Above Your Head

Vol 2. Chapter 22: Tutorial (4)

What is he talking about?

I don't know. He must be out of his mind.

T-These bastards...!

I calmed Ares down as he was shaking at the sudden insult, and stepped forward. "Ahh, wait, wait a minute. Don't just talk between the two of you, and explain, please. What's going on right now? What thing did the Spirit God do to me?"

What did you say? What thing?! Did you just say 'what thing'?!

Kwareukkkkkkk!!! Thunder and lightning raged forth. It wasn't just plain lightning. The violent storm, which had a mighty soul energy and a more overwhelming voltage, was a scale not easily seen, even in space warfare.

'Wow, that's crazily strong. Something like this is equivalent to the power output of a Star-rank Gigas though?' To be honest, I was wondering how strong a spirit would be, but this was of a strong enough power to break down such stereotypes. Come to think of it, based on Elaika's level alone, it was a whopping Level 18, so there was no need to say anything more.

'Well, even if so, if I fought with a Star-rank Gigas, I'd be pushed back due to the soul power's superiority advantage.' The Iron Heart did not rewrite a new history of the weapons of the entire universe for no reason. The natural energy, which contained a mighty soul power, was undoubtedly a strong force. Still, even if that was the case, its essence was nothing more than an inferior energy. Divine energy was the only thing that would not lose to the superiority advantage of the soul power.

Calm down, Elaika.

Thuuuckkk! A thunderstorm of outrageous scale was sucked into Pink Pink, which was less than a meter in size, and disappeared. There was a continuous spark spurting out from her body, but she turned her head towards me, scolding me as if it did not do any particular damage to her. I've stopped it for now, but be careful of what you say! 'What thing?' What kind of nonsense are you spouting when you earn the favor of the Spirit God... The formation of a Unique World is a power that belonged solely to the Spirit Realm. Even the most decent transcendents would not dare to covet...

Groooooarrr-----!!

…Eckkk? The formation has already started?

What is this?! It's too fast!!

Shiiiiiingg! My field of vision instantly changed for the worse. The image of the Spirit Realm, which was green with shades of trees, disappeared. Then, a land full of dull grey magnetic sand which was like burnt ashes revealed itself. "...What the, where is this?"

In his novel, Saint-Exupéry[1] portrayed the place that the Little Prince lived in as B-612. B-612 was an asteroid about the size of a house, and it was so small that one could supposedly continue watching the sunset if they moved a chair by a few mere steps. Funny as it was, the place I arrived at was also that kind of place. Even if I looked 360 degrees around in all directions, it was a place where I could always see the horizon. Fortunately, it didn't look as small as B-612, but it was almost the same size.

Dimensional Movement... Confirmed. But, Captain-nim.

"Is there a problem? Where did I teleport to now?"

You didn't teleport.

"What are you saying? Just a while ago, you said that Dimensional Movement was confirmed," I questioned the incredulity of Genie's words.

However, Genie seemed to be flustered, as if she couldn't accurately grasp the situation. The coordinate value is...overlapped. No, my God, something like this is not even in the database... No, how, how can something like this be possible? It's not the Spiritual Realm, but the Physical Realm instead. Furthermore, it is done with the body of a living creature...

"Pink Pink and Elaika said something about the Unique World, though."

I'm not certain, but related words have previously appeared in ancient literature. It's the record of a Chakra ability user creating a Unique World by completing a small universe.

"Chakra? I don't know anything like that. Are there no other records?"

There was also a record of a similar phenomenon happening due to a contract with a special being. Do you happen to be able to detect targets related to spiritual contracts?

...It can be detected.

Ares-nim? I'm sorry, but the target of the contract I am referring to is...

Booooom! In an instant, a heavy echo shook the whole magnetic sand asteroid. I turned my head in surprise and a silver giant entered my line of sight. A 30-meters tall giant, in the form of a warrior wearing bulky armor, could be seen.

The giant was massive, though it was slightly shorter than the statue of Christ the Redeemer, located at the top of Mount Corcovado in Brazil. Its build was bigger, though. However, the current appearance of Ares, the God of War, did not look as big as it usually was. That was because he was shabbily squatting down.

It's me! Me! This space is established due to the contract with my Iron Heart! Agh, but why is it so small?! Despite looking like the universe, it has a ceiling! As Ares said, this place was in the form of an asteroid. It was not a space belonging to the universe, even though all kinds of stars were visible in the sky. It was all just an image. The Unique World I was given was not floating in the universe, but it was basically an enclosed space in the form of a sphere.

"Ah, but why did you come here in your main body?"

What do you mean I came here? I was dragged here! Ack! If I get too close to the ceiling, it would feel too unpleasant, so I can't even lift my head! Argh! This is so frustrating, what is this shit?! I can feel a murky energy outside the ceiling! I think I will die if I blast through here and go out! Ares, who was squatting down, made a fuss over nothing. He completely laid down.

Then, the magnetic sand land was shoved along with a metallic sound, forming a sudden magnetic sand hill on the asteroid. However, regardless of that, Genie calmly explained to me, I have gotten a rough idea of the world's shape. The asteroid has a radius of 5.7 meters, and the radius of the whole Unique World is about three times that. If you're standing on the asteroid, there will be a ceiling about 10 meters above it.

"What's this on the ground?"

Criiiing criiing! I heard a metallic sound as I kicked the ground with my shoes. Genie continued explaining, It is magnetic sand made up of a mix of a number of metals, including large amounts of iron and titanium. It is in the form of an asteroid, but it does not have a core and is assumed to be a huge magnetic sand mass clumped together under the influence of constant gravitational force.

