Adjustment to Earth: Seowoon's Arrival
"Juriel!"
Lilingwei's voice was bright as she called out.
Juriel glanced around at the sound of her voice, spotted her friend, and hurried over. Lilingwei's clenched fists were damp with sweat as the two women grabbed each other's hands tightly.
Their faces were full of tension. Naturally, their first step into this strange new world was nerve-wracking.
They had occasionally heard bits and pieces about Earth from Seowoon or Kichan, but this was an entirely different world, with not a single familiar face.
No matter how skilled and seasoned they were in their own world—or in the Cloyd Survival—they couldn't help feeling fear.
Lilingwei, who had arrived on Earth a few hours earlier than Juriel, felt it even more acutely.
"Why did you take so long?!"
"Sorry. I had to release all my bound servants before I left."
Though they had agreed in advance—using a private chat window—to arrive at the same time, Juriel had been hours late and completely unresponsive, leaving Lilingwei deeply worried.
She had feared they might end up in completely different locations on Earth.
"When Suhwa said it was Korea out of all those countries, I thought I'd heard wrong. You have no idea how worried I was."
Seeing a rare vulnerable side of Lilingwei—who was usually cynical and stoic—made Juriel smile awkwardly.
They shrank further when they noticed how blatantly the passersby stared at them.
"I-I think our outfits stand out too much…"
Lilingwei's long, crimson outfit—intense and flowing—looked like something straight out of a wuxia film, making it impossible for anyone not to stare.
Juriel wasn't dressed any more subtly either. Her emerald lace dress was elaborate, and the white gloves on both hands made her stand out all the more.
But most of all, it was their appearances that drew attention. A strikingly beautiful Westerner and an equally stunning East Asian woman walking together in exotic clothes? Of course people were staring.
"There are others wearing unusual outfits too, though…"
At Lilingwei's remark, Juriel nodded and clung more tightly to her friend's arm.
In a situation where they had no one else to rely on, being treated like a spectacle only added to their discomfort.
If people in their own world had stared so openly?
Lilingwei would've retaliated immediately, and Juriel's guards would've stepped in before she even had to lift a finger.
Their eyes scanned for others wearing similarly flashy outfits. They noticed a few individuals in elegant, colorful clothes—yet the focus seemed entirely on them.
"Whoa, is this cosplay?"
"Well, it is Insadong."
"Guess there are places that rent out those kinds of outfits now?"
"Cool idea. Maybe they're models for some promotion?"
The whispers from nearby onlookers didn't escape their sharp hearing.
"Models? Cosplay… what do those words mean?"
"I-I don't really know either."
As the two women stood there with confused expressions, a tall man approached them.
"Excuse me."
"What is it?"
Lilingwei instinctively stepped in front of Juriel, extending her arm protectively. To everyone else, it probably looked over-the-top.
"Uh… are you cosplaying?"
"What is that?"
"Ah… look, I don't usually do this, seriously! But you're just… so beautiful. I fell for you at first sight. Could I get your number…?"
Lilingwei glanced at the man, his spiked short hair giving him a cocky air. Deciding he wasn't worth the time, she tilted her chin arrogantly, grabbed Juriel's hand, and strode past him without a word.
"Wow, that's a whole concept."
"Right? She really looks like a character straight out of a martial arts movie."
Ignoring the murmurs behind them, the two continued down the street, their eyes gradually widening in wonder.
"H-How far do these sky-scrapers go?"
"No idea. I'm not sure either."
"Should we call Seowoon now?"
"Juriel. We shouldn't become a burden to him. If we start asking for help before handling even the basics, what will he think of us?"
Juriel nodded in agreement at Lilingwei's words.
"You're right. Then maybe Suhwa—"
"No. Let's at least take care of food, shelter, and clothing on our own. Things didn't seem all that friendly between those two. There's definitely some kind of unresolved issue here. We shouldn't end up owing her anything."
Even in the middle of Insadong, dressed so conspicuously, their serious conversation continued—drawing even more stares.
"First… clothes. We need new clothes."
"Yeah! But… where do we get money?"
"Don't worry. I heard gold still holds monetary value here."
"I brought mostly jewels, though…"
Their eyes busily scanned the skyscraper-filled city around them.
***
"If we mess this up, it'll become a heavy burden in the future. Please reconsider."
The man bowed deeply as he pleaded. Standing behind him, Jung Suhwa also lowered her head.
