Chapter 799
Chapter 799: Rank 1 (1)
Schrödinger’s Cat. It’s a famous experiment in quantum mechanics, but to be honest, I don’t know much about it in depth. As a liberal arts major, there’s only one thing I know.
Before opening the box, there are two possible futures, but the moment one future is observed, it becomes determined.
Of course, I still don’t see why that’s scientifically significant, but the experiment has taught me one thing. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. Like right now.
“……”
I barely swallowed the question rising in my throat.
A common name.
Could it be Hans?
The moment I ask, an answer will come, and then the future will be determined. A binary choice gacha. Needless to say, I don’t trust my luck.
Yeah, so……
‘Let’s stop here.’
It’s better not to know. At least then there’s still a possibility it isn’t.
Thump-!
While deliberately ignoring the pounding of my heart, I checked my surroundings.
[You have entered a special area.]
The cave structure is identical to before going through the portal, except all the bones covering the floor, ceiling, and walls have disappeared.
“Let’s get out of here first.”
After passing through the tunnel where we caught the rat bastard earlier and following the path we came from, when we exited the cave, a completely transformed new field greeted us.
A blood-red sky. Cracked earth. And lava flowing through those cracks.
Booom-!
A field design that perfectly matches the concept of ‘apocalypse.’ Ah, this place also has a unique field effect.
[Field Effect – Apocalypse is applied.]
[Status Effect Eternal Burning is applied. You will receive continuous fire damage and this fire damage will increase over time.]
Damage-over-time effects are pretty common, so let’s set that aside for now.
[Status Effect Death Sentence is applied. You will die in 24 hours.]
All characters who enter the special field ‘Memory of the End’ die instantly after 24 hours. Of course, there are ways to prevent this. To put it bluntly, you could just leave through the portal you came in, and the status effect would be removed.
‘But once you leave, you can’t re-enter.’
Therefore, the standard strategy while exploring this field is to find items to reset the time……
“Is this the island……?”
“I’ve never seen such a terrifying sight in my life.”
The team members wore dazed expressions at the sight of the entire island erupting like a series of bombs going off. To be honest, I felt the same. After all, there’s quite a difference between 2D and reality, right?
“Everyone be careful not to wander too far from me.”
Before officially beginning the exploration, I activate the Orb of Fire to counter the [Eternal Burning] status effect.
[You have activated the Orb of Fire. All continuous Fire-type damage derived from within a 15 meter radius will be decreased by 50%.]
The Orb of Fire was one of the most useful items in Memory of the End. Well, as time passes, even this won’t be enough to block it, but……
‘With this alone, the time we can stay here basically doubles.’
Ah, of course, that’s assuming we can handle [Death Sentence] well.
“Alright, let’s move. Like I said before, stick close to me. First, we’ll leave this island.”
“Huh? What do you mean leave the island?”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
I then led all the team members toward the shore where we first arrived by boat. The appearance of the shore was drastically different from before.
“Either skulls or a sea of fire… This island is truly extreme.”
The entire island had transformed into an active volcano, with lava flowing out and hardening into black rock as it poured into the sea. The smoke generated from the meeting of seawater and lava made it difficult to even secure visibility.
With the shackle of [Death Sentence] also in place, ordinary explorers wouldn’t even think of venturing beyond this point…… But the thought process of a veteran gamer is different.
Huh? You can summon a ship and leave the island? Then there must be something hidden out there, right?
That thought turned out to be correct. Well, it took hundreds of attempts and hundreds of vaporized characters to figure it out though.
Anyway.
“Then… We’re setting sail now……!”
Once everyone boarded the ship I summoned at the shore—a ship which had been thoroughly coated with flame resistance for this very moment—it moved through the black smoke toward the sea.
Swoooosh-!
The section where smoke blocked our vision wasn’t too long. After sailing straight for a few minutes, the smoke gradually cleared, and looking back from the stern, you could see the island erupting with frequent ‘Booms!’.
“Where are we going now?”
“Ah, didn’t you hear?”
“You only said we were looking for something, but you never explained how we’d find it.”
Ah, I guess I only told Auyen about this.
“We’re heading to Arta Island now.”
“…Arta Island?”
Raven tilted her head before continuing, as if remembering something.
“Ah! That island! One of the Seven Great Mysteries of the labyrinth! A small island that only has three strange pillars!”
“That’s right.”
Arta Island had long been famous among explorers and wizards alike. And for good reason. An island with no monsters and only strange structures? Of course people would think something’s hidden there……
“Wow! So we’re going to uncover the secret of that island? Can I write a paper about it?”
“No.”
“But it’s one of the Seven Great Mysteries……”
“You can write about it after I’m dead. I won’t stop you then.”
“No, why would you say something like that……? Don’t even joke about such things.”
Hmm, maybe that was bit too far? When Raven said that with a serious look on her face, it made me feel a bit embarrassed. Though honestly, if you just look at the content itself, it’s not really a joke.
