The Returner - Chapter 444

A quick but careful headcount indicated that there must be at least two thousand people present here.

 

This number might make one lose all semblance of hope when considering that they all needed to be trained, but on the flip side, this was not a high number at all when considering the important fact that these people had come from all corners of the globe.

 

‘Yeah, it’s actually way too low.’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

Another problem was the uncertainty over just how much of a help they would provide to humanity even if they became twice as strong as their current selves.

 

Could they deal with a demon king after getting stronger than now, for instance?

 

Highly doubtful.

 

However, Yi Ji-Hyuk still had to train them up so that they could at least fight against the demon king army. That was the main point of this venture but he was not confident of them actually attaining such a level. Well, he too had never tried anything similar to what they were about to embark on, that’s why.

 

“Mm…” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

Seeing how Yi Ji-Hyuk seemed to be in some kind of dilemma, Choi Jeong-Hoon decided to say something.

 

“Should we go inside?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

 

“No, before that…” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

Yi Ji-Hyuk smirked and replied.

 

“Let’s do something else first.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

*

 

“Hey, over there! Draw the lines properly, will ya?!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

“…”

 

The people busy digging the ground with the equipment the teleporters had brought in began frowning quite deeply.

 

“What the hell are we even doing?”

 

“Bloody hell.”

 

For the sake of protecting humanity, they would receive new powers. Although this mission would be tough and difficult, as long as they could overcome the trials, they would be bestowed with powers several times stronger than right now.

 

…That was the explanation they were all given.

 

The whole world was exposed to the threats posed by the demon kings, yes, but if you asked which location had suffered the most then everyone would invariably point to Europe.

 

Sure, you could argue that after Beijing was nuked to oblivion and LA was turned into a city of death, Asia and North America both had lost quite a lot themselves, but that was still not as grave as Europe that had already lost Turkey and Germany.

 

Especially more so when the Europeans deployed almost all of their available forces to the frontlines in the hope of saving Germany, arguably the centre of Europe itself, and suffered massive losses as a result. Unlike the Europeans, the Americans withdrew their troops early on to minimise their losses while China chose to leave the defences to the regional armies, instead.

 

If things continued on at the same rate, it’d not be long before Europe would crumble down, never to recover. And that was why these ability users volunteered for this training session while preparing to even sacrifice their lives if it needs be, but now…

 

“Who dares to stand up straight and not work?!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

This punk wearing blue tracksuits found in the centre of everyone shouted out in Korean, which no one here could speak, then a tall and good-looking fellow next to him interpreted the shout in various languages and shouted out himself next.

 

“What a f*cking polite as*hole that guy is.”

 

Translating into English would be enough for most people here to get the gist of the shouting, but when it got translated into various mother tongues like that, everyone got progressively more and more unhappy.

 

“Why are we even digging the ground like this?!”

 

“F*ck! Who the hell knows?”

 

They all showed up with grave determinations filling up their hearts, but the mission given to them was quite literally to dig the ground like some chumps.

 

Michael looked down at the shovel in his hand, his expression crumpling to an unbelievable degree. Even right at this moment, his country was barrelling straight towards ruin. Half of its territory was destroyed while its citizens had become refugees that sought out shelter in the neighbouring nations.

 

He could barely suppress the urgency eating away at his heart right now, yet never mind training, he had to shovel dirt away like this?

 

“F*cking hell!” (Michael)

 

Michael threw the shovel down on the ground and stood up straight.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“I didn’t come here to do crap like this. If this is all I do here then I might as well go back to Germany, instead! It’ll be better to fight and die. My countrymen are all in grave danger yet what the hell is the meaning of this stupid act?!” (Michael)

 

“Calm down, Michael. Don’t you know who that guy is?”

 

“…D*mmit.” (Michael)

 

Michael stared at the one sitting under the parasol and seeping away on a cold drink.

 

Yi Ji-Hyuk. A cheat-like ability user who just appeared out of nowhere and became renowned throughout the world.

 

This devil of a man shot past Alpha’s own infamy who was previously known as the most vile person on the planet, and became the world’s number one target to watch out for in no time at all.

 

‘It’s no bloody joke.’ (Michael)

 

Just by looking at all the things the Korean had done so far, Michael could tell that he was on another dimension compared to the rest of the ability users.

 

Regular people would only have a vague notion of it but ability users easily understood the monumental scale of the things Yi Ji-Hyuk had done so far. As a proof, even Alpha, understood to be next to impossible to fight against, became a well-behaved sheep in front of Yi Ji-Hyuk.

 

“But so what?!” (Michael)

 

Indeed, the urgency in his heart was far too great to be suppressed by some thoughts of not wanting to earn the ire of that man.

 

Michael strode angrily towards Yi Ji-Hyuk.

