I often thought about it after my head grew thicker. I felt like I was being carried away by the torrent of life. The feeling of being thrown into an event beyond my control, losing the realism of stepping on solid ground. Powerless as I was swept away by a torrid river.
Since the day I was eight years old, I couldn't find my own choice in life even if I cleansed my sight—no decision, no choice, no influence. I just drifted away as fast as the helmsman named Parvache led me. I never thought about rowing myself because I felt it was safest to leave it to a skilled sailor named Parvache, to run away before the dreadful torrent of the Truth-Seeker consumed me.
However, after learning that there was no longer a Truth-Seeker in my world and that I was actually floating on a calm river, I was relieved and excited. Still, on the other hand, I felt angry, depressed, and empty. I thought blankly as I lifted the remote control. What time did I get up today? Seeing that my back was starting to hurt stiffly, it was likely at least four or five hours since I lied down on the couch. I put down the smartphone in my hand and turned on the TV.
The news was coming out.
-It has been six months since the outbreak of the Munich Incident, but the dome-shaped black object surrounding the city hasn't disappeared. Early this morning in Korean time, the German government announced that they would halt military operations, including bombings on the Black Dome in Munich. In fact, it can be interpreted as a decision to give up on Munich.
Ah…that's how it turned out. It seemed that the German government's response to Munich's Channel eventually ended with giving up.
-It is speculated that the different races that the German government has contacted for help have been unable to identify or destroy the dome over the past half-year.
I remembered the sad news I heard late after returning to Earth from the dimension of the purple moon six months ago. All of the German government's follow-up operations to subdue the reptiles and rescue Munich citizens were wiped out. Many of the remaining citizens in the dome were also killed in the fierce battle. It was a terrible failure on humanity's part.
The red-skinned reptile race that occupied Munich gave up any further provocations, as they felt that the armed forces mobilized by the Germans weren't so terrifying. They kidnapped all remaining citizens in the city and disappeared into the Channel that they came through. The problem was that even then, the black dome didn't disappear and stayed still. Rather than sending additional troops into the scene, which was possible to enter but impossible to escape, the German government launched a massive bombing across Munich. The target was to destroy the dome, of course.
After entering downtown Munich, the plan was to send troops into the Channel where the reptiles escaped – to rescue the citizens and retaliate against the kidnappers. The government, gaining knowledge of friendly races, already knew that the Channel was a door to another world and decided that if they entered it, they would be able to rescue the citizens who were taken away.
However, as the black dome wasn't destroyed by any means of force, Germany couldn't deploy troops to rescue the citizens. This was because it was impossible to escape the dome, which thoroughly extended even underground. Even if the citizens were saved, they would be indefinitely trapped within the black dome which hung over the city.
What happened to people who were dragged in? I felt more depressed, so I quickly pressed the remote and turned to another channel. It was a weekday, so there was no program to watch. It was then.
-Woongwoong!
There was a vibration from a distance as if something hit the barrier's boundary located several kilometers away—a shock wave of Mana as if something solid hit the wall. The fluctuations of forces that formed the barrier caught my senses as clearly as if they happened next to me. It was a change that ordinary people couldn't notice. But it was a shock noticeable enough even if the circuit was a bit insensitive if there were people around with their Mana circuit already open. It was definitely getting weaker and weaker compared to the beginning.
I knew that the wizards being fostered by the Korean government were all being trained in isolation from the outside, near Heonneung. However, there would be sprouts of wizards around here that were talented enough to open their Mana circuit on their own without any additional training, as I did before. If such a gifted person noticed this phenomenon and reported it somewhere, it would be a big deal.
[What are you gonna do with that?]
Lying face down on the couch, a robot stuck out its thumb-sized head in front of my eyes.
"…What should we do?" I asked back helplessly.
It wasn't the first time this happened. It had intermittently occurred 2-3 times a day for a few days. When I reconstructed this huge barrier around this town, I had a hunch that this would happen someday.
-Woongwoong!
The Mana of the barrier fluctuated again. As expected, it was a weaker shock than before. But it did bother me. Which neighboring Channel were these guys coming all the way from to make a mess here? Parvache rushed me again.
[Aren't you gonna find out who these guys are?]
"We sent a summon yesterday to scout, but we didn't find any signs. It'd be on the news if any races were hanging around here in the first place. They're hiding right now."
At least it must quickly hide after a failed attempt to enter the barrier. Did it have a sense of alertness about me, the one who conjured the barrier? However, the attempt to enter was too explicit and ignorant for such things. Rather than being a civilized race, it was highly likely that their intelligence level was close to animals or primitive races.
