Antidote Hunt (6)
The house I returned to after three days felt warm and comforting. Lying on the soft bed in my room, I stared blankly at the ceiling when a sudden thought struck me. How on earth did I end up in this other world?
Was the wish I’d made that last night on Earth—wanting to live in a fantasy world—actually granted? No, that seemed too simple. There was no way a dimensional shift would happen for such a trivial reason. It felt more like something had needed me here. Some powerful being must have required my presence and pulled me across dimensions…
But looking at my current life, it felt more like I’d been abandoned. Everything was far too ordinary. I was simply living the same kind of life as the people of this world. After going through the massive event of being transported to another dimension, was I really just meant to live an average existence? It didn’t make sense. There had to be a reason I was brought here. So what was it?
The only clue I had was the golden orb. Nothing else had shown up. By now, some mysterious person or group who knew I came from Earth should have appeared, yet months had passed without so much as a hint of them. Or maybe they had already shown themselves and I simply hadn’t noticed?
Hmm… I thought back to everyone I’d met and everything I’d seen since first arriving in this world, but nothing particularly suspicious came to mind. If I had to pick one, it would probably be Nancy. The fact that she already knew the female leader’s true identity still made her seem shady. It would be nice if I could meet her again.
And after parting ways with her, I realized there were more than a few odd things about her. Most of all, why would an ordinary person like her want to become a bandit? Freya had committed a crime and joined to escape, but Nancy had no real reason yet she made up a ridiculous excuse about wanting to stay with the bandits—and then sucked me off. Who would deliberately try to join a bandit group by lying about being sold to an alchemist for human experimentation? And a woman, no less. That alone was suspicious.
While thinking about Nancy, another thought crossed my mind. The truth was… I had grown attached to life here. If some god suddenly appeared before me and asked, “Do you want to go back to Earth?” I would probably hesitate because of Dana, Marcus, Haida, and Evynee. Those people couldn’t live without me. If I suddenly disappeared, they would have no one to look after them and would clearly struggle. Knowing that, how could I leave now…?
But I also missed my parents back on Earth. How were Mother and Father doing? Were they crying because they missed me? I wanted to at least tell them I was doing well. I didn’t know if that day would ever come, but if the moment arrived where I had to choose between Earth and this place, my heart would surely be in agony.
I took out the golden orb and stared at it. It had been a while since I’d seen it. That made sense—lately, I hadn’t received any warning signals from it. It had been quiet for months. Maybe I had grown stronger since then? Back when I was a powerless pyramid, I faced crises often, but now it was a drought. In a way, that was a good thing.
Without thinking, I spoke to it.
“Hey, golden orb. Why did you bring me here? Tell me.”
No answer.
“Am I the only one who was dragged here? Are there no other Earth people? Or are more coming?”
Still no answer.
“I won’t whine about sending me back, so at least tell me something so I can understand why I’m here.”
Still nothing.
“Can’t you talk? Hey. Yo? If you can speak, say something. Hey? Hey? Hello~”
It was just a silent, golden, round orb. A heavy sphere the size of a golf ball. A ball that didn’t care about me at all.
Suddenly, the movie Cast Away came to mind. The story of a man stranded on a deserted island, struggling to adapt to a new environment, living in lonely hardship. It was similar to me. And the protagonist’s silent friend, Wilson. Just like this golden orb.
“Oh, that’s it.”
A good idea suddenly popped into my head. What if I gave the golden orb a name like Wilson? It sounded fun.
“Sticky, Hardball, Siren, Blondie, Cutie Hand, Juliet, Judith…”
The names I came up with after thinking for a while gradually became more feminine. Was it because I was a man? Or a pervert? I found myself wanting to give the golden orb a woman’s name. If I called it by a female name, I could treat it with more affection. If I gave it a male name, I’d probably just toss it anywhere and handle it roughly—maybe carve a wooden golf club and play golf with it, or use it as a throwing weapon like a shuriken. On the other hand, if I called it by a woman’s name, I’d probably keep it safely in my pocket.
“Sohee.”
The name slipped out of my mouth. A Korean name felt more familiar and gave a stronger sense of connection than an English one. It also made me feel like she was a comrade who had come from Earth with me.
“Yeah, let’s go with Sohee. And her last name…”
Honestly, the name Sohee belonged to the prettiest junior in our department. A second-year junior I had only exchanged greetings with, never really spoken to. I first saw her face after returning from the military and resuming school this year. After attending for a short while, I was dragged to this other world, and the name had long been forgotten. Yet it suddenly came to mind. Had her beauty left a deep impression? Or had I secretly wanted to date her?
“Let’s make the last name the same as hers. Since I’ll never see her again anyway, who cares? Kim So-hee.”
