Chapter Text
My name is Sung Jin-woo. I'm the weakest known hunter, E-rank. And damn always expected myself to die but never like this, I thought, raising my sword to the statue that's about to end it all. Yep… I said statue, weird right? Wanna know how I got in this situation?
Well…
A few hours ago…
'Life sucks', I thought walking to the construction site where the gate opened up. I had just gotten back from the hospital after a raid went wrong and had made it to my boyfriend's apartment for comfort cuddles. When I got there I saw him cheating on me… his excuse was that I was too depressed and it annoyed him and really? My mother is in the hospital, my dad's missing, I need to take care of my sister and I need to do these raids to get money for the hospital fees, my sister's studies, the housing and the food and I still have to get mocked for being the weakest hunter. So obviously I'm going to be a bit depressed. The little shit even accused me of cheating first because I'm away from home too much because apparently having my own family and responsibilities is cheating. He also said that I've obviously been 'sucking dick' while I'm 'at the hospital', because it's impossible for a hunter to be as weak as I am.
I sighed. Maybe I should just go to the bar down the road for a quick drink… oh wait… I'm broke. Yay.
I got to the site and looked around and saw lots of familiar faces.
Oh hey, coffee!
"Hey sung!"
"Have you eaten yet?"
"It's getting a little cold isn't it?"
'Thank God there are kind people like this.', I thought ignoring the two talking about how weak I am.
No COFFEE. Great.
"Sung Jin-woo! What happened to you!?" a voice said next to me.
It was my friend Ju-hee, "Hey Ju-hee!" I said cheerily.
"Don't 'Hey Ju-hee!' me! What happened to you?" she said, obviously upset.
"Dunno… just happened while I was hunting. Came back from the hospital and found out that you're right… sweet words and cute smiles don't mean shit. So I came here to take my mind off that asshole" I said sitting down, although… I'm honestly not surprised that he cheated on me. I'm just surprised at the AUDACITY that he possessed.
"He cheated on you. " she said, not even trying to make it sound like a question. .
"Yeah…you're not surprised?" I asked her. She thought for a bit.
"Not really… he did seem to only want you for sex… was that at least good?" she asked curiously.
"... Honestly not really. I mean it was good but not great." I said. The only thing good about it was how quickly he recovered but still… his limit was at about 3 rounds before he got tired." Actually now that I think about it… I only dated him because he was also an E-ranker so he could relate to me and my struggles but look at where that got me… sexless."
"Why don't we go for a drink after this and then maybe you can find someone to help you forget about him?" she said with a smile.
I looked at her and sighed, "Sure but you need to heal me first and you're paying … come on, I think the raid's starting."
"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! WE'RE OFF TO GO HAPPY HUNTING SO NOT I'M QUALIFIED TO SAY THIS, BUT I'D LIKE TO BE THE LEADER OF THIS RAID, IS THAT ALRIGHT WITH YOU PEOPLE?" Mr Song Chi-Yul, the highest rank in the party said and everyone, including myself agreed. We then all entered the gate.
And immediately got attacked by monsters and a few minutes in I'm already injured… again. The rest of the party fought the monsters fairly easily while I sat and waited for the healing to finish.
"Hey Jin-woo... Why don't you quit being a hunter?" Ju-hee said still healing my wounded leg.
I smiled at that, "Wow Ju-hee, you're a great motivational speaker. "
"Shut up! I'm worried about you!" she yelled I chuckled at that.
"Well you know my situation so it's either this or being a prostitute for old lonely men" I'm joking guys I still have other options before I get to that.
"Please! Knowing you, you'd just get yourself a sugar daddy." she replied just as jokingly as I did. I winked at her and we both laughed, "Hey! Don't laugh or you'll open up your wound!"
"Hey guys! I found an enterance!"
A double lair? They exist?
Mr Song Chi-Yul, looked into the entrance and shot a fireball into it then, "Hey everyone! Listen to me for a second! Since the gate does not close until the boss is killed, the boss is most likely in there! Usually we contact a guild to look at this but then our profits would dwindle! I really wish to deal with the boss so lets have a vote since it could be dangerous! No complaints at the end result!"
Soon there was a tie. 8 for yes and 8 for no and I was the deal breaker.
I clenched my fist around my E-rank monster core, that's probably not gonna cost much, and decided," Let's do it! "
I looked at Ju-hee, who had been quiet for the last 40 minutes, "I… I’m really sorry.”
“About what?”
“About, you know, dragging you here against your wishes.”
“I’m fine with it, so you don’t need to mind me.”
Jin-Woo cautiously studied Ju-Hui’s expression. She definitely did not look fine at all.
Jin-Woo tilted his head this way and that while trying to read her mood better, before he asked her again, even more cautious than before.
“Are you… really fine?”
“Of course I’m not. Are you of a sane mind?! If you were stabbed a couple of inches higher, you’d have a hole in your heart by now! And, what about those injuries on your arms and legs? I worked so hard to heal you somehow, yet you wish to throw yourself into yet another dungeon?? Plus, you don’t even know where we’re going, too!”
She spoke so quickly that Jin-Woo felt like his mind was getting numb from hearing her.
However, she was right about everything.
If it weren’t for the presence of the outstanding Healer ranked B, Yi Ju-Hui, Jin-Woo wouldn’t have been able to carry on living unaffected, never mind working as a Hunter. It was a small wonder why such high ranked and hard-to-find Healers were valued so greatly within the halls of the Association.
‘Wait, now that I think about it, I owe Miss Ju-hee a lot, don’t I?’
At the moment, it was way past the point of Jin-Woo feeling grateful for everything she had done, and firmly into the territory of him being apologetic for inconveniencing her.
“…”
Ju-hee looked at me and my face must've showed how guilty I felt, "You’re really sorry?”
“Of course , I am. You're basically my only friend. I hate inconveniencing you... Too much. ”
Ju-Hui was silent foe a bit, before she began gazing at him with the corner of her eyes and her lips slowly arched up.
“If you’re really sorry, then… how about you pay for the drink when we get our of here?” will I have enough money for that? I'm sure if I wear too little clothes, Ju-hee and I could get drinks for free at the gay Bar down the road.
“What the… You don’t want to buy me drinks?”
"Nah... I'm just calculating my budget."
The suddenly it happened, right then.
Suddenly, it became quite hectic out in front.
“We found it!!”
“It’s the boss chamber!”
Jin-Woo and Ju-Hui’s gazes automatically shifted to the front.
And they saw a huge stone door blocking the passage.
Hunters immediately surrounded this door.
“What is this? Why is there a door at the end of the cavern?”
“Have we ever encountered a boss chamber with a door before?”
“This is definitely the first time, I’m sure of it.”
“This… Doesn’t this feel strangely dangerous?”
Hunters began to express their doubts and fears one at the time.
Since their own lives were on the line here, they had to be cautious and meticulous.
However, if one were to become too cautious, one would end up failing to grasp the heaven-sent opportunity in the first place. Mister Song figured this was one such case.
“Are you all planning to return empty-handed after coming this far?”
Song placed his hands on the door.
“If that’s what you want, knock yourselves out. I’m pushing ahead, even if it means I’ll be going alone.”
Song was a rank C Hunter with ten years of experience.
If it weren’t for his age, which was over sixty, he’d be making a killing in a big Guild by now thanks to his excellent skills.
And when a Hunter like that voiced his opinion with such confidence, others began to feel less anxious than before.
“Wait a minute.”
A couple of Hunters began recalling rumours of dual dungeons.
“I heard that there are incredible treasures hidden within dual dungeons.”
“Yeah, I heard that a certain small to medium Guild found a dual dungeon and grew into a large Guild almost overnight.”
