Chapter 6: Returnee Gallery

When Park Yoo-jung arrived at the Bureau, she sought out the official she was friendly with to inquire about the flood incident.

“Hello.”

“Oh, Yoo-jung! Welcome!”

As always, the official greeted her warmly.

Yoo-jung had cultivated this relationship for moments like these.

Scratching the back of her head, Yoo-jung spoke up….

“I heard about the flood incident with the Seolhwa Guild yesterday.”

“Oh, you’re here to ask for the information, like last time?”

The official tilted her head as if unsure at first, then clapped her hands in realization.

“Yes.”

“The notice will be posted on the website soon, but you’re in such a rush. Fine, I’ll share it with you since it’s you, Yoo-jung.”

Having built a connection with the official made moments like this easier.

“Thank you. Oh, by the way, I heard there’s a new returnee?”

“Ah, yes. Yuna handled it yesterday. The returnee was incredibly beautiful, but she also single-handedly wiped out the flood. It was verified through cross-checking with Mr. Taebaek from the Seolhwa Guild.”

If that was true, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to recruit her into the guild.

Returnees were often unfamiliar with the ways of the world, and the Baeksaek Guild had a good reputation, offering sufficient financial support without being exploitative.

Not that they would force her, of course.

It might be worth meeting her, and getting some inside information wouldn’t hurt either.

“It sounds like she’s quite strong.”

“Well, I wouldn’t get your hopes up. She’s pretty fierce, despite her appearance.”

“Well, I’ll think about it… Huh? What’s this?”

Yoo-jung pointed to a file buried in the corner of the desk.

It was a list of missing persons from the time of the Great Cataclysm.

“Oh, that? It’s not useful anymore. We’ve separated the information of those we couldn’t find, and it’s being handled carefully. This is just the leftover data that we’ll dispose of soon, to prevent any risk of misuse.”

Yoo-jung picked up the list and examined it.

Many pages were missing, like a head of hair with patches falling out.

Likely, the missing information had been backed up somewhere else.

But there was one problem.

Why was there still information about a man named Park Si-woo, whom they hadn’t found?

“Wait, what do you mean ‘useless’? My brother is on here!”

Yoo-jung couldn’t comprehend it.

She had been searching for her brother ever since he disappeared during the Great Cataclysm.

She had even registered his information with the newly established Returnee Task Force, along with his ex-girlfriend.

Yet, no news had come so far.

“Oh? Really? Let me see… Oh, you’re right.”

Even though this wasn’t the official’s department, they were somewhat familiar with Park Si-woo’s case, thanks to Yoo-jung’s frequent visits asking about her brother.

Because of her persistence, the Bureau staff couldn’t help but remember his name.

Only those in the returnee department had access to the data, but thanks to Yoo-jung’s friendly nature, people in the Bureau had gotten used to hearing about Park Si-woo.

“Since we were ordered to dispose of this file, I think it means he returned as a returnee.”

“A r-returnee?”

Yoo-jung blinked in disbelief.

Could it be true?

Had her brother, whom she had searched for all this time, finally returned?

“Yoo-jung? Yoo-jung~!”

Ignoring the official’s call, Yoo-jung headed straight to Kim Yu-na in the returnee department.

“Oh, Yoo-jung, you’re here.”

“Yu-na, did you find my brother?”

“No? What are you talking about?”

Yu-na pretended not to know.

There was no need to explain this.

“Don’t lie to me! I just saw the missing persons list you were about to throw out!”

“Really? Can’t they manage anything properly? I was told to keep it a secret, or else I’m going to get killed… That mace is supposed to hurt a lot.”

“Yu-na!”

Sighing deeply, Yu-na finally gave in.

“Ugh, fine. Yes, we found him.”

“Then why didn’t you contact me?”

“He hardly remembers anything from his time as Park Si-woo. After going through his past, he decided it would be better not to meet anyone, and he asked us not to notify anyone. I respected his decision, so I couldn’t tell you.”

