CH 229

The door disappeared. No, it wasn’t just the door; the ivory-colored maze, the walls—everything disappeared. There was only a vast, empty grassland. The entire Narsha Haram was completely gone as if the expedition members had left the tower. The unexpected situation rendered them speechless.

Since they had opened a door in the seventh room, this should’ve been the eighth compartment. However, the scene in front of them looked exactly the same as when they were outside the Narsha Haram. There was also the same altar placed alone on the grass as proof. Dalgil had presented a token there and summoned the Narsha Haram. The token was now on the altar, as if it had never disappeared at all.

“…What?” Ru Hiana mumbled.

“…It might be a test,” Dalgil said in a hoarse voice. “God Mamiya favors brave warriors. I think the room was meant to test my courage.”

“So if we had opened the blue door…”

“I would have failed the test.” The words on the monument that despair would be waiting on the other side of the white door were there to invoke fear. However, Dalgil didn’t back down and decided to push head-on. Thus, by proving his courage, he passed Mamiya’s test. It was a rather plausible interpretation. Considering that the token was back on the altar, everything seemed to fit.

“Then…it’s over?” As Ru Hiana said, it was safe to say that the test was over. All they had to do now was take the token and return to the holy city, Shalyh. Then Dalgil would rise up to platinum rank, and his status within his tribe would increase. His grandfather, Mangil, who must have been anxiously waiting for him, would clap in delight.

…Yes, that would be the case—if he decided to go back. Dalgil didn’t look happy at all; he looked bitter. No one had to ask why.

‘Mr. Bogle… Ms. Airi…’ What happened to those two? Were they dead? they might be alive and searching for them right now. Chi-Woo didn’t feel like celebrating at all. He didn’t even dare to extend his comfort. Instead, he only felt a deep sense of guilt. Before they left that blasted room, Airi had definitely been his comrade; he was sure since he had been holding her the whole time since the fourth room. However, while he left for a short time to check the situation outside, the real Airi had been replaced with a fake one.

‘It’s my fault.’ If he hadn’t gone out and instead waited there, or at least brought her along, Airi would have still been with them. His action to protect Airi had actually harmed her instead. Chi-Woo clenched his teeth. He didn’t want to return like this. He wanted to at least confirm whether Bogle and Airi were alive. If there was a tower in front of them, he would have immediately suggested going back. However, the test was already over, and the Narsha Haram was gone. While silence weighed on them, Dalgil walked as if he was in a trance. He picked up the token on the altar and stared blankly.

Chi-Woo turned away; he couldn’t bear to look at Dalgil. Then he blinked in surprise when he saw Hawa. There was clear emotion on her face, which was an extremely rare occurrence. She was clutching her temples and chewing her lower lip. It was obvious that she was in a state of deep contemplation.

“Ms. Hawa…” Chi-Woo was about to ask what was that about, but Hawa held out her hand to stop him.

“You have to open the door and go through the room to enter the next compartment…” She murmured to herself for a while. Then her eyes widened, and she quickly looked around. She opened her mouth slightly and closed it again, and her face returned to its usual emotionless state. It seemed she had noticed something, but Chi-Woo remained silent; Hawa was staring quietly at Dalgil, waiting to see how Dalgil would act.

Dalgil fiddled with the token for a while and turned slowly. “We found the token. The test is over.” He looked at the expedition members in turn. “Now we just have to return with this.”

“That’s right.” Suddenly, a voice agreed out of nowhere. Everyone turned to find Airi—Airi who was lying on the grass with a dagger stuck in her body. Or to be more exact, a monster pretending to be Airi. “It’s all over. You can just take the token and dedicate it to your god.”

Dalgil moved towards her and looked down at the small form lying helplessly on the ground.

“Of course, you want to get your comrade back. I understand how you feel, but you don’t even know if they’re alive, right?” Airi continued, “Those two probably don’t want you to go back, right?”

“…You speak quite well.” Dalgil finally opened his mouth.

