Forty three days later.
In the middle of an ocean beyond the pacific region, outside the scope of the current map of the modern world, in a parallel dimension, a giant python was fighting something in the sea.
It was rolling and spinning hastily, trying to kill its opponent, but in the end, a bright line shone under the waters, and its head exploded into bits.
Pretty soon, the rest of the python’s body floated on the surface of the waters.
Moments later, Ulmer swam to the surface and climbed up the python’s body, sat down on it and sucked in deep breaths. He then pulled a blue crystal from the python’s forehead.
“You did well, Master Ulmer,” Dove sounded pleased. “You are at level 81 now. Your progress is much better than I expected.”
“Are we at least ready to go to this place you’re talking about?” Ulmer asked without any expectation because Dove always kept telling him he’s not strong enough. “Please don’t give me the same answer because I just defeated a serpent that’s bigger than a battle ship. And while swimming underwater, too.”
“Mm, I think you’re good enough to go there now,” Dove said.
“Only good enough?” Ulmer couldn’t help but frown. “Just where is this place we’re going to? Is this also in the parallel realm we’re in right now?”
“You will know soon, so be patient,” Dove said. “Besides, I already told you, didn’t I? You’re going to find Brianna in that place. So, you can get your revenge, too.”
“Revenge? That doesn’t sound harsh enough,” Ulmer’s gaze sharpened. “What I want isn’t revenge but vengeance! I will avenge my parents, my sisters, and my love… And everyone that woman ever hurt! I can’t let her ruin more lives, either! I can’t let what happened to me happen to more people!”
In the past forty three days, or forty-three years in the parallel dimension timeline, Ulmer didn’t smile once because he couldn’t find a reason to smile. In recent times, Brianna had been his dream and his reason to smile. He was blindly in love with her, but now that dream was utterly broken, he was still emotionally lost in reality as well as in the parallel dimension.
The good thing, however, was that he didn’t want to escape from this reality but was very much willing to face it, to fight it.
What better way than to meet Brianna and give her what she deserved?
Ulmer looked at the blue crystal in his hand. “For years in this dimension, I’ve been collecting these things because you told me to. What are we going to do with these?”
“They will help you get rich,” Dove said.
“Like diamonds, huh.”
“Diamonds? You can buy a truck load of diamonds with a couple of these,” Dove said, startling Ulmer.
“They are that valuable?” He then put the crystal in his waist bag. “Let’s collect some more before we go to the place you’re talking about.”
Ulmer hunted down sea beasts. He was able to attain some water-related skills for fighting underwater. For instance, he was able to last longer without having to breathe oxygen, and more.
During his time in the parallel realm, he did not eat, sleep, drink, or even go for the loo. It was possible for him to do this because he had the Spirit System with him, which was able to sustain him all this while. All he needed was the air to survive and thrive.
And he didn’t age a single day, either. It was like living and fighting in a dream world.
Nevertheless, Ulmer was feeling mentally exhausted now.
“I really want to drink water and eat something good,” Ulmer kept repeating himself.
“Just bear with it a little longer,” Dove said.
Soon, they reached a spot in the ocean, where it seemed like there was nothing on the island. No island, or boat, or anything.
But then the locket shone, and then a portal opened up right before him.
“Whoa…” Ulmer stared at it dumbfoundedly. “Is this what I think it is?” he rubbed his eyes, but the portal was still there, and he could see the other side.
“Yes. Get inside.”
“Nothing will happen to me, right?”
“It’s just a portal. Nothing will happen.” Dove assured.
“I want to seem my grandmother as it feels like it’s been so long since I’ve seen her, but since you say that in earth’s dimension, it’s only been forty three days since I’ve last met her… she should be fine for now.”
Ulmer then swam right through the portal and ended up reaching the other side, which was a massive city.
He could see flying ships and a landscape that looked like it was from the 1800s. However, the technology used in this place was mind-boggling. There were people flying using electro-magnetic levitation techniques. There were kids traveling in electric cars that could be freely charged using the earth’s magnetic field. There were girls dancing on the water near the fountains on the roads, kids playing with the water, making specific shapes with the water by just waving their arms around. There were people using mobile phones that looked very different from the modern age. The giant astronomical clocks on towering buildings were absolutely mystical and stunning to look at.