“Monsters inside a dungeon always possess roughly the similar ranks no matter where they are located, so the hunt itself should not be too difficult…”
What if there were incredible treasures hidden with the dual dungeon just as the rumours said, and the monsters beyond this door were about the same difficulty as the rank D, E creatures they fought until now?
‘I can’t let that old man monopolise all the treasure.’
‘No freaking way.’
‘Postnatal care, the school fee for the first born kid, and let’s not forget, this month’s rent is almost due, too….’
The opinions of the Hunters were now on the same page.
Jin-Woo, too, steeled himself.
‘I can’t return home with just a single rank E magic crystal. At a bare minimum, I gotta kill a rank D, no, one more rank E monster!!’
It didn’t even have to be a monster, too.
‘If it’s treasure instead….’
Treasures or rare loot found in a dungeon would normally be divided equally among all the participants in a raid. It was quite a different way of sharing the rewards where one could only take possession of magic crystals one procured by themselves.
‘If we score big today, then things might improve at home for a while.’
Jin-Woo nervously swallowed down his saliva.
Ju-hee saw his determined expression and asked him.
“Are you sure you're ready for this?
Jin-Woo shrugged his shoulders.
“No clue but I'm willing to die trying .”
“…..Eh?”
Just as a dumbfounded expression formed on Ju-hee face, Song pushed the dungeon’s door and it creaked open.
There must’ve been some sort of mechanism installed on the heavy-looking door, since the physical strength of a sixty-year-old man was enough to easily open it.
Slam!
Now that the door was wide open, the huge open interior revealed itself. Hunters hurriedly rushed in.
“Let’s go in as well.”
Jin-Woo feared that he’d fall behind, so he grasped Ju-hee hand and took the lead.
As soon as Hunters sat foot inside, flames erupted on the numerous torches packed tightly on the walls all at the same time. Thanks to that, the interior brightened up considerably.
“What’s the heck? The lights came on by themselves?”
“First time seeing a dungeon like this one.”
“Something’s…. different about this place.”
Hunters cautiously studied their surroundings. The overall atmosphere of the place was similar to that of an ancient temple.
Not only that, an old and somewhat decrepit temple, something that might be buried and hidden beneath the ground; moss and weed could be seen sporadically on the floor, walls and the ceiling.
Several Hunters shrunk back and shuddered slightly.
“it’s a bit creepy in here, isn’t it?”
“Doesn’t it feel like we’re being watched by someone?”
Leaving behind the scared Hunters, the three, four strongest of the group went in deeper.
“Tsk! Don’t say something that might jinx us, will ya?”
“Let’s end this quickly and go home.”
The interior was nonsensically huge. The chamber was shaped like a giant dome. It was as large as several Olympic stadiums, the one found in Seoul, were put together – no, maybe it was even bigger than that.
However, one couldn’t help but feel that it was still inadequate.
The reason for that was rather obvious.
“That…. that thing over there….”
“N-no freaking way that thing’s the boss, right?”
In the deepest part of the dome, something so logic-defyingly humongous sat on a throne just as big as itself. It was none other than a huge stone statue of a god!
“Oh, my god….”
“Wow.”
Shocked gasps leaked out from the Hunters.
The first image popping up in my head was of the Statue of Liberty in New York. If that statue sat down on a chair, wouldn’t it be as big as that statue of the unknown god?
Well, Liberty was a woman, while the one sitting on the throne was a dude, though.
‘No, hang on. Maybe it’s even bigger than that…’
Hunters began nervously swallowing their saliva near the foot of the god statue. The taut and heavy apprehension and anxiety were clear to see on their faces as they worried about this statue being the dungeon’s boss.
‘…….’
However, the statue did not budge an inch.
What a fortunate thing that was.
“Whew….”
Even Song spat out a sigh of relief.
“Okay, everyone. Spread out.”
Now that they found some leeway, Hunters split among themselves and began searching around the vicinity.
“I don’t think there’s a single monster in here.”
“You think so, too?”
“Never mind a monster, I can’t even see a single bug, too.”
The chamber of the stone god statue might have been massive, yet its actual inner structure was on the simpler side. On the walls, countless torches could be found there. And in front of these walls, more stone statues, slightly taller than a human being, stood tall and unmoving. There were lots of them here as well, found at a certain distance from one another.
“They are all rather beautiful, aren’t they?”
“It’s like, they are works of art, no?”
Objects held by each of the stone statues were varied and different.
Some held weapons, there was one with a book, some carried musical instruments, and even torches.
“It’s as if….”
“They are like statues of a holy temple or something.”
Song finished what Kim wanted to say.
“Mm?”
Then, Song found something beneath his feet.
“This… Isn’t this a magic formation?”
He found a magic formation that he had never seen before located in the middle of this temple.
It was then.
“Excuse me, Mister Song? Ahjussi, something’s written here. Can you come over here and take a look?”
One of the Hunters discovered a statue that was different from others and called out to Song.
Song stopped studying the magic formation and got up from the floor. Other Hunters all gathered around the statue Song was headed off to.
Only this statue featured a pair of wings and carried a stone slate. What the Hunters focused on was the letters carved into this slate. Song took a sweeping look at the slate and muttered to no one in particular.
“It’s Rune alphabet.”
Words that could not be found anywhere on Earth, and found only within dungeons; only the Hunters who had ‘awakened’ the magic-related professions could decipher them.
“The laws of the Karutenon temple.”
Song read the very first verse.
With a deeply nervous face, I listened to the contents of the slate, as read out by Mister Song.
However, someone suddenly tugged at his arm.
When he looked back, he spotted Ju-hee and her deathly-pale complexion. I was surprised by this sight.
“What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”
“T-there. Over there.”
I looked to where she was pointing and she was pointing at the giant god statue. More specifically, she was pointing at the god statue’s face.
I looked at her confused because it looked pretty much the same as before.
“….?”
Ju-hee stuttered some words out, "The, the eyes… The eyes of the god statue moved towards us. Just now.”
“Ju-hee, don't scare me?”
I looked to it several times, but nothing seemed to have changed. There was no visible change to the god statue.
“… I’m sure you’ve made a mistake.”
However, it seemed like Ju-hee didn’t hear me; her head stayed lowered, and as she held onto my arm, her entire body trembled even harder.
‘Hang on a sec here.’
I suddenly started to feel a strange ominous sensation now. The world was eerily quiet. So much so, it felt just too bizarre.
‘No sounds….?’
Even the sounds of the flames burning on the torches could not be heard anymore.
“First law.”
In the meantime, Song’s voice continued on as he read the contents of the slate.
“Worship the god. Second law. Exalt the god. Third law. Prove your piety. Those who do not keep to these laws shall not leave this place alive.”
It was then.
SLAM!!
Everyone was jolted back to their senses at the sudden explosion of noise.
“What, what was that?!”
“Where did that sudden noise come from?!”
I immediately looked to the door.
“The door!! The door is closed!!”
As soon as I shouted out, everyone shifted their gazes towards the doorway. The door they left open was now firmly shut close.
“God damn it! I can’t stand this!”
The Hunter who was the first to oppose the idea of continued exploration of the dungeon began spitting out cusses as he took large strides towards the door.
“I’m going home, so you all can have fun with a boss or treasures or whatever.”
That Hunter glared at Song with an expression that contained all of his dissatisfaction before he spun his head around and angrily grabbed the door handle.
It happened, then.
Song’s eyes grew extra large.
“No!!”
Splash!
The area above the Hunter’s neck suddenly vanished. The headless body powerlessly collapsed to the ground.
“K, kkkkyaaachk?!”
“Uwaa?! Uwaak!!”
Hunters began screaming their heads off.
The stone statue that smashed a human’s head apart with a steel mace returned to its original spot next to the door, as if nothing important had happened, its body completely covered in fresh blood.
“That, that thing can move?!”
“What the hell?? Does that mean every statue in here can move, too?!”
“We gotta fight against these things?”
