Monster Heavenly King - Chapter 13



Only Noblemtl

13. Labyrinth City (2)

Hyunseong, who was admiring the labyrinth city, turned his consciousness to the Awakened Ones.

Since there are people coming for the first time, it would be a good place to hear some general information.

As expected, I listened to the voice that was coming.

“Do other floors have cities like this on each floor?”

“There are other floors, but none as large as this one. They’re not always available.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Starting from the second floor, there are multiple portals, and they are generated randomly at regular intervals.”

“Ah, then it will be difficult to build a base.”

“yes.”

In other words, the portal to the second floor exists only in the Labyrinth City.

He could figure out why he hadn’t found the portal to the next floor all this time.

“It’s so huge. How long did it take to build this?”

“It wasn’t built all at once. At first, the Awakened gathered near the portal and traded like a marketplace, and it gradually developed into what it is now… It took about two years?”

“In 4 years… No, it was 3 years ago that we discovered the portal to the 2nd floor, so you’re saying that you built such a large city in 3 years?”

“Because I poured that much money into it.”

The Awakened One who had been answering shrugged his shoulders and continued speaking.

“If you can transcend human scientific limitations, how much does money matter? Besides, the second floor and above are different from the first floor.”

“What? What?”

In response to his friend’s question, the man made a circle with his thumb and index finger and answered in a whisper.

“The earnings themselves are different.”

“Really? To what extent?”

“Oh my god. It’s incomparable to the first floor. There’s a reason why the first floor is called the tutorial among the Awakened.”

“okay?”

Three people chatting away.

Then, one person tilted his head and asked, perhaps sensing something strange.

“But no monsters come out?”

“This is a place where only area bosses appear. And the locations where they appear are also fixed.”

“Like a warlock temple?”

“Oh, so that’s why I’m building and managing an arena in that location.”

When Hyunseong heard that, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

Because I thought it was human to turn anything into entertainment once you got used to it.

The man was about to ask another question, but the Awakened One who was answering raised his hand and stopped him.

“Hey, how long are you going to stay here? Let’s go. There’s a nice bar nearby.”

“Are you a fortune teller?”

“Oh, you little punks. I gave you a ride here, but shouldn’t you pay for the taxi fare?”

“I’m joking, kid. Come on, I’ll buy you some.”

“What the hell is wrong with the passenger?”

The three of them disappeared into the labyrinthine city, chatting noisily.

Hyunseong didn’t follow, but just watched the scene and stroked his chin.

“Hmm, for now… .”

The first thing to do was decided.

Finding a way to cover your body.

If you walk through the labyrinth city in this state, you will be baptized with the skills of all the Awakened Ones.

We moved secretly, using the dark labyrinths and deserted alleyways between buildings.

‘It reminds me of the old days.’

I remembered the time when I was on the run from the Cheonmasin Church.

By chance, people in the village saw them and thought they were beggars, so they shared food with them.

Even after ascending to the throne of the Heavenly Horse, he would sometimes go out to avoid the eyes of the believers, so this level of stealth was not that difficult.

‘It’s more serious than I thought?’

From simply a place to rest and eat, to a place to equip gear and sell items needed to conquer the labyrinth.

It was a place that had everything, so much so that it was quick to find what was missing.

I looked around the stalls that were lined up like a traditional market.

Hyunseong’s eyes sparkle with red as he discovers something among them.

“That should be enough.”

What caught his eye was a full-body robe.

On the way here, it was not uncommon to see Awakened beings completely covered with robes, even their faces.

If that’s the case, no one would find it suspicious even if they were completely covered in robes.

Hyunseong steals a robe and wears it without the boss noticing.

“With this, I guess I don’t have to worry about getting caught.”

He even pulled his hat over his head, so that his skeletal body was completely hidden.

I came out onto the street where people were passing by, but no suspicious eyes were seen.

Unless you do something special, you won’t get noticed.

“Where is the portal to the second floor?”

If my guess is correct, it’s probably in the center of the city.

For now, I plan to go wherever my feet take me and gather more information.

Hyunseong, who moves around naturally and blends in with people.

