The Way to Save the Crazy Returnees Chapter 52 - Yesterday’s Enemy, Today’s Ally (4)

 

 

“Ugh…”

 

It was already midday by the time Lee Man-deuk groaned and came to. Maybe it was the painkillers from his treatment, but with a dazed look, he blinked a few times—until his eyes met mine.

 

“Fuck, Kwak Yoon-hoo!”

 

He abruptly shot up.

 

“Ow!”

 

Of course, pain immediately twisted his face. He’d done the same thing in the ER too. Apparently, the great “mage” wasn’t very good at learning from experience.

 

Still, Lee Man-deuk bit his lip, swallowed his groan, and pressed a hand to his wounded side.

 

“Maybe it’s best not to use magic?” I said.

 

“Who are you to tell me what to do…!”

 

He snapped, but froze mid-sentence when he noticed the person standing beside me. His eyes widened. It was Kang Ye-seong.

 

Looking like a nervous puppy, Kang Ye-seong hesitantly spoke up, “I—I don’t really understand the kind of ‘magic’ you use, Mr. Lee Man-deuk, but… I think it’s best if you stay still, just like the CEO said.”

 

“Ah…”

 

Letting out a vague sound, Lee Man-deuk lay back down on the bed. To think he’d calm down just from a single word from Kang Ye-seong.

 

“Aren’t you playing favorites a bit too much?” I muttered.

 

Lee Man-deuk shot me a sharp glare, as if to say shut up, but then smiled faintly.

 

“I don’t know what you mean, CEO Kwak.”

 

His demeanor changed in an instant. His tone softened, polite and gentle—enough to make my skin crawl.

 

Yeah. This guy was definitely not someone you wanted as an enemy.

 

“But Muse, what brings you here?”

 

“I heard Mr. Lee Man-deuk was injured,” Kang Ye-seong said, awkwardly scratching his cheek. “I couldn’t just sit still after hearing that the person who saved me was badly hurt.”

 

I added, “You know Muse is super busy with post-promotion work, right? And yet, he still came to visit.”

 

Though, of course, I was the one who called him. That damned mage, with his annoyingly sharp intuition, had probably already figured that out.

 

“Muse…!”

 

As if deeply touched, Lee Man-deuk covered his mouth with both hands.

 

“I’ll be a Nike fan for life!”

 

“Thank you,” Kang Ye-seong said with a shy smile, showing him what he’d brought. “I wasn’t sure what to get as a hospital gift, so I bought something that just… felt right for you, Mr. Lee Man-deuk.”

 

It was a bouquet of bright, fresh flowers.

 

“I figured you might not have a vase, so I brought one too. You don’t, right?”

 

Lee Man-deuk couldn’t even respond. He just stared at Kang Ye-seong with an awestruck, almost dazed expression.

 

“Mr. Lee Man-deuk?”

 

“He doesn’t have a vase,” I answered for him.

 

“Oh, good! Then I’ll go put the flowers in the vase.”

 

With that, Kang Ye-seong left the room with the bouquet and vase in hand. There was a bathroom inside, but it seemed he was giving Lee Man-deuk and me some privacy.

 

‘Thanks for that,’ I thought.

 

Just as that crossed my mind, the dazed Lee Man-deuk finally came back to his senses.

 

“Muse… Muse came to visit me…!”

 

“If you want to keep looking at the flowers Muse brought, you might have to stay hospitalized for a while,” I said.

 

Catching the implied warning not to use magic, Lee Man-deuk frowned sharply.

 

“What the hell are you?”

 

“For starters, I’m not working with Ji Geon-hyuk.”

 

“So you’re saying… you could side with him eventually?”

 

“Possibly.”

 

Nothing was certain yet.

 

“So, will you tell me?” I asked.

 

What exactly happened between you and Ji Geon-hyuk?

 

“Because depending on your answer, things could turn out very differently, Mr. Lee Man-deuk.”

 

The 365th regression.

The way to handle the variables in this world would depend entirely on his response.

 

Lee Man-deuk stared at me intently before his lips curled into a crooked smirk.

 

“Alright.”

 

***

 

Whoosh!

 

At the edge of the rooftop, Ji Geon-hyuk stood in the pouring rain, letting it drench him. Behind him appeared a woman with long black hair cascading past her chest. Unlike him, she held a black umbrella.

 

Ji Geon-hyuk noticed her presence but didn’t turn around. He simply gazed out into the distance, expression unreadable.

 

The woman spoke first.

 

“I have something to ask.”

 

“Ask whatever you want. You’d ask even if I told you not to.”

 

“You know me well.”

