Chapter 95
“Now that I think about it, this place really is strange…”
“……”
I stayed quiet, listening to the old man.
Whoosh—
The cool night breeze brushed against my cheek.
Right.
In such a peaceful space…
someone was watching me.
“Don’t worry too much, boy. Whoever it is, I sense only curiosity—no hostility.”
‘Is that so? Still, it feels unsettling.’
“Click-click. If it had ill intent, your delicate neck would already be rolling on the ground.”
A bead of sweat trickled down my face.
A chill ran down my spine.
‘Then what should I do?’
“What else? Just keep doing what you’re doing. That thing is beyond your ability to deal with. Preparing for the unstoppable is one of the most foolish things a man can do.”
The old man stood with his hands behind his back, looking utterly relaxed.
Damn geezer. Why did he always seem so smug?
‘Still…’
If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t even know I was being watched.
I sighed and decided to ease the tension.
Like he said—there was nothing I could do anyway.
‘But what did you mean by this being a strange space?’
I tilted my head slightly.
He’d said it casually, but it caught my attention.
“This place—you said it was artificially made, yes?”
‘Yes.’
A dungeon created by Delilah, the Dungeon Maker.
Her title said it all.
“Hmm, compressing space infinitely to escape the pull of gravity… and thus gaining freedom over time. Hah, quite an ingenious trick.”
“……?”
I tilted my head further.
‘What does that mean?’
I couldn’t make sense of it.
“Tsk. A genius would’ve understood already. Talking with non-geniuses is so exhausting.”
He stroked his chin in amusement.
‘Then could you please explain it like I’m five, instead of teasing me?’
He chuckled softly before continuing.
“This dungeon—its gravitational pull is weaker than your original world’s.”
‘Weaker gravity?’
“Yes. The dungeon’s world is endlessly compressed. You and the others are shrunken to fit inside. The entire space, relatively speaking, has weaker gravity.”
‘……And?’
I gave him a confused look.
So what?
“Tsk, you still don’t get it?”
‘You mean… shrinking it somehow gives freedom over time?’
“If you don’t know, just admit you don’t know.”
‘Fine. I have no idea.’
“Hmm. I see.”
He grinned, clearly entertained.
Ah.
I got it.
He was enjoying himself—enjoying teaching me again.
Lately I’d been managing fine on my own, and he’d probably felt a bit left out.
Now that he had something to explain, he was in his element.
“Boy, do you know how many times a dragonfly flaps its wings in one second?”
“……”
A dragonfly?
Let’s see… maybe twenty to thirty times?
“It varies by species. Some flap thirty times a second, others a hundred. But do you know why they seem faster than humans?”
‘Because they’re small?’
I thought for a moment, answering inwardly.
‘If time flows differently depending on size, smaller things would seem faster than larger ones.’
I’d seen it in cartoons—giants moving in slow motion compared to smaller creatures.
So was that what he meant?
That time flows relatively?
“Click-click. Finally catching on.”
He nodded approvingly.
“Dragonflies flap their wings normally—maybe once or twice a second by their own sense of time. But that’s ‘their’ second, not ours.”
‘So a dragonfly’s one second moves slower than ours.’
“Exactly. That’s the principle.”
Meaning—time in this dungeon flowed slower than on Earth.
If I spent months here, only a day might pass outside.
I suddenly remembered the movie ‘Interstellar.’
‘Right, like that scene.’
On a planet near a black hole, a few hours equaled decades on Earth.
The stronger the gravity, the faster time flowed.
So if gravity was weaker… time would flow slower.
An ingenious concept, really.
‘But why?’
Why would Delilah make time move slower here?
As if she wanted to ‘save time.’
As if she wanted to accelerate the growth of hunters within a short period.
“……”
Did she have some kind of mission—to strengthen hunters as fast as possible?
‘Wait.’
A thought hit me.
The one who was watching me—who could it be?
‘It’s definitely not another participant.’
No ranker-level beings were among the contestants.
Anyone capable of bypassing Eldrin’s alarm wards had to be ranker-tier or higher.
‘Could it be…?’
I recalled what the sword mage Luka had said.
– Let me introduce myself.
– I’m Luka, the chief examiner for this trial.
– My title is Sword Mage. I’m ranked 25th in the world.
He said chief examiner.
If there was a chief examiner, that meant there were other examiners too.
‘Sir.’
I called the old man silently.
