The Higher World's Descent

“Ah, why’d you have to say something unnecessary and scare the kid like that, Captain~.”

“I didn’t think she’d freak out that much. I was just trying to reassure her.”

Baek Yena and Lee Gayeon exchanged words while eyeing the empty spot where Seoya had bolted out late in the evening, insisting she had to meet Jeong Sira right away.

Baek Yena spoke up with a worried look.

“Gayeon unnie, is it really okay to let our princess go out alone at this hour?”

“She’ll be fine. She’s wearing the location-tracking necklace.”

“Does our princess even know how to take public transport?”

“She’s probably taking a taxi. We’ll see her card charged soon via text.”

“But seriously, I can’t imagine our baby actually going back to her world…”

Baek Yena’s voice drooped.

“What can we do? We’re the ones who have to help Seoya.”

“Yeah, you’re right…”

Lee Gayeon recalled the events from a few days ago as she spoke.

A short while back, the day Seoya had accepted Lee Gayeon’s party invite to enter a bonus dungeon. Park Haejun, Baek Yena, and Ji Sein, who were in that party, had all received a strange System window that day.

Park Haejun and Lee Gayeon had achieved the same one.

They had their suspicions. Seoya probably bore the destiny of saving this world, and she herself knew it. And perhaps the disasters befalling Earth were connected to Seoya.

“Even so, it doesn’t matter.”

Lee Gayeon spoke in a calm voice.

“We’ve already decided to love that kid.”

“Got it, but when are we gonna go kill Kwon Yooseok for making our baby cry?”

“Oh, right. We can’t forget that.”

“Unnie! Did you find anything out?!”

Seoya shouted as she pounded on Jeong Sira’s door.

Jeong Sira, looking exhausted, came to the entrance and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flung the door wide open upon seeing Seoya, her eyes widening in surprise.

“What’s going on? Something you need to know urgently?”

“Yeah, super urgent.”

Seoya shuddered, recalling what Lee Gayeon had whispered to her. It seemed like her unnies had caught on to something.

I should’ve realized they knew when they didn’t ask anything despite how hard I tried to hide it.

She didn’t know exactly when or what they’d figured out, but Seoya had no talent for lying, and having watched over her, they must have their own guesses.

In a situation where Kwon Yooseok knew Seoya came from another world and her unnies suspected the disasters on Earth were linked to her, Seoya desperately needed Jeong Sira’s help.

“I haven’t reached a solid conclusion yet, but I do have some ideas.”

“Tell me that much at least. Who was Ibin unnie trying to warn with that message?”

“…Besides that, I focused on a different issue. Something more fundamental.”

Jeong Sira dragged out a whiteboard from the corner of the living room. It was covered in messy notes from all the pondering she’d done since Seoya left.

“When you first told me about the System’s principles, I was just thrilled to learn something new. I’d always believed there had to be causes behind these disasters overwhelming Earth.”

“Yeah, we talked about that last time.”

“What I’m trying to say, Seoya.”

Jeong Sira looked straight at Seoya with her brown eyes.

“Everything has a flow of cause and effect.”

“Yeah.”

“Earth has these abnormal results that science can’t explain—dungeons, monsters, hunters—and the cause was actually Toda.”

“Can you get to the point a bit faster? I’m kinda in a rush.”

“So what’s the cause behind the events on Toda?”

“Huh?”

Seoya blinked at Jeong Sira.

“The things that happened on Toda. Mana appeared, Pioneers emerged; polluting energy appeared, Mutants emerged. Pioneers and Mutants are unrealistic things science can’t explain.”

“Well, they just… sort of…”

“You said they suddenly appeared one day on Toda. Without any cause, just out of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nowhere?”

Seoya froze in place.

Right. Ibin had only told her to eliminate the source of the Mutants, never explaining how Pioneers and Mutants had suddenly appeared that day. No Pioneer on Toda, no civilian, had ever discussed it.

“Seoya, you said Toda is Earth’s higher world, so Ibin could easily interfere with our world.”

“…Yeah, if Earth wasn’t a lower world, it’d probably be impossible?”

“If Earth has a higher world, then Toda must have one too, right?”

“Probably?”

“Just as Toda sent something scientifically inexplicable and unrealistic to Earth—the System—what if Toda’s higher world sent something to Toda?”

“You mean…”

“What if Toda’s higher world sent mana and polluting energy to Toda?”

“Ah.”

Seoya’s world began to shake.

All the elements surrounding Seoya’s world that she’d taken for granted. For the first time, she started doubting them all.

Seoya recalled what she’d seen in the dungeon that day. Beyond the black hole where the polluting energy poured down, those grotesque red eyes that couldn’t be explained by anything in Seoya’s known world.

It was probably something Ibin created, meant to send her a direct message. The source sending the polluting energy wasn’t the world Seoya knew.

A dimension so far beyond her imagination, higher than anywhere she’d ever seen.

“The higher world was sending the Mutants.”

A hollow voice leaked from Seoya.

“What Ibin unnie said about finding the Mutants’ source and eradicating them…”

To clear dungeons, to stop Mutant generation. That day in the dungeon, Seoya had to attack beyond the black hole.

“Unnie was telling me to attack Toda’s higher world…”

Only then did Seoya realize the truth of her own world.

“I wonder how far she’s gotten by now?”

In her prison cell, Ibin roughly guessed Seoya’s current progress, her body numb and sensationless.

How many magic stones had she gathered? The equations should be solved by now. If fast, she’d even have the blueprints, though building the magic amplifier would take time…

“Hey, Ibin! You okay?!”

Ibin snapped her head up at the familiar voice after so long.

Taesa stood before the cell.

Taesa pressed his hand urgently to the bars.

“Hang on a sec, I’ll melt it all!”

“Took you long enough.”

“There were just too many bastards to kill.”

Flaming fire erupted from Taesa’s hand, melting the cell bars. Ibin watched impassively before speaking.

“Taesa, where do you think Seoya’s at in figuring things out?”

“What’re you talking about?”

“I scattered hints about secrets Seoya didn’t know throughout the dungeons, in story form.”

“Isn’t the answer obvious?”

With the bars fully melted, Taesa untied Ibin’s bound arms, giving her a dumbfounded look.

“You don’t know Seoya that well? Our Seoya doesn’t think about complicated stuff like that.”

“Of course I think the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠same.”

Ibin and Taesa agreed on Seoya’s cognitive abilities…

“Then why hide it in the dungeons? What if she overthinks it alone and gets a headache?”

“If not, it’d be hard for her to accept when she returns later.”

Freed from restraints, Ibin staggered to her feet. Her legs trembled from kneeling so long.

“If she gets all that info at once upon returning to Toda, it’ll just confuse her. Better to plant hints in fairy-tale style beforehand, let her learn gradually.”

“As expected. No matter how hard I try, I can’t keep up with you, Ibin.”

Taesa stuck out his tongue in admiration.

Then, suddenly, Ibin collapsed to the floor.

“Ah…!”

“Hey! What’s wrong? You hurt?”

“Damn it…”

Ibin glared upward with eyes that could tear someone apart.

“They’re taking the System…”

The System she’d built with her own mana. It was linked to her.

Something was trying to seize it from her now. A force from a higher dimension she couldn’t resist.

She’d anticipated they’d eventually discover she’d created a System in a lower world from Toda. That’s why she’d deliberately wrecked other worlds into chaos—to let them know.

Toda is strong enough. No one would dare try to destroy it…

Ibin gritted her teeth hard enough to grind as she felt her System being taken.

Even if you steal the System and try to twist it to your whims.

Seoya would return to Toda safely.

You can’t touch what I’ve already set in place.