The Hero's Streaming Life with the Saintess-Chapter 3: I returned, but it’s a little different from what I expected.

What I thought was common sense might’ve been a little off—but I figured I’d ask Lyla about it later.

The field commander quickly took control of the situation and buried the incident of someone coming out of the Gate.

And I followed his lead.

“This way, please.”

Apparently, he was kind of a big deal. He had a luxury sedan.

“This is what we call a car, and—”

“I know. It’s a Benz.”

His eyes flickered.

I’d told him I was Korean. Did he still not believe me?

Not that you had to be Korean to recognize this car. It was a brand anyone on Earth would know.

“If you don’t mind me asking... who exactly are you?”

“Name’s Song Hun. Age...”

I glanced around the car’s interior.

A date caught my eye on the digital display.

“Twenty-five. I went to college at... and my parents’ names are...”

I rattled everything off. Even pulled out an old gaming nickname I’d forgotten years ago from the depths of my memory.

The look of suspicion on the man’s face eased up. Just a little.

“We’ve arrived.”

It was a massive building in the middle of Seoul.

I followed the commander inside, and we ended up in a bright, sterile-looking room.

Right before entering, they cuffed both me and Lyla.

These feel like they’d snap if I barely pushed on them... They’re not gonna make me pay [N O V E L I G H T] for breaking them, are they?

“My apologies. It’s just... procedure.”

He shrugged like it was nothing.

Didn’t really matter. I could break these whenever I felt like it anyway.

****

I said I was hungry, and the guy kindly handed me a steaming cup of ramen while I went through what could generously be called “questioning.”

Eating with the restraints on wasn’t easy, though.

“So you went missing five years ago, and it turns out you were in another world the whole time?”

Slurp. “Technically, it wasn’t five... it was thirty—”

“Sigh... Please. Just tell the truth...!”

He let out a deep sigh and rubbed his forehead. I guess the back-and-forth was getting on his nerves.

“Goddamn it...”

Oops. That came out in the other world’s language.

Even I was getting sick of repeating myself.

“Hero, you shouldn’t use bad words.”

“Okay, let’s just chalk this up to post-traumatic stress from your disappearance. But who is she?”

He looked over at the woman who’d been trailing me the entire time.

“I’ve been with the Hero since the beginning in the other world—”

He gave me a look that said, What the hell is she talking about?

“Is she a foreigner?”

“Uh... I guess?”

“What did she just say?”

“She’s saying she also came from the other world—”

He waved a hand in frustration and let out a deep sigh, clearly done with it.

“Out of everyone it had to be you...”

“I’ve been telling the truth from the start...”

“I don’t think you understand the seriousness of this situation. This isn’t normal!”

Yeah. No shit it’s not normal.

I finally came home, and the so-called protectors of the people threw handcuffs on a perfectly innocent citizen.

Actually... are these people even the protectors of the people anymore?

Or did the military take over while I was gone? That’d be something straight out of a history book...

These cuffs are weird, though. There’s a strange energy coming off them...

They must’ve put me in this special room and slapped on these restraints because they think that’ll be enough to hold me.

I seriously considered flipping the place upside down for a second.

No. I’ve got parents to find on this giant-ass rock. I should probably play along for now.

“Truth is, I was kidnapped...”

Click.

The field commander from earlier opened the door and walked in.

“Let them go.”

“Sir? Chairman, these people—!”

“I said I’ll take responsibility. Let them go.”

Wait—Chairman? That sounds like a high-ranking guy.

The Chairman leaned in close and whispered something into the nervous agent’s ear. It was about my identity.

And in that whisper, I heard the names of my parents.

Song Yongil. Geum Hyejeong...?

Crack!

Ah—oops.

Just hearing my parents’ names after so long made me grip the cuffs a little too hard.

“Where are my mom and dad right now?”

“I apologize... Mr. Song Hun, your father is on his way here as we speak.”

We waited for a bit, and soon enough, word came that he’d arrived.

“Mr. Song Hun, if you’ll head to the first floor—”

Before the Chairman could even finish, I was already out the door.

Lyla, of course, was right behind me.

The Chairman stared blankly at the spot where I’d just been.

...Wait a second. How the hell did he break through mana restraints?

****

I rushed down to the first floor.

My dad was there, waiting.

Just the thought of how hard he must’ve fought to find his missing son over the past five years nearly brought me to tears.

He must’ve lost so much weight... stressing over his useless son...

“Son!”

“...?”

But the dad I hadn’t seen in forever was as tall and broad-shouldered as ever.

Actually, he looked better than before—glowing skin, solid muscles, the works.

“These past five years... do you have any idea how desperately we searched for you!?”

I mean, I am your only son, so I guess you would have been desperate.

