The Foreigner on the Periphery

Prisoner Asif-26,188,280 considered himself a man far removed from hatred and resentment.

In his judgment, hatred only bred hatred.

From one person to another, from one group to the next.

An endless chain of animosity.

It was unproductive and inefficient. Such negative emotions offered absolutely no help in life, especially in his situation. Thus, unlike many senior prisoners, he had decided not to hate the Committee for strapping this dog collar around his neck. He made that decision the moment he woke up.

He couldn't remember his crime, but he must have done something deserving of punishment. His penal labor was the price for his sins, and the Committee was merely returning the consequences of his evil deeds. Karmic retribution. He was certain that if he diligently paid off his debt, he would one day earn his freedom.

It wouldn't take that long.

"Jump complete! You have arrived at Earth."

"Please enjoy a comfortable journey to your destination."

‘William Evans.’

The identity he would use here.

He rolled the pronunciation around in his mouth a few times, a habit formed during training. It was probably a very common name. William. If someone shouted it on the street, a few people would surely turn around. It was always like that.

‘Will I be able to earn a lot here?’

His first assignment had been a dimension called Ashtal, but he had been pushed aside by capable long-term prisoners, leaving him with a paltry sum of Talents.

He hadn't had much luck at his second assignment either, despite staying there for several decades.

How would he fare here?

"..."

Whenever this anxiety surged, he took his medicine out of his pocket. He opened the cap and tapped the bottle against his palm until a blue pill popped out. The bottle was smaller than his fist, but the prisoner knew it held a twenty-year supply of prescription medication.

Asif-26,188,280... no, William Evans swallowed it with a determined expression. At once, the waves of anxiety calmed into a placid lake.

‘I can be free. If I just work hard at what I'm told... that day will eventually come!’

"Door opening."

Screech!

The door of the Jump Ship opened, and the air of an unfamiliar world greeted him.

‘Hm?’

A troll was waiting for him in front of the door. An otherworldly text floated above the vicious horns that symbolized the species. Only those of his kind could read it.

‘A prisoner.’

This was the expected procedure; the troll had come to guide him. William envied the man for receiving a troll's body. If only he had lucked out with such a species.

William had never experienced the symptoms described as 'feeling like your mind is melting and dripping out your nose' or 'feeling loose between your soul and body, itching as if filled with pus.' He hadn't felt any discomfort during either of his two body changes.

It was just... a bit boring. The human body—which he was inhabiting for the third time in a row—was far too weak. He desperately wanted to wield the monstrous strength of a troll for himself.

‘That guy must have an easy time working.’

He muttered to himself and reached out his hand, intending to shake hands just as he had been taught in socialization training.

"Nice to meet you."

The troll glanced down at his hand, but instead of shaking it, spun around.

"Follow me."

William grumbled internally.

‘What a rude guy.’

*

William followed the troll and looked around the Terminal. Soon, he noticed something strange.

This place... this jump facility called the New York Terminal was known to be the largest on Earth, but there were far too few people here. Instead of staff and passengers, only heavily armed security personnel roamed around on high alert.

The text floating above their heads also caught his eye. The proportion of prisoners was far too high. Unable to hold back his curiosity, William asked a question.

"What in the world happened?"

At the troll's curt reply, William freaked out.

"An escaped prisoner?!"

He had never heard of such an incident before.

A prison break!

‘Some lunatic actually planned and executed a prison break?!’

Breaking out... it was unimaginable.

Why was it unimaginable?

He didn't know. It just... was.

‘Crazy bastard... absolute psycho.’

Listening to the subsequent explanation, William realized his timing had been unbelievable.

Currently, all jump facilities on Earth except the New York Terminal had been closed. Even here, all ships were banned from docking, save for the Committee's military-purpose Jump Ships.

"If my departure had been even a little later, I wouldn't have been able to board the Jump Ship at all."

When the New York Terminal declared its partial lockdown, William's ship had already jumped from its origin dimension.

"No, wait. That's not the problem..."

A realization struck him.

If they had locked down this Terminal's Slot while he was piercing through the Dimensional Wall, the Jump Ship would have been crushed and annihilated before reaching Earth. And William, trapped inside, would naturally have died a gruesome death.

He let out a sigh of relief and muttered.

"I should thank the Committee. They broke their own rules and gave clearance... just to save my life, right?"

