How a legendary returner lives

It was meaningless.

First, the distance was too close, and second, Soo Byeongmin was too fast.

Before they could even act, Soo Byeongmin’s body had already disappeared beyond the gate.

Once inside the gate, Soo Byeongmin took everything in stride. He was confident in his survival.

And if there was something he was curious about, he believed he had the ability to uncover it.

Soo Byeongmin knew exactly where he stood.

He had 4.5 million subscribers. He had surpassed the level of an influencer working nationwide. Though it might sound like just a number, 4.5 million was more than the total population of Busan.

He had personal connections with the mayor of Busan and several politicians who had his back.

He didn’t rely on just one thing.

He would go in, shoot some footage of whatever was going on, if it was insignificant, he’d just release it to the public, and if it was serious, he’d make sure to take a little “bribe” and edit it nicely.

‘Wow. Soo Byeongmin, this guy’s brilliant. Not only does he have a sharp mind, but he’s also highly action-oriented. Amazing, this guy.’

Soo Byeongmin, praising himself in his mind, sat down right as he entered.

What was this?

He doubted his own eyes.

The light was flashing.

Jin Sihoo, the younger brother of Jin Songyi, a non-awakened, third-rate author, was flying through the air, fighting three horned monsters.

No, was he really fighting them?

Even though he was clearly seeing it, it wasn’t visible at all. Fire and ice intertwined. A massive storm raged. Goosebumps crawled across his skin. Then, it happened. A flash of light from the sky.

A light brighter and more massive than anything he had ever seen erupted.

At the same time, Soo Byeongmin felt it. His right shoulder had become empty.

A tremendous pain shot up from his shoulder.

“Ah… aah…”

He didn’t even realize it, but his right arm had been severed from the shoulder. He staggered backward. Only then did he see the surrounding situation.

The ground, which seemed to have been a forest, was pockmarked with craters as if hundreds of missiles had fallen. What looked like trees were scattered around, and strange corpses could be seen far off.

They were monsters. Yes, they were monsters.

And then.

Once again, a flash of light from the sky.

Boom!

A monster crashed into the ground. It was lifeless, showing no signs of movement, so it was clear that it was dead. But it seemed like that wasn’t enough.

Jin Sihoo, who had been in the sky, fell to the ground.

White smoke rose from his body. Jin Sihoo’s fist slammed down onto the monster’s head on the ground.

Boom!

The ground caved in. Almost a 10-meter radius was simply obliterated.

Looking at just the radius, it was 10 meters, but it was even deeper when considering the underground.

The monster’s body was buried deep into the earth. It still didn’t move.

Trembling.

Soo Byeongmin’s body shook.

A monster landed beside him. It grabbed Soo Byeongmin’s head.

He was startled. Before feeling the pain, this wasn’t happening.

He didn’t want to be involved in this.

“J… just wait… I have no involvement in this. Please… just let me go.”

Then, the monster spoke.

“Shut up.”

Soo Byeongmin instinctively closed his mouth, but something felt off.

The voice sounded strangely familiar.

“… Jin Sihoo, stop right there, you monster. If you move, I’ll snap this guy’s neck right here…”

Soo Byeongmin’s mind was struck like lightning.

“Is that you, Director Jeong Honam from Busan City Hall…?”

The horned monster furrowed its brow. It got angry because the sentence was cut off.

“I told you to shut up.”

“No, Honam, it’s me, Byeongmin. Why do you look like that? I really don’t know anything. Please, just let me go.”

The monster, presumed to be Jeong Honam, smiled a strange smile and said:

“Why are you begging me? You should be begging Jin Sihoo over there.”

The situation was simple.

He had taken a hostage.

Jin Sihoo laughed, as if in disbelief. He spoke:

“Do you guys have no pride?”

* * *

Jeong Honam, no, the 167th Apostle, thought.

Where did everything go wrong?

It wasn’t even worth thinking about.

It was from the start.

Everything had been wrong from the beginning. It was a misjudgment, arrogance.

