I always expected I’d be found out someday, but lately, the surveillance system seemed to have loosened, so I’d let my guard down.
The Dimension Administrator calmed her startled heart and forced the corners of her lips up.
‘It’s fine. In the end, all of this happened because of a rift in the dimension. As long as I explain it well, I can get a reduced sentence.’
Recently, another administrator had been caught playing a dangerous prank in their assigned dimension.
Because of that, not only was their own dimension destroyed, but it also affected other dimensions.
The punishment for an administrator who caused such a disaster was annihilation.
She, too, had set the “End of the Dimension” as a quest condition, but this was fundamentally different from a dimension disappearing due to an administrator’s mistake.
Announcing and destroying a chaotic dimension in advance was one of an administrator’s duties.
‘It’s just that there are rarely cases where a dimension is destroyed like that, but I still made the announcement ahead of time.’
So, at the very least, I won’t be annihilated by a Watcher’s hand.
At worst, maybe just a demotion.
Running errands and doing odd jobs for other dimension administrators wasn’t so bad.
After all, there are countless dimensions but few administrators. If I show even a hint of reflection, they’ll put me back as an administrator. Until then, I can just use errands as a change of pace.
The Administrator furrowed her brow, nervously watching the Watcher staring at the screen.
If he’d just say something, it wouldn’t be so scary. But since he only watched the screen in silence, she kept worrying if he’d find fault with something and mentally retraced everything she’d done.
Then, the Watcher lifted his gaze from the screen and slowly turned his head. His deep eyes stared straight into hers.
“I didn’t mean to! There was a rift in the dimension, and two humans ended up drifting into different worlds. I thought it would be better to help them adapt than to send them back… s-so…”
“So?”
Under the Watcher’s gaze, her excuses wouldn’t come out right.
The Administrator organized her prepared excuses in her head one more time, then spoke them aloud.
“So I fixed the error first and gave them a quest to help them adapt. I even transferred all the memories from their possessed bodies.”
She was really glad she’d prepared her excuses in advance. After calmly explaining the cause of the situation and her efforts to resolve it, the Administrator fell silent.
If she started rambling now, she’d only risk slipping up.
‘Absolutely not.’
Her eyes, frozen with tension, stared stiffly at the Watcher.
“You tried to fix it?”
“Yes!”
At that, the Watcher, who’d been stroking his chin, pointed at the screen with his index finger. Where his finger landed, two people lay limp, on the verge of death.
“You didn’t know that, since those humans started crossing dimensions, they’ve become subjects of special surveillance, did you?”
“…Pardon?”
“No matter how much an administrator helped, do you think just anyone can cross dimensions? Especially that one with abnormally high abilities—he’s not an ordinary human.”
With a look of disdain, the Watcher continued as the Administrator blankly listened.
“That’s a human entrusted with a key role in preserving the dimension. There’s at least one like that in every dimension—you know that, right?”
“Ah…”
“Stirring up a dimension for fun is a serious crime, but pushing such a human to the brink of death isn’t something we can overlook either.”
The Administrator tried to offer more excuses, but her lips just trembled before she bowed her head low.
At this point, it seemed best to at least show a repentant attitude.
The Watcher, looking down at her with cold eyes, spoke.
“You are to be annihilated.”
“What?!”
The Administrator, shocked at the unexpectedly harsh punishment, jerked her head up. Her eyes were wide, as if they might pop out at any moment.
“Annihilation? I didn’t do it on purpose…!”
“Did you think excuses would work? You must think very little of us.”
“P-please, just give me a chance to explain—no, you can demote me to the lowest rank~”
The Administrator’s words didn’t make it to the end.
They’d already uncovered all her misdeeds and convened to decide on her punishment, so there was no reason to hear any more.
The Administrator, who had shaken two dimensions and plunged many humans into confusion, was thus annihilated in vain.
“Hoo…”
The Watcher, having swiftly completed the execution, let out a shallow sigh. He glanced at the screen one last time, then lost interest and turned away.
The successor for the annihilated Administrator had already been selected.
The mess in the two dimensions was now the successor’s problem, not his.
He moved to leave the Administrator’s room.
Just then, a red warning window appeared on the screen, bathing the room in crimson light.
“…?”
The Watcher instinctively turned his head, and deep wrinkles formed between his brows.
‘Why isn’t the status window appearing?’
Sensing death, I stared into space, waiting to use my Resurrection skill.
But something was off.
The status window that should have appeared when I was on the verge of death still hadn’t shown up.
By now, it should be asking if I want to resurrect.
All I had to do was accept, and I’d revive, close the S-class Gate, and return everything to normal.
But for some reason, the Resurrection skill wasn’t activating.
And the quest completion window wasn’t appearing either.
As my consciousness grew fainter, I rolled my eyes to check on Idana’s condition.
‘Still not dead?’
Her back was still rising and falling, however faintly.
Her life force was so tenacious, it was almost sickening.
[Please, kill… me…]
The only way for both Idana and me to escape this pain was to successfully complete the quest.
Unable to speak, I used a mental command and forced my closing eyes to stay open.
If I closed them without using the Resurrection skill, I’d really die for good.
Even as my eyelids grew heavier, I kept my eyes wide open, staring into space.
‘Huh?’
The translucent dome trapping Idana and me had vanished. In the distance, Ban Eunhyeol, the Four Heavenly Kings, and Yeon Hayeon were sprinting toward us.
Everyone who’d been watching from beyond the dome was now rushing over, but their forms all blurred together—only my boyfriend and friends stood out sharply.
But I had a strong feeling that by the time they reached me, my breath would already have ceased.
Sahin’s movement, delivering the final blow to Idana at my command, seemed to happen in slow motion.
The moment Sahin severed Idana’s breath, my consciousness snapped.
A heavy silence fell among those watching everything unfold on the screen outside the Gate.
Nada, who had fought to prevent the End of the Dimension, had died.
From the Nada Fanclub members came the sound of quiet sobbing. The sniffles gradually grew more intense, then erupted into wailing.
Reporters, having confirmed Nada’s death, quickly published a flurry of articles.
Most of them questioned why there was no change despite Nada defeating the Intruder as per the quest condition, or were obituaries honoring her.
Those who had admired Idana for her unusual powers, or because she was friends with famous Awakened, blamed themselves for feeling even a momentary sense of betrayal.
There was too much that Nada had done to say she’d deceived or betrayed people. She had tirelessly closed Gates and saved many lives for the sake of a safe city.
From the distinction between Intruder and Possessed, it was clear Nada hadn’t come here to harm this dimension.
Even those who’d criticized her were silent this time.
Having witnessed the brutal duel, no one could bring themselves to speak ill. Who could say anything against someone who fought so desperately to protect the dimension?
Not just South Korea, but the entire world mourned Nada’s death.
Among them, the ones who grieved with the deepest sorrow and despair were, without question, the Four Heavenly Kings, Yeon Hayeon, and Idana’s parents.
Idana’s parents, shocked to learn their daughter was both an outsider and a Possessed, collapsed before even witnessing the end of the duel.
Thankfully, they didn’t realize the Intruder was their biological daughter.
The Four Heavenly Kings, Yeon Hayeon, and the Awakened who had entered the S-class Gate with Idana, carried her with grief-stricken faces as they left Seoul Forest.
Hot tears streamed down Ban Eunhyeol’s cheeks.
Idana’s body in his arms was so cold.
As Ban Eunhyeol tightened his grip around Idana, he bowed his head.