A Dark Blessing
“Avatar.”
“Yeah? What is it?”
“Would it be permissible for this unit to pose a question that oversteps its station?”
“There’s no such thing as overstepping. Just speak comfortably—”
“Does that belong to the Avatar as an ornament?”
“...Whoa. What the hell is this?”
“It does not, then.”
Only after I belatedly pulled out the two arrows that had struck my arm did I realize Vertea was far more aggressive than I had imagined.
“Visible bleeding is observed.”
“I pulled the arrows out. Of course it’s bleeding.”
“This unit can burn the wound shut for you.”
“...No. It’s fine. I’ll handle it myself.”
After watching her turn four adventurers into something that had never existed, I couldn’t possibly let her flamboyantly sear my own flesh. Whether she understood that or not, I couldn’t tell. Given how she had joked about possibly poisoning the meal, she might possess a sense of humor. Either way, I had no interest in poking a hornet’s nest.
I had no desire to be reduced to ashes less than a day after waking up, which meant I had to disappoint the girl who presented herself as my servant. Besides, there was no need to cauterize the wound in the first place. My injuries tended to close relatively quickly. Simple pressure was more than enough to stop the bleeding. Plenty of superhuman soldiers possessed superior regeneration, but when it came to overall capability, I ranked near the top. Stuffing the wound with gauze was enough to staunch the flow in under an hour. My left hand still lacked strength, true, but even if my arm were severed, it would heal within a month.
I made a conscious effort not to dwell on it as I pushed open the door of a hanok that looked like it once belonged to a wealthy family and walked alongside Vertea. As we moved, I gazed at Namsan Tower standing prominently to the south. The sun was setting. Long tails of light stretched down toward me. Even though it resembled stairs ascending into the sky, every sight I took in felt both familiar and deeply strange.
Skyscrapers. The bare, distinctive skeleton of Namsan Tower wrapped around the mountain. Countless buildings scattered around it. Shadows spreading along the sunset’s path. This place was the labyrinth, and it was Seoul. The heart of the colossal Karnevarin Mountain Range that gave the fantasy world its name. A location that had once been nothing but labyrinth but had become Seoul long ago—the reverse side of the world.
Honestly, I still couldn’t wrap my head around it. To my eyes it looked exactly like the Earth I remembered. There was weather. There was a sun and moon. The universe was visible. If the stars glimpsed between the descending rays of sunset were not illusions, then everything appeared normal. Yet beyond this lay other worlds? Entirely fantastical ones?
The claim that elves lived in Gangbuk District felt absurd, and Vertea’s own form—clearly not human—only added to the confusion. A lot of it simply refused to add up, and even hearing it directly from her left me half skeptical. Some things could not be believed without seeing them for yourself. Even the stories themselves refused to compute.
“So,” I said.
“Yes.”
“This labyrinth… grows more dangerous the farther you travel toward Seoul’s outskirts, with powerful enemies lurking. And if you step completely beyond the city’s boundaries, it connects to somewhere else?”
“Correct. While this unit has not confirmed the information through direct observation, dozens of expeditions and reconnaissance missions have verified it as fact.”
In that respect, Vertea was remarkably patient. At least with me. This was the sixth time I had asked the same question, yet she showed not a trace of irritation. If I had pestered a bunker-mate like this, they would have snapped at me about whether my brain had received Botox treatments.
Regardless, the world existed in a far more twisted shape than I had known. For starters, Jongno District was not a safe zone. Not normally. According to Vertea, this place was called the “Lich’s Domain.” It was one of the labyrinth’s hazardous sectors, containing an underground shortcut that linked to every underground facility. Yet because a lich who venerated darkness ruled it, the Church of Darkness used the area as both a base and a thoroughfare.
“Why the lich would open its paths to those impudent ones remains a question even for this unit.”
My own bunker, which had also served as a sanctuary of darkness, seemed to operate on similar terms.
“However, as far as this unit is aware, the lich does not cooperate with the Church of Darkness so much as it acts according to revelations, symbols, impulses from the Darkness, and its own personal objectives. It may be pursuing its own goals, or perhaps it is carrying out the Darkness’s will.”
Lich. A word I had encountered back when I read fantasy novels. A mage who rejected death and commanded the deceased. The meaning seemed roughly the same.
And liches were not the only fantasy element present. There was far more.
“How is it possible for the labyrinth’s nature to differ so drastically from region to region?”
“This unit’s meager knowledge cannot explain the principle, but this unit believes the Darkness intended it so.”
Vertea spoke the name of the Darkness with pious reverence. According to her, each district of the labyrinth was vastly different. Jongno District still retained something of its former shape, but other areas did not. There were wastelands covered in labyrinthine mechanical devices—Earth technology, most likely. Lands swallowed by blizzards so thick you could not see an inch ahead. Cities that had sunk deep underground. The phenomena, the properties, even the laws of physics themselves differed wildly. That was the labyrinth. That was Labyrinth City Seoul.
It was difficult to believe, yet I had already witnessed magic with my own eyes. There was no point in arguing. Rather than denying everything and running from reality, seeing it for myself would be faster. I would witness it soon enough anyway.
That was why I also listened to what she had to say about the world outside the labyrinth.
