Light burst out of the Dimensional Administrator, bathing his body. As his consciousness started to fade away, he felt his body start to break down and dissipate into nothingness.

He floated in a void, barely conscious through the sheerest effort of will, where time itself seemed meaningless.

Kang Woojin! Wake up!

He didn’t know how long it had been, but a pinprick of light had broken the never ending darkness. In a flash, the light expanded and swallowed him. His world was now painfully bright, and oddly, stank of garbage.

Aaah… Oooh… Uugh.

Words seemed impossible, so he groaned instead. He could barely crack open an eye, and he registered a battered slate roof before closing them entirely. After what felt like an eternity, he felt sensation prickle at his fingertips.

He made immediate use of his newly returned senses to feel around his body. The rough texture of a burlap sack beneath him told him all he needed to know. Clearly, that was where the stink of garbage was coming from.

I’ve returned.

He thought he recognized where he was. Even though those memories were long buried, the glimpse he’d stolen had stirred something.

The school’s incineration plant.

He had gone there twenty years ago right here. This place had been the starting line.

It’s been twenty years, but everything looks the same.

It looked more worn down than he remembered, but the incineration plant was the same as ever. He continued to let his body recover, his senses slowly returning.

“Hey. Fuck. Hurry up. You son of a bitch.”

He was barely able to turn his head when he started to hear voices. Students, wearing familiar uniforms, had found their way to the incineration plant.

The uniforms are the same.

He wouldn’t have been surprised if the uniform design had changed in twenty years, but it still looked the same. Really, it was a sight for sore eyes. Seeing these kids, in those uniforms, he finally believed he had returned to Earth and let his emotions wash over him. 

After a moment, he turned his attention back to the students. At a glance, three uniformed students were seemingly dragging another student into the plant. Truth be told, the apparent victim looked rather out of place. For one, he looked far too handsome to be a regular victim of bullying.

The seeming leader of the trio shoved the victim forward, “You son of a bitch. Let’s start after I hit you a couple of times.”

The good-looking youth retorted, “Why should I get hit?”

The leader’s temper exploded, “What? You son of a bitch!”

Fists started to fly, and almost immediately, the two were tangled in an old fashioned fight. It didn’t take long for the remaining two to join the fight on their friend’s side, and the fight turned into a one-sided beating.

“You fucking dick, you’re challenging me?!” The leader spat, “You really are a fucking eyesore. Just attend school quietly.”

Woojin was having fun watching the three of them step on that student. Somehow, it was bringing up nostalgic memories. Maybe he’d been jaded by the wretched experiences of the last twenty years, but the antics of these children almost seemed cute.

They beat the kid to the point where he thought the boy might die. However, the group naturally came to a stop when they started panting. The student had covered his head with his arms, but he was still twitching occasionally and now sported several scrapes and rapidly darkening bruises. Even still, his eyes were still shining fiercely.

The trio’s leader, Lee Joonhyuk, saw the light in Do Jaemin’s eyes and hated it. No other student dared even look at him. Or if they did, all that shone out of their eyes was envy. Yet this son of a bitch kept staring at him with those irritating eyes.

He hissed, “Ha, fuck. Yo, Jaemin. Does it hurt? Does it hurt like hell? Didn’t I tell you to stop doing irritating things in front of me? Just go to school quietly, you hear?”

“Beat it. Fuck.” Jaemin got out between gritted teeth. 

Irritating things? All Jaemin had ever done was study quietly. The problem was that he was too handsome. He was being beaten up because a girl had a crush on Jaemin, and she was someone Lee Joonhyuk liked.

Rage filling his voice, Joonhyuk said, “Ha. This son of a bitch still hasn’t come to his senses? Looks like one beating wasn’t enough. Hold this bastard down.”

The bullies grabbed Jaemin and forced him to kneel. Joonhyuk hopped in place, loosing a kick into empty air. From the looks of it, he was about to unleash a no holds barred soccer kick on Jaemin’s head.

Right before he could take off Jaemin’s head, Woojin’s senses finished settling back into his body, and spoke, “Ah, that’s enough.”

