Episode 2 – One Month Later

It’s already been over a month since I returned to Earth.

Looking back, a lot has happened since then. The first thing I did was search for my parents. After all, during the seven years I spent in the other world, they were the ones I missed the most.

Even though my best friend Shumi helped me in many ways, my real family was here on Earth. And the loneliness I felt from being without them constantly weighed on me those past seven years.

Since it had been so long, I worried they might not recognize me. Still, I believed they’d welcome me back happily. But when I got to what I remembered as my house, I found strangers living there.

I was shocked, but quickly calmed down. Seven years is a long time, so it wasn’t strange for them to have moved. I immediately hired someone to track down their whereabouts.

But contrary to what I expected… they hadn’t moved.

My parents had been missing for seven years.

Technically, they were listed as “missing,” but in reality, they were most likely dead. Not long after I was sent to the other world, Earth experienced a massive monster invasion. My parents were caught in the chaos and went missing.

So many people died or were eaten by monsters during that time that even finding their remains now was nearly impossible.

After finally returning to Earth, I ended up all alone again.

“No… I’m not alone. I have someone I need to care for.”

Honestly, if it weren’t for the egg Shumi left behind, I might’ve spiraled into despair. But I didn’t have time or energy to waste. The responsibility of hatching and raising Shumi’s egg pulled me out of that dark place.

So I sold the gold and jewels I had stored in my inventory and bought a house. I bought furniture and supplies, and even set up a special room for the baby. I also created a hatching chamber for times when I couldn’t be there in person. Only then did I finally feel a bit of relief.

Today, I was heading to the grocery store with Shumi’s egg carefully tucked inside an insulated reinforced backpack. After focusing solely on furnishing the house for a month, I’d forgotten to restock food — and the inventory was nearly empty.

Sure, I could go without eating for a week if I had to, but there was no reason to starve on purpose. Most importantly, I needed energy to raise a child — that’s what the parenting book I bought said.

So here I was, walking through the busy city again. Despite the monster invasion from years ago, things didn’t look much different from when I last saw them.

Of course, there were visible magic barriers to protect against monsters, and I occasionally saw people dressed in Hunter uniforms. It reminded me that Earth wasn’t the same peaceful place I’d left behind.

Seven years ago, dungeons had suddenly appeared all over the world. People didn’t know what they were, entered them out of curiosity, and died inside. If those dungeons weren’t cleared quickly, monsters would pour out into the world.

But thankfully, people with superhuman powers — called Hunters — began to appear. They took it upon themselves to fight back and clear dungeons. Because of them, Earth had stabilized over the years. New dungeons still appeared, but most could be cleared in time and didn’t pose a huge threat anymore.

Thanks to that, I could now shop peacefully at the grocery store. A huge sign at the entrance said the store was certified by the Hunter Association and had proper monster defense systems installed.

I pushed two shopping carts — one in each hand. People gave me odd looks, but I didn’t care. With an inventory, I could store food without it spoiling, so I was free to buy as much as I wanted.

After piling both carts high, I finally got in line at the register. The people around me started whispering and glancing my way — I guess I was drawing some attention.

Just as I was internally complaining about how long the line was, I felt a small tap on my leg. I turned to see a little girl looking up at me.

“Mister, why do you have two bzz-bzz carts?”“Mister…?”

I was only 22! But looking at her round eyes and chubby cheeks, I couldn’t help but smile. Kids really are cute. Her little hand, tightly holding her mom’s, looked so tiny and sweet I wanted to squish it.

I figured I had some time, so I might as well chat with her.

“Are you talking about the carts?”

Before I could say more—

“Emergency alert! A dungeon break has occurred! All shoppers, please stay inside the store until the situation is under control. I repeat…”

A loud alarm rang through the store along with the announcement. But no one seemed too worried. People just said things like, “Another break?” or “Feels like they’re happening more often lately.”

I didn’t care much either and stayed in line. But the little girl next to me clearly got scared and clung tightly to her mom. She didn’t seem in the mood to talk anymore, so I quietly started placing my groceries on the counter.

“Still not over yet?”

Even after paying and heading to the exit with two large bags, the alert hadn’t been lifted. A lot of people were gathered near the doors, looking annoyed. It seemed like this time, the escaped monster was a bit clever.

“Most monsters are dumb and attack anything that moves… but maybe the monsters here are different from the ones back in La-Moon.”

Standing around waiting for the alert to end was boring. That same little girl was now tugging on her mom’s arm, whining.

“Why aren’t we leaving?”“There’s a scary monster outside.”“So we can’t leave?”“It’s dangerous.”“But I need to watch Bbo-Bbo-Ro!”“Oh right… it’s almost time for that show.”

She must’ve been worried about missing her favorite program.

After a moment of thought, I set my bags down and slipped one of them into my inventory. Someone nearby gasped.

“Are you… a magician?”

The little girl was now staring at me with sparkling eyes. I just smiled and put the other bag away too. She clapped excitedly.

“Magic! Mommy, he did magic!”

Her mom, busy on the phone, just patted her head absentmindedly.

I watched for a bit, then bent down and whispered to her softly.

