The commander of the Gangneung airbase spoke to Seo Jung-woo, who had just disembarked from the transport plane.

“I didn’t expect creating one seat on the transport at Lieutenant Colonel Yoon’s request would bring such a big return. If you visit our base again, we’ll make a seat to Japan available for you no matter what.”

“Thank you. But with everything else going on, you must be busy cleaning up—no need to come out here to greet me.”

“No matter how busy I am, I should at least greet you properly. By the way, may I ask…”

The commander asked cautiously,

“Your affiliation is…?”

“Civilian.”

“Ah. If you were military, I would have tried to pull you into our base. That’s unfortunate. If you’d awakened earlier, I bet a lot of people would’ve tried to stop you from discharging.”

“Whenever they tried to block me, I just grabbed them by the collar and shook them a bit. That stopped people from trying anything funny.”

“Ah… is, is that so?”

The airbase commander gently folded away the idea of proposing re-enlistment.

Seo Jung-woo asked,

“So what exactly happened? I heard this base has pretty solid defenses.”

“A sudden gate opened over the sea, and flying monsters poured out, leaving us no time to prepare. It was a surprise attack. On top of that, the boss monster—a wyvern—had electromagnetic disruption abilities far stronger than normal. At first, we thought it was magical interference.”

Seo Jung-woo looked around. Smoke was rising from several places in the base. Many defensive structures were damaged. Burned or torn monster corpses were strewn about.

Monsters belong, by default, to whoever hunts them. But in this case, things were complicated, since he’d taken a military plane and participated in a military operation.

‘There were a lot of them, but almost none of the corpses are intact, so it won’t amount to much money. The wyvern fell into the sea, too. They’ll probably just calculate my share on their own.’

“How extensive is the damage?”

“As you can see, lots of destruction and many injuries. We’re using every available transport to evacuate the severely wounded. But thanks to the early elimination of the boss monster, there were no fatalities. It’s all thanks to you.”

In this world, doctors are exceptionally skilled at treating injuries. Medicines made by mixing specific monster ingredients are extremely effective in healing wounds.

“Told you, I’m a civilian, not an agent. In any case, I’m glad to hear that.”

“If there’s anything else you need, please don’t hesitate to say so. I’ll grant whatever I can.”

Seo Jung-woo wanted to ask if he could buy just one red potion from the base’s reserve. But he couldn’t bring himself to ask. No matter how many the base had, they’d clearly use them all today.

‘No wonder there are never any red potions on the market.’

The so-called miraculous red potion contains a large amount of rare ingredients from specific monsters. The materials are so rare that production is limited, and whatever is made gets consumed right away like this.

“Then just let me sleep here for the night.”

He would have to wait until the next day to cross back to the other world anyway.

The commander’s face brightened even more.

“Ah! Would you really? Hahaha. I feel bad saying this, but if a troublesome one pops up during cleanup, would you mind lending a hand?”

“Of course. Oh, and what’s the plan for the gate?”

“The Navy’s armored assault ships are on their way. Since the boss monster is down, the rest can be handled with the Navy’s strength.”

Due to spatial distortions near the sea gate, large warships can’t enter. Vessels the size of high-speed boats with armor plating have to go in and take care of it.

Seo Jung-woo was assigned a small room in the officers’ quarters. There were better rooms available, but those were reserved for the injured. The commander had still gone out of his way to provide him this small space.

There, Seo Jung-woo washed up briefly, ate some convenience food from the other world he had packed in advance, and then gathered his clothes and gear again.

“I should probably ask for a spot in the barracks.”

Just as he was about to leave the room, his phone rang. It was Lieutenant Colonel Yoon Hyun-sik of the special awakened forces.

“Hey, hyung.”

- Hey, sounds like you made it to Gangneung airbase since you’re picking up the phone?

“Why? Worried I’d go to Japan and never come back?”

- No way, I believe in you. Anyway, since I got you that flight, once you come as an observer, let’s do a proper aggressive infiltration op.”

