Player who Returned 10,000 years Later

“No fucking way!”

“Ahh~ why?! Just once! Just this once!”

“I said no!!!”

Oh Kang-Woo was spending his tenth anniversary with Han Seol-Ah. He had sworn that he would comply with anything she wanted today since she was working hard to raise their children.

‘But a pacifier and a baby bottle of all things?!’

It was too much even for him.

‘I knew Darling had this kind of fetish, but…’

When Kang-Woo turned into a little boy as a side effect of devouring the Demonic Sea ten years ago, he had been practically imprisoned by Seol-Ah in their home with the excuse that she needed to protect him in his weak state. He had noticed her peculiar fetish when she was beyond happy as she took care of all his needs no matter what it was.

“You might enjoy it, you never know!!”

“Don’t say that. Why don’t you try sucking on it once, just as a test—”

“I’m returning it right now, so hand over the receipt!”

“Whine.”

Seol-Ah handed Kang-Woo the receipt in disappointment. Kang-Woo headed straight to the children’s products section and refunded the pacifier and baby bottle without hesitation.

“I put on all those embarrassing outfits for you, Kang-Woo…”

Seol-Ah pouted at Kang-Woo after he returned from the children’s products section. As she mentioned, his wives had worn risqué outfits, usually led by Lilith, to please him on every special anniversary.

“Even so, this is…”

“Hmph, you’re not fair.”

Kang-Woo’s heart wavered as Seol-Ah turned away in disappointment.

‘But still, this is going too far.’

Just thinking about himself holding a baby bottle while sucking on a pacifier nauseated him.

“I’m sorry, Darling… I could do anything else, but this is just—”

“You could do anything else?”

Seol-Ah approached Kang-Woo, her eyes shining like a fisherman who caught a fish. Kang-Woo was shocked by her complete 180 turn of mood.

‘The pacifier was the bait!’

Kang-Woo trembled at the thought of what Seol-Ah might demand of him now that he refused the pacifier. Seeing that, Seol-Ah giggled and shook her head.

“I’m joking. Please don’t make such a terrified face.”

“Are you sure… it’s a joke?”

“Fufu. Of course. I told you that simply spending time with you gives me the greatest joy, Kang-Woo— no, honey.”

Seol-Ah embraced Kang-Woo’s arm and rested her head on his shoulder. A faint scent of shampoo entered his nose. He likely smelled the same as her since they lived under the same roof.

“...”

Kang-Woo was suddenly overwhelmed by happiness from the fact they smelled like the same shampoo. He softly patted Seol-Ah’s head and nodded.

“Me too,” he remarked.

He couldn’t be happier that he was spending time with Seol-Ah even if there were no expensive gifts or lavish plans.

Kang-Woo continued, “But we can’t afford to do nothing on such an important day, can we?”

He had prepared a special gift for Seol-Ah in the past three days.

“Let’s go, Darling.”

“Where?”

“You’ll see.”

Kang-Woo dragged Seol-Ah by her hand to the underground parking lot.

***

They drove to a large rental apartment building near Seoul. Although it was near Seoul, it managed to avoid the destruction from the black sun that rose on Seoul in the past because it was quite a distance away from the heart of Seoul.

“This place…”

Seol-Ah was left wide-eyed as she stared at the area surrounded by rental homes. She could never forget this place— it was her home where she had lived even before she had met Kang-Woo.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Kang-Woo asked.

“Ah… Yes. It sure has.” Seol-Ah nodded blankly.

She had not been anywhere near Seoul since they had moved to Busan after the black sun decimated Seoul ten years ago.

“But why are we here…?”

“Follow me.”

Kang-Woo and Seol-Ah climbed up the steps of the rental apartment because there was no elevator.

Clack.

They opened the door to see a shabby home that had at least every necessity.

“Ah…” Seol-Ah expressed as she looked around the house.

It was the same as back when she had mustered the courage to invite Kang-Woo here for the first time.

“H-How is it the same…?”

Since they had removed all the furniture and appliances when they moved to a new house, it couldn’t look the same.

“I tried my best.”

Kang-Woo had traveled around antique or secondhand stores to make the place look as much like it looked in the past as possible and used the Authority of Transformation to accentuate tiny details that made them special.

“Well, it won’t ever be the same as before, but… it reminds you of the time we met, right?”

To Kang-Woo, who was starved for human interaction when he returned to Earth after being stuck in Hell for ten millennia, his meeting with Seol-Ah was like rain in an arid desert that allowed a flower to bloom in his dry and desolate life. This house was the place where the flower bloomed for the first time.

“...”

Seol-Ah blankly stared at the house in silence.

