Chapter 288
Chapter: 288
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 288
>Chapter Title: Impulse Soft (8)
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“This is probably a story that’ll interest you too, Dexter. It’s about one of the infinite possibilities this milestone holds.”
“…….”
“Well, don’t be shocked! Using this milestone lets you access a dimensional world called Pangea Chronicle. It’s a unique place, just like an online game.”
“…….”
“I heard that regular users who aren’t Guest ID users connect through a service from a place called Impulse Soft. It feels like a game company, but I can’t figure out how they’re providing a dimensional world like a game.”
“…….”
“By the way, Dexter, I suddenly remembered you mentioning you had some connection to Impulse Soft back in the day.”
“…….”
“…….”
With every word, Dexter clutched the milestone and inched backward. Losing patience, Seongjin yelled.
“Hey, stop being so wary! I’m not gonna take it!”
Dexter, who had been shrinking back and glancing at Seongjin’s face, finally spoke.
“But it’s a memento. Didn’t you say you’d return it someday? It was just a temporary fix. I figured once the source editor was broken and things calmed down with the milestone, you’d demand it back whenever you felt like it.”
Seongjin flinched.
Truth be told, he did want to get the remaining half back from Dexter to check if Pangea Chronicle’s graphics were intact.
Collecting cash was still a distant dream, and running dungeons with his current skin was hopeless—the thing blocked his vision too much.
But no matter how he thought about it, reassuring Dexter and getting information came first right now.
‘Guess I’ll have to rely on that shiny baby skin for a while…….’
As he eyed the half milestone in the dwarf engineer’s hand with regret, Dexter noticed and freaked out, blocking Seongjin’s gaze with his whole body.
“As I thought! You can’t hide that greedy look! You had ulterior motives all along, you con artist!”
No! I said I’m not taking it! Who’re you calling a con artist?
Finally losing his temper, Seongjin made a proposal to Dexter.
“Fine. If you can’t trust me, let’s just make a formal contract.”
He needed to log into Pangea Chronicle before it was too late, but this wasn’t getting anywhere.
“I’ll rent the milestone to you for a set period. Let’s start with two years, and extend it depending on the situation.”
“…….”
“I swear on the Elder’s honor. I’ll keep the contract terms.”
He didn’t know the details, but Dexter seemed to be under the Elder’s wing in the workshop. And the guy who held his head high even before the Holy Emperor bent for no one but the Elder.
So the Elder’s honor probably meant a lot to this dwarf engineer.
‘Though it’s utterly useless to me.’
While Seongjin had that irresponsible thought, Dexter fiddled with his goggles, thought for a moment, and asked.
“…What are the conditions for those two years?”
“Nothing much. Just share what you know about Impulse Soft with me. And help uncover the truth behind Pangea Chronicle. That’s it.”
He’d already gotten more than enough rent out of Dexter from all the work he’d done making that gift before.
As Seongjin widened his eyes with an innocent glow of sincerity, Dexter startled for some reason and turned his head to sneakily avoid his gaze.
“Uh… you’ll write up a proper contract, right?”
Oh, this guy! Has he been getting scammed his whole life?
Impulse Soft.
As Seongjin had guessed, it was the name of a game company. And apparently a pretty successful one in Dexter’s home dimensional Earth.
A few years ago, they’d started servicing a popular game called [Pangea Chronicle].
“My mom would know all about Pangea Chronicle. She’s the head of the engineering team. I dropped out during engine development, and I think Pangea Chronicle launched after that.”
Dexter’s mother, Matilda Lorets.
She was one of Impulse Soft’s core developers and a high-ranking executive. That connection got Dexter into the company right after he graduated grad school early.
He’d been recognized for his talent since school, and luckily got assigned to the engine development team that was working in secret at the time.
It was an innovative engine concept never seen before: the [Homunculus Engine].
“As you already know, the essence of the Homunculus Engine is Ionia’s technology. The Impulse Soft engine team didn’t really create anything new. It was more like transplanting Ionia’s Homunculus Engine straight into computers.”
The team worked in a sealed space, with all details under strict secrecy.
During that time, Dexter learned of other dimensional worlds’ existence and got acquainted with a few Ionian engineers on the team.
That’s when his connection with the Elder formed.
“Ionian engineers were still around?”
Wasn’t Ionia completely destroyed? No engineers left who could properly fix the [Homunculus Engine Editor]?
Dexter tugged his beard and grumbled.
“Ionia only fully fell a few years ago. And it’d been showing signs of collapse steadily before that. The Ionian engineers on the team cooperated with the Earth company to safely evacuate residents from the disaster.”
Fortunately, the Ionian engineers finished the transplant in time, took their kin, created a safe dimensional world, and left forever.
Unless they were Dimensional Kings or Oracles, crossing dimensions wasn’t easy.
Which meant the only ones who could clumsily tinker with Ionian machines now were the few remaining Impulse Soft devs and Dexter.
“And the first online game developed with the Homunculus Engine they left behind is probably Pangea Chronicle. Though really, it’s not a game—it’s creating a dimension you access like one.”
But Dexter hadn’t stayed on the team long.
“I’d already had a major falling out with my mom by the engine dev stage. Right then, the Elder asked me to manage the workshop, so I came here lightheartedly.”
What really drove the rift with his mother was his younger brother’s death.
After breaking up with his girlfriend, his brother, who’d been steadily despairing over his genetic illness, overdosed and died young.
That’s when Dexter first raised his voice to Matilda at his brother’s funeral.
