How a legendary returner lives

What happened next was instantaneous.

I took a step back, then two more, just in case.

The place where I had been standing just moments ago was now covered in dozens of swords I had never seen before.

There was no feeling of them coming at me, nor any sound of them hitting the ground. They just… appeared in that spot.

The monster got up. It grabbed one of the swords that had been lying there.

Then it asked me:

“Who are you?”

There is something I need to make clear.

Mana and inner energy. These two terms are just different names for the same thing, depending on the region.

Titan was divided into two continents: the Western continent and the Eastern continent.

Mana was used in the Western continent, while inner energy (Neigong) was used in the Eastern continent. These two continents spoke different languages.

So, what language did these two continents use when they first started interacting?

It’s simple.

The Western continent used mana for message magic, while the Eastern continent used inner energy for the “Hui Guang Xin Yu” (慧光心語), which conveys meaning directly, not words. It’s quite an efficient method.

The monster in front of me was using mana to convey meaning to me.

I replied:

“I’m the one asking the questions here.”

“I’ve never heard of someone like you on this planet.”

So,

“What are you going to do about it?”

“Tell me your name.”

I laughed. All I could do was laugh.

When did this start?

Was it about three years ago?

Since then, I’ve been doing my best to suppress my anger and live quietly.

There was no point in getting angry, as it would only make things worse. I didn’t want any unnecessary complications, so I chose to live quietly.

That’s probably why this situation felt a bit awkward. No, it wasn’t just awkward—it was laughable.

I slowly took off my coat and threw it towards my sister.

After stomping out the cigarette, I spoke to the monster:

“From now on, I’ll be asking the questions. You’ll answer. Understood?”

The monster’s expression twisted in anger.

“You arrogant bastard…”

That was enough.

Koo-woong.

White smoke began rising from my entire body. The White Lotus Energy enveloped the cave.

I pushed my legs down. Thud, my foot pressed into the ground. The monster’s eyes widened.

My body was already right in front of it.

I raised my knee.

Boom!!

The monster’s body bent forward. Blood splattered out. I grabbed its horn with one hand and slammed its head into the ground with my other elbow.

Boom!!

Its body hit the floor.

I took a step back.

“You bastard—!”

The monster quickly stood up and immediately thrust its sword at my head.

The stance, strength, and speed—it was perfect.

Even I could see that.

It was just like that.

I swung my fist. Boom!! The monster’s face was crushed and thrown back. Naturally, its sword sliced through the air. I walked toward the monster, who staggered back, and tilted my head. The sword grazed my cheek. I immediately punched it with my right fist.

Boom!!

The monster’s face twisted back.

I swung my left fist.

Boom!!

Its side was crushed.

I reached out and grabbed its horn.

I was a little curious.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“You, bastard—!”

I immediately swung my right fist again.

Boom!!

“Ugh.”

White and red liquid sprayed into the air. It was the liquid that had been in the monster’s eyes just moments ago.

“No manners, huh? Our horned friend here.”

The situation didn’t change.

I gripped its horn with my left hand, squeezing harder.

“Let’s hit you a few more times.”

I swung my right fist again.

Boom!!

“Ugh-!”

I continued.

Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!

I stopped for a moment, staring at the monster’s face, which was now unrecognizable.

Its face slowly began to regenerate, like misshapen clay.

It seemed like the monster was trying to say something, but I wasn’t interested.

I clenched my fist. White flames began to emerge around it.

I swung it.

[Holy Flame Seven Knots of the White Lotus Sect.] [3rd Blood King Killing Fist.]

Boom!!!

The monster was sent flying, crashing into the wall with a loud crash. I slowly walked towards it.

The monster, sliding down the wall, reached out toward me.

Chunks of energy shot at me.

Its face had been destroyed, but it was still trying to do something. I had to give it credit for that.

I gathered strength in my legs.

The ground shifted beneath me.

I dodged left and right.

It wasn’t easy to dodge those energy chunks while running toward the monster.

In the blink of an eye, I was right in front of it.

I reached out toward the fully regenerated face and grabbed it. I slammed its face into the wall.

Boom!!

With five fingers pressing down on its face, the monster asked me:

“…That face, it resembles the 200th Apostle. Could it be you? Did you kill the 200th and 189th Apostles? How… How did you fall to Titan…”

Let me emphasize this.

The sensation is too strange.

It’s not like I’m touching a bug.

I quietly asked.

“Name.”

The creature, who had been nervously pursing its lips, kept silent when I asked it a question.

So, I grabbed its right shoulder with my other hand.

“Why did you suddenly become mute? What was it, something Kar…? Speak up.”

“Get lost.”

Its name must be “Get Lost.”

Without hesitation, I wrenched its right shoulder out of place.

Crack.

Blood erupted into the air.

“Ugh… this bastard…”

Surprisingly, and truly surprisingly, this monster didn’t break.

