My first impression of Antelope Canyon was incredible.

“Isn’t this the Grand Canyon?” I asked in awe as I gazed into the distance.

Hwaya replied, “Shin, think about Windermere Lake. They say higher ranked dungeons go through greater terraforming.”

“It’s majestic…”

“Hm? Aren’t all canyons this big?”

The Antelope Canyon was known for its narrow passageways, formed by the erosion of sandstone, and the beams of light that shone down from above.

However, the current Antelope Canyon was wide enough to play a game of soccer, and its beautiful passageway had taken a strange formation. No one would find it weird if a golem popped out of it. Furthermore, it was incredibly large. I couldn’t tell where the canyon ended. Though, perhaps the fact that it was currently night had something to do with it.

“Oh, who are they?”

“Hwaya Mastiford and Thunder Knight. They’re famous. They’re the ones who cleared Britain’s Field Dungeon.”

“Not even America can ignore them. I didn’t think they’d come here though.”

A few ability users were grouped in front of a car at the entrance of the canyon. I could clearly hear their whispers. This was the power of 300,000 gold.

“There are two more girls though. They’re both wearing masks.”

“Thunder Knight’s wearing a mask too. They’re probably his friends.”

“He’s not alone? I’m getting more curious as to who he is.”

“They could be Flame Witch’s subordinates. There is a rumor that Thunder Knight only appeared at Windermere because he was the Flame Witch’s subordinate.”

Hwaya growled softly, “Shin, I’ll go burn those idiots.”

I shrugged. “Just let them talk. We don’t need to care about weaklings like them.”

The other ability users’ whispers made her unhappy, so Hwaya summoned flames to her palm, but I calmed her down. I was looking for something else. A few months had passed since the Field Dungeon had been created. Just like at Graveyard Over the Lake, there were several buildings above the canyon, ruining its natural scenery. I suspected that the person waiting for me was in one of those buildings.

As expected, not long after we arrived, a voice rang out in my head.

[You came. I’m happy. If it’s okay, can we meet right away?]

It was the voice of a young and frail girl. I remembered from her letter that she could use telepathy. However, I didn’t know how to respond to her.

[If it’s okay, nod your head once.]

I nodded. She answered immediately.

[Come inside your lodging. Room 1301, I’ll be waiting there.]

With that, the contact was cut off. My companions looked at me curiously as I led them to the lodging. I gave them an explanation along the way.

“I’ve been contacted by a telepath. You guys didn’t hear anything?”

“No, not at all.”

“Is it like the messaging system between dungeon explorers?”

I scratched my head. “It’s a bit different. Those messages ring in my ear, but this one rings in my head.”

“Ugh, that doesn’t sound comfortable.”

There was no elevator in the building. In other words, we had to climb the stairs to the 13th floor. Since Ludia refused to unlink our arms, it was a bit uncomfortable. Hwaya was wearing a long dress unsuitable for climbing stairs, so she seemed more irritated.

“Argh, I don’t like this girl…! Telling my friend to come and go as she wants, and even making me climb these stairs…!”

“Ludia, can you let go? It’s hard to walk up the stairs like this,” I pleaded.

She refused vehemently, “No.”

“Four blind spots, seventeen points…If I install traps here…”

I suddenly realized that Ye-Eun was analyzing the building and murmuring like some bomb expert. Damn, I want to pretend that I don’t know these people! I blamed the heavens as I caught people blatantly staring at us at every floor we went to.

When we arrived on the 13th floor, it was extremely quiet, unlike the floors we passed through. There was no one walking around, and the hallway even looked different. Hwaya tilted her head and looked back at the stairs to the 12th floor. Then, she clapped once with a bright expression.

“This is a barrier. Anti-recognition barrier. A kind of conditional barrier.”

“Sorry, but can you explain it in a language I can understand?” I asked plaintively.

“It’s a barrier that prevents people that don’t know about the 13th floor from reaching the 13th floor.”

It was truly a simple, yet extraordinary, barrier. Ye-Eun and I were only slightly surprised, but Ludia looked shocked as she asked Hwaya.

“Why is a high-rank magic being used for something like this?”

Hwaya looked confused. “High-rank? It’s not that hard in the modern magic system.”

“Ugh…!”

Ludia was slowly losing this competition with the other girls without me realizing it. With a bitter smile, I knocked on room 1301 with them behind me.

[It’s open, Hero-nim. Come in.]

Why was she using telepathy when we were within audible range? I opened the door. A large living room greeted us. Beyond the window, the Antelope Canyon that had been transformed into a large canyon caught our attention. We also saw several wyverns flying through the night sky and the ability users fighting against them.

