Chapter 195: World of Protagonists (1)

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“You want to help us?”

"That is so."

Lacanthal was silent. Yoo Seodam swallowed his saliva, nervously waiting for his answer. One of the reasons he wanted to win over the otherworlders living here was mainly because of the technical skills they possessed. Though, the fact that they had experienced ‘destruction' first-hand was the biggest reason.

It was said that of the less than 50 otherworlders that resided here, fewer than ten had directly witnessed the ‘destruction'. Those less than ten otherworlders had been unlucky enough to witness the merging process of their world becoming one for a brief moment. According to their testimony, Yoo Seodam became aware that the phenomenon was similar to the one he had faced inside ‘Hell Gate'.

Yoo Seodam couldn’t be completely sure, though. After all, till this day, what humanity knew about Hell Gate was still severely limited. They only knew that it was an unknown space where all matter and living things were mixed together in a jumbled manner. So, he had to gather more information if he wanted to be sure.

“Our world has a history of rejecting otherworlders and pushing them away. Would Earth be any different?”

"Honestly, Earth was the same. However, you don’t have to be worried about that since I have the power to protect you.”

“Aren’t you also an otherworlder?”

"That is so. But I’m already well-established on Earth.”

“How can you prove that?”

“It’s simple. Wherever I go on Earth, people will recognize me.”

The card on Yoo Seodam’s hand could be considered to be a cheat card. His name is currently famous all over the world. It was to the point it came with the privilege of authority. And with that fame and authority, he could easily protect the otherworlders who decide to join him and have the people of Earth recognize them.

"…for an otherworlder, you've adapted quite well on Earth."

Despite Lacanthal's somewhat suspicious tone, Yoo Seodam boldly continued. Another thing he learned from rolling around the battlefield was that sometimes it was better to go in boldy rather than taking a roundabout way.

“It was because my homeworld’s social structure was similar to the social structure of Earth. Therefore, I only needed to learn the languages on Earth in order to adapt.”

Lacanthal contemplated for a while with his lips pursed. Before long, he moved his gaze towards Yoo Seodam’s eyes.

“Someone who has suffered the harshness of living in an unfamiliar society in another world wouldn’t help us only because of sympathy. Let me ask you this, what do you want to gain from helping us?”

“You think just like a businessman. Yes, I admit I’m not helping you out of sympathy. I need your knowledge and skills.”

“Why do you need it?” 

After pondering for a moment, Yu Seodam opened his mouth. “It is to prevent the ‘destruction' of this world.”

Lacanthal broke into laughter as soon as he heard Yoo Seodam’s answer.

“That is … impossible. Have you ever looked up at the night sky?”

"Sorry?"

When Yoo Seodam couldn't answer because it was such a nonsensical question, Lacanthal continued to speak.

“In my hometown, I once watched the full circle of the night sky. From the moment the sun sets, to when the stars and the moon rose, until the moment when the sun rises again.” He murmured, recalling a certain memory in his head, then he shook his head. 

“The ‘destruction' of a world is a ‘natural’ phenomenon, just like the cycle of night. We, mortals, can never avoid it with our own power. It’s a fate we have to accept.”

“…” Yoo Seodam fell silent at Lacanthal’s words. He could certainly understand his point of view. After all, the man in front of him was someone who had experienced the ‘destruction' before. And even though he was someone from a race which was famous for developing magic to its very limit, in the end, he still failed to escape it.

“It could be the case….” Yoo Seodam nodded. “But I have no intention of giving up. I have no thoughts of just accepting that fate without any resistance. With or without your help, I'll keep pushing to the very end."

Originally, Yoo Seodam had only one goal —entering the Hell Gate and bringing Reina Ju out. But now, he had vaguely realized that his goal had something to do with ‘destruction' since Hell Gate was the place where all ruined worlds went to.

