#253
Closed Dimension (2)
A lavishly decorated office.
All sorts of information flashed across the work monitor at a dizzying speed.
With normal visual acuity, one couldn’t read even a line, but…
‘I’m getting used to this now.’
The man sitting in front of it gazed at the screen with a calm demeanor, showing no signs of shock.
Ziiing—
A faint vibration from one eye made a flood of immense information project directly into his mind.
For an ordinary person, this would be a dangerous situation that could drive them insane, but for him, who possessed transcendent mental abilities, it was merely light brain training.
‘Is this all there is?’
This was indeed the ultimate document containing the essence of Magic Engineering.
Thanks to its overwhelming capabilities, the man, Yul Ryeong-ja, instantly fed the vast amount of reports into his brain, then closed his eyes, reflecting on the information.
‘…Where are you, Hahoe Mask?’
Since the fight in Japan, the Hahoe Mask had vanished and hadn’t shown up again.
Meanwhile, a vampire named Hainz began prowling the streets of Seoul, but since the Doctor was directly involved in that, it was not his concern.
‘The fact that he hasn’t shown himself until now means something must have gone wrong after that fight.’
He quietly nodded.
After all, it was a planned mental terror to incapacitate him.
If he had withstood that, it would actually be unfair.
Yul Ryeong-ja opened his eyes again and glanced at his drooping right arm.
Facing the consequences of the attack from Hahoe Mask, having lost function in one eye and both legs, anger boiled inside him.
‘Hahoe Mask…’
As he mulled over his plight with resentment—
Bee beep!
A sudden communication request notification echoed through the office speakers.
Confirming the source, he slowly extended his left hand and accepted the connection.
Ah, ah— is this Doctor? Are you Yul Ryeong-ja~?
“Indeed, Doctor. What is the matter?”
A frivolous voice came through the speaker.
He frowned slightly but calmly responded.
Hmm~ Ah, I contacted you to inform you that the Head has left again! I tried to wait as long as possible, but it seems that it can’t be helped anymore. Such a shame!
A decent amount of time had passed since the incident with Hahoe Mask in Japan.
During that time, the Head had been reorganizing the group in anticipation of his return, but it appeared that the time they could spend like that had reached its limits.
It seems that fighting the Smile Mask drew more attention from ‘Earth’ than anticipated! Given that, I wanted to make a solid effort to capture him… Ahh~ this is quite the loss!
“…My apologies. It seems I wasted the opportunity for the Head to act because I couldn’t secure things properly.”
Honestly, he didn’t think it was mostly his fault, but given the seriousness of the matter, he couldn’t just sweep it under the rug.
As the meticulously arranged plan had gone awry, the Buncheon Society’s strategies would inevitably be postponed as well.
Aah~ In this world, how often do things go as intended? If the best plan fails, one must choose a second best! The Head will do well wherever he is, so all we can do is what we can!
The Doctor seemed aware that the situation was unavoidable and didn’t say anything particularly more to him.
He simply vented his frustrations over the fundamental causes of how things had gone this way.
Tsk, but still… this situation… really doesn’t sit well with me. How long must we dance to the whims of the gods!
This was not a blame directed at Hahoe Mask, but rather a reflection on why the Head couldn’t wield his power properly—and the very existence of the Buncheon Society itself.
“Isn’t this degree of deviation within the expected range? There’s not much time left.”
Hoo— That’s true! Ah, I can’t wait for that time! With irrational beings like gods around, advancements in science and new discoveries become meaningless! The affairs of the human realm should be settled amongst humans, how dare they interfere like gods—!
For some reason, he was comparatively calm.
As expected, however, the Doctor’s voice began to fill with madness as he rambled on.
‘Here we go again.’
This was exactly why he was called the representative lunatic of the Buncheon Society.
Yul Ryeong-ja simply nodded along as if he had given up and played along with the Doctor’s fervent rants.
Thus, the Doctor’s impassioned speech continued for quite a while.
