Chapter 506: Maze of Exiles (6)
"We’re speeding up."
No matter how much he thought, this was the only way. He couldn't just watch the Players die. However, the others immediately protested.
"Wait. We’re going to speed up?"
"We’re already fast...”
"Just how fast do you want us to go?"
"Three times faster than this," replied Seo Jun-Ho.
"Three times...?"
The team members groaned softly. The team was already traversing the maze at breakneck speeds. If they were to speed up even further, they would definitely be unable to keep up.
Of course, Seo Jun-Ho understood where they were coming from.
"I won't force it, so I have two suggestions.”
They could either traverse the maze at Seo Jun-Ho’s pace, or Seo Jun-Ho could leave Seo Jun-Sik with them, and they could traverse the maze with Seo Jun-Sik.
"... Can we discuss it for a moment?”
“Sure.” Seo Jun-Ho nodded.
The three shared their opinions with each other.
After a while, they wore brand-new expressions on their faces.
"We'll follow you."
"All three of you?"
Seo Jun-Ho was slightly surprised to see them nodding firmly. To be honest, an ordinary person wouldn’t follow him. Most people would choose a safe method of traversing this maze because one mistake could easily cost them their lives.
"It's funny since I suggested it, but can I hear why?"
“I am not as powerful as you, but I—Halgi Goodrickson—am still a Hero of Norway. I reckon that many people in this maze need my help as well.”
“Reaching out to those in need—Isn't that what a Player should do?"
“...” Seo Jun-Ho lowered his head and smiled faintly. ‘It reminds me of the old days.’
The first-generation Players had that stupid mindset as well.
Seo Jun-Ho nodded and said, "All right. Then, here’s what you guys have to do."
“We’ll do anything.”
Seo Jun-Ho swept his gaze across their nervous faces before saying, "Do nothing. Just chase after me. Focus on chasing after me."
"...What?"
"Is that it?”
"Are you serious?"
Everyone looked disappointed because they had been looking forward to a great mission.
Seo Jun-Ho was sure that it wouldn’t take long for their disappointment to disappear.
"Just chasing after me is enough."
Seo Jun-Ho reckoned that it would be difficult for them to keep up with him.
***
"Haaa...! Ha..." Sweat constantly flowed down Halgi Goodrickson’s face as he took short breaths while running. Alba and Nilbas behind him were in the same situation as him.
Running.
They thought that running wasn’t that difficult, but it seemed that they were wrong all this time. It was evidenced by the fact that they felt like collapsing just from running.
They stared at the back of the man ahead of them.
They were looking at him as if he were a terrifying monster.
‘Is he really a monster?’
Specter flew across the maze while literally crushing every trap and monster that dared to block his way. Seo Jun-Ho’s actions ensured that the rest of his team members behind him wouldn’t have any reason to slow down.
However, it ended up becoming the main reason why the three were struggling.
‘I’m a warrior, so I honestly thought that I was stronger than him physically. I thought it was the case, even if he’s Specter.’
‘What the hell's wrong with him?!’
‘I've been thinking about it, but he’s not just fast and strong. His reaction speed is superhuman as well.’
In Nilbas’ eyes, Seo Jun-Ho looked like he was living in a different timeline from them.
Nilbas had no idea, but he actually got it right.
'It definitely feels great.’
Seo Jun-Ho acquired Wheel of Time (S) from Tepes’ Nucleus, and he had been studying it with Seo Jun-Sik. In the end, they reached one conclusion.
‘Turning back time and peeking into the future is a ridiculous ability...’
However, Seo Jun-Ho’s skill proficiency was low, so the effect was less than satisfactory. In the end, the two decided to focus on what they called Thought Acceleration
‘I remember a certain comic calling it Clock Up.’
In other words, Seo Jun-Ho was accelerating his cognitive abilities by accelerating his mind. For example, the iron spikes moving up and down from beneath the floor looked...
‘...Slow.’
The iron spikes looked slow, which made Seo Jun-Ho feel like he was watching a movie in slow motion. In other words, Thought Acceleration allowed Seo Jun-Ho to be a few steps ahead of most people.
