episode_0002

The moment I opened the door and took my first step, a commotion, or something like it, broke out.

“Oh my, oh my! Seonghan! It’s been so long… Gyaak! Kyaaaak?!! Blood! Blood!”

The Head Director-nim, who was diligently cleaning the hallway, almost panicked upon seeing the bloodstains visible through the open doorway.

‘Shoot! You startled me! Oh, Director-nim, it’s been a while.’

I was startled by her shrill scream too, but when I vaguely made an excuse and subtly attempted “financial therapy” under the guise of a room cleaning fee, it fortunately worked.

I realized anew that across eras and dimensions, financial therapy is an excellent solution.

“But Seonghan, you seem to have gotten taller? You’re not at an age to be growing, are you? How strange!”

The surprise was momentary.

Seeing the K-ajumma naturally start asking about my well-being and various things, I felt the situation would drag on, so I quietly excused myself, using the hospital as a pretext.

‘Is it because she’s young, or is she quick-witted? She didn’t ask any more questions and didn’t seem scared either.’

Well… for me, with no way to explain, it was much better if she just moved on without asking more.

After our brief encounter, as soon as I stepped out of the gosiwon building, I headed straight for a gukbap restaurant nearby.

I couldn’t ignore my starving stomach any longer.

Considering my physical condition and the extent of my hunger, it would have been sensible to eat gruel or porridge, but experiencing it myself, I simply couldn’t wait.

I ordered quickly, and while waiting for the food, I chugged 3 liters of water in one go.

Only after devouring five consecutive bowls of sundae-gukbap was I able to calm my stomach.

The savory bone broth and the chewy offal that created the flavor were absolutely superb.

The taste of Korea, which I experienced after so long, was so delicious it brought tears to my eyes.

Moreover, they say hunger is the best sauce, and it’s certainly true.

People around me certainly stared as I shoveled food into my mouth like a glutton, but….

Although I had washed, I was wearing ill-fitting clothes and looked half-sick, so the restaurant owner’s gaze was particularly sharp, as if distrusting my appearance.

It seemed he thought I might dine and dash, but after I paid cleanly, his suspicious gaze warmed.

‘…The rapid change in stance of self-employed owners….’

A foolish thought that it was the true attitude of a professional crossed my mind.

After leaving the restaurant, I headed straight for the hospital.

It wasn’t a university hospital, but a fairly large general hospital in the neighborhood, and a small commotion occurred there as well.

After walking for a bit, the blood that had stopped had somehow begun to seep out again, and without realizing it, my clothes were slightly soaked with blood.

Thanks to that, the reception staff’s faces turned pale and chaos erupted, but they professionally took immediate action.

The doctor who checked my wounds was also horrified, but seeing him quickly regain composure and do what needed to be done, I felt that being a doctor was not for just anyone.

They said I didn’t need surgery and just stitching the wounds would be fine, but a problem arose.

They tried to anesthetize me because there were so many wounds to stitch, but the anesthesia had no effect.

The bewildered doctors quickly examined my body and found traces of recovery, which seemed to have piqued their curiosity.

“No, these were clearly deep wounds and seemed to be a dangerous condition, but how can this be?”

“This part, and the inside too, clearly show signs of bleeding, but this is truly…”

“There are no traces of treatment… so we have to assume it was natural recovery, but is there such a case…?”

Of course, regarding this…

“Well… I’m not really sure. It hurts, so please treat me quickly.”

I played dumb, feigning pain, and once again glossed over the situation.

I received treatment, not caring about the doctor’s warning that it would hurt a lot since I couldn’t be anesthetized.

It only took a long time because there were so many wounds.

I’d been stabbed by swords and spears before, so needles were bearable.

Rather, it was the doctor watching me during treatment who seemed surprised.

After the treatment, I was hospitalized to prevent infection and complications, and for stable recovery, and I followed along without complaint.

‘I should follow the experts’ advice. I’m a model citizen, after all.’

One thing I learned while living was that if you simply follow the opinions or instructions of a professional, or someone knowledgeable, you’ll at least achieve average results.

If you act up knowing nothing, that’s being a nuisance and causing trouble.

The stress that comes with that is also considerable.

When I was on the other side, there were countless times I wanted to punch the faces of those who caused trouble.

Lying in the hospital bed, past events that had caused unnecessary stress kept coming to mind.

My body ached, I’d eaten a lot, but I was still hungry…

Since my condition wasn’t good, only negative thoughts seemed to surface.

“Tsk… I should just sleep.”

I closed my eyes, cleared my head, and tried to sleep.

Since it was a multi-person room, the sounds of conversations from neighboring patients and the TV bothered my ears.

However, perhaps because of the relief that I had been properly treated, it didn’t take long to fall asleep.

***

Being hospitalized usually brings a boredom that feels like it could create new illnesses, but I had no time to feel it.

A cycle of eating and sleeping.

Aside from occasional disinfections, bandage changes, and encounters with tasteless hospital food, I spent my time sleeping.

Thanks to proper treatment, meals, rest, and superior recovery abilities compared to ordinary people, I recovered quickly.

When less than a week had passed and my skin had healed, and it was time to remove the stitches, the doctor in charge once again showed curiosity about my body.

He asked various questions and subtly tried to investigate under the guise of a comprehensive check-up, so I firmly refused and proceeded with discharge procedures.

It’s right to politely decline the fervent interest of a middle-aged man, especially when he’s not even a pretty female doctor.

The first thing I did after being discharged was to buy a new smartphone.

The presence or absence of the epitome of advanced technology, representing modern civilization, made an enormous difference.

