Chapter 17. Catching the Hidden Rat
〚You have cleared the 1st floor!〛
〚As a basic clear reward, you have obtained 1 Unknown Fragment.〛
〚Sacred Relic: Disc of the Noon Sun [Mythical] Obtain it and Exit OR Accumulate Rewards and Enter the 2nd Floor〛
〚Please make your choice.〛
My plan almost went astray, but it ultimately came to a perfect conclusion. Seo Mina awakened, I gained a reason to kill Lee Ji-hyung, and I conquered the 1st floor of the Hidden Stage.
After all the boss rewards were distributed, the next message urged us to make a choice.
‘That’s it! The Mythical-grade sacred relic that the prodigy boasted so much about before my regression!’
The relic resembled a large disc like the sun, hovering like a halo above one’s head, providing massive buffs and offering numerous functionalities. Unlike my wings, which could only harness 1/12 of their power, this was a fully-fledged Mythical-grade item.
However, I firmly decided to forgo the reward. No, rather than giving it up, I chose to accumulate it.
Even clearing just one more floor would guarantee better rewards, so I had no intention of giving up.
“I’m going up.”
“I have no intention of giving up either. Even if it means dying.”
Our choices were the same. The Hidden Stage isn’t something trivial like a neighbor’s dog; once you leave, it’s over, so why give up?
From the information I remember before regression, the Hidden Stage had only been discovered three times.
Such a precious opportunity couldn’t be wasted ambiguously like this.
Even if it means facing death, advancing further is the right choice.
But I was a bit surprised when Seo Mina, who had been on the brink of death, declared without hesitation that she would go up.
‘She must be scared. She must have made up her mind completely.’
Well, she must have learned and gained a lot from even a single real battle. She wouldn’t want to give up. But there won’t be another miracle like earlier. That was merely a stroke of luck, borrowing the power of my Authority.
Honestly, it wouldn’t have been surprising if she had died.
‘Relying too much on pre-regression information isn’t wise.’
With that thought, I put down my sword.
“Then let’s rest for a few hours before we move. If we push ourselves too hard expecting another miracle like earlier, we might really die.”
“Hah…! Good idea. I’m practically exhausted right now.”
As soon as I finished speaking, Seo Mina collapsed against the wall as if she were falling apart. I let out a small laugh at the sight and then sat down on the opposite side, closing my eyes as I sank into thought.
‘Now that I have a reason and a witness, it’s time to deal with him. I can’t move forward dragging the bad luck around.’
After sorting things out in my head, I twisted my lips into a bitter smile.
He’s already been detected by me three times: once while digging in the desert, once when entering the Hidden Stage, and once while fighting the boss.
‘But I can’t kill him easily. He did something to us, after all.’
Now, I would set a trap and ensure he dies in agony, consumed by fear.
I opened my Inventory and checked my ownership. It had already surpassed 8.5%. The items I could bring out were up to General-S rank, with a limit of 50 items.
During the three hours of rest, I searched through the Inventory for items that could serve as traps, and then we ascended to the 2nd floor.
***
〚Hidden Stage: Pyramid Where the Sun Sleeps, 2nd Floor – Floor of Traps〛
The structure of the 2nd floor was incredibly simple. A massive corridor in the distance seemed to beckon us, like a grand trap-filled course prepared just for us.
“At least there don’t seem to be any monsters.”
Whew… Perhaps a bit scared. Seo Mina, clenching her fists to act tough, secretly sighed in relief while keeping a wary eye on her surroundings.
‘The sense didn’t pick anything up.’
So far, not a single trap in the corridor had been triggered. Even with items or skills related to stealth, it’s impossible to fool the stage itself.
He was surely hiding here without even attempting the trial, just waiting foolishly until we arrived.
‘Invest 1 point in the Mugeuk stat.’
As the Mugeuk stat increased to 31, my senses sharpened. But it was still not enough. His skill seemed to be of a decent grade, still managing to evade my senses.
‘Looks like I’ll have to use it.’
It wasn’t unexpected. The only reason I could sense him when I summoned my wings was that my stats had increased by a whole 10 points. Before that, I had only detected him when his stealth briefly faltered.
But I had a way to address that.
Opening my Inventory, I used one of the 50 opportunities and brought out a vial filled with glowing green liquid, which I immediately drank.
Gulp!
〚You have consumed the Buff Potion: Sensory Amplifier [General-A+].〛
〚Your senses are temporarily amplified by 1.5 times!〛
〚Duration: 1 hour〛
Stagger!
The sudden increase in sensory input caused me to stumble. Even with the strong body of the Mugeuk Heavenly Veins, dizziness was inevitable.
“Are you okay? If you’re unwell, we can rest here longer!”
“N-No, I’m fine. Just got dizzy for a moment due to the stat increase.”
And amidst the amplified senses, I found him—crouched in a corner, nervously biting his nails, eyeing this place.
‘Found you!’
“Shall we go then?”
After finishing all preparations, I rolled my neck and confidently stepped into the trap-laden corridor. Exactly 10 minutes after we entered, a faint shadow entered the corridor from the corner.
***
The traps were simple yet dangerous. From arrows shooting from all directions, to axes crashing down as if to crush one’s skull, and even traps that caused the ground to give way like bottomless pits.
From the moment I entered the traps, my hearing and sight were impaired. It was as if there was some penalty.
I couldn’t hear or see anything.
Every step I took was a tense experience, filled with the fear of death.
‘It’s a good thing I drank the sensory amplifier potion.’
Even though I lost two senses, the other three heightened senses allowed me to navigate through the traps flawlessly.
My traversal was so perfect that Seo Mina, following behind, couldn’t help but be impressed.
“Bury this here, and attach that over there.”
