Chapter 147
“This dungeon is a maze. The passages inside the castle are all entangled like vines on a tree, and you have to avoid or kill monsters that inflict negative mental influences while wandering through the maze.
-Who doesn’t know that?
-Umji. Stop wasting time explaining the dungeon and just fight the monsters.
‘But, even if this information is well-known among people who watch other Hunters’ GodTube channels, not many ordinary people know this. And you cannot rule out the newcomers.’
Ji-Cheok had to do his best to keep the newbies interested in his video. So he ignored those chats and continued to talk.
“And you have to find the Core of the maze while doing that? That’s so hard and tedious! No wonder not many Hunters come to this dungeon.”
-Oh, that’s why the dungeon was considered hard. I never knew.
‘See? I told you there are newbies on my channel. I need to explain things well.’
“But that’s not me. Nope, not today. I’m going to turn this Asian #horror into a Western #action_horror! And what do Western #horror movies end with? EXPLOSIOOON!!!”
It was like the kind of Hollywood horror movies where the MC exorcized tentacle monsters from outer space with a shotgun. Those shotguns could send anyone for a quick interview with Jesus in Heaven.
Ji-Cheok decided to imitate that a bit. He used the [Silent Spell Cast] to summon his Mono Bike G, which instantly appeared next to him.
“What do we need right now? Speed! There’s nothing like speed if we want to completely annihilate the monsters here.”
He got on Mono Bike G.
-You… you’re crazy!!
-Who the hell would ride a motorcycle inside a maze?!
-Maybe it’s possible since he has [Wall Drive].
“Well then… Let’s go!!”
Vroom!!
He used both [Blaze Walk] and [Cthugha’s Steps]. And he started to drive straight ahead.
“YEAHHH!!!”
He ran up the antique stone wall, and when an obstacle appeared, he immediately turned and ran on the ceiling like a spider. Monsters chased after him, but they were met with Ji-Cheok’s walls of flames. Since the monsters specialized in mind control, their stamina was subpar.
“Do you want to see a magic trick where I say the magic word and the monsters vanish? Well, here it is!”
* * *
As a child, Ji-Cheok used to love video games. He especially loved the game where a blue hedgehog, who scattered rings at the slightest contact with a monster, became the world’s most fearless cannonball by simply crouching down and rolling forward. No matter how gigantic the monster was, the blue hedgehog was able to kill it with just a few hits.
He couldn’t forget that thrill! He had played that game all day to feel the speed of the hedgehog. For that moment, the tiny monitor in front of his eyes had been his whole world and his entire reality. And now, Ji-Cheok imagined himself as that game character.
It wasn’t even that far-fetched—he was also destroying monsters one by one with his overwhelming power and speed. And it wasn’t just random mobs, he was plowing through boss monsters too!
“This is my sanctuary! Even my master respects me when he’s here! There’s nothing you can do! How dare you dirty my kitchen?! Where are my assistants? Turn this human into a meal… ARGHH!”
‘Typical dialogue from a mid-level boss monster. I’ll give that ten out of ten.’
It had an Orc-like face and was three meters tall. The boss, [Dale the Chef of Gluttony], exploded while still brandishing its huge cleaver.
“How dare you make a fuss in this castle that Master cursed for eternity! You foolish mortal, you, too, will be cursed for eternity and wander here as a dead man forever! Now I’m going to curse your foolish—ARGGHH!!”
[Corpse Knight Lekhan], a gigantic ironclad knight boss towering at a height of four meters, shattered apart and died before even finishing his line.
“I just needed a little more time, but you ruined it! The piece of knowledge I’ve been studying for thousands of years was about to be completed! How dare you?!?!”
[Baokman the Almost Lich], who looked like a wizard with a robe wrapped around a skull and holding a staff, tried to cast a spell but died instantly as his bones were shattered by Ji-Cheok’s [Heaven and Earth Palm Wind].
“How dare you crawl in here! My servants! Dismember that mortal and bring him to me! I want to hear the screams when I revive only his head—KEEEIEK!!!”
[Zeltar the Count of Sin], who looked like a handsome middle-aged man and wore a suit that perfectly fit an aristocrat of the Middle Ages, was simply trampled by the Mono Bike G and squashed into a bloody mess.
“Hahaha! Finally, a handsome boy has arrived! Great. Come here now! I will show you pleasure the likes of which you have never felt before, so you should also please me! So—AHHH!!” The goat-headed Ghost boss [Elena the Sinful Vampire], wearing a beautiful medieval dress and smiling as she waved her fan, also died in an unfortunate motorcycle accident.
Such was life.
‘If you get hit by the speedy blue hedgehog, you will turn into powder. That makes six bosses. Nice.’
He held a solemn speech in front of the dead bodies of the mid-level bosses that had left beautiful jewels behind.
“Everyone. This is how dangerous car accidents are. Be sure to cross at a green light and do not drink and drive! It’s not worth it to risk your life when you could just wait five minutes for the green light!”
-Holy shit. Did he just kill all those monsters just for his public service announcement?
-How long did it take him to kill all those monsters?
?2 hours.
-How’s that possible?
-He did that in two hours! And he did all that by himself! Is this what real monster hunting is?
-Ji-Cheok is so nice. He knew that if he entered this dungeon with five other Hunters, they would get bored. So he’s clearing it alone. What a guy.
