Between Lovers (1), Between Lovers (2) and Between Lovers (3)
“Wait, if you think about it, there are only two of us in this large place!”
“no… Those who transferred with us earlier must be somewhere.”
“They said there was no chance of meeting them.”
“It’s not like that.”
「Hehe, the reason why you brought me to such a gloomy place right now is… .”
Hyeon noticed that the corner of Ain’s mouth was slowly rising as he continued to speak.
It was possible to guess the meaning without a fairy tale.
“I know what you’re thinking, but what you’re thinking won’t happen right now?”
“huh… ?」
“Here, I brought a map from Interloop.”
Hyun shared the three-dimensional image full of arrows with Ain.
A three-dimensional map showing the path from the start to meeting Louise.
I’ve been through it once during my Asura days, but it’s impossible to remember all of its complex structure.
If it wasn’t for the Interloop’s map, he wouldn’t have dared to enter the labyrinth.
Hwareuk!
And at the same time, a pair of sparks rose from Ain’s hands.
I didn’t know it well before, but after hanging out together for a long time, I was able to read the pattern of Izan Ain to some extent.
What does it mean to use Ifrit’s claws in places that aren’t particularly dark and where there are no monsters?
“No, if you’re going to be so ashamed later, why don’t you bring up such a story from the beginning!”
“What are you talking about? I’m not thinking about anything?!」
“hmm… okay.”
When Ain reacted as expected, Hyun decided not to tell her the feelings he had just read for her sake.
‘Shall we check where they are?’
Hyun quickly ran through the labyrinth.
A place that would take days if you didn’t know the way could be reached in 10 minutes if you knew the way.
The time it took to reach the center of the 16th floor was very brief.
‘Come here.’
In the labyrinth, there is a ‘compass’ at the center of each floor.
Like the magic marble, it is a device that detects things with magic within the labyrinth.
Its main purpose is to detect a group of monsters hiding on the floor or to check the direction to go when lost, but sometimes it can be used for other purposes as well.
Click! When Hyeon implanted a small magic stone into the groove on the floor, 8 pure white light sources were embedded in the ceiling.
One light source means one soul wandering in the labyrinth.
In other words, the dots on the ceiling meant the location of the beings with mana on the 16th floor.
‘Eh? Eight?’
Hyun looked up at the ceiling and was startled.
According to the number of lights activated by magic stones, it meant that there were 8 souls on the 16th floor right now.
‘First of all, the two overlapping dots in the middle must be me and Ain.’
One dot left behind is Pamur’s soul.
The three scattered all over the labyrinth are the souls of the guys who were aiming for the name.
‘What are the remaining two?’
And two more unknown people were wandering around the 16th floor.
Did someone he didn’t even notice get swept along by Pamur’s barrier?
Or are monsters other than Pamur lurking on the 16th floor?
If not, is he a high-spec ranker capable of reaching the 16th floor?
‘I’ll have to go and see.’
It was easy to identify the two remaining souls.
It was because, like Ain and himself, there existed a place where two points overlapped.
A place close to the center.
Hyun, who was running in that direction, soon heard someone’s cry.
Fortunately, their voices were resonating far and wide.
“Is anyone there?”
“Is anyone there?”
male and female voices.
‘It’s a person!’
At first glance, the party of four did not include women, so these were obviously people meeting for the first time.
Hyun silently silenced the footsteps and eavesdropped on the conversation.
***
“Is anyone there?”
Drawer, Reward.
If you flip the name on one side, it becomes the other side.
The two, who were close enough to guess the ID, were having an empty scuffle on the 16th floor of the labyrinth.
“It’s a big deal. You seem to have fallen into a trap.”
“You should have listened to me when I said don’t touch that light!”
Pamur broke the ceiling and floor and spun a web noisily.
The reason why those who had no relationship were swept away by the barrier was that the range of the teleportation magic that was activated protruded all the way to the floors and ceilings of the 2nd and 4th floors.
“But the reward… Do you think I am dangerous?”
Drawer, the man’s side, had a pale complexion.
“The poison thorn trap I was stabbed earlier is not healing.”
“what? Antidote?”
