Chapter 71

By the time we had moved roughly 0.5 AU beyond Saturn (about 75 million kilometers), we finally ran into a “wall.”

Even though a sea of stars stretched endlessly in the distance… a transparent barrier blocked our path, refusing to let us go any farther.

‘This is as far as it goes.’

“…Yeah.”

‘To be honest, size doesn’t really matter. It’s just empty darkness out there anyway. If you’d wanted to, it could’ve expanded endlessly. But instead of being greedy, your unconscious seems to have defined everything up to Saturn as a single completed system.’

“Hm….”

‘It might not mean much, but if you ever want to expand the domain later, try studying areas beyond the solar system—things like the Kuiper Belt or the Oort Cloud. Once your perception changes, that wall will naturally be pushed outward past the solar system.’

“So, to sum it up… my Imagery is basically a sphere with a radius of about 1.5 billion kilometers, containing two properly realized planets?”

‘Yes. We didn’t check Mercury or Venus, so I can’t be certain, but the odds are good.’

“Phew… alright. I think I’ve seen enough. Let’s head back to Earth for now.”

‘You’re not going to check Mercury and Venus?’

“Later. Honestly, space is starting to wear on me a bit. There are still tons of places on Earth I’ve never been to.”

‘Not just tons—you’ve barely been anywhere at all. The only place we’ve actually explored properly is Daegu.’

“…We were just talking about space and 1.5 billion kilometers, and suddenly it’s Daegu. That mood shift is wild. Anyway, let’s go. If I get bored touring Earth, we can head back toward the Sun next time.”

‘Understood. Heading straight to Earth.’

“Yeah. Let’s go back—to our planet.”

After returning to Earth, we debated where to go next. In the end, we decided to head north along the Gyeongbu rail line.

Why the train tracks?

Because… I wanted to drive a KTX.

I figured out the controls by eyeballing them (I may or may not have erased one downbound train in the process… but who cares), then started the train without much trouble.

Shiiiiiiiiik!

“Welcome, valued customers. This train is a high-speed service that stops wherever it feels like. There are no crew members. Accidents may occur anywhere at any time, so please take care of yourselves. We have no intention of making sure you disembark alive. Thank you.”

‘Pfft.’

‘Hehe.’

Thanks for laughing. I was worried it might be too much of an old-man joke. Or maybe they just hadn’t been born long enough to build up resistance to bad humor.

Either way, despite having flown around at three percent of the speed of light just yesterday, fake-Shia and fake-Bel found a mere 300 km/h train endlessly amusing, running all over it while laughing their heads off.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this train will soon arrive at Gimcheon Station. Please prepare to disembark. Thank you.”

Whenever I randomly stopped at a station and opened the doors, they’d gleefully jump outside, loot the convenience store snacks clean, then hop right back on.

Yeah. They’re having fun.

Then, just as we were about to blow past the famously boring city of Daejeon, a sudden thought crossed my mind—and I slammed on the emergency brake.

Kiiiiiiiiiiiiik!!

Needless to say, braking like that causes a derailment.

*Kwa-druk! Bang! Kuuuwaaaang!!

Charging into Daejeon Station at near top speed, the cars went wild, smashing the platforms to pieces.

Bang! Kwa-krash! Kwadangtangtang!!

Wow. That was a really satisfying crash.

Fake-Shia and fake-Bel, who had been rolling around laughing through it all, crawled out of the mangled cars and sent me their thoughts.

‘That was fun.’

‘Let’s do it again.’

“Well, strictly speaking, that was an accident… but if you had fun, I guess it’s fine.”

‘By the way, why did you stop here?’

“Oh. For bread.”

‘Bread?’

“Yeah. There’s this famous bakery called Seong×dang. It’s basically the alpha and omega of Daejeon—its very identity. I’ve wanted to try it forever, but never got the chance.”

‘Ah….’

So the three of us wandered around the station looking for Seong×dang. I knew it was nearby, but not the exact location.

Then suddenly, a strange sense of déjà vu hit me.

