One Against Fifty-Six
“Finally found it.”
It had been a week since I entered the labyrinth, and at last I had reached its deepest point.
“Well, this is nicely made. I wonder who the creator was?”
I murmured to myself as I looked up at the enormous gate before me. Its surface was covered in carvings so elaborate they felt almost ancient.
“Let's see here….”
Stepping closer, I began to examine the reliefs one by one. A demon kindling fire, a demon cutting something down with a blade, a demon battling angels — nearly every carving depicted a demon.
Well, what else would a demon carve?
There was a distinct narrative flowing through the reliefs on this gate, and things like this usually told the story of the labyrinth's creator.
A demon was born — the first to ever kindle flame. Unsatisfied with fire alone, the demon took up a weapon. With that weapon, it split space itself. And with that same blade, the demon cut down countless angels and gods.
“This would be… a Great Demon, then?”
Interpreting the demon's saga carved into this gate could only bring one being to mind — and I had seen that Great Demon in person before.
Sataniel, the Great Demon of Wrath.
The demon the Demon King of Wrath had contracted with, and the demon who had died at my own hands.
Sataniel specialized in fire and the sword, and was consumed by pride.
Is this labyrinth a fake?
As far as I knew, Sataniel didn't build labyrinths. He'd rather fight with his own two hands than bother constructing one.
If this really is a knock-off, then…
It told me what to expect from the boss waiting beyond this gate. There would be an imitation modeled after Sataniel.
An easy win, then.
Whoever had built this labyrinth was almost certainly a nobody. Anyone constructing their first labyrinth starts by simply making it big — and a maze that takes a full week to navigate marked its creator as bottom-tier. No matter how much the boss might be inspired by Sataniel, it wouldn't have managed to reproduce even a hundredth of his power.
The moment I laid my hand on the gate, a message appeared before my eyes.
Do you wish to enter the Boss Room?
“Yes.”
Creeeeak!
The gate groaned open with an ostentatious clamor, far slower than necessary.
Well, they sure nailed the theatrics.
The instant I thought that and set my foot inside, the gate slammed shut behind me. Flames began racing up the torches along the walls in sequence, and finally, a demon seated upon a throne materialized before me.
Cliché soup, much?
I flicked my forehead with a thwack, itching to give the labyrinth's creator a lecture on the spot. Whoever had built this place would never amount to a first-rate demon. A cliché this worn-out had been milked dry ages ago.
Still, they probably did the boss itself well.
Even with an entrance this ham-fisted, the boss's actual quality would surely be high. It had to be.
Or I'll kill the creator.
After a week of suffering through this maze, if all I got in return was a shabby entrance and a shabby boss, I refused to accept it. In the name of the Tower of Trials, I prayed that at least the boss's appearance would be worth the wait.
“You have come far, challenger….”
“Oh, come on….”
Hearing the boss's opening line, I wanted to cover my ears on the spot.
“The only way to escape this labyrinth is to kill me.”
Sigh….
The boss delivered its line and leveled its sword at me.
Look, I'm a man too — I have my own romantic notions about labyrinths like this. But this was too much.
“Just die.”
In a foul mood now, I immediately set my footwork into motion.
Pabaek Footwork.
Chungbo — the Charge Step.
Mana, denser and more potent than ever, began pooling in my legs.
The boss swung its sword.
Clang!
With the slightest shift of movement, I batted the blade aside. Legs saturated with mana had hardened like tempered steel.
Even the finest armament rusts with time.
Pabaek Footwork.
Hanbo — the Chilling Step.
As I flowed through the steps, I wove the attribute of light into my mana.
Pabaek Footwork.
Baekbo — the Hundredth Step.
And with the Hundredth Step, I detonated that mana straight into the boss.
BOOM!
The thunderclap arrived a beat too late. The boss had already been hurled into the far distance and blown to pieces.
“I'm starting to feel a little guilty about this.”
The second floor's boss hadn't died to a single step either. But the third floor's boss, by contrast, had died in one strike.
Which meant the real trial of the third floor was never the boss at all — it was this needlessly enormous maze.
What a letdown.
After a short wait, the system message finally arrived.
Having confirmed my reward, I closed the system window. No potion, which was a little disappointing — but with this many coins, it hardly mattered.
Quest Cleared.
Reward: Arachne's Thread has been added to your inventory.
Do you wish to proceed to Floor 4?
“Yes.”
Since floors two and three had dragged on, the fourth would likely be short and brutal. Better to push on to the fifth floor and rest there than waste time resting on this one.
Don't tell me the fourth floor will be like this too?
Floors one and two had genuinely felt like trials. Floor three, though, fell short of earning the name. I could only hope the fourth floor would deliver a proper trial at last.
“WOWWOWWOWWOW!”
The first sound to greet me as I opened my eyes was a deafening roar.
Now what?
I immediately took stock of my surroundings and my own condition.
A Colosseum? And why am I dressed like this?
One sweep of the area and it was obvious — this was a colosseum, and my outfit made me look like some medieval gladiator. As if answering my thoughts, a quest window popped up.
Conquer the Arena
📖 Description: Defeat the records of every champion.
