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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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A long-awaited reunion with his family.
Since they were closely connected by blood, he thought they would exchange simple greetings, shed tears of longing and joy, and catch up.
However, the reunion was completely different from what he had expected.
When they finally met, he couldn’t help but smile.
It wasn’t that he didn’t cry, but it was only a few tears at most.
Perhaps because they shared the same blood, his younger sister, Lee Seo-yoon, had the same reaction.
When they faced each other, her eyes reddened for a moment, but then she simply smiled and greeted him.
It was different from what he had imagined, but it wasn’t bad.
No, he could even say that he was happy.
In fact, a smile continued to bloom on Lee Seong-joon’s face.
“What’s making you smile so much since earlier?”
“I’m just smiling because I’m happy, so don’t worry about it.”
There was no particular reason.
As he rode the bus with her and walked side by side, a silly smile kept spreading across his face.
For the first time, he truly understood what it meant to smile out of happiness.
“You didn’t hit your head or anything, did you?”
“If I look that unsightly, I’ll try to restrain myself a bit.”
“No, if you’re not sick or hurt, just act however you feel comfortable.”
Although somewhat blunt, the concern in her tone made Lee Seong-joon smile again.
‘She really grew up well.’
Even though he was a terrible older brother, his only family member had suddenly disappeared.
Of course, the family must have put in a lot of effort, time, and money to find the missing Lee Seong-joon.
The family’s financial situation, which was already difficult due to their mother’s medical bills, must have worsened.
A life that was not abundant, an unstable family situation.
Considering that Lee Seo-yoon was 16 years old at the time, in her adolescence, it could be said that she had grown up wonderfully with a warm heart.
‘Although she seems to have some worries…’
Her once clear and pure eyes had become heavy and deep.
Even without asking directly, he could easily guess the reason for this change.
‘The family’s financial situation must still be not very good.’
It must have gotten even worse.
The disease their mother suffered from was mana syndrome, a disease that appeared in the past, in 2038, along with the emergence of Awakeners.
Although it was a very severe illness that could not be cured by ordinary means, fortunately, with continuous treatment and care, it was not a life-threatening illness.
However, this also meant that without continuous care, a normal life would be impossible.
Therefore, the monthly expenses for hospital bills and medicine were considerable, and the family’s financial situation could not be abundant.
In such a situation, the neighborhood they originally lived in was invaded by monsters, forcing them to move.
‘It must have been a huge burden.’
Although the government promised to compensate for the unavoidable circumstances, it was merely a formality, and the reality was that the measures were absurd.
In fact, on the way home, there were signs of a poor environment everywhere.
Trash carelessly scattered around, a foul sewage smell, narrow and dark alleys, and even broken streetlights.
Although he tried not to show it, Lee Seong-joon unconsciously bit his lower lip at the surroundings, which could be described as the worst.
‘She must have had a really hard time…’
As the family situation worsened in his absence, Lee Seong-joon felt a pang of pain in his heart and said.
“You don’t have to worry about anything anymore, just trust this older brother.”
It was a sudden remark, but perhaps because she saw Seong-joon’s gaze scanning the surroundings, Seo-yoon forced a calm smile.
“I’m doing a pretty good job of taking care of myself, so you don’t have to worry that much.”
At her bold response, Lee Seong-joon let out a chuckle.
“You’ve really become an adult.”
His younger sister was no longer the child he remembered.
As an adult, she was trying to be considerate and understanding of others.
Just then, a feeling of pride and admiration welled up in his heart.
“And I can handle everything else, but could you please do something about your way of speaking?”
“…I apologize, I wasn’t thinking at all.”
Lee Seong-joon’s eyes wavered.
Come to think of it, the way he was speaking and his habits were those of the Celestial Continent, and of the god of pestilence.
Originally, he had the personality of an ordinary young man from South Korea, but having lived as the Blood Demon and then the god of pestilence for a considerable amount of time on the Celestial Continent, his words and actions had naturally gained weight.
If someone knew the god of pestilence, Lee Seong-joon, they would accept it, but from the perspective of modern people on Earth, he might seem a bit strange.
‘It would be good to change.’
Although it might be a bit awkward at first, it would be best to correct it since he had returned to the modern world.
‘There are probably more things I need to change than I thought.’
While Lee Seong-joon was thinking about his future.
Lee Seo-yoon, who had been walking forward, stopped.
In front of the entrance of a semi-basement house where light did not shine well.
This was the house where his family lived. The living conditions were so poor that Lee Seong-joon frowned.
‘The family’s financial situation seems to be worse than I expected.’
However, since he would change everything from now on, there was no need to show it.
Besides, the important thing right now was not the immediate living conditions.
It was the moment of reunion with his long-awaited family, his parents.
Thump! Thump!
Just as he was taking a deep breath to calm his wildly beating heart.
“Don’t be so nervous, they said they couldn’t come right away because they were busy with urgent matters.”
Creak-
In fact, even though the door was wide open, there was no sign of anyone inside the house.
“I see… I mean, okay?”
“But they said they’d try to get off work as soon as possible, so they’ll be here soon. They’re really busy, so don’t be too disappointed.”
The tension that had built up in anticipation of a dramatic reunion instantly dissipated.
After the brief feeling of relief passed, he suddenly felt a pang of sadness.
