Chapter 117

Stealthily.

In sync with the team members who were moving cautiously, assessing the situation.

I, too, was walking slowly.

“H-Hey, over there?”

“Team leader! Look at the floor.”

“The floor is moving!”

Abruptly.

I stopped and blinked.

What?

The floor moved?

I didn’t feel anything like that.

As if responding to my surprised reaction, Capu spoke up.

“Hoon, to be precise, the pattern on the floor moved. It moved exactly in sync with you.”

“The pattern?”

“Yeah, can you try moving again?”

“That’s not hard.”

‘Step, step.’

I took about two more steps.

I had a strange feeling.

The feeling that I was standing still, but the team members were moving as a group?

‘Ah.’

I reflexively looked down.

Most of them were staring at my feet, their eyes wide.

‘It’s real.’

Capu was right.

The pattern engraved on the floor was strangely moving with me at its center.

Though I wasn’t sure how something ‘engraved’ could move.

“What do you think is the reason?”

“I know, right? It seems like we need to figure out the secret of this pattern to make any progress.”

“……”

Everyone held their chins in contemplation.

We were certainly being cautious.

We held our ground, not acting rashly.

‘Because it’s heavy.’

For one, the air was heavy.

A thick pressure was weighing down on our entire bodies.

In fact, it had been like this since we entered this place.

A feeling as if some tremendous being was watching us?

Goosebumps rose on my skin.

“Something feels creepy, doesn’t it?”

“I know. A chill is running down my spine. It’s getting cold.”

Ignoring the few anxious team members, I continued to survey our surroundings.

I tried to remain calm.

After all, I was the team leader.

‘First.’

The pattern was circular.

Also, its radius was only about 10 meters.

A bit cramped for all 10 of us to be inside?

“Team leader!”

It was then that I heard Myoi Hana’s voice.

“Yes?”

“Look over there!”

She pointed her finger into the air.

At the end of the direction she was pointing.

‘Kugung!’

A soldier with an overwhelming presence stood holding a crossbow.

It seemed to be made of bone, just like my skeletons.

Seeing as it was frozen in place, was it just a decoration?

“It’s a soldier?”

“There’s one over there, too!”

“I found one too, Hoon!”

One by one.

The team members began to spot the soldiers.

It was dark, so they weren’t easy to see.

But once we found one, finding the others wasn’t so difficult.

The soldiers’ weapons were all crossbows.

Also, a scabbard of average length was attached to their waists.

‘Soldiers.’

It was called the trial of the Aranvalon Kingdom, so were they kingdom soldiers or something? Just as I was thinking that.

[Ting!]

[You have discovered the soldiers who guard the Treasure of the ‘Ancient Aranvalon Kingdom’!]

[Explorers! Be careful!]

[The kingdom’s soldiers are extremely ferocious and strong!]

[Please avoid them and find the ‘Legendary Treasure’!]

“Hmm?”

“Soldiers guarding a Treasure?”

“You’re saying those things move?”

‘Murmur, murmur.’

Just as the team members were commenting on the message.

“They’re not moving.”

James stepped forward.

“And besides, they’re just soldiers, right? Not generals. Not some fancy medieval knights, just regular soldiers. What’s the big deal? I’ll go check it out.”

‘Squeeze!’

Clenching his fist, he stepped outside the pattern.

‘Flinch!’

At that moment, the Supreme Azure Mind Method activated.

‘Woong!’

The energy within my body rang an alarm bell in my mind.

It was dangerous.

This was truly dangerous.

“Wait!”

‘Hwoong!’

I instinctively swung the spear in my hand.

The energy containing the Essence of Fire, with a ‘taang!’ sound, deflected something.

“Hup!”

The heavy impact tore at my muscles.

It was blunt.

Like being hit with a giant hammer?

My eyes flew open.

What had been shot at me was clearly a bolt from an Aranvalon Kingdom soldier.