Craaackle!
The floor froze, and the trap stopped working.
Seo Jun-Ho's eyes quickly scanned ahead of him.
‘There’s a monster in the front. And the right wall has arrows...?’
The interval between traps and monsters had become strangely short. At first, Seo Jun-Ho was sure that the interval between traps and monsters was around ten minutes, but now, Seo Jun-Ho was encountering two to three traps or monsters in a minute.
'It feels like they’re throwing a tantrum to stop me.’
Seo Jun-Ho signaled to the others.
'That's...'
'It's the signal to stay in place.'
The team members wordlessly stopped running.
"Kiaaack!"
"Krrr...!"
Seven unknown monsters ran toward Seo Jun-Ho from the far end of a wall.
Seo Jun-Ho responded by jumping toward the left wall.
Whistle! Swoosh!
Upon landing on the left wall, a thorn popped out as if it had been waiting for him.
Then, it chased after him.
‘I knew it.’
Seo Jun-Ho's eyes shone as he looked around while running on the wall.
Shwip!
Every single arrow that flew from the wall on the right struck his previous location.
'Not a single arrow was aiming at my companions...’
The monsters on the path were also looking at him exclusively.
In other words...
'They’re targeting me.’
The maze had determined that Seo Jun-Ho was dangerous, and he had to be removed.
Rumble.
The wall up ahead started rising.
“I’ve been thinking that it’s strange...”
They had been running at full speed for about an hour now, but they hadn't met anyone.
Seo Jun-Ho finally knew why...
'They’re changing the structure of the maze so that I won’t run into anyone else.’
The mastermind was playing dirty, so Seo Jun-Ho had no choice but to play dirty as well and break the rules.
Seo Jun-Ho shouted, "Frost!"
"Yes! I will hold my breath!"
The Frost Queen stopped moving and took a huge breath. After a moment, she exhaled, creating a terrible cold wave that spread throughout the maze.
"K-kkrrr?”
"Grrrr!"
The monsters felt that there was something strange, so they hurriedly ran away.
"Do you really think that you run away?"
Craackle!
The walls of the maze and the monsters were frozen by the breath.
Seo Jun-Ho frowned while watching the scene.
‘It reminds me of when I was fighting the Frost Queen at her Nest.’
It was a really terrible time that he didn’t want to remember.
Seo Jun-Ho shook his thoughts off and shouted, "Move before the wall closes! Hurry!"
"G-got it...!"
They quickly ran past the frozen wall, and they immediately heard noises up ahead upon arriving on the other side.
- Claang! Clang!
- Boom!
The sound of metal clashing against metal echoed along with multiple explosions.
"I’m going ahead."
Seo Jun-Ho melted into darkness, leaving behind nothing but his faint words.
***
"I’m sure of it! It's him!"
"Don't make me laugh! You're the suspicious one!"
"Shut up, both of you!"
"...Wait, you’re going to stop the fight? You're a little suspicious, too.”
"Hey, you idiot! Look at what’s going on!”
There were four parties gathered in a clearing. There were eighteen people combined, and there was a palpable tension between them.
‘Who is it?’
‘Who's the impostor...’
It was easy to deduce how this started. A party had to have run into another party and told the other party that one of them was a monster that knew how to imitate humans.
"Everyone stay still. From our perspective, all five of you are suspicious."
"If I were a monster, would I be the leader?"
"Who knows? You may have made sure that you’re the leader to avoid being doubted."
"I already told you that it’s this guy! He hasn’t been keeping an eye out, and he has been walking around me like some kind of stalker. He’s very suspicious!”
"How many times do I have to tell you for you to understand? You're just being too sensitive!"
They had to be suspicious of their comrades, whom they were supposed to trust. Of course, it couldn’t really be helped that they couldn’t trust each other.
After all, it was their first time being in a team together, so the trust between them was bound to be shallow.
"All right. Then, I'll prove it myself."
"Erickson, lower your weapon!"
"Move, and I’ll shoot you! I’ll shoooot!"
