Chapter 99 – Gray Temple (3)

The first reward had given him luck and the adaptive stat.

And now came the second reward.

‘Is entering the labyrinth after taking the first job quest a trigger?’

Jin-hyuk gulped.

The first reward had been so out of the norm that it had surprised his veteran self. He now had expectations of how good the reward would be this time.

It would be a lie if he said he could stay calm.

“I’ll check.”

He mumbled in a whisper-like voice.

Tring!

[You have acquired ‘Moon Imprint’]
[This ability takes effect when the first job quest is completed.]
[Moon Imprint
Acquisition Difficulty: Unmeasurable (A reward only for those who climbed the end of the Tower for the first time)
Description: Reduces the activation time of all barriers by 25% and increases its effectiveness by 30%. In addition, if you acquire all of the ‘Lost Languages’ that were lost in the Tower a long time ago, you will be able to learn the ‘Nameless Barrier’.]
This…

Was insane.

Jin-hyuk read the status window in shock. He had chosen an unfamiliar job just for the kicks.

For Jin-hyuk, a job is just a word added to the status window because he would already earn skills and rewards at a higher level.

Therefore, the first job was just a means of soothing his boredom.

But…

All of that had now changed because of the message displayed in the status window. This heterogeneous field would simply be more than just a little interesting.

This was a new field that electrified every cell in his body. Jin-hyuk then looked at the end of the status window.

The ‘Lost Languages’ and the ‘Nameless Barrier’

These were things he had seen before when climbing the Tower.

‘It was one of those things I kept looking for but couldn’t find a clue.’

At that time, he thought they were just mistakes left over by the dev team.

‘It was all an easter egg concept for the first player who conquered the Tower.’

Only now did he understand. At the same time, Jin-hyuk’s heart began to beat quickly.

He was now walking on pure white snow, which no one else had ever stepped on. The anticipation was increased because the end of this road was now in reality and not a game.

The raid team quickly dealt with the monsters around the entrance and began to head in.

Kwakwakwang!

Various magic and skills were being used.

Kwang!

A large explosion occurred as colorful, magical attacks collided together.

The inside of the labyrinth was like a battlefield.

“Tanks, give up on attacking and take defense on both sides! Be mindful of the advance! Never take damage!”

“Dealers, focus your attacks starting from the ones in front! Those who cannot manage their magic get ready to use an attack after the main dealers do!”

As expected of the top-level elite guilds.

Not a single wounded player could be seen in this fight against the venomous cobras, who were over four meters tall alongside anacondas that could crush steel.

Jin-hyuk, who was watching from a distance, liked what he saw.

‘They have quite a lot of clarity.’

The captain was organizing their members well, and the balance of their attack wasn’t bad either.

They deserve the fame they have.

With this skill…

‘They’d probably survive for two hours.’

If lucky, one or two players might survive up to ten hours.

Jin-hyuk recalled a few similar cases in his head. Now that he had seen their skills, he could predict what the ending would look like.

At that moment.

“How do you see them in your eyes, Mr. Kang Jin-hyuk?”

Lee Young-kwon asked from next to him.

“Uh? What do you mean?”

“A literal question as to how skilled they look.”

“Well, not bad. It seems that they have experience in doing this.”

“But… that isn’t all, right?”

Lee Young-kwon asked again as if he expected more.

“It is like a textbook. Not bad, but not outstanding either. The reason that they are holding on right now is simply that they met a weaker opponent. Of course, the fact that Japan’s raid system specializes in group battles might play a role in it.”

“Then… does it mean that there is a flaw in it?”

A flaw?

The problem was that there were too many. Once you looked closely, you could see five or six actively contributing, but the other people weren’t doing much?

“If the opponent wasn’t a normal monster but a named monster instead, the tanker in the third row from the left would have died. Can you see the instability in the flow of magic through their shield? In addition, the amount of magic used by support is also a huge flaw. It’s probably around 0.7% fatal.”

0.7%.

Even if such a figure didn’t seem like a huge deal, it becomes an issue in a prolonged battle. Alternatively, if a battle became so intense that the end had to be decided by one side, a misstep or a mistaken breath would yield an inevitable result.

“…”

Lee Young-kwon shut his mouth.

‘As expected…’

As expected.

Everyone who was watching was admiring the Samurai Guild’s practice movement, but he found it strange that Jin-hyuk was watching them with a look of pity.