“Wait a second… isn’t this place exactly the same as Dongdaegu Station?”

Sure enough, the interior of Daejeon Station I was looking at had the exact same layout as Dongdaegu Station. Even the tenant shops were identical.

The only difference was that the color schemes of the stores were slightly altered.

“What’s up with this?”

‘You’ve never been to Daejeon Station when you were on Earth, have you?’

“Yeah.”

‘Then it looks like the parts you didn’t know were filled in by borrowing Dongdaegu Station.’

“A palette swap, huh….”¹

I never thought I’d see that applied here of all places.

To be honest… up until now, aside from the fact that there were no people, I hadn’t really felt a difference between this mental realm and reality.

That was partly because I’d mostly been wandering around places I knew well, and partly because all the information about Earth stored inside me—not just memories, but everything I’d seen and heard over more than twenty years of living here—was being used skillfully to dress things up without it showing.

But once I stepped outside my usual sphere of activity and came this far, I finally understood.

This place was definitely not Earth.

Above all, the proof was right there….

“Wow… Seong×dang is floating in the sky. That’s impressive.”

I’ll be honest. Yeah. I really wanted to go to Seong×dang.

I wanted to buy a whole basket of that bread everyone said was mediocre in taste but absurdly generous in quantity, and just try it for myself.

Why? Hell if I know. Maybe hearing “Seong×dang, Seong×dang, the everything of Daejeon~” shouted everywhere had brainwashed me without me realizing it.

Even so, that was more of an if-I-ever-go-to-Daejeon thing. Not something I’d deliberately ride a train for…

Which meant I must have wanted to eat that bread way more than I thought.

Otherwise, there’d be no reason for a bread-made castle with a big Seong×dang sign to be floating proudly in front of the station entrance.

I stared at that surreal, borderline-astral sight for a moment, then hopped straight into the roughly 20-meter-tall castle gate.

Then, despite there being no owner in sight, I grabbed armfuls of warm, freshly baked bread of every type and quietly slipped back out.

“…Alright. I’ve seen all there is to see in Daejeon. Let’s go, you two.”

Having tried driving a train, I figured I might as well fly a plane next, so I rode fake-Bel over to Cheongju Airport.

“Let’s start with D× Airlines. Alright, I’m the captain. You two are first officers.”

‘Okay. Sounds fun.’

‘Yeah. That’ll be fun.’

And just like that, I started going through the parked passenger planes one by one, checking the manuals and taking them for a spin.

Man… it was harder than I expected. I thought as long as there was autopilot, I just had to get it airborne—but even taking off wasn’t easy.

Landing? What’s that, something you eat? You can just crash it in, so why would I need to practice landing?

After struggling for nearly half a day straight (how many planes got wrecked in the process is a secret), I finally managed to get a passenger jet into the air.

Kiiiiiiing…!

“Attention, passengers~ this is Star Alliance A×iana Airlines Flight 1313, destination unknown. Seatbelts are not required, since we’re going to crash anyway.”

Then, with Incheon International Airport set as the destination, the three of us lounged around munching on the bread we’d taken from Seong×dang when I felt the plane slowly adjusting its altitude.

I looked out the window, and sure enough, Yeongjong Island came into view in the distance.

“Looks like we’re here. Let’s get off.”

At my words, fake-Bel jumped up from their seat and kicked the plane’s door bang clean off.

Naturally, with a crunch, the door tore away and fell straight into the ocean.

With a gwaaahh of rushing wind, the air inside was sucked out in an instant, and oxygen masks rained down from above.

As I hugged fake-Shia tightly—who was frantically gathering up the rolling bread with a teary face—I jumped straight out of the plane.

‘Ppaaaang!’

“There’s way better food in Seoul. Let’s just eat that instead.”

And so, while watching the passenger plane crash into Yeongjong Island and spew flames into the air, we clung to fake-Bel and headed into Seoul.

‘Steak, caviar, spaghetti, bulgogi, dak-galbi, bread, bread, bread~’

Ever since coming back from space, fake-Shia’s appetite had noticeably increased. I listened to her cheerful humming as we strolled leisurely through the streets of Seoul.