“I tried it, but it didn’t work.”
“So, I said don’t come to the labyrinth because it’s dangerous!”
A reward that keeps complaining.
However, unlike her words of rebuke, her voice was full of concern for Drawer.
Even in the midst of this, Drawer’s stamina continued to decline.
“I’m just… I was going to show you around the labyrinth. Rumor has it that the blue magic stones that drop here are so beautiful… .”
Dalgrak.
right at that moment.
Like magic, a blue crystal flew from around the corner.
Drawer and Reward’s conversation stopped for a moment, and Reward’s mouth opened slowly.
“The jewel popped out… ?”
“No, that’s a magic stone reward.”
“Where did you suddenly fly from? Is it over there?”
Reward slowly approached the magic stone.
But Drawer quickly stopped her by pulling her hand.
“Wait, the owner will be there.”
“uh? ah… !”
“That’s right, you can’t put drop items right into your inventory here.”
Judging from the fact that it had just dropped, it was clear that someone was hunting around the corner.
He must have been busy fighting monsters and didn’t have time to collect items.
But the other side was too quiet for that to happen.
“But you can’t hear anything.”
“Hmm, that’s weird.”
It’s already been over a minute since the two of them stood in place.
“Originally, watching someone else’s hunting is bad manners, but… It might not be hunting, so shall we take a peek?”
“Watch out Drawer! If it is a trap.”
“It’s okay, it’s better if it’s a trap. I’d be happy if I could get a jewel to present to you after picking up a magic stone that has no owner… .”
That’s when the drawer slowly approached.
Swoop. A girl in a hat suddenly appeared from around the corner.
She murmured as she picked up the magic stone on the floor.
“They don’t seem to be part of the gang.”
“What, man?!”
“Ah, misunderstanding! We weren’t trying to steal items… !”
Reward was startled and waved his hand.
Hyun glanced over at the two men and nodded when he saw them holding hands.
“Oh, you were holding hands.”
Objects in contact are metastasized together.
The reason they didn’t fall seemed to be because they were holding each other’s hands tightly.
Hyun had understood why the two points existed in one place.
Ugh! The two misunderstood the meaning and quickly let go of their hands.
Suddenly, a tense air current flowed in the labyrinth.
“Rewards, this person could be…” Could it be the massacre?”
There were all sorts of bad players in Assrian.
Among them, those who try to kill users who are couples without thinking about their notoriety are the massacres.
“Ah, no way… .」
“But just in case you don’t know, don’t hold my hand.”
The two hurriedly exchanged opinions in whispers.
They had experienced being attacked by unknown users just because they held hands about three times so far.
Fortunately, the opponent wasn’t that strong, so I never got into trouble, but this girl. It was certain that an opponent who could enter the labyrinth alone would be stronger than them.
Even while they were vigilant, Hyun was grasping the information of the couple that appeared in front of him.
Ain muttered as he looked over at them.
“hmm… I guess it’s around level 140 or 150.」
“That’s right, at most it’s a spec that can barely hunt on the 1st or 2nd floor. It seems that they were swept away by Pamur’s barrier by accident.”
As many thoughts came to mind, Hyun frowned when he saw the man’s skin dyed green.
‘Where did you get poisoned?’
Drawer haphazardly accepted the object thrown by Ain.
“That’s the antidote. If you eat, you will get better.”
“The antidote… ? But I’ve already tried that, uhm… ?!”
After drinking the antidote, his skin gradually regained its original color. His stamina also stopped declining.
It was because the antidote also had a grade, and a higher grade poison could only be cured with a higher grade antidote.
sudden favor.
It was Ain who made that decision.
When Hyeon sent a question about Ain’s unexpected behavior, the answer came back through the spirit conversation.
“Huh, Hyun-ah doesn’t care. So I stepped in instead!”
“no… I had no idea.”
“really?”
Ain’s words with a smile.
He couldn’t think of anything to say, so he kept his mouth shut.
Until the drawer who received the antidote first thanked them.
“excuse me… Thank you. But what antidote was that just now?”
Ain started talking first, so Hyeon mimicked Ain’s tone and spat out an answer.
