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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: All Master's Game Broadcast 1
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The being who had been abruptly dragged to another world right after turning twenty.
After an immeasurable span of time had passed, he had become an existence that surpassed even the gods and demons who had brought him there, and now stood before him once more.
"Are you really going back?"
"...I have to. It's been hundreds, even thousands of years, all for that one purpose."
"Even if it means all the hundreds, thousands of years of effort you put in will be completely sealed away just to return to Earth?"
"Yeah. Those powers were just a part of me anyway. Even if they're all sealed, I'd still be superhuman enough to take down an ordinary person with ease."
"...That's ridiculous. The All Master, who surpasses even gods and demons, settling for mere superhuman level... It can't be!"
The goddess trembled violently as she shook her head, but the man called the All Master—Park Haesung—did not waver in his resolve.
"Your dimension has been cleansed to the point where it no longer needs either me or you, just as you wished. What's left is up to the survivors in this world. Me staying here would only be poison to them."
"...But."
"Shh, enough. My family. Mother. Father. And my one and only little sister. It's time I went to them."
"...I understand. Then I'll prepare it."
"Yeah, thanks. Snow White."
"...I told you not to call me that."
"Blame your looks—they're straight out of a fairy tale princess from my world."
Calling the goddess with her snow-white skin and glossy black hair like Snow White from the fairy tale, Haesung chuckled softly. A portal leading to Earth opened before him.
"It's been about ten years. I tried my best to minimize the time difference... but that was the limit. At least I managed to pull it forward this much as compensation for sealing all your power. Don't forget that."
"That's plenty. By then... Hayun should be all grown up."
His late-born little sister, ten years younger.
The girl he'd raised almost like his own child would now be a proper young lady. Thinking of that, Haesung flashed a mischievous grin and stepped toward the portal.
"Then, farewell, Snow White."
"...Yes, but we'll meet again."
"What?"
"No, nothing."
Haesung tilted his head at her murmur, too soft to catch properly, but the pure white goddess—Snow White to him—gave a faint smile and shook her head.
"Boring."
Leaving her behind, the moment Haesung reached out toward the portal.
"...Earth, huh."
Haesung had finally returned to Earth after an eternity.
* * *
"I got dragged away in early to mid-2020... so it should be mid-2030 now, right? They say ten years changes the mountains and rivers, and yeah, things have definitely changed a lot."
Skyscrapers of dizzying heights dotted the landscape here and there, and massive screens on the building exteriors were filled with ads promoting games that looked indistinguishable from reality.
Alongside footage of players diving into them and streamers broadcasting their sessions.
Haesung stared blankly, captivated by the enticing sights.
"Looks fun."
Twenty years old.
At the prime age for gaming, he'd been whisked away to another world, so these games seemed endlessly appealing to him.
"I've got plenty of money, so I can just relax and game to my heart's content."
His body was stripped of its overwhelming power, and even his divine status beyond gods and demons was sealed, but the extradimensional space brimming with precious metals and jewels remained intact. Haesung had the leisure to appraise them carefully.
There was enough wealth to live off idly for a lifetime.
Exchanging it for currency might be tricky, but after centuries of dealing in black markets without hesitation, it wouldn't be too hard.
Lost in the virtual reality games flashing on the building screens, Haesung lingered until dusk began to fall.
His sense of time had blurred after living for so long.
"...Come to think of it, what if they moved? That'd be a problem."
Surveying the dimming surroundings, he suddenly remembered that all he knew was their old house. His face stiffened, but soon he set off toward the familiar home from his memories.
Thus, the returnee Park Haesung, who had spent time amid Gangnam's forest of buildings in Seoul, headed home.
* * *
An apartment complex in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
Inside a modest 28-pyeong unit that had been brand new ten years ago.
"Yes, everyone, that's it for today's stream. Did you enjoy Mint's skillful broadcast, the world's number one delicacy?"
The cute-faced woman with black bobbed hair spoke in her usual casual tone, but her viewers erupted in fury.
-World's number one delicacy my ass
-Mint is trash, mint chocolate is food waste.
-Fact) All of the above
-How can every single word out of your mouth be a lie? World's number one delicacy Mint = nope, skillful broadcast = nope
-Lmao if you don't want bans just spam ㅋㅋ
-Yeah~ I'd rather eat a ban than mint~
Even as the chat teetered on the edge of chaos with its overwhelming firepower, Park Hayun—streaming as Mint—flashed a bright smile and pulled out a mint chocolate ice cream tub from beside her, taking a huge bite.
Nom nom—
"Ah~ Doesn't that look delicious~?"
-...Ple~ase sto~p...