“I couldn’t even see that damn thing swing the mace, so how can I?!”
Oh fuck... Their troubles only had just begun.
Didn’t Ju-hee say it earlier?
‘If what she said is true….’
A chill rapidly ran down my spine.
I forced myself to turn around so I could look behind me.
“….Oh, shit.”
The stone statue of the god was looking down at me.
It was then, the god statue’s two black eyes changed to red.
My instincts immediately started sending out urgent warning signals.
Something was coming.
I turned towards the other Hunters and cried out as loudly as I could, "Get down!!”
Almost at the same time, red beams of light shot out from the eyes of the god statue. Ihugged Ju-Hui and threw our bodies to the floor.
BUZZZ!!
The beam shot right by the spot I had been standing.
That was definitely too close for comfort.
Unfortunately, not everyone was as lucky as me.
“Uwaaahk?!”
“Euh-ahahack!!”
Those who were swallowed up by the red light evaporated where they stood. Only the ashes of what used to be human Hunters remained where the beam flew past.
The screams came not from the dead Hunters, but those who witnessed their final moments from the sidelines, actually.
“What the f*ck was that?!”
“Euh, euh-euh…”
“How, how can such a thing even be…”
The remaining Hunters began freaking out.
Out of the seventeen Hunters, only eleven survived.
I glared at the god statue.
Its eyes were still glowing in red, but it did not attack again.
‘Is the attack… over?’
I looked underneath me. Ju-hee was trembling. I started stroking her hair, "Shh... hey... We're fine. It's okay. We're fine. Shh...", This was the reason why she worked for the Association and not for a big Guild, and participated in simple raids like this one, even though she was nominally an excellent Hunter with a rank as high as ‘B’. Her breathing started to calm done a bit but I didn't stop until her breathing was normal.
Mister Song, somehow next to me, shouted at the other Hunters, "Nobody move! Stay exactly where you are!” Song looked around before focusing on me. “Only those that moved got killed. Those who listened to you and got down survived.”
“It seems that way.” I replied rubbing Ju-hees back.
Song tilted his head slightly, “I thought you warned us because you figured something out?”
“No, well, I just felt something dangerous was coming, so….” was my reply
I looked at Mr Song condition and my eyes widened, "A-ahjussi, your, your… Your arm?!”
“This is nothing. I can still hold on.”
“But, but, still….”
Mr Songs left arm, was gone.
“…”
MrSong took off the T-shirt he was wearing, and while not even showing the enormous amount of pain he must be feeling, he wrapped up what was left of his left arm, "Help me tie up the end, please? It’s difficult to so with only one hand.”
I could only nod my head.
With the gel of Ju-hee we were able to somehow stop the bleeding for now.
Rather than a scream or a pained moan, Song let out a long sigh. It was a sigh containing ten years’ worth of experience as a Hunter.
“Fuu…..”
Now that the first-aid was over, Mr Song’s gaze became a level sharper as he studied his surroundings. Although the god statue stopped attacking them, their situation hadn’t improved in the slightest.
And like so, seconds continued to tick by.
“Sob, sob….”
“Just why do we have to suffer like this, this…..”
A few Hunters even began shedding tears now.
“We can’t stay like this forever!!”
The patience of the other Hunters was running out as well I agreed with that sentiment, though.
‘Right, we can’t stay here forever.’
But, what could we possibly do here? If Song’s suspicion was correct, then the moment they moved, they’d get attacked
And, even if we got lucky and managed to evade the beams and reach the door, there were the two stone statues guarding the doorway to worry about, as well.
They were a big problem too, actually.
The movements of the doorkeepers were so fast that he couldn’t see it with his eyes. Could he or anyone else open the door and escape before those statues attacked them?
It sounded completely impossible.
Which meant that the annihilation of the Hunters was just a matter of time.
‘Wait….. A matter of time?’
When his thoughts arrived there, a strong sense of disharmony filled him up.
An event that couldn’t have happened, but it happened anyway.
But no one else seemed to have picked up on “it” yet.
‘Something… We missed something here.’
Without a doubt, the answer to their salvation hid in that ‘something’.
It was then.
“Don’t move!”
Mr Song shouted at Mister Joo, who was at the far end of the group.
“Shut up! Who knows when that thing will start attacking us again!! But you want me to stay here and wait?!”
Mister Joo was a close-combat type Hunter.
These types of Hunters possessed far, far superior physical abilities than regular human beings. On top of this, Joo was about to sign up with a big Guild after his skills were acknowledged by them not too long ago as well.
“I’ll not die here today.”
While keeping low to the ground, Joo put all his strength down to his legs.
His aim was at the doorway.
The muscles on his legs were swelling up fast.
“Damn it….”
Song could only mutter out to himself.
Right then, Joo kicked the ground and exploded forward.
I turned my head to look at the god statue. Just as I suspected, the eyes of the statue were fixed on the back of mister Joo.
And then, the chilling red ray shot out from those eyes.
BUZZ!!
The beam slammed on the back of Mister Joo.
“Kkyaaahck!!”
A female Hunter screamed at the top of her lungs.She must’ve developed a leak, because a puddle of yellow liquid formed where she was squatting on the ground.
The expressions of the Hunters froze, hard.
“Oh my god….”
Mister Joo no longer stood where the red beam flew past. Only the pair of ownerless ankles could be seen now.
One of the men with a weaker constitution began emptying the contents of his stomach.
“B-blergh!!”
As expected, the god statue could easily finish them off if it felt like it. It’d be easier than stepping on squirming bugs, actually.
‘If that’s the case, then…. Why hadn’t it? It could kill them, yet it hadn’t done that.'
This was a completely different pattern of behaviour compared to the monsters that attacked as soon as spotting human Hunters in their vicinity.
These statues only moved if certain conditions were met: the doorkeepers that only attacked if someone approached the door; the eyes of the god statue firing that red beam if someone moved.
It was like a game with a set regulation.
‘Hang on… Could there be some kind of rules in this chamber?’
It was here that a piece of puzzle found its place in my head. I thought back to the contents of the stone slate Mr Song was reading not too long ago, that was why.
‘The laws of the… Karutenon temple, was it?’
‘Regulation’ was ‘rules’, and ‘rules’ could be ‘laws’ as well.
The key to their safe escape from this camber had to be buried within those warnings found on the stone slate.
“….Worship the god.”
That was the first law.
“Mm? Did you just say something?”
Mr Song shifted his gaze back to me.
Instead of a reply, I placed his index finger on his lips as a sign asking for a bit of time to think.
‘If my thoughts are right…’
I slowly rose up.
Song hurriedly tried to stop me, but I shook mt head determinedly.
I kept my eyes trained squarely at the god statue and carefully stood up.
Almost right away, the eyes of the statue were fixed on me.
BUZZZ!!
And as expected, the red beam was fired in my direction.
If I got down to the ground a moment slower, it’d be my face melting away, instead of a few strands of hair on top of his head!
Lying face down on the ground, I breathed in and out quite heavily.
“Heok, heok, heok, heok.”
I nearly died. The moment the statue’s eyes met mine, I thought I was going to die for sure. I somehow did dodge it, but my legs wouldn’t stop shaking from the fear.
‘Still….’
Still, I learned something important just now.
‘It’s not attacking someone who’s moving around.’
As long as I was squatting low to the ground, I could go anywhere I wanted to and the statue’s eyes would remain still.
However, if one stood up, then the red beam would be fired without hesitation.
‘The damn thing only attacks if we breach a certain height.’
That was why I bet his life on proving this theory right just now.
And now, I was sure of it.
The meaning behind the first law, that was...
I looked to the rest of the hunters and shouted, “Everyone!” Their attention shifted towards me in an instant. I met their gazes as I spoke "You must kneel towards the god statue!”
Hunters began tilting their heads after hearing him.
“Kneel….?”
