Chapter 160: That Day 12 Years Ago
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 160: That Day 12 Years Ago
There was a game that was a brief hit when it first launched, but its popularity quickly faded due to its outrageously brutal difficulty.
Labyrinth of the Abyss.
It was only natural that a small community formed among the hardcore veterans of such a game.
[Abyss Diver Cafe]
The community’s name signified a gathering of users who had dived headfirst into the Labyrinth of the Abyss, and at the same time, a gathering of no-lifers who, like the in-game adventurers, delved into the abyss of its difficulty.
-Chihuahua: Another tough day for this district office civil servant.
-Broccoli: Chihuahua got chewed out by the section chief again lol
-Chihuahua: You think I get chewed out by him every day? Today, I got an earful from a citizen with a complaint!
-Yeti: Still, it’s good to have a job.
-Chihuahua: To all you aspiring civil servants out there, stop… what lies ahead is the ‘abyss.’
-ApplePhone: Recommend something for dinner.
Though the place was filled more with everyday chatter than game talk, new members were rare. But that day, miraculously, one person joined.
-THOMAS: Hello my name is THOMAS.
He typed awkwardly in a machine-translated tone.
-THOMAS: I am challenging the asceticism difficulty. I need your help.
-Chihuahua: lololol what is this
-Broccoli: Thomas’s gimmick is so strong I’m starting to feel a crisis of identity.
-Yeti: What’s asceticism difficulty?
-ApplePhone: This place has really become a madhouse.
It wasn't uncommon to find one or two hardcore players in a veteran community who had been completely consumed by their own gimmick, but this guy was the real deal.
-THOMAS: I am a foreigner. I am using Google Translate.
-Chihuahua: A real foreigner?
-ApplePhone: Don't tell me he tried to translate ‘Asceticism’ difficulty and the machine spit out something weird.
-THOMAS: The difficulty is asceticism.
-Chihuahua: I think he means the Asceticism difficulty (I can’t read English)
-Broccoli: Asceticism-bro lolololol
-Chihuahua: THOMAS, everyone here is living in the abyss, so we’re all forced to be ascetics. Don’t worry.
-THOMAS: If you are asking about asceticism, I am fourteen years old. So I have no sexual experience.
-Chihuahua: lolololol
-Broccoli: lolololol
-Yeti: lolololol are you really fourteen?
-ApplePhone: But seriously, why did a foreigner come all the way here?
-THOMAS: Please let me explain. The reason I came to the Korean server is…….
“If you search for Labyrinth of the Abyss on Mutube, the most famous gameplay video is from some Korean player.”
When Henry the Possessor met them again, he recounted the story once more.
“I ended up here after watching that person’s guides.”
Sometimes, when a few Possessors held a secret meeting at Blackdog’s, they would talk endlessly about the real world, as if trying to unburden themselves.
A significant number of the group’s members were wizards.
For instance, Elaine, a professor at the Magic University, was Chihuahua.
“You mean the dual-wielding wand wizard? That person cleared the Hall of Fame or something and then disappeared, right?”
Broccoli Dipped in Red Chili Paste was also a university professor, Bennett.
“The smart ones always get out first. The person who first cleared Classic difficulty just bailed right after getting into the Hall of Fame, leaving us abyss-dwellers to obsess over a dead game until we ended up here.”
Yeti was also a university professor, Clay.
“Anyway, Thomas—I mean, Henry. You should hurry up and join the university. We’ll give you our full support.”
And ApplePhone was Professor Robin.
“You were a wizard from the moment you were possessed, right?”
Henry had been a wizard at the time of his possession.
However, he wasn't affiliated with the university. For whatever reason, the pre-possession Henry had been expelled.
“We can fix the expulsion. We have that much power. Just go to the university admissions office and submit an application.”
The Possessor professors often said this, but Henry would only smile.
“You’re really reluctant to join the university, Henry. Your girlfriend is in the research lab next to ours, you know.”
“Henry has a girlfriend!?”
“They just started dating. She’s a first-year freshman wizard.”
“How could Mr. Asceticism….”
