Two Worlds of Common Sense

If Kaisent had been thinking normally, he would have kept his guard up and put distance between himself and the stranger.

After all, he had just been attacked by an old man—his wariness of outsiders should have been at its absolute peak.

But the moment he spotted a woman, that wariness—which had been about to blow past the red line—vanished, and he found himself wanting to draw closer instead.

A noona with a nice atmosphere about her.

Kaisent himself didn't fully understand it, but when it came to women, he could easily read hostility and goodwill.

His mother and older sisters, who loved him unconditionally, always carried a soft atmosphere and a pleasantly sweet scent.

By contrast, the woman before him gave off a dry, almost flavorless presence—yet something about it still felt good.

Instinctively judging that she would not attack him without reason, he trotted right over. Her sudden shout nearly startled tears out of him, but fortunately the misunderstanding cleared up, and he learned she was of a race that carried poison qi in her body.

But as they kept talking, he realized something wasn't lining up.

"Hmm… something feels a little off…"

Kaisent thought hard for a moment, then decided they should explain the things each of them took for common sense.

Dang Seol-yeong agreed and offered various explanations about Murim.

Of course, Kaisent—who lived among the stars—and Dang Seol-yeong—who had lived on a single landmass of Earth—could not understand each other's common sense.

Even allowing for cultural differences between races, not knowing basic cosmic common sense was clearly strange.

Could this noona be from a primitive race that never made it to space?

Maybe some incident or accident had warped her to this nameless planet the same way it had him, and she was wandering lost.

If he thought of it that way, the shabby clothes of the old man who'd attacked him made sense too.

The old man might also have been from some other primitive race—which would explain why abilities like his had never become known to the wider cosmos.

What if this planet itself is an undeveloped primitive world? If there's no communication infrastructure…

The universe held countless star systems and planets, and unexplored territory was plentiful as a result.

On top of that, the Cryptors—cosmic monsters seeded by an ancient space-ruling race on the brink of extinction—were obstructing free exploration.

His parents ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had tamed those Cryptors and used them as the foundation for building a vast power, but others couldn't even find a method of taming them, so they had to push through Cryptor interference just to colonize planets.

No. Don't jump to conclusions yet.

Barely calming the panic that had started to rise with his impatience, Kaisent moved on to the next topic.

"To figure out where we are, I think we need to get to higher ground. A tree, for example."

"I've already checked……."

"You can climb trees?"

"Mm……. But everything around is just forest and mountains……."

As if she didn't have much experience talking with people for long stretches, Dang Seol-yeong used a clumsy way of finishing her sentences, trailing off at the ends.

On top of that, she was wrapped tightly from head to toe, which only doubled the gloomy impression.

"And inside the trees, there are monsters like these……."

She pointed to the giant spiders she'd killed with her poison.

"……."

Looking at the spiders dead with their legs curled and bellies exposed, Kaisent was surprisingly fine.

Living alongside Cryptors that transformed in all sorts of ways, he didn't feel disgust at something of this level.

The reason Kaisent had been frightened of the beasts in the first place wasn't their appearance—it was the killing intent directed at him.

"Were there any other distinctive features?"

"…It may be hard to believe, but there are two suns, and behind the moon sits a massive sphere……."

"Really!?"

She had described the mysterious phenomenon of two suns, yet Kaisent's face brightened instead.

If the distinctive feature is a binary star system with two planets sharing a single moon, my sisters will be able to find me easily.

Once contact was made, they would track the signal and come to him—but if he could describe features this distinctive, finding him would be even easier.

No matter how vast the universe was, planets with characteristics this strong were few.

He said there are two suns, and he's happy about it? Why?

Seeing Kaisent's joy, Dang Seol-yeong tilted her head.

Our conversation hasn't been lining up since earlier. It feels like some huge blank is stuck in the middle.

Neither of them could imagine the other had come from a different dimension, so of course their conversation wouldn't match.

Still, there was one point where their dialogue did connect.

"Are you heading toward the mountains? Or the flatlands?"

He left the rest unsaid, but Kaisent's question carried the request that she take him along.