-Mint Season 13241256 declares lifelong singlehood
-Lmao what early-twenties girl shows off eating mint choco like this
-Mint destined for spinsterhood
-Spinster Mint lololol
-Instant rice! Bring the instant rice!
Mint was popular for her cute face and laid-back personality, but even she couldn't make her mouth, smeared with mashed mint chocolate ice cream, look pretty.
As always, viewers snickered about her doomed love life.
Gulp—Having swallowed the ice cream, Mint beamed and waved at the camera.
"Alright, that's it for today!"
-If only she'd shut her mouth, she'd be so pretty...
-Mint Season 1324231424 revives lol
-Pretty streamer if she just closed her mouth...
-But she ne~ver does~ lol
-Mint Bye~
-Mint Bye~
-Mint Bye~
Seeing the flood of Mint Bye's, Mint reverted to Hayun.
"Phew, somehow wrapped up today nicely too."
She'd been streaming for years now, but the exhaustion at the end never faded.
The routine of entering the capsule for VR games, streaming, then chatting after logging out hadn't changed, but every day felt fresh.
"But it's weird, you know? Why does everyone hate mint chocolate so much? Maybe deep down they love it but pretend not to. Hehe, they're all tsunderes."
Of course, the viewers' revulsion toward the mint chocolate she devoured at every stream's end remained unchanged.
As she dubbed them shy tsunderes and dug back into the pint-packed mint chocolate—
Ding dong~
"...Who's that? No one's coming over."
Hearing the bell from outside, she opened the slightly ajar soundproof booth door and headed to the living room to check the front door camera.
"Who is it?"
With no deliveries or packages expected, Hayun cautiously asked. The response that came back was shocking.
-It's your oppa.
"...I don't have an oppa."
Oppa.
She had one, but he was as good as gone. Her smiling face hardened into a cold mask as she replied.
Hayun was usually the friendliest, most vibrant person, but any talk of her brother, missing for over ten years, always turned her icy and sharp.
Even from her distant childhood memories, the brother who carried her on his back and doted on her stood out vividly.
But the man on the camera remained unfazed.
-The oppa who vanished ten years ago.
"That's...!"
Her mood, bubbly moments ago, plummeted. She was about to shout something.
-When you were five, the day I picked you up from kindergarten burning with fever, dizzy and riding piggyback—you puked all over my back. I still remember that feeling vividly.
"...Huh."
If he hadn't casually dropped a story only she and her brother knew, she surely would have.
But leaving her stunned by the unexpected memory, the man continued.
-At seven, you fell from the jungle gym at the playground out front, broke your leg. I was sweating bullets.
"W-Wait..."
She wanted to shut him up for dredging up her tomboy past so nonchalantly—
-Come to think of it, at nine you said oppa was the best and you'd marry me... Now you're pretending I don't exist? Park Hayun. Still love Mint the best these days?
"...!!!"
His words came faster.
Memories of the past.
With a ten-year age gap, he'd been more like a dad than a brother.
Staring blankly at the handsome face on the camera, then at the family photo still hanging with her brother in it, Hayun spoke in a trembling voice.
"...Is that really you, Haesung oppa?"
Park Haesung.
The man on the camera matched the one in the photo.
No different from Haesung at all.
Just a bit more fit, perhaps. Seeing him unchanged, Hayun tried to steady her quaking body.
-Yeah. I've been telling you—it's your oppa.
"...I-I'll be right out. J-Just wait a sec! Don't go anywhere!"
Despite her efforts, Haesung's calm affirmation made her dash to the door on shaky legs. She flung it open.
"Whoa. Careful, you'll break the door, kiddo."
"...!"
Dodging the wildly swung door with ease from her startled haste, he lightly flicked her forehead and smiled faintly.
Meeting Haesung's eyes, Hayun's legs gave out the instant she saw the exact image from her memories.
Thud—
"You okay?"
Haesung scratched his cheek awkwardly, unsure what to do, as she sat dazed on the dusty entryway floor, looking up at him.
"Wh-What... What took you so long to come back... you idiot oppa!"
"...Oh no. What do you do in a situation like this?"
Seeing tears well up in her wide eyes and burst forth like a waterfall, Haesung grew even more flustered.
But only for a moment.
"...Welcome home, oppa."
"...Yeah. Sorry I'm so late, Hayun. You've grown so much while I was gone."
With puffy red eyes fixed on him, she hugged him tight as if she'd never let go again. Feeling her trembling hands, Haesung gently patted her back and nodded.
Ten years for Hayun, but hundreds, thousands for him—yet he didn't mention it.
'As long as I'm back, that's what matters.'
No need to burden the family with his hardships. Haesung stroked her back and hair in silence, just as he had when little Hayun came home hurt as a child, holding her close without a word.