Chapter 2
The Earth I returned to was very different from the Earth I remembered.
For starters, while I had spent more than a hundred years over there, apparently only ten years had passed here.
And during those ten years, Earth had suffered through the attacks of monsters and dungeons.
……
Dungeons appeared randomly, regardless of time or place, and if they weren’t stopped, monsters would pour out and wreak havoc on cities.
And then there were the Awakened, those chosen by the system.
Commonly known as “Hunters,” they were the ones who stopped them.
This is ridiculous.
No, if that was how things were going to be, did they really have to take away my powers like this?
“……Well, this place is a complete mess too.”
In that respect, Earth’s environment was essentially no different from that of the other world, Thebe.
I had even heard that some of the other “returnees” like me had retained the powers they had accumulated in other worlds and were reigning as top-ranked Hunters.
Naturally, I couldn’t help being dissatisfied with such an unfair arrangement.
Isn’t this discrimination?
When I first realized that fact, I spent quite some time desperately trying to restore my powers.
My power was special, and I had devised countless methods for recovering it, so I was confident that I would be able to return to my original state before long.
But I had been mistaken.
……
None of my methods worked.
As though it had been determined from the very beginning that it was impossible, every possibility I tried failed.
As a result, I had no choice but to give up on recovering my powers just one month after returning to Earth.
“Haa.”
Of course, there was one thing I could guess.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
If I underwent this thing called an “Awakening,” perhaps I might be able to recover my powers.
But what could I do? It wasn’t something I could accomplish through my own will.
Among modern humans, Awakened individuals accounted for less than 0.1 percent of the population.
Still, it’s rather complicated that one of those chosen people happens to be my little sister…….
My younger sister, Baek Seo-ha, was an Awakened.
An A-rank one, at that.
There were fewer than a hundred people of that rank in Korea.
Apparently, the limits of her potential were still unknown, so perhaps she might eventually reach S-rank.
She was called a top-tier prospect, wasn’t she?
Because of that, she appeared on the news all the time, filmed advertisements, and generally had a hectic life.
While I was gone, my little sister had completely become a celebrity.
And the parasite living off her wealth and being raised in her house was none other than me.
[May glory be with us!]
“Why the hell are you using the bishop there?”
At present, I was a pitiful existence incapable of influencing even a battle between mere scraps of data inside a game.
Boom!
[You have been defeated.]
I stared at the message that inspired nothing but emptiness and shut down the game listlessly.
“Cola…….”
I was craving cola.
I needed something carbonated to clear this suffocating feeling in my chest. I dragged myself out of the room and opened the refrigerator.
Click.
“……There’s none.”
Today had truly been a depressing day.
“Man, this is boring.”
Song Chan-seop was what you would call a convenience store part-timer.
Ten years had passed since the so-called “Day of Change,” and the world had become an age where Awakened and monsters ran rampant. But convenience stores were still beloved by everyone, and there was nothing particularly special about working at one.
However, the place where Song Chan-seop worked was a little different.
Maybe because it’s an upscale residential complex, but there aren’t many customers.
Moreover, even the appearance of those customers was unusual.
When he had first started working there, he had been so flustered that even his normally indifferent self had been thrown off when a well-established actor he had only ever seen on television walked into the store as a customer.
In any case, most of the customers here were people who wielded considerable influence in society.
Jingle.
Unable to endure the boredom, Chan-seop had been sprawled over the counter with his chin resting on his hands when he suddenly heard the door open.
He jumped in surprise and hurriedly delivered his standard greeting.
“Welcome.”
“…….”
Glancing over, he saw a small customer with their hood pulled as far over their head as possible.
It was an outfit he definitely remembered.
……Ah, it’s been a while.
A resident of Building 4, one of the most expensive buildings in this upscale apartment complex.
He didn’t know her exact identity, but he could never forget this particular customer because of the extraordinarily bizarre way she had dressed the first time she visited.
I couldn’t forget even if I wanted to.
Back then, the girl had bought her things with a blanket draped over her head from top to bottom, completely concealing her face and everything else.
At one point, he had even considered reporting her because he thought she was suspicious.
Of course, I’m used to it now.
From what Song Chan-seop had observed, the girl was extremely introverted.
It wasn’t simply a matter of being shy. She seemed to have difficulty communicating with other people.
She seemed to have improved a little recently, but for quite some time, he hadn’t even been able to have a proper conversation with her.
“……Here.”
While he was reminiscing for a moment, the girl had apparently finished choosing her items and murmured in a tiny voice.
It was so quiet that he could have missed it if he hadn’t been paying attention, yet at the same time, her voice had an incredibly pleasant tone.
