The Foreigner on the Periphery

Translator: NovelMultiverse | Editor: NovelMultiverse

“How the hell did these guys come from? Look at it.” 

Of course, the material world, this universe, was absurdly wide. Even at this moment, it was constantly expanding. It would be an excessive waste of space if there was only one type of intelligence living in such a vast world. However, the level of alien civilizations that had been discovered so far had been very immature, so they decided not to reveal their existence. 

This was because they agreed that the act of reaching out could itself be violence. Opportunity should not be taken away. This was because they deserved to come this far on their own. Excessive disparity could also lead to exploitation instead of coexistence. 

Even if one didn’t intend to do it now, they would never know what would happen later. Overwhelming superiority aroused pity for an inferior opponent, but sometimes, on the contrary, it dulled that same pity. And if the time of insensitivity was prolonged, instead of harmonizing, they would end up reigning ruthlessly. 

It was like oil that had been spread under itself without mixing with water. After repeated similar discoveries, they eventually concluded that there were no other species similar to them. If it existed, they would have started exploring there long ago and met in the middle. Instead of savage wars of aggression, they hoped for peaceful cultural exchange. 

Exploring the outer reaches of the universe was discontinued because it would have been a waste of time to keep finding more and more intelligent bodies. But even now, from time to time, they would encounter new races in unexpected ways. Those who didn’t pay attention because they didn’t have to pay attention. 

“Hmm, that.” He frowned. “No matter how you look at it, it’s an intelligent body.” 

The creature that invaded the test subject’s planet was a giant species as heard. There were only three individuals that swam through outer space, but their presence was overwhelming. Instead of sticking together, they kept their distance and roamed the planet as if observing each other. A shadow extending to the horizon along the line of movement covers everything. And wherever they went…

—! 

The savage-looking mammals gathered together and let out a cry as if in a fit. The descendants of the test subjects released on this planet. There were quite a few of them. It seemed that they had somehow managed to increase their number without extinction until now. 

An unrealistic flying object was then reflected in the fear-stained eyes. The things that came down from the sky looked like flying islands. The coast, which touched the air instead of the sea, was full of sharp and dense fjords. The outline stretched out in all directions, and then the sharp digging was repeated. The body, which seemed to be a simple abstraction of a scattering luminous body, even squirmed and swayed endlessly. Tentacles, each strand comparable to a mountain stream. 

In the center of the torso, jet-black eyes looked down at the earth. The test subjects that met eyes with the giant monster trembled. Then, at last, he knelt down and fell face down. The intention was clear. Faced with an incomprehensible fear, they worshipped it instead of trying to understand it. 

“Ooh! Woooo!” The song continued, praising the majestic god who had descended from the world of stars. A similar ensued in the lands reached by each of the three tentacled monsters. What was the reaction of the invasive species when they saw it? 

“Look over there. That, no matter how you look at it, doesn’t it look like text?” The tentacle creatures were so far apart that they could not visually see each other. It seemed that there was a means of communication in case of such a situation. A signal of complex shape crossed the planet. It contained a clear meaning and exchanged information between monsters – a kind of remote discussion. 

“Boo! Woooo!”

In the meantime, the test subjects on the ground were already lighting fires, holding ancestral rites, and even building something similar to a temple in an informal way. The gigantic creatures that floated up through the clouds silently looked down at the turmoil. Wheein! 

“Oh, those bastards?!” It seemed to have come to a conclusion. The beginning was a tentacle that stayed on the northern continent. He lifted one of the more than twenty strands of soft tissue. It was in the form of a mountain range stretching itself up. The monster, which raised a part of its body like that, resolutely struck it down again. 

From there, the earth was torn. It was a move that defied the laws of physics. It was amazing that such a huge body could maintain its shape, but even wield it. 

Certainly, there would be great resistance. However, instead of bursting out of the air, the tentacles scraped the ground sharply. The cradle of primitive civilization was shaken. The dwellings of the test subjects were washed away by waves of silt. As if flesh cracked and spurted blood, the ground spewed out hundreds of years of sediment that had been contained within its skin. In it, the test subjects were swept away like dust and died helplessly. The deaths of those tiny creatures seemed like minor by-products of a natural disaster. 

The woman explained while watching the recorded video. “There is a big difference in weight class, so the speed is rather slow.”

“So what is the current situation?” 

The woman on the other side of the screen played the video quickly. She said, “I noticed because so many of the test subjects died. That tentacle is not a transcendent being that represents the mystery of the universe, but a terrible disaster. And so, we started fighting back.” 

At first impression, her words sounded like nonsense. However, there were no doubts about the woman’s face. The reason came out in the video that followed. “Boo! Woooo!” 

Instead of adapting to the imminent, near-catastrophic death, the test subjects attacked over the corpses of their own kind. The method was simple. The moment the bronze chunk of meat touched the ground, it climbed up on it amazingly fast. Then, the tentacle strands twisted together and swept the skin, and each time the test subjects burst and were crushed, turning into red stains on the blue canvas. 

However, those who survived advanced, and at the end of the advance, they bit into their corneas. From there, a strange thing happened. Every time it was torn, there were several times, even dozens of times more wounds than the test subject. Even a monster would feel the sting at this level. It showed the level of ant-level aggression for a subject the size of a water flea. 

However, he wasn’t impressed. Rather, he clicked his tongue and muttered. He had definitely degenerated a lot. Was it natural that a defective product designed in the past was left without management? 

‘What should I do?’ 

He was worried. The ancestors of that specimen were judged unusable as soon as they were created in the culture medium. Accidents with the soul-determined fate. It was only natural that he had an almaeng. Even the durability of the shell was messed up. Read the most updated version of this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at Novel Multiverse – “NovelMultiverse dot com”

Ironically, however, it was not abandoned for that reason. ‘How do you kill a biologically close-to-sapient creature with a soul inside it?! I will refer it to the Ethics Committee!’ 

