Chapter 487

A Guide for Mortals Traveling in Parallel Worlds (2)

The moment when he stepped directly into the world through the cracks that remained after the showdown with the Devil, Evan learned to open and close cracks that led to other worlds on his own. It was because he acquired the capability of the Great Ancient Wizard, Nave, to control space. It was all thanks to Evan’s power of Annihilation and his status.

It was also because he had succeeded in sealing the Devil and leveled up…and also because Evan had a complete understanding of Miraseul’s necklace as he recovered the fragments. Such a complex factor helped Evan gain more power than anyone else in the limited realm of dimension shifting. However, it was not a precise ability yet, so it was hard to figure out precisely what the world was like. He had to enter the door to another world to know.

It was fortunate that he could remember the worlds he’d been through so far and moved away from them. If he developed his ability by repeating dimension shifts in this way, it would be possible to return to Sherden one day. The dimensional journey that followed the hunt for phoenixes was reasonably smooth. Not only Evan but also the majority of the party was made up of only influential people, so they couldn’t be in danger unless another being like the sealed Devil appeared.

Just a month after leaving Middle Earth, the party was fully adapted to the dimension trip.

“Wow, this is a particularly foreign world.”

[It’s a place where you can hardly feel the energy of gods. This is rare, too.]

“Hmm…? What’s wrong with you?”

Cattleya noticed that Evan’s complexion had changed, and she tilted her head and moved her face closer to him as she was making noise, saying something about the scenery of the new world.

“You look strange. I’m not worried, but if you’re not feeling well, the only one who can open the door…”

“No, it’s just…I think I’ve seen this before.”

Evan smiled bitterly and asked the mysterious group to see if there was a magic spell that hindered recognition properly. To put it bluntly, Evan could now use this magic. Maybe he didn’t hear, but Maybell was talking to Fayna next to him.

“This place is already…what’s the number?”

[Since we’ve lost about five places, this is probably the eighth place.]

“Elixir materials aren’t rolling everywhere. It’s a miracle that we’ve gathered together enough to make it once in our world.”

“You said it’s all parallel worlds of our world.”

“Yeah, sort of.”

There were quite a few differences from Earth’s parallel world theory, but they didn’t know it anyway, so they just roughly talked about it. There were minimal materials for making the Elixir in one world, and everything in Evan’s world had been collected. Therefore, to make more Elixir, it was inevitably necessary to overcome the barriers of other worlds.

Of course, not all the ingredients were in the other worlds. Instead, most of the worlds were lacking what the one they originally lived in possessed. Just as Holy Water was not found in the Demon Realm, and phoenixes did not live in the Divine Realm. After identifying many dimensions and their characteristics, the group repeatedly collected resources or clicked their tongues and moved on to the next world.

In the process, he stepped on everything that he thought would pose a threat if it came into Middle Earth.

[Evan, you continue to accomplish divine feats. Also, if there is someone who remembers, there will be someone who records.]

“Don’t tell anyone, and make sure to keep your mouth shut.”

Evan was speaking to Fayna. Fayna, who recognized him as a god, said it was burdensome to listen to honorifics and demanded that she continue to be comfortable, but her attitude, which had become much more friendly since she spoke informally, and her intentions seemed to have been elsewhere.

“So, what are the ingredients left?”

“The phoenix feathers, the Evil Origins, and the Glacier Tears are certainly secured.”

They already had a wholesome number of phoenix feathers, and the latest phoenix hunt provided them with even more.

“Glacier tears…King Ice Spirit, it was impressive that you ran away without looking back.”

Like Fayna, Cattleya, who was now dealing with Evan in a reasonably comfortable way, giggled. The rest of them seemed to agree, but Evan looked away for nothing, coughing in vain.

“To survive in a tough world, you have to be tactful.”

“Why didn’t you kill him when you could have?”

“There’s such a thing.”

Maybell responded as she recalled the past.

“Master, I don’t think there’s anything we’re looking for in this world.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s move on to the next world. Or is there an enemy that needs to be dealt with here? It doesn’t look like that. Strangely low density…”

“Um…wait a minute.”

Elixir’s ingredients were the first thing to look for once he opened the door to a new world. As he knew roughly what was needed, he could usually find the answer shortly after entering a new world. However, there was a world where the answer comes out without searching, and it belonged to a world where magic is rarely felt in the air, like the world in which they arrived.

The same was true of this world. It would be hard to find the ingredients of even ordinary potions, not even considering the Elixir. Evan was paused in place without opening the door. No wonder Maybell looked at him with strange eyes.

“Wow.”

Cattleya grabbed Evan by the arm. “It smells delicious. Sweet and oily smell, mixed with meat…!”

“…”

“The civilization here seems to have developed around food and buildings. What, can’t we just eat? I’m not going to be greedy…I’ll bring it without anyone knowing, so please do me a favor. I wouldn’t ask you for this if I could.”

