The Returner

Chapter 417: Been a while (2)

“No, hang on a minute! Please listen until the end first.” (Alpha)

“I won’t! You dumb fool, I’m not interested!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk shook his head in utter dismay.

“Holy cow, I knew you were a nutjob, but never guessed your nuttiness would be this bad. In my long years I’ve never met a wackjob on your level before.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Choi Jeong-Hoon silently agreed as well.

He thought that he had found another wacko on the comparable level to the home-grown original, but judging by what happened so far, Alpha had to take the number one spot now.

“But, this is a true, bona fide top secret that must never leak out!” (Alpha)

Alpha pleaded desperately.

But Yi Ji-Hyuk’s expression remained that of a deep pout despite all that pleading.

“Okay, I got it so please get lost now. Enjoy your secret keeping among yourselves and have a happy ever after, okay? I’m just gonna stick to my games and die later.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“We can all survive as long as you help us, Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk! Why can’t you understand what I’m trying to say here?! Man, this is so d*mn frustrating!” (Alpha)

“...”

So, then. The phrase, ‘rendered utterly speechless’ was invented precisely for an occasion such as this one, it seemed.

Yi Ji-Hyuk had lived for well over a couple of millennia.

One could just imagine how many madmen there must’ve been out of all the countless people he met during his lengthy life. But this nutter in front of his eyes easily took the cake as the worst of the lot.

Without a doubt, this madman was beyond the number one in the world, even worse than the history’s craziest, and probably the dimension’s maddest nutter.

“Okay, fine. Let’s hear the rest, then.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Didn’t the old saying go something like, a person would get relatively calmer as the situation became even crazier?

“So, what am I supposed to help you out with?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Have you decided to finally help me?” (Alpha)

“Listen here, man. Even if I want to help, it makes sense to know first what I’m supposed to help with, don’t you think?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“That’s true.” (Alpha)

“As you can see, I’ve lost my power. So how can I help anybody in this state?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Nope, wrong.” (Alpha)

Alpha wagged his finger.

“Even if you try to fool me, it’s not going to work. Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk, you haven’t lost all of your combat capabilities, have you?” (Alpha)

“Ng?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I’ve already more or less figured out the mechanics of your magic through the demonic beings. Yes, you can no longer wield dark Mana, but that doesn’t mean you have suddenly become a powerless normal person, now does it? You can just use regular Mana instead.” (Alpha)

“...Dude, do you know what it means to be a dark magician?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Oh, that? Before turning 25, a man needs to be with another m...” (Alpha)

“What the, hold it right there, you dumb*ss! Gimme a break!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk shuddered in annoyance.

Seriously?! Holy cow. To think there would come a day in my long life that I feel like this during a conversation.

Why did the heavens give birth to me, then to this crazy b*stard as well?! (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

Yi Ji-Hyuk glared at Alpha while gaining an understanding of what Antonio Salieri was feeling at the time when he grew jealous of Mozart.

He might have ‘trained’ himself for a thousand-plus years, but there was simply no way to defeat a natural-born genius, it seemed.

“If I could use Mana from the beginning, why would I sign a contract with a demon, then? Think first before saying something, will ya?!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Nope, you can use it.” (Alpha)

“Ng?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“According to Argolas, the reason why you couldn’t use Mana in the beginning was simply because your body didn’t have any affinity with it.” (Alpha)

“Yeah, sure.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

The foundation of this world’s humans rested with Ether, so obviously they wouldn’t have any affinity with Mana. Since he couldn’t even sense it in the first place, with what ability could Yi Ji-Hyuk accumulate Mana in his body?

“But then, you’ve been using magic for well over two thousand years, haven’t you?” (Alpha)

“Uh? Wait, that’s true, isn’t it?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk tilted his head this way and that.

Wowsers, this... Why haven’t I thought about this before? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

“Doesn’t that mean you can now use regular Mana no problem as well?” (Alpha)

“Wow...” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk stared at Alpha with a face of genuine surprise.

“How did you even come up with this stuff? Even I haven’t thought about that. Hey, sounds like you know me better than myself.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Before we go on, I’d like to first decline any future invitations from you to change my profession.” (Alpha)

“But I could’ve changed it to that of a ghoul?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“...I’m still declining.” (Alpha)

Yi Ji-Hyuk continued to stare in surprise at Alpha for a bit, before opening his mouth.

“Even if that’s true, I still won’t be much of a help, though? Dark Mana naturally fills up my body so the clashing of natures against the regular Mana is pretty serious, you see? Which means I’ll have to manipulate Mana outside my body, but that would mean I won’t even get ten percent output of Dark Mana. Wait, since I haven’t done it before, I can’t be sure of it yet, but if our luck’s really bad, then maybe about one percent?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

‘Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk’s one percent, is it...’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

That numerical value was rather hard to imagine.