Fortunately, he was aware that everytime he succeeded in hunting a protagonist in a certain world, that said world would be saved from the ‘destruction'. On top of it, the system had also told him that there were a handful of worlds which successfully escaped their ‘destruction' due to their own resident’s power and forced the world into a [Series Suspension]. In other words, ‘destruction' was not completely unavoidable. He knew this fact better than anyone, because he had already saved many worlds from ‘destruction' over and over again. 

In fact, in the past, he thought that the destruction of the worlds was something irrelevant to him and his goal since he was someone who stood for nothing. But now it's different. He had so many things to protect on Earth. Therefore, he no longer thought that it wouldn't matter if everything collapsed.

"Right…" Lacanthal looked at Yoo Seodam with helpless eyes before giving him a bitter smile. “You have the same eyes as my late wife. She eventually invented the Dimension Gate technology and disappeared into the ruins.”

“I am sorry for your loss.”

"Don’t be. Thanks to her invention, I'm able to save a lot of people, including myself. And… did I not meet you in the end?” Lacanthal nodded his head and stood up. “There are about fifty otherworlder living here. Congratulations, you have succeeded in convincing one. Now there are forty-nine left.” 

“…!!!” Yoo Seodam’s eyes widened at the meaning of Lacanthal’s words and clenched his fists with joy. He had successfully persuaded the most influential person in the community, so the rest shouldn't be too difficult.

* * *

Out of 50 otherworlders in the community, 12 chose to remain in the wandering dungeon while the rest were willing to follow Yoo Seodam to settle on Earth. Among those 12, there were those who witnessed the destruction first-hand, so they had no choice but to do so. They were already severely traumatized to the point where words alone couldn’t persuade them. There were also those who gave up early because they thought they would never be able to adapt to the human society.

"Once we leave this place, the very first thing we need to do is to catch those ‘runaway otherworlders’.”

“I guess so. The word ‘runaway’ is not appropriate, though” Lacanthal said solemnly. “After all, they are just doing what they have been taught.”

The reason I was dispatched to Iran in the first place was because an unknown entity wielding an unknown power was running rampant here. But from the perspective of the otherworlders, those otherworlders did nothing wrong. After all, they used to live in a place where it was natural to kill those with an aggressive stance against them. However, it was their mistake for not following the phrase: ‘Do it like romans when at Rome’. For that reason, I would apprehend them. 

“Let me guide you to the exit.” Ever since he decided to cooperate with me, Lacanthal had been actively helping me with every single thing. “However, do know this. My wife's dimensional gate spell wasn't that great. I can’t open it in the exact location that I desire. It will only lead roughly in that vicinity."

“For example, if I create a gate at point A and it turns out to lead to point B, I wouldn’t be able to return to point A if I opened it at point B. It will lead into point C. And when I open it again, at that time, it will lead to point D. And if I want to use it to travel to a different dimension, my lifeforce would be used as the fuel.”

For that reason, unfortunately, Lacanthal's technology could not be used properly on Earth. At least until magic engineering was fully developed on Earth, but it will take several more decades before Earth reaches that point.

However, the spell was still usable enough to transport the otherworlder from the wandering dimension into any dungeon around Iran, making it possible for them to work secretly without being detected by the people of Earth.

As we passed through the gate, what greeted us was a familiar place for me.

“This place is….” Lacanthal murmured.

“It’s a place Earthlings called a ‘dungeon’.” The red-skinned man standing next to Lacanthal said. When I first saw him, I was quite surprised because he was someone from a legendary race called ‘Agumanius’; A race which was born in volcanos. Based on the knowledge I got from Vivienda Empire, it was a race that deserved to be called ‘the strongest race’. However, contrary to the legend, their size was quite small. Though, their moniker was well-founded since even after landing in this unfamiliar world, he still possessed a power that was close to an SS rank superhuman. 

“Dungeon?” The four hunters from the Association spurred onto their feet in full vigilance. It was an admirable action I must admit. After all, we hunters were well aware just how deadly a dungeon was.