The tense stalemate continued, but it felt like it was only a matter of time until all the tension exploded.
‘It’ll become chaotic the moment one of us makes the first move...’
'And the one who makes the first move will die first...’
Everyone broke out into a cold sweat as they stood in the clearing and stared at each other warily.
Shwik!
"Ugh!" Someone groaned and stumbled. He reflexively reached out for the arrow in his neck. "Y-you really shot me...!”
"The arrow flew from there! It's him!"
"What? Don't make me laugh! My arrow is right here! It's not me!"
"Take him down first!"
The tension finally exploded into a cacophony of deafening explosions and harsh, high-pitched collision of metal against metal.
"He's suspicious, too! He doesn't even use that kind of sword technique!"
"It’s just your first time seeing it! I’ve been collecting gas from the 5th Floor, and I saved up enough money to learn a new technique!"
The fight intensified, and it became bloodier as time went on.
"Stop fighting!" a loud voice swept past the chaotic battlefield. However, it quickly dissipated after being ignored.
The Frost Queen cried out. "Contractor... I got ignored..."
"Their eyes have turned white from rage. Do you really think that they can hear you?”
With that being said, Seo Jun-Ho unraveled his magic like a thread.
Seo Jun-Ho infused mana into his voice and spoke in a heavy voice. "Stop."
Seo Jun-Ho’s low and overbearing voice sent tremors not to their spines but to their souls. However, the Players, whose eyes had turned white from fury, couldn’t possibly be stopped with just a mere shout.
‘This is...... What the hell?’
'I-I can't move.'
Seo Jun-Ho knew that, so he stopped the Players from moving using Freeze.
‘I think I’m not too late.’
Seo Jun-Ho sighed in relief. He saw a Player on the floor, and he pointed at the Player before shouting, "Is there a healer here? Take care of him first."
"Oh, yes, yes!"
The healer identified Specter, and he quickly treated the Player who got shot with an arrow earlier.
Meanwhile, Seo Jun-Ho looked around.
‘Four parties have come together.’
It couldn’t be a coincidence.
He hadn’t been able to see even the shadow of another human being while he was busy traversing the maze.
'The maze probably ensured that they would meet.’
The maze’s goal was probably division and confusion.
Seo Jun-Ho emerged from his thoughts and asked, "What’s going on?"
“There’s a monster among us.” A Player from Hallem explained.
Once he was done explaining, Seo Jun-Ho finally had a complete grasp of the situation.
At the same time, Halgi and the rest of his party members finally arrived.
"Haaa... haaa. Wasn’t there a fight?”
"It's in a lull."
"I can see it. They’re obviously trying to find the imposter among them, am I right?” Alba wiped the sweat off of her face with a towel and asked, "Isn’t it easy to find the imposter? The one who can’t use their skills is the monster."
"...What? There's a monster that can't use skills?”
"No...! We definitely killed a monster in our party, but that monster can cause skills."
The faces of Seo Jun-Ho’s party members stiffened.
"Hey, Specter. This..."
"Yeah."
The maze learned. It had made sure that the imposter it had planted wouldn’t get caught so easily.
‘A monster that can imitate even a Player's skill. This is tricky.’
Seo Jun-Ho momentarily activated Dignity of an Emperor (S), but he couldn't find anything strange.
"Damn it, this is bad."
"It’s not like we can just walk around the maze with an imposter among us.”
"But we won’t be able to clear the maze fast enough if we traverse the maze while we’re worried about the possibility of getting backstabbed."
They were in a quandary in which one or the other couldn’t be done.
Seo Jun-Ho finally emerged from his contemplation and said, "Since there are only eighteen people here... it should be doable."
"Huh? What did you say?" asked Halgi.
Everyone's eyes landed on Seo Jun-Ho. Specter was the Hero of mankind, so they believed that he was capable of resolving this conundrum somehow.
“I found a good solution,” replied Seo Jun-Ho with a confident nod.
He unsheathed Twilight and—
Slice!
—the head of a nearby Player fell to the ground with a dull thud.
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