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Side Story 4

3. Return

The entirety of the United States of America became rather noisy when a certain fortune-teller made an announcement.

"Not too long from now, the God of Death will descend on this land!"

Now normally, a prophecy like this, one better suited for a spot on a comic book cover, wouldn't have garnered any attention from the public. However, the big issue here was that this prophecy had been made by none other than Madam 'Norma Selner'.

Just who was this woman?

After abruptly opening her 'Heavenly Eye' around two years ago, she accurately predicted the death of North Korea's leader, terrorists kidnapping an aeroplane full of passengers, the stock market crash brought about by the sudden collapse of the housing markets, etc., and she had been the centre of many controversies for a while now.

And such a person made an announcement that implied the end of the world was coming, so it'd only be obvious that everyone would start freaking out.

Madam Norma Selner was also known as the 'prophet who is never wrong'. The mass media that saddled her with that label went into full-on panic mode and tripped over themselves to get an interview with her.

Too bad for them, though, she refused to speak to every reporter save for one person, who just so happened to be a personal friend of hers. It became known later that she had invited him privately and gave him a message.

- The God of Death will descend on our land accompanied by countless soldiers of death. Just as we can't escape from the grip of death, we cannot run away from the God of Death, either.

And the very next day.

A gigantic black hole suddenly opened up in the skies of Seoul, one large enough to almost completely cover up the capital city. And Madam's prophecy dominated the headlines of every newspaper in the world.

***

Meanwhile, inside said Gate....

Jin-Woo could only let out a gasp of surprise after spotting the humongous sea of people, as if the humans of the entire world had gathered in one spot, right below him.

"Huh-uh...."

How wonderfully moving would it have been if all those people were here to welcome him back? Unfortunately, Jin-Woo knew better than anyone that would not be the case and could only form a wry smile.

Soon, this Gate would open up. To all those watching on from the ground, this portal might be a source of sheer terror, but to him, it was an important doorway back home.

Home.

Jin-Woo's heart was rapidly filling up with warm emotions from the knowledge that the pathway to his home that he missed so much would soon open up.

'Now that I think about it, isn't this my first time looking at the outside from the inside of a Gate?'

The outside world was in full display from inside the Gate. That was how Jin-Woo got to spectate on the sea of people below his feet. He placed his hand on the 'wall' of the Gate that separated the two spaces.

In the past, he needed to give it his all in the battle against the Dragon Emperor in order to break this wall down, but now...

'Now, I....'

Jin-Woo lightly pressed down, causing minute cracks to form on the wall with sharp noises. If he pushed a bit harder, then this wall would surely break down without much resistance.