Chapter 102: Recruiting for the 3rd Returner Destruction Raid Party.

There were no words, but the revolutionary leader was probably thanking me with tears.

Just look—he’s hanging his head and crying, isn’t he?

He should be proud.

On Earth, the next highest-ranking believer after me is Park Yoo-jeong, but in that other world, he’s the savior.

“Pfft! Congratulations, Revolutionary Leader.”

“But why does that elf look so grim?”

For some reason, the elf’s expression looked severe.

She was crouched in the corner, trembling.

What a pitiful sight.

If she’s a slave, shouldn’t she act like one and properly serve me, the angel?

That’s what I thought, but…

“Oh, right. I almost forgot to mention it because your new look was so intense. She told a self-deprecating joke to her daughter earlier.”

“Daughter? I thought she only had a son?”

From what I remembered, she only had sons.

“The elf daughter, Erin, to be exact.”

“Erin from the hero’s party? They came to the guild?”

“Yeah, well, they originally came looking for you, but after Erin spoke with her mother, she said, ‘Don’t you know what a mother is?’ and ran out. The ones who looked like a hero and a wizard followed her.”

Wow, what incredible timing for me to go on my awakening quest.

It worked out well though—the person who became my shield in my absence was our slave.

But this is shocking.

Erin is the slave’s daughter?

Then, doesn’t that mean Erin is also my slave?

I should capture her and make both mother and daughter my slaves…

Wait, before that, how old are both the slave and Erin anyway?

I decided to hear the full story.

“Hey, slave.”

“Sob, huh? What is it, Saintess?”

Judging by how she didn’t even notice my transformation, she must be deeply in shock.

Well, I’m still stunned by the fact that Erin is her daughter.

“I heard you had a fight with your daughter.”

“It wasn’t exactly a fight. No, it’s more like… it’s entirely my fault.”

“What exactly happened?”

If the slave was this dejected, it must’ve been something serious.

She slowly opened her mouth and told me everything.

How the hero’s party came, how her daughter was part of that party, and all the details in between.

And then, an even more interesting piece of information came out.

“Remember when I went to buy melon and I trashed that elf nicknamed ‘InnocentElf’ in the game?”

“Yes, the one you called a ‘hero elf’ or whatever?”

“Yeah, that one.”

Hmm, I did vaguely remember that.

But was it really that big of a deal?

“And? Don’t tell me…”

Could it be that the hero elf was Erin?

No way.

That’s just too much of a coincidence.

“The hero elf was Erin.”

So it really was true.

In other words…

—InnocentElf: This crazy chick keeps shooting arrows into the demon king’s head. Why doesn’t she use binding arrows for crowd control? Got no mom?

—HeroElf: How’d you know?

—InnocentElf: Ah, my bad. Anyway, be careful next time. I’m off to buy melon.

I remember that exchange.

It turns out that Erin, the slave’s daughter, was the same person the slave insulted in-game.

In short, she trashed her own daughter.

A self-deprecating joke, so to speak.

What can you even say to that?

She should be groveling at her daughter’s feet.

Wow, what a fascinating scenario.

Meeting your daughter again across dimensions, failing to recognize her at first, and then realizing that you insulted her in-game.

“If it were me, I’d bite my tongue and end it all.”

Neiper muttered beside me, offering some not-so-helpful comfort.

I mean, how could anyone predict that?

She couldn’t have known that the elf in the game was a real elf, let alone her daughter.

This coincidence was on another level.

—That’s honestly surprising, even for me. Thousands, maybe even tens of thousands, of parallel worlds exist across dimensions, including Earth and other fantasy worlds.The fact that a mother and daughter met again could be called fortunate, but their reunion was, without a doubt, the worst.

Even if it wasn’t a fight, she definitely did something awful to her daughter.

“Sniff. I can’t believe I insulted my own daughter. I’m so embarrassed I could die.”

“Wait, was that really the issue?”

Neiper sighed in exasperation.

“Of course it’s a problem! I insulted myself, didn’t I? How can it not be an issue? I feel like an idiot in front of my daughter!”

Yeah, I get that, but…

“Maybe you should think about how your daughter felt seeing her changed mother?”

“Well, she’s not a kid anymore. She’s probably grown up by now, and people change over time. I explained everything properly, so I think she’ll understand.”

“Well, if it’s Erin, she probably would. That pointy-eared one, if she’s playing games here, she’s already gotten used to life on Earth. That’s the elf’s strength. While others find it hard to adapt and understand things, she takes it all in easily.”

“Maybe, but still, it must have been a huge shock. To find out that your mom used to be a man. She wouldn’t know whether to call you dad or mom.”

True, she does have a previous family.

“But what about the others?”

“They couldn’t stay at the guild forever, you know. Some went home, others had things to do and left.”

How long has it been since I went on my awakening quest?

Now that I think about it, quite a bit of time seems to have passed.

“How long has it been here while I was doing my awakening quest?”

“About three hours, I think?”

Aww, what a shame.

I wanted to show off my holy form, but three hours have already passed here?

I should’ve done it faster and returned.

I could’ve finished everything in a day, negotiated with the goddess, and returned to spread the greatness of the angelic saint to these ignorant ones!

“Even so, why does the orc uncle keep disappearing frequently?”

I really wanted him to see this.

After all, we partied together at the beginning.

It feels a bit more familiar dealing with him.

He looks like a warm-hearted orc from the outside anyway.

