Chapter 25
The place called ‘maze’ was intimidatingly tall.
It was made of solid stone walls as if to discourage any attempt at breaking through, and the floor was a dirty dirt path. After brushing the wall and immediately getting dust on my hand, I looked up.
I couldn’t even imagine the overall size of this maze. Lowering my stiff neck, I spoke to the three S-ranks.
“I think the final boss is beyond this maze.”
At my words, Lim Yuchan raised one eyebrow.
“How do you know that?”
“Just…”
I can’t say the quest told me, can I? I shrugged lightly.
“I just know. You know, intuition.”
It’s not like we have anything to lose at this point. Having already entered, even these S-ranks didn’t seem to have any other ideas and didn’t ask further.
“Anyway, we just need to get out of the maze, right? I’m good at this sort of thing.”
Cha Si-hyeon shrugged and took the first step.
“Let’s go together!”
Don’t go off on your own!
Just as I was about to hurry after him, Cha Si-hyeon paused.
Before I could even feel puzzled, Cha Si-hyeon took a backstep and returned.
“Hey, this doesn’t seem to be an ordinary maze.”
Looking up, I could immediately understand what he meant.
“Monsters.”
There were some spider monsters.
‘What, are there no other monsters here? Why are they all disgusting ones!’
Making a disgusted face at the swarm of about twenty spiders, I took a step back.
As I raised my head while tightly hugging Mungchi, bang!
Cha Si-hyeon stabbed his sword into a monster. He was incomparably more skilled and faster than me.
As expected, this time I felt very reassured with the S-ranks here, not having to deal with it myself.
‘Mungchi, let’s stay quiet.’
I had to save my mana for any possible situations. The skill ‘What’s Yours is Mine (-)’ that I had been happy about for being overpowered consumed most of my mana after all.
Still…
I drew my sword at a monster that came towards me, taking advantage of a gap.
Covering Mungchi’s white fur with my hand to prevent blood from splashing on it, I cut off the monster’s neck in one go.
[SYSTEM] Until rank increase (52/100)
‘I can at least do this much.’
As I was about to wipe off the blood that seemed to have splashed on my face, Mungchi, who I was holding, licked it off with his tongue.
“Ack, stop it!”
I shouted in surprise, and he tilted his head. His tail wagged as if asking for praise.
‘…Damn. It’s my fault.’
Looking at that, I regretted raising my voice even a little.
‘I should be more careful not to attract attention.’
I had no intention of letting monster blood stain his white fur. I raised the sword that had just cut the spider monster in half.
Taking advantage of a moment of distraction, I swung my sword at a monster rushing in from the side.
Whoosh! With the sound of cutting through the air, the sword sliced the monster’s neck in one go.
Since I didn’t cut it in half, the blood didn’t splash on me.
Glancing forward, I killed a few more approaching monsters in the same way.
Soon after, when Lim Yuchan burned the last monster with fire, I immediately put away my sword.
Baek Doha, who was looking around, saw me and tilted his head.
“Weren’t there a few more on this side?”
“No, there weren’t.”
I smiled and feigned ignorance. Baek Doha gave me a doubtful look, but Cha Si-hyeon approached faster than that.
“Hey, which way do you want to go, right or left?”
I turned my head after looking at the monster corpses strewn around him, wondering what had happened while I wasn’t looking.
“Always right in a maze.”
At my words, Lim Yuchan narrowed his eyes.
“I think it should be left.”
“Then we should go right.”
Baek Doha smiled brightly, ignoring Lim Yuchan’s opinion. No, rather than ignoring…
“That person’s intuition isn’t good. We just need to avoid where he says to go.”
Baek Doha said as if answering my skeptical expression. I’m not sure if I should consider this fortunate.
As I slightly followed Baek Doha and Cha Si-hyeon to the right, Lim Yuchan’s expression twisted subtly.
I pretended not to notice. It might be rude to him, but honestly, I trust Baek Doha’s words more.
“But can you walk?”
I laughed hollowly at Cha Si-hyeon’s question. I’m not a newborn…
“I keep telling you, I’m not that weak.”
“No, I mean…”
Cha Si-hyeon’s mouth moved, but in the end, he just sighed without saying anything.
‘It’s just walking, not fighting, what could be so hard?’
I snorted at Cha Si-hyeon and took a bold step forward.
And exactly 50 minutes later.
‘F*ck…’
I was panting heavily, drenched in sweat.
I seriously feel like I’m going to die.
‘I don’t even have the strength to fight anymore.’
Monsters appeared almost every time we turned a corner.
