The Gaze of the Unique Dimension
In Argo Saga, the Unique Dimension was considered an incomprehensible realm of pure mystery. No one knew when it had been created, where it existed, what it truly was, or what its purpose might be. It was a world shrouded in unknowns. Its influence was so vast that it could manipulate thousands of realms, yet it was an eccentric entity that only ever interfered through Summoners. The Unique Dimension imposed a single condition on its contracts: the Summoner must leave traces of themselves upon the world. It acted as a mediator for bizarre and extraordinary summons, and players used to joke that it was like a burned-out veteran raising newbies. That was how alien and otherworldly the Unique Dimension felt.
I had always assumed something like that could never exist in reality. So when I heard that an identical dimension existed here, I was mildly surprised, but I didn’t pay it much mind. Even though I had resolved to separate Argo Saga from this world, perhaps some part of me still unconsciously treated the two as similar concepts. That was probably why, even after learning that Phase Escape moved through the Unique Dimension, I hadn’t given it much thought.
And that oversight cost me dearly.
“......!”
A vast sky stared down at me. An endless plain lifted me onto its body. A free wind gently caressed my form. An incomprehensible, alien presence gazed at me in a way that made me want to scream, yet no sound escaped my lips. With great effort, I turned my head and saw my body had become translucent.
‘Is this because I’m in a phased state? I can’t do anything…!’
Maybe that was for the best. Some instinct warned me that if I screamed, something irreversible would happen.
‘Where is this gaze coming from?’
I strained my eyes, searching for the source of the stare fixed upon me. Instinctively, I realized the being responsible for this situation was the Unique Dimension itself. I wanted to ask it to withdraw its gaze, but I couldn’t see its form, so I had no way to make the request.
Yet, as if it had been waiting for exactly that thought, the crushing pressure weighing down on my entire body began to ease. I understood then that it had shown me consideration. Only after I could finally breathe again did I manage to calm down.
‘So the goodwill I felt during the contract wasn’t fake after all.’
I shuddered at the realization that a mere gaze could exert such overwhelming pressure. In other words, even though it had no intention of killing me, I could have died anyway. A normal person might have despaired at the sheer powerlessness of that truth, but—
‘Well. I didn’t die, so that’s good enough.’
Fortunately, Northerners weren’t the type to dwell on such things. Was it because they had practiced the Northern Breathing Method for generations? Or because they had suffered through endless torment from those damn monster bastards? Either way, Northerners were born with ironclad minds, and mastering the Northern Breathing Method granted even ordinary civilians mental fortitude on par with superhumans from other regions. Thanks to that, Northerners were remarkably free from the cruel pranks of Mysteries. It was also why they maintained such close ties with the South, which was plagued by them.
The South was so overflowing with Mysteries that they were as common as pebbles on the roadside. Perhaps because of their constant communion with those forces, Southerners tended to have fragile minds. While acquiring otherworldly knowledge had allowed them to develop at breakneck speed, it also left them frequently tormented by the whims of Mysteries. That was why the South maintained close relations with the North—their designated “Mystery handlers”—to escape those torments.
Anyway, that was a story for later.
Having arrived in the Unique Dimension for the first time, I looked around with curious eyes. I had memories from my previous life, but they were just memories. This was my first time actually stepping into another world. As I glanced here and there, my field of vision shifted rapidly. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was in a phased state or if the Unique Dimension was excitedly showing me everything, but the scenery that filled my sight was breathtaking enough to be called a true spectacle.
A mountain so enormous it warped the planet into an oval. A massive cave spacious enough to house an entire nation. A snowfield painted pure white beyond the horizon. A desert that reflected the sky like glass, and a volcano dyed in rainbow colors. I drank in the incomparably beautiful natural wonders, completely losing track of time.
“Grrrr…”
‘…Ikelos?’
While I had been staring blankly at nature, Ikelos appeared in various forms—wolves, knights, weapons, and more. They must have been reverse-summoned after failing to hold out against the higher-tier monsters in the passage, because they materialized at irregular intervals and began circling me. All at once, they transformed into wolf shapes and led me somewhere, as if guiding me.
I let myself follow their flow, and soon felt my consciousness being drawn elsewhere. Instinctively realizing that Phase Escape was transporting me to a safe location, I surrendered to the sensation.
Woooong!
With a floating sensation, I landed on solid ground. Having dropped from midair, my balance faltered slightly, but I caught myself with practiced ease.
“Where am I?”
