SWNOVELXO Ch. 8
The Boundary of the Gate.
A special space prepared by The Order for the Plane Transcendents passing through the Gateway Zone.
This space, made entirely of white, was one of the few places directly influenced by the Upper-Dimensional Plane.
Of course, the Gateway Zone itself was a space designed by The Order, but to exert influence across the Dimensional Wall normally required a corresponding price.
This ‘Boundary of the Gate’ was a space created to minimize that price and maximize efficiency, alongside the System.
[Stay calm… Stay calm… Eliya.]
Atop the Form Manifestation Magic Circle of the Boundary of the Gate, Eliya couldn't hide her anxiousness.
It was inevitable.
Despite the time limit being almost up, the Plane Transcendent assigned to her, ‘Seo U-jin’, had not yet entered the Boundary of the Gate.
[Time Remaining: 05:12]
There were barely five minutes left.
[Haa… He should have been here by now…….]
As she said, if he was going to pass, he should have done so long ago.
Considering the overall difficulty of the Gateway Zone, the First Gate was not that difficult.
It was a gate meant for ‘culling the herd’, and while it had the highest failure rate, it was a simple trial that shouldn't take long for those who were meant to pass.
Therefore, Eliya thought.
‘What if he failed?’
No, in fact, from the moment the timer hit the 10-minute mark, that thought was solidifying into a certainty.
Being an hour or two late was one thing, but statistically, that point in time was closer to failure.
[Ha… I should have explained it properly…….]
Eliya blamed herself.
It was her fault.
Even if it was her first assignment, being swayed by a Plane Transcendent and sending him into the Gate without even explaining the strategy was a truly ridiculous mistake.
[No, I can't even call it a mistake. This is just me being stupid…….]
Of course, U-jin's attitude had been unusual enough to fluster anyone, but Eliya didn't bother to dwell on that point.
[Ha… You idiot…….]
She knew full well that using such things as an excuse would only make her look even more foolish.
It was then.
Just as she was about to squat down in self-reproach.
Fwaat-!
A crimson mass suddenly dropped into the white-filled Boundary of the Gate.
[……!!!]
There was no need to explain what that crimson mass was.
Once a Boundary of the Gate was assigned, no one other than the designated Plane Transcendent could set foot in it.
[Mr. Seo U-jin!!]
Seeing U-jin, covered head to toe in blood, the first emotion Eliya felt was relief.
She had all but given up hope.
However, she immediately suppressed that feeling.
She couldn't afford to get caught up in such useless emotions and make another mistake.
Eliya first assessed U-jin's condition.
[Good heavens… the blood.]
U-jin's external state was quite severe.
Even for Eliya, who had toured various battlefields of the War against Demons during her time as an acolyte candidate, the amount of blood was something she had never seen before.
It wasn't just a matter of being ‘stained with blood’; he was drenched in it, as if he had been dipped in a pool of blood and pulled out.
In fact, blood was dripping from his eyelashes as he stood still.
‘Stay calm, Eliya……. If you join the War against Demons, this is a sight you'll have to see as part of daily life.’
Surprised by U-jin's more serious-than-expected condition, Eliya tried her best to act unfazed and spoke to him.
[Mr. Seo U-jin! First, give the Orc's Token to me… No, please place it down here. We can exchange it for Coin and purchase an item from The Order to stop the bleeding immediately…….]
But U-jin's reaction was strange.
“Hm? Bleeding?”
U-jin asked back, tilting his head as if he didn't understand what she was saying.
[Your whole body is a bloody mess, why are you asking like it's someone else's problem!! If blood loss exceeds one liter and isn't treated immediately, hypothermia and…….]
Eliya, who had been shouting to make U-jin recognize the gravity of the situation, abruptly stopped talking.
Once again, just like when U-jin had first entered the ‘Boundary of the Gate’, she felt that something was off.
…How should she put it?
His voice sounded much healthier than she expected.
Though he was clearly exhausted, the pained, raspy tone Eliya had anticipated was absent.
And as if to prove her sudden intuition correct.
“Ah. This?”
[…….]
“It is someone else's problem.”
U-jin replied with a shrug.
“This is orc blood. Not a single drop of it is mine.”
* * *
[What…….]
I handed the Orc's Tokens to the girl, who was clearly flustered.
“Heave-ho.”
Clank—
When I was holding one or two, they made a pretty, jingling chain sound. But when I tossed the tangled mass at once, it sounded like a lump of lead.
“I didn't count exactly how many there are, but it should be around 200. Settle it accordingly.”
[…….]
“And I don't need any items to stop bleeding… Just get me something to wash myself with. It’s been a while since I was soaked in blood, and it feels a bit sticky.”
