CH 219

Chi-Woo let out a deep sigh and opened his eyes. The day was dark. Caught in the chaos, he had lost track of time, and it seemed a long time had passed since then. Narsha Haram was still standing resolutely in its spot. A faint light from the bonfire fluctuated around the tower and revealed the camping site near it. It seemed the others had decided to sleep for the night and enter the tower tomorrow when he showed no signs of waking up.

‘The captain of the team must be feeling impatient.’ Chi-Woo bitterly smiled. The breathing exercise his brother taught him was truly good, but it took him way too long to gather his exorcism mana again; it was only understandable. After all, it required him to breathe out the old while breathing in the new, and it didn’t stop until he released all the impurities inside him.

But thanks to everyone having waited for him, Chi-Woo estimated he’d recovered his exorcism mana to 70%. Then he felt somebody else’s gaze upon him. He looked to where the bonfire was and saw something flicker around the firelight. It was Bogle.

“Huh, you’re up?” It seemed Bogle was on guard duty and protecting the bonfire alone.

“I’m sorry,” Chi-Woo said while getting up. “We wasted a day because of me.”

“No! What do you mean waste!” Bogle waved his hand frantically. “Well, Captain might’ve been feeling a bit impatient…but I was glad about it. Honestly, we couldn’t actually rest because of how focused we’ve been on marching. I think it’s better that we recover properly before entering the Narsha Haram!” Bogle talked for a long time about why there was no need for Chi-Woo to feel apologetic before turning sullen again.

“And Airi’s fever isn’t dropping…”

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

“Is her condition dire?”

“It’s a lot better now. I think she’s overcome the critical period. Ah…” Bogle looked flustered as he walked toward him. “Everyone is sleeping. You can also go if you’re tired.”

“I’ll do that if my presence makes you uncomfortable.”

“No, that’s not what I mean!” Bogle jumped to emphasize his point, and Chi-Woo slumped down next to him.

“That’s good. I just finished my breathing exercise, so my mind is clear.”

“Heh—Is that what you call a breathing exercise? It was really cool! Beautiful clouds whirled around you, and as soon as you opened your eyes, they all got sucked into your body…” Bogle’s eyes sparkled as he talked about what he had seen.

Chi-Woo smiled and said, “She must be really precious to you.”

“Hm?”

“You know, Ms. Airi.”

“Um…”

Chi-Woo thought Bogle would look embarrassed and try to avoid responding, but he smiled and immediately admitted, “Yes! Of course she’s precious to me!” Bogle said, “Dingos and carbuncles don’t have a bad relationship as we have similar roots. I’ve also known her since I was young and went through so many ups and downs with her on the battlefield…” Bogle rattled on without being prompted.

Chi-Woo nodded and said, “If Ms. Airi wakes up, I should relay to her what you just told me. I’m sure she will be very glad to hear that.”

“No, please don’t ever tell her,” Bogle said in surprise and grabbed the hem of Chi-Woo’s shirt. “If Airi hears that, she will tease me about it for the rest of my life. Please…I beg you.”

Chi-Woo let out a small burst of laughter at Bogle’s desperate tone. It really seemed like Chi-Woo had made the right choice to talk to Bogle. Although Bogle had been keeping his feelings to himself, he must have been anxious about Airi’s condition the whole time, and now all sorts of expressions were passing through his face.

“You aren’t joking right? You really won’t tell her right?”

“Hm~ Let me think about it.”

“Ugh, why are you suddenly acting like this?”

“I don’t want to do it for free. If you satisfy one of my curiosities, I will keep this a secret between us.”

“Curiosity?”

“Yes. Like what is the Narsha Haram that the captain is so excited about?”

Hearing this, Bogle stared intently at Chi-Woo. He realized what Chi-Woo was doing.

“…Thank you.” Bogle scratched his head, looking a bit shy. “You saved Airi, spoke to Captain for me, and are now even looking out for me… You really are a good human.”

“Eh, what do you mean good human? I’m a sly human who is trying to use one of your weaknesses to fulfill my curiosity.”

“Haha. Is that so? Then I have no choice. I have revealed to you my weakness by blabbing on, so I must respond to your question.” Bogle chuckled like he was finally in a good mood and cleared his throat. “Narsha Haram is a tower where the buhguhbu race’s dreams begin.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s the start of the legend of God Mamiya, whom the buhguhbus including Captain serve,” Bogle continued. “Looking back, buhguhbus have quite the deep history. It can be traced back beyond the ancient times to the mythical times.”

