novelraw Chapter 156 : The Labyrinth of Tranquility - (4)
Chapter 156 : The Labyrinth of Tranquility - (4)
Chapter 156: The Labyrinth of Tranquility - (4)
“The room structures inside the maze are simple anyway. There’s always a door in one of the four directions: east, west, south, or north.”
“That’s right.”
“It’s just that they won’t open by force. You can’t push or smash your way through. You need to know the secret to open them.”
Sshhh!
The moment he finished speaking, an upward airflow surged in the three directions excluding the entrance where Sanghyun had entered.
It was a strong gust, but once it hit the walls, the airflow scattered powerlessly and vanished.
“The key to this room doesn’t seem to be airborne.”
“No way?”
At Sanghyun’s words, a thought flashed through Han Hyunjung’s mind as she snapped her fingers.
Could it be that a status abnormality was the key?
Honestly, it felt like an absurd guess. Could that really be the case?
“Then maybe it’s knockback?”
This time, she deployed Knockback Burst.
She moved actively in front, behind, and to the right, her movements were busy but light-footed.
Just then—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
From the right side, where the third Knockback Burst was aimed, a particularly clear sound rang out. It was noticeably different.
In the next moment—
Rumble rumble rumble!
“Wow!”
Han Hyunjung’s mouth fell open.
As if it had been waiting, the moment knockback struck, a crack began to form in the wall.
Clearly, without a doubt, a door was opening. A path to the next room was being revealed!
“The key to this room was knockback. Master, make sure to record that. We’re not going to clear this just once, right?”
At Sanghyun’s words, Han Hyunjung snapped back to her senses and quickly sketched a rough diagram of the room in the notebook she had prepared in advance.
She drew the unique symbols etched on the ceiling and jotted down the interior layout and its characteristics.
Han Hyunjung asked,
“You’re saying we should make a map?”
“Maps of maze dungeons are worth their weight in gold. Even if we don’t sell it, it has a lot of internal value.”
“That’s true.”
“The half of the answer you didn’t solve, Master, is status abnormalities. I guarantee it.”
“How can you be so sure? It’s not that I don’t trust you, Sanghyun. It’s just… amazing.”
It felt like divine insight, not just a simple shift in perspective.
Something had definitely felt off from the beginning.
For someone like Sanghyun, this was likely his first experience clearing a maze dungeon as a Player.
And yet, he hadn’t shown a single sign of nervousness.
It was as if he already knew how to handle every situation.
Now Han Hyunjung thought she understood the reason behind the strange sense of disconnect she had felt throughout the labyrinth exploration.
It was because he was calm and composed.
“There’s no better key to mess with Players than this. In the end, trying to solve it with patterns or number sequences is just a matter of time from the designer’s perspective.”
“……”
“Let’s pick up the pace. We’ll need to rotate skills constantly, so it might take some time.”
Sanghyun strode confidently down the now-open corridor to the right.
He immediately took position at the center and began striking the wall using Full Bash.
He was testing whether ‘Stiffness’ was the key.
But when the interior wall showed no reaction, he switched strategies right away.
This time, he used the skill ‘Whispers of Darkness’. In other words, blindness.
And then—
Rumble rumble rumble.
A door opened immediately.
“……”
Even if Han Hyunjung and the members of Hyunjung Corporation had racked their brains, they would never have solved it.
The mystery that made up half of the labyrinth had finally been unraveled.
The complete maze map was quickly taking shape.
Sanghyun persuaded Han Hyunjung that even if it took a bit more time, they should construct a full map of the labyrinth.
They eliminated all the rooms that required pattern or sequence logic rather than status abnormalities.
As a result, among the 120 rooms, they found the answers to 100 of them.
Even if the positions or arrangements of the rooms changed, having an answer sheet meant there’d be no need to suffer.
They decided to negotiate the shares and pricing of the 80% complete map after finishing the labyrinth strategy.
Since Sanghyun and Hyunjung Corporation had an exact 50-50 share, it would be easy to calculate.
Meanwhile—
As they moved through the maze, Sanghyun was amazed by the various abilities Han Hyunjung demonstrated.
X-ray vision that could pierce through walls, and ultra-high magnification observation capable of scouting absurdly long distances were just the basics.
It wasn’t even surprising.
It was natural—because it was Han Hyunjung.
Abilities like X-ray vision or enhanced observation were things Sanghyun couldn’t even dream of, practically divine powers.
He now understood why international Players always sought her out for unexplored dungeons, gates, or rifts.
She was a pro among pros.
Her observational skill, in particular, was second to none.
Even Sanghyun, who had an extremely well-developed sixth sense, had nearly fallen into danger twice.
There had been deadly traps inside the labyrinth, laid out in the form of nearly invisible, ultra-thin threads.
No matter how carefully one looked, they couldn’t be seen, but even brushing against them would slice flesh.
Sanghyun had nearly had his neck and calves cut by them, but he avoided the crisis thanks to Han Hyunjung’s keen observation.
They had been hidden so skillfully that even sharp-eyed Sanghyun had nearly been caught.
Of course, under her reliable protection, Sanghyun continued swiftly uncovering the answers within the labyrinth.
Their mutual satisfaction was at its peak.
A person with the best eyes and elemental buffs.
And someone who could swiftly crush the enemies she detected and uncover the solutions of the blocked labyrinth.
Their perfect harmony made escaping the seemingly impossible maze a reality.
The end of the Labyrinth of Tranquility.
Just before entering the fifth section, Sanghyun and Han Hyunjung shared a high-calorie chocolate bar and talked.
From the trembling corners of Han Hyunjung’s mouth, the amazement at their journey so far was evident.
