The 31st Piece Turns the Tables - Chapter 119
Episode 119:
Snowfall’s eyes suddenly turned cold.
“Do you know me?”
Park Chang-sik said while looking at the person next to him who ran here with him.
“also! “You did things right!”
“brother! I said that’s right. “I was always guarding the north gate, but I passed by at the right time and ran straight to my brother!”
“Well done, well done!”
Kang Seol asked the people who were having an unknown conversation among themselves.
“Let me ask you. Do you know me?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. “With our guests in front of us… Have you ever stopped by Audenin before?”
“yes. you’re right.”
“Phew… That’s the person we missed back then. “I’ve been waiting ever since then.”
There was only one thing that Kang Seol could think of right now.
‘You waited for me? ‘Why?’
Requests to intervene in conflicts or disputes between guilds were declined.
Of course, I was going to refuse any request that was more trivial than that.
“The reason you waited for me….”
“I’ll explain it to you step by step. “I think you haven’t even found a place to stay, so don’t bother sleeping in an uncomfortable place. Let’s go to the place we have prepared in advance.”
“You mean, you prepared my own bed in advance?”
In Kang Seol’s mind, the image of Park Chang-sik was left as a man who was thoroughly prepared to the point where he was a bit reluctant to go beyond thoroughness.
“yes. It had been vacant for quite some time, but I was still maintaining it just in case. “Let’s go there first.”
Originally, it was an offer that should have been rejected. Sleeping in accommodation provided by someone whose intentions are unknown.
“I won’t let you have anything to worry about. “If we meet again like this and there is a problem, we are in a more difficult position.”
“I understand for now.”
“thank you. “Jongseo, take the kids first and check the management of the accommodation.”
“I understand, bro.”
“Okay, good job.”
As people rushed out, only Park Chang-sik was left.
“Ah, the woman next to me…”
“I’m with the group.”
“You can rest assured that the accommodation has several rooms.”
Although he wasn’t particularly worried about that problem, Park Chang-sik looked proud as if he had solved it.
“Isn’t it cold?”
Park Chang-sik’s attire looked a little simple. He nodded vigorously in response to Kang Seol’s question.
“Yes, it’s really cold. So, let’s walk quickly. “The night air is cold.”
Kang Seol implicitly felt that he was left alone for a purpose.
If it was simply to guide you to your accommodation, you could have asked others to do it.
Taking action without hesitation means that there is a purpose that suits it.
“Do you have something to say?”
“Yes, there is. First of all, I have to remove that wariness that was placed on me. I think it’ll be enough while I’m on my way to the dorm…”
“I don’t know.”
“Haha, I can’t help it.”
Park Chang-sik was bolder than expected.
He said while blowing on his hands.
“To start with, we are currently in need of your help.”
“I hate getting caught up in troublesome matters.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. “You probably won’t think it’s a hassle.”
“Tell me.”
“Some time ago, even before the day you first came to Audenin, an object was discovered. “It’s because of that item that I’ve been waiting for you.”
Kang Seol smelled the insidious smell of Park Chang-sik’s words.
Not exactly from Park Chang-sik, but from the object he was talking about.
Park Chang-sik took something out of his pocket and showed it to Kang-seol. It was a pebble with a strange pattern engraved on it.
“Hmm…”
Soon, information about that item came to mind.
[Certificate of Qualification (Asceticism)]
Grade: Rare
Appropriate level: None
Weight: 0.1kg
A certificate required to enter the Labyrinth of Asceticism.
A total of 5 people can enter with one certificate.
Special ability: Enter the Labyrinth of Penance.
“This is…”
Looking at the pebble, Kang Seol thought for a moment that it looked familiar.
Especially the patterns carved on the stone surface.
‘It’s a sign of the labyrinth!’
labyrinth.
A type of ruin that exists throughout the Pandean continent.
There are many reasons for distinguishing between regular ruins and labyrinths, but if I had to pick just one, it was the survival rate.
Unlike ordinary ruins, the labyrinth was literally impossible to escape from.
The demonic beasts and traps within the labyrinth were a problem, but the most serious thing was their murderous intent.
‘The labyrinth wants the blood of the intruder.’
The labyrinth had a will in the space itself.
If the ruins are about exploring the body of a dead whale, the labyrinth is about entering the mouth of a living whale.
However, despite these differences, numerous adventurers and mercenaries headed there as soon as the labyrinth was discovered.
Because a lot of treasure lies right there.
The labyrinth was a place where you could get special rewards that were slightly different from the treasures you could normally get from ordinary ruins.
Like a flytrap, people were sucked into the labyrinth.
However, even if the labyrinth was discovered, not everyone could enter it.
There had to be a certificate, which was the minimum requirement to enter the labyrinth.
And that token could be harvested from powerful monsters around the place where the labyrinth was discovered.
In short, the token was a symbol that proved the minimum qualifications to enter the labyrinth.
‘Does obtaining this mean that the labyrinth has been discovered?’
Snowfall had explored labyrinths throughout the continent of Pandea. So much so that it can be said that most of the continental labyrinth has been overcome.
Once someone breaks through this labyrinth, they move to another area.
So, I was able to encounter the labyrinth that I had overcome in the southern region again in the northern region.
Of course, the probability of that happening was very slim.
“Has the labyrinth been discovered?”
“Yes, that’s right. “It is literally a labyrinth of asceticism.”
Kang Seol thought of a question mark to Park Chang-sik, who answered calmly.
“I don’t understand. “Why are you telling me, an outsider, that fact?”
“Haha… Aren’t you keeping your distance too much since you’re an outsider? “You’re not an outsider since you already know about the labyrinth, right?”
Park Chang-sik scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly.
