chapter_0203

‘Is this really the Earth I knew?’

After taking care of the two of them with some makeshift first aid, he ventured out of the gate and into the city, which had changed drastically.

People in armor and with weapons, as well as people in strange clothing, walked casually on the streets, and occasionally, people could be seen riding animals or monsters as their summons.

The important thing was that no one on the street seemed to find the situation strange or tried to stop them.

It was absurd. It felt like the world had turned into a hunter-themed novel.

He seriously wondered if he had returned to his original world or if he had somehow entered another novel, a hunter-themed one at that. Otherwise, the situation was simply unbelievable.

“Why is that guy acting like that? Is he crazy?”

“Just ignore him. It’s not worth getting involved with those guys.”

People around him were whispering. It was natural. With his mana blocking his visual information, he probably looked like he had stattic all over his body.

Anyone with a sane mind would avoid getting involved.

‘I need to start moving.’

According to the information he had extracted from the man who attacked him, the Republic of Korea was only nominally a government, and in reality, it was being dragged around by a certain guild.

Due to the worldwide gate generation phenomenon, it was impossible to maintain international relations without skilled hunters.

‘That doesn’t make sense to me. Don’t they have an army on Earth? Why would they need hunters to catch monsters?’

This was another element that made him doubt if this was really the Earth he knew. He looked around and walked for a while. His destination was the Eternal guild, the super-large guild that was said to be effectively controlling the Republic of Korea.

There was a reason why the first place he visited after leaving the gate was not his home, but the guild.

‘I need to confirm if this is really the Earth I know. To do that, I need to go to the place where I can get the most reliable information. I’ll just barge in and see what happens.’

The man who attacked him, Cha Do-han, was said to be a top-tier A-class hunter, so his skills would definitely not be inferior to the hunters in this world. He wasn’t sure how he would compare to the top-tier hunters, though.

He knew his plan was insane, but he had no choice. If he had had more time to think, he might have come up with a better plan, but he was running out of time.

He didn’t know what had happened to the seven people who had entered before him, if he had really returned to the Earth he knew, or if he could even return at all.

So he had to resort to this extremely drastic method.

‘What if they refuse to meet me at all?’

One problem was that the guild was known to only accept female hunters and unconditionally rejected men, regardless of their skills.

If the guild leader had a strong anti-male sentiment, there was a good chance that she would refuse to meet him.

‘I don’t know. I’ll figure it out when I get there.’

It was a luxury to worry about the aftermath. For now, he would just barge in and cause a ruckus, and try to gather as much information about this world as quickly as possible.

What if this plan failed? He would worry about that when the time came. Instead of planning Plan B, he would rather take one more step forward.

With that in mind, he used his physical enhancement to the maximum and crossed Seoul, finally arriving at the location of the Eternal guild’s headquarters building.

‘……It’s really freaking huge.’

Even taking into account the information he had gotten from Cha Do-han, the location was absurd.

The building was 80 stories tall, and the area of the first floor alone was equivalent to four large stadiums put together. When you considered the size of the building itself, the area of the surrounding land was endless.

A five-story apartment-high wall made of a strange metal surrounded the perimeter of the land, and surveillance cameras were plastered all over the wall. A blue defensive magic spell covered the entire building.

There were only four entrances, one on each of the four cardinal directions, and at each entrance, ten hunters in advanced suits of armor, like something out of a sci-fi movie, stood guard.

Of course, they were all women.

“……”

“……”

He approached the entrance, making himself visible.

The hunters’ gazes sharpened as they noticed him. Their hands moved towards their weapons, and their index fingers touched their ears as if contacting someone. The surveillance cameras near the entrance all turned towards him.

He continued to approach the entrance. The leader-like hunter stopped in front of him, ready to draw her weapon at any moment.

“Stop, stop. This area is restricted. State your affiliation and identity.”

He ignored them and tried to enter. Immediately, not only the leader-like hunter but also the other nine hunters drew their weapons and surrounded him.

“This is your final warning. Failure to comply with our instructions may result in immediate lethal force, and our guild does not hold the front door guards responsible for shooting intruders. State your affiliation and identity immediately.”

“If I tell you my affiliation and identity, can I meet the highest-ranking person in your guild right now?”

“You’re crazy. Restrain him! We don’t know what abilities he might have, so be careful!”

A helmet rose from the neck of the armor and locked into place with a clunk, clunk sound. The visor over the eyes emitted a blue light.

It really looked like a suit.

“Sorry, I’m a bit desperate.”

He activated his physical enhancement and drew the Dragon Tooth Sword. He didn’t intend to kill these guards, as they were just doing their jobs. Before the hunters could react, he moved his feet and swung his arms.

In the next moment, he was right in front of the entrance, and the hunters’ weapons were shattered to pieces.

“What the……!”

The hunters, startled by his sudden appearance and the broken weapons, immediately switched to the next response.

“Intruder detected! Enter immediate response mode! Request support!”

“Screaaaaaaaam!”

The first floor entrances were all blocked by a deafening high-pitched sound. The defensive barrier thickened, and a barrier descended in front of the entrance to prevent the intruder from escaping.

Soon, a dimensional door opened, and more hunters in the same advanced armor as the guards poured out.

Dozens of hunters surrounded him. He raised his hands in surrender, though he still held the Dragon Tooth Sword. He raised his hands only to avoid a pointless fight.

“I don’t want to fight. I just need to meet the highest-ranking person in your guild.”

“Nonsense. People like that can’t be met just because you want to.”

“Too bad. I guess this isn’t enough to make you want to meet me. Should I tear down and destroy the entire building’s barrier to make you want to meet me?”

“You arrogant bastard! Everyone, battle stations!”

“I’m sorry for barging in like this, but I had no choice. If you don’t answer by the count of three, I’ll assume you need something more.”

