Chapter 216

We quietly gathered our gazes and stared at the mysterious man who had suddenly appeared.

“You seem… to have come from outside.”

“That’s correct. How long have you been here?”

The man turned his back without a word. Then he simply began walking somewhere.

“Follow me.”

Since we had no other options anyway, we followed the man at a certain distance.

The place we arrived at was a cave somewhere on the mountainside, as if artificially created.

‘…So, this is the starting point.’

Just as there were ruins in the Black Forest where stranded people gathered, there were specific points in the early stages of the labyrinth that could serve as Focal Points for each group.

And this was the place that would become the foundation for conquering the Blind Mountain, effectively a base camp.

“…Wait a moment. I’ll go have a conversation.”

The man left a brief remark and disappeared, and in that gap, we also began exchanging opinions.

“Hmm. It’s hard to trust him easily, but I definitely got the feeling he was deliberately observing us when we were dealing with the snakes.”

“We should assume he has considerable wariness, or that his situation is so precarious he has no room for anything else.”

At the same time, Shin Noeul, who had reactivated his Detection Spell, conveyed information to everyone.

“Fortunately, it seems I can roughly discern things as usual here. Inside the cave, I can sense the presence of many people.”

“Many, you say?”

“Almost a hundred, no, maybe even more.”

That was quite startling news.

Though we hadn’t grasped much yet, at a glance, this place seemed to have an environment even more difficult for people to survive in than the Black Forest.

Yet that many people were maintaining a life here?

“Hmm. Is there even that much space inside that cave originally?”

“It’ll be quicker to see for yourself. The inside is less of a cave and more like…”

What Shin Noeul meant soon became clear through another remark from the man who had re-emerged from the cave.

“Follow me. I’ll guide you to the village.”

The scenery of the space we moved to, following the man, was astonishing.

At the deepest part of the cave, there was a completely separate passage, beyond which a vast grassland spread out.

‘…What is this?’

A space too peaceful to be inside the Eternal Labyrinth.

Moreover, unlike the outside, all natural features were full of color, and the village people seemed to be even practicing agriculture.

Towards us, who were busily shifting our gazes, the man who had finally removed his hood introduced himself.

“Welcome. My name is Hailo. I assist the village chief with work.”

“I’m Han Kangyoon. If possible, could we hear an explanation about this place?”

“There’s nothing special. It’s just people who got stranded and drifted here, like you, gathering to live. Those who first created the village long ago were the same.”

In short, over a long time, people sucked into the labyrinth gathered one by one, cultivated a village, and it continued, forming its current appearance.

“Oppa, this is…”

“It’s certainly a bit surprising.”

It doesn’t feel like they’re simply trapped here, clinging to life.

They have completely settled here and are living their own lives.

That was evident just from looking at the expressions of the children playing everywhere.

‘They look about six years old? Still, that’s too young.’

The meaning of that fact was simple.

“By any chance, are you all living here, passing down generations?”

“Most are. Even those children were born here. Of course, they don’t even know what the outside world looks like.”

Considering other sections of the labyrinth, it’s a story that’s hard to believe.

However, since it’s unfolding right before our eyes, we couldn’t help but accept it.

“First, follow me. I’ll have you meet the chief.”

Following Hailo’s guidance, we moved to a small house where a dignified old man was waiting for us.

“Welcome. I am Jang, the chief of this village. I drifted here in my youth and have been living here ever since.”

“Nice to meet you.”

The chief was quite friendly.

Given the nature of the place, it could have been closed-off, but he didn’t even show signs of shunning us outsiders.

The reason became clear shortly through the explanation that followed.

“There is a Guardian Tree here.”

“…A Guardian Tree, you say?”

“It immediately punishes magical beasts that occasionally approach the village or anyone who tries to harm someone. That’s why there are hardly any people who cause trouble.”

That was a very convenient story. The chief said it’s because this village is literally a space with minimal conflict.

‘It’s not that his words are completely unbelievable…’

Something felt off. Rather, this space itself felt intensely unpleasant to me.

‘Is this place really just a peaceful sanctuary as he says?’

Listening to the explanation alone, it seemed so, but considering the raison d’être of this place called the Eternal Labyrinth, I couldn’t help but have doubts.

While I was pondering for a moment, Hailo, who had returned unnoticed, began guiding us to the space where we would stay.

“If you need anything or are curious about something, call me. There is a Guardian Tree, but please be cautious with contact as the villagers might be startled.”

Left like that, we began discussing our future actions while recalling various points of doubt.

“First, it’s fortunate we have a space to rest at ease, but ultimately, to conquer the labyrinth, we’ll have to leave this place.”

“More than that, I somehow really don’t like this place.”