Choi Jeong-Hoon thought that such a power level would be enough to join the ranks of the NDF, but then again, that much strength wasn’t going to offer much help in fighting against the demon kings.

‘How vague.’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

However, Alpha kept smiling as if he knew that already.

“Ah, that. I’ve taken into account such a possibility as well. The truth is, I wasn’t asking for your help because of your combat capabilities.” (Alpha)

“Ng?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk looked puzzled as he stared at Alpha.

If his combat prowess wasn’t the reason for this request for help, then what else was he good for?

“Well, it’s kind of embarrassing to say this out loud by myself, but...” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“...Yes?” (Alpha)

“Honestly speaking, excluding fighting monsters I’m practically a useless human being so I don’t think I can be much of a help.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Now that’s a pretty powerful self awareness. I’m emotionally quite moved.” (Alpha)

Alpha cackled hoarsely.

“What I wish to acquire from you is the ability to control Mana.” (Alpha)

“Mana?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“There are a few matters that can only be solved by manipulating Mana, wouldn’t you say? A few of them are minor matters and as such, don’t present much of a problem but one issue remains more pertinent than all the others, doesn’t it.” (Alpha)

“What is?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Alpha took his time a bit to build up the anticipation before opening his mouth.

“The biggest problem of humanity is that our side just doesn’t have any magicians.” (Alpha)

“...Isn’t it more like your head not having any sense whatsoever, instead?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Well, that also might be another problem. But that’s not as important as this topic, don’t you agree? If we have people who can wield Mana when fighting against Mana lifeforms, wouldn’t that boost our combat capabilities by a massive deal?” (Alpha)

“...”

The gears inside Yi Ji-Hyuk’s head began turning at a rapid pace.

Once his brain, laying dormant most of the time these days, began to operate in full capacity again, it was like steam started noisily escaping from his head.

“Magic?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Teaching humanity magic, is it?

“Mmm...” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

In the end, though, Yi Ji-Hyuk shook his head.

“You have any idea how long it takes to create an experienced, trained magician? If we start teaching them now, then you’d need at least ten solid years before they can barely kill a single mons...” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

...Wait a minute?

Yi Ji-Hyuk slowly turned his head and stared at Choi Jeong-Hoon.

The latter responded with an awkward expression on his face.

“Now that you mention it, it feels like Mana is getting recharged automatically these days.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon) [1]

“...Ten years, is it?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Wouldn’t it be possible to buy that much time if the prospective candidates were sent to a dimension with a suitable time difference? With other people, maybe it’d be too difficult, but if it’s Yi Ji-Hyuk who knew how to open the Gates leading to other dimensions, it should not be so hard to buy an extra ten years or so.

Although, the question remained of who would be willing to sacrifice ten years of their lives to train in magic...

“I never even entertained the idea of sending regular powerless people, actually.” (Alpha)

“What are you talking about?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“It’s already been established that when Mana and Ether get combined into one, the end result would be a never-before-seen synergy. You proved that for everyone to see.” (Alpha)

“...Well, that I did, sure.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“To put that in another way, ability users are capable of accumulating Mana in their bodies. Such a thing was impossible in the past because, well, we didn’t have any Mana whatsoever, but now, things have changed much, hasn’t it?” (Alpha)

Yi Ji-Hyuk, now genuinely impressed, stared at Alpha.

“Wow, is that how it is? You’re really smart, aren’t you?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Isn’t that the biggest difference between you and me?” (Alpha)

“Aaand, you seem to be far ruder than me, too.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“...My apologies.” (Alpha)

Alpha opened his shoulders wider and continued on.

“In any case. Our current situation means that you can’t teach every single candidate all by yourself. So the priority should be placed on teaching the strongest ability user in existence right now. We see what kind of synergy we’ll get by doing that, and then gradually increase the numbers of candidates afterwards.” (Alpha)

Choi Jeong-Hoon nervously swallowed his saliva.

This conversation was heading towards a strange direction here.

Even though this idea sounded nonsensical and unrealistic in the extreme, it also came across rather plausible for some reason, as well. If the current set of ability users could also use magic, the human race’s combat prowess would see a great boost overall. One only had to look at either Affeldrichae or Yi Ji-Hyuk to realise how incredible magic was, after all.

“Okay, who’s the human race’s strongest ability user, then?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Obviously me!” (Alpha)

Alpha proudly declared, his whole posture standing straight and tall.

