Dungeon in the Labyrinth? (4)
It wasn’t like playing a game, and NPCs weren’t supposed to exist in the first place. That was absurd.
But right now wasn’t the time to be baffled by such things.
Monsters were surging toward us from behind, and that thief had stolen the flames and was fleeing. We needed to catch him fast.
After successfully analyzing the situation, Do-hyun read the messages quickly.
__DIV style="text-align:centerborder:3px solid #00219bpadding:25pxbox-shadow:0 0 20px #00219b,inset 0 0 20px rgba(0,33,155,0.2)background:linear-gradient(135deg,#000 0%,#0a0a1a 50%,#000 100%)border-radius:8pxmargin-bottom:20pxposition:relative"> __DIV style="color:#4d9ffffont-size:26pxfont-weight:boldtext-transform:uppercasemargin-bottom:15pxtext-shadow:0 0 15px #00219bletter-spacing:3px">⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ __DIV style="color:#e0e0e0font-size:18pxSEMI__border-top:2px solid #00219bpadding-top:15pxline-height:1.8">
『Fire Priest』 analyzed successfully.
『Fire Priest』
▶ “He is a priest who guards the flame altar.”
▶ “If the flames are taken away, the dungeon’s rewards will be strengthened.”
▶ “Pursue the fire priest who steals the flames.”
So I’m supposed to chase him to get the strengthened reward?
Do-hyun grasped the key point in an instant and looked at Hana-rin and Ji Yu-chan.
“Let’s chase him!”
“Hey, if that’s the case, why didn’t we catch him back then!”
“Exactly!”
Suddenly caught in the middle of an unexpected chase, Do-hyun wondered what to explain to the two while looking at them.
But soon he came up with a good excuse.
“It’s a human.”
“What? A human?”
“A person in the dungeon…?”
“Y-yes, it’s a person. The mana patterns are completely different from the monsters.”
While chasing, Hana-rin and Ji Yu-chan inspected as Do-hyun had said. They could clearly sense it. Even Ji Yu-chan, whose mana detection was a bit weak, felt it immediately.
The mana patterns of the monsters mostly concentrated on their hearts.
But humans, even without awakening, had a structure where mana faintly flowed throughout the body like blood. The fire priest fleeing while carrying the flames definitely didn’t have mana packed into his heart like the monsters; he was flowing through his blood like a human.
Once they confirmed he was truly human, both Hana-rin and Ji Yu-chan’s eyes widened as if blown by the wind.
Another person inside the dungeon? It was impossible to intrude on a dungeon.
Only one party was allowed entry.
They recalled a line from some detective novel: “When impossible is eliminated, whatever remains—even if you can’t believe it—is the truth.”
Dungeon entry allowed only one party, intrusion impossible. That meant…
“You’re saying a human is living in the dungeon?”
“This can’t be.”
Since Hana-rin and Ji Yu-chan weren’t idiots, they quickly realized the implication and were shocked.
But then they wondered if it was possible because this was a Black Gate connected to another dimension.
Do-hyun explained the rough facts based on his analysis to the two of them.
“The dungeon itself is a distorted space or a space created by a Black Gate, so it might feel like another stage. Think of it like a game.”
“……It could be.”
“……In web novels, it might be a simulation space. Reproducing past events exactly, for example.”
“……You know this stuff pretty well?”
“……Isn’t that right?”
“Hmph. Let’s chase quickly.”
It seemed Ji Yu-chan watched a lot of web novels.
Anyway, the three members of Do-hyun’s party chased the fleeing fire priest and gradually moved away from the wide plain where the original altar had been, until a mountain far in the distance appeared.
Even if it was somewhat distant, it was strange that the mountain wasn’t visible from the altar earlier.
That’s why Do-hyun and Hana-rin felt the flickering of space and spoke up.
“That just now felt like we escaped some kind of barrier.”
“I felt it too.”
