Game Labyrinths Sprout Like Weeds

Game labyrinths were sprouting up like weeds. Since they all ran on JYS, their quality was guaranteed across the board. Gone were the days when being a Gamer meant being the symbol of an elite class — now anyone could dive into game labyrinths to their heart's content. There was even talk that ether was in oversupply, since the efficiency of harvesting magic stones had improved by an order of magnitude. Along the way, an ironic thing happened: the price of magic stones began to fall. But that, too, was simply the tide of a new era.

"Mmmgh."

That was the problem. With game labyrinths suddenly popping up left and right, it had become hard to know which one to aim for. For starters, he'd gone and playtested every newly built labyrinth as an experiment. Most were closer to prototypes, somewhat lacking in scale and depth. The one that stood out with remarkable polish was Galaxius, developed by Unit 763 — a thrilling showdown against enemy warships across the vastness of space. It was an experience no other game labyrinth could offer.

"I'm giving Galaxius a pass."

It would be incredibly convenient if he could pilot that fighter in other labyrinths too, but there was a high chance it would demand additional skills like system operation and piloting technique. Unlike Rider-On, there were no rental craft available, and no system correction to assist with piloting. He couldn't even play it properly — all he could do was stand in the lobby and watch others play.

"Is it just my imagination, or does the UR system itself feel like a limitation these days?"

The UR system was unquestionably a performance that transcended every other system — but until you rolled, it was useless. He was reminded of that fact all over again.

"Then we're moving on to another game labyrinth."

Under Champion. Fire Climber. Both titles came out with concepts worlds apart from Super Gemini.

"Under Champion and Fire Climber, huh."

Under Champion was a game labyrinth with the simple concept of one-on-one combat, pitting you against either a Gamer or an opponent the labyrinth designated. All you could use were the techniques of real martial arts. And since its pain control was properly implemented, you could fight a full match without any burden.

Fire Climber was a simple game labyrinth set in a world drenched in flames, where you smashed through the ceiling and climbed your way to escape. Up to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fifty Gamers were randomly assigned to a single session, and attacking one another was impossible. You simply laughed and climbed upward together.

"Good for something light, but would I actually get anything out of it?"

At those words, a massacre he'd forgotten came flooding back.

Fire Climber was a game labyrinth anyone — man, woman, young, or old — could pick up easily... but it hid a fatal trap. This game offered almost no way for the fifty Gamers to cooperate. On the contrary, the design actively rewarded dropping others as you climbed. Direct attacks were off-limits, but by exploiting the traps scattered throughout the labyrinth, you could send fellow Gamers plummeting. Since the system granted the first Gamer to reach the top the greatest reward, everyone went for each other's throats. Bisque and Noir, who had started a trial run as a friendly party, ended up hurling insults at each other and nearly came to blows.

"That's lower on the priority list. Something else."

The remaining candidates were Expel Z, Kung Fu With Everyone, and the City of the Demon God.

Expel Z was a game where you piloted a transforming robot and wiped out enemies. Its creator, Kariko, had been famous since the Ratia days for making nothing but masterpieces — yet for some reason, this time he'd actually released a normal game. The giant transforming robot had struck a chord in his manly heart, but for reasons similar to Galaxius, it got bumped down the Random Box priority list.

"Says the robot vacuum with no sense of romance."

"Don't fake-sigh, you don't even have a mouth."

The remaining titles were Kung Fu With Everyone and the City of the Demon God. After briefly weighing which pickup to target between the two, he settled on the City of the Demon God.

Created by the rising developer Capsule, the City of the Demon God was famous for its gloomy, horror-soaked atmosphere and its vomit-inducing difficulty. Back in the old days, if all he'd wanted was magic stones, he wouldn't have spared a glance at such a high-difficulty title. But with 2.0 emphasizing the recreational side of game labyrinths, the City of the Demon God — which stoked the desire for challenge — had drawn in plenty of Gamers.

"Ironically, having the Heavenly Demon Divine Art is exactly why I can't feel the need for other martial arts. The City of the Demon God has skills, sure, but all kinds of items too — so if I'm aiming for a pickup, that's the one."

Once decided, execution followed immediately. He converted straight into the City of the Demon God. Upon connecting, Capsule's logo appeared first, followed by the Jucheongwang logo, then the JYS logo.

The moment he stepped inside, a sky heavy with dark clouds greeted him.

Combining his tickets and RP conversion gave him 262 pulls — 270 if he threw in the guaranteed SR vouchers. Just shy of pity. And this time he had no guaranteed SSR voucher either.

