The Door of Faith

The Golden Compass rested in my hand.

For a single, dangerous instant, I was truly tempted. I had no idea what kind of situation my little sister was in — and with this compass, I could go find her right now.

Clearing the Guild Quest would award a Golden Compass, supposedly. But there was no telling whether we could actually clear it. And in the meantime, anything could happen to her. Of all the things I needed in this moment, this was at the very top of the list.

Did everyone else get something like this too? It seemed as though whatever each of us needed most had materialized right before our eyes.

For Elena, the most important thing right now would surely be something to help find the reincarnation of Kaiserion, the primordial Elf God.

And Hyung — Kang Hyuk. What would he need most right now? I couldn't even begin to guess what item he'd been given.

If even one of us chooses this, does the whole thing fail?

There was the door we had entered, and the two other doors the others had gone through. I had no way of knowing whether they'd been given the same kind of item-choice mission, or something entirely different. One thing was certain: this mission was not going to be as easy as it looked.

They weren't even going to give us time to think. The countdown had already begun.

The numbers kept falling. I was going to have to choose, and soon.

Haa. What do I do?

The whole point of this Guild Quest was to obtain ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Golden Compass. If I took it here and now, failing the quest wouldn't even matter. The compass was the base reward for clearing it, and while there were additional items granted individually on top of that, we didn't strictly need to finish the thing.

The other problem was this: everyone except the person who chose would be sent to the Penalty Room. I had no idea what kind of place that was, but it certainly wouldn't be another simple choice chamber like this one.

All sound from outside has been cut off.

The moment we'd stepped into this room, every means of communicating with the others had been completely severed. If this rule only applied to the door we were in, I'd considered what would happen if all three of us took our items. The message had said only those who didn't choose would be sent to the Penalty Room — meaning if everyone chose, nobody would go. But I had no way of knowing whether the other doors even followed the same rule. There was nothing I could do about that.

I forfeit.

I didn't know if the others were thinking the same thing. But if someone had to go to the Penalty Room, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it had to be me. I was the strongest fighter here. I couldn't let it be anyone else.

So I left the item sitting on the table.

A moment passed, as if waiting for everyone to finish, and then a new message appeared.

What?

For a second I thought I'd misread it. Those words meant that the other two — Elena and Kang Hyuk — had taken their items.

What the hell could they have been given…

I couldn't make sense of it. Under ordinary circumstances, forfeiting was the correct choice. The fact that they hadn't meant those items had been something they truly, desperately needed.

I could see ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Elena doing it, maybe.

If it was for the sake of finding the Elf God's reincarnation, I could understand. I could accept, at least a little, that she might choose something for the sake of her people.

But Hyung? Why would he…

That I could not understand at all. He would have known perfectly well that someone else might be sent to the Penalty Room — and he chose the item anyway? I knew Kang Hyuk's character. He was the last person who would ever do that. It made the whole thing even more bewildering.

The transfer message appeared before my eyes, just as I'd expected. I hadn't misread the first one after all.

He must have had his reasons.

I told myself that, and then the door to the Penalty Room materialized in front of me.

The door that had originally led back out was already gone. Confirming I had no other way forward, I readied myself for a fight and eased this one open.

Nothing here?

A stark white room. Empty. No one and nothing in it. I stepped inside slowly, and the door I'd come through swung shut on its own and faded away.

"Whoa! I like this place!"

The White Dragon brat who'd followed me in went zipping around the room, clearly delighted by something. Maybe because it was the same color as him. He darted here and there with the wide-eyed, innocent look of a child.

"Hey. Stay still. We don't know what's coming."

"Doesn't look like there's anything here, though?"

"Yeah, well. You never know."

Truth be told, the White Dragon had a point. Nothing in here looked remotely threatening. For a place called the Penalty Room, it was so uneventful it hardly deserved the name.

What is this? Are we just supposed to sit here locked in? Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing.

But perhaps I shouldn't have thought that.

"Huh?"

Another message. And with it, the Golden Compass, appearing once more.

Why is this back?

The compass that had vanished from the previous room was sitting in front of me again. What kind of choice were they trying to force on me this time?

What is this?

The choice laid out before me. The other two had already taken their items in the first round, which meant clearing the Guild Quest was a lost cause. And that meant any chance of obtaining the Golden Compass through the quest was gone.

But now it's sitting right in front of me again. A compass whose odds of being mine had dropped to zero. If I chose the one staring me in the face right now, I could go find my sister this instant.

But if I take it…

If I took this compass, the items Elena and Kang Hyuk had chosen would vanish. They'd almost certainly been given whatever they needed most in the world. That was why they'd made the choice they had, even knowing the cost.

And then another thought crept in.

Would it really be so wrong if I were a little selfish too?

Kang Hyuk and Elena had chosen their items for their own gain. And I needed this Golden Compass just as desperately. I had no idea what my one and only little sister had gotten mixed up in. I didn't have the luxury of sitting around.

Should I take it?

Honestly, I wanted to. The thought that I might never see her again if I didn't get this compass here and now was starting to crowd out everything else in my head.

Haa. What do I do?

The numbers were falling fast again. Watching them tick down made it even harder to think straight.

Should I… take it?

The same message as before. But this time, I was ready to make a different choice.

I needed this Golden Compass more than anything. The others had acted a little selfishly too — so why shouldn't I be allowed this much?

And then, out of nowhere, a thought struck me.

Wait. Didn't they call this the Door of Faith?

The first stage door had been named the Door of Faith. Which meant we were supposed to trust each other. And yet here I was, doubting Elena and Kang Hyuk.

Did they actually choose those items?

The feeling hit me all at once. What if that first room had been nothing more than a setup — a device built for this choice, right here?

Then the choice I have to make is…

Already decided. This was the Door of Faith. A door that could not be passed without trust.

I set the Golden Compass down without hesitation.

Even the words transferring me to the Penalty Room brought a strange sense of calm. If they were true — if I really was being sent there — at least I hadn't lost to temptation.

And then a new door appeared. I walked toward it and opened it carefully.

The moment the door opened, a bright, cheerful melody spilled out. Had I made the right choice after all?

Stage 1, cleared. Which meant Kang Hyuk and Elena hadn't taken their items either.

"Man, this is seriously messed up. I can't believe those messages were fake. I thought for sure you'd taken it."

"I know, right? Glad you caught on too, Hyung."

After that first round of choices, the system had thrown up a false result — of course anyone would have thought the others had grabbed their items.

"It wasn't that I figured it out. I just didn't need to choose."

"What? Why?"

"They gave me a Golden Compass too. Even if I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠didn't take it, you'd be the one to grab it if anyone did. So I didn't need it."

"A Golden Compass? Was there something you wanted to find?"

The fact that what Kang Hyuk needed most had also been a Golden Compass caught me a little off guard. It wasn't as though he had nothing he wanted to look for, but still—

"That's why…? Hyung!"

I lunged forward and pulled him into a hug. He immediately started shoving me off.

"Hey! Knock it off!"

For a second, even I felt a little weird about two guys hugging like that. Especially with Elena watching.

"Elena, what did you get?"

"Me?"

She just smiled at that, and didn't answer. I couldn't help wondering what item had appeared for her.

And while I was still turning it over—

Stage 2 was about to begin.