Chapter 10 - The Dead End of the Labyrinth (1)
The Dead End of the Labyrinth (1)
The Han River in spring is gentle. Han Hye, his mother, and his father were eating lunch on a mat.
A cherry blossom petal flew from somewhere and bruhed his cheek. Han Hye sighed inwardly.
'It's that dream again.'
Perhaps the shock of that day was too great. It was a dream that came back whenever he was about to forget. A pathetic dream where he couldn't do anything.
Han Hye glanced at his parents' faces and then turned his gaze to the Han River.
It was almost time.
Kugugung-.
As expected. With a strange sound, an unusual phenomenon began to occur in the Han River.
A blue ring began to rotate.
"What's that? Are they filming a movie?"
"Huh? What's appearing in front of my eyes? A Status Window?"
"Hye-ya!"
Sensing the ominous atmosphere, his father picked him up. Soon, the blue ring grew rapidly, and a huge Gate appeared.
And from there, monsters began to pour out.
It didn't even take 20 seconds for the spring day at the Han River to turn into a scene of carnage.
The most noticeable of them was Jaratan.
A monster resembling a turtle, as large as a small island, crawled out of the Gate. There were many holes in its shell.
In addition to the four legs supporting it, dozens of worm-like heads protruded from those holes.
"Aaaagh!"
People started running away, but it was too late. The worm-like heads extending from Jaratan headed towards them.
His mother, gritting her teeth, jumped towards the heads to protect Han Hye.
Soon, another worm-like head aimed at them. This time, his father blocked it.
"Hye-ya! Keep running! Don't stop! Don't look back!"
His father disappeared. Han Hye kept running. He didn't know how he as a child, survived. He just kept running. It seemed like he had been incredibly lucky.
After running without stopping, he woke up from the dream.
"Haa..."
When he woke up, he was drenched in cold sweat. As expected, he always felt terrible after having such a pathetic dream.
It was nice to see her parents again, but he had to face their deaths again in the end.
'Jaratan. That turtle bastard.'
He was annoyed, but this dream wasn't entirely bad.
It appeared whenever he was about to forget, reminding him not to let his anger and desire for revenge fade away.
"Hoo."
Han Hye took a deep breath and got up. Today was the day he would enter the Gate.
Contrary to his worries, the Association had allowed him to enter the Labyrinth's Dead End alone.
He planned to unleash this anger on the monsters.
.
.
.
"I have to do what I have to do."
Still, he stopped by the training center before entering the Gate. He never intended to skip training, no matter what.
He could rest in the Subspace.
"Your skin seems to be getting better?"
Uncle Cheolgi said, looking at his face.
"Really?"
"Isn't it because you're always sleeping in the Subspace?"
Maybe. It seemed like that was the reason. He rested in the Subspace whenever he felt a little tired.
"Anyway, I feel a bit awkward."
Uncle Cheolgi cleared his throat and said.
"Why are you like this when I said it's okay?"
"Still, it's free."
"You're going to become a real dragon knight when the dragon hatches later, so you should charge extra."
Han Hye had received a full refund for the amount he had paid. The reason was simple.
It was a consideration from the Hunter Association.
-Hello? Are you Han Hye, who registered yesterday?
-Yes. How...?
-The Hunter Association contacted us. They said that all of Han Hye's expenses will be paid by the Association from now on.
It seemed that the Association was trying to take good care of him. Well, even if they had severed ties, they hadn't signed a contract yet, so they would be concerned.
It wasn't a lot of money, but he felt quite good. It was a thoughtful gesture.
'Either way, I need to train in professional facilities regularly.'
he could use the Subspace as a training space, but...
It couldn't surpass proper facilities.
A professional hunter training center wasn't just about having a gym. What he was doing right now was one example.
"Hoo."
he was manipulating Mana in a space filled with Magic stones, where the Mana density was high.
It was more difficult to use Mana than usual, so he had to adjust it more precisely.
There was more than just this. For example, reaction speed training for hunters.
Training equipment to reflexively dodge, hit, or catch baseballs traveling at a minimum of 250 km/h.
These kinds of training were essential. The research results were already out.
To maximize physical abilities, training was necessary, not just increasing stats.
