READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 280: Value Exists and Yet It Doesn’t (5)
『Is there value in the human heart?
In truth, the value of all things in the world comes and goes,
As prices fluctuate constantly.
Thus, I have resolved to revere only those
Who surpass the rest, regardless of all joys and sorrows.
』
A trapezoidal room completely surrounded by white.
I examined the stone tablet embedded in the center again.
‘It has been translated in Earth terms, but…’
No matter how many times I looked, the phrases felt familiar.
The vague expressions written in ambiguous ways were simply a trait of Ki-simche.
‘Same thing.’
Saying that value exists and does not exist, that one should worship something owned by the victor.
This uniquely characteristic opening of a treasure box had also been observed in my hometown.
Looking back, the encounter with the summoned Ki-simche was an annoyingly troublesome affair, but thankfully, my past experiences were helping me here.
Indeed, if one keeps putting in effort against the faced situation, there will be a payoff in time.
‘Hmm.’
But just in case, should I check the next stage at once?
【Rules】
[One: If both choose ‘Blue’ -> No issues]
[Two: If one chooses ‘Blue’ and the other ‘Yellow’ -> Only ‘Blue’ suffers major loss]
[Three: If both choose ‘Yellow’ -> Everyone suffers minor loss]
Alright, that’s good.
With this, it surely feels like a 100% certainty.
‘That treasure box is correct!’
By the time I discovered a few lines of text on the northern door, which presumably indicated the direction of the dungeon,
I finally felt relieved enough to express my joy.
My fists clenched tightly.
With the stipulation of that three-layer condition, the true nature of the space I was standing in would be instantly confirmed.
‘Moreover, reflecting on the situation during the transfer, it seems certain that Kang Chang-ho was indeed brought here as well…!’
An EX-Class Gate, except for scenario types.
What’s its role?
As mentioned before, dungeons of this type usually measure the traits of regular dominants.
In this case, the data that Ki-simche seeks could relate to the overall intellectual capability of the species.
Unlike the blue gate, where one simply has to defeat the monsters in front, this white space aims to create scenarios that are as ordinary as possible to observe response values to stimuli…
‘Let’s see.’
Straight to the point.
The essence of this EX-Class Gate is to confirm cooperation and conflict phenomena among humanity.
‘Yes. No matter how many times I look, I’m certain.’
Kekek.
A laugh came out mirthfully.
No matter how creative Ki-simche may be, there are limits to its imagination.
It often spread spaces identical to those previously encountered in treasure boxes, but today, I genuinely appreciated its lack of originality.
After all, I had disassembled several of these cooperative observation devices found in my previous life’s hometown.
‘Ki-simche. Even you little bugs can have days where you help others…!’
Being in a position where I knew the dungeon’s strategies made the otherworld no longer a subject of fear.
Rather, it felt like a magical pot that would pour out treasures as long as I followed the set formulas.
However, one small problem is that if the answer sheet I brought from Alphauri has leaked to this primitive planet, things could change drastically.
‘Hmm.’
Clank.
At that moment, a clear sound rang out.
It was the noise of a blue nail someone was suppressing rolling on the floor, and I pondered while pulling out the metal embedded in my body one by one.
But even after some time had passed, my thoughts remained unchanged.
‘No matter how I think about it, the results won’t change by racking my brain alone.’
If Kang Chang-ho also knew how to conquer this dungeon…
Inviting him into the EX-Class would only make matters worse. But the knowledge in someone else’s mind is no longer a variable anyone can control.
Let’s proceed for now.
[Open ☞]
Ah, the large letters were easy to read right from the start.
‘For now, the path is straight…’
Brrrrrrrr.
I opened the door with the meager strength of an F-Class Hunter.
What lay in front of me was a closed white space commonly observed in Earth’s special gates.
In other words, a room about 13 pyeong.
At the center were two brightly painted rectangular pillars.
They were brightly colored enough that the Alphauri used to judge things largely by sound would often say such when experiencing flashy items.
Their height was about the equivalent of two Kim Gi-ryeos.
And the width was even half of Kim Gi-ryeo, making it a rather slender and tall structure by Earthling standards.
‘These space parasites really love light signals~’
Thud!
It was around the time I found a mysterious pillar in the room.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I slammed my fist against the blue-painted pillar.
Swish…
Then, from the blue pillar’s base, a stream of light of the same color oozed out like paint.
Soon the light surged upward and faded away, as if announcing the challenger’s choice, until it reached the far-off ceiling.
Clank.
Having confirmed all the phenomena, I stepped back to my original position and pulled out the remaining nails lodged in my upper body.
The die was cast; I only needed to wait for a response from the opposite side.
‘Ah, but the one stuck in my back is a bit harder to remove.’
Bending my arm behind, I paused in thought.
Since we were in the gate, the curse from Esther that had been continuously affecting me must have also experienced a connection error. Truly, everything depends on the upcoming EX-Class conquest.
Seonwoo-yeon’s [Seocher] was the same; magic has always had such traits.
Once the target enters a dungeon-like separated space, especially primitive casting spells here usually lose their effectiveness.
‘If the curse is clinging like this, can I barely escape…?’
But wait. Did Kang Chang-ho seem to have trouble moving his legs earlier?
‘He was walking quite well.’
Well, that Earthling seemed to hide an excessive number of magic tools on his body.
Perhaps among those miscellaneous artifacts, there might be something that alleviates curse power.
