A Guide for Mortals Traveling in Parallel Worlds (3)

  When Evan tried to touch it, it melted away as if it hadn’t been there in the first place. Evan stared blankly at the sight of it leaving the earth and heading to somewhere he knew.

  ‘And so…’


  Yeo Ban-Min was Evan’s fragment. It was naturally understandable. If it wasn’t like a past life, it was just a personality formed by the separation of Evan’s fragments. If Evan’s visit to Earth triggered the destruction of Yeo Ban-Min, and the fragment returned to find his master…


  ‘I don’t know why it flew to me in the past and not me now.’


  He decided not to think deeply about it. Perhaps the shrapnel was planned to be that way from the start, so it only moved as planned. Originally, Evan recalled Yeo Ban-Min’s memory at nine, so the fragments also moved accordingly.

  ‘Let’s check it out more accurately.’


  He approached the desk and sat down in a chair. There were only two things he wanted to confirm. Now was precisely the time. How many episodes of the Yo-Ma Great War series had been released? And the result was as Evan expected, something that was entirely consistent with the last moment of his previous life. Even the recent release of the DLC of Yo-Ma Great War 4 was the same.

  “Whoa…”


  In an indescribable mood, he stared at the monitor for a long time. The Yo-Ma Great War 3 client had long been terminated. Soon after, they realized that the party was still thrown into an unfamiliar environment, and they stepped back on the ground to bring them.

  * * *

  “This is the smell!”


  “Wow, it was so far away. How did you get here in five minutes?”


  Twenty minutes after that, Evan…or rather, Yeo Ban-Min was getting Black Bean Noodles, and Jjamppong delivered from a Chinese restaurant that Yeo Ban-Min frequently visited. He had already collected the others and brought them inside. Cattleya was incredibly excited; when she first came to the world and smelled something tasty, it was the smell of Chinese Black Bean Noodles. She was crazy-hungry.

  “Originally, whatever you order, it’ll be delivered in 10 minutes…they say they’ll do it.”


  “There must be a very quick-handed cook. I don’t think they’re the ones who work under the control of a family…”


  “What do you mean? I’m sure they’re taking thousands of people’s orders.”


  “Dis is Yummy!”


  “Cattleya, don’t talk while eating.”
-

  Mewooooooooooooo!

  Chinese cuisine and delivery culture alone were enough to convey the specialty of the world. Fayna picked up the black bean noodles with a fork and glowed interestingly.

  [We can build such a great civilization without magic. The building’s architecture is unique and exciting…Evan, have you figured out the structure of this world in such a short time?]

  “Well, roughly.”


  [You thought you had something to learn in this world, too. That’s why I’m trying to stay in this acrid air-filled place.]

  “Just remember this recipe, Master! Just make sure!”


  Seeing her face in front of him without knowing that there was an onion on her cheek, Maybell seemed to have fallen into the cooking of a new world. Evan nodded and decided to secure many recipes for food ingredients on Earth, including pepper paste. Initially, Sherden didn’t feel the need to move Earth’s cuisine because of the development of Sherden’s food culture, but eating Chinese cuisine after a long time; he could see that he had indeed missed it.

  ‘It feels weird.’


  It was good to know clearly about the connection between Evan and Yeo Ban-Min, and because of that, the world and this space were approaching with too much realism. It felt like he found a haven where he could sit down and rest as much as he wanted while traveling back home. But knowing that it wasn’t so good to be in this mood, he quickly came to his senses.

  “You guys continue to eat. I’ll go get your clothes.”


  “Is that money at your disposal?”


  “Yes. No one will say anything, so don’t worry.”


  [You changed your clothes. That’s cool.]

  Evan, dressed in jeans and a shirt that fit him among Yeo Ban-Min’s clothes, finally lifted his hiding spell by taking to the streets. At that moment, the eyes of the people around him were on him.

  “Hey, there, there.”


  “Foreign model?”


  “Is that a woman or a man?”


  “Of course, he’s a man; he’s tall.”


  “Look at his face; it’s truly art…”


  He had already gotten used to it, but he couldn’t believe the environment felt strange just because it was Earth. Evan smiled bitterly and headed straight to the clothing store. It was the same that eyes were focused on him there, but no one was brave enough to talk to him first, even after seeing his eyes shining purple.

  “I want to pay for these items.”


  “!?”


  It took half an hour for him to secure clothes and come back home. In the meantime, Evan didn’t talk to anyone, but the photos taken of him in the meantime quickly spread online. He didn’t even know he was becoming famous on the Internet.

  “Master, what are the images from this machine?”


  “Wow, the water’s coming out! Water’s coming out of here!”


  [The box that keeps the cold…interesting. I feel the electricity, but no magic…so how is this electricity generating cold air?]

  “Everyone, sit down. I’ll tell you what to watch out for in this world.”


  After a short trip, he gathered his companions who had been completely messed up the inside of the house and gave them primary education about Earth. He declared, telling them the characteristics of the people here and what to be careful about.

