Chapter 116

The power of the scroll was immense.

The castle, which hadn’t seemed to get any smaller no matter how much we walked, had now become literally ‘colossal’.

‘Incredible.’

It was so large that the sky was no longer visible.

It was as if the entire world was shrouded in the shadow of the giant castle.

“Skeleton King! No, Hoon! How on earth did you do that?”

The guide, Capu, was astonished.

“There’s no mistake, even with Clairvoyance! We’re only about 400 km away now!”

“……400 km?”

And that’s ‘only’?

As far as I know, a thousand li is 400 km.

Capu, who I’d been wondering how he’d been gauging the distance with Clairvoyance until now, blushed beet-red.

“Normally, I could only feel it as a rough sense, not get an exact distance. But now, I can see the precise distance to the entrance.”

“……”

“How on earth did you do it? What were those papers you tore up earlier?”

Capu wasn’t the only one with questions.

“Hey, I’m curious too.”

The Space Mage, Vladimir, also stepped forward.

“In that brief moment, there was an incredible compression of space. I leaped a distance so vast that even I, with my S-rank Space Movement skill, would find it hard to fathom. How is something like this possible? It’s unbelievable.”

“Hold on.”

Olena, James, and Zhang Wei, too.

The middle-aged man and Myoi Hana as well.

They were all looking at me with expressions of intense curiosity.

“First, let’s walk and talk. I’ll explain everything, one by one.”

Of course.

I’d just give them a watered-down version.

No matter how much this theme emphasized teamwork.

I couldn’t just reveal everything about myself, could I?

—

I explained, leaving out everything that had happened with Floa.

I said that while searching for Treasure through my skeletons, I found some scrolls.

That they were ‘Land Contraction’ and ‘Land Extension’ ability scrolls.

Something like that.

“Hoo. I see, so finding Treasure was the answer after all.”

Olena let out a faint sigh.

“In a way, it seems similar to Theme 1. Back then, we were searching for food or poison in the forest, and now it feels like we’re searching for scrolls in the wilderness.”

“It’s certainly a game where a Necromancer has the advantage.”

“Is there any game in the world where that’s not the case? The undead do everything for you.”

“Still, it looks like we’ll clear this safely thanks to our Team leader. Thank you, Team leader. The best thing I did in this trial was meeting you.”

“Yeah, at our speed, 400 km will be over in a flash, right? That girl, Olivia, can’t be that heavy.”

Flinch.

It was Olivia’s man who shuddered, Kane.

On his shoulder, Olivia, her face still swollen, was draped limply as if dead.

I nodded.

Right, just stay lying down like that.

That’s much more helpful.

In terms of immediate combat power, she might be a liability.

But looking at the big picture, this was much better.

‘Not much longer now.’

Watching the castle draw ever closer, I pressed a hand to my chest.

The pounding of my heart steadied my breathing.

‘The theme isn’t over yet.’

Delilah’s trials were famous for being difficult.

The mighty Five Stars of Seoul had said so until they were blue in the face, so it must be true.

‘No, it might not be over, but rather, it might not have even started yet.’

All we had done so far was move while looking for Treasure.

Right.

We might not have even taken the first step.

The true first step might only begin once we enter that giant castle.

‘Thud, thud, thud!’

Running, walking.

Running and walking again.

We proceeded with a rapid march.

Since we didn’t have far to go, we minimized our meal and rest times as much as possible.

After some time had passed.

“Hoon.”

Capu muttered.

“There, I can see the entrance over there!”

Far in the distance.

The entrance set in the wall was not a door.

Could you even call something like that a ‘door’?

It was a massive hole that looked like it would suck you into the Abyss.

[Team 1 reaches the ‘Giant Castle’.]

A message appeared at the same time.

Tension rose in the team members’ eyes.

“Deep breaths! Everyone, let’s take a deep breath! We have our Team leader, don’t we?”

Olena placed a hand on her chest and caught her breath.

[Team 1 is the first to arrive.]

[Team 2 and Team 3 will be automatically eliminated.] (T/N: What the heck, I did not even expect that. )

“Eliminated?”

“Ooh, so did we succeed? Did we pass?”

“Wow, goosebumps. So the other teams are eliminated before they even get to see the inside of the castle? How pitiful for them.”

Just like that.

People were cut down in droves.

Theme 2 hadn’t even properly started yet.

To think there were only 10 of us left…

It seemed becoming a ranker was no easy task.

I looked at the hole and opened my mouth.

“It’s too early to celebrate.”

The true objective of Theme 2.

Was to find the ‘Legendary Treasure’ that existed within that castle.

“Everyone, get ready.”

“If you mean ready to enter, I’m all set.”

Zhang Wei replied with a serious expression.

When you see a serious face, isn’t it human nature to want to tease them?

“What about your last words?”

“Last words?”

“In there, it looks pretty serious just from a glance.”

“Hmph, an unfunny joke. I’ll go in first.”

Zhang Wei, who let out a small smirk despite calling it unfunny, stepped into the hole.

‘Swoosh!’

His body was sucked in, as if entering water.

“Then we’ll follow you.”

“Aja! Aja! Let’s do our best!”

“Hoon, I’m going in too. See you in a bit.”

Olena’s group followed him.

Vladimir, the middle-aged man, and Myoi Hana also entered silently in order.

Everyone was tense, but they didn’t seem afraid.

Well, if they had been afraid, they wouldn’t have challenged the trial in the first place.

They would have all dropped out when Examiner Luka gave his warning.

