—Even the smallest change must never be taken for granted.
It's easy to think of change as something that naturally comes with the passage of time. But look closely, and you'll find it's the result of countless chains of cause and effect violently intertwining.
Those who simply drift along with the current of change are weeded out before they even realize it. Like the imaginary frog boiled to death in hot water.
By nature, I wasn't the sort of person who took such words to heart. They didn't particularly resonate with me, either.
But perhaps those very words were what had kept me alive all this time?
These days, that thought occasionally crossed my mind.
What mattered was that I was still alive.
“Heave-ho!”
With a deer slung over my shoulder, there was a spring in my step. It would give me more than enough to eat through tomorrow, and I could smoke whatever remained to keep for later.
“Wilson! I finally got a decent haul for the first time in ages! We don't have to eat bugs anymore!”
I pushed through the trees I'd piled up for camouflage, and my proud camp came into view.
The wooden palisade surrounding it on all sides had been thoroughly coated with venom. Snake venom that wouldn't kill you, but would cause excruciating pain at the slightest touch.
In the gaps between the stakes, I'd scattered ash from a plant that disrupted the nervous systems of reptiles.
It was an impregnable fortress. My own sanctuary, where most predators wouldn't dare trespass.
But the native species of this place were no pushovers.
“···Wilson?”
The camp was far too quiet. In truth, I'd already sensed something wrong before I entered.
The wind, laden with the Otherworld's magical energy, had been carrying an overpowering fishy stench.
I set the deer down and raised my stone axe. A special one, carved from blue crystal.
At that moment, another gust bearing that fishy smell brushed against my skin.
“Wilson. Did something happen at camp while I was gone?”
As I spoke about something else entirely, I closed my eyes and focused every nerve.
Rustle.
I heard it.
That single instant was enough for me to grasp the entire situation.
Perhaps realizing that its plan had gone wrong, a crab burst out of the tent.
Yes, one of those crabs that lived by the sea. Except this one was big enough to reach my waist.
I waited for it, then—
“Hup!”
—struck a black stone embedded in the dirt.
CLAAAAANG······
A wave spread across the camp with a peculiar ringing sound. At the same time—
“SKREE···?”
Dozens of vines erupted from the soil. They groped around as though searching for something, then began winding themselves around the enormous crab and tightening their grip.
“SKREEE!”
Cracks spread across its hard shell until it finally shattered. Of course, those plants weren't on my side, but that wasn't a problem. I always coated myself in the hormone they used to distinguish friend from foe.
“Phew···.”
This is nothing worth worrying about. I just want to eat already.
The moment I thought that, the crab bastard started thrashing around even as it was dying···.
“Huh? H-Huh?”
Its sharp claw finally managed to sever the balloon's string. No!
“W-Wilson! Come back! Nooooo!”
I reached out, but it was already too late.
“WILSOOOON!”
My name is Kang Seon-hu. Profession: explorer.
And after being dragged into the Otherworld, I'd just lost my last friend, the only comfort I'd had there.
***
Back when I lived on Earth, I was a wilderness explorer. Exploring by itself didn't seem very productive, so I posted accounts of my expeditions on a blog and YouTube from time to time.
Those raw, unedited recordings I'd uploaded without much thought gradually gained a following through word of mouth. So perhaps I was an explorer on the verge of making a name for myself.
On the day I finally took the plunge and arrived in a remote part of South America, space twisted, and a rift appeared···.
I had no choice but to accept that there was no way home.
There were civilizations and intelligent beings in the Otherworld, too. A beautiful race with large ears, and beastfolk.
Naturally, they hadn't welcomed me from the start. Regardless of where I'd come from, we couldn't even speak the same language.
I tried to learn their language. I memorized plenty of words, but there was no way that alone would let me communicate.
The first year.
Unable to adapt to the miasma that permeated the entire Otherworld, I suffered agonizing pain. Pain that never ceased for even a moment.
I couldn't even sleep, and I'd become practically a madman.
“Hehe···. Spare a coin. Just one coin, please.”
“You'll be blessed. Thank you···. Hehehe··· I'll buy myself some Pocachip···.”
To the people of the Otherworld, I must have looked like nothing more than a beggar babbling in some incomprehensible tongue. It wasn't as though there'd been no hope of settling down at all, but in the end, I was driven out into the wilderness.
Even now, I'm proud of myself for eventually overcoming it and regaining my sanity.
The second year. Having adapted to the miasma to some extent, I wandered from place to place, gradually coming back to my senses. This was a world where my knowledge of how to navigate was completely useless, but I believed I'd somehow find a way.
As my mind cleared, I realized that the word 'somehow' wasn't much use at all.
The third year. I resolved to settle down and live as a wild man. I built a camp and competed with the native wildlife.
