The Dimensional Store

For days the awakened ones of Gangnam Shelter had gone unwashed, fighting battle after battle until they were caked head to toe in blood and grime — and now they stood staring up at the sky, mouths hanging open in stunned silence.

Red beams of light were raining down like sheets of fire. And that wasn't all. Thousands of missiles trailed plumes of gray smoke as they pounded the ground below.

Thousands of meteors fell amid those burning streaks.

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-BOOM!

It didn't stop there. Blue spheres materialized around the body of that thing, arcing through the air to strike the evolved creatures with pinpoint accuracy.

PSHHHZ- KWAANG-

The 'Growler', famed for its steel-like defenses, was reduced to ash in an instant, and where the red beam had passed, only a scorched black line remained, giving off an acrid stench.

Ah….

A massive sphere was coalescing in front of that thing's forward hull. Merely gathering, it annihilated the surrounding clouds, shoved the atmosphere aside, and whipped up gale-force winds.

The fine hairs on their bodies stood on end. Gooseflesh crawled across their skin.

VMMMM-

The atmosphere itself was screaming.

If that thing comes down, won't this whole place just… cease to exist?

The thought forced itself upon them unbidden.

And then.

The sphere's convergence halted, as if time itself had frozen.

The mindless zombies,

the commanding evolved ones,

ordinary civilians,

the awakened.

Every last one of them looked up at the sky.

Ah….

The sun is falling.

The world is ending.

Blinding light swallowed the entire heavens, and the world began to melt away.

FLASH-

KWA-KWA-KWA-BOOM!

The shockwave burst outward like a sonic boom on the heels of the thunderous roar. The ground flipped over, and buildings collapsed like sandcastles.

"AAAAAGH!"

"GUH—!"

"TAKE COVER!!"

Everyone ducked and shielded their heads. It was pure instinct — the unconscious act of any living creature clinging to its life.

And yet.

After what felt like an eternity, everyone came to a realization.

Wh… why am I still alive?

They had survived?

Not a scratch on them. They were perfectly fine.

Gasp.

Haah.

Haa….

Relieved sighs spilled out on their own. Then it dawned on them: they hadn't survived on luck alone.

VMMMM-

Hexagonal blue barriers had gathered over the blast's epicenter, spreading out into an enormous dome. That shield, no doubt, was what had shielded them from the aftershock.

"This is impossible."

Someone's hollow voice rang out, but no one answered.

They had to have taken drugs — all of them, collectively. Otherwise there was no way to believe that what they were seeing was real.

Inside the barrier dome, the world seemed annihilated — black lightning crackled through the dark, and as if gravity itself had ceased to exist, every corpse and every fleck of ash hung suspended in the air, drifting inward toward the center.

At the heart of the blast, a black vortex sucked everything in, slowly devouring it into nothingness.

I-impossible….

People tilted their heads back and beheld the Dreadnought-class warship floating serenely above the shelter — and found themselves utterly speechless.

The calamity that had offered nothing but despair despite the shelter throwing its every resource at it had ended in a single instant.

Beneath the colossal warship that defied all belief, the mountain of colossal Stage-6 evolved creatures — beasts not even S-class awakened ones could so much as scratch — lay collapsed with their heads blown off, never having managed anything resembling resistance.

No more zombies were visible anywhere.

"Huh? What's that?"

"Er, there's only yes…."

Youngsik gave up on thinking.

In the end, he had to disembark and leave Hyperion to it, busy as it was with installing whatever this "Dimensional Relay" thing was.

At least he didn't have to climb down a ladder this time. Riding a flying disc down to the ground, he found countless people staring up at him.

"Why is this kind of scary…."

It was understandable, with everyone gaping at him, eyes wide. Still, he wasn't worried.

And by the time he reached the ground, he realized the worry had been pointless anyway.

It was easy to see that they were looking at him now not with the scorn and disdain of before, but with eyes full of awe and fear.

Yoo Byungtae couldn't even meet his gaze.

In Yoo Byungtae's line of sight stood Kim Youngsik's back, being welcomed like a hero by the shelter's residents.

"…."

He felt hollow. He had scrambled day and night these past few days without proper sleep. He'd clashed repeatedly with the shelter's executives — everything from why didn't you prepare in advance, to why did you ignore Youngsik's warnings about the wave, all the way to did you really have to drive him out.

