“Will this number of people be sufficient?”
Not long after the party split into three teams and each entered their assigned paths, a guild member from the IRS asked. What was his name again? Kang Sihyun rummaged through his memory to recall the name he had seen on paper. Jonathan, perhaps?
“Are you feeling uneasy?”
Seeing the anxiety on his face as he looked back, Kang Sihyun bluntly asked, causing the blond man to startle, apparently not expecting such a direct question. He seemed embarrassed by the inquiry, and his wavering eyes gave away his answer, prompting a smirk from Sihyun.
Well, it is his first time accompanying them.
While most of the party was familiar with and had experienced Sihyun's capabilities, it was Jonathan's first real encounter. He had only been indoctrinated through various media that he was strong, never having seen or experienced it firsthand, hence his disbelief.
Should have recorded a video or something.
Other awakeners had their moments of battle prowess captured by bystanders and uploaded to video platforms, but searching his name with 'battle', 'fighting ability', or 'skills' only ever brought up news videos. His fame had mostly been confined to dungeon exploits, where no one filmed.
He thought it was better that way at the time, but evidently, every advantage has its downside.
It's too late to record now.
After clearing this dungeon, the only fight left would be the final battle against Gulla. After facing Gulla, no one would doubt his skills, and the opportunity to post a video would have slipped away. Sihyun briefly regretted it but then shrugged it off. It wasn’t that important.
“If you’re anxious, just watch.”
“Pardon?”
At Sihyun’s dry response, Jonathan looked bewildered. Sihyun merely lifted the corners of his mouth. There was no need to elaborate further; his smile was his answer, prompting someone to let out an uncomfortable groan behind him.
“Why do you keep laughing like that these days?”
“What about it?”
“You laugh like an older brother. It creeps me out every time you do. Can’t you change the way you laugh?”
Lee Hamin, with goosebumps on his arm, demonstratively swept his hand down it.
“What?”
Sihyun turned to him with a look of injustice. Initially, it was just banter about his laughter, but now even a simple smile drew comparisons to Hahyuk. It was almost like being in a scene from an indoctrination class. Hearing others say he resembled Hahyuk made him wonder if he should see himself that way too.
“It really is similar to Guild Master Hahyuk’s laughter. It feels like you’re his protege.”
Jonathan crushed any hope with a confirmation kill. It was his first day seeing him, so there was no chance for misunderstanding or indoctrination about resembling Hahyuk. As Sihyun’s face fell, Seowoo burst out laughing.
“No…”
Sihyun trailed off, incredulous. The smile was meant to reassure Jonathan and, at the same time, make him realize how foolish he was being. Hearing it compared to Hahyuk’s made him feel stifled. It occurred to him that Hahyuk would likely have the same reaction in this situation, which only worsened his mood.
It’s not that I resemble Hahyuk, but that Hahyuk resembles me.
He muttered to himself, but regardless of whether it was Adam’s nature reflecting in him, he couldn’t deny that Hahyuk had influenced his personality change.
“Sigh.”
That’s why the environment is important.
The conversation, now veering towards how much he and Hahyuk resembled each other, helped ease the awkward and tense atmosphere. Aside from his discomfort, Sihyun listened to the dialogue with a frown, walking along the path until he blinked suddenly. A strange sense of déjà vu struck him.
Something feels off.
As he tilted his head in curiosity, his companions asked why. Unable to confirm anything, Sihyun shrugged it off as nothing and continued walking. After about ten more minutes of walking and leaning on a wall, he paused again.
Sihyun halted, feeling a faint crack as his fingertips brushed against the seemingly coated wall.
Sihyun surveyed his surroundings. The wall looked identical everywhere, and the paths were indistinguishable, but he sensed something was amiss from the flow of air brushing past him.
“What’s up?”
“It feels strange.”
“What does?”
Seowoo looked around where Sihyun’s gaze was directed and, failing to notice anything unusual, expressed his confusion. Sihyun, sensitive and rarely second-best in intuition, considered this a sign of a finely crafted deception. He focused on the feel of the wall under his fingertips and slowly resumed walking.
“Let’s just go around one more time.”
“One ‘round’?”
Seowoo, puzzled by Sih
yun’s choice of words, silently resumed walking, following the team leader. Hamin, walking beside Sihyun, slowed his pace and tapped Seowoo’s shoulder. What’s up with him? He says it's weird. What is? Not sure. The boys' conversation continued behind them.
“Did you find a trap?”
Jonathan asked, his translator device diligently converting his words so that Sihyun could understand. Sihyun nodded.
“Not exactly a trap, but a device.”