“I don’t quite know, but the barrier is still there….”
“Not exactly a barrier. Something like a curtain. And then the mountain appeared.”
Do-hyun’s explanation made Ji Yu-chan shake his head.
His face showed complete confusion. But at the moment, catching the fire priest who stole the flames was the goal, so they chased while keeping a safe distance.
Even though the speed was fast, Do-hyun and Ji Yu-chan, working together, wouldn’t be unable to catch him, and Hana-rin could keep up with flight magic and will infused speed. They could maintain distance.
The three chasing the fire priest used stealth to hide their presence as close as possible. When they reached the middle of the mountain, they discovered a strange building.
“……That’s…”
“Hmm.”
“An altar?”
Exactly as the last Hana-rin said, it was an altar shaped exactly like the one they had been guarding earlier.
The only difference was that it was an altar inside a building without a ceiling or roof, with pillars standing alone without walls.
The altar they had been guarding earlier had no surroundings, but this one with ornate pillars and floor felt completely alien.
Anyone would find such a grand structure on a mountain slope suspicious.
They hid and watched the fire priest. Soon the vibration of many monsters racing up from the bottom of the mountain could be felt.
To be toodoo doo doo.
When the ground shook slightly, the fire priest hurriedly placed the flames on the altar and shouted something incomprehensible.
-##$^%#^!$^&$%#~!^*$^$#~#!)#!(*!
Hana-rin was puzzled by the language she couldn’t understand at all.
Any language should have been translated by the power of the Black Gate, but she was surprised it didn’t work.
Ji Yu-chan was also bewildered, but only Do-hyun could hear the fire priest’s words clearly through analysis.
-Please grant us sacred holiness!! Guide us to the great transcendence and make us a higher race!!!
Desperate and almost broken, the shout seemed to answer the sky itself. A streak of light fell on the altar, as if responding.
The three watching it were startled for a moment. With the light, a glorious flame began to spread from the holiness.
Hana-rin tried to defend with magic in shock, but Do-hyun stopped her. The flames spread across the entire mountain without affecting the three of them at all.
Then sudden fire erupted on the bodies of the monsters climbing the mountain, and they screamed and were purified, disappearing completely from the spot.
“Huh.”
“Haha, in one go?”
“……That’s no joke.”
Do-hyun’s party marveled at the power of the flames and turned their heads back to the altar. There, they saw the fire priest energetically spreading his arms wide and wrapped in light.
But Do-hyun, watching the fire priest floating in the air wrapped in the light, received a strange energy.
And when he analyzed it, Do-hyun understood the phenomenon now.
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『Light of Corruption』 analyzed.
__DIV style="text-align:centerborder:3px solid #00219bpadding:25pxbox-shadow:0 0 20px #00219b,inset 0 0 20px rgba(0,33,155,0.2)background:linear-gradient(135deg,#000 0%,#0a0a1a 50%,#000 100%)border-radius:8pxmargin-bottom:20pxposition:relative"> __DIV style="color:#4d9ffffont-size:26pxfont-weight:boldtext-transform:uppercasemargin-bottom:15pxtext-shadow:0 0 15px #00219bletter-spacing:3px">⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ __DIV style="color:#e0e0e0font-size:18pxSEMI__border-top:2px solid #00219bpadding-top:15pxline-height:1.8">
『Holiness』 no longer protects 『Fire Priest』.
__DIV style="text-align:centerborder:3px solid #00219bpadding:25pxbox-shadow:0 0 20px #00219b,inset 0 0 20px rgba(0,33,155,0.2)background:linear-gradient(135deg,#000 0%,#0a0a1a 50%,#000 100%)border-radius:8pxmargin-bottom:20pxposition:relative"> __DIV style="color:#4d9ffffont-size:26pxfont-weight:boldtext-transform:uppercasemargin-bottom:15pxtext-shadow:0 0 15px #00219bletter-spacing:3px">⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ __DIV style="color:#e0e0e0font-size:18pxSEMI__border-top:2px solid #00219bpadding-top:15pxline-height:1.8">
『Fire Priest』 is being corrupted by 『Light of Corruption』.
