The Foreigner on the Periphery (English Translation)

We Met Through Work (3)

There is one fact that many people don't know.

Earth has already been occupied.

Those who consider themselves awake intellectuals, true citizens with a sense of the times and a calling, point to dragons as the hidden forces driving the world. However, most people are unaware that even these dragons ultimately move according to the intentions of the Council.

The Council's rule is passive, secretive, and indirect. They never give explicit orders but instead offer humanity a deal. Yet, there has never been a case where the outcome of this deal went in a way the Council did not want. Not once.

Earth has always walked the path they desired, and it will continue to do so.

The first official contact between the Council and humanity was on October 24, 1945. That day marks the founding of the United Nations (UN). At that time, the only species classified as Earthlings were humans.

During the chaotic period before the wounds of war had healed, the representatives of each country were thrown into confusion by the sudden appearance of aliens, and in front of them, the Council calmly explained. They had been waiting for a long time for Earthlings to form a united organization capable of gathering the opinions of various nations.

It had been a wait lasting at least thousands of years.

Finally, when an organization capable of exchanges was established, the Council appeared and proposed a deal.

One thing to note here is the official name of the Council.

The Pan-Dimensional Intelligence Relocation Council.

The Council's emissaries directly requested that the Earthling representatives accept the mass immigration of aliens wishing to seek asylum from other dimensions. This event would later be known as the First Mass Immigration.

According to the history taught in schools today, in exchange for this, the Council "readjusted" the mana concentration on Earth, which had once been very low, to the current level.

As a result, humans began awakening special abilities in large numbers, and the first wave of dimension immigrants were also able to freely use magic and summon spirits just as they did in their original worlds. But... when you consider whether this was ultimately beneficial to Earth, the answer remains controversial.

Nevertheless, the textbooks state firmly that thanks to the gifts received from the Council, Earth was able to develop this much.

Anyway, the species targeted for the first mass immigration wasn't as bad as expected. Aside from their slightly pointy ears, they looked almost identical to humans, and from the perspective of the aesthetic sensibilities of the First World countries, which were the main powers of the UN at the time, they were incredibly handsome and beautiful. Furthermore, when one approached them, they emitted a delightful and fresh fragrance, could freely manipulate mysterious powers, and had lifespans much longer than humans.

Earthlings especially longed to learn about their special abilities, and the ones who first accepted these immigrants were the United States and the Soviet Union.

Humans named them "elves."

However, where there is light, there is also shadow. Once a connection is made, it can be used for purposes other than the normal ones. Criminals from other worlds began to see this remote and isolated dimension as a haven or a gold mine, and they began to crawl in.

This was the point when Minjun was assigned to the "Early Stabilization Task for Mass Immigration" and dispatched to Earth. His experience in the seventh dimension began at that time.

The reason he ended up in Korea was also clear. At the time, the country was in a state of absolute disarray due to major tragic historical events... it was the perfect environment for criminals to hide in.

Instead of explaining all this complicated backstory to Cassie, Minjun gave as vague an answer as possible.

"Well, Cassie, you know, the country was struggling for a long time back then. If you wanted to eat, you had to do something, right?"

By the 1960s, there was a need for an official title to deal with alien fugitives.

"Perfect timing, the Goseong Academy was established. You can look it up later in that Wiki thing you like. To put it simply... it was Korea's first modern institution for teaching special abilities."

At that time, the government was reluctant to publicly acknowledge the existence of alien criminals hiding in the country, and there had been no official organization to deal with them.

In order to confront aliens, special abilities were naturally required, and a select few teachers from the high-level Goseong Academy secretly took on this role. This was a secret even the teacher, Oh Man-sik, didn't know about.

By day, they taught students; by night, they hunted aliens. It was a really tough time.

Cassie, who had been silently listening while driving, wore a genuinely surprised expression. From what Minjun said, he seemed not only to have laid the foundation for Korea's study of special abilities but also to have made enormous contributions to protecting the country from illegal alien immigrants.

"Wait, that's amazing."

She hesitated for a moment, then exclaimed, unable to hide her astonishment.

"Doesn't that mean Minjun should be in some kind of national hero biography? Someone who dedicated their life to saving the country!"

Minjun nearly spat out his carbonated drink.

He quickly wiped his mouth and replied awkwardly.

"Well, um… I don't think the government wants to dig up those old stories."

Cassie went silent for a moment, then said.

"Ah! So that's why you didn't want to talk about the past. It's something the government doesn't want to reveal."

Minjun neither confirmed nor denied it, and just let Cassie think that way. She muttered to herself.

"Wow! You're even more amazing than I thought. You're like Dr. Woo Chang-chun in the field of plants, right?"

"…That's a bit of a stretch."

"But, there's something strange. Why isn't Minjun's name more well-known? Even if the government doesn't want to talk about it, by now, there should be some rumors."

The answer to this was something Cassie could easily guess, so Minjun didn't bother answering.

She parked the car in front of a store and kept saying "Wow… Wow… Incredible," until Minjun got out. When she followed him into the office, she glanced at him and asked.

"Do you want to drink something before we go?"

"Sure, but I'd rather not talk about the past."

A moment later, while drinking a cup of cassia tea that Minjun handed her, Cassie asked again.

"Earlier, you mentioned Oh Man-sik? Why was he so surprised when you said you were an agent?"

Minjun scratched his chin and tried to recall his behavior at the time. How had he acted back then? The answer came slowly, rising from deep within his memory.

"Ah, I see."

As I mentioned, back then, Minjun had just started imitating Earthlings, and there was a lack of natural tuning during the process of immersing in this culture.

