CH 36

The situation was complicated. Well, not really, but my feelings were.

There was nothing complicated about the situation. I could just do what they told me to do. I was strong and could do my own things.

Even my activity was decided by others. The old people of the dimension society rushed me to collect data, and the Hunters Association, which also needed to collect data, urged me. Plus, didn’t Daybreak also beg me to come? 

I can’t be such a superstar. Yeonhui is still a baby. I want to go to the park with my mom and feed the pigeons.

But I couldn’t ignore this because who knew if a wave might burst too? How could I pretend not to know? 

I’d been thinking of going, but Polar Night threw ashes all over the table someone else had set up for me to eat. I had my blindfold on and was about to put a spoonful of rice in my mouth when I saw that ashes had been sprinkled on it because he had also taken off my blindfold. 

So what did this mean?

“The three-line summary, please.”

Yeah, I disliked that man terribly.

After a sip of something unknown, whether it was tea or sugar water, I spurted the liquid—actually tea—out of my mouth.

Yuck. That was awful. I wrinkled my brow and straightened my back. I’d need spinal surgery if I sat crookedly for a little longer.

“The King of Lust is trying to speed up the dimensional fusion. The King of Pride interferes with this gate. Calamity will happen because of the two kings.” Polar Night folded his fingers and summarized the current situation in three lines. It was a deliberately provocative, unrewarding answer. 

I still glared at him with my brows wrinkled. What is it? I have a bad feeling.

Body-strengthening characteristics did not increase the sixth sense, but I had a pretty good sense. In fact, if I hadn’t had good sense, I would have died a long time ago. Sometimes I hit the wrong place, but the result was never bad. That’s why I tended to trust my intuition a lot.

“Do you understand?” His voice was still soft even though I was annoyed. He was treating me like a kid right now. The expression on his face was that of a grandmother watching her grandchildren.

“Unfortunately so.”

It was best to avoid strange people. There were more than several guys who became a cultist themselves after investigating some cults. I needed to get out of there as soon as possible.

Of course, I’d walked into this neighborhood myself, but isn’t that the way everyone is at first? Who buys a lottery ticket thinking they’re going to lose? Everyone must think about what to do if they win first place.

“I know what to do, so I’ll leave now. I hope you have a good time teaching today because of me.”

“You’re not going to ask more? This shouldn’t be all of your business.”

His relaxed smile smelled like bad luck. Someone might give their bank account to the owner of that face. I wanted to tell my past self, ‘Sweetheart, a person’s face is essential, but personality is also important.’

What’s the use of one’s shell? Sure, it’s incredible. But wouldn’t it be even better if the personality was perfect, too? This may be why a favorite celebrity cools down when a controversy about their personality breaks out. 

I erased all the goodwill that was left in the corner of my mind. “Yes, but I don’t want to ask you. I’ll just call IRL later.”

I was overreacting, but I just felt like I had to. A strange feeling of déjà vu ran through my body. Just seeing that person smile gave me goosebumps.

Fear of the unknown has always been a staple in horror movies. Everyone is afraid of what they don’t know.

“That’s too bad. It would have been nice if we could have talked more.”

I defined Polar Night, who was kind to me from the beginning to the end, as someone annoying, like the things mentioned above.

It’s a natural step to figure out roughly what kind of person someone is when you first meet them.

“Juha.”

“Yes.”

“See her off.”

But no matter how I looked at him, I didn’t know. He spoke of nonsense at our first meeting and said things that even the dimension society didn’t know of.

He’s too incomprehensible for me to measure. How many feats does he have? Changing the genre to romance, revealing the world’s secrets, and predicting the future— Wow! Triple crown!

[T/N: Triple Crown is a sports term that has a slightly different meaning for each sport. It usually refers to a case where a player or team wins three competitions, and in certain sports, it also means that an individual player achieves three records in one game]

It’s hard for someone to win awards like that consistently. Even after I arrived home with IRL’s skills, I constantly thought about Polar Night.

He was suspicious, no matter how hard I thought about it. I thought the genre of my life was a ranking 1, powerful, leisurely Hunter, but it might be a returnee’s special Hunter collection.

Oooh, is that why all the Paradise children are great!? Whoa. Perhaps the main character in this town isn’t the number 1 rank, but Polar Night!?

A drama played in my head. Even though my mother struck me on the back, I persevered in writing the drama.

And it was only after a while that I realized that the drama was true.

***

Dimension Society.

A collection of studies created after another dimension was confirmed and a place for people who risked their lives in those studies.

The era of science, which previously dominated human society, had passed. The other dimensions and the Awakened were beyond the scope of science as we knew it.

What would come out if we used the laws of physics against the Awakened who flew in the sky and breathed fire? Yes, that is exactly what I thought.

The era of new concepts of learning had come.

▶ Ares

▶ Are you reading my message?

▶ Does it make sense to summarize this valuable material in three lines!?