“Aggressive? What kind of op?”

- Uh… gate entry?”

Seo Jung-woo scowled hard.

“You’re supposed to stretch your legs where you can lie down, not where you’ll die. Are you all insane? Whose crackpot idea is this?”

- Hey, we’re not actually entering. There’s a new theory on gate entry, and we’re just testing it. We’re just going to scan it with new measuring equipment and back out immediately. And it’s a joint multinational op!

“Good luck with that. I’ll pour liquor on your grave. Since it’s multinational, I’ll bring some scotch. I promise to pour real whiskey on your grave, hyung.”

- Hey, do you know how much work it took to get you on that plane?”

“Sounds like we’ll need to recalculate the cost for that.”

- What do you mean by tha—”

Suddenly, a commotion erupted on the other end of the line. Faint voices of Yoon Hyun-sik speaking to someone else could be heard in the background.

A moment later, he spoke again.

- Hey, Jung-woo.

“So the news finally reached you, huh? Time to re-calculate everything, right?”

- No! I haven’t heard anything yet! But you promised! You said you’d come as an observer! I already filed the report saying you’d be there! Also, it looks like your skills have improved a lot. I’m really looking forward to this. I think we might actually make it out alive this time.

“Whoa there. What are you trying to pull?”

- Huh? Huh? What’s wrong with this phone? It feels like it’s about to cut o—

The call really did get cut off.

“Damn it, this guy…”

The monsters that had attacked Gangneung airbase had all been wiped out, but a few stragglers that hadn’t come this way still remained. They were dealt with by Air Force jets and Army infantry.

The base’s defense units stayed on high alert in case of another surprise attack.

Seo Jung-woo gave up his room for an injured soldier and moved into a tent barrack inside the base. The commander gave him an entire ten-person military tent all to himself.

He lay down on the field bed inside.

A moment later, his phone rang again. It was Lee Seon-hwa.

“Yeah, what is it?”

- Why haven’t you come back yet?

“You came again?”

- Happy to see me? If you miss me, hurry up and come.

“You know that sounds like you're complaining I come by too often, right?”

- I don’t know. I know nothing. I'm an idiot. So when are you coming?

“Tomorrow.”

- Ah. Why? I have an audition tomorrow!

“Perfect. Nail that audition. That way your schedule will be too packed to come.”

- Hmph. Are you worried I’ve been slacking off?

He really was worried. The supporting role Lee Seon-hwa had aimed for recently ended up going to an actress with actual skills. These days, she came over to Seo Jung-woo’s place almost every day. If she were filming, that wouldn’t be possible.

“I’m worried because you’re eating too much. I’m afraid the food storage will be emptied out.”

- That’s funny. The supplies seem to be increasing, though?

Suddenly, the tent flap opened and a female soldier entered.

“Ah. You’re on the phone, I see.”

Lee Seon-hwa’s voice turned sharp.

- Why do I hear a woman’s voice? Who is that bitch!

Seo Jung-woo asked,

“What’s the matter?”

“Tch. Already taken… I mean, no, that’s not it. The commander asked me to guide you to the dining hall.”

“Ah, I’m fine. I already ate separately.”

After sending the female soldier out, Seo Jung-woo spoke into the phone.

“You heard that, right?”

- I trusted you. You know that, right?

“You better.”

Seo Jung-woo spent the night at the Gangneung Airbase and departed the next day.

On his way back, he didn’t cross the mountain like he did on the way in. The base assigned him a helicopter, so he traveled to his original destination quickly and comfortably.

After landing in a clearing, the helicopter pilot asked,

“There’s nothing here. Why…?”

Only the ruins of a destroyed hotel remained there.

“I came here to train.”

“Ah. So you improved your skill proficiency by training in such a rough area. Impressive.”

The helicopter pilot saluted and left.

Seo Jung-woo moved to the exact spot he had used to cross over from the other world.

