Everyone Else is a Returnee – Chapter 154: If I Open It, It’s The Gate To Hell – 2

2 weeks had passed .

Yu IlHan and his subordinates fought bravely inside and outside the mansion grounds . They killed so many monsters that the huge vortex of mana appeared a few more times after that .

As such, Yu IlHan focused all the mana in the fortress to ‘kill’ the vortexes and let his subordinates take care of the 3rd class monsters, but despite that, the experience from the vortex was truly enormous and he achieved level 155 within two weeks .

Yu IlHan had a short opinion of this phenomenon .

“I knew I’ve done well to build the fortress!”
[Whatever this guy makes, there will always come a time when he needs it… . . it’s so frustrating!] (Erta)
[From how it gives me experience, it means that it is an existence with a record, right? And it turns into a gate by inserting other people’s mana……] (Liera)
[It’s also not possible by just anyone . From the current standards of Earth, if it’s not the highest rankers, no matter how much mana is inserted in any way, they would eventually disappear . ] (Spiera)

Even the angels couldn’t give a clear answer to the identity of the vortexes . That was because Earth was the only world among countless worlds that caused such phenomena .

Then, the only answer was the human Yu IlHan who was gaining its records, but like how the Akashic Record only put question marks all over, Yu IlHan also only felt ‘I feel like I know it but I don’t!’ no matter how many vortexes he ‘killed’ .

“But wouldn’t it be a good guy? It obediently disappears without attacking, and it even give me experience!”
[It’s a problem because it’s connecting gates to other worlds in other places . Well, it might be alright for you, IlHan, since you aren’t connected to any other world . ] (Liera)

Like what Liera said, confusion was arising on Earth due to the sudden appearance of portals leading to other worlds in various places on Earth .

Although they were worlds where the people of Earth had lived in, and were different from Abandoned Worlds, they were still other worlds .

Didn’t all the schemes by the Army of Brilliant Light had to do with connecting Earth with other worlds? But now, they didn’t have to do anything, and Earth would automatically connect with other worlds! Things would turn annoying according to how they enticed the people from those worlds .

[What’s fortunate is that not only there are very few people who have enough mana to create gates, the gate also closes very soon unless additional mana is inserted . ] (Spiera)
[Yeah, it’s just one day . It’s good that everyone was wary against that gate, if someone actually went over and the gate closed…] (Liera)
“That sounds really annoying . ”

They would be trapped on Earth until another vortex forms . People from other worlds would be annoyed, and people of Earth would also be put in a difficult position as well . There was no guarantee that there would be no riots .

Of course, the reverse was possible as well . What if the gate closes after someone enters it from Earth? Well, of course, that person would be able to go over to the world he or she was connected to, but would not be able to come back to Earth . Moreover, if that happened several times……

[There is a possibility that all sorts of people will get mixed up on Earth!] (Erta)
“Now that sounds tremendously annoying……”

But could it be considered as fortunate? As they were busy researching into the gates connected to other worlds, for the last two weeks, everyone on Earth was in a busy situation . No matter where they went, monsters were present in large quantities!

The people of other worlds also restrained themselves from coming to Earth because they vaguely knew of the harsh situation . Well, anyone with rational thinking would not bring disaster upon themselves by going over to another world filled with monsters . It was just the people related to the Army of Brilliant Light and the Destruction Demon Army that were crazy!

Like that, Earth that was undergoing harsh times after the Great Cataclysm had even dragged other worlds in . This could be said to be a period of nightmare for everyone other than Yu IlHan .

Then, to Yu IlHan? Of course, this was a period of exp boost and grinding .

“I wish this would go on for one more month . ”
[You are fine controlling the fortress from inside, but the other guys are suffering outside, aren’t they? They would swear at you if they heard you . ] (Liera)
[Yu IlHan, there’s another vortex . ] (Spiera)
“Yesss, let’s do this!”

Truly fortunately, when a few more messy days went past, people started to see the light at the end of the tunnel . Tens of thousands of monsters had been reduced to just a few thousand .

“The monster horde definitely did decrease . ”
[Well, of course it would be like this after exterminating them in such a large scale!] (Erta)
[I think your subordinates also leveled up by an average of 3 . ] (Spiera)

All sorts of monsters that could fill Earth more than once, were all cleaned up as well . Of course, this was excluding places like the islands in the Pacific, or Venezuela, which had met its downfall since the 1st Great Cataclysm .

