It had been thirty minutes since I started walking while looking around at the wide-open scenery.
The landscape, without a single bit of concrete in sight, felt strangely novel all over again.
When was the last time I went on a trip?
I remembered my trip to Yeosu two years ago as the last one.
As for overseas travel... well, I had gone once ten years ago. Once to Guam on a package tour.
“Come to think of it, what’s famous here?”
The open grassland was impressive, but I could not spend the whole day staring at grass and savoring the refined pleasures of nature.
First, I needed to decide on a destination.
I pictured the map in my head and checked the exploration points.
-Alhen Northern Plains (Exploration complete)
-Inside the Cypher Village Adventurers’ Guild (Unexplored)
-Deep Inside Cat Forest (Unexplored)
-??? (Unexplored)
There were four places marked with dots on the map in the image.
The Alhen Northern Plains was a green dot, and the other areas were red dots.
It seemed unexplored areas were marked with red dots, and once exploration was complete, the red dot turned green.
I suspected the exploration areas were places the people who sent me here “wanted me to visit.”
Just like how, in actual travel guidebooks, local parties marked certain attractions or shopping spots as must-visit places in order to maximize profit from tourists.
I’ll go. They’re begging me to stop by while showering me with money, so I should go.
But if I feel like they’re trying to control me too much, I’ll give up immediately.
I resigned because I finally wanted to enjoy a limited period of rest to my heart’s content.
I’ll firmly reject any demand that falls outside the territory of rest.
‘The closest place from here is the Adventurers’ Guild in Cypher Village. It’s like an information center, so should I stop by there first?’
Since it was a facility bearing the grand name of Adventurers’ Guild, I should be able to obtain all kinds of information and essential supplies for adventurers who traveled from place to place.
So I would go to the Adventurers’ Guild first.
The direction was southwest from my current location.
The distance was 20 kilometers.
20 kilometers? That was a little far.
I was starting to get hungry too.
Could I request a means of transportation from the travel agency?
There was nothing to lose by asking, so should I bring it up?
I fixed my gaze on the air and spoke.
“Excuse me. You should at least provide the bare minimum of transportation, shouldn’t you?”
.......
There was no answer.
They had not already gone home from work, had they?
Usually, after getting off a plane, you at least went through the standard procedures of boarding transportation or meeting up with a guide.
No one started a march right from the airport.
Had my wish been granted, or was I simply lucky?
I heard the sound of wheels rolling from behind me.
Rrrrrrr.
When I turned around, a small cart was coming this way.
Its size was slightly smaller than a compact car.
An elderly man was sitting on the driver’s seat, holding the reins, while a sturdy mule diligently pulled the cart.
In the cargo bed of the cart, six tin milk cans of ten liters each were loaded.
As for the old man’s appearance, he had blue eyes, brown hair, and pale skin that was flushed red here and there.
A straw bucket hat, a checkered shirt, and gray pants.
The dried mud stuck to various parts of his clothing told me the old man was a local resident living nearby.
When I stepped aside to the edge of the road, the old man stopped the cart where I was standing and wore a benevolent smile.
A language whose origin I could not identify came out of the old man’s mouth, but strangely enough, I understood it right away, as if it were my native tongue.
“How far are you going?”
It seemed my appearance must have looked like exemplary traveler attire.
Without even needing to ask separately, the old man realized I was traveling and asked about my destination.
The warm smile directed at me soon helped greatly in gauging the nature of this place’s residents.
So their way of thinking isn’t particularly different just because this is another world.
Once I got the feeling that places where people lived were all the same, my hesitation vanished.
I smiled back in answer.
“I’m on my way to Cypher Village.”
I had spoken normally, yet the same language as the old man’s came out of my mouth.
Automatic translation. This is incredibly convenient, isn’t it?
It felt as if the translation app on a phone had been installed in my body as a basic feature.
The old man pulled his hips toward the right edge of the driver’s seat, then patted the empty space created by the movement with his palm.