Even when I had been pounding on it earlier, it held on.

I wasn’t sure if it was relying on its regenerative abilities, but to me, a creature like this was nothing more than a toy. A regenerating punching bag.

You couldn’t even buy something like this with money.

I kicked it.

Boom—!!

It slammed into its abdomen, and it vomited dark red blood. Inside, there were pieces of internal organs.

I stretched my right hand out and grabbed its neck.

Then I asked.

“Is your name Get Lost?”

“…Crazy bastard, there’s no way that’s my name.”

With a sharp twist, I applied pressure.

It seemed to be struggling for air, making strange sounds, and began to tremble.

In reality…

“I wasn’t actually curious about your name.”

It seemed quite solid, the creature.

Not in terms of its body, but in its mind.

My “aura” was swirling.

It wasn’t me. It was this bastard who was being affected.

It was similar to the dozens of blades that had pierced earlier.

This time, I ignored it. I didn’t feel like avoiding it.

I clenched my entire left hand and flicked it.

[White Lotus Sect – Sacred Fire Seven Knot.] [Chapter 1: Broken Heaven Finger Knot.]
Boom—!!

Mana fragments burst in all directions.

What the creature had been trying to do was immediately nullified.

I wasn’t a child, and with a quick glance, I could figure it out.

That was definitely summoning magic. Something like sword summoning, perhaps.

Summoning magic meant there was a ritual, and if you destroyed the ritual, the magic would be nullified.

I reached out with my other hand, grabbed its leg, and wrenched it out.

“Ughh—!”

I swung my foot at the creature, and it screamed.

Boom—!!

Its teeth scattered into the air, and it flew into the opposite wall while I gently landed on the ground, a stark contrast.

I let out a chuckle.

Turning around, I threw a punch.

The creature had already approached, extending its sword toward me. The tip of the sword met my fist.

Boom—!!

It seemed to have regenerated and came charging at me again.

“You’re cute, bastard.”

The sword and my fist were locked in place, stopped in their tracks. This phenomenon happens when forces are equal. Of course, I was controlling it. I relaxed my fist and grabbed its sword blade, pulling it.

The creature’s balance faltered. I reached out with my left hand.

Crack—!

I grabbed its neck. I applied pressure.

Crack.

Its eyes widened in disbelief. It seemed unable to understand the situation.

Why was its balance shattered, and why was my hand around its neck?

The creature couldn’t process the sequence of events. Its logic was completely invalidated.

It was simple.

It was just a difference in realms.

The creature shouted.

“This is impossible! How can you exist on Earth!”

“How did the Titans manage to survive?”

“How can you… how, how, how?”

I ignored it.

Before I broke its neck, I said one thing to it.

“Always talking too much. It’s always the ones with nothing to say that talk the most.”

The creature seemed to have lost all words. Its eyes turned bloodshot with rage.

I smiled and tightened my grip.

Crack.

Its neck snapped. Slowly, I released my grip.

I looked down at its lifeless body, which collapsed to the ground.

I lifted my foot and stomped on its head.

Crack—!

This time, its chest caved in. Its heart burst.

I wondered if it would regenerate again.

That thought seemed pointless as there was no movement from its body.

It was definitely dead.

With a casual snap of my fingers, its corpse ignited.

Soon, it turned to ashes.

I turned around.

My sister was staring at the scene, still wearing the coat I had given her.

I smiled softly and approached her.

“I’ve been getting beat up here and there.”

I paused and took the coat from her hands before continuing.

“How could I not worry about you?”

With tearful eyes, she embraced me.

—

It was truly astonishing.

The abnormal gate, particularly the ‘variable gate’ whose ranks fluctuate, was the most feared among the awakened in this era.

The Texas Gate, in official records, had a rating of 99,802.

This was the highest value ever recorded for any gate.

Of course, this was set arbitrarily by the World Awakener Association, so it could change later, but the previous highest gate value was 4,912.

That was, of course, the Baekdu Mountain Gate.

But now, this gate was nearly 20 times higher.

This meant that this gate had become an unimaginable level of difficulty, yet it had been cleared.

And the one who cleared it was the light mage, Jin Song.

This fact was incredibly significant to the world.

[South Korea’s Jin Song clears gate with the highest rating in history, setting a new world record.] [True hero of the current generation, one community even suggested Jin Song be considered a national treasure…] [Master John Marcel of Helios expresses sorrow over the death of his comrade…] [Light mage Jin Song refuses interviews.]
At the end of it all…

[World Awakener Association under scrutiny for their delayed handling of events, leading to near-death of a native awakened in South Korea…] [Did the Association neglect Jin Song? International power struggles come to light…] [Santiago Munoz, Chairman of the World Awakener Association, has ‘no comment’…] [The South Korean government remains silent…]
There was a man reading all these articles.

Oh.