It had taken him about two hours to kill everything up to this point. In just two hours, he had gone through the Underworld Prison area, the Banquet hall area, the Study of Doom area, the Servant’s Room area, the Kitchen area… On his way, he had crushed anything that moved in his path. Whatever his bike hadn’t turned into bloody jelly, his fire had burned, and whatever escaped the fire was sliced apart by his swords.
Since they were all boss monsters, they gave him good loot. Ji-Cheok put everything in his [Shadow Pouch] so he could check it out later.
“Alright, now that all the mid-level bosses have been defeated, I’m sure the Core of the maze will come out soon~”
‘I know that tomorrow is going to be another day of risking my life, but today, I’m going to this easy dungeon. That’s why this one is the bonus stage!’
“...”
Nothing appeared.
“Huh? Where is the Core? When I watched other GodTube videos, the Core of the labyrinth appeared from the light.”
According to the video he saw, the light in the dungeon gathered and coalesced into the Core. And when the Hunter touched it with his hand, the dungeon was cleared and the Portal to the outside opened.
‘But why isn’t there anyth—’
[Gods have shown interest in you!]
[Gods have shown interest in you!]
[Gods have shown interest in you!]
[Gods have shown interest in you!]
[Gods have shown interest in you!]
[Gods have shown interest in you!]
[Gods have shown interest in you!]
Suddenly, the world turned gray and countless messages started to show in front of Ji-Cheok. The empty world was filled with characters. He knew this feeling..
‘What? Without a warning?’
[[Despair] is watching you.]
‘[Despair]? Is that like the opposite of the [God of Hope]? Wasn’t this the realm of [He_who_denies_death]? It’s an undead dungeon. But what’s with [Despair]?’
[[Despair] proposes a test for you.]
[You have received a quest.]
[Trial of Despair]
[Difficulty: ???
[Despair] wants to test you.
Reward: Blessing of Despair]
[Accept — Y/N]
‘[Blessing of Despair]... It must be of the same rank as [A_Mortal_Watched_by_Hope] given by the [God of Hope].’ [A_Mortal_Watched_by_Hope] was a Legendary-rank title that granted immunity to negative mental influences. It was thanks to this title that he had been able to clear this dungeon so easily today. Its power was only befitting of the Legendary rank.
?Master, accepting the Trial could be a dangerous adventure.?
‘I know. Because it might kill me. However, the reward should be great. I’m sure of it. Also, if I say no, the Gods will lose interest in me.’
?That is true, but…?
‘What I need here is determination. Am I going to take the risk and go one step further? If that’s the case, I guess I’ll have to see if it’s worth risking my life.’
?Master…?
“Hahaha. No wonder it was going too easy for me.”
‘Bonus stage? Easy dungeon? Those words were never in my dictionary. No wonder I’ve seen fewer malicious comments. And I guess this is why my potion business was doing so well.’
Ji-Cheok decided to accept the Trial.
‘There’s no reason to decline after all the hard work I’ve done up to now. By the way, are you streaming this, Cheok-Liang?’
?The viewers’ reaction seems to have stopped. The whole world seems to have stopped, Master.?
In the past, Cheok-Liang had also frozen on such occasions, but this time he was moving just like his master. Ji-Cheok was glad to have his companion with him.
“Cheok-Liang, don’t panic. After the Trial, time will start moving normally again.”
?…Understood, Master?
Ji-Cheok felt the fear in Cheok-Liang’s voice. He guessed that it was because the one who presided over the Trial was [Despair] itself. He didn’t know if it was the God’s nickname or some kind of ‘concept,’ but he knew one thing: whatever the trial involved, it would not be easy.
‘Okay, let’s stay positive.’
“I will accept the Trial!”
[[Despair] is watching you.]
The world changed. Before he knew it, he was in a completely unknown space. Without Cheok-Liang, he was standing alone in a space that seemed to bring Hell into reality.
“Kill… Me… Please…”
‘What the fuck is this?’
If an artist could use the human body to express the concept of ‘despair’ without any restrictions, it was likely to come out like this.
“Wow, even third-rate movies don’t have this kind of special effects.”
Ji-CHeok pulled his facial muscles and forced himself to smile. The person in front of him did the same. For some reason, the person standing in front of him had scales on his body. Half of his body was melted as if it had been burned, but strangely, the remaining half was untouched.
There were also people around him who had mushroom-like things growing on them, as well as other kinds of weird things. In any case, none of the people here looked entirely like a human.
This was hell. A man weeping in pain begged to be killed, staring at Ji-Cheok with unfocused eyes. There were many people like that, and between buildings, he could see a giant mushroom forest.
Everyone was suffering.
[[Small Despairs] are looking at you.]
[[Small Despairs] are wishing for death.]
There were countless Portals opened in the sky, and something?bizarre kept popping out of them. The light of the Sun in the distance was dim.
The bizarre somethings that came pouring out of the Portals were monsters with appearances difficult to describe. They had some sort of tentacles hanging all over their bodies. They were catching and eating people. No… rather than eating, they were just playing with their prey.
People weren’t being killed. They were being treated like puppets or toys of those terrible somethings.?
And they suffered.
In the middle of those monsters, Ji-Cheok saw something that he wasn’t supposed to see.
“Is that Namsan Tower? Why is Namsan Tower here?”
It was strange. It wasn’t supposed to be here.