Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Asking for Trouble

The cave where the Plum Blossom Jade had been stored.

Kim Guk-hyeon, who stepped inside, looked around.

“What the hell?”

He had barely managed to climb down here while his legs trembled, but far from treasure, there was not even a single scrap of a document.

He went a little deeper.

There was a thick line drawn across the floor, and a single platform placed beyond it.

Judging by the way the center was hollowed out in a circle, it seemed something had been there.

“Guk-hyeon.”

A voice came from behind him.

It was his party members, Lando Mitchell and Ron Cayley.

“Si-yeon says we won’t be able to get that treasure anyway, so she wants us to let her in. She says she wants to negotiate. What should we do?”

Kim Guk-hyeon frowned.

They could not obtain it?

Was she saying a treasure that was not there would suddenly appear if she came?

He shrugged and opened his mouth.

“Tell her to come.”

How many seconds had passed after Lando Mitchell sent the signal?

Yoo Si-yeon lightly climbed the cliff and entered the cave.

Yoo Si-yeon and Kim Guk-hyeon faced each other in the dark, narrow space.

Perhaps because they could not endure the awkward current.

Lando and Ron turned around.

“We’ll be outside.”

“Resolve it peacefully. Peacefully.”

Once the two of them left, Kim Guk-hyeon smiled.

“Si-yeon. I know this looks a little strange, but I hope you don’t misunderstand. Kronos is only doing this because they want to be with you. It isn’t because they are trying to stab you in the back. You understand, right? This is the adult world.”

Even as he spoke, Kim Guk-hyeon’s mind was working busily.

If, as Yoo Si-yeon said, the treasure was something only she could obtain?

Then what should he do?

It was not something he could solve by forcefully stopping her.

Yoo Si-yeon could just leave this place for now, then level up later and enter again through solo play.

Step.

While he was deep in thought, Yoo Si-yeon, who had been standing still, took a step forward.

“You saw it while coming all the way here too, didn’t you? How powerful the world’s No. 1 company truly is. If you are with Kronos, you can climb far higher than you ever could before the Regression. So let’s work together.”

Yoo Si-yeon did not answer.

She merely continued walking in silence.

At that, Kim Guk-hyeon slowly moved his hand.

Apart from her outstanding ability, Yoo Si-yeon had quite a stubborn and reckless disposition.

Kronos or whatever else, she might simply charge in first.

As Yoo Si-yeon came almost right in front of him, Kim Guk-hyeon, growing tense, gripped the handle of his gun.

But he did not draw it.

Because when she got this close, he could see it.

Yoo Si-yeon’s face, dazed as if she had been possessed by something.

It was not that she was ignoring Kim Guk-hyeon’s words.

She truly could not hear them.

Yoo Si-yeon stopped in front of the line and swept back her hair.

Even though she was seeing it with her own eyes, she could hardly believe it.

What was this? What happened? How? Why was it gone?

The Plum Blossom Jade of the Plum Blossom Sword Venerable, Jin Hwayeon.

It was something that only a person who had reached a certain realm of swordsmanship, only one who had received Jin Hwayeon’s permission, could take.

The only ones who had cleared Floor 99 of the Labyrinth were her party.

In other words, aside from them, no one could enter Floor 100.

Then why was it empty? Why on earth?

“Senior Guk-hyeon.”

“Yes, tell me, Si-yeon. The company also told me to provide everything you need.”

“What did you do?”

Goosebumps rose along the back of Kim Guk-hyeon’s neck.

This was the first time.

The first time he had seen her face turn this cold.

He forced a smile and shrugged.

“What do you mean, what did I do? Si-yeon, I didn’t do anything. Has your big brother ever lied to you—”

“Kim Guk-hyeon.”

“What?”

“Stop smiling and speak properly. Tell me what you did after coming in here. I’m serious right now.”

“Huh. Now that we’ve both shown our hands, you’re acting too recklessly. With no fear at all.”