Most returnees, even if not obsessively, often wanted to reconnect with their past lives.

But not this woman, Karina.

She seemed to have very few memories, and her past life and family relations didn’t matter to her.

She didn’t even want to meet the aunt who had been kind to her, which suggested she had almost no memory of that relationship either.

There were returnees like this.

When they had no memory of their previous lives, the Bureau would often reunite them with family, considering their past relationships and circumstances.

But Park Si-woo, or rather, Karina, was different.

“But you know how long I’ve been searching for him!”

At first, Yu-na had felt sorry for Yoo-jung, but after learning about Karina’s situation, she was less sympathetic toward Yoo-jung.

“Look, Yoo-jung, by law, I’m only allowed to look into a returnee’s past when they’re found. I learned about this late myself.”

“?”

To be honest, it’s rare to take someone’s side like this.

But in this case, there’s no helping it.

From Kim Yu-na’s perspective, Park Yoo-jung just comes across as insincere.

Even now, it feels like she’s pursuing this one-sidedly.

“Isn’t it unreasonable to want to find Park Si-woo after what you did to him? Especially when he doesn’t want to be found?”

“That’s…”

Yoo-jung lowered her head.

There it was.

This younger sister had gossiped behind her brother’s back, who had juggled school and part-time jobs to support their family, and she had disrespected him at home too.

How incredible.

Even if he remembered her, it was obvious he would want nothing to do with her.

“I find this rather unpleasant. It’s unfortunate that you found out due to our mistake, and you might have learned eventually anyway, but we have no more information to share. Please leave.”

More than anything, Yu-na was afraid of getting on the wrong side of the saint, Karina.

She would absolutely not want to reunite under such circumstances.

The quicker she got out of this situation, the better.

Surely, this was enough.

Even if Yoo-jung wanted to apologize now, Yu-na couldn’t reveal more, if only for her own sake.

She didn’t want to risk her head being smashed.

“Is it really impossible?”

Yoo-jung lifted her head again, her face visibly contorted.

Yes.

Absolutely impossible.

“Yes. It will be a problem if you keep coming here over this.”

“I understand. I apologize for the trouble I’ve caused.”

Yoo-jung turned and slumped away.

Seeing her leave made Yu-na briefly wonder if she should help, but hearing about Karina from Kim Taebaek reminded her not to.

Karina, the saint who once defeated the Demon King, was not someone to be trifled with.

“Yeah. I know nothing. Let’s leave it at that.”

*

The saint, Karina, who had saved the world of heroes, was now enjoying a well-deserved break.

Although, her ‘break’ mostly consisted of lounging around in the officetel provided by the Bureau, occasionally tapping away on a console game.

Recently, she’d learned how to use a PC to shop for clothes.

“The inventor of dolphin shorts deserves an award.”

Karina admired the black dolphin shorts she was wearing.

Just because she used to wear saintly robes every day didn’t mean she had to continue doing so.

At home, comfort was key.

According to her internet search, dolphin shorts were known for their comfort, so she ordered them online and tried them on.

And sure enough, they were amazing.

Back in the other world, she had to wear shabby underwear under her robes, but things were different now.

Paired with a simple white short-sleeved shirt, she felt free—both body and soul.

-Oh my, you really do seem to enjoy yourself.

A voice from the goddess came through.

Apparently, she was in the mood for conversation.

“Of course I am.”

There was no hidden meaning behind it.

The shorts were just that comfortable!

She would even recommend them to the hero.

-But are you really going to laze around all day? This world doesn’t seem entirely safe either.

“Yeah, I heard there are monsters or something.”

But why would I get involved?

Compared to the other world, this place is full of weaklings, isn’t it?

Besides, getting involved would just be a hassle.

In the other world, if someone annoyed her, she could just beat them to death.

But in Korea, they had this thing called the law, and it was very strict.

Even if I killed someone secretly, the police would probably catch me.

-Why does it always have to be about killing someone?