“What now, boy?”
‘That person watching me earlier—’
“Oh, that one?”
‘Yes, that one. Where is it now?’
“Hmm. Still beside you, tilting its head in curiosity.”
‘Beside me? Exactly where?’
I stood up instantly and closed my eyes.
‘If it’s really an examiner, then finding them won’t hurt. Their job would be to observe, not harm.’
“Hm. Three steps to your left, fifty-five degrees from where you’re facing.”
‘Thank you, sir.’
Whummm—
I activated the Supreme Azure Mind Method.
Then strolled casually in that direction.
“Ahh, the night air feels nice.”
I murmured, acting like I was just out for a stroll.
‘Here?’
“Yes, right beside your right shoulder. Incredible confidence—this one is completely certain it won’t be noticed.”
‘Are you sure? You’re not messing with me again?’
“Bah, can’t you trust your master?”
‘Alright then.’
I signaled Eldrin quietly.
Fire a volley in that direction.
No hesitation—hesitation gets you caught.
Swish, swish, swish!
Eldrin’s arrows flew in rapid succession.
At the same time—
Whoosh!
Sunny unleashed his Sun Strike skill.
Perfect.
And I followed up with all my strength, thrusting my weapon to the right—
“Aaah?!”
A startled young woman’s voice rang out.
Thud!
Something—or someone—fell over, revealing herself.
Her face twisted in shock.
“What the—?! How did you even notice me?”
She shouted, dumbfounded.
“Heh.”
I let out a faint laugh.
“Before that, maybe you should tell me who you are.”
A week since entering this place—
and I’d just found another examiner.
—
A sacred hall.
Circular, lined with countless holographic screens.
Each showed live footage of hunters scattered throughout the trial.
“……”
In the center of the vast chamber stood a single figure in silence.
Cloaked, dignified—almost divine.
Delilah.
Known to the world as ‘the Mirage.’
Rustle—
Another presence entered behind her.
A broad-shouldered man with crimson eyes—the Sword Mage, Luka.
“Lady Delilah.”
“You’re here, Luka.”
“One of the examiners has already been discovered.”
“……I saw.”
She raised her hand, pointing at one of the holograms.
It showed Joo Donghoon—and a young woman.
“……That’s Thunderstrike, Floa.”
Thunderstrike Floa.
A German ranker, currently 84th in the world.
“That’s impossible. A non-ranker detected an examiner already?”
Luka’s voice was filled with disbelief.
Examiners weren’t just any hunters.
To be chosen for Delilah’s Trial, one had to be within the top 100 worldwide.
Real rankers—of a different league altogether.
“Look there. Donghoon has already surpassed twenty thousand Trial Points.”
“……In just one week?”
Luka was speechless.
“Yes. This one’s special.”
Delilah smiled faintly, almost amused.
“That can’t be right. Even first-place scores took a month to reach ten thousand.”
“There’s no reason it can’t.”
She blinked lazily.
“I only provide the dungeon. Participants are free to use any method they wish to earn rewards. The higher they climb, the better for us, no?”
“……”
Luka fell silent.
He knew—Delilah despised direct interference.
Her dungeons functioned on their own: the more difficult they were, the greater the rewards created by the system itself.
Her only involvement was in designing trials that pushed participants to the edge.
He nodded.
That was why rankers were born from her trials every year.
Because she kept making them harder.
No more, no less.
“Why? Feeling jealous? Afraid he’ll surpass your rank someday?”
“N-no, of course not.”
Luka shook his head.
“I’m satisfied with the chief examiner reward. I just worry…”
“That the gap between participants might grow too wide?”
“Not that. I worry that Thunderstrike made a mistake.”
“You, of all people, should know better, Sword Mage.”
“…True enough.”
Delilah had placed restrictions on the examiners.
They could torment participants—but never aid them.
Any act of assistance meant immediate disqualification.
“Still, examiners weren’t supposed to appear until a month later. That’s when the use of Trial Points was to be revealed.”
“Don’t worry so much, Luka.”
“……”
“There’s no such thing as ‘how things must go.’ Remember, we’re only observers. If that boy found Floa early, that’s his right—whether by skill or by luck. Just do your part as examiner. Understood?”
“…Yes, my lady.”
He bowed deeply.
Paying respect to the world’s fifth-ranked hunter.
Then—
Whoosh.
His figure blurred and vanished instantly.