– Kyuki?
Ranghyang let out a startled cry in response to my scream.
Leaving her behind, I dashed toward the cluster of dead ants.
What I saw there was a strangely chaotic interior.
Come to think of it, this chamber was completely different from all the ones we’d seen before—it looked to be at least twenty meters tall.
Up until now, the interior of the tomb had been relatively clean and well-maintained.
It hadn’t looked especially worn down, and in fact, for something three hundred years old, it was in remarkably good shape.
But here, it was clear that time had taken its toll. A large pillar had collapsed from the center to one of the walls, and all around it were dozens upon dozens of ants lying scattered and dead.
They were larger than I’d expected—around twenty centimeters long, not fifteen.
‘My ants! Why?!’
I had expected brilliant blue ants based on the name Azure Steel Immortal Ants—but the real appearance was slightly different.
They weren’t entirely blue.
Their bodies were black, but their eyes shimmered like sapphires, and their abdomens glowed with an intense azure hue.
Ants with gem-like blue eyes and luminous blue bellies—astonishingly beautiful creatures, now lying dead everywhere.
“So-ryong, what’s wrong? Huh? Are those... Azure Steel Immortal Ants? Why are they all dead?”
“So-ryong, what’s going on? What is this?”
“Young Hero So, what in the world...”
The others, who had been waiting at the entrance of the previous chamber, came running over at my scream, now struggling to grasp the situation.
Sister Seol and Hwa-eun stepped up beside me, staring at the dead creatures with disbelief.
“How did this happen?”
“Ryong-ah, why are they all dead like this? Poor things...”
“Just a moment.”
I turned my eyes away from their outward beauty and began inspecting their bodies to determine the cause of death.
There was no reason for such rare creatures to have died en masse without cause.
My first suspicion was the fallen pillar in the center of the domed chamber.
Maybe the ants had been crushed when it fell or struck by debris. That seemed plausible.
But that didn’t appear to be the case.
I carefully examined the bodies lying around the area, but their exteriors were mostly intact.
Aside from their large mandibles being slightly dulled, their legs, abdomens, and heads were pristine.
If the pillar had crushed them, their bodies should’ve shown more trauma—but most of them looked untouched.
There weren’t any crushed bodies, either.
‘So they weren’t killed by the pillar. And obviously not by predators either...’
That meant they hadn’t been attacked by an enemy spirit creature either.
Even for insect enthusiasts, ants are considered a basic entry point—but in nature, they sit at the bottom of the food chain.
They’re often preyed upon by other insects, so if these spirit ants had been targeted by a predator, their bodies wouldn’t be this intact.
Although we hadn’t seen any cases yet—aside from Moji and Soji—where one spirit beast devoured another, I’d learned over and over that just because it hadn’t happened before didn’t mean it couldn’t happen next.
New spirit creatures always shattered expectations.
But the pristine state of the corpses—no missing limbs, no signs of struggle—meant that couldn’t be the case.
If these brave ants had truly died fighting a predator, there would be signs. Ants fight to the death. Usually, that means heads or limbs get torn off in the process.
‘So it’s not external injury or predation. Then what...?’
“Any ideas?”
Sister Seol asked again, unable to hold back her concern. I shook my head.
“No. It doesn’t seem like the pillar crushed them, or that they were killed by a predator. They’re too intact.”
“Then what?”
“It’s not like they were parasitized either...”
If some parasitic insect had used them as hosts, there should’ve been evidence—exit wounds or ruptures.
But there was nothing like that. I rubbed my chin and continued.
“Well, it’s clear they didn’t die of natural causes, but I can’t say exactly what happened.”
“They didn’t die naturally?”
“No.”
From the start, I hadn’t once considered that they died a natural death.
Ants don’t leave their dead lying around. They would never leave corpses unattended like this.
Ants, especially those living underground in humid and dark places, are extremely sensitive to infection risks and have an instinct to remove corpses or diseased individuals from the colony.
This behavior is called necrophoresis—the removal of the dead.
Living ants constantly secrete substances like dolichodial and iridomyrmecin to signal their vitality to the others around them.
But when an ant dies, those chemicals vanish, and death-signaling substances are released instead. This triggers undertaker ants to quickly carry off the corpse.
I explained all this to Sister Seol and Hwa-eun.
“These ants—the Azure Steel Immortal Ants—would never leave their dead like this. Which means they must’ve died suddenly. So no, this wasn’t natural.”
“All of them died suddenly?”
“Huh?”
“Then could it be a disease?”
“There aren’t any signs of illness either...”
If they’d succumbed to disease, their bodies should show some trace—spots, discoloration, lesions. But there was nothing like that either.
As I struggled with uncertainty, Sister Seol made another observation.
“By the way... that means there’s not a single living ant left?”
“Huh?”
“Well, isn’t that the case? These creatures would never leave their dead unattended. So if they’re all still lying here, doesn’t that /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ mean there’s no one left alive to move them?”
“Gyaaaah!”
The horrifying implication hadn’t even occurred to me until she said it—that not one survived. My scream burst out of me.
Because she was right. If even one were alive, it would’ve tried to move the bodies.
‘No!’
“Maybe... maybe one is still alive—!”
I frantically began scanning the chamber again, desperately looking for any sign of life.
As I searched, one realization struck me.
There were no queen ants. No eggs either.
‘Wait a second... there’s no queen? No brood?’
It might’ve made sense not to see eggs—this was winter, after all. But the absence of a queen ant meant only one thing.
This wasn’t their home.
If this place wasn’t their nest, then maybe—just maybe—hope wasn’t lost yet.
