Why Is It So Big?

It was fortunate that it was nighttime.

It was also fortunate that all the villagers were gathered at the village hall right now. If that weren't the case, someone might have discovered the portal's creation.

"We almost had a huge commotion here too, with everyone causing a fuss."

Still, just in case, Ian carefully checked his surroundings.

The blue light streaming out from the portal was, no matter how you looked at it, the light of another world.

It was completely out of place in the village scenery.

Of course, from seeing the earlier meeting, it was clear the villagers had no knowledge of other dimensions, but they would definitely recognize how unusual the light was.

If someone came all the way to Ian's house and tried to step into the portal, that would be even more troublesome.

Ian scoured the darkness meticulously, but there was no one around this remote house.

It was truly a stroke of luck that Ahn Bin had found such a secluded place for his home.

"Well done, Ahn Bin. Thanks to you, I feel at ease."

Murmuring to himself, Ian approached the portal again and quickly stepped inside.

Ordinary Earthlings might hesitate, but for Ian, it was no different from stepping into his own home; he had no reason to waver.

"Hold on a second. I won't be traveling dimensions again, right?"

He wondered if he'd feel that same sensation of passing through dimensions, like last time coming to Earth, but he didn't.

He'd been a little concerned, since the feeling of every cell in your body dissolving wasn't exactly pleasant, but this time there was nothing.

"As expected, it's just a fragment."

It was exactly as he suspected. This was not a complete dimensional travel portal.

This was just a fragment, a piece of the Praerian dimension that had been brought along due to some unknown malfunction.

A fragment of the Praerian dimension wandering on Earth—it was baffling.

No, maybe it wasn't wandering, perhaps it had already settled here on Earth.

In any case, as soon as he crossed the portal threshold, a familiar feeling flooded into him. It was the energy of Praeri.

"Hm. This smell of grass, the crisp air, the refreshing temperature and humidity. This is certainly Praeri. Let's see... Oh!"

Once inside the portal, he could sense every trace of energy. It was almost like he had returned to a Praerian's body instead of a human's.

Just as the forms of nature are not fixed, the body itself is ultimately a temporary phenomenon.

The important part was the Praerian soul.

"Grassland... No houses nearby..."

Before Ian's eyes, a vast field stretched into the distance—a pasture where grass for livestock grew.

But there were no animals, and the grass had grown quite tall.

"Is this the outskirts? Looks like a completely unmanaged pasture. To let the grass grow this much. Tsk, tsk."

Before he knew it, Ian was gazing at the field with the heart of a master of a great farm.

"Maybe I should trim the grass a bit?"

Designating an area of the field, Ian gathered his energy. He was curious if his techniques would work here.

He pictured a blade of wind slicing the grass.

'It works!'

He easily formed the image, and the energy began to surge and move accordingly.

Ian quietly extended his hand. The grass was neatly mowed and lay in orderly rows on the ground. The technique worked without a problem.

"As it should. This should always be this easy."

This was the precision of Praerian farming.

You simply focused your heart, spoke to nature's energy, and made everything harmonize.

Ian looked over the neatly organized field with satisfaction.

"But is no one here?"

No livestock, no working creatures were in sight.

Enjoying the scent of cut grass and the touch at his ankles, Ian slowly strolled across the field.

Praeri seemed endless, but looking out into the distance, he noticed space distortions at the boundary.

"Right. Only a part has been cut off and left here."

He wondered where this portal in Seoul, the one tied to the Tower, led to.

To find out, he'd have to go directly to Seoul and see inside the portal.

Whatever fragment it was, it was certain that this had happened due to a malfunction with the portal Ian used to travel from the Praerian dimension to Earth. No other cause came to mind.

'Parito... just what mistake did you make?'

To properly grasp the situation, Ian knew he'd eventually have to check the inner space of both this portal and the one in Seoul, especially for his eventual return to Praeri.

But now was not the time.

He couldn't just stay here and frolic endlessly in this portal with the passage to Earth wide open. It was time to leave.

Ian turned and headed for the portal entrance.

As he walked, he pondered how to make use of this Praerian dimension fragment—at least for as long as he lived on Earth.

"I'm sure there'll be ways to use it. I can do so much—like farming, for example..."

Thinking of Ahn Bin's 100-pyeong farm, Ian mused. What kind of farming could you possibly do with only 100 pyeong?

Plus, with techniques not working outside, it was inconvenient, but inside the portal, farming was incredibly easy—no worries at all.

Once again, Ian found himself thinking with a farmer's mindset.

Just then, a black shadow was cast at his feet.

Ian quickly turned to see a slime approaching.

But,

"Huh? Why is it so big?"

It was quite a huge slime.

It looked like it had been well-fed and well-rested. Ian had never seen a slime this large before.

"Is it lazy? Is it this big because it doesn't work?"

Ian reached out and casually gave it an order.

"Clear out all these weeds."

The image came to him naturally, and his mental power flowed automatically.

Not even quite a technique; as soon as his energy reached out, the slime started eating all the weeds around, just as Ian commanded.

For a slime, clearing weeds was the same as feeding, so the slime would only grow larger in the end.

