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chapter 73
“…….”
After Hanbit stepped forward, the maze clear proceeded all too smoothly.
The monsters they encountered were also dying off at an absurdly fast pace.
Yeonwoo, who had been watching resentfully, spoke up.
“Hyung, this was in the web novel too, right?”
-Lol, Lohada, Chuper.
-If a novel explains an entire maze, it’s trash;
-Maybe nobody found it because it’s a bad novel?
-True.
Talk about the novel once again took over the chat.
Striding ahead, Hanbit quickly smoothed things over.
“It wasn’t described in detail in the novel either. I guess I’m just lucky.”
“If this is luck, you should just go buy lottery tickets, hyung.”
Yeonwoo made a dumbfounded expression.
“Just hurry up.”
Hanbit picked up the pace again.
As he continued defeating monsters, his level naturally went up as well.
[Your level has increased by 2.]
[2 stat points have been awarded.]
Advancing through the maze like that, they arrived at the final wall.
There was a single blue door there.
“Let’s go.”
Kugung—
When he pushed with force, the door opened slowly with a heavy sound.
Beyond it was a steep spiral staircase.
“It looks like a trap.”
“It does. You go first.”
“…What? Hey, wait—.”
Grinning, Hanbit shoved Yeonwoo’s back toward the stairs.
Though startled, Yeonwoo resisted briefly before giving up and stepping forward.
“Why is it so high?”
Even after climbing for a long time, the top still wasn’t visible.
Hanbit simply pushed Yeonwoo’s back leisurely.
“Whoa!”
Having finally climbed the last step, Yeonwoo cried out in surprise.
The floor was made of transparent glass.
Below it, they could see the maze they had passed through.
“What is this?”
“The architect’s taste.”
-How did he do that;
-That’s crazy high. LOL
-Black Dragon says the dungeon designer was a pervert.
-Map designer eating snacks: *spits out*
“Ah, the prize money.”
Watching the screen, Hanbit remembered the challenge mission.
He immediately pressed the success button.
[You have succeeded in the challenge mission.]
[You have received 623,000 won.]
“Thank you, everyone.”
In a short time, the accumulated prize money exceeded 600,000 won.
In a good mood, Hanbit pushed Yeonwoo’s back again.
“Let’s go. Some parts are fragile, so be careful.”
“How can you say that while pushing me!”
Carefully stepping onto the glass floor, the two moved forward.
“Wow, this is insane. You found that path in one go, didn’t you?”
Looking down, Yeonwoo sighed at the complicated maze below.
Setting monsters aside, escaping without getting stuck even once was impossible.
“Wow, what is this place now?”
Reaching the very center, the two stood on a square-marked area.
A unique magic circle was drawn there.
“It’s a place to summon the boss.”
“Summon it?”
“There’s no separate boss room here. It’s more like a ritual summon.”
This dungeon also had a boss.
But its structure was completely different from the challenge dungeon.
“When you summon it, where does it appear? Fighting here seems dangerous.”
Yeonwoo tapped the glass floor worriedly.
Standing inside the square, Hanbit pointed downward.
“It’ll appear in the maze. Let’s get ready.”
Ding—
[User Cuckoo donated 1,000 won.]
[Shameless bastards entering the maze.]
Turning his head, Hanbit saw a crowd standing at the maze entrance from afar.
At the very front was Ranger.
Without hesitation, he kicked forward and rushed inside.
“The maze video probably went up on the community already, right?”
“It’s already spread everywhere. They’ll follow it.”
As Yeonwoo said, all the players began carefully advancing through the maze.
Their shifting gazes made it look as if they were playing a video outright.
“They’re fast. Really fast.”
“That’s not fast—aren’t we already too late to summon the boss? What are you going to do?!”
Hanbit calmly cheered, while Yeonwoo grabbed his shoulders and shook him.
From afar, it looked like a completely incomprehensible situation.
‘They’re all in.’
Almost all the players who entered the maze had reached the central area.
No one remained at the entrance.
“Let’s start.”
“What? Even if we summon the boss, we’ll just lose it to them! We won’t even be able to kill it—hyung!”
Swoosh—
Lowering his stance, Hanbit placed his hand on the magic circle.
Clear light flared as changes followed.
Ding—
[Irtelloger’s Aquarium Log]
Selecting the bait is important.
The owners of the aquarium are picky, so prepare excellent prey using bait.
If you draw their satisfaction, a reward shall be granted.
‘Just like I remember.’
The content of the message was familiar.
It matched the horrific memories of the past word for word.
“What does this mean? Isn’t the bait the monsters down there?”
-The concept is solid;
-Who’s the owner?
-Isn’t it that silhouette we saw earlier?
-King god fish, damn.
-Now we’re feeding monsters;
-Do we just kill all the maze mobs?
As Yeonwoo and the viewers read the message, they all reached the same conclusion.
The monsters they had encountered in the maze, like the sandworms.
Every one of them had the descriptor “bait.”
Naturally, it led to the thought that those had to be killed first.
Woooong—!
At that moment, the magic circle vibrated violently.
