Chapter 1229 – 1229. The Ascent To Light
It hadn’t been long since we started, but I already had two black wooden beads in my possession. Considering that these beads could be used as a means of trade, it was a very good start.
The problem was that I didn’t know where the exit was. The longer it took to find the exit, the worse it would be for me.
‘It’s also difficult to join up with Squad 1, who I could call my comrades. I don’t even know where they are.’
There was no rendezvous point either. No, we hadn’t been able to set one. We knew about the existence of the Maw of Demons, but we had no information about its structure.
The Maw of Demons was every man for himself. You had to solve it on your own.
‘Still, I’m in a much better situation than others. I have the Heavenly Eye.’
[The Heavenly Eye is activated.]
I didn’t prefer to use the Heavenly Eye. It was good for many things, but it consumed a lot of mana continuously. In this world’s terms, it was like my internal energy was constantly being depleted while the Heavenly Eye was active. It wasn’t a big deal right now, but the burden would increase over time.
‘I have no choice in this situation.’
I slowly looked around, using my vision to see through the walls. Beyond the wall I was looking through, I could see another wall. I focused my eyes even more. More internal energy was consumed. I shook my head and deactivated the Heavenly Eye.
‘…Damn it. It’s too wide.’
I hadn’t found the exit. But I had a rough idea of what was within a 100-meter radius of me.
I rubbed my eyes and walked forward. If I overused the Heavenly Eye, my eyes would get strained like this.
As I walked forward, I suddenly stopped.
A man was lying dead in the hallway. His body was so rotten and decayed that it was hard to believe he had just died.
‘When I scanned the area with the Heavenly Eye earlier, this guy was alive. He just died.’
Was it the work of a monster? No. There were no monsters nearby. There was no one else either. I looked at the walls and floor of the hallway. There were traces of attacks on the walls and faint green liquid on the floor.
‘It’s a trap set up in the walls and floor.’
When I used the Heavenly Eye to scan the surroundings earlier, I saw some unusual structures. I didn’t think much of them at the time, but now I realized they were traps.
‘What should I do? Should I just take another path?’
By avoiding the traps, I could show the instructors who were watching me how wise I was.
‘If I take another path, there will be monsters… I want to conserve my strength as much as possible.’
I decided to break through the traps.
I briefly used the Heavenly Eye to scan the traps.
‘As expected, it’s a structure that spews poison from the walls.’
If you were hit by the poison, your body would rot and decay like the guy who died here.
I walked forward.
Suddenly, with a clanking sound, a part of the wall opened, and a round metal cylinder popped out. It looked similar to a gun barrel. It mercilessly spewed green liquid from the barrel. It was sprayed so densely that even a skilled martial artist would have difficulty avoiding it.
I gathered my internal energy and deployed a qi barrier. The poison sprayed from the wall was blocked by the qi barrier and fell to the ground.
‘If I didn’t know anything, maybe. But I already know about the traps, there’s no way I’d fall for something like this.’
I used the qi barrier to pass through the traps with ease.
I didn’t look back and continued forward. I decided to think about whether this was the right path later.
As I walked forward, I soon frowned.
‘I don’t know what’s ahead. Should I use the Heavenly Eye again?’
I shook my head. I wanted to conserve my internal energy as much as possible. And even if I used the Heavenly Eye, it was too late to turn back and take another path.
‘If there are monsters, I’ll kill them, and if there are traps, I’ll break through them like before.’
I moved forward.
Whoosh.
I felt my body float up.
‘It’s a barrier. I’ve entered a barrier.’
I narrowed my eyes and raised my guard.
“You’re number 123.”
Number 366, Jegal Mosun, who had been hiding behind the wall, revealed himself. He had a tense expression, but he let out a sigh of relief as soon as he saw me.
“Were you hiding here with a barrier?”
“Yes. It’s the perfect place to use a barrier. Ah, don’t move rashly, and move as I tell you. There’s a trap in front of you.”
“So you’re using the barrier to take advantage of the traps.”
“It’s efficient to use what’s already there. One step forward, four steps to the right. Then three steps forward again.”
I moved as Jegal Mosun told me. It seemed like he had set up not only a barrier but also a formation. I soon arrived in front of him.
“It’s so good to see you like this, number 123.”
“What about the others?”
“There are none. I’m the only one here. Ah, I found the black wooden bead. It was embedded in the center of the ceiling. There were three traps around it, so it was quite difficult.”
“Still, you got the black wooden bead. I also killed a monster and got a black wooden bead.”
“So, all we have to do is find the exit. That’s a relief.”
I nodded.
If it had been someone else, I would have killed them and taken their black wooden bead, but I couldn’t kill Jegal Mosun, who would become a close aide of Chun Yu-Woon.
Jegal Mosun and I shared information about the Maw of Demons. I hid the fact that I had one more black wooden bead. Just because we were comrades didn’t mean I had to tell him everything. And I didn’t trust Jegal Mosun that much.
