Chapter 211: < Afterthought: Everything Was Chaotic When I Got Back. >
All the emotions that had accumulated in the hearts of the three people for the past eight years finally burst out. Sadness, anxiety, longing, and anger…
Liling-wei continued to sob remorsefully, hitting Seo-woon's chest mercilessly. Ki-chan collapsed to the ground, sobbing like a child, tears streaming down his face.
Juriell, overjoyed at Seo-woon's return, could only shed tears and clung tightly to his waist. After nearly an hour of this intense emotional outpouring, the three finally calmed down and looked at Seowoon. "What the hell was that... Why did it take so long?" Both women looked at Seo-woon, as if confirming Ki-chan's words.
"Various incidents have happened. It's a long story..." When Seo-woon trailed off, Ki-chan crossed his arms and replied, "We have plenty of time."
"Ugh. I'm hungry and tired from wandering around for so long..." He tried to make excuses, but they didn't listen.
The three people stared at him with wide eyes, seemingly determined not to let him go until he finished his story. "Oh. So, what happened was… I didn't think we could handle ten gods back then. Especially not the goddess of war and the god of war. Even one-on-one wouldn't have been easy."
Liling-wei and Juriell nodded in agreement at Seo-woon's words. The aura they sensed from the gods they saw on Namsan Mountain was like that of a supernatural power that no human could resist.
"So I used Metis and myself as intermediaries to separate the three dimensions from the gods. At first, I tried to use only Metis as intermediary, but it wasn't as easy as I thought."
Ki-chan clenched his fist at Seo-woon's words. "Dimension Lock… Did you use that?"
"Yes. Dimensions are fascinating. Beings that leave the normal dimension must live in the spaces between dimensions. It's an unstable and chaotic place."
"You could have trapped them and escaped!" Seo-woon nodded at Liling-wei's words. "They're not stupid. They wouldn't have let me go. They tried to take the Dimension Lock from me. I locked them in a pocket dimension and refused to let them out, so they tried everything they could think of."
Both women gasped in surprise at Seo-woon's words and couldn't speak. Ki-chan asked on their behalf. "Torture... Did you suffer?"
"I almost died. I resisted as much as I could, but it was impossible against ten of them. Some even used neural powers..."
As he finished, he sensed several figures approaching from nearby. Seo-woon looked away and was left speechless. The three people who had followed Seo-woon's gaze turned their heads and sensed the approaching figures. They stood up from where they were sitting.
"Long time no see." Jeong Su-hwa, who had walked through the bushes and into the clearing, was startled by Seo-woon's words. "Really...Is that you?"
"Ah. Agents' skills have improved significantly over the years. They're now worthy of being called masters."
Jeong-soo-hwa nodded in agreement with Seo-woon's assessment. "When I heard about the unidentified intruder at the Namsan Access Control Center and checked the CCTV footage, I couldn't believe it."
"Apparently, a lot has changed. I unintentionally caused a mess there. I didn't have my phone or wallet. There was no way to contact you. It would have been too much trouble to explain everything."
"I'm so glad you're back... Congratulations."
"Yes. I appreciate you coming all the way here to greet me, but do you need anything else?" It had been eight years since they last saw each other. Not wanting to be disturbed any longer, Seo-woon nodded once more and said his goodbyes before heading back down the mountain.
Seo-woon had countless things he wanted to talk about, but he decided this wasn't the right time. "So, what happened?" Just as Seo-woon was about to speak again, Ki-chan's phone rang. "Huh? Mom! Hello?" Seo-woon tilted her head at Gi-chan's words. As far as she knew, Gi-chan's parents had passed away.
After a short conversation, Gi-chan hung up. "I think we'll have to postpone our conversation. I have to go see my parents first." Seo-woon glared at Ki-chan. "Was that your mother?" The voice on the other end of the phone was definitely his mother.
Ki-chan nodded. "A lot happened here while you were gone." He didn't need to hear it to know. Ki-chan must have tried hard to fill the void left by Seowoon's absence. "Thank you." Seo-woon patted Ki-chan's shoulder and said sincerely.
"Take a shower and change your clothes first, then let's go." Only then did Ki-chan take a few steps back from Seo-woon. No surprise. He hadn't noticed it until just now, overcome by emotion, but now he could clearly smell Seo-woon's scent. A faint, stale odor mixed with the pungent stench of an old man was quite unpleasant.
"Try living without washing for two years. There wasn't even enough water to drink there."
"Stop! Two years?" Seo-woon responded to Liling-wei's words. "Has it been a little longer? There's no concept of time there. I think it's been that long... Right?"
"Brother... It's been eight years." Seo-woon was shocked to hear Ki-chan's words. "Eight years?" Seeing all three of them nod, Seo-woon finally understood their intense expressions. "Did there a time shift in the dimensional rifts?" None of the three could answer Seo-woon's question.