Even through analysis, it was an incomprehensible message. But soon detailed information was provided to Do-hyun.
『Light of Corruption』
▶ “One of the disasters of annihilation.”
▶ “If you fail to overcome the disaster, the dimension will be destroyed.”
A disaster of annihilation.
Do-hyun looked at it with an incredulous face. The fire priest who ascended into the sky with the light of corruption disappeared from view.
Hana-rin and Ji Yu-chan, who hadn’t noticed the phenomenon at all, exclaimed as if they had seen the hidden ending of a game while watching it.
“It gave off a special feeling.”
“Hmm, it was a holy light, wasn’t it.”
Looking at the two speaking that way, Do-hyun hesitated whether he should tell the truth.
But he shook his head.
That was just a reproduction of a past event like a simulation space, as he had analyzed while chasing the fire priest.
There was no need to tell the truth now.
More importantly…
‘I don’t know much myself.’
Honestly, Do-hyun didn’t know much.
To summarize, the worlds that included humans—besides Earth—there were three others, but they had all been destroyed. The reason was probably the disasters like the light he had just seen.
And if this was a simulation of a past world…
The monsters that had been placed in such numbers earlier were probably…
‘The monsters that flooded because there were no points?’
He could make that inference.
They could make quite a few inferences, but it seemed they hadn’t gathered the core materials for analysis yet.
What else was needed? There was only this for now.
As Do-hyun was thinking that far, Hana-rin and Ji Yu-chan excitedly looked at the box descending from the altar on top of the holy light.
“It’s the reward!”
“My subordinate disappeared!”
Especially Ji Yu-chan was delighted. Of course, a bothersome subordinate vanishing would make anyone happy.
But Do-hyun looked at the box that had fallen from the light of corruption with a slight unease.
It wasn’t the light of annihilation that had caused the corruption, but the light that had been in the same place, so it was natural for him to feel uneasy.
Seeing Do-hyun’s unease, Hana-rin and Ji Yu-chan looked at him strangely.
Normally Do-hyun would rush over first to get the reward or loot, but why did he look so unhappy? They tilted their heads in confusion.
Then they asked.
“Is something wrong?”
“Is there something bothering you?”
Looking at that Do-hyun, the two asked worriedly.
Do-hyun shook his head.
It was pointless to worry about his teammates because of his own worries. Do-hyun could only smile at that thought.
When they knew the full truth later, they could talk then. For now, let’s drop it. Do-hyun thought that and said it was fine.
“No, it was just something that bothered me, but I was mistaken.”
“Ah, really?”
“Hmm, then it’s good.”
The two added while saying that.
“But if you have any worries, please tell us.”
“Yes, we’re comrades, aren’t we.”
Seeing the two care so much, Do-hyun nodded.
Yes, even if he tried to find out now, it was something he couldn’t know. What was the point of worrying? This wasn’t like Do-hyun’s personality.
Right now, the best thing was to be happy with the given reward and check what had come out.
Do-hyun thought that and stood in front of the reward box.
Thanks to Hana-rin and Ji Yu-chan’s urging, Do-hyun stood in front of the box and recalled the reward he had received last time.
One was the necklace he still wore, which boosted all senses except sight. The other was the teleportation scroll.
It wasn’t used often, but it was occasionally very useful. He had recommended learning it to Hana-rin and Ji Yu-chan, but they had postponed it because of will magic and gold sword and still hadn’t learned it.
It wasn’t that hard, so they should learn it quickly, right?
‘I hope it’s better than last time, at least.’
This time the reward was strengthened, so he hoped it would be better than last time. He opened the box immediately after that thought and analyzed the results.
“Insane.”
Do-hyun spat out a curse.