Chapter 101: A Successful Return to Earth
It was a spacious room I'd grown quite familiar with by now. And Chris was there in the room.
...Unlike me, though, she was still wearing her shoes.
“Wha? Wha, what is this place...?”
Chris glanced around my room, confirming her surroundings. She clearly couldn't make sense of the situation.
I squeezed the hand I was holding to draw her attention.
“...Wanna take off your shoes first?”
Only then did she turn to look at me. She must have realized I was the cause of all this.
She'd heard me, but she looked too out of it to manage it herself. So I dragged over a chair from inside the room, sat her down, and removed her shoes for her by hand.
Kneeling on one knee in front of her as she sat in the chair somehow felt like I was proposing.
-Swish.
“This is Earth.”
“Earth? Earth? H-how? Is this Chanyoung's ability?”
“Mm... It's different from abilities. More like a power I've always had?”
“...”
“Even if it doesn't make sense, just roll with it.”
“So... this is your room? In Korea?”
“Yeah. But... it's probably different from the Earth you know. You ever hear of parallel worlds?”
“N-not really... but I get the gist.”
“Kinda like that. Same Earth, but with a ton of little differences if you look close.”
I placed one of Chris's shoes—now in my hand—on the desk, which I'd lined with tissue paper. Even after removing both shoes, my explanation continued.
I could travel between dimensions. My powers weren't limited to just one, and more would awaken in time. This place was a completely different Earth from the one she knew. And just moments ago, I'd gained the ability to select one companion for dimensional travel—and I'd used it on her.
Through my lengthy explanation, Chris sat quietly in the chair, listening.
-Rattle!
Thank goodness the room had a window. All I had to do was lift the blinds, and I could show her the Earthly cityscape of towering high-rises lined up in rows.
It was a sight quite familiar to her as well. Even if she'd grown up in the countryside, she wasn't the type who'd never seen a big city even once.
“It's real... Earth.”
“...Chris.”
“Huh?”
“I just discovered something amazing.”
“H-here too...? What is it...?”
As I gazed at her profile while she blankly admired the view outside the window, one jarring detail caught my eye.
It had felt completely natural until now, but upon reflection, it was definitely strange.
“You're speaking Korean right now.”
“Huh? Oh? R-really?!”
“I didn't notice at first since it was new to me too, but looks like it's part of my power.”
At least that meant the heavens who'd created this function weren't entirely clueless.
It was something I'd only just thought of, but it was a relief no annoying issues had cropped up.
“Can't believe it?”
“Hard to... but this, I gotta believe...”
Chris ran her hand over her own throat as she spoke. She seemed shocked herself by her perfect, native-level Korean.
“So then... you weren't actually from my Earth?”
“Mm... Never really thought about it that way. Doesn't seem like a distinction that matters much. We're both living humans, right?”
“Yeah. True.”
-Poke.
Swoosh.
Chris's slender fingers traced my cheek. Since we were both standing, she had to look up at me.
Her fiery red pupils met my plain black ones.
“...Chanyoung's definitely alive, then.”
As always, Chris was satisfied simply knowing I was alive by her side. Watching her content herself with such small things sometimes made my chest feel heavy.
She could stand to be a little more greedy.
“So... can't go back to that world anymore?”
“Nah, I can go anytime. Time's frozen there right now.”
“...Really? What an absurd power.”
“You know why I picked you as my companion, right?”
-Nod.
“We might head to other dimensions too, so I'll need your help.”
“I wanna be by your side, Chanyoung.”
“...Yeah. Let's do that.”
We couldn't stay cooped up in my room forever. Now that Chris would be staying at my place too, I needed to show her to her room.
I took her hand and started leading her out.
“I'll show you your room now. I threw in the essentials in a rush, so it shouldn't be too uncomfortable.”
“My room?”
“Yeah. I live alone, and the house has plenty of empty rooms.”
“I-I'm gonna live with you from now on? Just the two of us?”
“While we're on Earth... yeah?”
“R-really...”
Chris looked thrilled, following along obediently as I led her by the hand. She must have been curious about her new room.
Anzelli and Baby Angel wouldn't be visible to her eyes. I wasn't sure if I could hide them forever, but it sure wasn't the right time to reveal them.
-Thud thud.
Creeeak...
“Eek!”
“Chanyoung? What's wrong?”
My heart nearly dropped out of my chest as I opened the door to leave. Anzelli was standing right there in front of it, wearing a cheeky expression.
“...”
Anzelli stared fixedly at the bewildered Chris.
She started with her face, then scanned down to her feet, up her legs and waist, lingering on her chest for about three seconds. Her expression brightened a bit as she nodded to herself, then looked back up at her face.
“Hmm... So this is your type, Chanyoung?”
“...”
I couldn't respond to Anzelli's words. Chris was standing right there beside me.
I shot Anzelli a look that said, What the hell are you talking to me for right now?
“Even you'd have a hard time ignoring her, right? I-I liked you first, you know...”
Anzelli lowered her head, her face tinged with a hint of hurt.
She'd known I already had a lover and still become one herself anyway. It was like an implicit declaration that she was fine sharing me.
But seeing the woman in person must have hit different; she looked deflated now.
Her face was a mix of guilt toward Chris, disappointment in herself, and an unwillingness to give up regardless.