Ulmer was very astonished by it. “W-What is this place?”
“This is a place that hasn’t been affected much by time in the past few hundred years.” Dove said. “This is the city of systems… known as Syslon. It is their city, country, and empire.”
“Syslon, huh…”
Ulmer was walking on the road, which was a silver-colored road, but to his surprise, the road was very comfortable to walk on. He couldn’t even tell what the road was made out of, but walking on it gave him a very pleasant feeling.
Ulmer went straight to what looked like a hotel.
Many people kept glancing at him because his clothes were still wet, and he also didn’t look like he was from this place. He sat at the table and saw others getting their hands washed by an air machine which condensed water molecules in the air onto the hands and then washed the hands with air pressure alone.
Ulmer tried it, and his hands became clean and warm. He found himself smiling. “This is cool. You can wash your hands without the smelly and unhealthy sanitizers, which also cause headaches.”
The waiter came to his table and didn’t even smile. “Do you have money, sir?”
Luckily, he was speaking the same language.
“Ah, just a second…” Ulmer took out a small crystal from his shirt pocket and put it on the table. “Will this do?”
The waiter’s eyes widened immediately.
The waiter’s eyes broadened, and he quickly shouted, “M-Manger!” And then he ran away.“Mm? What’s wrong?” Ulmer wondered.The people who saw the crystal were also almost gasping.“I-Is that the energy crystal?” one man asked.“Ah… yeah,” Ulmer answered.“W-Where did you get it?”“Somewhere far away from this place,” Ulmer said.“Will you sell that to me?” one man asked.“No. Sell it to me,” another man said. “How many gold coins do you need for it?”“How many can you give?” Ulmer asked. He was trying to see how much this inch-big crystal would sell for.The manager quickly rushed over to the table and said, “Sir, I will take it. Please give that energy crystal to me. I will give you the gold, and you can also eat freely in this hotel today and for another week if you want.”“Oh… I like that offer,” Ulmer said and then put the crystal in the manager’s hand. “Give me a fair price. If I know that I’ve been cheated, I will make you pay.”“I would never cheat on a VIP customer, sir,” the
Ulmer never kissed a woman before.Not counting his family members., the only woman who ever kissed him on the cheek was Brianna.So, right now, Ulmer was goggle-eyed when a strangely pretty woman not only pushed him down to the ground but also gave him a very hard kiss that made both of them exchange each other’s breaths.On top of that, she did not get up but just kept staring at him with mild shock in her eyes.Ulmer could see that she was a bit embarrassed and shocked by what happened.“A-Are you going to get up?” he asked her.“U-Um, I’m sorry,” she quickly got up. She had a long ponytail, and she was wearing loose jeans. Her hair was so dark, shiny, and long that it naturally caught his attention. It’s not a fake wig, right? Because he had some women fool men with wigs.“It’s okay,” Ulmer got up to his feet. He was four inches taller than her, who was 5 foot seven inches.“No, it’s not okay. We kissed each other,” the young brunette said rather innocently. “You should marry me.”
