24 – Banquet (5)
It was the morning of the 6th day since the Great Labyrinth opened.
The starting floor, with only one day left until the end of the trial, was unusually quiet.
In the lecture hall, in the cafeteria, in the dormitory.
The mages, walking around in their robes, were all bowing their heads and looking only at the location notes.
Everyone’s attention was solely focused on two things.
The survival of the 0th-year attendants, including Glesia, Meteor, who entered the Great Labyrinth.
And Jutta, who disappeared around the same time, leaving the gallery empty.
Someone casually dismissed it as a coincidence, but deep down, they harbored a hidden hope.
Perhaps he had opened the door to the labyrinth that even the administration of Matap couldn’t touch.
If that were the case, he had only been joking around in the gallery all this time.
He thought that maybe he would finally confirm the true identity of Judak, who had never revealed himself directly, when that door opened.
Even the wizards who had never written on the gallery were holding location notes, waiting for any new information.
It was a quiet morning.
—–
[The exit of the Great Labyrinth still hasn’t opened?]
Looks like something serious is happening inside.
It’s getting really scary now.
– It’s only been three days since the Meteor kids went in.
ㄴ Yeah, so there’s only one day left.
– We have to keep watching until the end.
– The administration has already called for an emergency roundtable meeting.
ㄴ They’ll probably just report to the higher-ups without any conclusion. Typical.
ㄴ It’s too late for the pure-blooded families to step up now.
ㄴ Seriously, even if they try to open the labyrinth now, it’s impossible within a day.
– If they all died, wouldn’t it be the worst disaster since the birth of the “Black Star”?
ㄴ Prinana: Don’t mention those bastards, you idiot.
ㄴ Why?
It’s so annoying being in the Hayuju School, lol.
—–
—–
[I haven’t logged into the gallery for 80 hours now]
I’ve never experienced anything like this before while being in the top ranking.
Is the gallery going to collapse because of this?
— The person who used to manage the gallery for 20 hours a day is nowhere to be seen…
— Did they really go into the labyrinth to find the solution?
— Will the gallery shut down if Jujjak dies?
ㄴ I’ve never died before, so I don’t know.
ㄴ It’s obvious that if the Topju dies, the Martop will crumble.
—–
—–
[Jujjak, where did you go? I’m cold….]
There is no love in the blockade of the Paradaks.
I hope Jujjak comes and beats them up personally…
— Yeah, they’re going to open the 11th floor door soon and come out~
— It’s suspicious, something feels off when we see all the dead Paradaks suddenly coming back to life and working.
— It’s fishy, really fishy.
— The dead Jujjak is whipping the living Paradaks…
—–
—–
[Ju-ddak and the Genius Blonde Girl ＜- If you think they’re secretly dating in the labyrinth, upvote]
The timing of their disappearances overlapped subtly,
And I suspected something since I picked her and planned the offline gathering, so upvote.
[Recommended 942 / Not Recommended 889]
— Don’t you have any f*cking sense?
ㄴ Why are you so sensitive? This gallery has always been like this.
— Don’t doubt Ju-ddak’s virginity.
— If that’s the case, it’s already been 6 days? As expected of Ju-ddak…
ㄴ No, it’s not 6 days, it’s 4 days.
ㄴ It’s not even 3 days, what’s with 4 days?
—–
As time passed, the chances of survival for those who entered the labyrinth decreased.
The gallery was filled with a heavy atmosphere, filled with subtle regens and meaningless teasers.
And then, finally, a post from a user appeared.
—–
Marine58
[f*ck, I’m alive!!!!]
I thought the Perzen writer Samnam couldn’t even escape the first floor of his 18-year life, but I was wrong.
I was hiding inside the corpses of the undead so that those damn brats wouldn’t notice me. If they were from the Divine School, they would have smelled me and killed me long ago.
I warned them, never enter the Grand Labyrinth first again.
If the rescue team hadn’t come right before Asa, I would have never made it out either.
– Oh.
– Oh?
– Did a survivor show up?
– What? Is it for real, not a provocation?
– There are undead in the Grand Labyrinth?
– Are there other survivors?
– Spill it out quickly!!! I’ll give you a recommendation, so do it now!!!
– What’s with the rescue team?
– Is there someone inside?
ㄴ First of all, tell me that!!! Did you see someone inside!!!?
.
.
.
—–
Marine58’s post claiming to have survived in the Grand Labyrinth received dozens of comments in just one second.
Because it was difficult to verify the authenticity, many initially thought it was a simple joke.
However, at some point, all the mana elevators in magic tower started moving towards the 11th floor.
As news spread that the wizards from the Information Department, who were attending a class, had hurriedly left the lecture hall,
From Noble mtl dot com
the claim that there were actually survivors and that the exit to the labyrinth had opened gained rapid momentum.
And shortly after,
a post from Marine58, who seemed frantic, appeared in the gallery.
—–
Marine58
[Most are alive]
The rescue team mentioned Glesya and Meteor,
I didn’t see it firsthand, but I heard about it.
They say some lunatic is destroying the labyrinth and roaming around.
But why did Judak? What happened?
—–
*
Kwaaang——!!
A spear flies into the darkness.
With a loud explosion, fragments of shattered corpses follow suit.
