Chapter 160

The inside of the maze was wider than expected.

'Doesn’t feel blocked off, at least.'

The ground was covered with dirt and grass, and the vine-covered walls leaned more toward green than gray. Of course, the whole place was surrounded by massive walls, but the passage itself wasn’t narrow, so it didn’t feel like I was trapped inside a maze—more like walking between buildings.

“It’s wider than I thought.”

I threw out the comment casually, but silence answered me. Instead of looking back at them, I brushed my hand along the wall as I walked, checking the texture.

'What should I do?'

I had brought flight gear, but considering the height and width of the maze, using it here carried serious risk.

'Following the wall might be one way, but... that’s not going to solve everything, is it?'

Mazes filled with hidden monsters were a pretty common dungeon type. Differences existed, sure, but the general method of escaping was the same.

'Find the exit.'

Of course, judging by the presence of a dungeon boss, just finding an exit wouldn’t end things. There must also be a reason Jin Haedo could come and go from this dungeon without “clearing” it.

Then, Do Yehyun’s voice broke the quiet.

“...What do we do now?”

“What?”

“Do you... know the way?”

What the hell is he talking about?

“Of course not. How would I know the way?”

“......”

You think I’d somehow know the layout of a dungeon I’ve never even entered before? I looked at Do Yehyun, who was spouting nonsense, and flicked his cheek lightly.

Anyway, no point in standing here pretending to plan. Nothing useful was going to come out of it right now. I turned halfway and looked back and forth between Do Yehyun and Ryu Taejun.

“Let’s go.”

“......”

“If we keep walking, we’ll get a feel for it. Jin Haedo’s thrown more than a few people in here, right? We’ll run into someone eventually. Not everyone could’ve died.”

“......”

Ryu Taejun’s gaze lingered on me for a second. Whether it was annoyance or [N O V E L I G H T] something he wanted to say, I didn’t care enough to find out. I had no interest in picking a fight right now.

When they still didn’t move even after I’d finished talking, I pressed again.

“I said, let’s go.”

With that, I started walking along the wall.

From the outside, the maze had looked massive—but the deeper we went in, the more its size hit me. When we came to a fork, I decided it was better to stay consistent, so I turned left without hesitation.

Ryu Taejun followed at an awkward distance, silent until he suddenly spoke.

“Hey...”

“What?”

“Can we rest a bit?”

He didn’t look good. Obviously. He’d only just regained consciousness and had been walking for quite a while. If he looked fine, that would’ve been the strange part.

'Should I just give him a potion and keep moving...?'

Ryu Taejun really was something else. We hadn’t known each other long, yet every few minutes he made me consider whether to just ditch him.

“Tired?”

“A... a little.”

A little, my ass. I waved a finger at Do Yehyun, motioning him closer. Once he was within reach, I lowered my voice.

“You got any potions?”

“Yeah.”

“How many?”

“I didn’t bring many for simple stamina recovery. Maybe two? Space was limited...”

Two. Using one now for natural fatigue felt like a waste.

I made a quick decision.

“Resting here isn’t great. Let’s keep going a bit longer.”

“......”

“There should be a clearing up ahead.”

Maybe convinced, Ryu Taejun got up again.

By “clearing,” I meant a big, empty open space.

Every dungeon had at least one weird area, and here, that seemed to be the clearing—those meaningless, wide-open spots you’d run into after a few turns. Nobody knew why they existed or what you were supposed to do there, but one thing was clear.

'Someone stayed here for quite a while.'

There were signs everywhere—remnants of food, burnt fire spots, places where someone could’ve slept.

At first, I thought people were still nearby and opened my status window to check as we walked, but since we hadn’t met a single person yet, the traces were clearly old.

I slowed my pace for Ryu Taejun’s sake and kept choosing turns. Again, I stayed consistent with direction. Just like on a test—picking one number all the way through raised your odds. Finding your way through a maze wasn’t so different.

And the two trailing behind me had no opinions worth listening to anyway, so there was nothing to worry about.

After two more turns, we finally reached the clearing.

“Ah, thank god...”