Back in the day, this much was the default.
[But…….]
Once again, Eliya's mind seemed to be going blank.
‘Clap—’
I clapped my hands to snap the girl out of it.
“Hurry up. I can't enter the Second Gate looking like this.”
[…….]
From her perspective, it must have seemed utterly absurd.
Even I had to admit that hunting orcs by the hundreds in the First Gate wasn't something a sane person would do.
[Ri-right, no… Yes, I'll process the payment now…….]
Eliya muttered, her expression clearly showing her inability to comprehend the situation.
Along with her muttering, the sound of a system notification rang out.
Tiring-!
[Calculating the reward for clearing the First Gate.]
[Orc's Token (x193) will be settled for 193 Coin.]
With that message, the Orc's Tokens in front of me vanished in an instant.
[Settlement Target: Seo U-jin… 193 Coin]
[Settlement Complete.]
[Warning! While in the Gateway Zone, Coin can only be used through an Acolyte Priest.]
This was precisely why I had bothered to collect hundreds of Orc's Tokens when one would have been enough.
Here, in the First Gate, the reward rate for a single Orc's Token was a whopping 1 Coin.
To put it simply, Coin was a unit of currency.
It was a currency used throughout the Upper-Dimensional Plane, referring to a single
Of course, since it was literally a ‘different dimension’, it was impossible to compare it to scraps of paper like the US Dollar (USD) or Korean Won (KRW) from the Lower Plane… but, roughly speaking, 1 Coin in the Upper-Dimensional Plane was enough for a commoner family to live on for about a month.
[To have 193 Guardian Coins right from the start…….]
As Eliya's low voice attested, 193 Coin was by no means an amount of money a beginner who had just started could get their hands on.
As soon as I confirmed the settlement, I looked up at Eliya and said.
“Hurry, I feel like I'm going to die from this stickiness. Is there anything… I can use to wash myself?”
If I could, I would have just bought it myself, but as the system window indicated, it was impossible to trade directly with The Order while in the Gateway Zone.
Well… it was common for the Acolyte Priest to handle such miscellaneous tasks even after ascending to the Upper-Dimensional Plane anyway.
At my urging, the dazed Eliya hurriedly opened her mouth.
[Ah! Yes… To wash yourself, a Memorize Paper enchanted with Cleanse magic would be most suitable, but even a starless one is a bit expensive at 1 Coin…….]
“Okay. Give me that.”
There was no need to hesitate.
[Ah… Yes! Then right away…….]
That was exactly what I wanted.
Snap—
With the sound of Eliya snapping her fingers, a single sheet of paper appeared in mid-air.
As soon as I caught the fluttering paper and tore it, a magic circle made of geometric patterns appeared in the air.
[Using Memorize Paper.]
[Embedded Magic: Cleanse (☆☆☆☆☆)]
Along with the simple explanation in the pop-up system window.
A ticklish stream of water shot out from the magic circle and covered my entire body.
And with that last lukewarm stream of water.
*Flump—*
I lost consciousness.
* * *
In the pitch-black darkness, a familiar voice called out.
「Brother.」
My past self answers.
「What is it.」
Again, the voice.
「Are you really the one who is going back?」
If my memory served me right, this was a conversation we had during the subjugation of the Southern Demonic Realm.
So… after the conclusion that I had to undergo Regression had more or less been reached.
「I don't know. I'm in a position where I just have to do as I'm told.」
「…….」
「I actually think it makes more sense for you to go. Won't you be stronger than me soon?」
「…With all due respect, if it were a simple battle with all our might, I believe even now I would…….」
「Ah, ah. Stop. Right there. If you say any more, I think my heart will break.」
A brief silence flows, and then the voice is heard again.
「Brother.」
「What.」
「Could you make me a promise.」
「A promise? What promise.」
「It is not a difficult task. Simply… if you do go back.」
「……?」
「When you go back. If you meet the me of that time again—」
A faint image of the girl's serious face formed in my mind.
Neatly braided hair, a prominent forehead, small and delicate eyes, nose, and mouth, and a five-colored jeogori.
「Please, don't be nice to me again.」
It was a short and seemingly insignificant sentence.
But I knew.
That it wasn't simply a matter of ‘don't be nice to me.’
I could read it in her expression—after how long she had deliberated, how much she had given up, and with what kind of heart she had said those words.
「I entreat you to do so.」
「…I'll think about it.」
My past self couldn't answer.
Whether it was a request or a promise.
I hadn't been able to come up with a clear answer in my head to respond to what she had said.
…Well, I have an answer now, more or less.
「Please, promise me…….」
That was as far as it went.
The girl's image vanished from before my eyes, and my five senses, which had been numbly submerged, slowly began to return.