Sensing that meaning, Dang Seol-yeong stared blankly for a moment before quietly opening her mouth.

"You… aren't you scared of me……?"

"Why would I be?"

"I told you I have poison qi around my body……."

"And?"

"……."

Until now, whenever people learned she was a poison user, countless of them had looked at her with disgust and put distance between them.

Even the martial artists of the Dang Clan, who specialized in poison, couldn't handle hers—and their reluctance toward her was plain to see.

"Earlier, when I tried to come closer, you warned me not to. So why would I be scared of you, noona?"

"……."

Kaisent wore an expression of pure, genuine incomprehension.

Looking at that face, Dang Seol-yeong felt an emotion she couldn't quite explain.

There was the moving feeling of being accepted as an ordinary human being without fuss—but something even stronger was rising up.

Without realizing it, she started to reach a hand toward Kaisent, then startled herself.

What was that? I almost went to him without thinking?

She lowered her itching hand and quickly changed the subject to settle her heart.

"I'm planning to head toward the flatlands for now……. The mountains are quite high—you can't go without preparation……."

If she were going alone, the mountain route would be the right answer—but for the fragile-looking Kaisent, it would be a hard ordeal.

For some reason, she found herself thinking she needed to protect him.

Unaware of this abnormality in herself, Dang Seol-yeong turned toward the flatlands so they could move together.

"Um… I can come with you, right……?"

Kaisent had sensed the mood, but he asked directly about accompanying ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her as if he needed a clear answer to feel at ease.

"I don't mind……."

"Thank you, noona!"

"…Ngh……."

When Kaisent smiled with relief, she felt her chest lurch again and clenched her inner strength hard to maintain her composure.

The Westerners she'd seen a few times had all looked like monsters—but Kaisent was like a cute doll toddling about.

Especially when he smiled brightly, she had to desperately hold back the smile that tried to form on her own lips without her permission.

He's too cute……. Are all Westerners this adorable when they're little……?

Deciding that this smile alone made wandering the forest aimlessly worthwhile, she began a brief, pleasant journey of companionship.

A few hours after the two of them had started traveling together.

Growl—

"Skar… ah……."

When his stomach growled, Kaisent tried to call the AI that normally assisted him with everything—then realized reality a beat too late and drooped.

Dang Seol-yeong, a martial artist, also heard the sound from Kaisent's stomach and looked around.

But this forest showed no trees bearing fruit.

No—everything in this forest was so unfamiliar that even Dang Seol-yeong had no idea what was edible and what wasn't.

Recognizing this as a problem that would soon face her as well, not just Kaisent, she began scanning the surroundings for anything edible.

I want the grilled meat from the Durendi livestock planet that Big Sister used to make, and the steamed fish from the Tüljehal ocean planet…….

Kaisent had always eaten abundantly from the ingredients that came up from his parents' private ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠livestock, ocean, and agricultural planets.

He'd taken it for granted—but now that he was in an environment where he couldn't eat, he realized how precious the life he'd enjoyed had been.

My throat's starting to get dry too…….

And after wandering the forest continuously, his throat was growing parched.

What do I have on me right now…….

Before whining about hunger and thirst, Kaisent started checking what he had.

He might look fragile and timid, but he'd received all kinds of education following his great father—so rather than despair and cry over a problem, he tried to solve it somehow.

If that still didn't work, then he'd cry for real.

Right. Come to think of it, there was an emergency survival kit, wasn't there?

The clothes they wore always had an emergency first-aid kit built in, just in case.

None of his siblings had ever reported using one, so he'd completely forgotten the kit even existed.

This emergency kit had been designed for the worst-case scenarios where bio-devices couldn't be used—or using them was meaningless—so it wouldn't break even in an EMP storm.

Kaisent felt along his body and through his memory, checking where the survival kit was.

"Ah, found it!"

Discovering a sealed pocket on the inside of his clothes, he pulled out a plate as flat as paper.

When he injected inner energy into the plate resting on his palm, it glowed for a moment, then gradually expanded into a box-shaped object about the size of a human face.

