—————————————
[ epilogue or ]
“The manager of the dimensional hub? mister. what’s this?”
Lily opened her eyes and looked back at the great man.
The great man asked back in surprise.
“Little one, can you see this message too?”
For some reason, the message from the [Star of Transcendence], which until now had only been visible to adults, was also being shared with Lily.
‘It’s only for a moment, but is it an effect of wearing a watch?’
I could only guess, but I didn’t know the exact reason.
The great man looked at the watch on his wrist.
On the night I retired after 20 years of life as a superhuman, my friend Joong-cheol gave me a gift to congratulate my retirement, saying, ‘I found it on the recently developed Byron continent.’
‘Retirement gifts are a piece of cake!’
When I thought about that day, I suddenly became angry again.
Thanks to my return, I was able to meet new people and create many stories with the little boy, but I also had to go through a lot of hardships.
‘I thought I was going to die just a moment ago!’
Daein glared at the clock with a complex expression mixed with love and hate.
[The Star of Transcendence (Transcendence) is activated.]
[You have achieved the last condition.]
[The manager of the dimensional hub has sent you an invitation.]
As Daein glared in silence, the same message appeared once more. .
The Great Man asked the Star of Transcendence openly.
“The last condition has been achieved. what is that? What is a manager again?”
I had felt this for a long time, but the Star of Transcendence was not very kind.
[Would you like to accept the invitation?]
He said exactly what he wanted to say.
“This is ignoring people’s words….”
[If you meet with the manager, all your questions will be answered.]
“…….”
‘If you look at the fact that it is an invitation, it means that it is not something that is coercive.’
It was true that Daein had long wondered about the reality of the Star of Transcendence and the being that created it.
However, there may be some danger if you go there without any information.
You have to think a little more….
[If you do not accept it within 10 seconds, the invitation will disappear.]
[The invitation will not be sent again.]
[10 9 8….]
“Well, there are all these invitations! ”
“mister? “What are you going to do?”
Daein thought seriously as he watched the numbers decrease one by one.
‘go? Roll it up?’
However, the conclusion was already decided in my head.
If you miss this opportunity, you will definitely be curious about it for the rest of your life.
The great man looked back at Lily and said.
“I’m not going to call you now to harm you. Administrator or something. “I have to go and see him sometime.”
“Then I want to go too!”
“hmm? “I’ll go home alone, so you go home first…”
Daein was shocked, and his body stiffened from fear of survival.
Lily, with her eyes wide open, was rolling up her sleeves. He could crush rocks with those small fists.
Lily muttered in a sad voice.
“I just promised…”
“Oh, okay! Okay, so get that fist out of the way! We can go together! “I just said it!”
Feeling the sorrow of the head of a family who had lost his dignity, the great man sighed and said.
“We will both accept your invitation.”
At that moment, the light flowing from the star of transcendence enveloped the two people.
-Paaaa!
***
The place the two arrived was an unfamiliar city.
“First of all… it’s not Earth.”
The great man looked around the city with curious eyes.
It was a world that felt foreign even to him, who had traveled through numerous dimensions so far.
Rather than being new… should I say it’s a mess?
[The navigation function is activated.]
A holographic arrow appeared in front of their eyes, guiding them.
Lily and Daein followed the arrow to the center of the city.
And after a while, they opened their mouths in a daze.
“What…”
“Mister. “Isn’t it dangerous here?”
As we headed towards the center of the city, which had a fairly large floating population, a large number of voices were filling the city.
Murmur.
The problem was that most of the voices were different.
“…What race fair is this?”
Humans, fairies, giants, demons, elyos, amorphous bodies, and even spiritual bodies that just pass through the building.
That wasn’t the end.
Kugugugugung…!
Even giant monsters, monsters, spirits, divine beasts, robots, and aliens were roaming around the sky and the ground.
What was even more surprising was that they did not cause any friction with other races they encountered.
Lily and Daein followed the navigation arrows and whispered to each other every time they saw an interesting sight.
“Look over there. Elyos and demons go hand in hand. “That demon woman… is she really pregnant?”
“Mister, look over there! “There’s a cat on a robot!”
“That guy over there playing an instrument that looks like a guitar looks like a zombie…”
“Look at the sky! Two big birds! But why is one on top of the other? Why are you suddenly covering your eyes?”
“…That is not suitable for viewing by young people.”
