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Translator: uly
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Returning Again
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12 years ago.
A thousand people representing groups above a certain level had gathered in one place.
Heads of state, executives from corporations and international organizations, and even the leaders of the underworld.
They discussed one problem, and as a result, [Neuron Age] was created.
* * *
10 years ago.
Neuron Age produced eight dimensional transfer devices.
Neuron Age named those dimensional transfer devices "Arks," meaning they held humanity's future.
Like Noah of old, they hoped to save humanity's future through these Arks.
The sleek oval shape of the Arks led them to be called capsules as well.
They recruited combat specialists to use the Ark capsules, and eight mercenaries stepped up, boarding the capsules.
The Ark capsules created artificial bodies in the target dimension and transferred the eight souls into those new bodies.
* * *
7 years ago.
"You've done well. And we're truly sorry."
The one blabbering regrets outside the Ark capsule was Baylor, the executive director overseeing Neuron Age.
=They're going to split my soulstone to make an Ark capsule for the second expedition team, right?
It was a fact I already knew, but I asked again to confirm.
"Yes. Soulstones are absolutely necessary to create Ark capsules."
Of course.
Without soulstones, you can't make Ark capsules.
The reason they could make the first eight was because they'd secured exactly that many soulstones five years prior.
Thanks to beings from other dimensions who warned Earth of its impending crisis.
=The reason I risked my life in the ONveludo world to gather soulstones was for this.
That was why I, one of the eight mercenaries, had been dispatched to ONveludo.
The countless brushes with death over the past three years there were all for this purpose.
"Out of the eight exploration team members, only you, Kang Geon-woo, succeeded in securing a soulstone of meaningful size. However..."
=There was no way to bring the soulstone back to Earth except by fusing it with my own soulstone.
Neuron Age told us to bring back soulstones but hadn't properly prepared a safe way to do it.
The situation three years ago had been that dire and desperate.
In the end, to return from ONveludo, I'd fused the soulstone I obtained there with the one in my Ark capsule.
"We need to send the second exploration team as soon as possible. More people means more chances to secure soulstones. Your soulstone will be the seed that saves Earth."
=The problem is that forcibly destroying the soulstone will hit me and my ONveludo avatar with the full shock, right?
Per the contract, I had to provide the soulstone I'd obtained in ONveludo to Neuron Age.
No way around it.
But thinking about the downsides made it hard to stomach.
"Yes, so Kang Geon-woo, you won't be able to use an Ark capsule for the next seven years."
That was exactly it.
The seven-year access restriction.
=While the others, even the new exploration team members, come and go from ONveludo freely for those seven years, I'll be twiddling my thumbs. And if the second team secures more soulstones, even more Ark capsules will be made, letting even more people travel to ONveludo.
Seven years of no access.
Meanwhile, the others would keep using Ark capsules to grow stronger in ONveludo.
Anyone who's played a game knows: if the top player gets locked out, and others surge ahead?
Imagine that top player's mood.
Especially when it's not a game, but reality.
"That's the path to commercializing the Ark capsules. And the foundation for saving Earth."
I get that.
I do, but does that make it sit any better?
=So, the fact that I can't return to ONveludo for another seven years is my personal problem, unrelated to Neuron Age?
From Neuron Age's perspective, sacrificing one person to prepare for the future was obviously the right call.
"We're sorry about that."
= ....
"..."
=So, anyone else who secures a soulstone later goes through the same process? Seven years locked out?
Honestly, it'd be unfair if it was just me.
The other seven from the first team would eventually gather soulstones too, so they'd have to shatter theirs and get locked out like me.
"That won't happen again. Based on this experience, we've perfected a new way to bring soulstones back to Earth."
Wow, damn.
=So I'm the only idiot who got screwed...
"The contract will be fulfilled completely. You'll receive the compensation as agreed, plus 4% of Neuron Age's shares."
So, act like the mercenary you are and honor the contract?
=The shares were proportional to the soulstones secured, as per the contract. Compensation's in there too. No need to brag about it.
"Once Ark capsules are commercialized, selling those shares would buy you a small country—with change."
=Can't I live off the compensation alone forever? Do I need more money?
Per the contract, even basic soulstones beyond the minimum came with bonuses.
The optional massive soulstone haul earned Neuron Age shares on top of the insane compensation.
It was a contract to save humanity's future, so overflowing rewards were only natural.
"... Fair enough."
= Tsk, seven years. After that, access is guaranteed, right?
"Of course. We'll split the soulstone you brought to the minimum size, then return your original soulstone intact. Seven years from now, use it for an Ark capsule."
=So they're not giving me a brand-new soulstone?
"We're splitting your soulstone to make new Ark capsules anyway. No reason to give you a new one. It holds all your hard work from ONveludo."
=At least that's some consolation.
"We're regretful it came to this. Honestly, we'd love for you to keep fighting in ONveludo..."
=Enough. No point dwelling when it's irreversible. Let's go shatter the soulstone.
