The Weight of a Higher Dimension
Ellen stepped forward with an expressionless face.
On the opposite side, the orc warrior Marak exhaled a snort of hot breath.
He taunted them openly.
The Gold Moon players had suffered consecutive defeats. Ellen, who had watched the entire spectacle in silence, quietly prepared for battle.
The 5th Round begins.
The moment the green wall separating them vanished—
Crack. Creeeeak!
Ellen’s body began to swell. Her armor and clothing stretched elastically to accommodate the change. She grew nearly two—no, three times larger than before, her entire form transforming into a living weapon.
Incredible
It was Ellen’s unique ability.
Ellen’s voice had grown husky. She charged forward. The orc warrior facing her gripped his glaive and advanced as well. The curved blade and her fist collided head-on.
A tremendous clash of raw power. The shockwave whipped up a violent gale, yet none of the players watching the promotion match looked away.
The blade had pierced Ellen’s skin, but the wound closed instantly as flesh and muscle regenerated, shoving the orc’s glaive aside. And that wasn’t all—both of the orc’s arms, which had blocked her punch directly, were now bent backward at unnatural angles.
Overwhelming strength and regenerative power.
Ellen snapped the incapacitated orc warrior’s neck with a loud crack and shouted boldly.
The second, third, and fourth orc warriors fell in quick succession.
But then—
The instant she faced the fifth warrior, Ellen instinctively knew. Even at her full strength, she could not defeat the orc standing before her.
Ellen gritted her teeth and rushed at the final orc warrior.
The battle was fierce. Deep wounds that even her regeneration couldn’t fully heal began to accumulate. Eventually, Ellen stopped moving altogether.
The blood pouring from her injuries had formed a large puddle. Her face deathly pale, she barely remained standing.
The orc warrior tilted his head at the question.
The speech was awkward and unnatural.
Yet Ellen had extracted every piece of information she needed from that bizarre way of talking.
The orc warrior before her was so strong that even she—one of America’s top players—couldn’t overcome him. Even if she searched the entire world, there were almost no players capable of defeating him alone.
And yet…
For the first time in the promotion match, Ellen’s face twisted as she spat out a curse.
She was among the strongest players humanity had to offer. And yet even she would struggle to win against an opponent who, in that other dimension, wasn’t even considered one of the strongest—just average.
Beyond Diamond rank, she would have to compete against monsters like him.
The orc’s axe sliced through Ellen’s neck.
The Crok (56) dimension has won.
All members of the victorious dimension will be promoted to Diamond rank.
Only 40% of the defeated dimension will be promoted.
Promotion eligibility will be determined by contribution points.
It was a crushing defeat for Gold Moon.
Similar scenes were unfolding simultaneously across the world.
The lobby fell into dead silence.
The shocking defeat of the Gold Moon players. The moment Ellen’s head was severed, the broadcast screen went dark.
Lee Jiyoung’s eyes widened in disbelief. She spoke with a look of injustice on her face.
I spoke firmly.
Even though the timeline had shifted, the result remained largely the same. Still, it was better than before the regression. Back then, the entire Gold Moon team had been wiped out by the very first fighter.
The distortion in the time axis had luckily led them to a weaker team.
Nyx watched the TV with evident interest.
Orcs, goblins, trolls, ogres, and the like. The monsters that appeared in the Tower of Babel were beings from other dimensions. Some dimensions, like the goblins’, had already been absorbed and destroyed by the Tower.
I glanced at Karla.
Karla answered in a blunt tone. She couldn’t hide the faint trembling in her fingertips, though.
Ellen had been her master back in America. Seeing her defeated so brutally was understandably shocking.
Ping Lei immediately tucked his tail between his legs.
All that bravado.
The shock didn’t end there.
As soon as the clock struck midnight Greenwich Mean Time, famous players from every country challenged the promotion match. Thanks to the broadcast function, the results were delivered in real time.
The result was total defeat.
Even powerful nations like China, Japan, and the United Kingdom all knelt before the orcs.