 

“Look here, man!” (Michael)

 

Choi Jeong-Hoon frowned while looking at Michael approaching them with an angrily scowl etched on his face.

 

“Looks like a reactionary has risen up.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

 

“Well, there will always be brave people somewhere.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

Michael couldn’t understand what these two men were yapping on about, but he still glared in Yi Ji-Hyuk’s direction.

 

“Why are we doing something like this?” (Michael)

 

“What language was that?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

“…It’s English, Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

 

“…Oh.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

Michael was being considerate when speaking in English, but to the definitely-not-multilingual Yi Ji-Hyuk who could only distinguish whether the language being spoken was Eastern or Western in nature, such a consideration was a lamentable waste of time, instead.

 

“Dang it, I might as well re-activate the translation magic or something.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

Since he couldn’t wield magic freely like back when he could rely on dark Mana, he had to cancel all the unnecessary spells cast on him, but that only ended up causing this lost-in-translation crisis, instead.

 

“Okay, so what is he saying?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

“He’s asking why he’s supposed to do this work. Let me interpret for you in real time, then.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

 

“Tell him that it is a necessity.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

Choi Jeong-Hoon translated, and Michael’s expression crumpled once more.

 

“I came here to learn the new technique that can supposedly fight against the demon kings. But you’re telling us to dig the ground, instead? Is it to bury the dead demon kings, then? Bloody hell. What is the meaning of this?! I will not keep doing this anymore.” (Michael)

 

“Then go.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

Yi Ji-Hyuk listening to the real-time translation waved his hand dismissively, and a blank look floated up on Michael’s face next.

 

“What did you say?” (Michael)

 

“I said, go. You going deaf or something? You can go now. Bye.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

Yi Ji-Hyuk waved his hand as if to chase away a fly.

 

“Call a teleporter over here and send this guy home.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

“Understood.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

 

When the situation started going down in an unexpected direction, Michael urgently shouted out in a fluster.

 

“If you keep making us do this, then not just me but many others will start leaving as well!” (Michael)

 

“Then tell them to leave, too.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

Yi Ji-Hyuk replied in an unconcerned manner. The one to become speechless at his reaction was Michael, instead.

 

“I thought you have a duty to train us?” (Michael)

 

“What did you say?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

Yi Ji-Hyuk groaned deeply.

 

“Man, some tramps wanted in on the proceedings so I let them join us out of pity, but now they are starting to get vocal with me? Hey, man. It doesn’t matter to me whether you’re here or not, so if all you’re planning to do is complain, then just get lost.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

Yi Ji-Hyuk got up from the chair and shouted out.

 

“Anyone wishing to complain, leave now! You’re all getting on my nerves!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

The crowd began stirring up from that.

 

After listening to Choi Jeong-Hoon translating for them, some became flustered while some shot Yi Ji-Hyuk glares filled with pure dissatisfaction. All sorts of reactions could be spied from them.

 

But one interesting thing to note here was that every single ability user showing some reaction came from Europe and America.

 

None of the people Alpha brought along or the NDF agents were paying even the slightest bit of attention to him at the moment. Except one.

 

“Can I go home in that case?” (Kim Dah-Hyun)

 

Kim Dah-Hyun raised his hand and asked but Choi Jeong-Hoon silently shot him down with a familiar finger pointing gesture. Looking thoroughly dejected now, Kim Dah-Hyun picked the shovel up and started digging the ground once more.

 

Michael sensed that the situation had become even more weirder and opened his mouth again.

 

“What we want are an explanation and a proper plan that…” (Michael)

 

Grab.

 

It was then, someone suddenly grabbed the back of Michael’s neck.

 

“Man, you are a talkative one, aren’t you? You must be French.” (Alpha)

 

Michael confirmed who had grabbed his neck and instantly all colour drained out of his face.

 

‘A-Alpha.’ (Michael)

 

He felt a deathly chill creep on his skin after realising that Alpha was staring at him with his white hair dancing in the desert wind.

 

Yi Ji-Hyuk might be stronger than Alpha, but according to all the stories being told, the former was an eccentric person while the latter was not. Alpha was a devil among all devils who would crush you underfoot like some insignificant insect without even batting an eyelid.

 

“I, I’m German.” (Michael)

 

“Oh, a refugee from the invaded nation, I see. In that case, I can sort of understand where this overreaction is coming from. Which is somewhat unfortunate, because if you were French, I’d have felt no qualms about killing you on the spot.” (Alpha)

 

“………..”

 

Alpha smirked and addressed Yi Ji-Hyuk.

