Is there value in the human heart? In truth, the worth of all things in this world cos and goes. And the price shifts with the winds of ti. Therefore, I have decided to revere above all else—without distinction of joy, anger, sorrow, or pleasure—
only what the outstanding [victorious] possess...
A trapezoidal room, completely surrounded by white. I turned my gaze once more to the monunt embedded at its center.
It's been translated into Earth's language, but...
But no matter how many tis I read it, the words feel oddly familiar. The abstract, cloud-chasing phrasing that makes it hard to interpret—well, that's just how mind-creatures usually are, so I'll let that slide.
"It's the sa."
A feeding box that starts with such a distinctive introduction—about values existing and not existing, and worshiping what the victorious possess—had been observed even back in my holand. Looking back, the battles with the descended mind-creatures were a nuisance I'd rather not rember, but it's fortunate that past experience is helping now. Indeed, when you keep putting in effort facing each situation, sooner or later you'll reap the rewards—that's how it goes.
"Hmm."
But just in case, why not check the next stage all at once?
[Rules]
[One: If both choose 'Blue' -> No problem]
[Two: If one chooses 'Blue' and the other 'Yellow' -> Only 'Blue' suffers a major loss]
[Three: If both choose 'Yellow' -> Everyone suffers a minor loss]
Alright, that's it. Now that this has co up, it's as good as 100% confird.
"That's definitely the feeding box!"
By the ti I found a few lines of writing on the northern door, which I guessed to be the direction the dungeon was leading, I finally allowed myself to express joy. Both my fists clenched tightly. If that three-step condition was attached, then the identity of the space I was standing in would be confird at once.
"Moreover, looking back at the situation when the transmission happened, it really seems certain that Kang Changho was also captured and brought here...?"
An EX-class gate, excluding scenario-type ones. What exactly is its purpose?
As ntioned before, dungeons of this kind typically asure the traits of the dominant species. At this point, Gisimche are likely collecting data on the overall intellectual capacity of the species. Unlike the blue gates, where you simply need to defeat the monsters in front of you, this white space aims to create an unusual situation to observe reaction values to stimuli...
"Let's see."
To put it bluntly, the true purpose of this EX-rank gate is to observe the cooperation and conflict phenona of humanity.
"Yeah. No matter how many tis I look around, it's clear."
Heh heh.
A weak smile escaped . Even the Gisimche have limits to their creativity. They often unfold spaces nearly identical to previous feeding boxes out in the world, but today, I genuinely appreciated their lack of originality. After all, I had dismantled several of these cooperation observation devices that appeared back in my holand during my past life.
"Gisimche, you bug-like creatures, it seems that even you sotis end up helping others...!"
For soone who knows dungeon raid thods inside and out, the Otherworld is no longer a source of fear. Rather, it feels like a magic jar that will pour out gold and treasures as long as you follow the set formula. The only small problem is that if the answer sheet I brought from Alpha Ursa leaked all the way to the primitive planet, things would be very different.
"Hmm."
Clank.
Then, for a mont, a clear, pure sound rang out. It was the noise of a blue nail, which had been restraining soone, clattering against the floor. As I slowly pulled out the tal pieces embedded in my body by one, I pondered deeply. But even after quite so ti passed, my thoughts remained unchanged from the beginning.
"No matter how much I think it over alone, the outco won't change."
If Kang Changho also knows the strategy to clear this dungeon... Rather, being invited into the EX-rank dungeon would only make the situation worse. Knowledge inside soone else's mind is no longer a variable anyone can control. For now, let's proceed.
[Open =]
Ah, the letters are written so big—it's easy on the eyes right from the start.
"For now, it's still a straight path..."
Dddrk.
I opened the door in front of using the moderate strength of an F-rank hunter. Then, what I saw was a white closed system that can be commonly observed at special gates on Earth—in other words, a room about 13 pyeong in size.
In the center of the room stood two rectangular pillars, painted so brightly they almost felt noisy—now that I think about it, the Alphaut, who mostly judged things by sound, often used that expression when seeing flashy objects. The height was roughly equivalent to two Kim Gyeo-o stacked, while the width was about half of one Kim Gyeo. By Earthling standards, that made it a fairly tall and slender structure.
"Anyway, these space parasites really love their light signals--"
Bam!
It was around the ti I found the mysterious pillars in the room. Without a mont's hesitation, I punched the pillar painted blue.
Swoosh.
Then, from the bottom of the blue pillar, a light of the sa color began to seep out like paint. Soon, the light surged upward like waves, announcing the challenger's choice, and disappeared all the way up to the distant ceiling.
Clank.
After confirming all the phenona, I stood back in place and pulled out the remaining nails on my upper body. Now that the die has been cast, all I have to do is wait for a reply from the other side.
"Agh, the ones stuck from behind are a bit harder to pull out."
I twisted my arm behind my back and paused to think. Since this is inside the gate, Esther's ongoing curse must have experienced a connection error, so everything really depends on how I tackle the upcoming EX-rank challenge.
Just like Seonwoo Yeon's [Searcher], magic was always like that. When the target enters a separated space like a dungeon, especially with this place's primitive casting magic, the effects usually weaken.
"Even with the curse stuck all over him, it would be a struggle to barely escape..."
But wait a minute. Did Kang Changho, who was with earlier, seem to have difficulty moving his legs?
"He walks pretty well."
Well, that Earthling hides a lot of magical tools on his body. Maybe among those miscellaneous artifacts, there's sothing that lessens the power of the curse.
