– Volume 3, Chapter 5
55. Earth. Return (3)
All of them are dead. The ghost continued to grumble.
[How did you survive to such a level that you couldn’t even catch a Big Rat?]
“Unlike me, these are easy labyrinths.”
[An easy labyrinth? Where is that?]
Taesan explained. They were given the choice of Easy Mode, Normal Mode, Hard Mode and Alone Mode.
He said he chose one of them and entered the labyrinth.
The ghost, who was silent for a moment, opened his mouth.
[There are many labyrinths?]
“Yes.”
[…What are you talking about?]
It was a very disturbing voice.
[There is only one labyrinth. Separating with a mod or something. There’s no way that’s the case.]
“But is it really like that?”
Easy Normal Hard Alone.
Each mode has monsters and bosses according to the floor. All of them were different. They had one thing in common: the shape of the floors and the 100th floor.
The ghost, who had been thinking about it for a while, managed to organize it.
[At least as far as I remember, Labyrinth wasn’t separated. There have been times where the dimensions have been separated by the gods, but it is extremely rare and most have returned to normal.]
Taishan looked up at the sky.
Monsters
were pouring out of gaping holes.
[Did someone artificially create it?]
Easy and normal hard modes were created by someone other than a wizard.
In other words, there is only one real mode.
It’s a truth I didn’t know, but I wasn’t surprised or surprised. It was something I had already guessed. Since NPCs and named gods exist only in Alone Mode, they were predicted to be different from the beginning.
“Is that possible?”
Great wizards and transcendentalists intervened in the design of the labyrinth. said the ghost indifferently.
[The labyrinth was difficult to design because of its density. Each floor is like a dungeon. Nothing is impossible if you clumsily copy and paste. It will still require a lot of strength, though.]
At least a Transcendent.
maybe something more than that.
[But it’s interesting. Even if the essence is subtracted,
it will require a lot of strength as the size is large… Making three of them? What was it for?]
The ghost said quietly distorted his voice.
[By the way, can’t we run straight to the destination? I don’t want to see them?]
“No.”
Taesan calmly cut.
“Even if I go, there’s nothing to do.”
A new quest will not start until a majority of the people arrive at City Hall. There was no reason to rush.
[Whew.]
The ghost let out a deep sigh.
It wasn’t much different after that.
The ghost is silent as if it doesn’t like it, and Joong-geun defeats the monsters. In the case
of the vengeful monsters that appeared occasionally,
Taesan blew them away with stones.
After repeating it this far, people also realized that it was strange.
“Aren’t all the monsters disappearing strangely?”
The moment Joong-geun confronts one and the other tries to attack them, the monster that is about to attack suddenly disappears. It was obviously strange. However, they
couldn’t find
the right answer because their stats weren’t high enough to see Taesan’s movements, and stones weren’t even targeted for airak weapon skills, and there was no damage judgment .
“Can’t multiple monsters move together?”
Without any information, I had no choice but to speculate.
The ghost said as he went on so boringly.
[Why are you helping me so strangely? You can just take them all and run to your destination. You like helping someone.]
“I don’t like it very much.”
[Eh.]
The ghost asked what he was talking about.
[You should work very hard to help the others.]
“It’s not just anyone. We only help those with potential.”
[Then can’t we just let them all die?]
“That can’t be the case.”
He is a human who does things to the people he gives affection to. Jung-geun was one of them.
It doesn’t matter if they die, but
if that happens, Joong-geun’s spirit will collapse.
I had plenty of time, so it was about a chore.
It was meal time. Everyone starts eating with bored faces.
“Ugh… I don’t have a taste bud.”
“Can’t I get something from the convenience store?”
“What are you going to do if you meet a monster on your way?”
For safety, everyone munched on the meat of the monsters they had brought from the labyrinth.
Taesan brought out spam. I got quite a bit from the convenience store .
Ahn Jung-hee exclaimed when he saw the golden canned food.
“It’s spam! Where did you get it from?”
“Before joining.”
“Wow…
she looks at me with envy, but doesn’t ask.
A player who is weak but still lives in the labyrinth. I was well aware that there is no exchange without a price. The case of Joong-geun was very unusual.
“Ugh. I want to exchange, but
there is nothing to exchange.”
Not only her, but everyone else looks at her with envious eyes, but doesn’t say anything. A person who does that would be very shameless.
“hey. Give it up.”
A muscular man approached Taesan. He proudly held out his hand as if it were his own. The rose tattoo on his forearm was impressive.
Taesan looked at him blankly and put another piece into his mouth. The man’s face contorted.
“Is this crazy?”
“Who are you?”
“That, that…
Ahn Jung-hee was restless with a white face. The man opened his chest.
“I am the strongest guild in normal mode. This is Lee Chang-seok, an executive of the Athens Guild!”
“so?”
Taesan asked indifferently. Lee Chang-seok burst into laughter.
“hey. Do you want to go back and die? Do you plan to go against the Athenian guild
?”
“well.”
Taesan murmured.
“Can you go back?”
” what?”
Athenian Guild. It was also in the previous world. It was said to be the largest guild in normal mode. I heard that it is the kind of person who tries to control the labyrinth by playing with power.
‘Did they all die on the second return?’
That was the Athenian guild that Taesan remembered
.
When Taesan didn’t respond, Lee Chang-seok’s face turned red.
“This bastard. I really want to go back.”
It was when Lee Chang-seok raised his hand.
“Until there.”
“ah.”
Ahn Jung-hee’s face, which had gone white, brightened.
“Mr. Joong-geun…
Joong-geun approached me expressionlessly. Lee Chang-seok flinched for a moment, but soon opened his chest proudly.
