Side Story 7
Juhyeok returned to the White Tower.
Spot!
All the blood-summoned followed along.
"All right, let's pack the supplies. Put your personal necessities into bags or boxes and hand them to the dimensional laborers."
Before he even finished speaking, the blood-summoned scattered in a rush.
'Entry works fine.'
The White Godback system registered to the Kalzenia dimension.
At the very core of it all was the connection to the White Tower's space.
Then what about exiting?
[Please state the dimension you wish to exit to.]
[Dimensions currently available for exit are Parallel Earth No. 1001, No. 843, No. 675… Main Earth, and the Kalzenia Dimension.]
"Kalzenia."
Spot!
The Mezpol Grasslands, where the beastfolk were resting.
'Exit works fine too.'
Then, entry into the White Tower again.
Spot!
Perfect.
He could go back and forth anytime.
No need to take the elevator, no need to pass through the Grand Temple.
Wasn't that obvious?
If you'd swallowed a fragment of divinity, you ought to manage at least this much.
For the first time in a while, Juhyeok sent a message to Commissioner Jeon Gwang-il.
Jeon Gwang-il appeared the moment it was sent.
"Mr. Bong Player! You haven't departed on your trip yet?"
"I did, but I forgot something and came back."
"Ah!"
Jeon Gwang-il nodded.
"By the way, which world did you go to? A dimension similar to Earth?"
"No. Our dimensional laborer's hometown."
"…Pardon?"
Whose hometown?
"You mean Mr. Rajiks?"
"That's right."
"Hahaha! That's great. Going back to his hometown—he must be thrilled."
"He really was."
There had been a bit of an unfortunate incident, though.
"The Black Tower operation—no problems there, right?"
"Yes. Ever since you completely conquered the Black Tower, Mr. Bong Player, there hasn't been a single player casualty."
"Oh?"
"There's no need to push upward recklessly. Even on the lower floors below the 80th, players receive sufficient rewards in mana stones and tower materials."
The considerate Black Tower safety operator, White Godback.
"In addition, the drop rates for leather and metal materials have increased—more than threefold compared to before."
It seemed that after suspending top-grade mana stone rewards, the material item rewards had been massively increased instead.
'The more I think about it, the more grateful I feel.'
So meticulous.
'Is there no way to give the fragment of divinity back?'
If there were a way, that would be nice.
Anyway.
"Oh, right! I have a favor to ask, Commissioner."
"Please, go ahead."
"I need food supplies and housing facilities."
"What kind of…?"
Juhyeok explained in detail what he wanted.
For food: grains, root vegetables, and various nuts.
For housing: easily installable containers or prefabricated houses.
"By when should we prepare them?"
"The sooner the better. Don't worry about the cost. I'll transfer the payment immediately."
It looked like he'd be staying in Kalzenia for quite some time.
Setting up temporary lodging was essential.
If only Kalzenia allowed copy-and-paste like the White Tower.
But Kalzenia was a real world ruled by a god of another dimension, so that wasn't possible.
"We'll prepare everything as quickly as possible and gather it in one place."
"Much appreciated."
Spot!
Commissioner Jeon Gwang-il exited to prepare the supplies.
After that, Juhyeok got on the elevator.
Destination: the Dimensional Auction House.
'Since I'm here, I might as well do some auction business.'
He'd listed and sold a lot recently.
Where?
Mostly to the Immortal Realm.
He bought seondo coming from the Immortal Realm at high prices to fully stock the immortals' ammunition, then registered Earth electronic products on Main Earth.
It was practically barter trade.
A prearranged exchange between the Immortal Realm and Juhyeok.
This had become possible thanks to the auction house upgrade that activated community features.
Because of that, other auction users were furious.
Why are you hogging everything among yourselves?
Just meet separately and trade!
What could he do?
They couldn't meet separately, so this was the only way.
The elevator arrived at the Dimensional Auction House.
First, he opened the status board and placed a bid for seondo.
There was another change introduced by the auction house upgrade.
It had been applied recently.
An "Instant Buy" button had been added.
They'd said instant-buy items would expand after the upgrade—apparently, it now applied to everything.