As they gossiped, Blackdog would sometimes chime in with a sarcastic joke.
“Don’t listen to them. They all took shortcuts to get their jobs.”
And he would bicker with Chihuahua.
“What! A shortcut! No, we didn’t!”
“You just used your Possessor knowledge to churn out a bunch of papers on binding magic and got professorships for it, didn't you?”
“Excuse me! You have to clear up to the 8th floor to even qualify for a professorship, you know?”
In any case, Henry was grateful to all of them.
“Henry, even though the university is crawling with wizards right now, four professors still carry a lot of weight. Of course, we’re not on the level of Isilof, Meldini, or Dalstream.”
Yeti, in particular, doted on Henry like a son.
“I may look young now, but I was a bit older originally, you see?”
It was because she, a former housewife from Gangseo District in Seoul, had a middle-school-aged son.
Just about Henry’s age.
“I miss him… so much.”
Occasionally, she would gaze at Henry with sad eyes.
“Anyway, Henry. Don’t struggle out there on your own. If things get tough, enroll in the university. We’ll help you.”
“Yes, thank you.”
And Blackdog always stuck to the Possessors’ one absolute rule.
“Look, I don’t care who does what or where. But you must follow the 2-week Labyrinth rule.”
He also had a backup plan.
“If you ever find yourself in a situation where you can’t get in, come to me. I’ll figure something out for you.”
“Right. Everyone, stay alive.”
As the meetings drew to a close, Chihuahua would usually offer a blessing of sorts.
“Let’s all make it back home alive.”
This was all before Blackdog and the Assembly split.
Back when Sohen was brimming with productivity and vitality.
A time when everyone was still burning with the desire to defeat the Labyrinth Master.
Henry would sometimes meet his girlfriend in front of his house.
She was twenty-one, five years older than him.
But if you only considered their bodies, Henry’s possessed body was in its late twenties, making her the younger one.
It didn’t really matter.
Brillin.
When he pulled her into an embrace, the top of her head, a Halfling’s, came up to about his chest.
“Henry!”
And sometimes, he would run into her family in front of his house.
“Ugh…”
Professor Meldini, said to be one of the most skilled wizards at the university.
Brillin’s father was extremely displeased with his daughter’s boyfriend.
“My precious dinner time with my daughter…”
When Brillin would scamper over to Henry, Meldini would grimace in agony behind them.
A Possessor.
Meldini hated Possessors. Their presence caused Labyrinth Eruptions. The Labyrinth of Sohen had been peaceful for a long time, but one never knew when that could change.
The professor always insisted that they must remain vigilant against Possessors.
But his beloved daughter had fallen head over heels for one.
“It’s not just me. Henry likes me a lot, too! That’s why he even told me he was a Possessor.”
“That’s another reason I hate that bastard! You shouldn’t go around carelessly revealing a weakness like that! The fact that it even reached my ears shows just how reckless he is!”
Meldini threw a fit every time he saw Henry.
“And he’s a wizard but not even affiliated with the university! He hangs around with a trashy group like Blackdog’s! He forms parties with the thugs he meets there! He’s in his third year and has only made it to the 2nd floor of the Labyrinth!”
“Calm down, Dad!”
“Argh!”
But as the saying goes, no parent can win against their child. Meldini eventually decided to accept Henry.
“You!”
The professor had shouted at Henry one day.
“Enroll in the Magic University! I’m going to have to overhaul your entire memory book, starting from Tier 1 magic. If you’re going to date my daughter, you’d better become a proper wizard worthy of her!”
“R-Really?”
“Yes! Enroll immediately!”
To be honest, Henry wanted to enter the Magic University too.
His friends, the other Possessors, his girlfriend—they were all at the university.
But fixing his expulsion required a professor’s approval, and Henry hadn’t wanted to burden people like Chihuahua or Broccoli.
That’s why he had held back until now.
Besides, he had been careful not to get on Meldini’s bad side.
“And form a new party!”
But Meldini himself had given his permission!
“You’re going to form a party with Brillin, right? If you have two wizards, you need a sturdy front line. You also need to secure a means of healing. Tsk.”