"Wow, to be able to manipulate Mana like this in just three days, you're really good! Mana manipulation relies more on talent than stats."
Moreover, there were Awakened being-specialized trainers here. The bodies of ordinary people and Awakened beings were different.
They trained Awakened beings more efficiently based on data.
"Just one more, member! You can do it!"
"Kkeueuaaa!"
When he came out to drink some water, Uncle Cheolgi was doing leg exercises. he didn't know much, but the weight was considerable.
He said he was strengthening his leg muscles to ride a dragon, and he was working hard.
'He's increased the weight more than yesterday.'
Han Hye was the same. Was it because he was an Awakened being?
He could feel his body growing stronger every day. His physical recovery speed was incomparable to that of ordinary people.
The same was true for other aspects. He professionally improved his physical abilities and practiced Mana manipulation.
His stats remained the same, but his reflexes and Mana handling skills themselves were improving.
'I'll get better.'
Han Hye trained hard and then entered the Subspace.
He planned to rest a bit before entering the Gate. He slept for about three hours in that state in the Subspace.
"Huk, huk..."
When he woke up after sleeping for a while and was yawning, Uncle Cheolgi came out of the training center with his legs shaking.
It seemed like training had just ended.
"Oh dear, can't have this kind of stamina, can we?"
"...I'll kill you, seriously."
* * *
"Hunter."
Before entering the Gate, an Association employee approached him.
"We were instructed by higher-ups to give you this."
He took what they offered, and it turned out to be a piece of paper.
[Gate Escape Secretary (B-grade)]
-Tearing the secretary will allow you to escape from the Gate in any situation.
Huh? Gate Escape Secretary?
It was an incredibly rare item. Usually, once you entered a Gate, you couldn't leave until it was cleared.
The only exception was this secretary. He had heard that it appeared with an extremely low probability in high-level Gates.
The number each country possessed was small, and it was solely for the vanguard teams.
If the vanguard teams died, it would result in enormous losses.
"You're giving this to me?"
"Yes. Please hold it in one hand and use it immediately if you feel you're in danger."
"If I clear it without using it, do I have to return it?"
"No. You can keep it."
It felt too easy to be allowed to keep it, but it seemed they were giving him this instead. Honestly, he was a bit touched.
It was an item only given to vanguard teams challenging the highest-level Gates.
They were respecting his choice and providing a valuable item as insurance for the worst-case scenario.
Moreover, they were letting him keep it if he didn't use it?
'I never imagined they would give me something like this.'
He knew his worth, but he wasn't sure if he deserved to receive this.
he had felt it since last time, but the Hunter Association in his country seemed to be really taking care of him.
'Well, I probably won't have to use it.'
.
.
.
[Labyrinth's Dead End]
-Recommended Level: 5~10
-Entry Limit: 5 people
-Defeat all the enemies swarming from the dead end and survive. Time remaining: 50 minutes 59 seconds.
-Time remaining until the next monster appears: 59 seconds.
As soon as he entered the Gate, a long passage appeared before him. It was like a cave. The given time was one minute, and he quickly surveyed his surroundings.
The ceiling was 3m high and the width was 4m. It was a perfect place to use Wind Split.
There was a 10m-long path behind him, but it was a dead end. Torches were installed in the passage ahead.
Han Hye moved forward for now.
'I need to secure some distance.'
The Labyrinth's Dead End was a known Gate, so he had naturally gathered information about it.
It was possible to advance to a certain point in the front. After advancing a certain distance, it would be blocked by a transparent wall.
At this time, it was best to move forward as much as possible. Because the number of enemies was large, he would have to fight while retreating.
It was like creating his own space.
'Is this the end?'
He reached out and felt a transparent wall after advancing about 20m. It seemed that this point was the limit of how far he could go.
When he brought his sword to it, it made a "tung" sound and bounced off.
Beyond the wall, he could see stairs after about 10m.
That was where the monsters would come up from. Han Hye took a step back, held his Elegant Sword, and took a stance.
-Time remaining until the next monster appears: 15 seconds.
It was almost time for the enemies to swarm.
It was classified as a survival-type Gate, but it wasn't a typical survival-type Gate.
