The True Golem Mask Is This One? (3)
“The most valuable material in the world is ‘Papyrus’! Make me a powerful Golem!”
The dry grass at my feet suddenly shot straight up and wrapped around my body.
I grew taller, from 5 meters to 10, then 15, and before I could even think straight, I stood as a giant over 20 meters tall. At the same time, Seok Dong-mi, Yoo Ji-min, and Ki Ju-hye looked like tiny dolls in my eyes.
I stared down at the Sphinx.
But the monster didn’t show any signs of aggression.
Instead, its cruel face had softened into something filled with nostalgia and regret.
[Ah! My love!]
[I will be able to see this glorious form of yours again!]
The Sphinx looked like it was seeing the past Oedipus in my current appearance.
And it felt like it had dropped from “something vast” to “something ordinary” in an instant.
“Is this enough for the correct answer?”
[Yes!]
[Perfect!]
[We got it right!]
[You’re truly amazing!]
[Congratulations!]
[But……]
[How did you do it?]
I said.
“I was suspicious because all the masks claiming to have won didn’t know the answer to that famous riddle. Then a thought flashed through my mind. What if the most precious material to the Goddess of Wisdom isn’t gold, silver, or iron, but something that can record knowledge…….”
The Sphinx nodded and spoke.
[I agree with you on that too.]
[All the answers to the world’s riddles are recorded on that armor, and it looks the most beautiful and splendid to me.]
[However……]
[I didn’t ask that question just now.]
[My question was……]
[How can you stay healthy while wearing the Papyrus mask!]
“What? Oedipus managed it fine.”
The Sphinx replied with a frustrated expression.
[Oedipus!]
[My love, Oedipus… was a demigod who received a prophecy. Of course, it was a cursed prophecy.]
[By any chance… did you…]
[Receive the title of ‘Arc Master’ from Hades?]
Hades.
Zeus’s younger brother.
Usually called the god of the underworld.
“No, not at all…….”
…But I naturally recalled that I had received the Novel Award for the Rot Virus.
I had gotten it from underground.
Could there be a connection?
The Sphinx asked again with a curious expression.
[How did you reverse the Pyramid?]
“I don’t know. It wasn’t me who reversed it. That crazy Jang Pomi suddenly rushed in… and the tiles flipped over…….”
The Sphinx shook its head and said.
[Nothing in the world is by chance.]
[Your arrival here…]
[Was planned thousands of years ago.]
I didn’t want to drag out this twisted conversation any longer.
“Enough. Now, what do we do? If you surrender on your own, that’s fine too. I don’t feel like wasting unnecessary effort.”
The Sphinx replied.
[That won’t do.]
[Principles are principles.]
[I won’t give you riddles again and have you solve them.]
[If you can’t solve it, I’ll eat you!]
I said.
“That won’t work with words.”
I bent down my massive body and swung my fist in the maximum rotational power I could muster, slamming it straight into the Sphinx’s jaw.
A perfect swing sent the hybrid beast’s head flying.
Wham!
Thud!
The sound of hitting stone with dust echoed hollowly through the massive hall and spread along the surrounding corridors of the Pyramid.
And in front of us, a few Papyrus leaves fluttered down as the Sphinx stood with a pitiful expression.
“……”
The Sphinx spoke in a pitiful tone.
[Solve the riddle.]
[Every time you solve one, I’ll weaken rapidly.]
Damn it.
Impossible to defeat that thing in brute force while wearing this grass armor.
I solved the riddle and the answer was revealed.
After a while, the Sphinx gave another riddle.
[There were two sisters. The older sister gave birth to the younger one, but the younger sister gave birth to the older sister. What are they?]
Then my Papyrus armor whispered to me.
- The answer is night and day.
“Night and day!”
As soon as I gave the correct answer, the Sphinx shrank dramatically.
Its body, which had been over tens of meters long, was reduced by nearly half, and its face, which had been over 4 meters wide, split in half.
But it gave another riddle.
[There was a son to a Pharaoh, but that son’s father wasn’t the Pharaoh. How was that possible?]
Then my armor whispered again.
I immediately revealed the answer it had given.
“The mother was the Pharaoh!”
The Sphinx’s body shrank by half again.
[I don’t have the number 13 on my face. But my sister does. Who am I and who is my sister?]
“Solar calendar and lunar calendar.”
The Sphinx kept shrinking as it continued to fire riddles.
But with the help of the Papyrus, I solved every single one without a problem.
After the seventh riddle, the Sphinx had shrunk to the size of a stray dog next door’s yard. Its tone had also become extremely polite.
[Correct! Correct~! Hehe.]
[7 correct answers in a row!]
[Hehe. Now the next riddle, Hero!]
I figured that was enough.
So I immediately stuck my fingers in both ears and shouted,
“The most valuable material in the world is Papyrus! Peel my mask off!”
I was able to remove the Papyrus mask right away.
And after recovering my strength, I ran forward and unleashed a terrifying soccer kick.
A proper hunter’s kick packed with immense power slammed into the jaw of the now tiny hybrid beast.
Kraaaaak!
With a massive and satisfying sound, the Sphinx flew about 5 meters, then——
Thud!
Curled up~ curled up~
After another heavy impact on the ground, it began rolling around in the dirt.
Thud!
And the man-faced lion slammed into a stone wall, kicking up a cloud of dust before finally stopping its roll.
The Sphinx instinctively stood up again.
But the eyes on the woman’s face slowly closed, and the tiny body of the Sphinx collapsed sideways with a thud.