"What is that……?"

"It's an emergency fabricator. It can make things needed for survival using its built-in resources. I don't really know the detailed principles myself, though."

"?"

Naturally, Dang Seol-yeong didn't understand a word of what Kaisent was saying.

Thinking it better to show rather than explain to a primitive race that had never reached space, Kaisent considered what to make.

In a forest this size there's bound to be water somewhere, but wandering around looking for it when we have to keep moving for a long time is inefficient.

First, he needed a tool that could easily obtain water.

"Portable water collector."

Ziiing— jingjingjingjingjingjing—

"!?"

At Kaisent's command, a strange device began emitting light.

Amazingly, every time that light moved in a dizzying pattern, some object was being created.

After about ten seconds, a translucent oval object seventeen centimeters tall was complete.

The interior of the oval was composed of strange devices beyond Dang Seol-yeong's knowledge, and she looked thoroughly flustered, not knowing where to start or what to say.

Leaving her behind, Kaisent blew inner energy into the oval object—and with a soft shhh of wind, it began sucking in the surrounding air.

Within seconds, droplets began plip-plip falling toward the empty ground, the only place with nothing in it.

It wasn't simply making water—there was a purification filter inside, so it was pure water safe to drink without ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠worry.

"W… water……?"

"At this rate, it'll fill up quickly."

"H-h-h-how……?"

An object born from light, and water appearing from a device she'd never seen—a bizarre situation.

Faced with a marvel she'd never witnessed in her life, she couldn't contain her astonishment.

"To add a bit more to what I explained earlier—it's a dedicated emergency tool used only by our family. That just used up seventeen percent of the materials."

Kaisent checked the gauge displayed on the box and explained as carefully as he could to Dang Seol-yeong, the primitive race member.

"……."

But Dang Seol-yeong still looked bewildered, unable to grasp the situation.

There was inevitably a vast gap between someone from a world where humanity had advanced into space, entangled with countless races fighting for galactic hegemony, and someone with medieval-era knowledge.

Kaisent seemed to sense that too—he intuited that any further explanation would only scramble her head.

Next… this, of course.

"Distress scanner."

A normal scanner analyzed down to the atomic level, but a distress scanner only told you whether a scanned object was edible or not.

In exchange, it was made to be easily held in one hand—convenient enough to use anytime, anywhere.

Resources remaining: twenty-seven percent.

The scanner consumed a lot of resources, and what was left was starting to bottom out.

Kaisent thought about what he needed, but no matter how he thought about it, what he needed was food he could eat right now.

"Nutrition block."

He used all remaining resources to generate nutrition blocks.

Nine nutrition blocks—rich not only in the calories needed to survive but also in essential nutrients—were created along with vacuum packaging, and every resource in the emergency fabricator was consumed.

Knowing its role was finished with the resource depletion, the emergency fabricator crumbled into powder and collapsed weakly.

Kaisent tucked the long block-shaped nutrition blocks into an inner pocket and snapped one in half.

"Here, eat this."

"……."

Despite Kaisent's goodwill, Dang Seol-yeong couldn't bring herself to reach for the nutrition block made of light.

"It's not anything weird. Look."

Thinking it would be hard for a primitive race to believe, Kaisent took a bite of the half nutrition block himself.

The clumped nutrition block was crushed finely by his teeth and began melting into his saliva.

Watching him swallow it and finish off the rest of the block, Dang Seol-yeong finally carefully took a nutrition block.

Wondering if it was safe to eat, she trusted Kaisent's innocent expression and her own body—immune to all poisons—and carefully bit into it.

Sweet.

Swallowing the contents that melted with a restrained sweetness, she was startled a moment later by the fullness rising from her stomach.

I'm full after just a light snack's worth. How, with a lump this small?

At first she'd thought it was some Westerner technology—but if Westerners could casually use tech like this, they would have conquered the world long ago.

This child isn't an ordinary Westerner.

Through this incident, Dang Seol-yeong began to vaguely realize that the cosmos Kaisent lived in was different from the world she knew.