### Chapter 364 – Room 205, The Cursed Room – ‘The Absolute Master’ (13)
—
– Yu Songee
Thanks to Kain oppa’s advice about the two masters, we easily took down the herbalist with a surprise attack.
It only took half a day for me to realize just how lucky we actually were.
“D-Duck!”
As soon as I heard Miro’s voice, I just dropped flat on the ground.
At the same moment, a deadly metallic sound pierced the air, and an invisible blade whizzed by.
“Where the heck is that coming from?!”
Just then, Perro rushed over, almost like it was a waste of time to shout, and covered my prone body!
Sure enough, a sharp object came flying from the sky and made three holes right through his grotesque form.
Welcome to hell.
With each step I took, danger soared overhead, and just when I thought I could hide on a rock, an unidentified poisonous snake popped its head out.
As I ran around like a headless chicken, I stumbled into a pit in the ground that Perro had to lift me out of.
Naturally, that pit had a spike in it that could easily kill several people.
The traps were relentless, shooting at me from every angle, while the treacherous terrain tested my sanity.
The hardest part was that the second mysterious master hadn’t shown their face at all.
They didn’t seem like the kind of martial artist who would step up and fight openly either.
It was a combat style focused solely on ambushes, hiding their true self completely.
How the heck were we going to overcome this?
At that moment, with an unusually weary expression, Ahri caught a dagger that came flying toward us and stared at it.
The flying dagger looked exactly like the ones lying on the ground.
In that instant, I realized what Ahri was thinking.
Ahri seemed to collapse into herself.
No, it’d be more accurate to say she slipped from my perception.
…
The flying dagger went missing.
As Ahri started pursuing the unidentified master using the power of the ‘compass,’ the opponent began to flee.
Miro approached with a tired expression.
“It’s… it’s quiet now! Maybe they ran out of weapons?”
“Nope, Ahri is chasing them.”
“Ahri? Why did she suddenly come out?”
Looking at Miro tilting her head, I suddenly understood just how threatening Ahri’s ‘invisible girl’ presence truly was.
If you didn’t keep your focus on her like I did, you’d almost forget she was even there.
Miro’s bewildered expression was proof of that.
“Let’s take a quick break…”
“I’ll check first!”
In her protective gear, Miro moved toward a nearby tree and started poking around.
— Click!
Just as she did, a trap that could crush a bear’s ankle activated beneath us.
Of course, that thing wouldn’t be able to penetrate protective gear, even if it was sharp enough to sever the ankle of an elephant.
“Come over here!”
I was utterly exhausted.
I felt so fatigued, I could barely take a single step.
Was Miro feeling the same, given that she slumped against the tree as well?
I murmured to her, “How long have we been running away?”
“Feels like… four to five hours. I’m exhausted.”
“Lucky you, at least you’re wearing protective gear.”
“Come over here, Perro!”
I looked up to see Perro, bloodied from taking a stab for me, approaching slowly, his whole body twitching.
“Seems like Perro’s having a tough time too…”
“Probably.”
Suddenly, a silvery thread appeared in front of me.
As I rubbed my eyes, thinking maybe some dust got in, a sharp noose wrapped around my neck in an instant.
My vision started spinning—360 degrees around!
Thanks to that, I could see ‘my body’ from an angle I’d never usually see.
“AHHHHH! S-Songie!”
… This was my last memory.
*
– Miro
I held onto Songie’s head, which floated in the air, entangled in the noose, my heart racing.
Her expression was profoundly calm, as though she didn’t even realize what was happening until the very end.
Tears welled up in my eyes.
I had already confirmed that I would see her again once we got outside, but I couldn’t hold back the tears at that moment.
“Ugh… Songie…”
Just then, a chilling voice rang out.
“Miro, we need to move.”
“Ahri?”
“This place is too dangerous. Choi Il-pyeong is dead, but the traps he set are still everywhere.”
Choi Il-pyeong? The name of the master who made us suffer?
With that knowledge, it seemed Ahri had taken him down and possibly interrogated him.
“Do you know where Kain is?”
“… Maybe.”