"..."
* * *
Another seven years later.
"Hoo."
A glass window embedded in a sheer cliff face.
Geon-woo, gazing at the crashing waves far below, took a long, deep breath to ease his tension.
Twitch.
For a split second, the muscles in his crossed arms bulged visibly through his thin shirt, and his body went rigid.
Ring ring ring, ring ring ring.
A dry bell tone.
As if he'd foreseen it coming.
This bell was the sound Geon-woo had waited seven years for.
The timer he'd set long ago had finally reached its end.
It signaled that he could connect to ONveludo again.
Geon-woo turned to face the empty living room and the capsule at its center.
A.C.KOR00000001
Ark Capsule Korea No.1.
It had undergone several upgrades over the past seven years, but it remained the symbolic first Ark in Korea.
The egg-shaped black body split open frontally, revealing its interior, waiting for its owner.
Once the user sat inside, the sides closed, forming a perfect egg.
The capsule user would then transfer their consciousness—specifically, their soul—through the soulstone at the back of their head to the otherworld of ONveludo.
Grrrrrrr rumble!
Before approaching the Ark capsule, Geon-woo pressed a button on the wall.
A massive metal shutter descended, covering the window.
At this moment, the remote island where Geon-woo stood transformed into an impregnable fortress, impervious to outside entry.
Soon, the entire living room would descend underground to the safety zone.
This was his painstaking creation for uninterrupted travel to ONveludo.
He'd invested nearly half his compensation for it.
Geon-woo quietly waited as the living room lowered and the vertical shaft underwent multiple sealing procedures.
If the design held—even nuclear war wouldn't threaten survival, they'd claimed.
Geon-woo waited until all was ready, confirmed the lights dimming, then approached the capsule.
Dimming lights meant preparations complete.
"I'm really going back."
Murmuring with a bitter expression, Geon-woo climbed into the Ark capsule.
He leaned his head back against the headrest, and the open front cover closed.
With perfect sealing, darkness flooded the interior.
But in that instant, Geon-woo's consciousness had already ridden the soulstone to the waiting room, the midpoint between Earth and ONveludo.
* * *
=My lord! You've finally come!
As soon as Geon-woo connected to the waiting room, a voice boomed in his head.
Geon-woo opened his eyes and looked around.
First, he saw the antique sofa he sat on and the low wooden table before it.
The voice's owner was on that table.
A translucent humanoid figure with hands clasped at its lower abdomen and head bowed low.
Its attire resembled a child jiangshi from old classic films, but it was actually Ilryeong, the jiangshi spirit girl—the soul of a jiangshi, eldest daughter of Langjang.
"Ilryeong, you doing okay?"
Geon-woo asked the figure.
The translucent girl, head bowed, lifted it.
=Without my lord, I could only drift like a ghost, lost in a daze. I barely sensed the flow of time.
The palm-sized girl jiangshi spirit replied politely.
"Glad to see no issues, at least."
=Thank you. But unlike me, you don't look well, my lord. First, take this back.
Ilryeong noticed Geon-woo's poor condition and furrowed her delicate brows.
She drew something from her sleeve and offered it.
At Geon-woo's gesture, a gemstone the size of a knuckle floated from her hand.
That tiny gem was the soulstone Geon-woo had left with Ilryeong seven years ago instead of taking it to Earth.
The soulstone he'd secured back then far exceeded Neuron Age's expectations.
After much thought, he'd left half with Ilryeong.
Even half was more than enough; no need to hand over everything.
Possible because Ilryeong, in spiritual form, could hold soulstones.
Now, Geon-woo took that soulstone from seven years prior and stored it in his own.
"5,231? More than I thought. I took 4,000 to Earth."
Geon-woo's eyes widened slightly at the unexpectedly large amount.
One soul was the amount of soulstone needed for one Ark capsule.
One soul meant creating one avatar in ONveludo to send one Earthling.
Geon-woo had provided 4,000 souls to Neuron Age from his previous expedition, earning 4% shares.
Those 4,000 souls built 4,000 Ark capsules for the second exploration team.
That team gradually secured more soulstones, leading to more capsules.
By now, seven years later, over a billion Ark capsules existed, they said.
All stemming from the 4,000 souls Geon-woo provided.
Of course, the initial eight soulstones Neuron Age secured enabled the first eight, including Geon-woo, to go to ONveludo.
Anyway, seven years ago, Geon-woo had left some soulstones with Ilryeong.
And this leftover amount exceeded what he'd taken to Earth.
=I've added what you gave me to use. But even this won't fully make up for your lost time, my lord.
Ilryeong spoke in a serious, dissatisfied tone.
She seemed quite upset about the time without his connection.
"Someone had to do it. The others were so useless—what could be done? If I hadn't stepped up, we couldn't prepare for Earth's coming crisis. Enough about the past."
=Understood. If my lord says so.
Geon-woo drew the line, and Ilryeong, grasping his feelings, bowed her head at once.