"Let's get ready first and go." It had been eight years. He couldn't imagine how worried his parents must have been. His heart ached as he realized how much time he had lost. The house was showing signs of aging and was definitely more worn than before. The interior looked different, as if it had been redecorated.
"Take a shower first. Put on these clothes." They were the gym clothes he often wore when he trained in Wonju. He took off his old, worn clothes and went into the bathroom to shower. A few streaks of black dirt rolled off, as if to prove when he'd last washed.
After cleaning himself and carefully shaving, his reflection in the mirror finally returned to its original appearance. He dried himself with a towel, tied back his long hair, and put on the clothes Ki-chan had brought. "Oh man. I feel like a civilized person now."
Seo-woon smiled at Ki-chan's joke and headed down the mountain with the others. The moment they got into the new Bentley waiting at the foot of the mountain, Seo-woon opened his mouth. "By the way, when did your parents move?"
"It's been a while. About four years... So many reporters were visiting, it made life really hard." Seowoon frowned at Ki-chan's answer. "Journalists came to visit?"
That was unthinkable when he was there. "It was fine for the first year, but then they openly came and started camping. I wanted to kill them all, but I couldn't do it in front of my parents. It was a difficult time."
"I understand." Liling-wei turned to Seo-woon, who spoke in a defeated voice. "Fortunately, you moved to Wonju, so you're nearby. Your aunt's family is there, which is a great consolation," she said. Seo-woon nodded at Liling-wei's words. "Ki-chan really tried hard. He tried to fill the void you left... After all, we are family now."
Seo-woon nodded at his smiling words and looked at Ki-chan. She was about to thank him again, but Ki-chan's reaction was strange. His face flushed and he lowered his head, looking quite embarrassed. "What happened?"
"Well... You'll know it when you see it."
Seo-woon was deeply disturbed by Ki-chan's words but decided not to dwell on it. He didn't know what to say to his parents when he saw them. Two years was a long time, but eight years... Even now, thinking about it, he couldn't imagine how much pain his parents had suffered.
After driving for about 20 minutes, they arrived at a house slightly larger than the one they'd lived in before. It wasn't just one house, but one with an outbuilding, and it looked more than enough for Seo-woon's parents and his aunt's family to live together.
As soon as he rang the doorbell, the front door opened, and a familiar, pregnant woman stepped out into the garden. "My dear!" the woman cried out, hugging Ki-chan. "Jeong-eun?"
At Seo-woon's words, the woman finally noticed him. She wasn't quite yet in labor, but her belly was quite large, and she wrapped her arms around Ki-chan's neck, hugging him.
It was strange, but it was definitely Jeong-eun. Seo-woon looked at her mature face, which had lost all traces of her youth, and glared at Ki-chan. But he couldn't express his anger towards Ki-chan.
"Oppa? Are you Seo-woon's oppa?" Seo-woon nodded awkwardly at her words, and those words instantly brought tears to her eyes.
When they entered the house, another flood of tears broke out. The entire family came out and hugged Seo-woon, shedding tears of reunion. Only after calming his mother did they finally listen to the story. "Ki-chan tried so hard. After you disappeared, it felt like there was a void in my heart... But this boy always came to visit without hesitation and filled that void."
Seo-woon smiled as he saw his father caressing Ki-chan as if he were his own son. His anger towards Ki-chan seemed to have subsided a little.
"He's Jeong-eun's husband now, so he's like a son to you. Don't say that." Hearing his mother's words, his father quickly removed his hand from Ki-chan's head and smiled strangely.
From that alone, he could tell how much Ki-chan had helped his parents over the years.
"So, when did you two start dating?" Seo-woon asked Jeong-eun, who paused for a moment before looking up.
"Um... When was it? Four years after my brother disappeared, we moved here and started seeing each other more often, and before I knew it, we were together."
Seo-woon nodded at her words. They were unusual from the moment they first met, so it was surprising that they were finally together after four years.
"My brother-in-law is so naive that my sister had to endure so much." Jeong-eun blushed at Go-eun's bold words. Seo-woon smiled, understanding her meaning.
As he gathered with her family and reminisced about the past, Seo-woon felt a warm feeling inside. Seo-woon, having smelled Earth's food for the first time in a long time, had a craving. Seo-woon's eyes reddened again as he saw his mother prepare a table laden with food for her son, who had returned after eight years, and her father gazing at her silently.
Eight years. It was an unimaginable time for Seo-woon. But when he saw the deep wrinkles and graying hair on his parents' faces, he felt the passage of time pierce his heart once more. Lost in thought, the meal was served, and everyone sat down to eat together for the first time in a long time.
"What happened to your aunt and uncle?"
"They're in Hawaii. My sister's having a baby, so they can't travel for a while, so they told me they were going on a trip in advance." Seo-woon nodded at Go-eun's words. It was a moment of pure happiness; a moment of harmony with the family he clung to so desperately as they tried to survive in the rift between dimensions.