Even though people were noisy about protecting the territory of humans, the people of Earth had no choice but to give up on some places . The monsters that weren’t entrapped by the dungeons gathered at areas outside human influence such as the seas, mountains, and countries that had long since fallen .
Oh, this was about monsters that weren’t influenced by Yu IlHan’s Bittersweet Persona . If Yu IlHan had not created this fortress, the map of Earth would have changed drastically by now .

[Considering the happenings in the past few days, didn’t about 20% of the monsters that appeared in the 2nd Great Cataclysm die here?] (Liera)
[Liera, measure the mana concentration 30 seconds away from here . If that place could be considered as instant coffee, this place is a cup of gourmet espresso . ] (Erta)

As there were way too many monsters that died within the mansion grounds, the mana in this place was near to physical manifestation and had formed a light fog .

Due to the power of the artifact, Bittersweet Persona, the mana could not escape and as a result, the fog did not disperse, enveloping the mansion and its perimeter .
The monsters appearing nearby would be attracted by the fog, and as such, they would contribute to the mana in the fortress . It seemed unlikely that such a state would change anytime soon .

[Somehow this looks like a mansion from a horror game……] (Liera)
[Don’t mention games, this situation is horrifying enough . ] (Erta)

How could a horror game even compare to this mansion where beings entering without permission would die in the most horrifying ways . Moreover, as there were too much mana within the grounds, there would naturally be monsters born inside the grounds, although, the traps would activate and instantly kill them .

“I think it would look cooler if the fog was a little thicker . ”

Yu IlHan spoke nonsensically as he controlled the fortress to deliver a finisher attack to the decreased number of enemies, when Liera flapped her wings and stood up .

[Then since things are settling down here, I’ll visit Heaven . The quest to create Traps of Destruction ended so I need to give IlHan the rewards . ] (Liera)
“Cleaning up the confusion after the 2nd Great Cataclysm also counts as a quest, right? Don’t forget to separate the rewards . ”
[Of course, of course . Well, then, in compensation, quickly lemme . ] (Liera)
“Eeei . ”

Liera playfully replied and kissed his cheeks instead of exchanging goodbyes . Erta’s eyebrows twitched after seeing that Yu IlHan obediently let her do so .

[To think you made Yu IlHan accept skinship so naturally… . . !] (Erta)
[Ufufufu . ] (Liera)

Liera flashed a victor’s grin at Erta before leaving . She, who had lost miserably, could only grit her teeth, but Yu IlHan only went back to controlling the fortress .

“Okay then… from now, let’s focus on recovering the monster’s bodies… . ”
[Eeeeeek . ] (Erta)

Erta was met with Yu IlHan’s back as he stood up, and she felt really inclined to kick at it . However, Spiera only thought that she was playing along despite being a higher existence .

When four or five more hours went past, the situation finally calmed down . The decreasing monsters reduced even more from a certain moment onwards, and in the end, the endless throes of monsters rushing towards Yu IlHan’s mansion died down completely .

“How can this be . ”

Yu IlHan fell into despair while looking at the empty scene in the monitor . Not to mention the giant vortex that connected gates to other worlds, there wasn’t much of a single monster within the screen!

“I’ll be level 160 if I just level up one more time!”
[Don’t go around saying that, the others will die due to high blood pressure . ] (Erta)

After checking that the long battle had come to a complete finish, Yu IlHan immediately let his subordinates return . Such was the end to the enjoyable mansion defense .

“Your Majesty, you were amazing . ”
“That mana explosion that wiped out the monsters was really……”
“I can’t use that too often . Anyway, you guys have done well too . ”

Yu IlHan even felt sorry after seeing their appearances . They had to fight for 20 days in a row without even being able to wash up . However, it was unknown why the elves boasted superior aesthetics even though they should be dirty .

“Wash well and have a nice sleep . Thanks to you guys, we won’t have to worry about monsters for quite a while . ”
“Yay!”
“Your Majesty, then please excuse myself to rest . ”
“Mirey, let’s wash together!”
“Okay!”

Although everyone was given a room of their own, Mirey, Phiria, and Ericia found it difficult to rest properly alone, and slept together in one room, and this was the same with Paté and Jirl .
Yu IlHan thought that they should all sleep together while at it, but accepted the outcome after remembering that Paté and Jirl were male .