Beep.
Beep.
“Yes. That comes to eleven thousand won. Would you like a bag?”
As the girl nodded, Chan-seop hurriedly moved his hands.
No less than twenty cans of cola.
The girl quickly completed her payment, picked up the bag, and turned around.
Normally, she would have left the store in an instant just like that.
But today, there was one additional action.
“……Th-Thank you.”
It was even quieter than before, but Chan-seop, who had been concentrating on the girl, didn’t miss it.
And for some reason, he felt deeply moved.
She’s improved so much over the past year…….
He didn’t know what kind of circumstances she had been through, but hoping that one day she would be able to communicate with others without hesitation, Chan-seop silently cheered her on as she walked out the door.
“Ugh.”
This is the worst.
No matter how much time passed, I just couldn’t get used to this sensation.
Of course, I had made tremendous progress over the past year.
Thankfully, the side effect apparently wasn’t permanent. As I continued making constant efforts, I gradually began to improve.
Because of that, I was now capable of doing simple things such as going to the convenience store in front of the house.
I’m still absolutely incapable of going anywhere crowded…….
To be honest, I didn’t particularly want to leave the house myself.
Thanks to my little sister, I could take care of most things without leaving home, and I had no desire to experience this sensation of having my emotions forcibly shaken if I could avoid it.
But when my sister saw that I was gradually becoming something less than human, she took drastic measures, and I had no choice but to reluctantly follow them.
The gist of it was that I had to go outside and buy simple necessities myself.
“……I’ve worked hard, so chicken today.”
Feeling proud of myself for completing such a difficult task, I put the cola in the refrigerator and began browsing the delivery app.
Disappointment in myself?
My self-esteem as a human being?
I had lost those things long ago.
After discovering the comfort of being taken care of, those emotions had become unnecessary to me.
Isn’t that obvious?
I had painstakingly accumulated power for a little over a hundred years, only for all of it to disappear within a few seconds.
Likewise, it had taken only a year for the powerful mind I had trained over all those long years to become dull.
Resting without doing anything was far sweeter and more comfortable than I had ever imagined.
That was all there was to it.
……
To put it plainly, I had already lost any reason to move forward.
I was certain that I could live perfectly satisfied as long as this lifestyle continued.
Click.
Fizz.
Gulp.
The cola I had just bought was ice-cold, and the carbonation rushing down my throat continuously brought tiny bursts of pleasure.
Gulp.
Gulp.
May these days continue forever.
Once again, I planted that suggestion in my own mind.
And then—
“Oppa. I told you not to drink too much cola. How many cans is this? You didn’t even eat the salad I prepared. Seriously. Ah, and what’s with your hair? You didn’t wash it again, did you?”
“S-Sorry.”
Seo-ha came home and gave me a thorough scolding.
The so-called Awakened.
Upon awakening, they were all granted a single title representing their aptitude.
No one knew who decided those titles.
It might simply have been the system making the decision, or perhaps it was the will of some existence that transcended it.
Regardless, Awakened individuals based their positions on these “titles” and trained their specialties accordingly.
“Status.”
[Baek Seo-ha]
▶ Title: God-Given Spearman
▶ Level: 54
Having completed another dungeon raid that day, Baek Seo-ha looked at the title displayed on her status window and asked her companion beside her.
“Do you think a god really exists?”
“That’s a pretty random question.”
The team’s firepower specialist, the mage Chae Hwa-ryeon, answered with a short laugh.
“What difference does it make whether one exists or not? Nothing’s going to change either way.”
“……I suppose you’re right.”
It was nothing more than simple curiosity.
Did a god truly exist? And if so, what influence did that god have on the current situation?
They were nothing more than idle thoughts.
Ever since Baek Seo-ha obtained the title “God-Given Spearman,” she had been able to wield a spear freely, as naturally as if it were a part of her own body.
It could certainly be called an enormous stroke of luck, but at the same time, it was frightening.
After all, if she had gained such power in an instant, there was no reason it couldn’t disappear just as quickly.
“You really are a bit of a weirdo. Let’s hurry up and go home. Didn’t you say you were having dinner with your family today?”
“Yes. I’ll leave after I finish organizing this.”
Well, what did it matter?
Eleven years ago, she had lost her parents on the Day of Change.
Now, she and her older brother were the last family each other had.
The reason she was able to protect Baek Eun-ha, a returnee, without any complications with the government’s cooperation was entirely because of the position she currently held.
For that sake, Baek Seo-ha didn’t care even if it meant becoming a pawn of someone above the heavens.