"Besides, even though he was wearing short sleeves, there were no more burn marks visible. It's clear his recovery is already complete. If we fought head-on normally, I'd definitely end up utterly wrecked."
Clank.
I gathered my thoughts and pulled out the last blue nail embedded in my right bicep. At the sa ti, blood I hadn't swallowed dribbled from my chin, but what did so fake illness like this matter now?
"Anyway, since I'm going to get hurt from now on, I'll just deal with all the healing at once."
I roughly took care of hygiene late by rubbing it with the arm of the corpse I had seized.
But then.
Drrrrrrrrk!
As if heavy stone gears were turning, the next door—previously sealed shut—suddenly opened with a thunderous roar that shook the very earth and sky...
"Ahhh!"
It was at that very mont. A lightning strike occurred in the skyless space.
Crack!
Like an insect being crushed, or like sothing bursting into intense flas—with that sound, the victim suddenly collapsed.
"Ugh...!"
That ans I, who had been standing there blankly, was suddenly struck by the dungeon's attack. Though it appeared to be of an electric attribute at first glance, its nature was sothing else entirely. The sheer impact was enough to make it feel like my entire right arm, which had taken a direct hit, was going to burn off.
When I got hit by it, I fell to the ground like a log that had been cut down without a fight.
"U, ugh..."
And yet, even after suffering this much of a 'damage', soone's lips eventually curled upward into a faint, crooked smile.
At this point, I'll say it with certainty. Kang Changho, who was trapped in this dungeon with , doesn't know how to attack!
"It's done!"
The magic I just got hit with...
[If one person chooses 'blue' and the other chooses 'yellow' -> only the 'blue' person suffers a severe loss]
It only activates when the second condition of this dungeon is t.
That guy ended up choosing that color. Yeah, well—From the perspective of soone who doesn't know the strategy to attack, just blindly choosing yellow every ti is actually the better option.
[Rules]
[One: If both choose 'Blue' -> No problem]
[Two: If one chooses 'Blue' and the other 'Yellow' -> Only 'Blue' suffers a major loss]
[Three: If both choose 'Yellow' -> Everyone suffers a minor loss]
If you interpret the phrase written at the very entrance of the dungeon, this place is essentially a kind of [trust experint].
Blue. In Korean, if elaborated further, it can be interpreted as a sign of trust extended toward the other party. If mutual trust is established between the challengers, the two trapped in the otherworld could keep choosing blue in succession and proceed without taking any damage.
However, the problem lies in rule number 2 in the middle.
"Ugh! That was so painful I almost died. Let's quickly reactivate pain tolerance!"
A raider who chooses the blue (cooperation) signal faces this harsh reality when betrayed, they suffer such fierce damage from the otherworld that parts of their body feel like they're burning off. When you think about it rationally, sticking to yellow seems like the easier, more comfortable choice.
"Hoo, hoo hoo..."
But life isn't that simple or straightforward—that's what makes it interesting. Even the silver spoon child of a big steel industry tycoon is bound to face so kind of hardship around the middle of their life.
"I knew this would happen!"
Now, no matter what Kang Changho does, he can't change the outco that lies ahead. I restored my body with superior healing magic and stood up. Without hesitation, I entered the next room and chose the sa pillar again.
Bam!
From now on, I just have to repeat this action as I co across it.
"It's a relief that the lightning strikes the dungeon creates deal damage proportional to magic power. If it were absolute damage, my body would've been reduced to charcoal for sure..."
A few seconds later, another penalty occurred in the second room.
Bang!
Judging by the intense force that almost burned the back of my neck, it seems that mammal must have chosen yellow again.
"No."
Oh my, really.
"Even though he clearly knew the other person pressed blue, he still chose yellow?"
Thanks to that, I earned plenty of 'victory points', but since I didn't know how many rooms had been generated in total, I still couldn't change my strategy. To maintain my advantage, I decided to choose the sa pillar in the next room. I finally kicked away the blue sign of trust that people usually associate with the vast ocean.
"The damage is greater than I expected. If the other side keeps pushing with yellow till the end, he might run into trouble from insufficient recovery."
A part of my mind worried about that, but it was outweighed by the joy of victory. I humd the jingle of A Mart, which I'd once heard on a video streaming app, as I waited for the outco.
Drrrrrrrrk!
But once again, the sa monotonous result ca to , accompanied by the sll of sothing burning. To think I got hit by the illusion of lightning that easily brought soone to a serious injury state.
"Ey, damn it."
Honestly, I thought he'd pick blue at least by the third ti, but seriously—how can soone's character be this ssed up?
I grumbled to myself and crawled to the next room. It was a tactic to conserve energy by cutting back on how often I used healing magic.
Tok.
"In fact, it recognizes you just by touching it."
But what is this? Until the previous rooms, it took about 30 seconds to decide, but after choosing a pillar this ti, no matter how long I waited, the next door showed no sign of moving.
Because the door here only opens once both challengers have made their selections.
"Hmm?"
The Earthling, who had been boldly choosing yellow without hesitation, suddenly paused. Probably because I stubbornly picked blue despite taking two penalties, he found it strange...
"Haha, what do you think will change just because you finally caught on now?"
That struggle didn't last long. For a mont, I worried this guy might keep delaying his choice to starve out the other challenger. But then I rembered that Kang Changho was also dressed pretty lightly when he was brought here.
"Right. Good decision. You don't exactly have any food either, do you?"
The door opened soon.
"Ah, you damn b*stard!"
Crack!
Once again, as expected, the chosen pillar was yellow (distrust).
User Comments
0 comments from readers