Chapter 140
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: Interlude. Awakening is Pointless
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Ban Yu-mi couldn't collect her thoughts after stumbling into a literal new civilization through some unknown link on an unknown site.
Welcome to Union Net. All language translation services are provided while using Union Net.
That notification was real.
She could read the bizarre characters filling the screen with effortless fluency, just like her little brother Ban Yu-won had.
Even knowing it shouldn't be possible, she wondered if she'd gained the same ability as him and pulled out an English original book. Sure enough, her vision went black in an instant.
The translation service only worked while viewing Union Net, and nothing more.
"What the hell is this? Union... Union. Isn't this the place Yu-won went to?"
She remembered it clearly.
Her brother, who had always lived in a haze of laziness and leisure thanks to his overwhelming natural talent, had suddenly lit up with excitement one day. Instead of attending the prestigious S University he'd gotten into, he declared he was going to some unheard-of place called Union Academy.
He'd always been weird, but then he started conjuring impossible things out of nowhere, awakened her own magical power, whispered secrets with their suddenly sane Grandfather, and just up and left.
"What is this..."
He'd left.
That little bastard, all by himself.
Leaving me here alone.
"And while I'm stuck here, he's off romancing aliens?!"
She'd always hated reading, so connecting to UnionTube, Union Net's video platform, was inevitable. And once there, finding the Rebellion channel—ranked in the top 1,000—was child's play.
Not to mention it was run by Ban Yu-won, who flaunted his Union Academy student title. A quick search for the academy pulled up his videos first.
She breathed a sigh of relief seeing his most recent upload, confirming he was healthy.
But that relief evaporated the moment she watched him flirting shamelessly with a stunning black-haired elf so beautiful she seemed otherworldly.
Ban Yu-mi's jaw dropped.
"This... this little shit, is this why he left? To hook up with pretty aliens?!"
She binged the entire Rebellion channel.
What she uncovered was even more outrageous.
His class at the academy had four members including him: one was a beast who'd latched onto him from day one; another played the mentor role, bossing him around with her creepy cross-eyes; and the last was supposedly a guy but looked like a pretty girl, clinging to him every chance she got—a total nuisance.
"Yu-won is Mr. Popular...!"
And that wasn't all.
The so-called professor with the freaky petal hair dared to play big sister in her place. The elf from the first video she saw was blatantly hitting on him. Club members called him "Teacher" and cozied up like he was their junior. Even the sky-blue-haired beauty who looked like a fairy, and the student council president demon... all swarming her brother.
"He doesn't know the meaning of restraint, that jerk!"
Her blood boiled.
Sure, he'd been popular back on Earth too.
If she hadn't kept watch and chased off the weird girls, he'd have lived a scandalously promiscuous youth. She figured he owed her a hundred lifetimes of gratitude.
But now, without big sis watching, he was going full throttle with the girls?
I worried myself sick, and this punk goes to another world where Earth laws don't apply to build a harem?
...But.
Right as she was about to smash her phone in rage,
Ban Yu-mi froze, watching the woman posing as her brother's mentor swing her sword.
She replayed it obsessively, entranced.
A master.
No, an absolute grandmaster, leagues beyond her.
Talent aside... this was swordsmanship born from true deadly arts, not the sportified fencing and kendo left on Earth—aimed not at judges, but purely at the pinnacle of wielding the blade.
Of course, grasping Dokgo Yeon's true skill from a single video proved Ban Yu-mi's freakish talent, but she didn't realize it.
And it didn't matter.
Watching this idiot flirt drives me nuts... but for swordsmanship, I have to endure.
It stung seeing her brother fawn over Dokgo Yeon as "Teacher," but she herself was hooked on the swordplay.
Fine then—as revenge for stealing her brother, she'd master that swordsmanship perfectly, then surpass it. Ban Yu-mi vowed it.
She'd already quit the Olympic team and had too much free time.
Her parents suggested transferring to another university, but a born martial artist like her switching to academics now? Absurd.
In the end, swinging a sword was all she could think of. And Dokgo Yeon's blade in that video shone like a guiding lighthouse.
Like this? No, like that. Nail the form first, then I might grasp even a fraction of what that cross-eyed ghost is saying.
She set up a massive screen, looped Dokgo Yeon's sword videos, and rebuilt her fundamentals from scratch.
It was grueling, but rewarding.
The magical power her brother had sparked circulated eagerly through her body as she trained, growing steadily. Her transcendent sword talent plucked perfect fragments from Dokgo Yeon's demos, adapting and evolving them for herself.
