How a legendary returner lives

And this needs to be clarified as well.

The Texas Gate was originally an S-rank gate.

The one who cleared that gate was none other than **Jin Song-i**.

Though there was Jin Ji-hoo involved, and it was Jin Ji-hoo who killed the apostles, the system awarded all the credit to Jin Song-i, as if Jin Ji-hoo had never existed.

There were no additional rewards or anything, but Jin Song-i did feel something odd at the time.

That was enough.

There was no need to think deeply about it, nor any reason to.

It was certain that she would receive rewards beyond imagination—rewards that were absolutely unfathomable.

“Ready to cause some trouble?”

Let’s make sure of this.

Was it really just Yoon Young-su’s solo act when he killed the president and then blackmailed Lee Seong-jae, who held the greatest power in Seoul?

Absolutely not.

It was Jin Song-i who ordered it.

In the end, Jin Song-i was behind everything.

Jin Song-i wasn’t a figure of pure white or pure black. She was a gray person burdened with a great weight.

Neither tilted toward white nor black.

She was completely in the middle—gray.

That’s who Jin Song-i was.

“I’ll handle the preparations. Come to Switzerland.”

—

The next steps were simple.

Upon arriving in Switzerland, I didn’t even have time to enjoy the scenery. I briefly embraced my sister who was there to meet me, and then immediately boarded the private plane.

Our destination was, of course, Bolivia, where the SSS-rank gate was located.

On the plane, my sister and I exchanged a few glances.

We silently sat there for a while, just looking at each other.

Then, we both smiled.

I spoke first.

“Honestly, I’m surprised.”

“About what?”

“That you accepted my offer to enter that gate together, knowing the entire world will be watching.”

“It’s tough, but it’s not impossible.”

I was a little curious.

If it were me, I could easily enter the gate without anyone noticing.

Of course, modern technology has advanced so much that at least a silhouette would be captured, but that can be easily avoided by wearing a hat or mask.

But my sister wasn’t like that.

She hadn’t yet entered the ‘High-Speed World’.

The power used by unique Awakened beings, which is something only they possess, is not something that ordinary people can use.

And it’s not something mana users can use either.

The power my sister uses, which is the same as other unique Awakened individuals, is derived from **”Separation”**—a force used only by monstrous beings who have reached the stage of “Separation of Soul”. This power is referred to as **”Soul Separation”**, and its source is the soul itself.

It’s not easy to tap into one’s own soul power.

‘Thinking about it, these unique Awakened beings are truly strange.’

I hadn’t met other unique Awakened beings, but just watching my sister was enough.

They don’t understand where their power comes from, nor the principles behind it, nor the true power of their abilities.

They were using it ‘just’ without understanding how or why.

Typically, mana is weaker than natural energy, and natural energy is weaker than Soul Separation.

That’s the rule.

Those who push their mana to the extreme learn to use natural energy, and those who master natural energy to the extreme learn Soul Separation.

But Earth’s unique Awakened beings use Soul Separation at the level of mana.

This is an incredible disparity—something so beyond my understanding.

To be honest, I couldn’t openly tell her she was a unique Awakened. But I had previously referred to the dopplegangers I fought as ‘idiots who couldn’t even use their full power.’

They possessed bodies that transcended their species and could use energy that surpassed their kind. But the level of their power was inferior to natural energy.

It was simple.

The imbalance didn’t allow them to unleash true power. Their Soul Separation was an incomplete version. That kind of Soul Separation could easily be blocked by even a properly trained natural energy user or could even lose to it.

While they had immense regenerative power, they were weak in terms of offense and defense. Awakened beings were similar. They were using powers that didn’t align with their bodies.

Dopplegangers, however, felt different.

It was as if they were artificially created.

Of course, it wasn’t something I needed to focus on. I was going to kill them all anyway, so what did it matter? But the Awakened beings were different.

‘This is definitely going to be a problem.’

Imbalanced powers always require a price.

Though they might not realize it, all Awakened beings are paying that price.

This was something that piqued my curiosity. What exactly were they mortgaging?

Just then, my sister asked.

“What are you thinking?”

“……”

“What’s wrong?”

“Hmm, what do you think your necklace is made of?”

She casually lifted her necklace.

“This? It’s made of platinum. It’s an artifact with several skills embedded in it.”

“What if it’s not platinum, but diamond?”

She blinked for a moment, wondering what I was talking about.

After thinking for a while, she slowly adjusted the necklace, her expression turning peculiar.

“…I see. You’re saying I don’t truly understand the value of what I have, right?”

“Yeah. So, what is it?”

There was only one possible answer.

“Light Sphere.”

“I’ve told you before, it doesn’t make sense for someone who hasn’t reached the stage of Soul Separation to use Soul Separation. But you’re already using it.”

She quietly listened to my words.

“If you understand the principle behind how this Soul Separation activates, and what its true source is, you’ll progress one step further than you are now.”

“How do I understand it?”

She asked this question abruptly, and I paused, staring at her.

Honestly, I had experience teaching many people in Titan.

