𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟗𝟑
“Wow.”
“Beautiful.”
Since it was a village underground, I naturally assumed it would be like an ant colony, but it was completely different.
Somehow, there were houses, trees, and fields just like a village where people actually lived, and the ceiling was studded with softly glowing stones, illuminating the entire village.
‘How is this possible?’
Honestly, I couldn’t believe that they had built such a village underground where not a single ray of sunlight could penetrate.
Of course, since it’s a game, anything could happen.
And it seemed like I wasn’t the only one with these questions.
“Rudin-nim. Isn’t it amazing?”
“If you call this amazing, then everything is amazing.”
I answered Sina simply, but she shook her head vigorously and spoke again.
“I think those stones attached to the ceiling are acting like sunlight.”
“Those stones?”
“Yes, but it seems they aren’t perfect. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be asking for the Sun Stone.”
“So…… you’re saying we need to attach the Sun Stone up there?”
“Perhaps so?”
It somehow felt plausible.
However, since it was just speculation, I didn’t take it too seriously, but Mous, who had been listening quietly to our conversation, spoke to Sina with a slightly impressed look.
“Impressive. That human is right.”
“See, I was right!”
Well, since Mous acknowledged it, there was nothing more to say, but that didn’t mean my doubts had disappeared.
“The crops are growing well even now, aren’t they?”
“That’s the power of our Molmol Tribe. We Molmols have the power to provide the necessary nutrients for plants.”
“Ah, is that so?”
“The problem is that our ability is not infinite. That’s why we need the Sun Stone, which contains the power of the sun.”
‘Come to think of it, did Aizen anticipate this?’
Before entering the passage, Aizen said that they might need the Sun Stone because they lived underground.
Combining his words with Mous’s answer, it seemed like Aizen had roughly predicted this.
‘But the atmosphere isn’t very welcoming.’
Since we had entered the village, we could see quite a few members of the Molmol Tribe.
However, seeing them looking at us with wary expressions, I could vaguely understand why Mous had initially prevented us from entering the village.
‘They’d rather ostracize us than create anxiety in the village.’
Anyway, the place Mous guided us to was the largest building in the village.
Upon entering the building, we saw an old mole sitting on a chair. He was probably the highest authority in this village.
“It’s the first time we’ve had outsiders in our village. Well, I’m Mororos, the chieftain of this village.”
“I am Aizen. Excuse me, but we are looking for a sealed place. Do you happen to know about it?”
“I do. Will you give us the Sun Stone if I tell you?”
“Yes.”
Hearing Aizen’s answer, Mororos showed a contemplative expression but soon nodded slowly.
“To be honest, I’m hesitant because it feels like I’m sending you to your deaths. But the survival of our tribe comes first, so I have no choice.”
“Thank you.”
“The location of the seal is……”
After hearing the location from Mororos, Aizen took out the Sun Stone and tried to hand it to him, but Mororos spoke again before even receiving it.
“However, you won’t be able to enter that place.”
“What do you mean?”
“Beluin’s followers have erected a barrier. You won’t be able to enter the sealed place unless you disable that barrier.”
“Then please tell us how to disable the barrier.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t know. Our Molmol Tribe is far removed from magic.”
“……I understand.”
Listening to the story, it seemed we now had to find a way to disable the barrier.
‘What kind of quest is this where every single step is so difficult?’
What made it even more absurd was that there wasn’t even a clue about how to disable the barrier.
Would we have to start from scratch again?
Yua finding the Molmol Tribe and Aizen finding the Sun Stone were almost coincidental, so the next step seemed daunting.
‘How to break the barrier……’
While I was thinking about it for a moment, Aizen handed over the Sun Stone.
“If it’s alright, can we come back here again?”
“Don’t you have everything you need now?”
“Just like with the Sun Stone, something else might come up.”
“Well, in that case…… do as you please. But try not to come here without any reason.”
“Don’t worry.”
After that, we left the Molmol Tribe village and stood in place as if we had made some kind of promise.
It was probably natural since we had no further clues to move forward.
It was Sina who broke the silence.
“Wouldn’t it have been better to look around the village a bit more?”
“Judging by the atmosphere, it wouldn’t have been good for us to wander around.”
“That’s why we should talk to them and become friendly.”
Aizen shook his head, denying Sina’s words.
“We can become friendly later. When the village atmosphere improves thanks to the Sun Stone.”
“But then time will……”
“Calm down a bit.”
I stopped Sina, who was about to say something to Aizen, and let out a small sigh.
It was more important to decide what to do next than to argue like this.
“Now it’s time to find a way to break the barrier, right?”
“Yes, but since we have no clues, I’m thinking of going to the location of the barrier first.”
“Wouldn’t it be pointless to go to the location of the barrier?”
“I have the token I received from the Apostle before. I think it wouldn’t be bad to check with this.”
Well, it was better to try something.
Besides, I thought that going to the barrier, whose location we knew, might be more helpful than wandering around aimlessly without any clues, so I pondered for a moment on what to do.
‘Should I follow Aizen?’
I was hesitant because of the Sun Stone incident earlier.
If this was also solved with the token Aizen had, there would be no need for us to wander around.
“I’ll go too.”
It wouldn’t be bad to take a look at the barrier.
* * *
“We’ve arrived.”
“This is where the barrier is?”
After walking for a long time, we arrived at the location Mororos had mentioned, but it was still just an empty field.
‘Did that mole give us the wrong directions?’
While I was having such doubts, Aizen was taking out the token from his Item Storage.