“Because we’re not in the tower anymore,” Airi smiled and answered. “In that damn tower, the things I can say are limited except for when I’m in the sixth room.”

Chi-Woo recalled the pattern on the sixth door and realized what the X on the closed mouth and the O on the open mouth indicated. The sixth room actually did have boss monsters—the two monsters who imitated Bogle and Airi. And as the opened mouth indicated, they were able to speak in the sixth room.

“They don’t want me to go back…yeah, that might be the case,” Dalgil replied.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

“Yeah, then—”

“But what about it?” Dalgil interrupted Airi. “I have no intention of going back like this in the slightest.”

One of Airi’s eyes slightly opened. “How? The tower is already gone.”

“I can summon it again.” Dalgil lifted the token in his hand; he was going to offer the token again and call forth the Narsha Haram.

“Huh,” Airi snorted. “Why? You want to get their corpses and return?” She asked without blinking an eye. “When everything is already over? Are you going to be a hypocrite now?” She chuckled like she was mocking him.

“Hypocrite?”

“It’s hypocrisy, isn’t it?” Airi smiled and continued, “If you really cared for your comrades, you should have chosen the blue door instead of the white door. Don’t you think so?”

It was then Dalgil burst into laughter. He said while wiping his eyes, “I understand now a bit. God Mamiya…no, it seems like God Mamiya was the one who imitated Bogle, then you must be God Miho.”

Airi’s face hardened. She soon replied calmly, “What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

But Dalgil continued to smile blandly. “It doesn’t matter. The important thing is that part of what you said is true. Bogle and Airi would have definitely wanted me to return to Shalyh like this.” He paused and continued, “…We are friends who have grown up together since we were young. We’ve been through countless battles side by side even after we grew up.”

“I’m asking you again—what are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“I always took the lead as the captain, and they always watched my back and supported me.”

“What are you—”

“And I’ve never, ever abandoned those two.”

Airi closed her mouth as Dalgil continued in a determined tone, “They always trusted and followed me, and I never abandoned them in the face of any danger.”

“…”

“That’s how we treat each other. That’s the way I prove and repay their trust and faith in me.”

Airi’s eyes slightly trembled. “…The test is already over. If you dedicate the token this time, you won’t be able to hold it again.”

“I don’t have any regrets, since I’ve already held it in my hands once.”

“The token is just a medium to summon the Narsha Haram. You would need to pay a suitable price to get what you want in the tower.”

“As much as I need to. I’m more than willing.”

“You’ve been through it already. And you’re going to start over again? In this state? The red door may have opened, and the predators on the second floor may have come down to the first floor by now.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“What if they are already dead? What if they were eaten, and not even their corpses are left?”

“Then I would at least recover their corpses. If even their corpses are gone, I would find those who ate Bogle and Airi and tear them into pieces, scattering them in the air to comfort my friends’ spirits.”

With these words, Airi finally closed her mouth. She stared at Dalgil with a curious gaze.

“Are you done?” Dalgil smirked and raised his feet. “Then please send my greeting to God Mamiya for me.” He lowered his feet with all his might.

“Hey, wait—” Airi tried to say something in a hurry, but Dalgil crushed her with his feet, and she turned into liquid.

“Well then.” Dalgil shook his foot and looked back at the rest of the expedition members. He made his intentions clear in his conversation with the fake Airi just now. He was going to offer the token again and summon Narsha Haram to find his companions.

“You don’t have to follow me,” Dalgil said in a soft voice. “The request is over. What you do from now on is beyond its scope. Since this is my choice, I can’t force any of you to follow me. Even if you decide to return, I won’t blame you.”

Then he shrugged and continued, “Of course, if any of you insist on following me, I won’t stop you.” However, it was clear that Dalgil hoped that the rest of the expedition members would follow him.

