The Returnee Wants to Live Comfortably

Winter Camp (3)

Time flowed smoothly.

Starting with submitting the application form attached to the bottom of the parent letter and the 50,000 won fee, everything progressed systematically until the break.

Then came the day of the camp, december 23rd.

Having packed the necessary items in my bag, I was now sitting in the very back seat of the tour bus.

'Normally, this is the kind of throne occupied by the class king or a senior bully.'

In my previous life, I couldn't have even dreamed of it, but now, not a single person in our class dared raise a voice against me.

Thus, I could travel freely, unbothered by anyone.

About thirty minutes after the bus departed,
the kids who had been chatting noisily soon grew quiet, each fiddling with their phones or game consoles.

I, too, took out my phone to research the gate we'd be entering this time.

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[Yong-in City D-rank Gate. Must read if you plan on entering!]

Spent 30 days hunting here, I'm an old veteran. If you want to hunt smoothly, listen to me.
Those in the know would already know, but it's shaped like a futuristic factory.
It's just like a background from an SF movie or game, and as fitting for that theme, there are a ton of robot monsters.
Because of that, monsters respawn incredibly fast, so it's easy to herd them together. If you group them up and take them out at once, you can get rich off mana stones.
But since there are so many, if you can't manage the aggro properly, you're screwed.
If you try to recklessly go for an encirclement wipe without a plan, you could be the one to get wiped.
So be sure to keep track of the numbers and lead aggro cautiously.
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[Yong-in City D-rank Gate. Did they miscalculate the difficulty?]

Recently, another B-rank Hunter and his party died.
This time, their heads were completely obliterated—they were killed instantly. Isn't something definitely hiding there?
If it was done by a murderer hunter, it had to be a planned ambush.
Or maybe there's a fucking strong monster hiding inside.
Can't the government's special units investigate or something?

ㄴInvestigate what? There's always casualties inside gates, why the panic?
ㄴYou scared off just by that?
ㄴThis guy's probably never even seen a monster.
ㄴTypical: acting like an expert before even trying it.
ㄴYou think such incidents only happen at the Yong-in gate?
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They said there was no signal inside the gate, and that mobile phones were useless.
Except for magic-based communication, there's no way to talk long-distance, so you can't even call for help from outside.

'If I get lost or get left behind by my party, then what?'

I decided that was enough research and slipped my phone into the side pocket of my bag.

My mouth felt idle, so I unzipped my bag and rummaged inside.

Just then, the sound of a bag crinkling was heard.

"Hey, Ma Seongjin. What are you taking out?"

The friend on my left, quietly playing a game on his phone, spoke up.

The moment I took out some snacks, the friend on my right suddenly turned his head sharply.

"Are you going to eat that by yourself?"

He put down his phone for a moment and focused all attention on my snacks.

They'd been quietly focused on their phones and games, but as soon as they heard the snack bag, their gazes changed.

It was obvious what their new attitude was for.

"Not giving you a single bite."

I stood firm and declared my unwavering resolve.

I would not surrender to the omnipresent 'give me just one bite' freeloaders.

****

The first day of winter camp was all about sledding.

The moment the kids were released from the teacher's supervision after getting off the bus, they grabbed sleds and headed up the hill.

It had been ages since I'd last gone sledding, and it wasn't half bad.

The cold wind brushing past my face as I raced down the slippery slope—no matter when, that sensation was always refreshing.

I wanted to keep riding, but my body had its limits.

'My toes are already freezing.'

It had been a long time since I felt the sensation of cutting through crisp, cold air.

The snowfields of northern Mewzealand.

It reminded me of the time I climbed the snowy mountains to hunt a Snow Golem at the request of a fellow demon clan member.

An avalanche struck during the battle, and I had to use the slippery golem shards beneath my feet as makeshift skis to avoid being buried.

'It's not as thrilling as back then...'

If anything, I was much happier now.

Unlike back then when I lived only for daily survival, the chill wind I felt as I lived in comfort now was far milder.

Even if it was just ordinary sledding, it was better than those times.
This, I thought, was the feeling of true freedom.

"Kyaa! Honey, don't let go of me!"

