Chapter 72

'A space enclosed by walls on all sides.'

Or, a place that no one can verify.

It is a place that can only be reached by meeting certain special conditions.

Although all the mazes are connected, there was a space particularly enclosed by walls on all sides.

Why would such an empty space be created?

The maze is arranged with extreme efficiency. Each path is ingeniously designed.

However, occasionally, a space enclosed by walls on all sides appears.

If there is nothing inside, why would such a space be created?

It is impossible to climb over the walls.

But, it is possible to break through them.

‘Maze Ticket.’

At first, I thought it was a ticket made to use when you get lost or need to escape.

But, what if this ticket is a way to find a ‘path’?

There might be something in that empty space.

《Maze Ticket used.》

《The wall will be breached for 30 seconds.》

Instantly, a fairly large hole was made in the wall.

A space that even the spirits cannot invade.

Without hesitation, I climbed over the wall.

‘Bingo.’

I found the path.

*

A staircase leading underground.

After walking down the stairs for a while, another maze appeared.

《You are the first among the current entrants to step into the underground maze.》

《Achievement ‘First Challenger to Discover the Underground Maze’ obtained.》

《Honor increased by 50.》

《‘Knight of the Abyss’ welcomes the first entrant.》

A knight covered in a black abyss stood before me.

【Lv.10】

Level 10.

But it is not an ordinary level 10.

The level displayed is orange.

An elite raid boss monster.

A monster that requires at least nine level 10 characters to team up and hunt welcomed us as soon as we entered the underground maze.

‘What is that emblem?’

On the armor of the Knight of the Abyss, the symbol of the empire, the ‘Golden Pentagram,’ was faintly visible.

I took out the gold token I received from the Silver Fox Mask, just in case.

Upon seeing it, the Knight of the Abyss.

-Cursed empire!

...began to get even angrier.

*

The enraged Knight of the Abyss was devastating.

There was no berserker like him.

In an instant, he broke through the solid defense set up by Isaac and Isabella.

He then charged at me like a madman.

A scene that would make anyone gasp.

Swoosh.

I pulled the bowstring as calmly as possible.

The Knight of the Abyss lost his sanity due to his anger at seeing the gold token.

He was ignoring his defense, intent only on killing the token's owner, me.

Then.

Whizz!

Thud!

The Knight of the Abyss, struck by the arrow, hesitated.

The ‘Fear’ effect, which is granted upon being hit, is an absolute ‘fear’ that even a monster of the abyss cannot resist.

Losing sight and a random stat being reduced by 10.

‘He’s slowed down.’

It seems his agility has decreased.

Showing him the gold token and exciting him turned out to be beneficial.

Whizz!

I quickly loaded another arrow and fired, but the Knight of the Abyss dodged.

He realized the danger of being hit by an arrow and dodged by instinct.

The blindness curse did not seem to have a significant effect on the Knight of the Abyss.

However, the reduction of 10 in agility is significant.

I quickly took out a mirror from my pocket.

<‘Mirror of Additional Conditions’ used.>

<‘Knight of the Abyss’ has been given a random ‘action condition.’>

A mirror that adds random action conditions to challengers.

I had to use all of it.

Although the ‘Mirror of Additional Conditions’ was said to be usable only on challengers who entered the Abyss Maze, it worked on the Knight of the Abyss as well.

‘The emblem of the empire. So, he was a challenger after all.’

The Knight of the Abyss was also a past challenger of this place.

I inferred this from the faintly visible golden pentagram on his armor, but I wasn't sure.

He was definitely a knight who challenged and failed, sinking into the abyss.

-Annoying...!

That's enough.

With reduced stats, loss of sight, and an action condition.

If the opponent is strong, pulling them down to my level is also a good strategy.

Swish.

Facing the charging Knight of the Abyss head-on, I drew out two supreme iron swords.