‘What kind of crossbow is this fast and blunt?’

‘Shwoosh! Shwooshoosh!’

The soldiers from all sides began to fire their crossbows.

“Sunny! Eldrin!”

I immediately summoned my skeletons.

“My liege!”

“Yes, Master.”

First, I called out Bone Four to deflect the immediate threats.

“Bone Four!”

‘Creak?’ ‘Koong!’

Bone Four summoned his shield minions to quickly surround the team members.

However.

“Keuk!”

“Kuaaaack! My thigh! My thigh!”

Even in that brief moment.

The bolts that had already been fired had inflicted fatal wounds on the team members.

“Wh-What is this?”

“Ughhh!”

“This is ridiculous! How are we supposed to block something like this!”

The team members were horrified.

I was surprised, too.

I was confident that my level had risen considerably, yet to feel this much pressure, did this even make sense?

“James!”

“Huh? Huh?”

That idiot!

He was still frozen outside the pattern.

If the attacks started pouring in the moment you stepped out, shouldn’t you have come back in quickly?

“What are you doing, not coming back! Get inside the pattern!”

“Ah, got it!”

James, who had stepped out so heroically, quickly threw himself back into the pattern.

And then.

‘Thud!’

The crossbow fire that had been raining down stopped.

The terrifying sound of bolts vanished in an instant.

A quiet silence filled the hall, as if nothing had happened.

“……”

Everyone was at a loss for words.

They swallowed hard.

“Heok, heok! Huk!”

“Heok, huk!”

“Kkeueuk.”

Only ragged breaths and faint groans could be heard.

I let out a sigh.

‘I knew it.’

We must not step outside the pattern.

To find the Treasure safely, the challenge of this theme was for all of us to move ‘together’.

“First, those who are injured, come here. Let’s start with treatment.”

A total of three people had been pierced by bolts.

The pathfinder Capu, the middle-aged man, and Kane.

I approached Kane first.

At the same time, I grabbed the bolt lodged in his thigh.

“Keuk, w-wait? What, what are you doing?”

“Bite down hard.”

‘Pwuhak!’

The bolt was torn out along with flesh.

“Kuaaaaaah!”

Kane screamed.

I held no ill will, but things like this hurt less if you pull them out all at once.

Besides, a scratch like this could be healed by Bone Seven’s healing.

[Using 10 Stamina.]

[‘Bone Seven’ appears.]

I had the summoned Skeleton Healer heal Kane.

As for the other two.

“Hoo, you two should consider yourselves lucky. As it happens, I’m a healer.”

The hunter from Japan, Myoi Hana, stepped forward.

She emitted a sacred light from her hands and meticulously healed the two.

‘Hoh.’

I was surprised to see that.

‘She was a healer?’

Come to think of it, she had never revealed her unique ability until now.

– My name is Myoi Hana. I’m a hunter from Hiroshima, Japan. As I was personally chosen by the much-talked-about Skeleton King, I will do my utmost to help.

Even during her first introduction.

She had just glossed over it like that.

I could understand.

In a team game, a healer could be a more precious resource than anyone else.

But when it turned into a competition, it was also the class that had the hardest time protecting itself.

She must have needed a certain level of trust to reveal it.

“Keuk, why did it have to be just me…?”

Kane looked aggrieved as he watched Myoi Hana’s delicate treatment.

“……”

When I looked down at him, he clamped his mouth shut.

That punk, how was I supposed to know?

‘But what do we do now?’

I turned my gaze back to the crossbow-wielding soldier.

It was as monstrously savage as it looked.

If something like that were unleashed in the middle of Seoul, wouldn’t that be hell itself? That’s what I thought.

“Hmm.”

“Hey, but listen.”

My hum overlapped with someone’s voice.

It was the Space Mage, Vladimir Rodygin.

He blinked and looked at me.

“Why is it that the one who left the pattern was that martial artist, James, but the soldiers only attacked us?”

