3. The First Door

“Blade Mountain? I don’t see any blades for something named that.”

Dokgo Jun looked around as he stepped inside.

True to his words, despite the name Blade Mountain, there were no visible blades anywhere around.

The place we stood in was designed like ancient ruins.

Paths extended from each of the room’s four sides, and torches burned sporadically within the dim corridors.

Excluding the torches, everything was colorless.

The dirt floor had a dark sheen, and the walls were painted a faded gray.

[The Room of Blade Mountain is starting.]

[Find the exit and escape.]

[Time Limit: None]

“Looks more like a dungeon than a room… With a structure like this, it probably involves traps.”

Dokgo Jun remarked as he glanced around.

Excluding the blocked door behind us, there were passages straight ahead and on either side.

“That definitely looks like a passage. We’ll probably need to make our way across.”

“Alright, let’s get moving.”

Dokgo Jun took the first step toward the passage.

It probably triggers around here.

And at that moment, a clicking sound rang out.

-Kwagwagwak!

Along with the click, something flew swiftly toward us.

Three blades embedded themselves right at Dokgo Jun’s feet.

His nimble backward step caused the attack to miss.

So it is a trap.

I sent Dokgo Jun first in case the layout had changed from my past life, and sure enough, there were traps.

Despite nearly taking a hit, Dokgo Jun looked quite entertained.

“Whoa, a trap? How classic. I don’t hate this.”

Anyone else would have thought him a madman.

And they wouldn’t be entirely wrong.

I asked Dokgo Jun, who was inspecting the trap.

“Aren’t you scared?”

“Why should I be scared?”

He flashed a confident grin.

“It’s only the beginning, so they wouldn’t install an instant-death trap. Besides, I have good luck.”

With such excellent Four Pillars of Destiny, he must have enjoyed various strokes of luck since childhood.

People with good fortune inherently know it.

He casually tapped the blades with a nonchalant expression.

“Hmm, I suppose the strategy here is to proceed while paying close attention to the mechanisms. We’ll be wandering for a while.”

Currently, we had three paths to choose from.

The corridors were long, and the rooms across were too dim to make out what lay inside.

But that wasn’t the case for me.

I was the last person to graduate from the first door.

Shin Sooa helped me clear it quickly, but that wasn’t my own skill.

If I had advanced to the next stage in that state, I would have likely died.

Therefore, I repeated this place dozens, hundreds of times until I could clear it on my own.

After wandering this place hundreds of times, its layout was already engraved in my mind.

“Let’s go this way first.”

I positioned Dokgo Jun in front and moved to the next room.

Nothing happened as we crossed the corridor.

Another room simply appeared, with paths branching off in four directions once again.

“Oh, nothing happened this time.”

“Let’s go right.”

Even after five years, this place was as vivid in my memory as if I had been here yesterday.

Forks in the path continued after that, but we passed through them all without incident.

Dokgo Jun spoke with a sense of wonder.

“Not a single trap. Seo Kangrim, you must be the lucky type.”

Lucky? What a joke.

When I first came here, I triggered every trap imaginable; there wasn’t a single day I didn’t bleed.

“I suppose living a rough life just sharpened my instincts.”

I made the excuse and glanced down the northern corridor.

I knew the next room wouldn’t be safe.

Gripping my sword tightly, I took the lead this time.

“Let’s try this way this time.”

I pricked up my ears and walked toward the corridor.

As we drew closer, I sensed a presence from deep within.

“…Is someone there?”

Dokgo Jun murmured softly, seemingly sensing it too.

A silhouette briefly flickered into view within the dark room.

Blades glinted in the gloom.

“A person? No, they look like skeletons?”

Dokgo Jun said in a low voice.

As he said, the things in the room were skeletons.

Several skeletons armed with swords were prowling around the room.

They hadn’t noticed us yet.

“They look stronger than those larvae we saw before… Since it’s right after the tutorial, maybe they’re a bit tougher?”

They looked tough at a glance, but ultimately, as he said, this was still a tutorial.

The Human Bone Ghosts were demon beasts strictly meant for tutorial purposes.

═══════════════

[Name] Human Bone Ghost

[Rank] Third Insect Grade

[Description] A demon beast made from human bones. It craves human flesh. It is dull to sound but sensitive to light.

═══════════════

The demon beasts were low-rank, but their numbers made them a bit overwhelming for me, a Third Insect Grade.

I summoned my Fortune Window.

[You can use Merit Points to increase your stats.]

[Remaining Merit Points: 1600]

The stats consisted of Strength, Stamina, Agility, Senses, and magic power—five in total.

I didn’t need to ponder which one to raise first.

[Strength has grown to Level 3!]

This would be enough to take down the Human Bone Ghosts.

I immediately activated Ten-Foot Blaze and hurled it toward the Human Bone Ghosts.

As the flames flared up violently with a pop, the Human Bone Ghosts turned to look at me.

-Geureureuk?!

Detecting an enemy, the Human Bone Ghosts immediately sprang into action.

The moment it was lured into the corridor and approached, I charged with my sword drawn.

-Seogeok!

The sword sharply shattered the bone.

Its spine snapped in half, causing the Human Bone Ghost to lose its balance and collapse.

I glanced briefly; it didn’t seem to drop any Spirit Jade.