“By mythical times…”

“It’s the time of the gods,” Bogle said. “When gods ruled Liber.” In Earth terms, it would be during the times of Greek mythology.

“You know God Kabbalah from our city, right? There were many gods like God Kabbalah before ancient times. When the mythical times ended, and the world entered the ancient times, most of the gods left the Middle World.”

Kabbalah was different from other gods in the way she meddled with matters in the Middle World. Gods now kept their intervention to a minimum, but during mythical times, they personally ascended to the human realms and lived among many other species. Thus, naturally, gods often got into arguments or fights with one another; and since gods were involved, the scales of these fights were especially large. One particular battle nicknamed the ‘The Gods’ Twilight’, or ‘Ragnarök’, swept through the entire world. It was a great war that almost caused Liber’s ruin, and the surviving gods from that battle agreed to leave the Middle World so that something like this would never happen again. They gave up on their rule over the Middle World, and humans and other species took over, thus ending the mythical times to begin the ancient times. In other words, Ragnarök was the pivotal event that divided the two ages.

“During the mythical times, buhguhbus weren’t a race with much power. They were on the weaker end because they had no gods.” A race that didn’t receive a god’s blessings could only be weak. After all, this was during the times when gods could erode a mountain with just the slightest gesture of their hands and create an ocean. There was a reason why Liber almost fell because of Ragnarök.

“What do you think the buhguhbus’ dreams would’ve been during that time?”

“Hm…survival?”

“That’s correct. And if I had to add one more thing, it is to serve their own god since that was synonymous to gaining power during that time.” Back then, the buhguhbus were in such a dire state that survival was their only dream.

“They were well-regarded by other species because they were good with their hands even during those times though. And after many arduous days, a prominent buhguhbu appeared.” This buhguhbu was Mamiya. “According to legends, Mamiya first appeared when there was a dispute between the buhguhbus and another race. Apparently, this other race was quite a powerful force that served a god.”

Bogle said with a trace of teasing in his expression. “As you can tell from Captain, the buhguhbus have very strong pride. They would rather die than give up.”

“Yes, yes.”

“The other race’s god must have been astounded. They provoked a fight because they coveted the buhguhbus’ talents. Yet the buhguhbus resisted, determined that they would be wiped out before they would surrender.” Thus, after much thought, the other race’s god came up with a trick. Instead of continuing this meaningless war, the god asked to make a bet.

“A bet?”

“Yes. If the buhguhbus lost the bet, they would have to live as slaves to the other race forever. But if they won, the other race wouldn’t bother them ever again and would instead treat them as fellow comrades.”

In the end, Mamiya accepted the god’s challenge and succeeded. Thanks to that, Mamiya’s fame rose far and wide, and the god admitted their fault and defeat. Afterward, Mamiya was celebrated as his race’s hero and even made a mark at the end of the Ragnarök that almost caused the end of the world. Even in his last breath, Mamiya swore to guard the buhguhbus after death and joined the ranks of gods.

“Then the bet was…”

“Yes,” Bogle smirked and said while looking up at the Narsha Haram, “It’s to break through this tower of trials.”

“This tower is made up of seven floors. At the time of the bet, the other group’s god said that if Mamiya could bring an item from the top floor, they would back away without complaints.”

“What happened then?”

“Don’t be too shocked, but Sir Mamiya completed the condition in just a day!”

“Really?”

“That was how outstanding Sir Mamiya was. According to the legends, the creatures on the top floor didn’t even think of blocking Sir Mamiya because they feared him.”

‘Oh—’ Chi-Woo exclaimed in astonishment.

“You can understand why Captain was so excited right?”

Chi-Woo nodded. For the buhguhbus, the tower named Narsha Haram was immensely symbolic. Although the condition that they needed to retrieve an item from only the first floor sounded ominous, Dalgil’s status in his tribe would rise significantly if he accomplished this deed and returned home.

“How is it? Did I fulfill your curiosity?”

“Yes. It was very interesting.”

“Hehe. I’m glad you liked it. So, does that mean you will keep my secret?”

“Hm, I think I’ll have to think about that a bit more.”

“Erm. Well, it can’t be helped. I will have to keep fulfilling your curiosities. Is there anything else that you’re curious about?”

“There is. When you mentioned the other race’s god, who—”

“I was wondering when you were going to ask. The god who made the bet with Sir Mamiya was God Miho, whom both Airi and I serve…”

“Ah, really? Then…”

“Yes. After that bet, God Miho acknowledged Sir Mamiya and accepted the buhguhbus as allies. From then on, our three races…” As the two talked, the night continued to deepen.