Reluctantly, I had to leave Songie’s body behind.
After going toe-to-toe with Choi Il-pyeong for half a day, none of us had the strength to bury her body, let alone give her a proper send-off.
And…
Perro silently settled next to Songie.
“This one can’t move anymore, either.”
His entire plumage was soaked in blood, making it hard to identify its original color.
Even the strongest creature wouldn’t find it easy to move in such a state.
After about twenty more minutes of travel, we stumbled upon a small cave.
It looked so ordinary that anyone large wouldn’t even fit through it.
If Ahri hadn’t pointed it out, I might have walked right by it.
“Is this it?”
“From here on, you have to listen to me.”
“Sure.”
“To put it precisely, there’s no comfortable path or entrance to Kain’s sealing area.”
“Huh?”
“The ones who sealed the evil spirits wanted to make sure no one could access that area. Naturally, they wouldn’t create a comfortable pathway.”
“Y-Yeah, that makes sense.”
“However, there is an exit created for the sealers’ return, and that cave is a remnant of that exit.”
I grasped what Ahri was getting at.
Even if we entered that place, there wouldn’t be an easy path to Kain.
*
Once we entered the cave, I stood at the front, holding a torch as I began descending into the underground.
Every step I took was so cramped and uncomfortable that it was difficult to tell if the sharp rocks were placed there on purpose or if they were due to natural terrain.
— Clang!
“Ow! What just fell from above?”
“Good thing it didn’t hit me.”
“That’s harsh.”
“You’re lucky since it hit me instead.”
“Sounds like you’re getting more intense with your words?”
“Do you want me to hit you? I don’t have protective gear!”
“Not that, but…”
— Crash!
At that moment, a foreboding metallic sound echoed throughout the cave!
“AHHHH! W-What’s going on?!”
Ahri mumbled with an expression of resignation.
“Seriously, how gross. They’ve hidden traps all the way to the end.”
The sound of metal grinding against metal.
The sound of flowing water.
The whirring of gears.
A deadly mechanism designed to eliminate intruders!
…
I did everything I could.
I really gave it my all to survive.
But with traps on every side—the walls, ceiling, and floor—there was no way a soft human body could endure it.
Only I, clad in the hotel’s special protective gear boasting invincibility, remained alive.
“Ahri…”
“…”
Three rusty spikes pierced through Ahri’s body.
For a normal person, she would’ve already been dead.
But perhaps it was the ancient blood’s power, as Ahri could still speak.
“So, do I just pull these out?!”
“No. If you pull them out now, you’ll die even faster.”
“…”
“Miro, listen closely. It seems you’re going to have to proceed alone from here on out.”
“Ugh…”
“Don’t cry. Take this.”
Ahri’s hand produced an ‘hourglass.’
“Hourglass?”
“Remember the function explanation Kain and I gave you back then?”
“Yeah…”
“Make sure to use it well.”
“…”
“Time… rental… proper mate….”
As soon as Ahri’s head drooped, I truly realized I was left all alone.
I felt breathless.
None of those who had guided me thus far remained at my side.
Even the path we entered was now blocked by a massive rockslide with tremendous noise.
Having come all this way, I wasn’t thinking of retreating without results, but the escape route had vanished.
Who should I summon?
Before that, what should I do now?
I was in a completely enclosed cave, with no path visible.
To reach the sealing area of the evil spirit, I had to go deeper underground, but there was no way to get there.
I needed someone who could make a path.
— Click!
As the clock hand ticked towards morning, a tall, confident man appeared.
The first thing he did upon appearing was snap his fingers.
— WHOOSH!
“Ah, now I can see something. This seems to be quite a dark place… Miro, could you briefly explain the situation?”
I relayed the situation to him.
“So, there’s a sealing area for Kain somewhere in the underground?”
“Exactly!”
“If the Final Flash is meant to create a path, it’s potentially feasible, but it poses difficulties.”
“Huh?”
“Where should I dig? Where exactly is Kain?”
“I… don’t know.”
“That’s tricky. Even with location information from comrades or Ahri’s compass, pinpointing a sealed comrade’s exact location proves impossible.”