The moment he saw it, Ryu Taejun sighed in relief, pretending to glance at me before immediately collapsing onto the ground. Guess he wasn’t exaggerating about feeling like death.

I stepped over him and began inspecting the clearing closely.

'Burn marks... cold, maybe? Doesn’t really feel that chilly. Or maybe they were cooking something.'

Not many options for naturally occurring food in a maze. Though maybe someone roasted a monster if their stomach could handle it. I stopped guessing and sat down on a flat patch of ground.

Do Yehyun stared at Ryu Taejun for a while, then sat next to me and stared off into space.

'Once that bastard gets his mind back, we’re leaving right away.'

All we’d found so far were traces of people, not the people themselves—hardly a good sign.

'Why would there even be a clearing, seriously. It screams “battlefield.”'

Fighting in an open space like this would be way more efficient than in a cramped corridor. I looked at Ryu Taejun and seriously reconsidered just dumping him here.

I was thinking about our next move when an unexpected question came from beside me.

“...Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think this is like a quest-type dungeon?”

“......”

It sounded random, but I understood the gist.

'He’s asking whether there’s a dungeon boss or not.'

Quest-type dungeons cleared themselves once the quest objective was completed. He was wondering if escaping this maze would automatically count as clearing it.

I glanced sideways at Do Yehyun and answered.

“No.”

“Then what?”

“I don’t know the exact structure, but this dungeon definitely has a boss. Jin Haedo must’ve done something to it. We’ll have to hear from whoever’s still alive in here to know the details.”

“...It feels like a lot of believers have disappeared.”

“Yeah? How do you know?”

I was genuinely curious. Do Yehyun raised his eyes from the ground to meet mine.

“That VIP who came to pick us up earlier... what she said stuck with me. Something about catching the opportunity fast—and she mumbled that even when hundreds came flooding in, she’d never sent them off this quickly before.”

“Hundreds? Maybe she was exaggerating.”

“She didn’t seem like the type to exaggerate.”

Fair point. I nodded, recalling Gyeon Taeri’s way of speaking.

“Hyung.”

Do Yehyun suddenly blinked slowly at me. I nodded for him to go on.

“I’ve got a bad feeling.”

“A feeling?”

“Yes.”

'Huh. Since when did he have intuition?' That part was already suspicious.

Still, asking “why?” would be pointless, so I simply nodded.

“Got it.”

“......”

“Should we wake that bastard up and feed him something? I’ve got a feeling we’ll be here a while.”

“When we get out... do you think much time will have passed?”

“Not sure. Time doesn’t usually flow one-to-one. In most maze dungeons, time runs faster inside.”

“......”

I didn’t wait for an answer. I stood up, walked over to where Ryu Taejun had fully passed out, and nudged his shoulder with my foot until he stirred. When he half-opened his eyes, dazed, I kindly grabbed his clothes and dragged him to the flattest spot nearby.

“Ugh, I—I can walk—”

“You’re awake?”

Still looked half-asleep. For his sake, I took out a pack of emergency rations from the Space-Saving Box.

“What’s that...?”

“Snacks.”

Didn’t taste good, but from a calorie standpoint, they were perfect. I dropped a biscuit into Ryu Taejun’s hand and handed one to Do Yehyun as well.

“Eat up and get your head straight.”

After starving in so many dungeons, it had become a habit. I chewed a piece myself and looked up at the wall-covered sky.

'What time is it, exactly?'

Judging by the light, it seemed like dawn—or maybe early evening—but since the dirt floor didn’t mean an actual sun was overhead, I couldn’t be sure.

That’s when it happened.

BEEEEEP—

A sharp, piercing alarm split the air.

I shot to my feet, scanning for the source.

'What the hell?'

The sound blared for about ten seconds, then abruptly stopped.

“N-night...”

“What?”

Ryu Taejun’s muffled voice came as he chewed.

“I, I heard something once—about a warning sound before day turns to night.”

“......”

“Don’t know if it’s true. Just remembered.”

For fuck’s sake. Can’t even throw him away now.

And this time, it seemed he was right. Exactly ten seconds later, as if someone had flipped a switch, the entire space began to darken.

It took less than five seconds for total darkness to fall.