The Returner

Chapter 238: What did you summon, then? (3)

Now that was a pretty grotesque sight to behold.

Indeed, almost no one alive would find such a sight pleasing to the eyes, especially when thickly-viscous ‘liquid’ slowly oozed to the ground from a giant ‘doorway’ in the air.

Seo Ah-Young, of course, possessed the kind of tastes that one could refer to as normal, and rather obviously, she found this spectacle quite disgusting.

“Euh, euh....”

Goosebumps broke out on her skin instinctively.

“Slime??” (Jeong Hae-Min)

Jeong Hae-Min had approached them before anyone noticed it and asked innocently enough.

“What’s that?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

Seo Ah-Young formed this expression of really, really hating it while turning around to look at the former idol.

“Hey, some people don’t know what that is, you know!” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“No, that’s not.... Unni, it’s just that I don’t feel so good looking at that thing.”

Yi Ji-Hyuk cackled happily after seeing Seo Ah-Young’s reaction.

Why did she hate it so much? Wasn’t a slime a popular character in various video games?

“Kekekeke.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

But, then again....

Yi Ji-Hyuk revealed how satisfied he was as he observed the slime that continued to ooze out from the air.

To be honest, even he didn’t find this sight all that attractive. After all, it was the scene of viscous liquid with an opacity stuck perfectly between being transparent and not so much, lazily ‘drooling’ to the ground from a mouth in the air.

“And just why did you bring something like that here?!” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Tsk.”

He clicked his tongue while looking at Seo Ah-Young getting all worked up like this.

Why couldn’t the heavens bestow two opposing qualities to a person at once? If only this woman was blessed with Choi Jung-Hoon’s brain, then they might have seen the birth of the history’s greatest ability user by now.

“Ah, it’s the shock-absorbing buffer material.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

‘I knew it.’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk heard Choi Jung-Hoon’s voice coming from behind and nodded his head. If the good points of these two couldn’t be brought together to form a single person, then might as well, they should accompany each other.

Choi Jung-Hoon finally arrived on site and as he observed the slime filling up the cracks in the ground, he nodded his head in understanding.

“If such tenaciously tough semi-fluid seeps into the fractured ground or below the shaking buildings, we might be able to prevent them from collapsing altogether.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“Yup, you’re the smart one.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk grinned in contentment.

As I thought. Having someone to provide timely exposition when you’re about to do something sure makes your life easier, doesn’t it?

I mean, I don’t have to flap my gums to say anything at all. (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

Even as Yi Ji-Hyuk was gaining a renewed appreciation of Choi Jung-Hoon’s usefulness, the slime continued to flood out of the Gate like a lazy waterfall.

Although it moved slowly due to its viscosity, the amount that poured out from the portal in the air was rather enormous.

“........”

....Uhm, just how long will it continue to come out? (Choi Jung-Hoon’s inner monologue)

“B-by the way.... Will it continue to come out like that?” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“Yup.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“How much of it will still come out, then??” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

Yi Ji-Hyuk tilted his head.

How much?

“How should I know?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“.....You really don’t have any answers, do you.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

It was all fine and dandy that he resorted to shoving all these ‘buffer material’ here and there, but would it be fine for that thing to keep oozing out like this?

Choi Jung-Hoon was overcome with this ominous feeling that the aftermath would become rather difficult to handle later on, so he cautiously opened his mouth to speak.

“You know, that slime.... It’s not going to cause us a major headache down the line, yes?” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“Ng. It’s pretty docile.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“....Is it even alive?” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“It’s a monster, alright. For some weird reason, people of this world have this image of a slime being a nice monster that acts as a friend to humans or melts the clothing of a beautiful girl down, but the truth is, it’s nothing like that. Well, it’s a regular, run-of-the-mill monster that swallows up a person whole, suffocates him to death and dissolves the sucker to eat it.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Mm, so, like...

Asphyxiation and liquefaction, is it.... (Choi Jung-Hoon’s inner monologue)

The eyes of Choi Jung-Hoon began trembling more and more.

“But, you said it’s docile?!” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“Yeah, it is. I mean, it’s so dang slow that it can’t really swallow you up properly, anyway. Wouldn’t you say that’s pretty docile for a monster? What, you were expecting an adorable puppy or something?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Hey, you do keep puppies around, don’t you?!

And they are freaking Ogres, too! (Choi Jung-Hoon’s inner monologue)

Choi Jung-Hoon asked another question with a trembling voice.

“I-in that case....” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

His finger was now pointing at a large skyscraper. The slime was slowly flowing towards it to shove more of itself inside the structure at the moment.

“....What’s going to happen to all the people trapped inside?” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

Yi Ji-Hyuk shrugged his shoulders.

“They get devoured, I guess.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“.................”

