𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟏𝟔
As the mysterious man emerged out of nowhere, we silently gathered our gaze and stared at him.
“You guys. . . seem to have come from the outside.”
“Yes, we have. How long have you been here?”
The man turned his back without a word and proceeded to walk somewhere.
“Follow me.”
We had no other choice, so we followed the man at a distance.
The place we arrived at was a cave located somewhere in the middle of the mountain, as if it was artificially created.
「. . . 𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩? 」
Just like there was a ruin where the victims gathered in the Black Forest, there is a specific point that serves as the center of each section in the early parts of the labyrinth.
And this place was the base camp, the foundation for conquering the Blinding Mountain.
“. . . Wait a minute. I’ll go talk to them.”
The man left after dropping a word, and we took that chance to exchange our opinions.
“Hmm. I can’t trust him easily, but I definitely felt like he was observing us on purpose when we were dealing with the snakes.”
“He must be either very vigilant or in a situation where he can’t afford to be careless.”
At the same time, Shin No-eul, who had resumed using her detection spell, relayed information to everyone.
“Fortunately, I can distinguish things here as usual. I sense the presence of many people deep inside the cave.”
“Many, you say?”
“Almost a hundred, or maybe even more.”
That was quite an alarming piece of news.
I haven’t grasped the full picture yet, but even at a glance, this place seemed to have an environment that was even more difficult to live in than the Black Forest.
So how could such a large number of people sustain their lives here?
“Hmm. Was there even that much space inside that cave in the first place?”
“It’ll be faster to see it for ourselves. That place over there isn’t a cave, but rather. . . . . .”
The meaning behind Shin No-eul’s words was soon revealed by another word from the man who had come out of the cave.
“Follow me. I’ll guide you to the village.”
The scenery of the space that we moved to following the man was astonishing.
There was another passage at the deepest part of the cave, and beyond that was a vast meadow.
「. . . 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨? 」
It was a very peaceful space to be inside the Eternal Labyrinth.
Unlike the outside, all the natural objects were full of color, and the people of the village seemed to be practicing agriculture.
Finally, the man who had taken off his hood introduced himself to us as we were looking around busily.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Halo. I help with the work of the village chief.”
“I’m Han Kang-yoon. If possible, could you tell us about this place?”
“There’s nothing special. It’s just a place where people who got lost and ended up here like you guys live together. The first people who created the village a long time ago were the same.”
In short, people who had been sucked into the labyrinth for a long time had gathered one by one to build the village, and it had continued to grow to its current form.
“Oppa, this is. . . . . .”
“It’s definitely a bit surprising.”
It didn’t feel like they were simply trapped here and barely surviving.
They had settled down here and were living their own lives.
You could tell just by looking at the expressions of the children running around.
「 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙞𝙭 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙡𝙙, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜. 」
The implication of that fact was simple.
“Excuse me, have you guys been living here for generations?”
“Most of us have. Even those kids were born here. Of course, they don’t know what the outside world looks like.”
Considering the other sections of the labyrinth, it was a hard story to believe.
However, it was unfolding right before our eyes, so we couldn’t help but accept it.
“First, follow me. I’ll take you to the village chief.”
We moved as Halo guided us, and an elderly man was waiting for us in a small house.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jang Il-se, the village chief. I’ve been living here ever since I got lost and ended up here when I was young.”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
The village chief was very kind.
Considering the nature of the place, it would have been understandable if he had been closed off, but he didn’t even seem reluctant towards us outsiders.
The reason for that was revealed in the explanation that followed shortly.
“We have a guardian here.”
“. . . A guardian?”
“It instantly punishes any evil spirits or anyone who tries to harm the village. That’s why there aren’t many people who cause trouble.”
That was very good news. The village chief said that this village was literally a space with the bare minimum of consideration.
「 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙗𝙪𝙩. . . . . . 」
I felt something was out of place. Rather than that, this space itself felt very unpleasant to me.
「 𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨? 」
It sounded like it when he explained it, but I couldn’t help but have doubts when I thought about the significance of this place called the Eternal Labyrinth.
As I pondered for a moment, Halo, who had returned, began to guide us to the space where we would be staying.
“Call me if you need anything or have any questions. We do have a guardian, but please be careful not to make contact with the villagers, as they might be surprised.”
We were left alone and began to discuss our future actions, bringing up various questions.
“First of all, it’s fortunate that we have a place to rest and relax, but in the end, we’ll have to leave this place to conquer the labyrinth.”
“More than that, I have a bad feeling about this place for some reason.”