In fact, the traps were so easy for me to bypass that I could meticulously place the items I had prepared.
I used 40 of the 49 remaining opportunities to obtain countless trap consumables.
From large magic mines to poison gas potions that release upon breaking, predatory liquid slimes that I didn’t even want to know more about, and tear gas clouds, and so on.
The traps I placed on the path we had come through were far more vicious and malicious than the ones I had encountered. Whoever was following us would surely emerge crippled if they managed to make it through.
After about 30 minutes of trap navigation and setup:
〚You have cleared the 2nd floor!〛
〚Skill Book: Blessing of the Sun obtained. Choose to exit OR accumulate rewards and enter the 3rd floor〛
Just like before, a large resting area appeared, identical to the one where we had been summoned earlier, and a clear message appeared before us.
“Nice…! I totally got a free ride through the 2nd floor!”
Leaving Seo Mina celebrating behind, I quietly waited at the entrance to the dark trap-filled corridor, my sword plunged into the ground, anticipating the arrival of one fool who would not walk out of this place.
“Come on out, let’s see your face, you bastard.”
I spoke with a sinister smile.
***
‘Ah…! Thank goodness! She’s alive!’
Lee Ji-hyung, who had been waiting on the 2nd floor for Shin Juha, nearly let out a cheer when he saw Seo Mina appear after Shin Juha.
How shocked and bewildered he had been!
All he had intended was to mess with Shin Juha, who was leading the charge, by opening the boss room door wide to lure out the boss, but the boss turned out to be far stronger than he expected.
He had heard during the prodigy training sessions that the boss was strong, but he hadn’t expected this level of strength. Normally, no single prodigy would have been able to defeat such a monster.
In his panic, his stealth skill had nearly broken, causing him to flee without witnessing the entire scene.
Fortunately, it seemed they hadn’t noticed him. However, he was still unsteady with controlling his mana, and his stealth skill kept faltering.
It wouldn’t matter if they had noticed something strange anyway. He knew they wouldn’t be able to detect his stealth in this place.
‘I’ll wait until they’re exhausted from brute-forcing their way through the traps, then ambush Shin Juha and kill him.’
Lee Ji-hyung caressed the ring on his finger as he thought about the two who had disappeared into the trap corridor and stood up.
“That should be enough time.”
In truth, he could have just followed them right in. But what if that monster-like Shin Juha had sensed something and set up a trap?
Thinking about what might happen next, Lee Ji-hyung stepped into the trap corridor.
Click!
Boom!!
As soon as he entered, he stepped on a magic mine bomb planted right underfoot.
“You son of a…!!!”
An enormous explosion went off, engulfing Lee Ji-hyung in flames before he had any chance to react.
“Aaaaagh!!!”
Amidst the thick smoke, Lee Ji-hyung rolled on the ground, his skin red and blistered as if burned all over.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!!”
Cursing and screaming in pain, Lee Ji-hyung pounded the ground with his fists, gritting his teeth.
‘What the hell happened?’
Why was there a mine right at the entrance?! Did they really make it through these traps?
How could that be possible unless they were some sort of prophet?!
If not for his ace skill, Fire Body, his legs would have been blown clean off by the sheer force of the mine.
Bombs and mines made with magic stones were strictly controlled by the government, so they were not easy to come by.
Because of this, Lee Ji-hyung couldn’t imagine that Shin Juha had been the one to plant the mines.
“Ugh, damn it. If my hearing and vision hadn’t been cut off, I might have been caught!”
Despite his swearing and crying out in pain, he couldn’t hear a thing.
He consoled himself that it was a small blessing and quickly took out a prepared potion, drinking it before starting to move again.
It seemed the mines had indeed been evaded. All the other traps were already dismantled and discarded along the path.
‘Damn it, even with a recovery potion, it won’t heal completely!’
The problem was that the burns covering his body couldn’t be fully healed with the recovery potion. Since he hadn’t planned on entering the Hidden Stage, the scout team hadn’t provided him with high-grade recovery potions.
Muttering curses under his breath, he took exactly five steps forward when—
Thunk!
‘Huh?’
As he tried to avoid the broken traps on the ground, something struck his foot and shattered.
‘What a nuisance.’
Thinking it was just another spent trap, Lee Ji-hyung continued walking past the broken object.
But then—
Fssshh.
Noticing a sudden chill around his foot, he looked down to find that his shoe had melted away.
‘Damn it! What now?!’
As he sniffed the air, he caught a sharp, stinging scent. Realizing it was poison gas, Lee Ji-hyung started running in a panic.
If he had been a little more experienced, he wouldn’t have fallen for such simple traps, but he was just a prodigy with only a few real-life combat experiences.
‘Damn it!!’
Cursing as he ran, he triggered nearly every trap Shin Juha had set up.
Tormented and half-crazed by pain, he continued to run until his vision began to blur, and he saw a faint light in the distance.
‘Finally!’
Hope surged through him, momentarily numbing his pain. But just as he tried to sprint forward—
Crack!
As if it had been waiting for him, he stepped into the final, most malicious trap— a puddle-like predatory slime. He felt it start to consume his foot, and he screamed in terror.
“Aaaagh!!!”
‘No! It hurts! Save me! Help! Kill me! I can’t take it anymore! Who am I? Where is this? Hehehe. Aaaaagh!!!’
Lee Ji-hyung half-lost his mind, but he kept crawling forward, leaving a bloody trail as he eventually reached the end of the corridor.
Just as relief and joy washed over him, believing he had reached the end, a cold, chilling voice reached his ears.
“You’re here? So it was you after all, Yeomma Lee Ji-hyung.”
Lee Ji-hyung looked up with a trembling face, and there he saw Shin Juha staring down at him with an icy gaze. In that moment, he lost control and wet himself in fear.
—
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