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< Good Man >
We stopped the vehicle in front of the collapsed building.
“We’re camping here today.”
Wang Gu-ho and Sirutteok started taking out their camping equipment from the car.
In no time, the tent was set up and simple cooking facilities were provided.
“Brother, I’ll make you some warm food right away.”
“I’ll help you too!”
Sirutteok, who finally had something to do, rolled up his sleeves and started cooking. The little one stayed next to him and loitered around.
That would be fortunate if it didn’t bother me…
While the fire was lit in the middle of the campsite and dinner was prepared, I set up a simple formation around the campsite.
Ss …
As the flow of energy around us was distorted, the entire space we were in became blurry.
It’s not a very high-level formation, but most monsters won’t notice it.
Abraxas, who came next to me, looked at the formation with a curious expression.
“Do you know how to use camouflage magic?”
“This is a bit different from magic… Well, the effect is similar. It hides our appearance from the outside world.”
I hated being attacked by monsters while eating.
I wanted to get to my destination as comfortably and safely as possible.
While avoiding monsters as much as possible.
I looked back at Abraxas and said:
“Don’t just watch. Why don’t you pay for the meal too?”
“Hmm. I think my stomach is full enough···.”
Abraxas scratched his cheek and then layered his magic over my formation.
Ssssssssut.
A translucent sphere of magical power covered the area we were in.
“It’s an unpleasant magic. Most monsters won’t come near here.”
Only after magic was added to the formation did I retract the senses that I had spread out as widely as possible.
To be honest, I was quite tired on my way here, having to detect and avoid monsters in advance.
I’m pretty hungry too.
“Shiru-tteok. How long does it take for the rice to be cooked?”
“Please wait 15 minutes, no, 20 minutes, hyung!”
“Wait a minute, mister! If you want to eat something delicious, you have to know how to wait!”
What on earth were they making? The faces of the rice cake maker and the little assistant next to him were covered in black soot.
I said with a slight sigh.
“Then I’ll take Kiri out for a bit. Keep watch here, and you, sir, rest comfortably. As for As… will you follow me?”
“of course!”
I left the campsite with two creatures from another world.
Swish! Swish swish swish!
As I ran with Kiri on my left arm, we quickly moved away from the campsite.
“You’re too fast!”
The Kiri hanging from my left hand flailed around in fear. I lightly ignored the protest and climbed up the wall of the ten-story building.
Tadadot!
I landed on the roof of the building and put Kiri down on the ground. Kiri, who had been sitting down for a while and her eyes were spinning, got up with difficulty.
“Why here···.”
I pointed in one direction with my finger.
“Take a look at that.”
A few dozen meters ahead of where we were standing.
In the empty space ten stories high, red fog was swirling and gathering.
Kwakwakwakwa.
At the center of the swirling red fog was a tall black crystal.
It looks like the eyeball of a giant monster.
This was a phenomenon that began to appear throughout the city after the second disaster,
aka
A supernatural phenomenon that continuously emits red fog and is impervious to physical force.
It is impossible to completely eliminate the red fog unless all of the
Incheon, the first place where the fog originated, had the largest
Anyway, this is what I wanted to ask Kiri.
“Do you know what that is?”
Kiri, who had been staring blankly into the eyes of disaster for a while, looked back at me.
“That is···.”
“You better be honest. Why are you doing this?”
I looked at the guy with an emotionless face.
In my life before I returned, the Red Fog was a disaster that killed countless people.
It is the same now. If we don’t stop it in time, this fog will engulf the city, and countless people will die from its toxicity, and many will die fighting monsters that have become berserk after taking in the toxicity.
There are probably some faces I recognize among them.
“actually···.”
The lips that had been hesitating opened after a long time.
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“There’s something I haven’t been able to tell you.”
*
*
*
After dinner, we gathered together in one place.
Hururuk.
The fire the boy had lit burned like a bonfire, and the group gathered around it.
The sky was not visible because of the red fog, but it was a time when one could guess that it was night because of the darkening sky and the lower temperature.
It was Kiri who broke the awkward silence.
“The planet I live on is dying.”
The red fog that was engulfing the city did not reach us.
It was because Kiri was pushing away the fog with her own ability. Thanks to that, our camping was quite comfortable.