I listened to various pieces of information that I heard while moving.

The place we arrived at after walking like that was a wide, spacious square.

There was a fairly large sign that said Meeting Square.

And, what is written on that sign is-

“Is it a map?”

It said ‘Labyrinth City Korean Street’ and showed a general map of Korean Street.

The fan-shaped Korean street, exactly in the middle.

Looking at the streetlights and benches illuminating the dark labyrinth, it gave off the atmosphere of a night park.

however,

“It’s supposed to be a meeting place, but there’s no one here.”

Rather, it is at a level that is almost non-existent compared to the distance.

As Hyunseong was crossing the square, he heard a conversation.

“Hey, what are you talking about meeting at the meeting place? It’s annoying.”

“When I was recruiting for the party, they told me to come here. Isn’t that where they’re recruiting?”

“How long has it been since I last wrote here?”

“Huh, why?”

“If you go past here, there are lodgings, food alleys, and plenty of places to play. Even if you have plans to meet, you should tell them to come to your lodging instead of meeting here. Where did you hear that?”

“In the Awakened Community.”

“They just knew you were a new awakened person and were teasing you as a group, Inma.”

“what?”

The man looked dumbfounded after hearing the answer.

Surely that wasn’t all a lie.

“No, then how do you find a party? Aren’t you finding one here?”

“What time are you talking about? That’s an old story.”

“Not using it now?”

“Since smartphones can be used inside the labyrinth, I don’t really use them because I use apps.”

If you plan a party with the app and you get along well, you can make separate plans for the next time.

If it doesn’t work out, just leave it at that and find another party.

So now, this meeting place is hardly ever used.

“Wow, there’s no romance.”

Meet strangers, form a party, and conquer the labyrinth.

Isn’t this the romance of a typical dungeon story?

The man shrugged his shoulders in response to his friend’s words.

“There’s no real difference. You just use an app.”

“… If you think about it, that makes sense?”

“It seems like our country is the only one that uses apps. It’s not that other countries don’t use apps, either. There are a lot of Awakened people who look for parties in the plaza.”

This result was achieved thanks to the Koreans’ unique tendency to pursue efficiency and their ability to quickly adapt to developing IT devices.

“I just play in a public group in an online game, and when I find someone I like, it changes into a fixed group.”

“When you say it like that, it really hits home.”

Aren’t Koreans the ones who pursue extreme efficiency, whether it’s romanticism or something else?

The man who had been nodding suddenly discovered something and pointed with his finger.

“Hey, but what is that?”

At the man’s question, Hyunseong’s gaze also turned to the statue in the center of the square.

Sitting there was a huge sword.

No, to be exact, it should be called a statue of a giant dagger.

“Oh, that one? It’s a statue of a weapon representing each country. If you go to a square in another country, there are statues of different weapons.”

“Huh? The dagger symbolizes our country? If it’s Korea, it’s the bow.”

Hyunseong nodded his head without realizing it.

‘If you were to say the weapon that represents Korea, it would be artillery, not the K-9 or anything like that.’

If we were to choose among the cold weapons mainly used by the Awakened, wouldn’t a bow be more plausible?

Looking at history, I’ve never heard of anyone being good at using a dagger, unless they were good at using a sword or a bow.

“To be exact, after the Labyrinth appeared, the weapons used by the strongest Awakened in each country were made into statues as symbols.”

“Ah~”

Only then could I nod my head in understanding.

The strongest awakener in Korea.

I remembered it because I had heard it several times myself.

‘The name was… Lee Su-yeon?’

I remember there was a woman with that name.

Even before he went to the martial arts world, he had been talking so much on TV about how he was the pride of Korea that it was impossible not to know.

“Then, if you go to a square on a Japanese street or a Chinese street, the statues will be different?”

“Yes, Japan had Japanese swords and China had spears. I haven’t seen it myself, but I heard there were guns at the American meeting place.”

“As expected from the country of guns. Even after becoming an Awakened, he still insists on using guns.”

“That’s romantic in its own way.”

“Is that so?”

“Anyway, let’s go. Even if we try to find a party here, it won’t work.”

