The Foreigner on the Periphery

Dimension #77-102 was a world that was difficult to understand from the inmate’s point of view. When residents there declared a unilateral terminal blockade without the consent of the committee, many expected the situation to be resolved soon. The terminal was not like a magic door that was always open. Literally, it was a generic term for a building in which essential facilities such as a space for dimensional travelers to go through procedures and a dimensional movement control guidance system were placed.  

Even if such a building is closed, the key element of dimensional movement was the board-controlled jump line. At the end of the war, it was the only means left after the Balaur promised to permanently abolish the Dimensional Shift Spell. In any case, the inmates expected that the highly skilled committee would freely spy inside dimension #77-102 if they wished, and threaten them to force them to stop the unilateral containment. But they didn’t.  

Rather, he pushed the prisoners to look at the dimension, but no one had touched the mission until now, as attempting to land without guidance was like a suicide attempt.  

‘But the committee must have a way.' Even at the time of the first contact in 1945, there were no terminals on the earth, but the committee was able to grasp every detail of the earth's situation.

Why was it only dimension #77-102? More importantly… The world must also be in debt to the Talent Commission, so why leave it unattended without resorting to harsh means? Many prisoners were curious, but no clue had come out yet.  

Jenkinson then spoke to Minjun, who was thinking of one thing or another, including his own home. "It is said that they are gathering people from all over the dimension from there to return to their hometown."  

"Okay?” After one terminal of that dimension started operating again, it seemed that a sort of reverse diaspora was going on. Of course, only the same people were allowed to enter, and other races, including those belonging to the committee, were strictly prohibited.  

"You seem to have properly grasped the current situation of Koreans living abroad."  

"If I had the mind to do that, I wonder why they suddenly locked the door without even calling me at that time."  

In addition to this, the dragon brought out the story of the alien that Minjun killed. Looking back now, it was a very ironic and tragic timing. If he had endured a few months without committing the maddening atrocities, the door to his hometown would have been opened.  

Minjun then thought. ‘I could have lived if I had held on to it a little longer.'  

There was no regret or guilt in him. It just tasted bitter.

"It is a natural procedure, but the fact that the patriarch of the Earth has died seems to have flowed into that dimension."  

"So, did you even argue? How did you die?"  

"No, the cause of death was thoroughly covered up by the Dreamland Church."  

What caught the dragon’s attention was something else. "It is said that there is an organization that serves as the headquarters of the Dreamland Church in that dimension. The name is… yes. It is a religious body called the ‘Council for the Protection of the Doctrine'."  

It seemed that the Patriarch who died there was decided to be a saint. He recognized his death as a martyr and decided to worship him in honor of his achievements. "What else did you cover the sign with? Did you forget that you were persecuted and burned at the stake?"  

"No, rather than the way he died, he said that he paid attention to the part where he achieved great achievements while struggling alone in a remote dimension."  

"A great achievement?"  

"I didn't know that, but it is said that there are over 300,000 members of Dreamland on Earth."  

This time, even Minjun was genuinely surprised. "Not 30,000, but 300,000?! An apocalyptic religion doing that disgusting thing?"  

"There are very few church members in Korea, but it is not so in other countries. Was there a Zoroastrian priest at the exorcism last time? There are more Dreamland followers than you, the native religion of the Earth. Most of them are Balien and Goblins, but…"  

"How the hell is the world going to eat?"  

Minjun clicked his tongue. "Anyway, since he has been promoted to a saint, it seems that an official request has been made to return his body to his hometown. But, as you know, under the neck, you cleaned it up, didn’t you? So, the parish officer is in a situation where he has to send back the remaining heads."  

"It must be a pain to explain why there is no lower neck."  

Joheim’s plan to keep the embalmed head on Earth for a thousand years seems likely to go awry. However, that was something Dreamland had to worry about, not Minjun.  

“By the way…” Minjun then changed the subject. "The magic circle test is over."  

At this, Jenkinson’s expression hardened. At the same time, the barrier surrounding the office is further strengthened. Then, the beautiful song of Balinese singing outside the window was cut off. Even after thorough preparation, he began to ask in a cautious voice.

"Are you finally removing the talent from that soul?"  

“Yes. It will be operational tomorrow."  

And Minjun then said the main point. Looking into the eyes of the dragon who had turned into a blonde young man. "So, you, come tomorrow and pick up some magic."  

"…"

Jenkinson had no choice but to do what Minjun told him the next day after canceling all existing schedules. Thanks to this, the guests from the other side of the world and the South Korean Minister of Strategy and Finance had to make hasty rescheduling, but Min-Jun would never know about it.  

The place the dragon headed to early in the morning was the 30th basement floor of a gigantic underground building that used to be Changcheon’s rare and was now treated as Jenkinson’s third rare. Not even a single employee was brought in because it was a top secret that the inmates should never leak to the committee.  

Jenkinson, who had to be sensitive in the recent punishment of the traitor, summoned a golem and diligently prepared to activate the magic circle. It was quite cumbersome for Changcheon to do the work he had prepared with several of his subordinates alone. As soon as the Elder Dragon finished preparations in time, Minjun appeared.  

With the possessed young dragon. Jenkinson, who was returning to the main body, sounded a mental wave.  

= Are you here? As instructed, I have finished charging the magic…=

Jenkinson’s eyes widened as he turned his head. What he was looking at was a young dragon following Minjun while wriggling behind him. Compared to Jenkinson, the dragon, who was nothing more than a mini-pig in front of the whale, greeted him awkwardly. First of all, it was because it was spherical.  