“Nothing. The existing antidote was processed into magic stones.”
“A magic stone? I used magic stones to make this antidote… ?”
“Thanks to that, I was healed.”
“still… .”
For a moment, Drawer wanted to ask if magic stones cost more than his life, but he didn’t say it because he thought it was useless.
“It only takes 1 level 10 magic stone to make 20 antidotes.”
“Yes… did you?”
“Really, thank you for your help.”
Anyway, from the moment they were convinced that the girl in front of them was not a member of the slaughter group, Drawer and Reward’s expressions relaxed.
“By the way, do you know where this place is? I had never heard of a place like this on the second floor.”
“It’s not on the second floor.”
“yes? So what floor is it on?”
Instead of answering, Hyun pointed to the number engraved on the wall.
The letters XVI engraved in between the murals.
Leeward, who for a moment did not understand that the number 16 in Roman numerals, kept asking back.
“yes? yes?”
“It’s the 16th floor.”
Drawer’s complexion turned pale again, as if he had been poisoned.
The same goes for rewards.
It was because he had heard of the 16th and 17th floors of the labyrinth, even though he had never been to either of them.
“Is that really… ?”
A layer of hell from which you cannot escape once you step into it.
“Come to think of it, there are no monsters! No dangerous traps!”
“What, what, drawer, what happened all of a sudden? Were you on the second floor?!”
“Really the 16th floor… ! Why did you come to this place… ?”
Drawer blinked and stroked the letters XVI scrawled on the wall.
He didn’t want to believe it, but countless numbers engraved in front of his eyes were proving the location of this place.
‘for a moment!’
In an instant, seeing the girl walking alone again, I suddenly had a question.
How is that person here alone?
Besides, he didn’t show any signs of embarrassment, considering he had fallen on the 16th floor alone.
Leeward asked her with a glimmer of hope.
“hey… Do you know the way up?”
“Don’t you want to go up?”
The answer made Drawer’s and Leeward’s faces stained with despair.
If she was caught in a sudden accident like they were, it was only natural that she would not know the answer.
But this is the layer of hell. The only way out is to kill each other… !
But the next moment, the girl’s mouth opened again.
“It will go down further.”
“… ?”
Both doubted their ears for a moment.
However, as soon as the girl’s steps began to speed up, she suddenly came to her senses.
“Drower, what shall we do… ?!”
“Let’s follow it!”
“You said you were going down?”
“Yes, if you could really go downstairs, it would be better than here!”
The girl’s running was very fast.
Body movement back and forth through the aisle like a stunt. The two of them had to use their best efforts to follow her, as it seemed that if she took a second glance at her, she would miss her.
After passing the 16th floor, until reaching the 17th and 18th floors.
Ain noticed that Hyun was deliberately not speeding up.
“Hyun, it’s surprising.”
“what?”
“Are you running late on purpose? So that they can follow.”
“It’s not… ?」
Ain’s smile deepened at Hyun’s answer.
“Fufu, I’ll give you another chance to say it. You all know that we can’t lie to each other in this state.”
“It’s true that I slowed down… Not for the reason you think.”
“Then why?”
“just… I’m letting them follow me because I think there’s a place to use them.”
「Really~?」
Momentarily, the corner of Ain’s mouth went up again, but Hyun didn’t add any excuses.
Because what he just said was true.
“Whoa… I just caught up… !”
“You really came down! How did you get out of there?”
Drawer and reward arrived late.
The letters XVIII densely engraved on the descending stairs were proving that they had escaped the section of hell.
“The 18th floor… .”
Few users knew information about the 18th floor or lower.
Ordinary users have no way to go down there, and they can’t go down there.
Drawer and Reward, who were now following Ain down the stairs, were also normal users, so they only looked around nervously.
‘How long will it go down?’
No matter how far you walk, the stairs continue endlessly.
As they descended there, they felt sucked into a hole of no return.
‘Ah, it’s finally over.’
The moment I came down the stairs after a long time.
Pod! Pod! Pod!
The magic lanterns with geometric patterns turned on one by one, revealing the surrounding landscape.
The 18th floor is probably the first time for users.
“Is this a labyrinth? There’s a place like this underground… .”