  “Let’s stay for another week or so. A break would be good.”


  “So, can I go out and look around the world now?”


  “If it’s on the condition that magic is banned in places where people can see it, that’s fine.”


  [It’s a secret trip. As an apostle of a God, this mission isn’t strange. Leave it to me.]

  “There was a sweet smell somewhere else on the way; go ahead.”


  [Sweet…!]

  The group changed into the clothes he handed out and ran away excitedly. Frankly, he couldn’t help but feel worried, but now there was something more troubling than that.

  ‘There’s probably another fragment here.’


  Why would a game called Yo-Ma Great War be born? All because his memory flowed into the world in the form of fragments. A fragment separate from Yeo Ban-Min existed on Earth, perhaps in the form of someone in the development team or an item associated with them.

  “Finally, I’m going to see the faces of the damn crew.”


  Sitting in front of the computer again, Evan hummed casually and coughed in vain as soon as he searched for the address of the Yo-Ma Great War crew. His search for the production team was never to relieve his anger; it was only to retrieve his fragment. It was essential to retrieve the fragments, and he thought he couldn’t help it even if it looked like bullying the production team a little bit in the process.

  ‘I never thought I’d be back on the computer. It’s a very surreal sight for myself.’


  He tried to close the window after checking all the addresses, but he saw something strange in the leading portal’s search term ranking.

  [No.1: XX Dong Incubus]

  [No.3: XX Dong Elf]

  [No.4: XXX Lookalike]

  [No.5: XX Dong Elf Girl Instagram]

  [No.7: XX Dong]

  “…”


  He felt a chill down his spine. XXdong was the name of the neighborhood where Yeo Ban-Min lived and where they were staying now. Evan, who hesitatingly clicked on the top search term, was speechless when he saw a picture of himself popping up on the screen.

  “If this happens, this elf girl…”


  Of course, this meant Maybell’s party. Evan grabbed his forehead without a word when he saw a picture of a group of people walking around with their eyes sparkling with hot dogs and fresh fruit juice in one hand on the street. Even though they were wearing clothes that he had randomly bought, the group’s appearance showing off a force that even models couldn’t reach was strangely beautiful.

  It was his fault that he had forgotten the perception of modern people on having memories of his past life. Anyway, if people in this world see something unique, they picture it and post it on social media.

  “Well, that’s enough.”


  They didn’t have to keep living in this world anyway, and getting a little attention wouldn’t mean anything. The only thing that worried him was their appearance. He was worried that some people might say that they look like the characters in the Yo-Ma Great War series in articles related to Evan, Maybell, and Fayna (Cattleya never appeared in the game, so there was nothing to worry about).

  Indeed, no matter how famous Yo-Ma Great War is, it wasn’t mainstream culture, and the characters who had always been seen in 2D appeared in 3D, and it would be strange if someone recognized them.

  “We’re going to need a long talk when they get back.”


  [Wow, Master! There are a lot of people here! I think they follow us every time we move, what should we do? Do you want me to put some away?]

  Maybell reported directly to Evan. He sighed.

  “Don’t touch people for no reason.”


  After completing the communication, Evan quickly gave up and stood. Now that it was this way, it was better to hurry up and recover the fragments.

  “Where…around here.”


  Evan moved straight. The headquarters of Yo-Ma Great War Development Company was located in Seoul, South Korea. At first, he thought about who to visit, but he thought it would be best to find a scenario writer. And the screenwriter of the Yo-Ma Great War series was a man who concurrently served as the principal director, and it was no exaggeration to say that everything from Yo-Ma Great War 1 to Yo-Ma Great War 4 was made by his hands.

  “…By the way, why can’t we even have a conversation?”


  Evan murmured in vain as he saw the fragment in front of him. He stormed straight into the main director’s office, but surprisingly, only Evan’s fragments were left in the man’s office. Since he was meeting with the producer of the Yo-Ma Great War series, he wanted to get an autograph, shake hands (with Heaven’s Press), and tap his shoulder (also with Heaven’s Press)…


  “Director! Director! Are you okay?”


  “I don’t know, he suddenly collapsed!”


  “Darn it; the most important project is in full swing…!”


  It was noisy outside. Perhaps the director wasn’t a single fragment like Yeo Ban-Min, but a human being who only harbored Evan’s fragment. In short, he created a game called Yo-Ma Great War because he had Evan’s fragment, and as soon as Evan came to this world, he seemed to have collapsed due to the shock as the fragment popped out.

  ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t hit you myself, but I can’t help it.’


  Evan picked up the fragment, smacking his lips. At that moment, nearly decades of memories stored in the fragment flowed in, and countless scenes related to the development of the Yo-Ma Great War series filled Evan’s mind. He was going to explore why he was given future information that he didn’t know based on the memories of Yo-Ma Great War 5, which was certain when Default was coming out as the protagonist…


  “…No, wait a minute. This can’t be…”


  While searching through his memory, Evan found himself facing a problem he had never considered…