The ecosystem of this world was truly unreasonable. At first, I survived by stealing other creatures' prey or picking fruit.
Sometimes I ate something poisonous and nearly died. Other times, animals as big as houses chased me.
As those struggles continued, at some point the entire forest began to recognize my presence. Wild animals, which had no desire to get hurt, gradually started avoiding fights with me.
And in the fourth year.
“···First, I've got to remove this crab's heart. If the poison pooled in its ventricle seeps into the flesh, I'll have to throw the whole thing away.”
I realized I was beginning to earn the right to survive.
Now, with well over six years gone by and no idea how much time had passed since, I'd been acknowledged as a full-fledged predator of the forest.
“Wilson··· you bastard···.”
And at this very moment, I was furious because I'd lost a balloon.
Of course, I knew perfectly well that there was nothing I could do about it. I hadn't gone so mad that I couldn't tell a balloon from a person. It just hurt to lose one of the few comforts I had left.
The sun went down, and I sat at my desk.
“Mohs.”
A handful of firefly-like flames floated into the air and illuminated the desk.
It was a word in the language of the Otherworld. The few words I'd somehow managed to learn produced phenomena like magic just by being spoken aloud.
Perhaps the language of the Otherworld possessed power in itself.
“···Well, it's not a world where common sense applies.”
I began writing in a battered notebook with ink made by dissolving ash.
It was a notebook I'd happened to find in my bag, though I had no memory of packing it.
From the moment my struggle for survival began, I'd kept a journal.
Things I'd learned, things I needed to know, things I'd felt.
I recorded everything in it.
[I've lost track of how many years have passed as of today.
What I've learned from being stranded for so long is that mental strength matters more than physical strength.
It's extremely important to think positively even in the worst situations.
Even if those thoughts are nothing but fantasies about treasures from the legends of the Otherworld, they're a hundred times better than thinking negatively.]
But this was its very last page. I didn't know how to make paper, and leather was too coarse to write on.
“Haa···.”
I'd lost Wilson, and now I'd run out of paper, too.
For the time being, I'd have to make the most of whatever blank spaces were left.
I began writing carefully, pressing each stroke into the page.
And just as I placed the final period on that final page—
CRACK···
“···Huh?”
CRACKLE—
A rift began opening in the middle of the cabin.
Isn't that the thing that sent me here?
“Wha—? Aaaaaah!”
***
“Oh, goodness···!”
My eyes flew open at the sound of someone gasping in surprise. During my time in the Otherworld, my hearing had surpassed human limits. If I concentrated, I could even hear insects walking through the grass.
Yet now, I couldn't even react to that loud voice. I just stared blankly at the face before me.
'Is that a person?'
That single thought floated through my mind.
It wasn't one of those damned, stupid, long-eared elf bastards, nor one of those furry beastfolk who were suspiciously rich.
Of course, there were humans in the Otherworld, too! But··· that expression, those clothes···.
“Is this Earth?”
“Oh, you startled me! Did something happen to you? Young man, what's with those clothes?”
I never thought I'd be so glad to see a middle-aged woman with permed hair wearing baggy work pants.
“Aah, aah···.”
“Hm? What? Speak up. I can't hear you.”
“AAAAAH!”
“Oh, my goodness! You scared me!”
I'd returned to Earth.
***
“Um···.”
What?
A woman with long black hair was looking at me with an awkward expression. What, was I some kind of spectacle?
《OWIC Co., Ltd. / R&D Division / Manager Jin Seo-yeon》
Only after seeing her business suit and name tag did I realize she was from some organization.
“Ah, shorry.”
“No, no, it's fine. Let's talk once you've finished eating. Take your time.”
I turned my attention back to my cup noodles. The taste of MSG. It was powerful enough to make me pass out. I wasn't joking. I genuinely felt as though I might faint. Human civilization really was magnificent.
Only after I'd devoured three cups of instant noodles in no time did Jin Seo-yeon speak.
“Your name is Kang Seon-hu, correct?”
“Yes.”
“We've just finished confirming your identity. Apparently, you were reported missing two years ago.”
“Two years?”
That's impossible. I'd counted at least six years myself. After that, I'd given up counting altogether.
Of course, there was no reason a day in another world would be the same length as a day on Earth. But it certainly hadn't felt shorter.
“We need to conduct a brief investigation. Could you tell me what happened to you?”
“······.”
Another world, the civilizations of other races living there, and native creatures that might as well have been monsters.
How could I explain it all without being treated like a lunatic?
When I remained silent, Jin Seo-yeon brought up something unexpected.
“Did you perhaps cross over to the other side of a dimensional gate?”
“What?”
“The clothes you were wearing were made of Scaven Wolf hide. And the crab shell in your bag was probably from a Raider Crab.”
Scaven Wolf? Raider Crab? So that's what they call those things?