"And it can never break this barrier. The first shock three days ago was the strongest, and after that, it's gotten weaker. You don't think they're very strong, right?"
[But it means that it's a creature who does the same thing as long as they avoid your summons' eyes.]
Oh, it's annoying. The spirit was meditating quietly inside the room for a while, then suddenly came out to the living room and was now nagging at me. The shock seemed to be quite bothersome for Parvache.
"Oh, this never happened in the past few months, so why now…"
[I think you've been lucky. There are a few Channels on Earth right now. Amazingly, no one's ever touched a barrier so far.]
"Of all the neighborhoods on this big planet, why is it wandering around my neighborhood? Why is it trying to get inside the barrier?"
[Maybe it's because of what we were concerned about when we rebuilt this barrier six months ago.]
'Damn it, damn it!'
This kind of barrier was a double-edged sword. The primary goal of preventing the entry of other races could be achieved. Still, once the defense was successful, the barrier was discovered by those attempting to cross. It was a good thing if they just gave up and stepped back, but things grew annoying when they start obsessing over trying to get through the barriers. Nevertheless, Parvache and I decided to make this barrier.
After I returned to Earth, over a hundred new Channels had been opened. But more than half of all Channels had yet to show signs of entry. Except for the very few cases in which exploration troops were first deployed from Earth's side, the Channel that hadn't yet popped anything up were unknowns. And since we didn't know what dangerous beings live beyond that point of entry, we didn't know when they would attack Earth.
I used complex lies, tricks, and some magical measures to move my mother and sister to a house inside the barrier (my family members still didn't know I was so close) and made a barrier that any races that weren't rooted in Earth couldn't enter. It was kind of repurposed and expanded using the existing barrier. It was the minimum defense device deployed because we weren't going to abandon Earth right away.
If there was no shock, it was an object that couldn't recognize the existence of a barrier at the level of humans who have only just started learning magic. Still, its effect on other species was powerful. As far as I knew, beings other than normal Earthly creatures could never enter. For example, suppose those indefinite demons who collapsed the metropolis of Caracas in one moment even hit Seoul right now. In that case, people could save their lives if they were within this barrier because those demons couldn't get in here.
"…Wouldn't it give up and go away if I leave it a little longer?"
[But are you going to leave knowing what kind of race it is? Did you really gain weight in your brain after you've been spreading it for about six months? It has been like that for three days now, you bastard! Aren't you anxious?]
Honestly, I was a little anxious. However, the strength of striking was also weak. No matter how strong a race was, would it be as strong as a Truth-Seeker? Whether or not the Korean military was on the alert, the only Channel in Korea was now blocked by me. It was to stop the Ashpim idiots from lingering around. The things that annoyed me for a few days right now around my barrier were the other races who had flowed from the Channels of the neighboring countries…who the hell was it?
[You're not going to answer me anymore?]
I pulled myself up from the couch because I was annoyed by the constantly nagging Parvache.
H-Huh?? As soon as I got up, my head started spinning. Did I lie down too long? Or was it because I was starving? Nowadays, our magic lessons were also irregular, so most of the days, I just rolled around the way I wanted to, all day long. If it was bothersome to eat, I didn't eat. I couldn't control my life because the rhythm of my life was broken once again.
Parvache looked up at me as I stumbled on the carpet for a while, unfocused. Parvache's eyes were just sculptured pieces of plastic that didn't have any pupils. Still, I felt like I was facing a look that criticized me, so my shoulders shook without knowing.
"…Why?"
Parvache looked at me for a moment without saying anything.
[…Eat quickly and get out.]
"…Yes."
[If it keeps trying to invade like that, it'll stay around the barrier anyway. I don't think it's going to run away, so quickly put something in your mouth and go out and find out what it is doing. If it feels dangerous, kill it.]
"…Yes, yes."
Taking a bath and getting dressed was so bothersome. These days, I only felt a great lethargy. In a singular moment, the goal that I had been running for just disappeared. The danger of The Truth-Seeker had just disappeared. In short, I had zero motivation and lacked purpose.
Nevertheless, it was the countless Channels that bothered me. Without those channels, I might have stopped the lessons with Parvache completely. For the same reason that this barrier was reconstructed, training was being conducted intermittently to prepare for dangerous races' arrival.
However, I no longer needed to learn the dimensional leap magic. I didn't need it anymore. When I thought of the time, effort, and hardships I had put into it, I really…sigh, let's stop. Again, heat rises, and I fall into despair.