“We were worried sick, thinking something awful had happened to you. I couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t eat.”

That part sounds like a stretch...

“Whew... you’re so overwhelmed you can’t even speak, huh? Come on, let’s go see your mom.”

Thankfully, it seemed the Association had arranged a ride for us.

The place wasn’t far—after about ten minutes in the car, we arrived.

“Dad?”

“This building i—”

Before he could even finish, I bolted inside.

And in the building’s lobby, I saw her.

“Mom...!”

My mom’s eyes went wide the moment she saw me.

And then I noticed what she was wearing.

Unlike my dad, she was in rough, stained clothes—like she’d been cleaning something disgusting.

Ah... so that’s what it is.

It finally all made sense.

Dad must’ve dressed up on purpose for our reunion, while Mom had been too busy to even change.

Mrs. Geum... from now on, I’ll be the one to make sure you’re happy.

“Hun?”

She looked genuinely startled. She probably didn’t want her son to see her looking this way.

“Mom, why are you all messy like that...? Don’t make your son worry. Come on, let’s go home. You don’t have to do stuff like this anymore.”

Dad came rushing in, out of breath.

“Whew... What’s the rush? At least let me finish. Your mom works all the way up on the top floor—Huh? Honey?”

“Huh? Why’d Hun come all the way up here? If he’d just waited, I was gonna wash up before heading down...”

“...?”

****

We were now sitting at a comfy table on the very top floor of the building, sipping coffee like nothing happened.

I couldn’t stop myself from blurting out my thoughts.

“...Is this even real?”

“Is something wrong, sweetheart?”

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So yeah. Mom had been cleaning up something filthy.

Monsters, to be exact.

Turns out, this entire building was in her name, and she was the CEO of one of the five biggest companies in Korea.

Dad was the vice president.

“No, I just... need a second to process all this.”

After the Gates appeared, the world was thrown into chaos.

But humanity didn’t just roll over and die. Some people awakened special powers in response.

They called that awakening.

Those who hunted monsters were called Hunters—and apparently, my parents were among them.

When I first went missing, they thought I’d been dragged into a Gate. After that, they awakened too.

They said they’ve been teaching young Hunters, donating like crazy, doing charity work... all to make sure no one else goes through what I did.

“To think our son would just walk out of a Gate himself... How did that happen?”

“Uh... well... it’s kind of a long story...”

I gave them the main points—summoned, war, Demon God, the works.

And just like that, they believed me without batting an eye.

“Why wouldn’t we believe you? The world’s already gone completely off the rails.”

“...”

“And this girl... she came from that other world with you?”

Mom looked at Lyla. Lyla blinked and met her gaze with a polite smile.

I was wondering the same thing.

“Lyla, how did you even follow me back here?”

“I made a wish to the Goddess. She said if we defeated the Demon God, we each got one wish granted.”

You little devil...

All she told me was that I’d get sent home. No one said anything about wishes.

“Lyla, was it?”

She stared wide-eyed when she heard Mom say her name.

“You probably don’t have anywhere to go, right? Wanna live with me?”

“Huh?”

“Way better than living with this gloomy son of mine. You’re so pretty and polite.”

Wouldn’t mind if she ended up as a daughter-in-law, either...

What did she just say?

“Mom, do you have to say stuff like that right in front of me...?”

“When a mom loses her only son overnight, it rips her heart out, you know.”

“...”

“Just kidding.”

I squinted at her.

Didn’t sound like a joke to me...

“Anyway, Lyla? You’ll need to learn a lot to live here—culture, language, the works. We’ll assign you a tutor to help, so don’t worry.”

I translated for Lyla.

Once she understood, she smiled brightly and bowed her head over and over in gratitude.

“So, son... what are your plans now?”

“Uh... I was thinking of re-enrolling in school...”

“Sweetie, you got expelled.”

“...I what?”

I’d worked my ass off in high school to get into that university—studied like a madman, just to live comfortably under my parents’ support.

It wasn’t the top university in Korea, but definitely one of the top three.

“You didn’t take a leave of absence. You were just... gone for five years. There’s no way your student records are still active.”

“...”

“I mean, you broke out of a mana restraint, and based on everything you’ve told us, you’re insanely strong. Want to join me and your dad as a Hunter?”

“Eh... I was fighting up until the second I came back. I really just want to rest right now.”

“Fair enough. You must be exhausted. Go get some sleep. And you haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

So the four of us—me, Mom, Dad, and Lyla—went to this insanely fancy steakhouse.

Given my body’s appetite and how long it had been since I last had beef, I ate until I felt like I was going to explode.

Final bill: nearly two thousand dollars.

“That’s it? Not bad. Kids, are you still hungry?”

Mrs. Geum... just how much money do you have...?