I walked up to the Sphinx.
And grabbed the disgusting man-faced lion, trying to rip it out.
At that moment, the Sphinx barely opened its eyes and begged.
[H-Hold on! I’ll surrender!]
[Please spare me!]
[D-Don’t tell me you’re going to kill me?]
“Obviously. I have no intention of keeping a monster that eats human flesh alive.”
[M-Merciful one! Please! Have mercy!]
[Killing is not a good thing!]
[I… have a proposal to make.]
“If it’s another riddle, forget it.”
[It’s not a riddle!]
[P-Please listen!]
[From the very beginning, I sensed a destiny-like aura toward you, mortal…]
“Tsk, what twisted approach is this?!”
I sharpened my mind to not fall for the Sphinx’s lies, grabbed its neck, and said,
“Enough. If you don’t say one more thing that catches my interest, you die right here!”
The Sphinx swallowed once and said.
[Triangle Temple!]
Hm.
I couldn’t deny that my interest had been rekindled.
[Take me there!]
[And then separate us three again!]
[We will become good once more.]
[Even though we’re monsters now, in the past we were…]
[Fallen angel! Lion king! And the worm!]
[If we’re separated again…]
[We can fight for the sake of justice by your side once more.]
I said.
“I don’t really care about justice. And isn’t it too dangerous? Leaving a creature like you that eats human flesh alive?”
The Sphinx wagged its snake-like tail and said.
[We… are omnivores, so we eat anything.]
The Sphinx made one more surprisingly plausible proposal.
[Besides, if you don’t plan to kill the savage woman inside the Iron Golem…]
[How about I protect that woman?]
[Even if it’s small, I can handle that level, hero. Hehehe.]
At that moment, the status window popped up.
===
[Sympathy with Legendary Monster Sphinx has formed.]
[Sphinx wishes to beg for Submission to you.]
[Would you like to register Sphinx as your PET?]
===
[YES] [NO]
===
Oh!
I can register a legendary monster as a PET?
Having a PET would greatly reduce my worries.
According to tower system logic, a PET can never betray its master.
Plus, the idea of it protecting Jang Pomi was tempting.
Right now, Jang Pomi has lost both arms and is unconscious.
If I were an evil person, I’d worry about future trouble and kill her immediately.
If I were a good person, I’d think about ethics and spare her.
……But I’m neither— she’s a pain to deal with.
Yet the Sphinx was volunteering to protect that woman.
In the end, I pressed YES.
===
[Sphinx has become a PET.]
[Please name your Sphinx.]
===
I thought for a moment and named it “Spidangdangi.”
===
[Legendary Monster Sphinx has become Spidangdangi.]
[Spidangdangi’s loyalty has increased after receiving a name.]
[Spidangdangi will be even more loyal to you.]
===
At that moment, the status window popped up.
===
[Solved all of Sphinx’s riddles.]
[The trial’s mandatory quest has been cleared.]
[Defeated the Sphinx.]
[Massive experience points gained.]
===
[★ Passed the Pyramid 2nd floor trial! ★]
[Obtained the 10 Sets of Golem Masks set.]
[You can now use the portal in the Sphinx Chamber to move to the next floor of the Pyramid.]
===
[Level has increased.]
[Level 27.]
[Invest 4 ability points.]
===
At that moment, Seok Dong-mi and Yoo Ji-min brought me the six masks excluding the gold one, the iron one, and the Papyrus one I was holding.
“Since we all got them together, let’s divide them fairly.”
Then Seok Dong-mi and the others waved their hands.
“Since you did all the work, take them all.”
I chose the Papyrus mask.
“No. This one is enough for me. The rest of you, take one each without hesitation. In a crisis, this will still serve as armor.”
In the end, Seok Dong-mi, Yoo Ji-min, and Ki Ju-hye each picked one sturdy-looking mask as their reward. These masks were Isis’s “fake gift,” but they were certainly enormous protective gear.
“What about that woman? Are you really going to let the Sphinx protect her?”
“Right now, there’s no other way. Even if her arms are cut off, the moment she wakes up we’ll have a hard time controlling her rampage… and if we just kill her, that’s clear murder……”
“Won’t she starve to death? With the Iron Golem state, she can’t eat or drink anyway.”
Damn it.
This is troublesome.
At that moment, I recalled a Rune Stone I had acquired long ago and forgotten about.
It was the Rune Stone of Mr. No, who had cut my rope in the lobby to sacrifice me.
===
[Acquired Rune Stone: Floor Life.]
Category: Cursed
Grade: F-class
Description: You can maintain normal status without drinking water, eating food, or sleeping in the tower.
Curse: You cannot leave the tower. You cannot go up to the 1st floor.
Curse Removal: The curse is lifted when you reach level 5.
===
Thanks to this Rune Stone’s power, Mr. No could last years in the lobby without eating well.
If I let this absorb into Jang Pomi, she could live without dying.
The problem was the line “the curse is lifted when you reach level 5”…
But that was a false hope.
If Jang Pomi’s current level was 1, I’d have to worry.
But right now Jang Pomi is a high-level.
To raise her to level 5, she’d need massive achievements.
Raising her 5 levels on the 2nd floor of the Pyramid, which only has a tiny Spidangdangi, was an impossible mission from the start.
I handed the Rune Stone to Spidangdangi and said,
“Hold onto this until Jang Pomi is on the verge of dying from thirst. …Then decide. Absorb it or die.”