Extra. # 3

Calls and messages from Si-hoo and Leona. I guess going to the other dimension cut off all contact. Made them worry.

—Ring.

I called Si-hoo right away.

"Kim Geun-cheol!"

"Huh? Leona? Why are you answering?"

"I came out with Si-hoo to look for you! Where on earth are you?!"

"The dorm?"

"What?! Get out here right now!"

"Ack!"

She hung up!

"Oh, crap!"

I was just trying to take my time and sort my thoughts out!

I hadn't undressed anyway. I opened the window again and snuck out of the dorm.

I headed to the café Leona told me about.

"Kim Geun-cheol!"

"Geun-cheol!"

Leona and Si-hoo waved at me frantically.

"Geez, you came looking for me just because I was out of touch for a bit? What am I, a little kid?"

"How could we not worry? So many unsettling things have happened lately."

Leona came pattering over and stuck close to me as she said it.

"And you just fought a villain the other day. In that situation, going completely dark... wouldn't worrying be the obvious thing to do?"

"Heh heh, well, I guess so. Man. I feel bad about this. Thanks, Leona."

"Forget that. What happened? How could you be out of contact for so long? What was it? Answer your phone on time. Honestly."

"Well, it's..."

—Fluster.

The moment I tried to answer.

I flinched for a second.

"..."

Because Leona's face caught my eye.

—Flicker.

A memory brushed past inside my head.

A hazy image of Leona looking more grown-up than she does now floated up... Is this just my imagination? Or is it something I saw somewhere?

A black full-body leotard. A white coat worn over it. The Leona in the memory was fighting too.

"K-Kim Geun-cheol? What are you staring at? Why are you looking at my face..."

"Leona. Stop hypnotizing me all the time."

"Excuse me?"

"Angel Face, huh? Staring at an angel's face is making my soul leave my body...!"

"Stop bullshitting me, please!"

—Whap!

"Gahk!"

Her touch is seriously vicious!

"Anyway, let's go inside!"

We went into the late-night café and up to the second floor.

"Haa. Geun-cheol. What on earth were you doing that you couldn't be reached that whole time? Normally I wouldn't worry, but like Leona said, things are unsettled. And you aren't the type to go completely silent like that. So we came out."

Si-hoo, sitting across from me, said it with clear worry in her voice.

"Sorry about all this. But, just like you guys suspected, something big did happen today."

"What?"

"Huh?"

I immediately pulled a small mineral chunk out of my pocket. A mineral I harvested on Planet Zora. It's pricey loot.

"This is... Medral, isn't it? An otherworldly mineral. And a C-rank one at that."

Leona's eyes went wide.

So its name was Medral, huh?

"Yeah. Today I happened to end up in the other dimension with Ken, Brian, and Mun Min, more or less."

"Eh?"

"What?"

Both of them froze right up.

What I said was obviously kinda nuts. So I gave my confused friends a quick summary of the situation.

"We bumped into each other and ended up hanging out. So after having a good time, we headed toward the mountain to go to the training ground... and I'm not bullshitting you, so listen. Suddenly the world flashed like a gate had opened, and we got sucked straight into another dimension."

It wasn't some dungeon. It was a genuine other dimension.

We fought monsters on Planet Zora while searching for a way to escape, killed a Quopherel Zora we ran into, and then out of nowhere we were back.

Once I explained that.

"W-What in the...!"

"That's insane!"

Leona and Si-hoo's jaws dropped.

"K-Kim Geun-cheol, you? You aren't making up weird stuff, are you? You seriously went to an other dimension and came back?"

"Yeah. I'm guessing this is some kind of new phenomenon. I seriously thought I was dead. And it was fucking terrifying."

"Then why are you so calm?!"

"After I got back, I just kinda... feel like my soul's been sucked out. I'm pretty wiped right now."

My head hurts in a bunch of ways and I've got no energy.

"I can't take this!"

—Thump thump!

At that, Leona pounded her chest in frustration.

"What exactly do you get up to! No, Kim Geun-cheol, why do you get tangled up in so many incidents?!"

