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nChapter 89 Great Labyrinth (2)

nBeep beeeeeep. Beep beeeeeep.

nThe 7,000 AP watch purchased under the Convenience section emitted a dull alarm siren. He set a timer for every 168 hours, indicating another week passed.

n‘Time flies.’

nYoon-seok confirmed the date, May 4th, in Korea. Seven weeks had passed since the tenth-floor trial. Until now, all Yoon-seok did was train in the waiting room, except for his weekly meeting with Ashton to catch up on updates about Earth. If he grew frustrated during practice, he’d then sit on the floor and meditate. Then he’d get up again to wield the sword to see if he was right, then the process repeated again and again.

nBut not much progress was made.

nHe’d tried to wield different forms of swords and learn about them, but that was all. Even after combining all that knowledge, he was still far from the Sword Saint state. Of course, he believed that he would eventually find a way if he sharpened his foundation…

nRecently, he was stuck with his progress, and the frustration deepened. This was a first for Yoon-seok, who always found an answer with a little effort.

n‘I don’t even know how to use this Middle Qigong….’

nYoon-seok stood with a sigh. The week-long timer went off, so it was time to meet Ashton to report that he was alive and hear updates about Earth.

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n“Welcome.”

nAs he moved to the plaza, Ashton, sitting calmly and waiting, welcomed him as if he knew he would arrive. Yoon-seok sat opposite to him and listened to the events on Earth last week. There was no urgent matter like the last demon invasion, but Yoon-seok listened to his story with interest.

nAshton had a knack for telling the same story interestingly, so when he listened to it quietly, his head, which was all about ‘swords,’ cleared up.

n“Oh, you know what? The religious community is in a state of turmoil.”

n“Turmoil?”

n“Yes, remember the Savior Sect we spoke about last time?”

nThe Savior Sect was an emerging religious force that believed Yoon-seok was the savior. Due to the existing evidence of a miracle, he heard that there was already a surge of believers all over the world…

nPerhaps because Yoon-seok was Korean, foreigners also went along with the pronunciation of ‘Guwon-gyo.’

n“The Savior Sect announced that all religions should convert to this word.”

nYoon-seok was speechless. A religion less than two months old says all religions with thousands of years of history should use their name? Ashton smirked as he saw Yoon-seok chuckle bitterly.

n“It’s a little funny, isn’t it? But the situation is quite serious. I don’t know if it’s just a cult, but the scale of the Savior Sect has grown too big.”

nThe foundation of all religions was shaken by the emergence of the Tower. Meanwhile, Yoon-seok, who showed a power close to God, appeared, turning miracles into reality.

nA man who proved himself in the Tower and returned with powers to save the world. Faith was made by the wish of the weak, and the power Yoon-seok had shown that day seemed to be enough to fulfill their wishes.

n“I believe that this is the result of distrust toward the world government, which was powerless at the time.”

n“…I see.”

nSince then, Yoon-seok had several conversations, even if they weren’t related to religion. About Fahur, who broke through the eighth floor and reached the ninth floor. Or a challenger in China was saying that share prices were rising lately. Or a female challenger on a TV program that went viral.

n“By the way, you’re staying quite long today, aren’t you?”

nAshton, who had been talking about this and that for a long time, suddenly interrupted and asked. Usually, Yoon-seok returned to the waiting room to train when he thought the conversation was over, so his eyes were full of questions. Well, he wouldn’t understand if he kept talking about swords.

nYoon-seok changed the subject by saying that it was nothing.

n“Besides, what happened to that?”

n“That’s what I’m saying….”

n“Didn’t you decide to find out more about the information then? How was it?”

nOnly then did Ashton nod as if he understood.

n“I don’t have any significant income. Not only are there fewer people on Earth who came to the eighth floor in the first place, but they say they haven’t found any of those items.”

n“Is that so?”

nWas it just a simple rumor? There was an item in Exploration that could bring equipment to other dimensions on the eleventh floor. Yoon-seok couldn’t hide his disappointment, as he was planning to pay 500LP and go for an exploration trial if the information was confirmed.

n‘Do I have to wait longer?’

nIf he ascended, he would never be able to participate in the eleventh-floor exploration again. So Yoon-seok spent time training without challenging the next floor. Ashton’s tone turned subtle after seeing Yoon-seok click his tongue.

n“By the way, The strange thing is that rumors are spreading among challengers that they can get such items in the trials of the eleventh-floor exploration.”

n“And?”

n“You know the saying where there’s smoke; there’s fire.”

n“Not long ago, one of our exploration challengers discovered a secret place on the eleventh floor. He said a key was needed, but he couldn’t find it, so he had to come back empty-handed.”

nHe could see what Ashton was hoping for. At least there was a secret space, and if he got to it, he would get his money’s worth of that 500LP, so he encouraged him to try it.

n“…”

nYoon-seok caressed his chin with a vague expression. Frankly speaking, it was quite tempting.

n‘It’s LP anyway. It’s useless…’

nIt was frustrating to only remain in the waiting room, too.

n‘If I can open a secret space even without finding the item, at least I’ll get my money’s worth.’

nIn addition, it might even inspire him and save him from the plateau he found himself stuck on.

n“You said the exploration time runs at a 1:1 ratio.”

n“That’s right.”

n“Then let’s delay our meeting to fifteen days later.”

n“What?”

nAfter Ashton understood what he meant, he happily nodded and told him what to prepare before the exploration.