Henry was so happy he felt like he could fly, and Meldini’s gruff nagging barely registered.
“Thank you, Father!”
“Who are you calling Father! Do you want to die!”
“Professor!”
“You’re so infuriating, really!”
Meldini ground his teeth but signed his admission application.
Brillin’s older brother had married a member of his Labyrinth party. And they had a child.
Every time they met, Brillin would go on and on about her brother’s family, who seemed so happy.
Henry began to have sweet dreams of his own.
He just had to do one thing.
Enroll in the Magic University—
‘Huh?’
It happened by pure chance.
After submitting his application at the university’s admissions office, he was heading to the professors’ building to greet Meldini.
“…”
Spotting a man walking down the hallway, Henry felt his breath catch in his throat.
Nod.
The man gave Henry a brief nod and walked past him, heading straight into the Dean’s office.
Henry’s legs gave out.
He felt like he was about to collapse on the spot and barely managed to hold himself up by grabbing the wall.
He knew because he was a Possessor.
There was no way he wouldn’t recognize that face.
The man who had just passed had a pale skin tone, his age difficult to guess. His skin was clear and free of wrinkles, but his eyes were murky.
He was…
‘The Labyrinth Master.’
Fearing he might make a sound, Henry clamped a hand over his mouth and crawled to the door of the Dean’s office.
Praying that what he had seen was a mistake, a delusion, he pressed his ear to the door.
—White Lion. What did you do with the original Dean’s corpse?
But what he heard from inside the Dean’s office was even more horrifying.
—The Raptor ate it.
—Just like a cleanup animal.
—Whose body have you borrowed?
—A body I captured long ago.
—Be careful when you go out, even in a fake body. The Master is still…
—I know.
The demon’s voice alone was enough to make his knees tremble.
Henry bit his lip, terrified that a sound might escape.
—How many Possessors have gathered at the university?
The shocking conversation continued to flow from within the Dean’s office.
—Elaine, Bennett, Clay, and Robin. I have gathered a total of four. All hold professorships.
—All Possessors must be gathered at the university. It makes them easier to manage.
—Of course. They will soon pledge their loyalty to you, Master.
—What about that professor who was wary of Possessors?
—You mean Meldini? You need not worry. He has softened considerably these days.
—Is that so?
—It seems Meldini’s daughter is seeing a Possessor.
—One of the professors?
—No! Not at all. He is not affiliated with the university.
—Keep him at the university and manage him.
—Of course. Meldini’s daughter is persuading him to come to the university. The Possessor professors tried to recruit him at one point…
—It matters not. However, White Lion. Next time I come, use Night of Silence in advance.
—Pardon?
The demon’s voice turned toward the office door.
—There’s a little rat outside.
Thud!
Henry scrambled backward in terror.
—Catch it and feed it to the Raptor.
With those final words, Henry bolted, fleeing the university as if his life depended on it.
I’ll be caught.
I’m going to be caught!
As he ran home in a state of terror, a more rational thought formed in Henry’s mind.
‘If they use psychometry magic to investigate the hallway in front of the Dean’s office.’
Then his face would appear.
He would be caught in an instant.
‘They already knew about me!’
The Dean.
No, they said ‘the Raptor ate the original Dean’s corpse,’ which meant the current Dean was one of the Labyrinth Master’s minions in disguise.
‘A monster is controlling the university!’
Not only that, but perhaps…
“Henry!”
“Hah…”
Coming face to face with Brillin, Henry fell into a panic.
“What’s wrong? You’re covered in a cold sweat…”
“N-No, it’s nothing. I’m just… not feeling well…”
How much did Brillin know? Where had the information that Henry was a Possessor leaked from? Did it come from Meldini? Or…
“Did you enroll at the university?”
Brillin’s bright smile seemed to overlap with the demon’s he had encountered in the hallway.
“N-Not yet…”
Elaine, Bennett, Clay, Robin.
How much did the Possessor professors know?
Why had they been so insistent on recruiting Henry into the Magic University?
“Today… I want to be alone…”
Henry began to shut himself away.
But there was a problem.
He had to follow the 2-week rule