The Lone SF Transmigrator in the Otherworld Forum
Chapter 90: Crash Landing

***While the women were fiercely working to defend the occupied territory in World while waiting for the Oradge, Karlstein found himself in an unexpected situation that left him quite perplexed.

This place is....

Murmur murmur-

Under a clear sky without a single cloud, the heat was sweltering.

Despite the sauna-like hot weather, tens, hundreds, thousands of people were forming a procession.

"I hope I'll finally be selected this time."

"How could that be easy? They say you need ancestral luck just to be considered a candidate."

"Still, we can dream, can't we?"

"Kekeke. You're twenty now, isn't it time to grow up?"

"Haha. Age is just a number! Shouldn't a man chase his dreams?"

"Ehhh."

People lined up passing by Karlstein's side.

"Let's not block the way, understood?"

Thwack-

At the words of someone bumping his shoulder as they passed, Karlstein raised his head.

For now, I need to figure out where this is....

For some reason, his body felt heavy.

Should I say the density is no less than World, no, perhaps even higher than World?

The pressure weighing down on his body was enough to cause a slight tingling pain.

It was probably due to this body.

Since this body had special abilities implanted for the construction and management of the fortress in World, its basic physical capabilities were quite low.

It might be sturdier than an ordinary person, but it was incomparable to the body he had possessed before.

Was I too hasty?

It took quite a long time to create an Avatar. The higher the performance, the exponentially longer it took.

The cause was likely that only the absolutely necessary functions were included due to the rushed second production this time.

"There are too many people..."

"We have to get results somehow this time."

"Hoho."

"If I get any older, I'll have to give up forever."

"Is it ever easy to become an Immortal?"

"That's why I'm going to give up after this last try."

Immortal?

Come to think of it, the people's clothing reminded him of ancient China with its wide garments.

Murim? Jianghu?

If that was the case, it might be a bit familiar.

"I wonder how many will be selected this time..."

"I heard only two were chosen last time?"

"I heard the one coming down this time is someone Lord Qingyao knows. They say he is easygoing and benevolent, so they expect him to choose quite a few."

"Is that why there are so many people here?"

Passersby grumbling in the sauna-like heat.

But they disappeared in an instant.

It wasn't anything else, but that he couldn't follow them as they were buried in the crowd. That was how many people were diligently climbing the mountain along the huge mountain path.

Thud.

"Aish, how unlucky. Don't block the way and get lost!"

"Ptui!"

"If you're scared, go back down right now! Don't just hang around!"

Standing still in the middle of the crowd, he kept getting bumped into.

"Hmm..."

Murim?

Somehow, it didn't seem like that was all there was to it.

Haah.

Karlstein slowly followed the crowd up for now.

There was no other choice.

About the Integrated Dimensional Community…

Why is it not working again?

It didn't work last time either, so they said they specially added terminal functionality this time.

Aria wouldn't have made a mistake either.

In any case, it seemed certain that he had fallen into an unexpected situation.

It's a headache.

This is all because of that platinum egg....

Seriously.

Who could have known things would turn out like this?

The platinum egg stolen from Prohiden.

He had entrusted it to Aria and conducted various experiments, but there was little reaction. It only absorbed a tiny bit of High-Purity Grade 1 Ether, and even that had to be forcibly injected for it to barely accept it.

When trying to project into the egg's interior, no equipment was of any use, and even when trying to collect a part of the eggshell, not even a scratch could be made.

He thought about stabbing it with his exclusive Ether weapon, but if the egg was destroyed in the process, that would be troublesome too.

Anyway, the egg that greedily craved only his Ether ended up being placed by his side like that.

Well... As long as there was no direct contact, it didn't absorb enough to be a problem. Even if he touched it, it wasn't particularly uncomfortable.

Would you notice if you scooped out a bucket of water from a vast ocean?

He kept it by his side to observe the egg's reactions.

The problem occurred when he connected to the Avatar.

[Body transmission in progress. Initiating dive. 3, 2, 1....]

As he was about to pleasantly let go of his consciousness while listening to Aria's calm voice.

A high-density platinum Ether wave burst from the egg.

Ether wave? No. It’s something closer to Astral properties...?

With that thought, the connection to the Avatar began, and when he opened his eyes, he was here.

Murmur murmur-

"Make way!"

Clop clop- Clop clop-

"Who would bring a four-horse carriage to such a main road..."

"Are they crazy?"

"Even if the road is wide, on a mountain path... tsk tsk."

"Shh! Be careful. A high-ranking noble must be riding in it."

"I don't know why the Immortals don't fling away guys like that."

"My goodness you! You have guts! So much so that I can practically see it!"

The crowd, which had been walking densely like a can of sardines, parted like the Red Sea.

"Yah! Yah! Make way!"

Karlstein also staggered back, dragging his body that felt like a wet cotton ball.

"So that rumor was true."

"What rumor?"

"I heard that Lord Qingyao personally sent out invitations to local dignitaries and high-ranking people this time. It seems many more will be selected than we expected. Seeing how they boldly sent out invitations."

"Isn't that good news then?"