Fruit: Peach imbued with mysterious energyStarting bid: 50,000 kg of top-grade mana stonesInstant buy: 1,000,000 kg of top-grade mana stones
: I'm always indebted to you.
So convenient.
He bought the seondo via instant buy.
Smart device: Universe Full-Dimensional Hologram AI Phone 2PB Black (loaded with large amounts of movie and drama content)Starting bid: 100,000 kg of top-grade mana stonesInstant buy: 1,000,000 kg of top-grade mana stones
: Please buy it quickly.
He listed the hologram phone.
Ding!
The auction closed the moment it was listed.
It was probably bought by someone from the Immortal Realm.
There were more things he needed to buy.
He purchased them the same way, via instant buy.
'Let's see… medicinal ingredients…'
The beastfolk laborers had been badly worn down by severe labor exploitation.
Gaunt bodies, fur that had lost its luster, serious hair loss.
If they looked like this on the outside, how rotten and damaged must the inside be?
He planned to ask Mari to brew some health-restoring medicine for them.
'Buy this, buy that.'
Instant-success messages rang out one after another.
Then—
"…Huh?"
Juhyeok was startled.
'What is this?'
He rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
'How did this item…'
Electronic device: Portable cassette audio playerStarting bid: 1,000 kg of top-grade mana stonesInstant buy: 50,000 kg of top-grade mana stones
An audio player.
A product from a parallel Earth.
'I didn't list this.'
Which meant—
'There's another parallel-Earth dimensional traveler?'
There might be someone else besides Juhyeok.
That wasn't really strange.
The universe was vast.
There must be countless parallel Earths still undiscovered.
They'd probably joined recently.
Likely because of the upgrade.
Inactive existing members were culled, and new members were recruited to make up for the reduced numbers.
Thus, a new auction house member from a parallel universe with the same civilization.
'Anyway, welcome.'
But their level of advancement seemed different.
You could tell just by the item listed.
A cassette-tape audio player—something long gone even on Earth.
Almost an antique.
A machine that couldn't even play video.
Even 50,000 for instant buy was expensive.
No one had bid on it.
'Dimensional travelers aren't suckers.'
Well, he'd buy it.
Members of the same civilization should help each other out.
Instant buy bid.
Ding!
'Fighting!'
You got the 50,000, right?
If we ever get the chance, let's meet sometime.
After finishing his business at the auction house, Juhyeok returned to the White Tower.
Now all that remained was preparing food and housing.
Commissioner Jeon Gwang-il said he'd hurry as much as possible, but would that really be fast?
Juhyeok decided to wait a bit longer.
'I wonder how the beastfolk are doing.'
He could check anytime from here.
"Wiz."
– Yes, Master.
"How are our furry beastfolk?"
– They are safe and well. Shall I display the video?
"Yeah."
Pop!
A holographic video appeared.
Real-time footage captured by surveillance drones deployed to protect the beastfolk.
They were lazing around and resting at the temporary settlement in the grasslands.
Some were snoring as they slept, some were filling their bellies with snacks, and others were rolling around on the grass.
"They look fine. No other discomforts, right?"
– There is one. They are voicing complaints even now.
What?!
Complaints?
"What kind of complaints?"
– I will let you hear their conversation.
The content of the beastfolk's conversation?
'…Oh, come on.'
It was nothing serious.
They wanted to work.
Said that lazing around wasn't fun.
'Figures. They really are dimensional laborers to the bone.'
He hadn't expected that.
Beastfolk who liked working.
If they wanted to, he'd let them—later, not now.
In a comfortable environment, with fair treatment, where they could work to their hearts' content.
"Other than that, nothing else? No accidents or incidents?"
– No, Master. No major incidents have occurred.
That was a relief.
– There was a very minor issue, but it was resolved immediately.
"…Huh?"
A minor issue?
"What was it?"
I will play the recorded footage.
Pop!
The hologram replayed.
Juhyeok watched.
The blood-summoned gathered around to watch as well.
As the video played, Juhyeok's mouth slowly fell open.
Krak! Krak!