“It’s like a whole different world.”
Drawer and Reward blankly opened their mouths and looked up.
Looking at the soaring ceiling made me feel like a dwarf myself.
If the previous layers were a densely tangled maze, this place reminded me of a ruin on a truly enormous scale.
It was like a place where ancient giants lived.
While being overwhelmed by the spectacle in front of her eyes, the girl’s voice rang out.
“You don’t have to walk so nervously.”
“yes?”
“Because this is a layer without traps.”
‘Who are you really?’
At this point, they also became curious about the girl’s identity.
A user who could go in and out of the 16th and 17th floors freely, and even know the information on the 18th floor, was by no means ordinary.
‘You can’t see well with a hat on.’
Reward glanced at the girl’s face.
dark space. It was difficult to see properly as it was covered by the shadow of the magic lamp.
‘I’m sure he’s a ranker first, right?’
Among the rankers Reward knew, there were only two women who were that short.
One of them… .
“Did you come to the labyrinth because you wanted this?”
a sudden voice.
Drawer and Reward’s gaze naturally went to the jewel the girl was playing with.
hearthstone! It wasn’t difficult to see through its brilliance that its grade was 10th grade or higher.
Wasn’t the reason why Drawer came down to the labyrinth to get the magic stone?
but.
“No, after coming here myself, I can see how reckless it was for us to come to the labyrinth… .”
“Did this idiot realize it now?”
“No, I didn’t expect it to be like this either.”
Then, the girl’s words continued.
“I can give you this.”
“… !”
“I just won’t give it to you.”
For an instant, silence arose.
Drawer’s eyes were fixed on the magic stones the girl threw and received.
A small blue crystal costs at least tens of thousands of dollars.
There would be no user who would not be tempted by the idea of giving such a magic stone.
However, they were also the top users belonging to the 0.1%. Having gone through all the prenatal battles, I had no choice but to be wary of unreasonable favors.
“The magic stone is given to us… ?”
“If you just do what I tell you to do.”
“What you do… ?”
“It’s nothing.”
Drawer asked with a suspicious look.
“How can you believe that? We also know how much magic stones are worth.”
“That’s right, giving something like that to someone seeing it for the first time… .”
Patter.
The moment a lot of magic stones fell around the girl, Drawer and Reward’s mouths opened.
“Are you staying?”
“… .”
Blue jewels scattered at my feet… The girl seemed to be surrounded by diamonds.
It was a very small number of magic stones in Hyeon’s inventory, but even that was enough to change their minds.
“Now, I need some time to think… !”
“1 min. If you don’t decide quickly, I’ll just go.”
Hyun always pursued optimal efficiency.
The reason why he could put up a 10th grade mana stone as bait was because he had judged that receiving help from these two would not be a loss.
“Okay, I will do as you say.”
And from their point of view, it was safe to say that as long as they had reached the 18th floor, they had no choice other than to follow the suggestion.
If only the two of us are left, it is certain that we will wander around and die anyway.
At the same time that the interests of both sides meshed together, a smile was drawn on the girl’s lips.
That meaningful laugh wasn’t Hyeon’s, but a laugh leaking from Ain, who was quietly watching Hyeon’s actions.
***
Drawer (Lv.153)
Reward (Lv.151)
It was not difficult to check the status windows of the two.
Even among rankers, those who have no information to be exposed do not mind revealing the status window.
Also, among ordinary users, there were more such people.
‘Are they both perforated? I don’t know if it’s a real hole… .’
Hyeon quickly skimmed through everything.
There really wasn’t anything special about it.
Men are warriors, women are thieves. There were no special skills.
‘Agility is enough. I won’t die easily at this rate.’
Hyun ran slowly so that the two could follow.
There is no need to rush, so you can enjoy the view from the 18th floor at your leisure.
Ain, who came here for the first time, also looked around and burst into admiration.
“It’s so wide, is this a labyrinth?!”
“that’s right. The 18th floor is a bit of a special place.”
“This isn’t a labyrinth, it’s just like a plain!”
A completely different form from the previous layers.
There are no common obstacles or pitfalls.
