Chapter 4: Beneficial Conversation of Civilized People

It’s hard to say whether this is fortunate or unfortunate.

Garam, who was struck by a door wielded by Jaein, the faded one, and sent flying from the 23rd floor, survived instead of dying.

Ah, not in one piece, of course; his cheek that had been hit by the door swelled up like a balloon, and he limped, taking the elevator back like a cripple.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, he saw Jaein still holding the door and turned pale, then began foaming at the mouth and passed out.

In the end, Gain had no choice but to toss him onto the sofa and begin a meeting with Jang Hyuk, the vice team leader of the paranormal crime team who had come with them.

“So, who are you?”

“We are from the Supernatural Response Department under the National Intelligence Service—”

“Stop, I don’t need the details. Anyway, the NIS? Why would the NIS come for someone ordinary like me?”

“Because you’re not an ordinary citizen.”

“We know you used your powers to launder your identity.

It was a good try, but if you were going to do it, you should have been more thorough.

It’s an age where you can still be tracked even if you do that.

You know that you can deceive people but not computer data, right?”

As soon as he heard Jang Hyuk’s words, Jaein scratched his head, looking guilty, and let out a deep sigh.

Indeed, as he said, no matter how powerful, if he was going to launder his identity, he should have done it more thoroughly.

As he said, you can deceive people, but you can’t deceive computers with his powers.

He was complacent in thinking that no one would bother tracking him if he lived as just an ordinary citizen.

It was a mistake caused by his naive belief that no one could notice his power or hypnosis methods.

But at the same time, it was clear that these people, Garam and Jang Hyuk, regarded the existence of powers as completely normal.

So Jaein asked Jang Hyuk, sounding slightly aggrieved, “You just mentioned powers.

Does that mean it’s normal for these kinds of abilities to exist?”

“Of course, it’s a secret to the general public.

However, there are many people who know about it, far more than you imagine.

The fact that me and the team leader over there, who’s sleeping, are government officials is enough to answer that.”

“Oh my, so it turns out the world I lived in was actually a fantasy…”

“Considering that you’re from a fantasy world, thinking that only you are from a fantasy is a bit self-centered.”

“Tsk, you’re right, I guess.”

Indeed.

Thinking I’m the main character of the world and that I’m the only special one is a privilege only allowed for junior high school second-year students.

If I traveled to another world, it’s possible for others to have done the same.

And it’s not strange if someone had traveled before me.

Only then did Jaein acknowledge his mistake, nod his head as if he understood, crossing his arms.

But the problem was what came next.

Then why on earth did those two come looking for him?

‘They said they came because they found out I laundered my identity, so they’re probably not here to give me compliments? They also mentioned crime response.’

Honestly, Jaein didn’t want to cause trouble with them.

That’s because of the everyday life he had finally managed to obtain.

Regardless of the fact that the world was a fantasy, he didn’t want to jump into that fantasy himself.

However,

‘That doesn’t mean I’m going to get caught without resisting.’

Who knows what they’ll do to him if he goes with them?

They say they’re government officials from the NIS, but the NIS isn’t exactly known for having a great reputation.

And on top of that, they treat powers as normal.

He had the confidence to break through any battlefield filled with bullets and shells.

But he couldn’t be 100% sure that he could overcome unknown powers or even returnees with powers like his.

So, Jaein started assessing Jang Hyuk in front of him and Garam, who was still unconscious over there.

He began planning to take them both down and launder his identity again if necessary.

Jang Hyuk felt a chill run down his spine at the look in Jaein’s eyes and quickly interjected, saying that wasn’t the case.

“I know what you’re thinking, but that’s not it.”

“Hmm?”

“Well, to be honest, we did come to blackmail you a little. You know that what you did is illegal, right?”

“Well… I had my reasons, but it’s not something I can say proudly.”

“We came to offer you a scout in exchange for covering that up.

We’re really suffering from a serious manpower shortage right now, so we’re so busy that we don’t even have time to blink.

It’s a daily thing to get chewed out by the higher-ups.

If you’re a mental-type manifester, you’re a very rare talent, so we came to recruit you.”

“Mental-type manifester? What’s th—Ah!”

Only then did Jaein realize that they didn’t know his powers.

Specifically, they only knew about the power of the [Blessing of Oblivion], which they presumed to be a mental-type ability.

Of course, the [Blessing of Oblivion] was indeed a mental-type ability, but

When used intentionally, it was not something that could be dismissed with the words ‘mental type’ because it was the power that killed and usurped a god.

Assuming that the power is not undone, even a forced world peace would be possible.

And he possessed several other powers besides [Blessing of Oblivion].

‘They couldn’t have known all my powers in the first place. If they did, they wouldn’t have just sent two people.’

He didn’t know the power balance of the fantasy world on Earth, but he could at least objectify that much.

Jaein saw this as a good opportunity.

He curled the corners of his mouth upward and decided to extract information from Jang Hyuk by pretending to ask a question.

“I understand the mental-type part, but what’s a manifester?”