Since it was an artificially created Demon Realm, no Spirit Jade dropped.

However, the Merit Points were rolling in nicely.

-Geureureureuk!

At that moment, another Human Bone Ghost lunged at me.

I thrust my sword straight into its face, and its bones shattered with a loud, grating crunch.

-Kwagak!

I had a hard time dealing with these guys in my past life, but facing them one by one wasn’t so bad.

However, it was a waste of time to hunt them down one by one.

This was exactly why I brought Dokgo Jun along.

-Kagagang!

“Hahaha! This is fun!”

Before I knew it, Dokgo Jun had rushed into the room, slaughtering the Human Bone Ghosts with a maniacal laugh.

No matter how strong one’s abilities were, killing something inevitably brought about a sense of resistance.

However, perhaps due to his ‘Dreamer’ ability, Dokgo Jun struck down the Human Bone Ghosts without an ounce of fear.

“Alright, cleanup’s done. Easy, right? Let’s head to the next room!”

Having instantly devastated the area, Dokgo Jun quickly moved on to the next room.

Whenever demon beasts appeared, Dokgo Jun and I cleared them out in a flash.

After passing through quite a few rooms, Dokgo Jun spoke as he dispatched another Human Bone Ghost.

“Hmm, demon beasts appear in every room we go to.”

Shattered bones were scattered all around us.

We must have caught at least a hundred of them.

Dokgo Jun kicked a skull with his foot and said,

“I thought you were just lucky earlier, but I guess not, Seo Kangrim? Every path you choose has demon beasts.”

“Does that make it difficult for you?”

“Not really? They aren’t particularly strong demon beasts.”

For a Third Divine Grade like Dokgo Jun, the Human Bone Ghosts must have been easy opponents.

What was surprising, however, was his considerable skill in swordsmanship.

Wasn’t his profession a novelist?

I threw a question at him.

“Have you ever learned the sword?”

“Yeah. I learned some swordsmanship and martial arts in case I ever got sent to another world or possessed a character in a book.”

Dokgo Jun smiled brightly.

“The lottery numbers and stocks I memorized every week in case I regressed turned out to be useless, but I’m still satisfied.”

I had thought his eccentric behavior was due to ‘Dreamer’, but it seemed he was simply a dreamer by nature.

Dokgo Jun stared intently at me.

“Seo Kangrim. Actually, there’s something I’ve been curious about since the building.”

“What is it?”

“I know you’re special. You’re abnormally calm, adapt quickly, and aren’t afraid of demon beasts.”

He continued, piercing me with his gaze.

“Are you, by any chance, a Regressor, a Returnee, or a Reincarnator? Something like that?”

He was quick to catch on to the strangest things.

It wouldn’t be a problem if he found out I was a regressor, but I wanted to hide it if possible.

I hesitated for a moment before opening my mouth.

“I just saw ghosts and stuff a lot when I was young, so I’m used to things like this.”

“Hmm, really? Now I’m curious about your childhood too. Tell me about it.”

His eyes bored into me as he stared.

My childhood? I had no reason to tell him.

It was about time for that to come up, anyway.

I ignored Dokgo Jun and started walking.

“Stop wasting time and let’s hurry. Take the lead.”

“Alright, got it. I’ll ask about your childhood once we get out!”

Dokgo Jun entered the corridor with a slightly excited expression.

As I quietly followed behind Dokgo Jun, I trailed my hand along the wall.

As we passed the halfway point.

My hand caught onto something.

-Dalkak

Dokgo Jun heard the sound and looked back.

Along with a clattering noise, the sound of something collapsing echoed from behind.

The floor was starting to cave in from the far end.

“Run!”

The floor was collapsing at a terrifying speed.

Below was endless darkness.

At my shout, Dokgo Jun broke into a full sprint.

I heard him laughing like a madman.

“Ah, there’s a trap like this too! How textbook.”

Even this situation seemed like part of a fun game to him.

Meanwhile, the floor began to collapse even faster.

It was falling apart barely three or four steps behind us.

One wrong move and we would both fall.

That would be problematic.

I reached out toward Dokgo Jun’s back.

And shoved him as hard as I could.

“Huh?”

Along with Dokgo Jun’s bewildered voice, a loud crash echoed.

-Kwang!

The moment I pushed his back, a pile of rocks crashed down from above.

The falling rocks landed exactly where Dokgo Jun had been standing just a moment ago.

If I hadn’t pushed him, he would have taken a direct hit.

Dokgo Jun had already reached the new room, but my foot got caught on a falling rock, and I tumbled over.

At the same time, I felt the ground beneath my feet give way.

“Seo Kangrim!”

In an instant, Dokgo Jun’s face began to recede into the distance.

My body dropped downward, sliding down a steep slope at a breakneck speed.

After sliding for a long while, I fell and rolled onto the ground.

-Kkung!

Thanks to executing a proper breakfall, I took no damage.

I staggered to my feet and surveyed my surroundings.

As the surroundings fell silent, a notification popped up.

[You have entered the Secret Area.]

Just as planned, I was the only one who fell down here.

It would have taken quite a while if I were alone, but thanks to Dokgo Jun, I was able to save time.

I made good use of Dokgo Jun.

Now it was my turn to monopolize the most important part.