“You want us to kneel to that statue?”
Hunters exchanged glances with each other, before loudly cussing out at me and wow not like I saved your life a few seconds ago or anything...
“Fuck you! What bullshit are you spewing here?!”
“What the hell! How can you say something like that under the current circumstances?!”
“Have you lost your mind, Seong Jin-Woo?!”
Kim’s face became boiling-red as he began snorting like a bull.
“I had no idea you, Mister Seong, would be like this! If I could move, then I’d have punched you in the face already!!”
I bit on my lower lip.
Six of their comrades were killed by the god statue. So, it was rather obvious that the surviving Hunters would cuss me out when he told them to kneel towards that abominable thing.
It wasn’t hard to understand what these Hunters were feeling at the moment.
‘And, the most important thing is….’
The most important thing was, I had no logical evidence to back my theory up. I only had his gut feelings. Indeed, that was the only way to describe it.
However…
“I’ll do as you say.”
That voice came from Jin-Woo’s back. Everyone’s eyes immediately shifted there.
It was Mr Song, effectively the leader of this group.
“Mister Song ahjussi?”
“You are going to kneel to that fucking statue?”
Just as other Hunters began to freak out, Song looked straight at Jin-Woo.
“Young man. You’ve discovered something, haven’t you?”
I resolutely nodded nodded head.
“Is it your instinct again?”
“…..Yes. For the time being.”
“I see.”
When Mr Song knelt down towards the god statue, the mood had become solemn and silent.
“….He’s really doing it."
Seizing upon this opportunity, I shouted out once more, “Everyone, I beg of you! Please kneel before the god statue. We might be able to get out of here alive!”
Might live.
Might be able to get out alive.
The impact those simple words carried was quite explosive.
The hesitant Hunters began to plop down to the ground, as if they were really kneeling . The number of them performing the act gradually increased. In the end, even the complaining Kim bowed his head towards the statue.
There was only two people remaining now. And that would be Ju-hee and I. I nodded to her and we then knelt down towards the god statue, placed our hands on the ground, and slowly lowered our head.
Finally, something began to change.
“Huh? Uh, uhh?!”
Hunters who had noticed the change first raised their voices.
“The god statue!! Look at the statue!!”
“It’s eyes!”
The red light buzzing in its eyes was gradually weakening.
“What the hell? Is this really going to work??”
Eventually, the red light completely vanished.
“Oh!! Ohhh!!”
Hunters began rejoicing loudly.
“The red light is gone!!”
“We made it!!”
The excited Hunters began standing up one at the time. Even then, the statue didn’t fire the red beam. 'This just gave me more reliefathan any orgasm ever had', I thought with a sigh. “Whew….”
Just as I suspected – this chamber operated strictly within the set regulations.
‘If that’s the case….’ Then, this game was far from over. Two more ‘laws’ still remained. The second law, exalt the god. And the third law, prove one’s piety. It was then.
RUMBLE!!
Accompanied by a goosebump-inducing noise, the entire chamber began to shake.
‘As I thought….’
My suspicions proved to be correct once more.
Things were only getting started.
The humongous god statue was slowly rising up from the stone throne.
“Huh?! Huhhh???”
Hunters were hugging each other while shedding tears of joy until then, but when they realised this turn of events, they all froze up like statues themselves.
“What…. what the hell!! It wasn’t over yet?!”
“This, this can’t be!!”
None of them could articulate what they wanted to say. Despair rapidly dyed their expressions.
“Ah…..Ah, ah…
Soon, the god statue completely stood up from the throne.
The ‘creature’ swept its gaze around once, and began walking towards the Hunters.
Every time the god statue stepped on the ground, the whole world seemed to shake.
THUD!!
It was so tall that its head was almost scraping against the chamber’s indescribably high ceiling.
THUD!!
Even when the Hunters were overwhelmed by the statue’s sheer size, the thing was gradually closing its distance to them.
“Mister Song!! Mister Song Jin-Woo!!”
“What can we do??”
The Hunters who were cussing at me only a short while ago hurriedly began crowding around him. And huh... Funny turn of events ain't it.
“Is there a way out of this?”
“Say something!!”
All these adults were forming tearful expressions as if they’d start breaking down in sobs and wails very soon. Currently, I was their only hope. Really funy ain't it.
“Exalt the god. That’s the key.”
“Wait, isn’t that…?!”
Kim suddenly butted in as if he knew something others didn’t.
“Isn’t that what’s written on the slate?”
“Correct. Worship the god. Exalt the god. And finally, prove your piety. We need to satisfy all three laws.”
I began speaking faster and faster.
Why? The god statue was already a stone’s throw away from them.
THUD!!
Everyone’s complexion paled as the gigantic shadow loomed over them.
“Let, let me try something.”
A young male Hunter who usually kept to himself suddenly took a step forward.
“What the?! What are you trying to do?”
“I’ve been in a church choir. I’m confident if it’s about ‘exalting’ something.”
The young Hunter slowly stepped forward towards the statue while disregarding the dissuasion of Kim. He regulated his breathing while looking up at the god statue before he took a large gulp of air.
“I come to you, Lord….
His clear voice began reverberating within the chamber.
“….Renew my faith once more….. Bless me with your grace, Lord…”
The statue stopped its march in front of the singing Hunter.
“Oh!! Ohhh!!”
Hunters began gasping out in elation. The god statue didn’t move from the spot as if it was absorbed by the singing. All the other noises in the room vanished. Only the young man’s voice could be heard in the chamber’s interior. he young Hunter was encouraged by this and carried on.
“All the weakness found in me… Through your love, I shall overcome…”
‘This… this is wrong... Something doesn't feel right. ' I swallowed up his words several times.The chamber featured its own set of rules. But the young Hunter was ‘exalting’ the god statue with the ‘rule’ of Christianity, not with the rules of this chamber. Thankfully, the statue wasn’t moving – but, could singing that hymn qualify as upholding the rules?bI shook my head.
The only reason why I didn’t say anything was solely because I couldn’t think of a better way to stop the god statue myself. It was right then
THUD!!
The weighty noise reverberated throughout the chamber.
“K, kkkkyyyyaaahhhk!!”
The female Hunter screamed at the top of her lungs.
When the stone statue lifted its leg up, bloody mess of what used to be the young Hunter could be found on the ground as well as on the bottom of its foot.
Other Hunters began screaming in panic and shock, too.
“Ahhhhh?!”
“Uwa, uwaaaahk!!”
The face of the statue, emotionless until then, was now crumpled in pure rage.
“It’s angry!!”
“Run, run away!!”
Hunters dispersed away from the statue in a hurry.
Unfortunately for the female Hunter, she lost her reasoning and stood on the spot while screaming loudly after personally witnessing the death of the young male Hunter.
“K, kyaaachk!!"
I ran away with Ju-hee on my side. I want to help her but I need to think of Jin-ah. As if slapping a fly down, the god statue slammed its palm down at the female Hunter.
SLAM!!
I shifted his gaze away. It was a truly gruesome sight and he couldn’t bear to watch it unfold.
THUD!!
“Uwaahk!!”
THUD!
THUD!!!
“Help me!!"
The statue was not walking around anymore. No, it was actually running around and stepping on the humans it found nearby. Whenever the thing stepped on the ground, the entire chamber shook around, hard.
THUD!! THUD!!
I gritted his teeth and began running again. Ju-hee squeezed her eyes shut and held onto me for her dear life.
“Let’s split up!”
“Yes!”
Thinking that moving around together was dangerous, Ju-hee, Song and I ran in separate directions.
I made sure to run towards the furthest corner from the frenzied god statue. However, there was another Hunter who had arrived there before he did.
It was Mister Park. Mr Park was running with everything he had. Tears had formed on the edges of his eyes and he let out a sob. Perhaps because he ran with everything he had, he was able to run the furthest away from the statue out of everyone here and stood panting.