"We can't create controversy now just to avoid future regret. The world's already in uproar over all this 'awakened' and 'ability user' talk. And even though it hasn't gone public yet, there's a growing sense of unease. If we grant immunity, they'll call it preferential treatment—and the backlash will come straight for me and my party."
"It is special treatment. And it should be. If we lose him now… Korea will fall far behind in the changes to come. Why do you think other countries are falling over themselves for him? Please consider the bigger picture."
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. You may go."
After being dismissed, the middle-aged man stepped out of the office and let out a deep sigh.
"Haah… is there really… no way?"
Suhwa shook her head, face expressionless.
"There isn't. But if he—wait."
She suddenly stopped speaking, focused intently on something unseen. The man waited, hoping she might offer some breakthrough.
"T-The first Outworlder might have just arrived in Korea."
"Outworlder?"
For a moment, the man thought of a celebrity, then quickly shook his head.
"What are you talking about…?"
"I'll report in detail later. Excuse me."
With that, Jung Suhwa quickly left the room.
***
"Um, ma'am, I'm sorry, but… we only accept cash or cards…"
The young saleswoman stared in shock at the gold bar Lilingwei casually placed on the counter—and then watched as she pulled out a second one.
"Is one not enough? Here, take two."
"N-No, that's not the issue…"
She'd already watched them sweep through the store, grabbing armfuls of clothes and getting them all wrapped up—and now they were offering gold bars?
"Lilingwei. Prices in this world must be high. Let me handle this."
Confidently stepping forward, Juriel removed the necklace from her neck, its large sapphire gleaming under the lights.
"Will this do?"
The clerk had no idea what to make of these women.
"W-Wait, is this some kind of hidden camera prank? Are you… YouTubers?"
At the unfamiliar words, the two women exchanged glances.
—What's a hidden camera?
—Something done secretly, maybe? And what's a YouTuber?
—Should we just say yes?
—To something we don't understand?
As the clerk hesitated, the shop owner—busy tidying clothes—finally stepped in.
"Enough with the games. Young people these days, always pushing boundaries. This is disruptive."
"We're not playing any games."
Lilingwei's voice was firm and utterly serious, causing the shop owner to frown deeply.
"Listen here! Are you trying to pull something with fake gold? I tried to be nice, but enough's enough!"
As the shouting escalated, Lilingwei's brow furrowed to match.
"Fake? Do I look like the kind of person who walks around with fake stuff?"
"Hey! You little brat, who do you think you are speaking informally to me? Just because I sell clothes, you think I'm a joke? If it's real gold, go sell it at a gold shop! Why come to a clothing store and cause trouble?!"
At the sudden outburst from the shop owner, the two women's eyes sparkled.
"Gold shop?"
"Where is that?"
The woman who had been yelling lost all energy upon seeing how genuinely serious they looked.
"Who are these girls?"
With a straight face, Lilingwi stepped forward and addressed the bewildered shop owner.
"Please take us to this 'gold shop.' We'll make sure to reward you generously."
"Sigh…"
Seeing how serious they were, the woman sighed and raised both hands in surrender before leading them.
"Here. This is a gold shop."
As they stepped through the glass door and saw all the finely crafted jewelry displayed behind glass cases, the two women's faces lit up.
Leaving the owner behind, who crossed her arms to observe what they were about to do, the two women approached the elderly shopkeeper and took out gemstones and gold bars.
"We'd like to sell these."
Even at a glance, their appearance wasn't normal—and when they suddenly placed a sapphire-studded necklace and gold bars on the counter, the shopkeeper couldn't help but be flustered.
"…These are real."
The shopkeeper examined the gold and the sapphires in the necklace, then collapsed into his seat and wiped sweat from his brow.
Swallowing hard, the two women watched his expression. From behind them, the clothing shop owner yelled with wide eyes,
"They're real?! You're telling me those are real?!"
"Yes. They are," the shopkeeper replied. "I'm sorry, but our store can't afford to buy all of these. That sapphire in the necklace alone is easily over 30 carats… The diamonds surrounding it are also genuine, and the cut isn't even Korean. Everything—the brilliance, the cut—this is top-tier. It's worth over 700 million won at least. A small gold shop like ours just can't afford to purchase something like this."
At the word "700 million," the clothing shop owner's jaw practically hit the floor.
Lilingwi and Juriel exchanged a glance and nodded.
—I'll take over. I've had more experience dealing with merchants.