Exhausted from walking, I only killed a few at the beginning, and then just watched the fighting from behind.
By the way, Mungchi seemed to realize I was tired, had gotten down from my arms, and was walking on his own. How is he walking better than me when his leg was injured?
“Does this maze even have an end?”
Cha Si-hyeon, who was somehow ahead now, asked. Baek Doha shrugged.
“There should be. Since it’s a maze, we might have taken a wrong turn.”
If that’s the case, it’s truly the worst. Getting lost in a maze is terrifying.
Here’s the English translation of the text:
“Should we just break through?”
“I tried, but it doesn’t break.”
Lim Yuchan answered Cha Si-hyeon’s question before I could even be alarmed. When did he try that?
It was then that Baek Doha stopped.
“Looks like we didn’t come the wrong way.”
Wondering what he meant, I looked up. Then, a very large door filled my vision.
‘A door…’
To be precise, three doors.
From left to right, they were green, yellow, and red doors. I shifted my gaze to the green door.
[Goddess of the Forest]
▸The Forest Goddess shows no mercy to those who invade her domain.
▸Difficulty: ★☆☆☆☆
A familiar blue window floating in front of the door.
“Looks like each has its own difficulty level.”
Baek Doha said, looking at the red door opposite him.
[Fish Swarm in the Mist]
▸Beware of the fish swarm. They will threaten you with their sharp teeth.
▸Difficulty: ★★★☆☆
The yellow door had three stars filled in for difficulty. It seemed these people could also see the difficulty window.
Lastly, I looked at the red door.
[Hungry Beast]
▸The starving beast will relentlessly attack once it finds its prey.
▸Difficulty: ★★★★★
“…..”
And I immediately turned away. Nope, not this one. I won’t go in there even if I die.
The S-ranks seemed to have the same thought as me, quickly averting their gaze from the red door and speaking.
“Shall we split between the green and yellow doors?”
“Let’s not waste energy and all go through the green door together.”
“There’s a limit on the number of people, idiot.”
Baek Doha nodded towards the door again. Come to think of it, there was a limit on the number of people written below the difficulty system.
‘The green room allows two, the yellow room allows up to three.’
The red door could accommodate all four of us, but we had no intention of choosing it.
With that difficulty, it would be less efficient.
“What if we end up in different places after going through separate doors?”
“That’s why we should go in pairs to prepare for that situation.”
If that’s the case, the answer was clear.
“I’ll take the green room.”
Lim Yuchan moved towards the green door without asking for further opinions. Then he turned to look at me, sending a glance that seemed to say, “What are you waiting for? Come on.”
At his look, which seemed to take it for granted, I smiled slightly and approached him.
Meanwhile, Cha Si-hyeon sighed, irritably ruffling his hair.
“To think I have to go in with you…”
“I don’t like it either.”
Baek Doha cut him off immediately. But despite both making disgusted faces, neither objected.
The reason was obvious.
Baek Doha uses a ranged weapon, while Cha Si-hyeon uses a close-range weapon.
If an unexpected situation were to occur, it would be best for Lim Yuchan, who tends to rely on skills, to be with me.
“See you later.”
[SYSTEM] ‘Cha Si-hyeon (S)’ and ‘Baek Doha (S)’ enter the area [Fish Swarm in the Mist]
The yellow door opened by itself and welcomed the two. As soon as Baek Doha’s back disappeared, the door closed sharply.
“Let’s go.”
As I flinched unnecessarily, Lim Yuchan, who had been watching, also moved.
[SYSTEM] ‘Lim Yuchan (S)’ enters the area [Goddess of the Forest].
I also moved to follow him. However.
[SYSTEM] Access was denied due to the low total value.
My body was blocked. Along with the system’s incomprehensible message.
Thinking I might have seen wrong, I tried to step forward again.
[SYSTEM] Access was denied due to the low total value.
[SYSTEM] Current total value of monsters killed: 8
‘F*ck.’
There was no mention of this before. My head ached from the feeling of being completely blindsided.
Lim Yuchan, sensing no footsteps following him, belatedly turned around.
“Yoo Yi-joo?”
He frowned, seemingly detecting something was wrong, perhaps noticing my increasingly pale complexion.
Right, so much for secretly reaping benefits from behind.
[SYSTEM] An accessible area has been automatically selected.
[SYSTEM] Moving to the hidden area [Small Dragon from Hell].
“Yoo Yi-joo!”
Lim Yuchan reached out his hand, but before I could grab it, my body suddenly sank downwards.
💎
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