Seoul Object Story
Chapter 219: The Labyrinth (13)

The man who had been called ‘dog meat uncle’ by the girl was dreaming. He was clearly aware that it was a dream, but he never wanted to wake up from it. It took place on the day he gave up going down the labyrinth.

It was right before he said that he wouldn’t go down the labyrinth any longer.

That moment was a dream that would last forever. Time had stopped so he could now grab the opportunity to change the future, he could say, ‘Let’s continue going through the labyrinth together!’

It was the 43rd floor of the labyrinth, in a forest covered with coniferous trees. It was a day when heavy rain was falling so it was difficult to see ahead. However, the rain pouring down like the sky was punctured had stopped as if time had stopped.

He saw himself standing in front of his colleagues, with a serious expression on his face, about to open his mouth. If he had gone into that body like this, it would probably have been a dream where time would flow again. After all, It was a past he wanted to change.

After he said he didn’t want to go down the labyrinth again, his comrades who had left him on the 43rd floor and went down never came back. However, the man still could not bring himself to say, ‘Let’s continue through the labyrinth together!’

After all, he was scared.

But at the same time, he also didn’t have the courage to wake up from the dream.

After all, it was a past he wanted to change.

He did not have the courage to change his past choices, nor did he have the courage to affirm his choices and wake up from the dream. Thus, it was destined to remain frozen in time forever.

Even if it was a dream, even if he knew the terrible future, he could not say that he would go down the labyrinth with his comrades. From the man’s perspective, who had realized the structure of the labyrinth, he could no longer choose to go down.

It was a realization that was close to foresight.

The labyrinth granted superhuman strength to those who broke through it. It granted more strength as they advanced further. It granted the adventurers what they had always wanted.

Incredible strength, great looks, magic, and swordsmanship, powerful items.

If they kept going in and out of the labyrinth, it would be theirs forever.

But there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

Humans who gained the power from the labyrinth became more and more strange.

Arrogance and sense of superiority?

No, it wasn’t that normal strangeness.

They became a real madman.

Insane mentality with endless hatred for humans and rambling without context.

The moment that mentality exceeded a certain level, the labyrinth consumed them. Those people never returned from the labyrinth.

However, even though most people knew about that, they couldn’t stop going down the labyrinth. After all, ‘strong power’ was addictive.

The dog meat uncle was the only one who stopped going down the labyrinth after passing the 30th floor.

The difficulty of the labyrinth was easy to clear as long as someone carefully progressed step by step like a game.

However, people went crazy after they gained power.

When he thought about those two things, the purpose of the labyrinth became clear.

The labyrinth was transforming humans into something else. It was selecting those who could maintain their sanity after they were transformed.

Because of that, the man could not go any further. The reason was because he had already lost himself. He could no longer remember what he had been doing while living in Japan, or what kind of person he had been.

But ironically, the foresight he had gained after losing himself led him to the realization of the structure of the labyrinth.

He stood still and thought for a long time, but the heavy rain, like tears shed by the sky, did not move at all.

It was a frozen dream where no sound could be heard, yet the sound of the heavy rain hitting the trees and the earth was still stuck in his ears.

Several years passed, but the image of this coniferous forest was still vividly etched in his eyes like a painting.

The man could do nothing, just standing in place, unable to choose anything.

*********

The girl climbed up to the school rooftop and looked down. The red glow of the sunset dyed the world in the color of dusk.

The girl really liked the dusk of the Labyrinth City. The only similarity the labyrinth city shared with Japan was the dusk. She liked the dusk of the Labyrinth City and the noisy noise that ended the day.

The girl closed her eyes and listened to the sounds. The sound of students running around the playground and making noise. The sound of cars and people bustling around on the street beyond the school.

She listened to those peaceful sounds.

Even now, if she closed her eyes, she thought she could hear the rough sound of meat being grilled on well-dried wood and the loud noise of people drinking alcohol.

For some reason, Japan felt foreign to her. It felt like she couldn’t stay in this dreamlike fantasy forever.

It was a daily life that she longed for every night. However, she didn’t want to pretend that all the relationships she made in Labyrinth City never existed.

In this place, there’s also no cute black fairy struggling to protect her.

It was fun to come back to school after a long time.

So…

The girl bid her farewell to the world.

A farewell until they meet again for real.

*********

The Black Reaper was running around the Garden of the Mini Reaper.

In front of the Mini Reapers who were running around like that, there was a Gray Reaper with the kindest smile in the world, watching the Mini Reapers running around.

A loving mother who fed the Mini Reapers a bite of pudding each when they got tired of playing. A mother who didn’t steal the children’s pudding while walking around, but instead shared its snacks with them.

When the Mini Reapers brought pudding to eat together, the mother didn’t run away with it but shared it with them. It was a really happy Garden of The Mini Reaper.

When the Black Reaper got tired of playing with the Mini Reapers and went out of the garden, its precious human who was in the Sehee Research Institute greeted it.

Om nom nom-!

The Black Reaper sat on the palm of its precious human and ate the pudding that the precious human gave it.

I’m happy.

I was happy that my mom was strangely kind.

The lab rules also had changed so that the precious human would only work for one hour a day, so it was really happy.