No, more importantly, the fact that she knew what those animals were meant···.
My expression must have been quite peculiar, because Jin Seo-yeon spoke again.
“Two years ago, the Otherworld and Earth became connected. We believe you were caught up in the disturbance and transported there.”
***
Two years ago, dimensional gates had opened.
Surprisingly, it hadn't resulted in dungeons opening and monsters terrorizing humanity. Humans were sometimes resilient to a degree that defied understanding. The armed forces of various nations swiftly brought the dimensional gates under control and succeeded in stabilizing them.
To humanity, the world beyond was an opportunity instead. Just like the moment Columbus discovered the New World.
People began seeking their own dreams there.
“···So that's what happened?”
“That's the gist of it.”
I nodded at Jin Seo-yeon's explanation.
A New World, huh. Apparently, two years had been enough time to overcome the fear of the unknown. Already, plenty of people were gazing at the Otherworld with greedy eyes.
“It's been two years, but we still don't know much about what's on the other side. We haven't begun investigating it in earnest.”
“Why aren't you investigating? You said it was an opportunity.”
“Because the risks far outweigh the money we'd have to spend. We also don't know exactly what we can gain from it yet··· It just isn't economically viable. There's the miasma that makes it dangerous to set foot there carelessly, all sorts of anomalous phenomena, and the things that live there··· Well, you know, don't you?”
Monsters, that's what they are.
Just thinking about them again sent a shiver down my spine.
The researcher had been looking at me strangely the entire time. She seemed to have no end of questions.
“But··· Mr. Kang Seon-hu.”
“Yes?”
“Is it really true that you spent two years living there? Were you perhaps staying in a city, or···?”
“No. Those city bastards are all rotten.”
“Then where?”
“I lived in the forest after they drove me out. Have you seen Bear Grylls's documentaries?”
“···For two whole years?”
It definitely hadn't been two years. But I didn't feel like giving her a lengthy explanation.
“How on earth did you survive?”
The subtle look on her face was closer to awe than anything else. The employees around us, who were secretly listening in on the conversation, looked much the same.
A human surviving two years in the wilderness of the Otherworld.
They seemed to think it was impossible.
··Of course, I agreed.
After that, they showed me to a hospital room and told me to wait until the test results came back.
A clean bed, comfortable dry air, and···.
“My smartphone···!”
After being sucked into the Otherworld, I'd discarded all the filming equipment I didn't need for survival. But I'd wrapped this phone in several layers and carefully tucked it deep inside my bag.
I'd clung to the hope that I might be able to use it again someday if I found a source of electricity.
Remembering the days when all I could eat was dried meat in my cabin, everything here felt like a nobleman's palace. The bed was soft, and the smooth touch of the blanket sent shivers down my spine.
I plugged a charging cable into my phone. How had the world been getting along?
With my back warm and my stomach full, my curiosity turned to that. When I switched it on, an unfamiliar glow filled my vision.
What about my YouTube channel?
<This account is dormant.>
My videos had simply been left there. I'd never had many subscribers to begin with, but seeing that even their number had dwindled brought a hollow laugh to my lips.
I had no attachment to that old channel anymore. I didn't even feel it was a waste. Right now, I was simply grateful to have made it back alive.
Still, I wanted to know what had been happening in the world.
And the best way to find out was to browse YouTube.
So I opened the trending category, only to find—
<The Succubus Habitat I've Only Heard Rumors About! I Found It.>
<A City in the Otherworld. What Happens If We Observe It Through an Astronomical Telescope?>
“···?”
Judging by the titles alone, I couldn't tell whether I was looking at YouTube or Netflix. But this was unquestionably real.
I recalled what the researcher had said earlier: the Otherworld wasn't a threat, but an opportunity.
I clicked on a random video.
<The Secrets of the Rune Language, Part 2: Can We Use Magic Too?>
A YouTuber I'd never seen before began talking excitedly.
「Among the languages used by the people of the Otherworld, there's something called <Rune Language>.
Amazingly, they say the language itself possesses power.
Could that be the secret behind the magic used by the Otherworld's mages?
If we could just learn that language, wouldn't we be able to use magic, too?」
··Rune Language? Otherworldly magic?
The YouTuber was clearly in the Otherworld. It was somewhere I didn't recognize, but··· I could see that distinctive landscape.
「I managed to figure out one of the words! Today's experiment is to see whether I can cast magic using that language! All the preparations are complete, so let's try it right away!
··
Thir! Ttir! Ttwir! Sswir!
··
Ugh··· It's not working. Maybe my pronunciation is wrong?」
The video continued, but my attention was no longer on the screen.
“······.”
An empty cup sat on the bedside table to my left. I gently rested a finger on its rim.
“Thir.”
Numerous droplets of water formed inside the cup.
A few seconds later, it held about a paper cup's worth of water.