The sudden voice made all the students jump. Looking around, they found a strangely dressed man slowly sitting up on top of a burlap sack.

Joonhyuk cursed, “The fuck. What’s your deal? How long have you been there?” 

“Ah? Fuck?” Woojin flexed his knees and leaped down. “The first thing these brats have to say when they meet a big senior who’s like the heavens is fuck?”

Ah, the Earth’s surface. The last time he’d stepped foot on this soil had been twenty years ago.

Even if they were delinquents, the students were still just kids in front of an adult. It was basic Korean etiquette to show some respect for their seniors, and even delinquents were usually careful about it.

Yet, after looking around furtively, Joonhyuk defiantly spoke, “Fuck. Who cares if you are our senior?”

…Guess not.

Joonhyuk continued, “I don’t know why some beggar is fucking butting in. Why don’t you mind your own business and screw off? We high schoolers aren’t afraid of anything these days, so keep walking.”

Joonhyuk had thought quickly, and his bluster helped dispel his companions’ uncertainty. He knew that the strange guy in front of them wasn’t a teacher. 

A teacher wouldn’t be at their school at this hour. Besides, showing up at the incineration plant in those ragged clothes could only mean that he’s probably just the neighborhood idiot.

Woojin cocked his head, “Huh. Why are kids these days so rude, especially in front of a big senior who has twenty years on them?”

After hearing Woojin mumbling to himself, Joonhyuk was completely confident this guy had lost his marbles. After all, this bastard looked no older than a college student in their twenties.

“If you don’t want to get smacked, then get lost, little bitches.” Woojin raised his hand threateningly, thinking that the nitwits would run if he scared them a little. However, instead of running away, they just stared at him in disbelief.

“Huh. This won’t do.” Woojin brought down his hand, and Joonhyuk flinched.

“…….”

Woojin was taken aback and brought his hand down again to no avail. 

Why wasn’t the Binding Magic forming? 

Joonhyuk frowned at the surprised Woojin. “The fuck are you doing?”

“Uh? What’s going on? Bind!” Woojin kept swinging his hand down even as the magic eluded him. Meanwhile, Joonhyuk had gotten over his shock.

“Shit. I got scared for nothing by this otaku bastard.” Joonhyuk was certain now.

Still, the village idiot had scared him for a second, and now his pride was pricked. He leaped forward, swinging at Woojin.

But right before Joonhyuk’s fist landed, Woojin smoothly sidestepped the punch.

Whoosh

Joonhyuk stumbled forward and wheeled around, “Huh?! How did you fucking avoid it?” 

Whoosh

Joonhyuk’s confusion gave way to anger, “Son of a bitch, are you looking to die!? Hey, let’s fuck this guy up!”

Startled into action by Joonhyuk’s roar, his lackeys jumped into the fray.

Huh. I can’t feel the fucking magic. Did I lose my magic?

Woojin was astonished when his magic, the magic that he’d used as easily as his limbs for the past twenty years, didn’t respond to him. However, even if he had lost his magic, he wasn’t about to get hit by the fist of a high school kid.

In the other world, magicians were known to be physically weaker than their warrior counterparts. But here on Earth, Woojin’s physical ability could blow a special forces soldier out of the water.

That sort of fitness level was the first prerequisite to survive in a world crawling with monsters.

Woojin evaded the fists of the lackeys with equal ease and lightly punched each one in the solar plexus.

Puh-puh-puk.

“Ook.” “Guh.” “Augh.” Three precise attacks were enough to send the assailants sprawling on the ground. It happened so fast that Do Jaemin forgot all about his aching body and watched in amazement.

“Aw-awesome.”

As Woojin stood over his collapsed foes, he absentmindedly pinched his temple. It was an old habit, something he always did when his thoughts started to get complicated.

“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter?”

Perhaps it was a side effect of dimensional travel? He still didn’t know whether his magic was completely lost or just sealed. However, it might not matter.

This was Seoul. Monsters no longer threatened him, so he wouldn’t need to risk his life just to survive.

Right…?