“This unit’s race is known as halfling. A people shaped by the Earth and beloved by it. This unit has lived twenty-six years as of this year.”
Vertea stood around 130 centimeters tall yet possessed a surprisingly mature figure. Her race, rather.
“The origin of elves is unclear, but they have existed since the distant past.”
That had been her answer when I questioned the mention of Gangbuk elves.
“Yes, there are other safe zones within the labyrinth besides Gangbuk District. The Yongsan District this unit is guiding the Avatar toward is also a safe zone. It is known as the Street of Adventurers, where they gather.”
That had been her response when I asked whether people actually lived inside the labyrinth.
The information was more than enough to convince me this was not some future version of Earth. I absorbed it all, then continued walking the quiet streets, observing.
Adventurers passed by. Every one of them carried medieval weapons and armor that belonged in fantasy, and they came in a dizzying variety of races. Some were not merely different races but appeared to belong to entirely different species. There were small humanoids like Vertea. There were adventurers with the long ears befitting the description of elves. Some had skin of shifting, multicolored hues. Others had horns. Still others possessed animal ears or tails that swayed with every step. I had no choice but to believe.
This Seoul that had become a labyrinth did not entirely match the city I remembered. More accurately, it looked as though Earth had been subsumed by some fantasy world. I had assumed the “Gangbuk elves” were simply post-apocalyptic humans who had read too many fantasy novels and adopted the name. But an entirely different world?
The thought made my head spin, so I let some details wash over me, yet the general outline had begun to form. There were paths leading out of the labyrinth. Beyond them lay a fantasy world. In that world, this labyrinth was treated as a sort of new continent. And in practice, that was exactly what it was.
“New materials and artifacts discovered inside the labyrinth, along with new types of weapons and magic, enjoy tremendous popularity in Karnevarin. The price is whatever the market will bear. Successful adventurers sometimes even receive titles and peerage outside.”
The pinnacle of technology humanity had developed for mutual slaughter acted as an incredible stimulus to the fantasy world. Even when they failed to understand it and simply made use of it, the effect was profound. Superalloys with extreme elasticity, resilience, and abrasion resistance. Medicines that instantly cured lost limbs or rare diseases. Food that never spoiled and could be preserved indefinitely. Nutritional tablets that fulfilled an entire day’s caloric needs in a single pill. These were things Karnevarin’s technological level could not replicate.
That was not all.
“Legendary armaments left behind by Karnevarin’s heroes sometimes appear within the labyrinth.”
“Oh.”
“A representative example is the longsword forged from the remains of the God of Knights, a deity who has since perished. There is also a blade that burns with eternal flame.”
“Ooh…”
This part interested me far more. Legendary weapons. Mythical armaments. What man wouldn’t be drawn to such things? My age had long since crossed into triple digits, yet men never truly outgrew their fondness for swords and combat. I had not enjoyed swinging blades during the war, but that was a different matter. It was only natural that my inner anticipation would rise.
Moreover, this was not a lawless wasteland but a world where society still functioned properly. If my adventures could earn me recognition and praise in such a place, it would be ideal. Simply surviving each day brought its own joy, but… if possible, I wanted to eat better food, sleep in a finer house, and live more abundantly. Those were basic human desires.
It was not nearly as terrible as I had feared. Certainly better than wandering the ruins during World War Three. I was thinking exactly that when—
“However, as far as this unit knows, most labyrinth adventurers seek the labyrinth for other reasons.”
“Huh?”
Treasure, discovery, wealth, and fame. Wasn’t that enough? What more could there be?
We had left Jongno District, passed through Jung District, and continued south toward Yongsan—the place Vertea described as the Street of Adventurers. The prospect of seeing countless non-hostile people pushed me onward. What would it look like? How much had it changed from what I remembered? How deeply had fantasy and reality merged?
Harboring those expectations, I crossed a road that had once been packed with cars and came face to face with an apartment complex and restaurants when—
Kwaaaaaang!
The sudden roar made me instinctively reach for my side. Only after my fingers brushed the empty holster did my mind snap back to the present. The shotgun was gone. I would need to find a new one. Before the bitterness could fully rise, the micro-current I had sent downward caught an unfamiliar shape.
It was closer to a monster than a human. A form that screamed and writhed. Muscles swollen to grotesque proportions, filling its entire body. Eyes twisted with no trace of human reason. Muscles pierced by a spear yet still wriggling and expanding. Most prominent of all was the maw—twisted like tree roots, splitting into five branches that converged into a single point. The shape and structure of those muscles made its purpose unmistakable: to crush and swallow a human head.
It reminded me of the biological weapons from the war, yet it was a shape I had never seen. Still, I perceived it with perfect clarity—the internal organs, the weave of muscle fibers, the fundamental architecture of the skeleton. That thing had once been human. But how?
The moment of frozen realization passed quickly. Warriors clad in plate armor who had already subdued the creature were now hacking it apart. Vertea stepped closer.
“That is the reason.”
“...What?”
“The Darkness bestows its blessing upon every being that dwells within the labyrinth. To those who overcome adversity and transcend fear, it gladly grants transformation.”
Hands gathered piously, head bowed as though in prayer, Vertea bore witness.
“Those who receive the blessing of the Darkness may become the ideal form they desire.”
So that was called a blessing.