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→ The City Life (5) ←

1.

Siwoo, who had been aimlessly wandering through the dark streets up until recently, suddenly found a purpose for doing so.

To track down all the Homunculi he could find.

He knew it was a risky thing to do.

There was no way he’d be able to kill every Homunculus out there, especially not those who managed to kill a lot of witches on their own.

But, this was way better than sitting around and doing nothing.

Just thinking about the matter pessimistically wouldn’t improve the situation, after all.

“I gotta be optimistic.”

There was a certain chance that a Homunculus might drop a new magical knowledge.

Since he couldn’t proceed in his magical research by himself, the new magical knowledge he might acquire could turn out to be a big help for him.

With that thought in mind, he adjusted his sunglasses.

It might appear strange to walk around at night wearing sunglasses, but he needed to use his eye to sense the flow of mana and locate nearby Homunculi.

Going around with his left eye bare would be the equivalent of him announcing to the world that he possessed a brand. And so, he opted to wear sunglasses to cover it instead.

“It’s hard to see anything with these on…”

‘Those celebrities probably have to deal with this kind of hassle every time they go outside their houses, huh?’

He put aside that useless thought and started moving wherever his feet took him.

So far, he couldn’t find anything significant.

Though he spent two whole hours every day, exploring every nook and cranny, the only thing he could discover in the busy neighborhoods were hidden spaces and less crowded places.

From dark alleys with studio apartments in it and parks with barely any people frequenting it, to abandoned underground parking lots and tall buildings.

In total, he found three large buildings at the intersection in front of the university that had been under legal hold for a while. There was also a commercial building that had all of its stores closed down, ready for demolition.

“This should do for today.”

He meticulously searched through the entirety of Sinchon and Hongdae, as if he was a member of the crime prevention team, but he couldn’t even find anything that seemed remotely suspicious.

This result made him feel a rather complex emotion; a mix of relief and uneasiness.

His relief came from knowing that he didn’t have to risk his own life to fight for a complete stranger.

While his unease came from the suspicion about the method he had been using; He didn’t know whether it was the right method or not.

As he felt those two feelings mixed together and getting stronger by the second.

He found a bench nearby and sat down.

His mind drifted back when he first returned to the modern world. Thanks to him living in Gehenna for a while, he developed an illness that made him feel like he would die if he didn’t drink cola. As a result, he started chugging five liters of cola every day instead of water.

Using his hand, he flicked the collar of his shirt, which had become heavy with sweat and placed a cigarette in his mouth.

In front of him lay the vibrant and lively scenery of the modern world’s nightlife.

There were office workers who had just finished their overtime as they rushed into the last train, as well as college girls who had just finished their studies for the upcoming exams heading towards their apartments.

“I wonder how the twins are doing?”

He felt a little disappointed over the fact that he couldn’t spend enough time with them due to the Countess’ restrictions.

Having been living in this world for about four months, if he wanted to meet with them again, he had to spend more than four years living like this.

His first impression of them was that they were unruly troublemakers, but he had grown fond of them.

They had a nice demeanor in general, but what stood out the most for him was their cheekiness.

In any case, those two were among the handful of people he became close to.

He had already prepared a long list of great restaurants to take them to once they officially inherited their brands and left Gehenna to have some fun.

Plenty of the restaurants in that list were dessert shops that those two would definitely come to love.

While thinking as such, he found his current situation ironic.

In the past, he used to imagine himself in this current situation, sitting while gazing at Seoul’s cityscape. But now that he was here, he longed for the connections he made in Gehenna.

“Again…”

Many thoughts came to his mind when he tried to recall his life in Gehenna.

First, there was Yebin, the woman he had a fiery and intense sexual interaction with. Before he returned to the modern world, she was the one who served him with her seductive body.

Now that he thought about it, she was a wonderful woman.

Her dream of establishing a clinic for the citizens of Gehenna was quite something.

‘It really isn’t something you’d expect from a witch.’

Then, there was Takasho.

With cockroach-like adaptability, he knew for sure that he’d be fine wherever he went.

Siwoo wasn’t sure about the time difference between the two worlds, but if they shared the same time zone, Takasho was probably having a great time in a witch’s bed at the moment.

As he threw the empty can in his hand into a distant trash bin, he unexpectedly came to remember the memory he tried so hard to suppress.

Amelia Marigold.

Looking back, she really was someone whose presence was unbearable to him.

When he first got captured by the slave traders and got appointed as a janitor in the Trinity Academy, she showed up out of the blue and demanded him to serve her during the night.

Since it was so sudden, he had refused her, prompting her to torment him with all sorts of crazy and ridiculous tasks.

The most absurd of her demands was when she asked him to catch a deer from the forest south of the academy.

At the time, he couldn’t use magic openly and the only tool that was available to him was a shovel.

In the end, he spent the whole day chasing after the deers, who were quick on their feet, and was unable to catch even their tails.

If Sophia hadn’t happened to pass by, heard about the situation, and offered to catch the deer in his place, Amelia would’ve definitely tried to find another way to torment him.

Over the next five years, she went through various experiences and gradually changed.

The most dramatic change to her occurred when he was turned into half a corpse because of Ea Sadalmelik and regressed to his childhood.

She gently treated him, who had lost his memories, as if he was her own apprentice witch.

They did things like stargazing, painting and swimming together.

In that cabin in the oak tree forest, they spent their days together, creating happy memories.

