Chapter 121
“What is it?”
Seol Jihu asked nervously, and Kazuki slowly opened his mouth .
“I can’t find Jun . ”
“Sakamoto Jun?”
Kazuki nodded as he puffed out white smoke .
“There are forty staircases in total . Assuming each labyrinth had eight people, that means at least 320 participated in this year’s Banquet… . ” As the end of his sentence trailed off, his expression turned more and more sour .
“36 teams made it up so far, so 288 people should be here . ”
“Right, but they might have—”
“I know . But don’t you think it’s too harsh for only 165 people to have made it up here?”
Seol Jihu swallowed his saliva . Over half of the participants had perished or had been eliminated in Stage 1?
“There are still four teams left . I can only hope he’s just been eliminated . ”
Kazuki smiled bitterly before asking for another cigarette . In response, Seol Jihu dazedly handed him the entire pack .
“Anyways, I heard you did well . The second team to make it up here, right?”
“Who told you that?”
“An Archer named Lara Wolff . She was praising you so much that I began to worry her tongue would dry up . ”
Kazuki seemed to have gone around to exchange information the moment he came up . Seol Jihu silently regretted just sitting around and doing nothing .
Meanwhile, Kazuki glanced at the youth and saw his complexion sink .
“…Not really,” The youth muttered in a gloomy voice .
Kazuki tilted his head . From what he heard about the youth’s feats, he should have no reason to feel dejected .
“Did something happen?”
Seol Jihu hesitated for a long time . Then… .
“…Leading people is really hard, huh . ” He finally let out the sigh he had been holding in . “Things don’t work out the way you want . To be honest, I can’t even remember what I did . ”
Kazuki must have been caught off guard as his eyes widened with a cigarette still hanging between his lips . However, that only lasted a moment .
“Yep . ”
As the leader of Umi Tsubame, he couldn’t help but agree with the youth’s statement .
“You’re right . It is hard . After all, you have to unite people who aren’t like you and people who aren’t like each other . ”
“Tough, huh… . ”
The reason Seol Jihu was so troubled was that he didn’t know what to do . He didn’t have regrets . Not a single thought of ‘I should have done this or I should have done that’ entered his mind .
Because of this, he couldn’t make any excuses . Even if he went back in time and restarted Stage 1 with the knowledge he had now, he wasn’t confident in bringing about a result better than this one .
“Mister Kazuki . ”
“Mm?”
“There’s something I want to say too . ”
“…I’ll consider it payment for this pack of cigarettes . ”
Seol Jihu confessed his frustrations at Kazuki, who was a well-respected leader . Perhaps the youth wanted someone to listen to him, agree with him, and offer some advice .
Kazuki listened to the youth silently before saying, “Maybe the clothes didn’t fit you . ”
Seol Jihu tilted his head in confusion .
“If I were you…” Kazuki continued immediately, “I would have revealed my identity first . ”
“Why?”
“There is value in the name Carpe Diem . Plus, your name is a topic in itself . ”
“They might think I’m just being cocky . ”
“Only if you introduce yourself arrogantly . Depending on your attitude or the situation, things might have gone in a different direction . ” Kazuki snorted . “The method you used to lead the six members of the group is persuasion . In other words, a gift of gab . ”
“R… right . ”
“Words have different weights depending on who says them . The words of a famous, authoritative person are different than the words of a nameless brat . ” Kazuki muttered endlessly . “And fame is the strongest card in your possession . What’s wrong about using something you’ve built up fair and square?”
Seol Jihu became speechless at Kazuki’s logical reasoning .
“It’s only a guess, but had you revealed your identity at the beginning, their attitude might have changed . At the very least, they wouldn’t have looked down on you . ”
“Is that really the case?”
“That’s what I did . ”
“Ah . ”
“You need to know your value a bit more,” Kazuki smirked as he saw the youth’s look of disbelief . “Well, despite me saying this… I don’t think what you did was bad . ”
“Really?”
“You said Oh Rahee and the Viper, or rather Audrey Basler, were in your party, right?”
“Yes . ”
“With those two… well…” Kazuki took a careful look around before speaking quietly, “It wouldn’t have been strange even if the team was torn to pieces . You did a good job just coming out in one piece . ”
“… . ”
Seol Jihu trembled, feeling like he just heard something terrifying . “Do you know them?”
“Of course . ” Kazuki’s face seemed to say, ‘How would I not know them?’
