The Novel’s Villain

44. Original and Side Stories (2)

It was the Earth. There was the sun, the moon, and the other planets. The orbital and rotational periods were also perfectly matched. Se-yeon showed a strong interest in the appearance of this other Earth.

“It’s amazing that it’s the Earth. Is it a parallel world? It’s worth studying!”

“I never expected that the other dimension would be Earth.”

Yoo-na couldn’t take her eyes off the screen. Jin-woo also looked at the Earth that appeared on the screen. The image wasn’t that clear, but it looked exactly like a picture of the Earth you could find in a textbook. He hoped they wouldn’t find anything, but the Earth popped out of nowhere.

‘I’m curious.’

It couldn’t be ignored. Besides, he had to go there anyway to deal with the Emperor.

“Can I go there?”

“Now that we have the coordinates, I think it will be possible. However, I have to create a new mobile device.”

It was so far away that it could not be compared to East World, so she made a separate mobile device. When Jin-woo asked, Se-yeon immediately started work on crafting one. It didn’t take very long to make, fortunately. Soon after, Jin-woo was invited back to see the finished product. He thought it would be similar to when he went to the East World, but it had an unexpected shape.

“A watch?”

“I don’t know what kind of place that Earth is, so I put many things on it. You need an ID or account to move there, right? If you click here…”

When she touched the center of the watch, a hologram appeared. There were several menus, including portal creation, coordinate extraction, information hacking, and information manipulation functions. They worked by simply pressing the command prompts without any further complicated procedures, thanks to Se-yeon’s consideration.

Since it was unknown what that Earth was like, these were functions that she put in assuming that electronic devices were used there. If it were similar to Earth, there should be no fear of being caught with the device. Plus, a portal could be installed immediately by simply entering the coordinates. It was much easier than using the portal stones.

“It’s nice.”

Despite these many features, it looked no different than a luxury watch. It even possessed user settings so that it could respond only to Jin-woo’s mana.

The others wanted to go together with him, but Jin-woo decided to go alone first. After all, it was dangerous. It was so far away that there might be an error in the first trip, and the portal might deviate significantly.

‘I should prepare plenty.’

Jin-woo packed everything into his subspace. It would not be an exaggeration to say that there was a whole shopping district beyond the department store. After getting ready, he headed to the center of the Sanctuary to teleport. As always, everyone was there to meet him. Duan Yu-tian stood toward the back, his eyes dead. On the other hand, Heo-young looked very good. She seemed to have no stress at all.

Ddddddrrrr!

When Se-yeon operated the mobile device, the air vibrated, and a huge blue portal appeared. It was the largest they had ever seen.

“Then, I will go.”

Jin-woo entered the portal without hesitation. As soon as he did, his body began to fall. The portal was very long, several times the length of the one to East World.

‘There is no risk of another Emperor coming over.’

It was so far away that even an Emperor couldn’t cross over. After waiting for so long, Jin-woo finally saw the exit. Jin-woo expected to arrive in the air or by the seaside, but the result was completely different. As he stepped out, a very barren environment greeted Jin-woo. It was a place where no creature could live. Compared to this place, the Demon Realm was akin to heaven.

‘Umm…’

It was dark all around, and there was no air. The place where he arrived was space. Jin-woo was floating in outer space. An ordinary creature would have died, but Jin-woo was an Emperor. Moreover, he was a Great Emperor.

‘It’s a little uncomfortable.’

He felt only slight discomfort from the biting chill of the void. It was as if one of his nostrils were blocked. Still, he didn’t seem to have completely deviated from his original destination. He could see the Earth far away, and fortunately, something was floating nearby. It was the moon.

Jin-woo sent out his mana and headed to the moon. Swimming in space felt completely different from flying in the sky, but gravity did most of the work. Jin-woo’s body fell to the surface of the moon like a meteorite. Thanks to his intensive mana emission, a large hole formed on the moon’s surface.

Jin-woo looked around. The empty land of the moon welcomed Jin-woo, so quiet that it struck him as the perfect environment for reading.

‘It’s my first time coming to the moon.’

Jin-woo had experienced many dimensions before, but he never dreamed that he would visit the moon. Jin-woo first entered the coordinates of his current location into the watch. He thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to send people who bothered him to the moon. Just like everything Se-yeon made, the watch worked flawlessly, even in this extreme environment.

‘Oh…’

Jin-woo stood on the moon’s surface and looked down upon the Earth. It was so wonderful to see from space. He could feel a hint of the emotions astronauts who arrived on the moon must’ve felt. No wonder aliens in sci-fi movies coveted the blue planet.

‘Should I leave a mark here?’