Just as I was basking in satisfaction, a clumsy scream beside me caught my ear.

A boy and a girl were clinging to each other as they rode a sled.

"Honey, hold on tight!"

I saw the sweet scene of a couple riding a double sled down the slope.

In that instant, the satisfaction I'd felt until just moments before seemed to be shattered.

"You're the best, honey!"

"I love you too~!"

Come to think of it, this camp included Christmas.

So, it's obvious what kind of people would be overcrowding this amusement park today.

I automatically felt a wave of vertigo.

"Yahoo~!"

"Yahoo~!"

Please... can you just shut up.

****

After sledding time ended, the students had dinner and were assigned their rooms.

Each class had twelve participants, and each room was shared by four students, so every class got three rooms.

Having finished dinner, it was now free time for the kids.

They could go to the snack bar or visit the other rooms, but not go outside the lodging building.

There were people guarding the entrance, and later at curfew, there'd be a roll call.

'Can't sneak out just yet.'

Some classmates from another room laid out snacks and drinks on the floor.

They started their own party, chatting noisily.

"Hey! Who's the prettiest girl in our class?"

"You?"

"No, not boys! I mean among the girls."

"Are there any pretty girls in our class? They all look like aliens anyway."

Talk about the opposite sex was always a common thing among the boys.

Likewise, the girls probably gathered and rated the boys' looks among themselves.

I never really understood why they did it if they weren't going to actually confess.

"Honestly... the girls in our class are like rotten pumpkins."

"Look who's talking."

"You wanna die?"

—Pfft!

Suddenly, a round of insults began, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"So, what about the other classes?"

"The other classes aren't much different. They all look the same."

"No, there was one who really looked like a Goddess."

"Who?"

"It was Class 10 of the first-graders... can't remember her name. She had wings on her back. She was really pretty."

Some of the boys were startled by that.

"The girl with the wings? Wasn't she the one who went missing?"

"Come to think of it, before she disappeared, everyone called her an angel or a Goddess."

"Her name was... wasn't it Ha Eunseol?"

First grade, class 10, ha Eunseol.

She was a girl with swan-like wings on her back, and because of her angelic appearance, she always caught the attention of the boys.

But at the same time, she was the subject of envy among many girls, and was apparently teased for being a Mutamit.

Just like Kang Ah-rin.

"They say even her parents were murdered. How can something so horrible happen?"

"What if we start disappearing one by one too?"

"Don't jinx it like that."

The conversation about girls' looks had shifted into a discussion of ominous incidents.

And that case had ended not with a mere disappearance, but something much more.

"Even the girls in her class seemed happy when she vanished."

"Even though her parents were murdered?"

"Yeah. But apparently, from their point of view, they were glad."

They were obviously out of their minds.
No matter how jealous you are, to giggle at someone's death shows there's no hope for you.

'And they're only kids...'

Like with Ah-rin—sometimes I worried this place might turn into something like the Revelli Empire in Mewzealand.

Remembering the discrimination I'd experienced against other races there still made me want to bite my lip.

And why was Ha Eunseol kidnapped in the first place?

I could only hope there were no Mutamit-haters hiding in the shadows.

.
.

10 p.m.

The kids spread blankets on the floor and drifted off to sleep.

After playing relentlessly in the snowy field, they were all dozing off as soon as 10 p.m. hit.

With the cold weather, it would've been tough to sleep if not for the heater.

While the others slept soundly under their warm blankets, my eyes stayed wide open.

'Finally, everyone's asleep.'

I'd been waiting for this moment so I could head to the gate.

Of course, there would still be people guarding the area around the dorm, but I had no intention of using the front door.

First, I put on a jacket to keep out the cold and wrapped a muffler around my neck.
Considering the chance that someone might wake up and go to the bathroom, I placed my bag under the blanket to make it look like I was inside, fast asleep.

'Got to leave this behind, too.'

I took off the burglar alarm badge attached to my jacket and left it next to my bag.
Then, I cautiously opened the window.

Whoosh—

In an instant, the cold wind poured in.

Quickly, I slipped out through the window, used the 'Float' skill, and hurriedly shut the window behind me so the others wouldn't wake from the cold.