Look at this punk's sword skills skyrocketing. He dodged when I offered to teach him...
Studying the videos inevitably meant seeing her brother too.
He must be one of the top talents at that academy—growing by leaps, shining in combat.
Swordplay, magic, crafting weird gadgets—he did it all solo.
And handing out gifts to every girl in sight. Every damn one. Gave me a crappy massage coupon...When vacation hits, he's dead meat.
(For the record, the massage coupons expired at age eight, but thanks to her foolish brother's forgotten expiration date, they still sat valid in her secret stash.)
Besides that, what caught her eye on Rebellion were monsters—faceless beasts that might invade post-dimensional evolution, not the alien humanoids but their mindless foes.
Ban Yu-mi visualized fights against the diverse monsters in the videos, training accordingly.
That's why her new sword style transcended human limits.
"Are these things really coming to Earth? Is that what dimensional evolution means?"
Browsing Union Net's info on dimensions made Earth's impending changes hit home.
Realizing that, she had no choice but to tell her parents straight.
"Mom, Dad, Earth is screwed."
"Yu-mi, no more 'screwed' this, 'screwed' that. Watch your language..."
"Dimensional evolution is hitting Earth. It'll turn weird like that freak school Yu-won joined!"
"Dimensional... evolution?"
They didn't buy it at first, obviously.
But with Ban Yu-won gone as precedent, and his videos playing on her phone... denial was impossible.
"You're not just missing him so much you faked these, right...?"
"Am I crazy? I can't even stand looking at that punk!"
"True, if you'd made them, there wouldn't be this many pretty girls."
Their mother finally sighed, accepting reality. The Ban family kicked into dimensional prep mode.
Grandfather Ban Ji-won, sane since Yu-won's mana infusion, awakened magic the moment he spotted Babel Tower in a video—just like Yu-mi.
"No time to waste. Time to raid the U.S. grain silos a bit."
"Grain silos out of nowhere, Dad?"
"We own farms in the States under the family name, sweetie."
"Farms?!"
Her father, Ban Joo-seok, realized their hidden wealth and awakened magic next.
Why did his feel so much more pathetic than Grandfather's, despite the razor-thin difference?
"Dimensional evolution. What changes do you think it'll bring Earth, sweetie?"
"Dunno... Mana might cut the smog?"
"Hm, monsters seem key. Dungeons too..."
"Can our military handle those things now?"
"Videos suggest no dimension lags behind Earth's tech, yet they avoid guns—must be a reason. Plus, even our coins mix in mana."
"Mana... So without it, we're all screwed, Dad?"
"I see where Yu-mi picked up her mouth."
Ban Ji-won liquidated global family assets into precious metals, stockpiled decades of food, raised the estate walls, splurged on combat relics, and subtly warned contacts of coming changes.
Ban Joo-seok agonized over quitting diplomacy early but vowed to leverage Dad's ties for post-evolution stability in Korea.
Their mother, Kang Eun-young, sighed more daily, watching Yu-mi's training to soothe her nerves.
And Ban Yu-mi...
"Nngh... ugh..."
"Yu-mi? Training fine, then suddenly puppy-needs-to-poop face. Something wrong?"
"Nah, made up my mind."
After agonizing, she messaged her fencing national team group chat—her close teammates.
If anything happens, come to me.
What’s up lol why so sudden sis
Something happen to us???
Yu-mi what’s going on? What you up to lately
Dying to see Yu-won irl make intros fast
(Woman drawing heart with fingers emoticon)
(Fat duck smashing wall with fist emoticon)
Can't say details but keep it in mind. I'll have your backs if shit hits the fan.
Sis♡
Ban Yu-mi blocked Lee Hyun-ji, her college classmate, and closed her phone.
Her heart lightened a bit.
She knew it was a shallow ploy to unburden herself, but better than nothing.
How much time passed like that?
Finally, the moment arrived.
Earth undergoes dimensional evolution and officially connects to Union Net! Access granted to the top 1% of Earth's ranked talents; this ratio increases with Earth's mana density.
Earth is a very special dimension. As compensation for reconnection to Union Net, the higher-dimensional privilege of the Status Window is granted to all Earthlings. This is a miraculous boon even residents of higher dimensions rarely enjoy!
Inextinguishable Flame
...And Earth's changes unfolded a bit differently than Ban Yu-mi had anticipated.