Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Another Exception

Drunk on the high of destroying the labyrinth, I had briefly forgotten this friend existed.

When I quickly nodded, golden light scattered.

The light gradually took the shape of a massive bookshelf.

It felt like a hologram from a science fiction film.

‘There are an absurd number of them.’

It was not called a great library for nothing.

The bookshelves filled the personal lobby and stretched far into the distance.

I decided to give up on counting how many books there were.

Rustle.

Among the many books, one began to glow strangely.

The light moved slowly from one space to the next, then after a while, it began moving at tremendous speed.

After going back and forth for a long time like that, the light stopped somewhere.

Ding!

A book was drawn.

[You have drawn the sixth underground floor of the labyrinth, ‘Trial of Questions and Answers’!]

There was no need for me to do anything.

The book flew over and opened by itself.

‘Why can I read this?’

It was a strange sensation.

The letters were clearly ones I had never seen before, yet I could read them naturally.

As if they were a language I had known for a long time.

I flicked a finger and turned the page.

Hidden items that someone had already taken and hidden monsters that had already been subjugated were crossed out with red lines.

Events that had already been activated were the same.

The user interface was quite considerate.

“Oh.”

As I read quickly, I stopped around the final page.

Since it was a very early floor, I had not expected much, but one item remained.

‘So that is why no one took it.’

It was a place that could only be accessed after a specific event was activated.

It was not that no one had taken the item because they did not know it existed.

The event date was three days later, so no one had been able to touch it yet.

‘The Trial of Questions and Answers.’

Even though no monsters appeared there, cash farmers avoided this floor.

It was because of its troublesome clear conditions and progression method.

I rubbed my chin, then turned my eyes to the status window.

The unique trait I had received as a Non-Regressor special benefit, Unselected Individual.

After staring at the trait for a while, I smiled.

This, this might actually work.

Grrrgle!

While I was forming a plan in my head.

My stomach let out a rough rumble.

Now that I thought about it, I had not eaten properly because I had awakened and gone around the labyrinth.

There was still time left before the Draw Ticket finished charging, so I had some breathing room.

I should go out and rest a little before coming back.

I looked at Aris, who was trembling in the corner.

“I am going out and coming back. Rest here.”

“Y-Yes!!”

There were various things I was curious about, but as the saying went, even Mount Geumgang was best admired after a meal.

I would ask after I returned.

[You will exit the labyrinth’s personal lobby!]

---

My small but precious monthly rental apartment.

Sitting in my chair, I spread out the magic stones I had obtained.

Magic stones were the only existence through which the labyrinth could affect reality.

They were aggregates of energy that could not be scientifically explained, and they were used everywhere, from various industries to the manufacturing of equipment and potions.

I had also heard that some magic stones contained mysterious power and could be used to create even more extraordinary things.

While looking at those magic stones, I raised my head.

Then I silently stared straight ahead.

In short, the fact that magic stones were the only existence that could affect reality meant that nothing else should be able to affect reality.

That was also the reason why even someone with an incredibly powerful hidden class inside the labyrinth was an ordinary person in reality.

Then, what on earth was this?

Unable to endure it, I asked.

“What are you?”

“Eh? M-Me? I am Aris di Carsia.”

“No, I know that. I am asking why you are here.”

“Me? I wonder? I just followed you out.”

Cold sweat flowed down my back.

For some reason, another one had appeared.

Another existence through which the labyrinth could affect reality.

I examined Aris, who was sitting politely and sweating nervously, from various angles.

Perhaps because she had come outside, she had turned into a miniature size.

I stretched out my hand and pulled on her cheek.

“Ow, ow.”

She was not an illusion.

There was definitely a tactile sensation.

This time, I brought my phone camera over.

She appeared in photos too.

That meant she was not visible only to my eyes.

This was a bit troublesome.

If someone saw this miniature steamed bun, or if she was caught on CCTV, there would be an uproar.

