Chapter 15
Rumble!
The stone gate began to shake.
"Wh-why is it doing that?"
Why's it suddenly making a fuss all by itself?
All I did was use a tiny bit of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art's energy, at most.
‘Could it be?’
It reacted to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art?
"Is that possible?"
I'd heard of hidden pieces that activated when you carried a specific item. But a place that responded to a specific trait? I'd never heard of anything like that.
Of course, the Tower still held countless undiscovered secrets, so it wouldn't be strange if there were one or two hidden pieces that responded to traits.
"Hmm."
No matter how I looked at it, that was an overly optimistic interpretation.
Unless they had an unusual trait like Mana Depletion Syndrome, Awakened people were only supposed to have one trait each.
In other words, ‘Heavenly Demon’ was a one-of-a-kind trait that belonged only to me. And there was a door that reacted to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art that came with it?
That would mean there was a private space inside the Tower, prepared just for me.
‘No way.’
That was blatant self-importance.
The Tower might not be fair to everyone, but it at least maintained the appearance of equality. There was no way it would have a customized space for one particular person.
‘I just happened to meet the conditions by chance.’
Maybe the condition for opening it was manipulating a certain amount of mana atop the stone gate.
Whichever explanation was right, the door had opened.
Which meant I no longer had to agonize over whether or not to break it.
"Ah, I shouldn't stand here."
If I stayed here, I'd obviously fall straight down the moment the door opened.
I had no idea what might be lurking below, so the sensible thing was to step aside and wait for the door to open completely.
Rumble!
After a short wait, the heavy stone gate opened with a thunderous roar.
"...It doesn't open downward. It slides to the side."
It looked like an ordinary hinged door, but instead it slid smoothly to the side like a sliding door.
Once the gate was fully open, a staircase appeared beneath it.
"A staircase under a stone gate, huh."
Isn't this a pretty classic setup?
I should stay on my guard and move carefully, in case something jumps out.
"If things get hairy..."
[Would you like to move to the Reward Room?]
I could use this message to escape whenever I wanted.
I carefully stepped onto the stairs and headed down.
Rumble!
"Huh."
No sooner had I started down the stairs than the stone gate began closing again with a heavy rumble.
Fwoosh!
"Torches suddenly bursting into flame, huh."
Really classic.
Which was why I liked it. This place was practically advertising itself as a secret area.
How long had I been going down the stairs?
Just as I started to wonder how deep underground they'd dug...
Ding!
A bright chime rang, and a system message appeared.
[You have entered the hidden area, Heavenly Demon Cave (天魔洞).]
"Hmm?"
Heavenly Demon Cave?
On a hunch, I opened my status window and compared the characters with those for my trait, Heavenly Demon (天魔). They were exactly the same.
Was this really a place prepared for me?
‘Who am I to deserve that?’
It was true that I'd been doing pretty well lately, racking up SSS ranks one after another.
But I wasn't important enough for the Tower to give me its full support, was I?
‘Besides.’
That would be a bit much.
I'm just a young man who wants to make a lot of money without becoming famous.
Fwoosh!
Whether or not I felt burdened, all the torches in the Heavenly Demon Cave burst into flame at once, driving away the darkness.
"Oh..."
The space revealed beneath the blazing torches felt strangely familiar.
And no wonder.
"It looks like Seokguram."
It had exactly the same layout as Seokguram Grotto in Gyeongju, which I'd visited on a school field trip back in elementary school, before the Tower appeared.
There was just one difference.
"Is that a corpse?"
What sat in the center wasn't a Buddha statue, but a skeleton sitting cross-legged.
And it was wearing a mask with a bizarre design.
"Uh..."
The skeleton gave off a very ominous feeling, so I didn't touch it rashly. Instead, I searched the area around it first.
But there was nothing else of note.
I tried everything, from knocking on the walls to pressing them one by one, in case there was another hidden area, but there was truly nothing.
The only things in the room were me and the skeleton.
For a place with such a grand name as Heavenly Demon Cave, it was a rather pathetic setup.
I even cast search magic just in case, but nothing showed up.
"Then that means the reward in this room is that."
If so, the clothes and mask worn by the skeleton must be the reward.
"Hmm."
In other words, if I wanted the reward, I'd inevitably have to rummage around that pile of bones.
‘Something feels off.’
Well, what could I do? If I wanted the reward, I had to touch it.
I'd done far worse things in this rough Tower. It wasn't as if I could make a fuss over touching a skeleton now.
With a short sigh, I trudged over to the skeleton.
"But why is the mask Japanese-style, too?"