‘Plus, even in short sleeves, I didn’t see any burn marks anymore. Clearly, he must have already fully recovered. If we were to clash normally, I’d definitely end up in a state of disgrace.’
Clank.
As I organized my thoughts, I removed the last blue nail lodged in my bicep.
At the same time, blood that hadn’t been swallowed dripped down my chin, but who cares about such a trivial ailment right now?
‘Since I’ll probably be getting hurt continuously moving forward anyway, let’s hold off on treatment.’
I cleaned up a bit with the corpse’s arm for hygiene.
But then,
Rumble!
As though a heavy stone gear was turning, accompanied by a tremendous noise that shook heaven and earth, the previously closed next door suddenly opened…
“Ahhh!”
In the same instant.
A lightning strike occurred in the vacant space.
Zap! Like a bug being squashed.
Or like something catching fire intensely.
With that, a victim collapsed.
“Ugh…!”
Here I was, standing around clueless, suddenly attacked by the dungeon.
It looked somewhat like an electrical attack on the surface, but its nature was different.
The massive shock that struck my right arm felt like it would cause it to burn off completely.
Upon impact, I fell down to the floor like a lumberjack whose tree was cut.
“Ugh, ughhh….”
Yet, despite incurring such a ‘loss’,
Soon, someone’s lips curled upward in a faint smile.
At this point, I can confidently assert that Kang Chang-ho, who was trapped in this dungeon, does not know how to conquer it!
‘Gotcha!’
The spell that just hit me was…
[If one chooses ‘Blue’ and the other chooses ‘Yellow’ -> Only ‘Blue’ suffers major loss]
This spell only activates when the second rule is satisfied.
That guy must have gone and chosen that color.
Yeah, well.
From the perspective of someone who doesn’t know the strategy, it makes sense to just stick to choosing yellow.
【Rules】
[One: If both choose ‘Blue’ -> No issues]
[Two: If one chooses ‘Blue’ and the other ‘Yellow’ -> Only ‘Blue’ suffers major loss]
[Three: If both choose ‘Yellow’ -> Everyone suffers minor loss]
Interpreting the text at the dungeon’s entrance,
It’s practically a kind of [Trust Experiment].
Blue.
When elaborated in Korean, it also serves as a sign of trust given to the other party.
If trust were formed between the challengers, the two trapped in this otherworld could continue choosing blue, leaving them without harm to proceed.
However, the problem lies in that second point.
‘Kugh! That nearly made me scream in pain. Let’s quickly reactivate my pain resistance!’
A challenger who picks the blue (cooperation) signal faces this kind of harsh reality upon betrayal.
Incurring such severe damage that parts of one’s body feel like they might burn off in this otherworld.
Truly, if one thinks rationally, it seems far more comfortable to just stick to yellow.
“Hoo, hoho….”
Yet, if life operated that simply, it would be quite dull.
Even the silver spoon child of a major steel businessman deserves to face some trials in their mid-life.
‘I knew this would happen!’
Now, no matter what Kang Chang-ho does, he cannot turn the tide of the outcomes that follow.
I stood up, restoring my body with superior recovery magic.
And without hesitation, I stepped into the next open room and chose the same pillar again.
Thud!
From here on, all I have to do is repeat this act.
‘Thank goodness the lightning the dungeon sends out is damage proportional to magic power. If it had been absolute value, my body would have turned charcoal…’
After a few seconds, a penalty struck in the second room again.
Zap!
The power was so intense that it nearly burned the back of my neck. Surely that mammal must have chosen yellow again.
‘No way.’
Oh my,
‘Knowing full well the opponent chose blue and still picking yellow?’
Consequently, while I accrued ‘victory points’ generously, I was still in a position where I had no idea how many total rooms had been created.
To maintain an advantage, I resolved to choose the same pillar in the next room as well.
I forcefully kicked away the blue sign representing trust, which is usually associated with the ocean.
‘The impact was stronger than I anticipated. If he keeps pushing yellow until the end, I might struggle with insufficient healing.’
Thoughts of worry flashed in my mind, but the joy of victory outweighed them significantly.
I hummed the jingle for A Mart’s logo song from a video streaming app, waiting for the results.
Rumble!
But again, just like before, the same result continued to come to me.
With the smell of something burning.
It’s truly maddening to get hit by the dungeon’s lightning, which easily reduces someone to a serious injury state.
‘Ugh, damn it.’
Honestly, I thought I’d finally get a blue after the third try, but seriously, is there something inherently wrong with humanity’s character?
I complained inwardly as I crawled to the next room.
I was plotting to conserve energy usage by minimizing the number of recovery spells.
Tap.
‘In truth, I recognize them with just a touch.’
But what do you know,
The previous rooms took about 30 seconds each to decide.
And even after choosing a pillar and waiting for a while, there were no signs of the next door moving.
Here, the doors only open once both challengers have made their choices.
‘Hmm?’
The Earthling who had been continuously opting for yellow suddenly started hesitating.
Perhaps he felt something was odd now that I consistently chose blue despite suffering penalties…
‘Haha, what do you think would change now that you’ve noticed?’
But that struggle didn’t last long.
I briefly worried about whether he would continue delaying his choice to starve the other challenger, but recalling how Kang Chang-ho was dressed when summoned reminded me of his relatively simple attire.
‘Right, well deduced. You have no food either, do you?’
Soon, the door opened.
“Ah, you little punk!”
Zap!
And once again, the selected pillar was yellow (betrayal).