episode_0004

‘How will he move?’

It’s fun to imagine.

Lately, perhaps because he killed the bug that claimed to be his friend—

Or maybe because of something else—

Erme was unusually excited.

‘He’s making me expect things for no reason.’

As Erme snapped the neck of a charging man, she thought:

From the moment she first saw him, she knew he was no ordinary person.

He was different from the others.

Just by looking at him, he made her feel this sense of danger.

‘If I let my guard down, he’s the kind of person who would stab me in my most fatal spot.’

An awkward string of words.

But that description fit Yuseong perfectly.

Even with his hat pulled low, his good looks were just a bonus.

‘It’d be nice if he could kill Hanul.’

Even as her mind wandered, her sword moved.

Annoying pests.

Judging by their swordsmanship, they seemed to be from that faction.

‘Scavengers.’

With a scornful glare, Erme began to move.

An extreme swordsmanship style that disregarded one’s own body and focused solely on offense.

Erme lightly dodged a blade and severed another opponent’s head.

The sound of flesh splitting apart—

And the splatter of blood.

But Erme ignored the blood staining her orange hair and kept thinking.

‘If he kills Hanul…’

He’d be worth recruiting as an ally.

After all, the guy who pulled off the Sprout Slaughter was stronger than expected.

‘His level is probably around 2.’

A level considered entry-tier for the labyrinth.

Even his mana control seemed clumsy, as if he’d just barely reached Level 2.

No, even setting that aside—

The chances of someone who hadn’t even leveled up in the labyrinth winning were practically nonexistent.

Why were people so obsessed with the labyrinth?

Because the strange mana emanating from it elevated one’s strength to another dimension.

That’s why most of those once called “heroes” were weaker than adventurers now.

Leveling up was only possible through the labyrinth.

“Die, you monster!!”

“Who are you calling a monster?”

A scavenger who fed on the corpses of others.

With a smirk, Erme swiftly took another head.

Trustworthy allies in the labyrinth were rare.

Even rarer were those strong enough to take down the Demon King himself.

That’s why she needed to gather allies. They couldn’t just be strong—they had to aim for the absolute best.

‘You’re being way too reckless.’

The current Empire and Kingdom—

They were underestimating the Demon King. The prosperity granted by the labyrinth and the champions it created—

They relied too much on them.

Even though the Demon King had become a monster capable of effortlessly slaughtering them all.

‘Well, Mr. Yuseong? What will you show me?’

Just 20 seconds after eliminating the most dangerous threats—

The fastest Erme could secure her safety with her current body—

The moment that time ended, she saw it.

“……What?”

Hanul was dead, and Han Yuseong was already running away.

‘Run.’

Hanul had been blabbering something—

He confidently blocked my attack, only to die immediately in a comical turn of events—

But I didn’t focus on that.

Who was the most dangerous person here?

‘Erme.’

I knew she was a named character, someone important—

But I realized something even more critical.

-This girl here is seriously pretty, right? -Oh, she is kinda cute. -Right? But the best part is how obsessive she is. -Obsessive? -She’s super possessive of her party members. Bad past or something—if someone tries to take her people away, she’ll stop at nothing to prevent it. -Oh, nice. -And if they still leave, they turn up dead a few days later. -……That’s brutal. -And if she marks someone, she torments them until they die. -What kind of nonsense is that? -It’s just her nature. She’s a bit of a bully. -……I hate it. -That’s the best part, you uncultured swine.

My friend and I had that kind of conversation once.

At the time, I didn’t react much.

Because as someone addicted to web novels, that kind of character was actually a plus for me.

Her personality wasn’t great, but—

It’s not like I’d be on the receiving end, so who cares?

That’s what I thought back then.

‘But now the target is me?’

Being on her team wouldn’t be bad, but—

For some reason, the way Erme looked at me felt a little dangerous.

And my instincts were always sharp in this regard.

So I tried to run, but—

‘How much distance is left?’

Then, I felt something strange.

Like something hidden here.

‘……What?’

An ominous feeling washed over me.

A trap?

I quickly scanned my surroundings and spotted something out of place.

A nail embedded in the ground.

[Sub Quest]

The Forked Path

Chapter 1. Light and Darkness.

You’ve found an object belonging to a shadowy faction.

This object presents you with two choices.

Report it to the adventurer clans for fame and wealth.

However, you may become the target of the shadow faction’s concentrated attacks.

Or, take it to the shadow faction yourself.

That place is extremely dangerous.

Their goal is to overthrow the entire existing order.

But if you succeed there, you may gain half the world.

“…….”

Quite the grandiose quest.

The first option: a guaranteed future but with enemies attacking me.

The second: opposing the very faction that could create that future while also competing internally.

‘Simple.’

My motto, as I’ve said, is to live long and steady.

There’s no reason to choose the latter.

‘Of course—’

There’s no reason to choose the former either. Why?

Because choosing the former means the latter’s faction will come after me.

There’s only one option left.

Namely—

“…….”

Handing this over to the woman glaring murderously at my back.

‘When the hell did she get here?’

It was downright eerie.

After dealing with fifteen people, she appeared behind me in an instant.

‘I should never provoke her.’

With that thought, I pointed at the nail.

“So you weren’t running away.”

“…………I just found something strange.”

It’s true.

Believe me.

I gave her a pleading look, and Erme glanced at me before approaching the nail.

“Wow, you actually did something. Didn’t think those lunatics would already be up to this.”