There, he used his parallel dimension teleport skill.

The forest scenery hadn’t changed much. No one else was in sight.

He descended the mountain immediately. Going down was quicker than going up. After just a few minutes, he emerged from the mountain, and the hotel entrance stood intact before him.

“Those industrial spies and their remnants were all wiped out, so there’s no chance of getting stabbed in the back now.”

He had spent a day in the other world. But in this world, only ten minutes had passed since he set off a thermobaric bomb at the hideout of the international industrial spy remnants in Japan.

Seo Jung-woo entered the hotel. He deliberately entered through the area covered by CCTV, then walked over to the hotel desk clerk.

The clerk recognized him and smiled.

“How was your hike yesterday?”

Seo Jung-woo grinned.

“Climbing that mountain was a mistake. Just suffered for nothing. I should’ve just rested. You’ve got a room, right?”

The next day, news from Japan appeared on the internet community board used by the twins.

- In Japan, there’s a website that compiles hero content from manga, films, and anime alike. It’s quite famous. But now they’ve announced they’ll focus on real-world heroes instead. The reason is that the site admin met a hero wearing a black mask in person.

- Black mask? There’s a hero like that?

- The admin was attacked by no less than five thugs, but a person in a black mask suddenly appeared, beat them up, and saved her.

The hero website administrator, Momoko, didn’t report Seo Jung-woo to the police. At first, she had intended to keep the incident secret.

But the Japanese police tracked her down.

While investigating the building Seo Jung-woo had burned down, they found five unconscious thugs not far from the site. After waking them and piecing things together, they tracked Momoko down and questioned her to determine whether the two incidents were connected.

Momoko figured that since the police had already found out, there was no point in keeping it a secret, so she posted the story online.

She was a well-known site administrator, and once she publicly endorsed the black mask, the story spread quickly across Japan.

- Now there are people claiming the black mask is Japan’s true, traditional hero.

- Hah. Black mask? We’ve got something even tougher in our country: the iron mask. The iron mask didn’t just stop a mugging, he caught a bank robber. Shot him, even. Also took down a cultural artifact smuggler.

- But the iron mask isn’t a hero. He’s a phantom thief. Phantom Thief Iron Mask.

- Who would win in a fight between Japan’s Black Mask and the Phantom Thief Iron Mask?

- Seo Jung-woo would win.

- Why are you bringing Seo Jung-woo into this?

But even their nicknames were similar: Black Mask and Iron Mask.

- Could it be that Japan’s Black Mask and the Phantom Thief Iron Mask are the same person?

- Then if we check immigration records, we could figure out who the Phantom Thief Iron Mask is. Just look at recent departures—unless he snuck out on a boat, that is.

Because the case involved both a shootout and arson, the Japanese police formed a special investigation team.

The four thermobaric bombs had been so powerful that there was no usable information left in the building ruins. All potential clues had burned away.

The Black Mask who appeared near the scene the night before was naturally considered a suspect.

But no matter how much the police investigated, they couldn’t find any leads on him.

Seo Jung-woo had traveled directly to a mountain near the target location using a parallel dimension. Naturally, he didn’t use any transportation. He didn’t appear on any nearby CCTV either.

The only time he showed himself was when he beat up the five thugs and saved Momoko.

The Japanese police couldn’t even be sure that the Black Mask had been the one to burn the building down.

The CIA’s Japan branch also went on high alert. They had been preparing a surveillance and wiretapping operation targeting the remnants of the international industrial spy ring. But the target of their operation suddenly disappeared.

James Curtain, the CIA agent in charge of Korea, was gravely concerned.

‘The building they were hiding in caught fire? All the remnants dead?’

James tensed up as soon as he got the information.

‘I gave that address to Seo Jung-woo.’

Seo Jung-woo had asked him about those people first. James, feeling indebted to him, had given him the address.

And then, that exact building was blown to pieces.

“No way… Seo Jung-woo did this?”