The Dark Mage’s Return to Enlistment

Chapter 1: The return

“Let me ask you one last time. Do you really want to return to your original world?”

“Yes.”

In front of the foundation that worships a god, a man and a woman faced each other within a vast space.

“Enough already, please send me back. I’ve caused enough trouble here.”

The man, Kim Min-joon, who was called Mino in this place and was a Korean, stood up abruptly while kneeling with one knee and bowing.

“Ha…”

The woman, known as a saint, sighed as if the sight was familiar.

“I’ll tell you once again, we didn’t give you the job of a dark wizard because we hate you.”

“But the saint hates me to death.”

“Your sharp tongue is a bit of a problem, but we’re really grateful for your help in silence for our empire.”

The saint continued to persuade Kim Min-joon in a tone that was like pacifying a child.

“In this world, the job of a dark wizard had a bad reputation, but you became the reason to change that. What you have accomplished so far is invaluable.”

“So what should I do? The people here look at me like a monster.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

Kim Min-joon firmly rejected the saint’s persuasion.

Despite receiving the death penalty in this world, he had risen to the pinnacle of a dark wizard.

Power, fame, and wealth.

He could even have women at his disposal if he wished.

“Why would I give those up?”

However, Kim Min-joon seemed to have no regrets about giving them up.

“Let’s stop this ridiculous play now.”

“What?”

“I feel like I’m going to vomit.”

Kim Min-joon had his eyes fixed on the holy maiden.

His eyes were so intense that they looked like he could kill her at any moment.

The holy maiden took a step back, feeling uneasy under his gaze.

“You dragged me here against my will and acted like a madman. And now what? You want me to clean up after you?”

Kim Min-joon raised his right arm, as if showing the holy maiden something.

“Do you know what this is? If it weren’t for the mark on my hand, you would be dead.”

In truth, the mark was nothing but a symbol that was no different from a leash.

“I am sorry for the way you have been treated. If you stay here, I will do anything for you. Minold! Without you, our empire would…”

“Bring me some chicken.”

“…What?”

“And some pork belly too.”

The holy maiden’s eyes widened at the unfamiliar words.

“Do you know what? The food here is terrible. They feed you high-calorie snacks. How can anyone live like this?”

“That, that’s… I will try to improve it in the future!”

“Fine. That aside, bring me a computer with high-speed internet and top-of-the-line specs.”

“….”

The holy maiden remained silent.

Of course, it was impossible.

This is why I want to return to my original world.

Of course, the fact that the holy maiden was considered a garbage profession, a dark wizard, and a low-performance profession, also played a part.

“…Since it is Minold’s wish, I understand. Let’s begin the teleportation ritual.”

Finally, the holy maiden nodded her head in resignation and headed towards the magic circle on the right.

“Hurry up. When I go back, I have to attend the 4th awakening in Dungeon Fighter Online. Or maybe the 5th awakening has been released.”

“Dungeon… Fighter? What is that?”

“It’s a great game among great games. When I go back, I have to check in and receive rewards for inactive users.”

“Sigh. I see.”

I don’t understand what he means by chicken or Dungeon Fighter.

In the end, the holy maiden gave up on Minold.

She didn’t know what kind of trouble she would stir up if she provoked him any further.

A little later, the teleportation ritual began on the magic circle.

“Do you need a knight? If you remove the mark, you might die.”

“I accept it willingly. It’s all my fault.”

“Not very fun.”

Kim Minjun slept until the protection of the saint disappeared.

“We will begin the next ritual.”

“Now that I’m doing it, you can leave.”

“…What? Ah!”

As soon as Kim Minjun confirmed that the pattern on his hand had disappeared, he threw the saint far away.

Of course, he threw her towards a place with soft cloth with minimal consideration.

“How could I give up the power that I’ve built up? Giving up power is obviously a lie.”

Sssss-

Black magic began to surge and violently emit from Kim Minjun’s hands.

The magic quickly created a portal that could fit only one person.

“You’ve been a pain to meet until now, and if we meet again, you’ll get your head smashed in.”

“Minoled-nim! You shouldn’t make such a hasty decision for dimensional travel…”

“I know.”

That’s why I practiced over 1,000 times.

I am the peak of dark magic.

After striking a pose towards the saint, Kim Minjun flew into the portal.

“Tell your parents to live a long and healthy life, you dog!”

Kikig!

The black portal disappeared with a loud noise as soon as Kim Minjun entered.

“Ah…”

The saint, who was left alone, closed her eyes as if she had a headache.

“Do you know how crazy you are to do this for someone you like?”

****

A portal opened in a small one-room apartment of about two pyeongs.

“Ugh!”

And then it spit out a man and turned into small particles and scattered.

“Phew… I thought I was going to die during dimensional travel.”

Kim Minjun stood up and slowly looked around.

He had practiced his dark magic in preparation for his return, but it was his first time actually entering it.

“Even if it’s not Korea, please let it be inside the planet. Please.”

If we were to move to another dimension instead of Earth, it would be a headache. In that case, we would have to reconsider the coordinates we have experimented with so far.

He picked up the smartphone lying on the desk first.

“Ah… I missed this feeling.”

