Chapter 59: Returning to Earth

After explaining everything to Hannah, I finally finished dealing with all the urgent matters and was free enough to return to Earth.

I left the Sinyoung building and got into a carriage that Hannah had prepared to take me to the temple of Luxuria, since no matter which kingdom it is, their temple is in charge of controlling the portals that connect Lost Paradise and Earth.

The journey from the Sinyoung building to the temple took almost 40 minutes, but I enjoyed the trip viewing the kingdom of Scheherazade. It seems to have remained orderly and prosperous despite Roe having left the place more than 8 years ago in Paradise time.

From what I found out, once the kingdom was without the royal family, a high-ranking noble took over the leadership of the kingdom and acted as regent. With the advice and support of Sinyoung, he has kept things running so far.

But the truth behind the scenes is that the man who took the place of regent is just a puppet of Sinyoung, and despite all their efforts, they have not been able to crown him as king.

The reason is simple: when the previous king was assassinated and after that, Roe, who was the queen disappeared, that caused the other kings and queens of the other kingdoms to become extremely paranoid about the situation and concluded that it was the Earthlings who killed the royal family to usurp the throne of the kingdom.

Therefore, they made a joint decree that no matter which kingdom it was, if it lost all members of the royal family, under no circumstances would an Earthling be accepted to take the position. In that case, the next in command would have to be a Paradisiac noble whom would not be crowned, only living as regent. If he did his job well, he would have the right for his first son or daughter born after taking command to have the right of succession to the crown when they came of age.

In this way, the royal families ensured that the Earthlings would not take direct control of the kingdom and considered that the time it would take for the first son or daughter of a regent would be many years, and by then, it is expected that the war would have concluded, and human affairs could be ordered with respect to the Paradisiacs and the Earthlings. (T/N: Smart!!)

Once I arrived at the temple, I stopped thinking about those things and got out of the carriage. The temple of Luxuria is a quite large, tall tower and is bone-white in color.

Many people enter and leave the temple. Using the [Nine Eyes], I could see that most of them are Earthlings, but there are also one or two Paradisiacs among them.

Upon entering, I saw long corridors on both sides, a slightly dark auditorium in front, and a woman dressed as a Priestess sitting behind a counter in front of the corridor working as a receptionist.

The receptionist was clearly tired from what seems to be an endless number of people coming in and out and passing by her to register such entries and exits. It was my turn, and I approached.

She asked me with a tired voice, "What brings you here?"

"I came to use the transfer door," I answered.

"Tell me your level and the Area you wish to return to," she said in a monotone voice.

"Level 1, Area 1," I responded.

"Is this your first time using this service?" she asked while looking at me intently.

"Yes, I left the Neutral Zone a few days ago and today I am returning to Earth for the first time," I replied as simply as possible, clearly she is very tired and I don't want to make her job any more complicated in any way.

"I understand, we need to establish a new return point then," she said as she asked me to write down the exact address where I wish to be sent. When I finished, she raised her hand and called someone.

A man came from somewhere beyond the corridor and hurried over, she gave him the paper and told him to take care of preparing the portal for those coordinates.

Then she looked at me and said, "Will you be returning immediately or do you wish to use the storage service to keep your belongings? The service is free for levels 1 and 2."

"I would like to use the storage service," I said.

"Here. Use room number 3," she said, handing me a key with a plate with the number 3 written on it and pointed me to the opposite hallway.

I walked down the hallway and entered the temple, the interior was divided into several high floors with walls that glow in an amber tone. And there I saw many doors, each easily over two meters tall. I found a door with a '3' glowing on the front and entered the room using the key.

Objects from Lost Paradise cannot be taken to Earth for free, with the exception of a few things. This meant that any belongings had to be stored before leaving, and temples are the safest place to do so, as the belongings would be protected by divine power. The storage fee was quite high, but the security was practically the best in the place.