I didn’t specifically plan to do anything or need urgent contact, but it felt incredibly reassuring.

Riding that momentum, I headed to a cafe.

Holding the latte I had craved for so long, I sat down in a suitable spot and took a sip.

‘…It’s delicious….’

Even when I was in that other world, I had tried tea, but it wasn’t to my liking.

I even tried to find something similar to coffee, but recreating the taste from my memory was a distant prospect.

The taste and aroma, which I had forgotten, once taken for granted and once longed for, gently stirred my dulled senses and heart.

But it was by no means a bad feeling.

“What do I do now…?”

I gazed at the coffee cup before me and decided to organize my thoughts for a moment.

About 14 months in Korea, and over 10 years in that other world.

Summoned to another world because of one abominable wizard, I endured all sorts of hardships and countless life-threatening crises.

A fucked-up world where monsters ran rampant, in addition to swords and magic.

From the moment I was left alone, not knowing how to return, every day was solely about survival.

Funnily enough, just like in novels, I also had a ‘Status Window’, which allowed me to cling to hope and survive.

The process was by no means smooth.

It was a difficult time to endure for an ordinary young man who had lived his life within modern civilization.

I faced countless near-death crises due to hunger, monsters, and even humans.

As a result of struggling to survive and stubbornly enduring, I had become strong enough not to die from a knife wound anywhere.

As a result, I became somewhat dry as a human, but I also managed to settle down and form good relationships…

I adapted and worked as an adventurer, living well enough to even plan for retirement.

‘Delrod Empire, those bastards! It still pisses me off to think about it!’

Although it was quite far from the kingdom where I had settled, they picked a fight for absurd reasons.

The pretext was a war of conquest for the continental unification project, but it was, of course, bullshit.

The corpses of rare monsters I had hunted, distinguishing myself as an adventurer at the time.

The countless treasures and riches obtained from conquering dungeons.

Crucially, rumors spread that I possessed elixirs that extended lifespan and granted superhuman abilities,

and the problem became severe.

The Emperor, that bastard, whose life was hanging by a thread but whose desires were overflowing, ultimately provoked nobles just as steeped in greed as himself and started a war.

‘Even if I explained that I didn’t have such a thing, they wouldn’t believe me. Those damn bastards.’

…Actually, I did have it, but given the circumstances, I considered giving it to them, then got pissed off and just drank it myself.

Anyway, they were no different from thugs extorting on a national scale.

[ “Hand over everything you have and come under our command, won’t you? We’ll even specially use you as a hunting dog.” ]

Thoroughly enraged by this, I rushed into the Imperial territory and began to rampage like a madman by myself.

I smashed city walls, blew away defensive forces, and half-destroyed a small city.

In response, the neighboring kingdoms, who were about to be conquered with their eyes open, seemed to see a possibility in my rampage and formed an allied army, leading to a full-scale war.

Although outnumbered, I rampaged at the forefront, drawing out every last bit of strength I hadn’t even known I possessed, and with the allied forces’ strongest individuals backing me up, we gained momentum and crushed the Imperial army with overwhelming force.

When we pushed forward with unstoppable momentum and reached the entrance to the Imperial capital.

Perhaps the Empire had prepared in advance, as a powerful magic circle of considerable scale activated.

Solely to capture me.

The Empire, having seen me rampage, and knowing my history of single-handedly hunting an adult dragon, had become intimidated by me.

“Ah, damn it, we messed with the wrong person. That guy is stronger than we thought?”

It was exactly this feeling.

‘They probably never expected a mere human to cause this much chaos.’

But I also hadn’t known they would prepare such a large-scale magic right in their own front yard.

At most, I thought they would have just set up defensive magic on the city walls.

I didn’t know much about magic, so when I felt an unusual surge of magic, I tensed up, but my mistake was considering it not an offensive spell and still being cast as an opportunity, and rushing in.

When a strong burst of light instantly reached only me, not a wide area, I was surprised, but paradoxically, I also felt relieved.

‘What a relief. At least I was the only one going to die.’

This was the last thing I saw at that moment, and what followed was a few days ago.

So, because those bastards couldn’t kill me no matter what they tried…

“…I can’t believe they just got rid of me….”

Even thinking about it now, it’s a continuous source of rage.

But even thinking simply, there was nothing I could do.

Going was forced, coming back was forced.

I don’t even know how.

As a result of searching for a way back in that world, it seemed they only knew how to summon, not how to return.

In a way, it might be good luck.

I don’t know how, but I returned to Korea, and only a year had passed.

It sucks, but this might be the best possible outcome, as I could have been ground to death in the dimensional rift.

After all, the magic’s purpose wasn’t to send me back, but to kill me.

They intentionally tried to kill me and indiscriminately got rid of me, but if I consider getting hit by such powerful magic, being somewhat injured, and losing a significant amount of power as “getting off easy,” it almost feels like a gain.

“Ah, damn it, thinking about it again gives me the chills.”

Still, since summoning to another world is definitely not a simple matter, it was safe to assume I wouldn’t be summoned again.

Even if I were summoned again, I’m confident I could rampage even better this time.

However, the problem is that I only suffered and couldn’t get revenge, which infuriates me….

And unlike when I was in Korea, I had many acquaintances and friends.

From a social perspective, I was a successful man.

After taking a hit and losing so much, my pride was wounded, and I was furious…

‘My chest feels empty. The sense of loss is too great….’

Even if I gnashed my teeth, or clenched my fists until they felt like they would break, there was nothing I could do.

Only anger, a sense of loss, and a churning feeling unpleasantly filled my chest.

For a long time, I just sat there blankly until the coffee in front of me had completely cooled and settled.