"R-Right! Geun-cheol! What the hell! Not a dungeon but an other dimension...!"

Both of them were practically having fits. So I gave a bit more explanation while drinking my coffee. They still didn't look convinced.

"I'm going crazy, seriously! How does something like this even happen! No, more than that—if this kind of phenomenon is happening out of the blue, isn't this incredibly serious? People are getting randomly abducted to the otherworld, aren't they?"

"J-Just hearing the story, it does sound that way... for this to be happening..."

"No, but I mean, you actually went to another dimension? Kim Geun-cheol is really okay? You aren't badly hurt somewhere, are you?"

Leona grabbed my arm, lifted it, and inspected it from all sides as she asked. My body's perfectly fine, of course. If I'd been hurt anywhere, I'd have collapsed already.

"Yeah. No injuries."

"I think we'd better get you examined first thing tomorrow. You said Ken, Brian, and Mun Min were there too, right? If it really was another dimension and not a dungeon, this absolutely has to be reported."

"Yeah. We should. I can call the instructor, right?"

"Let's do that. I'll be there with you tomorrow."

"Okay."

Times like this, going with Leona's word is best.

She's so reliable, just like a mom.

"Honestly, it's shocking and bewildering... but at the same time, I'm getting scared. Getting sucked into another dimension. I've never even heard of that. If this kind of phenomenon starts happening generally, it's a huge problem."

I'd thought about that a bit too. Following the Gate Incident, an Otherworld Abduction Incident. Scary enough that you can't even live. All of humanity won't be able to go outside, like people who can't get on planes because they're afraid of hijackings.

"Anyway, Kim Geun-cheol? Are you going back to the dorm?"

"I mean, yeah. That's where I live."

"What if you get dragged in again all of a sudden?"

Leona grabbed my wrist and leaned her face in close as she spoke.

"That's..."

I guess with Si-hoo right next door I'd probably be okay, but you never know. If I get abducted alone, I'm screwed.

"So, you remember the hotel from last time, right? Where I stay. Do you want to come over?"

What?

"Wait, you're telling me to come to the hotel?"

"Yes. The room is always empty, you know. Honestly, how could I possibly just leave you right now? It's vacation anyway, isn't it? What do you think?"

Leona's face as she said it was totally matter-of-fact. Like it was the obvious thing to do, literally because I was in danger.

Inviting a guy to a hotel while being that defenseless...!

"That's a little... is it really worth making that much of a fuss?"

"Making a fuss, my ass. Are you saying this isn't a reason to make a fuss?"

"Okay, fine, it's a reason to make a fuss! Leona! I said don't worry! Even if it's a big deal, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just changing where I sleep isn't gonna fix it!"

"That's true, though."

Leona folded her arms.

"Then maybe we'll need a buddy system from now on."

Total army brat.

"If you won't come to the hotel... aha. Then we'll do this. Kim Geun-cheol? From now on, check in with me at regular intervals!"

"Check in?"

"Yes! Send me your status every hour. That would put my mind at ease a bit."

So if more than an hour passes with no contact, that means I've been otherworld-abducted?

"But if I actually go dark, doesn't that mean I'm already in the other dimension?"

"Ah, now that I think about it, you're right?"

"See."

"Hmm, but we could still respond. Maybe... there might be some sort of trace left behind where Kim Geun-cheol disappeared."

"Now that's persuasive."

"Right?"

The discussion more or less reached a conclusion.

"Then we'll go with that. It's late, so I'm heading back for tonight. Lee Si-hoo? Keep a good eye on Kim Geun-cheol. It's a buddy system, I'm telling you. Buddy system."

"Got it. I'll do that. This does seem pretty serious."

And with that, we got up. As Leona waved and turned to leave, I thanked her one more time.

"Leona. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'm telling you, I'm alive because you're around."

"Hmph...! Are you trying to say weird things? Take good care of yourself. This is ominous."

"Yeah. I mean it—I should just follow whatever Leona says."

"Please do. Kim Geun-cheol, you just need to do as I say."

"I honestly think that might be true."

So Leona went on her way.