The 148th Apostle, Marjinno.

The 159th Apostle, Lim Kyungtae.

The three of us were sure that we could kill him somehow if we teamed up.

It made sense. The power of the Apostles was at that level.

No matter how strong awakeners were, there were realms they could never reach.

Awakeners used mana, a power that is refined from the natural energy.

But the Apostles used “natural energy,” an unprocessed, pure form of energy.

There was a huge difference between the two.

Simply put, mana, or internal power, is refined energy, a form of the natural energy circulating in the world.

On the other hand, natural energy is pure, unrefined energy, and the Apostles used it as is.

That was significant.

Using this overwhelming potential energy, the Apostles could simply slice through everything in front of them.

More than that, they could even tap into the power beyond natural energy, the soul energy, also known as “soul power.”

That’s why they were confident.

When they entered the gate and fought, the three of them were each struck within the blink of an eye. They had pulled out all their strengths in a delayed response, combining their attacks.

Dust and debris rose, and a hurricane that could have covered the entire gate formed in mid-air, wrapped in unextinguishable flames.

He was surely in the middle of it.

But then.

At some point, a hole appeared in the hurricane, and he emerged from it. The rising dust and debris vanished, the hurricane disappeared, and the unextinguishable flames flickered out like a match.

In that moment, Lim Kyungtae was killed with just two hits.

It was absurd.

It felt like his brain had shut down.

Then, he saw a familiar face entering the gate.

He knew who it was.

The streamer, Soo Byeongmin.

He had 4 million or maybe 4.5 million subscribers. When he was working as a director, they had often hung out together, offering each other help.

He hadn’t liked it much when he was crawling up the ranks without knowing his place, but now, it seemed like it had become a benefit. Without thinking, he captured him.

And then he spoke to Jin Sihoo.

If you don’t want to kill this guy, stop right there.

Let’s think about it.

Jin Sihoo, that guy is strong.

But why did he call the Apostles to this gate?

It was obvious.

He didn’t want to cause a commotion.

What this meant was that he was concerned about the ‘external perception.’ What would he do with an innocent bystander caught up in this fight?

Jeong Ho-nam thought the opponent would stop the fight.

It was obvious. Since a third party, unrelated to the situation, had intervened, any normal human would stop.

Jeong Ho-nam thought for a moment and decided to negotiate. This fight couldn’t continue. It was too soon for this.

However, the response from Jin Si-hoo surpassed his expectations.

“You’re draining my energy.”

“…What?”

“By the way, your name is Byeong-min, right?”

So Byeong-min quickly spoke up.

“Yes, that’s me. I’m So Byeong-min. Jin Si-hoo! I’m really a fan of your work. I own all your books. I won’t tell anyone about what happened here. Please, just let me go. Please.”

Jin Si-hoo asked, “Why did you come in here?”

“…Uh… just because.”

That was the honest answer.

It was just because.

And “just because” was exactly what it sounded like—there was no special reason. It was the simple truth.

So Byeong-min came in just like that. Jin Si-hoo simply said:

“Next time, if you notice the situation is wrong, just don’t do it.”

“Yes, thank you… wait, what?”

At first, it sounded like Jin Si-hoo said “next time,” but no. Jin Si-hoo definitely said, “From your next life onward.”

Right.

From the next life onward.

Jin Si-hoo stretched out his right hand.

And at that moment, the remaining two apostles felt an overwhelming presence.

It was something they had never felt before, or perhaps had felt only once in their lives. It was the presence of the King of Apostles.

“It’s a bit disappointing. I thought those who reached this level would behave more properly, but I didn’t expect this much.”

There was no need for long conversations.

Jin Si-hoo’s eyes gleamed.

He clenched his right hand that had been stretched out.

What happened next was instantaneous.

It felt as though the world was being pushed back.

Time seemed to slow down, and it felt as though the world was being sucked into a hole.

It was a strange sensation, impossible to explain.

Jeong Ho-nam, the 167th apostle, certainly felt it that way.

