Chapter 154

[‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS-Rank) relays the status window’s information to the ‘Caster’.]

‘Phew!’

It felt like a weight had been lifted from my chest.

[Time Elapsed – 00:05:01]

In this space of nothingness where I couldn’t see a thing, why did these status windows feel so comforting?

‘Ancient Magic,’ which had barely managed to connect to my mind, visualized every status window that had appeared so far inside my head the moment it arrived.

‘Anyway.’

Has it already been five minutes?

Or maybe not?

Is it more accurate to say only five minutes have passed?

The suffocating time felt like it lasted forever.

But the fact that I hadn’t been eliminated for five minutes also made no sense.

[Ting!]

[‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS-Rank) assesses the ‘Caster’s’ condition.]

[‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS-Rank)’s eyes fly open.]

[It is astonished that the number of great beings has increased from one to three in such a short time.]

[‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS-Rank) hastily pays its respects.]

‘Ah.’

So you’ve seen the Essence of Water and the Essence of Wood too, on top of the Essence of Fire.

That’s just how it happened.

I was just diligently clearing Dungeons, and they started piling up one by one.

[…….]

Even with Ancient Magic prostrating itself, the Essences showed no particular reaction.

Though the Essence of Fire did react a little in the past.

‘Then again.’

Back then, didn’t it just tell it to shut its trap and do its job?

It didn’t seem like the Essences were very fond of ‘Ancient Magic.’

[After paying its respects, ‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS-Rank) cautiously rises.]

[As per the ‘Ancient Oath’, ‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS-Rank) assesses the current crisis.]

Caution was embedded in the tone of the message.

Something it might’ve done carelessly before, it now seemed to be handling with absolute seriousness.

‘Having a good backer is definitely nice.’

Not a connection from school, region, blood, or even smoking.

This is the connection of the Essences! The Essence-nection!

[The time the Caster must endure is 5 hours.]

[The operating time of ‘Space Separation’ (SSS-Rank) is 30 minutes, so it is not suitable.]

[Searching for other alternatives.]

[‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS-Rank) discovers something in the ‘Caster’s’ inventory.]

‘Something?’

[‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS-Rank) nods its head.]

[Displaying information for the item the ‘Caster’ is holding, ‘The Officer Who Cries for Peace’ (S-Rank).]

Ah?

That thing?

[Item: The Officer Who Cries for Peace]

[Rank: S]

[Type: Medium]

[Description: This is the root that can uncover the secrets of a hidden ruin.]

[Effect 1: Can open the Dungeon, ‘Rise and Fall’.]

[Effect 2: This item is bound to the Hunter, ‘Joo Donghoon’.]

[Effect 3: This item can be activated by Hunters of Rank A or higher.]

Right, this.

The medium item shaped like a horn.

An item with a job-related connection that had evolved after I resolved the lingering regrets of Eldrin and Dmir.

But why this?

[‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS-Rank) says it seems to be able to manipulate the Dungeon’s structure.]

[It says there’s no time, so it will proceed immediately.]

[‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS-Rank) searches for the corresponding magic.]

Huh?

What does that mean?

Manipulate the Dungeon’s structure?

‘Don’t tell me.’

Is it thinking of making me enter that Special Dungeon from inside this Dungeon?

[‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS-Rank) shouts ‘Bingo!’ and laughs.]

[‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS-Rank) uses ‘Space Link’ (SSS-Rank).]

Wha-what?

For real?

And what the hell is Space Link?

[‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS-Rank) wishes you good luck.]

At that moment—

Thump!

The pitch-black world flipped over into white light.

—

“Puha!”

I exhaled first.

“Ooooh?”

There was a smell.

Could plain air taste this good?

“Hah! Hah!”

My sense of taste had returned.

I could feel the faint bitterness lingering on my tongue, and above all—

‘I can see.’

The dirt on the ground. The clouds in the sky.

I could see the bushes scattered here and there, each one catching the light, and I could even feel their texture.

The soil was soft.

The wind was gentle.

The temperature was cool.

The ground was solid.

Ah.

So this is what the five human senses are.

I didn’t know when I started taking them for granted, but after losing them, I finally understood their value.

Even if it was only for five minutes.

The aftereffect was enormous.

“Hoo.”

I staggered to my feet.

I’d had my fill of my regained senses. Now it was time to assess the situation.

[Time Elapsed – 00:07:40]

First of all.

The elapsed time floating in the corner of my vision was still ticking.

‘Which means…’

Just by being here, I could naturally fulfill the five-hour requirement for Theme 5!

“Wow.”

A gasp escaped me.

‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS-Rank) really is something else.

It let me cheese the highest-difficulty Dungeon this easily with a single spell.

All I had to do was clear the Dungeon here at my own pace, and I’d get Theme 5’s Stage 5 time reward for free.

‘This is too much of a cheat.’

But what can I do?

That’s just what SSS-Rank is like.

I merely used what I was given.

‘Anyway.’

I’d suddenly entered a Special Dungeon.

And so far, every Special Dungeon had been related to my skeletons.

‘So who is it this time?’

Bone One?

Bone Four?

Bone Five?

Bone Seven?

Bone Eight?

Five candidates.

Bone Two became Sunny.

Bone Three became Eldrin.

And Bone Six became Dmir.

‘Well, whoever it is…’

I’d have to clear it first.

[Time Elapsed – 00:08:00]

Whether I had to clear it before the timer hit five hours, or whether I should clear it right on time, I had no idea.