In fact, the players of Fathers of Fighting were all admiring them too.

-Textbook, nothing special.

Even while watching a near-perfect raid, this was what he said.

-Tank on the left side 3rd row… the supporter’s magic…

An eye that could identify the weakness from just one battle…

‘Such a different way of viewing the battle.’

Just like an ant on the ground was different from a hawk in the sky. They saw the same scene, but they were viewing it differently.

‘The video uploaded on Viewtube didn’t reveal even the tip of the skill that this player has.’

He was only showing glimpses of it. The highlights and bits of reality were just tools to catch the subscribers’ attention.

Lee Young-kwon felt goosebumps on his skin.

This man was…

Someone who would perfectly destroy all of the Samurai Guild’s players.

A divine beast who could defeat both their guild and might even cut off Medusa’s head.

‘If possible.’

It was possible.

The labyrinth attack had just begun, but Lee Young-kwon was already able to see the end of it.

The cycle of fierce battles and short breaks was repeated.

How long had it been since they entered the labyrinth?

A fork appeared in front of the raid team, which was moving forward without hesitation.

From this point onwards was a section of the labyrinth where there was no information.

“Commander. We are here.”

At the words of the scout, everyone stopped.

There were two paths to choose from now. The left side was bright due to flames rising from the floor. The right side was dark enough to strike fear in people.

“Which side do we go to?’

Sunglasses, no, Samurai Guild raid captain, Maeda asked.

Fire and darkness.

The future of this raid’s success depended on this blind choice.

“…”

Takeshi slowly moved his eyes to the left and then to the right.

And to the left again.

‘Shit. This wasn’t in the future that I saw!’

He had seen a scene of the future before coming here.

There was a fork in the road. However, it was different from the paths being shown right now. There had been rows of columns instead of fire and darkness.

“Mr. Takeshi?”

A voice called out to him. Sooner or later, these doubts would become a certainty.

“That…’

Takeshi licked his lips.

He couldn’t hold back any longer and had to answer them.

“As I thought, you chose the left path.”

A familiar voice intervened. It was Jin-hyuk.

“Left…?”

“Kuak. You are indeed a veteran. Considering the difficulty of the Tower, one would rather take the right side, which looks dangerous. It is a counter invention; however, this labyrinth is a place to send people with such a fine head to hell. And you knew that.”

Jin-hyuk put on an expression of admiration.

Takeshi raised his thumb up.

“R-right. I also attacked this place in the past with that method. Even on the way to the 30th floor, this kind of forked path choices come up often.”

Such bullshit.

The Tower of Trials wasn’t an IQ test.

There was no way such things could happen with paths, and this wasn’t that kind of game.

This wasn’t a game that had been developed by a management team pursuing perfection. This was a game that had been randomly created to fuck with people around the world.

Jin-hyuk could at least confirm one thing.

The level of shit coming from this guy’s mouth was far worse than he thought.

‘I would rather have tarot cards make the decision. At least that would be more reliable.’

This was really absurd.

However, his words were far from his thoughts.

“Indeed…! There are many places similar to this on the way to the top.”

“Haha! Player Kang Jin-hyuk, too will make it up one day. Of course, it should be one step at a time.”

Right.

And you people just had to take one more step to enter your coffin.

“Then, do we move?”

“Yes. Everyone, move.”

Takeshi nodded.

“Is it really the left path, Mr. Takeshi?”

Maeda double-checked the decision, just in case.

“It is right. As player Kang jin-hyuk said. It isn’t uncommon for the Tower to make traps for us.”

“… I understand.”

It felt like he was being dragged down, but Maeda didn’t protest as he had no reason to.

This player had accurately pinpointed the location of a hidden dungeon on the 5th floor that hadn’t been revealed anywhere.

The player he trusted the most in the guild was Takeshi.

The raid team hastened their steps forward.

However, as the last member of their team entered the path along the brightly lit road…

Wheik!

Kukuku!

The flame began to dance and perfectly surrounded the players on all sides.

“W-what?”

“Didn’t you say that the left side is safe?”

“I-I thought so…no, this is common! Do not worry too much! If we don’t move, the flames don’t pose a threat to us.”

Takeshi tried to reassure everyone.

Of course, it was of no use.

Kwakwakwang!

As if to ridicule their supposed future, the red lines of flames began to approach them slowly.