[Dimensional Invasion Begins.]
Eli, who had been taking a short break, suddenly stood up.
As a result, the celebrities who were with him looked up at him with startled expressions.
“What’s wrong, Eli?”
“Sorry. Something urgent has come up, so I have to leave first.”
Seeing Eli’s urgent expression, the people nodded and saw him off.
After returning to his office, Eli immediately summoned his subordinates for a meeting.
“Everyone is gathered.”
“Let’s get straight to the point.”
Eli’s subordinates watched him anxiously.
Then, in a grave tone, Eli spoke about the message he had just seen.
“A dimensional invasion has begun.”
“Gasp!”
“A-A dimensional invasion?!”
Not only Eli, but all of his subordinates were shocked.
How could a dimensional invasion suddenly begin without any warning?
“I’ll activate the radar immediately!”
“We’ll contact all nations to check for any signs similar to a dimensional invasion or any abnormal phenomena!”
“Should we convene a Level 9 meeting?”
As they busily divided and assigned tasks, Eli spoke with a serious expression.
“This time, we’ll skip the Level 9 meeting. Instead, inform them of this news and ask them to handle it well in their respective positions.”
“Understood!”
A dimensional invasion.
No one knew who the invaders were…
‘But we will protect Earth!’
A fire of determination ignited within Eli.
***
An unexpected mealtime followed.
The rabbits busily cooked using a small brazier.
Thanks to them, we all sat in a circle and enjoyed a cozy meal together.
Their cooking skills had improved significantly.
They weren’t bad at first, but as they took turns working with Jae-seong, they got better and better.
Slurp.
Munch, munch!
A feast was prepared.
Tomato soup, stir-fried and fried vegetables, mapo tofu, and fried rice.
There were also various other dishes on display.
“Ugh. This meal is terrifying.”
“How can it be this delicious? Is this some trick of the Demon King?!”
I’m not even a Demon King.
But even they couldn’t resist the incredible aroma.
After sneaking glances, they eventually gave in and started eating one by one.
“Munch, munch. Slurp!”
“Gulp! Gulp!”
And our adorable little humans ate like they hadn’t had food for days.
I thought they’d eat less since they were so small, but they actually ate quite a lot.
Still, it was only a fraction of what I ate.
Eventually, time passed, and their bellies rose like small hills.
‘Even the self-proclaimed goddess has a bloated belly now.’
At first, Verna had stubbornly refused to eat anything from the so-called Demon King.
But just look at her patting her belly now.
-Urk.
Indeed, good food speaks to everyone, no matter where they come from.
Even our stern-looking Choro was now trying to hide his round belly after finishing his meal.
“So, how was it? Did it taste good?”
“Ahem. It was excellent. Are you perhaps the Demon King of food?!”
“I told you, I’m not a Demon King.”
Scratching my head, I sipped the sweet rice drink I had prepared for dessert and asked,
“By the way, Choro. I’d like to hear more about what you were saying earlier.”
“A story?”
“You said you invaded this dimension because your home became unlivable.”
“…There’s a deep story behind that.”
A deep story?
What could have happened?
As Choro straightened up to speak, Emily and the other kids also sat up attentively.
“One day, dungeons started appearing out of nowhere.”
“Oh.”
Dungeons?
Wait, does this mean something similar happened in our world?
Dungeons only started appearing on Earth about thirty years ago.
They just suddenly emerged.
“At first, we didn’t know anything. But soon, we realized that inside those dungeons was another world and monsters lived there.”
“Mhm.”
“And then we found out—too late—that if we left dungeons unattended for too long, monsters would start coming out.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And so, the entire world was overrun by monsters.”
“…Huh? Wait! That escalated too quickly!”
That’s it?
I thought there was a deep story!
But Choro simply shrugged as if that was all.
“Isn’t that deep enough?”
“Uh… I guess…?”
With nothing else to say, I just nodded.
So, to summarize:
Choro’s world failed to prevent a dungeon break, and now it’s completely overrun by monsters.
‘Judging by their clothing, it seems like a medieval-style world.’
If their technology was less developed, I could understand how this happened.
On Earth, dungeons are seen as treasure troves of resources, but that’s only because we’ve advanced technologically enough to manage them.
“Fortunately, once our world was completely overrun by monsters, no more dungeons appeared. But by then, we had already lost everything.”
“I see.”
“It happened so fast that we had no time to react. If we had been better prepared—no, if I had awakened as a hero sooner, things might have been different.”
“Is there no way to take back your world?”
“If we had enough supplies and equipment, we might be able to reclaim it. But we’ve already lost all our infrastructure. There’s no way to rebuild it now. Even if we wanted to mine resources, the monsters have taken everything.”
That made sense.
If they had lost all their land, surviving each day must be a struggle.
-Dimensional invasion was our last resort. It was never meant to be used like this, but if we stayed, we would all starve to death.
Verna, whose belly was now too full to fly, waddled over and chimed in.
“Are these all the people you have?”
“We’re the vanguard. There are still hundreds of regular soldiers on the other side. If you count non-combatants, there are at least 5,000 of us.”
Five thousand tiny people…
As I pondered, Emily subtly watched my reaction.
She clearly wanted to help.
“Can you go back?”
“Yes.”
“Can we follow you?”
-That’s impossible. But why are you asking?
Verna’s expression became wary.
“I was thinking about how we could help.”
-What? You want to help us?
“Yeah.”
When I nodded, Verna and the other little ones looked bewildered.
“Why would you help us?”
Choro, unable to hold back, asked.
I simply shrugged and said,
“Just because?”
Honestly, it seemed easy enough.
What they needed were supplies and equipment—things I could provide without much trouble.
