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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: A Baffling Homecoming
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In the wee hours of the morning, a young man stood before his window.

He gazed out at the scenery beyond the glass.

The apartment complex in Sillim-dong was ordinary on a weekday morning.

A few people hurried through the narrow alleys as if pressed for time...

But the young man's face was filled with awe, as if he were witnessing a magnificent vista.

“Earth, South Korea, Seoul, Sillim-dong, my home…”

How I've longed for this view.

How long had he wandered, driven by the sole desire to return?

How many trials and tribulations had he fought through?

It had been a week since his return to Earth...

But looking out the window still filled him with joy and fascination.

“I'm finally back…”

Just as the young man was grinning like a fool,

“Kang-jun.”

The closed door swung open, and his older sister, Lee Su-bin, appeared.

“I have to go to work early this week, you know? I need to leave right now, so can you come out and feed Seol-i her baby food?”

“Alright, I will.”

“While you're feeding Seol-i, make sure you eat breakfast too, and get the Elder something to eat. I made kimchi stew, so be sure to heat it up, and don't forget to check the gas valve…”

Kang-jun cut his sister off with a nod.

“I am already well aware of these matters, so do not concern yourself.”

“I'll be back as soon as I get off work, so watch the house until then. If anything happens, make sure you call me…”

His sister, Su-bin, who had been about to continue, paused, then began to speak in a much more serious tone.

“Kang-jun, you're still very confused, aren't you?”

“Not at all. I am perfectly fine.”

“No, you must be.”

“I'm not, really…”

Su-bin looked at Kang-jun with pity in her eyes and continued what she had been holding back.

“You were trapped in a Gate for years and just got home. It would be stranger if you were perfectly fine right away.”

“As I have told you repeatedly, I was not trapped in a so-called 'Gate.' I was suddenly summoned to a place called the Anux Continent…”

“Right, you said you were the incredibly powerful emperor of some continent? And that the Elder you brought home was your strategist who helped with your duties and discussed state affairs.”

Kang-jun nodded several times in a row, his voice brimming with excitement as he replied forcefully.

“Yes, that is precisely it.”

Su-bin, on the other hand, still wore a sorrowful expression.

“I looked up a few related cases, and it seems that most people who barely survive a Gate like you suffer from severe PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).”

“What…?”

“Some have complete mental breakdowns or develop aphasia. It's a relief that you and the Elder just ended up with simple paranoia.”

Su-bin was convinced that not only her brother but also the Elder who returned with him were 'Gate survivors.'

This was because there were cases of people being suddenly sucked into Gates and luckily returning alive years later.

‘Come to think of it, Kang-jun disappeared right around the time the first Gate incidents began...’

After her brother vanished, the world began to change rapidly.

Rifts in dimensions started appearing all over the globe, and the academic world began calling this strange phenomenon 'Gates.'

From these Gates poured all sorts of monsters that were difficult to subdue even with modern heavy weaponry...

Fortunately, a new breed of human emerged, possessing superhuman strength and abilities to fight back against these monsters.

The so-called 'Awakeners' had begun to appear.

In the early days of the Gates, nations around the world suffered helpless losses of life and property due to a lack of power, information, systems, and order...

But that was no longer the case.

Though the pace was slow, humanity had steadily progressed, succeeding in gradually gathering information about the Gates and the monsters living beyond them.

First, they discovered that clearing a Gate could prevent the 'wave phenomenon,' where monsters pour out into the world...

They also succeeded in researching that many of the materials existing beyond the Gates held value as innovative new resources.

Soon, systems were established, order was restored, and associations and organizations for training and managing Awakeners sprang up like mushrooms.

As a result…

humanity was now several times more prosperous than before the Gates appeared—

But they now lived in a society with an uncontrollable gap between the rich and poor, a society governed by the 'logic of power,' where the stronger you were, the more wealth and honor you could seize.

Kang-jun, meanwhile, could only look bewildered.

“Even if you are my only sister, this is quite insolent. To treat me as a mere madman…”

Though his sister's words had hurt his feelings, Kang-jun decided not to offer any further explanations.

‘Indeed, even to me, it was an unbelievable and absurd time. No matter how many days or nights I spend explaining, she will never be convinced…’

Just then, his sister Su-bin grasped both of his hands tightly and said,

“Kang-jun, I'm just happy that you came back alive. But from now on, I think you need to start trying to readjust to society.”

“Society…” Kang-jun murmured lowly before a faint smile touched his lips.

‘Yes, I suppose I must adapt.’

For hundreds of long years, Kang-jun had desperately dreamed of a normal life on Earth.

Unrivaled power, vast amounts of gold and treasure, authority to control the world as he pleased...

But unfortunately, at the end of all the desires he had pursued, only a profound emptiness remained.

He was fortunate to have returned to Earth, but whereas he had spent a long three hundred years on the Anux Continent...

‘Only three years have passed on Earth.’

He considered it all a fitting arrangement by the gods for his sake.

So now, all he wanted was to return to his former daily life.

To the life of the ordinary, mid-twenties Lee Kang-jun, just before he was suddenly dropped into the middle of the Anux Continent...