There was clearly a part of her heart pounding from the rising sense of achievement.
“I still can’t believe it. Honestly, even with you, Sanghyun, I thought we’d need a lot of luck to get through the maze section.”
“You’re aware that the cost of the key is pretty high, right?”
“Seriously. The fourth section—unless you’re lucky, you absolutely need Sanghyun to get through it……”
Han Hyunjung nodded.
No matter what kind of Player you brought in, no one could be equipped with as many diverse status abnormality skills as Sanghyun.
But since the labyrinth had restrictions on the number of entrants, it wasn’t like they could just brute-force it with numbers.
So in the end, at least one among two or three strategists had to be Sanghyun. That was the conclusion.
“Let’s worry about it after we wrap this up. We still have the mid-boss and the boss left. Ugh, look at those legs.”
Sanghyun let out a deep sigh as he looked at the mid-boss monster squarely stationed ahead.
Its name—Blade Spider.
As the name suggested, the eight legs attached to its cephalothorax were made of sharp blades.
Even at a glance, the blades were dangerously sharp, and a deep blue light constantly radiated from them.
It was assumed to be a form of sword aura. In short, even grazing it could cause serious injury.
‘If it’s a Blade Spider, it’ll probably cough up a Unique Artifact. We can upgrade our specs before taking on the boss.’
Sanghyun adjusted his grip on the True Demon Sword, ready to engage in battle at any time.
“I’ll focus on flame-type buffs. When it comes to spider-type monsters, it’s all about how fast you can neutralize those nasty legs.”
“I agree. Let’s settle it with fire attributes. And I want to see what flame-roasted spider tastes like.”
“It’s tastier than you’d think. Crispy, if cooked right.”
“You’ve eaten it before?”
“Of course. The only thing I won’t eat is those plump larvae that come out of rotting wood. Can’t do those raw.”
“Didn’t expect to find Korea’s Bear Grylls here.”
Sanghyun laughed.
In truth, in his previous life, he had eaten all of it. Raw larvae were nothing compared to what he’d gone through.
When food was nowhere to be found, he had even eaten handfuls of maggots growing on corpses.
At that point, where or how the food came was the least of his concerns when he was on the verge of collapsing from hunger.
“Alright, let’s go. Stamina fully recovered, condition perfect.”
“I’ll start with flame-type buffs and switch based on the battle situation.”
“When Thunderclap triggers, that’s when you have to switch to lightning-type buffs, okay?”
“Got it. You explained the skill mechanism clearly, so that part won’t be a problem.”
“Let’s not close the distance too much. Here I go!”
With Han Hyunjung’s elemental buffs reliably backing him up, Sanghyun deployed Over Psychedelic and Acceleration.
Since there were still more trials to come even after dealing with the Blade Spider, he didn’t want to waste too much time on it.
『Flame』
The opening skill was Flame.
So far, Sanghyun hadn’t had many chances to use elemental-type skills.
There hadn’t been many monsters that were strongly affected by attributes. In other words, the difficulty level had been lower.
But now, while clearing the Labyrinth of Tranquility, the importance of attributes had drastically increased.
As monsters started having resistance and weaknesses to certain attributes, things became more complicated.
In other words, if you had the right element for the right situation,
You could deal far more damage than just with regular physical attacks—thanks to the power of attributes.
Fwoooosh!
“Whoa, my eyebrows almost burned off.”
As Han Hyunjung’s flame-type buffs began to stack, the intensity of the Flame skill surged.
If the base Flame skill Sanghyun used had the firepower of level 2,
With the buffs layered on, it now had firepower equivalent to level 5 at the very least.
‘Buffers are always right.’
It was a universal truth.
Attack dealers were important, but—
If the buffer supporting them was skilled, the team’s power could double or even triple.
Just then—
‘Oh ho.’
Sanghyun locked eyes with the Blade Spider’s many single eyes and instantly sensed danger, reacting accordingly.
『Pure White』
It was a reaction to raise resistance to mental control skills all the way up to 100% with certainty.
Zzzt.
‘As expected.’
A disturbing sensation brushed past his temple. It was a trace of an attempted mind control.
Sanghyun had assumed that being a spider-type monster, it wouldn’t possess any psychic-type skills—an error in judgment.
Of course, since nothing actually happened, the Blade Spider had merely wasted a valuable card.
‘Anyway, the biggest weakness of spider-types is their underside. It’s hard to cover that area with legs.’
Using Brave Rush, Sanghyun swiftly charged under the belly of the Blade Spider.
The sharp blade-legs chased and targeted Sanghyun, but they were blocked by the barrier activated by his skill, rendering the attack futile.
“Ugh.”
Looking up from deep beneath the creature,
He could see the Blade Spider’s belly clearly—filled with foul odor, countless wrinkles, and thin bristles.
It was a revolting sight he never wanted to see again if he could help it.
“I’ll pierce you through!”
Gripping the raging True Demon Sword with all his might, Sanghyun prepared to thrust the sword straight upward with full force.
Now that he was inside the Blade Spider’s reach, he couldn’t leave without finishing it.
The eight legs of the Blade Spider moved faster and more deftly than one would expect.
Even for Sanghyun, becoming finely sliced meat wouldn’t be all that hard in this situation.
Just then—
Crack!
Even though Sanghyun hadn’t attacked yet, a grotesque sound came from the Blade Spider.
It was clearly the sound one would hear when joints snapped—not just bent, but fully broken!
The next moment—
“……!”
Sanghyun saw it.
The Blade Spider deliberately broke one of its legs completely and thrust a blade up toward its own abdomen.
Just as Sanghyun had no way out—
So did the monster.
The sparks of life-and-death combat flew.