Our destination was Seodaemun-gu, where my old university was. Since it was the neighborhood I knew best, I figured we’d use it as a base and take our time sightseeing around the city.

But honestly, once we got here, Seoul wasn’t all that special. The vitality and energy people associate with downtown Seoul come from the crowds of people packed into it… and right now, there were no people at all.

Empty streets. An empty city.

Not a single living animal in sight either—just complete silence.

Of course, Daegu and Daejeon had been the same, but seeing Seoul—normally overflowing with people—like this felt strangely unsettling.

Grrr… grrr…

Well, not entirely silent, I guess.

Woof! Woof woof! Grrr!!

I glanced at the pack of pitch-black dogs that suddenly rushed out and blocked the road, then jerked my chin toward fake-Bel.

“Clear them out.”

‘Yes.’

Kyaaaang!!

At some point she’d apparently acquired it again—fake-Bel pulled a fairly convincing longsword out of thin air and butchered the dogs in an instant.

Seeing flames burst out with a thump from the chest of one that got skewered, they were probably the kind that attacked by breathing fire. Didn’t look like I’d be seeing that happen, though.

Fake-Bel wiped the blood off her cheek and sheathed her sword.

‘That’s all.’

And then, faint clusters of light were sucked into her chest.

I let out a dry chuckle.

“Monsters are the same here as in Daegu.”

‘Of course. They’re practically right next door. Why would they be different?’

“Fair point.”

And so… while taking down monsters we occasionally ran into, we passed through Yeongdeungpo District, crossed the Yanghwa Bridge over the Han River, and reached Mapo District—

The moment we crossed the river, I clicked my tongue, recalling what we’d just said.

Seriously. That was such a cliché thing to say… tsk.

Kuurung! Kwarrrrrng!!

The instant we crossed the Han River, the sky turned pitch-black. Thunder roared, lightning flashed, and lines of text popped up in front of my eyes.

Completely dumbfounded, I asked the two of them,

“…Hey. What is this?”

But for some reason, the two who always answered right away stayed silent.

“…Huh?”

I looked around—and sure enough, they were gone.

“Wow. Seriously, what kind of situation is this now?”

Pushing through the raging storm, I hurried back the way I’d come.

I didn’t know why this was happening, but given the circumstances, it was highly likely that our party setting foot north of the Han River had triggered an ‘event.’

If that was the case, then leaving the area should—

Fwahk!!

Sure enough, the moment I re-entered Yanghwa Bridge, the weather instantly cleared. The surroundings brightened, and a blue sky reappeared.

And there were fake-Shia and fake-Bel too, staring at me with wide eyes.

‘You suddenly disappeared.’

‘Where did you go?’

“…I’d like to know that myself. Where exactly did I just go?”

After hearing my explanation, fake-Bel let out a quiet sigh.

‘I was thinking too simply. Why did I assume distortion would only manifest as monsters?’

“You mean what was happening in there was connected to the curse… my power distortion?”

‘Yes. That “phenomenon” itself is the distortion. You could even call it a kind of quest.’

“So clearing the quest resolves the distortion and lets me recover my power?”

‘Yes. That seems to be the mechanism.’

“Hmm….”

Fake-Bel continued,

‘But that also means you don’t have to do it.’

“…You’re saying I should just ignore it?”

‘Yes. There are plenty of other places to explore besides Seoul. I don’t think there’s any need to take that risk on purpose. And judging by what happened, it looks like we can’t even assist you from the side… wouldn’t it be better to try after you’ve grown stronger?’

I thought it over for a moment, then shook my head.

“No. Let’s do it now. It looks like I can escape just by leaving Gangbuk if things go south… if it feels too dangerous, I’ll just run.”

Fake-Bel frowned slightly between the brows.

‘If you insist… then let’s do this.’

Kwarung! Kwarrrrrng!

Watching the event start over from the beginning, I smiled quietly.

…It looked like my exploration of this mental realm was going to be far more interesting than I’d expected.