Although he showed his wit, Kang Seol’s expression was cold.
“… You’ve already been there once.”
“Ugh… I’m so perceptive… Do you know much about the labyrinth?”
“It’s hard to say you don’t know.”
“okay. Well, your score is almost 3 times higher, so it’s worth it. If you ever find a secret…”
“Rather than that, let’s talk about the labyrinth.”
“Yes. The labyrinth comes first. So… um… private? “How should I call it?”
“This is Snowman.”
“Snowman. It’s a snowman. “It’s exquisite. It’s a score that doesn’t seem human…”
Park Chang-sik said, clutching the certificate tightly.
“In fact, the token was never one to begin with.”
He spread his fingers.
Three fingers spread out.
“There were three.”
“But the fact that there is only one left…”
“Yes, that’s right. I have already entered the labyrinth twice. “I did it myself once.”
Kang Seol listened to Park Chang-sik’s words and synthesized the before and after situations and suddenly remembered a memory from the past.
Sometimes memories surface like this. Because I haven’t recovered all my memories yet.
‘The labyrinth of penance… Is that so. That’s how it happened.’
The Labyrinth of Penance proceeded in a slightly special way.
Kang Seol knew that, but for now, he listened to Park Chang-sik.
“The Labyrinth of Penance is played out quite unusually.”
“How is it?”
“First of all, according to what has been confirmed so far, only a total of 5 people can enter the labyrinth. And even if there are fewer people than that, we will not be able to enter.”
Up to this point, it was common knowledge to those who had experienced the labyrinth.
Now the characteristics unique to the labyrinth of asceticism will flow from his mouth.
“First of all, when we enter the labyrinth, we enter a dark space. Visibility is extremely limited. So much so that you can barely see in front of your feet.”
There will be a door.
“There’s a door there. There are a total of 5 doors.”
One door will be different.
“But they are not all the same doors. The other doors are plain and crude in appearance, but only one door has some rather bizarre designs carved on it. “Like… the devil’s gate.”
It was the same up to this point.
Will it really be the same after that?
“As the name ‘Labyrinth of Penance’ suggests, each door of the labyrinth offers a different experience of penance. “The door I entered was a place where you walked around in a dark place.”
I knew it.
A gateway where the concept and sense of time become blurred and you cannot tell where you are heading.
“Anyway, the important thing is not the door I experienced. “It was a door that was locked until the end.”
“How did you open that door?”
“As the four people entered through different doors, I heard that the last door was open. “Maybe the last person went through that door.”
“okay.”
“And our party was able to get out of the labyrinth a little while later.”
Snowfall also knew the reason very well.
“The last person to enter the door… died.”
“Hmm…”
“That’s what I learned when I first entered the labyrinth, and here’s what comes next.”
“If you went in one more time… you didn’t go in yourself?”
“I decided that it was still difficult to attack, but others didn’t seem to think so. “There are various conflicts.”
“Is it a guild problem?”
“It’s similar. In Audenin, five large guilds are leading the transferees. “My failures are just my own failures, and I don’t think of them as others’ failures.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Because they have not entered the labyrinth of asceticism themselves.”
Kang Seol was curious about the next story.
I could roughly guess the result.
“To conclude, there are things we learned after entering once more.”
“what is that?”
“The labyrinth constantly pollutes the mind of the ascetic. After a while, this was expressed in numbers. “This is something I didn’t know when I first entered.”
“What happens when that mental contamination level reaches full?”
“I do not know. “The person who entered the last door before that died.”
“Hmm…”
“But the person who joined this time was quite an elite member of the alliance, so he lasted a long time.”
“What did you find out there?”
“The last door was the answer. “It is said that the ascetic at the last door must have done something and the person who endured the asceticism at one door was freed from suffering.”
Kang Seol summarized his words.
“In other words, the ascetic at the last door holds the key to the lives of the party members.”
“Failure can occur for a variety of reasons. All party members who could not endure the penance would either die or their minds would be irreparably corrupted. But if it succeeds, it will be for only one reason.”
Park Chang-sik looked at Kang Seol.
“The last ascetic breaks through all the gates. “I guess that’s all.”
“It was some valuable information. “Now then, tell me your business.”
Sigh.
Park Chang-sik bowed his head and spoke seriously.
“I hope you will be the last ascetic to break through this labyrinth.”
“In return, you are asking me to take on the risk.”
“I plan to enter this labyrinth again. But I am not sure whether I myself am suitable to be the last ascetic. “I’m a little ahead of the others, but it’s not so great that it puts the lives of the other four people on the line.”
He looked at the snowfall with burning eyes.
“Aren’t you afraid of dying?”
“There’s no way you wouldn’t be afraid. When I first got out of the labyrinth, I was so ashamed that I vowed never to go back in. “Because I was so scared.”
He felt the murderous intent coming from the labyrinth.
‘It’s natural to be scared.’
Kang Seol knew well about the labyrinth of penance.
Because two or two of his horses had already passed through that place.
One of them was eaten by the labyrinth.
I didn’t even know if he was dead or alive. Because my mind was polluted and I lost control.
“But what’s scarier is that it collapses, succumbing to the labyrinth. I’m not the one to break down here. I can get more done. “This labyrinth will be the beginning.”
“And you need my help for that.”
“I have met many transferees, but among them, Snowman has the most overwhelming adventurer score. I thought he was someone worth risking my life for. I think that even if people lie, scores don’t lie. I thought it would be better to trust the overwhelming score rather than shallow trust. I’m embarrassed, but please…”
“Okay.”
“… yes?”
And another word of snowfall.
“I’ll hear the details tomorrow. I think we’ve arrived at the dorm.”
Those words conquered the labyrinth of penance.
The Blood Saint was one of his strongest horses.