In other survival-type Gates, it was possible to escape and survive, but here, the path was blocked, making it impossible.
Of course, that didn't apply to him. If it was dangerous, he could enter the Subspace and spend time there.
However, that wouldn't happen today.
The remaining time was 5 seconds. he held his Elegant Sword and prepared Wind Split.
'I'm excited.'
To be honest, he had been waiting for this moment for quite some time.
He could use a technique that was only seen in manga, but he had never used it in actual combat before.
Well, it was time.
Clang-!
A heavy metallic sound came from below the stairs. It sounded like an iron door opening.
Thud, thud-.
Then, footsteps were heard from the end of the stairs. The monster that appeared was... a goblin.
Blocking the entrance. Since it was the first time, simple things would naturally come out.
There were five of them.
The goblins looked at him. They were still blocked by the transparent wall, but a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
'Does Wind Split pass through this transparent wall?'
He immediately swung his sword. A portion of his Mana was consumed, and a blade of wind extended.
There was no sound of it hitting the transparent wall.
Swoosh-. And the wind passed through the transparent wall, slicing through the bodies of the goblins who were just about to run towards him.
The corpses of the goblins, cut in half, fell to the ground.
"It works?"
He could just slice them as they came up, and it would be over. Normally, this kind of battle would be impossible.
It was a battle where he didn't have to worry about Mana distribution at all.
But he could do it.
Because he had the Subspace.
If his Mana ran out, he could rest and come back.
"Ah, wait a minute..."
He was so excited to swing his Elegant Sword that he hadn't thought about a problem that would occur.
"My Magic stones..."
he had to take out the Magic stones from the goblin corpses, but the problem was that he was blocked by the transparent wall and couldn't go there.
It seemed that he would have to catch the monsters after they crossed the transparent wall.
-Time remaining until the next monster appears: 4 minutes 59 seconds.
In the meantime, the time was updated.
Five minutes for killing five goblins. It was enough time for his Mana to recover. It would naturally be easy since it was the first time.
.
.
.
Seven waves had passed like that. The five-minute rest time was the same, but the difficulty gradually increased.
The second wave was seven goblins and one Awakened being, the third wave was eight goblins and two Awakened beings.
The numbers gradually increased like this, and Awakened beings appeared.
It was his first time fighting an Awakened being, but it was nothing special. He used Wind Split from a distance, and they died.
It wasn't just goblins that came out. Orcs and slimes also crawled out, wriggling.
Of course, they were all bisected by Wind Split.
"Haaam."
Waiting for five minutes while standing still was boring, so he went into the Subspace in the middle.
he opened the entrance to the Subspace wide and waited for the monsters while lying halfway on a beanbag he had brought.
"Is it time?"
Then, he checked the monsters that were coming up. Eight orcs and two Awakened beings.
It was a situation that would terrify an ordinary hunter. An Awakened Orc required a level of about 15 to fight 1:1.
But not for him. He just swung his Elegant Sword while lying on the beanbag in the Subspace.
Swoosh-. The orcs were large, so they didn't die in one hit.
The ones in front were swept away, and the ones in the back came running again. He yawned and swung his Elegant Sword.
If they didn't get sliced in one hit, he just swung it two or three times.
[Your level has increased.]
'...Is it okay to level up this easily?'
Right now, to be honest, it was no different from lying down and watching TV.
This morning...
It was 15 hours ago for him, based on his resting time, but the time he spent at the training center was much harder.
Now, he had leveled up twice while lying down.
'My current level is 8.'
This was an unbelievable growth rate. It was said to be fast to raise just one level in one Gate.
Usually, multiple people entered a safe Gate.
This was the result of soloing Awakened Orcs in a survival-type Gate.
'Should I stop using Wind Split and use swordsmanship in actual combat?'
If he opened the Subspace entrance right behind him, he could retreat immediately if it was dangerous, so it seemed okay.
He got up from his seat and was about to exit the Subspace entrance.
Suddenly, a brilliant idea popped into his head.
That translucent wall.
If he could place the Subspace right in the middle, straddling that wall, when he entered and exited the Subspace...
Wouldn't he be able to cross over to the other side?