Chapter 24
Just before the Break occurred.
Dozens of Awakeners sat around with grim expressions.
They were Cheonghwa Guild members who had been presumed wiped out after being trapped inside the gate.
Their leader, and Korea's No. 1 S-rank Awakener.
Hwang Hee-chan spoke solemnly.
"…This gate raid was a failure."
Then his gaze swept over their surroundings.
The enormous wall encircling them.
No, it was something closer to a grotesque mass of flesh than a wall.
His eyes filled with anger as he looked at it.
"This is largely my fault. I'm sorry."
"It isn't your fault, Mr. Hee-chan! If it weren't for you…."
"No, I'm the one at fault!!! They call me Korea's strongest, yet I can't even break through a lousy wall like this!!!"
Kwoooom—!!!
Hwang struck the wall hard.
It was powerful enough to reduce ordinary concrete to dust.
But the wall did not develop even a single crack.
That was because the wall undulated like flesh and absorbed all the impact.
No, not just the impact.
Its flesh was so tough that even swords could not cut through it.
Even if it was cut, it regenerated.
It was as though the owner of this labyrinth were saying, 'Breaking through the wall is against the rules.'
"I was going to close a gate like this and return in a day…."
'I'm sorry, miss.'
Hwang withdrew his hand.
His fist, its veins bulging, trembled.
Because he looked so frustrated,
the Awakeners' eyes filled with sympathy.
'How is this Mr. Hee-chan's fault?'
He had done nothing wrong.
The moment they entered the gate, they had been transferred to a labyrinth—the 'Labyrinth.'
The LAN cable they had brought with them had snapped during the rapid movement.
Even the guild members had been scattered in all directions.
Even veterans like them had never experienced a phenomenon like this.
He bore no responsibility.
'If Mr. Hee-chan hadn't been here, we'd have been picked off one by one.'
If anything, Hwang Hee-chan had done his utmost.
They had figured out that the gate's interior was a labyrinth.
He had decided that regrouping was their top priority and acted accordingly.
He had abandoned any attempt to conserve stamina and sprinted at full speed, rescuing those who had fallen behind and moving together with them.
He had even left markers on the floor to guide anyone who had gotten separated from him along the trail.
The raid party had reunited as one thanks to him overusing his trait as he ran around.
"The fact that we managed to gather like this, too…."
"That's all we managed."
But that was all.
…Hwang Hee-chan was right.
After the raid party had gathered together again, they did not find a single monster in the labyrinth.
Nor did their exploration of the labyrinth make any headway.
In the end, they had spent a week doing nothing but consuming their provisions without even clearing out the monsters.
"How much time is left until the Break?"
"Probably within ten minutes."
"I see."
Phew—.
Hwang Hee-chan let out a sigh.
Then he exchanged glances with his companions.
Hot flames flickered in his eyes.
"This entire labyrinth is the body of the boss monster, Labyrinth, right?"
"Yes!"
"We'll be able to escape soon, too. The boss will be heading outside, after all."
"But then a labyrinth will appear in Seoul. A catastrophe on the level of the Seven Great Gates."
"Right. There's no way that guy can ignore it."
With the Break drawing near,
Hwang Hee-chan's lips moved.
The three syllables he had grown accustomed to over the past month.
He murmured them with faith.
"Cheol Gangmin. If it's Cheol Gangmin, he'll know."
'Everything, from how to beat this labyrinth to the boss's location!!'
Cheol Gangmin would somehow take care of it.
It was a rather pathetic hope.
But nobody blamed Hwang Hee-chan.
Rather, everyone nodded.
Those industry leaders knew better than anyone how amazing Cheol Gangmin was.
"If we just know how to clear it, we can handle it ourselves."
"So let's pray that he posts even one message online."
"Aren't you trying to get it for free? If it's really on the level of the Seven Great Gates, information costing trillions of won would be a bargain."
"If that's not good enough, tell him to come to Cheonghwa. I'll give him my entire fortune."
"Haha! I'll throw in some money too!"
They traded jokes.
The Break was about to occur, so they were forcing themselves to keep their spirits up.
But their hands were trembling.
Even the nation's number-one guild had to rely on some anonymous person.
It was deeply embarrassing.
Even Hwang Hee-chan felt the same way.
-Mutter.
"We really need to recruit more Awakeners with information-type traits…. Once we're out, I should try persuading Cha Yuna one more time."
"Pardon? What did you say?"
"Actually… Everyone, get ready!!!"
And after he shouted,
Slither—!!!
the wall surrounding them collapsed.
No, more precisely, it sank into the ground.
There was no one who did not know what this phenomenon was.
"It's a Break!!!"
"Run for the portal!!"
Pababak—!!
Everyone sprinted.
Not only the guild members, but every monster lurking throughout the labyrinth as well.
Of course, every member of the Cheonghwa raid party was among Korea's top-tier Awakeners.
Their speed surpassed that of most monsters, but
-Slice.
"Deal with the flying types as much as possible!!"
"Assume that a hundred civilians will die every time we let one through!!"
The flying-type monsters appearing here and there were wyverns.
Dealing with them was their top priority.
Hwang Hee-chan and the other Awakeners escaped through the portal only after shredding over a hundred wyverns.
"We missed about twenty!!"
"It's not too late!! The moment we jump down, use thrown weapons to…!!"
And then, fwoosh—!!!
their bodies were enveloped in the gate's black light…
-Freeze.