Lily and Daein were busy looking around and exclaiming exclamations like country kids who had just arrived in the city.
Scenes that shattered common sense were unfolding everywhere.
The appearance of a city where numerous levels of culture and tribes are mixed.
Daein felt an unfamiliar yet strange sense of déjà vu.
‘This place… is a bit similar to Earth 20 years later.’
In the future, when the Earth functioned properly as a dimensional hub and numerous races began to interact, the Earth looked similar to this place.
However, in this city, many more races roamed around without hesitation.
‘Because the Earth has a set number of races that can enter and exit each city. If they were natural enemies or opposites, they were prohibited from meeting each other.’
In comparison, this city guaranteed complete freedom.
“…What on earth are we doing here?”
Daein’s curiosity grew even bigger.
After a while they arrived at their destination.
[Arrived at the destination.]
The place where the arrow stopped was a high-rise building so large and tall that it was noticeable even in the center of the city.
When the two people arrived at the door, it opened by itself and
said, “Welcome.”
A middle-aged man with a bushy beard greeted the two with a smile.
He was Tichtal, the manager of the dimensional hub.
***
“This too! This too! Drink it all carefully…!”
Lily was eating the food piled up on the table at a frightening speed. My pronunciation was all muffled because my cheeks were puffy like a squirrel with an acorn in it.
On the other hand, rather than having dinner, Daein was admiring the view of the city outside the window.
“There were multiple dimensional hubs….”
“There are a few more places besides Earth and here. “This is one of the oldest places.”
Tichtal, a middle-aged man sitting opposite, had already finished his meal and was eating ice cream. Contrary to his appearance, he had the taste of a child.
“Why can’t I eat like this? “The food doesn’t suit your taste?”
“…I’m not a food-possessed kid. Would you mind eating now?”
“Huh! Drink!”
Lily, who seemed not to be able to hear the conversation between the two, closed her eyes tightly, trembled, and repeated, “Drink!”
‘…I think I like it more than when I was alive.’
The great man shook his head and looked at Tichtal.
The manager of the dimensional hub and the creator of the [Star of Transcendence].
‘Tichtal. It was said to be the name of a legendary great wizard from the continent of Byron.’
However, the being who could create an artifact like the [Star of Transcendence] could not have been ‘only an archmage’.
The great man unwrapped his watch, handed it to him, and said.
“Now that you’ve had enough, let’s get to the point. “Why did you make this?”
“I think you already have some expectations. is not it?”
“But I still want to hear it in person.”
Tichtal smiled innocently like a child and ate the ice cream with a spoon.
“In this universe, there are countless planets, races, times and spaces. And with truly absurd probability, a phenomenon in which numerous dimensions overlap in one dimension occurs. Dimension Hub. “That’s what they call it on Earth.”
The great man narrowed his eyes and asked.
“What does this watch have to do with that?”
He said, looking at Tichtal’s watch.
“It’s some kind of qualification test. “If you pass the final stage, you can come see me.”
“Qualifications…test?”
“The dimensional hub needs an administrator. A manager, not a ruler. “In the past, we used to select people directly, but after failing a few times, we changed to the current method.”
There have been wars between dimensional hubs in the past. Tichtal muttered something terrifying to himself without any hesitation.
‘It was all a test?’
At that moment, Daein suddenly remembered a series of events.
“No way… the disasters suddenly sped up and an unplanned event occurred…”
Tichtal smiled vaguely. That was enough of an answer.
It was so absurd that I wasn’t even angry. The great man looked at Tichtal with an expression of bewilderment.
“So you’ve been watching me since the moment I returned to the past?”
“Not from the beginning. There were quite a few candidates besides you. Rather, you had low expectations in the beginning. His talent was so-so and his personality was so-so. “There’s not much sense of improvement, right?”
The great man asked those words with a look of incomprehension.
“Then why am I a candidate? “Do they have some special strengths?”
“Candidates are just selected at random?”
“Hey…!”
Daein barely suppressed the curse that was about to burst out.
Even though he seemed like a good-natured guy at first glance, he was someone whose strength you couldn’t even guess.
In the end, Daein was caught up in the great fate arranged by the manager of the dimensional hub and survived to come here.
There was only one question left for Daein.
“What was that last condition?”
“Take a guess.”
There was nothing in particular that came to mind. In the end, I just wanted to save everyone and send them back to Earth.
