Chapter 1 Part 1: First Day

The shriek of rusty hinges echoed through the room.

MUISIN

Even though she had already revealed that she lived in a shantytown by walking the streets towards her house, Haran’s face flushed as the loud noise blatantly announced that she lived in such a place.

Should she call it fortunate? The returnee girl, who had just returned, didn’t particularly mock or react negatively even after seeing that she lived in such a place.

If she had mocked her, she might not have been able to bear it and would have exploded with jealousy.

Unlike herself, who lived in this shantytown, she was a returnee.

No matter how small the gate was, a returnee was still a returnee.

Seeing her easily take down those guys with her bare hands, she would probably rise to prominence quickly.

Jealousy arose, and Haran bit her lip slightly without realizing it.

“I’m home…”

No one else lived in this house besides Haran, but she habitually greeted it.

It was a habit she had started because she didn’t want to greet someone awkwardly when she finally met someone who could see her off from home someday.

…Well, besides that, the neighborhood was quite unsafe, and it was also because it got scary at night when the surroundings became as quiet as death.

“Excuse me. …Family?”

“I live alone.”

“Is that so?”

Even though she had greeted the house and stated that no one was there, the returnee girl didn’t make a big deal out of it and looked at Haran.

The windbreaker she had stolen from those guys earlier was covering her vital parts, but the exposed collarbone and thighs due to not wearing clothes inadvertently came into view, and her face flushed red in a different sense than before.

“I’ll give you some clothes first.”

“Give me something easy to move in. It probably won’t fit anyway.”

The returnee girl’s gaze lingered around Haran’s chest for a moment.

Was she trying to say that it wouldn’t fit anyway because of her chest size?

…This uselessly large lump of fat isn’t helpful in any way.

Haran sighed and handed her a pair of hot pants and a boxy t-shirt that seemed appropriate.

“Hmm, this is not bad. Thank you.”

“…Returnees are said to feel awkward after returning due to the disconnect from the old world, but you don’t seem to be like that at all.”

“Returnee?”

“ot.”

The girl changed clothes so naturally that Haran realized she had even forgotten that she had just returned.

The returnees on TV all said that they had a hard time living properly because they were awkward even wearing clothes when they had just returned.

The girl in front of her changed clothes so naturally that she forgot for a moment.

As expected, you can’t trust the media.

Haran, agonizing over how to explain the current situation, finally blurted out the story from the video she had seen.

“This is Earth. Not the place you fell from. Welcome back to Earth.”

“…Huh?”

“So, it’s Earth. What happened was…”

Haran tried her best to explain her situation to the returnee girl so that she could understand.

The gate incident that struck the world decades ago.

The story of the profession called hunter and the guilds that started appearing all over the world since then.

Sometimes, people get caught up in the gate incident and get swept away to another world, and some of them accidentally return to Earth, and they are called returnees.

Haran told her everything she knew.

Fortunately, she nodded as if she understood Haran’s explanation well.

Some returnees often have a hard time accepting the situation.

Haran expressed her doubts at her surprisingly quick adaptation.

“…You believe it easily?”

“It’s obviously not Neo City. It’s too different.”

“I don’t know where that is, but this is Seoul.”

“Seoul, Seoul… It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that name. Judging by what just happened, it seems to have changed a lot compared to the old days.”

She had heard that Seoul was peaceful before the gate incident happened and the world became chaotic.

At least there wouldn’t have been black markets formed and crime organizations openly roaming around like now.

Even so, the girl in front of her seemed familiar with the current Seoul.

“Um, that’s…”

“Ah, sorry. I’m late to introduce myself. Call me Ella.”

“I’m Haran. …What are you going to do now?”

“Well. I don’t know.”

The returnee girl, who introduced herself as Ella, looked quite carefree.

Since she’s a returnee, she’ll take care of herself even if I don’t help her anymore.

Even while thinking that, Haran opened her mouth without realizing it.

“…You probably don’t know the way, so I’ll take you to the Awakened Association. If you go there, you’ll be fine. It’s late at night, so sleep here tonight and leave tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, is that okay?”

“The night in Seoul is dangerous now, even if it was before the gate incident.”

Since most of the public power is being put into dealing with gates, the security of the areas where the poor live has naturally deteriorated, forming slums.