Messages of anger kept coming up. I was lying on the bed, eating snacks, while looking at the message from the person in charge of the dimensional society. Oh, well. Why do you talk so much?

No need to explain from A to Z ◀

Just get to the point ◀

You know there’s tmi. That’s why just summarize it in three lines ◀

Too Much Information, okay?

I was embarrassed to use English for someone who had lived abroad for 3 years. In the old days, I’d also studied TOEIC, but it’s harder to study as you get older.

I need to get in the car, so tell me quickly ◀

What is the outer dimension seal? Is it true that the King of Lust is losing? ◀

Wasn’t it natural for a quiet person to become as noisy as a woman before the keyboard? The nature suppressed for the sake of social face suddenly popped out when holding an electronic device.

I’d heard that personality was the most important thing in the world these days. I’m sorry, Mom. I think we failed at home education.

I mean, how the hell do you figure out things like the power structure? ◀

By planting a spy? ◀

Even thinking about it now without that flashy face was suspicious. How had he known such information without going to the outer dimension?

He even talked about the old days. How did you know about the history of a neighborhood unless you were from that place?

He was insane enough to make Daybreak look cute.

▶ Spy?

▶ Well…

My contact, who didn’t reply for a while, replied after a while.

Whoa. It’s true? I dropped the snack I was eating in shock and horror.

▶ I can’t tell you this via message

▶ It’s a top secret

What was the top secret? The things Polar Night had already told me?

Am I not a VVIP? Won’t you let me know? ◀

It must be something that’d be bothersome if it got leaked. I tried to make a deal calmly for now.

▶ Of course;

▶ They’ll get rid of me if I say this carelessly

▶ You may never see me again;; Do you understand?

Get rid of? Even though the seniors above were persistent, they didn’t carelessly cut off a youngun who paid for their meal.

Not like I want to see you ◀

But the tenser the situation, the more I felt like making fun of others. 

The incoming answer would probably sound like, “Are you teasing others with their lives?”

▶ You talk too much.

▶ Don’t make me upset.

Sure enough, the reaction came right back. I quickly left a reply saying it was a joke and then hurried back.

So, it is true that the King of Lust is being pushed back, and it is also true that the movements of the outer dimension are unusual, right? ◀

But since the source is top secret and can’t be revealed, I’ll have to come and see by myself if I’m curious. Is it? ◀

I contacted the Dimension Society only to ask about two things.

First, was it true that the King of Lust is falling behind in the power structure announced last time? Second, about movement in the outer dimension.

The beings of the outer dimension could enter our dimension through the inner gates, but we didn’t know how to reach the outer dimension.

Therefore, all we had was the memoir of the ‘first returnee’ who had gone to the outer dimension and returned, but this alone did not fully inform us of the outer dimension.

It was natural because that happened a very long time ago. The outer dimension written in that man’s notes was the age of the old lords.

▶ Yes, so don’t just send data through the association. Come and visit yourself.

▶ I’ll be waiting for you at the top, Ares.

I turned off the terminal screen while frowning.

“Yeonhui! I’ll go down first, so come down after checking if the door’s locked!” Mom turned off the lights in the house and screamed loudly. 

I raised my voice while tidying up the empty snack bags. “I’ll go to the bathroom first before leaving!”

I decided to stretch a bit since I had only been lying down while waiting for Mom to get ready. I packed my belongings into the bag I had brought in advance and tilted my terminal screen.

[Estimation (71:32) until the spread of the gate at Osan ? area

Dungeon: Wave probability estimated at 10:0.

Estimated gate rank ■. Estimated damage rank ■. Recommended Attribute: ■.]

Until a day ago, the precise rank was stated. But after my conversation with Polar Night, it changed.

This meant that the previously collected data could not be analyzed. The association guys must still be working their brains hard.

[Daylight Robbery] ▶ Finger King

[Daylight Robbery] ▶ Hey, you’re so full of yourself

[Daylight Robbery] ▶ Hey, don’t ignore me!! Aaahh!!

Moreover, it wasn’t just them who had a fire lit under their feet. The greatest gate of all time would be opened in Korea, so who would be the most upset? Of course, the people of this country.

The Hunters Association headquarters was still in the United States. It meant that nothing would happen to them even if this country fell.

But what about the people of this country? If the Hunters couldn’t suppress the dungeon, they’d be ruined. Wouldn’t ordinary people be shocked just by seeing the king?

What ◀ [Finger Technique]

I’m on my way to a vacation in Busan now ◀ [Finger Technique]

Could the army of the King of Pride cross the sea? Ah, since they could go to other countries without crossing the sea, Eurasia would probably be ruined.

I tucked the Capri Sun into the bag and zipped it. I also checked that the gas fire was turned off. The bathroom door was closed, and all the windows were closed.

Jiiing—

The terminal rang like crazy. I left the house, ignoring the violent message attacks from Daylight Robbery. Clap. And checked to see if the door was locked.

The weather outside was excellent. It was literally the night before the storm.