Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Wrong Answer

The situation room of the Issue Response Team, a Kronos affiliate located in Jongno.

Team Leader Bae Mina stared at the monitor displaying the cleared labyrinth floors.

The first underground floor, which alone was shown in a different color.

It was the culprit that had put the Issue Response Team on emergency alert.

‘Question marks, huh.’

The phenomenon itself was not impossible.

If the player was not registered with Ariadne, it was only natural for them to appear as question marks.

Even so, she could not easily understand it.

The guide for the first underground floor through the tenth underground floor was currently being distributed for free as the Beginner Version.

So who on earth would reject such a free, perfect guide and enter the labyrinth?

Was it because the Ariadne device was expensive?

No.

It did cost over ten million won, but Kronos supported a thirty-six-month interest-free installment plan.

It even came with a free refund within a week.

In other words, even if someone did not intend to begin exploring the labyrinth seriously and only wanted to try it out briefly, there was absolutely no reason not to bring Ariadne.

‘Is he a deviant?’

She had heard that people like that sometimes existed in games.

Users who enjoyed hard mode, where the character was deleted the moment they died once.

But the labyrinth was not a game.

One mistake, and a person lost their life.

There was a reason labyrinth exploration caused the most deaths in the entire world.

‘It would be right to consider him a madman.’

Having reached her own conclusion, Bae Mina opened her mouth.

“What reports have come in?”

“Nothing noteworthy. The labyrinth sites are only reacting with things like, ‘What kind of madman enters the labyrinth without Ariadne?’”

“Anything reported from the stores?”

“Not yet.”

Bae Mina nodded.

The identity of the labyrinth destroyer was still shrouded in mystery.

But she was not greatly worried.

If that destroyer continued going through the labyrinth, he would eventually reach the sixth floor.

She intended to lay a trap there.

A trap he would have no choice but to step on if he wanted to clear the sixth floor.

‘Lord Destroyer, hurry up and make a purchase. You need it, do you not? A Paralysis Removal Potion.’

The name of the sixth underground floor was the Trial of Questions and Answers, a maze composed of countless paths and doors.

It was a floor where one had to obtain hints, solve questions, and choose the correct door.

Since the questions changed with every entry, even with Ariadne, the correct-answer rate was only around forty percent.

What happened if someone won the sixty-percent wrong-answer rate and chose the wrong door? The moment they did, one part of their body was afflicted with the paralysis status effect.

In other words, bringing potions was not optional, but mandatory.

Bae Mina leaned back in her chair.

She would wait leisurely.

When the time came, he would reveal himself on his own.

“How are preparations for the sixth-floor event going?”

Before the destroyer appeared, this had been the issue with the highest priority.

Depending on how it was used, the event rewarded an Epic Item that could remain effective even in the deepest floors.

Just as it had before the regression, Kronos intended to obtain it this time as well.

“Preparations are complete. Two days from now, the function will apply only to the equipment of players participating on the sixth underground floor who are not affiliated with Kronos.”

She nodded with a satisfied expression.

It was a method that could never be caught, and one only Kronos could use.

“What percentage should we set the wrong-answer rate to?”

“Make it ninety-five percent, just to be certain. If it is taken from us, there will be chaos.”

“Understood. Applying a ninety-five percent wrong-answer rate to Ariadne. Confirmed.”

No one would notice.

During an already time-sensitive event, there would be no human being who would endlessly use Paralysis Removal Potions to measure the probability.

She slowly exhaled and closed her eyes.

It would not be long before everything returned to normal.

The destroyer and everything else.

---

[The function ‘Free Entry’ of the unique trait ‘Unselected Individual’ will be used!]

[The sixth underground floor of the labyrinth has been selected!]

[You will enter the Trial of Questions and Answers floor!]

THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUD!!

No sooner had I entered than doors fell from the ceiling.

Once the doors filled the area around me, a message appeared.

[A question will be given! Time limit: 3 minutes! If you fail to choose a door, one part of your body will be paralyzed!]

Someone might say this.

Was it not too reckless to enter without Paralysis Removal Potions?

Even so, the reason I entered was because I had something to trust.

“Boss! It is this door!”

“Okay. Go open it.”

Aris ran over on her short legs and chose the door.

[You have made the correct choice! The door will open!]

With a rough sound, the heavy stone door opened.

A smile formed on my lips.

Just as I expected.

The Evil Eye derived the answer the moment it saw the question.

It was far more excellent than that mere Ariadne, whose wrong-answer rate approached sixty percent.

“But Boss!”

“What?”

“You have the Evil Eye too, Boss, so you can solve the questions, can’t you? Why are you not opening the doors yourself?”

“Are you dissatisfied?”

“T-That is not it! I was just curious!”

“Because if I open the wrong one by any chance, my body will be paralyzed.”

“Ah?”

“If you are paralyzed, I can just carry you out.”

If we left without clearing it, we would receive the failure penalty, but in the end, it was just an entry restriction.

We could simply come back after some time passed.

Dingdingdingding!

I had been wondering why it had not appeared today.

The chat began rising at a frightening speed.

Aris shook her head as if it was hopeless.

“Boss, do not pay attention to such useless chat. It will only get in the way of clearing the labyrinth.”

“I was not paying attention to it.”

“I only said it just in case. I am sick to death of Constellations, so I would never pay attention to them, but you are not the same, Boss.”

What, what? Why are there two of them?

I guess he is a summoner class? But why is that thing so short and round? Is it a steamed bun?

“Hey, you damned Constellation over there! What is your name?! Where do you live? Do you want to die? Who are you calling a steamed bun!”