 

She smiled faintly, then said, “Kwak Yoon-hoo.”

 

At that name, Ji Geon-hyuk tilted his head slightly. Meeting his gaze, the woman raised the corner of her mouth.

 

“Why are you so concerned about that worthless man who has nothing but money?”

 

Nothing but money, huh?

 

Ji Geon-hyuk let out a short chuckle.

 

Misreading the expression, the woman pressed on.

 

“Is it his wealth that you covet?”

 

“No way.”

 

“Well, you’re quite the nouveau riche yourself.”

 

It couldn’t be that Ji Geon-hyuk was threatening Kwak Yoon-hoo for something so trivial.

 

“Then what is your reason?” she asked. “And why did you spare that Sapa bastard?”

 

“Sapa? You mean Lee Man-deuk?”

 

“If someone wields that kind of bizarre power, what else could they be but Sapa?”

 

Sapa (邪派) — a faction that pursues selfish gain by any means, heedless of morality.

 

“Among the Sapas, there were many who practiced all sorts of strange martial arts. They were often more meticulous than the orthodox sects.”

 

From a martial artist’s perspective, perhaps a magician would indeed fall under Sapa.

 

‘And yet she calls herself the Heavenly Demon?’

 

Still, since the woman tended to judge everything by her own standards, Ji Geon-hyuk answered calmly.

 

“I only gave Kwak Yoon-hoo a small hint.”

 

“A hint?”

 

“Basically, a lead about me.”

 

“Don’t treat me like an idiot. You think I don’t know a simple English word like that?”

 

Even if she was the Heavenly Demon, she was still an Earthling. And as a South Korean, she’d been relentlessly exposed to English since childhood.

 

So she asked confidently, “Then why bother giving him a hint?”

 

“You sure have a lot of questions.”

 

“It’s because you’re acting suspicious.”

 

The woman frowned.

 

“You acted like you wanted to kill that bastard, Kwak Yoon-hoo.”

 

And yet, he’d revealed himself instead.

 

“Come to think of it, that apartment where you first settled—didn’t you suddenly call the authorities there?”

 

After that, he’d had the area cordoned off, using his connections to make it happen.

 

“I wondered why, and then a fire broke out, didn’t it? In the same building where you lived.”

 

“Why bring that up now?”

 

“Kwak Yoon-hoo,” the woman said in a low voice. “It was because of that guy, wasn’t it?”

 

If Ji Geon-hyuk had killed Lee Man-deuk to cover his tracks, that would’ve been one thing. But instead, he’d spared him—even though he easily could’ve ended his life.

 

“How utterly foolish.”

 

Ji Geon-hyuk stayed silent no matter what she said. That only deepened her scowl.

 

“Ji Geon-hyuk,” she snapped, “don’t forget—the only reason I joined hands with you is—”

 

“For your amusement.”

 

Ji Geon-hyuk cut her off.

 

“Since I haven’t forgotten, you can stop worrying, Han Yeong-won.”

 

The woman—Han Yeong-won—let out a mocking laugh and turned away.

 

“I’m glad you haven’t forgotten our deal. But I can’t help being concerned.”

 

“I told you there’s no need for that.”

 

“That’s for me to decide,” Han Yeong-won replied coldly, then chuckled. “Anyway, since you’re acting all confused and hesitant, you pathetic bastard, I guess I’ll give you a little help.”

 

“What? Wait, Han Yeong-won!”

 

Ji Geon-hyuk called out in alarm, but she was already gone. He almost went after her but stopped himself with a shake of his head.

 

Even for him, chasing down a woman who had disappeared using her light-foot martial arts was no easy task. And even if he caught her, she’d probably throw a dagger at him and ask if he wanted to spar.

 

‘I should just be thankful she didn’t use the Heavenly Demon Dominion Steps.’

 

The Heavenly Demon Dominion Steps—a fearsome martial art said to shake the earth itself with a single stride. It was Han Yeong-won’s pride and signature technique.

 

“How the hell did Kwak Yoon-hoo handle someone like her…?”

 

Rummaging through his memories, Ji Geon-hyuk recalled how Kwak Yoon-hoo had prepared a special space just for her. He had let her run wild there to her heart’s content. Occasionally, he even sent her out to hunt invasive species—bullfrogs, bluegills, and the like.

 

“Not only does it give Ms. Han Yeong-won a sense of accomplishment, but it also protects the ecosystem and satisfies her competitive spirit. Don’t you think that’s killing three birds with one stone?”

 

Back then, Ji Geon-hyuk had doubted whether such trivial tasks could really tame someone like Han Yeong-won—someone who preferred fighting bears and tigers.