As Mr Park tried to control his heavy breathing in the corner, his friend Mr Kim urgently shouted at him, “Mister Park!!”
Mr Park raised his head after hearing the familiar voice, “Yeah?”
Kim pointed at the spot behind Park and cried out, “Your back!! Look behind you!!
It was then, something sharp gleamed coldly behind Mister Park.
Slice!
Park was sliced in half from the top of his head right down to his groin. His cleanly-cut two halves fell to the ground.
“PARK!!”
The stone statue that killed Park with its greatsword returned to its position as if nothing had happened, exactly like how the doorkeeper did before.
Mr Kim began tearing up after witnessing this scene.
“You sons of bitches….!!”
THUD!!
THUD!!
Behind him, the humongous god statue was stepping on and killing humans one at the time, and if you ran towards the corner in order to avoid it, then the stone statues located there would start attacking you.
“U, uwaaaah!!”
“My arm!! My armmmm!!”
The interior of the chamber swiftly fell into chaos.
“Heok, heok….”
Cold sweat dripped down from my forehead.
My legs felt as if they were getting heavier. My breathing was getting rougher and rougher. However, my head was filled with only one chain of thought, 'Exalt the god. Exalt the god. Exalt the god….’ The words of the second law circulated in my brain non-stop. The key to unravelling this mystery definitely existed within this chamber. Something within this chamber that they could use! However, when the Hunters first entered this place, they had searched every nook and cranny, but didn’t find a single contraption nor things that might be some kind of tools. ‘No, back then or now, the only things here that can move are the stone statues.’ A thought raced past my brain just then. 'Only things moving in here are the statues?’ my eyes widened, “Why haven’t I thought of that before?!”
If the only things that could move were the stone statues, then the only thing we could use had to be them, too.These statues activated when humans got near them, meaning we had to take advantage of this rule, 'What if….!’
Even though I was running short of breath, I shouted loud enough to shake the entire chamber, "Run towards the statues holding musical instruments!!”
All the Hunters still alive heard Jin-Woo’s voice.
“Instruments?”
A ray of hope found its way into the eyes of the Hunters.
Quite different to back when I told them to kneel, everyone moved unbelievably quickly. If I was wrong about this, then as soon as arriving near one, they would be killed by the stone statues holding the musical instruments. However, no one here questioned my words. Mr song was the first one to arrive in front of a statue carrying a musical instrument. Song controlled his heavy breathing and raised his head to look at the statue. And as if it was a lie, the fingers of the statue moved and strummed on the harp.
Cling, clang…
A beautiful melody flowed out.
“It’s working!!”
“Hurry to the statues with instruments!!”
Hunters ran towards the nearest correct statues in hurried footsteps.
The statue with a trumpet began blowing it triumphantly; one with a flute began playing with it; the one holding the lyre strummed on its strings.
“Heok, heok, heok….”
While sensing the approach of his physical limit, Kim somehow arrived in front of the statue that held a Suzuka and plopped down to the ground. As soon as the statue began playing the instrument, the god statue stopped chasing after Kim. He must’ve been overcome with emotions, because Kim then began shedding tears while he stayed down on his knees. Meanwhile, the god statue turned around. The ‘creature’ searched around and soon enough, found its next prey.
"Oh fuck me with a swordfish...", i spat out as my gaze met the god statue’s.
I ran like fuck - so hard that his heart might explode. My back was already soaked through in sweat.
THUD!! THUD!! THUD!!
The god statue closed in with frightening speed. I was practically on the other side of the chamber from the damn thing, yet the distance between the two shortened in no time at all.
Boom, boom, boom….
When I glanced back, a beating drum started in a slow but steady rhythm... Ju-hee, thank God. ‘What a relief.’
I did his best to avoid the foot of the thing that rivaled a building in size and crossed the room in a hurry.
THUD!
THUD!!
I fell and rolled around but still, I somehow managed to avoid getting flattened by the god statue’s foot. I'm gonna need new pair of lungs. I might only have been a rank E, but I was still a close-combat type Hunter so my speed came in handy in situations like this, ‘Just a little bit further!! A bit more!’. I kept an eye out on the god statue’s movements and ran even harder.
My speed increased.
And when the distance remaining between him and the stone statue was mere a dozen feet…
“No, that’s the wrong one!!”….Mister Song cried out to me.
I had been too busy paying attention to the god statue so I was stunned by the shout and hurriedly turned my head take a look at my front. Fuck. It’s not a statue with an instrument?
I belatedly realized that the thing that looked like a musical instrument from afar was actually a shield, instead. And sure enough, the statue mercilessly stabbed down with its shield. I hurriedly threw himself to the side.
Ju-Hui screamed. Why is she screaming? I'm fine now. I rolled on the ground and when I came to a stop, I raised his head to see the god statue standing right in front of my nose, “Or not….” Myforehead must’ve been torn from rolling on the ground, because blood was flowing down and blurred my vision. My view was restricted and I couldn’t look too far away. I quickly searched around his vicinity ‘An instrument…. an instrument….’ I thought looking around wildly, however, no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t see a single statue holding an instrument nearby.
THUD!!
I threw himself again and somehow avoided the foot of the statue again.
But I had reached his limit.
A powerful dizziness was assaulting me and for some reason, I couldn’t even balance himself, 'Please….If there is a real God, please let me live! I promise to never have sex again!' I thought praying right about now. It was then, when I spotted a stone statue that held neither a weapon or a musical instrument, ‘Is that…?’ might as well bet everything on that statue. I crawled on the ground and arrived in front of the statue in question. I then managed to flip my body around and lied down on the ground so i could see the god statue. If I'm gonna die I'm gonna watch this fucker kill me, I no longer had any energy to move. I stared at the approaching god statue and continued to roughly breathe in and out. The expression of the god statue was far more contorted compared to before as if it got infuriated further by my continued evasion.The god statue now stopped in front of Jin-Woo. Seeing a ‘creature’ as big as a high-rise blocking his entire view, I felt like he couldn’t breathe anymore.
Did it think I was nothing more than a cornered rat? The god statue simply looked down at him and didn’t do anything else. ‘This is the end….’ I sensed my unavoidable death approaching closer after looking straight into the eyes of the god statue.
However…
Wu-wu-wu….
From somewhere behind him, a beautiful and otherworldly voice came out. I turned my head around to see what was going on.
Wu-wu, wu-wu-wu….
The lips of the stone statue holding a book moved, and whenever they did, a divine song flowed out and filled the interior of the massive chamber. The crumpled expression of the god statue slowly reverted back to the emotionless state. Soon, all those horrifyingly contorted facial muscles of the stature smoothed out. When the song of the stone statues came to its eventual end, the god statue turned around. Then, just how other stone statues had done until now, it returned to its throne and settled down as if things that happened until now were nothing but a lie.
THUD!!
The noise of the god statue sitting down on the throne resounded throughout the chamber.
“Oh fuck….. Barely, made, it… God, you and I both know I lied. ” A thin smile formed on my lips. Meanwhile, Ju-hee began running from her position at the far end of the chamber.
“Jin-Woo!!”
She ran with all her might and knelt down next to him as tears streamed down on her face.
“What can I do…. What am I supposed to….”
She summoned all of her magical energy and activated her healing magic. However, nothing seemed to improve. The dispersed Hunters gathered around me one by one. Every single one of them carried a dark expression, “What… Jin-Woo…."
Even then, only Ju-hee was crying in sorrow.
Why was everyone acting like this?
My lips bobbled up and down. I wanted to ask what was going on, but he couldn’t really summon forth my own voice. Sensing that I had no choice, I tried to prop myself up. Then, I noticed the pool of blood around around mylower torso. Only then did I belatedly realise the change to my body, “Ah…..” Below his right knee was gone. My eyes reflexively shifted toward the stone statue holding the shield. I then saw the trail of blood clearly visible on the end of the shield and the rest of his right leg was just below that.