Flash-
‘Oh?’
Surprisingly, light emanated from the token Aizen took out.
I didn’t know if it originally did that, but Aizen also had a slightly surprised expression, so it probably happened because of this place.
“I see it.”
“The barrier?”
As he said he could see it, I turned my head and saw that the light from the token revealed a transparent membrane.
There was nothing there at first, but now something had appeared.
However.
Thud-
‘Look at this?’
When I touched the transparent membrane, it bounced my hand back.
Additionally, when I touched a place where there was no membrane, my hand passed through as if it were empty space. It seemed like I could only enter through the membrane illuminated by the token.
“The problem is how to get in.”
Should I just try to break it?
While I was thinking about a method that I even thought was stupid, Aizen, who had the token, reached out his hand.
Of course, I thought it would bounce back, but surprisingly, Aizen’s hand passed through the transparent membrane.
“What happened?”
“It seems like the person holding the token can pass through this barrier.”
“Then……”
“That means only I can pass through.”
‘You need the token to pass through the barrier?’
It didn’t make sense.
Aizen said he got the token from the Apostle I caught, which meant that the number of people who could enter was limited.
“I’ll go in first.”
One way or another, Aizen was the only one who could enter, so the rest of us had no choice but to wait.
And not long after, Aizen, who had entered the barrier, reappeared, but seeing his serious expression, it seemed like he had seen something significant inside.
“How was it?”
“There was an old wall. And on that wall, there were thousands of followers.”
“Thousands?”
“Yes. Their exact name is Beluin’s Followers. It seems like I can’t handle this alone.”
“With that many people, that’s only natural.”
Of course, it wasn’t without results.
We learned that we could enter the barrier with the token.
The problem was that it was meaningless.
‘It’s impossible for Aizen to wipe them all out alone.’
If Aizen had the ability to wipe out all the followers and the boss inside the barrier alone, there wouldn’t be a need to find a way to break the barrier.
But since Aizen’s ability wasn’t at that level, it seemed like finding a way to break the barrier was the priority.
“We’re back to square one.”
“This is just my thought, but……”
Just as I was sighing because I couldn’t think of a good solution, Sina’s voice reached my ears.
“Maybe we need to go inside and disable the barrier from within?”
“Disable the barrier from inside?”
“Yes, there are no clues outside, and now we have someone who can go inside. So I think we need to find the answer from within.”
“……”
Everyone, including myself, fell silent at Sina’s speculation.
Not because we were ignoring her, but because it seemed plausible.
If there wasn’t a single person who could enter, then thinking of a way to break the barrier would be the right thing to do.
But now, we had someone who could enter.
“Aizen, what do you think?”
“It’s a good idea. The problem is that I don’t have a single skill related to infiltration.”
“There’s also the option of handing over the token.”
“It’s an untradeable item. No, it can’t even be discarded.”
“……Is it a cursed item?”
Anyway, since Aizen couldn’t infiltrate, we had to find a way to break the barrier.
‘If I had obtained the token instead of Aizen, there might have been a way.’
I even had such a thought out of regret.
“Then let’s spread out again and search……”
“Wait, I just received a message from a guild member.”
“Oh? Really?”
Did they perhaps find something useful?
I listened to the conversation between Aizen and his guild member with a sense of anticipation.
Of course, I could only hear Aizen’s voice, but I could roughly guess what was going on just by listening to his side of the conversation.
“What’s the matter?”
However, Aizen’s expression hardened slightly after hearing what his guild member had to say.
“Don’t engage and retreat. And please gather the scattered guild members as quickly as possible.”
‘What kind of conversation is that?’
Listening to the story, it seemed like someone had attacked.
Was it the Rock Giant we encountered on the way here?
Since I couldn’t think of anyone else besides the Rock Giant, I was puzzled, but then someone tapped my shoulder.
“Sina-nim?”
“Perhaps another guild that received the Main Scenario Quest attacked.”
“Another guild?”
I couldn’t believe it.
After the previous Guild War, all the guilds that openly challenged the Emperor Guild had disappeared.
Moreover, judging by Aizen’s expression and response, it seemed like it wasn’t just one or two people, but at least dozens had invaded.
“They’re insane.”
“More than that, I think the Emperor Guild controlling the path played a big role. Other guilds would have been searching for the path for two days, and since they couldn’t find it, they might have thought that the path the Emperor Guild found was the only one.”
‘Come to think of it, the possibility of multiple paths is…… nonexistent?’
If there were multiple paths, they wouldn’t have found only two in the entire continent.
“My guess is that the Emperor Guild blocked the entrance, preventing the remaining members from progressing through the Main Scenario. They might be thinking along those lines.”
Indeed, as Sina said, Aizen had stationed guild members at the entrance to control access.
But to think they would use such forceful methods?
There must have been some way to negotiate, but I couldn’t understand those guys who just barged in, but it was already done, so there was no point in thinking about it.
‘Sigh, in the end, it means we have to fight.’
There was no way Aizen would apologize here and say, “Let’s all work together and find it!”
Since they forced their way in, he would definitely make them pay the price.
“Yua-nim and Sina-nim, please return to the village.”
“Hmm, should we?”
It was a natural thing to say, but there was no reason for them to fight.
However, since there was a high chance of being attacked if they stayed here, it seemed safer for them to go back to the village.
“What about Rudin-nim?”
“Well, we’ll have to see how it goes.”
To be precise, it depended on the attitude of the invading guild members, but I didn’t say that much.
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