Robert sat on the island’s breakwater, letting out a sigh.
He felt pathetic about himself. The head of the dimensional Warp Zone had been kidnapped and abandoned on such a remote island.
He was the best Warp Zone technician in The World. With decent political sense, he had successfully risen to the position of chief of the dimensional Warp Zone in his mid-forties.
Ever since becoming the head of the Warp Zone, he had been thoroughly enjoying the thrill of commanding powerful Awakened, but it had ultimately led to this disaster.
Having spilled everything he knew to his kidnappers, even if that spatial ability user said he would release him, returning was impossible. If he tried, he would likely only be tortured and spend the rest of his life in prison.
That was assuming they even let him go. Judging by how the Awakened had killed others yesterday without a flicker of emotion, surviving didn’t seem easy either.
“Might as well rush to the dimensional Warp Zone and die fighting Mitterrand.”
Robert muttered and sighed again. But even that wasn’t a viable plan. If he died, he would most likely rot away on this island.
It was over 10 kilometers to the mainland, and the only boats left on the island had been abandoned for decades, making them unable to float.
Even if he miraculously crossed the sea, he would still have to pass through monster-infested territory to reach a fortress city.
It was an impossible task for an F-Rank Awakened without any weapons.
Robert clutched his aching stomach. Once the fear subsided, hunger began to set in.
“Are they telling me to starve to death? If they kidnapped me, they should at least give me food.”
As Robert grumbled, a backpack suddenly thudded to the ground beside him. Startled, he turned to look.
Yonghoon was standing there.
“There’s bread and daily necessities in the backpack. Check it.”
Robert shrank back at Yonghoon’s sudden appearance. He cautiously opened the bag.
Just as Yonghoon said.
The large bag was filled with lots of bread, drinks, and even a blanket. But it was too much. It was enough food to last nearly two weeks.
Robert stared at Yonghoon with a bewildered expression.
Yonghoon was wearing different clothes from yesterday and had a hat pulled low over his face that Robert hadn’t seen before.
“I was going to take time to hear your story, but something urgent came up, so I’ll have to postpone it. That’s food for you to eat in the meantime.”
Robert’s face stiffened. His words meant he would be left here again.
And for a long time.
When Yonghoon learned that a Dimensional Beast had been sent to the C dimension, he decided to return immediately.
Yonghoon quickly wrapped up matters in this dimension.
He sent Elena to the city she wanted to go to, retrieved the Relic shield and Dimensional Core from the Warp Zone, and confirmed the battle between Dimensional Beasts and Awakened in New Berlin City.
But there was still one ambiguous matter left. This middle-aged man. He knew a lot, especially as a Warp Zone expert, and would be needed later.
However, there was no way to take him across dimensions.
It was risky enough for Yonghoon to travel alone, and he couldn’t take an ordinary Awakened without a Dimensional Core. After dimensional movement, the man would surely die without one.
In the end, Yonghoon decided to leave him on the island until he returned. Having made that decision, he scavenged food from broken shops while escaping New Berlin City and brought it here.
“See you later, then.”
With those words, Yonghoon disappeared.
Robert stared blankly at the spot where Yonghoon had vanished.
“Is this some new form of abandonment torture?”
Robert muttered in disbelief. Beside him, only the bag stuffed with bread remained.
Yonghoon made his final spatial movement to the old city center of New Warsaw. It hadn’t changed much from a few days ago. He retrieved the backpack he had hidden in a corner of a building. Over the clothes he had just scavenged, he layered on his Hunter’s armor.
Yonghoon sighed as he looked at the armor. Wearing it without thinking had caused too many misunderstandings. Now that he understood its appearance, he would have to modify it slightly when wearing it in the future.
Yonghoon checked his equipment one last time. He had used up all three spears he had brought, but he had gained a shield and a Dimensional Core instead.
Still, destroying one Warp Zone and half a major city with three spears wasn’t a bad trade.
Yonghoon checked his smart watch for the first time in a while.
Level A
Dimensional Power 9000/20000
His experience bar was already halfway full. Fighting A-Rank Awakened and monsters had helped a lot, but the sword’s contribution was the greatest.
He had barely paid attention to Awakened before, thinking it was hard to grow stronger beyond A-Rank, but the scene he saw earlier changed his mind.
The woman’s ability to smash a Dimensional Beast’s shell in one blow was impossible for an A-Rank. There had to be a level above that.
He definitely needed to gather more experience. Even if he didn’t know whether the usual methods would work to climb higher, he had seen the possibility and couldn’t stop.
Yonghoon calmed his mind.
Now he had to open a dimensional tunnel. It was the dimensional tunnel that had caused him so much trouble when coming here. His experience had increased significantly, but he still wasn’t sure if it would be enough.
Yonghoon stretched his hand forward and began opening the dimensional tunnel.
A black hole began to open before him, and after a moment, Yonghoon leapt into it.
While Yonghoon was away in another dimension, many things happened, but the biggest event was the attack of a Dimensional Beast.
The Dimensional Beast appeared in the United Kingdom. While contaminating nearby humans, it advanced toward the Safe Zone in Birmingham.
With London’s Safe Zone already destroyed and the country in a dire situation, the appearance of a Dimensional Beast left the UK utterly devastated.
The few capable Awakened had already been wiped out by the appearance of B-Rank monsters, and the rest had been completely annihilated during the Linkers’ counterattack.
As a result, the UK was struggling even to maintain its existing Safe Zones. The Dimensional Beast’s arrival only drove them deeper into despair.
The UK urgently contacted the U.S. and Korean governments. They were the countries that had recently eliminated Dimensional Beasts.