Ulmar’s POV:A few hours passed since I stepped foot in the Revers family house.And now I found myself watering the banana plants. There were more than a dozen big banana plants, and I must say that the bananas tasted so damn good.I water the plants not manually but by just operating the water pipe systems that were neatly arranged to automatically pour water to the plants.Kale was observing me from a distance. He was 14 years old, and he was yet to speak a word with me. He had the same name as one of my friends, the one who attacked me not long ago. So, it feels a bit weird that he has the same name, though I’m not thinking much about it.After finishing my job, I sat down on a stone bench under a custard apple tree and looked at the evening sun.“Is the sun I see real, or is this some kind of an illusion?”[It is real.] Dove said. [Though, it’s somewhat like a hologram.]“Huh? How can it be real if it’s a hologram?”[Well, I will tell you more about it when you’re ready.]“Anywa
Ulmer got married that same night.He never even expected this before coming to this city, but he ended up marrying whom he believed was the prettiest girl he ever met. He just didn’t want to miss this opportunity, and so he changed his mind and did not run away.The marriage didn’t happen grandly, but it wasn’t boring, either. The Revers family called those they were close with, and the wedding happened in the presence of about fifty or so guests in the backyard itself.The one thing that Ulmer was not able to forget was that the groom had to personally serve guests fruit wine and sweets.It was a custom followed in the city to humble males during the marriage.But what disappointed Ulmer was that he didn’t get to kiss Ayana during the wedding because kissing on the lips in public was actually seen as obscene in this city. So, everyone was expected to keep their romantic and sexual life hidden from the public.And last but not least, Ulmer wished his grandmother was with him to see h
“How can you betray me like this, Ayana?” A loud voice reached everybody’s ears.Ulmer was very surprised to hear those words, but he also saw that everyone else at the table looked even more shocked and anxious.Many men entered the house, with a short-haired, long-bearded man entering the house first. He was wearing a brown uniform with star-badges, making Ulmer wonder if he was some sort of military or police or something.And he began to look at Ayana and Ulmer and saw that both of them were wearing the same golden rings. And his blood boiled immediately.“What is the meaning of this?” he shouted.“Senior Henry,” Dustin tried to calm him down. “Please don’t do this in front of our son-in-law.”“Don’t do what? I’m supposed to marry Ayana!” he shouted.“What do you mean?” Ulmer asked.“Don’t listen to his words, Husband,” Ayana quickly said. “He’s been chasing after me for years, trying to marry me, but I rejected him because he’s a pervert. If he wasn’t an officer, he would be in j
A few minutes passed since Henry and his men left.Dustin was definitely still anxious but he had to hurry to his restaurant as it was already seven o’clock by then. He forgot to take Ulmer with him.“I’ll go out and take a look around the neighborhood,” Ulmer said.Robin only allowed him to leave after he wore the local clothes so that others wouldn’t be able to easily tell if he was an outsider or not.On top of that, Robin told Kale to accompany Ulmer.Kale just nodded in return.“Why doesn’t he say anything?” Ulmer asked openly.“Uh, about that…” Robin smiled and said, “he can’t speak. He’s born that way.”“Oh…” Ulmer suddenly felt foolish for not approaching Kale to talk with him. Just because Kale was silent, he assumed that Kale didn’t want to speak with him.“But he can use sign language,” Robin added and then spoke with Kale using signs.Kale smiled back.“What did you just say?” Ulmer asked.“I told him he can introduce you to his friends,” Robin said. “He’s happy about it.”
“Dustin isn’t home, either, so he can lick Robin’s feet, too,” another man said, making the rest laugh even more.Ulmer stopped.Kale waved his hands in a cross-manner, telling him to don’t do anything stupid and just keep going.However, Ulmer turned around and walked toward them, looking at the one that just spoke, “Take back what you said.”“Or else what?” all of them stopped playing and surrounded him quickly.It was so obvious that this was their plan from the beginning. Kale quickly rushed away to ask help from the other adults around, but because of Henry, nobody helped him. Kale came back in about two minutes, and everybody except Ulmer was gone.And Ulmer had no injuries on his body or face.“Where did they go?” Kale asked in sign language.“They learned their mistake and apologized before leaving,” Ulmer said.Kale could see that the poker cards, water bottles, and meat packets were still there under the tree. Why would they leave these things here? It didn’t make any sense,
Dustin came home in the afternoon, looking half the man he was in the morning, in terms of happiness.Without Dustin saying anything, Ulmer understood the situation of the restaurant.“If this continues for another couple of days, we won’t be able to pay the rent,” Dustin was telling Robin and Ayana. “We’ll be forced to shut down the hotel business.”Their family was producing lots of vegetables and fruits. Their hotel business was a way for them to use those fruits and vegetables. If they couldn’t do that now, they’d have to sell them from the house itself.But who would come to their house and buy these things when nobody came to the hotel to eat food?In the end, they might be forced to throw away the extra vegetables and fruits.“It seems I might have to become a porter once again,” Dustin was telling Robin.Ayana heard that from outside and frowned.She came to her room and wrote a letter.Ulmer was sitting on the bed right now, and he could somewhat see what she was writing. Her