Chapter 91 Great Labyrinth (4)

Even though he didn’t know about Oedipus and the Sphinx, it would be odd not to ever have heard this question before. That was how well-known it was.

‘..there’s no trap here, is there?’

The answer was human. The Tower consisted of diverse races, including Beast-people, Elves, Orcs, and Lizardmen. In the dictionary, the word person meant a creature that used language, made tools, and possessed the intelligence to live in society. But Yoon-seok couldn’t answer it. It was too easy. Of course, it was a riddle that required quick wit and wisdom for other-dimensional challengers..

Taking that into consideration, he naturally felt skeptical.

“Please answer within a minute.”

While Yoon-seok was thinking, Arepton, the gatekeeper, began to countdown in a strangely mean voice.

“One..two..three..four..”

What was with this unnecessary tension? Yoon-seok continued to think. However, it was impossible to figure out what the trap was. It was just a bad feeling; maybe there was no trap.

‘Do I only hope that this was a question inspired by Earth..?’

Eventually, time ran out, and Yoon-seok was forced to answer.

“The answer is a person.”

But..

“Wrong, challenger.”

Arepton kindly told him the original answer.

“The answer to this question is Eknopehitu.”

“..”

It would’ve been acceptable if the answer was a beast or elf, or even an Orc. It wasn’t just wisdom but also luck, which made it hard to let it slide. No, at least he should know about this. What was an Eknopehitu? Without asking, the gatekeeper kindly gave an additional explanation.

“Eknopehitu is an Arbotten fish that lives in the deep-sea. It has four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three in the evening.”

“..”

Yoon-seok was speechless. It wasn’t comparing life in a day, but there was an actual creature with four legs in the morning and two legs in the afternoon in another dimension.

‘How am I supposed to guess this..?’

Arbotten? He didn’t even know what dimension it was, but it lived in the deep sea there. To be honest, he had this thought first: was this a joke?

「Failed to obtain credentials.」

Even if it were a joke, it would be bad enough, but there was something worse. This was a serious situation. Along with the phrase failure, the human face sticking out of the stone gate disappeared.

He couldn’t believe it.

“..Excuse me?”

He tried knocking on the door or moving far away and coming back, but it was impossible to try again.

“That’s it? Like this?”

He laughed in vain. But while his eyes and mouth were drawn into a line, something hot soared inside.

It was his blood pressure.

Booooom!

Yoon-seok punched the stone gate. He wanted to let the frustration out, but did he get angry without realizing it? The area where his fist hit broke, and the place shook.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, Yoon-seok stopped moving, and he looked carefully at the dent. In less than a second, the surface was restored like a new skin, but...

‘It’s possible to break it down?’

It was different than the waiting room, where no traces were left behind. It wasn’t protected by an absolute system.

‘I should’ve been informed from the start.’

If that was the case, it was a different story. Yoon-seok infused Bloodseeker Energy into his sword. Then, he hit the stone gate recklessly. But..

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The regeneration speed was faster than his destruction. However, Yoon-seok laughed.

“That’s not enough, is it?”

He invoked King of All Swords and Judgment of the Ruined Monarch. He wondered what would happen if there was no sky to see, but the rays still fell from above.

「By the effect of Descent, all stats increase by +1 for 10 minutes.」

Large chunks of the gate were torn out.

‘Just how thick is this?’

He had no clue, and it was already slowly being restored. Yoon-seok quickly raised his Bloodseeker Energy to the limit and swung his dual swords.

Boom, boom, boom!

The wall collapsed into a cross shape, revealing a space beyond it. Yoon-seok quickly moved through the narrow gap.

‘I didn’t expect this to work...’

Creakkkkkkkk!

The moment he entered the space, the destroyed stone gate was restored, and the exit was blocked. But Yoon-seok didn’t hesitate to walk forward. He could use the same method again when going back anyway.

Thud.

Yoon-seok looked around and walked straight ahead. It was an ancient cemetery, but it was more like a treasure house than a graveyard. Well, there were hundreds of sarcophagi, but the place was filled with gold and silver treasure wherever his eyes roamed. However, as if it was just used as decoration, a phrase appeared whenever he tried to pick some up.

「The item cannot be acquired.」

The Judgment didn’t work. Honestly, he didn’t need gold bars, but he couldn’t deny that it felt a little flat.

Yoon-seok walked slowly through the coffins. A stone gate was placed in front of a staircase at the end of the room.

‘It’s like the boss’s room in a game.’

Fortunately, it was different from the entrance that required credentials, and the door opened when he pushed it. Yoon-seok pulled his sword out and slowly went inside.

The first thing he saw was a statue with a spear. He was wearing full-body armor and holding a sturdy spear, but his face was visible because he wasn’t wearing a helmet.

‘I’m strangely familiar with his face..?’

Yoon-seok, who was looking at the statue with his brow narrowed, soon realized why. It was the face that popped out of the stone gate and offered that ridiculous riddle.

‘I’m in a bad mood. Should I just break it down?’

When he approached the statue with that thought, the statue opened its eyes wide upon seeing Yoon-seok.

“A-aren’t you the challenger from earlier? How did you get in?”