The UK pleaded with the U.S. and Korean governments.
However, the U.S. lacked the ability to handle a Dimensional Beast, and Korea couldn’t help either because Yonghoon was absent.
“I’m sorry, Samantha. Yes, yes.”
Eunseo kept apologizing over the phone. After a while, she hung up and sighed.
Eunseo had come up to the rooftop after receiving a call at the office. Sunhee had come up with her.
“Was that a call from Samantha?”
Sunhee asked Eunseo.
“Yes, she’s been calling almost every hour. It’s understandable since she has no other options, but there’s really nothing we can do.”
At Eunseo’s words, Sunhee’s expression grew sad. Both Eunseo and Sunhee desperately wanted to help her. Eunseo had fought alongside Samantha before, and Sunhee’s parents had been rendered vegetative by a Dimensional Beast.
But without Yonghoon, it was impossible for them to fight a Dimensional Beast.
Besides, the government would surely block them from going to the UK.
“If only the captain returned, we could at least try something. We’re too powerless on our own.”
Sunhee nodded at Eunseo’s words.
“It’s only been four days since Yonghoon crossed over, but it feels like a long time. He planned to stay for a week, so there are three days left.”
“That’s too late……”
Eunseo muttered with a dark expression at Sunhee’s words.
Sunhee agreed. By then, it would be too late. Countless more people would be contaminated by the Dimensional Beast.
“We can’t do it on our own, right?”
Sunhee said, stroking her chest.
“No. No way. You know that. Without the captain, it’s hopeless.”
Eunseo glanced at Sunhee’s chest and shook her head.
The sun was slowly setting. As the evening glow colored the surroundings, Eunseo and Sunhee sighed.
“What’s with all the sighing?”
“It’s because the captain’s not here…… huh?”
Eunseo answered the voice from behind but then turned around in surprise.
Yonghoon was standing there.
Sunhee had already darted over and was clutching his arm.
Eunseo clicked her tongue inwardly at Sunhee’s lightning-fast movement and approached Yonghoon.
Seeing them, Yonghoon smiled but then staggered.
“Ah, are you okay?”
Sunhee asked, supporting his arm in surprise.
“Ahh, I’m fine. It’s just the aftereffects of dimensional movement. It’s actually much better than last time.”
Yonghoon glanced at his palm. The Dimensional Core had darkened. But unlike before, it hadn’t turned completely black. Some Dimensional Power remained.
It was his second dimensional movement, and the experience he had gained had significantly increased his Dimensional Power.
Thanks to that, he had safely arrived at his destination and could still move around without trouble as long as he didn’t engage in combat. He would likely recover fully after just one day.
“But why were you guys sighing?”
“Oh, right. There’s a huge problem in the UK. Yesterday in the UK……”
“A Dimensional Beast appeared?”
“Huh? Did you just hear the story?”
At Eunseo’s words, Yonghoon shook his head. Seeing him, Eunseo continued.
“A Dimensional Beast appeared in the UK and is moving toward Birmingham. If we don’t stop it within two days, the Birmingham Safe Zone will collapse. Samantha kept calling, asking for help.”
Fortunately, it seemed that the Dimensional Beast had appeared far from the Safe Zone.
In his current state, he couldn’t fly to the United Kingdom using spatial movement. He needed to hear the situation first, and if necessary, travel by airplane. His Dimensional Power would likely recover during the trip.
“Let’s go down. Everyone will be thrilled.”
Eunseo took the lead and dashed down the stairs. Sunhee and Yonghoon followed after her. Sunhee received the shield and supported him.
From downstairs, Eunseo’s voice could be heard shouting that Yonghoon had arrived.
Yonghoon’s return was met with a warm welcome from the team members, and even Director Jang and Representative Seo rushed over.
Yonghoon was exhausted, but he shared the stories of his experiences in the monster’s dimension.
Yonghoon’s story was quite long. There were many tales about that world, and many about his own adventures.
While Yonghoon spoke, the others couldn’t hide their astonished expressions.
“We’ll have to revise our countermeasures. The real problem isn’t the monsters.”
When Yonghoon finished speaking, Director Jang spoke up with a grave expression.
“Just blocking them wasn’t going to be enough after all.”
Representative Seo also nodded.
Kangwoo, who had rushed over after hearing the news along with the team members, also wore a serious expression and fell deep into thought.
However, Dohyeon’s eyes were sparkling wide with excitement at Yonghoon’s tales. It seemed he couldn’t speak simply because the atmosphere was too heavy.
“More importantly, I heard a Dimensional Beast appeared in the United Kingdom.”
At Yonghoon’s words, Director Jang nodded.
“We received a request for help from the United Kingdom. Since you weren’t here, we couldn’t respond.”
Director Jang paused here and moistened his lips.
“To be honest, even now that you’re back, I’d rather stop you. From the government’s perspective, you and other high-level Awakened are strategic resources. The official stance is to refuse foreign requests.”
Yonghoon tilted his head at Director Jang’s words.
“Official?”
Director Jang gave a bitter smile.
“Personally, it’s not easy to abandon hundreds of thousands of lives when I know they could be saved.”
Yonghoon nodded. He had to go anyway. Saving lives was important, and he needed to gain experience points. Plus, he needed to obtain more Dimensional Cores.
“I’ll go with you. I’ll be of help.”
As Yonghoon decided to go, Sunhee stepped forward and spoke.
“Let’s all go together. The captain has to move by airplane too.”
At team leader Han’s words, everyone in Team Crazy nodded.
And so, Team Crazy’s trip to the United Kingdom was decided.