Episode 415. Return Home (3)

Sunday morning.

I groggily opened my eyes to the morning sunlight filtering through the curtains.

“I’m gonna die at this rate.”

Crack- Crackle-

Every time I moved my body, my joints made noise.

It’s the evidence of having burned hot last night.

“From now on, I absolutely have to set a schedule.”

Just because it was my first day back in the country, I took on all four of them and almost actually died.

My soul leaving my body must feel like this.

‘Still, it was good.’

I stretched.

It was tough, but I have no regrets.

It feels like I completely released all the pent-up sexual desire I’d accumulated in America.

Shuddering, I got out of bed.

As I stumbled weakly outside, I saw Nam Daeun coming out of her room at the exact same time.

She was yawning, so she seemed like she hadn’t woken up fully yet.

“Daeun-ah, good morning.”

“Ah, Hoyeon-ah… Are you okay?”

Nam Daeun approached with a worried expression the moment she saw my face.

“I’m fine. Why?”

“I felt so bad yesterday… If only I hadn’t brought it up at dinner…”

“No. If you hadn’t, it might have been even more troublesome.”

It’s true that Nam Daeun bringing it up led to this, but it’s better to have set a schedule.

If all four of them had stormed into my room, it would have been utter chaos.

“Is there anything you want for breakfast?”

“Hmm, steamed eggs?”

“Okay. I’ll prepare it later. Everyone’s probably still sleeping.”

“They probably are.”

Since they didn’t sleep until late yesterday, they’ll probably wake up late too.

“Right. While I was in America, was there any trouble with Dahee?”

“Yeah. We kept a close watch.”

“Good job.”

I grabbed Nam Daeun’s shoulder and gently pulled her closer.

She really is my girlfriend.

“Mmm… Thank you.”

Nam Daeun wrapped her arms around my waist and buried her face in my chest.

Holding a woman’s soft body feels the best, you know.

It has an irresistible charm.

And any healthy man in such a pleasant situation is bound to react.

“Hoyeon-ah. Your stomach…”

“Ahem. It’s just morning.”

“… Since everyone else is still sleeping, it’ll be fine.”

Nam Daeun whispered carefully to me, and in that instant, my eyes glazed over, and I scooped Nam Daeun up.

“Nam Daeun. This won’t do. Come here.”

“Nnngh. Be quiet…”

*

A moment later.

As if my soul had left my body, I lay sprawled on the living room sofa.

“… I need to cut back on sex?”

My body isn’t normal.

After doing that yesterday, and then again this morning, I feel like I’m going to collapse from exhaustion.

‘Should I check Everyday?’

Nowadays, it’s faster to get the scoop by browsing internet communities than watching the news.

As future workers, the cadets of Victoria Academy are especially sensitive to current events.

Now that I’m back in Korea, I should check the Korean news.

Lying down, I checked my smartwatch.

– The successor to Korea’s representative mage, Im Sol, the genius mage Lee Hoyeon? Let’s delve into his talent and career.

– Lee Hoyeon’s quiet good deeds. An interview with the orphanage director about his frequent volunteer visits.

– ‘The Fatal Man’ 5 Charms of the Homme Fatale Lee Hoyeon.

– A Virtual Interview with Lee Hoyeon. What is his ideal type of woman?

“The reporters are still the same.”

It’s written in the articles as if I said such things, so I’m not sure myself.

Of course, since I have the ‘Memory Augmentation Ability’, there’s no way I could be wrong, so those reporters must be mistaken.

“There’s nothing special.”

A week is a long time if you think about it, but it’s also a short time.

Fortunately, while I was away, no major incidents occurred.

As I lowered my gaze, I spotted a familiar name.

– A rising star in France, Alice of the Iris Guild. Lessons to learn from the Iris Guild’s realistic successor training.

“When is Alice coming?”

Alice didn’t give me an exact date, so I’m not sure, but it probably won’t be too long.

“At most, she’ll be here in a week.”