“With looks like mine, don’t you think someone might try to pull something? I saw a case on the news where a female hunter was lured to some tower and attacked, but she beat them up instead.”

-Ah, so things aren’t so easy here either.

“Exactly. Anyway, I want to relax for a while.”

Karina opened the fridge and pulled out a tub of mint chocolate ice cream.

It was insanely good.

It tasted like toothpaste mixed with chocolate in a strange but satisfying way.

-Isn’t that disgusting?

“It’s delicious.”

Closing the fridge, Karina sat down in front of her PC with the ice cream and a spoon.

Her computer was top-tier, with the latest specs.

It had an ‘Ice Edition’ cooling system, with non-melting ice running through pipes inside the case.

Just looking at it made her feel cooler.

It seemed that even computers had evolved in the Hunter Era.

“None of these games are fun… Maybe I’ll browse some forums.”

The government official who had shown her the officetel had mentioned a ‘Returnee Gallery’ online, saying it might help her adjust to society.

Remembering that, Karina logged in and browsed around.

There were a lot of regulars on the forum.

Naturally, she started with some popular posts.

[Author: PureheartedElfHere]

[Title: Shit, I’m screwed.]

So, my memory came back yesterday, and guess what? Turns out I had a wife and kids. I’m fcked.

When the department told me about them, I totally ignored it. Shit.

[Comments]

24thCenturyGuy: Isn’t that good news?

-AndroidsRule

└PureheartedElfHere: Fck, I’m a female elf, and I had two kids back in that world. I wish I’d never remembered.

OverweightOrc: TS’d into a female, corrupted… At first, I thought your account got hacked because your tone changed so much, but it turns out you just got your memories back? LOL

└PureheartedElfHere: Ugh, fck, I just want to die. Getting pounded and having kids… But, oddly enough, I miss them too.

RevolutionaryLeader: You’re the one who chose to be an elf. Suck it up and deal with it.

PureheartedElfHere: Fck, f*ck, this self-loathing is killing me. I’m so confused, LOL.

Just reading these posts was enough to make Karina feel disoriented.

“Wow, there’s someone worse off than me.”

-They must come from all sorts of different worlds.

Karina decided to check out another popular post.

[Author: Dwarf9218]

[Title: My wife got NTR’d yesterday.]

Fck, I haven’t been back long, but my wife, who used to be so sweet, has been distant lately, so I had her followed. Turns out she was getting it on with a centaur in an alley. She became a horse-loving btch. Fcking hell. How do I even deal with this?

[Comments]

MasterCraftsman100Years: Dude… you’re a dwarf. There’s nothing you can do about it. Your wife can’t keep a spiderweb down there forever, can she?

└Dwarf9218: Fck. I loved her, you btch…

MaxSizeCentaur: Wait, that was your wife? Damn, sorry man… If I’d known she was married to a returnee, I wouldn’t have done it. I thought she was just some milf.

└Succubus100YearsAged: Found the culprit, LOL. How big are you?

└Dwarf9218: You son of a btch. Meet me at the guild square right now. I’m gonna rip off your damn horse root!

└MaxSizeCentaur: Wait, hold on, I didn’t know it was your wife, dude! Chill out. I’ll help you find a milf who’s into shota, okay?

└KnightCodeOnly30Years: Why the fck would you even touch a married woman to begin with?!

└MaxSizeCentaur: Honestly, any woman who’s that easy isn’t worth keeping around.

└Dwarf9218: You fcking beast. She waited for me for 15 years! It’s all your fault! Did your mom get screwed like that by your dad too?!

└MaxSizeCentaur: How’d you know?

At that point, Karina burst out laughing.

“Wow, this place is hilarious.”

It seemed like she’d found her new hangout spot.

-Don’t you think you should post something too?

“Hmm, yeah, I guess I should. Looks like everyone’s using nicknames that describe their personalities.”

“Alright, I’ve got a good one.”

Karina came up with a new username for the forum, ‘HeadSmasherSaint.’