But teaching Soul Separation to someone who hasn’t even reached that stage yet? That’s a near-impossible task. Especially since my sister hadn’t even fully mastered natural energy. I sighed and spoke.

“Self-realization is the best way. But there is a method to force that realization.”

“……And how would you do that?”

“It’s a bit dangerous.”

She smiled.

“I actually like dangerous things more than you’d think.”

She crossed her legs. My sister was speaking now, asking me to explain what this method was.

The method was simple.

“Let’s make sure we understand the concept first. All of the Awakened, including you, can only use ‘mana’ right now.”

My sister nodded.

“Mana is energy processed from nature’s forces. It takes the form suited to each person’s body. Simply put, it’s never pure energy.”

“So?”

“If you could use unprocessed, pure natural energy, that is, if you could tap into the energy of the great nature, you’d become so much stronger that what you’re doing now would seem trivial. And if you go one step beyond that, what you’d be using is Soul Separation. The Light Sphere you use—that’s Soul Separation.”

My sister nodded seriously, acknowledging what I said.

“No matter how much you like danger, trying to take on more while the balance is already off would be nothing short of madness. So, let’s take it step by step.”

“Step by step?”

“You need to reach the level where you can use the energy of great nature. In the Eastern Continent of Titan, it was called the *Golden Dan Realm*. In the Western Continent, it was called the Grand Master level.”

We got to the point.

“First, let’s reach the Golden Dan Realm. I’ll trap you in a space filled with my energy.”

“Just trapping me?”

“Of course not. There will be attacks from all directions.”

My sister crossed her arms.

“First, your vision will blur, then you won’t be able to hear anything.”

“……”

“You won’t be able to smell, taste, or feel anything. Attacks will keep coming.”

“……Yeah, that sounds dangerous.”

“Right, it’s dangerous. More than that, it’s not just your body being trapped—it’s your mind. Since it’s your mind, even if you get hurt, your body will heal quickly. But the pain will remain. So, what do you think? Do you still want to do it?”

After a moment of hesitation, my sister spoke.

“You want me to realize it on my own inside there?”

“Yeah. But let’s make this clear. Don’t try to realize Soul Separation. You haven’t transcended your kind yet. You’re still human. What you need to realize in there is the energy of great nature. You need to form your Inner Dan and fully accept the pure, vast energy of nature into your body. That’s what you need to do.”

My sister gave me a strange look.

“Start from the basics. Speaking of which, the dopplegangers couldn’t properly handle Soul Separation.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. The reason you were able to land a solid blow on them was because of a unique skill. Without that, you wouldn’t have been able to touch the dopplegangers. They couldn’t even properly use natural energy, so it’s absurd that they were using a unique skill called Soul Separation. The balance just didn’t align. If the system hadn’t been supporting you, you’d have died long ago.”

“Is it that bad?”

“I’m simplifying it. In reality, it’s even worse. If the system, which had been supporting you with malice, stops helping, you and all other unique Awakened beings in this world would die on the spot.”

It was simple.

“An unbalanced power can’t be supported by an insufficient body and understanding. Let me emphasize this one more time: realize natural energy. Feel the great nature’s power. That’s the main goal. Once you reach that level, even if Soul Separation causes problems, your body will be able to endure the overload.”

“Are you sure?”

“According to my calculations, yeah, I’m sure.”

My sister swallowed hard. Her eyes were already burning with desire. Desire to grow stronger.

“If you want, we can do it right now. What do you think?”

My sister looked around.

We were still on the plane.

We had about an hour left until we reached Bolivia.

“What’s the time dilation like?”

“It’s very slow. Ten minutes here will probably feel like a year, maybe two, over there.”

Honestly, I could make it faster, but it would be hard to control the intensity.

For those who are quick to catch on, the method I was about to use on my sister was based on the *Room of Time* the Heim tribe used in Titan, modified in my own way.

By the way, this was originally used for torture in Titan.

It seemed my sister had already made up her mind.

“Do it. Right now.”

—

The air in Bolivia was very nice.

Refreshing, I should say.

While I was gazing at the blue sky for a moment, I heard a buzzing sound.

I took the watch out of my pocket. It wasn’t my watch. It was my sister’s watch. The caller ID showed the name of Yoon Youngsoo, the Chief Secretary.

I pressed the call button immediately.

– Master, everything you asked has been completed. However, there’s been an issue, and it seems we’ll need to replace the president.

“Replace the president?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the watch after my question.

– …Is this Mr. Jin Sihoo?

“Yeah, it’s me.”

– Isn’t that the Master’s watch? Why is Mr. Jin Sihoo… Are you in Switzerland right now?

“I’ve been on the plane for a while now. Didn’t you know?”

It seemed like he genuinely didn’t know.

Yoon Youngsoo sighed heavily through the watch.

“So, you’re replacing the president? What’s going on?”

– …I should have informed the Master, but are you with him right now?

“Yeah, I’m with her, but it’s not a good time for a conversation.”

– Is everything okay? No problems?

“Of course not.”

– …I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you anything without the Master’s permission.