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Chapter 258

“I’m going to make sure of the material for the artifact you’re looking for.”

“Oh.”

For a change, Leviathan quickly got to the point, which was unusual for him since he often tended to stray off-topic. Even Yeon-woo couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.

“The artifact you’re looking for is inside the gate. Just like last time, I’ll only give you the location. I don’t know anything about the internal details. I just find items with my powers.”

“Is that how it works?”

“You asked me to find it without even knowing that? What a foolish kid.”

“As long as I know you can find it, what does it matter what the specifics are?”

“…That’s true.”

It’s actually weirder to know what the Demon King’s powers are. Of course, if he claimed to know a bit, people would probably just accept that. He had thrown around so much knowledge after all.

But ignorance is ignorance. Especially when it comes to information related to the Demon King. He felt confident that he understood Toyo’s Demon King pretty well, but he had little to no correspondence with the others, including Leviathan right in front of him.

“Golden Desire can basically only be used by the wealthy elites…”

The moment it was established that Monday or Tuesday was related, even someone at Yeon-woo’s level would struggle to approach it. As for Wednesday, there simply weren’t many engagements, while Thursday and Sunday were out of the question.

“Then what about the labor you said you’d take as payment instead of money?”

“I’ll tell you if I need it later, so don’t worry. It won’t be anything too much for you.”

“Got something in mind already, huh… Alright, I’ll trust you.”

“Good. Behi, grab the map on your way back.”

“Yes…”

Behemoth, who had been lounging on the sofa, lazily got up and left the parlor. Just what was the dynamic here?

“You’re done here, right? Go out and check the goods. Snacks… well…”

As Leviathan spoke, he gazed down at the mountain of snacks before him. His gaze was dripping with longing, but he barely managed to pull his eyes away.

“Ugh, just take it…”

The sight of the notoriously greedy Demon King holding back his desire was far more entertaining than browsing through the goods. Shar, watching this unfold, shook her head vigorously.

“Hmm, there’s too much. I’ll give half to my sister. It’s okay, Tae-oh?”

“It’s… fine!!”

Tae-oh seemed a little greedy, but soon followed Shar’s lead in expressing his opinion. Leviathan’s eyes sparkled as if he were moved by their gesture.

“Really, you guys…!! Thank you…!! I’m really grateful…!!”

Why was this Demon King being denied snacks? It was a mystery.

With that lingering question, the meeting came to a close. For Yeon-woo, it wasn’t such a bad encounter after all.

*

“Hmm… oh…”

As he examined the map and documents given by Behemoth before heading back, Yeon-woo couldn’t help but marvel over and over.

Even if he only knew the location of the gate and whether there were items inside, the stack of documents that came with it contained reasonable deductions from the investigation team’s reports.

“Considering the shimmering surrounding space and the pattern that seems to suck in light, the internal gimmick might possibly be ‘Illusion Realm’…”

“You can tell just by looking at the gate from the outside?”

Hearing Yeon-woo’s mumbling, Shar asked such a question. Yeon-woo shrugged and replied.

“Well… it’s not completely nonsensical or anything?”

“Heh, really? That’s surprising. I thought there wouldn’t be such rules.”

“Haha, to be honest, I can’t really say for sure. While the advancement of arcane engineering has increased our reach with gates, there are still many unknowns.”

“That’s definitely true. We can move the entrance of the gate, but we still can’t open or close it at will.”

“Exactly. If that were possible, we wouldn’t be going through all this trouble.”

Shar’s harsh assessment made Yeon-woo chuckle awkwardly. Should we call that a classic dragon’s remark?

“In the end, the information I have usually indicates that there are many cases like this, but there must also be many that don’t. Roughly 60:40?”

“…Doesn’t that sound completely unreliable?”

“Conversely, if we call it a 60% chance of it being an Illusion Realm gate when it has such a pattern, then it’s a reasonably good basis for judgment.”

“That’s definitely true. I was wondering if a 40% chance of it not being one was too risky.”

“Well, it’s a matter of perspective. Personally, I hope it’s a 60% certainty.”

“What kind of gate is an Illusion Realm, anyway? Is it different from the ones we usually go through?”

“Very different. Instead of actual combat, you have to fight against illusions. Things like past traumas or your greatest fears.”

“Ugh, just hearing about it sounds super difficult.”

Yeon-woo lightly patted Shar’s head as she looked up at him with a worried expression. Coincidentally, the one area Yeon-woo was most confident in was precisely mental fortitude.

In addition, there was the small curiosity he had about whether courage could turn someone into a ghost, considering the possibility of having a psychiatric trait.

“Well, I plan to go soon… so just know that I won’t be taking Shar and Tae-oh with me.”