Until one day, he regained his memories.

In the form of sharp pieces, like that of a broken glass.

Those pieces of memories harbored intense hatred and love.

And, if there was one thing that Siwoo couldn’t forgive the most about her…

It was her audacity to ask for forgiveness back then, when he still hadn’t recovered his memories.

Of course, he already knew…

Despite her looks and tendencies, she was… Unskilled… In some areas.

When she asked him for his forgiveness, she wasn’t just teasing or playing around with him, who didn’t know any better back then, she was completely earnest in her plea.

But, despite him knowing the reason behind her action logically, it didn’t mean he could accept it emotionally.

In fact, he was still unsure about how to face her until the very last moment, that was why he left a note for her.

Perhaps, she’d already read it by now.

Nevertheless, it was completely up to her whether she’d accept his words inside that note or not.

“This is why I hate thinking about this…”

After saying that, he decided to stop his train of thought.

Just thinking about Amelia already made his heart feel heavy.

With all those thoughts popping up, it seemed like he truly missed having her around.

-Drip drip drip

Suddenly, he felt water dropping on the top of his head. When he looked up, the water dropped on his cheek instead.

“Ah, I forgot to bring an umbrella…”

The wind was already strong at this point, and soon enough, a heavy rain followed.

“I’m getting emotional…”

Siwoo wondered how long it had been since he had a chat with someone else. Aside from when he was paying bills or buying something.

He couldn’t help but feel a little lonely.

At this point, he could see some people on the streets were trying to open their umbrellas while some of them waited under store awnings, waiting for the heavy rain to pass.

Those people had somewhere to go.

Seeing them, Siwoo felt even more lost.

Compared to them, he didn’t feel like he belonged anywhere. Slowly, that uncomfortable feeling grew stronger…

“Huh?”

At that moment, when he was looking up at the sky, he noticed a distortion in his field of vision.

Across the rotary, was the Sinchon-Gyeongui Line Train Station.

Next to it was a five-story old building linked to the station itself.

Though it looked like a great spot, the high vacancy rate had turned it into a pretty much an abandoned building. It would really be the case if it wasn’t for the movie theater located on the top floor.

He always had a feeling there might be a Homunculus lurking there, that was why he had gone there a few times prior to this.

And that suspicion seemed to be proven right as he spotted a sinister black shadow climbing the building’s outer wall, as if trying to go towards the rooftop.

Without delay, he jumped up from where he was standing.

‘I found you!’

With many onlookers nearby, he opted not to use magic and sprinted as fast as possible toward the old building instead.

He went through the gaps between the containers set up at the entrance and made his way through the emergency staircase.

From there onwards, he didn’t need to concern himself with onlookers anymore.

Using the Water Lizard Stride, he jumped up to the rooftop.

As he got closer, he noticed a semi-transparent barrier and entered it. Inside, the bustling city noise that came through the open staircase windows had disappeared.

The barrier was the Interdimensional Barrier that was naturally created by a Homunculus.

“Bloom.”

When he chanted his spell, an armor made of shadow began to form from his back, enveloping his entire body like a snake coiling around.

This time, the process felt much smoother compared to his previous tries.

Using his gauntlet, he gripped the rooftop handle.

The door appeared to be locked, but it wasn’t a concern to him since it was easy for him to rip it open.

As long as he borrowed some power from the armor, he could tear it apart like cardboard.

Though, there was one thing that he needed to consider before storming to where the Homunculus was.

Whether it had enough power to fight him and cause him harm or not.

While he decided to take on the role of a guardian to protect the innocent… He still didn’t know what he would do if his life were actually threatened…

-Clank!

“Whatever, if things get dangerous I can always escape.”

In the end, he decided to open the locked door.

Accompanied by the sound of lock breaking, the door was opened.

What greeted him was the average rooftop you could see all over the city.

Save for one thing; A circular barrier surrounding it.

The source of the barrier was none other than a Homunculus, which was causing quite a ruckus on the rooftop.

“Grr…”

It was growling while licking its body like a puppy holding an urge to shit. Siwoo’s impression when seeing it for the first time was; He found its appearance familiar.

Yes, he had seen it before. It looked the same to the one he encountered during his night stroll.

A monster that looked like an enormous hunting dog.

Covering its body was something akin to tar.

‘I killed it last time, right?’

He had seen it die and disappear with his own eyes, leaving only a crystal.

What he knew was that each Homunculus had a unique appearance, but maybe that wasn’t the case at all.

Despite his confusion, he still gripped his weapon tightly.

Like last time, he was donned in the same full-body armor, helmet, shield and longsword.

Since the opponent seemed to be similar to the one he encountered before, he didn’t feel the need to run away.

That meant, he’d face it properly.

Slowly and carefully, he approached the Homunculus.

But even after a while, it wasn’t charging at him. Instead, it ignored him and kept on licking its own body.

When they were about five meters about, he finally noticed something.

On its side, there was a big cut.

Through that cut, tar-like liquid was flowing out, making the ground sticky.

Even when Siwoo got closer to it, it only growled without doing anything else, as if it was already half-dead.

Of course, seeing this didn’t invoke any sympathy from him whatsoever.

Instead, he grew worried, wondering if this was some kind of trap.

At that moment, a loud voice came from behind.

“Hey! I don’t know where the hell did you come from, but that thing is mine!”

It was a high-pitched, annoyed-sounding female voice.