Chapter 112. 13th Month’s Maze
‘Just got to pretend to put in some effort.’
Let’s summarize the current situation.
Yesterday, A-Class Hunters spent the whole day messing with the obelisk and failed.
This morning, Jeong Ha-seong came by and tried it briefly, but it didn’t work.
Now, Esther is declaring her defeat right in front of me.
‘What angle would look good in pictures for the reporters…?’
So, even if I fail consecutively, people wouldn’t find it odd.
“Let’s see.”
Tap.
I placed my hand on the front of the obelisk.
But what the—? The moment I touched that black stone, I felt a strange sensation.
‘Ouch, that stings!’
Jerk.
It’s a slight amount, so Earthlings might not notice, but it was the characteristic feeling of losing mana.
‘What the heck?’
This is strange.
Taking mana like this is like collecting identifiers, such as fingerprints or blood.
“Mr. Gi-ryeo, what’s wrong?”
With this, the identity of the black obelisk was clear.
‘Ah, damn it. I thought this would have a function like the one from my hometown…’
Turns out, this stone is a tool that selects “Challengers” for a dungeon that will be created later.
‘Totally different!’
This is confusing.
I had always thought this object was a sign indicating the entrance to a new gate.
But now it’s revealed to be a device for gathering information from those who touch it to choose participants.
‘Oh mom…’
I’m now in a situation where I’m dragged into a new dungeon.
But I quickly came up with a plan.
If I grab a passerby and make them touch the obelisk now, the individual’s chance of winning would decrease.
“Um, excuse me! Ms. Seonwoo-yeon! Would you like to come here and try this? The stone feels pretty robust, and touching it has a unique sensation…”
Purely malicious!
I pulled in the Association employee who had been standing guard nearby for the lottery without hesitation.
“It’s fine. I tried it earlier too.”
But Seonwoo-yeon had already touched the obelisk.
In fact, other employees were discussing blocking this place with a barrier since even the S-Class failed.
“Have we called any Hunters with teleportation skills? Or maybe we can gather Awakened with gravity manipulation to lift this up into the air…”
I desperately scrambled to recruit allies.
However, all these attempts ultimately failed.
Splat.
The speculation that the characters inscribed on the obelisk indicated the Earth’s rotation period faded away, as it had made a change in only 21 hours.
“Uh?”
Squish, squash.
“Wait, this is different….”
Flash!
A sudden flash streaked through the shattered obelisk.
And thus began the selection of challengers.
“Eek!”
Pop.
Firstly, the one chosen was Esther, who happened to be standing closest to the obelisk.
After all, she was one of the individuals who touched the obelisk.
“Uh?”
Next to be chosen was none other than the staff beyond the police cordon.
Seonwoo-yeon froze upon seeing the red symbol that appeared above her head…
“Good grief.”
Pop.
I closed my eyes tightly upon confirming that the same symbol had appeared above me.
The familiar sensation of space movement followed.
‘Just like that time when I got dragged in while pushing Yun-seung away back in the Baek-ui Maze.’
When I opened my eyes again, what lay before me was a space that could hardly be said to be in Korea.
Dull lighting.
Worn bricks.
Looking around, this seemed like a medieval castle.
I confirmed the individuals gathered in the center of the room and realized that the selection of challengers was not random.
No wonder, the list of gathered individuals was precisely these four.
“Phew.”
Me.
Esther.
Seonwoo-yeon.
And…
“…?”
Jeong Ha-seong.
Thinking back, the Hunters brought in to deal with the obelisk had been B-Class on the first day, climbing to today’s S-Class.
And the people gathered here are mostly S-Class…
In other words, the obelisk’s mechanism was to select 4 people in the order they touched it.
‘Oh, so that’s how it works this time.’
I calmly analyzed the magic involved in challenger selection, at which point a low voice echoed from the opposite side.
Jeong Ha-seong broke the silence in a flustered tone.
“What on earth is going on? I was in the middle of tackling another gate…”
“A gate?”
“Oh my, no wonder Ha-seong has blood on him.”
The black-haired S-Class immediately raised his wrist to check his watch.
[Unknown Gate]
[Description: No information available on the gate.]
[Rank: EX]
Then, blue letters appeared in mid-air.
I felt like I had seen this image before.
“EX-Class?”
“That rock is definitely the problem! It suddenly shattered and shone with light before we were pulled in!”
“Was touching the stone the cause…?”
“I didn’t directly touch the obelisk. I just cast a skill from far away.”
The Hunters briefly conversed to figure out how they ended up here.
But just then.
Seonwoo-yeon, staring blankly at the assembled individuals, suddenly spoke up.
“Uh, wait a second. Everyone.”
A quivering gaze.
“Could it be that we’re all… S-Class?”
Hearing those words, I finally grasped the situation.
“Everyone except me?”
What a rare occurrence.
From Korea’s perspective, this is a massive incident where 3 out of 4 S-Class disappeared simultaneously.
“On top of that, the only one left outside is that useless Kang Chang-ho!”
Esther realized this and shouted loudly, but her intense reaction didn’t last long.
After all, the Awakened standing beside her was already in this state.
“Huh! Oh my gosh! Look at that employee’s pale face. I think he’s getting nauseous because of us!”
Soon after, Seonwoo-yeon shut her lips with a ghastly expression.
Twitch.
Not to mention dealing with one S-Class is tough, now two top-ranking Awakened are piled together— is the mana suffocating her?
‘What kind of innocent B-Class is caught up in this…?’
But the most pitiful one here is me.
I’m a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
In other words, I’m an F-Class who serves the lowest tier in the Hunter society.
‘This is all my fault.’
Yeah.
This is precisely the ‘entry into the gate not by choice’ that I made an exception for in my contract with Kang Chang-ho.
