"Since I said that refusing isn't the only virtue before, I can't seem to refuse," KangWoo said while nodding with shining eyes.
From his attitude, it was obvious that he had no intentions of refusing from the beginning.
"Fufu. Then please, follow me," she said while smiling, then turned her body around.
At that moment, one man that was in front of the gate walked toward KangWoo and Seol-ah—he was wearing something that looked like a military uniform.
"Your player ID, please."
"Oh yeah, here."
Seol-ah nodded and showed him an ID that said E-Rank.
"ID checked."
As if he was bothered by doing the job, he just looked at it for a second before nodding.
It seemed like it was a similar procedure to when they asked for your ID in a bar.
"The man over there too."
'Damn it.'
KangWoo frowned a bit.
'I wasn't expecting someone to ask for an ID.'
He was in trouble.
He didn't have a player ID.
'If I said I forgot it, things will probably get messy.'
He didn't have one in the first place—that's why things could get bothersome.
Since KangWoo had been missing for five years, he was in a weird place regarding his IDs.
Not only could things get bothersome, but his plan of trying to merge with society as naturally as possible could crumble.
'But most importantly…'
If things got complicated right then, the big opportunity he'd waited for ten thousand years could fade away into nothing.
'I must prevent that from happening.'
They used to say that you must row while water enters, right?
Only an idiot would let an opportunity like that go away.
"Wait a moment, please."
KangWoo put his hands into his pocket,
Of course, there wasn't anything inside it.
'It's an that’s Authority hard to use with my current demonic energy.'
He remembered the attitude of the man controlling Han Seol-ah's ID.
It took him only a second.
'If it's that much…'
He could try to do it even with his current amount of demonic energy.
"Here it is."
While saying that, KangWoo took out his hands from the pocket while showing him his middle finger.
Simultaneously, he activated an Authority he had.
—Authority of Blind.
It was the Authority of Dantalion that twisted the target's perception and deceived their eyes.
Because of its effect, it was an Authority that consumed a lot of demonic energy.
The amount of demonic energy increased the stronger an opponent was, but the soldier checking out the IDs seemed weaker than level 6 Han Seol-ah.
As he used that Authority, the target's eyes became blurry.
He nodded while looking at KangWoo, who had raised his middle finger.
"Checked."
Although it'd been only one second, he felt as if most of his demonic energy had left his body through a hole.
KangWoo put his hand down while trying to hold his breath.
"Then let's go."
"Okay."
After finishing the ID check, KangWoo joined Han Seol-ah and went toward her house.
'Finally.'
KangWoo followed her with light steps.
Did they say that there's no end to a human's greed?
At first, he’d said he was okay as long she had two eyes, one nose, and one mouth, but as time passed, he couldn't help but appreciate how beautiful Han Seol-ah was.
He clenched his fists while thinking of everything that was about to happen.
'Yolo!'
* * *
"This is my house."
They’d arrived at an apartment that had a shabby appearance.
It wasn't just the apartment where she lived, but all the other apartment buildings that were near it also seemed very old.
'It seems like they're financially struggling.'
It looked different from the modern buildings he was expecting.
KangWoo looked at Han Seol-ah with eyes full of strong will.
'Don't worry, dear! I'll quickly earn a lot of money and buy a nice house for us!'
Although they had just met, inside his head, they were already living a happy future.
Creak-
"Mom, I'm home."
'Wait… mom?'
Since she had seduced him with so much confidence, he was sure she was living alone. KangWoo was surprised.
A woman with a tired expression quickly walked out toward them.
"A-are you okay? Aren't you hurt anywhere?"
"Yes, I'm okay."
"You went to the gate with a party, right?"
"Oh... Yes, of course," Han Seol-ah mumbled while avoiding her gaze. She took a glance at KangWoo.
"This is Oh KangWoo. I met him inside the gate. While hunting monsters, I was in a dangerous situation, but thanks to his help, I was able to get out safely."
"Oh! Th-thank you!"
The middle-aged woman grabbed KangWoo's hand and bowed her head.
It was an attitude that showed just how worried she was about Han Seol-ah entering the gate.
'Damn.'
But right then, KangWoo couldn't hear her thanks.
'I can't believe she really meant just dinner.'
KangWoo looked at Seol-ah with a sorrowful expression as if he was saying that the situation was unfair.