✅ Success Condition: Break the record of all champions.
💀 Failure Condition: Death.
🎁 Reward: Skill — Battle of the Gladiators (C)
After reviewing the quest window, I checked my equipment. Nothing on my upper body, and my lower half was covered in nothing but thin cloth. The only protection I had was a helmet.
One wrong hit and I'm a dead man.
Not that I intended to get hit. And as long as I had my footwork, taking an attack was never on the table.
The only weapon they gave me is a spear?
A sensible choice for gladiators with no armor. Of course, with my footwork, a spear was actually a poor fit.
I'll just set the spear aside and fight barehanded.
Carrying it around would only get in the way. I set the spear down on the ground and loosened up my body.
“And now, let the Colosseum begin!!!”
The announcer's cry sent the crowd into a frenzy.
“Today, as the Founder of Footwork challenges the record of Champion Kaku — the opponent for his very first match is…!”
At the announcer's call, the iron gate directly in front of me ground upward, and a burly man strode out.
“The stepping stone of the beginner division — Bareun!”
“WOWWOWWOW!”
I had no idea who this Bareun was, but judging from the mana radiating off the man who was apparently my opponent, he was around E-Rank Awakener level.
What exactly does he think he's going to do with that?
Neither the giddy announcer nor the roaring crowd made any sense to me.
“Hey, shrimp.”
“…Shrimp?”
“Yeah, shrimp. If you don't want to get hurt, do yourself a favor and forfeit now.”
Bareun said his piece and sauntered back to his corner.
Ha.
A laugh of pure disbelief escaped me. Forfeit — to whom, exactly?
You're dead.
Before the match began, I quietly gathered mana into my legs.
“Then, let the duel begin!”
The instant the announcer's voice fell, I launched into my footwork.
Basic Footwork.
Sok — Speed.
Slipping behind Bareun in a single step, I drove a roundhouse kick straight into his head.
Thwack!
A perfectly satisfying impact sound — followed a heartbeat later by a thunderous roar.
BOOM!
“…Uh?”
A dumbstruck sound spilled from the announcer's mouth. Fair enough — the man had been so full of himself a second ago, and now he'd been sent flying into the wall at a speed the eye couldn't even register, out cold.
“Th-the winner! Founder of Footwork!”
“WOWWOWWOW!!”
At the announcer's declaration, the crowd erupted. But I had no spare attention for any of it.
⊳ Current Streak:1
⊳ Target Streak:57
Sigh….
At this pace, clearing the quest would take more than twenty-four hours. I'd already suffered enough in that maze — here, I wanted to finish fast and move on to the fifth floor.
“Hey, announcer. Got a proposal for you.”
“What would that be?”
“Instead of fighting one-on-one like this, can't I just take them on all at once?”
“That's above my pay grade.”
The announcer gave that answer and headed down out of the arena for a while. I used the time to reflect on the footwork I'd just displayed.
The Pabaek Footwork, the basic footwork too — everything's gotten too strong.
If I stepped into the Anomaly with my footwork in its current state, it would strain my body without fail.
But not even trying it out isn't an option either.
Things like this could only be calibrated by doing them firsthand. Trial and error was a necessary evil.
After a short wait, the announcer returned.
“Ahem — we have an announcement to make.”
“An announcement?”
“In the Colosseum?”
The crowd began to murmur.
“At the challenger Founder of Footwork's request, from this point forward, his matches will no longer be one-on-one — but one against many!”
At the announcer's words, the crowd stirred yet again.
“Therefore, beginning now, we present a clash between the challenger Founder of Footwork and fifty-six men!”
“WOWWOWWOWWOW!”
Along with the crowd's roar, a line of burly men began filing slowly out of the far gate.
Around D-Rank, give or take?
The fifty-six men averaged D-Rank, and even the strongest among them was only about B-Rank. This was a number I could handle simultaneously.
“Then, let the duel begin!”
At the announcer's words, the gladiators gripped their weapons and began glaring me down.
More wary than I expected, huh?
Not that their caution would buy them any mercy. I immediately began channeling mana into my legs.
Just pooling it won't be enough, though.
If I only gathered it there, my legs couldn't withstand the strain. With the Taeheo Heart Method having strengthened my mana, not only my footwork but my skills had grown more potent too — and since I'd be fusing the two, I needed to be careful.
Gather it while spreading it out.
Pool the mana in my legs while simultaneously scattering it around me. That way, the burden when I executed the footwork would be reduced.
That should do it.
The principle of the Anomaly lay in arbitrarily manipulating a skill through mana. The skill's activation consumed mana — and the Anomaly interfered with that consumption and the skill's trigger itself. Of course, the Anomaly demanded that much more concentration.
Basic Footwork.
Anomaly.
Fighting Spirit.
The moment my foot touched the ground, mana spilled out from it. Simultaneously, the mana and magical energy dispersed around the arena began to churn — and then, in midair, the skill detonated.
BOOM!
With the thunderclap, a billowing cloud of smoke surged up around me.
“Wh-what on earth is happening? We can't confirm the results!”
The announcer flailed in open panic. Unbothered by his theatrics, I calmly read the system message before my eyes.