Chapter 119

Chapter 119

Seols eyes immediately grew cold.

Do you know me?

Changsik immediately turned to his side to look at the person who had run all the way into the alley with him.

I knew it! You guys did it properly!

"I told you, hyung! You know I've been keeping watch at the northern gate! He just happened to come in at the perfect timing, so I came running to you!"

Good job, great work!

Seol didnt understand what they were talking about.

Like I said, do you know me?

Ah, I apologize. I shouldnt have done this in front of a guest By the way, havent you visited Audenin before?

I have.

Haah So you really are the person that we lost last time. We have been waiting for you since then.

There was only one thing in Seols head right now.

They were waiting for me? Why?

Seol refused to get himself involved in something like friction or fights between guilds.

Obviously, he would refuse requests that were even more trivial than that.

Why were you waiting for me

I will explain it to you slowly. However, you seem to have yet to find a place to stay. We have already prepared a room for you, why dont you stay there? It should be much more comfortable than wherever youd stay.

Y-Youve prepared a room for me? As in a room to stay and sleep in?

Seols image of Changsik shifted from just a very detailed person to someone so intricate it was almost revolting.

Yes. Its been vacant for a while, but weve been keeping it maintained since we didnt know when youd drop by. Why dont we head there first?

This was clearly a request one should refuse. How could anyone sleep comfortably in a room a stranger prepared for you? Especially when you dont know anything about their motives?

You dont need to worry about anything. In fact, were the ones whod face a greater loss if anything upsets you. Weve been desperately wanting to meet you.

For now, I understand.

Thank you. Jongseo, go to the room first with the others and make sure it has been properly maintained.

Got it, hyung.

Yeah, good work.

After the rest of the transferees left, it was only Seol and Changsik.

Ah, is that woman

A companion.

Weve prepared multiple rooms so there is no need to worry.

Even though there wasnt a problem at all since Karen was a shadow, Changsik had a satisfied look on his face as if he had done something for Seol.

Arent you cold?

Changsiks clothes were way too light for the current temperature. Changsik nodded multiple times at Seols question.

Yes, extremely cold. So lets get going, the night air is way too cold.

Seol instinctively knew Changsik had a reason for staying behind.

Because if the purpose was simply to guide him to the room, he could have asked someone else to do it.

If he was doing something so troublesome himself, there had to also be a suitable reason.

Was there something you wanted to tell me?

Yes, there is. I need to do something about the guard you put against me for now. I think going there should be more than enough time to

Im not so sure about that.

Haha, if it isnt, then it isnt.

Changsik was more broad-minded than Seol had initially thought.

Changsik warmed his hands as he walked, blowing air into them.

To get to the point, I need your help.

I despise getting involved in anything annoying.

You wont have to worry about that. You wont think of it as annoying at all.

What is it then?

A while ago, even before you first arrived here, I found a certain item. The reason Ive been waiting for you is because of that item.

Seol felt something sinister from Changsiks words.

It wasnt Changsik himself, but the item he was talking about.

Changsik grabbed something out of his inventory and showed it to Seol. It was a small stone with a strange pattern inscribed onto it.

Hm

Information about the stone popped up shortly after.

[[Qualification Token (Penance)]

Quality: Rare

Recommended Level: N/A

Weight: 0.1kg

A token required to enter the Labyrinth of Penance.

One token allows the entry of five people.

Bonus Effect: You enter the Labyrinth of Penance.]

* * *

However, the doors arent all the same. While most of them look normal, one of the doors has a strange, eerie pattern. Almost like its a devils door.

Everything up to this point was the same.

The question now is whether the rest is also the same or not.

As the name Labyrinth of Penance suggests, each of the different doors makes you experience a different type of pain. The door I entered made me walk through a completely dark space.

Seol knew about that too.

It was a room that dulled your sense of time as well as your other senses. It made it so you couldnt even know where you were going.

Regardless, whats important isnt the door that I experienced. Its the door that was locked until the end.

How did you open that door?

"When the four of us entered through our respective doors, we heard the sound of the final door unlocking. It's likely our fifth member entered through that door."

I see.

And after a while, our party was able to escape the labyrinth.

Seol also knew the reason for that very, very well.

It was because the person who entered the last room died.

Hm

That was what I learned the first time I entered. There was also an instance after that.

If youve only entered it once, though did you not go the second time?

"Even though we concluded that the labyrinth was difficult to clear, others didn't share the same opinion. We had some conflicts because of that."

With the guilds?

"You're near the mark. Audenin has five major guilds led by the transferees of the city. They argued that the failure was on my part, not the transferees as a whole."

How foolish.

They didnt enter the Labyrinth of Penance themselves, after all.

Seol became curious about what happened next.

He did have a good idea, though.

To get to the point, we learned something after the second attempt.

What did you learn?

"The labyrinth incessantly taints the person's mind. After a while, it becomes represented by a number. This was something we didn't learn on our first attempt."

What happens when that number fills up?

We dont know. The person who entered the final door died before it reached that point.

Hmg

"However, the person who entered the final door lasted quite a while. They were, after all, an elite in the guild alliance."

So what did you learn from that?

The final door was the key. The person in the final door must have done something too because a person in the other doors felt relieved from their pain.

Seol organized Changsiks points.

Essentially, the person going through the final door holds their party members lives in their hand.

There are multiple ways to fail. The party members could all die due to their inability to withstand the pain, or their minds could be tainted to the point of no return. However, there is only one way to succeed.

Changsik looked at Seol.

Its for the final person to clear through their door. Thats the only way.

Thats really valuable information. Now, tell me what you want from me.

Bow.

Changsik bowed his head and spoke in a serious tone.

Please be the person to go through the final door so that we may clear the labyrinth.

So you want me to take on all the risk, huh?

"I plan on entering the labyrinth myself too, this time. However, I didn't consider myself suitable for the role of the person entering the final door. I may be a bit ahead of the others, but not to the extent where I could allow four people to bet their lives on me."

Changsiks eyes were fiery, burning with passion.

Arent you scared of dying?

Of course I am. In fact, though this is embarrassing to say, I vowed to myself that I would never enter it again after escaping it the first time. I was terrified of it.

Changsik must have sensed the labyrinths bloodlust.

Its normal to be scared of it.

Seol knew a lot about the Labyrinth of Penance.

Two of his pieces, rather, two people, have already visited it.

The first of them had been swallowed by the labyrinth.

Seol wasnt sure whether they were alive or dead, either. The labyrinth had tainted their mind, and he lost control of them.

But what scares me more is that Id crumble, submitting to the labyrinth. I am not someone who should fall here. I can do so much more, so many more things. This labyrinth will just be the start of that.

And to do that, you need my help.

"I've met countless transferees, but you, Snowman, you have an overwhelming amount of Adventure Points, way beyond anything I've ever seen. And because of that, I thought you were someone I could risk my life on. I believe that even if a person can lie, the numbers don't. Rather than some shallow, superficial trust, I'd rather believe in an overwhelming number. It's embarrassing, but if you could please..."

Alright.

...What?

Seol spoke once more.

We can discuss the details tomorrow. It seems like weve arrived at the lodging.

Seols piece had cleared the Labyrinth of Penance before.

They were also one of Seols strongest pieces, the Blood Saint.