Choi Jung-Hoon’s hurriedly and quite vigorously grabbed Yi Ji-Hyuk’s shoulders.

“What the heck?! Didn’t you summon the creature to save people??? If they are going to die either way, why did you even bother?!” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“Well, they’ll die less painfully this way.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Hul.....” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

Yi Ji-Hyuk lightly brushed aside Choi Jung-Hoon’s hands gripping him.

“I was just kidding, so stop overreacting. Don’t worry, I already ordered it to push away any humans it finds. I’m sure it’ll push everyone it comes across to higher floors. And if someone ends up falling out from the window, the monster will act as a nice cushion, too.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“But, it’s hard to trust you....” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“Urgh, don’t believe me, then!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Choi Jung-Hoon maintained an unimpressed expression as he stared at Yi Ji-Hyuk.

“Seriously, man! A person should have more trust in others!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“You think I didn’t trust you from the beginning?! Who do you think made me this way??” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“Oh-hoh??? You saying it’s my fault now? Am I the bad guy here?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“The longer a person gets to know another person, the higher their mutual trust should get, but you somehow managed to chuck any hints of trust out the window, so how can I not say it??” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“I haven’t done anything, so what gives?!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Hul....” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

Choi Jung-Hoon became briefly speechless.

He said, ‘what gives’.

Do I need to mouth every single one of his lengthy transgressions, then? (Choi Jung-Hoon’s inner monologue)

“Should I compile a comprehensive report for you? I mean, it’ll be on the level of a dissertation, though?” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“No thank you. It’ll be too annoying to read the whole thing, then.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Eh-whew.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

Choi Jung-Hoon shook his head in helplessness.

‘In any case. This is pretty humongous, isn’t it?’ (Choi Jung-Hoon)

Just from looking at it, the scale did indeed prove to be rather impressive, alright.

The viscous liquid still flowing out from the Gate was now completely filling up the city itself. As if it was some kind of flood water, the semi-transparent liquid filled up the cracks on the ground and held tightly onto the shaking buildings.

‘How did he come up with this idea on the fly?’ (Choi Jung-Hoon)

Choi Jung-Hoon wasn’t confident of using a slime to do something like this even if he knew of its existence beforehand. Because to him, a monster was a target for extermination, not a tool to be deployed in a tight situation like this one.

Such an idea could only be cooked up by Yi Ji-Hyuk, and only he could bring it to reality, too.

Dudududuk....

The ground was still shaking and quaking around all over the place, but thankfully, no buildings came crashing down due to the slime absorbing most of the impact force.

“Wow.” (Seo Ah-Young)

Even Seo Ah-Young couldn’t help but gasp in admiration after witnessing this scene.

This guy, he’s really...

Even though he looks like a useless idiot, he really knows how to pull through during the critical moments, doesn’t he? (Seo Ah-Young’s inner monologue)

“You managed to solve one of the problems.” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Nice work.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“Ehehehe.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk sheepishly scratched his head.

‘Nice work’, was it? How long ago was the last time he got praised for what he did?

People berated him and resented him even after he ran around like crazy to put out various fires, so when he was publicly acknowledged like this, a smile automatically broke out on his lips even before he could do anything about it.

‘So, this is the reason why an Ogre would allegedly start dancing around if it’s been complimented nicely.’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk shifted his gaze over to the Cyclops.

Roooar!!

The monster was hurriedly pounding on the slime that was steadily surrounding it from all sides with its large mace.

“H-mm....”

All thanks to the Cyclops being so tall, the slime could only reach up to its knees even though so much of the creature had gathered there. The sight of the monster still desperately pounding at the slime around its knees with that mace came across as rather amusing to behold.

“Things almost went sideways, there.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk took a deep breath.

A Cyclops wasn’t a monster strong enough to bring the humanity’s downfall. Even if he wasn’t here, a united front put up by other ability users would’ve defeated it sooner or later.

But then, simply by it appearing in this particular location, it suddenly morphed into the worst potential monster to deal with, ever. If Yi Ji-Hyuk didn’t immediately come up with the idea to use the slime, then this city would’ve been destroyed in half by now.

“Mm?”

It was then, Yi Ji-Hyuk began tilting his head a bit, and then nodded it.

“Bring them in.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Excuse me?” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“No, it’s nothing. I was talking to the slime.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“......”

What did he just say?

Can he actually communicate with that soft, malleable lifeform?

Isn’t that, like, an even more amazing ability than the animal communicator thing?

Then again, this guy talks to Oh-Sik as if that Ogre was a human being, to begin with.

But, at least Oh-Sik resembles a dog from the outside.

I’m not insulting it. It’s just the truth.

No, hang on, I’m telling you, it just looks like one, okay? Like a puppy! (Choi Jung-Hoon’s inner monologue)

“That thing can actually talk back to you?” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

Yi Ji-Hyuk stared at Choi Jung-Hoon with a dazed expression on his face.