"Si-hoo. Let's head back."

"..."

"Hm?"

I looked and saw Si-hoo had stopped in place, thinking.

"Geun-cheol. Are you really going to be okay? I think you should contact someone right now and get protection."

"Protection, huh."

"Something like that doesn't just randomly happen, does it? Maybe some entity specifically targeted you, Geun-cheol. On top of that, you have a connection with that monsterkin."

"Well."

I guess.

"If I did get protection, where?"

"The instructor?"

"That's reliable. Then when we go talk with Leona tomorrow, let's consult about that too."

"Yeah. You should."

"More importantly, Si-hoo. Any route to sell this mineral? With this, we could eat a ton of good stuff."

"Ask the instructor about that. Seriously... this is way too unsettling."

I infiltrated the dorm together with Si-hoo like that, and we each went back to our own rooms. After promising to meet again first thing in the morning.

"..."

Back home, I took off my clothes and washed up.

* * *

"Fragments."

I drew the shape of a fragment in my notebook.

"This is connected to..."

my identity.

"What is the objective of the main quest."

It's been a little glitchy lately, but the quest has helped me grow. It even boosted my power with weird status windows, coins, and stuff.

If there's a purpose, it'd be my growth, but honestly, you could call that secondary. The most important thing is the annihilation at the end of third year.

I don't know the details, but the world is headed for a screwjob catastrophe, and we have to overcome it. At the end of the day, you can see the main quest as a kind of mechanism for preventing that.

Such a mechanism was granted to me.

"No, was it planted?"

The main quest was planted in me when I entered the game.

So then, why did I enter the game? Is there some kind of reason? Why on earth did something shove Kim Geun-cheol, who's nothing more than some random nobody, into a game?

What kind of grotesque being would even understand human concepts like games and status windows, then use them to stick a person inside a game and raise them?

God?

"So some wizard or god-like bastard played a few games, thought it looked fun, and now he wants to play a game with me?"

It's absurd.

Nothing but questions.

On top of that, I absolutely couldn't think of this place as a game. What reason would a god capable of creating a world have to invite Kim Geun-cheol into that world?

So the whole "game" thought doesn't occur to me. When I'm living my daily life, I forget about it way too naturally.

The reason I'm here and everything else—I'm at the point where I nearly feel like a local. Honestly, I'm on the verge of thinking I entered a parallel world, not a game world.

"..."

Anyway, fragments.

These fragments are definitely not unrelated to me. This is clearly something tied to the main quest, and it's dangerous enough that I can instinctively feel an enormous wrongness.

If so, the conclusion is one.

"These fragments are the problem."

The main body of this fragment. That's what is connected to the annihilation. And the Void Princess knows it.

"I."

Superhuman Kim Geun-cheol is stuck wedged in the middle.

Fragment.

Void Princess.

Me.

Main quest.

"...Memories."

A headache and drowsiness wash over me. Am I dozing off? All kinds of thoughts rise up in a jumbled mess.

"..."

It was a memory from when I was at the orphanage. Shithead bastards. They sure live up to the idea of orphans having no sense... The Orphan Crusher, Kim Geun-cheol, is coming through. I'll fix your attitudes.

No. This isn't my childhood memory. I'm not an orphan.

I grew up normally in a normal family. This is just my imagination. There was a lot of backstory stuff with the orphan thing. So my past on this side is just something my mind pieced together on its own.

Then.

"..."

What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are the other memories?

What does the shattered world hint at? There, I was fighting alongside my friends, all grown up.

Si-hoo.

Something about Si-hoo comes to mind too. You... stopped the male disguise? Your hair was longer, and you'd gotten taller than you are now, so you felt like an older sister. Your impression had changed quite a lot, but I could still tell.

The Void Princess's face came to mind.

And I.

I.

.

.

.

Childhood memories play back at random. My normal past. I got along great with Mom and Dad, went to the army and got discharged just fine.

Over there, at six o'clock, is my hometown.

If that's the real world, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠then what on earth is this place?

'...Yeah.'

Memories like this wouldn't just pop up for no reason.