However, for levels 1 and 2, the storage and transport service to Earth are free. Once you become level 3, you would be considered a true combat force and would have to spend something called 'achievement or contribution points' if you wanted to use the transfer door or the storage service.

I stored my storage backpack and my prop sword in the room and left the warehouse before closing the door. The '3' on the door changed its color to gold. From now on, only I could open this door. Even if someone else used my key, the door would not open.

I returned to the reception and the receptionist gestured for me to come closer and said, "Show me the back of your hand, please."

When I showed her my hand, she placed a paper with a diagram drawn on its surface and pressed it firmly against my skin. I ignored the protocol and focused all my concentration on the diagram, from what I could observe they are definitely mana circuits drawn and I did not hesitate to memorize that diagram, later I will use it as a base to experiment with some things if I have time.

"With this, your return coordinates have been established. Whenever you use the transfer door from now on, you will always arrive at the address you provided us. If you plan to move house, you must inform us immediately. Or we could end up causing unnecessary chaos on Earth," said the receptionist.

"I understand, thank you for your help," I replied and returned the key to her, as it is one of the things I cannot take to Earth, so it stays in the temple and when I return they will give it back to me. The receptionist took the key and stored it, then gave me a paper with a number '3' written on it.

"Don't forget to take good care of this paper, when you return you have to give it back to me and I will give you the key in return. And also after retrieving your stored items you need to confirm the color of the number on the door, if the color is still gold, it means you left something behind. Unless you wish to extend the storage service period, things will get very complicated for both parties, so please check carefully that you haven't forgotten anything," she said in a serious and annoyed tone, as if she has already suffered many cases of that kind.

Then she handed me two more papers and said while pointing to the first one, "This is used when you want to return to Paradise. To use it, you just have to tear it like the mission scrolls in the Neutral Zone; after you tear it, a transfer portal will open for you. People who do not possess any Mark will not be able to see the portal or feel its presence, but still, I recommend finding a quiet place with no one else around, because they won't see the portal, but they will see you disappear if you use said portal."

Then she pointed to the other one and said, "This is the list of items you can bring from Earth. It's your first time, so read the list and familiarize yourself with the content. If you try to enter with an item that is not on that list, that item will simply disappear forever. We are not responsible for that, there's always an idiot who tries to bring valuable things like gold and silver and ends up losing them, so please check the list and don't be like them," she said quite amused.

Then she sighed wearily and said, "Well, we're done here, you just have to register here and you can take the return portal." The receptionist passed me a document to sign. It was a non-disclosure agreement, which prohibits me from revealing anything related to Paradise Lost to other people on Earth.

Such an agreement was also covered by divine powers, so the moment it was signed, the powers of the god ensured that the terms would be enforced no matter what. It could be said that the effort they put in to keep the secret is vain, since talking about Paradise on Earth is easy using other terms.

After signing, the receptionist directed me to enter the great hall, and there I saw the transfer portal, a huge oval-shaped portal of blue color that glowed intermittently.

I walked towards the portal and the closer I got, I could see how the back of my hand, which had been previously stamped with the paper with the coordinate diagram, began to glow, and when I finally entered the portal, the glow of my hand was very intense and I felt like I was transported, and I could see that I was in the room where I was with Uncle Jung before entering the Tutorial.

'So I've finally returned,' I thought as I contemplated the room that was exactly the same as when I left. I had instructed everyone that the room should be kept intact to avoid problems, and luckily, they kept it that way. And from what I heard from Hannah, Uncle Jung, when he was transported to Earth, gave the coordinates of his old house, so he was not transported here, and that's why the room is the same as I left it. I went to the table, took my phone, and saw that my original prop sword is still there, which made me laugh a bit.

I left the room and walked through the house, and soon I met a maid who was surprised to see me and welcomed me with quite the enthusiasm. Then I asked about everyone, and she told me that currently, there was no one in the house, that my parents, uncle, and auntie had gone on a vacation abroad, that Hyung is working, and Hyo-ri Noona took little Jungseok to play with other children at the park.