“why?”
“Stop it.”
A subdued voice rang out. The cold face turned to Lee Chang-seok.
Lee Chang-seok smirked.
“How dare you?”
“Do you think anything happened just because you took me there? Why should I listen to you?”
Lee Chang-seok was confident. And there was some calculation.
‘This guy is Hogu.’
Take them and ask for nothing. He risked his life for them and always smiled sadly.
Lee Chang-seok believes that those who have power have the right to do so. But to give away nothing but for free. I couldn’t understand and didn’t want to understand
.
Geum Joong-geun is a good person. Even if he goes out strong, he is a person who can do nothing.
They were seldom seen in the previous world, and Lee Chang-seok did the job of sucking them up. People say he is a good man, but to him he was no different.
“This is our personal business. you are missing.”
“ha.”
Jungkook sighed.
There was annoyance in those eyes
.
He reached out and grabbed Lee Chang-seok’s head.
“Hey! you! Aren’t you going to let this go?”
Lee Chang-seok struggled with a hard face, but his hands did not shake. Joong-geun raised his arm and lifted Lee Chang-seok. The muscular man sounded very light.
“this person! you!”
“I know what you are thinking.”
Taesan watched silently.
If there is something Lee Chang-seok thinks wrong, there is one thing.
Joong-geun was not what he thought he was.
“You are free to have any thoughts, but if you cross the line because of that…
Joong-geun punched Lee Chang-seok in the chest. Lee Chang-seok stumbled and stumbled.
“I can throw away at least one of you at any time.”
“Keep gagging.” Although it does not take as much
damage as an attack with a fist,
the impact itself is received.
Joong-geun, who was coldly looking down at Chang-seok, who couldn’t even scream in pain, raised his head.
People shuddered and turned their heads. Joong-geun smiled bitterly at those who couldn’t make eye contact.
tadak. tadak.
A bonfire burns.
City Hall is a distance that can be reached within a few hours no matter how far away it is, but there were so many people that we couldn’t reach it until nightfall.
Taesan approached Junggeun, who was sitting in front of a campfire.
“Are you staying vigil?”
“Because everyone is tired.”
“You must be tired.”
Jung-geun fought more than five times while he was here.
Others did nothing but watch or run away in fright.
Joong-geun did not answer with a bitter smile. Taesan sat across from him.
“People are afraid of you.”
After Joong-geun attacked Lee Chang-seok, people acted very cautiously. It was a move not only to avoid the monster, but also to notice Jung-geun.
They had only seen Joong-geun’s gentle face, so now they were very unfamiliar and scared. Somewhere in their hearts, everyone thought that Joong-geun would definitely protect them,
so they were terrified to break it.
“I can’t help it. It was something I had to do at least once.”
He groped through the bonfire with a hard face.
“There are too many people. I almost risked it several times.”
If it wasn’t for Taesan, he would have actually died over twenty.
“I had to hold on to my words as much as possible. thank you It gave me a great opportunity.”
Joong-geun was suspicious of Tae-san.
A calm attitude and a face that is not agitated for a normal mode.
Even when the monsters appeared, there was no shaking. It was an attitude that was too stable for a normal person. I even doubted whether the monster had mimicked it.
But I couldn’t find anything more strange than that.
When Taishan threw stones, it was hard to see that he was fighting fiercely.
Even if he could afford it, he would not have noticed the difference in stats as large as it was.
‘It’s a useless idea.’
Joong-geun smiled. Taishan is an ordinary person. There is no such thing as a mimicking monster. It was time to clear his doubts.
“Is it necessary?”
” yes?”
Taesan said nonchalantly.
“You can get to City Hall without any problems.”
“…throw them all away?”
hundreds of people.
When asked to leave them to die,
Joong-geun asked in a trembling voice. Taesan looked at Junggeun with sunken eyes.
“If you’re a hard mode human, you’ll know. Those who live live and those who die die.”
Joong-geun bit his lip.
Hard Mode is a mode with a survival rate of 1%. If you survive there for even three months, you will naturally learn.
Those who live will live and those who will die will die.
Even if someone helps, the standard
does not change. Although it may be a temporary extension of life, it will eventually die before long.
“Can I go alone?”
I actually met a few players on my way to City Hall. Confident in their own strength, when they saw Jung-geun and the group, they stuck out their tongues and left without looking back. Some said outright that they were crazy.
“Why are you clinging to a life that will die anyway?”
“You…
Joong-geun looked at Tae-san
at the emotionless voice .
Creepy.
Joong-geun got goosebumps for an instant.
He could tell a little bit about what kind of person he was by looking into their eyes.
It could be said that it was an ability he acquired as he grew up, but Jung-geun had ignored it until now, thinking it was a superstition like contemplation.
The eyes of Taishan he saw were infinitely sunken.
A human being who has witnessed countless deaths and is unable to give them emotions. A human who put everything down to face
the end .
He is not a human in normal mode. Joong-geun grabbed his sword.
“you. Who are you?”
borderline eyes.
eyes of others.
There was no muscle while welcoming him with a smile.
‘It’s the first time I’ve seen it.’
“well.”
Taesan arose. Seeing his back, Joong-geun is taken aback.
“Aren’t you going to City Hall anyway? I’ll tell you then.”
Joong-geun slowly lowered his sword.
The day was bright.
They started moving again – their faces brightened as they only had to travel for an hour or so.
But they didn’t know one thing.
The monster has been ordered to attack humans heading towards City Hall.
In other words, if you arrive at City Hall, the monsters
will not attack you.
Those moving alone had already arrived or were dead.
Naturally, the monsters began to gather.
Level up with skill