Though energy would be used for digestion,

"With no livestock and the grass overgrown like this, is it because it ate so well that it got this big?"

Before long, more slimes came crawling over from all directions—each of them big.

Of course, slimes are amorphous and can change size, but there's usually an average.

"They're all this big?"

As Ian tilted his head and looked at the slimes, the slimes mimicked him and looked back, also tilting their heads.

At that moment, Ian realized.

"Aha! It's not that the slimes are abnormally big—it's that I'm small!"

With the realization, laughter suddenly bubbled up, and Ian chuckled to himself.

He had entered the nature of Praeri, but he was still in a human body. And that human body was much smaller than a Praerian's.

When Ian came to Earth, he had already lost his Praerian form, so he'd never even tried to compare their sizes.

"How was I supposed to know, with no standardized measures? Humans really are small."

Judging by the length of the grass and the size of the slimes, Praerians seemed to be about 1.5 times bigger than humans.

Ian had heard rumors about humans who had ended up on Praeri.

He'd been told they were small, but assumed it was only that particular individual.

"So that's why humans were so scared of slimes."

Though that wasn't the only reason. Who wouldn't be scared of a creature that swallows its own kind?

Especially if you don't know how to control it.

"You all don't try to go outside—just stay here and eat grass."

With that, Ian instructed the slimes and headed toward the portal.

Vacation had to continue.

The place for Ian to stay was not this piece of Praeri but Earth. He hadn't explored anything here yet.

"Better get back home."

Just before stepping out of the portal, Ian stopped for a moment. He took a deep breath of Praeri energy.

He wondered if he could maintain this energy outside. If so, his techniques might also work.

'Just in case...'

He gathered a few clumps of grass, some rocks, and a handful of dirt nearby, curious what would happen if he took them outside.

He needed to know if they would change properties after crossing the portal.

At last, Ian crossed the portal again.

A mountain village at night. Yet somehow, the air felt fresher. He sensed energy flowing around him.

"Oh? Energy...?"

Looking at the weeds in his backyard, Ian pictured pulling them out. Imagining a gust of wind wrapping around the weeds, he moved his energy.

Then the energy spun through his body and extended to his fingertips. Ian stretched his hand toward the field.

"It works!"

His image formed, energy flowed, and his mental power responded.

He hadn't directly touched a single blade, but the weeds were pulled out cleanly and laid neatly at the edge of the field.

He was delighted, reassured that he could use his abilities even here.

"Now then, what else should I try?"

First, he needed to establish concealment and a barrier over the portal. If the villagers spotted it, things would get complicated.

Besides, Praeri land beyond the portal belonged to Ian. He couldn't allow just anyone to come and go as they pleased.

'It's my precious asset.'

Ian wasn't greedy, but he was dedicated when it came to protecting his territory. Sharing with the locals was something for later.

Concealment and barrier were simple techniques. Praerians could perform them with their eyes closed.

Not that there was much need to use them in the peaceful Praeri, but sometimes they did.

Standing in front of the portal, Ian began to form an image in his mind. He drew concealment over the portal and extending to the retaining wall.

'Concealment, veil the portal!'

As he pictured a gentle silver veil covering the portal and the retaining wall, his energy poured from his body, wrapping the space in a silvery hue.

He then overlaid a barrier as well. But—

"Huh...?"

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but at the last moment, his energy rapidly drained, and Praeri energy ran dry.

Though these were simple techniques for a Praerian, in truth they consumed quite a lot of energy, a fact he had overlooked.

Moreover, having to interface with Earth's nature seemed to consume even more energy.

"Just a bit short. Looks like I can only use as much energy as I brought out from inside?"

In the end, the bottom edge of the portal was not completely covered.

He could have gone back in and replenished, but it was troublesome. Maybe because he still wasn't used to a human body, fatigue washed over him.

"I'll recharge tomorrow."

Ian yawned as he murmured. At any rate, as it was, the portal was hidden enough behind the house not to be seen.

It was late at night. All he wanted was sleep.

Still, needing a temporary fix, he set up a board under the veil of silver light at the bottom edge, using a plank he found in the yard.

"That should do."

He then examined what he'd brought from Praeri.

Nothing had changed visually—the grass, dirt, and stones all still radiated Praeri energy.

He planted the grass clump in the field, sprinkled the dirt on top, and placed the stone nearby.

It was a clear night. After a glance at the star-studded mountain night sky, Ian went inside to sleep.

"Yawn... I didn't even do much, but I'm exhausted. Actually, I did a lot, right? Cleared the bramble vine from the field, waded into the valley water, even attended the village meeting. And I've eaten two meals here on Earth. By the way, the food's pretty good here, too. I should learn to farm well and make lots of delicious things..."

Mumbling to himself as he tossed and turned, Ian finally fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

While Ian slept,Praeri energy gently leaked from beneath the portal.

Along with that flow, something else slipped out as if riding that current.

Praeri energy reached out toward Ian, the soul of Praeri.

But the creature, black as a shadow, slinked away into the darkness, crawling stealthily into the brush of the back mountain.

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