The Returner

Chapter 195. I don’t need a reason to seek him out (5)

“Urgh, I’ve had it up to here, man. Seriously!” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

While Yun Hyuk-Gyu was taking out his frustration on a poor pebble on the ground for no good reason, the interpreter shuddered grandly as he stared at the cooked Ogre quivering weakly down at the bottom of the pit.

Seeing the so-called apex monster ending up in such a state left this interpreter feeling quite peculiar at the moment. As far as his knowledge base was concerned, an Ogre shouldn’t have been taken down this easily.

“Are you really planning on taking that thing back with you?” (interpreter)

It’d actually be more comforting to cross the East Sea whilst carrying a live grenade with its safety pin pulled out, instead. Crossing the sea with a living Ogre was not something a person with normal mindset would do, no?

“Well, he says jump, and I have to do it.” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

Of course, no one else beside Yun Hyuk-Gyu himself was to blame for that jump to happen in the first place. It’d have been fine for him to just silently off this monster and go home, but well....

“Eh-whew....” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

Realising that he had dug his own grave, he squatted on the ground in dejection.

“I could use a cigarette or two right now.” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

He began missing his smoking habit he quit not too long ago.

“Please forgive me for asking you this, but just what kind of a person is Yi Ji-Hyuk?” (interpreter)

“What, that Yi Ji-Hyuk?” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

Yun Hyuk-Gyu could only form a smirk.

Ah, there are some people who still don’t know what he’s like and can ask a question such as this one, eh?

I figured that most countries would have compiled some basic information on that guy before asking us for help, though.

No, hang on. Maybe it’s simply because this interpreter’s clearance is too low and he hadn’t gotten a hold of Yi Ji-Hyuk’s info.

Who cares, either way? (Yun Hyuk-Gyu’s inner monologue)

“He’s just one troublesome motherf*cker.” (yun Hyuk-Gyu)

“....Excuse me?” (interpreter)

What was he on about here?

“Well, doesn’t matter if I explain to you about this and that, since words can’t describe even half of what he’s like to begin with. So, the most fitting description is him being a troublesome motherf*cker. That guy, he’s always worrying about how to make your life more miserable. He’s too d*mn diligent only with weird c**p, you see. Son of a b*tch.” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

“....I see.” (interpreter)

“Uh-whew....” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

Yun Hyuk-Gyu shook his head and stood back up, before walking over to the Ogre.

“Can you get me some chains?” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

“Chains? What for?” (interpreter)

“To tie that thing up so it won’t run away.” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

The interpreter stared at Yun Hyuk-Gyu with somewhat dazed eyes. This Korean ability user seemed like one scary dude, but well, he also must’ve had a dumb side to him as well.

“You want to tie an Ogre with chains??” (interpreter)

“Yes. Is there something wrong?” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

“....The way I hear it, it sounds like you want to tie someone up with paper cuffs.” (interpreter)

“Oh. Are chains not strong enough?” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

Yun Hyuk-Gyu tilted his head.

In that case, what should he use to tie this thing up, then?

“Isn’t there anything suitable that I can use?” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

“I’ll ask around. I think there should be some kind of a special rope designed to capture monsters alive.” (interpreter)

“If you do that for me, I’ll be grateful.” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

Yun Hyuk-Gyu spoke up to there and settled down on the spot before the still-quivering Ogre. Once he got his hands on some of that rope, he’d tie the monster up and wait until a transport helicopter arrived.

However, he was still feeling rather frustrated in his chest.

“By the way, ahjussi?” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

“Yes?” (interpreter)

“By any chance, you have some smokes on you?” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

In the end, Yun Hyuk-Gyu gave up on quitting smoking on this day.

***

“....Hey, you.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Y-yes?” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

Annoyance was written all over Yi Ji-Hyuk’s face. Realising this fact, Yun Hyuk-Gyu squeezed his eyes shut.

“Is this really an Ogre??” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Yes, it is. Is there something wrong?” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

“Of course not. But, ahjussi.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

What do you mean, ahjussi??

There ain’t all that much age difference between you and I, so what’s up with this ahjussi nonsense?! (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

“Didn’t you say you wanted to find a friend or a girlfriend for Oh-Sik so you’d capture it alive, right?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“That I did.” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

“So? Think about it for a sec and look at it from the other side! From Oh-Sik’s view!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

The proverbial flames erupted out from Yi Ji-Hyuk’s mouth.

“How would you feel when your blind date turns up all scorched to hell and looking like a piece of charcoal?!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

....Yeah, I’d be feeling pretty p*ssed off, too.

No, hang on. Aren’t we, like, supposed to worry about its condition first??

Isn’t this a bit weird? (Yun Hyuk-Gyu’s inner monologue)

“Oh-Sik was really looking forward to this, but what are you trying to do by bringing it back in this state??” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I did my best, though?” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

“We didn’t need your best, but to do a proper job, you know!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“.....I’m sorry.” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

Yi Ji-Hyuk’s brows shot up high as he glared angrily.

