143 What is this place?

Discovering the hidden dimension inside the black miasma clearly surprised Aldrin. However, he had no time to mull over that detail. When prompted to spend IDLE Points to force an entry, he quickly accepted. As for its price, Aldrin felt a little sting in his chest upon thinking about it.

It's a staggering 100,000 IDLE Points. To rescue Irina, if she's still alive, Aldrin spent more than what the girl paid him more than a week ago. But there's no crying over spilled milk anymore. He got taken in by the sudden rush of emotion he felt upon discovering that, like Janet predicted, he was the only one among them who could do something about the situation. There's also no indication of how much he needed to pay to break it open or he missed that system message. Either way, even if he saw how much he needed to pay, he knew that he'd still go for it.

Even if he couldn't admit to it fully, Irina had already earned her place to be considered his close friend if not more than that. Had it been another trainee, he wouldn't risk exposing his unexplainable capabilities to his elder sister, no matter how much he trusted her.

'In the end, I'd probably be seen as a fool or an idiot again. Who cares, anyway? This is my life and I'll decide what to do. I just had to prepare a believable excuse once this is over.' Aldrin decided.

Anyway, after confirming that the IDLE Database could also provide him an exit upon entering, he didn't hesitate anymore.

Unfortunately, only he has been allowed entry. The black miasma in front of him quickly expanded, the same way it did earlier and swallowed him along with his Metadome before retracting.

In Janet, Clark, Frederic, Caroline and the other trainees' eyes, it probably appeared to have suffered the same thing as Irina.

Before their voices could reach him, the darkness of moving through a seemingly dark tunnel to arrive at another Dimension engulfed him.

[You have entered an unknown Dimension]

[This Dimension is impossible to be scanned properly with a reason as follows: the creator has forbidden intrusion of a different Dimensional Authority. Proceed with caution.]

[Note: This Dimension doesn't possess any Fragment or Dimension Core. It's a created Dimension incapable of having an ecosystem, similar but not connected to the IDLE Database's Idle Storage and Hangar. Only after becoming a Plane Controller can an Energy Refiner create his or her own Tiny Dimension. Or in some cases, a unique racial ability of a Dimensional Creature or Denizen.]

"This…" Aldrin was a little taken aback after finding himself in a dark and cold place. Even with the light emitted by his Metadome, there seemed to be a fog, greatly lowering the visibility of his surroundings.

Moreover, as soon as the sensation of going through different dimensions subsided, a biting cold seeped through the metallic alloy plates of his Metadome, giving him a bone-tingling chill.

Although it didn't mean he was already in grave danger, Aldrin remained vigilant.

Upon stabilizing and adapting himself to the current state of the dimension, his mind quickly geared up to check his status.

He could still see what was happening in the Drawyz Domain through the eyes of his Dimensional Clones. However, he found out that he couldn't control them or give orders anymore.

Furthermore, every option seemed to have been grayed out as if they were locked by something.

And that was confirmed by new system messages.

[IDLE Database's features will be temporarily unavailable in this Dimension]

[Calibration has been suspended]

'So that's why…' He exhaled. There were a lot of questions in his mind after reading all those. However, he put them aside at the moment as he began his search for Irina.

'Unknown Dimension. Plane Controller. Racial Ability… I'll look it up later.'

After taking a few steps, Aldrin scanned his surroundings and oddly enough, he found no trace of Irina anywhere. He also checked if there was a sign of battle but to no avail. There were no broken shards of a Metadome to indicate a battle had taken place. That means the safety of the girl was still hanging up in the air.

He then continued on his way while avoiding the walls as he ventured further inside the eerie dimension.

Although the IDLE Database's features were temporarily disabled, the multiplier applied to his body could still be felt. Moreover, there's an option that could be read [Exit Dimension] at the top left of the space the mysterious program occupied on his screen.

That's their way out. Fortunately, it's free.

He had no idea what dangers awaited him in the Dimension or if he could even find a reward somewhere inside.

"Considering how the mysterious program even suspended calibrating this dimension to accommodate itself, there's probably nothing of note here." He concluded.

Minutes later, he found himself in a larger area than the one he appeared from.

-

-

While Aldrin had just entered the Dimension, Irina, who had no idea where she was or what to do, had started to venture out from her previous position to find an exit.

Yet, Irina felt like she was inside a maze and she was going in a circle without finding anything.

She's now using her refined energy to combat the cold but it will be depleted soon. And although Dimensional Energy was also present, it's too scarce that even the operation of her Metadome started relying on its backup battery.

"Did it leave me here to die from the cold?"

As minutes passed, that's what her mind arrived at. But since it hasn't even been an hour, she remained optimistic while being vigilant.

She's aware that Aldrin and the others would try to save her. Or at least, that's what she hoped for. Given that she somehow found herself in a foreign place, she had no idea what the others would think upon seeing her being swallowed by the black miasma.

"No… I remember. I'm not entirely swallowed. I saw something extending its reach to me… But where is it now? Why didn't it kill me?"

As she started questioning herself like that, she once again found herself face to face with a wall.

"The fog isn't dissipating and there's nothing in here. Not even water or plants…" She sighed and turned right to take another path.

However, it was at that moment that the eyes of her Metadome caught something.

There's something bouncing on the ground, it's like a creature covered in blue fur. It's small enough to be flattened by her Metadome's feet. However, from how it peacefully bounced up and down, she started having second guesses.

A while later, the bouncing furball spun before it bounced in a certain direction. It then turned around and started bouncing in place again.

Witnessing that phenomenon, Irina somehow understood what it was trying to say.

"Does it want me to follow?" She gulped down, suspicion filling her mind.

She understood the danger of following something entirely unknown but without any other clue at the moment, she felt compelled to do so…

"Just in case… I have to prepare." Irina muttered as she prepared the Eject button as well as a metallic case containing her weapons and battle suit.

And so, she started following the blue furball. If she was going in circles earlier, she soon found herself in an area where the fog cleared up.

"Unbelievable… What is this place?" She sighed in honest amazement.

In front of her, not just one but numerous furballs bounced and slowly gathered in the middle. But that's not what made her sigh, but what's behind those furballs. A giant golden crystal hummed quietly as it emitted a wave of Dimensional Energy.