“What...”

Shing.

“Did you do it?”

Yoo Si-yeon drew her sword and glared at Kim Guk-hyeon.

It had all been because of the Plum Blossom Jade.

The reason she had lived a company life that did not suit her and played along with Kim Guk-hyeon’s nauseating behavior, that was.

But now that it had disappeared, the act was over.

Click.

Kim Guk-hyeon also took out his gun and continued speaking.

“I don’t know what was supposed to be there, but like I said, I didn’t take it.”

“I know that. Something like you could never have obtained it. I am asking what you did after coming in here that made something that should have been here disappear.”

The only thing that had changed from before the Regression was that a human had entered before her.

The Labyrinth was a being that could cause any change at any time, anywhere, without it being strange.

The variable called Kim Guk-hyeon must have acted on it and sent the Plum Blossom Jade that should have been here somewhere else.

Tap, tap.

Because she looked ready to charge at him at any moment, Kim Guk-hyeon tapped his finger.

Ron Cayley and Lando Mitchell, who had been nearby, returned to the cave.

Only then did Kim Guk-hyeon regain his composure and smile.

“As I said just now, I didn’t do anything. It was empty from the moment I came in. If you doubt me, then watch my Ariadne recording footage or something.”

Yoo Si-yeon glanced sideways and assessed the situation.

If she followed her heart, she wanted to crush that smirking face immediately.

But the ones surrounding her from the front and back were three Global Rankers.

No matter who she was, facing them all at once was impossible.

“Huuuuu.”

Yoo Si-yeon quietly took a deep breath and sheathed her sword.

Then she turned around.

“Uh, Si-yeon? Where are you going? We need to go to the summit and clear it.”

What did clearing matter when the Plum Blossom Jade had disappeared?

Right now, the only thought in her mind was that she had to find the Plum Blossom Jade somehow.

“Hey, Yoo Si-yeon. Think carefully. The moment you leave this cave, you become enemies with Kronos.”

At the edge of the cave.

Yoo Si-yeon stopped walking and raised her middle finger toward Kim Guk-hyeon.

“Good. That means I won’t have to see that greasy, disgusting voice and face anymore.”

“Pfft.”

“Kh.”

Lando and Ron looked off toward a distant mountain, desperately holding back laughter.

“You rotten—”

And just as Kim Guk-hyeon was about to say something, Yoo Si-yeon threw herself downward.

As she disappeared after ignoring him to the very end, his clenched fist trembled.

“By the way, Guk-hyeon.”

Lando, who had barely swallowed his laughter, opened his mouth.

“Was there really nothing here? If you obtained something, weren’t you supposed to coax Si-yeon properly according to the plan?”

“I told you there was nothing! How many times do I have to say it?! It was empty from the start!”

“Really?”

Lando and Ron looked at each other’s faces.

“Then... What was it again? There was a Korean proverb for situations like this.”

After thinking for a moment, Lando snapped his fingers.

Then he shouted with a bright face.

“You really were asking for trouble for no reason, weren’t you?”

Kim Guk-hyeon clenched his molars.

He could not deny it, because it was true.

Global Ranking No. 4, Player Yoo Si-yeon, who had possessed the epithet World’s Greatest Sword before the Regression.

Through an unnecessary act, they had turned her into Kronos’s enemy.

---

I left Plum Blossom Venerable and entered the Labyrinth Personal Lobby.

Just how much had they beaten each other?

Poporu and Aris were leaning side by side against one wall, both thoroughly battered.

The two demons seemed to widen their eyes.

“My lord, duuuuuuuu!!!”

“Guegh!”

Poporu, the Demon of Kung-du, shoved Aris’s face aside and ran over.

“What happened inside, du!? My lord’s face is so crushed that it looks as if Steamed Bun Aris was slammed onto the floor and stomped on a hundred more times, du!! It is such a violent sight that it is hard to even look at, du!”

I quietly looked down at Poporu.