“We are a dying race. There are only a few thousand survivors left, and they are decreasing by the day.”
“······.”
In the silence, no one said anything, so Kiri had to continue what she had started.
“The King has ordered us to find a planet where our species can live, and a research team has been formed, including my brother and I.”
“So that was some kind of mission?”
It was Abraxas who asked the question. Kiri nodded.
“Yes. We traveled across dimensions, searching for planets with environments similar to our own. I risked my life dozens of times… In the end, I ended up being controlled by a parasitic demon.”
I said, feeling the story getting a little tiring.
“So what’s this fog? And those eyeballs?”
“Fog… plays a role in changing the environment of the Earth into something similar to our planet. It’s like a device that supplies air to the Earth….”
It was something like terraforming.
Just as humanity planned to terraform Mars, the Loro race sought to create an environment identical to their own planet by finding a planet they could live on.
Kiri said with a resentful expression.
“But I really didn’t know! That this fog could be toxic to Earthlings….”
“That means you spread fog to kill Earthlings so that you could survive.”
Kiri bowed her head at my cold tone.
“I should have told you everything right away, but I couldn’t. You might get so angry that you kill me. I don’t mind dying. But if I die, the thousands of my compatriots who are waiting for me will be…”
I just stood there with my arms crossed.
The little boy and Wang Gu-ho looked at Kiri with pitiful expressions, while the knight and Sirutteok sighed deeply.
Then Abraxas tilted his head and asked what I had been wondering about.
“But you’re fine even without the fog. Do you really need that fog?”
“···My body has been modified to adapt to extreme situations. However, my people cannot survive without this fog. I too···. cannot last long.”
Ssssssssut.
As Kiri stretched out his hand, the fog that had been lingering a certain distance away flew in and was absorbed into his body.
Kiri said with a slightly relaxed expression.
“Once I find my brother, I will definitely remove the fog. I will also seal all the supply devices.”
“Like that?”
Where my gaze was directed, the
“Yes. I need Siri to completely clear the fog, but I can seal the supply device by myself.”
Certainly the fog around here had thinned compared to before.
As far as I know, there are three
If we could just seal all of that, we could significantly delay the period of time the city would be engulfed in fog.
Kiri jumped up from her seat and bent her waist at a 90-degree angle.
“I’m so sorry! Once I find my brother, I’ll clear all the fog and leave Earth right away!”
Perhaps because she had poured out everything she wanted to say, Kiri’s expression seemed relieved.
But my curiosity is not yet fully satisfied.
“Are you going to cross dimensions again?”
“Yes. We need to find a planet better to live on than Earth.”
“How livable is the Earth by your standards?”
Kiri said hesitantly.
“It’s the best environment I’ve ever seen on a planet, but···.”
Then, he glanced at me briefly, lowered his head, and muttered, with an expression that said, ‘This won’t work, right?’
“Even now, my people are dying, but… they will all endure. My mother, my father, my uncle….”
Isn’t that what you want me to hear?
“Kiri···.”
The little boy, whose eyes were as big as a king’s bell and filled with tears, held Kiri’s hand tightly and said.
Red and green. And they were both so small that they looked like a pair of watermelon slices.
“Don’t worry. I’ll help you.”
what?
I looked at the kid with a bewildered expression. Kiri looked back and forth between the kid and me with an expression of disbelief.
“Because, sir, your hobby is doing good things.”
I don’t have any hobbies like that?
Before I could open my mouth to say so, Abraxas spoke in eager agreement.
“That’s definitely the case.”
What is certain?
Even Wang Gu-ho and Sirutteok nodded their heads in agreement.
“If you are the team leader···.”
“You should have told me earlier. My brother will take care of everything.”
Even reporter Park Young-bae looks at me and smiles quietly.
“······.”
This is incredible. Why is everyone like this?
Why are you looking at me with such an expectant expression?
As if I could solve all these problems.
“ha···.”
I think everyone is under some ridiculous misconception.
I’m not that kind of person.
“That fog. Can you adjust its toxicity so that it doesn’t harm the human body?”
I’m just asking this out of curiosity.
“Of course it can be improved!”
Kiri answered as if she had been waiting. Her eyes sparkled.
