Chapter 356
Chapter 356
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 356
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
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“…How could this happen?”
This was a memory from Kang Seol’s time in the heavens.
“What’s going on?”
Players gathered around him in droves at the sight of the unflappable man muttering to himself.
“Oh? This is…”
“No way, is this that thing?”
“Fate… you mean?”
Fate.
He hadn’t known it at the time, but even the gods didn’t use the word lightly. In any case, Kang Seol was about to experience a truly fateful moment.
“No….”
A peerless swordsman from an Eastern clan that made swordsmanship its family trade.
Their parents had named them Shin Rip, Shin Hyun, and Shin Gang.
The eldest, Shin Rip, embodied the image of a reliable big brother. Wielding a heavy sword that matched his imposing presence, he was said to be the greatest among the three brothers.
The second, Shin Hyun, had a cheerful, almost overly lively demeanor, but the moment he gripped his sword, he unleashed swift strikes too fast to follow. As the one who ventured out most often, his name was already shaking the East.
And the youngest, Shin Gang, possessed a talent different from his brothers. No matter the opponent, he never lost his composure, and his swordsmanship remained unshaken.
Connoisseurs called his sword the Heavenly Sword.
In other words, a sword bestowed by the heavens.
Shin Gang always declined the overly grandiose name, but he had no choice but to bear it due to their persistent insistence. His nature mirrored his sword—few words, no gaps, meticulous.
Thus, each brother’s sword resembled its master. People called them One Sword Hero, Two Sword Hero, and Three Sword Hero.
Rustic nicknames, but they captured the brothers perfectly.
They wandered the continent seeking higher realms, and at that time, Kang Seol’s horse was Shin Rip—the eldest of the three brothers.
With two reliable comrades already, he saw no need for more.
As they roamed and their fame grew, they eventually reached the Ebony Labyrinth.
Kang Seol was confident back then.
With these three, they could conquer the labyrinth.
The three headed to different doors.
The eldest and Kang Seol’s horse, Shin Rip, entered the Door of Blood; the second, Shin Hyun, the Door of Light; and the youngest, Shin Gang, the Door of Darkness.
And Shin Rip died.
There were no omens.
Devoured by the ebony darkness.
Heartbroken, Kang Seol couldn’t even look at the Eternal World for days.
But what drew him back to the game board was concern for the other brothers.
What had become of Shin Hyun and Shin Gang, left in the labyrinth?
Kang Seol hurriedly played as Shin Hyun.
He didn’t hesitate, as he held these brothers in affection equal to Shin Rip.
In the Eternal World, characters around a horse would sometimes revive as peripheral figures, and this was one such case. Horses far too powerful couldn’t be owned by principle, but the Shin brothers at that time merely had exceptional talent beyond the norm, so ownership was possible.
Unfortunately, he was a bit too late.
By the time Kang Seol claimed ownership, Shin Hyun had already been devoured by the labyrinth.
Ignoring everyone’s pleas to stop amid the unstoppable tragedy, Kang Seol took ownership of the third brother, Shin Gang.
Shin Gang hadn’t been devoured by the labyrinth.
Yet he still stood in the heart of the demonic realm. His hellish days in the labyrinth continued.
He grew stronger.
But that didn’t mean he could find his brothers’ bodies or exact revenge. He simply grew stronger.
When he finally escaped the labyrinth, having lost an arm, he had become a swordsman who shook the continent.
And eventually, he would challenge Ascension—the greatest human achievement.
* * *
[You gather the darkness.]
[A tiny amount of darkness accumulates.]
[The grace of darkness descends.]
[Intermediate Swordsmanship proficiency increases.]
…
No one in all of Pandea would seek out the labyrinth just for training purposes.
Except Kang Seol.
He cast everything aside and began objectifying himself.
The tiny night beast housed a frail soul, one that seemed never to have held a weapon in its life.
Shrieeeek—!
Kang Seol slashed its throat and flipped backward to evade.
Ssssss…
When he cut down the night beast, the darkness forming its shell scattered and flowed into him.
[You gather the darkness.]
[A tiny amount of darkness accumulates.]
[The grace of darkness descends.]
[Intermediate Swordsmanship proficiency increases.]
…
Even against these tiny creatures, his swordsmanship proficiency rose exponentially.
