The Foreigner on the Periphery

The atmosphere in the reception room couldn’t have been more hostile.

Choi Panseok thought it was fortunate his daughter wasn’t present. Choi Seona was different from him, a man who had weathered countless storms. If an enraged orc had growled right in front of her, she would have been paralyzed with fear and might have given him an opening.

He tried to speak as calmly as possible.

“That incident was not in the future Seona saw—”

“Enough of this!”

Jeongpal shot to his feet with a roar.

“...”

With a calm gaze, the old orc looked at Jeongpal’s fist, which had grabbed him by the collar. The bulging veins on the back of the hand looked ready to burst. Beneath his chin, he could feel the heat radiating from Jeongpal.

He spoke in a flat voice.

“Can you swear on it? Can you stake everything you have on that, Assemblyman?”

He met his opponent’s eyes with a calm, unwavering gaze.

Choi Panseok imagined the world as seen through the eyes of a beast.

To a pet or a piece of livestock, a human was practically an omnipotent god. Humans conjured food through methods beasts could not comprehend, provided comfortable shelters, and even claimed their lives according to some unfathomable logic. It was also incredibly common for a human’s affection or special interest to completely alter their fates.

Were dragons and orcs any different before an absolute being?

‘Just like the dragon we faced earlier.’

Choi Panseok murmured inwardly.

‘It seems that person has taken a special interest in you as well.’

To the returning master of this world, the pleas and appeals of the orcs might sound like nothing more than the cries of insects or beasts.

But Park Jeongpal was different.

‘That person will actually listen to what you have to say.’

This man had grasped immense power without even realizing it.

Power was often determined not by how great one was, but by how great an entity one was connected to.

A bureaucrat exercising a king’s administrative authority did not need to possess the exact same authority, just as a bishop relying on divine power did not need to possess godlike abilities.

“Why aren’t you answering?!”

As Jeongpal shouted roughly at him, Choi Panseok spoke without a single shred of shame.

“Unfortunately, I am not a dragon and cannot bind this promise in draconic, but I swear to you on everything I have. Seona did not foresee what would happen that day.”

Park Jeongpal’s face twisted.

The five-term assemblyman coaxed him in a low voice.

“I know Assemblyman Park’s family suffered a tragedy that day. However... it is hard to say this to your face, but the victims that day didn’t stop at just your family. Countless members of our kind departed on a path they could not return from. Among them were many sitting assemblymen.”

The old man raised a hand and placed it over Jeongpal’s wrist, which was still gripping his clothes.

“Long before I ever took office, I spent my entire life fighting for the rights of orcs. You know this well. The only reason I put on this assemblyman’s badge was to serve our kind.”

Choi Panseok could swear to it with all his heart.

The most precious thing to him was the rights of his people. The right not to be discriminated against as a person, to be granted the exact same opportunities as everyone else, and to pursue happiness.

If it meant that orcs could live in a better world going forward, he would gladly sell his body and soul.

“Every single orc assemblyman in this country is an incredibly precious individual. Each one of them exercises voting rights on behalf of over a hundred thousand of our kind. Haven’t I always shouted this until my throat bled? We need more assemblymen. We still fall far too short!”

He was a man who ran himself ragged just to get one more orc into the assembly. Jeongpal knew this fact very well. He himself had been a beneficiary of those efforts.

“Try to think a little more rationally. Seven orc assemblymen died because of the terrorist attack. If I had known in advance, if I truly had, do you think I would have simply skipped it to cowardly save my own skin? Instead, I would have informed everyone and saved as many assemblymen as I could!”

“...Dammit!”

Jeongpal released his grip on the collar.

This was the reason why, even while harboring suspicions against Choi Panseok, he had fallen deeper into a maze the more he thought about it.

Choi Panseok had absolutely no motive to aid and abet the terrorist attack.

The old man calmly smoothed out his crumpled shirt. He casually buttoned it as if nothing had happened. Jeongpal’s blazing glare poured down on his slightly bowed forehead.

“There had better not be a single lie in your words, Assemblyman.”

Choi Panseok raised his head again. Meeting his gaze, Jeongpal became even more confused. The old man’s eyes were tranquil, and a strange resolve was carved into his pupils.

The prophet’s adoptive father muttered inwardly.

‘Yes, this must be an incredibly important issue for you. Depending on whether I aided that incident or not...’

Since that day, Park Jeongpal had surely never once extinguished the flames of hatred in his heart.

‘...it determines how many more targets of revenge you will have.’