They discover a survivor hiding in a corner and provide emergency treatment before joining the rear guard.
They chase after the disappeared Clark and sprint with all their might towards the direction where they hear sounds again.
They repeat this process for several days.
Without a single moment of rest, tirelessly.
“Gasp, cough… Is that just a mere gold-grade adventurer?”
“It can’t be true, it’s a mon… monster!”
As they watched Klark wipe the blood off his spear, Arthur and Sera were simultaneously thinking the same thing.
Once this trial was over, all the factions in Matap would be watching him.
The Tower could not be climbed with brute force alone, but the difference between having usable weapons besides magic and not having them was clear.
Both of them, whoever it may be, were waiting for an opportunity to recruit him.
But there was only one person, Mariel, who was pursuing Klark for a different reason.
“Administrator!”
“Yes?”
“I received a message earlier that they found the exit! So it’s finally over!”
Her condition, already weakened by the overlapping mists, was extremely poor.
On the fourth day, her vision was swallowed by darkness, and from the fifth day, her magic power did not recover. By the sixth day, severe menstrual pain had struck.
Nevertheless, when Mariel grabbed Klark with trembling hands, she realized that he was still moving forward despite being in a much worse condition than herself.
An adventurer is a profession that elevates their ‘senses’ to the limit and entrusts the gaps that arise from this process to their companions.
However, the three of them were far from sufficient to support Klark.
As a spearman with long-range attacks, he took charge of the vanguard, conducted reconnaissance, and fought most of the enemies.
The boiling blood of the undead clung to his spear, and at times, he allowed attacks from the demons that emerged from the darkness.
“Now we’re leaving. We’ll talk about the details later, but for now, just follow my lead.”
“No, I can’t.”
“Why not!?”
“If we don’t break down the door, the remaining people in the maze will once again block the path to the exit.”
The exit was at a fork in the road just before them, and the door to the Myeonggye was also nearby.
Clark entrusted the two of them to Arthur, who could still see ahead, and told him to go out with the others first.
“From here on, it’s a narrow path, so you can go alone. The rest of you should go back now.”
“We can’t do that. If we escape first, not only you, but the remaining gatekeepers will lose face.”
“Then join the rear team and help those who are still lost. I’ll be fine on my own.”
“But…”
As Arthur hesitated, Clark took out his location note.
Should I use reptiles this time? – he muttered, and as soon as he heard the sound, he turned his body 180 degrees.
“Ah, I get it! I’ll take full responsibility!”
“Please.”
“Guardian… Clark!”
As Mariel heard the sound of footsteps receding along the dark passage, her heart began to pound.
It was the pain caused by the emotions she felt towards Clark, who had come to save her twice.
*
Ah, finally gone.
I moved towards the heart of the maze with light footsteps.
Even though Serah and Arthur didn’t know, Mariel felt a refreshing feeling as if a burden had been lifted after being separated from them.
Most of the injuries to her lips for the past three days were caused by her.
I decided to take the lead, dodging the attacks that came flying towards me with a mysterious agility.
“From now on, I should never climb together with them.”
I considered it fortunate that I had sent them away, and I continued to move forward.
At the end of the corridor, I saw the Gate of the Underworld, where the dead were reluctantly being pulled out.
On the surface were giant statues carved in dark colors, and they were all knights guarding the king of the Underworld.
Looking up from the once-great five inspectors on the continent, I threw my spear towards the chunky gemstone placed at the top of the gate.
The spears borrowed from the Meteor School were all broken or corroded, but they were enough to break the gate.
Crack!
The spearhead, engraved with the essence of accuracy and penetration, pierced through the gemstone.
With a loud noise, I discovered the final target behind the collapsed gate of the Underworld.
“So this is it.”
The core of the labyrinth.
Since the moment Mariel and I entered this place along with the Gate of the Underworld, we had been affected by the essence.
As Sera said, it seemed to be a kind of magical device that regulated the fog of the entire labyrinth.
If I destroy it, the curses that have been plaguing my body will disappear, but if I take it as loot, it might serve another purpose.
After collecting the core attached to the wall, I turned on the location note as an experiment.
—–
[Then where did he go?]
What about the real one!?
— Maybe he already left.
– Everyone, gather around.
=
Occasionally, the signal would catch for a moment, perhaps because the exit was close by.
The text was all broken and difficult to read, but somehow I could confirm that the gallery was functioning properly.
There was no redecorating, no nuclear war, and no installations of traps.
Look at these bastards, saying they’ll do well if asked, but they’ve just been fooling around until now.
Seeing the three of them working together to manage the gallery, I hesitated for a moment and opened the administrator bulletin board.
Usually, I was fair and merciful, but occasionally it was within my dignity to give a sneak attack to these sly bastards.
—–
Administrator: We will hold a banquet.
Administrator: The location is the heart of the Labyrinth.
Administrator: The time is now.
—–
After the unilateral notification, I closed the location note.
Infiltrating the space where the trial was taking place was a daunting task even for high-ranking magicians.
Even if they complained later, if I said that Mariel came but you couldn’t attend, that would be the end of it.
With that in mind, I grabbed the remaining window and the core of the Labyrinth with joy, and when I tried to head towards the exit.
Thud——!
“Huh?”
A vibration that shook the entire tower could be felt.