Pow! Pow!
"…"
Insane.
So this counts as minor.
For example, something like this.
A swarm of mosquitoes rushed in.
So you burn every last one of them with an electric mosquito swatter.
From an AI's perspective, that's extremely trivial, right?
"Clean response."
"It even handled the cremation automatically."
"Good. It'll serve as an example."
"Amazing."
Kosak smiled in satisfaction.
"One well-raised AI is better than 355 blood-summoned."
"..."
I don't really want to raise it that way.
"Next time, just warn them and drive them off."
– Please specify the course of action if the warning proves ineffective.
"Just inform me."
– Instruction registered.
And so time passed.
Finally—buzz!
A message arrived on Juhyeok's smartphone.
It said that the requested items had been secured in sufficient quantity.
He took Rajiks to Earth No. 1001 and swoosh, swoosh, loaded everything up.
"Travel guide Mr. Kosak, are we ready to depart?"
"Please wait just a bit longer. Some blood-summoned still haven't finished packing."
Who?
"Production types. They say they're dismantling and bringing their equipment. Smithing, leatherworking, alchemy, enchanting, magitech."
There were people here just like the beastfolk.
"Are we going on a trip, or going to work?"
"Exactly. I can't understand them either. To them, working is playing."
Unbelievable.
"Tell them to pack roughly and gather."
"Yes."
This was less a trip and more like moving house.
Well, that was fine too.
Better too much than too little.
Spot!
Using the White Tower's exit, Juhyeok emerged at the temporary settlement on the outer grasslands of Mezpol.
At the same time, he summoned all the blood-summoned.
The moment they arrived, they began reinforcing the settlement together with Rajiks.
Additional prefabricated houses were installed.
Large containers were set up as storage warehouses for food and loot.
The settlement gradually took on the shape of a small village.
Now this feels livable.
Laying the foundation for the "So what?" operation.
But did that mean staying stuck here?
Absolutely not.
The core of the "So what?" operation wasn't about staying in one place.
Why can't we move around?
Did we commit some kind of crime?
…Well, we did, but still.
Anyway, they were going to move freely.
Just moving around?
No—they planned to be more proactive.
But how?
Nothing immediately came to mind.
So Juhyeok asked Headmaster Harold for advice.
"Hmm. How about this? There is a way to satisfy the beastfolk's desire to work, restore their honor, and at the same time help them settle down stably."
Oh!
As expected of a genius.
A solution came out immediately.
The blood-summoned gathered.
Headmaster Harold began his briefing.
The more they listened, the more interesting it sounded.
Execution wouldn't be difficult either.
Everyone listened with sparkling eyes—
When suddenly,
Dududududu.
The sound of hooves echoed from afar.
Someone was riding alone toward them.
"What is it? Another enemy?"
"No. He's holding a white flag. What a shame."
"He's coming to surrender."
Then—
– Enemy intrusion detected. Response required.
"Huh?"
– Response method selected. Warning fire.
"Wiz, no. That's not it. Cancel the warning."
– Warning fire canceled.
As the rider approached, he dismounted.
Judging by his clothes… he looks like a priest.
Swoosh!
Kosak rushed forward.
"Don't move! If you move, I shoot! Toothbrush!"
He started spouting nonsense right away.
"Pardon? A—toothbrush? I—I came from the Grand Temple—"
"Are you here to proselytize? I already have a religion."
"No, that's not it. I am a civil-affairs priest from the Mezpol Grand Temple."
"Who's Civil Affairs?"
"…Civil-affairs priest. I carry a message from His Holiness the Pope."
Kosak snorted.
"Ah! You mean that swindler pope?"
"S-swindler?"
"He demanded a huge sum from a healthy 26-year-old young man in exchange for system registration and caused an uproar. Ain't that a scam?"
"…Good heavens."
He was deliberately twisting his words to mock him.
Juhyeok knew exactly why Kosak was acting this way.
He held a deep grudge against the Grand Temple.
He believed he'd been stabbed in the back by Kalzenia's chief god and the Pope, his proxy.
No kind words were going to come out of him.
Time to step in.