No one will get lost here.
Because there are only objects such as magic circles, huge pillars, and unknown ruins.
After walking for a while, the group stopped at some point.
At first glance, there seems to be nothing, but this place was a very special spot.
This was the center of the huge magic circle that stretched for several kilometers and the only passageway to the 19th floor.
“What can we do?”
Drawer asked nervously.
Up until now, the girl had just run to him without a word of explanation.
Drawer and Reward couldn’t shake their anxiety because they didn’t know what they were thinking or what they were supposed to do.
“What do you do… .”
Hyun started explaining while standing in the center of the magic circle.
“Just wake up the nearby golems and bring them to the center.”
“Nearby golem… ?”
“that’s right. It would have been nice if I had wide area skills, but I don’t have either. Just hit it with a flat blow.”
Drawer and Reward looked around the empty cavity and raised question marks.
“There are no monsters nearby… ?”
“It will appear soon.”
Click. Hyun pressed the small groove in the middle of the magic circle.
The recessed groove emitted a brilliant light for an instant.
Whoa! At the same time, silver rays of light spread in all directions.
Mana began to run along the circuit of the magic circle engraved on the floor of the 18th floor.
[The lower floor opening ceremony begins!]
[Looking at trigger’s alignment… ]
[You are ‘Abyss’!]
Quaaaaaa! The small wave became a torrent and filled the pattern on the floor.
With the last message, the energy that flowed along the magic circle was transformed into pure white ‘divine power’.
“laugh… !”
“Suddenly there was a vibration… ?”
Because the ground started to shake, the two with relatively low agility had to struggle to keep their balance.
The sudden earthquake startled Drawer and Leeward, but they soon realized that earthquakes were nothing.
I was just overwhelmed by the sight that was happening in front of my eyes.
Kurr! Kurr!
‘what… what. this!’
thousands. perhaps… It was because tens of thousands of giant stone statues were rising from the ground.
‘Isn’t this a dream?’
Before anyone knew it, the cavity on the 18th floor was filled with 3-meter-high stone statues rising from the ground.
Lined up in a hexagonal grid, the heavenly armies aimed their spears at the center.
The distance between the statues was about 20 meters, but because they were so huge, the distance of 20 meters did not seem too far.
Rather, Drawer and Leeward felt the pressure of being tightly surrounded.
“are you okay. It won’t move until you touch it.”
In order to alleviate the worries of the hardened two, Hyun added an explanation.
Tring!
<Opening Ceremony>
-To reach the lower level, you must defeat the opposing faction’s armies!
-Kill more than target enemies within 5 minutes!
[Kills: 0/500]
The same quest came to everyone on the 18th floor at once.
The so-called Opening Quest.
Originally, it was absolutely not a quest that four users below level 200 could do.
Also, it was not an easy quest to complete alone even for a level 400 user.
No matter how high the level is, if you don’t have the proper skills, it’s because there are frequent cases where the time limit runs out while wandering around.
‘There won’t be any failure like this.’
The reason I brought the two to the 18th floor was to clear the quest at once.
It might be a little tight with Ain.
However, with the four of us, we were able to reliably open the door on the 19th floor.
It didn’t matter how many specs the two had.
Because their role was not hunting in the first place.
“Each of you should drive in moderation.”
Hyun added the forgotten words.
“Scream when you feel like you’re in danger.”
***
“Uh-uh-!”
Shortly after the quest starts.
Drawer was displaying greater concentration than any battle he had ever experienced.
It was the first time I realized that I had such control skills.
‘As expected, that kid must be a couple slayer!’
He didn’t even have time to look at his lover, Reward.
But it was clear what kind of situation she would be in. She must be no different from herself!
“laugh… !”
Suddenly feeling the anxiety behind him, Drawer hurriedly used his skill.
A buff skill that instantly increases movement speed.
Quadruped! It was shortly thereafter that a huge spear was driven into place.
“damn! Ow, shack!”
Drawer passed the risk of dying several times.
Even slang words that I would never normally put in were coming out of my mouth, but I still couldn’t stop my feet.
It was because dozens of stone statues were pursuing him with blunt intent to kill.