*

《‘Knight of the Abyss’ eliminated.》

《20h of Broken Golden Rule fragments obtained.》

《50 Maze Points obtained.》

《‘Skill of the Dead King’ successfully dominated ‘Knight of the Abyss.’》

《Dominating ‘Knight of the Abyss’ permanently increases strength by 2.》

Eliminating the Knight of the Abyss granted a score 2.5 times the amount of fragments obtained.

Moreover, I could dominate the Knight of the Abyss, treating him as a dead entity.

However, the body of the Knight of the Abyss sank into the abyss and disappeared.

Only the soul of the Knight of the Abyss, floating like a ghost, pointed the way with its finger.

‘I have a guide now.’

But where is he guiding me?

Since I successfully dominated him, he cannot do anything harmful to me.

I continued walking in the direction the soul of the Knight of the Abyss pointed.

After walking for a while,

《‘Golden Goblin’ discovered.》

Squeak?

I made eye contact with a golden goblin wearing a golden crown and carrying a bag.

Gotcha!

Golden Goblin.

Or, a treasure goblin, a walking treasure chest.

This goblin, which occasionally appears in the abyss, is known to inhabit only the ‘prime land’ among the lands that have sunk into the abyss.

Goblins are originally a species that feel greed for shining treasures.

Their greed intensifies in the abyss, turning their entire body golden, and they begin to gather and collect all kinds of treasures that have sunk into the abyss.

In other words, this Abyss Maze is prime land where a ‘Golden Goblin’ can be generated.

Swoosh!

The moment our eyes met, my hand was already on the bowstring.

‘I must catch it.’

It was almost instinctive.

Squeak!

The Golden Goblin panicked and opened a warp.

To sweep up treasures, the Golden Goblin can move through the abyss.

It is a very difficult creature to catch due to its speed and ability to warp.

But.

Caw!

Hell's body glowed red.

Even the Golden Goblin's warp was denied.

Squeak!!

The Golden Goblin, surprised that its body did not warp, hesitated.

Thud!

In that instant, an arrow pierced its forehead.

The Golden Goblin, which had hit its head on the wall created by the warp and trembled, soon slumped over.

Then, the hand of the abyss dragged away the body of the Golden Goblin.

《Golden Goblin eliminated.》

《30 Maze Points obtained for eliminating an event monster.》

The Maze Points were also quite substantial.

When I first obtained Maze Points, it seemed to mean that ‘you can earn or use points through various events.’

It means that hunting event monsters also grants points.

Now, only the crown and the bag remain.

‘This is also helpful.’

I looked at Hell.

This guy is more helpful than I thought.

If I hadn't survived the Silver Fox Mask and received the gold token from him, I wouldn't have been able to excite the Knight of the Abyss and make him hit by the arrow.

Not only that.

He even blocked the Golden Goblin's warp.

I would have likely missed the Golden Goblin, a creature with excellent survival skills, if I were alone.

Caw!

“I'll give you double the feed today.”

Cawcawcaw!

Hell circled above my head.

Despite feeding him 30 honor points every day, it seemed he was still hungry.

I slowly recovered the crown and the bag.

【Golden Goblin's Crown】

-A crown made of gold by the Golden Goblin.

-Made of pure gold, it is highly valuable.

The crown is worth about 200,000 gold based on the current market price.

This alone is significant, but the real treasure is not this.

The bag.

All the treasures the Golden Goblin collected throughout its life in the abyss are inside.

【Golden Goblin's Bag】

-1,873,100 gold coins of the old empire

-5 golden eagle statues of the old empire

-2 golden swords of the old empire

I nodded slightly after checking the contents.

“Wow, that’s incredible.”

Isaac, who recognized the value of the treasures, stuttered.

‘Indeed.’

This is a big catch.

Since old empire coins are typically valued at twice their face value,

I earned about 4 million gold for just one catch.

‘Each Golden Goblin mainly collects different items.’

However, the types are limited because each goblin mainly collects a specific type of treasure.