n「Your purchase has arrived.」

n「Please check the lower part of the description.」

nSubspace bags, Rank E Mapping skill, lantern, food. After returning to the waiting room, Yoon-seok purchased all the supplies Ashton had mentioned except for a lantern and food. Darkness itself was no longer a problem, and if necessary, he could just replace it with Light of Purification. Nothing needed to be said about food. Yoon-seok stopped feeling hungry ever since he acquired {Heavenly Body}.

n*Exploration Order – Exploration trials are assigned with difficulty corresponding to the floor.

nA reward is available, but promotion is not possible.

nYoon-seok held the order sheet he bought for 500LP. Now that he was done with the preparations…

nIt was time to leave this waiting room he was sick and tired of.

nRippppp!

n「Exploration Order is being used.」

n「 11th-floor exploration area is Abyss of the Great Labyrinth.」

nIt was different from the mission; there was no selection in difficulty level. In addition, there were no target conditions. No, if there was one, this was it.

n「Survive for 15 days and explore the area.」

n「Moving to the starting point.」

nUnlike the waiting room, which was silent, he could hear murmurs. Yoon-seok quietly opened his eyes. As Ashton had heard, there were many challenges at the starting point, at about a hundred in numbers.

n‘It feels like I’m in a real dungeon.’

nYoon-seok slowly looked around. The starting point was a wide underground cavity, with hundreds of paths splitting off.

n「In safe areas, including starting points, you can stay up to 24 hours.」

nJust as the return time appeared on Earth, the remaining time was added at the corner of his eye.

n「00:00:37」

nPerhaps it was a measure to control challengers who only spent time in safe areas during the exploration period.

n‘This feels different from the mission.’

nIt was when he was looking around, exploring this new world…

n“Hey…”

nA man approached Yoon-seok.

n“Are you waiting for a partner?”

nCome to think of it, Ashton had said in explorations; it was common to find partners at the starting point. The content of the trial itself was about survival, so it would be nice to have many partners.

n‘Well, I think it’s a long-term loss, but…’

nYoon-seok wasn’t waiting for a partner, so he made it clear that he had no intention of finding one. Then, the man who approached him turned his back, muttering so that he could hear.

n“You don’t look like much, but so picky.”

nIt seemed like he thought he was being turned down because he didn’t catch his attention.

n‘I guess there are people like that everywhere.’

nSoon, Yoon-seok took white parchment paper out of his bag and activated the mapping skill. The map was drawn in places his eyes were focused on.

n‘It feels like I’m playing a game.….’

nHe didn’t let his guard down, however. No matter how easy the exploration was said to be, it was still the Tower’s trial.

n‘Let’s go.’

nYoon-seok chose the nearest road from his position and started to walk. As soon as he crossed the starting point, his surroundings grew dark. Maybe it was the system, but he couldn’t see through the dark.

n“Light of Purification.”

nSoon after, Yoon-seok used the Light of Purification to illuminate his view and continued walking. With the effects of the Plum Blossom Sword on magic recovery, his recovery rate was higher than his consumption rate, so there wasn’t a big problem.

n‘Where should I go this time?’

nThe third crossroad he encountered in less than three minutes. As he was thinking about whether to go left or right, a monster appeared.

n“Grrrrgh…!“

nWith only bones left, a monster equipped with a sword, shield, and an iron helmet. He looked more than four meters tall, even though he was just a skeleton.

n「You have met an enemy who is not human nor beast-person.」

n「Agility stats increase by 1 temporarily.」

nArch Hunter’s Hunting Gloves were activated. However, there was no buff for dealing with large-scale monsters. Even though he was so big, it wasn’t enough to be classified as such.

n‘Well, it’s a drop in a bucket compared to Hydra. But it isn’t judged as evil even though it’s a monster…was the Hydra a special case?’

n“Guaaaaaaaa!“

nPerhaps he didn’t like Yoon-seok, as the skeleton warrior swung his sword while making a strange sound.

nWhoooooosh!

n‘Why is he so weak?’

nYoon-seok felt like this was a child’s prank. Without raising Bloodseeker Energy, Yoon-seok fought with the Judgment Sword. Then, though he didn’t give it much strength, the skeleton warrior was thrown across the tunnel.

n‘Since he’s using a sword, shall we test it out?’

nYoon-seok swung his sword again, very slowly. It was the blunt sword that he had practiced several times in the waiting room.

nWhoosh!

nYet, it didn’t mean that the blunt sword was moving slowly. A slow sword that moved faster than the opponent, that was its essence.

n‘I’m grasping it better now that I’m fighting a low-level opponent.’

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nTo use a blunt sword, one must grasp the opponent’s movements and take control of the space. In that sense, this opponent was very good for practice. It was a little too much to practice the blunt sword with himself replicated with Bloodseeker Energy.

n‘I’m glad I came here.’

nYoon-seok practiced with the blunt sword without killing the skeleton warrior on purpose. If it were a duel, he wouldn’t be this laid back. When he grew more used to the blunt sword…

n“What the hell, you idiot?”

nA man from the back muttered. It was the man who approached Yoon-seok earlier, trying to accept him as a partner. The man was surprised to see Yoon-seok but held a deep smile.

n“You’re a moron, aren’t you?”

n“…?”

nWas it because it had been so long since he was treated like this? Or was it because the gap was too wide in the first place? He didn’t know, but Yoon-seok realized that the word was directed at him.

nTo be honest, he wasn’t particularly angry. It was just refreshing.

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