Chapter 231: It's Your Turn
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 231: It's Your Turn
How does a civilian boy, not even a wizard, whose stats were completely reset after regressing three years, kill the Gumiho?
It was a task that would seem impossible to any strategist in the world, yet Caleb began this very operation at Fox Ridge.
There was a member of the fox-spirit tribe who would become the seed for the Gumiho's possession. A person he had never met in his first run.
‘Hyedam.’
She killed every single intruder who entered Fox Ridge.
All except for one scrawny human the plunderers had been dragging around as a prisoner.
“What’s your name?”
“Caleb.”
That was how the two first met, at the start of his second run.
“Light this for me.”
Hyedam pointed to the tip of her long bamboo pipe.
“You’ll do this for half a year. It’s the price for your life.”
Who could have possibly guessed that the young tobacco boy staying at Hyedam’s mansion was, in fact, the very person who had screwed over both the Labyrinth Master and Wizus and overturned the flow of the world?
-Can you pull it off?
The God-King sometimes worried about the strategy’s success rate.
-This isn’t something that can be solved by simply killing Hyedam. You have to make the Gumiho descend into her body and then dispose of it.
“I know.”
From within, the strategist began to corrupt the powerful yet naive guardian of the fox-spirit tribe, who had lived her entire life at Fox Ridge.
-You’re no different from the Labyrinth Master.
To the God-King, it looked like a form of mind control.
“Please don’t compare me to him…”
With each passing day, Caleb’s guilt piled up.
He had to make the Gumiho descend into Hyedam’s body and kill her.
He was confident he could accomplish the task itself, one way or another. It wasn’t simple, but it wasn’t impossible either. The gods he had met in his first run possessed overwhelming power, but they weren’t without their weaknesses.
However.
“I don’t want to die either. I’m also afraid of dying. Yes. I admit it. That’s why I called for you. Because I wanted to hear stories of the outside world. I wanted to know before I died. I was curious!”
That woman was such a pitiful person.
“Don’t you dare think you’re something special. You were just something I kept by my side for a moment to soothe my loneliness and anxiety.”
“…”
“Like a puppy or a cat, something warm and comforting to hold that calms the heart. That’s all you were!” Hyedam screamed, lashing out.
It was a lie.
“I wanted to get you out of here.”
Caleb lied as well.
He was, in fact, an assassin who had come to summon the Gumiho into Hyedam’s body and kill her.
-What do you plan to do?
The God-King was worried. The wizard’s actions were veering in an unpredictable direction.
“Guardian of the fox-spirit tribe, come down and duel me!”
Caleb defeated Hyedam.
He prevented the Gumiho from descending upon her.
-If you do this, the Gumiho will remain in the Ethereal Galaxy. It could be even more dangerous, Caleb.
“I know.”
The wizard took Hyedam to Wyndham.
He made her a Labyrinth adventurer.
And then.
“I’m Bipa. This is Mugol.”
He orchestrated a meeting with the Wyndham duo, making it look like a coincidence.
“Should the three of us form a party?”
The three-person Deep Layer party raced toward the Abyss at a terrifying speed.
“Hyedam. I want to enter the Labyrinth too.”
Back then, Caleb was like a mouse riding a giant water buffalo. He used the party, known as the strongest in Wyndham, to enter the Deep Layer.
-Why did you choose Bipa and Mugol?
To the God-King’s question.
“Because Bipa has the possessor village.”
He had answered.
And in the Deep Layer.
After the Gumiho’s descent had failed once, the fox-spirit who had walked in on her own two feet seemed like an incredibly sweet prey to the Labyrinth Master.
The Labyrinth Master made a fatal mistake. He invited the party into the Deep Layer and confronted them himself.
“Active Volcano.”
The Labyrinth Master used his biggest spell right from the start.
After blasting away Bipa and Mugol.
“Don’t you want to save your lover?”
He tempted Hyedam.
“Can’t you hear the Labyrinth Master’s whisper?”
It was a process thoroughly orchestrated by Caleb.
