Chapter 163
Chapter 163
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: Part 2, Chapter 26
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‘Is this for real……?’
Goosebumps prickled from the soles of his feet all the way up his back. He’d thought something like this could happen, but facing it head-on made it feel utterly unreal.
Dun swallowed hard.
World Selection
>dc143c-T
>dc143c-G
>dc143c-O
These were the world notations he’d seen once before when creating the Creature Summon skill. ‘T’ was the adventurers’ world, right?
If he used the skill now, could he really, truly go back to that familiar world?
For real?
This easily?
It wasn’t entirely incomprehensible, considering Daboseok was another world altogether. Still, he’d always thought going back to where the kids from the past were would feel purely fantastical.
“Ah, damn…….”
Could he visit the PC bang, and all those old hangout spots?
His heart started pounding like mad.
Dun cautiously set the world to dc143c-T and spoke.
“World Move.”
[[World Move] activates.]
A familiar floating sensation enveloped his body as his surroundings began to shift.
He closed his eyes, then opened them. The cold pavement of a city pressed against his bare soles. He’d moved straight from his room in Daboseok, still barefoot.
Dun lifted his foot to peel off some gum someone had spat out.
Looking up with anticipation, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar place. It seemed like some back alley, with a path leading to the main road visible.
Vroooom—
The roar of a car blared in his ears. In the new world he’d been reborn into, he’d never had occasion to hear car noises, so the sound felt incredibly nostalgic.
Dun stepped out of the alley and walked toward the city streets. No familiar-looking Koreans in sight—just tons of foreigners.
“Huh?”
Dun scratched his head, hand on his waist. Looked like he’d tripped into America or something.
“Dawn?”
One of the foreigners spotted Dun, eyes widening as he acted like they knew each other.
“Yes?”
“Dude, fuckin’ awesome cosplay.”
“Huh?”
“Where you from?”
The conversation wasn’t connecting.
It had been so long since he’d heard English that barely any words registered in his head.
Except for “fuck.”
“Fuck you too.”
“?”
He spat out the few half-remembered words, and the foreigner who’d approached him furrowed his brow.
“Fuck you.”
“You too.”
[Acquired skill: [English lv.1].]
Oh, nice. So he could pick up skills like this here too.
Just like how attempting to communicate with monsters triggered skills like [Empathy with So-and-So], trying to talk in an unknown language brought up a skill.
Except here, it popped up as the language itself, not a monster.
“Yo, isn’t that Nifin Dun over there?”
“Cosplay’s insanely high quality…….”
Suddenly, English started making sense.
Whoa, awesome. He’d ace an English test right now, no doubt.
He’d been worried that if he went to Korea, he’d have to consciously speak Korean like he’d just done with English, but this eased that concern a bit.
“Hello. My. Name is. Dun.”
His native tongue had atrophied from disuse.
He figured he could recover Korean proficiency through a skill eventually, but muttering nonsense in Korean felt comforting anyway.
Practicing Korean as he walked the streets, people kept approaching him.
“Cool lenses~!”
“Bro, is it Halloween today?”
They seemed fascinated by someone who looked exactly like a game character walking around.
Fortunately, they didn’t think he was the real deal—just a cosplayer.
‘But how do I get to Korea?’
Dun closed his eyes, picturing a familiar location in this world, and spoke.
“World Move.”
[Location movement within the same world is impossible.]
Right, yeah. Even after leveling up, this didn’t fly.
Dun closed his eyes again, recalling a specific spot in Daboseok, and spoke.
“World Move.”
[[World Move] activates.]
He’d thought of Lycullin’s neighborhood and teleported there, but he landed slightly off from the exact spot.
World Move was great, but the drop point sometimes veered off. Maybe it’d correct with a level up.
In Daboseok, the deviation was minor, but this real world seemed to throw him way off.
He’d used the skill after boosting his mana control with a level up, so he’d need to diligently practice mana control from now on.
“World Move.”
Dun focused hard on Korea this time and tried the skill again.
[[World Move] activates.]
The scenery shifted once more. This landing was pretty soft.
“……?”
Byun Woo-jin stood right in front of him.
Byun Woo-jin, on his phone, stared back in shock.
“???”
Moon Se-rim, toothbrush in mouth, rubbed her eyes at the sight of a face she’d seen often in games.
“What the fuck????”
“W-World Move.”
[[World Move] activates.]
Dun hurriedly warped back to Daboseok.
He’d panicked and bailed, but regret hit him after returning.
‘Idiot. Why’d I come back? I landed perfectly.’
Dun closed his eyes and concentrated again. Yi Yu-hyeon would be good to see.
After using the Dun package Yi Yu-hyeon had made, Time Paradox activated, and World Move appeared.
In a situation like this, checking with the creator herself seemed best.
That ‘Bridge Between Two Worlds’ ability that popped up every time he used world-related powers.
He wasn’t even sure if it was an ability. It wasn’t a skill—it only showed an extra path when conditions were met.
Dun sat on the floor again, tied the Curse Thread, jammed several Soul Arrows into his head, and dove back into mana control.
Had an hour passed?
[Ability Utilization: 75%]
Using every item and maxing his focus, he’d hit an unbelievable figure.