I then asked about the girls, well, not Jinhee and Seunghae since they should still be at school at this time, but Seonhwa and Roe should be around unless they went out for a walk or something, but I know they almost don't like to do it, so I was surprised to learn that they were not at home and even more surprised to learn that Seonhwa, leading the girls, had opened their own business apparently. Hannah, for some reason did not tell me.

'Well, I suppose I'll have to visit them at their business,' so I left the house and got into my car, my personal driver, Shadow #23, was already waiting.

"Welcome boss, where would you like me to take you?" he said.

"Thank you, it's good to be back, take me to the girls' business, I want to see them and see what mischief they've been working on while I was gone," I said with amusement.

But to my surprise, Shadow #23, instead of starting to drive, turned to look at me from the driver's seat and said, "Are you sure you want to go there? Boss, I don't think it's a good idea."

"Now I'm intrigued, explain why it's not a good idea," I inquired with apparent curiosity.

"If you insist I can answer you, but take into consideration that the ladies prepared it as a surprise for you, so if I tell you I might spoil it, but at the same time I warn you that going there is not a good idea. In the end, you command and I obey," he said, and now I'm in a dilemma... I can ask him and solve this mystery once and for all or I can go and face the surprise.

To hell with it, let's see what the girls prepared to the point that even Shadow #23 is warning me. So I ordered, "Drive, take me there, I want to see what the surprise is for myself."

"As you command boss, but don't forget that I warned you it wasn't a good idea," he said as he shuddered a little and began to drive.

My curiosity only continues to increase, and after several minutes of driving we finally arrived at the Seoul trade area, and there in a building I could see a large sign that said "Café Club"... It reminded me that Seonhwa had opened a café in the novel, but I assumed that with my intervention she had no reason or need to open one and I was surprised to see that despite everything, she still ended up opening it. 'Could this be the effect of Fate?' I wondered.

At the entrance were 2 girls from 'The Shadow', they were Shadow #11 and Shadow #5 acting as security guards. When I was getting out of the car and they saw me, they became very nervous for some reason.

My curiosity only continued to increase, more so when I got out of the car and heard Shadow #23 say, "Rest in peace boss, I will always remember you," these guys seem to have planned some kind of prank for me, well, I will face their prank and overcome it. I will show them that they are not yet equipped to play a prank on me.

I walked to the café club and greeted the guard girls and they only gave me a warning that I should not enter, but I ignored them. From the outside, nothing is visible in the café even though the doors and windows are made of glass, but they are polarized to such an extent that there is no visibility from the outside and the most surprising thing is that it seems that the place is also soundproofed because I am not able to hear anything.

For a moment I was tempted to use my [Sensory Perception] to know what is happening inside and why so much mystery, but that would only spoil the surprise they have prepared for me and kill the fun, so I did not do it. I opened the door and entered.

As I walked inside, the first thing I saw was quite a luxurious and furnished interior for a café, but considering that it is a café club, it makes sense. Then I saw that there are many clients, well I couldn't see any apparent male clients and although I found it strange, I concluded that maybe it was because of the time of day that most men are working.

But suddenly my instincts were activated and warned me of imminent danger, I couldn't understand it because I don't see anything that could be dangerous around me, but when I looked closely at the clients, I noticed it, I had not seen it before, but now that I look closely, I realized that since I entered, they all stopped whatever they were doing and began to look at me as if I were prey.

And in their eyes, I saw something that scared me, that 'something' I know very well and I understood why my senses screamed at me to escape, they were the eyes of crazy fanatics. I immediately began to slowly retreat towards the exit, but I heard the terrifying sound of the door lock. When I slowly turned to look towards the door, I saw someone I did not expect putting a lock on it. It was Eun Yuri!