“Please calm down. It’ll be okay since me and my colleagues have been visiting this place to clean it up.”

"I…is that so?" One of the hunters asked.

I titled my head at his words. If he still had to go together with his colleague to clean this dungeon when his power was around the SS rank level, just how hard is this dungeon?

The answer I seeked came soon when the Dungeon Detector Bracelet on my wrist beeped furiously.

“Hu…Hunter Yoo Seodam! The rank of this dungeon is…is…. SSS+!!!”

“…” I facepalmed. In other words, the otherworlders had resolved one of Iran's main headaches without the world knowing but they deliberately kept the ‘core’ intact after killing the dungeon boss in order to use this scary ass place as a mere passage.

“First of all, we will go out and move quietly. I can't just suddenly introduce you to the world. I will only do it once some time has passed and I will do it through a ‘press conference'.” I said after stabilizing my state of mind.

However,

Weeeeeing…!!

Suddenly, the energy inside the dungeon fluctuated rapidly. The wall, the ground, and the ceiling, everything started to distort. Meanwhile, the Dungeon Detector Bracelet flashed red and beeped even more furiously than before.

“Hu…Hunter Yoo Seodam! Th…the dungeon is synchronizing with Earth!”

"What did you say?"

How did dungeon synchronization happen when the dungeon is empty?

Slowly, the landscape of Earth comes to our view as the interior of the dungeon becomes more and more transparent. The more surprising thing, however, was that Iran was beneath our feet.

"What the… How high are we?"

If we do nothing, we would surely fall to the ground. A small number of otherworlders who were able to keep their powers albeit weaker even after arriving here, as well as me and the hunters from the Association, will surely survive. However, it wouldn’t be the same for the otherworlders who were caught in the dimensional rift by accident and had lost all of their powers and those who had disabilities, as they would surely die.

However, at that moment, Lacanthal flicked his finger. At the same time, I tried to call the Flowerpot to somehow rescue them with magic. Then, a white horse with wings was summoned under our feet. It effortlessly glided through the air while carrying the 38 otherworlders, the 4 hunters and me.

While in the air, my eyes darted towards a strange woman, who looked like a mishmash of various living things, floating exactly above Tehran's mosque.

"Ha…." She looked at me, and smirked. “Why are you coming out of there?”

I don't think I have ever met that woman. Moreover, I also had never heard of a race with grayish steel-like skin and sharp wings. But for some reason, I could understand the language she was speaking. Though, when I heard her voice, a rather creepy feeling of incongruity crept inside me. It's a feeling similar to what one would feel when they do something they shouldn't have done.

"No, no. It all worked well in the end. Fufufu…" The woman mumbled. Suddenly, her eyes seemed to pierce everything, causing goosebumps to rise all over my body. In response, I instinctively activated [Looking at All Things With a Cold Gaze (B)] Skill.

And,

“Blergh!"

I instantly vomited.

‘What the hell is that woman……!’ She was clearly something not from this world. No, to be precise, she was a jumbled mess of ‘everything’ which exists in the world. It was scary, magnificent and nauseating. For once, I regretted using my skill. However, it was not my first time seeing such a jumbled mess. Because inside the Hell Gate, everything was just like her.

‘But… that woman looks so normal…?' I simply couldn’t wrap my head around it. Just how did a woman who was so similar to creatures in the Hell Gate possibly exist? Moreover, how come her appearance wasn’t grotesque like creatures from mirror worlds or Hell Gate?

The woman reached out her hand towards me.

“I’m sorry, but please die. Your existence is a hindrance to the ‘perfect world’ I live in.” Saying so, she clenched her fists. However, other than feeling something hit my body weakly, there was no other effect. 

And at the same time, above the woman's head, something flickered for a few times before materializing.

『Good morning 00^ I’m here°~°』

#Hurry #Reungcheung#Em

Although it was written in an incomprehensible language, it was undoubtedly a ‘protagonist tag’.

* * * This translation was hosted by Nocturne Translation * * *

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