The Spatial Ability User Who Puts Safety Above All – Chapter 95

Author: Cireng

Earth-001 (2)

When the moment the system had spoken of finally arrived, the Earth fell into an instant hush.

A full month had been given, and humanity had made many preparations during that time, yet the sudden end of scientific civilization still left countless people bewildered.

To begin with, most of the energy sources that had previously existed on Earth disappeared.

Electricity, of course, and even oil became difficult to use, which meant that most of the items people had relied on before essentially became useless junk.

Fortunately, humanity had steadily been developing magical civilization, and although it was still far from sufficient, alternative energy could at least be produced using magic crystals.

However, compared to the past, it could only be considered extremely lacking.

Yet surprisingly, the system granted humanity one final acknowledgment.

Only four hours before the great upheaval arrived, another global announcement had been posted on the community.

[This is the final notice.]

[Your ‘Earth’ has squeezed out its last strength and left a gift for you.]

[In every country, the two largest cities will receive an effect called ‘The Final Blessing’ for the next four months, and they will not be affected by the mana force field.]

[The area where the effect is applied will extend exactly to the boundaries defined as cities within administrative districts.]

[The blessing effect will disappear exactly four months later, so before that happens, create an ‘Anti–Force Field Generator’ and protect your nation’s capital.]

It didn’t seem like this acknowledgment had come from the system itself, but thanks to this blessing effect humanity was at least able to avoid the worst possible despair.

If this notice had been given a month earlier, humanity might have preserved far more things… but the system was not that kind.

Which made it feel even more as if this acknowledgment had not been an act of the system, but the intervention of some other transcendent existence.

In any case, the important point was that each nation had managed to preserve two cities.

The grace period was only four months, but if they could produce Anti–Force Field generators within that time, those two cities could continue to survive.

Although each country had dramatically preserved two cities, separately from that, in the capital of every nation, the center of each country, the Main Gates mentioned by the system had appeared.

From their sheer size alone, they were enormous and majestic… clearly far from ordinary.

As soon as the Main Gates were confirmed, the governments of every nation immediately moved to control the surrounding areas and began managing them.

Thanks to the blessing effect, the Gate Management Bureaus of each country were able to respond to the great upheaval more smoothly than expected.

And at that very moment, Seon Yul and Cheon Li Yu were confirming one particular fact together.

The two of them had ascended more than 100 km above the ground.

Having crossed the boundary known as the Kármán Line, Seon Yul had reached the domain humanity called ‘outer space.’

From within Absolute Space, Seon Yul looked outside.

“Just as I thought, the mana force field doesn’t extend into space.”

Based on what they had confirmed, the mana force field only applied up to an altitude of 90 km.

“Then all the satellites are still functioning?”

“They should be. But the problem is we can’t control them from the ground.”

“But weren’t two cities in every country supposed to be free from the mana force field effect?”

“Did you forget that we came straight up from Seoul? The area free from the force field only extended up to 15 km.”

“Ah…”

At Seon Yul’s explanation, Cheon Li Yu nodded slightly in understanding.

“There’s probably no point going any higher… let’s just try one last thing.”

If they wanted to, Seon Yul and Cheon Li Yu could ascend even higher from here. Entering outer space itself would be difficult, but with the combination of Absolute Space and Divine Eye, they could still move upward roughly 10 km at a time without leaving Absolute Space.

However, they had already confirmed most of what they needed, so there was no reason to spend more magic crystals climbing further into space.

Instead, Seon Yul decided to conduct one final experiment.

That experiment was…

Ssk ssk ssk.

Drawing a bird in the air, Seon Yul completed Real Painting [Spike Crow].

After injecting mana into the drawing, he sent the black bird flying out of Absolute Space into outer space.

The Spike Crow flew outward and glided through space.

‘Just as expected. The power of mana works perfectly fine even in outer space.’

After confirming through Spike Crow that mana functioned normally, Seon Yul immediately dismissed it.

“Finished checking?”

“Yeah. All done. Let’s head back down.”

Since they had confirmed everything they needed, they now planned to return to the surface and examine the newly appeared Main Gate.

***

Even though each country had preserved two cities, every other region had essentially become territory dominated by mana.

As a result, all remaining areas had changed as if the world had reverted to the Middle Ages.

Electricity, oil, and even gunpowder had all turned to dust and vanished.

Because of the system’s warning, people could no longer remain in their original homes and instead moved toward the two cities where human life was still possible.

Naturally, every government used its remaining military forces and the strike units of its Gate Management Bureaus to maintain order and prevent chaos as much as possible.

In the case of South Korea, Seoul and Busan had survived.

As soon as the government heard the announcement right before the upheaval arrived, they quickly transferred everything possible to Seoul and Busan.

In moments like this, having a small territory was actually advantageous.

While other countries struggled, South Korea managed to move quite a large amount of resources and weapons into those two cities.

One particularly decisive fact was that the Kori Nuclear Power Plant fell within Busan’s administrative district.

While other countries saw their power plants submerged within the mana force field and turned into useless scrap, Korea barely managed to preserve a nuclear plant.

That difference was enormous.

Realizing this, the Korean government quickly deployed military forces and Gate Management strike units to Busan to secure the plant.

At this rate, Busan might become almost the only city in the world capable of supplying electricity.

Of course, other countries might eventually obtain Soul Stones and restore their power generation facilities.

However, that would take considerable time, and reviving the entire infrastructure required to supply electricity would demand massive investment.

From that perspective, already possessing a nuclear power plant that had never been destroyed was an incredible advantage.