When Dalgil looked at Chi-Woo, everyone’s attention shifted to him, and of course, Chi-Woo had already made his decision. “I heard this before in the last expedition I was in.” He continued with a low voice, “The expedition is not over until we return.” As Chi-Woo said, the expedition didn’t end when the expedition members defeated the monster and got the treasure. They could only say that the expedition was fully over once they safely returned to the city with the treasure, and currently, they weren’t at the holy city, Shalyh yet.

“Captain Dalgil, as you said, the request has been completed, but we are still in the middle of the expedition.” From now on, they were not fulfilling a request, but starting a new expedition—an expedition to save their two remaining comrades. “Hurry up and summon it, sir. Every second is precious.”

At Chi-Woo’s urging, Dalgil quietly closed his eyes because he felt that Chi-Woo’s willingness to save Bogle and Airi was as strong as his. “To be honest…I was a little doubtful when I first saw all of you at the gate.” Dalgil spoke quietly like a confession. “I wondered if it was necessary to give you so much money, and I cursed Grandpa Mangil many times inside my mind. But I don’t feel that way anymore.”

Dalgil smiled and looked at Chi-Woo, Ru Amuh, and Hawa in turn. “When I go back, I’m going to give Grandpa Mangil my respect and a deep bow as soon as I see him.” He wanted to thank Grandpa Mangil for giving him such wonderful comrades, and thanks to his efforts, he was able to safely complete the request and return to the city. Of course, in order to do this, he needed to first find Bogle and Airi. Only then would this whole ordeal be meaningful.

Dalgil no longer hesitated. He put the token back on the altar and looked up at the sky, shouting, “God Mamiya! Your son beseech you! Please reopen Narsha Haram! I’ll offer you this token, so please give me a chance to save my comrades!” A tremendous shout roared through the sky.

Chi-Woo took a slow, deep breath. Narsha Haram would soon be regenerated, and they might have to go through it from the beginning. Since their condition was significantly worse off than before, they probably would have an extremely tough time, but still…he had no regrets. Rather than returning to the city with guilt and suffering every day, it was a hundred times better to do as much as he could to save his comrades. He had also already prepared to die at the Evelaya Volcano. Chi-Woo hardened his resolve and closed his eyes once before opening them. Then—

“…Huh?” A shrill sound escaped his mouth. The meadow had vanished into thin air, and he could only see ivory walls surrounding them. Before they knew it, the expedition members were back inside the Narsha Haram.

“It’s over,” Hawa said.

When Dalgil looked at her in confusion, Hawa quickly repeated, “It’s all over.”

“?” When Dalgil continued to look confused, Hawa let out a deep breath and began explaining.

The Narsha Haram’s first floor was made up of eight compartments, connected by seven rooms. It was only possible to go to the next compartment by passing through the connecting room.

“There wasn’t a door in the fourth room; there was a hole instead.” But what if they thought of each of those holes as a door that allowed them to move to the next compartment?

Chi-Woo suddenly exclaimed. After leaving the fourth room, they had gone through a long passageway of darkness—that had been the fifth compartment. What followed was the fifth room, and when they passed it, they reached the sixth compartment, which was the compartment where they had to wander around to find each other. And the sixth room was where there was writing on the door. The seventh compartment was where they fought a tough battle, and the seventh room was where there were three doors to choose from. Thus, the place where the expedition members entered after leaving that place was…

“The place where we were just in was the eighth compartment,” Hawa said.

In other words, the expedition’s prediction had been right. Since they opened the white door inside the seventh room, the eighth compartment should have appeared, and that was what had actually happened. However, they had mistakenly thought they were back outside because of their surroundings.

“Battles, traps, finding comrades, and so on. In order to move on to the next compartment, we needed to go through some kind of test each time.” Thus, what just happened was also a kind of test, and Dalgil was able to pass the test of choice and thus the eighth compartment.

‘That’s why it said we’ll fall into a greater despair…’ Chi-Woo thought he could now understand the meaning behind the words written on the monument. In a sense, it was like playing a game with difficult stages where they only had one life each. After passing the stages and reaching the end, they were presented with the choice of leaving their companions behind or starting all over again—with harsher conditions than before. There was no greater despair than that.