The troll smirked. Then, without even looking back, he mocked him.

"Well, who knows if they did it for the value of a single prisoner, or simply because it would be a waste to destroy a perfectly good Jump Ship."

William grumbled internally.

‘No manners, and he really talks like a piece of shit, doesn't he?’

The troll led him to an isolated building and stopped.

"This is where you'll be taking on your first mission on Earth."

William panicked.

"What? Here, right now?"

"I told you. It's a special situation right now."

Normally, he would unpack at a house prepared for his cover identity, commute to the state agency where he was undercover, and pass through a few required phases like an ordinary Earthling before officially starting work.

The situation had clearly grown dire because of that escaped prisoner.

"All prisoners in this dimension are on high alert right now. We're short on hands; there's no time to leisurely run you through orientation."

After briefly introducing himself as an undercover agent for the U.S. Immigration Service, the troll continued.

"All material and personnel movement between dimensions has stopped here. It's the same for criminals. Even the sinners preparing to be forcibly transferred to the Committee under the extraterrestrial extradition treaty... are stranded at the Terminal."

Illegal aliens from other worlds and extraterrestrials on the run for their crimes usually waited in the Terminal's prison just before deportation.

William soon figured out his mission.

"You want me to play guard?"

"Yeah. That guy over there."

As the door opened, a desperate scream rang out.

"What? What are you talking about... You definitely told me. We're leaving Earth today. So... you said we'd go to the Committee Headquarters, rip my soul out there, and plant it in another body! So why the delay?!"

What had he just heard?

Utterly dumbfounded, William blinked slowly.

Judging from the context, it sounded like the wails of a criminal whose sentence of penal labor had been finalized without a trial.

But the plea made no logical sense.

No matter how he listened to it...

"Please... please transfer me quickly. I turned myself in. I admit to my charges. I deserve to be punished. So take me to another world, take my body, and give me another one. I don't want to endure even one more day. Please... give me... a new body..."

...no matter how he listened, it sounded like a man begging to be dragged away faster.

William clicked his tongue.

"Wow... what kind of absolute nutjob is that?"

They were inside a massive relief facility that surpassed an aircraft hangar in size. Inside an isolated containment space sat a young-looking, blue-scaled Lightning Dragon. Restrained by an artifact that prevented the use of any Magic—including Polymorph—his large eyes brimmed with despair and frustration. Through the glass wall, he was arguing into a speaker, protesting against whoever was explaining things on the other side—likely another prisoner.

The troll spoke up.

"He hasn't shown any violent tendencies, but listening to him babble, he's seriously lost his mind. I'm guessing he's got a brain deformity. You know, those monsters keep it under wraps, but rumor has it that one in ten of their eggs hatches a cripple? Believe it or not."

With that, he turned around as if leaving the rest to William.

"He's a criminal slated to be transferred to the Committee Headquarters, so it feels wrong to leave him entirely to artifacts and machines. Keep a close eye on him."

William's eyebrow twitched.

"Just him?"

The troll laughed in disbelief.

"As if. Do you think a punk like him is the only one here right now? You have to monitor this entire building."

At those words, William's face clouded over.

Just hearing about it, this was clearly a shit assignment—high-maintenance and tedious, risking massive fallout if he failed, and yielding practically zero Talents even if he succeeded.

‘Already acting territorial? Taming the rookie?’

But they had called it an emergency, so he couldn't protest or disobey.

It was his first day... he would hold it in for now.

Meanwhile, he looked up into the air to update himself on the current situation. The information network, accessible only to prisoners, unfurled in a schematic view. Quickly reading through it, William scoffed.

‘What? It's not here?’

The information he was most curious about wasn't listed. This was his first time encountering a prison break, but in a situation of this magnitude, the headquarters would typically urge a manhunt for the escapee by issuing a bounty under the guise of an 'emergency mission'...

‘It just says to guard the Terminal. Not a single word about the escapee.’

Left with no choice, William asked out loud.

"Hey, by the way... who is it? The escaped prisoner."

The troll, who had been about to step out, replied with his back turned.

Upon hearing the answer, William's expression froze like ice.

"Asif-666."

*

"Over here. Look here."

He advanced toward the voice, which was scattering like cumulus clouds.

He couldn't figure out who he was. He could only feel his surroundings. It was dark, and narrow. He was trapped.