—Mom’s illness is highly hereditary! If you knew that, couldn’t you have done something—family planning or whatever? Did you have to have so many kids? Why?
Back then, Dexter thought it was all his mother’s fault.
Sure enough, Matilda Lorets, who had chondrodysplasia, passed the same genetic trait to three of her five children.
His mother looked at him with pitiful eyes, or so he said.
—Of course I regret passing the genetic illness to you all, Dexter. But didn’t I also give you genius-level intellects that surpass that?
—You’re saying that right now…?!
Dexter was speechless there. It was true his siblings were all exceptional talents.
And his mother was an engineer hailed as humanity’s treasure among her peers.
—I won’t give you the clichéd advice that looks aren’t everything. But I gave you abilities that outweigh that handicap, the best education, and endless financial support to let you shine.
With that, Matilda lit a cigarette with her perfectly lipsticked lips.
—I never doubted you’d overcome it. In my experience, my genetic illness has had negligible impact on my life.
“…….”
Dexter couldn’t deny that. His mother brimmed with confidence in everything, and was beautiful regardless of height or looks.
Her string of successful romances and many love children were proof.
—And by bearing so many brilliant talents, I’ve greatly contributed to humanity’s progress. And now you, the child who’s benefited most, are the one criticizing me?
There’d been a faint doubt in Matilda’s eyes about her own words then, he said.
But Dexter, lost to grief, had no room to consider his mother’s side.
—It’s always been like this! You think you’re above everyone! That’s why you’re so oblivious to others’ small plights or frustrations!
With that final shout, Dexter stormed out the funeral home door into the rain.
And until he came to the workshop, he never contacted his mother again.
“…Looking back now, it was immature.”
At Dexter’s feeble voice, Seongjin nodded in agreement.
“Yeah. You were kinda in the wrong there.”
“Ahh. Of course, I was young, and I didn’t fully grasp a mother’s grief at losing a child. She was probably comforting herself that way. But now, the rift between us is too deep to mend… Huh?”
Dexter trailed off, then looked at Seongjin curiously and sniffed.
“But wait. What’s this? Why am I telling you all this?”
“Hm? Well…….”
Maybe because I have this hidden maturity that makes people rely on me? Even in the palace, everyone comes to me for life advice.
As Seongjin smugly shrugged to himself, Dexter stood and rummaged through his desk.
“Anyway, what I’m saying is I don’t know much about Pangea Chronicle. But I can check the game info released on the Impulse Soft site.”
And what he pulled from the clutter was a small laptop.
A computer?!
Seongjin barely stopped himself from shouting.
“That’s… from Earth?”
“Yeah. The Elder’s workshop is a special space, so even in another dimension, it has solid Wi-Fi. Connects to Earth satellites easily.”
He powered it on, and the small monitor lit up with the familiar blue glow Seongjin knew.
The logo and menus were a bit unfamiliar, but the operation was exactly like the computers from his old world long ago.
“…….”
As Seongjin quietly basked in strange nostalgia, oblivious Dexter focused on the laptop and continued.
“Earthlings can’t live without the internet. It’s like a Kornshim cut off from their clan, sinking into deep depression. Of course, a normal Delcross person like you wouldn’t get it.”
Click, click.
Dexter opened a browser, typed a few search terms, and up popped the Impulse Soft official homepage and Pangea Chronicle service site side by side.
“……!”
And there was all the info Seongjin had been seeking.
Impulse Soft’s founder. Interviews with the dev team. Dev anecdotes and future update plans. And scattered user communities!
“Guides…….”
Among them, [Game Guides] that appeared in nearly every community. Seongjin couldn’t tear his eyes from the screen, entranced.
“Popular game, so lots of dedicated communities. But they say the most active is the official site’s free board?”
Seongjin easily read the mix of English and Korean text, but Dexter didn’t find it odd and explained.
“Free board?”
“Yeah. You can access it easily from the in-game customer support menu, so users might not bother with other communities.”
Dexter clicked around the site as he answered.
‘Access from the game menu…….’
Probably doesn’t apply to Guest ID users. Their menus were a mess, half untranslated anyway.
Seongjin swallowed dryly and asked.
“Hey, Dexter. Just to check, can you make a Pangea Chronicle account here too?”
The engineer, with no inkling of what was coming, nodded innocently.
“Oh, probably? It’s different from Earth, but the workshop has machines for way higher-level full dives.”
“Good…….”
Answering that, Seongjin slowly placed a hand on Dexter’s shoulder.
“Dexter.”
Smack.
Dexter jolted at the sudden pressure and turned, meeting the face of a boy with a wickedly stretched grin.
“Don’t you get bored stuck in the workshop all day? How about we get some fresh air, play some games together, and bond?”
“What? I’m busy. Games or whatever…….”
“Contract. Help uncover the truth behind Pangea Chronicle.”
“……!”
He’d been had.
As Dexter flushed red and pale with delayed realization, Seongjin soothingly patted his shoulder.
“It won’t be bad for you either. Good for a change of pace, and I’ll let you bus with my friends nice and easy.”
The boy’s smile as he said that was dazzlingly bright.
But for some reason, the moment Dexter faced it, an inexplicable chill crawled up his spine.
And that night.
The silent villains gathered in Pangea Chronicle waiting for Seongjin welcomed yet another new party member after the newbie.
Amid the red fox, long-necked deer, and octopus. A small mole, dragged along by the mountain goat, awkwardly waved.
[Uh, n-nice to meet you all, friends. I’m Dexter.]