Chapter 186: A Duel to Save the Dimension

[〈Quest〉
Eliminate the Intruder!
Eliminate the Intruder who threatens the safety of the dimension.
Reward – S-class Gate elimination, Dimension Restoration
*Condition – Duel, 1:1 battle with ‘Nada’ and achieve victory over the Intruder.]

A chilling silence swept through the air for a moment.

Everyone stared blankly at the status window that had appeared before their eyes, struggling to comprehend what was happening.

“Wait, Nada’s not even here right now……?”

Breaking the silence, Eunhasu muttered in a voice filled with despair.

Nada had already returned to her original dimension and was gone. Thanks to that, all the Gates disappeared and they’d been able to return to their previous, ordinary lives—this much was certain.

But to set a quest condition that required Nada, who wasn’t even here?

Everyone was thinking the same thing, gazing blankly at the status window. Not a single person averted their gaze from the floating display.

Even Cha Hyunseo and Lee Hwan, who always kept poker faces, couldn’t stand expressionless this time.

“What the hell is this… What’s even going on?”

“How can they make a condition with someone who isn’t even here!”

Cha Hyunseo raked a hand through his hair with a look of disbelief, muttering, while James raised his voice in agreement at the status window.

Clap—

Right then, a crisp slapping sound came from next to James.

Finally, the Awakened ones tore their gazes from the status window and looked toward the source of the noise.

Where everyone was staring, Mark was standing with his hand on his cheek, wearing a dumbfounded expression.

“What’s wrong, Mark?”

At James’ question, focus returned to Mark’s eyes.

‘Wow, this is actually insane…’

He scolded himself for feeling a brief flutter of excitement at the thought that maybe, just maybe, Nada would appear even in this situation.

“It’s just… I can’t believe any of this is real.”

He made an excuse that he’d slapped his cheek to check if it was a dream, and struggled to steady his pounding heart.

Nada can’t come here anyway. But what if, by some miracle, the Intruder crossed dimensions and brought Nada along too?

Even the slightest possibility made it hard to keep calm.

That was when it happened.

As the Awakened ones sank into despair, unable to chase away the Intruder, a status window appeared before their eyes.

[Quest Failure Penalty – End of Dimension]

Everyone stared at the status window, mouths agape with shock.

“End? Eeeend? Nada isn’t even here, and you set an impossible condition—what the hell is this supposed to be?!”

Eunhasu, burning with fury, screamed in outrage.

No one tried to calm him down.

They all felt the same.

“Sigh……”

A heavy sigh leaked out from among them.

While the Awakened ones who didn’t know Dana’s true identity stared at the status window with rigid faces—

The faces of the Four Heavenly Kings, Yeon Hayeon, and the three VIPs of Iljin Sang-go had turned completely pale.

‘A 1:1 battle? They gave that monster the same power as Nada and now expect her to fight alone?’

They already knew Dana was Nada, so they didn’t despair—but for different reasons, their faces had hardened.

If two Awakened with equal power fought, both would end up gravely wounded.

The one who’d crossed dimensions and caused this mess—Idana—they didn’t care what happened to her anymore.

But the thought that Dana could be seriously hurt made them worry for her, thrown into this situation.

And the status window made their anger boil even more.

“Damn it.”

A vicious curse slipped from Ban Eunhyeol’s mouth.

The status window had set up a dangerous battle that could get Dana badly injured.

The reward was S-class Gate elimination and Dimension Restoration—far too important for Dana to refuse the quest.

And the penalty for failure was nothing less than End of Dimension.

There was no choice but to accept and succeed in the quest.

‘We just have to watch, do nothing, while this crazy freak fights Dana?’

The condition specified a 1:1 duel, so it seemed any interference from other Awakened would mean quest failure.

Idana had crossed the dimension even after seeing the status window label her as a monster.

She wasn’t in her right mind.

Would Idana really hold back, controlling her power to avoid hurting anyone in a fair fight?

The answer was ‘absolutely not’.

Feeling the situation spiraling out of control, Ban Eunhyeol suppressed a string of curses as he looked at Dana.

Dana was standing with her fist clenched tightly, as if she’d already accepted the situation and steeled her resolve.

Seeing her like that, Ban Eunhyeol glared at Idana, who was also staring into the air.

“You, you’re looking at the quest window right now, aren’t you?”

“Mhm. Looks like the gods are finally giving me a chance.”

He’d meant to threaten that if she hurt Dana, he wouldn’t let her off—but something was off about Idana’s attitude.