Sophia shook her head and lay down on the floor, kicking her feet.
Echinacea Lianqi’s reaction wasn’t much different.
“How should I put it. . . It’s peaceful, but it’s not a refreshing place.”
That expression was very accurate.
I fell into contemplation again and slowly organized the facts I had seen so far in my head.
「 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩. . . . . . 」
Somehow, I feel uncomfortable with this space itself. I had thought about it several times, but it was still full of elements that didn’t match the purpose of the labyrinth.
And in order to dig into that, I had no choice but to ask those who had lived here for a long time.
“Okay, I have something I want to ask.”
“Yes. Would you mind spending some time with us?”
I found Halo, who was building a fence for the livestock nearby, and asked him the questions I had organized in my head one by one.
“Have you guys ever thought about leaving this place?”
“. . . Of course, I tried to find a way when I first got here.”
However, Halo soon shook his head as if he had given up and handed me someone’s diary.
“This is a record from the group that first settled here a long time ago. They were an outstanding group who managed to advance through several sections and a considerable part of the labyrinth.”
“. . . . . .”
“But that was as far as they could go. There’s no way to get past what’s ahead, no matter what you do. You’ll understand once you check the contents of the diary.”
In the end, it seemed that they gave up on conquering the labyrinth, returned to their starting point, and built a village here.
I put it away and asked Halo another question.
“Then, are there no people who have tried to escape recently?”
“That’s not true. Very rarely, new victims come here, and some of them leave this place to conquer the labyrinth. One of them left just a while ago.”
“That person is. . . . . .”
“She was an incredibly strong woman. She used some very strange spells.”
Needless to say, it was Xiao Chen.
I heard news of her in an unexpected place and fell into contemplation with a heavy expression.
If that was true, it meant that she was still alive and might be wandering around somewhere in this labyrinth.
“You can check the diary with the group. You’re free to make whatever choice you want, but I’d appreciate it if you could leave the people of this village out of it.”
I had expected it to some extent from the atmosphere, but it seemed that Halo had given up on escaping and had decided to live here for the rest of his life.
I returned to my quarters and began to check the contents of the diary with the group.
『 The first section, the middle of the mountain, was full of predators that couldn’t be seen or sensed. The species that have been confirmed so far are snakes, wolves, and eagles. It wasn’t difficult to deal with them once their presence was confirmed, but it became increasingly difficult as time passed. 』
“It doesn’t seem to be much different from what we experienced. It seems quite credible.”
As Shin No-eul spoke, I slowly turned the pages and checked the next contents.
The second section, the third section, and the fourth section.
The owner of the diary seemed to have spent a lot of time conquering the labyrinth, and as a result, the knowledge he had gained was densely recorded in the diary.
“The reason the villagers knew so much about this place must be because they read this diary, right?”
It was as Seo-ah had said.
Unlike the victims in the Black Forest who didn’t even know the identity of this space, they were already somewhat aware of the information.
In many ways, the starting point was different.
『 We have finally reached the end of the fourth section. As we expected, the next one is the final hurdle. Now, we can really start to see hope. 』
The record was full of joy that couldn’t be concealed, and it seemed that his colleagues felt the same.
However, the content that followed was literally despair.
『 We were wrong. In the end, we couldn’t get past this place. The result was clear from the beginning. There is no passage leading to the final section. This place was a false space from the beginning. 』
The strongly written words, as if he had clenched his fists, vividly conveyed the anger and despair of that time.
“Oppa, this is. . . . . .”
“I can understand why the villagers gave up.”
Even though I had only read a brief excerpt, I could tell. The group in the record was made up of exorcists with very impressive skills.
However, even they had despaired and returned here completely discouraged.
It was true that those with less skill than them would naturally feel even more uncertain about the future.
“What are you going to do? It seems like the path is blocked.”
Echinacea Lianqi asked me a casual question.
If the experiences of the people in the diary were true, there was virtually no way to conquer this labyrinth.
Of course, there might be elements that they missed, but the possibility of that seemed slim.
“Hmm. It’s going to be difficult if it’s as the diary says. . . . . . This might be quite a dangerous situation?”
Everyone here had a place to return to. So they had to get out of this place no matter what.
However, even in such an urgent situation, my expression wasn’t dark at all.
Well, I had already found the answer from the situations I had experienced so far and from the diary.
“Haven’t you noticed anything strange?”
“You mean there’s something we missed?”
“Yes, that’s right. Or rather, the answer was set from the beginning.”
Amidst everyone’s focused gazes, I slowly opened my mouth.
Leave a Reply