“……”

Huh?

Now that he mentions it?

“And look at James over there. He’s the only one who’s perfectly fine, right? As if he wasn’t attacked at all.”

“……”

I turned my head to look at James.

His body, which wore a dazed and surprised expression, was clean.

There were no injuries or wounds whatsoever.

And as far as I knew.

It would have been a long shot for James to dodge all those bolts with his skills.

‘Fuck?’

At that moment, I realized.

What if… the person who leaves this pattern first has the advantage?

What if… only the person outside the pattern is guaranteed to survive?

‘Then I’m the one who’s fucked, aren’t I?’

The pattern moves with me at its center.

Eventually, if everyone leaves, the only one who will be attacked by the soldiers is me.

‘Gulp!’

The moment I swallowed.

‘Kiiiiiik! Thud!’

From far away, along with a hole of pure white light, the sound of a door opening could be heard.

[Ting!]

[Team members can choose one ‘Treasure’ at any time and escape the giant castle.]

[The escaped team member has ‘Passed’ Theme 2.]

‘I knew it.’

Fuck.

No wonder things had been going so easily until now.

What Theme 2 was asking was simple.

‘Will you ‘Pass’ together with your team leader?’

‘Or will you abandon your team leader and ‘Pass’ by yourself?’

Theme 2 was a dogshit trial that played with people’s hearts.

—

“Huhu, it has finally begun.”

In front of the hologram.

Delilah was watching the screen with interest.

In her hand was a homemade hamburger.

She was human, too.

Shouldn’t she eat while she watched?

Next to her, Luka was also sipping a cola.

“This will be interesting. Isn’t this the main theme of the trial?”

The Theme 2 that Luka knew was just that.

It was no exaggeration to say that all the rankers were decided here.

For the remaining trials, the people who became one here had to form a team and push forward.

And usually, they were the ones who survived to the end and became ‘classmates’.

Like the Five Stars of Seoul.

‘And I.’

Luka bit his lip hard.

As the team leader back then, he had been abandoned by all his team members.

As a result, he was the only one who survived.

He had steadfastly cleared the remaining themes alone and become a ranker.

That’s why.

In truth, it was the most interesting, yet also the most terrifying theme.

“I wonder how many will pass from this team? Five? Six? I have a feeling it will be six.”

‘Munch, munch.’

Delilah said while elegantly chewing her hamburger.

“I’m betting on four. For starters, I think that Olivia and the one named Kane will definitely run. Hmm, as for the rest, I honestly don’t know. Isn’t it in the face of fear that a person’s true heart is revealed?”

Luka stated his conviction.

He had experienced it, too.

At first, everyone feigns righteousness.

They try to act for the team leader’s sake.

But what if one of them defects?

That’s the beginning of hell.

The crossbows of the terrifying soldiers rain down endlessly.

Who would risk their life to maintain their loyalty there?

‘Not many.’

The Magic Swordsman Luka shook his head.

It was something he always felt.

Watching Theme 2 made him feel nauseous.

The bad memories had become trauma, stirring his emotions.

“Huhu, is that so? Let’s wait and see.”

“Lady Delilah…”

Luka looked at the gently smiling Delilah and opened his mouth.

“Do you think Joo Donghoon has earned that much trust as a team leader?”

“Hmm, I don’t know about that yet.”

“Then why…”

“Because he has shown unbelievable anomalies since Theme 1. Did you, Luka, ever predict that Joo Donghoon would consume the Toxin Mist?”

“But there are no such anomalies in this game…”

“Why do you think there aren’t?”

“……Pardon?”

Luka tilted his head.

He kept wearing a curious expression, but Lady Delilah was sparing with her words.

She just kept chewing her hamburger.

“……”

Right, what’s the point of thinking?

Let’s just watch for now.

‘Joo Donghoon is.’

He was the kind of hunter.

Who was fun just to watch.