Of course, it wasn’t because he wasn’t welcomed.
His son, who had been missing for five years, had returned.
It was like a dream, but the situation was so dire that they couldn’t suddenly leave their jobs, even if it meant living for tomorrow or the next month.
While a bitter feeling lingered in his mouth, Lee Seo-yoon, who had skillfully taken off her shoes and entered the house, asked.
“Did you eat?”
“Fortunately, they took good care of me at the shelter.”
“Then we can talk right away.”
“About what?”
“The Association said you’re a returnee. Where were you and what were you doing?”
As mentioned earlier, the current Earth was a world where Awakeners and returnees lived.
Since there was no reason to hide it, he confidently told her everything about the Celestial Continent and his experiences there.
“It started in a place called the Celestial Continent…”
The reason he joined the Blood Cult, the story of how he became the Blood Demon and conquered the Celestial Continent, and even the anecdotes about how he became the god of pestilence.
After listening to the story for 30 minutes, Lee Seo-yoon carefully opened her mouth.
“So you were the god of pestilence?”
“Yes.”
At his calm answer, a faint smile appeared on Lee Seo-yoon’s lips.
“All returnees are really the same.”
It was an understandable reaction.
Most returnees were full of themselves.
They all claimed to be the strongest and the supreme.
Of course, these were lies to make themselves look good and get better treatment and salaries.
Therefore, in the past, Lee Seong-joon himself had reacted the same way as his younger sister.
However, from Lee Seong-joon’s perspective, who hadn’t told a single lie, he couldn’t help but feel a bit wronged.
“I’m telling the truth.”
“I never said I didn’t believe you. I believe everything you say.”
Having dealt with all kinds of people as the Blood Demon for a considerable amount of time, he could read a person’s intentions to some extent just by looking at their facial expressions.
Although there was still a slight smile on Lee Seo-yoon’s lips, she wasn’t lying.
‘Come to think of it, she was like this in the past too.’
Even when he made up ridiculous excuses and lied, she would just let it go without saying anything.
He was so grateful and sorry at the same time.
He suddenly realized why he had wanted to return to Earth so much.
‘It was because of this family.’
Even if he had great wealth, power, and strength, there was no one who would truly be on his side without any words or conditions.
She just believed him.
“You’ve really been through a lot. It must have been incredibly difficult, but thank you for coming back alive, Oppa.”
The warm sincerity of his family filled his heart, and a pleasant smile naturally spread across Lee Seong-joon’s face.
“You’ve been through a lot too.”
“I’m getting goosebumps, so I can’t say these kinds of things anymore. I’ve also had my questions answered, so I’m going to go to my room and rest a bit until our parents get here. Let me know if you need anything.”
Perhaps embarrassed by the atmosphere, Lee Seo-yoon tried to get up from the floor, but it didn’t go as planned.
“Oof…!”
For a brief moment, Lee Seo-yoon, who was holding her lower back, made an embarrassed expression and spoke.
“I must have overdone it at work yesterday. It usually doesn’t hurt this much…”
Lee Seong-joon’s pupils dilated.
“Weren’t you supposed to be in school?”
At 21, she should have been in college, studying.
It wasn’t just because of her age that he assumed she would have gone to college.
Lee Seo-yoon was quite intelligent, and she was also a hard worker.
In fact, she had always maintained the top spot in her class, so he naturally assumed that she would have entered a prestigious university in the Seoul metropolitan area, and even one of the top-ranked ones.
“What college with our family’s financial situation?”
“…”
At the bitter smile on Lee Seo-yoon’s lips, Lee Seong-joon bit his lower lip.
“Don’t make that face. I’m doing this because I want to help out the family.”
Due to her firm tone, he couldn’t bring up the topic of college anymore.
“…What kind of work do you do that makes your back hurt so much at such a young age?”
“I mainly do assistant work at a restaurant, and I take any high-paying part-time jobs I can find. But it seems like it’s because the one I did yesterday happened to be in logistics, so it’s not something to worry too much about.”
Contrary to what she said, Lee Seo-yoon was still holding her lower back and frowning, so Lee Seong-joon immediately got up from his seat.
“Let me take a look.”
“Huh? Oh, uh…”
Lee Seong-joon placed his hand on her lower back and checked her condition by circulating his internal energy.
Her bones were slightly misaligned.
Due to this, there was also a problem with her spine, and her blood flow was not circulating properly.
She must have been extremely tired every day.
“You must have moved a lot of heavy things yesterday.”
“There was a lot of logistics, but how did you know?”
Of course, it wasn’t just because of yesterday’s work that her back was in such bad shape.
It was because she hadn’t been able to rest properly for a long time and had been overworking her body.
She was still young, so she only felt pain occasionally, but there was no benefit to neglecting it.
‘If it gets worse, it will be incredibly painful.’
In the worst-case scenario, she might not be able to use her lower back.
He had to fix it now.
“Lie down for a moment.”
“It happens from time to time. It’s really not something to worry about.”
Perhaps because of his earlier accurate observations, despite her words, Lee Seo-yoon carefully lay down on the floor.
Lee Seong-joon placed his hand on his younger sister’s lower back and drew up his internal energy.
‘The fundamentally misaligned bones need to be corrected, but for now, I can at least fix the twisted blood vessels.’
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