Sophia shook her head side to side, lay down on the floor, and kicked her feet restlessly.

Yeon Jaki’s reaction wasn’t much different.

“How should I put it… it’s peaceful, but it doesn’t feel right inside.”

That expression was truly accurate.

I sank into thought again, slowly organizing the facts I had seen so far in my mind.

‘The appearance of the villagers themselves didn’t seem particularly strange…’

Somehow, I feel a sense of incongruity with this space itself. No matter how many times I think about it, it’s still filled with elements that don’t align with the labyrinth’s purpose.

And to dig into that, I had no choice but to ask questions to those who had lived here for a long time.

“Right, I have something to ask.”

“Yes. Could you spare a moment?”

Finding Hailo, who was building a livestock fence nearby, I began asking him the questions I had organized in my mind, one by one.

“Have any of you ever thought about leaving this place?”

“…Of course, I also tried to find a way somehow at first.”

However, Hailo soon shook his head as if resigned and handed me someone’s journal.

“This is the record of the party that first settled here long ago. They were an outstanding group, successfully advancing through several sections and covering a considerable part of the labyrinth.”

“……”

“But that was it. Beyond that point, there was no way to proceed no matter what method they tried. You’ll understand if you check the journal’s contents.”

In the end, it seemed they gave up on conquering the labyrinth, returned to the starting point, and cultivated this village here.

Tucking it into my embrace, I asked Hailo another question.

“Then, recently, are there absolutely no people who have attempted to escape?”

“That’s not the case. Very rarely, new stranded people arrive, and among them, some have left to conquer the labyrinth and escape this place. Not long ago, one person left like that.”

“That person was…”

“A terrifyingly strong woman. She used all sorts of bizarre Art Formulas.”

It was undoubtedly Xiao Chen.

Hearing news of her from an unexpected place, I sank into thought with a serious expression.

If that was true, it meant she might still be alive, wandering somewhere in this labyrinth.

“You can check the journal together with your party. Whatever choice you make is free, but I’d appreciate it if you kept the village people out of it.”

I had roughly anticipated from the atmosphere, but Hailo seemed to have resolved to live his entire life here, having given up on escape.

I returned straight to our quarters and began checking the journal’s contents with the party.

[The first section, the mountainside, was filled with Predators that couldn’t be seen and whose presence couldn’t be sensed. The types confirmed so far are snakes, wolves, and eagles. Once their existence is confirmed, dealing with them isn’t difficult, but as time passed, the consumption of mental energy became extreme.]

“It doesn’t seem much different from what we experienced. Its credibility seems quite high.”

Simultaneous with Shin Noeul’s words, I slowly turned the page to check the next content.

The second section, the third section, and up to the fourth section.

The journal’s owner seemed to have spent a considerable amount of time on labyrinth conquest, and accordingly, the knowledge he discovered was densely recorded in the journal.

“The villagers knowing various things about this place must be because they read this journal, right?”

As Seoa said.

Unlike the stranded people in the Black Forest, who didn’t even grasp the identity of that space, these people already had a rough understanding of the information.

In many ways, their starting point was different.

[We’ve finally reached the end of the fourth section. If our speculation is correct, the next is the final obstacle. Now, hope truly seems to be in sight.]

The record was filled with barely containable joy, and it seemed his comrades felt the same.

However, the content that followed next was literally despair.

[We were wrong. We ultimately couldn’t overcome this place. The outcome was clearly predetermined from the start. There is no passage leading to the final section. This place was a false space from the beginning.]

The deeply engraved letters, as if he had clenched his hand tightly with force, vividly conveyed the anger and despair of that time.

“Oppa, this is…”

“I can understand why the villagers gave up, too.”

Even just reading a fragmentary part, it was clear. The party in the record were Exorcists with exceptionally outstanding skills.

But even they despaired, completely disheartened, and ended up returning here.

For those with skills inferior to theirs, it’s natural to feel the path ahead is blocked.

“What do you plan to do? It seems the path is blocked anyway.”

Yeon Jaki threw the question at me with a nonchalant attitude.

If the experiences of the characters in the journal were true, then effectively, there was no way to conquer this labyrinth.

Of course, there might be elements they missed, but that possibility seems slim.

“Hmm. If the journal’s content is true, it’s troublesome… This might be quite a dangerous situation?”

Everyone here had a place to return to. So we had to get out of here by any means necessary.

However, even in such a pressing situation, my expression wasn’t dark at all.

Because, I had already found the answer in the situations I’d experienced so far and within the journal.

“Didn’t you notice something strange?”

“Are you saying there’s something we missed?”

“Yes. That’s correct. Rather, the answer was determined from the very beginning.”

As everyone’s gaze focused, I opened my mouth quietly.