It’d drop again after World Move, but as long as it held during activation, he didn’t care.
Dun took a deep breath and spoke.
“World Move.”
[[World Move] activates.]
* * *
Yi Yu-hyeon sat at her desk, reviewing today’s gate exploration report.
Gates were multiplying. Monsters growing stronger.
Average gate outbreak ranks were rising, and the speed of rank increases had jumped 10% from before.
Her worries were piling up.
Hunter manpower was starting to fall short compared to gate numbers.
America was tackling it by packaging hunters like Marvel heroes, aggressively commercializing the job.
Turning them into objects of admiration, boosting public interest to draw in aspiring hunters.
Korea was following suit, but Yi Yu-hyeon had deliberately slowed the pace.
As a result, she was currently getting flamed in emails from individual hunter fanbases.
‘Ever since becoming association president, getting hated on is daily life…….’
Yi Yu-hyeon gave a wry smile as she checked her email.
Rushing the commercialization of a life-saving job could breed more enemies in the long run.
People seeing hunting as a mere ego-boost tool were dangerous—they’d stop at nothing to achieve their goals.
She’d already received reports of hundreds of gate-related crimes.
No proven direct causation between commercialization and crime rates, but countries pushing commercialization hard generally had higher hunter-related crime.
Monsters were clear enemies, so people stayed wary. Hunters, seen as lifesavers, were harder to guard against.
Which damage was more lethal? Hard to gauge.
Monsters’ overt attacks versus aspiring hunters’ and hunters’ covert ones.
‘With gates surging, prioritizing hunter supply to counter monsters comes first.’
Yi Yu-hyeon sighed.
Handling things she’d never bothered with before was tough.
Every choice ended in someone’s loss.
Figuring out which minimized damage was a nightmare to calculate.
Yi Yu-hyeon approved several promotional proposals from major corporations, then removed her glasses and put them in their case.
It had been an exhausting day.
Still, the random fireworks Dawn had set off in the sky earlier left her in a cheerful mood despite the fatigue.
‘…….’
Thinking of Dawn always brought guilt and pity.
The Abyss issues resolving and heading in a positive direction owed hugely to Dawn’s influence.
Seeing her overexert to lighten Yi Yu-hyeon’s load tore at her heart.
Even handling all that and trying to stay upbeat often brought tears.
Such a resilient kid.
Yet she seemed on the verge of collapse, drawing constant worry.
Yi Yu-hyeon wanted to cherish her, but Dawn wasn’t used to receiving, so kindness or praise felt unreal to her—she’d get scared and push away.
Yi Yu-hyeon picked up the fireworks trash she’d brought to toss in the corner.
‘Next time, I’ll buy proper ones and play together.’
Imagining the Abyss kids’ joy, Yi Yu-hyeon smiled and stepped toward the door.
As she left the association president’s office and walked the hall, something looking just like Dun was wedged in the wall, flailing.
Probably some decorative sculpture, she thought indifferently and passed by. It was 1 a.m. now.
She was getting sleepy.
“……H-Help. Me. The building…… might collapse. I’m scared.”
A familiar voice. Slightly awkward pronunciation.
Yi Yu-hyeon, brushing past, touched her ear, then turned toward the voice.
The object she’d pegged as event decor raised a hand and waved.
“Hello. Long time no see.”
“……D-Dun?”
“It’s me, Dun.”
Dun, stuck in the wall, grinned and waved.
Yi Yu-hyeon dropped the fireworks trash in a clatter, then plopped onto the floor.
Slap!
She slapped her own dazed face.
It hurt. It shouldn’t hurt……
Slaaap!
She slapped it again.
“Hey, hey. It’s really me. Not a dream—stop hitting.”
Suddenly, Dun’s Korean pronunciation sharpened.
“…….”
Yi Yu-hyeon clamped her mouth, pinched her arm. It really hurt.
“Mental-type gate outbreak? Gotta warn association staff…….”
Her expression hardened as she pulled out her phone. Wait—if she was already affected, the phone wouldn’t help.
“No!! I’m harmless!! Totally harmless!!”
“Sorry. I miss Dun too, but coming here in the flesh? Impossible.”
“Ah, I’m not a monster. Came to see you. Get me outta here, yeah? I’ll explain.”
Dun went limp in the wall, relaxing his body. With ability utilization dropping, rash moves were risky.
“How do I know this isn’t a gate?”
Dun rolled his eyes.
Even a good explanation would probably get him labeled a mental monster.
‘Wait. Does Soul Contract work here?’
Dun recalled a quest run through Soul Contract.
[Not within Soul Contract’s range.]
[Cannot set contract penalty quest.]
Damn, close. No account meant no proof. He’d planned a [Just Accept It] quest.
“Soul Contract……?”
The same alert appeared before Yi Yu-hyeon.
Eyes widening briefly at the sudden window, she fixated on “Soul Contract.”
Could be a mental trap, but no gate signals detected—and more than anything, she wanted to hear the kid out.
“Yeah, it’s Dun. Really Dun. Damn it, for real.”
“It’s really Dun?”
“Yeah!!! Shit, you’re making me curse. If it’s too hard to believe, just chalk it up to some conspiracy theory and help me out!”
Dun flailed with an aggrieved look.