"……Huh?"
The Awakeners had been preparing to throw their weapons right away.
What they saw were wyverns falling from the sky, their bodies sliced in half.
Who could have done it?
Hwang Hee-chan was the first to realize it, as expected.
'Could he have really come here himself!!'
"Mr. Cheol Gangmin!!!"
He shouted loudly.
His voice was filled with urgency.
'If he's nearby, he'll get caught!'
And at the same time.
Kraaaack—!!!
Pink flesh rose from the ground.
A boss monster large enough to fill a super-sized gate had finally appeared in the real world.
For now, it was only large enough to fill a plaza.
But it would expand much further.
It would first swallow Korea University.
It would bring down every building above it.
It would eat the non-Awakeners trapped in the labyrinth.
Eventually, it would cover all of Seoul.
'If you get trapped in the labyrinth, the casualties will snowball during the time it takes you to escape!!'
"Run—!!!"
That was why Hwang Hee-chan shouted with a stricken expression, but…
[GRHAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!]
"……Huh?"
A cry rang out at that moment.
A scream loud enough to tear their eardrums apart reverberated through the air.
It was so loud that they could even feel the vibrations.
'What the…. '
But the strange phenomenon did not end there.
The grotesque walls of the labyrinth, spreading outward in concentric circles from the plaza,
suddenly stopped expanding.
The walls even began to squirm.
They looked as though they were writhing in pain.
What was causing it?
Even Hwang Hee-chan could not guess.
-Slice.
'Jeez, you're scaring me even though you're just a low-level mob!!'
…It was because some cowardly loser had reflexively swung his sword.
It was not something anyone could easily guess.
* * *
Crack—!!
Something rose from the ground.
'A tongue all of a sudden?!!'
You know how the underside of a tongue looks kind of gross.
It looked exactly like that.
Except now it was much bigger and wider.
"Holy moly!!!"
'I have no tolerance for gross stuff!!!'
My hand shot out reflexively.
I've seen plenty of shit, so I'm used to that, but I hate this kind of grotesque image.
And that wall, like something straight out of a gore movie…
-Craack—!!
was sliced apart with unbelievable ease.
-Ding.
[The trait 'Myriad Daggers'….]
[The trait 'Dragon Eyes+' activates.]
[Boar Labyrinth]
Level: 703
Weakness: The main body's mana core
"……Huh?"
I wondered what that was, but it looks like this is the boss.
'Labyrinth' means maze, doesn't it?'
I rolled my eyes around.
The walls standing tall around me could even pass for a labyrinth if you looked closely.
Thanks to that, I understood the situation right away.
'What a unique type of boss.'
This flesh wall itself probably wouldn't matter no matter how much I attacked it.
Its weakness was the core.
The only way to clear it would be to break through the labyrinth, find its main body, and destroy it.
'If Hwang Hee-chan couldn't break through, they must have set up some tricks in the labyrinth itself, too.'
There might actually have been more gimmicks, but…
Well, it wasn't my concern.
I just needed to make a path.
'Lots of other people got dragged into this besides me, so I'm going into full try-hard mode!!'
"Hup!!"
After readjusting my grip on the sword,
I took a deep breath.
Then the mark on my forearm burned red.
It was the Third-Tier Stigma, 'Blood Explosion.'
"—Blood Explosion!"
Crack—!!!
Power immediately flooded my entire body.
I could feel my stats rising in proportion to the damage I inflicted on myself.
Pain surged through me at the same time, but it felt like nothing more than a mild muscle ache in my legs.
Sitting down for thirty seconds would fix it.
'I won't need even thirty seconds to kill this thing.'
"Trait Enhancement Swap, Myriad Daggers!"
Shweeek—!!!
I immediately swung my sword.
How could a boss who was only Level 700 block a sword that could even cut through the Tower's 'Dimensional Wall'?
The wall parted as easily as soft tofu.
-Slice.
[GRHAAAAAAHHH!!!!]
'Ow, noisy.'
The boss screamed, but
I ignored it and drew a circle with my sword.
Thanks to that, a hole opened in the grotesque wall.
-Ding.
[The trait 'Dragon Eyes'….]
'That direction!'
"Hup!!"
I could even vaguely sense where the main body was.
I charged straight there.
I cut a round hole, shoved through it with my shoulder, and entered.
Then I repeated the process, cutting through each wall in my way.
'This is really brute force.'
Anyway, I smashed my way forward.
This was supposed to be how you cleared a labyrinth?
If the gallery guys saw this, they'd say, 'Kieeeek!! This isn't something the smart Cheol Gangmin would do, nyaaaack!!!'
'Still, this is the fastest way, so… oh.'
Anyway, after breaking through dozens of walls, I sensed a presence.
I immediately stopped thinking about other things.
The boss was on the other side of that wall.
Dragon Eyes told me so.
'You ruined my appetite, so take responsibility and die!!'
"Hup!!!"
I immediately swung my sword.
The Moonlight Sword was Unique-grade, after all, and it had an excellent feel when cutting.
On top of that, its attack range had been increased by trait enhancement.
The slash smoothly passed through and split the unusually thick wall…
-Craack!!
[Ghh….]
Along with the crisp sound of meat being sliced,
the scene inside came into view.
-Freeze.
'Huh?'
The scene inside
had deviated quite a bit from my expectations.
"Uuugh…!! Hkk, uhhhn!!!"
"……?"
Why is Senior Yuna here?