If I had to connect it and think of it….
“Keuhumhum. A noble spirit of sacrifice. “What is that?”
Even a man with a thick face was quite embarrassed to say it with his own mouth.
Tichtal said with a chuckle.
“It’s similar. Protecting something even by giving up the star of transcendence. That’s roughly my standard. “It’s never easy to give up this much power.”
“…….”
“Besides, you gave it up for the dimensional hub, so you get special bonus points. “In the end, it’s similar to what we do.”
we.
That meant that there were many administrators of the dimensional hub.
In fact, if there are multiple dimensional hubs, you will also need multiple administrators.
And this man in front of me must be a fairly high rank among managers.
Tichtal said, looking at the great man.
“So, what do you mean? Would you like to become an administrator on Earth?”
The great man answered firmly.
“no. “I don’t like it.”
I’m almost ready to retire, but why should I start working again?
I absolutely hated it.
But even though I said it, I noticed it.
If you were forced to do it, would you be able to refuse it?
Daein waited anxiously for the other person’s reaction.
“okay?”
Tichtal shrugged his shoulders once and nodded that he understood.
“If you don’t like it, don’t. Rest as much as you want and then go. “There is everything you can enjoy in this building.”
“…Just go?”
“okay. go. I have no intention of forcing someone who doesn’t like it. “This is not such an easy task.”
When it came out like that, Daein actually got emotional.
“no. “If you brought me here, shouldn’t I persuade you a little more?”
“Persuasion…”
Tichtal said, scratching his chin with an ice cream spoon as if it had been a long time since he heard something like that.
“How about I restore all the strength you lost? Just as much as I can handle right now. “I’ll seal the rest so you can digest it later.”
Tichtal said that he would restore all of Daein’s lost strength, as if he would prepare extra side dishes for him when he left.
“Hmm…”
While Daein was thinking for a moment, Lily, who had finally filled her stomach, said, wiping the sauce from her mouth with a napkin.
“however. What do you do as a manager? “Do you get paid a lot?”
“Then I guess you didn’t hear the most important thing.”
The great man stroked Lily’s head as if proud of him.
And both of them looked at Tichtal with eyes full of expectation of return.
For the first time, he seemed embarrassed.
“Because this is an honorary position, there is no separate salary….”
Sting!
The manager of the dimensional hub was taken aback by those eyes.
“…Don’t you guys have a lot of money?”
“No matter how much money there is, the more money the better. Since the currency units are different, jewelry or in kind are also welcome.”
“…ha. “I’ll give you whatever you ask for.”
Tichtal shook his head as if wondering what such a thing was, and Daein and Lily high-fived.
“And what I do is…”
Tichtal continued after gathering his thoughts for a moment.
“I usually have very little to do. Sometimes, if it seems like a planetary disaster is about to happen, you go ahead and prevent it, and if an inter-dimensional conflict arises, you coordinate it? Also, very occasionally, extraterrestrial outlaws invade, and we fight them off as well… It’s roughly similar to what you’ve done so far.”
‘It’s similar, but the scale is ridiculously large!’
Daein held back what he wanted to argue with. Tichtal’s story is not over yet.
His eyes were very serious.
“Managers are never selected easily. If you give them authority, there are more people who want to become rulers rather than managers. “Even people who don’t have any greed will become greedy when their positions change.”
That’s why he liked the landlord.
Despite gaining enormous wealth and fame after his return, Daein did not become greedy like most other manager candidates.
Moderate greed.
It was the landlord’s personality to be bothered if you gave him more than that.
A manager, not a ruler.
It was a perfect fit for him.
“Ask me again. “Would you please take on the role of administrator of the Earth-side dimensional hub?”
The great man thought seriously.
In the future, numerous dimensions and races will appear on Earth, and conflicts will inevitably continue to arise.
Perhaps a race more dangerous and warlike than the demons may appear.
Being a manager makes all those situations much easier to deal with.
‘How much I have earned through my hard work so far… I can’t have my rent taken away by those guys.’
··In the end, it ended up that way again.
The great man thought for quite some time before opening his mouth.
“…great. “Can I also place a condition instead?”
“me too!”
Lily, who had watched and learned from the great man, placed a spoon on it.
***
One year later, Seoul, South Korea.
Today was the day when the statue of the greatest man in history was unveiled to the public.
Click, click, click!
