Indeed, almost at the same time as I recognized the system message that I had not seen in a long time, the surrounding landscape began to quickly lose its light. Darkness descends everywhere as if someone has poured ink.
Soon darkness engulfed Cha Shin Hyeon's body.
A veil of perfect pitch black without a single light surrounded him. It was literally an empty space.
'Hmm.'
However, Cha Shin Hyeon, who was the real party, was not too embarrassed. The depth of the discipline I had accumulated over the years was too deep to be embarrassed by this.
Above all else, wasn't there a last message?
[Returns to Earth.]At least not yet, the message had not deceived him.
If so, then the phenomena that are happening now must be related to it.
Still sitting cross-legged, Cha Shin Hyeon quietly stared into the darkness.
At one point, he felt his body explode.
No, to be exact, he didn't come to mind, but it feels like the floor suddenly disappeared. Yet he does not fall down or fall.
'what?'
There, before he could raise any more questions, a change occurred again.
His buoyancy disappeared and he felt the touch of the floor on his hip again. However, it was not the hard stone floor of the training room. It was fluffy.
The darkness that surrounded him had already disappeared. The son-in-law was still dark, but it was just dark at night.
As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, the outlines of objects around him became apparent.
He was sitting on a bed in a small room, and the corners of Cha Shin Hyeon's eyes trembled when he realized that the appearance of the furniture in the room looked very different in the dim moonlight.
'really… … I'm back.'
Cha Shin Hyeon, who has lived in Moorim for over 140 years and has become completely accustomed to the world, had to come to Cha Shin Hyeon in a heterogeneous way, but that feeling was proof that this place was not Moorim.
Struggling to suppress his turbulent heart, he stood up.
He inadvertently looked for a lamp that wasn't there, smiled bitterly, then found the switch and pressed it.
Click.
A dazzling light lit the room.
Feeling awkward at the light of the electric light, Cha Shin Hyeon slowly scans the room.
It seems that he returned to Earth, but I don't know where am I? He looked around for clues.
However… … Somehow, the more I look at it, the more familiar it feels.
A scene from the past flashed past Cha Shin Hyeon, who had been contemplating the reason for a long time.
'wait?'
A hypothesis comes to mind, and when I compare the hypotheses assuming they are true, they come together. The size of the room, the pattern of wallpaper and rugs, the arrangement of beds and desks, bookshelves and wardrobes… … .
It was a bit hazy because it was a long time ago, but Cha Shin Hyeon was able to recognize it, even if it was belatedly, as the old people could paint a picture of their hometown when they were young.
This was his room!
"… … under."
Unknowingly, a smirk leaks out. It's not that I don't understand.
Cha Shin Hyeon didn't go to Moorim in any grandiose way, but it was an absurd case that he slept in his room normally like any other day, but when he opened his eyes, it was Moorim. So, when you come back, it is understandable that you are just returning to your room again.
However, it was impossible to comprehend that this room was still intact even after 140 years had passed.
'I hope my life in Moorim was all a dream, so it wouldn't be a dog-like situation.'
With a firm expression, Cha Shin Hyeon opened the closet door.
If his memory is correct, there must have been a large mirror on the inside of the door, and it was.
The mirror reflected Cha Shin Hyeon.
Long hair, much longer than the average men today. A well-groomed mustache and beard. An old-fashioned, but quite worn-out uniform. There was no feeling of being cold due to the rather sharp eyes and thin lips, but I thought that if I shaved my beard, the appearance of a fairly young mid-late 20s would be revealed.
To summarize, it was just what it was when he was in Moorim.
'then.'
There was one more thing left to check.
"Status window."
Cha Shin Hyeon muttered softly.
A letter of light, visible only to his eyes, appeared in front of his eyes.
[Cha Shin Hyeon]
Stamina: 100%
Spirit: Unlimited
External Strength: Level 50 (Max)
Internal Strength: Level 50 (Max)
List of skills acquired: (Open)
The status window was opened safely here as well as to prove that the years spent in Moorim were not lies.
'I did it eventually.'
Cha Shin Hyeon smiled bitterly as he looked at the status window with more advanced content than the last time he opened it.
He didn't even think that there was an upper limit of max level in the first place.
Then, after seeing Max attached to the back of the External strength who reached level 50, he lost interest in Internal Strength training for a while, and after a long effort, he succeeded in raising it to level 50.
'I never thought that the max level reward would be a return to Earth.'
Anyway, now was not the time to ponder between the sense of pride and subtle disappointment that comes from reaching max level.
He has no problem with himself.
The problem here is that little has changed during that long period of time.
Cha Shin Hyeon, unable to find any further clues in the room, quietly opened the door.
squeak.
When I turned on the light in the empty living room, I could see the whole interior of the house at a glance.
Still, the living room was quite different from his memory. The TV was noticeably bigger and the sofa looked expensive. I don't know the kitchen well, but something seems to have changed.
However, the large family picture hanging on the wall behind the TV remained the same.
'When was this photo taken?'
Cha Shin Hyeon smiled faintly.
Was it a photo I took to commemorate my college acceptance? My parents who are smiling brightly, themselves who were excited that he had finally graduated, and a cute little sister of nine years old. A picture of a harmonious family of four was contained in the frame.
