The Gate Opens
Ruya raised a hand to her sun-scorched face beneath the blazing sunlight and gazed skyward. “Whew, at least the humidity’s dropped a bit, but it’s still brutally hot. Shall we head in?”
“Oh my, there’s still a risk you could get infected, Lady Ruya.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Elisha and I won’t have any problems.”
“Is that so? Then shall we go in?”
The four of us floated in the pond, and it was clear that everyone’s skin had turned a deep brown—except for me. My artificial skin remained unchanged, stark white against the rest, making me stand out. Even in the water, Ekaterina kept her veil firmly in place, covering her head.
While we enjoyed the cool water, the animals that had fled earlier began creeping back to drink. Among them was one with particularly large, magnificent antlers. It stood proudly, watching over us until its kin had finished drinking, like a herd leader standing guard.
“Whoa~ That one looks just like a stag. Check out those antlers.”
“That animal is female, nyang. Females have the antlers.”
“What? So there’s only one female in that herd and the rest are all males?”
“The other females roam the forest and only receive seed after getting permission from the lead female who commands the male herds, nyang.”
“Ooh, that’s fascinating.”
We were listening to Charlotte’s surprisingly knowledgeable explanation about the local wildlife when Ruya’s voice and Ekaterina’s flustered tone reached us.
“Oh dear, it’s started all of a sudden.”
“Let’s get out and take care of it first.”
“Yes.”
Gwangnam watched the two of them hurry out of the pond and asked, “What’s going on? What happened?”
“It’s nothing a man needs to know.”
“Hoho, he’s our husband, so what does it matter? Her period has started.”
“Huh? Uh… I see. Ahem.”
Clearly embarrassed by the mention of menstruation, he cleared his throat and looked away. Sure enough, a faint trace of blood was visible between Ekaterina’s thighs.
Curious about how she would handle it, I climbed out of the water and approached her. “Ekaterina, do you use pads or tampons?”
“I use a menstrual cup.”
“Ah, that thing? I’ve only heard about it. Is it really that convenient?”
“Ever since I first tried it on Earth, I’ve never gone back. It’s heaven compared to the old diaper-style ones.”
She pulled a packaged item from her bag and showed it to me. The transparent, cup-shaped object was larger than I had imagined for something meant to go inside.
“Is it hygienic to insert it out here like this?”
“Oh my, why worry when I have divine power? Like this—zap. Just infuse it with divine power and it’s done.”
“Divine power really is all-purpose.”
It was the awe-inspiring might of divine power, rendering modern medicine obsolete.
While Ekaterina stepped aside to insert the cup, Ruya asked, “By the way, elf menstrual cycles are usually once every four months. The day I should have had mine has already passed. Do you know why it hasn’t come?”
“Our Latex Wombs ovulate but don’t menstruate. The latex uterine wall itself functions as the placenta.”
“Is that how it works? That’s even better than I thought.”
Ruya nodded, impressed. I decided to warn her about the possible downside. “On the flip side, it means your womb is always in a state where pregnancy is possible, so you have to be careful around creatures that can force conception.”
“Ah, I see. That could definitely happen.”
“In most cases Las inside the womb will block it automatically, but there are limits.”
While I was cautioning her, Ekaterina returned, having successfully inserted the cup. “Since we’re staying here for another day, shall we pitch the tents and prepare for the night?”
“Might as well, since we’re already out here. Are you feeling all right?”
“Ohoho. Menstruation isn’t much of an issue for a female hunter.”
“True enough. You’re a hunter, after all.”
Hunter work was harsh and dangerous—dungeons could require stays ranging from weeks to months. That was why combat and exploration teams had an overwhelming 9:1 male-to-female ratio. I’d heard of all-female teams handling gathering or supply work, but our Bitnari Hunter Team’s 1:3 ratio for combat and exploration was already unusual. Adding me, who had somehow been accepted as a team member, made it a shocking 1:4.
The three of us pitched our tents in the shade near the pond and prepared camp. Charlotte helped Ekaterina butcher the animals she had caught and prepare a meal with various local edible vegetables. Drawn by the delicious smells, Gwangnam and Charlotte approached the tent.
“Ugh~ I’m starving.”
“Sniff sniff. Something smells delicious, nyang.”
“Please eat, my lord.”
“Kuh, that’s my wife for you. I love you.”
“Aigoo. You’re loving it to death, aren’t you?”
“Jealous? You are, right? Bwahahaha!”