“I heard he’s helping a relative move. Since he’s strong, they’re making him carry the furniture.”

The pitiful slime lying around spoke up.

“What about you, Mr. Slime? What are you doing?”

“Me? I’m just hanging out right now.”

Does that mean he’s a complete bum?

Depending on the situation, I might need to make the people in the Returner Guild a bit more useful.

“What? So, you’re just like that lazy fallen angel over there?”

“Hey, what are you saying? I may look like this, but I’m a writer, okay?”

The slime showed me the laptop it had.

I could see a draft of a novel densely typed out.

I wasn’t in the mood to read it, so I passed.

“I can’t picture a slime and a writer together, though.”

“You know slimes are bottom-tier monsters, right?”

Right.

I didn’t expect him to admit that himself, but come to think of it, this slime must’ve been doing pretty well to survive in a fantasy world.

“Yeah, I know. I’ve killed plenty of slimes with my own hands.”

“I’m not talking to you anymore.”

“Sorry! I won’t do it again.”

To be honest, I hadn’t killed that many slimes.

Naturally, I didn’t pay much attention to low-level mobs like that.

Saying more would only make him sulk for a different reason.

“How do you think a weak slime like me survived in my world? I didn’t have much going for me, not even a man to steal me away because of how I looked. So I turned to writing instead.”

Ah, now I get it.

Yeah, it’s true, life is rough in every world, especially if you’re reincarnated as a low-tier monster.

Still, this slime managed to survive as a writer with that weak body.

You’d have to be pretty smart to pull that off, right?

“Wow, you must have some talent for that.”

“Not really.”

“Then how?”

Let’s hear his secret.

“Back in that world, I just ripped off the novels I read on Earth. Romance fantasy stuff was really popular with noble women. So, I pretended to be human, kept writing like that for a while.”

“And then?”

Something must’ve happened.

“Well, I got into an argument with the demon king. He beat me up, saying, ‘Aren’t you ashamed to take money from humans without doing anything?’ Next thing I knew, I woke up on Earth.”

As he said this, the slime gritted its teeth at the memory of the demon king.

Yeah, the demon king’s a jerk no matter what world you’re in.

Although, in the succubus world, the demon king seemed a bit different.

“Oh, were you working under the demon king in that world too?”

“I don’t like it, but apparently, high-intelligence demons are usually under that damn Demon King. But that useless bastard is completely worthless.”

Most monsters seem to be like that.

But even here, you’re still writing as a writer?

Isn’t there nothing to plagiarize here?

“Are you writing novels? Isn’t it impossible to plagiarize here?”

“Heh, you know one thing but not the other. I figured out that even just copying ideas can be an easy way to make money.”

“And then?”

What other nonsense has he been up to?

“I plagiarized works from that world’s authors and made them popular as web novels on Earth. It was strange, the difference in tastes. What didn’t catch on with the nobles there became a huge hit here.”

“Wow, that’s impressive. Do you really remember all that?”

Honestly, I would’ve forgotten.

I’m not a total idiot, but thinking like that is too much effort for me.

“Turns out my memory’s gotten better, so it’s possible. Once I started mass-producing, I could churn out a few works easily.”

The slime spoke.

“But wasn’t that fat guy helping a relative move?”

“Yeah, if you’re curious, check the guild forums. He posted about it.”

“Oh, really? I’ll have to check.”

I sneakily opened the Returner Guild forum on my phone.

Speak of the devil.

The orc had just posted something a few seconds ago.

—

[Author: OverweightOrc]

[Title: Moving is exhausting as hell.]

Damn, my cousin started fussing about getting a house before his wedding, and we ended up moving to this ridiculously nice place.

Thought I was gonna die moving all the stuff.

But my cousin’s fiancée kept glancing at me like I was some kind of monster.

Also, next week, a friend asked me to sing at their wedding. Any song suggestions?

[Moving pic]

—

Wow, this guy’s pretty social, isn’t he?

Awesome.

When it comes to wedding songs, there’s one that can’t be missed.

This guy is lucky to have a companion like me.

—

[Comments]

-24th-century survivor: How about the national anthem?

└OverweightOrc: Shut up, you tin can!

-HeadSmasherSaint: How about Hong Kyung-min’s ‘Shaky Friendship’?

└Mermaid: LOL, you crazy woman.

└SirenBabe: But did you get stronger after awakening?

└OverweightOrc: What’s with that song? Let me look it up.

└OverweightOrc: Is this girl crazy?

└SoliderMan: “LOL”

└Happy20Years: “Shaky Friendship, LOL.”

└Dwarf100Years: Wow, never thought of that one.

└HeadSmasherSaint: I come up with some pretty unique ideas.

—

“Wow, this crazy woman really suggested ‘Shaky Friendship.’”

Neipir glanced at the screen and freaked out.

I’m pretty amazing, right?

Feeling proud, I smiled at the compliment from the pitiful slime.

Now, back to the task at hand.

I posted my own message.

—

[Author: HeadSmasherSaint]

[Title: Recruiting for the Demon King Hunt!]

Calling all guild members.

—

After posting, I decided to wait a bit.

The master has to come if I call.

“Hey, are we going to get wrecked again like last time?”

Next to me, K-Succubus muttered something nervous in her proud Korean tone, but there’s no need to worry.

“I’m an angel now. Things are different this time. All you have to do is take care of the Demon King’s army.”

I smiled wryly.

This time, we’ll gang up on him properly.