Less than two months after the photo was taken, Cha Shin Hyeon was taken to Moorim.
So, in fact, he didn't feel very good looking at the pictures.
Isn't that like the last trace of him that he left?
'It's all because he's back, but I don't know if he's right.'
Cha Shin Hyeon's eyes, as he continued to look around, lit up.
He found a desk calendar lying on the corner of the table.
He approached and looked at it, and as if writing a major schedule, there were sparsely written round letters here and there on the calendar.
But the important thing was the date on the calendar, not the writing.
'May 2025....'
If this calendar is not laid out haphazardly, it is pointing to the present.
Only 14 years have passed.
No, not at all. It is said that in 10 years, even rivers and mountains change. However, it was only right for Cha Shin Hyeon, who returned from a long time of 140 years in Moorim, which an average person could live twice his life.
Far from making sense, the situation became more confusing.
'Is the passage of time different?'
Ironically, the situation did not calm down and only escalated.
"You, what!"
The door to the master bedroom that had been closed swung open, and a sharp voice pierced the eardrums.
A young woman in her early to mid 20s was glaring at Cha Shin Hyeon.
"Ah······."
As it was a situation that was not expected at all, Cha Shin Hyeon, bewildered, could not immediately come up with a plausible answer.
In fact, he knew from the beginning that there was one person in the living room. Even if someone didn't intentionally tell him, he can easily sense
If you are particularly sensitive, you may be awakened by the sound of a door opening or a switch clicking, or you may be surprised to see the light in the living room through the gap in the bedroom door and run out.
It's because Cha Shin Hyeon wasn't acting cautiously like a thief.
But what he expected was his father or mother, not a blue-eyed young woman who looked nothing but a college student.
Furthermore, the object in the woman's hands was a sharply sharpened dagger. It's not an ornament. It's a real weapon that looks like it can cut off anything with a swipe.
Even if you do not specialize in weaponry, the dagger is a good auxiliary weapon and is used by most of the warriors, but this is not Moorim. It's not a weapon wielded by a woman in a thin negligee from the apartment's bedroom.
"How did you get in? Is the alarm magic okay?"
The woman exhaled with eyes full of vigilance.
The alarm magic installed on the front door and windows was still working. It would have been better to understand if it had been forcibly penetrated or released, but her awareness of the intrusion method was beyond common sense.
"Ah, there is a bit of a misunderstanding here… … ."
Alert Cha Shin Hyeon raised his hands to signify that he had no intention of fighting, even though he heard the strange word "magic". Of course, the woman had no desire to talk at all.
In the first place, it is impossible for a man to break into a woman's house in the middle of the night with good intentions.
So she made an extremely rational choice.
'Pre-suppression, question after!'
The short distance from the master bedroom door to the kitchen table narrowed in an instant. The dagger in her left hand aimed at his shoulder and the dagger in her right hand aimed at his side.
"this."
It didn't seem like the intent was to kill him, but that doesn't mean she can't stab him.
Kicking his tongue, Cha Shin Hyeon ran his hands together.
Objectively, the woman's attack was quite fast and sharp, but subjectively, it was not a threat at all. Cha Shin Hyeon's status was too high to pretend to be subjected to such a monotonous attack.
snap.
Cha Shin Hyeon's hands, moving in a gentle transition, grabbed the woman's wrists. It was a golden Grappling hand whose strength was perfectly controlled so as not to injure the opponent's body.
"Ugh!"
In vain, the attack was thwarted, and at the same time his hands were suppressed, the woman bit her teeth. How quickly she judges the situation, she immediately raises her leg and kicks it. It was the most effective and brutal attack against men.
puck!
"Hey, let me go!"
"Ok, let's talk."
Not just words, but really, Cha Shin Hyeon just let go.
A woman who didn't know he would let her go, took a few steps back with her bewildered face.
Before the other person reacted any further, Cha Shin Hyeon spoke quickly.
"I'm sorry I accidentally did this late at night. I have no intention of harming you at all. I just want to ask you a few questions. So please calm down."
No homeowner will be compliant if a stranger breaking in in the middle of the night says this.
However, Cha Shin Hyeon's voice, which applied Shaolin's lion roar, had the effect of semi-compulsively stabilizing the listener's mind and body.
"… … What are you going to ask?"
The woman's gaze was still young, but she seemed to have regained her reason to choose a conversation rather than a hasty action.
Cha Shin Hyeon asked the question with a sigh of relief.
"The family picture hanging in the living room. Do you know those people?"
As if it was a completely unexpected question, a question mark appeared in the woman's eyes. "Why are you asking such a question?" she answered.
"It's a family photo someone took when I was young."
"what?"
The content of the answer was unexpected, as was Cha Shin Hyeon.
His eyes widened in surprise.
He looked at the woman's face again. Unlike before, each of her facial features was meticulously engraved into his mind.
A face in old memories. A family photo that brings back memories. an eleven-year-old girl. 14 years passed. Appearance of early to mid 20's.
Cha Shin Hyeon, who had finally found traces of childhood in the woman, asked in a slightly trembling voice.
"you… … ?"