With that, Lilingwi stepped forward.
"Well, I'm not asking for full price. We're in a bit of a hurry, so just give us whatever you reasonably can for a quick sale."
The middle-aged shopkeeper eyed the red-dressed, long-haired woman with a strange look, as if trying to figure out whether she understood anything, when Juriel stepped in.
—Lilingwi, step back. He's looking at us weird.
Taking over from Lilingwi, Juriel spoke in fluent Korean, as if to show off.
"The necklace aside… Could you at least take the gold bar?"
The shopkeeper weighed two of the gold bars and shook his head, causing the two women's faces to fall.
"Four kilos. Whew… Even by buyback rates, that's over 150 million won. Where would a small shop like this get 100 million in cash on the spot?"
Once again, Lilingwi jumped in, desperate.
"That's why we're saying we'll take whatever you have. Could you at least buy one of them?"
Saying she'd let one go cheap, the shopkeeper stared at her for a while as if trying to determine whether she was sane, and finally opened his mouth.
"All I can give you right now is 60 million won in cash. Would that…"
Before he could finish, Lilingwi nodded.
"Sounds good!"
"Then please write your bank account number here and show me your ID…"
The shopkeeper held out a form, but the two women just stared blankly at it.
"What's a… 'bank account number'?"
"If you mean ID, would this work?"
Juriel took out a flashy golden badge engraved with intricate characters, and the shopkeeper's jaw dropped as he looked between the two women and their strange behavior.
"Um… where exactly did you get these items?"
After much back and forth, the two left the shop with twelve bundles of 50,000-won bills in hand.
The look on the shopkeeper's face when Lilingwi swept the cash into her subspace pouch couldn't have been more shocked—even if the world was ending.
"Y-you should've said you had powers!"
The clothing shop owner, now casually chatting with them, piped up. Juriel responded,
"Is that what you call it here?"
"Ohhh, so you're both from abroad? I thought something was off… You should've just said so earlier. Still, how do you both speak Korean so well?"
"It's thanks to an item."
"Oh yeah, I saw something like that on TV. Those items can be pretty magical, huh? That thing earlier—the money disappearing—was that one of them too?"
"It's called a subspace pouch."
"Oh my, how fascinating."
Chatting about this and that, they returned to the clothing shop. The owner held out her hand.
"You're foreigners, so I'll give you a special discount—just 390,000 won. I'll knock off 10,000."
Lilingwi pulled out a stack of bills and handed it to her.
"Keep the rest. Consider it a thank-you for all your help."
Tempted by sudden greed, the owner paused, then shook her head and stopped them before they could leave.
"I've been in business here for ten years. I don't rip people off just because they're foreigners. Here, I'll just take 10,000 as a tip."
She pressed the remaining 460,000 won back into Lilingwi's hand. Juriel smiled.
"Then please at least take this."
She slipped a small diamond ring into the shop owner's hand and turned away. The owner stared at them in a daze as they walked off.
"Why are people still staring at us?"
"Not sure. Our outfits aren't that flashy, are they?"
They had changed into a short skirt and shoes from the shop, yet people continued to stare. The two looked genuinely puzzled.
Fwooooosh!
"M-monster?!"
As something roared overhead, Juriel raised her staff—only for Lilingwi to stop her.
"Juriel, calm down. That's not a monster."
Looking up at the sky, Lilingwi explained,
"It's just… a bird. Flying through the sky. I was pretty shocked the first time, too. But no one else even bats an eye."
That's when Juriel realized everyone was more focused on her suddenly drawing a staff than on the giant bird flying overhead.
"Now that we know how to get money, we just need a place to stay."
"We'll have to find something near him."
"We'll figure it out first."
"But where do we even look for a house?"
"…"
***
BOOM!
Lightning struck from the sky, barely missing Seowoon as he lunged forward with his arms loose at his sides.
Zap-zap-zap!
Gichan countered deftly with his staff, fending off the incoming Bloodbone Strike. He fell back, swung his staff—and an Ice Snake lunged at Seowoon with jaws wide.
Crackkk!
Seowoon tore the Ice Snake apart with a blade of energy condensed on his fingertips, then immediately closed the distance between him and kichan.
Clang!
"Ugh!"
kichan tumbled backward but scrambled to his feet.
"Hyung! Using aura like that is cheating!"
"This is supposed to be like a real fight. You think I didn't get hit by Call Lightning twice?"
"You can take it—you've got high magic resistance!"
