Return Portal Marble

A Return Portal Marble is a high-value emergency artifact that opens a route out of a dungeon without clearing its Return Stone. Its ability to bypass a dungeon barrier makes it a standard safeguard for dangerous raids, but limited uses and planetary Code requirements prevent it from being an unrestricted travel device.

History and role

A lifeline for dungeon raids

Kim Haemin identified the first marble offered to Woojin as an artifact worth more to high-rank Awakened than almost any ordinary loot. A dungeon's barrier normally remains closed until its Return Stone is obtained, so a team unable to clear the dungeon can be trapped and killed. The Marble bypasses that barrier, allowing survivors to retreat and bring back intelligence about the threat. Because even an A-rank team might fail a six-star raid, carrying one became a practical prerequisite for attempting the highest-risk dungeons. (Chapters 27–28)

The protection was finite. An explanation given during a failed raid states that a Marble can open an escape portal three times and will not open on a fourth use. Teams that died before activating theirs lost both personnel and information, while other Awakened treated a recovered Marble as a lifeline valuable enough to hide in dimensional storage. Its high price also shaped strategic decisions: some organizations preferred contracts or outside assistance rather than spend one on a dungeon attempt. (Chapters 28, 33, 36, and 59–62)

From escape tool to Dimensional transit

After becoming a Dimensional Lord, Woojin used a Return Portal Marble from his office rather than only inside an active raid. Melody emerged through the resulting route, and an interface later offered to recharge a Marble with Energy before reuse. Other Dimensional travelers also used the artifact to withdraw from danger. These scenes establish that the Marble can support more than a one-way dungeon evacuation, but the corpus does not clearly define how its destination is selected, whether each appearance involves the same specimen, or how Energy recharge interacts with the stated three-use maximum. (Chapters 53, 55–56, and 58)

Jaemin later relied on that mobility while defending Aria's Temple, believing Woojin could arrive immediately through a Return Portal Marble if the defenders faced disaster. Woojin shared that assumption until he learned that the artifact would not function on Alphen without Alphen's Code. Its apparent freedom on Earth came from Woojin being an Earth native, not from immunity to dimensional rules. The Marble thus remained a contingency for Jaemin's group but could not actually bridge the Code mismatch in that crisis. (Chapters 81–82)

The boundary imposed by planetary Codes

The Code restriction narrows the Marble's role from universal portal to world-dependent access tool. On a planet whose Code the user lacks, travel must instead proceed through a dungeon, Colony gate, or another valid connection, keeping Dimensional Lords near the Domains and Colonies they must protect. The text explains Woojin's failure in terms of his missing Alphen Code but does not establish whether every passenger needs the Code, whether only the person opening the portal does, or whether a destination holder can authorize access. (Chapter 82)

This limitation also distinguishes the Marble from a Return Stone. A Return Stone controls a dungeon's ordinary barrier and route, whereas the Marble creates an exceptional passage for a limited number of activations. The source occasionally uses “Return Portal Marble” for portals opened outside raids, but it never states that the artifact can acquire dungeons, create Domains, or replace the permanent Gates used between Colonies. (Chapters 27–28, 55–58, and 82)

Abilities and properties

• Barrier bypass: The Marble opens a route out of a dungeon without obtaining its Return Stone, allowing a failing raid to escape and report what it encountered. (Chapters 27–28)
• Three-use limit: A Marble is said to work three times and fail on the fourth activation. The corpus does not clarify whether this destroys the item, leaves it inert, or can be reversed through the later recharge system. (Chapters 28 and 58)
• Energy recharge: A system prompt offers to recharge the Marble using Energy when its recharge is incomplete. No amount, time, or relationship between Energy and the three-use limit is supplied. (Chapter 53)
• Remote portal use: Woojin opens a Marble in an office, and travelers use one to arrive or flee, showing that activation is not confined to the interior of a dungeon. Destination targeting and passenger limits remain unstated. (Chapters 55–56 and 58)
• Planetary Code requirement: Woojin cannot use the Marble on Alphen because he lacks that planet's Code, despite being able to use it freely on Earth as an Earthling. (Chapter 82)

Ownership and custody