“Hahaha, I was just on my way to deliver milk to Cypher Village. We’re going in the same direction, so climb aboard.”
“Is that all right? I’m worried I might make you uncomfortable by taking up space for no reason.”
“The inconvenience of being cramped can hardly compare to the pleasure of having someone to talk to. It is fine, so hurry and get on.”
“Then I’ll impose on your kindness.”
The mule-drawn cart I rode for the first time could hardly be called comfortable.
It felt like riding a bicycle with only rims and no rubber tires down an unpaved road while wearing unpadded pants.
My tailbone hurt.
While I was busy tilting my body diagonally left and right in turn so the impact would disperse.
The old man skillfully drove the mule and attempted some small talk with me.
“Where are you from? Judging by your accent, you do not seem to be from this region.”
This was a good opportunity to find out what kind of existence a dimension traveler was to the residents here.
They might not understand the concept of a dimension traveler at all, they might react favorably, or they might react badly.
Whichever it was, if I only hid it, I would miss things I could have discovered.
Besides, since I had the insurance of being able to return whenever I wanted, there was no reason to act timid.
I chose being proactive over being passive.
“To tell you the truth, I crossed over from another dimension.”
The old man opened his eyes wide, then smiled brightly and welcomed me with great excitement.
“Oh! You were a dimension traveler! Did you perhaps cross over from Earth?”
I see. He already knows the word Earth.
If so, this conversation will go quickly.
Even though I realized that all the worries I had carried were nothing but needless concern, I asked the conventional question.
“You believe me?”
“Hahaha, of course I do. In the past, people crossed over from Earth many times. All of them later became heroes. They are already gone now, but the achievements they accomplished are still highly praised.”
Thinking about it, the reason I had been made to travel was to collect samples in order to test whether other people could travel later.
The fact that there was room for other people to cross over later meant, in other words, that dimensional transfer itself was not a forbidden act.
There was nothing strange about the same thing having happened several times in the past.
“The accomplishments of dimension travelers in the past were tremendous. Whenever wars against demons broke out, God would send dimension travelers to our Ravos Continent, you see. Dimension travelers are our eternal heroes.”
As I continued listening, it turned out past dimension travelers, unlike me, had come over for the sake of peace in this other world.
They had crossed over intermittently, sometimes as few as one, sometimes as many as more than ten at a time, and the achievements they left behind were unrivaled in this other world.
The dimension travelers of the past had enhanced national prestige—no, since this was on the scale of dimensions, dimensional prestige. Thanks to the dimensional prestige they had built up, the perception of dimension travelers was very favorable.
From the moment he learned I was a dimension traveler, the old man’s tone of voice rose noticeably.
“What is your name, if I may ask? You may become a hero someday, so I would like to hear it in advance.”
“I’m Jo Seong-jin.”
“Jo Seong-jin. Jo Seong-jin. I will remember it.”
“Ah, but I’m not here to make it big or anything. I’m just here to travel.”
“Hahaha, travel is good. As you travel, doing this and that along the way, might you not encounter an unexpected turning point?”
“For the moment, I plan to wander around with an easy mind.”
“How long has it been since you began traveling? How were your Skill Aptitude Evaluation results?”
Skill Aptitude Evaluation?
Perhaps he assumed I had already experienced some amount of life in another world, because the old man used a proper noun I could not understand.
When I tilted my head because I did not understand, the old man’s expression changed, and he asked seriously.
“Could it be that you have not yet received an aptitude evaluation?”
“Evaluation or whatever else, it hasn’t even been an hour since I crossed over here.”
“Good heavens! O God! To think the day would come when I would rise to become a dimension traveler’s Villager No. 1!”
“Um, you seem a bit too excited. Are you all right?”
“It has only been an hour since you arrived! Ah... this is not the time! Let us stop by the guild at once! You should receive your aptitude evaluation first!”