The owner of the cultivation farm at the time had no choice but to release the test subjects on a remote planet. It was no surprise that the status of a farmer who was bad enough to produce such a defective product had gotten demoted. 

After the farm collapsed and was dismantled, the remaining property passed to his master through several stages and was eventually inherited by him. 

It was a legacy that had forgotten its existence. Since it had not been examined as an intelligent entity, it was still legally owned. It was possible to forget, yet it was also impossible to remember all the grains of sand on the beach. Furthermore, there was no objective property value. 

‘If left as it is, it will go extinct, right?’ 

Both the attacker and the attacked were still primitive civilizations. The tentacle monsters seemed a bit better, but from their point of view, they were pretty solid. Therefore, it was right not to touch such matters.

··However. 

‘Damn it, why did you make such a defective product?’ His body was good enough to swim in space, so it was understandable. As a result, the task of not knowing which word to choose among hunting, slaughter, and extermination relied solely on the tentacle strands. 

Because of this, it looked more brutal. A scream then ensued: a desperate, screaming sound. Across the screen, he stared at the test subject burning the will to survive without giving up. These were those who were engrossed in an unwinnable resistance. 

“…” Aside from the durability and ability of a defective product, it was only about its appearance. Those test subjects looked like people. Creatures resembling their own kind were horribly ground, torn, and exploded. How the soul was born had not yet been identified, and the identity of the soul that flowed into those test subjects was also a mystery. 

However, what was clear was that they were not human, even though they were intelligent. There was only one species of human in the universe. Therefore, without needing to invent another word, he dubbed them a man. 

‘Damn it.’ He naturally remembered a face. 

‘What would Adkiel do at a time like this?’

The answer seemed obvious. His eyes hardened. “I will intervene.” 

It shouldn’t be in principle, but who dared to disobey his decision? The woman made a surprised expression. “Yes? Then… I’ll prepare the spaceship right away!” 

Surprised feelings soon turned into joy. Her intentions were clearly visible. Transcending the far-off time, he was full of anticipation that he would finally make his way out of this planet. Then, if he had to, he wondered if the Mother Star will stop by. “No, I will be here.” 

“·······?!”

It didn’t seem necessary to move. He could recall the scenery in the video just now – the appearance of the test subjects kneeling down and worshiping in front of the tentacles. The phenomenon of worshiping an existence beyond the scope of cognition. 

A good idea came to mind. 

*** 

I loved you and came as you are. 

***

“…Agent?” At the voice calling him, the sinner opened his eyes. Every time he moved his eyelids, blurry vision and darkness were reflected alternately. He waited for the drowsiness to pass completely. 

From there, he saw a dragon watching him in the seething darkness. Adkiel?

It was not. The color of the scales and appearance were also different. A complex expression appeared on the dragon’s face. Fear, worry, nervousness, tension… Minjun immediately remembered.  

“Hey, are you awake?” 

He had fallen asleep for a while. He had thought of Adkiel while looking at Ha Eun-seong in Kyoto, and the thought continued until he even had a dream in which a guide dragon appeared. At least, that was how the dream began. 

“···Yes. It broke.” Just before dawn, he had come back here to Raymond Wong’s house, which he had used as a hideout. When this luxurious mansion, which was once half-destroyed, was repaired, Minjun’s influence was put in, and it was designed with a unique structure that was good for use at the present time. No one in the house knew what they were hiding there except Goryong. 

After returning home, he sat on the sofa for a while, then closed his eyes without resisting the swarms of demons. This was because sleep and dreams were a very important part of him now. Even without Yuntus’ induction of sleep, fragments of memories naturally visited him. From very distant, old memories… in chronological order. 

The sensations he felt in his dreams ebb away. A sense that was much freer and more competent than what he would perceive with his body now. He felt sorry for it, but he had to be content that his recovered memories never faded again. “Geuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!” 

A moan. When he turned his eyes, he saw Yuntus lying on the floor. Blood spilled from the third eye between the eyebrows, and the entire carpet was covered in blood. He clicked his tongue and snapped his fingers. The bloodstains disappeared like a lie. 

“Hey… Agent?”

The dragon hesitantly spoke beyond the darkness that still did not disappear. “If you wake up, take this…” 

Wait, darkness? Even after the sight returned, the black energy remained like a stain everywhere. It was only then that Minjun realized the problem. “stop. Come back.” 

It wasn’t something he had said to Ha Eun-seong. Swoop! 

He commanded the shadows that had slipped out of his body and encroached around the couch. Come back. 

——! As for the radius, he could move while he was submerged in unconsciousness, he thought it was only about 1 meter. Even what was embodied in the material world was half-baked and had no influence on the surroundings. This was the reason why that dragon was squatting in a corner, trembling and not daring to approach.

“Hurry,” he spoke in a powerful tone. Then, the shadow that had been wriggling like a dark cloud swayed strangely. It seemed to say, ‘You have committed an irreparable sin.’ 

Instead of making excuses or protesting against it, he shoved every shadow that had seeped into his body. Only then did the dragon sigh in relief. at that time. 

There then came a knocking sound. Minjun, who had already known from the time he approached, spoke. “Come in.” 

A middle-aged Asian man, a polymorphed dragon, entered. On the outside, his complexion looked fine, but in Minjun’s eyes, he could see his vitality, which was on the verge of depletion. 

Goryong, Raymond Wong reported to Minjun. “I just got a call from Jenkinson. I already delegated my voting rights in the past, but it is said that some of the dragons who had voted against so far were passed over by his ‘sincere persuasion’.” 

“Therefore?” 

“A temporary Balaur meeting will be held today. Here, in Hong Kong.”

The time had finally come.