It could stay with the precious human forever!

However, the peaceful sky of Sehee Research Institute was suddenly torn apart, and that happy moment came to an end.

Above the torn sky, playful yellow eyes were looking down at the Black Reaper.

It was a nightmare.

The Black Reaper woke up in surprise at that moment.

*********

You should know about Tyrano’s grudge!

I looked down at the labyrinth boss that was crushed into the shape of Tyrano and let out a silent roar.

After destroying the labyrinth boss and coming to my senses, I finally began to feel the pain burning my whole body. The power that came from the Halo was burning my body without mercy.

At that moment, I quickly took off the Halo and threw it on the floor.

The pain from the Halo did not decrease no matter how many times I used it, and it only continued to be painful. It was clearly my ability, so I should have gotten used to it the more I used it, but it was not like that.

It hurt so much that I didn’t want to use it again, but Tyrano’s revenge clouded my judgment and I unconsciously called it over my head.

As the Halo I threw away returned to the sky, I turned my gaze and looked at the chaos of the Black Reapers around me running around.

The Black Reapers who took care of the girl by turning her into a bed…

Those Black Reapers were jumping around and celebrating their victory.

And then there were Black Reapers who were sleeping with expressions that looked incredibly happy.

I didn’t know why, but seeing the Black Reapers sleeping with happy expressions made me feel a little strange.

I felt like they were cursing me.

Do you know why these guys are like that?

When I asked why these kids kept sleeping, the Black Reapers were startled and ran towards the Black Reapers who were sleeping. Only then did the Black Reapers who were sleeping come to their senses.

The Golden Reapers and the Black Reapers seemed to know that they were tough, so they tended to be indifferent to their own injuries. It was a contrast to the Blue Reapers who were careful of injuries as if they were newborn babies.

The Black Reapers shook the shoulders of the sleeping Black Reapers, grabbed their cheeks, and stretched them out.

They tried everything they could to wake up the Black Reapers, but they showed no sign of waking up.

Realizing that this was a problem they couldn’t handle, the Black Reapers each carried a sleeping Black Reaper and gathered in front of me.

Big trouble!

Sleeping bell!

After listening to the Black Reapers’ story, I understood the situation.

It means that they were dreaming something like my Tyranno adventure.

The dream was happy and the reality was cold. So, I had no choice but to wake them up.

They had really happy faces, but I couldn’t help it.

It’s not because I envy them, Okay?

The solution was simple.

Using the Golden Tree’s ability to enter the dream, and then use the Space Slicing ability to destroy the dream!

First, I used the Golden Tree’s ability to enter the Black Reapers’ dreams, and the Black Reapers were startled and started to wake up.

I didn’t even use Space Slicing, so why?

The Black Reapers who woke up looked around, then made eye contact with me and rubbed their eyes as if they had seen something strange. After rubbing their eyes hard, they looked at me again and shed a tear.

What on earth did the Black Reapers see in their dream to have such a reaction?

I felt strangely bad and wanted to ask them. However, before I could do that, the entire labyrinth began to shake.

Rumble-!

A sound that did not fit with the pure white field and upside-down trees on the second floor of the labyrinth resonated. It felt as if the gears of stone and sand that had been left unattended for a long time were finally starting to turn.

The labyrinth’s scenery which had been blinking like a broken TV screen suddenly changed into a landscape made of stone and sand. Snowflakes made of sand were flying into the sky, and a bare tree made of carved stone was hanging from the ceiling.

The stones and sand that were revealed, which seemed static and solid, began to crumble. Like a river of sand flowing under the desert sun, each grain of sand poured down with a crumbling sound.

The crumbled sand rose into the sky again, forming a majestic pillar, and a sea of sand defying gravity began to fill the sky.

When the seemingly endless cataclysm of sand stopped, an enormous plain made entirely of sand spread out before my eyes.

However, the sand that filled the sky above that plain was still flowing, making a sound like a snake crawling over the sand.

A land of sand and a sky of sand.

In the middle of that peculiar desert, a gap where space had been torn revealed itself.

The crack had formed right in front of me as if inviting me to enter.

*********

In a space made of sand that was constantly flowing, an old man who was sitting on a chair opened his sand-filled eyes and looked inside the labyrinth.

The old man’s gaze, which had been staring at the black sword, was now laid on the Gray Reaper who was wearing black armor.

And when the Gray Reaper took off its Black Reaper armor and revealed itself, a surprised expression appeared on the old man’s expressionless face.

[ Gray body. ]

[ Homunculus. ]

[ A figure modeled after the last alchemist. ]

The old man opened his mouth as if laughing. However, his body, which had turned into sand, could not laugh. Instead, his gaping jaw failed to maintain its shape and turned into sand, crumbling and falling down.

[ Hahaha. ]

[ I see. Did she succeed? ]

[ The child who seemed the least likely to succeed succeeded. ]

[ Then I will bet on her success. ]

As the old man waved his staff, the power in the labyrinth gradually recovered and began to return to the old man.

[ I wonder if you are worthy of carrying the nine crowns. ]

The old man let out a sigh of satisfaction even when his body fell into the sand.

***

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