Jin-woo took a commemorative photo of himself and lightly scribbled something on the ground to signify his visit to the moon.

[You have conquered the Moon. The Moon now belongs to the Sanctuary of Gold.]

[It’s connected with the Dimensional Store!]

[You can remodel the Moon at any time by consuming dimensional gold coins.]

‘Oh…’

The moon became Jin-woo’s. He had unexpectedly conquered the moon… anyway; he felt good because he received it for free.

‘I’ll have to go to Earth first.’

It was pretty good to be lazing around on the moon, but he had to check out the Earth. Jin-woo looked at his right hand for a moment, realizing there was a more comfortable way to reach it than by emitting his mana. A huge Black Flame Dragon appeared. It felt a long time since he last summoned it.

‘There’s no spaceship, but this might be more comfortable.’

Jin-woo climbed atop the Black Flame Dragon. The Black Flame Dragon raised its head and spread its huge wings. Then, engulfed in black flames, it began to soar. The Black Flame Dragon used Jin-woo’s mana profusely, accelerating away from the moon.

‘Whoever sees this will be shocked.’

A UFO. The Black Flame Dragon was an unidentified flying object surrounded by black flames. It continued to speed up using Jin-woo’s mana, the space around it distorting as it soared. It began to move by folding the space around it. As a result, it was able to achieve a truly tremendous speed. As they flew like that, the Earth was already in front of their eyes before they knew it.

The Black Flame Dragon flapped its large wings and slowed down. At that moment, mana erupted out, and its black flames spewed out in all directions to slow them.

Baaang!

Something nearby was consumed by the black flames.

‘Artificial satellite?’

It looked like a satellite launched from Earth.

“…”

It’s a trivial matter, so let’s not mind it.

They descended into the atmosphere, an enormous wave of heat flaring up around Jin-woo, but it could not damage him. The black flames licking at his sides were much hotter.

“It’s more comfortable now.”

When he felt the air, it felt as if his cold had recovered. Jin-woo was able to realize once again how important air was.

Whoosh!

The Black Flame Dragon fell towards the Earth, long tail trailing behind it like a comet. After passing through the clouds, the blue sea and the ground could be seen below. It wasn’t at all different from the landscape of the Earth Jin-woo was used to.

“Slow down.”

Whoosh!

The Black Flame Dragon spread its wings and slowed down once again. A huge disaster could have unfolded if it collided with the sea at these speeds. A shock wave erupted out, erasing all the clouds floating in the sky, and a firestorm made of black flames swept their surroundings. It was as if the end of the world were approaching.

The Black Flame Dragon slowed down like that and went into the sea.

Splash!

The black flames caused bubbles to boil to the surface. The Dragon dived deep into the sea and quickly soared back upward.

Whoosh!

Breaching the sea’s surface, they created a massive wave.

“Gasp!”

“Kyaaa!”

A yacht swaying nearby was fully overturned by it. A man and woman fell off and, as they breached through the suddenly stormy seas and began to climb back on-board, nearly sunk back down as they witnessed the Dragon.

Jin-woo, quickly reversed-summoning the Black Flame Dragon, jumped up lightly and climbed onto the yacht. Although he had retrieved his mana, the remnants remained in the air, and black flames were still flickering around Jin-woo. The spots where Jin-woo walked began to melt.

“D-d-demon…”

The middle-aged white man trembled as he regarded Jin-woo. The woman fainted beside him. The man knelt, closed his eyes, and began to recite prayers. He opened his eyes again, screamed, and made a cross with his hands. However, it couldn’t do anything against Jin-woo.

‘I’m sorry about this…’

When Jin-woo waved his hand, the black flames fully dissipated, and he returned to his usual appearance.

“Ah, aah…”

The man stared as Jin-woo thought for a moment about what to say and then raised his hands slightly.

“I’m sorry. I won’t hurt you. Rest assured.”

“Gasp! G-God. Oh, my God…”

The man’s face went pale. He was terrified, far from a state of mind where he could properly listen to Jin-woo.

“P-please don’t take m-me to h-hell! I-I took some bribes, but I returned it! I-I accidentally cheated… this, now…”

The man gasped and said so. Jin-woo looked around with the Magic Eye of Information. This was on the Miami side of the United States. Nodding, he then looked at the fainted woman. They looked like a married couple, but the woman was quite young. She fainted and smashed her forehead on the floor and was now bleeding from a small cut.

The man was also not normal.

“G-gasp, gasp!”

The man grabbed his heart and knelt. When Jin-woo checked with the Magic Eye of Information, he saw the man was about to run out of breath. He was originally ill, but thanks to Jin-woo, he reached the brink of death, and his heart was about to stop.