“Anyway, as per clan rules, all exploration details are confidential. If you want to write a paper, just organize your notes for now, and write it after we’ve all retired. Got it?”
“I got it, I got it…… I was just saying. But is that island nearby?”
Auyen, who was steering the ship, answered Raven’s question.
“Arta Island is actually the closest island to Katakoma, Lady Raven.”
“Ah, really? Then why didn’t we see it on our way here?”
“Plotting the most efficient route. That’s the role of a navigator.”
This was also why I brought Auyen, who has almost no combat ability, along. We need a ship here. Well, strictly speaking, finding Arta Island wouldn’t be impossible without a navigator, but…… With [Death Sentence] applied to us, it’s better to save even a little time. Exactly like this.
[Auyen Rockrobe has cast Tailwind. The movement speed of your ship increases by 50%, and the Soul Power of all characters onboard recovers rapidly.]
[Auyen Rockrobe has cast Trade Route. While the helm is locked, the movement speed of your ship increases by 300%.]
[Auyen Rockrobe has cast Ghost Ship……]
As supernatural powers imbued our ship, its speed dramatically increased. Raven was slightly startled by this.
“…[Trade Route]? Wow, you’re a really capable navigator. I’ve heard that’s quite a rare essence to come by.”
“Haha… Actually, I just obtained this ability recently.”
“Yes? But the labyrinth hasn’t opened recently, so how?”
“I used the marketplace. I spent all the money I had saved, but… I had to do at least that much to avoid holding everyone back, I guess? Haha……”
“……You’ve been through a lot too. For you to have ended up in a place like this.”
“It’s okay. I’m happy.”
Raven seemed to have taken quite a liking to Auyen and continued chatting with him for a while. As I quietly stepped aside, Ainar approached me.
“Bjorn! I’ve got a question!”
“Go ahead.”
“Where do you get an ability like that?”
Normally, I would’ve told her to ask Raven, but since Raven was still talking with Auyen, I answered her myself.
“Some monsters sail ships.”
“Eh? But I’ve never seen one?”
“Well, that’s because they’re in areas that we haven’t gone to.”
One example is the Pirate Archipelago in the southwestern sea, where orcs and goblins sail around ships, attacking explorers. There’s also Ghost Island, which has ghost ships patrolling around it. Ah, by the way, neither of these locations are along the route to the seventh floor, so we haven’t had any reason to pass by them yet.
‘…Feeding him the [Airship] essence would probably be too difficult, right?’
The graduation essence for navigators obtainable on the tenth floor crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed the thought. If we could get it, we could sail a ship on all floors in addition to the sixth, and the travel time for all future explorations would be cut by more than half…… But it’s a monster that doesn’t even appear unless you’re incredibly lucky. And we don’t have the specs to hunt it right now anyway.
“Captain, we’ve arrived within visual distance!”
Hearing Auyen’s shout, I ended my thoughts and headed toward the bow. A small island was visible in the distance. No, more precisely, should I say three pillars were visible?
“Oh… That’s one of the mysteries of the labyrinth!”
An island with an unusual form, where the pillars seemed more prominent than the island itself.
“But something seems different from when I saw it before?”
Just as Kaislan muttered, Arta Island’s pillars were slightly different from usual. Not significantly, though.
“Were those pillars… Always blue?”
“No, they were originally black.”
The previously black pillars had turned blue. Well, not that the external difference matters much.
“Moor the ship.”
“Yes, Captain.”
After brining the ship alongside the island, everyone disembarked. And the time it took to get here was……
‘4 hours and 40 minutes.’
If it takes the same amount of time to return, that’s 9 hours and 20 minutes total. But since [Death Sentence] gives us a maximum of 24 hours here……
‘To be safe, we should finish the exploration within 10 hours.’
It could take longer to return, and we’d need at least two hours of buffer time to reset the time limit after returning to the island.
Thud.
After dismissing the summoned ship, we entered the center of the island.
And……
“What do we do now?”
“Wait and see.”
At the center of the three pillars forming a triangle. There is a smaller alter where blood must be offered……
“Parav, you do it.”
“Yes?”
“I’m not good with knives.”
“Ah……”
Following my instruction, Parav drew his knife across his palm, and drops of blood dripped onto the altar.
And……
Shwaaaaaa-!
Light began pouring out from within the pillars, and unknown patterns, that weren’t even ancient language, began to glow on their surface.
Ka-crackle, crackle-!
Unstable magical power flowed out from them like sparks, and as if drawing each other together, they gradually took shape at the center.
“…Another portal?”
“That’s how the labyrinth is.”
Even as I said that, I smirked. Maybe it’s a bit too much? Memory of the End, that we just entered, is already a hidden piece, and now there’s another hidden piece within it……
‘Whoever made the labyrinth must really love secrets.’
Well, I’d go into hell itself as long as the reward is worth it.
“So, are we going in right away?”
“Just one thing first.”
After saying that, I set a timer for 10 hours.
Tick, tick-
We absolutely had to get out before then. If we don’t want to lose anyone.