It was not a wise choice to walk around here at night, at least, even if it was in an area where the power of the country could reach.

“Tomorrow, go to the association and register as a returnee…”

Knock knock knock.

Cutting off Haran’s words, the front door of her house, which barely served as a door, made a huge noise as if it would collapse.

Startled by the sound, she held her breath and focused her mind, and the sound of small voices talking could be heard from outside the front door.

“Are you sure she’s here?”

“Yes, boss. She definitely came this way! It’s that house.”

“Okay. I’ll trust you since you’re so sure.”

Knock knock knock.

With the roar that echoed again, this time the man outside the door threatened in a growling voice.

“Hey, I know you’re in there. Open the door. If you don’t open it, I’m going to break it down and go in.”

“Ugh, damn it…! I thought it would be okay since they didn’t come!”

“What’s wrong? Who is it?”

“It’s those guys I beat up earlier. They’re the ones who have a tight grip on this area. It looks like they’ve come for revenge.”

I thought they would be okay since they were all out of their minds.

It seemed that someone hiding somewhere had contacted them, or one of the organization members had found them while walking around.

There’s no way they could have come this quickly otherwise.

What should I do, what should I do…

For now, Haran was also a wannabe awakened, but she wasn’t that strong.

If she was strong, she would have already left this shantytown.

As someone who was barely at the tail end of the awakened, she couldn’t outrun or knock down those guys.

“What to do, what to do… What are you doing now?!”

“They said they came for revenge? You have to show your face to the guests who came to find you.”

“W-wait a minute…!”

Squeak.

Before Haran could stop her, Ella swung open the front door with the sound of rusty hinges.

“I… I didn’t think you’d actually open the door.”

“That’s what I’m saying, boss.”

“

“Anyway, you’re saying this woman beat you all up?”

“Why, is there a problem?”

The man, who was called boss, scoffed at Ella and scanned her, and Ella frowned as if the gaze was unpleasant.

“…She’s a pretty thing. I was going to kill you halfway for daring to make our kids like that.”

“So? Don’t appraise me and just say what you want, just say what you want. What do you want to say?”

“Give me the money. About… 2 billion should be enough. I’ll forgive you with that.”

“T-two billion?! That’s outrageous!”

“Why? Did you think we would forgive you easily? If you don’t have money, you can sell your body.”

“

“It’s a pretty light punishment for daring to lay a hand on our kids. How about it?”

“B-boss?!”

“Stay still. This one will be worth money.”

Ella raised her head towards the man who was smiling confidently.

And, as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have, she frowned deeply and sighed as if the floor would collapse.

“…Haa. Why are all the bottom-of-the-barrel bastards the same?”

“What did you say? How dare you… Keuak?! Kk, kkeueuk…!”

Haran couldn’t see what Ella had done at all.

How did she do that?

Every time Ella grabbed the man’s head, which was reaching out to her, and squeezed her hand, the giant man screamed as if the house would collapse.

“B-boss! You b*tch…! I won’t let you…!”

“Shut your mouth. Unless you want to see your boss’s head crushed.”

“Kkeueuk…”

Ella mumbled as she manipulated the man’s head like she was playing with a toy.

…Every time, an indescribable scream was heard from the man’s mouth.

“Here too, there too. All the trash in places with bad security is the same.”

“Kkeuak, kkeuaaaaaak…!”

“Where, can you say the same thing even if your head is shattered? Let’s see.”

“S-stop! Please stop!”

“Huh?”

“Please, please I beg you…”

The relationship with those guys was already bad enough, but if she killed that guy, it would really be irreversible.

The boss of those guys would try to not forgive the person who killed his organization member no matter what.

If that happens, Haran can no longer survive in this city, let alone her.

It was obvious that they would retaliate on everything, saying that she had some kind of relationship with her since she was with her.

If that happens, it becomes impossible to live a normal life even if she leaves this house.

As if realizing that fact, Ella pondered for a moment and then threw the guy away.

“Keuak!”

“Get that guy and get out of here right now. And if you show up in front of me again, I’ll really kill you.”

“H-hiiiiik!”

Thank goodness.

The worst situation has been avoided.

Thinking that and looking at the backs of the guys running away, Ella patted Haran’s shoulder as she rubbed her face dry.

“I’m sorry. It seems like I’ve caused trouble.”

She wanted to say it wasn’t, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it.