Jin-woo took out a potion from his subspace, thinking it would be uncomfortable if this man died because of him. Plus, he didn’t want to clean up a dead body on the first day he visited another Earth.

“U-ugh!”

The man looked at the dazzling potion. It fluttered as if he were tempting him. As Jin-woo opened the potion cap, after a long time, the Incarnation of Evil raised its head.

[The Incarnation of Evil whispers to him. Nothing is free in the world. It whispers that if he gives his soul, it might save him.]

“Sign… the contract…”

A whisper of temptation wrapped around him. The man answered with all his might. However, it sounded like unintelligible babble to Jin-woo. Deciding not to worry about it, he brought the potion to the man’s lips.

A change happened as soon as the man swallowed the potion!

‘Huh?’

The man was engulfed in ecstasy. He felt a rush of energy filled his body. His bent-over back was straightened, and he could no longer feel the pain that had bothered him for ages. His paralyzed right hand moved so freely now too. He hurriedly looked into the mirror. His ill appearance had disappeared, and he looked as if he had become 20 years younger. No, he was much healthier than he was 20 years ago.

There was no need for his high-precision glasses anymore, either.

[The Incarnation of Evil looks up. Get down on your knees and worship the Great Emperor.]

“I-I worship you!”

This was a miracle! He looked at Jin-woo with fear and wonder.

[The Incarnation of Evil possessed Richard’s soul.]

[Richard follows the Great Emperor.]

[A title has been acquired.]

*[C+] Great Demon

“Umm?”

Jin-woo looked at the sudden information appearing while spraying a potion on his wife next. His name was Richard Payne, a U.S. Senator who went on one last trip with the hunch that death wasn’t long off for him.

* * *

The evaporation of a satellite and the unidentified flying object that suddenly fell into the sea put the entire United States on alert. Soldiers were dispatched to Miami Beach, and fighter jets were launched to patrol the area. It was said that not only the satellite that Jin-woo saw but several others were destroyed. It was fortunate that there was no damage to the manned space station.

Jin-woo felt guilty, but he decided not to care. He had to quit being the Great Emperor if he cared about such things. Still, it was better than when he first went to Demon Realm.

Richard served Jin-woo with all his heart. To him, Jin-woo was the Great Demon that ruled Hell. It was thanks to the whispers of the Incarnation of Evil, but Richard was doing his best to please Jin-woo.

“Then I will leave.”

“Yeah.”

“If you need anything, please feel free to contact me. I will run right away.”

Richard booked a luxury hotel in Miami himself for Jin-woo, one that afforded a beautiful panoramic view of the beach. Jin-woo had originally never been to the United States, even on the Earth he hailed from. He certainly never thought he would see the United States on another Earth.

[This is a restricted area! Everyone back away!]

[Please follow the instructions!]

Of course, the beach was like a battlefield. A lot of soldiers were patrolling, and a huge quarantine station was set up. Armed with gas masks that could be seen usually only in movies, they carried machines and investigated the beach. Jin-woo quietly closed the curtains.

‘For now, the atmosphere seems normal…’

Jin-woo decided to rest at the hotel and learn about this other Earth properly. He took out his laptop from his subspace and accessed the Internet. The Internet worked fine, and he quickly found a search site called Diver. If there was something different…

‘There are no competent people at all.’

Mercenaries, League Guilds, Knights, and Gates. None of them existed. Of course, there were no monsters or magic. It was such an ordinary world that even the Frontline Group didn’t exist. It was like the world in which Jin-woo originally lived.

Was that really the case?

‘If that’s the case…’

There was a good way to find out if this was the world where he originally lived: to look for the original novel. Jin-woo accessed the novel website through Diver’s search box. Then, he began to scan through their web novels and series. He typed Life-or-Death Twist into the search bar.

“Wow, crazy…”

As soon as he saw the search results, he was in awe.

Title: SSS-Ranked Absolute Ability (Completed)

Rating 1.2/10

A world where Gates and competent people exist!

One day, F-Ranked competent person Kim Young-hoon awakens to the Magic Eye of Information, a very rare and unique ability!

World, brace yourself! Super talented Kim Young-hoon is coming!

One-line Reviews

0.5/10 It’s an insane novel.

0.1/10 The best-damned book in Korea!

1.0/10 I read this and passed the 7th Grade Civil Servant exam. Studying was becoming a lot more fun.

1.0/10 Believe it or not, I got accepted as a 9th Grade Civil Servant.

1.0/10 I got into college, everyone!

1.0/10 Is this where the Life-or-Death Twist Author changes the reader’s life?

The original novel existed. The original novel, the ‘SSS-Ranked Absolute Ability’ by the author named Life-or-Death Twist.