These were the same people who'd been rubbing their hands and fawning over him until ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠days ago. Hadn't they themselves dismissed the wave hypothesis as nonsense? Hadn't they insisted the guy was just stirring up discord and hurting unity?

Maybe it was the executives' ugly mood.

Everything in the shelter was groaning at the seams.

And in contrast, that man had resolved every last problem in under ten minutes.

Did that even make sense?

Yoo Byungtae felt relief at having survived — and at the same time, a thick, festering emotion boiled up inside him.

It was always like this whenever he got tangled up with that man.

That strangely certain look in his eyes, as if he already knew all the answers. Precognition-type ability users couldn't push past thirty percent accuracy — so what could a nobody like him possibly know?

And yet every time the dust settled, everything had flowed exactly the way Kim Youngsik wanted. When he was, unmistakably, the leader of the shelter.

He could tolerate no further division.

So he'd driven the man out. Before he became an even greater threat.

Look at it even now. Weren't the shelter's residents, every last one of them, gazing at him like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he was some savior descended from heaven?

Grrk.

"Why are you fuming over there again?"

A beauty in a provocative outfit sidled up to him. It was Baek Seulgi — the man's ex-girlfriend.

Dressed like that even in the middle of all this.

Pathetic. He must have been blinded by the thrill of stealing another man's woman. Listening to Baek Seulgi's usual whining made him feel like his hair was falling out.

"Where are you going?"

"Where do you think? Over there, obviously."

There stood Kim Youngsik, basking in the crowd's cheers. Byungtae's brow twitched. Baek Seulgi, meanwhile, wore a confident smirk, the corners of her mouth curling up.

"And what do you plan to do there?"

"Just say hi and welcome him back, obviously."

There was no way Byungtae could miss the sticky hunger lurking in her eyes.

"You…."

The moment she spotted a capable male awakened, she'd go wagging her tail — he didn't know whether to laugh or spit. He was sick to death of it.

In the end, he swallowed the words along with his exhaustion and said nothing.

Yoo Byungtae stood there watching Baek Seulgi get coldly brushed off by Youngsik from a distance, unable to decide whether he should be pleased about it or furious — utterly lost in confusion.

A laboratory deep beneath the capital of the Galactic Empire — Planet Terra.

Two men, both looking as though they hadn't bathed in ages, stood gazing at each other with smiles playing at the corners of their mouths.

It was the moment Hyperion's Dimensional Relay installation was complete.

"So the relay is finally in place."

Through the antimatter conduit constructed from pure data, astral signals surged outward, stretching into countless dimensions.

Confirming it, the two men let out long breaths.

"Shall we have a toast?"

Minister Makia and Vice Minister Kahlen — who had scarcely slept in their service to His Majesty the Emperor's orders — raised their wine glasses and clinked them lightly together.

Tink-

"Whew…."

"You've worked hard, Minister."

They swirled the crimson wine in their glasses, then each took a sip.

"Ahh…."

"An exquisite flavor."

It was a premium vintage — a limited commemorative edition produced for the coronation of His Majesty Calstein Babylon, only one thousand bottles ever made. Even men with wealth placing them in the Empire's top 0.1 percent couldn't get their hands on it; the word "premium" felt almost inadequate.

A single sip, and the aroma blooming across the tongue spread through the whole body in a wave of rapture. The finish teased all five senses, then dissolved away without a trace of bitterness, leaving only a lingering echo behind.

It was, quite literally, the taste of heaven.

"Hardly a handful of people in the entire Empire have ever savored this wine."

"It is only ever bestowed as a reward upon those who execute special orders, after all."

"Vice Minister Kahlen — honestly, what we've accomplished tastes far sweeter to me than this wine ever could."

Both men wore faces brimming with accomplishment.

"I feel the same. Building a framework out of antimatter data isn't something just anyone could manage."

They were looking at the same screen.

"Heh heh. Maybe I can finally get some rest."

"You're telling me. I'm going to sleep in at home for the first time in ages and—"

Kahlen froze mid-sentence. An imperial decree from His Majesty the Emperor had arrived for both of them simultaneously.

"…."

"…."

"…."

"What on earth is His Majesty trying to do?"

"W-well…."

"Fathoming the Emperor's mind is impossible, I suppose."

"…Yes, Minister."

It seemed their all-nighters would be continuing for some time to come.

That message appeared for every user of the Interdimensional Integrated Community.

Amid everyone's anticipation, the Dimensional Store went live.