“Ah, now that I think about it, I should probably start there.

Well, seeing as you blew away our team leader, you must be someone from our industry… I guess it’s okay to talk about it.”

He wondered if it was okay to say this, but then he looked at Garam who was lying face down and nodded. Jang Hyuk began a long explanation step by step.

He explained about the powers existing on Earth and the reasons why they existed and operated.

These were the stories from the backside of the world that were common sense to them, but must never be known by the general public.

It seemed that Jang Hyuk had a talent for storytelling, and Jaein listened to his words intently from beginning to end.

After that long explanation, Jaein looked at Jang Hyuk with a satisfied expression and opened his mouth.

“That was a very informative time.”

“As I mentioned before, our first, second, and third rules are to keep secrets. Do you remember why?”

“Because powers are born from people’s beliefs.”

“And to prevent a revival of the mythological age because of that.”

“Well, whatever. So?”

Having acquired at least basic knowledge of Earth’s fantasy, Jaein asked them again.

Was their purpose in coming here still the same?

“Honestly, I’m not interested in being a scout.”

“We pay pretty well, but you’re still not interested?”

“Well, yeah. To be honest, it’s not like I’m short on money.”

He was once an Elden Lord.

Because he suddenly returned, he only had what he had on him when he returned, but that was a considerable amount.

Whether it was the privilege of the tarnished or the previous one, his inventory was safe.

If he didn’t spend lavishly, he could live for several decades with that.

“Besides, you said your job was hard just a few minutes ago, but now you’re offering a scout.”

“Oh….”

“I’m more interested in the freelancer side. I heard that many manifesters like me work as freelancers?”

Jaein set his position as a manifester.

From what he heard, it seemed that there were no other returnees from other worlds like him.

Well, to be exact, his position was a god-slayer and demon lord, but

Unfortunately, Jang Hyuk didn’t explain the existence of a Campione to Jaein, thinking it was something that belonged to a distant land.

Because of that, he still thought of himself as just a very rare case of a returnee from another world.

“Of course, I’d like to ignore the freelancer thing completely if I could.”

“Yes, there are some people who have awakened to their powers but live ordinary lives in the public eye.”

But in this case, the country would bother them a lot.

That’s because even if they live ordinary lives, their powers won’t disappear.

From the country’s point of view, they were reserve forces in case of an emergency.

If they were high-level, other countries would come to scout them, too.

So, if they really wanted to live comfortably, it was much better to have some influence while still being slightly involved in the industry.

“Therefore, freelance.”

“Therefore, freelancer, huh.”

“Is it possible?”

“It’s up to you. But being unaffiliated isn’t always a good thing. If you get targeted, no one will protect you.”

That was why most Korean power users remained in the NIS.

Since the logic of power dominated the industry, being affiliated was also a fence to protect oneself.

The laws of the public didn’t apply, so honestly, this was a special case.

It was much more common for people to start by using force.

Ah, thinking about the door kick, it seemed like Garam had also started with the use of force.

He had forgotten because he was instantly countered.

Anyway.

Jang Hyuk was simply saying this:

Freelancer?

If they wanted to, they could.

But it should be known that with the freedom of being a freelancer, comes the responsibility of all consequences.

Therefore, most freelancers who worked in the industry were either hidden or had the ability to protect themselves.

Of course,

“It doesn’t matter.”

It didn’t matter to Jaein.

He was definitely skilled.

Rather, he was too skilled.

In the end, Jang Hyuk stood up after confirming Jaein’s will.

Of course, if he could convince him to join their team as originally planned, that would be great.

But he didn’t have the confidence to convince him.

And though it seemed like a joke, the fact that he had knocked out their team leader Garam with one blow was proof that he was not a mere mental-type manifester.

‘The team leader said that his skills were comparable to a Knight in Europe at least.’

His skill was probably sufficient.

Finally, Jaein and Jang Hyuk shook hands, glad that it had been a mutually beneficial conversation and parted ways.

“I’ll send someone to fix the door today. It’s a bit of a stretch to say that it’s a part of the compensation, but we’ll handle your identity here as well.”

“You’re a learned person. You knew right away without me even saying it.”

“Still, I have a role to play, so please understand that I have to report Jaein-ssi to my superiors.”

“That’s fine. It’s actually welcome. It looks like you’re going to be my regular customer, so please advertise me well.”

“Haha, I guess that’s true. Well then, I’ll be going.”

“Take care.”

Who said that first impressions are half the battle?

There’s nothing to trust in old sayings.

Look, even though they ruined their first impressions, they still had a great conversation since they were both civilized.

They truly thought that today’s conversation had been beneficial.

But there was one thing they had forgotten about –

“Ah! Team leader!!”

“Ah, I forgot to wake this woman up!”

Garam was still unconscious on the sofa.

However,

“Well, she’ll come when she wakes up.”

“She’ll go when she wakes up. I’m going to go back to gaming.”

The civilized people decided to ignore the uncivilized one.