Rip!
When the Labyrinth Master let his guard down, Caleb tore the Fox Charm Talisman and showed Hyedam the red moon.
“I’m sorry. This is the only way.”
He slit Hyedam’s throat with a knife.
The moment that single, fleeting move was placed on the board, the Labyrinth Master sensed that his opponent was no ordinary human.
Hyedam was seized by madness. She had only one wish.
‘I want to protect Caleb.’
Just as it had been with Gildal, it was the final remaining goal for one who had offered their soul to the Labyrinth.
The Labyrinth’s deal was valid.
The Gumiho, seized by madness, protected Caleb. It showed hostility toward the Labyrinth Master, Caleb’s greatest enemy. The only madness that could pierce the Labyrinth Master was the madness he himself had created.
“You.”
From the Labyrinth Master’s perspective, this situation was not on a scale a mortal could have devised.
“Did Wizus send you?”
He had to be an assassin sent by Wizus.
Wizus must have noticed that the Gumiho had sided with the Labyrinth.
So he used this insignificant civilian to execute this plan.
It was a matter of the level of mind control over Hyedam. To create this situation, Caleb must have been gaslighting Hyedam for a long time. He made it so that she had no one but Caleb. He went directly into Fox Ridge, captured her heart, and made it so Hyedam would offer her own soul to the Labyrinth to protect Caleb in the Abyss. Then, he slit her throat to summon the Gumiho and pit it against the Labyrinth Master. All to make the Labyrinth Master eliminate the Gumiho with his own hands.
“So there was an ossuary inside.”
Moreover, Caleb did not give up on Hyedam.
He escaped with Hyedam’s soul and the Fox Marble.
And on the 10th Floor of the Labyrinth.
“Super Regeneration Scroll.”
“Rapid Vitality Potion.”
“Resurrection Scroll.”
He regenerated Hyedam’s body from the Fox Marble. He dressed her, then resurrected her with a Resurrection Scroll and the ossuary.
He held Hyedam, who had lost her mind from the immense shock, and stroked her hair.
“It’s all over now, calm down.”
Although Hyedam’s level of consciousness was so low she couldn’t even remember.
“The Gumiho can’t hurt you anymore.”
She was an Irregular, existing between the Ethereal Galaxy and the Labyrinth.
Originally the vessel for the Gumiho.
“A possessor will probably enter you. I’m sorry.”
Because there was no way Wizus would miss her. Anyone who was enthralled by the Labyrinth and survived became a target for Wizus.
The Labyrinth Master expels souls from people’s bodies and turns them into Exit Bosses, but if that fails, it is Wizus who plucks out the soul that is lodged like a loose screw.
“But that possessor won’t be able to completely control your body either.”
Because Hyedam’s body had been split in two. The half of her that the Gumiho had entered was in the Abyss of the Labyrinth.
“But I promise you. I will kill the Labyrinth Master. And I will get that possessor out of your body.”
Caleb took Hyedam and moved toward the 10th Floor exit room.
“Just hold on until then. Bipa will come for you. She’ll let you stay in the possessor village.”
The wizard had killed the Gumiho by borrowing the Labyrinth Master’s hand and had protected Hyedam.
And after clearing the exit room with Hyedam’s help.
Grip.
As Caleb turned to leave, Hyedam grabbed the hem of his clothes.
She was unconscious, but she was crying.
“Sorry.”
Caleb left Hyedam behind and departed through the exit gate.
*
“I murdered the Deep Layer adventurer, Hyedam.”
Caleb stood in the Wyndham court and submitted the Fox Marble as evidence.
“It was because she was a possessor.”
Because he was a real possessor, he knew a lot about the modern world, and since they had lived together, forging something like her diary was a piece of cake.
“The Wyndham court imposes a fine of 3,000 gold for the murder of a possessor.”
“I don’t have the money to pay the fine.”
Caleb did not pay the fine. Instead, he became a slave and headed to the magic university.
‘Now, Hyedam won’t leave the possessor village.’