“I see.”
Jegal Mosun drew his sword and started drawing something on the floor.
It was a map. A map based on the information I had given and the Maw of Demons that Jegal Mosun had experienced himself.
“I started here and moved about an ildagyeong to arrive at this room with traps. On the other hand, number 123’s starting point is here.”
“…It seems roughly right. But does this even mean anything?”
“It does. If we compare it to the locations of the buildings in the Maw of Demons training grounds right above the Maw of Demons, we can roughly estimate the size of the Maw of Demons.”
Jegal Mosun drew another map on top of the map. It was a map of the Maw of Demons training grounds above the Maw of Demons. He had lived in the training grounds for almost a year, so he drew it without hesitation. I was impressed by Jegal Mosun’s drawing skills. He was a talented guy, as expected of someone who would become Chun Yu-Woon’s closest aide in the future.
“I started here.”
“I started over there. I slid down through a hole in the floor. The passage was quite steep.”
“Thanks to that, I came down easily. The depth is estimated to be between 5 and 7 jang. So…”
He drew a large outline on the map of the Maw of Demons.
“If we compare it to the size of the Maw of Demons training grounds, the size of the Maw of Demons would be about this much. The place that seems to be the exit is here, on the edge. We have to go in the opposite direction from where I came.”
“I see.”
I nodded.
To be honest, I didn’t understand even half of what Jegal Mosun was saying. Why was he so sure that the exit was on the edge? How could he estimate the size of the Maw of Demons?
I didn’t think I would understand even if he gave me the reasons, so I decided to just keep my mouth shut.
Swish, swish.
Jegal Mosun continued to move his sword and draw the map.
“What are you doing? Haven’t we reached a conclusion?”
“It’s for the next person who comes here. I’m going to put in some false information to confuse him.”
“……”
The map was finished. He retrieved the steel rods he had stuck into the ground for the barrier and formation and said to me.
“Let’s go, number 123. If we work together, we’ll be able to find the exit quickly.”
•••
I walked forward with Jegal Mosun.
I had thought Jegal Mosun was useful, but I was seriously considering whether I should retract that judgment.
“Number 123. Don’t step on the black platforms. The moment you step on them, the traps will activate.”
“Didn’t you say not to step on the red platforms earlier?”
“That was a miscalculation. It’s inevitable to make a miscalculation when it’s the first time seeing a trap.”
I stepped on the white platform next to the black platform. The platform went down with a whoosh, and ice spikes fell from the ceiling. I was on guard, so I immediately stepped back and avoided the trap.
“…Hmm. It seems like the arrangement is more important than the color of the platform.”
“You bastard. Tell me honestly. Are you planning to kill me using the traps?!”
“It was a mistake. And there’s no way you’d die from something like this. I believe in you, number 123.”
“I don’t trust you. You go first.”
“You’re a good joker. I have lower physical abilities than number 123. Not to mention my martial arts skills. No matter how you look at it, it’s more reasonable for number 123 to go first.”
“Use your sorcery! Sorcery! You went through all that trouble to learn sorcery, why aren’t you using it?!”
“What kind of sorcery am I supposed to use in this situation?”
“Use sorcery to figure out the traps! If you could at least use sorcery to fly in the air…! You could pass through these platform traps without any trouble!!”
“Ha. You make it sound so easy.”
Jegal Mosun shook his head.
“Sorcery isn’t omnipotent. Sorcery has different types and compatibilities. In my case, it’s necromancy. I specialize in activating sorcery through corpses and sacrifices. Using sorcery to find out about traps in advance? That’s the exploration type. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about the exploration type. Using sorcery to fly and move? You have to calculate the spell formula to activate that sorcery. Precise spell control is essential.”
“You’re from the Jegal clan, which is famous for sorcery!”
He glared at me as if he was displeased.
“Just because I have Jegal blood doesn’t mean I’m proficient in all sorcery.”
“The sorcerers I know can do anything without question.”
I said, thinking of Mireong. She could easily do any kind of sorcery without question. She could build houses with sorcery, summon large amounts of water with sorcery, and even create barriers and seals. She could even cook with sorcery.
When I looked at Mireong, sorcery seemed to be omnipotent, capable of doing anything.
“It seems like you know a great sorcerer. Anyway, those are things I can’t do.”
“Damn it. It would be much better to just run through it.”
“Number 123. Do you know the saying, ‘If your head is bad, your body suffers’? We need to conserve our strength.”
“There’s also the saying, ‘If your body is bad, your head suffers.’ Time is money. Should we waste time on these kinds of traps?”
“Time is money. Hmm. That’s a good saying. But I prefer to do things thoroughly. And I’ve now completely figured out the arrangement of these traps. Step on the platforms as I tell you. It’s black, black, white, black, white.”
“If you fail this time, I’m going to break through the traps my way.”
“That won’t happen.”
It really didn’t happen. Jegal Mosun and I safely passed through the traps.
