New World 3

We were outside the walls, in a place where no one else existed, but Baek-ho’s group had detected a presence. And not just in a team, but…

“It’s just one person… surprisingly, they seem to be sleeping”

Ironically, the fact that there was only one made me feel even more uneasy.

It made no sense.

Who in their right mind would wander alone in this dangerous land where Level-3 monsters could appear out of nowhere?

“We should go check it out, right?”

“Yes. It’s best to identify all possible variables in the area.”

After a quick exchange, Baek-ho and the archer sprang to their feet.

“We’ll go first! Catch up!”

He shot off like a cannonball.

Does this guy have no concept of fear? If it were me, I would have approached slowly and stealthily, since it’s an unknown variable.

‘That reckless confidence of his…’

Perhaps that was Baek-ho’s greatest weakness.

“…B-Baek-ho?!”

“Aures, let’s hurry too. He might not get into trouble, but you never know.”

We quickly followed after him.

And after a while-

“W-Who are you people?! L-Let go of me!”

Moments later, a man’s desperate cries rang out, specifically from below the ground.

“…It seems to be down here.” We peered into a wide crack in the ground, one that looked like it had been torn open by an earthquake. “Ah, you all came? I’ll go up, so wait! It’s tight here, you can’t all fit anyway!”

Moments later, Baek-ho’s face appeared as he pulled himself up the cliff. The angle made it difficult to see clearly, but it looked like there was a hidden space below.

‘Oraaa’

Soon after, Lee Baek-ho leapt high into the air and landed beside us, groaning like an old man.

Raising his right hand like a hunter showing off his catch, we saw an unfamiliar middle-aged man struggling in his grasp. The man was filthy, as if he hadn’t bathed in months.

“W-What the hell! Let me go—!”

He struggled wildly, but then his gaze froze on someone among us, and his eyes widened in shock.

“…Lord Aures? Gatekeeper Aures, is that you?! Lord Aures!!”
“Y-You are…!”

Wait, they know each other?

“…Who are you?”

‘Eek! It’s me! Red Eye, Third Squad Leader of the Noark Forces!”

“Red Eye? Never heard of that nickname…”

As Aures tilted his head in confusion, Baek-ho, who had momentarily loosened his grip on the man’s neck, narrowed his eyes.

“Huh. Just making stuff up to get friendly?”

“No! You know me! Red Eye — Red Eye Dailan!”

As the guy frantically added his title, Lex Aures seemed to remember something.

‘Dailan? Isn’t he the son of the old innkeeper from the Merun Pub? Oh—don’t tell me you’re his son?”

“Yes! Exactly, that’s me!”

It seem the two had finally recognized each other.

Losing interest, Baek-ho casually dropped the man to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

But his curiosity returned soon enough.

“So, Dailan, Right?”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

“Speak. What were you doing here all by yourself?”

“Well…”

“Better be honest, or you’re dead.”

That domineering attitude was one of Lee Baek-ho’s terrifying traits.
‘
He completely ignored things like reason, always pressing down with force to demand answers, and on top of that, he had a built-in lie detector.

‘Yeah… I still get chills thinking about that time.’

The trembling man darted his eyes around, panicking.

Well, the past is just the past, though.

“I said talk fast! What kind of trouble were you trying to cause here alone!”

As Baek-ho pressed him once more, the man shut his eyes tightly and answered.

“…I deserted!”

“Deserted…?”

“That… The plan to invade Raphdonia felt so absurd… For people like us, it was obvious we’d just get caught up and die for no reason!”

“So when everyone else went back, you snuck away instead?”

“I wasn’t the only one! At first, there were many more people who thought the same as me.”

“Uh? But why are you alone now?”

“Well… We got separated because of monsters in the middle…”

As it turned out, over a hundred people had left together, hoping they could live freely out here.

But that dream collapsed the moment they faced powerful monsters.

Well, of course.

They’d left only to save their own skins, there was no way such a group could stay united under threat.

“So after that, I just hid wherever I could. Eventually, I settled in that crack over there…”

“That rabbit-hole down the cliff?”
“Yes…”
“How long have you been living there?”
“I’m not sure exactly… about two months, I think.”
“Impressive. So where’d you take a dump?”
“Ah, well… I’d just squat at the edge of the clif—”
“That’s enough! Gross!”

The healer, Jayna, frowned in disgust. Baek-ho chuckled and dropped the subject.

The guy boldly asked Lee Baek-ho a question.

“Me? Why are you curious?”

“Well… No, it’s just that… Since you came from the city, I thought you might know… Whether our Lord’s plan succeeded or not…”

Oh, regretting not following along now?

If Baek-ho said yes, he’d probably beg to be taken back.

“None of your business. Keep quiet.”
“…”
“Now then, what should we do with you? Leave you here? You’d die soon enough anyway.”

The man’s face turned pale.

Can’t blame him—Baek-ho sounded like he was deciding what to have for dinner, not someone’s fate.

“W-Wait! I have a proposal!”

“Huh?”

“Take me back to the city with you! In exchange, I’ll give you valuable information!”

Desperation oozed from every word.

Baek-ho, however, looked utterly bored.

“Hmm, not really interested…”

He sounded indifferent, but I recognised that tone — it was all an act.

He always did this: make the other party lower their guard, then seize full control of the negotiation.

“Go on. If it’s useful, maybe I’ll consider it.”

Dailan swallowed hard, then blurted out something completely unexpected.

“A dimensional stone! I know where another dimensional stone is!”

…Huh?

***

His story was short and simple.

After deserting the army, he was wandering around looking for a safe place when he stumbled upon something.

A Dimension Stone with the same appearance as the one in the Noark settlement.

“What… it’s real?”

“Wait… seriously?”