Though his teasing from behind Ekaterina looked a bit pathetic, it worked. He was gleefully mocking a flushed and trembling Ruya when Charlotte smacked him on the back, after which he finally sat down.
Ekaterina’s excellent cooking was on full display. The meat dishes were rich with flowing energy and gave off an appetizing aroma that instantly whetted the appetite. Taking a bite, the harmonious blend of abundant juices and spices delivered an incredible flavor.
“Ooh, this is incredibly delicious.”
“I told you her cooking is amazing.”
“Kah, it melts in your mouth!”
“Tastes great, nyang!”
“Hohoho, enjoy your meal.”
After finishing the delicious meal, we each found our spots, passed the time, and eventually fell asleep.
We spent our final day near the pond before heading to the location where the gate would open. Fourteen days had passed in this dimension—seven days on Earth time. At the appointed hour, the gate back would open.
Standing in the middle of the empty clearing in the heart of the jungle where we had first arrived, Gwangnam looked at the device on his wrist and said, “The gate should open soon.”
“What happens if we can’t return even after the gate opens?”
“It’ll open two more times, one day apart each. If we still don’t come back, investigation teams from each country’s Hunter Association will be dispatched to check on the hunters who entered this dimension and recover any remains or belongings if they’ve died.”
Unlike permanent gates that stay fixed in one place, temporary gates only remain open for about an hour once activated. Due to time-flow differences between dimensions and other factors, people sometimes miss the window. That’s why the gate opens twice more at one-day intervals, and if no one returns, an investigation team is sent.
“They even send investigation teams. They’re surprisingly thorough.”
“Being a hunter is a high-income job, but the mortality rate is extremely high. High risk, high return.”
“That’s why they’re desperate to keep the number of hunters from decreasing. Using the military for dimensional exploration is forbidden as an act of invasion, so sending a small number of hunters is the only option.”
Just like dimensional exploration, most national-level intervention was restricted to prevent reckless development and invasion of other dimensions. This limitation was agreed upon at an international conference led by Korea—which held the patents and technology for dimensional gates—and especially the elves who had lost their homeland to dimensional invasion, with most countries except a few dictatorships and uncooperative nations accepting the measures.
“So exploration is the only thing done in these dimensions?”
“In uninhabited dimensions without intelligent life, resource extraction is allowed as long as the local ecosystem isn’t destroyed. That’s also why every country is so eager about dimensional exploration.”
“Which country hit the biggest jackpot again?”
“Chile discovered an uninhabited dimension where gold flows like water.”
“Ah, right. That one.”
The dimension Chile found was a barren planet with barely any ecosystem. The atmosphere was unstable, prone to sudden storms, and harmful radiation and high temperatures required protective suits for any activity. Yet the subsurface resources were so abundant that gold veins were visible right on the surface.
“There was a lot of conflict over development rights.”
“Because the natural environment is so harsh, Chile said they’d select partner countries for joint development.”
“The U.S. and Germany were the final contenders, but the U.S. won with their sheer volume of resources.”
“It was the first large-scale resource development in another dimension, so it caused quite a stir.”
Even though large machinery couldn’t be transported and the environment was extremely harsh, making extraction difficult, simply collecting the overflowing surface resources generated enormous profits. Other countries that had been watching enviously were spurred into action and began searching more aggressively for dimensions beyond their gates.
“Only Korea, which finds unidentified dimensions, sells priority rights, and opens the gates, is making a killing. That alone brings in massive amounts of money.”
“From an elf’s perspective, it feels a bit like selling dimensions, which I don’t particularly like.”
“Is the Eden dimension considered small?”
“Permanent gates in dimensions reached via temporary gates are extremely rare. Actually, permanent gates themselves are incredibly scarce to begin with.”
“Ah! It’s opening now.”
During our conversation, the space he pointed to began to ripple, then gradually split open. He stepped forward, raised both hands high, and shouted, “Open, Gate of Dimensions!”
Shouting right as the gate opened made it look rather impressive.
“Ooh…”
“What’s so amazing about that? It’s embarrassingly childish.”
“It looks kind of cool, though.”
Standing with arms spread wide beneath the light pouring from the splitting space somehow looked striking. As he held that pose, a blue energy spread and the gate fully opened.
“All right! Let’s go!”
“Haa…”
“Home, nyang!”
“Oh right, we still need to sort out the housing issue.”
One by one, the team members stepped through the gate. Before entering, I took one last look around, recalling the enjoyable time spent with the fairies. Hoping to meet them again someday, I left the fairy dimension behind.