The place we arrived at, following the captain elf's light footsteps, was the VIP room where I had met the Queen last time.
Inside the room, a subtle woody fragrance lingered.
There, the middle-aged man I had seen before was pacing nervously around the room.
He was the interpreter who had translated the elves' words into human language.
The moment my silver hair entered his field of vision, he rushed over, forgetting all decorum, and grabbed both my hands.
"I-It's been so long! Mr... Kang Tae-ho!"
The hands gripping mine were trembling violently.
In his eyes, desperation, fear, and a thread-thin hope were all mixed together.
"Can I really go home now? My family... my wife, are they safe?"
I could feel the full weight of the time he had endured in this strange land, serving as an interpreter.
I hadn't just been playing around while rolling around in Korea.
I had passed this man's personal information to the government and told them to confirm whether his family was alive.
"Yes. They're safe."
At my brief answer, the man's breath stopped.
"Your wife is doing well, and your daughter has grown up healthy. When I showed her your photo, she apparently cried her eyes out."
Upon hearing the news of his family's survival, his eyes instantly reddened.
He hastily wiped away tears with the sleeve of his worn suit jacket, the cuffs completely frayed.
Then he bowed so deeply his back nearly bent in half, nodding his head repeatedly.
"Thank you... truly, truly thank you...!"
"That's enough. You need to go see your daughter in good health."
With a determined expression, he wiped his tears and returned to his position to prepare for interpreting.
I watched his retreating back.
So this is what the weight of being a Korean family man looks like.
It was a feeling I couldn't yet understand, but strangely, a corner of my chest felt heavy.
With a single glance, I silenced the foreign hunters noisily looking around and the government officials moving their lips.
Shortly after, accompanied by a wave of mana, the Elven Queen entered with her escort.
"When I first saw you, I could not tell whether you were human or spirit."
The Queen stared piercingly into my red eyes as she spoke.
"Seeing you act so hastily, you are indeed human."
It sounded like an apology for the misunderstanding, but I couldn't tell if it was a compliment or an insult.
'This isn't how I wanted to have my species verified.'
As the Queen was about to broach the main topic with a solemn expression, I raised my hand and cut off her words, manners be damned.
"No, let's ask something first."
The Queen's eyebrow twitched briefly at my rudeness, but after hearing the interpreter's words, she nodded and permitted me to speak.
"You requested cooperation, saying you wanted to avoid the destruction of both worlds because of unknown monsters, right?"
"That is correct."
"But looking at today, it's way too peaceful here. You even have enough leisure to wait for us for about a year. This isn't an urgent situation where the world is about to end right now, is it?"
I poured out the sense of incongruity I had felt since the forest entrance.
The interpreter broke into a sweat trying to refine my rough tone as he conveyed it to the Queen.
Upon hearing my question, the Queen's gaze deepened.
"Indeed."
The Queen answered calmly.
"The world's destruction you are worried about is not an immediate matter."
"Wait, wait a minute. Exactly how long is this 'immediate'?"
The Queen thought for a long while after hearing my words before answering.
"Assuming no measures are taken, we estimate approximately 50 to 100 years."
"Ha."
Scoffs and hollow laughs burst from the mouths of the Earth hunters and officials gathered here.
I too scratched the back of my head and swallowed a hollow laugh.
'These keeb bastards, really...'
For humans, 100 years is more than enough time for a generation to pass.
We came to prepare for war, but it's a disaster with a 100-year expiration date.
"Then there's no reason for you to negotiate with us so urgently, is there? You have 100 years left."
At my cynical question, the Queen's eyes widened as if genuinely puzzled.
"You people are strange."
The Queen's voice resonated quietly throughout the VIP room.
"If a passage connecting to another world appeared in my nation's territory, and communication with them was possible, wouldn't it be natural to establish relations through dialogue rather than force? A fine monarch must prevent even the smallest harm that might befall their people, is that not so?"
There wasn't a trace of falsehood in her eyes.
"We learned of a future crisis through Divine Revelation, yet you find it strange that we don't simply sit idle because it's 50 years away? Exchanging information with each other and preparing for destruction—why do you question such an obvious course of action?"
The answer that came from the Elven Queen's mouth was pure righteousness that could never be heard in Earth's political arena, the kind that would only appear in an elementary school ethics textbook.
Everyone in the VIP room fell silent.
To the Queen's eyes, humans calculating on their abacuses for their own national interests must have looked bizarre instead.
"Phew... Anyway, I understand well that there's no immediate bloodshed coming."
I pressed my throbbing forehead. This wasn't a place for a combatant like me to be involved.