 

‘Maybe I should do it the way Kwak Yoon-hoo did.’

 

Han Yeong-won was a hedonist, someone who lived purely for pleasure and thrill. Her mind was even more twisted than Lee Man-deuk’s.

 

Kwak Yoon-hoo had once said that her years as the Heavenly Demon had shaped her into what she’d become, but—

 

‘Not that it matters to me.’

 

To Ji Geon-hyuk, Han Yeong-won was just another pawn to bring down Kwak Yoon-hoo. The same went for Lee Man-deuk. The reason he had spared him was simple: to ensure Kwak Yoon-hoo would become fully aware of his existence.

 

That was the only reason. Kwak Yoon-hoo was probably already conscious of his presence—but would be left endlessly suspicious because of it. That was precisely what Ji Geon-hyuk wanted.

 

“Cough…”

 

Suddenly, blood burst from his mouth, splattering across the floor. Ji Geon-hyuk frowned, staring at the red stain spreading across his palm.

 

“Lee Man-deuk, that damned mage bastard.”

 

It seemed the mage had done something to him during their fight. The rain poured down harder, washing the blood clean from his hand.

 

Rumble!

 

Thunder boomed across the sky as his phone buzzed.

 

[010-□2▲1-■△2□]

The Chairman will be visiting Korea soon.

 

A shadow crossed Ji Geon-hyuk’s face as he read the message on the screen.

 

***

 

Rumble!

 

With a thunderous roar, Lee Man-deuk—who had been rambling nonstop—finally stopped talking.

 

“That’s all I’ve got to say about Ji Geon-hyuk.”

 

In short, his story went like this: he’d fought Ji Geon-hyuk bravely but was completely overpowered. Of course, he claimed he’d landed a few hits, but in the end, Lee Man-deuk lost.

 

The injury Ji Geon-hyuk suffered was likely a curse—typical of something Lee Man-deuk would inflict.

 

Then, as if it were his turn to ask, Lee Man-deuk said, “How the hell does that bastard control monsters?”

 

“Monsters?” I repeated.

 

“Don’t play dumb.”

 

Lee Man-deuk glared, his expression making it clear he wouldn’t let it slide if I tried to dodge the question.

 

“You were a slave, right? Unless you were reincarnated into some historical alternate novel, you must’ve ended up in a fantasy one. And there’s no way a fantasy world doesn’t have monsters.”

 

It was a sharp point. I couldn’t deny it, so I answered truthfully.

 

“If you’re a magician, Ji Geon-hyuk is a monarch.”

 

“A monarch?”

 

“Yes — the monarch of monsters. That’s why he can command them as he pleases. But…”

 

Ji Geon-hyuk couldn’t control just any monster at will. After all, this was a world where monsters didn’t even exist. 

 

The only power he could wield here was the martial prowess he had honed to dominate them. That was why, in the last round, he’d tried to create a Gate: to reclaim all his strength and bend the world to his will.

 

Of course, that was only my speculation. I didn’t know the exact reason Ji Geon-hyuk had attempted to open a Gate in the previous round.

 

“Why did you stop talking?” Lee Man-deuk snapped, cutting off my thoughts. I stammered out an answer.

 

“Just… I didn’t expect Ji Geon-hyuk’s power to surpass yours, Mr. Lee Man-deuk.”

 

“That guy surpassed my power?” Lee Man-deuk snorted. “That’s because I let my guard down.”

 

He grumbled that he’d underestimated Ji Geon-hyuk, thinking him nothing more than a run-of-the-mill knight — at best, a swordfighter.

 

“I shouldn’t have held back when he drew that weird sword from the interspace.”

 

“By any chance, was the sword Ji Geon-hyuk used glowing blue?”

 

“Yeah.” Lee Man-deuk’s eyes flashed. “How did you know?”

 

The sword Ji Geon-hyuk favored most had a blue glow. It was likely the Blaze Sword, forged from Leviathan scales and fangs. The Blaze Sword inflicted searing, burning pain on those it cut — which explained why Lee Man-deuk had been groaning.

 

“Hey, CEO Kwak—how do you even know about the sword Ji Geon-hyuk used? Are you in league with that bastard?”

 

Maybe I’d been quiet too long. Lee Man-deuk began leaping to conclusions. Already furious from being thoroughly beaten, and with Kang Ye-seong temporarily out of the room, there was no one there to calm him down.

 

So I—

 

Bzzt!

 

I pulled out the only self-defense tool I had: an electric taser.

 

“Mr. Lee Man-deuk, won’t you join hands with me?” I proposed.