When she noticed my gaze, she simply smiled and said, "Welcome to the Café Club for ladies who admire and are fanatical about Mr. Seol Jihu. Feel honored to be the only man pleasantly welcomed and accepted to cross the threshold of this beautiful place. However, unfortunately, departure is only permitted if you pay the corresponding price to these respected admirers," she said while laughing. I heard her say in a low tone, "You deserve this for not coming to say goodbye to me in person, teacher. Now, receive all the love from your fans as compensation."

I swallowed hard with considerable nervousness. Now, I believe I should have stayed in Paradise and faced the Parasite Queen rather than come to this place that is even more frightening. As I was about to look for another way out, I noticed that the customers, who until then had been watching me while they were still surprised, finally reacted. They stood up and began to run towards me like zombies after their prey, except these girls had superhuman agility and screamed and squealed "kyaa" with every half step they took. When I saw there was no escape, I could only resign myself to my fate.

**

After being overwhelmed by the affection of his fans, Seol Jihu was finally rescued by Roe Scheherazade, the only one of his girlfriends present in the café at that time. She had come out of the kitchen after hearing the commotion and found all the customers swarming over Seol Jihu.

She then took him to a private room, accompanied by Eun Yuri.

In the room, she began to clean Seol Jihu's face with a damp cloth as it was covered with lipstick marks of all types and colors.

"You should have told me you were coming; I would have warned you that this is the last place you'd really want to visit," Roe said as she cleaned Seol's face.

"Come on, don't make it sound so bad. I'm sure he loved being surrounded by beautiful girls who idolize him," Eun Yuri said, laughing.

"Do you know why I avoid crazy fans?" Seol Jihu asked.

"Not really sure, but I don't think it's such a bad reason. Besides, these girls were chosen for their backgrounds and beauty; none of them could be considered unpleasant to any man. Knowing you as the womanizer you are, I'm sure you enjoyed it, Master," Eun Yuri said, laughing.

"The reason is that they are unpredictable. You never know when they might go from trying to kiss you to trying to rape you, stab you in the back, or attempt to cut off your little brother," said Seol Jihu, as a shiver ran down his spine, clearly making him tremble.

"You're exaggerating, Master. The girls might idolize you, but there's no way they would do that," Eun Yuri said with considerable disbelief.

"You think so? But in the short time they had me, they already took my jacket, tie, belt, shoes, and look here," he said, pointing to the back of his pants. There was a slight cut, but what was most surprising was that instead of seeing boxers through the cut, you could see Seol Jihu's bare buttock.

Upon seeing this, Eun Yuri blushed deeply, covered her face with her hands while leaving enough space between her fingers to see clearly, and said, "I didn't know you were a pervert who likes going without underwear, Master."

"Of course I wear underwear, but those girls took it off amidst all that commotion," said Seol Jihu, with a mix of amusement and annoyance.

"Wait, did they really do that in such a short time with so many girls there? And how did they catch you? I thought you'd escape easily. If you didn't enjoy the situation, I'm sure you would have. I'm certain of it," said Eun Yuri.

"Of course not. If I show any superhuman ability in front of those crazy fans, they might end up having an excuse to found a religion in my name, and I don't want that," Seol Jihu said exasperatedly.

"I see you two get along well and really know each other," Roe commented, having said almost nothing until then.

"I already told you, but it seems you didn't believe me. Jihu Oppa is also my master, and we've known each other for a long time and get along very well, right Oppa?" Eun Yuri said. Seol Jihu saw that she was up to something, but found no issue with her words, so he nodded and confirmed Eun Yuri's statement.

"I understand. Now I see that you were really hiding another one of your girlfriends from us, which means there could be more that we don't know about. I don't have much of a problem with it, and Seunghae doesn't seem to either, but Seonhwa was sad when she found out you were hiding it," Roe Scheherazade said, explaining something that Seol Jihu didn't seem to understand correctly until a few seconds later when he looked at Eun Yuri, who was laughing shyly and mischievously, letting out a slight *oops* from her mouth.