‘Kuh, no more… !’
But it’s a strange thing.
Every time I thought it was the limit, I heard the same voice.
“Keep your head down.”
“Yes, yes… !”
Every now and then, something incomprehensible happened.
It was natural that Drawer didn’t understand.
They were busy running away, and it was a sight that could not be easily understood even if they saw it.
‘The sword of darkness.’
Hyun jumped slightly to adjust the height.
About 1.5 meters. I laid the sword of darkness horizontally in a place where I could cut them in two exactly.
and the next moment.
‘Incarnate steps!’
galloped through the air
Sword length ’10 meters’ X charge distance ’30 meters’!
In the blink of an eye, the space equivalent to 300 square meters was divided into two.
Pod!
The horizon of death passed and dozens of stone statues that were running massively came to a standstill.
After a turn, stone statues with upper and lower bodies separated fell to the floor.
‘It’s neat.’
A skill that combines movement skills with the sword of darkness.
It was a combination that Hyun often used when he felt sorry for Louise’s absence.
There is a fatal flaw that the charge will stop if the body is not damaged, but this is a labyrinth, a place where such worries are unnecessary.
‘Certainly, sheep hunting is much easier.’
[Remaining time: 102 seconds]
[Kills: 381/500]
When Hyeon annihilated the stone statues, Drawer was given a very brief moment.
For a brief moment, he could observe Leeward’s situation from a distance.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
“… … .”
Rewards was running like crazy in a panic.
And behind her, countless stone statues were chasing after her, shaking the ground.
As he unconsciously approached to help his lover, the girl’s voice sounded again in Drawer’s ears.
“What are you doing, I have to come back quickly.”
“yes… It should be.”
Drawer started running again and glanced back.
This was the most incomprehensible moment.
‘What the hell is that?’
Occasionally someone would appear next to the girl and disappear again after she slapped her with the palm of her hand.
No matter how you look at it, that someone’s appearance was closer to a human than a stone statue or a monster.
His true identity was Hyeon, who temporarily released assimilation to recharge his demonic energy, but in Drawer’s eyes, it looked like a bizarre sight, as if a ghost kept appearing and disappearing.
‘I have no idea!’
Still, Drawer swallowed the question inwardly without revealing it.
Only then will Reward’s dangerously running life be saved before his life is lost.
‘Shadow run!’
Pod! Once again, Ain’s new model with the sword horizontally stretched out.
In the place where the sword of darkness swept away, stone statues with their waists cut in two were scattered.
“Hey, hey, hey, thank you… !”
“… .”
“me too… Shall we bring it back… ?”
[Remaining time: 81 seconds]
[Kills: 453/500]
Hyun, who took a quick look at his target, shook his head.
“Enough.”
Hyun waited patiently until Drawer drove the rest of the mobs, and drew the last sword.
‘Acceleration!’
Whirly Rick! The sound of the blade stirring the air was different from before.
This is because biorhythm acceleration was applied to 3 stacks of agility.
The moment Ain’s sword flashed, innumerable cracks formed on the stone statues that Drawer had been searching for.
“ah… ! That’s how you got it!”
Rewards could watch everything right from his side.
From the countless hatches drawn in the air, to the sight of finely split stones falling as if they were scattered.
Hyun used a different skill combination than before, but from the point of view of the two knowing nothing, I didn’t feel much of a difference.
“and… wow… !”
Rewards couldn’t stop admiring it.
In the meantime, the goal was reached and the opening ceremony began.
[Qualified!]
[The door to the lower floor is open!]
[The first user to successfully open the gate! Strength rises by 1!]
Koo Goo Goo!
Part of the floor the party was standing on slowly descended.
An elevator connecting the 18th and 19th floors. That’s the only passage down to the next floor.
‘Whoa, I really thought I was going to die.’
Rewards, who came back to his senses, shook his head with a tired expression.
Taking a breather and thinking about it again, the battle just now was not easily understood.
I glanced at the girl again.
‘How can you catch that many golems by yourself? Was it a weaker monster than it looks?’
No, it won’t be weak.
Leeward remembers that he was fine even after hitting the statue with all his might.