But one thing was certain.

Since it was a Special Dungeon, the difficulty would be immense.

This was no time to space out.

I looked around.

The strong forest scent made it feel like I was on a mountain—about eighty percent of the way up the ridge…

Shing!

First, I changed my weapon into a sword.

A spear is more comfortable for fighting, but a sword is far more convenient for mobility.

‘Shall we go?’

I followed a narrow path.

When the answer isn’t visible, it’s faster to move and find it yourself.

How long had I been walking?

From the distance, I heard groaning and a sobbing voice.

“Guuh, keuheuk! Damn bastards.”

Over there.

My eyes gleamed.

A new life form encountered for the first time in a new Dungeon.

Doesn’t that just scream ‘clue’?

Swish!

I moved silently.

Shadows flickered naturally from my body.

A natural manifestation of ‘Silence’ (S-Rank).

“Keuheuk… is this what they call the thousand-year empire? Hah. In the end, the Emperor’s faction will win, and we’ll all die… The children, the women, everyone without exception. Three generations will be annihilated. Would that be better? Than living in this garbage world?”

A soldier was lamenting, an arrow buried in his stomach.

I revealed myself.

“Gasp? Wh-who are you? Your attire is suspicious—are you with the Emperor’s faction?”

“Hmm.”

He looked foreign.

But we could communicate.

Then again, I could communicate with dwarves and elves, so this wasn’t surprising.

“First, let’s get you treated.”

I swung my sword and summoned Bone Seven.

Kwadadadadeuk!

A white skeleton rose from the ground and took form.

“H-heok! Y-you summoned a skeleton? How can a person?! Who are you! Who are you to use such mysterious arts!”

“That’s what I’d like to ask. Who are you, and where is this place?”

Woooong!

[‘Skeleton 7’ uses the skill, Intermediate Healing (Lv.4).]

Dark energy flowed from Bone Seven and seeped into the soldier’s stomach.

The mysterious energy pushed out the embedded arrow and knit new flesh in its place.

The pain eased.

“U-uuh? W-what in the world is happening…?”

The soldier’s eyes went wide.

This must be a world where being healed by a skeleton is considered strange.

To be fair, it’s like that in our world, too.

“Now, I’ll ask again. I’m just a person passing through from another country. Where is this, and who are you?”

“Are you truly from another country…?”

“Yes.”

More precisely, from another world.

“I was passing by, found you injured, and even healed you. Surely you’re not going to play dumb.”

“Ah… I am a commoner soldier named Hugo.”

“A commoner?”

From what he said about the Emperor’s faction earlier—

Is this a class-based society?

“That’s right, a commoner. Did you think I was royalty, a noble, or perhaps a clergyman?”

Hugo laughed self-deprecatingly, then looked at me.

“You… you said you were from another country?”

“I did.”

“Hmm. It’s strange to think there’s another country under the Empire, but seeing your arts, I suppose it could be possible. The world is a wide place.”

“……”

“Hoo, since you’ve healed me, I’ll give you a rough explanation.”

Ahem, ahem.

Hugo cleared his throat.

“I was a commoner in an empire that has maintained a thousand-year history.”

He said he was a commoner earlier.

Now he ‘was’ a commoner?

I kept my eyes on his lips.

“But now, I have become a revolutionary. Hoo… so, how it happened was…”

He clenched his fist.

“Over the long thousand years, the empire has rotted and decayed. While the commoners starved and died from economic slumps or poor harvests, the man called the Emperor holed himself up in the imperial palace, and the nobles and clergy still stuffed their bellies with fat. Is that a world? No. The world I wanted to live in was not such a world.”

His sturdy hands trembled.

“Many commoners petitioned. They pleaded, risking their lives. But they wouldn’t even listen. They just executed us to preserve their privileges. They pushed people who would have died anyway to the edge of a cliff.”

He was shaking with anger.

“To be honest, I was just going to die. With my only daughter. But then someone appeared out of nowhere and started gathering soldiers? Yes, I was going to die anyway. How could I stand by when they said we should take one more of those trashy bastards with us?”

“So you became a revolutionary.”

I nodded.

I roughly understood the background.

In our world’s terms…

It sounded like something akin to the French or Russian Revolution.

‘So.’

Is that why the Dungeon is called Rise and Fall?

There is no eternal empire under the heavens.

No matter how solid it seems, one day it will walk the path of ruin.

‘Indeed.’

I understood instinctively.

The main storyline of this Dungeon would be this war.

Two opposing factions: the Emperor’s faction and the revolutionary army.

And since he’d mentioned nobles and clergy, the Emperor’s side was probably stronger.

So where should I place my bet?

‘Obviously.’

The ideologies of either side have nothing to do with me.

It isn’t my world. It’s just a world inside a Dungeon.

The side I’ll choose—

Is the side where my skeleton is.

Meaning I still had to observe.

That was when—

“Keke, you little rat.”

Chareung!

A group appeared on the ridge above.

Some drew their swords. Others nocked arrows.

“We were wondering where you went after getting hit by an arrow. So you were hiding here?”

“Th-those are soldiers from the Emperor’s faction!”

Hugo shouted.

At that moment—

[Ting!]

[Stage: Rise and Fall]

[Will the tide of war that threatens the thousand-year empire end as a ‘revolution’ or a ‘rebellion’?]

[Choose one of the two factions.]

[1. Emperor’s Faction]

[2. Revolutionary Army]

[Help that faction and end the war.]

The system forced me to choose.