At that time, the Council also had limited data about Earth, so Minjun's "socialization training" was based on following the best moral and humanistic psychological and behavioral models that society considered virtuous.

In other words, Minjun had been a walking textbook of morality.

He postponed any further explanations and said.

"Well, personality changes, right?"

"That's true."

Just then, the office doorbell rang.

Ding-dong!

"Who's that? I wasn't expecting anyone."

When Minjun pressed the intercom and saw the man standing outside, his body stiffened slightly.

"…"

And he thought quietly to himself.

"Ah… so it's him."

He recalled the results of the fortune-telling ritual he had done earlier this morning.

Today's connection: There is a possibility of reuniting with someone you haven't seen for quite a long time.

The intercom camera showed a Western man standing at the door, saluting.

Minjun understood.

"Yeah. There should be this much time for 'long time' to make sense."

At that time, both of them had different faces, but there was no issue recognizing each other.

Like Oh Man-sik, this man was someone Minjun had met through work before.

But he had known him for a much longer time.

"Had we known each other for almost a century?"

Minjun didn't look at his features but read the alien symbols floating above his head.

Asif-174,245,100

As soon as the door opened, the man fluently spoke in Korean while simultaneously sending a mental message to Minjun. He was aware of Cash's presence in the office.

"Yo! It's been a while! (How much does she know?)"

Minjun naturally responded.

"Yeah, it's been a while. (She thinks I'm human. What's your name now?)"

The man chuckled.

"How could you not have called me, Bradley, this whole time? (Human?! Then she doesn't know anything.)"

Minjun laughed as he replied.

"Watch your words. Someone might think it's real. It was you who didn't reach out! (Watch your words. Don't bring up sensitive topics. Leave out proper nouns too. I'll send Cash back soon.)"

Bradley winked and turned to greet Cash.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Catherine Kang. But, who exactly are you?"

Minjun responded curtly.

"We met a long time ago while working."

"Oh, I see. But..."

Cash tilted her head and asked.

"Do you both always talk like this, in such theatrical tones?"

"······"

"······"

While Cash went to fetch something proper to drink instead of the herbal tea she was having, the two exchanged some casual words while quickly sending mental messages to each other.

'What's going on all of a sudden? And 'Bradley'? What kind of old-fashioned name is that?'

=Minjun, what's up with your naming sense? It hasn't improved at all. Anyway, before we get to the point, let me ask you something.=

'What?'

=That was you, right?=

It seemed like they were talking about the illegal immigrant dragon. No matter how secretive it was, rumors always circulated among prisoners.

Minjun didn't hide it and admitted it.

'Yeah, it was me. Who else would it be?'

=I knew it! I knew it! So you met that one in the end!=

Bradley was oddly excited. He swallowed his saliva and asked.

=So, what happened? They say his tracks are all gone. No one can find him! Tell me what happened! What on earth went on?=

The body of Jang Taejun had been neatly handled by immigration, so there was no way traces would remain. Of course.

Minjun answered calmly.

'What did I do? I killed him.'

At that, Bradley made a choking sound without realizing it.

'What? Why is he reacting like this? Cash will get suspicious.'

=What… No, really? You killed him? For real?=

'Yeah, I killed him.'

=No way, that simple?=

'It wasn't simple. The guy was close to being an Elder dragon.'

=Elder? What are you talking about? A dragon? You mean it was actually a dragon?=

'You're quick, but slow at the same time. That illegal immigrant… actually, he was a dragon.'

=Illegal immigrant? What are you talking about?=

Only then did they realize their stories were on different tracks and off course.

'Wait, what are you talking about? I'm talking about the illegal immigrant dragon I killed this time.'

=What?=

Bradley sighed and said this time, in person.

"What? You really don't know anything?"

It seemed that Bradley wasn't talking about Jang Taejun's story. Minjun finally figured it out.

"What?"

This time, in his mind.

=You really haven't heard the news?=

Minjun was starting to get annoyed.

'No, who?!'

=Who else! 'Del,' of course, 'Del!'=

Minjun's expression froze.

'That woman?'

=She got out! A few days ago, according to Earth time!=

Minjun could now confidently say, after 70 years spent on Earth, that this was the most terrifying news that made his heart drop.

He spoke with a noticeably pale face.

'She got out? Wait, did she get out on bail? That's impossible! The retirement payment Del had to pay was…'

=Yeah, I think it was 500,000 talents.=

About 10% of what Minjun had been assigned.

But as soon as that number came to mind, it was more 'impossible' than 'possible.'

'She paid that? Where did the talents come from?'

=I don't know. Anyway… If Del finished her re-education and was released, I thought she'd come looking for you first. But look at you, you didn't know anything?=

He laughed loudly once again.

"Wow! You two were pretty close, but no news for this long?"

At that moment, Cash returned with the teacup.

"Who were you talking about?"

Bradley chuckled and said.

"Oh, well, that's..."

Minjun interrupted his sentence as he washed his face. Cash needed to know about this situation.

"I just heard news about an old acquaintance."

Cash raised the teapot and asked.

"Who is it?"

Minjun murmured in a very gloomy tone.

"…My ex-wife."

Cash's hand stopped in mid-air.

Minjun didn't even look at her expression as he turned to Bradley and asked, almost accusingly.

'What else do you know besides her release? Tell me everything!'

Instead of replying mentally, Bradley answered aloud, as though trying to make him hear.

"Haha! This is all I can tell you with my bare mouth. If you want to hear more, just buy me a drink!"