As he counted down from three, his body flickered with mana, and the hunters’ suits also flickered with blue light. Suddenly, a dimensional door appeared, seemingly out of place, blocking their path.

The hunters cheered, thinking that whoever was coming was either a strong opponent or a high-ranking person. Good.

He was planning to knock that person out and try to negotiate, but when he saw who it was, he froze.

“What’s all the commotion about?”

Blue hair that reached her waist.

Golden eyes that seemed to contain the sun.

A holy sword that shone with a golden light.

“Who are you?”

It was Leona, who looked much more mature than she had in the academy.

Leona glared at him coldly, then turned to the hunters and pointed her holy sword at him.

“Answer me. Who are you?”

“Leona……?”

He muttered, and Leona flinched.

“How do you know that name… Who… Who are you?”

Leona stiffened as she saw the Dragon Tooth Sword in his hand. Her golden eyes widened in disbelief.

“That sword…… It can’t be…… How……”

The atmosphere became tense, and the hunters, who had been cheering, began to whisper among themselves. He sheathed the Dragon Tooth Sword. The hunters, who had been on edge, flinched but relaxed a little when they saw him sheathe his sword. Leona, however, stared at him intently.

He had to think. Here was the simplest and most effective way to confirm his identity as Mira Crate from the novel world.

Not a copy or an avatar, but the real Mira Crate.

There was only one way to do that.

A sun began to form in his left hand. In response to the power of the holy spear, the holy sword glowed with heat as if resonating with it. The hunters were shocked, their eyes wide.

“Mi…… Ra……?”

And there was one more person who was shocked.

.

.

.

After he summoned the holy spear to prove his identity, chaos ensued.

The female hunters, not understanding the situation, approached Leona and were met with a roar, telling them not to dare touch her. They backed away, their faces pale.

Leona cautiously approached him and, when they were in a place where no one could see them, threw herself at him. She couldn’t even breathe properly, let alone speak, as she sobbed uncontrollably.

“……Sniff. Sniff.”

She had calmed down enough to speak now. Leona looked up after she had calmed down and made a call.

“……So, how long has it been?”

“Seven years……”

The word “crazy” escaped his lips. Seven years, a full seven years. Had that much time really passed?

He wanted to ask if everyone was okay, but he couldn’t. It was obvious that they weren’t okay. Just Priscilla alone……

“……”

Goosebumps ran down his spine. He hoped that in his absence, they hadn’t gone crazy or made extreme choices.

“Screaaaaam!”

While he was sweating cold sweat, the door was shattered, and someone flew in. It was Priscilla.

Priscilla threw herself at him as soon as she saw him. Nothing else was needed. Priscilla clung to him, and he clung to her, her body shaking as she sobbed uncontrollably.

He gently stroked her hair with his left arm, as his right arm was still missing.

Soon, the others began to arrive, having received the news.

“Hey! I told you to come back as soon as possible! What the hell were you thinking…… Really……”

“I told you that if you didn’t want to cause a commotion, you should come back with all your limbs intact…… No…… It doesn’t matter…… Now that you’re back……”

“……I don’t know what to say. There’s so much I want to say……”

Rosalia, Laura, and Elysier also approached him with tears in their eyes. Unlike Leona, who looked much more mature, they hadn’t changed at all. Even the clothes they were wearing were the same.

“Child…… I’m so glad…… I’m so glad…… I thought I’d never see you again…… From now on, please don’t do anything so reckless……”

Next was the chairman, Erestika. She hugged him while crying. And her chest, which was noticeably larger than the last time he saw her, pressed against him.

‘Did it get bigger? There?’

He blinked, unsure if his eyes were deceiving him, but the size in front of him was real. Could it have gotten bigger from there? He shuddered at the thought. What had happened in the meantime?

“……Nika?”

And when Nika arrived, he had to blink again, this time for a different reason.

It had shrunk to a ridiculous size.

It wasn’t a matter of perspective or a trick of the eye. There was no mistaking that it had shrunk to a similar size as Leona. What more comparison was needed?

“I didn’t want to eat anything else but the regular energy you gave me, Master.”

Nika smiled at him through her tears. According to her, since she returned to this world, she had lived only on the energy that remained in her body. She hadn’t absorbed energy from anyone or sought additional energy.

As a result, when her energy reserves began to run low about three years ago, she stopped going out and spent most of her time in bed. He swallowed bitterly at her words.

“……But I’m glad you’re back.”

‘You’re back.’

Only then did he realize that he had indeed returned to the Earth he knew.

Time passed, and after the day turned to night and the night turned to morning again, they finally let go of him. With tear-stained clothes, he asked the question he had been holding back.

“What happened? With the gates and the hunters, when I first arrived, I thought I had entered another hunter-themed novel, not my original world.”

“In order to find a way to find you, we investigated the reasons for these changes. Thanks to that, we were able to get some results.”

“What kind of results?”

“After the dimensional door broke and we came here, many other things flowed in as well. As a result, the concepts of mana and monsters were introduced to Earth. Of course, it’s not exactly the same as the world we were in, but it’s similar.”

“I said earlier that I thought I had entered a hunter-themed novel when I first arrived. That’s not entirely wrong. In your absence, it really did become like that. We did intentionally guide it in that direction, but the speed at which they accepted it was faster than we imagined.”

“……It’s better for you and Nika, but…… What about the guild?”

“I thought you would need a place to return to when you came back. I didn’t know when it would be, but I was sure you would come back.”

Laura gently stroked his cheek. The tears that had subsided began to well up again.

“And now you’re back. There’s so much to say and do.”

“Me too.”

He agreed. There was still a lot to hear and a lot to tell. No matter how long it took, it didn’t matter.

As Laura said, they had “time.”