 

“What should I do? I think by ripping this guy’s head off and hanging it up somewhere up there will take care of any dissenting individuals. Are you in favour of such a method?” (Alpha)

 

“Argh, just tell the whole lot to go home or something. Man, there are already way too many people here and that’s making it harder to focus, you know? It’d been fine to have only about a hundred people or something, so why did you have to go and make a big fuss and annoy me like this?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

“…Looks like it was all my fault.” (Alpha)

 

Alpha sneakily avoided making eye contact with an expression that said, ‘Oopsie’.

 

“So, you heard him, right?” (Alpha)

 

“……..” (Michael)

 

“I actually like people who complain. Because, it’s those types of people who eventually change the world. People satisfied by the present and simply follow the herd can never transform our world. So, a guy like you can become a revolutionary, a reformer, if things work out in your favour. I really like people like that. With me so far?” (Alpha)

 

Michael mindlessly nodded his head.

 

“However, you lack this one crucial little thing. Wonder what that is?” (Alpha)

 

Michael couldn’t reply verbally. He had no mental leeway to.

 

But that made sense considering that the world’s most brutal and merciless killer was threatening him right by his side.

 

“You don’t have the strength.” (Alpha)

 

Alpha smiled in a good-natured manner.

 

“You need power for a revolution to succeed and to reform something. When someone without the necessary strength complains, that person becomes a rebel and nothing more.” (Alpha)

 

Alpha’s hand gripping the back of Michael’s neck tightened gradually.

 

“No one present today is feeling chuffed about their current situation. But do you know why they are still following orders without much complaints? You think you’re the only smart one here who feels unhappy about their situation?” (Alpha)

 

“…………”

 

“And so, what should we do now? I’m extremely in favour of setting an example, so I…” (Alpha)

 

Slap!

 

It was right then – a shoe splendidly landed on Alpha’s face.

 

“Hul.” (Alpha)

 

The shoe hitting Alpha’s face slowly slid down to the ground as if to re-enact a scene from a cartoon.

 

“Stop wasting time and shovel, dude.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

“…But, what about my dignity in front of my people?!” (Alpha)

 

“Wanna lose more of that dignity, then?!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

“I shall get right back to shovelling, yessir.” (Alpha)

 

Alpha hurriedly picked up his shovel resting on the ground and trotted away, so Michael also decided to sneak away from this spot in front of Yi Ji-Hyuk as well.

 

‘Holy sh*t, that guy was the real wacko here.’ (Michael)

 

The world might be home to some of the weirdest people out there, but to think that someone would be crazy enough to hurl a shoe in Alpha’s face. Not even the President of the United States would dare to do something that ballsy.

 

“Hey, you!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

Yi Ji-Hyuk called out to Michael trying to retreat from there.

 

“Y-yes sir?” (Michael)

 

“Bring me my shoe!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

“Ah, yes sir!” (Michael)

 

Michael picked up the shoe on the ground and cautiously presented it back to Yi Ji-Hyuk.

 

“Now go finish shovelling.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

“Yes sir!” (Michael)

 

And so, all dissatisfaction had been cleanly stitched up, just like that.

 

Even the ones other than Michael feeling unhappy right now became utterly silent, and the majority simply decided to swallow back their dissatisfaction.

 

‘Let’s not escape from here, either.’

 

Whether it was getting beaten up to death by Alpha or Yi Ji-Hyuk, the current atmosphere suggested that anyone foolish enough to try would end up getting beaten up severely for sure.

 

Those in charge of controlling their fellow ability users from their respective nations quickly and quietly spread around the current situation. Once the order to keep quiet and do as told made rounds, the rate of shovelling doubled in speed in no time at all.

 

“Are we finally finished?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

Yi Ji-Hyuk got up from the chair.

 

A massive magic circle was coming together around this huge dome-like structure.

 

“Hmm…” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

If he was still able to use dark Mana, then he wouldn’t have to rely on a method this cumbersome, but unfortunately, he was in a situation where he needed to use the least amount of Mana in the most efficient manner possible.

 

The best method to construct a magic circle of this nature around the dome would be to simply draw it ‘personally’, as it were.

 

“Hey, over there! That line isn’t straight, you dumba*ses!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

Yi Ji-Hyuk shouted out angrily, and the NDF agents acting as the foremen rushed to the offending spot en masse to roar out at the top of their lungs, and oversaw the new operation to cover the ground up before digging it out again.

 

“Hurry up and get it done already!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

The ones shouting out, and the ones urging the others on. A giant dome in the middle of a desert and ‘slaves’ that… oops, ability users, that continued to toil away while not being permitted to even stretch their cramped backs…

 

Alpha succinctly summarised this scene in one go.

 

“So this was how the Pyramids were built, huh.” (Alpha)

 

“You also get back to work, fool!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

 

“Yes, yes! As you wish.” (Alpha)

 

Alpha roughly planted his shovel into the ground below.

 

< 444. That’s the only thing I can give you -4 > Fin.