Book 10 Chapter 8

Phantasmagoria Entrance (幻魔洞)

Hwanmadong was more spacious than I expected.

At the end of the street leading from the entrance was a fairly large plaza.

And there was a laborer there, too.

The square was lit by torches on the left and right, so it was hard to feel the darkness. As I walked further into the square, I saw several paths. I counted eight in all, and each one had a door.

"Pick your battles!"

The proctor said. Apparently, she had to choose one of them to enter. As Bi Ryuyeon wondered where to enter, Jang Hong's words suddenly flashed through her mind, and she suddenly had an idea.

"Fourth!"

Ryuyeon Bi said.

Without further ado, the examiner unlocked the fourth door. A darkness of unknown depth appeared behind the open door. Bi Ryuyeon walked unhesitatingly toward it.

Chirp! Thump!

As the door closed, a trace of light vanished from the world. Darkness filled the air around him.

"How much?"

The light was gone and there was only darkness. Everywhere I looked, I couldn't find anything that glowed. It was as if the light was completely blocked by a wall. It was so dark in the forked road that I couldn't tell up, down, left and right. If I hadn't practiced how to see objects in the dark, I would have been completely blind.

"Whoa, what's that smell?"

There was a very special aroma wafting through the entire hall. The sensation of the fragrance, which cannot be easily described in words, had the power to make the body feel very relaxed.

"Sniff, I don't think it's poison!"

I couldn't figure out what it was doing, but I was relieved that it wasn't poisonous. It didn't interfere with my breathing, but it was clear that it wasn't just for deodorizing the cave. He couldn't figure out where this peculiar scent was coming from; it was like a fog, blocking his path. Perhaps everyone else was having a similar experience.

"If you stand still, you'll only stagnate."

Bi Ryuyeon walked forward without hesitation. Even after walking for a long time, there were no sudden traps or secret devices that threatened her life. It was so bland that it was almost boring.

"What the heck is in here?"

I couldn't figure it out yet, even as a non-Ryu-yeon.

"Damn, why can't I see anything?"

After walking for a while, Bi Ryuyeon pouted and grumbled.

"Was your gas money really that good? You're so cheap……."

She knew she needed to save her own money, but she didn't need to save other people's money. But this time, he thought, it was too much, because it was so dark in the cave that he could barely make out anything. It wasn't that he was afraid of the dark, but some light was better than none, and the good news was that his excellent eyesight allowed him to distinguish things without relying on light.

Bi Ryuyeon was now standing in front of two paths. As expected, this place seemed to be a maze. One was a cave with a steep slope and a seemingly treacherous path, and the other had a gentle slope and a smooth path.

"Which way do I go to be told well done?"

He thought about it for a moment, but his thoughts didn't last long. The thing that bothered him about the pretenders was that when confronted with the triad of difficulties, hardships, trials, and loneliness in the subject of their fancy words and outward appearances, they didn't think to confront it, but only looked for ways to evade it.

What's so scary?

A wound, an injury, a breakup, or a death?

Trials were always designed to put the challenger at artificial and premeditated risk. You can't change that. So why not at least have the balls to face it head-on and break through it! But…….

"Safety first!"

Believing that it's always better to take a smooth road than a rough one, she began to take the easy way out.

He tended to do things too impulsively, which is never a good habit. There's a saying about pounding a stone bridge before crossing it, and what he was doing was blindly crossing it.

"All participants have completed joining."

After hearing the report from the General Laborer Binggum, Mazinger nodded.

"Now all we can do is cross our fingers that we all make it through this exam in one piece."

Mazinga said.

"What do they see in there?"

Bing'er had heard descriptions of what it was like, but she had honestly never been there, so even she couldn't know what the people in there were going through.

"They might see the most horrible things in the world in there, or they might go through the most heartbreaking things, and the horror would consume them, and some of them would go insane from the shock of it."

He remembered seeing such a person when he stopped by the Binggumdo Apothecary. What on earth did he see in there……. Only someone who has been through it can answer that.

"It all comes down to their mental strength and determination. All I can say to them is keep up the good work."

Maginga rose from his seat, the hem of his robes fluttering in the breeze.

"Closed!"

The gates of the Patriarchal Hall slammed shut at Mazinger's command.

"Now it's just a matter of waiting. It's up to them to find a way out."

"What are you doing walking with such a hectic pace like a shithead?"

"……?"

Ryuyeon looked into the face of the person who had blocked her path.

"What? I've seen him around a lot.

It was certainly a face I'd seen a lot. Perhaps to the point of exhaustion…….

"Da… you!"

Her eyes widened as she studied his face. Slowly, the relaxation drained from his face. He had never been nervous before, but now he was on high alert and tense.