“For now, I’ll rest today… Maybe I’ll go see Surin noona tomorrow.”

I closed my smartwatch and thought about what I needed to do.

Come to think of it, I need to meet Irene too.

There’s so much to do, it’s hard to organize.

“Right. There was also the Pandemic’s plan for human extinction.”

I sat up from the sofa and opened the notebook beside me.

In times like these, I need to prioritize my plans.

– The Pandemic’s plan for human extinction…?

“What on earth is this?”

The plan for human extinction that Mine Zeroth told me about.

The fact that I don’t know it obviously means it’s not in the original work.

But a massive plan like human extinction couldn’t possibly not be mentioned in the original work.

“Maybe it wasn’t named in the original work, but its execution was shown.”

Pandemic’s terrorist acts are incredibly numerous going forward.

Not to mention the ones in Korea, there are massive sinkholes hitting Beijing, China, or zombie viruses occurring in America.

Besides those, there are even bizarre omens for summoning the Demon King.

There were so many, I couldn’t recall a single one.

“Broadly speaking, it’s probably preparation for summoning the Demon King…”

Tap- Tap-

I tapped the table with my pen, pondering.

They’re called omens for summoning the Demon King, but there isn’t just one or two.

You could summon an apostle like Chiron, and the terrorism in Beijing or America, if you think about it, can also be considered omens for summoning the Demon King.

At times like this, it would be great to have a strategy guide, but there are no guides in reality.

“Hmm… What are you doing?”

“Liliana. Good morning. You’re awake too.”

I yawned as Liliana approached and smiled.

Liliana took the seat next to me and peeked at the notebook I was using for notes.

“What’s this?”

“I was just making a plan about what I’ll do in the future.”

I confidently showed her the notebook.

It wasn’t filled with weird stuff about the original work or anything, just the single sentence, ‘The Pandemic’s plan for human extinction’.

I could explain this much.

“A plan for human extinction? The name itself is scary. Why would anyone try to do that?”

“I’m not the one causing the extinction; I’m trying to stop the enemy from doing it.”

“Ah?”

Liliana, perhaps bored since morning, started talking nonsense and clung to me.

Soon, I felt soft breasts in my hands.

A superb texture, firm yet soft.

After having sex with Nam Daeun earlier, I could endure this.

Maintaining my composure, I asked.

“Are you bored?”

“No one’s waking up. I slept for 12 hours and woke up, so why is no one else here?”

“That’s because you were the first one to sleep.”

Last night, Liliana insisted vehemently that she, as the head, should be the one to be intimate with me, so Liliana ended up taking the first turn.

Naturally, the others would wake up that much later.

For reference, thanks to my natural healing abilities, my body recovers from fatigue even after just a few hours of sleep.

I didn’t really know it, but it changed at some point.

“Wait a little. I’ll just finish organizing my tasks and then I’ll play with you.”

“I’ll help too. What is this ‘plan for human extinction’ you mentioned?”

“I don’t know either.”

“You said you were going to stop it. But why don’t you know?”

“That’s why it’s frustrating.”

At Liliana’s sharp point, I couldn’t help but smile.

I know I have to stop it, but I don’t know what ‘it’ is.

After pondering for a moment, I started explaining.

“Probably, under Pandemic’s leadership, strange things will happen. It could be major terrorism, apostles like Chiron might appear, or monsters from the Underworld might suddenly emerge. It’s bound to happen within a few years.”

“Hmm… The flow of magic I saw in the Underworld is being felt on Earth?”

“That could be. Because we’re getting closer and closer to the Underworld. Do you happen to know anything?”

I stroked Liliana’s hair, continuing the conversation.

Talking about the Underworld could be uncomfortable, but the fact that she didn’t show it was really nice.

She’s more delicate than I thought.

Of course, she might just not be thinking about it.

“Uh… Nnngh. What was it. I can’t remember.”

“What? Didn’t something come to mind?”

“Nnnngh…”

Liliana frowned, pondering, then shook her head.