Drip. Drip.
Drops of blood started falling from Ju-hee's nose. That was the sign of her reaching the limits of her physical stamina.bThe healing magic from a rank B Healer was unable to recover missing limbs. Meaning, what she was doing was basically pouring water into a broken jug. Her stamina rapidly bottomed out in the end. “It’s fine now… Miss Ju-hee . You can stop….”
“I’m going to heal you!! I’ll fix you as good as new!” the Hunters stared at the while while forming miserable expressions. Out of the seventeen who initially entered this chamber only six remained now. And from this group of six, two of them had suffered horrible, grievous wounds. Mr Song had lost his arm, while I lost my leg.
RUMBLE….!!
The middle of the temple, where that strange magic formation could be found, suddenly rose up above the ground. I inwardly thought that it had finally come ‘Prove your piety, is it….’ l already had a rough idea as to what those words could mean. The circular magic formation in the centre of the temple began rising up noisily and only stopped after reaching the height of a couple of steps. “An altar…” Hunters displayed alert reactions as soon as I muttered Mr Kim always was quick on the uptake and so, he caught onto the meaning first before anyone else had the chance to do so, “I get it now. I see how it is.” Mr Kim then unsheathed the sword hanging on his hips. “Even if I’m a dumb bastard, I can more or less get what you’re trying to say here.” Hunters nervously swallowed their saliva while looking at the sharp, coldly-gleaming blade.“Oii, Mister Kim. Why are you pulling your sword out like that?”
“Why don’t we talk about this first? Let’s talk first.”
The highest ranked member among the group, rank C Hunter Song was heavily injured, meaning there was no one here that could potentially stop Kim, who boasted a pretty powerful set of skills himself even within the D rank.
Mr Kim pointed towards the altar with his sword, “The final law, prove your piety. And there’s an altar appearing out of nowhere in the middle of this place. Mr Kim’s gaze then shifted to mine. “So, aren’t we supposed to offer up a sacrifice? Mister Song?” I slowly nodded my head. One of the surviving six had to act as a sacrifice.
"That’s what the last law probably meant…. My words came to this conclusion. I sensed more disturbance and raised my head, and realised that the eyes of Mister Kim as he approached closer did not look friendly at all. A long sweatdrop glided down my forehead. “Ahjussi… What….?”
“You, young man, don’t say anything and be still!!”,Mr Kim angrily shouted out and pointed his sword at Mister Song, who was squatting next to me.
“Just who was it that dragged us to this place? Wasn’t it this guy? Yes, it was Mister Song! So, don’t you think it’s only right for Mister Song to take the ultimate responsibility?”
“Ahjussi!”, I tried to get up in a fit of anger, but then, Mr Song’s hand that resembled the bark of an aged tree stopped me. I looked at Mr Song in disbelief. Mr Song wordlessly shook his head. His eyes were pleading with me, asking me to not say anything else. Of course, I had lots of things to say, but I kept them down for now. Mr Song slowly raised his body up.
“What Mister Kim said is right. I should take the blame for today.”
“Old man, I guess we are now finally on the same page.”
Mr. Kim used the tip of his sword to point towards the altar, “If you get it now, then let’s get going already. Over ten people died here because of you, old man. "
One of the dead Hunters today happened to be Mister Park, a personal friend to Mister Kim. Exploring the dual dungeon was decided with the vote involving everyone, but Kim had already erased that memory off his head after losing much of his reasoning.
Mister Song spoke to Kim, “I’d like to walk on my own volition, so can you put the sword away?”
Of course, Kim refused right away, “How can I trust you, old man? Stop wasting time and start moving already.”
Mr Song sighed softly under his breath and walked towards the altar. Kim pointed his sword at the older man’s back and followed on afterwards.
I bit his lower lip while watching the two men walk away. ‘This isn’t the fault of Mister Song.’ More than half of the group agreed to do it together. Just because things had gone south, blaming Song for everything was simply too cowardly, he thought. ‘But, I….’ I unfortunately did not possess enough strength to stop Kim here. Kim, thought to be one of the best among the rank D, and I, easily the worst of the rank E. The difference in our strengths was all too clear for me to see. Not only that, I had even lost a leg. If I tried to confront Kim as he was now, there was a chance that him and even Ju-Hui, who had been focusing solely on healing him, could meet with disaster, “D*mn it.” I squeezed his eyes shut. I never hated my own powerlessness as much as I did today.
In the meantime, Mr Song had stepped up on the raised altar.
Suddenly, a red flame lit up near the outer perimeter of the altar as soon as he did. Everyone nervously swallowed their saliva and observed the unfolding situation carefully. However, nothing else happened. Just a single flame came to life, and that was it.
“…?”
They waited for a while but there was no visible change at all. Not only Kim, but everyone else got flustered by this situation.
Kim quickly turned his head and spoke to me as if I knew everything about this place, "Look here, Mister Song. This wasn’t it?”
I also shook his head, “Even I….”I, too thought that once a person chosen as the sacrifice stepped up on the altar, the third law of ‘prove one’s piety’ would be completed. ‘It’s not about offering up a sacrifice?’ If so, then it was not necessarily bad news. If the law was not about sacrifices, then it meant Mister Song could still saved. My expression brightened somewhat. I sweated bucket-loads as I tried to stand up, and two Hunters nearby quickly lent their assistance.“Please take me closer to the altar so I can study it.”
“Jin-Woo, your injuries are….”, Ju-hee also got up from her spot to follow after me. Her complexion was rather pale after expending too much of her magical energy. But because she had worked so hard, my blood loss had been temporarily halted and the pain I felt was reduced to a barely noticeable degree.‘I gotta hurry up.’
The current condition of Ju-hee , Kim’s boiling rage, Song’s injuries, and the frightened Hunters – I didn’t have a lot of time here. I eventually arrived at the altar with the help from other Hunters. “Let’s climb up on the altar.” The two Hunters flinched from my statement, but they trusted me and stepped up. Then, three more flames lit up. Right away, Jin-Woo’s eyes gleamed brightly ‘It’s the same number as the people on the altar.’ Mister Song and I , plus two others who helped me, the flames lit up to match the number of people standing on the altar.And it kind of looked like that these four flames were drawing a circle outside the altar.
‘If I take into consideration the space between the flames, two more will complete the circle.’ It seemed that all the remaining people had to climb up on the altar for something, anything, to get started. I turned his head to ask Mr Song, “If we wait here, do you think other Hunters will come to rescue us?”
Mr Song shook his head.
“Today is the seventh day since the Gate showed up. These things will start moving first before the help arrives.”
“Because it’s a Gate ranked D, I see that it’s been left alone for far too long.”
“Well, that’s how the Association operates, isn’t it.”
A Gate would open up fully after the seventh day. The real meaning of a raid was to kill the dungeon’s boss monster and therefore close the Gate before that happened. When failing to do so, the monsters trapped in the dungeons would be set free from the dungeon and they would be able to roam the outside world. I looked behind me. The giant god statue was still looking down on them with an overbearing, arrogant expression from its throne. ‘If that thing manages to go outside, then….’ The ensuing chaos would be unimaginable. Of course, before that happened, Hunters coming to this chamber to rescue them would all be killed by the statues first. He was now sure of the fact that they could not wait here forever. Jin-Woo called out to Ju-hee and Mr Kim, “Both of you, climb up.” Ju-hee stepped up on the altar first. The hesitant Mr Kim also followed suit soon afterwards. Two more flames lit up and the circle was now complete.
And then….
Hunters were grandly stunned by what happened next.
“What the hell?!”
“What’s going on here?”