Was there something wrong with his eardrums because he was made of scrap metal? He came in a while making plenty of noise, but his gaze said he’d only found out now. He laughed.

‘Judging from his words, it’s him.’

Yoon-seok answered honestly that he smashed the stone gate and came in.

“You broke it in? That can’t be possible. No, I’ll have to check it out myself.”

Then Arepton, the guardian of the cemetery, closed his eyes. Well, he seemed to have powers like a CCTV. It took a while. He closed his eyes for about five minutes and concentrated but then started trembling as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Challenger! This is a place where only qualified people can enter. If you just leave..Argh! Arghhhhhhhh!”

He didn’t even see it coming. Yoon-seok also realized when the phrase appeared; it had already been 10 minutes.

「The duration of Descent is over, and the increase in stats disappears.」

The moment Descent ended, the waves of white light wrapped around his body exploded in all directions.

Flash-!

Although the power was weaker than the one shot from the sky, it was still enough to be called the Light of Destruction. A 50-meter radius around him was destroyed as if a nuclear bomb had exploded.

“..”

Just like the stone gate from earlier, the terrain quickly recovered, but..

It was different for Arepton, the guardian of the cemetery. Leaving only a handful of screams behind, he disappeared without a trace.

「Exploration of the Ancient Cemetery has been completed.」

A box with luxurious jewels embedded in the rim appeared on the altar in the center of the room.

‘What, did it work out in the end?’

He didn’t use a straightforward tactic, but somehow, he completed the secret mission. Yoon-seok approached and opened the box.

Rattle!

A thick book was set on a luxurious-looking red cloth. Yoon-seok first tried sensing before touching it.

*Engraving Manual (Rank B) – Randomly acquires 1 Rank B skill.

Some sort of skill book. He didn’t know what would come out, but the more, the better since it was a skill. Yoon-seok quickly opened the book.

「Acquired Unique Skill b Non-verbal magic}.」

“..?”

Yoon-seok was startled. Although he was shocked that it was possible to gain a Unique Skill this way, he was more surprised that the Unique Skill was none other than b Non-verbal magic}.

‘Force Shield.’

Yoon-seok chanted a skill as a test, and it worked. It was the b Non-verbal magic} he used to have.

‘I was hoping to get it back someday...’

Plus, it stated that it only acquired Rank B skills, so he didn’t have to use AP to rank up. What kind of ability did it have after up-ranking? He was extremely curious, but he needed to check it in the waiting room.

Whoosh!

Now that he captured the boss(?) and the treasure was that it? A blue portal opened beyond the altar where the box was. Beyond the roaring space, he could see the space in front of the stone gate.

‘Now it looks even more like an online game.’

But thanks to that, he was spared the trouble of breaking the door.

‘Anyway, let’s go and check everything out before we go.’

Yoon-seok, who thought there might be something else in the space, wandered around every corner. But as if this was the end, nothing else stood out. Soon Yoon-seok stood in front of the portal, checking everything on hand before stepping through the portal.

「Achievement ‘Secret Tracker’ has been completed.」

He didn’t know much LP that would be worth, but he completed an achievement. Even if it was less than 100LP, he didn’t regret it at all. The 500 LP he used to get here? {Non-verbal magic} was almost already as good as getting his money’s worth. However, Yoon-seok’s eyes glinted as if he still wasn’t satisfied. If it were just as he’d suspected, there would be several more secret spaces in the exploration area.

‘If I could find all of them..’

Of course, not all of them would be as successful as this time. But if one of them were this good, maybe it would be equivalent to one victory in a duel. No, he might even get more than that.historical

Thud thud thud!

Yoon-seok ran faster. He didn’t have time for this. Exploration trials..

This was a place of pure milk and honey.

「Giant’s Altar Exploration has been completed.」

「Achievement ‘Secret Hunter’ is completed.」

Yoon-seok, who cleared another secret space, checked the rewards.

‘Not bad.’

The potion upgraded a stat below Rank A. Yoon-seok pulled the cork and poured it into his mouth without hesitation.

「Rank of strength (B-) is increased.」

This was his fifth clear over four days. The stone gate connected with this secret space was mostly located in the outermost part where challengers couldn’t access, but some were closer to the center.

‘The questions they asked were also different.’

Some demanded certain skills or items, some even prohibited him from entering unless he was from a specific dimension, and some even asked for a colleague as a sacrifice. The requirements and requests but it wasn’t a problem for Yoon-seok. All he had to do was enter by force.

‘Well, that’s understandable.’

After clearing the ancient cemetery, Yoon-seok had a question. Why do explorers fall behind duelers in terms of levels when this place was a treasure mine? The answer was simple. Most of them couldn’t afford to come to this outermost part in the first place. In addition, to discover these secret spaces and gain rewards was to go through a life-and-death struggle.

Therefore, most of them did their best to hunt and gather essence for fifteen days, and they couldn’t go back from this method anymore. It was too late.

‘Well, that’s none of my concern.’

Soon after Yoon-seok cleared the next room, he approached the portal.

“..?”

Unlike before, there were two portals. One was the usual blue portal, and the other was a dark red portal that radiated an ominous feeling. What was this?

The question could soon be resolved.

「The door to hell has opened.」

Yoon-seok smiled. So he could go to hell on his own.