And amid his spirited rant, unable to control his fervor, he suddenly huffed to himself, then cut off the communication unilaterally to pour that energy into his research.
Amid the sudden silence.
“Hah.”
Yul Ryeong-ja let out a short sigh, closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and fell into deep thought.
Suddenly, memories of his first encounter with Hahoe Mask surfaced, particularly the words he had spoken in that mental domain.
The freedom of the returnees. A world created by us.
We had existed long before this. And we’ve been fighting for freedom ever since.
‘Freedom…’
What he had said back then was sincere.
He just hadn’t mentioned that the being he was speaking to was a divine presence rather than a human authority.
Of course, in the end, it would ultimately lead to holding the hegemony of the world, so it wasn’t all that different.
‘Sacrifices are inevitable for the greater good.’
Terror as well was part of the process needed to complete that grand undertaking.
If things went according to plan, roughly half of the Earth’s population would end up sacrificed.
Hahoe Mask seemed to have no intention of accepting that, but it didn’t matter since there were limits to how much one could disrupt the efforts of another.
The plan was proceeding smoothly even now.
*
‘The Buncheon Head, could it be him?’
It was a conjecture without concrete evidence or context, but an acute intuition passed a significant threshold and clearly warned him.
The cause of the incidents taking place now was certainly that person.
Feeling the need for more detailed information, Harris spared no effort to enhance Jin Deok-man’s memory.
Crackle—!
“Ugh, I really don’t know! I don’t know!”
“Hm? Are you speaking informally?”
“Oh, no! I just said I can’t know beyond this! What I know is all I have!”
Unfortunately… despite introducing various scientific methods, he couldn’t obtain more detailed information from him.
What he knew was merely baseless rumors like ‘there were such secrets behind the collapse of the empire.’
“Then who did you hear that from?”
Grrk, my brother… I heard it from the chief of the Changjiang Waterway Guild! He claimed he heard it somewhere, but said it was just a joke at a drinking party, so I have no clue about the source!
“Changjiang Waterway Guild…”
The Changjiang Waterway Guild.
They were a numerical alliance like Dongjeong Eighteen Guilds, centered around Dongjeong Lake, but were effectively a colossal organization that surpassed them in all respects.
In a world where magic did not exist, logistics had to rely on river transport, and they possessed immense power, based on the great Yangtze River cutting across the continent.
Naturally, the authorities were strictly regulating the waterways, but since bandits were hardly ones to be tamed by control, they found ways to evade it.
‘Moreover, this is a world where a few strong can overwhelm many armies.’
The bandits, who had been amassing wealth through smuggling and tolls, became a nuisance to the authorities as the country collapsed and the reins were loosened, and they grew even more powerful than before the chaos.
“Hmmm, this is troublesome.”
Recalling such information, Harris frowned, pondering.
The problem was that the currents of the Yangtze were tremendously vast, and the time given to him was limited.
He had just about seven days remaining.
In that short time, hunting down the target somewhere in the Yangtze to gather information presented an absolute shortage of time.
‘…No, I can’t expect to fill myself in one go. No need to rush. After all, the initial goal was to gather information and create a suitable environment for growth.’
Though it had inadvertently turned into a smashed-up plan to take down all the bandits.
There wasn’t a need to invest all resources into what’s happening now.
Hmm… I don’t know what you want, but if you’re looking for information, it wouldn’t be wise to bother insignificant bandits like us. Why not search for someone more knowledgeable? Perhaps the Zhuge Family in Hubei beyond the Yangtze?
At that moment, Jin Deok-man groaned and muttered.
He seemed to be trying to pass off his misfortune onto someone else, but surely his statement held some merit.
“Zhuge Family?”
Cough, they are certainly well-informed compared to those who don’t know. They’ve produced many imperial officials, and it’s said that they were the first to recognize the decline of energy and the importance of ley lines.