As I had suspected, yet another change took place.‘It’s coming.’ From the outer most edge of the altar, small blue flames floated upwards and began drawing a circle of their own as well. There looked to be at least thirty of these blue flames, placed real tightly next to each other.
’34. 35. 36….’
I quickly counted as the blue flames completed the circle, ‘The six red flames that lit up to match the number of people. And the 36 blue flames that appeared outside them. What could be the significance behind that number?’
CLANG!
Without a warning, the resolutely-shut door suddenly opened up wide. Hunters reflexively flinched.
“Euk…!”
They all wanted so bad to run towards the wide-open doorway, but having seen the final moments of the choirboy Hunter, they found it hard to take the first step. If one tried to be the first, just who knew what might happen to them?
Everyone’s gaze fixed on mine as if to demand an answer from him. However, my lips remained tightly shut, thinking, “…” I couldn’t come up with a guess at the moment. I didn’t know whether the open door was a trap, or they were now allowed to go out after they upheld the final law successfully. Too bad for me, just as everyone was looking at me, a horrifying noise filled up the entire chamber.
Creak….
Creeeaaaak….
The heads of all six Hunters quickly snapped around to look.
“What was that?!”
“It, it’s coming closer!!”
“Those damn things are all moving now!!”
Hunters’ breathing quickened in an instant.
The stone statues that had only moved when a person got near were now several steps closer to the group. I only needed a short moment to figure out what happened, of course, 'No, the statues didn’t move. It’s the plinths below them that moved.’ That horrifying screech from earlier on most likely came from the plinths beneath the statues grating against the stone floor.
“….They are not moving anymore?”, Mr Kim wiped the droplets of sweat on his forehead as he spoke.
While everyone was still staring at the statues, my focus was on the blue flames. They had been going out one by one, and three of them had flickered out of existence already.
Creaaakkkk…
Hearing that screech, someone cried out.
“Wha-what was that?! Where did it come from?”
I quickly raised my head. The noise had come from my general direction. The stone statues facing me had moved a little bit closer, ‘Why only my side….?’ Was it because he looked at somewhere else briefly? In order to confirm, I closed my eyes.The noise resounded out again.
Creaaaakkk…
As soon as I opened his eyes, the noise stopped.
“What the f*ck is going on here?!”
“What, what are we supposed to do about this?!”
I quickly shouted at others, “Don’t take your eyes off the statues, no matter what!
When I thought about it, I realised that the statues first began moving closer to the group when others were busy looking at me, ‘They creep closer when we are not looking at them.’It was right then, another blue flame disappeared. However, there was still no discernible change to either the group or the statues. ‘Could it be…?’ Cautiously raising himys arm, I did my best not to take my eyes off the statues while checking the time with my wristwatch. 'As I thought.’ At an interval of one minute, a blue flame was being extinguished. ‘The blue flames are the timer.’ It was quite likely that one of the main points of the third law was to stay within the altar until all 36 blue flames died out.In other words, as long as everyone was keeping close watch on the statues, they’d be safe. It was quite possible that no one had to die at this final huddle. Wanting to be more accurate about the remaining time, I began recounting the number of blue flames once more. "There are thirty remaining….’ They only needed to endure thirty more minutes! Unfortunately, I made a huge mistake, just then. While I was counting the number of blue flames, my eyes wandered away for a brief moment, and that resulted in the statues creeping closer…
Creeeakkkk….
“Euuuh, uwaaaahhh!!”
The man standing on the opposite side screamed and ran towards the door. He simply couldn’t hold on any longer as the horrifying screeching noise coming from his back frightened him so much. As soon as he left the altar, one of the red flames disappeared.
“No!!”, I cried out urgently. However, the man running as if he had gone crazy escaped through the open doorway without meeting a grizzly fate, which took everyone by surprise.
“What, what the hell?! Mister Song! What’s going on? That guy made it out alive!” Mr Kim shouted out, flustered.
I was standing with my back to the doorway so I couldn’t really tell what was going on, “Did something change?”
“The door…. The door has closed just a little.”
“The door’s closing?”
“No, no. After that guy left, the door moved a little bit, but then stopped.” I then recalled one of the red flames disappearing as soon as that man left the altar.
‘God damn it!!’
I immediately felt my heart go cold. One of the questions that I couldn’t quite figure out until now as I stood on top of this altar finally had an answer. How could standing on an altar be a proof of one’s piety? I now had the answer to this quandary. And that answer was probably the worst one for me, who had only one leg now and needed other’s help just to keep my balance. That ‘open’ doorway was a trap. A false hope right in front of one’s eyes! If people saw the open door and climbed off the altar at the same time, the red flames would’ve gone out and the doorway would be closed shut again. And then, the banquet of raining blood and screams would inevitably follow next. On the other hand, the ‘altar’ was the proverbial promised land. If each one did what they had to do in their positions until the timer ran out, then their survival would be guaranteed. So, it was between the false hope right in front of one’s eyes, or the unseen promise of salvation. The third law was a test to see if one could defend one’s position without falling into the sweet temptation over yonder while constantly being under the encroaching threat of death. However, two flies in the ointment happened in this situation. The first one was me. Originally, the remaining group of people would’ve ran straight for the open door, but they stopped first to listen to what I had to say and that helped them avoid the trap being sprung in the first place. ‘We got lucky there.’ That had to be the only explanation. Such a thing was only possible because imanaged to figure out the first two laws all by myself and earned the trust of others. Unfortunately for me, the second fly also happened – something I didn’t foresee: a deserter had appeared among their midst. How would human beings react when there was a hope of survival right in front of their eyes? It was way too obvious. The man helping me up abandoned me and bolted as well. Mr Song hurriedly reached out and propped me up from his back.
Poof.
When that man left the altar, yet another red flame disappeared and as expected, the door closed a little bit more.
Creeeaaakkk…
“Huh?!Uh!!”, Mr Kim dazedly pointed at the second deserter, but just like the first person to abandon them, he too safely escaped past the doorway.
I confirmed the number of remaining red flames and shouted out, “We must not move! Any more than this, then it’ll be the end!”
Front, back, left, and right.
In order to secure all four directions, four people were the bare minimum required. Ju-hee , Mister Song , Mister Kim and finally me. A single person leaving now would result in a gap within the field of vision. MrKim wiped the sweat off his forehead and asked urgently, “Mister Seong, just what is going on here? Explain it to me properly.”
“We’ll make it as long as we wait here! Only until all the blue flames are extinguished!”I spat out everything I had deduced so far. Mr Kim nodded his head as his ears perked up. I quickly ended my explanation and added one more thing at the end, “Remember, everyone here can get out of here alive.” The laws of this chamber always left open a path for one’s survival. The final law would not deviate from that. I was certain of no one else needing to die as long as the remaining people trusted each other.
“…..”
Too bad, Kim’s thoughts were quite different than mine. The older Hunter asked hesitantly, “Look here, Mister Song… you could be right on this one, but… could the door close shut instead when the timer runs out?”
I couldn’t answer that one. I came to this conclusion after considering several variables, but until the result was in, I couldn’t be 100% certain of anything.
However, what Kim wanted was a definite assurance. Rather than an uncertain promise of everyone’s survival, the definite survival of his own self had proved to be far more alluring in the end.
“I’m sorry about this, but… I don’t think I can stay here anymore.”
“Ahjussi!”
“Sorry.”, With that parting word, Mr Kim stepped down from the altar. He then ignored Jin-Woo’s urgent calling and ran towards the door. He stopped and looked for a brief moment just outside the door, but Mr Kim did not step back inside the chamber again.
I gritted my teeth, “God d*mn it!!” I had saved the lives of others, but what I got in return was definitely not something like gratefulness or friendship. My entire body shuddered from the pain of betrayal. Just as I suspected, as soon as Kim had abandoned them, a gap within the surveillance had been created. It was impossible for three people to guard all four directions. And so, the statues positioned in the blindspots began creeping closer to the altar.