Looking around, I saw a room made of the distinctive earthen walls of an ant nest. It seemed I had been moved somewhere inside the colony. I scanned the area more carefully to figure out exactly what kind of room this was.
“…Cocoons?”
I discovered a chamber filled with white cocoons, each the size of a person. At first I thought it might be a room for raising ant eggs or pupae, but something about it felt off, so I examined the space more cautiously.
How long had I been looking when—
“Hmm?”
“Huh?”
While carefully inspecting the nest, I spotted a girl standing absentmindedly in the center of the room. She had been staring blankly into space, but the moment she noticed me, her expression shifted as if she had realized something. Then she came running toward me with quick, light steps.
Without thinking, I followed her. The girl slipped into a half-open cocoon and pulled the entrance shut behind her. I asked without meaning to,
“What are you doing in there?”
“I have to hide here and come out when no one’s looking.”
“When no one’s looking?”
“Someone asked me to do it that way.”
I mulled over the girl’s words. If she was supposed to hide from everyone, shouldn’t she have stayed quiet around me too? Our eyes met as she poked her head out from inside the cocoon to peek at me.
She had hair and eyes as black as obsidian. She was so small I doubted she would even reach my chest, and her voluminous hair cascaded all the way down to her waist. Combined with her snow-white skin and delicate frame, she was a girl of such beauty that even calling her a beauty felt insufficient. Those innocent, unknowing eyes stared at me, so I scratched the back of my head.
“What’s your name?”
“Adela.”
“Adela… That’s a nice name.”
“Yeah. It means noble and elegant, apparently.”
There was something oddly strange about the way Adela spoke, and it made the back of my neck itch, but I let it slide for now. Learning more about this room was the priority. I sat down beside the cocoon she had entered and began chatting to put her at ease.
“Adela, do you know where we are?”
“Yes. This is the room where they keep hostages. There’s one person inside each cocoon.”
“I see.”
It was a stroke of luck that I hadn’t touched any of the cocoons. If I had poked one before hearing her explanation, things might have gotten awkward. Of course, since I had trusted my instincts and deliberately avoided them, that possibility had never really existed.
Adela seemed thrilled to have someone to talk to and began asking all sorts of questions.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Argo. A Bronze-class adventurer from the Edenberg adventurer branch.”
“What’s Edenberg like?”
“It’s a huge city. Lots of people walking around, and many different races live there.”
“I heard all adventurers are incredibly strong. Is that true?”
“It depends on the rank, but yeah, they’re generally strong. Even a Silver-class adventurer could flip a small hill without much trouble.”
The more we talked, the better I understood what kind of being Adela was.
“Adela, why are you here?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Really? Is it because you’re a princess unit?”
“…?!”
Adela’s eyes widened into perfect circles. The look that asked how I could possibly know that was so obvious I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“The evidence is way too obvious. How could I not know?”
“I’m not a princess.”
“It’s common knowledge that most higher-tier entities have humanoid forms. Denying it won’t work.”
“No. I was told I mustn’t let anyone find out I’m a princess… um.”
A single mental nudge and the information spilled out like a golden fishing pond. It was almost enough to make me suspect she was part of some elaborate scheme to deceive me, but those characteristically vacant eyes weren’t lying. When Adela clapped both hands over her mouth to show she absolutely would not speak, I simply shrugged.
“Whatever. Even if you weren’t here, I already sensed enough strangeness.”
There was plenty of evidence. Owen had definitely said there were several frontline specimens, yet none of the higher-tier monsters gave off any frontline vibe. There was also Adela herself, who had practically announced “I’m suspicious” to anyone who looked. Most of all, emergencies didn’t happen without warning. The adventurer guild and the intelligence networks of every noble house were highly competent. After gathering data on the Northern ecosystem and having countless scholars verify it, they could usually detect the precursors of a coming disaster.
But this incident had shown no warning signs at all. While that wasn’t entirely unheard of, this event was clearly abnormal even when compared to past records. And the strangest part of all was this:
“It’s weird that no one finds it strange that not a single person died.”
At first I had been unsure, but the longer it went on, the more the dissonance stood out. There were injured, but no fatalities. When thousands were clashing, even an idiot could tell that never hearing a single report of allied deaths was bizarre.
“The purpose of this colony is probably just one thing. To disguise you as a human and hide you within human territory, right?”
“Umm…”
“And the one who came up with that plan was probably Zeno.”
“Uuuuummm!”
When I hit the bullseye, Adela clamped both hands over her mouth with firm resolve, refusing to say another word. Looked like I had gotten it exactly right.