If other swordsmen saw this, they’d risk their lives to visit the Ebony Labyrinth at least once.
Paradoxically, this situation was possible only because of Kang Seol’s prior achievements.
The power of the mind was ideally suited for hunting night beasts.
The problem was that his other abilities couldn’t keep up.
〔Bitan, today’s work is done!〕
“Yeah, done.”
The reason Kang Seol could endure the frustration was Bitan’s constant chatter beside him.
Talking to someone during mental strain brought psychological stability.
Kang Seol was grateful for Bitan’s presence.
Swoosh…
He raised his heavy body.
He couldn’t just sit slumped.
After spending days here, he had erased the option of quickly returning to Seolhong from his mind.
He knew it was impossible.
‘That aside… my eyes hurt….’
Unable to see, he kept his eyes closed.
Closing them sharpened his other senses, and the power of the mind splendidly replaced his vision.
Yet the strain somehow settled in his eyes, leaving them sore all day.
Kang Seol split the day when night beasts didn’t appear.
After hunting, he reviewed fights, refined movements, then slept.
When night fell again, he hunted night beasts.
Training, rest, hunting.
He faithfully spent his days in this monotonous cycle.
His swordsmanship realm climbed steadily, like watching stairs ascend, up to a certain level.
But soon, he gained neither darkness nor proficiency from the small night beasts.
That’s when it happened.
He set out to hunt larger night beasts.
Grrrrrr…
Thud… Thud…
A creature similar in size to the night beast that had come to the rocky mountain when he first arrived.
Oddly, its soul walked in a stance gripping a sword, and the night beast mimicked it.
‘That’s….’
An old memory flashed.
The memory of losing Shin Rip and Shin Hyun.
‘If I fail, then I….’
He vowed not to entertain ominous thoughts and quickly shook it off.
Hoo…
Hoo…
Fwaaaah—!
Kang Seol’s ambush was far sharper than before.
A meteoric rise befitting the phrase “progress by leaps and bounds.”
Yet the road ahead was still long.
Kagagagak—!
‘It’s not even bone!’
Bitan couldn’t even scratch its skin.
Grrrr…
Whish—!
Patsuzuzuzut…
Kang Seol drew on some of the Night Raven’s energy.
This was his full power now.
“Hoo… Focus.”
Tsupaaat—!
The opponent’s sword strike was far fiercer than his own.
Taaaa—!
“Ugh….”
He nearly dropped Bitan.
Wincing at the pain of his grip tearing, response came first.
Shrieeek—!
He was faster than the opponent.
Kang Seol was certain.
He ducked to target its lower body—that was his judgment.
Slaaaash—!
He severed its ankle.
The night beast flinched, tilting one knee.
‘Got it!’
The moment Kang Seol judged he had the momentum and turned—
Whoooong—!
An oncoming palm.
It covered his entire front—no dodging.
He instinctively tried to use Nightmare, but with summons sealed, no way to absorb damage.
‘Danger….’
Rippppp—!
Crunch!
Cruuuunch!
For an instant, he couldn’t breathe.
Launched like a bullet, he snapped trees as he flew.
Thud… Thud…
“Get up! Get up!”
At Bitan’s urging, Kang Seol snapped to. But the night beast was already upon him.
Ssssslip…
The night beast reached out, as if to grab him by the collar.
No resistance possible.
He would die.
That was all in Kang Seol’s mind.
I don’t want to die.
‘Like this, so pointlessly… I… I….’
The night beast enclosing Kang Seol in its grip slowly clenched.
Grrrrrind…
Kang Seol had a plan.
If he could draw the Night Raven’s power, he could fight back.
He could escape.
He could live!
Patsuzuzuzuzuzut!
“Gaaaaaaah—!”
Agonizing scream.
A burning sensation engulfed his body.
The shadow, which hadn’t crossed his arm boundary, began spreading over his entire form.
[You take the form of the Night Raven.]
[Unstable state.]
[Forcibly covering with shadow.]
“Uwaaaaaah!”
Grrraaaah!
Startled by the agony in its grip, the night beast flung Kang Seol away.
Kang Seol sprang up and bolted toward the forest.
“Huff… Huff….”
Darkness smeared his hands and mouth.
In desperation, he had torn and bitten at the grip.
