Returned With Horns

"If you look at the contract, you have to work for 6 months..."

I cut off Han Ayoung's threatening words. Contract? What's that?

"I can just destroy this building and burn the contract, and that's it."

"Then you'll be chased by law enforcement. You'll be branded as a villain too."

"I'll just kill them all."

In that world, the whole world was chasing me. Being chased by law enforcement was nothing. As I spoke nonchalantly, the director opened his mouth seriously.

"...Are you certain you're that strong?"

"Yeah."

At my confident answer, the two people looked at each other. Seeing them, I let out a deep sigh.

"Whatever you say, I'm going to quit. So..."

"Hmm, but you need money, right? You need food, clothing, and shelter too."

"..."

At that moment, I closed my mouth at Seol-ah's words.

I do need those. To maintain this body, I need quite a lot of food to begin with. Of course, in that world, I could somehow survive just by eating mana, but Earth has quite a low mana concentration.

"Oh, don't you need clothing?"

As Han Ayoung said this while looking me up and down, I bit my lip.

"...Shut up."

Seol-ah, who had been quietly watching me growl, gently grabbed my hand. Startled by the sudden warmth, I looked at Seol-ah, and she smiled and opened her mouth.

"As your senior, let me tell you, it's not that bad? There are quite a few business trips, but it's not bad to travel around the country you've returned to after a long time, right? And you're even getting paid for it."

My heart starts to waver at the advantages Seol-ah lists.

To be honest, Seol-ah's words weren't wrong. Even before I was summoned to another world, I had wanted to travel all around the country.

"Hmm..."

"And, the company cafeteria is delicious."

The cafeteria is delicious? I can't resist that.

"Okay. I'll give up on quitting."

"...That easily?!"

"As expected of Seol-ah. As a fellow returnee, you understand the hardships of returnees well."

"Well, that's right."

The director, who had been quietly watching Seol-ah smile brightly, soon opened his mouth.

"Good. Now that we've changed Miss Seohyun's mind, shall we conduct a light test?"

"Test?"

"Yes. It's a test to see how strong Miss Seohyun is. Of course, even if you're judged to be the weakest here, we won't cancel your employment."

"That won't happen."

As I answered indifferently, the director smiled widely. A smile from a man in his 40s, I don't like it much.

As I was thinking that, the director suddenly stood up. What's this, did he read my mind? I thought, but the place the director headed was the office entrance.

"The test location is in the basement, so let's move there first."

* * *

"You say a test request came from the Returnee Department?"

"Yes. They say a new employee has joined. A returnee."

"It's the second success since Seol-ah? And in a row, too?"

"Yes, that's right. By the way, have you seen that returnee?"

The Test Department of the Hunter Association, where numerous hunters come and go every day to test their strength, was often overwhelmed with work. If anything, unlike other departments or divisions, weekends were perfectly guaranteed, which might be considered better than other employees.

There was also the advantage of not having to enter gates. Because of this, the employees of the Test Department weren't particularly interested in hunters or returnees. From their perspective, it was enough to be amazed when they occasionally saw S-rank hunters.

"No. Haven't seen her."

"She was incredibly beautiful. Great body too."

"Why, does she have big breasts like Seol-ah?"

"Come on. It's hard to find an extra-large size like Seol-ah's anywhere. It's not that kind of feeling."

"Really?"

Seol-ah was certainly a beauty, but this guy had never said anything like that about her.

Thinking this, the deputy director of the Test Department, filled with anticipation, waited for the employees of the Returnee Department who would soon come down. After waiting about 3 minutes like that, four people came down from the elevator and approached them.

"Wow, she really is beautiful."

"Didn't I tell you? She could easily outshine most star hunters or celebrities."

Her jet-black hair, tied back long like ebony, and blood-red eyes that shine in contrast to her snow-white skin. Along with her slender arms and legs, and the white bosom revealed above what seemed to be either a kimono or hanbok.

However, rather than lust, an exclamation of beauty flowed out first at her appearance.

"It's been a while, Deputy Director Jung."

"Ah, it's been a while, Deputy Director Han. I hear you've come for a test today."

"Yes. Not me, but this person. She's a returnee..."

"Yes. By the way, her clothes are a bit revealing, could you cover her up a bit..."

"That's troublesome."

Even her voice is beautiful. No, should I say alluring? It was a voice that seemed to bewitch people.