“That is, as long as Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk remains a vegetable!” (Alpha)

“Calling me a vegetable is a bit...” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Alright, then as long as Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk remains useless!” (Alpha)

“Hey, you punk!?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Honestly, not just in title only, I am humanity’s strongest ability user as well as the most powerful living being right now. So, who can possibly shoulder such an important responsibility other than me?” (Alpha)

“Urgh.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk trudged towards the couch and plopped down on it.

“Okay, so. Let me unpack everything you’ve said so far. You want me to teach an ability user who can wield Ether how to cast magic then analyse the ensuing synergy between Mana and Ether. Is that it?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I believe it’s the only way.” (Alpha)

“Wowsers, this... Isn’t this a seriously impressive dogsh*t? But why do I want to bite it? It smells like a rotten egg, yet it’s been rotting for a century and turned into a delicacy, hasn’t it?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk hugged his head.

This Alpha, he was definitely a lunatic.

But perhaps that was why he could come up with something no sane minded folks would’ve thought of. For now, this was simply nothing more than ‘idle chatter’, but if he got serious about it and started poking around, then things could potentially become... interesting.

Something like this wouldn’t be possible in a world without Mana, but Earth was currently overflowing with the stuff right now.

With the various spots that got assimilated to the demon world getting more active every single day, the level of Mana in Earth’s atmosphere was already reaching the similar levels found back in the demons’ home world. If Yi Ji-Hyuk somehow helped the others to sense the magical energy on their own in this sort of environment, then even if the ability users had no affinity they should still be able to wield Mana no problem.

He couldn’t be sure about the end results, though, since no one back in Berafe were willing to lend him their services.

“I shall be your guinea pig.” (Alpha)

“Hah, bloody hell.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk stared at Alpha with hollow eyes.

“If only you hadn’t thought up of this idea first, I’d be celebrating by now.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Isn’t that how life operates usually?” (Alpha)

“Does that mean you’ve deliberately caused this whole situation in the first place? Keeping me alive, enriching the planet in Mana, then ensuring that humanity hasn’t completely lost its strength?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“...No, I hadn’t planned for all of those things. I simply thought that dragging things out until the end was not a real solution to anything. I looked at how Argolas was acting like and believed that once the assimilation started, it’d only be a matter of time before humanity was wiped out.” (Alpha)

“I guess you caught a mouse by the ox’s feet, then.” (Yi ji-Hyuk) [2]

“Well, catching a mouse is better than nothing, isn’t it?” (Alpha)

Yi Ji-Hyuk smiled bitterly.

There was no need to believe everything Alpha said here. Obviously this wouldn’t be everything to his schemes, that’s why.

How unfortunate it was, since what he had come up with happened to be that one clue humanity needed to fight back after being pushed to a corner.

Although Yi Ji-Hyuk didn’t like the idea of Alpha being the one to carry this thing out...

“Let’s do it.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk?!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Yi Ji-Hyuk could only shrug his shoulders at Choi Jeong-Hoon’s impassioned cry.

“Well, I do not like him one bit, but we don’t have a choice, do we? It’s too bad but him being the world’s strongest ability user is all true, and judging from this guy’s personality, he probably has made a few other preparations already.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Of course I have.” (Alpha)

“See?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Choi Jeong-Hoon replied with a bitter, unconvinced tone of voice.

“Even then, this...” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“I also don’t like the idea of giving this punk that sort of power, but what can we do? A lunatic ruling the world is still better than getting destroyed by the demons in the end, after all.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Euh...” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon couldn’t dissuade Yi Ji-Hyuk anymore. Because what the latter said wasn’t really wrong, either.

“You’ve made the correct choice. In that case, I shall take it as our negotiation being successfully concluded, and temporarily take my leave to make some other preparations beforehand.” (Alpha)

“I thought you were in a hurry?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Even if I am, some things are unavoidable, unfortunately.” (Alpha)

Alpha continued on in a subdued tone of voice.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect it to be this easy. I was prepared to set up a tent outside at least for three nights and four days if you said no, you see.” (Alpha)

“I’m sure Seo Ah-Young would’ve been pleased to see that.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Actually, I’m rather terrified of the Insane Witch as well. In any case. I’ll be leaving for a while.” (Alpha)

Rustle.

Alpha’s figure vanished from the living room. Yi Ji-Hyuk stared up at the ceiling and muttered to himself.

“Never guessed that a day like today would happen...” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“...Yeah, me too.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

The two remaining men didn’t say anything for a long while.

< 417. Been a while -2 > Fin.

(TL: I think the author mixed up the names somewhere around [1], but couldn’t be 100% certain, so I left the part as is.)

(TL: The weird saying in [2] is a Korean idiom, and the full one goes along the line of “an ox stumbling backwards inadvertently stepped on a mouse”, and it means you’ve somehow stumbled onto a solution by luck. Alpha took the saying literally, however.)