Creeeaaakkkk…
Creeaakkk…
The encirclement of the stone statue was gradually tightening. M Song took a look around and then, spoke to Ju-hee and I.
“Both of you, you should leave now.”, His voice was full of resignation. Jin-Woo looked at the old man.
"But, ahjussi….?”
“Just as Kim had said, I was the one who dragged us all in here. If someone has to remain behind, then it’d be only right that I’m the one.”
“But, still!!”
“You two with a better future ahead of you should be the ones to survive today.”
Mr Song began smiling, then. I helplessly nodded my head. I was uncomfortable about this whole thing, but there was no time left to argue back and forth who should remain in here.
Mr Song then tried to ask Ju-hee to take care of me, “Miss Ju-hee, can you help out Mister Song here for a bit?”
“Y-yes.”, just as she was about to prop me up, Ju-hee plopped down to the floor.“Ah…..” Ju-hee tried to get up, but then, tears began forming around the edges of her eyes. “My legs… I, I can’t move my legs….”
"Pfft me to... It over in the corner." I said laughing a bit.
Which causee her to hit my functioning leg, "This is serious! How are going to get out."
Mister Song expression hardened in an instant. Ju-hee's current physical condition did look terrible even from a casual glance. Her lips were in the shade of pale blue, while her entire body continued to tremble ever so imperceptibly. She was suffering from the side-effects of overusing her magic energy when she was already at her physical limit.
‘Because she tried to heal my leg….’, I felt my chest tighten and couldn’t say anything. However, we really didn’t have any time left now.
Creeeeaaaakkkk…..
The stone statues were relentlessly approaching them without a moment of rest even now. I shoved Song’s hand away and plopped down to the ground himself. Seeing this, Song’s eyes grew wider.
“Y-young man…..?”
I spoke up with a determined expression on my face, “Ahjussi, please take Ju-Hui and get out of this place."
" Jin-woo no! "Ju-hee yelled but I ignored her.
“I told you, I’ll be the one staying behind.”
“In that case, who’s going to help Ju-Hui?”, It was pretty much impossible for me to take Ju-hee, who couldn’t even stand properly, and leave through the door within the time limit.“There is no time left. Please leave now.”
“…”
Mr Song’s expression remained hardened as he helped Ju-hee up. She shook her head desperately while tears streamed down on her face, "No, you can’t… Mister Jin-Woo can still survive, you know? Let me….”
“I promised to buy you a drink, didn’t I?” I pulled out the rank E magic crystal from my pocket and placed it in her hand.
“Please, use this and enjoy one on me. When I get out of here, I’ll be coming around to collect the change, you see.”A smile formed on Jin-Woo’s face, prompting Ju-Hui to cry out in anger.
“How can you crack jokes in this situation, Mister Sung Jin-Woo?!”
"It's a talent really." I signalled to Mister Song with a nod. The older man then lightly chopped on the back of Ju-hee neck.
“Ah….”
With that, Ju-hee lost her consciousness. Mr Song picked up the unconscious girl and placed her over his shoulder, “….I’m really sorry about this.”
“This is my choice, so it’s fine and please look after my sister.”
Mister Song bowed his head to me. With that goodbye, Song quickly left the altar.
Creeaakkk….
Creeeeeaaaaakkkk…..
During the time the three of us were chatting, the statues had arrived at the proverbial stone’s throw away.
I got on his knees and took several deep breaths.
“I knew my last moments were going to be on my knees. Just wish it'd be because of a hot guy. ” I spotted the sword Kim had left behind next to me. So, I reached out and picked it up, ‘Now that it had come down to this, I’ll take at least one down with me.’ When I looked behind me, I saw Mister Song safely leaving through the doorway with unconscious Ju-hee still perched upon his shoulder.
What a relief that was, 'Only I’ll die here now….’ I wasn’t doing this because of some noble determination to sacrifice myself or anything like that. No, there certainly was an element of me calculating the best possible outcome in my decision. Even if I survived and got out of here today, I would have to live as a cripple for the rest of my life. Obviously, carrying on as a Hunter would be impossible, then. And it was also questionable whether I'd be able to live normally as well. I was only a high-school graduate, and since I didn’t have any discernible job skills, I simply didn’t have too many options left to put food on the table, ‘Mom’s hospital fees… and my sister’s school fees, too.’ If that were the case, then I might as well make sure my family would receive a better compensation from the Association, even if it was just a single cent more. ‘Was the compensation paid out to the family members 300 million Won or 400, when one dies during a raid?’ That was a huge amount for a worthless life of a rank E Hunter.
Creeaakkk….
Creeakk…
Clang.
Finally, the statues arrived.
The first one to arrive climbed up on the altar. I glared at it and lifted the sword up.
“Come.”
Unfortunately, the expected attack didn’t come from the front, but my back!
Stab!
A long spear penetrated into my back and exited out of my chest. I spat out a mouthful of blood. An unimaginable amount of pain rushed in like a tsunami wave. “If you were stabbed a couple of inches higher, you’d have a hole in your heart by now!” Ju-hee nagging he heard only a few hours ago slipped past his mind like a scene from a movie. The stone statue lifted up the spear. I was lifted up along into the air, still pierced through by that spear. I only got to struggle for a brief moment, though – because the statue slammed me down on the altar.
SLAM!!
Sounds of bones breaking could be heard from all corners of my body. I shrunk away from the intense pain. As I began trembling, the stone statues slowly surrounded him. They formed a encirclement around me. I raised my head and glared at them, my entire being shuddering non-stop.
‘I… I don’t want to die like this.’, Now that I was facing his final moments, tears pooled in my eyes. I recalled the faces of my family. I even recalled the face of Ju-hee , her face full of anxiety and worry for my safety… ‘I don’t want to die…’ I didn’t want to end this short twenty-four years of life in this place.
Step.
The stone statue wielding a sword took a step closer without a hint of emotion. Then, it raised its sword up high. Even though I was shaking hard, I did not avert my gaze away from this bitch. Finally, the statue’s sword slashed down. 'Only if, only if I had one more chance!’
My eyes shot open wider.
The statues stopped. As if someone had pressed the ‘pause’ button, the scarily-fast moving sword suddenly stopped in mid-air. No, that wasn’t actually correct; it hadn’t stopped at all. It simply had slowed down so much that I ended up thinking that way. One millimetre in one minute? It was very slow, but the sword was still definitely coming down. ‘Wha-what’s going on here?’ I couldn’t hide my astonishment. It was then, a voice of a female I had never heard of before resounded within my head.
[Completion requirements for the ‘Secret Quest: the Courage of the Powerless’ has been met.]
Secret quest? Completion requirements were met? I couldn’t understand any of that.‘No, hang on a minute. Besides all that, where did that voice come from?’ too bad for me , the voice ignored my questions and continued on regardless.
[You have acquired the rights to become a Player. Will you accept?]
I had acquired a right? Accept what, exactly? ‘Sounds like I’ll be given something….’ I grew up dirt poor since my childhood, so I had never refused freebies until now. However, that was a story for when i was still alive. What use was there for free stuff when i was dead? When I hesitated and didn’t answer, the voice in my head asked again as if to urge me on.
[There is not enough time left for you to make your decision. Your heart will cease functioning precisely 0.02 seconds after you refuse to accept. Will you accept?]
I couldn’t tell whether I was hallucinating or not, but I still got to figure out that it was only a moment away from dying for good. I finally spotted countless other weapons headed in my direction, beside that damn sword, that was how. Now that the things had devolved to such a degree, I might as well. ‘….If you’re giving it to me, then just give it to me already.’ There was no need to utter anything out at all. I simply thought about it in my head. Even then, the voice of the female replied to me immediately.
[Congratulations on becoming a ‘Player’.]