〔No! Calm down! You have to calm down!〕
“Huff… Haaa… Haaa….”
He ran and ran until he reached a small lake.
He couldn’t see it, but he could.
The power of the mind projected his image there.
An incomplete Night Raven.
A grotesque figure cloaked in twisted black as if wearing an inverted shroud, darkness staining his mouth.
This wasn’t Kang Seol.
It was the mindless night beasts he had hunted until now.
The same as them.
〔Calm down, right now….〕
“Aaa… Aaah….”
〔Come back! You idiot!〕
Overuse backlash.
Kang Seol’s pupils began losing light.
Grrr…
Grrraaah…
Darkness leaked from his mouth.
Fwaaaak—!
Kang Seol raced back the way he came in an instant and lunged at the night beast he’d just clashed with.
This time, not wielding Bitan—bare-handed.
Like a beast.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
That was the fragmented memory he recalled from the labyrinth.
Slaaaash—!
Spluuuurt!
Grrr…
[The grace of darkness descends.]
[You are embraced by darkness.]
…
* * *
After that, it was like a flickering bulb—only fragments of information.
He tore something, ripped something apart.
And that process repeated for quite a long time.
He could feel it. The air’s energy had shifted several times already.
And occasionally, a voice.
〔…Hey, it’s okay.〕
Grrr…
At those times, his mind flashed back.
〔Boring, but it’ll get better eventually.〕
Something.
There was something he needed to do.
After several more flickers, he finally encountered a vivid moment.
【Stop! Don’t kill it!】
“Huh? This thing talks?”
“…What? For real?”
“I’m telling you, it’s real.”
Voices as if from underwater.
Instinctively, he charged toward them.
His vision returned.
Whoosh…
Suddenly, a suspicious sword appeared.
It materialized from empty air—ghostly swordsmanship.
Paaak—!
His head seized, neck pressed to the blade.
Grrr…
No voice possible.
“This guy seemed off, but it is a night beast?”
【Don’t! Kang Seol is human! Not a beast!】
“…Human?”
Crack…
One side of Kang Seol’s face crumbled.
Precisely, the shadow peeled away.
Like a broken mask, revealing his eerie visage.
Beneath the black shadow, skin still warm.
Light returned to his pupils.
“…This one’s alive, brother.”
“…Alive, you say?”
“Heehee… Heeheehee! No way! Can’t believe it! Still alive?”
Step… Step…
A man approached, meeting his gaze.
Beard and brows overgrown, only his flashing eyes visible.
And those eyes felt intensely powerful.
“Still alive?”
“…Yeah.”
“You were just devoured by the labyrinth. How are you maintaining consciousness?”
“…Wanna.”
“You want to live?”
Until now, when things had reached their worst, Kang Seol muttered the words he still held.
“I need to get stronger… I….”
“…Not right in the head.”
The other man beside him burst into laughter.
“Heeheehee! I like it! He’s alive at least! Unlike us!”
“Who said they didn’t like it?”
“You do too, brother….”
“You like him more because he’s crazy.”
Kang Seol trembled his eyes, trying to survey the situation. And what had happened to him.
His mind was hazy.
“Who… are you….”
“Us?”
Patsuzut…
The two men’s souls were instantly devoured by darkness.
But the power of the mind showed they hadn’t been consumed.
Whoooong…
Flashing fierce eyes and intense light emanating from the younger one’s sword.
This place brimmed with the labyrinth’s darkness, yet they were undeniably creating light.
“Shin Rip.”
“It’s Shin Hyun, you fool.”
Shin Rip…
Shin Rip!
Kang Seol’s eyes turned to Shin Rip.
Shin Rip spoke to the staring Kang Seol.
“We’re the undead of the Ebony Labyrinth. You were too, until just now.”
“I….”
“Even we can’t escape the labyrinth. But….”
Whoooong…
Shin Rip plunged his greatsword into the ground.
If light existed in the Ebony Labyrinth, it was them.
One Sword Hero Shin Rip.
Two Sword Hero Shin Hyun.
“You know how to get stronger… So, interested?”
Kang Seol, after a long stiffness, forced a grin through his grimace.
“Crazy bastards.”
They were the darkest light.
Kang Seol was the foolish moth lunging toward that light.