“You know them?”

“Promise to join my party, and I’ll tell you.”

That might take some time.

I sighed inwardly and nodded.

“Huh? You’re really joining?”

“I don’t know what you see in me to say that.”

I stared at her blankly.

‘Now that it’s come to this, I have no choice.’

I needed to distance myself from the shadowy faction operating in the underworld.

And since I didn’t want to be hunted by them, cooperation was my only option.

‘Dumping everything on her and leaving wouldn’t be bad, but—’

Looking into those eyes, even that seems difficult.

Erme’s gaze had already turned greedy as she looked at me.

‘Objectively speaking, I’ve done a lot.’

I killed Hanul, picked up something weird—

Now that I’m joining her party, things will have to go differently.

“I don’t know much about the labyrinth. Can you teach me?”

“Of course. I’ll teach you everything from A to Z.”

Erme smiled brightly.

“Looking at you like this, you seem like a pretty little flower raised in a greenhouse, but you’re actually quite knowledgeable, huh?”

No, not a greenhouse flower—more like something that grew up bathed in human blood.

‘If vampires existed, they’d probably look like her.’

I didn’t run away for nothing.

How could she slaughter three people in the blink of an eye while fighting ten?

And she was smiling the whole time.

She was undeniably terrifying.

“So, what will you do with this?”

Erme pointed at the nail and asked me.

“You take it.”

“Feels like you’re dumping something troublesome on me… Hah, but if it’s someone who can handle them like that…”

Her eyes sparkled with interest.

Ignoring her gaze, I feigned indifference.

“Well, anyway, should we get going? It’s a bit awkward staying here, so we should prepare camp early…”

“Hmm…”

Camping.

A truly terrifying word.

Even in modern times, camping was a hassle.

It might seem romantic, but bugs swarm at night, and there’s a ton of annoying stuff to deal with.

“Well, the carriage looks clean enough. Should we stay there tonight?”

Erme smiled meaningfully.

Spending the night alone with her in there…

‘That’s kinda horrifying.’

But it’s not like I could refuse.

If my predictions are right, starting tomorrow, we’ll have to walk all the way to the Cradle.

‘My luck is just the worst.’

All I could do was sigh.

The Demon King.

That being is the unholy king born of darkness.

A conqueror who leads the demonic races and invades the mortal realm for personal ascension.

That’s why the Demon King was strong.

Humanity had no choice but to unite against such a formidable enemy.

And so, humans and other races joined forces.

Alongside the Hero.

The Warrior Hero.

The Mage Hero.

The Rogue Hero.

The Priest Hero.

“Nowadays, they’re called things like the Sword Hero or the Saintess based on their weapons, but—”

That’s how it was in the past.

“But at some point, the story changed.”

Around the time the labyrinth appeared.

The labyrinth emerged suddenly.

It appeared in this world brimming with immense mana.

Right in the middle of the Empire.

“Well, ‘middle’ is relative—it was far enough from the capital that it wasn’t a big issue.”

Every mage rushed there at the time.

Warriors too. And while researching the labyrinth, they discovered one thing.

“Leveling up. When you level up, your soul grows stronger.”

“Soul?”

“Yes, to put it simply, it’s like your vessel expands.”

“Hmm.”

So that’s how leveling was roughly set up.

“Anyway, the Empire built a village near the labyrinth. Centuries later, it’s now a massive city known as the Labyrinth City.”

“Labyrinth City.”

“It’s a real city. In terms of population, it rivals the Empire’s capital.”

That might be hard to grasp, but—

Using my past life’s memories as reference—

It’s like Busan having more people than Seoul.

‘That’s kinda shocking.’

Truly a shocking revelation.

“Anyway, it’s that kind of place, so you’ll see plenty of unpleasant things there.”

“Unpleasant things?”

“The ugly sight of humans who fell off the cliff? The fate of those who couldn’t receive a Gift, or those who got arrogant over a good Gift and ruined their lives.”

“…….”

Well—

The labyrinth was a place where one could strike it rich overnight, but—

In other words—

‘It’s a gathering spot for desperate lives staked on a gamble.’

With that conversation, we soon arrived at the [Cradle].

The entrance was packed with a long line.

“The moths to the flame never fail to gather.”

“Naturally.”

I nodded at Erme’s words.

The adventurer’s guild had openly recruited people for the labyrinth, after all.

“Oh, right. I forgot to introduce myself.”

“Introduction?”

“Yesterday, I gave a fake name. I’m Erme. A swordsman chosen as a candidate for the Sword Hero. And in the distant future, the woman who will wield the Holy Sword. Nice to meet you.”

“……Isn’t that too much information?”

“You don’t seem like the type to blab about it.”

True.

There’s no way she’d share such dangerous secrets unless it was life or death.

“I’m Yuseong. Han Yuseong. My class is Rogue. Not a hero candidate.”

“Really? I’d prefer if you were.”

“How does one become a hero candidate, anyway?”

“Simply put, at least two A-rank Gifts. Or one S-rank Gift.”

“…….”

I recalled my Gifts.

Two S-ranks.

One A-rank.

‘Am I a Rogue Hero candidate?’

Thinking about it, it made sense.

I’d chosen the Rogue Hero and the “Very Easy” difficulty, after all.

I heard there was some difficulty adjustment too.

‘I picked Very Easy to take it easy, but—’

This is the price?

I made a hollow expression.

Really, give me a break.