The Returner

“Did you win……. ”

Yoon Young-min muttered quietly.

The situation on the screen ended everything.

“I didn't win. ”

However, Song Jing-soo's voice was bitter.

“It's just over, one thing. ”

“… Yes, it is. ”

Yoon Young-min nodded.

It was a difficult outcome to describe as a victory. Humanity lost too much, and demanded the sacrifice of Lee Yi Hyuk until the end.

‘This man, why do I have to carry all this? ’

Lee Ji-hyuk, who took the last crisis and disappeared for the world, was clearly embedded in his brain.

Until the end, they had to rely on Lee Hyuk. He could not share the heavy burden of pressing down on his shoulder.

“Son of a bitch. ”

Song Jung-soo's complex voice slowly leaked out.

“It's not time to get wet. ”

“… Yes. ”

Song Jeongsoo quietly lit a cigarette and lit a fire. Song Jung-soo, who placed the cigarette with the fire on the ashtray in front, bites the new cigarette and lights the fire.

A healthy cigarette burned, but Yoon Young-min didn't ask why. because I know who that cigarette belongs to.

“We have work to do. Someday... someday he will come back. I don't know if it's going to take a decade or a hundred years, but when he comes back, I want him to feel rewarded for saving the world. I think that's just what we had to watch for, and that's atonement. ”

Song Jeongsoo nodded quietly.

“The President's burden is too heavy. ”

“The Prime Minister is heavier to lose. ”

Song Jeong-soo glanced at Yoon Young-min with a big smile.

‘You've grown a lot. ’

I couldn't find my past awkward appearance until I looked it up. Didn't Song Jeong-soo become a place to ask for advice now?

Yoon Young-min and Choi Jeong-hoon are probably the most grown-up people in this war.

‘That's it. ’

So I could believe it. These two.

Song Jung-soo smiled softly.

‘I would have tried. ’

So you can be relieved.

“We need a lot of help in the future. I am Prime Minister……. ”

Yoon Young-min, who was looking out the window, turned his head to look at Song Jing-soo.

The cigarette that was bitten into Song Jung-soo's mouth, who lowered his head, was slowly burning.

“ ……. ”

Yoon Young-min looked at Song Jeong-soo without saying anything, then slowly approached him and pulled out a cigarette that was bitten on his mouth and put it on the ashtray.

“Really……. ”

Yoon Young-min's voice trembled.

“Well done.”

Yoon Young-min bowed deeply towards Song Jeong-soo.

For a long time, the smoke flowing from the cigarettes was scattered behind Yoon Young-min's back.

* * *

“End of story.”

Christopher asked for a cigar. He was anxious to collapse right away.

His stamina has already been depleted. I'm holding on to my mental strength, but even this mental power was not infinite. I leaned on the couch for a while, but I fell asleep like crazy.

In the past, the battlefield did not slumber for seven days and seven nights, nor did I feel this tired when I slept.

“The reaction is gone. ”

“Of course.”

Christopher stares at the screen dazed.

‘That's it.'

The war that didn't seem to last forever is over. The most devastating, most terrible war of his entire life.

“Send a search party to the area to find any remnants that may be there. Kill any surviving horsemen or horseshoes. Then set up a barricade in front of the gate on the other side of the barge that's still open. ”

“Yes!”

Christopher rubs his eyes.

The war is over for the others, but he still needs to finish it.

It's just...

“Call the White House. ”

“What do you say? ”

“I am returning my transfer authority to this part of the day. ”

“Director!"

The deputy jumped out of bed.

“Do you intend to apprentice those incompetent politicians? Not yet. At least after he stabilized... …. ”

“When will that rest come? ”

“ ……. ”

“There is no end. I can find a hundred more reasons to lead a political party. If the transfer is delayed, the dictatorship begins. Better incompetent democracy than good dictatorship. Maybe that's our ideology. ”

“... You're right. ”

“And…. ”

Christopher sighs low.

“I'm tired now. And I'm not cut out for the new age. The age of harmony will come. It's time for a retirement like me to think about how to eliminate an enemy for the rest of my life. ”

“You are never a compost. ”

“Thank you for saying that. But this is my decision. Humanity will now face a new challenge. It's a time when new people have to lead. As soon as you give me some advice and start laughing, the old age will be buried in this new age. I'll just watch. ”

I put the hat that Christopher was wearing next to him.

The deputy closed his eyes slightly when he saw the scene.

Attention, all! ”

Everyone in the office took a float.

“Salute!”

All hailed, Christopher put his hat back on. Then I answered their manners with a proper salute.

The last of the world's destiny was a small one, but it was worth more than any other grand retirement ceremony.

“So what are you going to do now? ”

Christopher laughs as he puts his hat down.