Excited, Aris thrust out her fist.

Although her miniature version had been undone when we entered the labyrinth, it was still a round fist like a steamed bun mascot’s.

In any case, she was the one who had told me not to react.

Hopeless.

Oh, what?! You are that newbie from the first floor yesterday!

What, what! Do you know him?

He is the one who destroyed the labyrinth!!

Whaaaat!? That celebrity was him? But that is strange. I watch the second and third underground floors every day, but this is my first time seeing him. How did he already enter the sixth floor?

He must have gone down while you were sleeping.

What are you, picking a fight again? Which Constellation are you?!

I pushed the back of Aris, who was still furious at the endlessly continuing chat.

We still had a long way to go.

After passing through five or six doors like that, I grabbed Aris by the head as she tried to run toward the next door.

“Ow, ow! Why?!”

“From here on, we do not need to solve the questions.”

The book from the Great Labyrinth Library had shown me the location where the item was hidden and the path that led there.

If it was after the event had been activated, the questions and answers would have been arranged so that the player was guided toward that place, but right now, it was before activation.

In other words, from here on, we had to break through the wrong doors.

I approached the door indicated by the book and examined the question.

The Evil Eye informed me that it was the wrong answer.

“Boss? This is the wrong answer!”

“I know.”

Aris stared blankly at me, then stepped backward.

“Surely you are not ordering me to choose it while knowing it is wrong, get paralyzed, and use my body as a shield until I cannot move anymore, are you?!”

It was a rather inventive idea, but it had no meaning.

This was a door where no correct answer existed in the first place.

Even if it was chosen, the door would not open.

“Why would I bother doing something so useless?”

“Phew.”

Aris swept a hand over her chest.

Then she immediately switched to sycophant mode.

“As expected of you, Boss! I believed in you! You prepared an incredible plan, did you not?!”

She had looked at me with eyes saying, He is not human... just moments ago, and now she claimed she had believed in me.

After shaking my head, I approached the door.

Aris trotted after me and tilted her head.

“But Boss? If there is no correct answer, that means it will not open, and if it does not open, we cannot proceed.”

“That is right. You are unusually clever today.”

“Hehehe, this much is nothing! So how do we pass through this door? Is there a dog hole somewhere?”

“I am going to break it.”

“Pardon?”

Aris’s eyes shook violently.

After touching the door a couple of times, Aris shook her head.

“I cannot break this.”

“I know. You are a weakling.”

“You cannot break it either, Boss. To break something this thick, you would need to bring a siege cannon from the old days!”

I never said I would break it with my hands.

After waving Aris away.

I drew a weapon.

[Draw Tickets Owned: 1/1]

[You will use a Draw Ticket!]

[Tremendous luck is taking effect! A weapon suitable for the current situation will be drawn!]

The slot spun busily for a long while.

[You have drawn a Legendary-grade weapon!]

[It is a weapon embedded with a unique function!]

[Pioneer Gulmakdan’s Hammer / Grade: S+]

A hammer used by the legendary pioneer Gulmakdan!

Gulmakdan did not walk only predetermined paths!

Whether the way was cut off or blocked, if Gulmakdan wanted to go somewhere, he somehow created a path!

Unique Skill: Pioneering

Conceptually destroys everything that blocks the user’s path!

Pioneer Gulmakdan left these words behind!

The path is blocked? Break it. What is the problem?

Light gathered and began taking the shape of a hammer.

It was different from Severing Sword Callista, which had been the size of a paring knife.

It was so huge that it had to be held with both hands.

Cold sweat flowed down the side of Aris’s head.

This human was serious.

[The Constellations who see the hammer snort!]

Hey, you! Do you think the labyrinth is a joke?! Do you think exploration is a game? If it broke just because you hit it with a hammer, everyone would have passed through that way!

I do not know where that hammer suddenly came from, but this is completely absurd! Even most Constellations cannot break that door, idiot!

No! Do not let your guard down! That newbie is not ordinary! He cut the labyrinth yesterday!

Should you not go to the Healing Sanctuary?! What do you mean, he cut the labyrinth? That is some serious delusion!

It is true! I am telling you, he is the one who destroyed the labyrinth yesterday!

Sure, next crazy Constellation fan.

The Constellations’ chat was often compared to an internet community.

The more I looked at it, the more I thought that comparison was perfectly accurate.

But if it is true, is that not a huge problem? The labyrinth must not be destroyed!

Right? I heard ownership transfers too. The labyrinth is ours, is it not?!

[Constellation of Negotiation #72, who had been biting his nails, rises from his seat!]

Child! You there, newbie! How about this?! I will tell you all the correct answers, so go and clear it! You cannot break that door anyway! You will only end up paralyzed!

“Boss? He says he will let us clear it!”

“I do not need it. We can clear it without potions using our own strength anyway.”

“That is true.”

[The Constellation of Negotiation slams the table with a BANG!]

Newbie! Excessive greed brings disaster! Just clear it while I am asking nicely! If you break that, your brain might get paralyzed, you idiot!

I ignored him and pulled the hammer back.

In any case, paralysis would affect one part of the body.

There were even reviews from people who had been paralyzed one finger at a time.

That meant that even if my prediction was wrong, I might have more chances than expected.

It was a contest between whether the destination appeared first, or whether the paralysis progressed far enough that I had to turn back.

A smile formed on my lips.

I was advantageous in fights like this.

Because any probability below one hundred percent would always be on my side.

Therefore, I would break it.

KRAAAAAANG!!!