“Look, Oh-Sik’s all deflated now! How will you take responsibility for this?!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Hearing that, Yun Hyuk-Gyu did lower his head to the side to find Oh-Sik crouching there staring at the ground with a sulky face.

A first of its kind he saw after a while showed up looking like this, so it was somewhat understandable why he was feeling unhappy at the moment.

“I didn’t do it deliberately, you know.” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

Although that excuse sounded unconvincing, it was all he could say at the moment.

“And this kid might have looked pretty adorable, too.... Tsk, tsk.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

....Adorable?

An Ogre is what now?

What dogsh*t is this guy talking about?

Wait, can Ogres also look cute and ugly and all that, too??? (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

“Okay, so, what can we do now? Can’t we heal this thing or something?” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

“M-mm....”

Yi Ji-Hyuk scratched his head.

If he did implant his Seal of Obedience, then it’d be able to recover pretty soon. However, he’d have to pour in a large amount of Mana because its current condition was so wretched and that was his problem here.

‘Oh, well. I guess it can’t be helped, then.’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Wasting Mana like this was unfortunate, but it’d still be a whole lot better than seeing Oh-Sik so deflated like this.

“Hey. Don’t forget, you gotta be more obedient from now on, okay?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Bark.

Oh-Sik replied with a short but heavy bark.

“Huh, I guess you still wanna save this guy since it’s your kin and all. Tsk, tsk.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk tutted as he caught onto Oh-Sik’s tail wagging slightly this way and that.

But, then again – he had plenty of his kin living in this world, but Oh-Sik crossed over all alone and had to blend in among the humans, so how lonely must he have been?

It was unknown whether monsters possessed emotion of loneliness like humans or not, and Ogres normally behaved like tigers and lived alone most of the time, so it was also unknown as to whether such a creature would miss seeing its kin, but....

‘It’s hard to tell if Oh-Sik’s an Ogre or not nowadays.’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

I mean, how is this guy an Ogre?

He’s more of a dog now.

Everything he does is more dog-like than ever. So he must be thinking like a dog, too.

Mm?

I wasn’t insulting him, though.

I’m just saying, he’s just too dog-like now. (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

“Hmm....”

Yi Ji-Hyuk placed his hand on the burnt Ogre’s head.

Now normally, he could just flick the Seal from the distance and that would do the job of enslaving it, but it was already a miracle that the creature still managed to hold on, so he decided to be more hands-on this time ’round.

Or else, this guy would die of shock from getting branded by the Seal.

Yi Ji-Hyuk cautiously fixed the Seal inside, and began injecting some of his Mana into the creature.

Kururuk....

The Ogre-specific growling finally leaked out from the creature. Although still weak, the creature had recovered enough to let out a pained moan like that.

“Ohh?”

Yun Hyuk-Gyu watched this scene unfold and gasped out, mystified.

The monster’s body was healing at the rate visible to the naked eyes. The flesh scorched like charcoal regained some redness to it, and all the fur burnt away began growing back up again.

It was indeed a mystifying sight to behold.

Sure, he had seen Oh-Sik’s destroyed arm regenerate or the hole in his gut get filled back up during battles before, but back then, he was way too preoccupied to pay attention and those times weren’t as amazing as what was happening right now.

‘Just how does it work?’ (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

It was a special experience, witnessing the regeneration of burnt flesh like this – even if it didn’t involve a human patient.

Before long, the Ogre’s body had almost reverted back to how it used to look.

“Ohhh....”

Yun Hyuk-Gyu gasped out in admiration, prompting Yi Ji-Hyuk to frown in unhappiness.

“Who’s fault was it that I gotta work this hard again?!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“....I’m sorry.” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

The morose Yun Hyuk-Gyu crumpled to the sidelines, allowing Yi Ji-Hyuk to inject the last bit of Mana. After finishing up, he straightened his back.

It was never a good feeling, Mana leaving his body. Even if it was a necessity.

“Get the hell up already!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk lightly tapped the side of the Ogre with his foot.

Kureuk??

The creature sensed that its body had been restored and hurriedly jumped up from the spot. Reflexively, it tried to bite the very first human its eyes caught, which happened to be Yi Ji-Hyuk, but then, its jaw stopped just before his shoulders.

“You wanna die already?!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

POW!

The creature did stop for sure, yet Yi Ji-Hyuk’s punishing hands would never consider such a thing in the first place.

“Why do all Ogres behave in the exact same stupid manner?!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Oh-Sik hiding in the corner flinched grandly after hearing Yi Ji-Hyuk’s thunderous yell. Didn’t the dog-fied Ogre receive the same sort of treatment back then?

“Yup, you gotta get beaten up! Dogs or Ogres, they gotta get beaten up every three days so they can wake the hell up again!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

His kick accurately dug into the Ogre.