She looked somewhat pained, so I gently patted Liliana’s shoulder.

“Liliana. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine… Ugh. I think it’s because I couldn’t sleep well. I want to sleep more.”

“Let’s go together. I’ll take you.”

“No. I’ll rest a bit and then maybe do a broadcast.”

Liliana staggered and went into her room.

Watching her retreating back, I closed the notebook.

“Something’s strange.”

Even though Liliana is a succubus who lives life like a carefree vagabond, seeing her act so suspiciously makes me suspicious.

Frowning, I spoke, looking into the air.

“Scarlet.”

“Yes. Hoyeon-nim.”

Swish-

The moment I spoke, Scarlet, who had been attached to the wall, emerged.

“To celebrate your return to Korea, were you hiding?”

“It’s been a while since I hid, but as expected, you found me easily.”

Scarlet smiled and sat opposite me.

I had felt Scarlet’s magic even before I sat on the sofa, so she must have heard everything.

“Scarlet, you heard my conversation with Liliana just now, right? Do you have any guesses?”

“I do. When you were in America, Liliana-nim said something.”

Scarlet tapped her smartwatch and showed me an article.

A small article posted a few days ago.

The article reported that magic measurements in dungeons worldwide were failing.

In fact, dungeons themselves were still a nuisance to humanity, so measurement failures happened occasionally.

“Why is this a problem?”

“Well, she said she felt the flow of magic she remembered from her homeland here.”

“Hmm…”

The magic of the Underworld being felt in Earth’s dungeons. That’s quite something.

I pondered, recalling the original work.

There were so many incidents involving Pandemic, but something immediately came to mind.

The assimilation (同化) of the Underworld and Earth.

It’s Maestro’s process of making Earth’s environment similar to the Underworld to summon the Demon King.

The starting point, naturally, is the dungeons.

In dungeons, which are still unexplored spaces, even if strange things happen, there’s less suspicion.

‘In the end, it connects to the Underworld through the dungeons.’

The legions of hell and the Demon King emerging from dungeons decorate the final battle of the original work.

So, has the assimilation process already begun? I wondered, but that seemed a bit strange too.

‘The timing is too early.’

In the original work, the assimilation process only begins in the very late stages.

For it to be starting already was much too soon.

“Scarlet, please look into whether there’s anything unusual related to this article. I’ll also investigate personally.”

“Understood.”

This needs to be checked.

Since I was planning to visit Surin noona tomorrow anyway, I guess I can ask her then.

It’s the weekend today, so I’ll rest and ask tomorrow.

“More work piled up. Right. Is working in Korea manageable?”

“It’s not bad. My previous job paid well, but it was hard to make time.”

“True. I like that I see you at home often these days.”

When I was under Alice before, I was mostly away from home.

Of course, we weren’t living together then, but anyway, I see you more often now.

“Speaking of which, does Irene know you’re here?”

“She probably doesn’t. So I’m always careful.”

“You go through a lot. I’ll thank you on behalf of everyone.”

Handling troublesome chores, Scarlet works hard behind the scenes.

As expected, Scarlet, rather than Liliana, might be more suited to the role of head, don’t you think?

“Then, could you help with today’s meal preparation?”

“Breakfast?”

“Yes. Since you’ve returned after a long time.”

I looked at Scarlet and nodded.

I can do that much.

“Then I’ll make you Kimchi Jjigae, full of Korean warmth. I even got good reviews in cooking class.”

“You’re just supposed to help with the preparation…”

“No. I told you I can cook.”

“I’ll just do it all myself.”

Scarlet heard me, shook her head, and walked towards the kitchen.

Wait, why is she acting like that after saying that?

It’s not like it’s cheese sundubu, so why is Kimchi Jjigae a problem?

I might not cook as well as Nam Daeun or Scarlet, but I’m not bad at it.

To prove my cooking skills, I confidently headed to the kitchen.

And the moment I saw the expressions of the women who tasted the Kimchi Jjigae, I decided I would never cook again.