There Is No World For ■■

* * *The man woke up within a dream.What greeted him was a cityscape filled with towering buildings and people.Well-maintained roads and numerous cars, coffee houses beneath skyscrapers, men heading to work, elderly with the latest smartphones and canes, tired working mothers, and the rosy cheeks of children holding their mothers’ hands.It felt as if this scene would come alive at any moment, but this was not reality—it was a dream.Everything within the man’s line-of-sight remained still.Everything in this world was frozen, like a still frame from a movie.…This is not a high-level dream. Is it that urgent?After observing the scene for a moment, the man rose from his spot.There was neither surprise nor fear. After all, this wasn’t the first time he encountered such a dream.The one who summoned me… must be in the east.He walked past the frozen people and headed toward the eastern part of the city.After crossing a frozen crosswalk and traversing various roads while disregarding the traffic.He soon arrived at his destination; a beach that didn’t seem to fit in with the cityscape.The first thing that caught his eye was the vast horizon, as wide as the sea, but this was not the sea.It was Lake Michigan, one of the Great Lakes in America, the heart of Chicago, and the location of the massive Dimensional Portal known as the Chicago Dimensional Portal.The man stood on the beach, taking in the view of the lake.To be precise, he was looking at the shimmering Dimensional Portal hovering over a massive artificial island created by dwarves.In a dream where everything was frozen, only the Dimensional Portal was alive and moving.[What took you so long?]And as soon as he gazed at the Dimensional Portal, he heard a voice from beyond. It was a remarkably loud voice, as if thunder itself were speaking.“You summon me without warning in a dream, and that’s the first thing you say?”Seeing the man speak while frowning, the Dimensional Portal emitted light, as if to justify itself.[It was urgent. There wasn’t any time to explain.]“…Urgent, huh? Well then, explain just how urgent it was.”Hearing the man speak as if he wanted to see for himself, the voice from beyond the Dimensional Portal responded weakly.[It’s useless.]“…Useless?”[It’s already too late.]Realizing that the situation was more serious than expected, The man frowned deeply as he repeated his question.“As your contractor, I command you to explain what is late and how. At this very moment.”The voice beyond the Dimensional Portal did not respond. Instead, an invisible force grabbed hold of the man.“…What is this about?”[I lack the skill to explain in your human language. So, it’s better if you see for yourself.]What did he have to see for himself??As soon as the man began to ponder over the question, his body was lifted into the sky at such speed that when he looked below, both Chicago and Lake Michigan had become as tiny as a fingernail.“At least tell me the destination before dragging me as you wish.”Although something like this would usually cause panic, the man inquired calmly. Leaving the American continent behind, he was now crossing the Pacific Ocean.Only after the Australian continent began to appear in the distance did the voice finally answer.[We are heading to a place the Earthians call Lord Howe Island.]Lord Howe? The man rubbed his chin as he thought of the academy.What sort of trouble could have occurred in a place that was perfectly fine until this morning?Before he could contemplate any further, the invisible force set him down on the ground.Once his feet touched the ground, the man instinctively understood that he was on Lord Howe Island.After all, not many places in this world had potential so immense that it could distort the dream world.[Can you see it?]The voice inquired. The man shook his head.“No, the potential makes it nearly impossible to see anything.”The man narrowed his eyes and scanned his surroundings.It didn’t matter how hard he concentrated, all he could see were the blurred outlines and a blend of colors that looked like a child’s doodling.This was expected. Just like gravity, the stronger the potential, the more it absorbs and distorts the surrounding dream.[Sheesh, humans.]The voice watching him suddenly infused an unseen force into the man.Its purpose was simple: to offset the surrounding potential and illuminate the man’s vision.Enduring the sudden surge of power, the man peered ahead.[Can you see it now?]“…Yes, it’s a bit clearer now.”The first thing that came into view was a grassy area that was probably on the outskirts of the academy, with a man and woman sitting side by side.He couldn’t see them clearly due to the distorted outlines, but…A dark night, a man and a woman sitting close together and their face touching —what they were doing was obvious.[What do you think? Even now, you still need to come up with a plan.]Unlike the man, whose tension had eased upon seeing that, the voice remained extremely serious.The man sighed and responded.“…All I see is some promiscuous brats locking lips in the middle of the night.”[…]“What sort of a plan should I come up with for a pair of kids making out? Should I supply breath fresheners to the academy? Or condoms?”As soon as he replied sarcastically, the voice infused even more power into the man’s body.[…Look closer.]Whoosh!This time, with enough power to shake the dream, the man was able to see what was invisible before.A small bead of light sparkling above the heads of the man and woman.“Potential? To be visible to the eye, that….”[With that level of potential, calling it fate would not be an exaggeration.]As the voice stated, if the inherent potential was visualized in the dream, it would not be surprising to call it fate.Just as heavy gravity would create a black hole that absorbed everything, such potential would also absorb everything around it.“Is it Yunseong? No, it doesn’t look like Yunseong…”The man stared at the two carefully, trying to identify them.However, even with how strong the light of fate was, the faces of the two people, turned away from the orb, were still shrouded in darkness.[The identity of those two is not important. What matters is the orb. Take a closer look at it.]Following the voice’s command, the man squinted and stared directly at the glowing orb. After a moment, he noticed something unusual.[Can you see it?]“…Yes, I can see it.”The orb was not a single entity. It was more like two orbs, with one protruding side, had fused into one.“There are only a handful people with such a fate… and now one of them has fused into the other? This is the first time I have ever come across something like this. Have you checked who absorbed whom?”[No. By the time I noticed the anomaly, one side had already absorbed the other.]The man furrowed his brows. Just as the trials were about to begin, an event like this had already occurred.“…We might need to start over.”The man uttered words of lament or perhaps a sigh. He then turned his head to look in the direction of the voice.“I think we can come up with a plan only after we figure out the identities of the two. There’s still time, so first, let’s get a good look at their faces…”The sentence hung in the air. His senses—more precisely, the power imbued by the voice —reacted to something.…Silence descended upon the frozen dream world. It was a lasting silence.“…Who are you?”Unable to endure it, the man spoke. Vast information, comparable to that of a library, swirled in his mind.At this time, in this place, the only beings capable of causing something like this were at most…“…Mara? Or Maoran Lerac?”There was no response. Was the entity contemplating after being exposed, or was it merely a bluff?As the man pondered and took a step back.Thud.He bumped into something.A chilling sensation he had rarely come across.The man looked up cautiously and saw… a colossal shadow looming over him.“A-ack…!”Just as the man was about to scream on recognizing the entity.