How should I put it?

It seemed like he was worried about me, but for some reason, I felt offended.

In any case, he was asking if I was all right, right?

“Are you all right? You’re just as crushed as I am.”

Poporu went duuuuu and glared at Aris, who was sprawled on the ground.

“She is weak, yet her tenacity is no joke, du. At the end, she even bit my hand with her teeth, du!”

Poporu held out his hand as if telling me to look.

Perhaps because it was plump, the teeth marks were very clearly left behind.

Just as I was about to tell them to leave.

“Du!?”

Poporu, who had been looking at me, made his eyes sparkle.

Then, just as Jin Hwayeon had done, he poked various parts of my body.

“My lord, du! Your body has become firmer, du!”

“Oh, really?”

“Firm is a bit exaggerated, but it is somewhere between soft and firm, du! What kind of training did you do inside, du!?”

I smiled and checked my Status Window.

Should I say it had been worth getting beaten up so enthusiastically?

Compared to before I entered Plum Blossom Venerable, my stats such as Strength, Stamina, and Agility had risen evenly.

Quite a lot, perhaps because I had started from a zero-base body.

‘The reverse feeling is going to be intense.’

Even normally, when I left the Labyrinth, the stat application disappeared and my body sagged heavily.

This time, since the increase was fairly large, I wondered if it would not merely sag, but feel as if it had collapsed inward.

“Let’s go. I’m hungry.”

If I was going to take the hit anyway, it was better to take it quickly.

I took Aris and Poporu with me and pressed the exit button.

[Leaving the Labyrinth Personal Lobby!]

I slowly drew in a breath.

Now the stat application would be released, and my body would collapse—

Hm?

A question mark formed in my mind.

It had definitely become heavier than when I was in the Labyrinth.

But the degree was far weaker than I had expected.

I shifted my eyes to the Status Window.

Beside each stat, there were mysterious parentheses, and inside them were unidentified numbers.

Looking closely, they were exactly the amount I had raised after entering Plum Blossom Venerable.

As I looked at them, an additional explanation appeared beside them.

[These are stats increased through the application of the Unique Trait ‘Physical Training LV1’ of Poporu, the Demon of the Kung Fu Dugong.]

[Demons are beings not subject to the Labyrinth Rules. Stats influenced by a demon’s trait do not disappear even after leaving the Labyrinth.]

I opened my mouth wide and looked at Poporu nearby.

“This crazy Poporu.”

“Ddu!?”

His eyes trembled, wondering if he had done something wrong.

I swept my hair back and chewed over the explanation on the Status Window.

The Physical Training trait was applied when I moved my own body directly.

In other words, unlike stat increases from leveling up, anything I raised by moving my own body would not disappear.

Because the demon’s trait would have influenced the stats raised that way.

“Boss. Are you perhaps planning to beat up that plump thing in front of you?”

Aris, whose face was like rice cake from how badly she had been beaten, walked over.

“If that is your plan, I would like to join you. I won’t feel better until I hit him a hundred more times with the bulletproof—Ugh!”

Aris fell on her backside.

To think he had entered the Personal Lobby again without even using a turn signal. Why?!

Ryu Jin walked to the corner of the lobby and picked up bundles of Lowest-Grade Magic Stones.

Then he came outside again and poured them out in front of Aris and Poporu.

Of course, not all of them, only about 500. I had to repay my loan with the rest.

Droooool.

It seemed she had quickly forgotten about saying they should beat up Poporu.

As soon as the Lowest-Grade Magic Stones appeared, Aris began drooling.

I split them exactly in half and pushed them toward Poporu and Aris.

“Hurry up and eat.”

“Waaaaaaaah! Thank you for the food!”

“Dduaaaaaaaagh!!”

They must have wanted to eat them badly, only staying quiet because they thought I would not give any.

Poporu and Aris devoured them frantically.

And a moment later.

DING!

A message appeared, and I smiled.

The sea I had been waiting for.