"That's pretty unusual," I commented. Ares was constantly rambling on about it being cramped, but as he walked along, it wasn't cramped to the point of discomfort. Since the asteroid was 11.4 meters in diameter, so 11.4 multiplied by 3.14 would make it 36 meters in circumference. The problem was that there was no flat land, but since the ground was magnetic sand, a house or a yard could be made if it was properly shoved together.

"Genie, seeing that Ares is here in his main body, it seems that we can bring objects here. Is that right?" I succeeded in breaking away from my material body due to the electrical shock from Do-geom. I succeeded in accessing the Spirit Realm at once. In other words, at least at this point in time, I was an Astral Body. My body remained in the Armament Temple's workshop, and my spirit had moved to the Spirit Realm to get a Spiritual Contract. However, it was different right now. "This body right now... It's really my body. The clothes are also what I have been wearing."

But you have to be careful. Captain-nim's body and equipment are still left behind in Gyeongbokgung Palace. You have moved dimensions, but you still remain at Gyeongbokgung Palace too, Captain-nim.

"You said the coordinates were overlapped, right?"

Yes. I'm sorry, but do you mind dropping any of your belongings from your body?

"No problem." Following her words, I took off my shoes and pushed them aside. I felt like I was touching the magnetic sand under the socks, but it was not that sharp, so stepping on it was not a problem.

...As expected, Captain-nim. Please look at this screen.

A screen appeared through the Magic Glasses Udjat. The screen displayed the appearance of me sitting on a golden chair with my eyes closed, as if I had fallen asleep. Pooof! In an instant, the shoes on my feet disappeared. "Ah." I had a rough idea after seeing that sight, and it seemed to be the same case for Genie.

I know now. This Unique World has the characteristics of both the Material World and the Information World. As it's a dimension that Captain-nim owns, you can change the fundamental laws. It is also possible to communicate with the Physical Realm. I can't believe there would be such an all-powerful space.

"What can it be used for?"

There are, of course, a lot of uses. Even...

Uwahhhh, it's damn cramped. Krooooom------! Along with Ares' screams, the land of magnetic sand began to shake. Along with that...

Special Planet Unique World(Legend++++) ranked up!

Rank F → Rank E

The land of magnetic sand swelled up like a balloon pumped with air. The size of the asteroid itself was growing bigger. However, I somehow couldn't feel anything more than a slight quake even though I was standing on the asteroid itself. It felt as if this world itself was being considerate of me. Genie said, I don't think this appearance is all of it.

***

"Pheww..." I took a deep breath. The process of returning from a Unique World to the Physical Realm was peculiar enough that it was hard to describe. I was still in one place, but it felt as if the world in front of my eyes switched around, like changing channels on a TV.

'You said the coordinates were overlapped, huh,' I said. According to Genie's explanation, my body simultaneously existed in the Physical Realm and the Unique World. It was not just simply a multi-dimensional existence, but the peculiarity was that the coordinates of the country itself contained a world. Just like the Spirit God who had his own universe, the Spirit Realm, I also had a world that I led.

"You held out for quite some time, considering that you are a beginner. The Spirit Realm has a greater pressure than the Physical Realm, so it is hard to even hold out for 10 minutes with an Astral Body."

"How long was I like this?"

"Let's see… It's been 88 minutes."

"There's no difference in the time proportion, huh."

"Well, that's of course. The Spirit Realm can be crossed directly from the Physical Realm, so it was made as similar to the Physical Realm as possible. The flow of time in the deep layers causes the Spirits above High-rank to be slower by hundreds of times, but it could also be faster."

Hearing Do-geom's explanation, I knew the fact that meeting Pink Pink and Elaika was not a coincidence. They detected, from very far away, the moment I entered the Spirit Realm. 'No, it wasn't as if I entered after making a Worldwide Announcement...'Worldwide Announcement - Kwan Dae-ha-nim has entered the Spirit Realm!

Kwan Dae-ha: Hi!!

Pink Pink: !

Elaika: !!

Spirit God(GM)[2]: ?

Was it, perhaps, something like this? In particular, the Spirit God was one of the Absolute God-rank Untouchable among the providence that made up the world. Moreover, it wasn't even the final chapter of the mighty Epic Quest, but it simultaneously appeared as I entered the Spirit Realm. It was a preposterous matter that was akin to brushing past the shoulders of a final boss in the streets.

"By the way, did you succeed with the contract?"

"I guess so?"

"What do you mean 'I guess so'? What's the attribute?"

"Wait a minute." I took a breath and mustered spiritual energy. Usually, if you familiarize yourself with soul power, the process of building up soul energy was obviously necessary... But that wasn't the case for me. After all, the Iron Heart of Napoleon, a Human-rank Gigas, was beating in my chest.

My Mana and magical power that I could call forth with the book was 100(+600) each. Although the problem was that there was far more Mana than the Mana reserves I saw, if it was at this level, it wouldn't be difficult to summon a spirit. I was, after all, equivalent to a high-rank ability user.

"Ares." My heart thumped when I called out his name, and at the same time... Flapppp! A book floated up in the air.

*Abilities of the Day!

Conservation

Repair

Blade Storm

Flash

*Summons

None

Kriekkkkk! A pile of ore on one side of the smithy moved up and down repeatedly. Then, they melted and turned into a chunk. Thud! It raised its body. It had the shape of a man with a great body shape and was 8.5 heads high. Sturdy muscles covered its whole body like armor, and he had sculpture-like features. But, the man, who was completely silver and shining, spoke, "Figurine."

1. Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry, or Saint-Exupéry was a French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist and pioneering aviator. He became a laureate of several of France's highest literary awards and also won the United States National Book Award. He is best remembered for his novella The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince).

2. GM can refer to Gamemaster or Game Manager. It basically means that the Spirit God is the administrator of the Spirit Realm.