“W-What should we do?”
“Who else can you summon?”
“Well, I came here with the morning teacher, noon’s Kain, and evening’s Jinchul oppa.”
“Kain doesn’t have the ability to dig to make paths underground, and Jinchul’s dimension star is for wide-area attacks, so it’s not useful in a confined space.”
“…”
“Honestly, using the Final Flash in this situation is risky. The ground might collapse.”
“… What should we do?”
“Only one answer remains. This situation usually would be optimized for Seungyub, but it seems I’ll have to step in.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll do it.”
“AHHH!”
“Quiet, I won’t be doing anything rash. While looking around and talking, I realized I could narrow it down to a couple of possibilities. Given hotel standards, this risk is manageable.”
With that, the doctor raised his hand silently.
“I’m feeling anxious.”
“What if it goes wrong?”
“More than that, what would happen if I use the Final Flash in such an underground place…?”
“I’ll send you right back as soon as you shoot the beam.”
“Will I disappear instantly at that point?”
“Not instantly; it’ll take a few seconds.”
“Got it. I guess it can’t be helped. Let’s go!”
— Rumble!
The ultimate weapon of future humanity, the Final Flash, pierced the cave floor and made a deep tunnel toward the abyss.
I threw myself towards the tunnel, sending the doctor back.
Please, may the collapsing cave hold off long enough for the reversal to finish.
*
– Lee Eunsol
“Cough!”
As the sun vanished behind, I moved across the plains under the moonlight when suddenly, Sanghyun started rolling on the ground, moaning in pain.
“S-Sanghyun—”
Just as I was about to scream, I reflexively covered my mouth.
Even the mighty Ija Seong couldn’t hide his surprise as he approached Sanghyun for details.
“Chulhun! What’s wrong?”
Sanghyun’s mouth was spewing a mix of saliva and blood bubbles, revealing just how agonizing it was.
Eventually, the whole party froze, keeping watch as we had to check on Sanghyun.
…
After what felt like ten minutes passed, a visibly shaken Sanghyun finally muttered.
“… This is bad.”
“Why all of a sudden? Did you have a chronic illness or something?”
“The Final Flash.”
“Huh?”
“I can’t use it anymore.”
“WHAT?! What do you mean all of a sudden?!”
Even Jinchul beside him widened his mouth in astonishment.
“Hyung, what do you mean?!”
“It seems another me used the Final Flash. And…”
“Time Rental!”
“I’ve been injured gravely. The fact that I’m still alive means I wasn’t killed, but it seems I’ve been brought back badly hurt by Miro.”
Just moments before, rolling on the ground while spewing blood bubbles…it seems that my doppelgänger sustained heavy injuries, and part of that effect returned to my main self?
I don’t know. I couldn’t care less about the mechanics of the Time Rental; what mattered was that it wasn’t the biggest problem!
Jinchul held his head in his hands.
“No way! We went through so much trouble to reach the position to strike the Sky Tower, and you suddenly can’t use the Final Flash?!”
At that moment, Ija Seong, who had been listening, spoke up.
“The Final Flash, hmm? Is that the means you prepared to destroy the Sky Tower?”
“… Yes.”
I messed up.
I had avoided talking about the inheritance in front of Ija Seong, but in this awkward situation, I had let slip what shouldn’t have been shared.
Stay calm.
Just hearing the words Time Rental and Final Flash doesn’t mean he’ll grasp the full extent of the inheritance’s power.
While we were flustered, Ija Seong maintained his calm demeanor.
“However it may look, it seems your prepared measures have become useless?”
“… We need to go back—”
“Back? I may not know much about architecture, but that tower is nearing completion, as you can see.”
“…”
“This doesn’t sound good.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve lived this long without believing in some strange magic. Ultimately, I’ve always relied on the blade in my hand at the last moment.”
“…”
“While I’ve still got my health and my weapon, why worry? Let’s go.”
Finishing that, the old man started toward the ominous-looking tower like it was no big deal.
For the first time, I thought.
This person is the ‘real deal.’
The absolute master.
—
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