Ch.5050. Just Fight First

I first moved away from the mentally unstable girl.

If this continued, I felt like the blue-haired mage, Kyle, and the princess would start paying attention to us.

Of course, it didn’t help that Shiro was giving the green priestess a lap pillow with a cold expression while gently stroking her hair.

‘Why is she stroking her hair?’

It was a scene I couldn’t quite understand even though I was seeing it with my own eyes.

I didn’t think she had particularly good feelings toward the green priestess, yet the priestess was quietly accepting it.

Strange.

“Ms. Reina. I know this is difficult, but please take some deep breaths and try to calm down.”

“…”

I decided not to worry about it too much and focused on what needed to be done.

She nodded and tried to control her trembling body.

‘Fortunately, they didn’t hear what we said.’

Kyle, the princess, and the blue-haired mage didn’t seem particularly interested in us.

We were about 3-4 meters apart from them, and with all the demonic blood and mana in the air, they probably couldn’t hear our quiet conversation.

In conclusion, it seemed no one had heard our conversation, but Shiro was watching me intently.

“…”

“…”

After exchanging glances, we returned to our original topic as the red priestess’s breathing steadied.

“…You too. Are you also from Earth?”

The red priestess’s gaze toward me had completely changed.

If she had previously shown signs of not wanting to associate with me, now she was looking at me with such desperation it was almost frightening.

Was she that eager to meet someone else from Earth?

“…That’s right. I’m also from Earth. May I ask which country you’re from?”

From what I remembered, even though it was a Korean game, it had been released globally.

Though it was released globally, the player count was low.

“I-I’m Japanese.”

Reina’s eyes revealed a sense of urgency as she spoke.

I thought her mental state was different from normal people, and sure enough, she was a genuine mentally unstable person from the homeland.

“I’m Korean.”

After saying it, I realized how unrealistic this conversation flow was.

It felt like making small talk in a game, which gave me a strange feeling.

“Korean…?”

The unstable girl seemed to be emotionally affected by something different than what I expected.

‘Does she hate Koreans?’

I had been thinking of her as a high school girl, but then I realized there was no guarantee she was young.

She could be a 60-year-old ultra-right-wing grandfather with anti-Korean sentiments.

…I even began to question whether referring to her as “she” was correct.

“Um… I’m sorry.”

While I was continuing with these assumptions, an unexpected response came from Reina’s mouth.

Sorry? For what?

“For our country’s illegal occupation in the past. I heard that Korean people always keep it in their hearts. I’m really, really sorry…”

She apologized with an expression that suggested she might burst into tears at any moment.

“…”

*Deep breath*

I hadn’t thought much about her being Japanese, but now that she was acting like this, I wasn’t sure how to respond.

Especially since her expression looked like she was apologizing after being beaten by a resistance fighter.

“Um, well, I don’t hate Japanese people. As long as they don’t distort history or do strange things, I don’t really mind…”

Though I had cultivated anti-Japanese sentiments while learning about the Japanese colonial period, I thought I could at least make this much of a distinction.

“Really…?”

Unlike her initial rude impression, she now showed an expression of relief.

Or more precisely, it seemed closer to a sense of reassurance than relief.

‘Was she afraid I would hate her?’

I thought it was strange to be so afraid, but considering her mentally unstable tendencies she’d shown so far, it made sense.

After that, we continued our conversation comfortably.

“…You were an 18-year-old high school girl?”

From our first conversation, I learned this shocking fact.

“Y-Yes. Leisi over there also came from the same place as me…”

She said the green-haired priestess was also a possessor like her.

Same school, 18 years old, and apparently they were dating.

‘Did their genders change when they came here?’

They could still love each other even though they both became women. That was somewhat admirable.

“So you two were possessed simultaneously?”

Anyway, more important than their love story was this.

How did they get possessed together?

“Well, we were playing the game together… and when we cleared the 9th floor, we suddenly got sucked in.”

So just being together could be a reason for possession.

‘Again, the 9th floor.’

The pre-possession story was similar to the other possessor I met before.

However,

“The current situation is similar to the 10th floor?”

“Y-Yes. When we had just cleared the 9th floor and went up, I saw it very briefly, covered in strange energy.”

I received some information I hadn’t heard from that guy before.

The 10th floor was above ground, but for some reason, it was filled with demonic blood.

“I understand. Thank you for telling me.”

We continued our conversation.

***

Time passed, and we started moving again.

‘Why was she so obsessed?’

When I thought about it, I realized her rude behavior toward others might have been a defense mechanism.

Dropped into this chaotic world, experiencing all sorts of terrible things, with only a same-aged lover to trust.