In any case, the entire world had fallen into chaos, and every government was overwhelmed trying to manage it.

But even in the midst of that chaos, every nation continued carrying out the most important task.

Sending the advance teams they had prepared into the Main Gates.

That was now the single most important mission.

***

“Mr. Haneul. Isn’t this far too different from our original agreement? We have already made many concessions.”

Cha Seong Hyeon was currently speaking with Jumong… the Bowmaster called ‘First Heaven’, one of the strongest magic users in South Korea, inside a temporary command center set up in front of the Main Gate.

“What’s so unreasonable about asking you to vacate just one more apartment building in Busan? Frankly speaking, I could have demanded an entire administrative district of Busan. I’ve already made quite a lot of concessions.”

“Didn’t we already vacate an entire large building in Seoul for you? But clearing out another entire apartment building in Busan… that’s difficult for us at the moment.”

“In a situation like this, does the word ‘difficult’ even apply? How about this instead? I’ll personally clear out an apartment building myself. The government just needs to stay out of it. What do you say? That’s possible, right?”

“Jumong, please… Instead, I’ll try to find a suitable government facility in Busan. We’ll vacate that for you, so please compromise with that.”

Cha Seong Hyeon honestly wanted to quit the negotiation altogether, but considering the situation, he endured and continued proposing compromises.

“Hm…”

Jumong pondered briefly.

“Alright. Then I’ll make a generous concession this time. But… if we bring back those Soul Stones or whatever they’re called from beyond that gate, you’ll have to buy them at a very high price.”

Jumong had never intended to hand over Soul Stones for free from the beginning.

Of course, Cha Seong Hyeon already knew that, but hearing it said aloud still made him uneasy.

“Understood. We’ll negotiate that again when the time comes.”

“Then I’ll trust you, Director Cha.”

Having barely reached an agreement, the two stood up.

Jumong then walked toward his companions waiting outside.

“Let’s go.”

With that single word from Jumong, dozens of Goguryeo Guild members followed him toward the Main Gate.

The Main Gate was already guarded under ironclad security by the military and Gate Management Bureau strike teams.

However, no one attempted to stop Jumong and the Goguryeo Guild.

This was the first expedition to Earth-001 being sent by South Korea.

They could only watch.

***

The South Korean government officially sent four expedition teams through the Main Gate.

Team 1: The Goguryeo Guild led by Jumong.

Team 2: ‘Team Korea,’ formed from the top magic users selected from the Gate Management Bureau strike teams, joined by Second Heaven and Fifth Heaven.

Team 3: ‘K Company,’ a team led by Third Heaven, composed of elite magic users hired by a Korean corporate alliance.

Team 4: ‘Korean Guild Union,’ formed by an alliance of guilds throughout South Korea.

These four expedition groups entered the Main Gate one after another, heading toward Earth-001.

Their first objective was to explore the environment beyond the Main Gate on Earth-001 and return as quickly as possible with Soul Stones and Return Stones.

Since the first entry was primarily an exploratory mission, all four teams intended to proceed cautiously and avoid taking unnecessary risks as they entered the Main Gate.

In truth, no one knew what existed beyond the gate, so those crossing it could not help but feel tense.

At the same time, however, those entering the gate were among the strongest individuals in the world by Earth’s standards, so they also carried a certain level of confidence.

Naturally, the people of South Korea cheered for the expedition teams entering the Main Gate.

In a sense, the only possible way to save this world… which was on the verge of collapse, lay beyond that gate.

So cheering for them was only natural.

And after ‘officially’ all the expedition teams had entered.

There were others who intended to enter the Main Gate unofficially.

***

“The security is tighter than I expected.”

Watching the Main Gate from afar together with Cheon Li Yu through her Divine Eye ability, Seon Yul muttered quietly.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just tell the Gate Management Bureau and enter officially?”

“We could… but honestly, there’s an experiment I want to try…”

Cha Seong Hyeon had already been contacting him repeatedly, so entering the Main Gate through the bureau wouldn’t have been difficult.

But Seon Yul didn’t want the bureau to know that he had entered the Main Gate.

There was something he wanted to test once they reached Earth-001.

And if that experiment succeeded, the fact that he had entered through the Main Gate would inevitably be exposed.

“Then why don’t we open the entrance to Absolute Space somewhere in there and sneak in?”

Cheon Li Yu pointed toward a pile of large concrete blocks.

The Korean Gate Management Bureau had been building massive concrete barriers around the Main Gate to control it completely.

Since the construction was still ongoing, the walls were not yet finished.

Large concrete blocks had been stacked around the gate.

Among them, Cheon Li Yu pointed out a cleverly hidden blind spot just large enough for one person to enter.

From that blind spot, the Main Gate was only about four meters away.

If they opened the entrance to Absolute Space there and quickly ran into the gate, they could likely avoid detection not only from the soldiers patrolling the area but also from the CCTV cameras installed around the perimeter.

“Oh, not bad.”

Seon Yul nodded in agreement.

“We’ll go after it gets darker.”

“It’s… 2 PM now… let’s wait ten hours and go in.”

The two waited for nightfall.

Ten hours later, the area around the Main Gate was enveloped in complete darkness.

After the great upheaval, electrical energy had become extremely precious.

Even at the Main Gate, they couldn’t afford to illuminate the area like daylight.

Only a few dim lights had been set up, enough to vaguely make out silhouettes.

By coincidence, clouds covered the moonlight as well.

Everything was perfect.

Tsss!