Meanwhile, Yumir seemed to have longed for his dad after fighting hard for so long, as he changed into his pajamas after washing with Yu IlHan, before falling asleep in his arms . His body temperature was warm and felt good .

Although he looked like a perfect 11 year old on the outside, he was still a baby on the inside, prompting Yu IlHan to let out a smile, however, he couldn’t stay smiling forever .

“He’s already level 140 . Wow, that’s insanely fast . ”
[That’s what you’re unsatisfied about!?] (Erta)

As Yumir was the one with most action in the 2 years and 9 months in the Abandoned World with Kang MiRae, he levelled up the most as well . It was the same this time in the mansion defense, and decisively, it was possible to have such an insane speed of growth because eating dragon meat let his level increase .

Yu IlHan thought back to the mountains of dragon meat in his inventory, and realised that Yumir may actually reach 4th class faster than him .

[Mr . IlHan, can we come in?] (MiRae)
[Yaaay!] (YuNa)

At that moment, guests arrived .

Yu IlHan smiled after checking the guests through the monitor . It was none other than Kang MiRae and Na YuNa .

They actually came to find him as soon as the monsters retreated? It seemed like they like Yumir so much – thought Yu IlHan (wrongly) as he controlled the mansion to let them in .

However, the moment Yu IlHan entered the guest room, something flew in through the window like lightning .

[I’m back!] (Liera)
“Whoa!”

It was Liera . As Yumir was sleeping in one of his arms, he raised his other arm when she ‘dove’ into his arms .

[Receive the rewards! And receive me while at it!] (Liera)
“You’re heavy!”

Immediately after Yu IlHan barely managed to hold Liera while not waking Mir up, a hot aura was transferred from Liera to him, and green text covered his eyes .

[Heaven’s Quest, 07, 08 complete!]
[All status increased by 20 . Strength increased additionally by 10 . ]
[You have acquired the passive skill, Magic engineering . You are now able to bring out the power of an artifact more easily, and the success rate of mana crafting increases . ]

Yu IlHan sat down, with Yumir in one arm, and Liera in the other . Then, he tilted his head after checking the skill he had just acquired .

“According to Bittersweet Persona, I’m already at the peak of magic engineering?”
[That’s just practical stuff without the theory . You are no different from having made a semiconductor from just its appearance . Of course, that’s very amazing, but magic engineering isn’t like that . It’s a field of study and a skill that one has to learn if one wields magical languages and mana crafting . It’s also a study that developed naturally across numerous worlds hundreds of years after a Great Cataclysm occurs . ] (Liera)
“Hmm . ”

No matter how he thought about it, it sounded annoying, but if the performance of his artifacts increased by raising its skill level, then he couldn’t ignore it either .

There would be improvements in the combination of soul enchant and the artifact, it would definitely assist in completing the mobile fortress . And even to the equipments he had to stop on the design phase!

Good, now that he thought like that, his motivation surged . Yu IlHan asked Liera with an expectant face .

“And so, how can I train in magic engineering? It wouldn’t just end with repeating mana crafting, right?”
[Well, I don’t know either . ] (Liera)
“I should have expected this from how confident sounding you were!”
[Kyaaak!] (Liera)

Yu IlHan moved his fingers on her waist to tickle her mercilessly . He never could have possibly imagined that it was the best reward Liera could get!

[Ugh, even I only know the basics of magic engineering… . . !] (Erta)
[Are you frustrated because you cannot teach Yu IlHan magic engineering, or because you cannot take Liera’s place… . . ?] (Spiera)

Erta only watched the scene in frustration, and Spiera looked at her with narrowed eyes . Yumir was sleeping soundly as ever .

“……Mr . IlHan?”
“Oh . ”

And now, the forgotten guests were standing outside the guest room with eyes wide open .

“I’m sorry . The door was wide open so I entered when I could hear some people speaking… . . ”
“Can you employ me as a maid hereee?”
“No, I don’t need one . And so……”

However, just as when Yu IlHan was in a difficult situation, pondering about how to get out of this situation, Kang MiRae blurted out something completely unexpected .

“Magic engineering…… is quite well-developed in the world I went to . ”
“…… . What did you say?”

A savior had arrived .

Author’s notes

Nice EXP gain . Feels like a new quest .