"I came as the symbolic representative of this alliance, so I'll stamp the seal. For all the other minor details and specific coordination, discuss them with these people here."
From that point on, a long and tedious battle began.
The conversation between the Elven Queen and Earth's government officials continued endlessly, one topic leading to another.
Earth's System, mana utilization data, and even the movements of the human Empire, dwarves, and Beastkin Allied Forces that the elves had identified.
One clear fact emerged from their conversation.
Those disgusting tentacle monsters crossing over from dimensions.
Those beings that contaminate the soil and gnaw away at continents are certainly dangerous, but they can be sufficiently suppressed with the Allied Forces' current strength.
The reason they bothered to form an Allied Forces and extend a hand to Earth was singular.
This wasn't the time to fight among ourselves in front of a common enemy.
And they wanted to compare the cause and solution of the dimensional collapse warned by the Divine Revelation with Earth, which had experienced the Gate phenomenon together.
The exchange of information to understand each other's worlds continued tensely for some time.
* * * * *
I was leaning against the sofa, dozing off.
"Mm. This should be sufficient."
I opened my eyes at the Queen's voice.
Looking toward the table, Earth's government officials and elven Elders were organizing thick stacks of densely written documents.
The long and tedious information exchange between the two worlds had finally ended.
Fatigue mixed with a strange excitement lingered on the government officials' faces.
They probably gained more lucrative technology and knowledge than the data they brought.
I got up from my seat and approached the Queen.
"Are you satisfied with the information exchange?"
"Most satisfactory. The process of learning what one does not know is always enjoyable."
The Queen approached me with a faint smile. Then she suddenly grabbed my right hand.
"?"
Her lips moved, and incomprehensible elven language flowed out.
—Zzzt!
"Ugh."
A stinging pain shot through the back of my hand.
I tried to pull my hand away, but the Queen's grip strength was no joke.
Blue mana intertwined, and a glowing tattoo slowly etched itself onto the back of my hand.
The geometric vine pattern emitted a dazzling light for a moment before seamlessly disappearing as if absorbed into my skin.
"With this, the alliance between our two worlds is established. I look forward to working with you, representative of Earth."
"That's our line."
I answered while roughly rubbing the back of my hand.
Fortunately, no scar remained.
With this, my annoying diplomatic mission was over too.
"Then, to commemorate forming the alliance, I'd like to receive the people you promised."
At my words, the Queen nodded.
"Of course. Our food storage has been quite depleted feeding your kinsmen anyway. Humans eat a tremendous amount compared to their size."
At the Queen's gesture, the tightly closed VIP room door opened.
People poured in, escorted by armed elven soldiers.
They were Japan's advance team hunters and civilian missing persons caught up when the Gate was created.
"Kenji!"
A Japanese official standing beside me threw away all decorum and rushed forward, wailing.
"You're alive...!"
"Can we go home now?!"
The civilians spotted our hunters' uniforms and collapsed to the floor, sobbing.
The advance team hunters, who had been imprisoned with their weapons confiscated, also let out sighs of relief with haggard faces.
—Clap clap clap!
"Now, save the touching reunions for when we get back to Earth. We're busy."
I clapped loudly, instantly drawing the attention of the crying people.
"You too, sir, pack up quickly. You need to go see your daughter."
The interpreter, who had been tearing up in the corner watching the civilians, jumped at my call and nodded vigorously.
"Let's go back."
I gave a brief command and turned around.
I left the VIP room, receiving the elegant farewells of the Elven Queen and Elders.
My steps retracing the path through the forest felt much lighter.
Leading the group of dozens of missing persons, I stood before the giant blue vortex again.
"Let's go in."
Without hesitation, I threw myself into the Gate.
My vision flashed white.
—As of this moment, the entry team's return is confirmed!
The moment I opened my eyes, the noisy announcement from Osaka Control Base assaulted my ears.
"Medical team! Bring stretchers quickly!"
Medical personnel waiting outside the Gate rushed in like a swarm, supporting civilians whose legs had given out.
Joy spread across the faces of soldiers and officials surrounding the base perimeter.
"Success!"
"The alliance is established! All missing persons returned safely!"
A tremendous cheer erupted, loud enough to shake the entire base.
Camera flashes from reporters dispatched from various countries began firing madly, blinding enough to hurt.
The old man was striding toward me with a broad smile on his wrinkled face.
I squinted against the pouring camera flashes and the old man's gaze, muttering quietly.
"Ah, time to clock out."
The long, long interspecies diplomacy was finally over.
