CH 196

No matter how powerful a high-ranking spiritual being was, to exert spiritual abilities on Earth, they needed a sort of converter that could convert mana into something usable. This was due to the lack of spiritual pathways within any existing medium on Earth. For example, Yongno’s external converter could fulfill this requirement, and he created it with his knowledge of Qi Heaven.

If someone did not have an artificial spiritual pathway like the one Yongno made in his underground lab, there was nothing they could do after arriving on Earth, no matter how powerful they were. Even though the evil demonic spirit took over Eunhye’s body, it could only suppress her mind; it couldn’t display any of its other superpowers.

Foreign beings could not act like poltergeists, which would mean being able to move objects through spiritual force, nor could they speak with grotesque voices by using their host, as seen in the ghosts from the movie, The Exorcist. The situation was the same even for high-ranking evil spirits that had tens of thousands of times more spiritual power than lower-level beings.

Earth was literally a barren land for supernatural beings reliant on spiritual powers.

“This is nonsense! Nonsense! What kind of absurd-?!”

After hurriedly trying to escape Eunhye’s body, the evil demonic spirit was surprised by the suction power of the glass that Yongno retrieved, so it fought tooth and nail to remain in its host. Since the pulling pressure was so forceful, if the evil spirit made even one wrong step, it would be sucked into the cup immediately. When Yongno saw the scrambling evil spirit, he laughed.

“Hey~ I wasn’t really expecting a being like you to come, but… a good idea just popped into my mind. If I frame it this way, isn’t an evil spirit’s evil qi also a great source of energy?”

“W-wait a minute… let's negotiate… I’m-”

“Hmm, I shall call this process Pathway to Hell. I’ll finally be free from this loathsome lack of magic power.”

“H-hey?”

Crackle!

Yongno ripped off clothing covering the evil demonic spirit’s upper body, or, in other words, he ripped off Eunhye’s shirt. Eunhye had a well-trained body, but Yongno could use internal energy. Their physique and development differed even more than when comparing a cat and a tiger.

“Separate yourself from her.”

While speaking quietly, Yongno wrote the name Merlin Emrys on Eunhye’s shoulder with his permanent marker. It wasn’t just a simple name but a formidable Power Word. It was a type of supernatural power usage commonly referred to as a Power Statement.

“Kyak!”

With a scream, the evil demonic spirit was forcibly expelled from Eunhye’s body and sucked into the red-glowing glass in Yongno’s hands. When it had been entirely absorbed, the glass emanated red light as it rattled violently.

“Man, that was a surprise. I’ll have to think about this situation some more… I thought that the composition of mana would be different as there aren’t any spiritual pathways in this world, but I didn’t expect my summoning spell circle to bring this sort of result. I guess it remains to be seen whether I’ve stumbled upon a jackpot or a trap.”

Yongno put Eunhye on her bed and went down to his lab. He needed to prevent his summoning circle from inviting another strange being until he could organize his thoughts.

“It’s not that the summoning failed, but that the wrong type of entity appeared, and it was able to use a portion of its strength immediately after appearing. However, unless I’m crazy, I shouldn’t just shut down an unknown gate….”

Yongno muttered and looked at the summoning circle in his lab. The glass in his hand radiated light and vibrated crazily, but Yongno didn’t pay any attention to it.

Woong.

As he imbued magic according to a prescribed formula and pathway, Yongno made the active summoning circle settle down. Although he acted because of the evil spirit’s sudden appearance, Yongno did not fully understand why a summoning circle, which wasn’t fully powered with magic power, could summon a being.

“As expected, there’s no issue with the summoning circle, but how was the spirit able to show up on its own- huh?”

Yongno immediately raised his internal energy and turned around. He did so because he felt a presence behind him, and in an instant, a pure white hand started punching his body in a natural, fluid motion. While this technique wasn’t often seen, Yongno recognized it due to his vast knowledge of martial arts.

‘Acupoint attack?’

“Sorry. I don’t intend to threaten you, so please be quiet for a moment. Based on appearance, you must be Korean… perhaps you’re a male shaman? Judging from the power you use, you seem to belong to the Mage Tower.”

The being that emerged from the darkness was a slender young man with a handsome pale face. Even though the young man thought he had subdued Yongno, the young man still took precautions to look around. As he watched the young man throw magic waves all around the room, Yongno suspected that this new arrival was checking for magic traps.

“Ugh, such a headache. I can’t believe another one was summoned in such a short period.”

“Eh? You already released yourself from the acupoint restrictions?”

The young man was visibly taken aback, but the result should have been expected. Earth was a world in which spiritual pathways didn’t exist. And if there were no spiritual pathways, there were no way beings would possess acupoints, as acupoints were the major spiritual pathways’ flow points within one’s body. If earthlings had spiritual pathways and acupoints and could gather and use qi, beings able to use superpowers would’ve appeared a few thousand years ago.

Yongno looked at the young man and examined his spiritual power. The young man’s spiritual power composition and atmosphere were relatively serene and peaceful. Of course, if the young man was determined to hide this, he could have faked it, but Yongno’s intuition told him the young man was a good person.

“I feel like I’ll be able to talk with you. How did you come here?”

Yongno could intuitively read his opponent’s intentions in a type of mind-reading skill, and he relaxed and lowered his guard. Even though Yongno was caught by surprise, the new young man had only used an acupoint attack on him, illustrating that the young man had no malicious intention toward Yongno.

“No, wait, how the heck did you-”

“My name is Yoon Yongno. I’m twenty years old. Nice to meet you.”