Already at the scene, reporters dispatched from more than a dozen levels were firing their flashlights into the sky.
Wooooow!
Floating above the sky of Seoul was a huge black sphere measuring 3km in diameter.
“We are in the midst of a historic moment!”
“A great work commemorating the first anniversary of his death will soon be revealed on Earth!”
“Among the sculptors and artists who participated in this work, they were part of the death squad during the final war…”
“All of the final death squad attended the unveiling ceremony!”
Reporters continuously reported on-site situations.
As each member of the final team entered, thunderous applause and cheers erupted from the audience.
Click, click, click!
Wow!
The cheers reached their peak when Wang Kuho came up to the stage.
The strongest wall on Earth.
Everyone held their breath as the greatest superhuman who had saved humanity several times took the microphone.
-Thank you to everyone who attended. He was the greatest hero in human history. We are gathered here so as not to forget that person. One day, the team leader said this to me…
Tsk tsk.
“Hogu, he’s also become more talkative. “It seems like just yesterday you were timid and pricked me… But why are you crying again?”
In the end, Daein watched Wang Guho, who burst into tears, hurriedly get off the stage, and looked at him with a puzzled expression while eating popcorn.
“…Your acting is like an Oscar award?”
Even Wang Guhao knew that he was alive.
The great man shook his head, saying, “You are such a brat.”
The next person to come up to the podium was Baek Chang-su.
-I will be brief.
The simple story lasted well over 10 minutes, and eventually his daughter came up and dragged her father down.
“The CEO is also very consistent.”
After that, people who were familiar with Daein or famous people from all over the world came up to the stage one by one and poured out stories related to Daein.
The greatest hero in history.
A saint who sacrificed himself to protect the world.
A man who died and became a god.
Etc.
As a listener, my ears were so itchy that I almost died.
And finally, the long-awaited highlight of the unveiling ceremony.
“Then I will reveal the work.”
-Jiiiiing!
When the wizards lifted the barrier, the huge black sphere floating in the air disappeared.
And then the statue appeared.
“Ooooooooo!”
Exclamations of exclamation erupted from the mouths of the people at the scene and countless people watching through the broadcast.
Height 2137 meters.
A masterpiece created over the course of a year by tens of thousands of experts, artists, wizards, scientists, and magical engineers from dozens of dimensions.
The image of a great man piercing the heart of Baal with a spear was made into a dynamic statue.
Every muscle movement felt like it was alive and breathing.
“Oh my…”
While everyone was admiring, only the person concerned clicked his tongue.
It was so glorified that it didn’t look much like him.
“Why on earth are you naked from the waist up?”
Beep-.
Daein just turned off the TV. I was curious because there was so much chaos around me, but it was too cringy to keep watching.
After coming out of the house, Daein walked along the beach and stretched.
“Hwaam.”
The gentle wind tickled my cheeks. The moderately warm sun was shining comfortably.
“Hehe. Long live the unemployed.”
The great man went to the hammock, which was his reserved seat, and stretched out comfortably. A cold beer was set on the table next to it.
“Hehe!”
After emptying a can of beer, I was just about to fall asleep.
-Jeeeeee!
The gate opened and Lily, carrying a teddy bear backpack, walked out at a brisk pace.
Like a younger sister seeing her pitiful unemployed brother, Lily sighed heavily when she saw the man lying down.
“Sleeping again? “Are you going to just sleep and not work?”
“A good adult should sleep for 16 hours a day…”
Tuk.
The great man narrowed his eyes slightly when he felt something touch his chest.
A cowboy hat with the space sheriff mark drawn by Lily herself.
“…What’s going on again?”
The great man furrowed his eyebrows and asked, looking annoyed by everything.
“Unauthorized dimensional gate occurred! Sheriff! “It’s expected to be an alien invasion!”
Before we knew it, Lily, wearing a cowboy hat identical to the adult’s – only yellow in color – saluted.
“Hmm. Right.”
The great man nodded, turned his body to the other side and said.
“Sheriff. It’s time for you to handle this on your own.”
“Oh, wake up!”
After a while, a large man wearing a cowboy hat ambled up and stood up.
“It’s annoying Jeungmaal….”
“But can I just pack three chickens on the way?”
“…Are you asking this after already ordering everything?”
“of course.”
Looking the same as usual, they walked side by side into the gate.
[ epilogue or ] End
ⓒ Ganjjajang
