Chapter 23

Immovable Curtain (3)

Boom!

As Ashel shattered the massive stone door, we stepped inside.

Climbing over the debris of fallen stones, we found ourselves in a vast chamber.

"Wow..."

I looked around in slight awe.

The incomprehensible geometric patterns and structures drawn on the floor and walls, and the glowing stones embedded in the ceiling that faintly illuminated the space.

It must have been built a long time ago, yet those glowing stones still seemed to have power.

In any case, the scenery exuded a much more mysterious atmosphere than the corridor we had passed through.

I felt a sense of joy, as if I had reached the end of a dungeon in a game, and moved further inside. It was time to claim the reward.

"Let's see."

On one side of the chamber was a smaller door, which seemed to be the way forward.

In the gameplay video I had seen, the player was disappointed by the dungeon with no artifacts, but then entered this door, discovered a mystery, immediately stripped off all their equipment, and danced in joy.

Thinking about it, it was quite surprising that a mystery was hidden in this dungeon.

Mysteries were supposed to be a mysterious force unrelated to magic or mana, appearing in completely random locations.

It could be an incredible coincidence, or there might be some unknown reason.

Of course, that didn't really matter.

What was important to me now was the existence of the Immovable Curtain mystery waiting beyond that door.

"But surely... that can't be the case, right?"

A sudden possibility came to mind.

The current time in this world was five years in the past compared to the world I had played in the game.

...Perhaps the mystery hadn't been generated yet, and there was nothing inside.

"Ashel, break this door."

I ordered Ashel, shaking off the ominous thought.

She approached and shattered the door, having been standing behind me, looking around the chamber.

Incidentally, I had brought Ashel to use as a bodyguard, but it seemed I was using her more for breaking things.

"Wait here."

After telling her that, I entered alone.

Following the narrower path, I moved further inside, and another chamber appeared.

The difference was that this one had signs of human habitation.

"..."

I ignored everything else and looked up at the ceiling.

Specifically, at a pattern drawn on the ceiling, glowing brightly in white.

My lips slowly curved upward.

A sense of relief and exhilaration welled up.

"Immovable Curtain..."

Generally, the larger the pattern, the more powerful the mystery.

The pattern of the Immovable Curtain was much larger than the one for Regeneration, covering the entire ceiling of the vast chamber and even extending to the walls.

I laughed to myself in joy at finding the mystery, then soon realized the situation and let out a small sigh.

"Oh."

Now that I thought about it, in the gameplay video, the pattern was also on the ceiling.

I hadn't noticed it because I was focused on other things.

The ceiling of the chamber was several times my height, easily over 10 meters.

...I need to touch it to absorb it, but how am I supposed to absorb it from up there?

I stared blankly at the ceiling, then glanced back.

Should I go back and call Ashel?

But I didn't want to show her the existence of the mystery.

Then, what other way is there...

"..."

I turned my gaze to the walls of the chamber.

There were many protruding parts, and it seemed I could climb if I was careful.

'Geez, nothing is easy to get.'

I sighed and approached the wall.

I never thought I'd be rock climbing like this.

With Regeneration, I didn't have to worry about falling or running out of stamina.

Crack.

I grabbed a protruding part awkwardly and started to place my feet carefully.

With my original physical abilities, I would have felt my arms trembling after a few meters, but thanks to Regeneration, the lacking strength was immediately replenished.

Gradually, I climbed higher and higher, and before I knew it, I was right below the ceiling.

If I slipped and fell, I'd have to climb back up, so I carefully fixed my center of gravity, slowly released one hand, and reached out.

Whoosh!

The pattern's light burst brightly and began to be absorbed into my body.

As I was feeling the thrill, the part I was standing on suddenly broke, and gravity pulled me down.

"Ah..."

I fell and collided heavily with the ground.

I let out a suppressed groan and rolled on the floor for a moment.

The intense pain in my back and waist, which felt like broken bones, soon disappeared.

"Ow, damn it."

I rubbed my back and got up.

In any case, I had obtained the Immovable Curtain mystery.

Just like when I obtained Regeneration, I had a sense of what the ability was and how to use it.

I extended my arm forward and activated the Immovable Curtain.

"..."

Though invisible to the eye, I could feel a defensive barrier enveloping my body.

I was momentarily amazed, then quickly realized something and immediately deactivated the ability.

Then, with a slightly bewildered expression, I muttered.

"No... I can't even breathe with this?"

Immovable Curtain.

An absolute defensive ability that could block almost any powerful attack.

However, the penalty was that the user couldn't take any action while the curtain was active.

In the game, it was used as an invincible skill to counter a boss's ultimate move.

But after using it myself...

...Not only could I not move while using the ability, but I couldn't even breathe.

'...Does it really matter that much?'

I tried the ability again.

After using and deactivating it a few times, I realized another fact.

The curtain didn't remain active once used; I could cancel it at will, and there was no cooldown or activation delay.

It had become an on-off ability that I could freely activate and deactivate, different from the game.

Whether this change was to fit the reality or not, it could be said that the ability was significantly buffed compared to the game.

The only penalty was that I couldn't take any action or even breathe while the curtain was active.

"I get it."

I thought it was a reasonable penalty.

Honestly, it didn't feel like a significant penalty to me.

Why? Because, apart from instant kills, what could I do with this ability?

I would probably use it mostly to stand still and block the opponent's attacks, wouldn't I?

'You can hold your breath for a short time, and if you need to keep it active, you can control it by turning it on and off intermittently.'

I imagined various scenarios and thought about how to use the Immovable Curtain.

Moreover, I found that I could control the shape and size of the curtain.

I could make it cling to my body like armor or spread it around me in a spherical shape like a barrier spell.

This was an excellent defensive ability.

"Good, very good."

With the addition of a defensive ability to Regeneration, I felt more secure.

I brushed off the dust from my body and looked around.

After obtaining the mystery, the scenery of the chamber came into view.

There were signs of human habitation, such as desks and beds.

I searched around, hoping to find something else, but found nothing.

I took one last look around the chamber and headed back to the corridor.

As I returned to the first chamber, I saw Ashel on guard.

She seemed relieved to see me, probably having been tense, expecting another statue to appear.

'In the end, I don't know what this dungeon was for.'

Perhaps someone had already cleared it, and the mystery had conveniently appeared afterward.

Whatever it was, I had what I wanted, so it didn't matter.

"Let's go."

I moved toward the exit with Ashel.