"You know one thing but not the other. Do you think high-ranking people would come empty-handed? Of course, they'll bring loads of gold and treasures suitable for offering to the Immortals."

"Surely not? Would the Immortals even care about gold and treasures?"

"Aiyah. This person, really. Are you pretending not to know or... tsk tsk. Of course, those who offer something would be looked upon more favorably, wouldn't they?"

"That's right. At least they'd catch their eye. Aish... I thought I might have some hope."

"Isn't that just how life is? Haha. But you never know, so we try our luck."

"Right. Let's hurry on."

Most of the conversations among passersby were similar to this.

They'll be selected, they have to be chosen, they'll become Immortals.

Hmm.

Although he wasn't sure exactly what an Immortal was, seeing how everyone harbored aspirations and expectations, it seemed to be an important position in this world.

"Shall I slowly take a look around?"

Karlstein had regained his composure by now.

He remembered Aria's last words.

-I've included a logout function. Of course, it's not as convenient a system as in games.

-Hm? Logout?

-It's a function to forcibly disconnect from the Avatar.

-Oooh, that's pretty good, huh?

-Because of your unauthorized diving, those girls made such a massive f... Anyway.

-I-Is that so?

Aria's expression looked like she had a headache. Although he didn't know why, Karlstein quickly turned his gaze away with clouded eyes.

I hate troublesome things!

Anyway, because of that, he was less worried. Karlstein walked along with the crowd, feeling the sensation of being an ordinary human for the first time in a long while.

Let's just look around casually and then go back.

As he was walking like that.

"Brother? Where did you come from, Brother?"

A bald middle-aged man approached him with a simple smile.

Bald, huh....

No, wait, stop the prejudice!

The middle-aged man showed a warm smile.

He seemed friendly at first glance.

"Let me ask you something. Can you hear me well?"

"Oh, so you can speak, Brother? But are you in your right mind? Of course I can hear you!"

At that, Karlstein grinned at the middle-aged man.

Right. This is perfect. I had many questions.

***And at that time, in the depths of a great palace built somewhere.

In a strange room where numerous giant stone tablets and ponds were positioned here and there, ignoring gravity, a young man in a robe suddenly stood up.

"Huh? What's this?"

The young man tilted his head, repeatedly opening and closing a few fingers, then quickly ran to stand in front of a certain stone tablet.

"Hmm?"

The young man stared intently at the stone tablet.

On the surface of the gray stone tablet, blue characters were intertwined, floating around.

"Has a problem occurred in the Lower Realm?"

Ah.

How troublesome.

"It seems some miscellaneous junk has drifted in again. Haah...."

It couldn’t be helped. Since this was the position he was given to handle such matters, he would have to deal with it directly.

When the young man took out a bell from his bosom and shook it, a clear and bright sound rang out.

The young man waited for a while, staring at the stone tablet with furrowed brows, when someone appeared behind him.

"Did you call for me?"

A rough voice akin to metal being scrapped.

The young man pointed at the stone tablet while looking at the owner of the voice.

"It seems there's a problem with the interface here, can you go check it out?"

"Yes. That is not a problem."

"Then I'll leave it to you. I'll give you cultivation resources as a reward."

"Understood, Eldest Brother."

The man in his twenties who had spoken in a deep voice bowed politely and then disappeared silently.

The young man who remained behind let out a sigh of relief.

"I won't get scolded by Master for passing off the work, right?"

Still, it was better than going down to the Lower Realm directly.

The thought of having to seal his realm and go through various procedures to go to the Lower Realm gave him a headache.

The young man sat cross-legged again and closed his eyes.

It's fortunate that the youngest disciple who just finished a mission was here.

If it’s the cult disciple, he should be reliable.

The young man's breathing gradually became finer as he sank deep into unconsciousness.

***At the same time, in the depths of an Imperial Palace filled with advanced civilization.

"..."

A silver-haired beauty was glaring at something as if she wanted to kill it.

How on earth.

Why.

How?

Why?

There was no one to answer her questions. She couldn't get answers from an egg that couldn't speak.

Crack-

Could something have happened to Master...?

Around her, the imperial guards from the palace were operating various equipment and investigating the room.

"There is an Ether reaction, but nothing else unusual. The Ether reaction is not that high either. Is there perhaps a problem?"

"No. Forget what you saw today."

She had no intention of publicly advertising the Emperor's absence.

At Aria's order to end the situation, the Imperial Guards filed out.

"Haah..."

Aria wore a tired expression.

If this matter became known, there would be a truckload of people unnecessarily rushing over, abandoning their duties. Specifically, people who were not easy to control when Master was absent.

Aria glared at the platinum egg again.

"Just what..."

Of course, the platinum egg didn't move at all.

Aria activated a hologram and checked some data.

Fortunately, although unstable, the logout function is working normally.

If so, that's fortunate, but…

The fact that the imperial guards were dispatched won't be hidden forever.

They'll come rushing in, asking what on earth happened and where His Majesty went.

Ah.

As if it wasn't busy enough already.

Shake shake-

She shook her head.

There were too many overzealous people.

Aria had not yet realized that she herself was included among them.