"Welcome, Priest. What brings you here?"
"Ah! Traveler, His Holiness wishes to meet you."
"Oh?"
"Yes. He is waiting at the Grand Temple. Whenever you have time—"
Kosak butted in again.
"Hold on! If you want to meet someone, shouldn't you come? Who are you ordering around?"
"His Holiness is unable to leave his seat."
Tsk.
"Why are you always trying to pick a fight? Mr. Kosak, please hold back."
"Yes."
Let's keep things civil.
Besides, there was business to take care of anyway.
"Please do visit. His Holiness assures your safety."
"All right. I'll go."
"Ah! Thank you."
"I won't be going alone—I'll be bringing attendants."
"That's fine."
"Is it okay if I bring a lot?"
"As many as you like."
He didn't say how many.
"I'll go tomorrow. Things aren't fully settled here yet."
"I will inform His Holiness."
After hearing Juhyeok's reply, the Grand Temple priest mounted his horse and left.
Then Gyeon-dallae sidled up to him.
"Young Master, how many attendants will you be bringing?"
"Hmm."
"Please exclude Lord Kosak."
"Huh? Why exclude me?"
Gyeon-dallae explained.
"If you bring Kosak to the Grand Temple, he will behave sharply and start arguments like before, disturbing your peace of mind."
Hmm.
That made sense.
"…Ah—uh, no, wait, that—"
Kosak looked flustered.
At the same time, the blood-summoned prepared to pounce on him like hungry dogs.
"Don't worry. We're all going together."
"What?"
"I never said how many attendants I'd bring."
"Then… are you saying you'll take all 355 of us?"
If it were just 355, he wouldn't have asked.
"About a thousand."
The blood-summoned gasped—then their faces lit up.
"Oh!"
"No way."
"The So what? operation?"
That's right.
The rescued beastfolk laborers would all go to Mezpol together.
You know who these people are, right?
The beastfolk who ran away are back.
The laborers you captured and imprisoned.
But we're not here to return them.
Just to let them watch.
You won't be able to do anything.
Got a problem?
So what?
"Truly worthy of you, Young Master."
"As expected of a real man! This is awesome."
"Teabagging is always thrilling."
"Ho!"
One thing still nagged at him.
"I hope our beastfolk stay safe."
"Hehehe, we won't let a single hair be harmed."
"This old man also promises. Rajiks's kin will be safe."
The blood-summoned quickly began preparations.
Entry into Mezpol together with the beastfolk.
Kosak summoned the senior blacksmith of the White Tower.
A dwarf—Kudrak Silversteel of the Rsssal clan.
"You called, assassin?"
"We need pickaxes. Flashy golden pickaxes. And golden safety helmets too."
"Why?"
"Our beastfolk, who dramatically escaped from lives of oppressed, subjugated, permanently contracted slave labor, are about to re-enter the city of Mezpol."
The dwarf blacksmith Kudrak Silversteel's eyes gleamed.
"But would it do to enter looking shabby?"
He understood the intent.
"Absolutely not."
"Please make sure our workers aren't looked down on."
"Looks like I'll be pulling an all-nighter."
All dwarf blacksmiths assembled.
Manufacturing began.
The target quantities were generous.
700 golden safety helmets.
700 golden pickaxes.
One night would be enough.
The next day.
The sun rose.
"All right. Let's go in."
The rebellion of the once-lowest-class Mezpol slaves—lifelong, unpaid, exploited laborers—began.
With the strongest, invincible blood-summoned positioned front, back, left, and right, over 600 beastfolk marched toward Mezpol with heads held high.
Golden safety helmets on their heads.
Golden pickaxes slung over their shoulders.
They glittered dazzlingly in the sunlight.
Marching in neat ranks.
Step-step, step-step.
Clack-clack-clack, clack-clack-clack.
At the front was Rajiks.
Behind him, the beastfolk column followed under ironclad escort from the blood-summoned.
"Hok!"
Rajiks let out a short roar.
The beastfolk echoed it.
"Huk!"
"Joy!"
"Joy!"
"Hok!"
Hey!
Open the gates.
We're here.