“If we study the environment of the Earth a little more and understand its impact on humans… I can be sure that it won’t take long.”
“How many people are there in your species?”
“About 3,000 people… The number has probably decreased by now.”
Looking at Kiri’s expression that had suddenly darkened, I thought, before I regressed,
So I thought about the future 20 years from now.
20 years later.
The Earth is a
A world where beings from dozens of dimensions travel back and forth to Earth.
Among them, there are races that today’s humans cannot even imagine.
Giants. Dwarves. Watermen. Demons. Angels.
Even species that resemble plants or insects.
‘There were more than one or two problems that arose before it got to that point.’
What is a welcoming greeting to one race is an insult that prompts another to draw their weapons, and one race’s excrement is gold to another.
There were some races that could kill other races just by breathing, and vice versa.
After going through so much confusion and trial and error, 20 years later, the Earth enjoyed immense prosperity.
“···It won’t change anything just because a new species that resembles broccoli is added.”
“yes?”
“It’s nothing. I was just talking to myself.”
I said to Kiri, who was looking at me with expectant eyes.
“From now on, let’s study how to eliminate the fog’s toxicity. If possible, change its color as well. It looks ominous because it’s red.”
“Then, then···!”
I nodded to Broccoli, whose eyes were wide open.
“Go and find your brother, and when you come back I’ll arrange for you to meet the President.”
The old me was nothing.
Not only was it difficult to meet the president, but even meeting Joo Sang-wook, who was under him, was difficult.
But now, I was able to introduce the President to a race from another world and give them a place to live on Earth.
“Don’t talk about useless things like fog to the president. Tell him about the state of your planet and that you want to live on Earth.”
“···Is that really okay?”
“Yes. I’m sure that gentleman will allow it. Oh, and···”
Again, I’m not trying to volunteer.
I’m doing this because it benefits me.
“The Rock of Sisyphus… You call it the Rubelon? How many of those are there?”
Kiri thought for a moment and then answered.
“There are five in total, including mine.”
“Five generations.”
I have seen the technology of the Loro race and I know that they number three thousand.
“It’s not like they have great reproductive ability or anything?”
Siri answered with a blush.
“It’s quite low, but···.”
That’s perfect.
“How are your architectural skills? Are you good at building houses?”
“···Can I be honest with you?”
“of course.”
“Our technology is ahead of the Earth in every way.”
It’s only natural that they would do that, since they are a species that can travel across dimensions.
I said with a satisfied smile.
“Then, if I just have land, I don’t have to build a house?”
“Of course. I can’t shamelessly wish for you to come home…”
“Okay then.”
As it happened, I had a lot of empty land. Hundreds of thousands of square meters of wasteland that had just been developed and was just beginning to be incorporated into the national territory.
It’s a wasteland right now, but soon 3,000 otherworlders will come and turn it into a new city.
“Come and live on my land. I will exempt you from paying rent for a year.”
Kiri said with an expression of disbelief.
“Why did you do this to me…? You killed hundreds of people on Earth, and that fog is doing this to you….”
Of course it was a disaster.
But that’s when you can’t control it.
“After a year, you will have to pay rent without fail.”
“Uh-huh-huh-huh!”
Finally, Kiri burst into tears.
The guy kept bowing his head to me and saying, “Thank you!” and “I will never forget your kindness!” over and over again.
“Of course, all of these conditions apply when the fog’s toxicity is completely removed.”
“Of course!”
After finishing the story and looking back at the group, everyone was looking at me with happy expressions.
“As expected of an old man!”
The little boy ran up to me and hugged me tightly around the waist.
Why are you being so gross?
I pushed the kid aside and pretended not to hear Abraxas mutter, “Hmm. Good guy.”
And then I picked up the spoon I had put down for a moment and ate the remaining food.
“···Stop looking at it because it’s indigestible.”
Everyone burst into laughter.
Perhaps because the fog had cleared, the stars seemed to twinkle a little in the sky.
I put down the dishes and spoke to the group.
“We’ll leave early tomorrow. Let’s make up and go to bed early.”
That was when.
The light that I thought was starlight got closer and then suddenly became huge.
“···damage!”
Almost simultaneously with my shout, it fell on us.
-Kwaaaaang!
< Good Man > End
ⓒ Ganjjajang