And when the body-shaking tremor stopped—
Swoosh—!
The magic circle vanished before their eyes.
***
“Huh?”
“What is this?”
In the central area of the aquarium maze.
Players advancing while referencing Black Dragon’s clip stopped in their tracks.
A magic circle had suddenly appeared on the floor.
Woooong—
Lines and patterns filled in as it emitted a clear light.
Some players approached to examine it.
“In the stream, Black Dragon did something here, right?”
“Didn’t he just touch the magic circle?”
“There was a message saying to prepare bait, too.”
Many were still closely watching Black Dragon’s broadcast.
The content was simple, but the purpose of this magic circle couldn’t be predicted.
“Do we put bait here?”
“Should we drag one over?”
“It said draw their satisfaction—will a sandworm work?”
Questions and speculation poured out.
But the calm didn’t last long.
“Looks almost complete.”
“What’s going to come out?”
The magic circle finished drawing its final outer line.
The moment it formed a complete circle—
Whoosh—!
A pillar of intense fire shot up from the circle.
“Whoa!”
“What the hell!”
Startled players hurriedly retreated.
Swoosh—
The pillar of fire gradually faded.
When it disappeared completely, something revealed itself.
“…What is that?”
“A doll…?”
A gray-brown humanoid figure standing tall.
Flames wrapped its entire body, and a red sphere embedded in its chest shone brightly.
[Elite: Combat Doll for Bait (Lv.???)]
The clear name tag floating above its head.
The hesitant players immediately realized the situation.
That thing was the key to clearing the dungeon.
Swoosh—
Silence fell, and tension spread.
The monster’s level wasn’t displayed.
But considering the surrounding monster levels, the thought that it was killable dominated their minds.
Clack—!
Adventurers, watching each other, readied their weapons.
Their gazes fixed on the motionless doll.
In the doll’s flame-wreathed hand was a sharp sword.
And the moment its foot stepped outside the magic circle—
Tatt—!
Everyone attacked at once.
Swoosh—!
Kwaang—!
Countless active skills flew in with tremendous force.
The power showed their intent to kill it in a single blow.
But—
Swoosh—!
The doll that should have died vanished from sight.
“There!”
A sharp-eyed player pointed upward.
Looking up, they saw the doll clinging to the upper part of the maze wall.
“…What is that?”
“Tch. Looks like it’s agility-based.”
“Fast types are annoying.”
Its agile movement drew complaints.
With the elite rank, it wasn’t strange for it to move better than monsters of the same level.
Agility-specialized enemies were always hard to catch.
“Have melee herd it, ranged snipe.”
“We’ll just bombard it with magic. That’s safer.”
“Who learned assassination skills? Use whatever and take it first!”
Players quickly formed strategies within their parties.
But then a man appeared who rendered them meaningless.
“Don’t touch it.”
Ranger stepped forward slowly, halting everyone’s actions.
His bowstring was fully drawn, but not yet aimed at the doll.
‘It needs to move.’
Black Dragon was still stopped at the upper part of the maze.
Ranger was closely watching his movements.
There was a strong chance he’d try something strange again.
‘That thing is definitely the key.’
Originally, he planned to finish conquering the maze.
But instinctively, he chose the magic circle.
The message Black Dragon received clearly stated to prepare bait.
And if it was about killing monsters, the conditions overwhelmingly favored him.
Whoosh—!
The doll clinging to the maze wall flickered with fire and looked down.
For a brief moment, they faced off in uncomfortable silence.
Step—
Footsteps sounded from behind.
“What, nobody’s killing it?”
Black Dragon walked in leisurely, sword hanging loosely.
He calmly surveyed the crowd of players.
“Do you think we’d fall for your trick?”
“I wasn’t aiming for anything like that.”
Asked probing questions, Black Dragon shrugged them off.
Then he looked at the doll on the wall.
“Well, do whatever you want.”
He took a stance as if uninterested.
Whooo—!
Whoosh—!
Wind surged around Black Dragon, and strong flames wrapped around him at the same time.
It was a beautiful fire, completely different from the doll’s.
‘That’s real.’
Ranger was certain.
The attack Black Dragon was preparing wasn’t a bluff.
It was a decisive strike using the power of spirits to the fullest.
Swoosh—
Black Dragon tilted his blade, preparing to attack.
And the moment he swung his sword at the doll—
Swoosh—!
Ping—!
Along with the sword aura, Ranger’s arrow was released.
Crackle—!
Yellow lightning wrapped around the arrow.
It expanded into a massive sphere that engulfed the maze wall.
Kwaaaang—!
The shockwave spreading across the wall unleashed even stronger electricity.
Black Dragon’s sword aura added to the impact.
“Ugh!”
The players watching retreated from the intense light and heat.
But—
“Tch.”
The target doll had already escaped the wall.
Tadat—!
The doll ran swiftly along the maze wall.
As everyone panicked, Hanbit moved first.
Tatt—!
Kicking off, he immediately began chasing the doll.
That zeal to kill it first was genuine.
Ranger, once again convinced, tightened his grip on the bow and followed quickly.
