“Do not unleash any technological singularities in the Other Dimension.”
Metal refinery methods, navigation techniques, developments in gunpowder, guns, pharmaceuticals, explosives, bacteria, aircraft, the nuclear realm, AI, the Internet—the list of advancements that catalyzed countless other discoveries could go on and on. Without exception, every world had people challenging themselves to break through the limits of existing technologies. Give those geniuses even the smallest hint and they were bound to run away with it, developing and disseminating new inventions at an explosive pace. It would be all too easy to imagine what might come next. But I’d come here to explore that dungeon. I wasn’t trying to be the spark to ignite the next war.
“Thanks for your help. See you around.”
“Oh, sir! A moment, please. I’d strongly suggest you allow us to escort you back to your—”
I quickly said my thanks and left the shop. The owner started saying something, but I just ignored him. I couldn’t have anyone tailing me, so I jogged for a bit to put some distance between myself and the store. After taking about three turns among the narrow back alleys, I wound up in a twisting, labyrinthine section of town. It did occur to me to ask Machina for directions, but I thought it might be fun to explore a bit on my own and kept going.
And fun it was. The uneven streets had sneaky drops so sudden I almost tripped over them, low-built roofs to perhaps deter riders on horseback from approaching, and patches completely submerged underwater. Lively scenes bursting with commotion were charming for sure, but this kind of quiet and calm neighborhood held its own sort of excitement, too. I felt like I was having my very own fairy-tale adventure.
My nose caught a whiff of some kind of roasted meat, and I screeched to a halt. I was hungry. The unending parade of nerves and surprises of the day had pushed it out of mind, but I was starving. I sprang into action more nimbly than I had since I’d first arrived in this world. The scent led me to a stand set up amid the eaves. I ordered one of whatever they sold without bothering to ask what it was. It came out to two copper pieces. Happy as a clam, I started walking off with it.
It looked similar to a kebab. A thick, round, crepe-like baked flour wrap swaddled the mystery meat, and I couldn’t tell it if had been stewed, or grilled, or what. I took a bite.
“Mm!” The juicy gravy from the meat beautifully complemented the simple wrap. If I wanted to be really critical, I would’ve said it could use a little more seasoning. But what kind of meat was this? It tasted like chicken but could’ve just as easily been pork.
“Alert. Mr. Souya, enemies approaching,” Machina warned, and I froze in place. “They have been tracking you since you left the coin dealer. I will now commence targeting as they have taken an undeniably hostile stance.”
I swallowed the rest of the kebab and washed it down with a swig of water from my bottle. Switching off the safety selector lever on my AK-47, I cocked the charging handle. Bullets loaded into the chamber.
“How many?”
“Three. One coming in at two o’clock and two from five o’clock.”
“Got it.”
“Countdown to contact: five, four, three, two, one.”
A man appeared. I turned my head and got a look at the other two behind me as well. The one in front of me, a picture-perfect delinquent, had a longsword hanging from his clothing.
“What do you want?” I asked. His face dropped for a split second when he realized I had been waiting for them. Then he spat out in an angry tone that gave away how little probably went on upstairs, “Money, all you’ve got. Hand it over and we’ll let you live.”
Short and sweet. I appreciated that.
I grabbed a random handful of coins from my pocket and flung them down the street; they turned out to be gold pieces. A dull echo reverberated off the cobblestones wherever they had bounced. Unfortunately for them, all three followed the coins with their eyes. By the time the closest one looked back up at me, I’d already closed the distance between us. I rammed the butt of my gun into his chin and felt bones crunch beneath it. Whipping around, I readied my weapon. One of the guys I got in his side; the other, in his kneecap. The blasts from the rifle resounded through the quiet backstreets. After a brief pause, anguished cries escaped the mouths of the wounded men.
“Enemy neutralized,” Machina announced.
“Any reinforcements?”
“Negative.”
“Doubt it.” I could feel a pair of eyes watching me. A shadow slinked quickly around the corner when I turned to look. It’ll be too risky to pursue them when I don’t know the lay of the land.
I picked up the empty shell casings and gold pieces. Just as I was considering retrieving the bullets, too, Machina interrupted and announced, “Caution, individuals approaching. Possibly residents responding to the gunshots.”
“Got it. We’re gonna run for it. Activate the locator.” The exit route appeared on the translucent EL display-panel lenses of my glasses. I followed it and quickly headed back to the main road. A burnt-red darkness had begun to inundate the streets. Once again joining the river of people that had now grown even more crowded, I walked with the flow for a bit, checking over my shoulder a few times to make sure nobody was on my trail. I could tell my racing heart wouldn’t subside until I’d made it back to camp, but that was fine.
Crystals embedded in the streetlamps began to illuminate the cobblestone pavement below them. Night completed its fall over the town, revealing an entirely new side of the settlement. A collective sigh of release at the day’s end was let out, and the town grew clamorous with sounds of drinks and food and talk of fame. Steamy women welcomed men who’d abandoned their wits and reduced themselves to fools. Songs, cries, and angry yells filled the air.
My eyes briefly met those of a beastmaid loitering about in sheer silk garb. Her eyes shone red, and long rabbit’s ears perked up from the top of her head. She grinned at me, but I looked away too quickly to tell if that meant she found me intriguing or thought she’d found her next mark. I passed a raucous party full of people of unfamiliar races, but I wasn’t yet acclimated enough to this world to join in the revelry.
Little by little, I left the hustle and bustle behind and stepped further into tranquility. A large bell rang out, perhaps to announce another day had drawn to a close. This one had brought me no results or rewards, only awareness of new problems to tackle. And so marked the end of my first exploration into the Other Dimension.