Was it an oni mask? It had exactly that sort of design.
Given the name Heavenly Demon Cave and the martial-arts-style outfit, I'd secretly hoped for something like a mask used in Chinese face-changing opera.
"You might think Eastern fantasy all looks alike, but it's not all the same."
Each has its own distinctive character.
If the Tower had a design team, they ought to take that to heart. This is a sensitive issue.
"Let's just grab it and get out of here."
I thought that as I cautiously reached out.
Grab!
The pure-white skeleton lifted its arm and grabbed my wrist.
"Eek!"
The skeleton! The skeleton's moving!
"Heh heh heh."
It can even talk!
The eyes of the masked skeleton began to glow like red flames.
"Who are you to disturb this sovereign's rest?"
Rest? You're nothing but a skeleton. What kind of rest are you talking about? Keep resting here and you'll turn into bone dust.
Of course, I only thought that. I didn't say it out loud.
The aura the skeleton exuded was so intense I couldn't casually open my mouth.
‘If I say the wrong thing, I'll die.’
It definitely had the power to do that. The power to casually twist someone's neck if it didn't like them.
"You're not answering? Well, even if you don't, this sovereign can still..."
The skeleton chuckled and got to its feet.
Then, as if it sensed something was wrong, it suddenly fell silent and thrust its face toward me.
"What... what is going on...?"
The skeleton stared at me and began muttering to itself, as if something had gone terribly wrong.
"What is this? How can you possibly exist?"
It kept muttering incomprehensible things, sinking into deep thought.
Something must have gone wrong.
‘This is my chance!’
I had to take advantage of its confusion!
"Hah!"
Lion's Roar (獅子吼).
I let out a piercing shout infused with anti-demonic energy.
I swear I wasn't shouting because I was scared.
"Why are you suddenly shouting? Hngh? Isn't that a Shaolin technique? How can you use a Shaolin technique...?"
Shaolin? What's Shaolin?
I had no idea what it was talking about, but at least I knew the Lion's Roar worked on it.
"How dare you!"
I let out another Lion's Roar.
"What?"
It didn't seem as affected by the second Lion's Roar. The skeleton stared at me in disbelief.
"Do you know who this sovereign is?!"
When I was consumed by my trait, I definitely talked like that.
"This sovereign?"
"That's right! How dare you look down on this sovereign so arrogantly? Get on your knees at once!"
That's probably what I'd have said in that state.
‘If things go south, I can run!’
I still had an emergency escape button: moving to the Reward Room.
It would hurt to miss out on the reward, but it wasn't more important than my life.
"This sovereign? This sovereign, you say? Heh heh heh!"
The skeleton laughed unpleasantly. Who knew someone could laugh so strangely?
"How amusing! This isn't the direction I wanted, but I rather like it!"
What the hell are you saying, you weeb? Why are you so happy talking about something only you understand?
"Ahem, well. I, uh, shall take my leave now, so you may continue resting."
It didn't seem about to attack me right away, so I very naturally began backing away.
Definitely not like I was scared and running away.
"Wait. Hold on."
The skeleton called out to me as I turned to leave.
Surely it wasn't going to kill me now?
"Weren't you going to take this?"
It removed the mask it had been wearing moments ago and held it out to me.
"Huh?"
It was just giving it to me? What was it up to?
"You mean to offer it to me—no, to this sovereign?"
"That is so."
The skeleton grinned.
I know how ridiculous it sounds to say a skeleton grinned, but it definitely looked like it was smiling to me.
"Th-thank you. I'll accept it gratefully."
"As you should."
When I took the mask, its smile grew even wider.
I must have gone completely crazy. I was seeing a skeleton smile.
[Would you like to move to the Reward Room?]
I hurriedly nodded.
Now that I had the mask, there was nothing else for me here. I was secretly tempted by the clothes the skeleton wore, too, but if I got any greedier, I might not live to die of old age.
The instant I nodded, my whole body was enveloped in a swirl of light.
"Are you leaving?"
"Y-yes."
The skeleton watched me, wrapped in light, and nodded repeatedly with interest.
[You will be transferred to the Reward Room shortly.]
"W-well then, take care."
"Very well."
The skeleton replied calmly. Then the light surrounding me grew even brighter.
"We'll meet again, Heavenly Demon (天魔)."
What? How did it know that name...?
"What did you just say...?"
Before I could ask, my vision turned white and the transfer began.
"Heh heh heh heh!"
Just before my vision blurred, the last thing I saw was the skeleton beaming with delight, as if it couldn't contain its joy. And I heard its eerie laughter, sharp enough to pierce my ears.