Chapter 71
While Suhyeok was in the Underworld, two days had already passed outside.
"A-Are you all right? Perhaps forcing yourself to travel this far was too much."
"Haa... hoo... I'm f-fine.... Let's go inside... urgh!"
They had reached the 20th floor through teleportation.
Unlike Suhyeok, who could travel there in a single jump, they had needed more than thirty separate teleports to finally arrive.
The guild masters of the Three Great Guilds had gathered in one place with Bong Taesu, Kim Hyuna, and Lee Yumi.
An oppressive silence filled the room.
Lee Serim ran a hand through her hair with a grave expression and spoke.
"...The situation is worse than we expected. The infection rate keeps accelerating."
"We're cooperating with the Order and the Imperial Family to slow it down as much as possible, but... that won't last much longer."
Over the past two days, numerous priests, including Saintess Fern, had been dispatched to the various guilds.
But despite the efforts of the Order and the Saintess, there was no sign that the infected were improving.
Lee Serim turned toward the window.
A large crowd of residents was protesting outside.
The world will soon come to an end! God has sent this curse to punish us for the sins we've accumulated! The infected are sinners! We must make them pay for their sins if we want to survive!!
They believed the current disaster was simply the wrath of God.
And so, they had begun hunting the infected like witches.
"...The number of fanatics keeps increasing."
Lee Serim's expression darkened.
"Today, some of them even tried to kill infected people."
"We managed to stop them for now, but it won't last."
Bong Taesu cautiously raised a hand.
"I saw something on our way here...."
He hesitated.
"Are Players being infected too?"
"Yes."
Lee Serim nodded.
"It's no longer limited to residents. The infection has begun spreading among Players as well."
"Fortunately, our side hasn't suffered any casualties yet."
She looked around.
"What about Haegwang and White Tiger?"
Kang Dongwoo also looked grim.
He leaned back in his chair, tilted his head upward, and let out a deep sigh.
"Haa... we're okay for now too."
"If anything, Elixirs are the only thing helping."
His brow furrowed.
"They make the symptoms better for a little while, but they don't cure it."
"That's why everyone's losing their minds."
His gaze shifted toward Jang Haksu, who had remained silent until now.
"If anything, Haksu hyung's probably suffering worse than me."
"His territory was where the outbreak started."
Jang Haksu had been resting his chin on one hand, his expression dark.
He finally spoke carefully.
"...One of our elite guild members was infected recently."
"We've isolated him, but everyone is shaken."
"It'll probably get worse the more casualties we suffer."
"The 10th floor is just as bad."
Yumi spoke next.
"We're somehow slowing things down by distributing Elixirs, but that won't hold forever either."
Taesu slowly nodded.
"Young Master Hans is barely hanging on as well."
"We have no idea when his condition might suddenly worsen."
"Hans?"
Lee Serim looked confused.
"Who is that?"
"Ah."
Taesu scratched his cheek.
"I suppose Lady Serim and the others here wouldn't know."
"He's someone Hyungnim specifically asked us to protect."
"I heard they met on the 10th floor."
He shook his head.
"We don't know much beyond that."
The moment Suhyeok's name came up, Lee Serim's face brightened.
She abruptly stood from her seat.
"Right! This isn't the time for us to just sit here!"
"B-Bong Taesu!"
She leaned forward.
"Do you know when Lee Suhyeok will return?"
"Did he say anything about when he'd be back?!"
"N-No, nothing that specific."
Taesu shook his head.
"Hyungnim told us to hold out for five days."
"There are three days left."
"He said he would definitely return before then, so please don't worry too much."
When she realized Suhyeok couldn't come immediately, Lee Serim sank back into her chair like someone who had lost all strength.
She lowered her head.
"...Having to depend on Lee Suhyeok again..."
Her voice trembled.
"It really makes me feel powerless."
"What if..."
She paused.
"Just hypothetically."
"If Lee Suhyeok can't make it back-"
Hyuna shook her head.
"No."
She spoke with complete certainty.
"He'll come back."
"Even if he's late, he'll definitely return."
Then she looked at everyone and smiled as though there was nothing to worry about.
"Mister said he'd come back."
"I believe him."
Step. Step.
"Oh! I think this is it, nya!"
Leon pointed toward the door at the end of the long staircase.
"We finally reached the 1st floor, nya!"
After descending for what felt like forever, they had finally reached the bottom.
But Leon stared at the door with suspicion.
"Are you sure this is really the 1st floor, nya?"
"The energy feels different."
He sniffed the air.
"It doesn't feel like the boundary of the 1st floor, nya."
"Of course."
Kim Jeonghyeon answered.
"This isn't the 1st floor."
"Huh?"
Leon blinked.
"What does that mean, nya?"
"Explain it properly."
Kim Jeonghyeon examined a strange symbol carved into the door.
"I've learned a few things while living here."
"One of them is the writing used in the Underworld."
"The language of the dead."
"Oh?"
Leon sounded impressed.
"You're more useful than you look, nya."
"When did you learn that?"
"While I was working as the labor foreman."
Kim Jeonghyeon adjusted his glasses.
"The Administrators started teaching me after I got on their good side."
"Though I only know simple words like numbers."
Leon tilted his head.
"Maybe people with glasses really are different, nya?"
Kim Jeonghyeon straightened proudly.
"I may not look like it, but I graduated from a four-year university in Seoul."
"Intellectually speaking, I'm probably the smartest person here."
Leon immediately frowned.
"I don't know what ‘university in Seoul’ means, but stop bragging about pointless things, nya."
"Everything about you, including your face, is annoying, nya. Ugh."
"..."
LMAOOOOOOOO
That's harsh as hell lol
These two genuinely hate each other hahahaha what kind of combination is this?
I have no words lol
Bragging like that is pretty annoying though ㅇㅇ
"...Anyway."
Kim Jeonghyeon looked back at the symbol.
"That character means ‘between one and two.’"
"So this should be somewhere between the 1st and 2nd floors."
"Why does the shortcut end here of all places, nya?"
Leon grumbled.
"If they were going to make one, they should've taken us all the way to the 0th floor, nya."
"You should probably complain to the architect about th-"
"You're noisy, nya."
Leon cut him off.
"Why do you talk so much?"
"If someone threw you into a river, your mouth would probably be the only thing floating."
Kim Jeonghyeon apparently decided it was better to ignore him.
He turned his back to Leon and addressed Suhyeok instead.
"So what do we do from here, Lee Suhyeok?"
"I don't have any information about this area, so I probably won't be much help."
"The surveillance down here won't be as loose as it was on the 5th floor either."
He was right.
Suhyeok hadn't directly seen the interior yet, but by faintly spreading his energy, he could roughly sense the building's structure.
It feels like a prison.
Does that mean someone is being held here?
[‘Maze Architect’ has sponsored 10,000 Coins.]
[Message: The 1st and 2nd floors imprison those burdened by especially heavy sins. You may encounter a few familiar faces.]
Familiar faces.
Then Yoo Taeseong and Choi Wonseok could also be imprisoned somewhere around here.
Suhyeok opened the door and stepped inside.
Other than the floor illuminated by torches, everything was swallowed in darkness.
Fog even hung near the ceiling.
Yet there wasn't a single guard in sight.
Even if most of them had gathered on the upper floors, leaving no one behind at all was strange.
