episode_0322

***

Dark cloth fell everywhere, like a stage with the lights turned off. I could see dots of stars twinkling in the night sky as if glass powder had been scattered.

In the pitch-black darkness, the fire in the stove lit by NB was spreading out a soft light like hope to the surroundings.

“Are you going to sleep?”

“…I want to stay awake a little longer.”

It was the first night after moving to another dimension.

Not only was I not able to fall asleep easily, but the words NB had mentioned about dimensional movement kept ringing in my ears.

“Then would you like to walk for a while?”

NB, who was looking at Inho quietly, stood up.

“Where?”

“It’s not far.”

When he asked as he stood up holding his outstretched hand, NB looked down and said.

NB led him down to the base of the base.

They walked while relying on a very small glow-in-the-dark light, and In-ho tripped dangerously several times on the natural stairs made of uneven stones.

In the end, NB carried him down. Contrary to NB’s statement that it wasn’t far, they had to walk for quite a long time.

“You said it was dimensional movement earlier. Please explain more.”

Every time NB took a step, his body bobbed up and down.

“After the development of superconductors, technologies began to advance rapidly. Among them, research on this world has progressed the fastest.”

“Study about this world?”

“Yes, mankind has always been curious. What is this universe, what is this world. That’s why we invented the car, the airplane, and even the spaceship that left this planet.”

NB Explained the development of vehicles.

“What’s next for spacecraft?”

“Spaceships from each country launched into the sky. One of those spacecraft, which started out unmanned and ended up being manned, discovered the end of the world.”

“The end of the world?”

“Ask Kang In-ho. Is the universe infinite? Is it finite?”

“It’s infinite. Because it continues to expand.”

“Everyone thought so.”

“But the spaceship found the end?”

“That’s right.”

“What happened next?”

The world is not infinite. The discovery that the world is finite must have had a huge impact.

“According to records, there was confusion at first. There were many people who could not accept the fact that humans were the only intelligent beings in this wide universe.”

NB came down from the base and walked to a corner.

“But people began to see beyond the end of the world, and mankind began to study other things.”

“Beyond the end of the world?”

When NB removed the tree branch, a hidden wooden plank came out. NB lifted it up, and a huge passageway leading down appeared.

“According to the records of the spaceship that reached the end of the world, it was unable to proceed further as if it was blocked by a transparent membrane. There was some space beyond that.”

“It feels like a game map.”

You can see it with your eyes, but you can’t actually go there.

“That’s right. Research to go beyond that was actively conducted, and one theory emerged.”

NB started going down the stairs carrying Kang In-ho.

“Is that dimensional travel?”

The coolness of the underground ran down his back.

“The theory calls this finite universe a ‘dimension’, and the movement between dimensions is named ‘dimensional movement’.”

“So was the dimension shift successful?”

“It was a success. But, it failed.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s open a dimension to send an unmanned spacecraft to another dimension. Huge cracks have appeared all over the world.”

“Crack?”

“Yes. It distorted as if there was a crack in the air, and undefined things began to invade from there.”

“What is that?”

“It is a disease.”

“Disease?”

“Yes. Disease began to spread throughout the world, bringing humanity one step closer to extinction.”

“Is disease the cause of mankind’s extinction?”

Every time NB continued to move his feet, he felt something warm coming closer.

“This is one of the causes. The biggest cause of humanity’s destruction was the planet’s energy depletion due to continued dimensional research. The global market was shaken by energy depletion, and endless conflicts broke out around the world…”

“It means that you self-destructed.”

“That’s right. In addition, environmental pollution has become so severe that all areas except Aaru have become wastelands.”

“I see. So where are you going now?”

As the stairs became gentler, NB bent down and put Kang In-ho down.

NB grabbed his hand and dragged him forward.

The passageway was elaborately carved out of stone, and was lined with wood.

It felt like a dungeon from a fantasy cartoon.

As he passed through the passage, a warm feeling came to Kang In-ho.

And when he left the passage, what appeared before his eyes was a huge cavity.

“Wow….”

While squinting at the countless lights pouring in, he let out a low gasp at the huge spectacle coming through the gap.

A huge spaceship that was difficult to see at a glance stood tall in the middle of space.

“Dimensional Sailing Ship, CLBS-1283.”

NB’s finger pointed to the end of the huge spaceship.

***

“I visited this place 12 years after it was launched. A spaceship for dimensional travel was hidden here.”

“So you mean you can use this to travel across dimensions?”

“It is possible if this spaceship is all repaired.”

“Is it broken?”

“Because I do not have an engineering module, I am still unable to diagnose the condition of this spacecraft. However, the spacecraft was being maintained based on the research data left here.”

“In that case, the junk brought from Aaru is also meant to fix this.”

“99% of the goods brought are useless, but 1% is used to repair the spacecraft.”

“But why are you fixing the spaceship? Want to go dimensionally?”

“That hasn’t been decided yet. I just wanted to see this ship in action when I first saw it.”

NB put his hand on the railing.

“It was created for a purpose, so if it achieves that purpose, wouldn’t this spaceship also have meaning?”

NB muttered as he looked emotionlessly at the body of the spaceship with the lights off.

Kang In-ho felt like NB’s words were being spoken to himself.