Does that mean that this girl is strong enough to defy common sense?
There is no doubt that it is at the level of a ranker. Once she tried to guess what her ranking would be.
‘No matter how badly you do, you’re in the top 100, maybe within the top 10? At that point, I heard that there were only monsters, but I couldn’t believe it was this much.’
Drawer was a style that focused only on his play.
I didn’t have much interest in rankings, so I didn’t even know the name unless it was a ranker in my country.
But that’s because Drawer is a user who has no interest in the community.
Most users didn’t.
Rewards, who had been watching from the side, opened his mouth with sparkling eyes.
“I know you.”
“huh?”
“Ain, right?”
“… .”
“And that incredible skill just passed level 200 and is a newly learned skill!”
“what? Level 200?!”
Drawer, who was listening next to him, asked in surprise.
“That’s really… is it?”
The girl’s answer followed as the two waited for an answer with faces mixed with anticipation and astonishment.
“It’s not.”
“No… ?”
nod-.
“But with a small body… I’m sure I’ve seen him use fireworks for a while… It’s not Ain… ?”
Hyun decided to tell them the real truth.
The attack that cut down the giant stone statues was not a flame, but a sword of darkness, a skill of the Shadow Linker.
Since the flames only helped recharge Magi, in fact, he only borrowed Ain’s body, but he was the one who led the battle.
“It’s Hyun.”
“… ?”
“hyeon… ?”
Momentarily static.
Then whispers quickly passed between Drawer and Reward.
“hyeon? Who is that?」
“Neither have I heard of it. But if it’s Hyun, doesn’t it sound a bit like a boy’s name?”
“Isn’t it the Chinese side?”
“I don’t know, I just looked at the Hall of Fame, and it’s not in the top 100.”
Most of the rankers who value information knew the name Hyun because they had been interested in Asura at least once.
Also in Korea, many users were aware of the existence of Hyun along with Ain.
However, Hyun is an unfamiliar name to most foreign users. It was the same for both of them.
‘Huh, I don’t really know.’
Hyun laughed bitterly at the awkward reaction of the two.
He didn’t register for the Hall of Fame, and he didn’t leave a strong impression at a special event like Ain, so it’s only natural that his name wasn’t known.
‘Because I have no intention of hiding it anymore.’
Hyun decided to step out of the shadows.
There are two reasons for this decision.
First of all, as a result of sticking with the regressor guild, I don’t think I would lose even if I fought someone.
‘I should rather expose myself.’
And the second reason was that making your name known is advantageous for future play.
Watching Darkness affect companies outside the game, Hyun realized how important name value is.
“If reality mixes with Assrian, large guilds will inevitably turn into corporations.”
Ginny said that not too long ago.
Brand value is an element that has a huge impact on both the game and reality.
In order to adapt to the changing Asrian, he says he needs to let the world know his name.
‘It’s a little disappointing that I can’t use the Hall of Fame… .’
However, if you register your ranking, you will gain fame even from NPCs.
Now that Louise is wanted. There was nothing good about attracting the attention of non-users, so Hyun decided to put off ranking registration.
‘Because that video will be released soon.’
Even if you don’t rush, it won’t take long to imprint your name on the world.
Maybe an opportunity like the ‘History Quest’ will come again.
Even if it’s not like that. There were usually plenty of opportunities to reveal oneself.
“If you look around the hall, you will only find someone with the same name. I didn’t register for ranking.”
“Oh, I see!”
“It’s not in the rankings… If you search the community for the ID ‘hyun’, you might come up with something.”
“… ?”
For a moment, Hyeon trembled with a brief sense of shame.
It was because I felt like I was reciting Salon’s cheesy lines.
‘Did I just say something… ?’
Hyun thought it was fortunate that the sound of Ain’s laughter in his ears didn’t leak out.
Kurrrrr. The cylindrical ground descended very slowly.
The four quietly waited for the elevator to stop.
“Look at the drawer!”
At an ambiguous hour, Reward, who was doing something alone, whispered to Drawer.
“I just looked for it… This person seems to be a very great user.”
The screen that Reward shared with Drawer was an article found in the Assrian community.
