Chapter 3

3

2. Return

"Hello, this is Jin Taehee. Now, let's start today's mission: the mission to drive away the homeless."

A man in his 20s, wearing white running shoes, dragged his feet and shouted.

"Come on, shoot 200 of them quickly."

Jin Taehee.

He scratched his dry, uncombed hair and muttered to himself.

Jin Taehee was a famous internet broadcaster.

Internet broadcasting began to gain popularity in the late 2000s and exploded around 2010.

With the advent of the era where everyone had a smartphone, people all over the world carried pocket-sized computers.

There was nothing a smartphone couldn't do.

You could chat while walking and broadcast live without a camcorder.

This led to the emergence of countless solo broadcasters.

Jin Taehee was one of those internet broadcasters known for his provocative content.

"Stop being so slow and shoot, you brats."

By his side was a fellow broadcaster who was filming him. His name was Joo Sangjun, a member of the crew called Makjang Entertainment.

Makjang Entertainment was a crew formed by Jin Taehee, centered around broadcasters who produced outrageous content.

"Damn, you still haven't shot 200?"

Jin Taehee waved his hand at the camera, showing his frustration.

The 200 he mentioned referred to the star balloons that viewers could send to support the broadcaster.

Jin Taehee had broadcast on various platforms over the years.

He had used over ten platforms in the past decade, from Facebook to PaprikaTV, Muteube, PapeconTV, and Linstagram, among others.

Despite moving from platform to platform, he had been permanently banned from all of them.

During his broadcasts, he had earned 500 million won by being run over by a car's tire and eating urine.

However, a few years ago, during the Bitcoin craze, he lost all his 500 million won and his supercar, leaving him penniless.

He started a new broadcast on HornTV, a platform that had accepted him. Although it had a small number of viewers, Jin Taehee's room was always full.

"Swaggy just shot 200."

Joo Sangjun, who was assisting with the filming, said this after checking the chat window.

"Wow, 200. Thanks, Swaggy. Let's get the mission started right away."

Jin Taehee and Joo Sangjun jumped around in front of Seoul Square, which was close to Seoul Station, looking around.

"There he is. That homeless guy."

Jin Taehee pointed in the direction of Line 4 and shouted.

"Completely wrapped in black, that guy? I'll drive him away."

Jin Taehee led Joo Sangjun confidently towards the homeless man.

"Hey, mister. You can't sleep here. Get up quickly."

Jin Taehee nudged the homeless man with his foot, which was in a worn-out shoe.

"Ugh..."

The person Jin Taehee nudged was wearing a black coat that looked more like a long coat, but it was too wide and had an odd design.

"Is this mister feeling unwell...?"

Jin Taehee muttered, slightly flustered. If he had disturbed someone who was sick, he could be banned from broadcasting again.

The warning bells of permanent bans he had faced countless times were ringing in his head.

"Where is this...?"

The man in black, who had been lying down, slowly got up. His hand, which had been on the ground, was trembling.

His long black hair hung over his face.

"Mister, you can't sleep here!"

Jin Taehee shouted playfully, staring at the homeless man.

"Who are you?"

The man in black frowned even more at Jin Taehee's shout.

And then,

"Camera?"

He saw a smartphone in front of him.

The man's frown deepened.

"What, mister? This is an internet broadcast. What do you want me to do about it?"

Jin Taehee responded defiantly, as if to say, "I'm broadcasting on the internet, so you should understand."

Upon hearing this, the man in black, Lee Junhyeok, distorted his face viciously.

*

'Unbelievable...'

A familiar yet unfamiliar scene.

This was the first emotion I felt upon returning to Earth.

Seoul, where I used to live, had changed so much. The streets of Seoul Station, which I used to walk, were no longer the same.

The buildings and signs had all changed, and people's fashion had also become strange.

And then,

"You're filming me?"

Two strange young men were filming me with their palm-sized phones.

They weren't the old flip or slider phones.

The rectangular phones, like mirrors, had small cameras the size of fingernails.

"Yes, mister. What's the problem? I'll pay you for filming. How much? Since you're homeless, this should be enough."

A short man, about 160 cm tall, wearing loose running clothes, took out a few thousand won bills from his pocket.

"Here, eat this and get out of here quickly."

Four thousand won bills with the image of Yi Hwang were scattered on my face.

The two men, who were busy filming, muttered, "This will be a legendary broadcast today. The views will explode," and chuckled.

"Huff..."

I gathered my strength, still feeling dizzy from the shock of warping through space and time, and got up. I had to do what needed to be done.

Creak!

After getting up,

"Ah! Mister! What are you doing...?"

I slapped the face of the short man in white running shoes who was chattering.

Smack!!!

"Ah!"

The man's body spun three times in the air.

It was a single blow filled with anger, without using any special abilities.

Shaking...

The man lay on the ground, trembling.

Of course, I controlled my strength so he wouldn't die.

I immediately walked over to the fat man.

Swish!

I snatched the phone he was filming with.

- Holy shit, is this real?

- I thought it was fake, but he really hit him.

- He took the camera! Haha

- Hello, mister (belly laugh)

- Jin Taehee, you really met your match today. Haha

- That homeless man is really intense...

I looked at my reflection on the screen and the chat window at the bottom. I was angry, but this was something new.

Filming a broadcast with a phone instead of a camcorder? And broadcasting it live?

Always thirsty for new things, I paused for a moment, taken aback by this fresh cultural shock.

"A... mister..."

The fat man, whose phone I had taken, reached out to me, as if asking for it back.

Crack!

"!!!"

Without a second thought, I threw the phone away. The man, unable to even get angry, stumbled backward.

Whoosh!

I cast a Stun spell on the man who was trying to run away. His movements instantly froze like a rock.

"..."

The man couldn't even open his mouth, just staring with wide eyes. He couldn't do anything until I released the spell.

Thud, thud.

I walked over to him. The man, whose pupils were shaking like an earthquake, was sweating profusely.

"Who do you think you are, filming people without permission?"

"..."

Without waiting for his answer, I immediately

Smack.

Punched him in the stomach.