‘I will adapt, and I will return.’

Just then, Su-bin squeezed his hands even tighter and added,

“Three years isn't a short time, and the world has changed so much. It'll probably be difficult to adjust right away.”

“Is that so?”

“But I believe everything will be fine if we all work together. And about the Elder…”

Su-bin trailed off cautiously, glancing sideways at the closed door before adding,

“He can stay with us as long as he needs to, at least until he can contact his family. I hope you'll help him feel comfortable.”

“Truly? You need not go to such lengths…”

“We can't just kick out an old man with nowhere to go, can we? I'll do my best until you've readjusted to society and the Elder gets back in touch with his family. You don't worry about anything, just focus on your recovery…”

At that, Kang-jun asked quizzically, “Recovery?” and Su-bin stammered in response.

“Not recovery, I mean treatment…”

“Treatment?”

“No, that's not it…”

For a moment, she was at a loss for words, her lips merely opening and closing...

“Ah, readjusting!” Su-bin exclaimed, then began to chatter on again.

“I just hope you focus on readjusting.”

“I shall.”

“Look at the time…”

Su-bin said softly, glancing at her watch. She headed out of the room first, continuing to speak.

“Anyway, I'm counting on you for a few things, okay? I need to finish getting ready for work. I'll be back right after, so make sure Seol-i eats well, and take good care of the Elder.”

“Yes, you can count on me. Go on.”

Su-bin left the room, drying her dripping hair with a towel.

After standing still for a moment, Kang-jun slowly followed her.

Just as Kang-jun stepped into the living room,

an old man who had been sitting at the table with a serious expression, scribbling furiously in a notebook, shot to his feet and exclaimed,

“I greet you, my Lord!”

“Mm,” Kang-jun replied curtly, his tone indifferent as he glanced at the open notebook and asked,

“Hey, what are you doing so early in the morning?”

“It is nothing, sire. I must record my Lord's every move today as well, so I was merely preparing…”

Kang-jun's brow furrowed. “Enough, enough,” he said, cutting the man off.

He then lowered his gaze and stared intently at his feet.

No… to be more precise, he was staring at a little girl sitting on the living room floor, playing with dolls.

She was a beautiful child.

So lovely were her features, so distinct her eyes and nose, that one couldn't help but anticipate the beauty she would possess when she grew up.

His sister, Su-bin, had definitely… said that this girl was his 'own daughter.'

‘It just doesn't feel real.’

He had disappeared before anyone had even known of the child's existence...

His girlfriend at the time, the child's birth mother, had unfortunately died during childbirth.

Sadly, his memory of the child's mother was faint.

Her three-syllable name and a few fragmented scenes were all he could recall at the moment.

Hadn't he been completely unaware of this child's existence until just a short while ago?

As a result, he didn't feel a sudden surge of fierce paternal love, but he certainly felt something akin to 'responsibility.'

It was a moral responsibility, at least, to care for the child until she became a proper adult and, if possible, to raise her well.

‘Yes, this won't be so bad.’

Kang-jun only had one wish for the future.

To cast aside everything he had carried while reigning as the emperor of the Anux Continent...

And to live a peaceful, ordinary life, quietly and unnoticed, as if he weren't there at all.

‘Well, raising my own child is also a perfectly normal part of life…’

Just as Kang-jun was lost in thought,

“Dada?”

The child, whose eyes met Kang-jun's, let out a babble...

Kang-jun knelt on one knee before her, gently stroking her hair as he carefully spoke first.

“Your hair is tied very prettily.”

Su-bin, who was adjusting her clothes in front of a full-length mirror, saw her brother and smiled warmly.

‘What's this? He already looks like a pretty sweet dad.’

But that lasted only a moment.

“For your information, this father is also quite confident when it comes to knots. I used to tie the nooses myself for the hanging of those who committed treason and other grave crimes.”

“Han. Ging?”

“Yes. For reference, there are several techniques required to tie a knot tight enough to break the neck bone in one go…”

At Kang-jun's next few words, a look of horror began to spread across Su-bin's face.

“Hey, Lee Kang-jun!”

Su-bin rushed over and began smacking Kang-jun on the back repeatedly. “Thwack! Thwack!”

“What on earth are you saying to a child?!”

“I was merely trying to impart a fatherly lesson…”

“Enough! Just go and heat up Seol-i's baby food!”

“Hmph, this is difficult…” Kang-jun grumbled as he headed for the stove...

The old man sitting at the table began to mutter to himself again as he started writing in his notebook.

“Today, when Jugun spoke to Gongju-mama about the knots used for hangings, his sister, Subin-mama, struck Jugun harshly on the back. His Majesty the Hwangje then inquired of Subin-mama the reason for her actions…”

“Hey! Didn't I tell you not to write down every single tedious detail?”

“Subin-mama rebuked him, saying, 'What on earth are you saying to a child!', and despite the Hwangje's protestations, she seemed unable to quell her anger…”

“Are you just going to pretend you can't hear me and write everything down?”

Watching Kang-jun and the old man bickering, Su-bin couldn't help but let out a small "Pfft" of laughter.

‘Still, what a relief.’