[Baekryeongyo (White Lotus Sect) Holy Fire Seven Bindings.] [Chapter 2: Hidden Night Seven Strings of the Moon.]

Seven lines appeared, as transparent as ink on paper, drawn in an instant.

Jeong Ho-nam and So Byeong-min could only watch in a daze.

Seeing the clear lines drawn in the world was beyond explanation.

It was mystical, awe-inspiring.

It was interference with the balance of the world.

No, it was beyond the will of the world itself.

Crash—!!

They didn’t even feel the slicing sound. Jeong Ho-nam’s gaze tilted. His body was tilting.

His upper body and lower body were separated. To be precise, his abdomen had been sliced into dozens of pieces.

His arms didn’t move. Fortunately, his gaze moved, so he could see his arms. They were falling to the ground. His head was about to touch the ground. He could feel everything.

His arms and legs were severed, and his body was torn apart. Strangely, there was no regeneration.

He was in despair.

Slowly, Jin Si-hoo walked over.

He approached So Byeong-min first.

“I’m sorry.”

With Jeong Ho-nam’s body torn apart, So Byeong-min was, of course, not left unscathed.

So Byeong-min’s body was also sliced in half. He was bleeding as he muttered:

“…This… bastard…”

“You’ve got quite the foul mouth. Did you record everything? All of it?”

Although he was as good as dead, So Byeong-min was still alive. He realized then.

Since entering the gate, he had never stopped recording with the camera in his hand for even a second.

True to his profession as a pro streamer with 4.5 million subscribers, even in the most disastrous of situations, he continued to film Jin Si-hoo and the apostles.

“I guess you did. Tsk tsk.”

Jin Si-hoo stomped on So Byeong-min’s head.

Squash.

His head exploded.

Then he smashed the camera that So Byeong-min was holding, crushing it into dust without a trace, and looked up.

He locked eyes with Jeong Ho-nam, who was stunned.

“Don’t misunderstand. I sent him off without pain.”

“…You crazy bastard. You’re insane.”

Jin Si-hoo walked over to Jeong Ho-nam and crouched in front of him.

“Ho-nam, struggling?”

“…How did you do this?”

“What do you mean, how? If I explain it to you, do you think you’ll understand? If you did, you’d be at my level right now.”

It was a valid point, so Jeong Ho-nam had nothing more to say.

Jin Si-hoo then swung his foot.

Crunch-!

Jeong Ho-nam’s head exploded.

Watching all of this from a distance was Ma Jin-no, the 148th apostle, who gulped nervously.

Jin Si-hoo turned to him.

“I want to talk to that ‘person,’ the one you mentioned. You said there’s a way to contact them directly?”

“…No.”

“No? Don’t treat me like an idiot. Your expression earlier said it all. You’re saying, ‘I can talk directly to that person.’ Like that.”

“….”

“Listen. Honestly, do you think you can survive here?”

The question remains the same. Would Jin Si-hoo really spare him?

He was skeptical.

He glanced briefly behind him. There was no escape gate.

This gate hadn’t even been cleared yet. There was no way to escape. There was no chance.

“Think carefully. What if I’ve already talked to the ‘person’ you’re talking about? And if that conversation goes well? Then you could be the one to take credit for it, right? Isn’t that so?”

Upon hearing this, it actually sounded plausible.

“If the conversation goes well, do you think I would kill you? Of course not. We could help each other out. It could be like a symbol of peace. You know, talking about it like this, it doesn’t sound so bad. You could be the hero who ended the war between the apostles and me. That sounds pretty good. So what do you think you’d get? Power? Money? Women? I’m not sure. My imagination’s a bit lacking.”

Jin Si-hoo leaned forward. With a gentle smile on his face, Ma Jin-no was momentarily stunned.

“But you must know. Whatever you’d get, from that person’s gift—just imagining it, your heart must be racing, right?”

“……”

“Now, tell me. Is it possible to connect directly to the ‘person’ you’re talking about right now?”

“……It is possible.”