Everyone Else Is a Returnee
Forgotten when humanity is sent to other worlds before Earth’s Great Cataclysm, Yu IlHan trains alone for a thousand years and returns to a changed world where his concealment, crafting, and relentless growth draw him into conflicts with dragons, higher factions, and the power ruling Heaven.
- Author
- Toika
- Status
- Completed
About the novel
Everyone Else Is a Returnee centers on Yu IlHan, a man so accustomed to being overlooked that even a world-scale dimensional transfer leaves him behind. While humanity trains in other worlds before Earth's Great Cataclysm, IlHan remains on a time-stopped Earth with the angel Liera. What should be a brief delay lasts roughly a thousand years, giving him an unmatched foundation in study, physical training, survival, and craft before mana returns to the planet.
IlHan's concealment and preparation make him uniquely effective against the monsters that appear after the Cataclysm, but they also repeat the isolation that defined his earlier life. His development as a hunter, dragon slayer, and artificer draws companions and dependents into a growing community. The story expands from Earth's adaptation crisis to conflicts among higher existences, eventually forcing IlHan to decide whether to enter one of their inherited systems or create an independent faction governed by different rules.
World and classes
The Great Cataclysm introduces mana, monsters, dungeons, and the Akashic Record, which recognizes achievements through levels, classes, skills, and titles. People initially train in other worlds so they can survive Earth's transformation, while angels and higher factions supervise lower worlds under rules that limit direct intervention. Experience and class advancements produce dramatic growth, but each advancement also places an individual more firmly within the Record's established paths.
IlHan's abilities combine concealment, combat, and manufacturing. His long preparation gives him expertise the system only recognizes after mana arrives, and his craft allows him to convert monster bodies and rare materials into weapons, armor, traps, fortresses, and living systems. Dragons and higher existences introduce broader class thresholds, while the creation of Dragon's Nest challenges the assumption that advancement must end in service to Heaven or another established faction.