The slave seal was doing its thing within this Ogre now so it couldn’t even think about mounting a resistance. Nope, all it could do was roll itself into a ball and endure Yi Ji-Hyuk’s continued kicking spree.

Woof!!

It was at this moment that Oh-Sik quickly dashed over with those short legs of his and began tugging at the leg of his pants. However, he was currently stuck in the puppy-like state and he wasn’t even trying bite, so the mere fact that he was pulling at the pants with that small body of his came across as rather endearing, instead.

“What now?! You don’t want me to hit it anymore?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Whimper....

“Uh-whew.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Right, which Ogre would enjoy the sight of its kin being beaten up? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

Yi Ji-Hyuk grasped the scruff of Oh-Sik’s neck and lifted him up off his pant leg.

“Hey you, your owner is supposed to come first before your own kind, don’t you think so?!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Bark, bark!

“....You and your temper.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk didn’t say anything else and lightly chucked Oh-Sik over to the trembling Ogre.

You, take care of this. I don’t care what you do anymore. (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

Whimper....

Oh-Sik patted the back of the Ogre’s head in a consoling manner.

The monster was completely terrified out of its mind right now. The Seal of Obedience ensured that the one branded with it would even have its mind ruled over by the owner.

The Ogre’s mind, once it had recognised that it tried to attack its owner, was now being subjected to an extreme level of fear. Only someone like Oh-Sik was capable of resisting that kind of fear, so regular Ogres simply didn’t stand a shred of chance here.

The Ogre quivered in sheer terror, before it snapped its head to the side to take a look at Oh-Sik.

Kureuk??

And then... confusion and fluster filled up the Ogre’s eyes.

But, how could it not be confused? There was this puppy small enough for the Ogre to swallow up in one go sitting right next to its eyes, its body busy emitting the odour of one of its kin.

Kureureuk????

No, hang on a minute. It wasn’t just some kin, either.

The smell definitely belonged to the most powerful male of its species, too.

The Ogre was properly flustered by this unexplainable disharmony between what its eyes could see and what its nose could pick up. Meanwhile, Oh-Sik began rubbing the monster’s head with its short front paw to say he understood everything.

‘Would you look at this punk go??’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk clicked his tongue as he observed Oh-Sik doing his thing in a slick and smooth fashion.

The dang kid didn’t look like it because he was so small and cute right now, but the way he was doing his thing definitely came from the pages of Mister Casanova’s book, that’s for sure.

But then again, male Ogres with red fur were supposed to be the top of their species, weren’t they? In human terms, Oh-Sik would be someone like a super-handsome millionaire coming from a good family background.

So, he probably broke the hearts of a few female Ogres in his lifetime.

“....B*stard.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk suddenly felt rather rotten about himself and began glaring at Oh-Sik.

He couldn’t help but feel like an idiot when he thought about it. Why did he go out of his way to airlift another Ogre from Japan for this dang playboy that probably fooled around with countless females until now?!

Just who was worrying about who here?!

Kurureuk??

The Ogre was busy tilting its head this way and that.

The creature’s facial muscles weren’t as good as human’s when it came to expressing their emotions, but well, this particular one was giving it a good go at expressing its confusion at the moment.

Woof, woof!!

Oh-Sik barked something or rather and carefully smoothed over the creature’s fur. That led to the Ogre regaininf some of its calm, but then, it began staring at Oh-Sik with one of those types of eyes.

“....! O-Oh-Sik-ah!!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Calm down, Oh-Sik-ah!! This isn’t the way to do it!!

Even if things are like this, don’t forget how you look right now!

There’s no way that an Ogre would understand every single thing happening around it! (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

Kah-aaahhh!!

Pow!

Oh-Sik got punted away by the hind leg of the Ogre and flew away into the heavens as if he was planning to become the next star to join the night sky.

Whimper!!!!!

Oh-Sik’s pitiful whimpering resounded within the air.

“I bloody knew it.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk tutted from the sidelines.

One should be plying his tricks when one was in his regular state, so what was he thinking trying his luck while looking like that?

Yi Ji-Hyuk cackled as if he felt refreshed now while watching Oh-Sik fall back down to Earth, streams of tears pouring out from the poor Ogre’s eyes.

Sure, the other Ogre was brought here so the things could become nicer for Oh-Sik. However, wasn’t it human nature to feel a pang of stomach ache AKA jealousy when watching things go well for someone else?

“I mean, even I don’t have one yet, you know!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk spat out another angry yell thickly laced with the sorrowful jealousy of the man stuck in the solo camp. The Ogre couldn’t tell what was going on here and quickly tucked its tail, fear seeping back into its eyes.

Yun Hyuk-Gyu was watching all of this unsightliness happen from the sidelines and spat out a long, long sigh.

‘He’s so rotten to the core.’ (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

Just take a look at his character, man!

Uh-whew!

As Yun Hyuk-Gyu shook his head, the sun was already setting on another day over his shoulders.

< 195. I don’t need a reason to seek him out -5 > Fin.