“And how would that guy talk back to me now?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

....Stop looking at me those eyes, please.

When you do, I feel like killing myself on the spot, you see.

I don’t care if everyone else in this world looks at me like that, but not you. (Choi Jung-Hoon’s inner monologue)

Tears formed in the corners of Choi Jung-Hoon’s eyes.

What could this be, this sh*tty-a*s feeling?

“I-if not, then?” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“We can read each other’s thoughts, that’s all.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

But, that’s basically the same thing....

How nice would it have been if you were quick-witted enough to get the point ‘A’ when I say ‘B’? (Choi Jung-Hoon’s inner monologue)

“With that monster?” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“Well, isn’t it adorable in its own way?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I don’t wish to get into an argument on the matters of aesthetics with you. Anyways, what are you trying to bring in now?” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“Oh, that....” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk smirked deeply.

“What do you think? It’s obviously people. You thought I was picking up coins on the ground?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk’s mocking chuckle caused Choi Jung-Hoon’s complexion to wane at a visible rate.

***

“Uwaaaah?! What the hell is this??” (Choi Chang-Sik)

Chang-Sik was a pretty unlucky guy.

Just take a gander at today, for instance.

It was a rare thing for Chang-Sik, a local hoodlum who preferred the cosiness of his own home more than anything else to roam around the high streets during the day like this.

While other punks were busy searching around for a pub that would sell them some booze, he’d rather much prefer to search for a nice little convenience store, instead. Of course, thanks to a face that naturally came with a free pass on all ID-related inspections, there was not one adult-only item he couldn’t buy, but still.

Indeed, Chang-Sik found it too much of a bother to accompany his peers whenever they begged him to take them to a pub. Such a dude had to come out to the high street for the first time in a long, long while.

All because of some dang clothes.

Seriously, wouldn’t it have been okay to buy them online?!

Unfortunately, his older sister and mother proceeded to mercilessly punish him for arguing, and eventually, he was forced to come out here to buy himself new clothes.

“Does it really matter what I buy, anyway?!” (Choi Chang-Sik)

His family did have a good enough reason to, by the way.

His physique that had ballooned up to the limits of a human being didn’t permit him to wear the pitiful clothing of any ol’ regular person. Most shirts sized ‘Large’ would instantly become tights once he put them on, and mass-produced clothes simply couldn’t adequately cover Chang-Sik at all.

So much so that he even had to have his school uniform custom-made.

Which meant that the types of clothes that he could buy online were only those big-size specials, and for some unfathomable reason, most of the big-size clothing he found in shopping malls boasted crazy uncool designs.

That’s why they told him to go out there, try a few on, and then buy them for himself.

How logical.

So, so very logical, indeed.

But what was not logical at all about this was... Trying to find the clothes that fit Chang-Sik in the clothing stores that littered these high streets was no different from finding a needle in a desert.

He felt truly sorrowful, but he had to raise a white flag and come here after receiving threats of his pocket money being taken away, as well as the continuous serving of cold meals gracing his breakfast table every morning.

But then, shouldn’t his family at least try to come along with him or something? So why did they send him off all alone while putting up every conceivable excuse?

Even more sorrowful was the fact that he couldn’t locate any clothes for himself today.

Whenever he tried on something after being told ‘Dear customer, this outfit might fit you’, he was met with a magic trick of the hip-hop hoodie suddenly morphing into a spandex training suit.

He even encountered the situation of the clothes almost being destroyed while forcing them on himself a few times already, too.

“Forget it!! I ain’t buying any, then!!” (Choi Chang-Sik)

Chang-Sik finally gave up and came out to the street to puff on his cigarettes in frustration. And it happened then.

Rumble-!!!

The ground suddenly began rumbling without warning.

“Uwaah?! What the hell is this?!” (Choi Chang-Sik)

An earthquake in Seoul? This wasn’t Tokyo, for crying out loud!

He heard those stories of tectonic plates and whatnot, that Seoul wasn’t in the safe zone and whatnot, but that was all true?

What was he supposed to do during earthquakes, then?

Should he rush inside a building? But, what if the building collapsed while he was inside? Wouldn’t he get crushed to death, then?

While Choi Chang-Sik couldn’t make up his mind on how to respond and frantically looked around, the earthquake began weakening noticeably.

“Is, is it over??” (Choi Chang-Sik)

But, how could it be?

He worriedly scanned his surroundings for confirmation, only to spot something rather weird over yonder. It was malleable, soft, and wiggly....

And the bizarrely grotesque liquid began creeping towards him.

“U-uwaaaah?!?!”

It seemed that today was the day of suffering for him.

< 238. What did you summon, then? -3 > Fin.