Rather than scrambling to hoard tickets and points, he had been carefully observing and playing through each game labyrinth one by one, researching which pickup to target. Because of that, he still hadn't cleared a single game labyrinth. He hadn't even made it halfway. Meanwhile, players were already clearing Super Gemini one or two at a time. It was lightning-fast compared to the years World of Phantasm used to take. They said turnover was high even in the early days of game labyrinths — which meant the World of Phantasm era had been the abnormal one.

"Let's start with a light 10-pull!"

Busted. He hadn't even hoped for anything, so it didn't sting at all.

"But why is it a City of the Demon God pickup when not a single City of the Demon God item comes out?"

Fair point. He spun another 10-pull. And another. And another. Not a single SR appeared until he'd burned through every normal ticket, but even that dealt him no damage. All those beatings had forged his mentality into something with the tensile strength ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of steel.

"Shut up!"

He merely posed as someone with the tensile strength of steel.

"This time, RP!"

Another 10-pull. "Come on, SR!"

Gold light flashed, and an SR popped out. His first SR from the pickup era.

It wasn't.

"What even is a pickup?"

"It's just — all that time I spent agonizing over which labyrinth's pickup to target just went up in smoke."

Every time his luck had been spectacular, some disaster he could barely handle had followed right on its heels. All of it, apparently, for the peace of the world.

"Don't spout bullshit! I don't care if the world ends — just spit out an SSR!"

"Shut it! Random Box, GO!!"

After that, he burned through every last RP.

Even YggON seemed to get chills, shivering in place.

He didn't even have the energy to retort. Including that first Bubble Shooter, he went through the SR list one by one.

SR — Bubble Shooter (New)

SR — Dragon Fist Strike (New)

SR — Rider Skill: Cyclone (New)

SR — Golden Hammer

SR — Rising Expel Head Parts (New)

SR — Storm Expel Leg Parts (New)

Everything else was whatever. But these Expel parts — what on earth were they for?

He summoned them as a test, but all that appeared were a giant head and a pair of legs, with no effect whatsoever.

Not one complete unit dropping in one piece — a system where you had to gather this and that first.

"Just out of curiosity, what parts would I need to finish it?"

As the names made plain, these were things from Expel Z. This wasn't even an Expel Z pickup — why were these things popping out?

Ryu Hwi pressed his thumb hard against his temple. His blood pressure was rising and his head hurt.

"Shut up. Rolling!"

At this point, he was rolling until a single pickup dropped!

SR — Golden Spear (Pick UP! New)

SR — Grimoire: Lightning Lv1 (Pick UP! New)

SR — Grimoire: Firestorm Lv1 (Pick ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠UP! New)

SR — Knight's Sword (Pick UP! New)

SR — Feather Shoes (Pick UP! New)

SR — Grimoire: Ice Lance Lv1 (Pick UP! New)

SR — Howling Lv1 (Pick UP! New)

SR — Tempest Slash Lv1 (Pick UP! New)

An 8-pickup streak!!

"Come out sooner! Seriously! Seriously!!"

This was the kind of situation where good results made you want to tear your hair out all the same. Even YggON seemed dumbfounded and couldn't get a word out.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

A situation where he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But in the end, judging purely by results, it was good.

Not a single SSR had come out — but that was always the case, so he hadn't expected one anyway. The most eye-catching of the pickups was, without a doubt, the grimoire line. Lightning, fire, and ice — one grimoire for each element. The grimoires obtainable in the City of the Demon God cast spells with a limited number of uses. Judging by the Lv tags, the UR YggON must have registered them as skills. He was curious how exactly the YggON system would implement these grimoires.

First, he checked the performance of Grimoire: Lightning.

A limit on uses — but it recovered one charge every ten minutes. Firestorm and Ice Lance worked the same way.

"Well, that'll have to do for now. Still, it means I can fight roughly the way I've been picturing."

YggON had a point. All this time, he'd simply made do with whatever skills he possessed — nothing you could call a combat method uniquely his own. Ever since he'd obtained the Shuffle Gun, he'd had a way of fighting drawn up in his head. But since he couldn't yet bring that vision to life, he planned to improvise for now — using his other skills to approximate it, however roughly.

A fighting style only he could wield — the man with the UR system, the Shuffle Gun, and Intuition.

How to put it in a single phrase...

The one who toys utterly with his enemies and seizes victory through sheer mockery.

"A Trickster."