Guess I need to spend some time with Anzelli alone. Yeah, I've been too wrapped up in finishing Terraforming lately to give her proper attention...
-Swish.
I reached out and stroked Anzelli's head once. It was a signal that we'd make time later.
She seemed to get it, nodding faintly before stepping away.
“Chanyoung? Why'd you stop?”
“...Just thinking for a sec. Alright, let's check out your room.”
Chris, hidden behind my back, hadn't seen what I'd done and followed along without suspicion.
*
Amusingly enough, the very first thing Chris did after arriving on Earth was take a bath.
Even in the English-speaking world, public bathhouses like spas existed, but Chris—having mostly bathed alone her whole life—must have desperately missed the luxury of a leisurely solo soak.
Whether it was the training camp or the combatant barracks, baths were always communal.
The largest bathroom off the living room had a proper tub, so she seemed thrilled.
She'd even chosen a bath over modern food soaked in stimulating MSG.
-Fiddle fiddle.
“Why do you keep fiddling with your hair? ...You aren't thinking anything weird, are you?”
“If you like short hair that much... should I cut mine short too?”
“No, you're prettiest like this.”
“...Would I look ugly with short hair...? ...Ugh! Sorry. I know clingy girls are the worst...”
“Doesn't matter what hairstyle—you're pretty either way. I just wanted to tell you you're pretty. No deeper meaning.”
“...R-really?”
-Squeeze.
Instead of answering, I pulled Anzelli into my arms.
She seemed mollified by my thoughtful response, leaning comfortably against my chest.
A different kind of pleasant feeling spread through my body compared to when I hugged Chris.
Anzelli was soft. And... incredibly open-minded.
“What about your junior?”
“Surfing the internet.”
“...Doesn't get bored, huh. Or wait—doesn't she already have a clue?”
“My junior? Clue about what?”
“Us. No way we can hide being lovers this long. She must've read the mood and made herself scarce just now, right?”
“Mm... Junior's not sharp enough to pick up on us, and even if she did... she wouldn't read the mood...”
“Harsh assessment.”
“Objective senior's take.”
Anzelli enjoyed skinship, but she loved casual chats with me just as much.
The light touches and conversation continued until Chris finished her bath.
*
Chris emerged from the bath looking utterly refreshed, now dressed in casual clothes I'd picked out for her.
Luckily, my sense of style wasn't half bad—she looked stunning.
But her hands were empty. Where'd her old clothes go?
“What about the clothes you were wearing back in that world?”
“Obviously stashed in my subspace.”
“Aha, makes sense. ...Wait, subspace?”
Something clicked.
Why the hell didn't I think of this sooner?
“Yeah? What's up?”
“Chris. Can you pull stuff out of your subspace from that world here?”
“...O-of course?”
-Swish.
Leather armor materialized in Chris's hand. Not her usual skimpy outfit, but standard-issue leather armor for combatants.
Of course, I had no idea she'd even had this. Which meant...
This armor was definitely something she'd stored in her subspace back in Terraforming.
Th-this means I don't need to rush unlocking [Inventory Integration], right...?
An unexpected massive windfall. That skill cost a whopping 50,000 karma.
I couldn't put it off forever, but deprioritizing it was still a huge gain.
Spending that 50,000 karma elsewhere would create serious opportunity costs.
Hold on... no way...
“Chris? You got any living creatures in your subspace right now?”
“Mm... just one.”
-Flutter!
Flutter!
The leather armor vanished from her hand, replaced by a hefty living creature emerging naturally.
It was a form I recognized well.
-Kek!
Keeeek-!
“Chicken...”
A perfectly subdued chicken. Not an Earth chicken, mind you—the main ingredient for meat dishes back in Terraforming, some kettle-whatever bird.
I had her store it away for now. If this thing got loose outside, who knows what alphabet-soup agency might come knocking with endless questions.
I was already neck-deep in headaches thanks to Baek Hamin. No more trouble, thanks.
-Hop!
No, forget that trivial stuff. The real point was: she could pull living beings out of her subspace?
...Found a bug.
One more system exploit discovered. If she could bring a live chicken, then using subspace, she could bring people too.
Given enough time, 100 or even 1,000—no limit.
The party member cap would cease to mean anything.
“Chris. You've stored goblins and orcs in your subspace before, right? What about people?”
“Mm... Theoretically possible since I can store myself, but it's super tough.”
“Tough how?”
“Yeah. There are conditions for storing living things in subspace. First, they have to be completely subdued. Second, I need to have a solid 'grasp' on them.”
Chris held up two fingers as she explained to me. I'd get subspace myself someday, so I listened intently.
“But this 'grasp' thing isn't just about their appearance.”
“Don't tell me... it includes their personality, tendencies, that sort of thing? Meaning higher intelligence makes it harder to store?”
“Exactly. I'm the easiest for myself, no issue. Chickens, goblins, orcs have low intelligence and are easy to read, so no problem...”
“Mm... So you've never successfully stored a human?”
“Right. A newborn might work, but never tested.”
Disappointing, but unavoidable. Just knowing it wasn't impossible—and had potential—was satisfying enough.
Unlike Chris, subspace wasn't my only option.
If I ever learned a skill to read people's thoughts or tendencies, I could store humans in subspace too.
That day would mark the end of party member limits.