‘Five thousand people’s worth of food sounds like a lot, but since they’re tiny, it shouldn’t be that much… And as for equipment, I have the Nyang tribe.’
I should put the Nyang tribe’s production drive to good use.
Unlike Bell, the Nyang tribe were extremely diligent—almost like a race of craftsmen.
They never stayed still and always wanted to make something, so I had been looking for an outlet for their work.
“Nyangas!”
-Nyang?
At my call, the nearby cats perked up and tilted their heads.
“Could you make armor and weapons suitable for these kids—no, these people?”
-Nyanya!
-Meow.
The Nyang tribe hopped around, estimating the tiny humans’ sizes.
The tiny humans were tense at the sight but fortunately did not show hostility.
-Nyang! Nyang!
“We can do it! This will be fun!”
Ara translated for them.
With that, the Nyang tribe immediately got to work, and I decided to take the tiny humans on a tour of the forge.
“Want to go take a look?”
“Are you really going to make our equipment?”
“If it doesn’t work out, then there’s nothing we can do, but it should be fine.
Our guys are pretty skilled.”
“N-No, that’s not what I meant…”
Choro looked quite flustered.
Now that I took a good look at them, aside from their swords, they were in a pitiful state—any armor or protective gear they wore was rusted and broken.
At least Choro had something to wear.
The rest of the tiny humans were dressed in nothing but layers of tattered rags.
‘That won’t help protect them at all. If anything, it’ll just slow them down.’
We immediately got up and followed the Nyang tribe.
After hesitating for a moment, the tiny humans and Verna also decided to follow us.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Whoosh! Fwoosh!
A chaotic forge scene.
The Nyang tribe, who had been suppressing their creative urges in a cramped temporary forge, were now like fish in water, hammering away at metal with enthusiasm.
A few Nyang tribe members immediately started working on the tiny humans’s equipment.
Since it was gear meant for them, they used mithril.
We had gathered an enormous amount of minerals over time.
Despite using only small amounts, the Gnolls had been mining every day, so the supply was overwhelming.
At first, I thought mithril deposits wouldn’t be that plentiful.
But ever since the mining expert Gnolls joined us, the metal had been pouring in like a flood.
“How long will it take to make?”
-Nyangnyangnyangnyangnyangnyang.
A Nyangi started explaining something to me.
Ara translated beside me.
“It won’t take long. Helmets should be ready to try on in about an hour.”
“Oh, that’s fast.”
As I observed the crafting process, I realized just how skilled the Nyang tribe were.
They seemed to be randomly hammering, yet the metal quickly took shape with remarkable precision.
“This is incredible craftsmanship.”
“They’re way better than Uncle Hanson!”
Even the tiny humans, who were watching with me, were in awe.
As we watched, completely absorbed, time flew by.
Just as they said, a helmet was soon completed.
-Nyang!
“Good job.”
A Nyangi purred happily at my praise.
But they quickly resumed their work.
They were determined to complete an entire set of armor by the end of the day.
“Want to try it on?”
I handed over the helmet, which was about the size of a ping pong ball.
Choro carefully accepted it but then passed it to another tiny human.
“H-Hero, you should wear it!”
“I already have one. It’s fine, you take it.”
Choro, your helmet doesn’t even function as a helmet anymore.
His so-called helmet was broken beyond use, yet he insisted on giving the mithril helmet to another tiny human.
Finally, the tiny human who received it put it on…
“It fits perfectly!”
“Oooooh!!”
The helmet was a perfect fit.
Made of mithril, its silver design shimmered with a faint blue hue—an absolutely stylish and flawless helmet.
“…”
Everyone was delighted.
Everyone except Choro.
Instead of celebrating, he looked up at me and asked,
“Kyu-seong, can we talk in private?”
“Huh? Oh, sure.”
I led Choro outside the forge.
The cool breeze outside contrasted with the heat we had just stepped out of.
“I’ll get straight to the point. What do you want from us?”
Now that we were alone, Choro asked directly.
But I had no particular expectations, so his question left me at a loss.
‘I just thought I could help, so I decided to help…’
…Yeah, he probably wouldn’t believe that.
Since he already knew that the Seven Sins were under my command, he most likely saw me as either a Demon King or something similar.
Not that it made sense—come on, the Seven Sins are all sweet, adorable, and good-natured!
Why does everyone misunderstand them so much?!
“Ugh.”
Even if I explained, most people wouldn’t agree.
I scratched my head, then finally offered a reasonable deal.
“Join me.”
“What?!”
“If you become my subordinates, I’ll provide all your equipment and food for free. But once you reclaim your dimension, I’ll collect taxes.”
Choro’s eyes widened.
After a brief moment of contemplation, he let out a deep sigh and started calculating.
“Hmmm…”
“You already know that a full-scale invasion is impossible, don’t you?”
“Let me… think about it a little more.”
His tone had suddenly become more polite.
He was clearly leaning toward accepting, but making the decision outright felt too hasty for him.
“Sure. Discuss it with your team and with Lady Verna.”
“I can do that?”
“Huh? Do what?”
“Talk to Lady Verna. Isn’t she your enemy?”
“Why would Verna be my enemy?”
I was genuinely confused.
Is Verna my enemy?
When I tilted my head in confusion, Choro seemed even more startled.
After a moment of hesitation, he nodded.
“I’ll give you an answer soon.”
“Take your time. This is about the fate of your world, after all, so it’s okay to think it over carefully.”
“…Understood.”
No matter what choice they made, I would respect it.
But if they refused my help…
‘Hmm, that would be a bit of a problem.’
Even if that happened, I could slowly convince them over time.
Well, judging by his attitude, it was clear he was already leaning toward accepting the deal.
“Alright, then… Shall I start preparing war supplies to save another dimension?!”
Cliche Novel 