“hyeon? You said Asura was #1 in the online rankings?」
“But what’s amazing is that no one has ever seen a string in Assrian!”
“Is this person that prefecture?”
“perhaps… We might be having a great experience right now!”
The community had more information related to the prefecture than expected.
His former status, his relationship with Ain, and what he would be like if he were playing Asrian.
‘ah… ?’
Reward’s eyes sparkled again.
It was because I found something new in the community again.
The author of the article made a very special assumption, saying that if Hyun was playing Assrian, he would definitely be with Ain.
It’s about the ‘binge’.
‘This is really possible… ? But if this assumption is correct, everything is explained!’
And the more he thought about it, the more Reward’s thoughts were narrowed down to one.
“hey… .”
Rewards mustered up the courage to check it out.
“Ain… Right?”
“… .”
“At the same time, it is also the prefecture… ! is not it?”
“Leward, what nonsense is that?”
At first glance, it sounds like a far cry from logic.
“that’s right.”
However, Hyeonu smiled at those words and nodded his head.
“Huh, finally someone who can guess properly has come out.”
Pod! and unlocked the assimilation.
“Wow, wow! what!”
Drawer jumped up in surprise at the sight of a strange man who suddenly jumped out of the girl’s body.
It was the moment when Hyun, who decided that there was no need to hide it any longer, appeared to users other than acquaintances for the first time.
***
“… I don’t like it a bit.”
In the elevator going down to the 19th floor.
Suddenly, Ain complained.
“what?”
“That Hyun becomes famous.”
“why… ?」
“… … .」
Ain didn’t answer the following question, but Hyun knew the reason at once.
Emotions were conveyed through fairy tales.
If my guess is correct, Ain’s reasons were very personal.
「It can’t be helped. Because it’s different from Asura’s time. As long as you hide, you will be overtaken someday.”
“If it’s Hyeon, isn’t it possible to keep ahead?”
“I am not a god… Of course there are limits! Didn’t you see that level 200+ user before?」
Hyun quickly turned around.
It was to put an end to useless arguments and to solve the root cause of Ain’s heartache.
“And what you worry about won’t happen.”
“My, what am I worried about… ?!”
“Tell me directly?”
Hyun’s conscious senses were conveyed to Ain through fairy tales.
“no… .」
After that, there was no need to open up to each other, so only silence continued.
‘Does Hyun have a sharp personality?’
The girl’s expression of discomfort without saying a word made even the two nearby nervous.
“Reward, are we okay?”
“I don’t know. I did find an article that wrote down Hyun’s former personality, but… .”
“How was it?”
“I don’t think that’s a good thing.”
Reward murmured quietly after a while.
“Maybe it would be better to just give up the magic stone we decided to receive… .”
thud! It had been a long time since the party had stopped descending on the ground.
Finally arrived on the 19th floor.
‘I’ve finally come this far.’
Hyun recalled the information about the 19th floor once again.
It is known that the difficulty of the labyrinth increases as you go deeper, but this place is an exception.
The 19th floor was a place where NPCs made a base, and it was a safer place than the 18th floor as well as the previous floors.
‘Because it’s the lower class from here.’
However, from the 20th floor beyond the 19th floor, the story is completely different.
‘I’m going to have to wake up now!’
Even adventurers and mercenaries who were confident in their skills rarely tried to go down to the 20th floor.
It’s only been 5 years since the huge labyrinth was created in Labyrinth. This is because the map of the lower layer has not yet been completed.
In a way, it can be seen that the base on the 19th floor serves as an outpost for exploring the lower floors.
‘Is this the end of being with them?’
Hyeon glanced at the two who were following him.
Starting from the 20th floor, they were useless, and there was no room to protect them.
“How are we?”
Drawer, noticing her gaze, swallowed and asked.
For some reason, he sounded like a prisoner awaiting sentencing even though he hadn’t done anything wrong.
“well… ”
Hyun thought quietly.
There is no way that an ordinary level 150 user would have had an expensive return scroll.
It wasn’t even a spec that was strong enough to go back through the labyrinth, so the only way to reach the ground would be to die and then resurrect.
“Shouldn’t I die now?”