“Tsk, okay.”

Hyunseong also left the meeting place with the two people.

* * *

“Phew.”

Lee Moon-hyun, an Awakened member of the Steel Guild, frowned and muttered with a deep sigh.

It’s been a few days since I started exploring the labyrinth based on the absurd information I heard from my guild member and newbie, Yoo Yeonhee.

“It wasn’t that difficult to find the traces.”

Because all you had to do was follow the trail of items you hadn’t picked up, just like Hansel and Gretel in the fairy tale, marking their way back with breadcrumbs.

But the problem was the terrifying speed.

I was following along with minimal rest, but there was no sign of me catching up.

The goblin territory had long since been passed, and the play territory was almost at its end.

Still, the line of items scattered on the floor showed no sign of stopping.

‘All I’ve found out is-‘

Does that mean he’s quite skilled?

You could tell just by looking at the traces of battle.

No, in this case, it would be better to say that there is no trace.

That means,

‘All traces of the attack disappeared like the monster’s corpse.’

The attack was a sure thing, and there was absolutely no waste.

Are you really saying that this is the kind of combat that a skeleton can do?

“Ugh, I don’t know.”

The more I thought about it, the more strange it became.

It feels like the limits of your imagination are being tested.

Lee Moon-hyun looked at the path of junk that continued before his eyes.

“If we continue like this, we’ll be in Spinny Bore territory.”

If you go a little further, you will come across a labyrinth city.

Surely, it didn’t go that far.

At that moment, the smartphone in his arms started vibrating.

When I looked at my smartphone, the name written there was that of the senior who had passed this training on to me.

As I pressed the call button, a familiar voice came from the other end of the receiver.

-Hey, where are you? I heard the other kids all arrived.

“I was following the traces my senior had mentioned.”

-… Did you find anything?

“If I were to explain this, it would be a pain in the ass… .”

Lee Moon-hyun was at a loss as to how to explain it, so he relayed what he had heard from Yoo Yeon-hee.

And then, the reaction I heard was exactly the same as what I expected.

-What the hell are you talking about?

“I think so too, but that’s it for now.”

-And you followed the skeleton trail all the way to the playground?

“It’s starting to get to spiny bore territory now. I was thinking about whether I should keep chasing it.”

There was a tapping sound on the other end of the receiver.

Lee Moon-hyun, who realized that it was the sound of Han Min-ho knocking on the desk while he was thinking, waited quietly for an answer.

-Tch, why did that guy go all the way there? Get out.

“Huh, really?”

-okay.

“What if he entered the labyrinth city?”

-Well, if you go in, you can go in. The labyrinth city isn’t a bunker that blocks monsters from entering.

Monsters appearing in the labyrinth city were not uncommon, but they were still a frequent occurrence.

Of course, it is quickly resolved thanks to the Awakened people overflowing in the city.

-It’s not even the 2nd or 3rd floor. Even if the monsters that appear on the 1st floor are rare, it’s a waste of time to look for them unless you know they’re not Awakened. Instead, prepare to go to the 3rd floor.

“Okay, I understand.”

I was curious to see if I could actually find a monster by following this trail, but it was just curiosity.

Challenging the third floor was more important to him now.

At his senior’s words, Lee Moon-hyun also gave up on the chase and was about to turn back when his steps suddenly stopped.

‘however….’

Why would a monster leave its territory and come here?

A thought crossed my mind as I thought about it that far.

From the entrance of the labyrinth to the central labyrinth city.

It’s like it’s getting stronger and heading towards the center.

‘This, what’s the path?’

Isn’t it no different from an Awakener who awakens the system and conquers the labyrinth?

That’s why there was talk that a big newcomer would appear in the Awakened community.

Let’s think about it, a conclusion flashed through my head.

‘The monster has awakened the system?’

Lee Moon-hyun, who had thought that far, muttered with a sly smile.

“Hey, that can’t be.”

Even if that were true, it would have been absurd to have defeated Park Hyung-min so easily.

He was about to turn back, muttering that it was just his own delusions.

“Let’s go and take a look around.”

I turned around and headed towards the labyrinth city.