With a slightly awkward gesture, he operated the screen, and Korean time appeared along with the background screen he had set.

[January 25th, 2020]

[5:01 AM]

“My phone is definitely here.”

Kim Min-jun checked the Dungeon Fighter Online (DFO) illustration set as his background screen and smiled with satisfaction.

This was a picture he had privately commissioned from a webtoon aspirant, paying out of his own pocket.

“And this is the studio apartment I used to live in.”

Moldy walls and ceiling, and a gaming laptop on the desk.

“I’m back… I’m back!”

Kim Min-jun shouted with joy at the thought of returning to his hometown.

“Oh, get a grip on yourself. There’s still 50 minutes left to reset my DFO fatigue!”

Quickly operating his laptop, Kim Min-jun launched the game.

For a man who had been living in another world for over 20 years, it was a familiar operation.

“As expected, I’ve reached the 4th awakening. I wonder if I can get the rest reward.”

***

Kim Min-jun.

As of 2020, he is a young man who has turned 21.

When he was a third-year high school student preparing for the college entrance exam in 2018, he was summoned to another world by the call of a holy maiden.

The name of that world was Isgard, a world where monsters that could only be seen in games roamed.

Although he hoped that he could become invincible by receiving special powers from the holy maiden like in a typical RPG, that was not the case at all.

Kim Min-jun was given the job of a dark magician by the holy maiden and worked secretly from behind without revealing his real name.

Why?

Because being a dark magician was a job that was heavily criticized.

“Such nonsense. I never even thought of helping those guys.”

Kim Min-jun fought against monsters around him and sometimes even enemy soldiers like a madman in order to become stronger, or rather, to go back to his own world.

He thought that if he became stronger, he might be able to acquire a skill that would allow him to move between dimensions.

Of course, he realized too late that his actions were of great benefit to the empire that summoned him.

“I worked hard to become strong all this time, and now they want me to return it? Such nonsense.”

Currently, there was no magic power left in his body, and his physical abilities were not the same as they used to be, but it didn’t matter since he wouldn’t need this power much in the future.

He would enjoy his life for the next hundred years, or even buy the company that made the game if it ever failed.

Kim Min-jun hummed a tune and waited for the game screen to appear.

“Hey, what’s wrong with the internet here? Is it really only downloading at 200 Mbps?”

“Cre-ak!”

While he complained about the slow internet speed,

He heard monsters’ roars outside.

Thud! Thud!

And then, consecutive gunshots.

“It’s so loud. Has a hound appeared nearby?”

He didn’t pay much attention to it and carefully read through the game patch notes.

The phenomenon of dungeons appearing had clearly happened when he was seven years old.

Even back then, I remember the soldiers killing the monsters when they appeared.

“Kreuk!”

“Ah! These bastards! They’re so loud it’s driving me crazy!”

The gunshots and screams just wouldn’t stop.

Kim Min-jun opened the window and looked outside to see what these guys were up to.

“Wait a minute.”

He looked at the scene outside and quickly went out of the house.

Something was strange.

This wasn’t the Korea he knew.

“What’s going on? Why is this happening?”

Soldiers in Hunter and Hound uniforms were fighting a battle about 100m away.

Of course, something like this could happen.

Sometimes monsters would form groups and come out of dungeons.

“Did they build a dungeon here?”

Looking around, there were only monster corpses.

The smell of decaying monsters and blood.

And the collapsed buildings.

It was like a war zone.

No, it was a landscape that reminded one of an apocalypse.

“Ugh! Did the dungeon break here? Why are there so many Hounds?”

“How would I know, I’m just a private! Let’s take care of that one over there!”

The ten or so soldiers divided their roles and skillfully dealt with the Hounds.

“I should ask those old men something. This Korea is too different from what I know.”

Kim Min-jun yawned lazily and decided to wait until the soldiers’ battle was over.

“Oh? Private Choi In-ho!”

“Why are you here when you’re going to die tired!”

“Hey, over there! There’s a civilian!”

“What did you say?”

Choi In-ho, who was stabbing a knife into the Hound’s side in front of him, turned his attention to his successor’s urgent words.

As the guy said, there was a student looking at them with curiosity.

“This is a restricted civilian access area! What are these guard dogs doing?!”

Choi In-ho immediately left the line of formation.

It was in accordance with the Hunter Army’s manual to prioritize the protection of civilians.

“What? Why is that old man coming to me?”

Kim Min-joon cocked his head as he watched a soldier gesturing to him.

His expression also seemed desperate.

Did he need to use the bathroom urgently?

“Student! Come this way quickly!”

“Private Choi In-ho! Another hound has appeared on the right! It’s dangerous!”

“Oh, damn it!”

When the soldier heard this, he took out a mana gun from his waist.

Then he aimed and fired warning shots towards the hound running towards Kim Min-joon from his right.

“Crunch! Crunch!”

However, as if questioning whether that was all, the hound leaped towards Kim Min-joon, pounding the ground with all four legs.

“Squeak!”

Choi In-ho had a sense of the tragedy that would unfold, so he closed his eyes for a moment.

The hound would have mercilessly bitten the defenseless civilian’s neck.

Because he had to witness such a sight.

“… Huh?”

However, what he had imagined did not come to pass.