As they were enjoying their time together, the doorbell rang. Go-eun put down her chopsticks and quickly ran to check the intercom. "Who is it? Brother-in-law! They're back!" At Go-eun's words, Ki-chan's expression suddenly turned cold. His eyes were sunken, an expression Seo-woon had rarely seen on Ki-chan.
Even though his family was in front of him, the subtle aura emanating from his body made him seem like an outsider. "What's going on? Is someone bothering you?" Seo-woon asked in a cold tone, and Ki-chan quickly composed himself and replied, "It's nothing. Continue eating."
After he finished speaking, Ki-chan opened the front door and walked out. Seo-woon glanced after him for a moment before continuing with his meal. If he said nothing was wrong, then it was. He could hear the details later. He didn't want to disrupt the peaceful time he was currently spending with his family.
So he continued eating, but Ki-chan didn't return for a few minutes. Unable to stop thinking about this, Seo-woon put down his spoon and walked out. "Seo-woon..." Seo-woon smiled reassuringly at his worried mother and walked out, where Ki-chan and the five men were arguing.
"I've warned you countless times. Never come back to this house again."
"Don't do that. It's not a bad thing, right? Go-eun has a lot of experience as a player... Since you three didn't let her join, we're just trying to find her." Ki-chan's shoulders trembled at the sneaky man's words.
He tried to suppress his anger, unable to express it in front of his family. The man knew full well that Ki-chan never lost his temper or raised his voice in this house, so he insisted on persuading him. In fact, it was more like nagging than persuading.
"I hear you're asking me to enter some weird competition?" The man turned in surprise at the voice coming from behind him. The man's mouth fell open when he saw the man with his long hair pulled back. "Who are you...?"
"Don't you know me? Eight years is a long time. You said it yourself just now. You said there were so many players who surpassed me in your Super Match competition that you could count the fingers on both hands, right?"
The man's face, which had gone blank for a moment, began to turn pale. "That's impossible… You have to be kidding…"
"Is it impossible for me to go back? Why? Am I somewhere I shouldn't be?" The man's expression suddenly turned cold, and the men standing beside him stepped in front of him to protect him.
However, the moment he stepped forward, they couldn't withstand the intense pressure and collapsed to the ground, unable to even lift their heads.
"I know the world has changed a lot while I was gone… But where is your respect for me, who sacrificed my life for the world?" Seo-woon's cold voice was filled with intense killing intent.
It was midsummer, the sun was beating down scorchingly, but the man shivered as if frozen to the bone. "That man is just so kind. Even if you pests clung to him, he wouldn't have the heart to harm you… But I'm not like that."
Just as Seo-woon was about to raise his hand, a familiar voice was heard. "Seo-woon?" Seo-woon turned around without lowering his hand and saw Karina standing there. "Ah, you're fast."
"Really?" Seo-woon shot a cold look at Karina, who was running towards him. His gaze was so cold that Karina couldn't move and just stood there.
"Seo-woon?" "This really bothers me. My family is being bothered by these pests, but none of your many guards are around. Nothing lasts forever, but for it to be like this after just eight years…" Karina's eyes widened at Seo-woon's words. She was about to protest, but Ki-chan spoke up instead.
"This is a misunderstanding. We decided to decline because we thought the connection was stable, the deal was moving forward, and the danger was gone. We were afraid that if the guards stayed, the reporters would swarm the area again."
Hearing Ki-chan's words, Seo-woon scratched the back of his head with his hand. "Oh, did we? I'm sorry."
Seeing Seo-woon smiling awkwardly, Karina finally relaxed and approached him. "So who are they...?"
"They're the people from the all-knowing Super Match." Karina's expression turned cold at Ki-chan's words. She knew they had been relentlessly monitoring Seo-woon's family.
After Seo-woon left and the 12 dimensional gates formed, Japan was able to accumulate a massive amount of capital. The success of the Super Match, built on this capital, drastically changed the world situation. Japan's economic power had grown to the point where they no longer had to worry about the United States.
They didn't seem to forget the humiliation they suffered at Seo-woon's hands in the past. That's why they constantly tried to tarnish his reputation even after his death. The incident of Seo-woon's destruction of the Japanese Guild, Seo-woon's destruction of Kimchi-sang and his cronies within Japan, the incident of the Japanese Prime Minister being expelled from the summit meeting, etc.
They poured a significant amount of capital into erasing that past. This tendency to deny and distort history continues to this day. "So... aren't they Korean?"
"They are. But they're just Super Match officials. They're the presidents of Super Match's Korean branch."
Seo-woon narrowed his eyes at Ki-chan's words. As the president of Super Match's Korean branch, having seen and managed countless players, he'd never seen a look like that before. He'd met quite a few players who'd reached the crown rank, but he'd never seen someone who could make someone so uncomfortable with just a single look.
"Karina."
"Yes. Here you go."
"Is my immunity still valid in Korea?" Seo-woon's question was met with a nod and a smile from Karina.