"I think it was this way..."

I flew through the air, heading in the direction I'd researched in advance.

If I revealed my horns, I could unfurl my bat-like wings and fly faster, but for safety I only used 'Float' to avoid being spotted.

Like a martial arts master walking on air, I used the wind as my foothold and soon saw something come into view.

"That's it."

There was a massive hole in space, like a blue-black hole.

Around this gate were soldiers and facilities such as a mana stone trading post.

I activated the 'Stealth' skill to erase my presence and used 'Float' to its max.

The soldiers didn't notice a single child slipping quietly into the gate.

****

"What was that just now?"

A soldier standing guard at the Yong-in City D-rank gate felt something odd.

Although not an Awakened, he was used to sentry duty, being legally allowed to carry a gun.

"What is it?"

"Didn't something just pass by?"

"I didn't see anything. Are you okay?"

Was I imagining things?

He wanted to reset his mind, but there was something about this gate that was unsettling.

This Yong-in City gate had only appeared recently.

It had opened during the students' summer break, so it was the newest one around.

After its rank was determined, hunters were allowed in, but there was one weird thing about those entering.

He himself was no Awakened.

But lately, among the hunters entering, there were countless with a black aura around their bodies.

Of course, awakened weren't ordinary humans, so maybe that was normal.

They were people who could pull off movie-like feats all by themselves.

But a few months ago, when he first started guarding here, there hadn't been any black aura.

It was only this December that it suddenly became visible—but it didn't seem as if the hunters were trying to scare the guards on purpose.

'So why can I see it?'

Unlike himself, the senior soldier seemed unconcerned.

Was he the only one who could see the black aura?

He hadn't awakened, so why did it suddenly appear?

And what even was that aura?

It seemed to be magic power, given that it enveloped the hunters' bodies, but even a military man knew that there was no reason to cover yourself in magic power outside of combat.

But not every hunter was like that.

One time, a party of hunters came in, and one of them did not have any black aura.

There were a few others on different occasions, too.

'But...'

He never saw those particular hunters exit the gate.

Of the party he'd seen enter, only the ones with the aura ever came back—never those without.

'And recently, that party that entered...'

Last time, a B-rank hunter's party entered. None of them had black auras.

But none of them made it out alive from within the gate, either.

Only hunters without the aura died inside the gate.

Sensing that something was very wrong, the soldier decided to ask his senior about it.

He'd been afraid of being scolded for talking nonsense and kept quiet until now, but that morning, he'd finally asked—only to be told the senior didn't know anything, and get scolded anyway.

Vrooom—

At that moment, a vehicle pulled up to the gate's entrance.

Inside were hunters, once again wreathed in black aura.

Two of the hunters approached the senior soldier and handed over their licenses.

"Thanks for doing your duty at this late hour."

Regardless of the black aura, the hunter spoke kindly, as if encouraging the soldier.

Then, the senior soldier whispered something in the hunter's ear.

A smirk appeared on the hunter's lips—

Squish-!

The knife in the hunter's hand stabbed through the young soldier's abdomen.

Bleeding, the soldier collapsed in disbelief.

The hunter calmly wiped the blood off his blade with a handkerchief and said,

"So, you finally saw it. The blessing that covers the bodies of our cult members."

"He's been on duty here for months, clueless. But after countless brushes with our cult, he must have been affected."

The senior didn't bat an eyelid at the junior's death.

In fact, this Yong-in City gate had been seized by the 'Black Flame Sect,' a murderer hunter guild.

They had already recruited even the guard captain, and secretly murdered all hunters in the gate who weren't members of their own guild.
There was of course the risk of being on the losing end, but truly powerful hunters never came to a D-rank gate.

"Well then, let's see how 'it' inside has grown today. Don't you agree, former Angel Guild executive, Yun Jaeho?"

"...."

While the senior soldier dragged away the corpse, the two murderer hunters entered the gate.

All the while, unaware that a demon had already infiltrated.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
That poor soldier...
Also, cue in the cultists... Will they be in contract with Seongjin's followers from Mewzealand?
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】