“Uh, excuse me.”

Someone poked me from the side.

It was Kane.

Behind him, Olivia seemed unwilling to lift her face, whether out of shame or embarrassment.

Even though time had passed, she hadn’t come down from Kane’s back.

She was still ‘pretending’ to be unconscious.

Honestly, all the team members knew.

That she was awake but just not getting up.

“Yes, what is it?”

When I asked, Kane asked cautiously.

“Am I going in too?”

Of course.

Of course, you have to go in.

If I wasn’t going to let you in, I would have left you behind the day I beat you up.

“Yes, go on in. Before I change my mind.”

“Ah, I understand.”

‘Swoosh!’

With Kane and Olivia hurrying inside, all the team members had entered.

But the hole was still open.

‘Vrooom!’ It vibrated, as if waiting for me to enter.

‘Step, step.’

As I stood before the black hole, a thrilling sensation swept through my body.

What could possibly be waiting inside?

What kind of being would torment me?

I surrendered my body to the strange sensation and slowly closed my eyes.

[The trial of the ‘Ancient Aranvalon Kingdom’ begins.]

It was the true start of Theme 2.

—

Around the time Joo Donghoon entered the giant castle.

In a pure white hall, a man and a woman were looking at a hologram.

“Uh…”

Luka’s lips twisted.

Do people’s faces instinctively contort when they see something unbelievable?

He was making an expression that would look quite ridiculous to anyone watching.

Luka looked to his side.

“Hmm…”

Delilah, too, was letting out a low hum, looking surprised.

“Is this a first?”

“Pardon?”

At Luka’s sudden question, Delilah tilted her head.

A gesture asking what he meant.

“Isn’t this the first time that all ten members selected for a team have entered Aranvalon? In our time, we were at each other’s throats, and three people died before we even started… You remember, don’t you, Lady Delilah.”

“I do. I remember. But, it’s not the first time.”

Delilah shook her head.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, there have been quite a few times when all ten entered. Though there hasn’t been a single team that passed with everyone still alive.”

“……”

“In fact, the conflict Team 1 experienced this time wasn’t even a conflict.”

The only conflict, if you could call it that, was the clash with Olivia.

Wasn’t that it?

And Joo Donghoon resolved the entire situation with his overwhelming power.

That much happened to every team.

It couldn’t even be called a conflict.

“That’s right.”

Luka nodded.

“Team Joo Donghoon reached the castle far too quickly to experience conflict. The situation is different from our time, when we spent almost two months just to arrive.”

“Conflict tends to amplify the longer discomfort persists.”

Walking a path with no end in sight.

It might look easy, but when you’re actually faced with it, it’s no joke.

The competition with other teams.

The anxiety of being eliminated at any moment.

The lack of progress.

And so on.

When numerous factors combine, you eventually start to harbor doubts about the team leader.

You can endure it at first.

But what if the situation repeats itself?

A week passes, then two, then a month?

The team splits.

They start slandering each other.

Misunderstandings breed more misunderstandings, turning into resentment.

“I apologize.”

Suddenly, Luka bowed his head.

“Floa. I warned her to be careful with that one. She caused trouble again.”

He believed that the imbalance in Joo Donghoon’s team was all because of Floa.

“It’s alright, Luka. That is also a rule I set. There’s no need to blame Floa. Joo Donghoon was just an exceptionally unusual case. Besides, we predicted all of this, didn’t we?”

That was the truth.

The gap between the participants was too overwhelming.

All the examiners had predicted Team 1’s victory.

“We are Dungeon Makers. All we have to do is create and watch.”

Delilah smiled.

“And the real trial begins right now.”

—

I opened my eyes.

My surroundings, which had been a chaos of light and darkness, returned to their proper places.

‘This place is…’

I looked around.

It was so vast.

A giant hall where neither the ceiling nor the walls were visible.

We were standing on it.

How did I know it was a hall?

Because a large crest was engraved on the floor.

Around the crest, what seemed to be the script of the Aranvalon Kingdom or whatever it was called.

Hieroglyphic characters were packed tightly together.

[The deepest part of the ‘Ancient Aranvalon Kingdom’.]

[Countless Treasures that once commanded the world lie dormant here.]

At that moment.

Golden lights glittered from here and there.

From each glittering spot, an extraordinary aura emanated.

[Covet the Treasure.]

[Acquire the Treasure.]

[Find the ‘Legendary Treasure’ among the countless Treasures.]

‘Twinkle!’

Hundreds of them.

‘Twinkle! Twinkle!’

No, what looked like thousands, even tens of thousands of Treasures were spread out everywhere.

‘They’re not fakes.’

I knew instinctively.

Every single one of them.

Was a Treasure with a value of S-rank or higher.

‘One of those.’

Just one of them must be the ‘Legendary Treasure’.

“Wow, so this is what a Dungeon Maker is all about? The class of this is on another level.”

Vladimir muttered.

“But.”

“……”

“This can’t be the end, right? It can’t be. It’s boasted such an incredible difficulty until now. The end of the trial can’t just be a treasure hunt among all these treasures, can it?”

“That makes sense. It reeks of a trap just by looking at it.”

Everyone.

They weren’t fools.

I was worried someone might foolishly dash out to find a Treasure.

Thankfully, even Olivia seemed to be holding her breath and watching quietly.

“Then.”

I swallowed hard.

“Shall we all assess the situation first?”

Let’s take it slow, nice and slow.

The competition is over now, after all.