Chapter 20

00020 Wait, let's part ways. =========================================================================

This is really great. My throat was dry, and you even bought me beer; I don't know what to do with myself. What's your name... Huh? Kim Su-hyun? You can't be from the small town of Muel? I've heard of it! The story of the Cave of Screams is famous... Hehe. Meeting a celebrity and getting treated to beer, I can't just sit still. Right. I'll tell you a story. Do you want to hear it?

What? You don't need it? Wait. Just listen to the story, even if it's just a little. You'll definitely find it interesting, right? Right now, there's a rumor that the Soul Commander, who is currently dominating the big city, obtained it during the rite of passage. Yeah, that Soul Commander. Anyway, everyone who's in the Hall Plain has gone through the rite of passage. Come on, sit down. The rite of passage is one of the places where angels have played a lot of tricks.

It has quite a bit of backstory. Think about it. Back then, everyone was just trying to survive. Who would wander around a place full of monsters for seven days? But there were some crazy people who did. They thoroughly explored the entire map for seven days, and as a result, the probability of encountering the boss monster of the rite of passage increased. What? What are you talking about? You've never met one? It seems Kim Su-hyun did it quite diligently. What I mean is... Could you buy me one more beer? Hehe... Thanks!

Remember. You must remember the yellow-roofed and blue-roofed buildings, right? Yeah. The yellow one is the Rest Room, and the blue one is the Save Point. When you go inside, the first thing you see is a warning, right? The Rest Room can't be stayed in for more than one day, and the Save Point can't be stayed in for more than two days. If you stay longer, the boss monster will appear with 100% probability. Ugh. I still get chills thinking about it. They look like aliens and chew on people as if they're delicious...

Yeah, I've met one. What could I do? I ran for my life. The funny thing is, there's another point besides the starting, rest, and save points. You've never heard of it? Of course not. Where is it?

If you go through the forest on the outskirts of the map, you'll come out onto a big road. I still remember that bumpy road. But you can't go down. There are races gathered everywhere. So, if you go up, you'll find a city. But honestly, who would go there? I don't even want to enter the forest. And even if you enter the city, it's rare to come out alive. They call it the Trap Point. It's a trap point, literally.

The Trap Point city is modern and has plenty of food. It reminds you of Earth and makes you not want to leave, manipulating your psychology.

Warning? There is one. It's there, but it's different from the warnings at other points. It's written so simply that you might think it's nothing. Anyway, the city manipulates your psychology very cleverly. It makes you not want to leave. In the end, most users who discover the city end up settling down. They become complacent, thinking they can survive the seven days here. The moment they become complacent, it's over.

After two days, on the third day... You know what happens, right? Hehe. What? How do I know this? Haha... I don't know. I just want to drink more.

*

As the afternoon progressed, the sky gradually darkened. It was a bit of an awkward time, not quite evening. The forest seemed darker than usual, and the clouds were emitting a dark hue, making me wonder if it would rain.

Walking on the bumpy road, I was anxious to see the village. I needed to increase my walking speed. By channeling mana through my legs, I moved much faster. As I quickened my pace, I recalled the past phenomenon I had observed with my third eye.

It was a very short moment, just one second, but the scene I saw gave me a good idea of what had happened to the group. The scene was as follows: An Hyun was running while carrying An Sol, having discarded his longsword and shield. His face looked very urgent.

Behind him, Yoo Jung had an ambiguous expression, either worried or angry, as she chased after An Hyun. Only Kim Han-byeol had a calm face, picking up the sword and shield An Hyun had discarded and following them from the back.

Clearly, the group had been attacked in some way, and something had happened to An Sol. So, I decided to follow the direction An Hyun's group had run. I thought I would eventually find a village, and there was a high chance of meeting them there.

What could have attacked them? What could have happened to make them run with such urgency? Curiosity piled on top of curiosity. But no matter how much I pondered, I couldn't come up with an answer. I decided to hear the story later and increased my walking speed.

While walking, a cold drop fell and gently touched my cheek. I stopped and looked up to see raindrops falling on my face.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.

Seeing the intermittent raindrops, I instinctively wiped my wet cheek. I hoped to reach the village as soon as possible before the heavy rain started. Fortunately, my vision revealed a cluster of buildings in the distance.

The group must have entered that village. However, I was worried about whether they had entered safely, as some villages also had monsters. If I had known, I would have dealt with it all at once, but it seemed I had wasted time.

The raindrops on the road were gradually increasing. I didn't want to walk through the muddy, waterlogged ground. Slowing down, I walked steadily, reducing the distance to the village while instinctively using mana detection. As I slowly detected the village, I stopped, sensing something strange.

"What, what is this?"

I stammered involuntarily. Calming myself, I tried to detect more precisely, but the result was the same. Shocked, I quickly channeled mana and entered the village in an instant. Upon reaching the entrance, I saw modern buildings and opened my mouth in surprise.

'Is there a place in the rite of passage where you can see buildings from Earth? And so many of them?'

As I expected, the group was in this village, or rather, this city. I could sense the presence of four people, all gathered together, which was fortunate. However, I was confused for two reasons. First, I couldn't sense any monsters in the city. Second, the city had modern buildings.

The cities in the Hall Plain don't have modern buildings; they have the architecture of the Middle Ages. Even during my first rite of passage, adapting to this was a challenge. But now, I was seeing buildings that I often saw on Earth.

Although my mind was confused by this unprecedented experience, I quickly calmed down and decided to observe the situation objectively. The first task for humans entering the Hall Plain is to adapt to the lifestyle.

Life in the Hall Plain is not as convenient as the highly developed Earth. To help users adapt, the rite of passage includes buildings similar to those in the Hall Plain. However, this was something I had never heard of or seen.

The angels wouldn't place such buildings in the rite of passage unless they had a specific purpose. But even after rubbing my eyes, the city's landscape didn't change. This meant the angels were up to something. At that moment, I recalled a story I had heard from a knight at a bar.

'The Trap Point city has modern facilities and plenty of food. It reminds you of Earth and makes you not want to leave, manipulating your psychology.'

Thinking of the Trap Point, the city in front of me finally made sense. Before explaining the Trap Point, I need to talk about the boss monster. In simple terms, you can't defeat the boss monster in the Hall Plain. Many people have seen it, and they all say the same thing: it's impossible to defeat. You must run.

The boss monster appears under certain conditions. If you stay in the Rest Room for more than one day or in the Save Point for more than two days, it will appear. In other words, it's a warning from the angels: don't get complacent in a safe place; keep moving.

I felt a chill. I understood why the city was empty and quiet when I first saw it. And why, despite the high level of the group, except for An Sol, they were not seen in the Hall Plain. Considering the city in front of me, one possibility came to mind: no matter how skilled they were, they couldn't handle the boss monster.

I sighed deeply and fully entered the city. I felt a sense of nostalgia seeing buildings I hadn't seen in ten years, but I needed to find the group first.

As I entered the city, I was greeted by buildings all in shades of gray. The buildings emitted a dim light, as if welcoming me to a dark city, which was quite unsettling.

The thick scent of death, perceptible only to those with experienced senses. How many people must have died in these buildings?

============================ Author's Note ============================

1. Typos and context corrections.