“Oh Rahee is a High Ranker, but she was famous even before she became one . She has a few infamous tales, so look into them if you’re curious . ”
“Can’t you just tell me? You can just summarize them . ”
“Figuratively speaking, she has the battle prowess of the God of War Zhao Yun, and the intelligence and political power of Sima Yi . ”
Hearing Kazuki compare her to two of the most famous generals in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Seol Jihu dropped his jaw . He asked, “How could there be such a cheat character?”
However, Kazuki was dead serious .
“What… what about Audrey Basler?”
“She is someone I would never pick to be a member of my team . ” Kazuki spoke firmly, “If I were in your position, I would have either killed her, or abandoned her . I wouldn’t have considered any other option . ”
“Why?”
“Because my life could be in danger if I let her be . ”
Seol Jihu tilted his head, but when he remembered Snake Eyes’ color, he immediately agreed . Even as he was progressing through the labyrinth, he was more wary of Basler than Oh Rahee .
“Still, to say you’d kill her… . Isn’t there a way to bring her along?”
“Seol . ” Kazuki sighed . “I’m not a murderous psychopath . I’m not saying I would kill for no reason . However, I also don’t think I’m wrong . ”
“… . ”
“Of course, that doesn’t mean you’re right . Since you managed to pull it off, I won’t say you’re soft either . ” Kazuki spoke sharply .
Then… . “But… your method might have been the right one for Stage 1 . ” He muttered with a voice carrying a hint of regret .
It was then . Ruffle, ruffle . The surroundings suddenly got noisy .
“One?”
Kazuki doubted his eyes . On one of the remaining stairways, a long-haired man climbed up to the mountaintop . He seemed to be about 2 meters tall, and his stature was also huge .
The problem was that he was plastered in blood . It was so much that even fresh blood was dripping down from the ends of his hair . His demon-like appearance made the surrounding people back off in shock .
Furthermore, the moment the man climbed up to the mountaintop, the 40 pillars emitted brilliant beams of light . The beams all shot toward the middle before forming a cluster .
Something was finally appearing above the empty mountaintop . In other words… .
“A portal, huh . ”
Stage 1 had officially ended .
“Mister Kazuki . ” Seol Jihu asked as he watched other people gather around the glimmering light in groups, “There’s another thing I’m curious about . ”
“If it’s just one, go ahead . ”
“What did you mean when you said the clothes didn’t fit me?”
“I meant you should take off your mask . ” Kazuki replied immediately .
‘Mask?’ Seol Jihu touched his face . What was Kazuki talking about?
“What kind of a leader do I look like to you?”
Hearing the sudden question, Seol Jihu pondered before saying, “Mm… . A cold, level-hearted leader who does everything that needs to be done?”
“Why do you think that?”
Seol Jihu didn’t answer right away, but he had a reason for this assessment .
Back in the rescue mission, Kazuki had found his younger sister after all sorts of hardships . However, he had cut her down without a shred of hesitation . This blade-like coldness left a powerful impression on Seol Jihu, who was shaken quite a lot at the time .
“Just like how each individual differs, leaders have their own styles . ”
“Right . ”
“You tried to lead people with words, but that wasn’t the method that fit you . ”
“… . ”
“In my eyes, you’re not the ‘eloquent orator’ type or the ‘cunning strategist’ type . No, you’re more the instinctive type . ”
He wore a calm expression, and his voice carried strength behind his words .
“You should find a style that suits your nature . You know, wear the clothes that fit you . ”
After saying this, Kazuki got up . The portal had been fully opened, and people were entering it one by one .
“Nature…?”
“Yep . Do you remember? When you shoved your spear at my neck on Huge Stone Rocky Mountain . ”
“That was—”
“In my eyes—” Kazuki twisted his body halfway and glanced back at the youth, “That state of madness you showed me is closer to your true self . ” He smirked and then walked towards the portal .
‘A style that suits my nature?’ Seol Jihu looked at his Status Window and made a troubled expression .
‘A chaotic leader is a bit…’ He smacked his lips before standing up with his spear .
Just as he was about to follow Kazuki—
‘Huh?’
His chaotic mind suddenly became relaxed like a tranquil lake . It felt like the worries filling his head had all been washed away . It was a mystifying feeling . He had only exchanged a few words, but his body and mind had become more stable .
Seol Jihu came to realize something then .
‘So this is why ‘short-tempered’ doesn’t go away . ’
One should never expect to get full with the first bite, and one needed more than pearls to make a necklace .
Dylan and Kazuki couldn’t have been well-respected leaders from the start . As Seol Jihu was only 26 years old, expecting to be on the same level as them would be too greedy .
‘Right . ’
Seol Jihu wasn’t a full-fledged leader yet . He had only taken his first step . He had many things to experience and many things to learn . Today’s failure would only be one of the countless failures of the future .