Even Baek-ho, who had a built-in lie detector, seemed convinced.

“It’s hidden in a dangerous place nobody would think to go. If you don’t take me, you’ll never find it!”

Considering how he’d survived by crawling into tiny cliffside holes, it actually sounded plausible.

“So where is it?”

For once, Baek-ho couldn’t hide his curiosity.

Sensing this, Dailan pressed his advantage.

“Telling you isn’t difficult… but, um…”

“Fine, you want a promise? I promise. Behave yourself and I’ll take you back to the city.”

The man studied Baek-ho’s face, then nodded.

“I’ll trust you.”

“Good. Now tell me.”

Dailan led us to the edge of the cliff where he’d been hiding.

“It’s down there.”

“Down there?”

“Yes…”

Ha! No wonder he was so quick to tell us.

Since we would have found it quickly if we had just searched this area, he must have wanted to finalise the deal quickly.

“I’ll go first. Everyone follow me, all right?”

Once again, Lee Baek-ho jumped off the cliff without hesitation, and we each used our own methods to follow down.

Whoooosh-!

The mage used levitation magic.

Tap, tadat, tap-!

The archer jumped from ledge to ledge.

[Neighhh!]

The Priestess rode her summon that could also fly.

‘Guess I’ll just tank it.’

Boom-!

It was quite deep, and the moment I landed, I felt a shock run through the tips of my feet. However, thanks to the Bone Density and Physical Resistance stats I had diligently raised, I was able to withstand it.

“Wow, Baron, that was badass.”

“Whatever? Anyway, I guess this is that Dimension Stone?”

“Yeah, it really exists. I’ll need Gramps to check that it works, though.”

The pit was dark and about seventy yards deep, with not even a hint of light reaching the bottom. That’s where we found the dimensional headstone the man had told us about.

“Hey, Gramps! Here, here! Come quickly and check it out!”

“Havelion, you go take a look too.”

After the mages arrived, they examined the Dimensional Stone and came to the same conclusion.

“Its properties are completely identical to the Dimensional Stone we used before.”

“If we inject enough mana, like last time, it’s highly likely a portal will open.”

“Whoa, seriously? We searched forever last time and found nothing, and now this.”

Baek-ho grinned and clapped Dailan on the shoulder.

“Nice work, man.”

He didn’t hit hard, but you could tell he was pleased.

“Alright, pump some mana in. Let’s see if it works.”

“And… what if it does?”

“No, just try it first. We need to see if it works before we think about it. Why are you being so unreasonable?”

“…”

The GM’s expression turned slightly bitter at the reply before he approached the dimensional stone.

Swoooosh!

And—

“I’ll begin.”

As he and the Ruin Scholar poured mana into it, the same effect as before occurred.

Fwoooosh—!

The light emitted by the concentrated mana.

It gradually took shape, grew in size, and soon formed a distinct shape.

“It’s really a portal.”

“Baek-ho, what now?”

“Hmm… guess I’ll have to think about that now.”

“Then decide quickly. The portal will only last about five minutes.”

“Okay.”

After a short while of thinking it over, Baek-ho spoke again.

“But man, I can’t help being curious. Where does this lead? It’s been a while since I’ve felt this kind of real exploration vibe.”

“…Don’t forget why we’re here. We came to get the materials to repair the magic circle.”

“Sure, but who knows? Maybe this’ll take us there faster.”

“……”

“If not, we can just open another portal and come back. Right?”

Seriously, what was this guy thinking right now?

I couldn’t imagine how he’d reached that conclusion, but I did agree with him on one thing.

I am curious…

It really did feel like we were about to start an adventure.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, Baek-ho reached a decision.

“Alright, I’ve decided.”

“And your plan?”

“Let’s cross over once. It’ll be a hassle to come all the way back later. That okay with you, Baron?”

Hmm…

“What if I said no?”

“Oh, we’re going anyway. You can just wait here, Baron.”

“I’ll follow.”

Yeah, this was a kind of hidden piece, no way I’d let Baek-ho go alone.

Once I made my decision, everything moved quickly.

“Hey, you go first.”

“M-me?”

“Got a reason you can’t?”

“There could be something dangerous on the other side… Ah, I’ll go first.”

“You should’ve said that sooner.”

Lee Baek-ho sent the man through the portal first. After that, we crossed the portal one by one.

I was the last.

Flash—!

My vision turned white, then slowly cleared.

Out of habit, I immediately scanned my surroundings.

It was a dark cave.

There were no monsters nearby.

The problem was…

“Mr. Baekho? Did we get through properly? I don’t see the dimensional stone anywhere?”

The portal disappeared the moment we crossed, and the Dimensional Stone that would allow us to open a portal again was nowhere to be seen.

Also…

‘One, two, three, four, five…’

We’re one person short.

No, to be precise.

“What the, that bastard.”

The man who had told us the location of the dimensional stone was nowhere to be found.

“Seriously, where’d he go? No way he had time to run off. What’s going on?”

Baek-ho muttered as if he couldn’t understand.

I swallowed hard as I watched him.

Thump—!

A creeping sense of dread washed over me, as if we had just stepped into a trap.

I hurriedly turned to Aures, the one who knew that man.

“Aures.”

“What is it?”

“That guy earlier—Deilan, right?”

“Yes.”

“Deilan was his family name, so what’s his first name?”

Aures blinked, a bit confused by the sudden question, but after thinking seriously for a moment, he answered:

“Hmm… I don’t quite remember.”

“…Is that so?”

It wasn’t the answer I’d hoped for, but…

Maybe that’s for the best.

Just as I was about to drop the subject, Aures added something I couldn’t ignore.

“But…”

“But?”

“It was a very common name, as far as I recall.”

…No way. Right?

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