I don’t know how difficult it was, but it was certainly not something a teenager could endure.

And now, she had just witnessed someone being torn apart and killed right before her eyes.

‘How sad.’

At first, I felt a bit of satisfaction seeing her brought in unconscious, but now I could only feel sympathy.

Once I learned what kind of story she had experienced and what kind of person she was, I couldn’t hate her anymore.

“We’ll continue straight ahead!”

Even while I was lost in thought, my mouth and legs kept moving.

There was no time for conversation.

I would have liked to talk a bit more, but that could wait until after we escaped this labyrinth.

‘We’ve already exchanged all the important information anyway.’

The fact that I had cleared up to the 11th floor, the possibility of more possessors, and other information.

Among all that, what stood out most was the fact that the green-haired priestess was also a woman.

Fortunately, they were born as sisters in a noble family, but were driven out a few years ago.

“…”

I didn’t bother asking why they were driven out because I could guess.

‘Hmm.’

So they weren’t TS’d; they were already in a same-sex relationship in reality.

While I respect homosexuality, it wasn’t easy for someone with Confucian values like me.

-Clang!

As we advanced leisurely while discussing Western learning, we finally reached the last passage.

We naturally went through the passage marked with a crescent moon, and after a long corridor, we arrived at a space.

Like the many spaces we had passed through, it was a room with 12 paths.

But what made this place different from the previous paths was:

“…There are no constellations drawn.”

The blue-haired mage spoke first.

She seemed surprised to see that there were no constellations drawn at the entrance.

“Mr. Adel, do you know anything about this?”

Kyle asked me.

He seemed to be asking if there was any information about this in the Ice Tower, but,

“I don’t know either.”

“…I see.”

Now I too had to rely on luck.

The sixth passage belonging to the crescent moon was a section where you had to choose randomly without constellations.

If there was one advantage compared to other passages, it was that no matter which way you went, you would enter the boss room.

‘Only the conditions change.’

The boss is always the same, but depending on the constellation you choose, related penalties or buffs are applied.

For example, if you chose the 11th or 12th constellations, Aquarius or Pisces, your mana sensitivity would increase.

But if you chose something like Scorpio, you would continuously take poison damage until you defeated the boss.

‘I need to be lucky.’

There were exactly two constellations I wanted to avoid.

One was the Scorpio I just explained, and the other was Libra, which made even Scorpio look decent in comparison.

“…Even when I use detection magic, all paths feel the same, and I don’t sense any monster energy. Does it not matter which way we go from here?”

The blue-haired mage said this, and after a long discussion, we decided to enter any random path.

“Ms. Reina, Ms. Leisi. You two don’t mind either, right?”

“…Yeah.”

The high school girl priestesses had already heard about the labyrinth from me, so we could move forward without any conflicting opinions.

So we stepped into a passage and began to advance one step at a time.

A realm of pure luck.

‘With Kyle’s power, he could probably cut through everything.’

From what I’d seen so far, the boss seemed to be at most at the level of a 7th floor field boss.

Though not as easy as killing a monster,

The two constellations I wanted to avoid could impose penalties that would render even Kyle’s power useless.

-Tap, tap, tap.

At the end of our tense walk, what awaited us was—

—a momentary blackout of vision.

***

[Entering the Watcher’s Room.]

A blue message appeared before my eyes.

[The power of constellations will be bestowed upon participants.]

I really hoped it would be an easy one.

[Selected constellation: Libra.]

[The power of the corrupted Libra interferes.]

Just as I was about to despair at the message, everyone except me looked around.

A large, pure white cube-shaped room that looked like some kind of laboratory.

-Rumble.

In the center floated a giant eyeball.

[Due to the power of the corrupted Libra, all forces seek balance.]

[The use of divine power is prohibited.]

[All Source powers are readjusted to rank 5.]

With divine power banned, the priests became useless.

Kyle was a holy knight who fought primarily with divine power, and even the blue-haired mage’s Source was adjusted to rank 5.

‘But I remain the same.’

The baby basilisk’s stats were temporarily reduced, but my rank 3 Source with the Instantaneous Hardening ability remained unchanged.

The game and system itself seemed to be the same.

Synthesized Sources didn’t even have names attached, so it was either a bug or the judgment itself was different.

“…”

Kyle, the princess, and the priests were useless with divine power banned, and the mage was trash with her Source reduced to rank 5.

The only ones with synthesized Sources were me and Shiro.

In other words,

‘The two of us have to defeat that thing.’

The giant black eyeball monster floating in the air, “The Watcher.”

“…Haa.”

Rather than lamenting, I was the first to draw my sword.

Instead of regretting what had already happened, facing the immediate situation was more helpful for survival.