[You’ve been so brave lately, being so determined and childish.]

“It’s the same for Fayna…Master? Why are you doing that and staying still?”

While Fayna made sure to sneak Cattleya away from Evan, Maybell slightly pinched Evan’s cheek. Evan answered with a sigh as if he had made up his mind only then.

“Let’s stay here for a while. There’s nothing urgent, but there’s something I want to check.”

“If you want to.”

“Wow! Are you feeding me?”

“Yeah, well, you’re all following me. Don’t stay in the alley all the time.”

Evan led his party one after another out of the narrow road to the roadside. The road was covered in asphalt and was quite broad. On either side, concrete buildings were lined up that couldn’t be seen in modern Sherden.

“Wow, people!”

“It was so lifeless that I didn’t even notice it. There’s a lot of people!”

People in colorful clothes were walking around the streets. The road was full of cars and buses, and Cattleya, who was sensitive to the fumes they emitted, quickly grabbed her nose and buried her face in Evan’s arms, crying.

“…She’s getting less and less hesitant. What should I do with her, Master?”

“Maybell, you don’t change even with this view in front of you.”

Evan sighed and taught Cattleya how to control her Dark Magic on the spot, using it to filter out and eat only the ingredients she wanted from the air. It was a great technique to protect your body from many harmful substances, but unfortunately, the problem was that it was a high-end skill that couldn’t even be imitated with a lot of magic.

“Wow, the air is fresh again.”

“Don’t keep doing that because, in this world, it’s going to be slow to replenish mana. Loosen it when you get to a low level of smoke.”

[But do you happen to know anything about this place? You’ve been strangely calm for a while ago.]

“No way, you can’t be.”

Buildings soaring high in the sky, countless people walking around looking lifeless. Loud signs disturbed the eyes. Indeed, Evan shook his head with a bitter smile in front of the streets of Seoul, which he hadn’t seen in a long time.

“I’ve never been here before, either.”

[Since you suddenly appeared in the new world, I thought you knew the rest of the worlds, but you don’t.]

“There’s no way people like us can live in an environment where there’s not much magic.”

[Well…]

Fayna nodded, naturally accepting the response. Evan thought with a wry smile: it’s finally here. As he began his trip to different dimensions, he thought this moment would come someday. It was self-evident from the memory of his past life that Evan’s fragments also flowed into this world, and if so, it would be natural to have several dimensional texts leading to this world.

However, should he say that he didn’t want to check it out with his own eyes or put it as far back as possible…? Anyway, he was already planning on giving up on thinking about this. Then he ended up being thrown there anyway, in that world where he died in his past life.

‘I was worried that the time would be very different…I think it’s about time I remembered in my previous life.’

The buildings and shops he remembered were still there. After looking around for a while, Evan thought that if the party remained as it was, the concealment could be swept away by the crowd. But if they were going to stay on Earth for a while, they couldn’t keep hiding…

“I’ll go get some clothes. You wait in a deserted place for a while.”

“Shall we just release the hiding spell?”

“I’m hungry…”

“Never. Stay hidden.”

Evan wore a robe and dragon’s leather armor, Maybell proudly held out her bat wings behind her maid’s robe, and Fayna reached out for Cattleya, wearing a dangling cloth that was only seen in European murals…

“And you all hide your wings, ears, and tails.”

“What? Hide my proud ears and tail!”

“Hide it.”

“Okay…”

When Cattleya, who had great pride in her race, dropped her complaint without making a sound, Fayna and Maybell naturally nodded. Evan gave the bread he had kept in his inventory pocket to the hungry Cattleya and left.

‘I don’t have any money.’

Evan took a step forward because he suddenly thought of something. Then, he had already reached the front door of his previous life’s house. He couldn’t feel anything inside.

“…”

The hesitation was intense but didn’t last long. Evan touched the digital door lock, causing the number pad to light up. Press, press, press with careful hands. He entered the password he remembered, and the door opened.

“Ha…”

The inside was calm and tidy, the furniture in the room just like the memory of his past life. But somewhere, there was an air of silence.

Then, something sparkled in the room. The PC screen that Yeo Ban-Min used to play. A familiar game, Yo-Ma Great War 3, was presented on its bright screen. A spectacular death CG that appeared with BGM seemed to make fun of people after Evan’s death despite trying to save him. Evan, of course, wasn’t the main character, so dying didn’t mean game over. Yeo Ban-Min, in his previous life, used to furiously open a can of beer every time he looked at the screen.

“…”

As if Yeo Ban Min had been sitting there just a moment ago, the PC desk had a beer can on it, with carbonation still fresh like it had just been opened.

“…Cool.”

Touching the beer can, Evan sighed in wonder and soon found something lying on his desk chair. A sharp piece of crystal shrapnel glittered darkly.

It was a fragment of him.