When he thought about things this way, not only did he stop feeling so complicated, but even courage welled up inside him .
‘In Stage 2… . ’
He didn’t expect to be perfect . But he could try to do better by using the experience he gained from Stage 1’s failure .
Seol Jihu tightened his grip around his Ice Spear . Then, he confidently stepped towards the portal .
His heart began to pound once again .
*
The white light blocking his vision slowly dissipated . Seol Jihu checked his surroundings the moment he opened his eyes .
Thankfully, he wasn’t separated from his teammates like in Stage 1 . He could see both Chohong and Hugo . This was surely good news, but he could also see over a hundred others .
‘165… no, 166 . ’ After remembering the bloodied man who walked up at the end, Seol Jihu slowly walked forward . He was about to sneak up to Chohong and poke her side when he felt someone tug at the hem of his clothes .
Glancing back, he saw Maria pulling on him .
“Stay still . ”
“Huh?”
“The atmosphere is weird,” Maria whispered .
Seol Jihu looked around the area once again . Indeed, something seemed off . He couldn’t quite put it into words, but the air felt strangely heavy .
Even Chohong’s eyes were gleaming with a cold light . It was the same with Hugo . Their usual cheerful appearances were nowhere to be seen, and they were staring blankly into the air with the eyes of a hunter searching for prey .
Plus, they weren’t the only ones like this . Everybody he saw seemed to be seriously infuriated, adding to the area’s hostile atmosphere .
It didn’t take long for him to realize something must have happened during Stage 1 .
‘Wait!’
He remembered that he started to feel bad after Stage 1 ended . If he didn’t vent his pent-up frustration by talking with Kazuki, he wouldn’t have been any different than the people here .
‘This place… . ’
When he activated his Nine Eyes and looked around the area, he couldn’t hide his shock .
He was in a meadow, an open field where green grass gently swayed from a light breeze . All of the remaining 166 participants had been thrown into this vast plain .
Of course, the grass wasn’t the only thing here . At a spot close to where they were teleported, there were two large holes about 2 meters in diameter . They were about 10 meters away from each other, and a rectangular stone stele was standing between them .
And above this stone stele was a familiar object — a giant hourglass .
‘What is that?’
People, who likewise finished surveying the area, either approached the stone stele or watched it attentively . It was then…
DING—!
An intense pain struck Seol Jihu’s head, similar to when he went through Synchronization . Muffled groans rang out from the surroundings, but the strange phenomenon only lasted a moment .
Seol Jihu was pressing his temples when he realized that information he didn’t have before was etched in his brain, and his eyes widened .
‘Information was… planted in my brain?’
Clearly, previously unknown information had been forced into everyone’s brains . But as Seol Jihu had experienced something similar before, he wasn’t too taken aback .
He closed his eyes and focused on the new information .
[1 . The Plaza of Sacrifice (Left)]
Activation Condition: At least 6 people must enter .
Difficulty: Static
—Exit blocked once entered .
—Exit automatically opened once all enemies eliminated or no challengers remain .
[2 . The Plaza of the Dissonant Wish (Right)]
Activation Condition: The Activation of the Plaza of Sacrifice
—Activated every time the Plaza of Sacrifice is activated . At most 6 people can enter .
—Can acquire the Dissonant Wish
—Stepping on the red portal on top of the altar with transport the challenger to Stage 3 or Paradise . Leaving through the exit will return them to Stage 2 .
[3 . Miscellaneous]
—10 people can enter Stage 3 .
—Successfully defeating the Plaza of Sacrifice 20 times will permanently activate the Plaza of the Dissonant Wish and disable the entree limit (All can enter) .
After reading all the information available, Seol Jihu muttered out, ‘God damn it . ’
There were several conditions to worry about, but the general nuance of the stage seemed to lie on getting to the Plaza of the Dissonant Wish . The question, of course, was ‘how’ .
Frankly speaking, it was clear what these dirty conditions were trying to say .
Tang! Suddenly, a harsh crashing sound rang out .
The information was not finished . There was one condition left in the Miscellaneous section .
[If the Plaza of Sacrifice is not activated before the hourglass’s sand completely trickles down, a huge group of monsters will appear in the field . ]
Seol Jihu opened his eyes . He began to see sand falling from the overturned hourglass .
“… . ”
Everyone’s faces contorted viciously as they stared at the stone stele .
A deadly silence ensued .
Sssss-!
While only the sound of sand trickling down rang out… .
“S-Shouldn’t we hurry inside?”
A voice from somewhere made everyone stare at each other . The Timing Game had begun the moment the sand began to fall .
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