The way he grew thoroughly excited and blew out hot breaths through his nose was anything but ordinary.
He looked like a veteran player who had caught the scent of a newbie.
The old man, excited by my words that I was a beginner who had just arrived, roughly urged the mule on and raced toward the village.
The ride was already terrible as it was, but as the speed reached its limit, the cart bounced violently without rest.
Just as I started thinking my pelvis would not survive this, the cart carrying the old man and me arrived at the village.
Without giving me even a moment to look around the village, the old man grabbed my arm and took me inside a brick building that looked to be about 165 square meters.
According to the sign hanging at the entrance of the brick building.
[Cypher Village Adventurers’ Guild]
The inside of the guild resembled the interior of a saloon that might appear in a Western.
There was a long counter bar, and behind the counter bar, a middle-aged man with an impressive mustache was wiping a glass.
Aside from that, about ten round tables of the kind used while standing, without chairs, had been placed around the room, and there was a large bulletin board plastered with tattered pieces of paper.
The moment I passed through the door, a message flew in, informing me that I had arrived at another exploration point.
-Arrived at Cypher Village Adventurers’ Guild.
-Alhen Region Exploration Rate increased to 50 percent.
-1,500,000 won has been added to the Travel Reward Fund.
-Current accumulated fund: 2,500,000 won.
I was not given time to be pleased about the rise in my Exploration Rate and fund.
The old man, brimming with excitement, shouted into the guild.
“Hey~! Manager! Give this man an aptitude evaluation! He’s a dimension traveler!”
Inside the guild were six people wearing all kinds of outfits, including a farmer, a blacksmith, and a hunter.
They were divided into pairs, each group drinking and talking among themselves, but at the words dimension traveler, they all snapped their heads around at once.
The manager behind the counter, in particular, threw down the cloth he was holding and rushed out from behind the counter.
“A dimension traveler? Is that true? From the Earth side, right? You came from Earth, didn’t you?”
“Yes, he’s a dimension traveler from Earth. He says he crossed over today. He has not even received an aptitude evaluation yet.”
“What? A dimension traveler who has only just crossed over into our world? A fresh dimension traveler in a remote countryside place like this! After all my years alive, to think the day would come when I get to perform an aptitude evaluation for a dimension traveler!”
“Man, did you not hear me ask you to prepare an aptitude evaluation? What are you doing, not getting ready at once?”
“Oh, right. Look at me. Please wait a moment. Wow, how long has it been since I last performed an aptitude evaluation? No children have been born in the village for the past few years, so there has been no occasion to do one.”
The person who seemed to be the manager bustled about and entered the door beside the counter, while the other guests staying inside the guild began gathering around me one by one.
I wondered if this was what it felt like to reveal you were Korean in a country where K-culture was popular.
A man dressed like a farmer cautiously tapped my shoulder with his index finger and spoke to me.
“Is it true that you’re a dimension traveler?”
“Ah, yes. I crossed over today.”
A man dressed like a blacksmith circled me and examined every corner of my equipment.
“Your gear is really modest. Come by my shop in a little while. I’ll give you a few useful pieces.”
“Haha, I’ll try getting by with what I have and visit you again afterward. I still have no sense of estimates or anything of the sort.”
“Who said I’m taking money? I said I’ll just give them to you. Come when I tell you to come.”
A man dressed like a hunter leaned against the wall, striking a pose, and crooked a finger at me.
“Even if your goal is travel, you need at least one skill to take care of yourself. If your aptitude test results include hunter aptitude, tell me. I can teach you a simple skill or two.”
Everyone was heated up, eager to stuff gifts into the sleeves of a novice traveler they were seeing for the first time.
Their eyes were bloodshot, and their noses were flaring nonstop.
Their goodwill was so intense that I felt not merely grateful, but overwhelmed.
While I was dazed by the surging wave of goodwill, the door attached beside the counter opened, and the manager beckoned to me from inside.
“The aptitude evaluation is ready! Please come in here!”