The woman, who answered as if bothered with indifferent eyes, fumbled in the air and then pulled out a leather jacket. No, a leather jacket?

As she put on the leather jacket, the visible bosom disappeared. No, but why leather of all things...?

"W-wait a minute. Is that spatial magic?"

"No. It's a function attached to this earring. I don't use magic."

"Ah..."

Only then did the earring on the woman's ear catch his eye. He thought it was an ordinary ruby earring, but was it an artifact? Thinking this, Deputy Director Jung of the Test Department opened his mouth.

"The preparations are already complete, so you just need to enter."

"What, in there?"

"Yes."

"...I don't like this space very much."

The woman who muttered softly let out a deep sigh. She even looked like a pitiful woman.

A beauty looks good no matter what she does, huh. With such thoughts Deputy Director Jung opened the door to the magic-shielded room.

* * *

"Ugh."

As I stepped into the space devoid of mana, an unpleasant feeling enveloped my body. It was because my body itself was composed of mana. What kind of space is this?

[Ah, can you hear me?]

"Yeah, I can hear you."

[Currently, that place is in a mana vacuum state. It means there's no mana at all.]

"Seems like it."

In fact, even in a mana vacuum state, my body doesn't collapse. The reason is my horns.

The horns, which are a window connecting the astral world and reality, maintain my body with mana brought from the astral world. That's why I could use mana even in this space without mana.

So the magic shielding was a meaningless restriction for me, but I had no intention of blurting that out with my own mouth, so I just kept quiet.

[As it's such a place, we'll be testing Miss Seohyun's physical specs. The test is simple. You just need to clear the monsters that appear using only your physical specs.]

"Monsters will appear?"

[Yes. Of course, the monsters are augmented reality created to be extremely close to reality, so there's no danger to your life. Then, let's begin!]

With the man's words, a monster began to appear. And it was…

* * *

"It's a goblin."

"The first level is always a goblin, isn't it?"

"I think it was a slime in my time."

"That's because you were a mage, Director. For warriors, the first level is usually a goblin."

To begin with, mages don't even take tests in magic-shielded rooms. The physical abilities of mages are pretty obvious.

"Really?"

Han Ayoung sighed at the sight of Director Baek tilting his head. Well, the Returnee Department rarely has occasions to come to the test room like this, so it couldn't be helped. She was the only one who had observed Seol-ah's recent test.

"Seol-ah. So how strong do you think Miss Seohyun is?"

"...I don't know."

"What?"

"You both know that in exchange for losing my eyesight, my mind's eye has opened wider."

"That's right."

Mind's eye. It was Seol-ah's skill and the reason why she could live a normal life despite being blind.

All objects have mana imbued in them, and Seol-ah could see mana with her invisible eyes. Of course, she couldn't see perfect forms, but it meant she could at least pinpoint locations.

"Miss Seohyun's mana is... enormous. Very big... robust... and wonderful."

"Why are you saying those lines with blushing cheeks?!"

"Because it's ecstatic to the point of dizziness."

As if just thinking about it made her body tremble, Seol-ah hugged herself and shivered. Seeing this somewhat perverted appearance, Director Baek, who was relatively normal, moved away from Seol-ah with his niece.

"As expected, she's handling the goblin easily."

"Of course. She's a returnee after all."

"But... she's not using her sword?"

Han Ayoung raised her eyebrows at the sight of Seohyun subduing the goblin with a light punch. Does it mean there's no need to draw the straight sword at her waist when dealing with just a goblin? As she was thinking this, Director Baek opened his mouth.

"But slimes would be hard to catch without a weapon."

"That's true. Since unarmed combat has a short range by nature. You need to destroy a slime's core, but your hand can't reach the core... Huh?"

Boom- her extended fist strikes the slime's surface. Along with that, the slime falls apart into pieces. Seohyun, who found the wriggling core among the shattered body of the slime, immediately crushed the core with her foot.

"...Who said she couldn't even hold a sword?"

"Is that even human...?"

In her lifetime, no, even Seol-ah right in front of them couldn't shatter a slime. To perform such a feat with those slender arms. It was beyond comprehension.

"...To show this level from the start."

In fact, even the deputy director of the Test Department was staring at the magic-shielded room with his mouth wide open, as if seeing such a sight for the first time.

However, as Director Baek said, this was just the beginning.