It was then.
From one side of the chamber we had entered, Ji-ryong’s voice called out.
“Young Hero So, there’s a hole over here!”
“A hole!?”
Just as I had realized the queen ant wasn’t present, I quickly ran toward Ji-ryong’s location.
I found him crouching by one of the walls of the dome-shaped chamber we had entered.
“This way.”
Ji-ryong pointed toward a corner of the wall, which looked like part of a sealed stone door.
There, at the base of the Azure Steel stone wall, was a small round hole.
He had probably been searching around while I was busy inspecting the bodies and discovered this on his own.
“Well done!”
I praised Ji-ryong, then lay down and peered inside—spotting a single Azure Steel Immortal Ant, dead and collapsed.
Its head was pointed inward, suggesting it had been facing deeper into the passage.
“Hyang!”
I pulled the corpse out and immediately called for Hyang, who had been clinging to Hwa-eun but now leapt down and hurried over to me.
Looking up at me, she asked,
– Tsrut? 『What is it, Dad?』
“Check out this hole for me!”
At my request, Hyang peeked into the hole and asked again.
– Tsrrrr. 『Here?』
“Yeah! Could you check if there are any of those ants still alive inside?”
The hole was just the right size for Hyang to fit through.
– Tsrur. 『Okay, Dad. I’ll be back soon.』
As Hyang began crawling into the hole, I quickly grabbed her and added a warning.
“If it’s dangerous, come back right away, okay? And if the ants try to attack, don’t fight them.”
– Tsrrrr. 『Got it, Dad.』
She nodded and vanished into the tunnel.
I began worrying immediately and started asking her questions through our mind-link—but I got scolded in return.
『Hyang, are you okay?』
– Tsrur. (Yeah, I’m fine.)
“Nothing’s wrong, right?”
– Tsst. (Nope.)
“Are you sure it’s not dangerous?”
– TSRR! (Ugh! Seriously!)
“Ah, okay... I’ll be quiet now.”
As I crouched in front of the hole, waiting for Hyang’s return, I heard sounds behind me—voices of people cleaning and investigating the chamber to kill time.
They were gathering the ant corpses and trying to figure out the condition for clearing this chamber.
Our goals were different now—they had turned their attention to searching for the next trial’s requirement.
“Young Hero So seems to be doing something, so let’s look around here and try to figure out the way forward.”
“Let’s move the Azure Steel Ants to one side too.”
“Yes, let’s.”
While Hwa-eun and I quietly waited for Hyang, the others began organizing the area and searching for clues to proceed.
But even after cleaning up most of the space, no sign of the next gate condition appeared, and I started hearing puzzled voices.
“Strange. There should be an inscription from the master somewhere on this wall or that one. But we haven’t found anything.”
“Right. According to the pattern so far, there should definitely be something.”
“Maybe the last three gates are meant to be different?”
“Could there be another requirement entirely?”
“Wait a moment...”
Someone from the group speaking nearby—Ji-ryong—seemed to recall something and hurried over to the collapsed pillar.
Then, discovering something on the side of the fallen column, he cried out in excitement.
“Over here!”
Everyone rushed over at his shout.
Turning my head, I saw them all crowding around the surface of the fallen pillar.
It appeared that the inscription for the next gate had been carved into the side of the column.
After some coughing from brushing off dust, I heard my hyung’s voice reading aloud:
“Welcome to the final three trials.
The last three trials shall occur here simultaneously.
Your aptitude has been confirmed. I shall now teach you one technique. Use it to open the door leading to where I reside.
If you can enter, my martial art, my blade, and the Air-Crystal Stone Milk shall all be yours.”
As he finished reading, excited murmurs broke out.
“A-Air-Crystal Stone Milk!?”
“It even includes Air-Crystal Stone Milk!?”
Everyone buzzed at the mention of Air-Crystal Stone Milk.
I tilted my head in confusion, prompting Hwa-eun to explain.
“There are many spiritual elixirs in the world, but Air-Crystal Stone Milk is considered one of the most precious. It’s said to be a milky-white liquid that forms deep within caves, and it takes a hundred years for a single drop to appear.”
“Ohhh.”
“Since everyone seems so excited, I guess I’ll give half to you, Hwa-eun, and divide the rest among the others.”
If it was really that valuable, giving half to Hwa-eun and splitting the rest among the group felt fair.
As for me—I already had all the poisons of the Ten Great Venomous Beasts, so I didn’t need any more elixirs.
Hwa-eun blushed faintly.
“I’ll do as you say, So-ryong.”
In the martial world, elixirs were treasures of immense value. Giving away half was a declaration of love—and Hwa-eun must’ve felt that, because she subtly leaned in and grasped my hand tightly.
‘Air-Crystal Stone Milk... I guess in my past life that would’ve been something like Chanel No. 5?’
Thinking once again that there’s no woman who hates gifts, that was when the voice I’d been waiting for finally returned—Hyang’s urgent message.
– TSRR! 『Dad! There’s an ant in here! It’s alive!』
‘Alive!?’
– Tsrrr. 『Yeah! It has a really big belly!』
‘That’s it!’
If the belly was large, then it had to be a queen ant!
It seemed the queen ant was still alive inside—and I was so overwhelmed that I reflexively pulled Hwa-eun into a hug.
She murmured in embarrassment,
“It’s not even my birthday... What is this...?”
She must’ve been happy to be hugged so suddenly.
I whispered to her casually,
“Well, who says good things only happen on your birthday?”
When a new spirit creature appears... isn’t that basically a birthday?
Only not Hwa-eun’s.
Mine.