"High resistance doesn't mean it doesn't hurt."
"Haa… Anyway, it's been days now. Since nothing's happened, I guess that thing we were expecting isn't going to show up after all."
Seowoon scowled and glared at kichan.
"Thing we were expecting?"
"I-I mean the thing we were worried about!"
"Watch your mouth. Words have power."
"Yes, sir. So… are we heading up there today?"
"Yeah. I think it's time I gave them an answer."
"You've made your decision?"
"Yeah. They said they'll take care of the tax issues too. Plus, they're offering immunity. Sounds good to you, right?"
"I've got no reason to complain. Honestly, I've been having a hard time handling the items you've been bringing lately. They're not broken materials or anything, but those items worth dozens of coins are just too bulky. And besides, this way I can skip military service too."
At that last remark, emphasized more than necessary, Seowoon frowned.
"You're supposed to serve in the military. I'll try talking to them about that part."
"You really don't have to."
"No, a man should do his duty."
As they joked back and forth and started descending the mountain, a familiar voice suddenly rang out.
—Seowoon. We're here. In a place called Seoul.
Seowoon and Kichan froze in their tracks like they'd been struck by lightning.
—We're at a place called the Shilla Hotel!
Hearing familiar words—Seoul and Shilla Hotel—spoken in a familiar voice sent chills down Seowoon's spine.
"…Well, I guess what we said really did come true."
As Seowoon glared at Kichan's awkward smile, his brow twitching, Kichan suddenly used his light-step skill and bolted down the mountain.
—We'll be right there, hyung!
"Hey! Kang Kichan!"
"What else can I do? You've got to manage your team, right?"
—VROOOM!
As Kichan leapt onto a motorbike and sped off, Seowoon quickly gave chase.
"So how long have you girls been here?"
"Today makes four days," Lilingwi replied.
Juriel nodded in agreement.
"Wow… You managed to find a hotel like this?"
Kichan's eyes sparkled as he took in the suite—so luxurious it made the word "spacious" feel inadequate.
"It's nothing special," Lilingwi replied, lifting her chin like it was no big deal.
Seowoon's expression darkened at her nonchalant tone.
But Kichan, undeterred, spoke up with enthusiasm.
"Isn't it expensive?"
"At first, we had no idea about the prices here, so it was a bit scary. But it's not that bad. My grandfather gave me some capital, thinking of his granddaughter getting married."
"Wow… how much did he give you?"
Before she could even finish answering, Juriel began pulling gold bars out of her subspace.
Kichan's eyes widened as gold bars, gems, paintings, and porcelain piled up and began to bend the metal table from the weight.
"O-okay, that's enough. You really don't have to show me all that."
"I think Juriel's collection of gems might even be more valuable than mine."
Juriel gave a sheepish smile at that.
Watching the two women, Kichan grinned mischievously.
"Still, it's kind of surprising to see you two living together."
"Why?"
"We've known each other a long time—just like you and Seowoon. Juriel and I survived together, relying on each other."
Kichan dramatically shook his head, eyes twinkling with mischief.
"Even so, you're rivals in love. I mean, in those dramas, even the best of friends turn on each other when a love triangle—urk!"
Seowoon's fingers poked sharply into Kichan's side, cutting him off mid-sentence. His face turned pale.
"Gah! Are you trying to kill me?!"
"If you keep spouting nonsense, I might seriously consider it. I've got legal immunity now."
Despite clutching his aching side, Kichan burst out laughing at Seowoon's deadpan threat.
But Juriel and Lilingwi set their expressions and spoke in earnest.
"You don't have to worry about that."
"Right. Lilingwi and I already talked it through."
Seowoon's eyebrow twitched at their matter-of-fact tone—especially since he hadn't been part of the conversation.
"What did you decide?"
Kichan asked eagerly, dying of curiosity.
"We both agreed to be co-wives. If one of us became a concubine, it could strain our friendship."
"Exactly. We made the decision so Seowoon wouldn't feel pressured. We didn't want to burden him."
That's not the issue here…
Seowoon abruptly stood up, cutting off his train of thought.
"You're hungry, right? Let's get something to eat."
Leaving only those words behind, Seowoon walked out, and Kichan followed while clutching his stomach, trying not to burst out laughing.
—Hyung, isn't Sweden a monogamy country? Maybe we should start researching the Middle East?
Ignoring Kichan's final jab that made his insides twist, Seowoon hurried out.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]