The penalty for failing the quest was clearly End of Dimension.

If she won, that meant the End would come for this dimension.

If she lost to Dana, she’d probably have to return to her own dimension, but if she won, everyone in this dimension—including Idana—would die.

And yet she said the gods were giving her a chance? A chance at what—dying?

“She’s lost her mind.”

Ban Eunhyeol quickly concluded Idana was out of her mind and let out a hollow laugh.

But Idana didn’t care at all how people were looking at her.

A slightly different status window, glowing blue, was floating before her eyes.

[Reward – Restoration]

The reward section in her window was different from what the others saw. Restoration.

‘So if I fight and win, everything will be restored? Does that mean I can go back to my old life?’

A faint hope and a glimmer of madness flickered in her gentle eyes.

If she lost, she’d have no choice but to go back to the other dimension.

‘I have to win, no matter what.’

Having spent the recent days frantically closing gates and killing monsters, she was confident in battle.

But Idana didn’t know.

She had no idea what the ‘Restoration’ reward that appeared only in her status window really meant.

A place filled on all sides by square screens.

A sharp-featured woman pulled her hood deep over her face and smiled in satisfaction.

‘The board is set. Now I can just sit back and watch.’

She was the Dimension Manager overseeing multiple dimensions.

Among her duties was also running the system that sent status windows to worlds where gates had opened.

Sitting in this space, monitoring the dimensions under her care on screens, had become her daily routine.

‘It’s been so long since I had any entertainment.’

Watching over developing dimensions had been fun at first, but over time it grew boring, and in the end, she couldn’t find any enjoyment in it at all.

Seeing weak humans grow and defeat gates was amusing for a while, but eventually, everyone blurred together. The endless repetition of days was maddening—until, one day, a human crossed the dimensional boundary through a rift.

She’d tried to hastily fix the situation, but then decided to use it for her own amusement.

The incident had already happened; even if she fixed it, she’d have trouble avoiding responsibility. So she started using Dana as her new toy, giving her new quests and watching how she adapted to a completely different dimension.

Even that started to feel a little boring, until she caught sight of Idana’s life in the other dimension.

After they successfully switched bodies, Dana was doing well, but Idana was failing to adapt, growing more twisted—this piqued the Manager’s curiosity.

So, she decided to send her to the very dimension she’d wanted so badly—PW-486.

She had a feeling it would make for an entertaining spectacle.

Summoning a handful of popcorn onto her desk in front of the monitors, the Manager shoved a mouthful in.

“Even if Dana wins, I’ll have to discard PW-486…… If that one wins, I’ll just crush the dimension and let her live forever in a small, fake world. That’ll make her happy enough, I guess.”

When they switched bodies, Idana’s home dimension changed as well. If the monster Idana won in PW-486, the monsters’ power would overwhelm the ecosystem. Eventually, humanity wouldn’t be able to stop the monsters and the dimension would be destroyed—dimension disposal would be inevitable.

But a promise was a promise. If Idana won, she planned to trap her soul in a Pocket Dimension and show her only the life she wanted, leaving her lost in an illusion.

That would technically be the ‘Restoration’ she desired.

Even though the PW-486 dimension would disappear and only her fantasy in the Pocket Dimension would be restored, restoration was restoration, after all.

Someone might say it was inhumane to toy with people and wipe out entire dimensions.

But she wasn’t human, so such criticism didn’t bother her at all.

“Well, time to set the stage.”

A hint of glee colored her voice.

“Mmm. If Big Dana wins, as promised, I’ll restore PW-486, and if Little Dana wins, I’ll just get rid of her.”

Whichever side won, she’d get the show she wanted.

Two Awakened, with exactly equal power and knowledge of each other’s weaknesses.

How fun would it be to watch those two fight?

She rose from her chair and began manipulating the monitors floating in the air.

‘This is the kind of thing you should watch together, right?’

A mischievous smile appeared on her face.

Normally, a Dimension Manager wasn’t supposed to interfere in the affairs of a dimension. If she got caught doing something like this, she’d be in big trouble.

But she was willing to risk it—she just had to see how far she could take it this time.

From the moment she started giving quests to Dana, who’d just arrived, she’d already crossed the point of no return.

“Done.”

The Manager finished tinkering with the monitors, sat back in her chair, and leaned against the backrest with a satisfied look.

It was just entertainment to her, but for the Awakened on the scene, a life-and-death battle was about to begin.