Assassin necromancer

Episode 2: Outside the Blanket is Dangerous (2)

The Earth I returned to was very different from the one I knew.

First, while I spent over a hundred years on the other side, only ten years had passed here.

And during those ten years, Earth had suffered from monster invasions and dungeon attacks.

‘…….’

Dungeons appeared randomly, anywhere and anytime. If they weren’t stopped, monsters would pour out and destroy cities.

And then there were the awakened ones, chosen by the system—called Hunters.

‘This is ridiculous.’

If things were going to be like this, was there really a need to take my power away?

“…This place is a mess too.”

In reality, Earth wasn’t much different from the other world, Tebea.

To make it worse, I heard that some other returnees had kept the power they gained in the other world and had become top-ranked Hunters.

Of course, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated at this unfair situation.

‘Is this some kind of discrimination?’

When I first realized the truth, I did everything I could to regain my power.

My power was special. I had prepared many methods, so I was confident I could return to my original strength soon.

But I was wrong.

‘…….’

Nothing worked.

It was as if it had been impossible from the beginning. No method succeeded.

In the end, just one month after returning to Earth, I had no choice but to give up on recovering my power.

“Sigh.”

Of course, I had a guess as to why.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

If I underwent an Awakening, maybe I could regain my power.

But it wasn’t something I could do by choice.

Less than 0.1% of modern humans became Awakened.

‘Still, it’s strange that my younger sister is one of them…’

My little sister, Baek Seo-ha, was Awakened.

And not just any Awakened—an A-rank.

In all of South Korea, there were fewer than a hundred A-rank Hunters.

Not only that, but no one knew the limit of her potential. She might even reach S-rank one day.

‘She’s considered a top-tier talent, right?’

Because of that, she was always on the news, filming commercials, and getting a lot of attention.

While I was gone, my little sister had basically become a celebrity.

And now, I was just a useless freeloader, living in her house, relying on her money.

—

[Glory Shall Be With You!]

“Why did you use the bow over there?”

Right now, I was so weak that I couldn’t even control the fights of mere game characters.

Boom!

[You Have Been Defeated.]

I sighed as the defeat message appeared and shut down the game.

“Cola…”

I wanted cola. I needed something fizzy to clear my mood.

Dragging myself out of my room, I opened the fridge.

Click.

“…None left.”

Today was really a depressing day.

—

“Man, I’m bored.”

Song Chan-seop was a convenience store worker.

Ten years had passed since The Day of Change, and even though monsters and Hunters were everywhere, convenience stores remained a popular place. Working at one wasn’t anything special.

But the store he worked at was different.

‘Because it’s in a luxury apartment area, we barely get customers.’

And the few customers they did get… were unusual.

When he first started working here, a famous actor had walked in.

Even though he was usually calm, he was completely shocked.

Most of the customers here were powerful people in society.

Ding-ling.

Just as he was leaning on the counter out of boredom, the door suddenly opened.

Chan-seop quickly stood up and greeted the customer.

“Welcome!”

“……”

He glanced over and saw a small person wearing a hood, pulled down as low as possible.

The outfit was familiar.

‘…Oh, it’s been a while.’

This person lived in Building 4, one of the most expensive buildings in the entire apartment complex.

He didn’t know exactly who they were, but he could never forget their first visit.

‘It was impossible to forget.’

Back then, the girl had covered herself completely with a blanket, buying things without showing her face at all.

He had even considered calling the police, thinking she was suspicious.

‘Though I’m used to it now.’

From what Chan-seop had observed, she was extremely shy.

Not just a little shy, but someone who seemed to struggle with speaking to others entirely.

She had gotten a little better recently, but for a while, they hadn’t exchanged a single word.

“…Here.”

Lost in thought, he suddenly realized the girl had returned with her items.

Her voice was so quiet that he almost missed it, but it had a pleasant tone.

Beep. Beep.

“Alright. That will be 11,000 won. Do you need a bag?”

She nodded, and Chan-seop quickly packed her things.

She had bought… 20 cans of cola.

As usual, she grabbed the bag and turned to leave.

Normally, she would be gone in an instant.

But today, something was different.

“…Th, thank you.”

Her voice was even quieter than before, but Chan-seop caught it.

And, for some reason, he felt touched.

‘She’s really improved in a year…’

He didn’t know what had happened to her, but he hoped that one day, she could talk freely with others.

As he watched her leave, he silently cheered for her.

—

“Phew.”

This was the worst.

No matter how much time passed, I could never get used to this feeling.

Of course, I have improved a lot in the past year.

Fortunately, the side effects weren’t permanent.

Through constant effort, I had slowly gotten better.

Now, I could do simple tasks like going to the convenience store.

‘But I still can’t handle crowded places…’

Honestly, I didn’t want to leave the house.

Because of my sister, I could handle most things without stepping outside. And I didn’t want to feel this horrible sensation of my emotions being out of control.

But my sister had put her foot down after seeing how I was turning into something less than human.

So, I had no choice but to follow her special rule.

I had to go out and buy small things myself.

“…Since I worked hard, I’ll order chicken today.”

Feeling proud of my achievement, I put the cola in the fridge and opened a food delivery app.

Disappointed in myself?
Lost my self-esteem as a human?

I had already given up on those things.

Once I tasted the comfort of being taken care of, those emotions didn’t matter anymore.

Think about it—

I spent over 100 years gaining power, but lost it all in just a few seconds.

And in just one year, the strong mind I had trained over a century had dulled.

Doing nothing, just resting, was sweeter and more relaxing than I had imagined. That was all there was to it.

‘…….’

To be honest, I had already lost my purpose.

I could live like this forever and be perfectly fine.

Click.

Ssshh.
Gulp.

The cola was ice-cold, and the carbonation brought small waves of pleasure as it slid down my throat.

Gulp.
Gulp.

I hoped these peaceful days would last forever.

I whispered that thought to myself again.

And then—

“Oppa! I told you to drink cola in moderation! How many cans is this? You didn’t even touch the salad I made! And look at your hair! You didn’t shower again, did you?”

“S-Sorry.”

I got scolded by Seo-ha when she got home.