Chapter 8

"You can think of a gate as a passage connecting space to space."

In other words, it's a door connecting Nain's dimension to our world.

He clapped his palms together to visualize how dimensions connect.

"A passage..."

It was an interesting story. Cheche had said that travelers occurred when the 'wall' separating dimensions weakened, but it turned out there was actually a passage between dimensions. That was the first time he'd heard such a fact. He was curious about what kind of structure it had.

"A gate occurrence was detected on our side, so an Esper was deployed. He brought you out after finding you collapsed inside."

"..."

Someone saved me? Come to think of it, he now remembered seeing someone being carried away coughing up blood when he opened his eyes. At the time, he'd strangely thought that man looked familiar. Even though his face wasn't clearly recognizable and he was definitely seeing him for the first time, he had felt like he'd seen him somewhere before.

"It wasn't a dream after all...?"

Nain muttered to himself. It had felt so unreal and his memories were patchy, so he'd thought it was all a long dream, but if that man had rescued him from the 'passage,' it made sense.

"Where is he now?"

"He's hospitalized in the medical ward, but he's still unconscious."

"Still?"

Nain's eyes widened. The benefactor who had saved his life still hadn't regained consciousness even after a full day had passed - he felt both grateful and sorry. Nain thought he should ask people soon and go thank that person.

"By the way, are such incidents common here?"

The fact that there were more than just one or two people called dimension wanderers felt somewhat unusual to Nain. According to Cheche, even transcendent beings like herself couldn't freely cross dimensions. The dragon had said she'd only seen one person in her thousand years of life...

But why were so many dimension wanderers being discovered here?

According to Cheche, 'travelers' who could cross dimensional walls were limited to three categories: spirits, birds, and some humans.

From a dragon's perspective, humans were truly insignificant beings, but paradoxically, humans could also accomplish things that transcendent beings couldn't. That's why Cheche would say humanity was a species with infinite possibilities.

She constantly talked about stories of travelers she'd heard from other dragons, and thanks to that, Nain had unwillingly memorized stories about past travelers by heart.

Cheche would be very pleased to learn that he had traveled between dimensions. And for over a thousand more years, she'd boast about having been friends with a dimension traveler.

'That... might be a bit unpleasant to witness.'

He didn't want to become her conversation topic in the future. Nain's expression became reluctant.

"It happens occasionally. About one or two people appear per year."

"...It's not that rare then."

It was strange. For some reason, things he'd never heard about from anyone except dragons in his life were happening here on a yearly basis. Dimension travelers...

"Besides me, are there no other travel... I mean, dimension wanderers now?"

"No. The most recent was probably around last autumn? That person was discovered by the Pacific branch..."

As he continued speaking thoughtlessly, someone cleared their throat and the man stopped talking. Nain noticed something strange and blinked. For some reason, they seemed reluctant to discuss this topic.

"...Anyway, there are no remaining dimension wanderers now. They've all returned, and you're the only one."

The man tried to change the subject and gloss over it, but when Nain stared at him and asked back "What about last year?" he had no choice but to continue very quietly.

"He committed suicide a week after being transferred to our branch."

"..."

As soon as the words about someone's death came out, he could feel the air grow heavy. So the reason he was the only remaining dimension wanderer was because of that. Nain's complexion turned pale. The man glanced at him and muttered.

"That person had been mentally unstable since discovery. He was someone who had gotten caught up in a gate while trying to take his own life. This might sound like an excuse to you, but we'll manage thoroughly to prevent such incidents from happening again. So please tell us if there's anything uncomfortable, Mr. Nain."

Nain thought for a moment and slowly nodded. He didn't completely trust all those words. He couldn't fully trust strangers yet. But one thing was certain: these people were clearly showing him goodwill and had no reason to harm him. Above all, Nain currently had almost nothing and would find it difficult to adapt to such a strange environment alone. So it seemed fine to accept their help for the time being.

"Why are you helping me?"

Nain asked. He'd been curious all along. So many people had gathered for his sake. Where was this place? What was their purpose? What benefit did they gain by helping him?

At Nain's words, the man pushed up his glasses with his index finger and said.

"Because it's our job."

Nain tilted his head. Rescuing people was their duty... That sounded quite grand. Were they some group that pursued justice?

For the puzzled Nain, people decided it would be faster to explain with materials rather than words. Light shot out from a beam projector, displaying data on the white wall.

'Magic...'

Nain paused for a moment.

It seemed this world had magic too. Light came from the walls and there were many magical tools he'd never seen before.

Come to think of it, the place where he first opened his eyes was also full of fascinating things. Except for the mess with the water temperature control, it was no different from a new world. Yesterday too, he'd been fascinated by how lights turned on just by touching them, and had probably clicked the wall switch about a hundred times.

Nain's eyes widened in amazement at how just shooting light at the pure white wall could display necessary information. Neat letters were inscribed as if printed on the wall.

[Dimension Wanderer Response Program]

Below those words, in slightly smaller text, it read:

[Awakener Management Center]

They gave Nain a general explanation of what constituted this world.

Yesterday had been the first day of January and the day Nain fell from a gate. And here, the first day of the new year was called Awakener Day. Because on January 1st, over a hundred years ago, a child with superpowers was born in a peninsula nation of the Asian continent.

Humanity's first awakener was one who could control wind by moving air.

"Wind? Are you sure that was really human? A transcendent being, or perhaps a spirit summoner..."

Nain asked with a frown. It was hard to believe. He was greatly surprised hearing about the world's first awakener's ability.

The wind element belonged purely to nature. If they had said he caused wind by moving objects, he wouldn't have been surprised, but there were even records of him creating large tornadoes using only his own abilities.

"I don't know what a spirit summoner is, but... it's certain that the first awakener was human."

"That's impossible."

Nain asked back with a frown. Natural elements were far too difficult for humans to handle... If not a spirit summoner, could he have been a transcendent being hiding his identity?

Nain thought maybe there were dragons or beings equivalent to dragons here too. Transcendent beings knew as much as the years they had lived. Perhaps he could ask them about ways to return home?

"Haven't you ever seen anything like this?"

That's when it happened.

The woman who had been observing Nain intently from across opened her mouth, which had been closed the whole time, and spoke indifferently. At the same time, bright blue flames shot up from her body. Nain's mouth fell open.

"...!"

When Nain gasped and jumped up from his seat, the woman giggled and gestured for him to sit back down. The flames that had coiled around the woman's body like a snake disappeared without a trace.

Now he saw that only Nain had stood up, while everyone else remained seated nonchalantly. His ears instantly burned hot. Embarrassed at being the only one excited, Nain calmed his breathing and sat down quietly. Even so, his startled heart still pounded wildly.

The middle-aged man sitting beside her quietly scolded her.

"Esper-nim, this isn't the time for pranks. Don't startle the dimension wanderer."

"Why? It's funny."

The woman laughed without even covering her mouth. Nain tried to calm his rapidly beating heart while taking deep breaths.

It was fine. He was just a bit surprised because something unexpected happened suddenly. Th-that could happen... What was the big deal about someone catching fire... anyway. At least it was fortunate that person was unharmed.

The pounding of his heart gradually subsided with time. Nain tried to hide his flustered state while calmly steadying his breathing. He cautiously asked the woman.