Park Jeongpal wanted revenge. He wanted to claim the blood debt of his family members who were brutally murdered that day.

That deep-seated grudge was the driving force keeping his crushed, broken self alive all this time.

Inside that man’s heart, a hatred like a deadly poison that could never be diluted had already been cultivated.

‘Even if you learn the entire truth, that hatred alone will not vanish. The fact that your family died at the hands of humans remains unchanged.’

The old man felt a sad satisfaction at that fact.

‘The Human Rights Alliance plotted evil and committed crimes of their own free will. Regardless of whether an accomplice existed or not, you will never be able to forgive them. And your vow to create a world where this kind of disaster never repeats will also remain untarnished.’

Choi Panseok knew that the attention of someone listening to the clamor of the world would never be distributed fairly.

But that man’s prayers would definitely be answered one day.

The old man swore.

“Yes. If it is a lie, I will accept whatever ‘punishment’ comes my way.”

Merits met with rewards.

Sins met with punishment.

After adding and subtracting the calculations, which way would the scale’s weight ultimately tilt?

Choi Panseok was prepared to accept whatever result came.

*

Outer space in the Dimensional Center.

A long-haired man floated in the void, glaring at a single spot. His hair was as black as the darkness filling his surroundings.

Sitting in mid-air in a posture resembling a lotus position, with his arms crossed and his back straight, he clicked his tongue. He then wondered why he couldn’t hear the usual sound that followed, only to realize he had grown far too comfortable in this space. Oh, right. There was no air here.

‘This is a predicament.’

It wasn’t a predicament because of the lack of air. The man, Asiph-1, felt he could endure this for days without needing to breathe with his lungs. Glory to his mother. It was all thanks to her tendency to go completely overboard whenever she laid her hands on anything.

The problem he faced lay right where he had cast his gaze.

‘I don’t think I can break through that with my own strength, can I?’

He was close to the Endelions’ residence, that secretive planet.

Even though there was no star acting as a sun nearby, the blue planet emitted a vivid light. The sheer number and imposing presence of the artificial satellites orbiting it were nothing short of extraordinary.

‘If I get any closer, they’ll detect me.’

Having followed the spiritual wavelength broadcast by the Endelion royal family, Asiph-1 now wanted to enter the planet’s atmosphere.

However, his maternal family’s defensive posture was truly formidable. It was far beyond the level Dell had described. Many things had changed due to their preparations for all-out war. Deep in thought, Asiph-1 scratched his cheek.

‘If there were operators aboard the satellites, I would have tried to brainwash them, even if it took a long time, but as expected, they’re all unmanned.’

Asiph-1 sifted through the options in his head one by one.

‘Teleporting straight to the surface is impossible too.’

Having traveled here via an ultra-long-distance Teleport spell, Asiph-1 could no longer use the same method. The entire planet was enveloped in a spatial Distortion Field. Furthermore, that planetary-level barrier was incomparably stronger than the one at Yongreung, which he had infiltrated alongside his creator not long ago. If the Kavite had borrowed Endelion tentacles when defending Yongreung, the father and son’s journey that day would have been quite exhausting.

‘Should I just memorize the planet’s coordinates and head back?’

It was too much of a shame to do that.

Especially since he knew the Endelions would simply relocate the planet if necessary.

‘I want to get down there somehow...’

Wasn’t there a way to shake up that Distortion Field, even just for a moment?

While agonizing over it, Asiph-1...

‘...Hmm!’

...came up with an idea.

‘I wonder if those things are nearby?’

The moment he muttered that inwardly, his figure vanished.

*

Within the Endelion planet, at the Outer Space Surveillance Unit.

Despite being an organization entrusted with the heavy duty of monitoring a vast expanse outside the atmosphere, there were only two Endelions guarding the duty room today.

In reality, artificial intelligence handled most of the workload, but these individuals were keeping their posts simply because a ‘person’ was needed to make decisions in case of an emergency.

“Senior, did you hear about that?”

While killing time in boredom, the lower-ranking junior asked his senior officer.

“About what?”

The junior lowered his voice as if sharing an intimate secret. It was an exaggerated gesture, considering they were the only two present.

“About the Princess. The one... kidnapped by Asif-666.”

“What about her?”

“You haven’t heard? It is truly a tragedy, but... rumor has it she has passed away.”

A rumor that the princess, held captive by the enemy’s leader, had died.

“Good god, what?!”

The senior officer’s eyes twitched.

It was out of sheer disbelief rather than surprise.

“What kind of Kavite dragon-blood-sucking nonsense is that? Why would Asif-666 lay a hand on such a valuable hostage?”