“A device?”
“Yes.”
Sihyun answered lightly and stopped walking again, turning to look at the three with certainty.
“It’s no wonder it’s called a labyrinth palace. We’ve been going in circles in the same spot.”
“We’ve been going in circles?”
“The corners were different, right?”
Having moved along the left corner and then the right, this point was raised, and Sihyun nodded.
“It’s an 8-shaped path, so the corners themselves are correct. It’s just that this section has a device that disrupts our senses, making us circle the same spot three times without realizing it.”
It seemed suspicious that neither traps nor irregulars appeared....
Sihyun murmured about the shallow trick and felt along the wall.
“Is the device there?”
“It feels different here only.”
Throughout their walk, this was the only spot where the wall felt cracked. Just in case, he had marked it slightly with divine power, and as they walked, he felt his mark again. It was proof that they were circling the same spot despite following a forward path. Sihyun stepped aside, suggesting they feel the mark themselves. Seowoo and Hamin touched the scratch and let out sounds of realization.
“It’s certain we’ve been wandering.”
“Yeah. Want to check it out, Mr. Jonathan?”
Jonathan, not declining the invitation, touched the scratch and was surprised.
“Did you make this scratch when we stopped earlier? Your judgment is impressive.”
“There’s no harm in being cautious.”
Sihyun responded monotonously and urged the others away from the wall. Now that the presence of some device was confirmed, they needed to either slice or break through the wall to remove it. Checking the wall by knocking on it, it sounded hollow compared to the others. Sihyun transformed the shape of his divine weapon.
The glowing stick turned into a sword. It was hard to imagine that the previously blunt stick could boast such a sharp blade. The divine power flowed through Sihyun’s palm, wrapping around the blade. The golden energy, mingling with the water attribute’s chill that Sihyun was known for, settled into one ‘qi’ at the tip of the blade.
It was a sword qi.
“You handle everything.”
Hamin, not new to this but still impressively sticking his tongue out, said with an envious tone. Sihyun shrugged and swung the sword diagonally. The solid wall split open, revealing the hidden device—a sinister-looking, dull purple crystal ball.
“Is that it?”
Hamin spotted it and reached out. Sihyun grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
“Don’t touch it recklessly.”
What was he thinking, touching a device without knowing what it was?
Sihyun raised his sword again. Feeling the previous attack was shallow, he added more divine power and slashed down. The light of divine power filled the crack, and a cracking sound was heard.
Ting, ting.
Eventually, the crystal ball embedded in the wall split in half and bounced out. It bounced twice on the floor before landing on its cut face. Sihyun, just to be sure, struck down the split purple crystal with the sword tip.
Crack!
With a brutal sound, the crystal cracked. Dozens of cracks formed, and it wasn’t long before it shattered under the impact, scattering shards of the crystal.
Sihyun destroyed the other half of the crystal in the same way and turned around with a refreshed expression.
“Let’s move on now.”
He announced the departure nonchalantly, and Jonathan, still out of sorts, followed after a moment, while Hamin and Seowoo, accustomed to Sihyun’s manner, tried to strike up a conversation by patting his shoulders but quickly retracted their hands after a slap. Sihyun called out to the lagging Jonathan to hurry up and smiled.
No more need to hassle.
Having shown them once, there was no need to cling to doubts about him anymore. Satisfied, he walked on, and unlike before, when they had been circling the same place, a clear fork in the road now appeared.
“It really looks like we were going around in circles.”
Seowoo muttered as they faced a new path.
“Which way do you want to go?”
“Right.”
“Right?”
As Hamin pointed to the right, Sihyun immediately turned left.
Can’t trust the flag generator’s words.
“What? Why ask if you’re going to do that?”
Left behind at the right passage, H
amin looked dumbfounded at Sihyun before resuming his walk.
The journey was smooth.
Until they reached the fork.
Not long after Sihyun entered the left path, he faced a variable and bit his lip.
Damn. Should have listened to Hamin earlier.
Roar!
A loud noise echoed, and the dungeon shook. Krururuk! Monsters summoned in a space surrounded by walls, undeterred by the explosion created by the sword qi, charged at the party. There were five, and each one possessed catastrophic force. Even for S-rank, blocking five catastrophe-class creatures was a limit.
“Damn it! Kang Sihyun, you still doing this?”
Hamin swung his sword, looking back at Sihyun. Sihyun, attempting to use his divine power, grimaced with a bitter smile as he felt the chain crushing his heart, rendering him powerless.
“Yeah.”
What do they call this?
Right.
Screwed.
His divine power was sealed.
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