The Eye That Sees Truth

One system window after another rose before me. I opened my eyes through the haze and pushed myself upright.

“……”

My head felt foggy. It had been the same when I entered Musin Shim Sang (I), and it was no different this time.

So this is it.

It was as if mist had been poured thickly over everything. I couldn’t see a thing just beyond my hand. Where the hell was this?

Last time, at least, I’d been able to make out something.

“……This is…”

Now I couldn’t even see that. I ran a hand through my hair. The tension in my chest was still there, packed tight and heavy.

…No revival upon death.

In plain words, it meant I’d simply die. That single line squeezed my heart in its fist. Just like last time. Death if you failed—what a terrifying way to phrase it.

“Hoo.”

I let out a long breath. Then, as I fully rose to my feet—

Shhhhhh—!! The fog in front of me parted, and a road appeared. A long road, stretching out ahead. As if it were telling me to follow it, only one path had opened before me. What the hell? Was I supposed to go that way?

I hesitated. I couldn’t tell whether it was safe to go or not.

But—

“……”

In the end, I stepped forward. If there was only one road, then I had to take it.

It’s probably okay to go, right?

The hesitation didn’t last long. There wasn’t any other option, no matter how long I thought about it.

Tap. I moved ahead and set my foot on the road, advancing carefully.

Then, at that very moment—

“……?”

An unknown message floated up before me. See only the truth? What was I supposed to see?

There’s only the road in front of me.

There wasn’t anything else to look at, so what exactly was it telling me to see?

It was ridiculous. My head was already a mess; now the words only made it worse.

Tch.

With a sigh, I moved forward.

That was all I could do for now.

Last time it was whether to open the door or not.

Was I supposed to just keep walking blindly this time? What an utterly incomprehensible place.

What the hell do they want from me?

The reward they’d given me was an entrance ticket to a gate where failure meant death.

I felt another sigh rising in my chest.

Clack.

I kept walking. And walking. And walking. Unlike the warning, nothing happened. How far had I gone? After a long stretch, I finally realized something was wrong.

…How much farther do I have to go?

I had no sense of time. At the very least, it felt like I’d been walking for over an hour.

No. Not an hour.

It had to be longer than that. Maybe ten hours. No, maybe a whole day.

My sense of time was warped, the experience turning strangely unreal. How long had I been walking, exactly?

I had no idea. But that didn’t give me an answer. So I kept going.

* * *

Walk, then walk again, through that repeated rhythm of steps—

And then I stopped.

“Hoo… . Hah.”

My breathing had gone ragged. A suffocating pressure rose all the way to the crown of my head. I wanted out of here, right this second. How much farther had I walked?

I’m going crazy.

Was I supposed to keep going? If I stayed here much longer, I really felt like I’d lose my mind. I turned around. If I went back the way I came, would anything change?

…….

I looked back with that thought in mind, only to realize the problem wasn’t that simple.

I’ve come too far.

A road with no visible end. There was a path ahead of me, but behind me there was nothing.

“Ah.”

I’d noticed too late. I should have looked back even once before now. I never imagined the road itself would disappear.

If I just turned around and walked straight back like this…

Would that work? The idea flickered through my mind for a moment, then I brushed it away.

What the hell was this? My eyes trembled. I had a bad feeling about going on like this.

What was I supposed to do?

How the hell am I supposed to…

Get out of here?

As I kept turning that over in my head—

“……”

I thought about the system message from earlier. See only the truth—what was I supposed to see?

There was nothing to look at. Was there even anything I could see? What was I supposed to see in a space packed full of fog?

I shook my head and looked around.

“……”

Mist. More mist.

A space where the road I stood on ran in a straight line.

No matter where I looked, there didn’t seem to be any way out. Was I just going to be trapped here?

…No.

That couldn’t happen. This gate was one where death meant the end. I couldn’t simply stand here and let it all end without doing anything.

There were no monsters, no other dangers whatsoever. The only problem was my own mind. After walking for so long in a place where time couldn’t be measured, my head had started to feel numb and distant.

Calm down.

I needed to find a method. I needed to clear my head.

“Ssss…”

First, I forced my wild breathing to settle. A few deep breaths, over and over, and then I looked again. The fog was still as thick as ever.

As I calmed the heart that had been pounding like a drum, I focused my eyes.

Mist.

What was hidden inside it? If this wasn’t something that could be broken, then there had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to be something there.

Inside the fog. Then what was the road I stood on? Why was this single path the only place the mist had parted?

As if it were telling me to go this way.

I stared at it.

Truth? It had told me to see the truth.

…Something.

I sensed something off.

I’d been looking at the fog, not the road.

“……”

Far away, beyond the path, I saw something in the space that wasn’t the road. What was that? A light? No. It was too faint to be called that.

Is it faint—

Or was it just too far away to tell? I didn’t know what it was, but—

it’s definitely there.

