encirclement, and Kim Suho and others quickly ran back.

n

nOnce they reached a certain distance away from the city, they stopped and turned to the man sitting on a bike.

n

nIn this moment where it was hard to distinguish friend or foe… the mysterious man raised his hands and slowly took off his helmet.

n

nSoon, his face was revealed.

n

n“Huh?”

n

nThe man’s long hair was tied up neatly and he had a scruffy beard that covered his chin.

n

nAlthough his facial hair made him look like someone from a Western movie, they were all able to identify his face.

n

nKim Suho murmured in a daze.

n

n“…Kim Hajin?”

n

n**

n

nI was severely mistaken. I thought I would be sent back to the past with them just because we were walking in the same place at the same time. I was being too naive.

n

nAbout forty days ago, or what should have been a few minutes ago to Kim Suho and the others, I was dragged into the past while I was climbing Wind Mountain with my guard down. Since the other five were transported to the same time period in the original story, it was a much more natural story progression when I thought about it.

n

nAt first, I panicked. However, I soon realized that the situation wasn’t as bad as I thought. Just like I expected, the Djinn trying to rule over this place was stronger than in the original story. Being sent back before the others gave me more time to make preparations.

n

nI got busy from the first day.

n

nFirst, I looked for a place to stay.

n

nGwangmyeong City Hall was ruled by a Djinn, so I had to pick a place that was far away from them but still gave me the ability to observe them.

n

nNext, I observed the movements of the Djinn ruling this place and attacked his subordinates to hinder their growth.

n

nJust like that, I ate alone, attacked alone, ran away alone for 40 days….

n

nToday, I finally reunited with the rest.

n

n“Then this is really….”

n

nOn our way to my base, Kim Suho who was quietly listening to my story stopped and faced me.

n

n“That’s right, we’re in Gwangmyeong of 1972. Outcall happened only 15 months ago, so this place is still hell.”

n

nThe party went stiff like a rock. Even Shin Jonghak had a grave look on his face.

n

n“Then how long have you been here?”

n

nYoo Yeonha asked.

n

n“I don’t know….”

n

nAlthough my hair and beard grew a lot for having stayed for only 40 days, that was only because of this place’s high mana concentration. Plus, Energy Conversion seemed to also make my facial hair grow faster.

n

n“Maybe one year?”

n

nI said that as a joke. However, a heavy silence filled the air. The movement of the moonlight touched me. In an otherwise pitch-black darkness, I was lit up by the sole source of light.

n

nThe others stared at me with faces I couldn’t understand.

n

nI was satisfied with this. I laughed and corrected myself.

n

n“I’m just kidding. I’ve only been here for about five weeks.”

n

n“….”

n

nHowever, they were still silent.

n

n“R-Really. Plus, it wasn’t a bad experience.”

n

nIn fact, it was a ‘necessary’ experience. For two months, I fought people, not monsters.

n

nThe atmosphere became awkward, but Shin Jonghak asked without caring much for it.

n

n“So did you find out what caused this phenomenon?”

n

n“Yeah, more or less.”

n

n“Really?”

n

nYoo Yeonha’s eyes widened.

n

n“I’ll explain it later. For now, let’s get to the base.”

n

n**

n

nI arrived at my base with the others. The base I chose was an abandoned building buried in a nearby forest. As there was only one entrance into it, it served as a good temporary shelter.

n

n“Not even my horse would be willing to live here.”

n

n“…Hajin, you spent a year here? With nothing around?”

n

nShin Jonghak shook his head in disapproval and Kim Suho asked with a look of pity.

n

n“It hasn’t been a year. Really, believe me!”

n

nI emphasized once again. If I knew they would pity me like this, I never would have made that joke.

n

n“But there really is… nothing.”

n

n“Yeah, I’m surprised you lived here for so long. You have my respect.”

n

nYoo Yeonha and Chae Nayun grimaced. I couldn’t blame them. This was probably their first time seeing such a dilapidated home, where only rocks and cockroaches were lying around.

n

nBut that was only for now.

n

n“Just wait. There’s going to be a lot more to see.”

n

nI took out the duffel bag I kept on my motorbike. I rummaged through the bag and took out two one-touch magic tents. By putting in a little bit of Stigma’s magic power in them… tada!

n

nThey’d instantly puff up and rise.

n

n“Whoa! What’s this?”

n

nNow, there were two proper homes.

n

nChae Nayun’s eyes shone as she approached the tents.

n

n“Oh, before I explain what’s going on, aren’t you guys hungry?”

n

nEveryone other than Shin Jonghak looked at me with sparkling eyes.

n

nI took out a grill, an icebox, and several cooking equipment from my duffel bag.

n

n“Oh, but we’ll need to butcher it.”

n

nI already ate most of the food I brought, other than some spam and ten bags of ramen I left as an emergency supply.

n

nAs a result, we had to hunt wild animals and butcher them to get their meat.

n

n“Butcher?”

n

n“Yeah.”

n

nI opened the icebox. There was a torso of a pig wrapped in two halves.

n

nI caught this one two days ago. I cut off its head and limbs and only left behind its body split into two.

n

nFor the record, I vomited twice during this entire process.

n

n“We have to butcher this….”

n

nI looked at Kim Suho. He grinned and raised his hand.

n

n“I’ll do it. I’m good at stuff like this.”

n

n“Yi Yeonghan, you help Kim Suho too.”

n

n“Okay~”

n

n“Butchering… it suits you. Kim Suho the Butcher, that can be your title.”

n

nShin Jonghak taunted Kim Suho from the side. I handed him four empty water buckets.

n

n“And you, go get water. There’s a stream to the right of this place.”

n

n“…What?”

n

nShin Jonghak made a terrifying frown. I have never seen such an angry expression. He seemed to be saying something like, ‘how dare you order me around!?’

n

nHowever, I already knew the magical words to control him.

n

n“Hey, Chae Nayun, go with him.”

n

n“Hm? Me~?”

n

nChae Nayun, who was looking around inside the tent, scurried out.

n

n“…Hm.”

n

nShin Jonghak took the canteens silently. Then, he coughed a few times and gave two of the buckets to Chae Nayun.

n

n“Let’s go.”

n

n“Are we going to go get water?”

n

n“Yeah.”

n

n“Great, I was getting thirsty.”

n

nChae Nayun and Shin Jonghak walked together to the stream.

n

n“Hmph, why is it Chae Nayun?”

n

nYoo Yeonha grumbled as she watched them leave. When I glanced at her, she turned away sulking.

n

nI murmured to myself.

n

n“Let’s make some ramen when they come back with water.”

n

n“…Ramen?”

n

nYoo Yeonha’s grumpy face instantly disappeared. I took out a few bags of ramen from the duffel bag and spoke.

n

n“Yeah. Why, you don’t like them? You’re not going to pretend to be a chaebol in this situation, right?”

n

nYoo Yeonha smacked her lips and shook her head.

n

n“No, ssp. I guess there’s, ssp, no choice. It’s better, ssp, than starving to death, ssp.”

n

n…She must have been hungry as she loudly swallowed her saliva.

n

n