***

The next day, the camping site was busy early in the morning. It was because Dalgil was intent on entering the Narsha Haram tower today. He didn’t look so good. It appeared he didn’t get a wink of sleep last night.

Noting the dark circles under Dalgil’s eyes, Chi-Woo said while smiling, “You must have been too excited to sleep, sir.”

“I couldn’t sleep with the sound of people excitedly chattering all morning,” Dalgil said in a slightly hoarse voice. It didn’t sound like he was really blaming Chi-Woo.

“Thank you.” Instead, Dalgil was thankful. “There’s the deal with Airi, but I’m sure Bogle must have been worried sick. He seemed much brighter this morning. I should’ve taken care of him better as the captain… You have my sincere thanks.”

“Focusing just on the expedition usually keeps a captain’s hands full,” Chi-Woo replied kindly and looked around. “By the way, Ms. Airi…”

“I already checked on her. Her fever had gone down significantly.”

“Then there’s only one thing to do.”

“Yes, that’s right. Make sure you have a good breakfast. Who knows what we will have to deal with if we go inside.” Like Dalgil told them to, the expedition team filled up their stomachs.

—I’m a bit worried.

While eating, Philip suddenly spoke.

—The test suddenly changed because of you.

Chi-Woo glanced at Philip, and Philip continued.

—I don’t know if we’re doing the right thing.

‘Why?’

—Well, you know Mamiya admitted that you are a cheat-like existence against the Demon Empire and changed the test. Doesn’t that mean the change would make it so your existence is no longer a cheat?

Chi-Woo fell into deep contemplation. Philip was right.

—Well, seeing your user information, I can guess how it would’ve changed.

Although Philip’s points were valid, they couldn’t ask the god to change things back now. The expedition team finished their meal, organized the campsite, and stood in front of the tower’s entrance. There was no need to say more. After looking up at the tower for a bit, Dalgil started moving with a stern look on his face. He reached out to open the door when the door made out of light opened wide by itself.

Dalgil stopped. Inside the door was pure darkness. No one could tell what there was. It felt as if they were willingly walking into a monster’s mouth, but Dalgil strode confidently inside. One after another, the expedition team entered the Narsha Haram.

Bam!

The door closed by itself. The expedition team stood still inside the darkness, unable to see anything.

“Should we have lit up a torch before going in…?” Bogle suggested in a trembling voice. It was then their surroundings suddenly lit up like a stage would when the actors got on. Chi-Woo closed his eyes at the sudden brightness then opened them again. His jaw dropped.

‘A pillar? No, the walls…’ The ivory-colored interior looked considerably wide, much wider than what the exterior of the tower would suggest. It was akin to seeing a giant pool when they expected only a bathtub. White walls lined the room, and the curved paths interrupting the walls were so complicated that the place appeared like a maze. It seemed to be how the first floor was structured, and inside this maze, they needed to find Mamiya’s token.

Realizing this, Dalgil’s face stiffened, and he said, “…This isn’t good. Why now of all times…” In a maze where they couldn’t make heads or tails, they especially needed a guide. However, Airi hadn’t regained her senses yet. Still, it wasn’t like they were completely helpless.

“Can’t be helped. Bogle, can you throw your staff whenever we arrive at a fork…?” Dalgil trailed off when he saw Bogle floundering around with a stunned look on his face.

“What is it?”

“I-It doesn’t work.”

“What?”

“It doesn’t work. I don’t know why, but it’s different from usual. God Miho isn’t giving me directions.” Bogle picked up the staff from the ground and threw it again, but nothing changed. The oak tree staff didn’t rotate like a top as it usually did and instead fell limply onto the ground.

“Why is it acting this way? Why suddenly? God Miho, please…” Bogle whimpered. Dalgil’s face grew stiff. He had an inkling as to what was going on. Mamiya and Miho were close. Miho liked Mamiya for taking a god’s bet head-on and passing. Moreover, Miho had offered support to help Mamiya join the rank of gods; the fact alone displayed the kind of relationship the two had. Thus, there was only one reason why Miho’s powers weren’t activating right now. Miho was respecting the test being given and wanted the expedition team to do as Mamiya wished.

“They don’t want us to take shortcuts, but go through this obstacle head-on just like God Mamiya.” This was what Dalgil wanted anyways. “Good. I will show them,” Dalgil murmured and huffed from his nose. Chi-Woo felt someone tap on his shoulders. He turned around to see Hawa looking at him.

“What is it?” Chi-Woo asked, and Hawa jerked her chin without saying anything. She shifted her gaze upwards, and Chi-Woo tilted his head to follow even while looking puzzled.