“Can you make it so other people cannot see you?”

“Yes!”

“Why are you only saying that now?”

“Pardon...? B-Because you only asked me now...?”

“That is true. Try it once.”

Aris’s figure blurred.

Just as she had said, the camera could no longer capture her.

“Okay. Keep that state.”

“Yes!”

“Now tell me what you can do.”

“My eyes are good.”

Perhaps because I had unknowingly made a disappointed expression.

Aris waved her hands with cold sweat on her face.

“It is because I have not eaten anything in a long time! Once my stomach is full, I can see through many more things!”

“Really? Should I order you some chicken? It is incredibly delicious.”

“Chicken? I do not know what that is, but to fill a demon’s hunger, I need to eat something else.”

Aris pointed to one side of the dining table.

It was where the magic stones I had obtained from the first underground floor were piled up.

I needed to sell those and pay my loan interest, yet she wanted to eat them? Absolutely not...

Grrrrrrrrgle!!!

A tremendous sound rang out.

Aris lowered her head and rubbed her crying stomach.

I swallowed dryly.

At least within the limits of my common sense, it was impossible.

To coldly tell her no after that.

“Eat.”

“R-Really? How many?!”

“Eat until you are full.”

“Thank you, Boss!”

Boss was an embarrassing way to address me.

I stood up and walked to the refrigerator.

I needed to eat something before going back to cash farming.

‘My body feels heavy.’

Was it because I had just come out?

Once the stats that had applied in the labyrinth disappeared, my body felt heavy.

If this was how it felt at a mere level 10, I could not even imagine how sharply high-level players must feel the loss of strength.

I opened the refrigerator door.

Now that I thought about it, I had not gone grocery shopping recently because I had been folding paper cranes.

The only thing there was to eat was ramyeon.

It was bothersome to go out and come back, so I would make do with this today.

After putting water on for the ramyeon, I accessed the labyrinth site that boasted the largest number of users.

“Wow.”

I had known it would become an issue to some degree, but I had not expected it to be this much.

Every post on the hot boards was related to the first underground floor.

What is labyrinth destruction? Was it always breakable? Has this ever happened before?

The Constellation said there was only clearing or failure, though?

Did the Constellation lie?

Be careful. The Constellations are watching reality too!

A friend who works at Kronos told me the company is in chaos, hahaha. They are trying to find him somehow, but it does not seem to be going the way they want.

Why can they not find him? You have to hand over all your personal information to use Ariadne.

Maybe he did not wear Ariadne?

Was he shot in the head? What kind of madman goes into a life-risking labyrinth without Ariadne?

I had suddenly become a person who had been shot in the head.

Well, that was not wrong.

The difference between having it and not having it was enormous.

I am a newbie who was cash farming on the fourth underground floor.

Starting today, I am going to the first underground floor. I should earn magic stones comfortably. The tax is one-third lower too.

You too? I am moving as well.

Same here. I was cash farming on the second floor, but I am just going to do it on the first floor.

Want to party? I will herd the self-destructing slimes for you.

What nonsense is this? The essence of cash farming is solitude.

I smiled at the long line of comments.

This was the reaction I had wanted.

When the labyrinth was cleared, ten lowest-grade magic stones dropped, and since the tax was twenty percent, two magic stones would come to me each time one person cleared it.

‘Excellent.’

I stopped stirring and turned off the heat.

Perfectly firm noodles were complete.

I picked up the pot and turned around.

Then I froze in place.

‘She ate them all?’

The sixty lowest-grade magic stones that had been piled on the dining table had vanished without a trace.

Lick, lick.

Aris was licking her hand with a satisfied expression.

The time it took to boil ramyeon was, at most, four minutes.

In four minutes, 1.8 million won had been deleted.

It seemed she belatedly felt my gaze.

Aris stopped licking her hand and hesitantly turned her head.

Gulp!

I could hear it even from this distance.

The sound of the miniature steamed bun swallowing.