"I understand. I assure you it won't happen again. When we're all together, I'll explain about all the girls I've been involved with, but for now, I want to know where Seonhwa is. I haven't seen her, and she's supposed to be around here," Seol Jihu said. At his question, Roe and Eun Yuri became nervous and hesitated to respond, but before they could say anything, Seol Jihu, seeing their reactions, spoke first. "I see. You made this business as a front so that Seonhwa would return to that place. Now I understand the reason, but I don't understand why you need the front if everyone in the family already knows about that place."

At his words, both Roe and Eun Yuri were quite surprised.

"Did you know?" Roe asked.

"Of course, remember that I've known about that place for a long time. It was easy for me to realize that Seonhwa went there shortly after starting her studies abroad," Seol Jihu replied, and Roe remembered Jihu's identity as the chosen hero to save Paradise by the goddesses and remembered that this was a secret that only she knew in the family, which made her look at Eun Yuri worriedly. However, she was surprised to see that Eun Yuri was calm as if she already knew everything.

"Eun Yuri is my first formal disciple on Earth. She knows everything there is to know about that place, and since she's not limited by never having gone, she can speak freely," Seol Jihu said, and Roe finally understood that just as she shares some secrets only with Jihu, other girls might also have their own secrets with him.

After finishing cleaning Jihu's face of lipstick marks, Roe finally said, "Welcome back, Jihu. I missed you a lot," and then she kissed him affectionately. They shared a kiss for several seconds, and when they separated, Seol Jihu said, "I missed you too, Roe." They exchanged a few smiles, and then Roe went to the kitchen to prepare some drinks, leaving Seol Jihu and Eun Yuri alone.

"It seems you've been having fun and getting into mischief, Yuri," Seol Jihu said as he slowly approached Eun Yuri, and she backed away accordingly.

"Forgive me, Master. I only wanted to get back at you a little because you didn't bid me a personal farewell like you did with everyone else," Eun Yuri said in an accusatory and resentful tone.

"And because of that, you joined the girls in their business and lied to them? Tell me, what other lies did you tell them, Yuri?" Seol Jihu asked as he continued to approach her slowly.

"I only told them that I've known you for a long time, that you were my master, and that we had a good relationship... and that I was also your girlfriend." The first parts she said loudly and clearly, but the last part was almost whispered, barely audible, as she blushed. Unaware of her surroundings, she kept backing up until she was trapped against the wall.

"I see. So you told them you were my girlfriend. You've been a naughty girl Yuri. Now you have to take responsibility," Seol Jihu said. With Eun Yuri cornered against the wall, he lifted her chin with his hand, bringing their faces closer for a kiss. But just as their lips were about to meet, he stopped, leaving her looking at him with a mix of blush and confusion, as if waiting for him to continue.

"I won't do it. If you want it, you'll have to make the move. But you know me—if you take that step, there's no turning back, and you'll be mine," Seol Jihu declared. Eun Yuri blushed even more, locking eyes with him for a moment. Finally, she gathered her courage, closed the gap, and gave him a somewhat clumsy kiss, savoring every moment.

Afterward, Roe returned with the drinks, finding Eun Yuri still flushed and happy. Roe must have welcomed Jihu properly, too, because she didn't pay much attention to Eun Yuri. They all chatted about various things, catching up on both the situation in Lost Paradise and on Earth.

In regards to the matters of Paradise, Seol Jihu could not speak clearly, but he managed to convey the situation by substituting key words. They, in turn, updated him on Earth matters—what happened since Uncle Jung's return, his reaction to the news of dating both sisters and Roe, and later, when they introduced Eun Yuri to the rest of the family. All of this left Seol Jihu sighing with weariness.

And so the hours passed until Seunghae and Jinhee finished their classes and arrived at the café, catching up with Seol Jihu as well.