The Golden Goblin I just caught had only collected gold and items related to gold.

Moreover, all of them were named after the old empire.

‘This Abyss Maze was the land of the old empire in the distant past.’

Now, the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fit together.

The Silver Fox Mask, who spoke of a mission and tried to kill the Sword Saint Ralil.

The Knight of the Abyss, who recoiled at the sight of the gold token.

Sword Saint Ralil was a promising sword saint of Pangea and a hero of the old empire.

If this maze was the land of the old empire, the connection between these individuals becomes clearer.

The land of the old empire, which possessed the most gold and treasures...

‘There might be more Golden Goblins.’

I was suddenly alert.

There might be more than I thought.

However, Golden Goblins are always a source of conflict.

‘Catching one Golden Goblin usually leads to chaos.’

Golden Goblins can only be caught through abyss exploration.

Unless a powerful leader leads a large number of soldiers to hunt the ‘Abyss Dominator,’ Golden Goblins are always a source of conflict.

‘That’s why most abyss explorations end in internal strife.’

Gamers pretending to be soldiers, treasure hunters trying to make a big profit, and countless leeches trying to get a share.

When defections and internal strife occur due to them, abyss explorations usually fail and end in total annihilation.

This is especially true in lands where Golden Goblins appear.

So, once this fact is known, chaos will surely ensue.

Golden Goblins appear in the maze!

The Abyss Maze was the land of the old empire!

Even a slight rumor will spread.

‘...Just thinking about it is terrifying.’

Once the rumor spreads outside the maze, a massive influx will come to this maze.

The warp to the Abyss Maze is connected to all warps.

As long as you have fragments of the Broken Golden Rule, there are no significant entry restrictions.

‘Do Golden Goblins only appear in the underground maze?’

I don't know if they appear in the upper levels of the maze.

But if they only appear in the underground maze, this could be an opportunity.

An opportunity to monopolize as much as possible!

The problem is that finding Golden Goblins is not easy.

“Heir, the soul is pointing to another place. Could it be...?”

“It is.”

As Isaac said, the soul of the Knight of the Abyss suddenly started pointing to another place.

Most likely, to another Golden Goblin.

A smile naturally formed on my lips.

‘Jackpot.’

Not just a jackpot.

It was a crazy jackpot.

*

If the ‘Transdimensional Community,’ where ordinary people and Dimension Warriors gather to talk, is a major trend, then the ‘Player Talk (Player Talk)’ where only Dimension Warriors gather is also a trend among them.

You can join by entering the correct answer to a question that only those who play Pangea can solve. It is a dark web site where minor information is shared anonymously.

With 3,000 members,

It is referred to as the largest community among players, but it is currently buzzing with talk about the maze.

-Is this maze really made to be cleared?

-How many hours of the Broken Golden Rule do you need?

-There's a crazy woman in the maze who looks like Seo Ah, be careful.

-Be careful of the Silver Fox Mask. I was the only one left alive.

-When I logged out, my position really reset. Damn.

-Why are there so many barbarians here? Who hired them all?

-Are the 7 Heroes really monopolizing the Maze Merchants?

The main content is complaints about the maze.

It is a place with no end in sight.

The time of the Golden Rule you have is significantly insufficient, and the income is not proportional to the time spent.

It is dangerous, and even the Maze Merchants are monopolized by the 7 Heroes.

-Really, these guys are going too far.

-There's no need for image making in Pangea, right? Haha.

-Mr. Phantom! No, Mr. Randolph! Please, educate these foolish fake heroes again!

They are mainly players who have a lot of complaints about the 7 Heroes.

But there is no place to speak freely except for this ‘Player Talk.’

Only this ‘Player Talk’ can avoid being tracked by the master and powerful speakers.

The owner of Player Talk is unknown.

The identities of the players are famous for never being exposed to the outside.

It has been operating for three years, regularly deleting logs and moving servers.