He had made her officially a possessor and deceased, according to the Wyndham court.
She would be safe for a while.
-Even for Wizus or the Labyrinth Master, designing a strategy of this scale and risk would not have been easy.
Even the God-King was astonished by the audacious plan.
-But what will you do from now on?
“The Hourglass skills I chose in my first run were Direction Adjuster, Time Trader, and…”
Caleb said.
“Mind Controller.”
He had mastered Mind Controller to its final stage.
[Hourglass Master Skill]
『Turn Target into a Piece』
-You can turn up to four targets into pieces. As their true master who controls not only their present but also their future, you can directly distribute the targets’ stat points.
“The reason I failed the first run was because I couldn’t raise my party members one by one.”
-Are you confident you can defeat the Labyrinth Master if you raise them yourself?
“About 50-50…?”
-Hyedam, Bipa, and Mugol are individuals whose growth is already complete at this point. They have no future for you to control.
“That’s right.”
-You’re looking at Yernil, Aimus, and Back Attack.
“Yes.”
-And I also know why you boarded that slave ship.
“The final target to be turned into a piece is myself.”
-A knight in the Grand Game never becomes a piece himself.
“I will be the first.”
-If you relegate yourself to a piece, you will lose all your memories as a knight.
“That’s why, before that happens, I need you to seize the time in my head and store my memories.”
Wizus could take away a human’s time. Even from within their minds.
The reason the history of eras like the Age of Myths or the Age of the Nine Kings was lost was because Wizus had taken it.
“Like Wizus, you can do it too, right?”
-…
The God-King hesitated for a moment before speaking.
-Of course, I can.
“Then I’m counting on you.”
-But, will you, having lost your memories, be able to find me again?
To the God-King, it seemed like an incredibly difficult and arduous plan.
As much as rescuing Hyedam while eliminating the Gumiho.
“It’s okay.”
Caleb moved to the line where the university slaves were being gathered.
This was the point where Assistant Instructor Caleb was supposed to come out and manage the slaves.
Caleb stood in the same line as Yernil. Positioned so they would be in the same team when divided into groups of four.
-You’ll have almost no one to help you.
‘I believe in myself.’
Caleb used Turn Target into a Piece on himself.
He became a piece in his own plan.
The God-King took custody of his memories.
*
“You are a god of extreme control,” the God-King said.
“Trying to control not only the world, but yourself as well.”
“…”
Now, all his memories had returned.
“How is it?” the God-King asked.
“This Grand Game is now nearing its conclusion. Is it similar to what you planned three years ago?”
I slowly nodded my head.
“Almost entirely, aside from a few discrepancies.”
“Then let’s go, wizard.”
The God-King held my hand tightly.
My consciousness erupted.
It was like surfacing from the sea of time within the Labyrinth.
From the 10th floor to the 9th, 8th, 7th.
Ascending past the middle and lower floors of the Labyrinth, to the surface.
And above it.
A cross-section of the world.
Everything became as small as ants.
“Now you too will be able to see it.”
It was a world ruled by Transcendent beings.
The chessboard of the universe.
The perspective of the world’s hegemons.
‘I can see it.’
A vast land spread out before me.
With Sohen at its center.
From the Ethereal Galaxy to the Abyss of the Labyrinth, everything was laid bare in a single glance.
Adventurers rushing furiously below the 1st Floor of the Labyrinth.
The Consul and the professors at the forefront.
And at the 1st Floor fountain, I could see Krom’s party. Nimue and Rococo too.
Aimus, Back Attack. And…
‘Yernil!’
Seeing her on the 1st Floor, it seemed she had followed my final order perfectly.
Good. Well done, Yernil.
And the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors of the Labyrinth. Trivial monsters.
5th Floor. Cobras at the oasis. Birtanen’s party and Bernard’s party.
6th Floor. I could see Hijikata’s party. And the Barbarian chieftain, Romkier. The Inter-floor Lord, the One-horned Ox.