“Well, I guess I'll go home and give my wife a present. And then maybe we go fishing? ”

“Fishing? ”

“Yes, fishing. When the world comes to peace, we'll go fishing together. I'll drop a fishing rod and wait for him to come back. ”

Christopher's back looks something else, walking out with a smile on his face.

* * *

The war was over after many plagues, but the world crisis was not over.

War has done so much damage. Humanity's vast civilization was nearly destroyed, and the number of casualties was few.

Ironically, the biggest problem was that there were too many survivors.

The absence of civilization leads to an absence of productivity. Most of the farms that were built on a large scale were faced with the consequences that the humans who had lost their food shortages immediately.

The world panicked as the result was that more people would be lost in Asazara than the victims lost in the war.

But the solution came out of nowhere.

“We have enough food. ”

Diolet XII said with a soft face.

“Beraf is a land of abundance. Because there is the blessing of the Goddess. Latrell saw this situation and ordered us to stockpile food earlier. I'm ashamed to say it's a cost to move into this world, but we will support the food. ”

Beraf's help does not end there.

“We can restore the contaminated land. Purification magic was a simple solution. ”

Many of the cities that were killed by the radiation were taken over by the followers of the earthly god. Magic and divine power solved the unanswered problem with science too easily.

“I'm so glad. ”

Choi Jung-hoon was in charge of coordination.

His appearance in the war was enough to draw trust between Earth and Beraf. Cho Jeong-hoon argued that accepting the veraphs to the survivors of the Earth would have a positive impact and practical benefit on humanity.

Thanks to this, the Veravs were allowed to migrate by giving away a portion of the land that had become a community.

It's hard for them to live with modern people who are familiar with science right now. As time goes on, two civilizations will coexist in one world for a time.

It was successful by avoiding the worst outcome of the civil war.

Survivors had to accept reality.

It was not easy to live in a world where the benefits of ruined cities and science had disappeared, but I was able to accept them all just by surviving now.

And…….

“Hey, pull it up straight! ”

A huge iron bone was being built on the ruined ground.

Seo Ah-young looked at the scene with a slightly dissatisfied face.

“How long will it take? ”

“What?”

“The time we've lived. How long will it take to get back to that? ”

Choi Jung-hoon smiled.

“It won't take long. ”

“I have to start over from the rubble. ”

“It's common in history. ”

Choi Jung-hoon swept his head.

“Humanity has regressed more than ever before. Each time, mankind gathered their strength and evolved again. And finally, it was way ahead of its time. It's the same now. If we look at it now, it'll feel vague, but soon we'll be better off than ever. It's human.”

“Human……. ”

Choi Jung-hoon smiled at those who were moving with the materials at the construction site.

“And reducing that time is what we need to do. ”

“Yes, it is. ”

“I'll come back one day. Until then, if we don't improve properly, we'll have to live with the nagging for a month, and I don't want to die of stress. At least until then, you have to create an environment where you can play a game while sipping coke in a cool room. ”

“I don't want to hear about it.... ”

“Hahahaha.”

Choi Jeong-hoon looked up at the sky with his poor eyes.

‘I know, it's not easy. ’

But you have to do it.

This is the world he saved.

Even at this moment, he's probably fighting his own battles to save the world. To endure extreme pain.

“Don't you have to go? ”

“Jung Jeong-min will come and get you. I can't keep up with the plane anyways. ”

“Why does Choi Jung-hoon have to go to the summit? It's not even presidential.”

“Of course. What can I do for you?”

Choi Jung-hoon smiled.

The age was asking him for too much. But I couldn't cry. Lee Hyuk fought with dozens of times the burden of this. And we're still fighting.

A friend is fighting, but he can't help it.

His war will now begin. Labor follows progress.

“Remember one thing. ”

“Yes?”

“Lee Hyuk would have wanted you to be happy. ”

“ ……. ”

Choi Jung-hoon looked up at the sky without saying anything.

It seemed like Lee Hyuk's face with a subtle smile was there.

“I'm sure you did.”

Choi Jung-hoon nodded and turned.

“He's a hopeful man. Be happy doing what you do. ”

“You're a bad person. ”

“Yes. Yes……. Yes, it is. ”

Tears come out.

The first time I met him was good.

The face you don't know what to do with because you like it.

I didn't know how much that face meant then.

That's why we have to make it.

A world like that that could come back and love it so much.

“You'll be busy.”

“More here? ”

“Yes, because you have to satisfy a lot of people. ”

Choi Jung-hoon walked out without waiting for an answer.

Seo Ah-young glanced at his back.

I saw Lee Hyuk's back and Choi Jung-hoon's back overlapping. Seo Ah-young looked up at the sky.

“I'll be waiting……. ”

In this world you've saved.

“Come with me! ”

A whiff of wind blows from the place where the two men left.

A little lonely, a little breezy.

Time passed away with the blowing smoke.

I can't even remember the terrible war.