"Right, here. Don't lose focus. That's it. Don't let yourself scatter. Coalesce. Remember."

The authority carried in the voice was heavy and terrifying.

He had no choice but to obey.

"Yes, very good. Remember. All your memories... bring them all to me."

In a flash, indescribable memories... or perhaps pain, crashed into him.

And he realized who he was. He remembered. He was Todd, part of the Offshore Tax Evasion Tracking Unit under the Tax Collection Command.

Remembering one thing, the rest followed in a stream.

He soon recalled his final memory, or rather, the one right before it.

"No... not that one."

When the prisoner had drawn an ink-black blade right before the arrest, Todd had panicked. He hadn't expected the target to dare raise a hand against the Committee.

In all of history, such an attempt had never succeeded. Ever since the most heinous criminal, Asiph-1, fell to his knees and became the first prisoner, no one had been able to put up any real resistance.

Because of the mental suggestions, even suicide was difficult—at least until they were squeezed for their full existential value and abilities through penal service.

"Wait, I said I don't need that memory, didn't I?"

But Asif-666 had fought back—in a highly effective and threatening manner, at that. Having already lost a few subordinates, Todd debated whether he should undo the Spatial Condensation and request backup.

At that moment, darkness had completely covered his surroundings.

He couldn't see anything.

Just like now.

Even then, he had seen nothing.

"No, I said not that. You really don't listen."

The moment the voice muttered, clicking its tongue.

—!

Pain that felt as if it would shatter his very existence raced through him.

He realized it once again.

Right, I died.

I... I...

"Ah, ah! Please... please...!"

He screamed. Madness ran rampant as the memories he had pushed far away returned.

At this moment, there was only one thing he wanted.

He wanted to go. He wanted to leave this place. This wasn't where he belonged.

Todd became aware that he had turned into a phantom.

"Send me away... send me... where I'm supposed to go... please...!"

The voice promised him.

"Okay, I'll send you away. So tell me... everything you remember. Starting from why you came to Earth... to what you were plotting here. And everything else related to the Committee."

The phantom could not doubt that voice. It was clear the other party possessed the authority to open the door to where he needed to go, and the power to guide him through it. The possibility of betrayal seemed nonexistent.

That was why he didn't resist.

*

"Ah, are you finished?!"

Yumtus, who had been sitting on the sofa watching TV, jumped to his feet.

The avatar replied.

"Yeah, it seems roughly done."

Yumtus could hardly take his eyes off the avatar.

‘How... does he change so much with each passing day!’

Both his spirit and body had become holy.

When he lost consciousness in the dark and woke up again, he was in the Amazon Jungle. In a darkness where nothing was visible but a half-roasted Dragon, the avatar had instructed him, and the priest had healed the Dragon exactly as told.

After finishing their business there, the avatar took the priest and relocated once again—this time to Hong Kong, on the opposite side of Earth. Until then, Yumtus hadn't known the reason they had to return here. He merely followed along as a subordinate, walking wherever the will of the great one led.

Only after arriving in Hong Kong was Yumtus able to lay eyes on Minjun's sacred body once more. Immediately after, he fainted, a waterfall of blood pouring from his forehead.

Minjun woke him up, but upon seeing the avatar's face, the priest spat blood and passed out once more. Minjun woke him up again... and he fainted with massive bleeding yet again.

After repeating this cycle several times, the priest was finally able to maintain his sanity in front of the avatar, just as he was doing now.

‘His appearance definitely hasn't changed much... No, it's exactly the same. Even though the image perceived by my brain is identical... how can it feel so different!’

The divine truth must have manifested in a profound and mysterious way.

"..."

The avatar's gaze stopped on the TV. A news reporter was explaining the worldwide lockdown of Terminals in a grave tone, an event that had occurred again after only a few months.

Because the Committee and the governments of each country had not provided a clear reason, the media was wildly spewing guesses. Among them, the most prominent theory was a terrorist threat.

He muttered.

"Terrorism, huh..."

Turning his head, he asked a question.

"And the Elf?"

Yumtus answered apologetically.

"He hasn't woken up yet. It will take some time for his life force to replenish..."

"Got it."

Turning his back to Yumtus, Minjun spoke in a nonchalant tone.

On the surface, it sounded like a very ordinary, everyday sentence.

"Well then, I'm going to go get something to eat."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!