Kang-Woo scratched his head as the awkward silence continued and asked, “Is it bad as a wedding anniversary gift?”

He was about to be swept with regret, thinking he should have just gotten her a designer-brand handbag or clothes.

“No…” Seol-Ah shook her head and wiped away her tears.

This house wasn’t filled only with good memories. Her times of hardship had been spent with her mother in this very home as well. However, that life changed when she met Kang-Woo. Just like how she had become the rain to Kang-Woo’s arid desert, he had also become the sweetness to her bitter life.

“This is… the best possible gift you could’ve given me,” she muttered.

It was a priceless gift.

“What a relief.”

Kang-Woo smiled as he watched Seol-Ah wipe her tears.

“Oh… come to think of it, are there any cooking utensils here?” Seol-Ah asked.

“Huh? I bought them, but why?”

“We haven’t had lunch yet, right?”

“You want to have lunch here?”

He couldn’t let his wife cook on such a special day.

“Let’s eat out. There’s this omakase place Yeon-Joo recommended—”

“No.” Seol-Ah shook her head firmly. “I want to make you something.”

“I-Is that so?” Kang-Woo nodded without realizing it, intimidated by her declaration. “But the refrigerator is empty.”

“We can buy ingredients from the nearby supermarket.”

“Do you… really have to go that far?”

“Yes.”

Kang-Woo couldn’t say no to what his wife wanted. He followed Seol-Ah to the supermarket without resistance and went back home.

Bubble, bubble.

A familiar scent wafted from the kitchen.

‘Looks like… I’m having kimchi stew even on my wedding anniversary.’

However, he didn’t hate it. He could eat kimchi stew, especially one that Seol-Ah made, for every meal of the day and never get sick of it. However, no matter how crazy he was for kimchi stew, he never expected to have it even on this special day.

“Here you go~ Dig in, Kang-Woo.”

“O-Okay. Thank you for the meal.”

Although it was unexpected, kimchi stew was kimchi stew. Kang-Woo was overjoyed as he added kimchi and pork to a bed of rice and took a spoonful.

“Is it good?”

“Of course! Anything you make is the best, Darling!”

“Fufu. There’s plenty, so eat slowly.”

Seol-Ah stared intently at Kang-Woo voraciously eating the kimchi stew. She recalled the memory of when she invited Kang-Woo to her home for the first time.

‘You sure stuffed yourself back then. Far more than now.’

She could understand now why he had eaten so voraciously since it had been his first proper meal in ten millennia.

“This reminds me of old times,” said Kang-Woo, thinking about the same thing as Seol-Ah.

Seol-Ah smiled faintly. “Although my mom was with us back then.”

“Right. Come to think of it, how is our mother-in-law doing these days?”

“She’s doing well. She even went on a trip with my oppa not long ago.”

“Ugh… with that son of a bitch?”

Kang-Woo had heard Seol-Ah’s older brother had turned over a new leaf but couldn’t help but frown considering his past sins.

“I would never go on a trip with him even if he turned over a new leaf,” Kang-Woo remarked.

“Even so, he’s still her son.”

“Hmm. Is that how it works?”

Kang-Woo could never have understood in the past but he somewhat did now after thinking about Kang-Hyun, Kang-Hee, and Lilia.

“I’ll do the dishes,” he said.

“Oh, I’ll do them.”

“No. Get some rest.”

Kang-Woo headed to the kitchen with the empty dishes after finishing their meal. Seol-Ah stared fixedly at Kang-Woo’s back from the couch as he did the dishes.

‘I could have never imagined such a life for myself if I had never met you.’

Seol-Ah had thought Kang-Woo was a bit of a weirdo at first, and even a scary person when he beat her older brother senseless. However, the closer she got to him and the more time they spent together, the more he became an irreplaceable person to her.

“Kang-Woo…”

An urge rose from inside her. She walked up to Kang-Woo as he was doing the dishes and hugged him by his waist.

“H-Huh? What’s up, Darling?”

Kang-Woo turned around in confusion, rubber dishwashing gloves still on his hands. Seol-Ah slightly got on her tiptoes and kissed Kang-Woo on the lips.

“I love you, honey.”

‘Now and forever.’

***

“A-Ahem. Now that we’ve eaten, why don’t we go for a drive to digest?”

Kang-Woo could barely look at Seol-Ah in the eyes, likely because of the sudden kiss or her whispers of genuine love.

“No, it’s alright,” Seol-Ah answered.

“You want to stay here?” Kang-Woo wondered, thinking it was a waste to stay inside when it wasn’t even one in the afternoon yet.

“Let me wash up first.”

Seol-Ah smiled and headed to the bathroom.

“D-Darling? Seol-Ah?”

‘What do you mean by that?’