The future he was thinking about with her crashed.
He felt as if the plane had crashed into a cliff before it even took off.
"Mr. KangWoo...?"
"Oh, yeah. It's nothing."
KangWoo replied in a low tone and shook his head.
To be honest, it was his fault for thinking too far ahead, but he couldn't help to feel a little bit disappointed.
"Haha. My house... It isn't nice. But don't worry, I'm quite confident in my cooking skills," Han Seol-ah said while making a little bit of a dark expression. She thought that KangWoo was disappointed after looking at her house.
"Oh, it's nothing like that. Don't worry."
He was born an orphan, so before falling to the Hells, he’d lived in a home smaller and rustier than her house.
Those were miserable times. He used to struggle to eat and live each day.
'Although it was still better than the Hells.'
In the Hells, you had to fight each day for your life, so even though he'd suffered on Earth because of hunger, life there was still better.
"Please enter, Mr. KangWoo."
"Oof. I'm sorry. To make someone so important enter such a rusty place."
KangWoo entered the home while receiving a warm welcome from both of them.
The house had an approximate surface area of 66m2.
It was quite spacious compared to how worn it was.
"Mr. KangWoo, wait a moment, please. I'll prepare it immediately."
"Oh, can I ask something?"
"Yes, of course."
Han Seol-ah nodded without hesitation.
"I've lost my smartphone. Could you lend me yours for a little while?" KangWoo asked her with a calm voice.
"Oh! Yeah, okay."
She took her smartphone from her pocket and gave it to him.
Now that he had taken a closer look at it, her phone was also quite old, and it even had a scratch on the screen.
Not only that, but it was a model he knew.
'Considering that this phone is more than five years old…'
He once again realized that their economic situation wasn't good.
'I guess it's good enough to search some articles on the internet.'
He wanted to know what had happened in the past five years.
Gates and players… Those were things that didn't exist on the Earth he knew.
KangWoo slowly began reading articles from five years ago.
[February 22, 2018. The world was turned upside down.]
[The world entered a chaotic state after hundreds of gates suddenly appeared.]
[Firearms are useless against the monsters that appeared through the gates. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers die at the hands of monsters.]
[The U.S creates a worldwide emergency alliance. Korea becomes the 9th member.]
[The first player appears in the U.S. Who is she?]
[The number of players increases worldwide. Are they the hope of humanity?]
[A novel became a reality? Korean fantasy novels have predicted the appearance of players for many years. Just searching 'player' gives hundreds of different titles to read.]
"Hmm..."
KangWoo's eyes narrowed after reading the news.
'February 22, 2018…'
It was the day when gates had suddenly appeared all around the world.
It was also the day KangWoo was absorbed by a pitch-black gate and fell to the Hells.
'That means I was absorbed by one of these gates that suddenly appeared?'
Considering the circumstances, that seemed the most likely answer.
KangWoo tried to search for some information on the gate that had sent him to the Hells for 10 thousand years, but he couldn't find any. Most available information was speculation.
'I'll have to search for more information personally.'
Maybe an important national organization had information that wasn't publicly available.
KangWoo was thinking of infiltrating a national organization later, once his life became more stable and he recovered his strength.
"What are you searching for?" Han Seol-ha asked him while she was cooking.
"I was looking at some news because there was something I needed to check out."
"I see. Then should I prepare the dinner later?"
"No, it's okay. Let's eat as soon as it's ready."
Anyway, he understood the general situation.
From then on, it was better to find answers by himself.
"Then just wait for a little bit. I've just finished cooking."
Han Seol-ah returned to the kitchen and brought out a pot.
"It's kimchi stew. I wanted to invite you to something better... Sorry."
While making an apologetic expression, she put the pot on the table and opened the lid.
White steam rose out of the pot, and a mouthwatering smell came out of it.
"...!"
KangWoo's eyes widened.
A shiver ran through his body.
"Kimchi… stew..."
His eyes trembled while looking at the kimchi stew on the table.
The boiling stew with red kimchi and slices of pork belly was luring him.
"Kimchi stew!!!"
Thump-!
For how long had he been waiting for that moment?
He'd dreamed about it almost every day while sleeping.
He rushed to the table like someone who had starved for many days.
'I'm glad I returned.'
A warm tear ran down his cheek.
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