Ping Lei collapsed to the floor.
What a short-sighted fool. He apparently hadn’t expected the Nine Dragons Syndicate to suffer a similar fate after Ellen’s loss.
The same went for Korea. Teams that had reached the end of Platinum—including Hong Yunsu’s—had challenged boldly, but all of them were defeated.
As expected, changing the grand flow of events was still beyond my reach.
Thanks to my regression, I had drastically reduced the casualties of the first Great Erosion. Even so, events beyond my power still followed the original history.
This won’t leave me any time to rest.
I needed to grow stronger as quickly as possible and join the leading group. Only then could I prevent the age of destruction and exact my revenge.
I smiled faintly and offered neither confirmation nor denial.
One advantage that had come from the Gate incident was experience points.
The Tower only allowed two attempts per day. Gates, however, could be cleared as many times as a player’s stamina permitted.
Jiyoung let out a scream.
Even after the world was thrown into shock by the promotion match results, my daily routine barely changed.
Mornings were spent training the team. Afternoons were dedicated to repeatedly running missions or clearing Gates. My area of activity remained within the capital region.
The only time I had gone as far as Gurye was to secure the hidden opportunity called the Pit of Immaemangryang. I avoided long-distance travel whenever possible.
Gates that could be cleared by Bronze, Iron, or Unranked players contained monsters I had already encountered in the Tower. It was disappointing not to gain new essences, but I satisfied myself by stacking magic power stats through the Primordial Dragon Heart.
Then one day—
Director Yu, a new type of Gate you previously warned us about has appeared.
It is a Gate restricted to one person only.
Han Suchang delivered welcome news.
It is called Dragon’s Yard. The difficulty is Silver or below.
I swallowed a laugh.
The second opportunity after the Pit of Immaemangryang. Dragon’s Yard was a Gate I had marked as one that absolutely must be cleared after my regression.
The only problem was that I couldn’t remember exactly when or where it would appear. I had asked Han Suchang to notify me whenever a one-person-restricted Gate appeared under the pretext of “variables.”
Luckily, the first one-person-restricted Gate in Korea was Dragon’s Yard.
Fortunate indeed.
I know you possess power beyond your rank, Director Yu. But isn’t Silver still a bit dangerous?
Sigh… Since it’s you, Director Yu, I believe nothing bad will happen. Very well.
As expected, establishing a connection with the Player Association had been a wise decision. If I had tried to build ties after the first Great Erosion, it would have been far more difficult.
Very good. Many players who want an advantageous position in Gate clearing have joined.
Aren’t you exaggerating? It was an idea I came up with thanks to you in the first place, Director Yu.
The organization had existed even before the regression. I had simply accelerated the timing of the Special Task Force’s creation.
Ah, by the way… about your team members…
Come on, couldn’t you put in a good word for us, Director Yu?
I answered decisively.
The information I had obtained from Han Suchang was that Dragon’s Yard had appeared near the summit of Yongmeori Hill in Jeonju.
Jeonju, huh. It wasn’t as far as the Pit of Immaemangryang, but I would still need to hurry.
Goddess, why are you grinning like that when you say it?
I instructed the team to train freely and headed for Jeonju.
This would be my second time after excavating the Tyrannosaurus fossil.
The knight dispatched by the Association stopped the car at a noticeably bulging spot amid the cityscape. It was a hill overlooking the center of Jeonju, with rows of old houses lining its side.
A blue wormhole sat beside the road. I placed my hand on the sparkling blue oval, and a message shimmered into view.
It was the Gate Han Suchang had mentioned.
If my memory was correct, clearing this one meant there would be no more must-have opportunities for a while. That was how important Dragon’s Yard was.
It was a Gate I absolutely had to clear for my future plans.
The restriction of Silver rank and one person only essentially meant one needed to be at least level 200 to even consider attempting it…
I glanced at Nyx standing behind me.
The two of us would be enough.
I stepped through the Gate.