“Word is that the Princess barely managed to escape from him and was on the run... and met her end during the process...”

The senior still sounded unconvinced.

“Then how did that information reach us here? Good god, did Asif-666 kindly distribute obituaries? ‘The hostage I was detaining has passed away, so you no longer need to restrain your actions out of concern for her safety’? Good god, does that make any sense? I wouldn’t do that. Even if the Princess died of old age entirely on her own, I’d pretend she was still alive to stall for time.”

‘Seriously, this guy can’t finish a single sentence without swearing.’

The junior grumbled inwardly but finished what he had to say.

“I heard a second rescue team was sent to save the Princess, and things went wrong. Apparently, they witnessed the scene and testified to it.”

“Who went on the rescue team? Endelions? That’s ridiculous. Then, good god, did they hire Todd or the Kavite again? With an all-out war right around the corner, I highly doubt they’d gladly lend us their troops.”

“Well then, what do you think, Senior...?”

The senior twisted his tentacles, falling into deep thought for a moment...

...before speaking again.

“The fact that rumors are spreading far enough to reach our level means someone leaked it intentionally.”

“...You think so?”

The senior quickly reached a conclusion.

“Good god, the royal family leaked it.”

“What?! Why would they do that?”

“It’s one of two things. Even if the Princess is alive, the royal family wants to treat her as dead. Or, it’s true the Princess met her end, but the culprit might be someone else entirely.”

“What? If not Asif-666, who would do that to someone held captive...”

He was startled mid-sentence, unable to finish.

It was because the senior had subtly hinted at a certain word through his tentacle gestures instead of speaking.

“...The royal family?!”

The junior protested as if he couldn’t comprehend it.

“That makes absolutely no sense. They couldn’t even send a rescue team, but they sent an assassination squad?”

“Rescuing might require risking our people’s tentacles, but killing doesn’t necessarily have to. Especially in a unique situation like hers.”

“By what means? How could the remote royal family assassinate the Princess, who is staying in a place that requires multiple dimensional leaps to reach? And why would they even go that far?”

“This is just a rumor I heard, but...”

A far more secretive and dangerous rumor than the one the junior had brought—that the princess was actually cooperating with Asif-666 of her own free will. Right as the senior was about to mention that rumor, which was potent enough to shake the king’s authority if it spread widely...

BEEP! BEEP!

The artificial intelligence began to blare a warning alarm.

—Warning! Warning! Unidentified objects approaching the homeworld!

Flash!

A map of the galaxy unfolded before them.

A diagram appeared showing unidentified objects gathering densely like grains of sand as they approached.

The air instantly froze.

“Good god! What are those?!”

The two immediately ceased their conversation and glared at the instrument panel.

Could Asif-666’s forces have actually found this place?

But shouldn’t that fleet be in another dimension right now?

While they were tense with anxiety, the radio waves emitted by the satellites identified the objects approaching from afar.

Flash!

The glowing dots on the radar were replaced by a clear video feed.

At that moment.

The senior shouted in disbelief.

“Ah, good god, that startled me!”

“Phew... We panicked over nothing.”

The things captured in the video were lifeforms that looked like translucent water droplets.

A few species classified as space pests had evolved to survive by wandering through outer space instead of settling on a single planet, and that thing was one of the top two most infamous creatures among them, alongside the Maenova Wasp.

—Identification complete. Interstellar Floating Slimes.

Literally floating and migrating between stars, those amorphous creatures would dig into the ground upon reaching a planet they liked, melting down the minerals beneath the surface for food.

Among them, the golden-colored variants garnered enough interest for the Committee to place a massive bounty of Talents on them, but the rest were treated as mere pests.

Their relief was short-lived.

“Are they crazy, though? Why are there so many of them?”

“They aren’t changing their course even with the defense satellites firing warning shots!”

Despite being pests, the reason the Committee had decided not to drive them to extinction was partly because they weren’t much of a threat to the current Ancient Race.

Normally, even if they approached the vicinity of a planet, frying them a few times with lasers would scare them off to another location, but today was somewhat different.

Furthermore, the scale of the swarm was threatening enough on its own.

While they conversed, the artificial intelligence was working hard to analyze the radio waves. In the meantime, the scale of the slime swarm was revealed in even greater detail.

The Endelions watching the screen stiffened their tentacles.

“Ah, good god. What are those?”

The updated data contained unbelievable information.

The size of the slime swarm rushing towards them was...

“What the... not hundreds of thousands, but... in the tens of millions?!”

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