At the same time, we saw a little girl sitting on a chair.

[Nice to meet you, Hero-nim and Hero-nim’s companions.]

The girl got up and bowed respectfully.

[I am Ciara Kenex. You can call me Ciara.]

I could immediately tell why she couldn’t move her body easily. I blurted out, “You’re a kid!”

[I’m 12 years old this year. I’m just a bit of a late bloomer.]

“A 12 year old is still a kid, you know…” Ye-Eun murmured in shock. Ludia and Hwaya also had surprised expressions. As for me, I noticed something else the moment I saw her.

“…Can you not see?”

[I was born blind. At first, I couldn’t hear or talk, but thankfully, my ears opened up as I grew.]

She had her eyes closed even when she greeted us. I asked because I noticed that, but I didn’t think my hunch would actually be correct. Was that why she was talking to us using telepathy? Thankfully, we could all hear her. She could likely see us through an ability similar to her telepathy.

As for her appearance, she was quite cute. Her hair was a bit different from Koreans’ black hair, but her charming black hair fell down to her waist in curls. With her small frame and white skin, she really looked like a doll.

Hwaya appeared sympathetic, but soon changed her expression. She likely thought it was rude. As if to expel the thought from her mind, Hwaya asked quickly, “Alright, since you called Shin here, can you tell us why Shin is the Hero? I’m quite curious too.”

I already explained to Hwaya and Ye-Eun while we were on the plane. Although they made fun of me at first, Ludia got mad and told them about her continent. After that, Hwaya and Ye-Eun became more worried than me. I knew how annoying and dangerous being a Hero was, but it seemed like someone else’s problem until they began to make a big deal about it. As a result, even I felt a bit odd.

[Hero-nim, are they…?]

“Yeah, you can trust them. Also, don’t call me Hero-nim. Call me Shin.”

[…Understood, Shin-nim. Then, I’ll start from the beginning. From the moment I first awakened three years ago...]

“Wait.”

Hwaya immediately interrupted her, “The Two Moon incident only happened a year and two months ago. Three years? That’s impossible!”

[But I really did awaken three years ago.]

“What…?”

It took a little bit longer for Ye-Eun and I to understand the implications, but we were also shocked. What was she saying? She had awakened before Two Moon? Two years ago before it too! Hwaya wanted to say something, but I reached out and stopped her. I believed Ciara would explain.

She also said she had awakened from a premonition-like dream. She had come of age and was standing next to me. There were also countless other people and giant enemies. In her dream, she taught people when and how many monsters would appear, and how strong they would be. Resistance against the monsters was centered around her.

[Perhaps because my ability is still lacking, but its range is only wide enough to cover a city.]

“That’s an amazing ability, especially in this day and age, where even satellites are being shot down by monsters’ attacks. If your ability can really grow to how it was in your dream…”

[Hero-nim was the strongest and most radiant among them.]

“You don’t need to flatter me.”

[After that dream, I became more sensitive to the presence of humans. I could feel their hostility towards me, how strong they were, how much potential they had…Of course, before Two Moon, there were no monsters in this world and no ability users, so it wasn’t that useful.]

That wasn’t all. The day after she awakened her ability, she had dreamt several hundred dreams.

“…Wait. Several hundred?”

[Yes. In my dreams, I saw countless particles of light. There were a countless number of oddities.]

“Countless oddities…?” I asked, perplexed.

[The dream continued. For two years, I saw and experienced hundreds of thousands of abilities. Worlds and environments other than Earth. They fought each other, demons, invaders, alien insects, bugs that lived in the mind, monsters that lived in electromagnetic waves, orcs with countless mutations, a fallen group of dragons that lost their intelligence and others.]

“I don’t understand…”

No, I think I understood, but that was the problem. If she was telling the truth, it would be truly absurd.

[One day, around the early evening, I fell asleep. I had a dream, and I met someone who gave me a portion of power.]

“The world’s power?” I said blankly. Damn, I felt like I understood. It sucked, but I think I knew.

[Our world’s power is especially large. That person kept saying inexplicable things like the World of Origin or the World of End.]

“Who was the person?”

[I don’t know. They could be the embodiment of the worlds, or perhaps just Earth. All I know is that they were worried about the monsters stealing this world’s power and worried that the people of Earth wouldn’t have the power to resist them.]

“…”

[So that person separated the world’s power into two. The smaller power, which was still necessary to maintain this world, was given to Hero-nim. The bigger power, which was more pure, was given to me. Of course, it was too big for me to bear it alone.]

After hearing that, I asked, “You…created the ability users?”

She answered, [Yes, Hero-nim.]