The Irregular from Another Dimension (1)
“Wow……”
Jang Jun Hyeok couldn’t close his mouth as he stared at trees so massive that even the word gigantic felt insufficient to describe them.
“Welcome to the Forest of Darkness.”
“So this is the Forest of Darkness……”
Among the information returnees had publicly revealed about Earth—001, there were, of course, stories about the Forest of Darkness.
And before quitting his job, Jun Hyeok had looked through that information as well.
“Alright, we don’t have time, so we’ll move right away. First……”
Tsutsutsut.
Seon Yul abruptly opened the entrance to the Absolute Space.
Having already experienced Absolute Space a few days ago, Jun Hyeok wasn’t as startled as before, but he still looked at the entrance with clear fascination.
“So I just go in?”
“Yeah. Go in and rest.”
“Man… this feels like something beyond a bus… more like a premium taxi.”
“I keep telling you, you really made the right call changing jobs.”
Seon Yul replied with a smirk.
In truth, this went beyond simply making a good career move… it was closer to having his life saved.
If Jun Hyeok had come to Earth—001 under Woosung Group with his own team, his chances of survival would likely have been below 20%.
He didn’t fully understand that yet, but at the very least, he did feel that thanks to Seon Yul, adapting to Earth—001 would be much easier.
Anyway, Jun Hyeok obediently stepped into Absolute Space, while Seon Yul took out his magic-stone phone and opened the photo album.
Since he didn’t know exactly where he was, he needed to move to a place with a known location.
‘This door is probably the closest to the center of the Forest of Darkness.’
Seon Yul had scattered steel doors throughout the forest.
He had already used up the ones he had made earlier and had recently brought more steel doors from a warehouse building in Sangam-dong.
He had taken all 50 remaining ones, and once he used them up, he planned to manufacture more through POSCO, which he had recently “acquired(?)”.
In any case, Seon Yul selected one door and used Real Painting—The Door.
The door opened naturally.
That alone gave him a rough idea of his current position.
If the door hadn’t opened, he would’ve simply tried others until he found one that did.
Since it opened, all he had to do was continue forward, like stepping stones, opening door after door until reaching the Fortress of Freedom.
A movement method no one else could replicate.
Other magic users from Earth—104, after re-entering, had to struggle and carve their way through all over again.
Later, once people became more familiar with the Forest of Darkness and gained more experience, they would find various ways to reach the fortress… but at this point, almost everyone had no choice but to struggle.
And no matter how experienced they became, moving as comfortably as Seon Yul was impossible.
In just moments, after passing through several doors, Seon Yul arrived near the Fortress of Freedom.
Finally, he opened the door installed inside his shop to complete the journey.
Creak.
Stepping out from the back room, Seon Yul locked eyes with Cheon Li Yu, who was organizing items in the store.
“Oh!”
“Sorry, I’m so late.”
“Late? Not at all… It’s fine!”
“Nothing happened while I was gone?”
“There were a few minor things, but nothing major. The biggest thing is… everything we prepared got sold.”
“What… all of it?”
“Yeah. Business went way better than expected. Other than it being exhausting, nothing really happened.”
“Let’s talk inside.”
Seon Yul immediately opened the entrance to Absolute Space.
He planned to cook a good meal for Li Yu, who must have had a tough time.
Inside Absolute Space, the two naturally ran into Jang Jun Hyeok, who had been resting.
And as expected, Jun Hyeok was so shocked he could barely speak.
“Ch– Cheon… Li Yu?!”
“He’s my cousin, Jang Jun Hyeok. He’ll be helping with our work from now on.”
“Hello, I’m Cheon Li Yu.”
She greeted him politely, making Jun Hyeok even more flustered.
“I-I’m Jang Jun Hyeok.”
“See? I told you I knew her.”
“Hey, you… this isn’t just ‘knowing’ someone!”
Jun Hyeok swallowed the curse rising in his throat and forced the words out through clenched teeth.
“Well, I do know her, right? Anyway, that’s not important. From now on, I want him to take over what you were doing. There’s some handover to do, right?”
“What kind of work? At least tell me before assigning it.”
“It’s simple… selling items. There’s not much to hand over… just some precautions.”
“Y-Yes! Just tell me what I need to know!”
Jun Hyeok stood stiff with tension in front of her.
He had been her fan, after all.
“Then you two talk. I’ll prepare a meal.”