7th and 8th Floors. The monsters of the Deep Layer, climbing the stairs with unstoppable momentum after killing me. 9th Floor.
“…!”
The Labyrinth Master, who had been heading for the 8th-floor stairs, suddenly whipped his head around.
Our eyes met.
“I see.”
The demon’s shoulders shook.
“I see. I knew it. I thought something was strange.”
The Labyrinth Master chuckled, a sound like a sob, then threw his head back.
His soul began to swell to an enormous size.
I could feel it. The Lord of the Abyss was changing his perspective. To obtain the same view I had.
It was like looking down from a high place with a Wizard’s Eye or as a Watcher.
The Labyrinth Master walked on the ground, but he could simultaneously look down upon the world. Just like me, right now.
“You used regression magic.”
The Labyrinth Master, who had suddenly become as colossal as the God-King, took a seat before the world, as if it were a single chessboard.
“The Hourglass is already broken, isn’t it?”
There were three knights on this chessboard.
The world was round, but if you were to divide it into three 120-degree slices, the Labyrinth Master sat on one side. I sat on the right, with the God-King standing behind me as my guardian.
And in the last remaining seat.
“I knew someone had used regression magic.”
The Usurper descended from the Ethereal Galaxy.
“Caleb. I suspected you all along.”
Wizus scanned me with a chilling gaze.
“You are not a Turn-Based Master. You possess a power greater than that. I had a vague feeling, but it seems the God-King was involved.”
He said.
“A miscalculation. To think I examined the inside of your head countless times, only to be cornered into a situation like this.”
Wizus had read my mind on numerous occasions, but there were no memories of regression within it.
That was why Wizus had only observed me, all while searching for the reason the Hourglass had shattered.
“Everything was opaque, as if shrouded in fog. Now, I see it all. God-King. Are you trying to take the world back into your hands through that wizard?”
“I am already a being devoured by the Labyrinth,” the God-King replied.
“I desire nothing. However, I can no longer trust either of you. I will entrust the Grand Game to this wizard.”
That game board was a turn-based strategy simulation.
Not a turn-based RPG.
In gaming terms, it was closer to a 4X game like Civilization.
The world was a single board.
Upon which the gods moved their pieces, fighting to seize hegemony.
“How many pieces do you have?”
The Labyrinth Master smiled.
“Haven’t you already been defeated, Caleb?”
“…”
“No.”
The God-King wrapped an arm around my shoulder.
“Look closely, Caleb. See how many pieces you have acquired so far.”
I could see it clearly with my own eyes.
And I could feel it.
▶ Individuals with 100% Trust who can be commanded
1. Yernil
2. Aimus
3. Back Attack
4. Hyedam
5. Bipa
6. Mugol
7. Meldini
8. Isilof
9. Birtanen
10. Jikal
11. Emma
12. Avison
13. Bernard
14. Astin
15. Remus
16. Greg
17. Neko
18. Mikhail
19. Urgash
20. Clorence Berten
21. Kudrum
22. Dorothy
23. Richard
24. Isel Berten
25. Edward Berten
26. Peterson
27. Krom
28. Nimue
29. Rococo
30. Eulparyeong
“From the lower floors to the Deep Layer. From Avison, who was a third-rate adventurer until just recently, to the university dean, Meldini.”
The God-King said.
“Look at the people who follow this wizard.”
“…”
“…”
Wizus and the Labyrinth Master stared intently at the world and at me.
“All the better.”
The Labyrinth Master said, clenching his fist.
“Wizus alone was not enough to satisfy me. The final Grand Game ought to be on this scale.”
“Indeed.”
Wizus also burst into laughter.
“Fine, I acknowledge you as a knight, wizard. I have convened the Labyrinth Union General Assembly, and the Labyrinth Master has caused an Abyssal Eruption. Now, it’s your turn.”
Then, a powerful message appeared before my eyes.
One I had seen countless times before.
But on a completely different scale.
*
[It's your turn.]
“Let’s go, wizard.”
The God-King said.
“This is the final Grand Game.”