Dalgil still seemed a bit perplexed, “But God Mamiya told me to find the token…”

“And what is the token?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“Is there a guarantee that the token God Mamiya mentioned is the token you’re thinking of?” Hawa boldly called Mamiya a god who likes wordplay and puns. She had felt this way after seeing the writing in the sixth room. “Think of the two words separately.”

Token. And find.

“Ah!” Ru Amuh clapped. “It’s not ‘token’ in a physical sense, but symbolic sense.”

The word token was not just limited to a ticket, badge, note, or bill. It also had the symbolic meaning of expressing and representing a fact or quality.

“You said that God Mamiya values courage and harmony.” In other words, Mamiya wanted Dalgil to show actions that would prove his courage and harmony—by finding the physical token and his comrades.

Dalgil looked astounded. He stared at Hawa as if he couldn’t believe her words. “How…how in the world were you able to come up with this?”

“It was written on the monument.”

“The monument?”

“Too much is no better than too little.” If one lacked courage, they were a coward, but if one was too brave, they were reckless and foolish. In other words, the courage that Mamiya valued was a harmonious balance that was neither too much nor too little.

Only then did Dalgil nod in understanding. In the end, everything had been a trap. What if they had opened the blue door in the seventh room? Or what if they had chosen to return in the eighth compartment? Then the test would have ended in failure. However, Dalgil didn’t give up on getting the token nor leaving behind his comrades. He walked firmly on his given path without abandoning anyone.

“Congratulations.” After finishing her explanation, Hawa sighed and tipped her chin to point to somewhere behind him. “It seems God Mamiya likes your choice.”

Dalgil turned around instinctively, and his eyes widened. He didn’t see any maze that should have filled the floor. Instead, the only thing he saw was an open space and an altar in the center, like the room with treasure from before. And on the altar were two of his closest companions.

“Bogle! Airi!” Dalgil and all the other expedition members rushed toward the altar. They moved closer and saw that Bogle and Airi were both alive. Even though their injuries remained, and they were unconscious, they were both breathing.

“Ah…ahh….” Dalgil reached out with a trembling hand and tried to hug them. However, a bright light suddenly flashed in front of him.

—Dalgil, my son.

A charming and handsome voice came from the light.

—You have reached here bravely against numerous hardships and trials that should have been overwhelming for you. I’m proud of you for overcoming so many temptations and finally standing here.

Then the voice calmly continued.

—Of course, you still have some shortcomings, but you’ve made promising choices that make me look forward to your future. Thus, in the name of Mamiya, I acknowledge your success in overcoming this test. I hereby promote you to platinum rank and give you the position as warrior commander.

—I hope you will show performance befitting this position and rank. I sincerely hope you don’t lose that harmonious courage you have shown me today.

Then the voice disappeared after saying what he had to say. The light also decreased and scattered over Bogle and Airi. Then a short moan broke out, and two of them wiggled at the same time.

“Bogle? Airi!” Dalgil called out to them.

“…Uh? Whaat…?” Bogle shook his head and slowly raised it.

“…Huh?” Airi also opened her eyes.

A big smile emerged on Dalgil’s face. Soon after, he laughed loudly and lifted them, holding them in his arms.

“Booogle! Airiii!” He even screamed. Bogle and Airi were shocked to be awakened like this while half-asleep. They struggled to escape.

“Captain? No, wait!”

“My head, my head! I’m dizzzzzy!”

They protested, but Dalgil couldn’t hear them. He burst into nonstop laughter and danced round and round with both of them in his arms. How could he not be happy when he found his comrades and even completed his test?

“Ah, come on, what’s wrong with you!”

“Don’t just look at us. Help me!”

While Airi yelled in irritation and Bogle screamed for help, they all heard the door on the edge snap open. It opened by itself as if telling them the exit was that way. Chi-Woo smiled as he looked at the meadow through the wide open door. At last, the test was finally over.