After trembling for a long while, I let out a deep sigh.

Well, what could I do? It was my fault for not setting a limit because I had not known she would eat that well.

“Are you full now?”

When I asked while bringing the pot over, Aris quickly nodded.

Aris swept a hand over her chest.

She had thought I would make another fuss, but it seemed I was generous when it came to food.

“You should be. You ate all sixty.”

Gulp!

There was a strange thorn in my tone.

She should not act up and should stay quiet.

As meekly as possible!

Ryu Jin brought his chopsticks to the pot.

Then, just as he was about to think of the 1.8 million won that had melted away and slurp the noodles in anger.

Ding!

[Aris di Carsia, the Demon of the Evil Eye, has consumed magic stones!]

[Aris di Carsia’s level has risen to 5!]

[Some abilities of the dormant unique trait ‘Evil Eye’ have awakened!]

[Unique Trait: Evil Eye LV1]

You see through the target.

It does not matter what the target is. The Evil Eye does not discriminate between targets.

The range of what you can see through becomes more diverse and detailed as the level of the Evil Eye rises.

Ding!

[According to the ancient rules, the abilities of Aris di Carsia, the Demon of the Evil Eye, will be shared with Player Ryu Jin!]

No sooner had the message appeared than Ryu Jin’s eyes turned lake-blue.

The first to react was Aris.

“Hey! Those are my eyes!?”

Aris panicked and stammered in alarm.

Although she had lived for a long time, this was her first time facing the Evil Eye from the other person’s perspective.

“What is this now...?”

Ryu Jin put down his chopsticks and looked at Aris.

Various pieces of information were lined up beside her miniature body.

[Aris di Carsia]

Demon of the Evil Eye.

Weakness: endurance.

Nickname: Schemer.

Disposition: rebellious, insidious, arrogant, bluffing, complacent.

It was not only Aris.

Information was exposed from every object that entered my field of vision.

Even the ramyeon I was eating was the same.

It showed everything from how many grams it weighed to the fact that its current state was changing from firm to soggy.

“Huh.”

An exclamation slipped out of me.

The demon did not merely exist.

She had begun to steadily affect reality, and me as well.

But how?

I grabbed Aris’s cheeks with both hands and pulled them.

“Ow, ow, ow.”

Her very presence here should originally have been impossible.

On top of that, Aris’s abilities were being shared with me in reality.

There was only one conclusion I could draw based on this information.

‘Demons are not beings that belong to the labyrinth. Therefore, they do not need to follow its rules.’

The same applied to me as an Unselected Individual.

When these two exceptions met, this phenomenon had been created.

Ding!

[Demons have existed since before the labyrinth was completed! Even after the labyrinth was completed, the labyrinth could not completely bind them! Accordingly, the labyrinth defined demons as extremely alien and dangerous beings, and in order to ensure that their abilities would be completely erased from the world, it prevented any existence, including Constellations, from forming a subordinate relationship with demons!]

[Player Ryu Jin has ignored the rules of the labyrinth through the unique trait Unselected Individual and become the master of Aris di Carsia, the Demon of the Evil Eye!]

[The labyrinth will also gradually notice the existence of the Unselected Individual!]

The System kindly informed me that my hypothesis was correct.

The corners of my lips rose.

Was I not afraid because a demon’s abilities were being shared with me?

Not at all.

On the contrary, this was nice.

“Aris.”

“Yes?”

“Eat a lot from now on. I will bring you plenty of magic stones.”

“Really?!”

“Of course, you cannot eat all of them. I still have to earn living expenses.”

“Yes!”

SLURRRRP!!!

After quickly inhaling the ramyeon, I breathed out.

An Unselected Individual and a demon.

I had thought I had simply gained another glutton, but that was not the case.

The synergy was much better than I had imagined.

And if that was the case.

‘Just you wait.’

I might be able to deliver a far greater blow than expected.

To the damned Kronos, and to this world that had made only me fail to regress.