Surely in such a place, they were likely to have a thorough background regarding these incidents.
Moreover, unlike the head of the Changjiang Waterway Guild, who wandered through various tributaries, their base was clear, making them easy to find.
‘Hmm, and it would be a renowned noble family.’
In this chaos, there likely was no safe place anywhere in the world.
In such circumstances, local partnerships would be essential for smooth living.
However, not just any location could be selected for that…
‘…Then, should I at least go check it out?’
Of course, after collecting all the wealth the bandits had amassed.
*
A shabby fishing village near Dongjeong Lake.
Just the day before, a grim atmosphere had permeated, a struggle to survive, but now the villagers were all uplifted by a sudden glimmer of hope.
The bandits who had been plundering them received their comeuppance, and their empty granaries began to fill, nurturing their hearts.
Though it was a fragile hope that might extinguish in some tumult, it gave those who had worked hard through life the strength to endure today.
“Hoo, this is…”
And at the entrance of that small village.
A middle-aged man in ragged, torn clothes entered, letting out an exclamation.
“Who are you?”
An old man sitting in the shade of a tree turned to look at him, speaking in a wary voice.
An outsider appearing in such a small fishing village, where there hadn’t been notable visitors even before the turmoil.
It couldn’t help but seem suspicious in every way, right?
“Ah! I beg your pardon, elder. My name is Bin Do.”
“…A Dosa? What brings you here?”
But the old man’s wariness slipped a bit at the respectful greeting from the middle-aged man.
Of course, in these times, whether a Dosa or a monk, they were all likely to be problems, but still, if he was that courteous, he wouldn’t show ill intent at once.
“I would like to ask you one thing related to that thing…”
And at the old man’s inquiry, Bin Do, the Dosa, turned and gazed towards the opposite side of the lake.
“Do you happen to know what occurred over there?”
His gaze landed on a small island in the vastness of Dongjeong Lake.
It was the place where the Eoryong Clan, which had previously ruled this area, resided.
“Oh! As expected, you’re a Dosa, able to see it at once. Hehe, the Dragon King of Dongjeong Lake has exacted divine retribution upon the bandits!”
“The Dragon King… you say?”
The old man, as if forgetting his previous wariness, raised his voice in delight.
And he began narrating to Bin Do about the majestic and mystical sight he had witnessed that day.
The swirling dark clouds that covered the sky and the tremendous storm sweeping over the area.
Accompanied by thunder and lightning that seemed to strike the earth incessantly.
Listening intently to the old man’s grandiose tale with a serious expression, Bin Do nodded gravely.
His gaze returned to the island from which certain traces remained vividly etched.
Had he not seen it with his own two eyes, he would have dismissed the old man’s words as mere braggadocio.
The talk of such abnormal phenomena would’ve been utterly preposterous.
But he could not help but believe it since he could distinctly feel it at that moment.
The enormous, clearly alien traces that were left over in that place, distinct from the energy of this world.
‘…Indeed, this is not of this world.’
The old man spoke of the Dragon King of Dongjeong Lake bringing divine retribution, but that was likely not the case.
Whether it be a Dragon King, a celestial, or a monster, they were undoubtedly beings belonging to this world.
Bin Do politely thanked the old man who had answered his question and hurriedly left the village, making his way to a secluded area.
He then took out offerings from his backpack and set up a makeshift shrine, sitting in the center while raising a talisman before his face and quietly reciting a spell.
As a brief moment passed.
Whoosh—
Suddenly, the blue flames that burst forth from the talisman scattered a gentle light around.
Even amidst this, the talisman continued to remain pristine without a trace of soot, just as it was.
“Bin Do acknowledges.”
And then, the Dosa, Cheong Gwan of the Mosan Faction, spoke with a solemn voice.
“I have discovered traces of an otherworlder possessing powers from another realm in Honnam Province, Dongjeong Lake.”
A message to be sent to the headquarters in Jiangsu Province, far away.
#254