“Eh, why not?!”

“I told you. There’ll be some extremely frightening scenes. I don’t know what kind of scenes will come up, so how can I take you two along? It’s not something for kids to see.”

Scenes that could become traumatic should be watched only after growing up and being adequately prepared. How dare anyone try to preview such things.

Yeon-woo poked Shar’s puffed cheeks as she sulked. A pop sound echoed as the air escaped, making Shar frown and turn her head away.

…Did I just earn her resentment? But some things just can’t be helped.

A few days later.

“Have I arrived?”

Watching the swirling gate before him, Yeon-woo muttered to himself. Just because the main gimmick was an illusion didn’t mean there wouldn’t be any combat, so while he felt a desire to save his comrades, he honestly wasn’t thrilled about going in alone.

If there were no traumas among those nearby, it would probably just be Yuri or Namgung Seong at best. But Yuri was too busy with academy matters to roam around outside, and when he asked Namgung Seong, he said it was impossible for a while. Thus, he ended up running in alone.

He had brought a few things just in case, so hopefully, there would be no chance of becoming an unwelcome guest in the afterlife.

Inviting Riley along didn’t seem too bad, but he worried he might be imposing too much work on her. So he had decided to go alone.

It felt like he was doing something he shouldn’t be doing to a person…

Recalling Riley’s faint smile from his memories, Yeon-woo tossed himself into the gate alone.

*

“Whoosh.”

Twisting his falling body, he executed a roll. Landed swiftly like a cat, Yeon-woo immediately scanned his surroundings.

The shape was that of a labyrinth. Tall walls filled his sight, with a gap between the ceiling and walls.

It didn’t seem impossible to climb the walls, but such places commonly held traps or defenses. Unless there was no other choice, there was no point in testing it out.

“…Is this not an illusion-focused gate?”

Usually, one would be engulfed in illusions as soon as they stepped in, so he had his doubts, but he couldn’t make any hasty assertions.

If the internal structure was like a maze, it wouldn’t be strange if every trap set in the maze was an illusion type.

Well, whatever. Drawing his sword, Yeon-woo slowly walked through the maze’s corridors. Gates are unpredictable; with the flow of mana in his body somewhat unstable, he couldn’t afford to relax.

“…looks like you’re thinking that!”

As he looked into a crystal, a comical clown in a ridiculous outfit laughed energetically. Humans are like that—you always need to entertain onlookers, don’t you?

“At this rate, I might lose my job! If you don’t work hard!”

The clown began to reach out with his hands in every direction. With every place his hands touched, the environment inside the gate began to change.

“Welcome to the world of dreams! Should I issue you a ticket? Haha, though you’ve already entered!”

Behind the clown, countless people lay crumpled like puppets with severed strings.

Among them were some corpses that had already shriveled up and died, as well as Yeon-woo’s own figure, sprawled out murmuring something as if in a deep slumber.

*

‘This acting is phenomenal.’

Thinking that he completely got lost in the act, Yeon-woo kept his tension high. The moment he showed any sign, his entire plan would collapse.

From the moment he entered, Yeon-woo had felt something weird. His instincts were ringing alarms.

At first, he thought it was because of the traps he had just stepped on.

As soon as he stepped on a trap, a thick purple mist spread out. From within the obscured vision, a familiar goblin sprang forth.

‘…What? Is this a goblin I know?’

Watching the giggling goblin, Yeon-woo pondered this. It didn’t seem like the goblin he had known before his regression… but then, something flashed through his mind.

‘Oh, is it the goblin I almost died to when I was a kid?’

Oh… that might be it. No wonder the laughter sounded familiar. How old had he been back then? Perhaps around eight? With a warm smile to the goblin, Yeon-woo easily cleaved the goblin in two as it charged with a rusty axe.

It seemed to be one of those types of illusions that dredged up memories of past encounters to attack. Though it was a worthless trap that didn’t even pose a threat worth considering.

Even so, Yeon-woo’s body was still radiating the mana of courage. Constantly.

He suppressed the starlight emanating from courage as much as possible. Bizarrely, it only came out through his mouth and not his nose.

There’s a saying among hunters—if something seems off, stay calm and don’t openly express your doubts.

Illusion traps often have boss mobs that enjoy seeing hunters suffer, so showing even the slightest hint of suspicion would draw the attention of whoever was watching.

‘Whoever this is, I’ll kill them.’

As he thought this, he maintained his act, keenly aware of the boss’s eyes that were probably observing from somewhere. After all, a blow to the back of the head had to land at the most unexpected moment.

Thus began the cat and mouse game of deception between the two. In this world, there is no truth, and everything is permissible… until one strikes the other in the back of the head.

(To be continued…)

 

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