“Don’t worry.”“Huh?”“You’ll get to watch Bbo-Bbo-Ro.”

With that, I left the store — ignoring the warnings and protests.

The streets were quiet, probably because people were hiding indoors. That was the safest thing to do during a dungeon break since buildings had protective barriers.

There were two main reasons dungeon breaks happened. One: a dungeon wasn’t cleared in time and monsters escaped. Those were dangerous and could turn whole areas into uninhabitable zones. Like the city of Busan, which was now a closed-off Monster Zone.

Two: a dungeon appeared in a hidden or hard-to-spot area and wasn’t discovered in time. Today’s break seemed to be the second kind. That meant only a few weak monsters likely got out.

Still, the fact that the alert hadn’t ended meant the monsters were hiding somewhere.

“My detection skill isn’t perfect, but I might be better than the Hunters here…”

I climbed up to a nearby rooftop and activated my detection skill. I felt a faint trace of monster energy and soon found one hiding between roadside trees.

Without hesitation, I headed that way. After jumping across a few rooftops, I reached the spot.

“Hmm…”

The monster looked like a giant chameleon, able to blend in with its surroundings. Small and camouflaged — no wonder no one found it.

But to me, its strange energy stood out clearly.

I picked up a rock nearby and lightly tossed it a few times, speaking to the egg strapped to my back.

“Close your eyes for a bit.”

Then I threw the rock at the monster.

Whoosh. Thwack.

With a burst of mana, the rock smashed into its head like a tomato. Its body dropped to the ground.

I hesitated, then pulled a torch item from my inventory.

“No one wants monster corpses lying around.”

I set the torch to medium and fired. The monster burned away completely. As soon as it was gone, the city-wide alert finally ended.

“Hope that kid’s not late for her show.”

I walked down the street at a leisurely pace.

As I strolled through the city, I saw a group of Hunters gathered near a narrow alley. I focused my hearing using mana and caught their conversation clearly.

“The dungeon closed, but no one knows how.”“Looks like all the monsters are gone, but no Hunter reported killing them.”“That’s impossible. Someone had to kill them, right?”“No one even saw the monsters. They think a civilian did it…”“What kind of civilian can take out monsters?!”“Maybe an unregistered awakened?”“Seriously? Who wouldn’t register as a Hunter when there are so many benefits?”“Still, there are a few who haven’t…”“Yeah, right. Anyway, investigate again from the beginning!”

If I had known that guy would get chewed out like that, I wouldn’t have burned the monster body. I was just trying to keep the street clean, but I guess it made things harder for them.

Honestly, I could just register as a Hunter. I met all the requirements. But I hadn’t done it — all because of Shumi’s egg. Or rather, Shu.

I didn’t know all the details, but becoming a Hunter meant joining a guild or the Hunter Association. That would limit my freedom. And right now, I was technically… raising a baby.

Being a Hunter while raising a baby dragon? Not easy.

“And probably not good for prenatal care either.”

When I found Shumi’s egg, I saw a strange setup in her lair. Two mana rings — one on the ground, one floating — formed a hatching chamber. It must’ve been to feed mana to the egg since Shumi wasn’t around to do it herself.

So I copied that system and built a similar chamber in my home.

But no matter how advanced the setup, I figured the best “prenatal care” was me staying close. I never let the egg leave my side unless absolutely necessary. I often talked to it and poured a bit of mana into it regularly.

Because of that, the egg had definitely grown larger.

“Feels heavier too.”

That’s why I didn’t want to become a Hunter. It’d be dangerous and stressful for the baby, and I didn’t want to leave it home alone either.

I had no idea when it would hatch — I needed to stay close.

“Shu, you must be stuffy. I’ll take you out now.”

As soon as I got home, I took the egg out of the bag. Shu was the temporary name I gave it. I couldn’t keep calling it “the egg,” so lately I’d been calling it Shu.

“You’re still as pretty as ever.”

When I talked to Shu, I softened my tone as much as I could. Sometimes I cringed at myself, but this was all for Shu’s sake. For Shumi’s sake, too.

“Wait… was this pattern always here?”

I carefully examined the egg and noticed a fine line I hadn’t seen before. When I gently touched it, the egg began to tremble slightly.

“No way…”

Panicking, I held the egg tightly and rushed to the hatching chamber. After activating the mana generator, I gently placed Shu on a soft cushion.

Now I could see it — the egg was moving slightly.

“It’s happening…”

Cracks spread across the surface. Then the shaking stopped.

Crack.

A tiny hole appeared at the top.

I couldn’t take my eyes off it.

Tap, crack.

Bits of eggshell started falling away. I wanted to help, but I didn’t. This was something Shu had to do on their own — breaking out of their small world and entering a new one.

“Ah…”

Finally, half the shell broke away, and a small round head popped out.

Shimmering silver scales. Bright sky-blue eyes. They blinked a few times, then looked straight at me.

“Shu…?”

I called the name I’d been saying every day. My mind flashed back to all the days we spent together — from the moment I found the egg to escaping the other world, living side by side.

Shu must’ve been feeling the same.

And as if responding to those feelings…

The baby dragon smiled brightly and shouted—

“Mama!”