Perfect.
“Golden orb. From now on, you are Kim So-hee. I’ll call you Sohee from now on.”
I looked at the golden orb—no, at Sohee—and smiled contentedly.
Having secretly infected the Lion Heart Unit with parasites, only to see them survive, Lord Roton exploded with frustration.
“They survived! They survived like cockroaches just to torment us! We must immediately come up with new means to drive them out!”
Lord Roton wanted to expel the Lion Heart Unit from his territory. To him, they looked like demons. Ugly demons that defiled his land. Just having demons nearby made his skin crawl. The Lion Heart Unit was the plague itself.
“Please calm yourself. This Nirgof will use any means necessary to drive the Lion Heart Unit out of the territory.”
Nirgof came up with another scheme. He suggested asking the Lion Heart Unit for help under the pretext of reducing the number of orcs in the territory.
“We will pretend to attack the orc habitat while borrowing the power of a fortune teller I know well to summon an ogre. The Blue Arrow Unit that accompanies us will also be in mortal danger, but what can we do? This is all for the sake of the territory. Even if a certain number of Blue Arrow soldiers are sacrificed, we will eliminate the Lion Heart Unit at the same time.”
Lord Roton readily agreed and immediately sent someone to bring Adelia.
When she arrived at the audience chamber, Nirgof spoke to her.
“Recently, the number of orcs in our territory has been increasing at an alarming rate. We need the strength of the Lion Heart Unit to reduce their numbers. Please lend us your aid.”
Adelia made a displeased expression.
“Can’t you just mobilize the Blue Arrow Unit?”
“Our Blue Arrow Unit will also participate in the orc subjugation. Do not worry.”
“That’s not what I mean. I’m saying the Blue Arrow Unit alone should be sufficient to handle this.”
Nirgof cleared his throat awkwardly. Lord Roton, seated on the high throne, had completely lost his mind and was dozing off, not even listening to the conversation.
“It’s difficult for the Blue Arrow Unit alone, so I’m asking for your help. Let’s combine our strength.”
However, Adelia openly displayed her irritation and replied firmly.
“We cannot. Our unit is one with a clear objective. Our purpose is to exterminate bandits, not to subjugate monsters.”
“Now, now, Sir Adelia.”
Nirgof felt irritation rising inside him. He knew Adelia’s personality well—she often acted arrogantly based on her prestigious family background—but seeing no sign that she would fall into his trap made him anxious.
“During the several months your unit has stayed in our territory, His Lordship has shown you considerable convenience. This is our first request. As a way of repaying his kindness, could you not help us just this once?”
“We currently have a mountain of overdue tasks. We have no room to assist others, so I ask for your understanding.”
Adelia stubbornly insisted that she could not help. As she remained unyielding with no sign of falling for the scheme, Nirgof eventually lost his temper and suddenly raised his voice.
“Even beasts know gratitude! Sir Adelia’s behavior is worse than that of a beast!”
“A beast?”
Adelia furrowed her brow.
“Did you just say we are worse than beasts!”
Her sharp cry echoed through the room. Nirgof flinched, suddenly frightened. The atmosphere grew so menacing it seemed she might draw her sword at any moment. Terrified, Nirgof quickly backed down.
“V-very well. If the Lion Heart Unit is truly that busy, we shall manage with only our Blue Arrow Unit. Y-you may leave now. Ahem!”
With him yielding, the situation was temporarily resolved.
After Adelia left, Nirgof woke the sleeping Lord Roton. When shaking him didn’t work, he even slapped the lord’s cheek to rouse him.
“My lord! My lord!”
“Mmm…?”
Lord Roton woke up, wiping the drool from his lips.
“How did it go? Did you lure them in?”
“It failed.”
Nirgof recalled Adelia and scowled, grinding his teeth.
“That wench refuses to take the bait no matter what.”
“Then what are we supposed to do? Must we continue to look at those demons…?”
“Do not worry. If she will not fall into the trap, there is only one method left.”
“And what is that?”
Nirgof twisted his lips into a crooked smile.
“We give a reason that anyone would find reasonable. ‘We can no longer tolerate Adelia, the commander of the dispatched unit in conflict with Lord Roton.’ We will frame the Lion Heart Unit’s commander as a troublemaker and spread the word both inside and outside the territory. We will claim that her arbitrary actions have caused frequent friction with Your Lordship and that she has lost the support of the people of Nobern territory. Then we will say we can no longer overlook the Lion Heart Unit’s arrogant behavior and drive them out of the city. This should provide sufficient justification. What do you think?”
Lord Roton gave a weak laugh, his wrinkled face creasing.
“Very good.”