There was something over there.

Not on this mist-choked road, but far off in the distance, something was visible. Was it okay to go there? It wasn’t a path.

…….

I turned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my toes away from the road and toward that different place hidden in the fog. My ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠foot tapped the ground, then my sole met the earth.

In an instant, my whole body plunged into the mist.

The road I’d been able to see vanished. I had lost the path, but—

Forward.

Like a man under a spell, my eyes found the end I’d been searching for somewhere far ahead.

It still wasn’t clear, but something was there.

I walked.

It was only five steps, at most.

That was all there was to it, and yet—

“……What is this?”

Something stood before me. A pillar about half the height of my lower body. Set atop it was a jewel—deep navy blue. I stared at it, then reached out and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠grabbed it.

Fwoooosh—!!!

The jewel flared with light, and suddenly I was blinded.

“Ghk!?”

At the same time, an intense heat seared into my eyes. Grimacing through the pain, I clamped a hand over them.

What the hell is this? I ground my teeth against the agony—

Too late to see it.

A familiar voice came from somewhere.

Next time, I hope you are not late.

It was a voice worn thin, scorched by time.

And the moment it faded—

* * *

“……!”

I opened my eyes. I jolted upright in a panic.

“Hah… heh….”

My heart was pounding like mad. Had I gotten out?

Did I actually clear the gate?

“...I touched the jewel, and it broke.”

Was that the goal? So the point hadn’t been to follow the road after all.

…I saw it.

By focusing, then focusing harder still, I’d been able to catch sight of something in my overstrained mind. A faint blue light shining from within the fog.

When I followed it, I found the jewel.

It felt almost like I’d dreamed the whole thing.

Or had I? Was it really just a dream? As that thought crossed my mind—

The newly obtained skill appeared before my eyes, as if to prove that what I’d seen was no dream.

Eye of Enlightenment…?

It said it could discern true value. The explanation was vague enough to be irritating. What exactly was it supposed to see? At least with danger sense, the description had been simple and easy to understand.

This one I can’t tell yet.

It was an incomprehensible skill. How was I supposed to use this? If it was an SS-rank skill, that at least meant it was something incredible.

Tch.

As I stared at the skill window, lost in thought—

Ring-a-ring-a-ring!

“……!”

My phone suddenly rang. I jumped and looked at the screen. The caller was Irene.

What the hell did she want all of a sudden? I answered with a puzzled frown.

“Hello?”

- Did you wake up?

“Ah, yes….”

- You seemed to be sleeping soundly this morning. You’re up now?

I checked the time. It was already past ten in the morning.

It had been a long time since I’d woken this late.

Wait a second. That aside—

“You saw me this morning?”

How on earth had Irene seen me sleeping this morning? I asked, bewildered.

- I didn’t see it exactly… anyway….

She sounded like she was trying to dodge the question. What do you mean, you didn’t exactly see it?

“You literally just said you did—”

- I sent you an address.

She cut me off. An address? What address?

“Huh? Why all of a sudden? What do you mean, an address?”

- Member interview….

“...Huh? Members?”

What members was she talking about? Don’t tell me…?

- Knight Order personnel… need to be chosen… quickly….

“...Right now?”

It was so abrupt I could only stare.

* * *

After hearing Irene out, I headed outside at once.

I only splashed some water on my face, and with my hair sticking up like a bird’s nest, I made my way out. There hadn’t been much time to wash up. Besides—

...Didn’t they say the selection would be in a week?

The last time, Baek Hyeonho had told me they were planning to recruit the personnel a week later.

So why were they suddenly selecting people now? Did that mean a whole week had passed while I was inside Musin Shim Sang?

It didn’t feel like it had been that long.

Maybe time flowed differently while you were inside Musin Shim Sang. If there was a next time, I’d have to take that into account.

Whatever the reason—

If they were choosing the members today, that meant they were really going to create the Knight Order.

I’m nervous.

I hadn’t felt it until now, but the reality of it was finally sinking in.

That I had become a knight. That the Knight Order was really being formed.

There was no point calling it excitement. It wasn’t that kind of feeling.

“...Hoo.”

It wasn’t relief, either, or the emotion of having achieved a goal. It was more like time that had been halted, time that seemed as if it would never move again, had begun flowing once more.

That was all.

“Let’s go.”

There was no time to waste. I had only just escaped Musin Shim Sang and my head was still spinning, but I had to move. As I kept walking—

“Hm?”

I saw someone ahead. Crouched down, smoking a cigarette.

And in a very striking pose, too.

...Who is that guy?

As I looked at him in confusion, he turned his gaze and looked back at me.

Our eyes met. Or rather, his sunglasses covered his eyes, so I couldn’t actually see them, but I could tell he was looking at me.

And then, the moment our gazes locked—

“What the hell are you staring at?”

“……”

What incredibly rude bastard.