Seon Yul headed to the kitchen to show off his skills for the first time in a while, while Li Yu began explaining precautions and store operation tips to Jun Hyeok.
From the beginning, Seon Yul had brought Jun Hyeok here to entrust him with the shop.
Since Seon Yul and Li Yu would often be out and about, someone reliable was necessary to manage the store.
And in that sense, Jun Hyeok was the perfect fit.
If the shop expanded later, they might need to hire employees, and as a former corporate executive, Jun Hyeok could handle that effortlessly.
Thus, Seon Yul pushed all the complicated and troublesome matters onto Jun Hyeok and planned to focus on hunting monsters and exploring the so-called Tower with Li Yu.
***
Jun Hyeok adapted quickly, as expected of someone from a large corporation.
Not only did he adapt, but he also expressed a desire to run the shop his own way, and Seon Yul permitted it.
After all, the shop’s profits were just a bonus to him.
“So just run it like it’s your own shop. But promise me one thing.”
Seon Yul spoke seriously.
“What?”
“Never leave the fortress. And even though I’ll check in every few days, if something dangerous happens, abandon everything… goods, magic stones, soul stones. Just make sure you survive. Got it?”
“I wouldn’t go outside even if you told me to. And my life comes first, obviously. Don’t worry.”
“Good. Then that’s settled.”
Jun Hyeok nodded and stood up.
“Run the shop well. See you in a few days.”
“Take care.”
After saying goodbye, Seon Yul and Cheon Li Yu immediately opened Absolute Space and left.
Their destination: outside the Fortress of Freedom.
While Seon Yul had been on Earth—104, Li Yu had gathered various bits of information within the fortress, including details about the Tower.
The Tower wasn’t a place anyone could enter freely, and even the entry period was fixed.
So instead of going straight to the Tower, they decided to hunt monsters near the fortress first.
Their first destination was a swamp about 200 km away.
Located at the southeastern edge of the Forest of Darkness, it was home to trolls… monsters that yielded extremely valuable materials.
Among the information Li Yu gathered, there was also a demand for troll blood.
Troll blood was a key ingredient in crafting healing potions, making it highly valuable.
Many had asked Li Yu if she sold it.
“It’s a shame… if the loot from Earth—104 retained its quality here, we could’ve made a huge profit just importing and selling it.”
Seon Yul sighed.
He already had a massive stockpile of monster materials in Absolute Space.
But oddly, items that were fine on Earth—104 degraded severely in this world.
Drake leather and mountain turtle shell fragments, for example.
They were fine inside Absolute Space, but once taken out into Earth—001, they rapidly corroded… essentially rotting.
Interestingly, crafted items were fine, only raw materials reacted this way.
Seon Yul suspected the dense mana environment caused the issue, but either way, those materials remained useless.
“Can’t be helped. We’ll just gather them here.”
“Yeah… but these monsters don’t give experience either. That’s annoying.”
At first, Seon Yul hadn’t realized it.
He assumed killing monsters would grant experience.
But after killing many and gaining none, he was quite shocked.
“That’s why we’re going to the Tower. According to other Irregulars, you can level up there.”
The defining difference between Irregulars and natives:
Irregulars had levels and status windows.
Natives had bodies blessed with mana and ancient techniques.
To level up on Earth—001, one had to enter the Tower.
So Seon Yul and Li Yu planned to do just that.
“Anyway, we need prep time. Let’s hunt as many trolls as we can.”
To enter the Tower, two things were required:
Permission from its managing authority.
And the date when its entrance would open.
Both could only be obtained through the managing organization.
They had already located several towers using reconnaissance satellites, so choosing one wasn’t difficult.
Since they weren’t in a hurry, they focused on hunting trolls.
Their goal: stockpile troll blood and prepare plenty of healing potions… considered miracle medicine among Irregulars.
With their abilities weakened on Earth—001, Seon Yul’s regeneration was noticeably slower, making potions essential.
So, troll hunting was a necessary step.
One day, two days…
They hunted trolls with ease.
Even in the Forest of Darkness, trolls were difficult prey… but to them, they were merely targets.
Their synergy was unmatched.
In just two days, they hunted 16 trolls and filled their storage with blood.
Everything went smoothly.
At least… until they appeared.
The moment Irregulars from Earth—087 revealed themselves…
All peace was shattered.
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