Yongno smiled and offered his hand. Unable to process what was happening, the young man unconsciously extended his hand to shake Yongno’s.

“I’m Kwan Youngmin; I’m a high school student.”

It was summer. This was the day Yongno met a high school student who could teleport and move through different dimensions.

***

Kwan Youngmin sat with his chin resting on a table while lost in thought. The coffee in front of him was getting cold, but he didn’t seem to care.

“My internal energy isn’t recovering. Do you think something is wrong with my body?”

“What does it feel like?”

Yongno had made various hypotheses and theories about the world he lived in, but his thoughts hadn’t extended to other dimensions, so Youngmin’s existence piqued his interest.

“It’s like… it feels stuffy like I’ve been placed underwater. It’s not painful or anything, but….”

Youngmin, a spiritual being from a world other than Earth, described Earth’s state like this. For Youngmin, this was akin to oxygen being present in water but not having gills. Even if mana existed everywhere, it couldn’t be absorbed without the proper system and functional tool.

‘Even so, if a foreign being has a physical body, it doesn’t seem like they’re immediately incapacitated. They seem to be able to use their superpowers until they run out of mana.’

As Yongno thought this, he asked Youngmin a question.

“So, you’re saying that it’s now become impossible for you to recover internal energy? A permanent change?”

“Not quite. It’s possible to recover any abnormality that formed in my spirit if I visit the Mage Tower.”

“Spirit? Magic Tower?”

Yongno’s eyes narrowed at the unfamiliar terms. These words were completely incomprehensible under the current context of their discussion, but Youngmin merely sighed.

“As expected, my summoning was a mistake. The summoning circle Mr. Yongno created cannot summon physical beings, as it is connected to the Sea of Chaos.”

Youngmin gave a rough description of what he had been through.

“I was fighting an enemy when my opponent utilized an unusual banishing attack to harm me, and the place I arrived in was the Sea of Chaos.”

“An illusory dimension….”

“Yes. It’s also referred to by that name.”

The illusory dimension connected chaos to the origin of the world, a sort of dimensional gap between disorder and order. If one remained in the illusory dimension for an extended period, even a divine being would melt and assimilate into the chaos. Thus, the banishment spell wasn’t a simple spell that could be used by just anyone; one would have to be an archmage or higher, at least.

“… So, you’re saying you made it back alive from such a place?”

“Ah, I think there’s a misunderstanding. I wasn’t completely immersed in the illusory dimension. If someone has magic resistance, it is difficult to throw them into the illusory dimension completely. In other words, the Sea of Chaos can be said to exist between the illusory and real dimensions.”

“That means I did something dangerous.”

One couldn’t even guess what kind of monsters were coiled up and living in such a mysterious place. If a being that Yongno couldn’t handle appeared and had a physical form like Youngmin, wouldn’t this destroy Earth? Yet, Youngmin shook his head.

“Not necessarily. The ‘hole’ you created wasn’t too big, so beings over a certain power level can’t utilize it. And what I’m [wearing] right now isn’t physical… it’s more like a form of spiritual gear. My real body is still sleeping in my house.”

“Hmm.”

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From Youngmin’s words, Yongno could infer that Youngmin was facing and going through various personal problems. Well, it would probably be stranger if there was no story behind a high school student who fought and was thrown into an illusory dimension.

“Yongno….”

Eunhye’s voice rang out.

“Oh, sorry. I’ll get ready soon,” Yongno replied.

“Oh, I wasn’t pressing you to hurry. I was just wondering… who’s that?”

Yongno waved when he saw the wary look on Eunhye’s face after she noticed Youngmin.

“He’ll be joining us for a while.”

“Hi. My name is Kwan Youngmin.”

Youngmin bowed his head toward Eunhye and greeted her politely. Outwardly, Youngmin was quite a handsome young man. Any typical girl would go crazy after seeing him, but Eunhye’s expression became curt.

“He’s going to stay here?”

Youngmin shook his head.

“Hahaha. Thank you for being considerate, but I also have my own means, so all I need is some time to teleport. I’ll make sure to repay the favor.”

“That shouldn’t be an issue….”

Yongno was reluctant, but Youngmin seemed resolved to leave.

“Even if it was a coincidence, you saved my life, so I can’t just leave while owing you something. Honestly… I thought my situation was helpless.”

As he smiled bitterly, Youngmin stood from his seat. Then, he adjusted the collar of his shirt and bowed his head.

“Wait a minute. You’re going home?”

“I’m not in a position to go home. When the side path opens, I’ll go to Horizon first.”

Again, Yongno had never heard these phrases before. The tone of the words [side path] and [Horizon] exuded a supernatural power-type of feeling that only seemed possible in DIO.

“I’m sorry… but there may be nowhere to return to.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

Unlike Yongno, Youngmin couldn’t accurately grasp the present situation. At the very least, Youngmin thought that the place he had arrived at was just another region.

“Even if I tell you, you won’t be able to easily accept it. You’d better check for yourself.”

“… I don’t know what you mean but thank you anyway.”

As Youngmin stepped back with an uneasy expression, the surrounding background distorted and seemed to wrap around his body; soon, Youngmin disappeared from reality in an instant. Since Yongno could use Enhanced Eyesight to some extent, he knew that Youngmin had used a stealth ability.

“What just happened?”

Eunhye looked at Yongno with a surprised expression. This was because she knew that no other human beings on Earth could use superpowers, but Yongno looked at the place where Youngmin disappeared without answering.

‘He can’t go back.’

Youngmin’s arrival on Earth was, so to speak, an accident. How could he leave a world where there was only one supernatural being?