=Ah… Hello?=  

Jenkinson called out telepathically, pointing to Ha Eun-seong.  

= What?! Why did he gain weight like that? No, is it possible for a dragon to gain that much weight in the first place? =  

Ha Eun-seong was in a state of explosive growth in her body for a month while locked in the basement. It is not normal growth through her molting. Although the skeleton was the same, it was clearly visible to Jenkinson’s eyes that only fat had been attached to it.  

However, Minjun pretends not to know. "What if you ask me about the dragon?"  

In fact, the memories in his head were speaking to him. It must be difficult to fatten a young dragon that much, but it was possible. There was nothing impossible in the world if one was to focus on the devotion of the cattle owner, the utmost care, and attention such as taking care of their young.  

Rather, Minjun was looking for strange peace of mind as he saw the changed possessive body. After becoming a prisoner, all of the dragons he saw were hideous beasts with muscular bodies with close to 0% body fat. Minjun always cast a sullen gaze at such a dragon.  

Even though some of his colleagues praised the dragon as ‘a very beautiful creature’, Minjun’s reaction was about ‘that’s that?’  

On the other hand, looking at Ha Eun-seong these days, he was very satisfied. ‘Yeah, the dragon has to be like that.'  

= Does this body… gain so much weight? = Ha Eun-seong answered gloomily. In fact, it was Kathy who contributed to his explosive increase in body fat percentage.  

Minjun then entrusted the management of Ha-eun’s castle to his secretary, but one day, he saw a text message without any prior explanation and Kathy had no choice but to be troubled.  

– There’s a dragon in the basement. eat her some rice Before giving up diet control, Cathy knew that dragons eat raw meat unless they were absorbing refined mana like Jenkins did.  

However, it seemed that Ha Eun-seong had tried to deal with the normally cooked food just in case. Most of it was a huge amount of surplus food that was created during cooking training through frying pans.  

= The food that the tall, pretty older sister gave me was so delicious… I didn’t even know it.   Does that make sense? No matter how possessed of a human soul, the body was still a dragon, right? Taste buds and brain cells were all dragons, was cooked food delicious? =  

Minjun drew attention by clapping his hand. "Now, the overweight problem will be solved after the owner of that body finds his mind. We’ll do our own thing.”  

Ha Eun-seong stumbled and walked to the place Minjun led. And the magic circle was activated according to the gestures of the dragon and the prisoner. Whoa! Looking at the scene, Minjun swallowed dry saliva. ‘Finally!'  

Jenkinson, standing next to him, still looks at Ha Eun-seong with eyes mixed with emotions. Thinking that that figure, with his flesh ruffled like a ‘house beast,' was also a sight that undermined the dignity of a dragon.  

= Huh? Huh?!=  

As the magic circle began to unleash its power, Ha Eun-seong, who was standing in the center, felt a strange vibration that resonated inside. The feeling of fullness he felt at the moment when he touched the crystal of light as if possessed by the old Changcheon Bank head office, as if that sense was turned upside down…  

A sense of disappointment spread through his body, and…

Mugwort! The ghost felt something bound to her soul, being engulfed in a strong attraction, and being thrown out.  

"Extracted!" Minjun exclaimed and immediately waved his hand in the air. Since he had stabilized the space with the magic circle, he did not immediately evaporate to the spirit world, but he took action quickly just in case.  

The barrier he had unfolded made a regular hexagon and contained the talents inside. With a face full of joy, as Minjun reached out his hand, the crystal of light approached. ‘Finally got it!’  

There was a heartbreaking moment. The most beautiful brilliance in the entire universe filled the inside of Rare. Even Jenkinson, who was looking at the instrument panel, turned his attention, opened his mouth slightly, and said that brilliant It was enough to stare into the light.  

Minjun then asked while also keeping his gaze fixed on the talent. "Jenkinson, how much is this all together?!"  

= Oh! Wait a minute.=  

At this, Jenkinson turned his head as if he has regained his grasp. Originally, operators had a lot of work to do, as they were controlled alone through a golem without free will. Jenkinson, who had been tapping the instrument panel via the summoning object for a while, let out a flustered emotion.  

= · · · · · · ·Huh?=  

"Why? How much?"  

Minjun had already finished his own calculations. Even if Ha Eun-seong were to count the talents he had consumed so far, he never exceeded 100,000. He had to have 900,000 talents left, if not at all, given that the principal was 1 million talents. For this reason, the dragon’s telepathy had to feel like a clear force to Minjun.  

= · · · · · · · ·The total is 720,000 talents.=  

"What?!" Minjun’s eyes lit up with murderous intent. "Look again! No way!”  

= No, that’s correct, Minjun. The extraction has already been completed and there are no talents left in that soul. You now have 720,000 talents in your hand. =  

Swipe! Minjun's face was staring at the fat dragon, to be more precise, the soul inside it. "What the hell have you been doing in one month?!"

Ha Eun-seong, who met that gaze, felt the threat of life even though he was already dead. The agent seemed ready to stick a knife in his neck at any time.  

=I didn’t do anything! I watched TV all month in the basement there…!=  

"Then why are your talents reduced by 180,000?!"  

Whoa! A ghost then gathered behind him in anger.  

= Because I really didn’t do anything! Please trust me!=  

However, Minjun's eyes were full of distrust.