Being trapped in an EX-Class Gate.
And having a party member full of monsters.
‘Shouldn’t I have pretended to act tough.’
None of this was my intention.
*
At the same time.
The outside world was in chaos.
Around 4 AM Greenwich Mean Time, a multitude of Hunters suddenly disappeared, and even the obelisk with no contact causes civilians to be pulled in indiscriminately.
“Ordinary people into the gate?”
“There’s been a report from the UK. A D-Class who was managing emotions there…”
“South Korea is in a state of confusion as upper-ranked Awakened have largely vanished!”
The International Cooperation Organization reported this situation as critical and proceeded to track and name the newly generated EX-Class Gate.
It was definitively named the “13th Month’s Maze.”
[Unknown Gate]
[Description: No information available on the gate.]
However, the challengers trapped in the dungeon received no updates and faced only the unknown.
‘The top two ranked Hunters are on a team together. Unless they’re in opposition, it couldn’t be better.’
Still, Gi-ryeo was observing the surroundings without major panic.
A massive hall.
Numerous iron doors arranged at short intervals.
And the obelisk placed in the center.
“Isn’t this exactly like the one we saw in front of the market?”
While Seonwoo-yeon took a breath in a corner, Jeong Ha-seong and Esther checked the black obelisk.
[Attention! No more than two in each room. Collect the keys. Time limit: 86164.]
Hmm.
The grammar inscribed on the obelisk seems a little odd…
“Could it be that the keys mentioned here are prepared behind those iron doors?”
“Not sure.”
“And you can only enter with exactly two people?”
“Thinking normally, that seems to be the case.”
After a brief discussion, the S-Class decided to proceed into the gate.
While the time limit is a concern, they also had the issue of hunger since they are living beings.
“We can’t afford to waste time~”
“That’s right.”
“How about sending just 2 people as scouts for now? The other 2 can wait in the hall.”
While Esther and Ha-seong were conversing, Gi-ryeo moved and spoke to the person in the corner.
“Are you feeling okay now?”
Then Seonwoo-yeon quietly nodded.
“Yes. Thanks to you, I’m recovering quickly…”
The Association employee was also slowly adapting to the surrounding mana.
Kim Gi-ryeo calmly began explaining that this gate has certain restrictions, what their plans are, and so on.
“Ah… Thank you.”
Is this what the difference between top-tier Hunters and ordinary Awakened is?
Seonwoo-yeon felt a sense of admiration watching his calm demeanor despite being suddenly dragged in.
Moreover, despite being an S-Class, Kim Gi-ryeo didn’t exude a hint of mana even when approached closely.
‘He’s the only one giving me breathing room…’
Even in such a situation, that Hunter is reassuring. Seonwoo-yeon thought to herself at the moment.
“If we have to split into two, how do we organize the teams?”
But soon after, the four Awakened gathered in the center to discuss.
Kim Gi-ryeo clearly declared among them.
He proposed splitting into teams of himself and Esther.
Jeong Ha-seong and Seonwoo-yeon.
Given the many past events between the top-ranked 1st and 4th S-Class, avoiding Jeong Ha-seong makes sense, but…
The problem is with the handling of some B-Class.
Seonwoo-yeon seemed to want to be with the Hunter she feels more comfortable with, but Gi-ryeo couldn’t accommodate that.
‘SS and BF, that’s a bit much, don’t you think?’
Honestly, pairing up with Seonwoo-yeon would be the absolute worst combination.
“Perhaps it would be better for that employee to be with the top-ranked Hunter?”
“Excuse me?”
“The person with the most gate exploration experience here is definitely Jeong Ha-seong. That means he must be good at handling unexpected situations as well.”
“…”
“In a situation like this, it would be wise to trust a Hunter with high results.”
Gi-ryeo continued to plead desperately.
Before long, everyone nodded in agreement.
After all, the team composition drawn at this point can be restructured depending on the progress.
“Got it.”
“Let’s work well together.”
“Yes!”
Thus, the four challengers rearranged themselves into two teams as per the gate’s rules.
Finally, the challenge of the “13th Month’s Maze” began.
Phew! That was close.
An F-Class let out a sigh of relief as soon as the companions were decided.
National Hero? I don’t need any of that.
Whether it’s 1st or 2nd rank, at the end of the day, I just need someone to protect me.
‘If I end up alone with Esther in a room, I’ll concoct all sorts of excuses to avoid fighting.’
Hehehe.
Kim Gi-ryeo gleefully plotted away.
What a foolish thing to do.
Clack!
No matter how happy I am to have S-Class members, I mustn’t forget this is a dangerous otherworld.
“Uh.”
“Hmm?”
Clack?
The Hunters turned their heads sharply at the noise coming from the floor.
But at that moment, it was already too late.
That was the sound of Jeong Ha-seong triggering a trap, and it also happened to be a magical device that Earthlings had no means to handle.
“What kind of dungeon starts with a prank…!”
With that sense of injustice shouted by Gi-ryeo.
The two Hunters caught in the magic circle instantly vanished.
*
Thud.
When I opened my eyes, a deadly landscape greeted me.
A room of about 3 pyeong (around 10 square meters) blocked at the front by narrow iron bars.
If the previous location was a crumbling medieval castle, this must be some prison underneath it.
“Cough.”
Kim Gi-ryeo thought back and regretted the moment of carelessness he had.
But there were still more regrets to come.
This trap was designed to lock “2 people” in a separate space.
“…”
“…”
Eventually, his eyes met with the young man standing next to him.
“Oh, hello.”
Gi-ryeo completely forgot about his plan to take the initiative and instead greeted Ha-seong politely.
Well done, medium-rare, rare.
Why the heck is this idiot’s brain thinking of those words at a moment like this?
