By Zephyria “It seems like none of them, uh… passed through in a normal way—!”
Ero shouted loudly, as if shaking off a heavy burden, as he threw the Mana Orb. The Mana Orb he threw went up the low cliff first and fell with a thud. The number was now 63. Next to him, Leonardo, chin in hand, sat perched on the edge of the cliff, staring down.
The cliff the two were climbing was the only green area in the middle of the desert, covered with blue moss and vegetation. Trees often seen near the water, such as silver-tipped Rumel palms, acacias, and tamarisks, were sparsely located.
Ero, standing below, bent over, placing his hands on his knees and breathing heavily.
“Hah, hah… They won’t disqualify us for using some tricks, will they? How were we supposed to know the monster would eat the Mana Orbs?”
“If they were going to do that, they wouldn’t have just watched us suffer.”
Leonardo replied indifferently, repeatedly tossing his Mana Orb up and catching it. The shadows of the willow trees and the iron ball, swaying in the sandstorm, flickered in his golden eyes. The number was 518.
“They’re probably watching us from somewhere right now. If that was grounds for disqualification, the Council guys would have suddenly popped out of the ground or fallen from the sky. The fact that they’re leaving us alone means there’s no problem.”
Even after going through that ordeal, the number of Mana Orbs deducted was only 1, reflecting the initial throw, so Ero was rather worried that crossing the desert using Tur’ark as a means of transportation might be grounds for disqualification. But as Leonardo said, if they were subject to disqualification, the organizers wouldn’t have let them continue the game. Above all, wasn’t it wrong for them to release such a monster into the desert in the first place?
“I guess so? I was worried for nothing.”
If it weren’t for you, brother, anyone would have been found as a corpse mixed in with gastric juices, so I should be thankful that I came out alive, yeah.
Relieved, Ero began to climb, stepping on the tree roots hanging down the cliff. Thanks to the Dragon of the desert carrying him in its belly with the Philosopher’s Stone, he had only actually thrown the Mana Orb for a few hundred meters. But because his overworked muscles were trembling, Ero’s hands, grabbing the occasionally protruding Boulder, often slipped.
The only good thing was that the weight of the Mana Orb became lighter as he threw it. Perhaps that’s why Leonardo, who was meaninglessly dribbling the Mana Orb on the ground, looked at Ero and urged him.
“If you know, hurry up and come up. I’m going to get a stiff neck waiting.”
“Oh, if you could just carry me up, brother, it would be quick. Are you just going to watch me suffer?”
“You’re being cheeky, am I your means of transportation?”
When a prickly retort came back, Ero let out a foolish laugh for no reason. Even though he says that, he’s waiting for me to come up, so it’s clear that you care about me.
But suddenly, when he said ‘suddenly popping out’ whether from the ground or the sky, the bird-beak mask he had encountered earlier came to Ero’s mind. He skillfully stepped on the grooves and asked.
“Brother, by the way. Besides Bell and Beast, do you know any other participants?”
Leonardo, who was staring into the distance, monitoring whether any competitors were coming, lowered his eyes.
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, when you showed up with the monster earlier….”
The bird beak, suddenly found in the back seat, mentioned ‘Lion’s’ movements to him, who was looking for you, brother. Ero’s guess was that he knew you, brother, in advance or was watching the relationship between him and you, brother.
“Didn’t you see a strange person next to me?”
“A person?”
Leonardo frowned in doubt. He had belatedly noticed Ero’s existence in the first place, so there was no way he would have had other participants in mind in that situation.
“Didn’t see him?”
At Leonardo’s reaction that he had never heard of it, Ero tried to add an explanation but closed his mouth. After all, he might be a opportunist who noticed your strength early on and was trying to stick to this side, or he might be someone you don’t want to acknowledge.
“But, why is he?”
“Ah, it’s nothing! More than that, please grab my hand, uwaaack!”
At that moment, the tree root that Ero was holding onto couldn’t bear the weight and snapped. Just as he was about to fall back down the way he came, Leonardo reached out and grabbed his hand. Then, he pulled him up the cliff in one go.
Ero, who was lifted up by the strong force, fell into the grass in the blink of an eye.
He wasn’t hurt, but adding momentary tension to his shoulders, which were already fatigued from throwing the Mana Orb, made it feel like his arm was about to dislocate. However, he jumped up and gave a thumbs up with twigs in his hair.
“Heok, heok—. Brother, nice catch!”
Leonardo, who slowly got up from his seat, shook his head as he dusted off his pants.
“How did you even get to the preliminaries before?”
“Huh?”
“How could you even think of participating with just one gun….”
He muttered to himself, then lightly loosened his shoulders and threw the Mana Orb he was holding into the bushes. After the chilling sound of the wind, the branches that had been hit by the Mana Orb fell down. Leonardo put his hands in his pants pockets and began to walk towards that direction.
“Hurry up, I have plans after this.”
“Yeees? Aren’t you going to give me another chance to treat you to a meal?”
Ero also hurriedly got up. He found his Mana Orb hidden in the bushes and deliberately made a sound of ‘eungcha’ as he threw it in the direction Leonardo was going.
Soon, Ero, who had quickly caught up, clapped his hands as if he had realized something, and then held out a lecherous face to Leonardo.
“Are you perhaps meeting with that Council official? You told me not to acknowledge anyone else, but you seem to be quite close to that person? You even waved your hand.”
“……”
“What’s your relationship? Perhaps you know the contents of the next game in advance… Ugh!”
Leonardo slapped Ero hard on the back and responded firmly.
“Keep talking if you want to be eliminated. And I don’t ask for that kind of thing, it’s fucking embarrassing.”
“I don’t want to make things difficult. It’s not like that person would tell me anyway.”
After saying that, he suddenly stopped walking and stared straight ahead. Ero, who barely managed to regain his balance, rubbed his back and frowned. Then he turned his head to the same place.
At the end of the two men’s gaze was a dark space revealed through the bushes. A cool breeze was blowing from there.
“……”
Leonardo closed his eyes in silence for a moment. The faint sound of water and a slightly fishy smell of water mixed with the wind, stimulating his senses. When he opened his eyes again, he saw a strange cave entrance covered in vines beyond the dense branches.
Ero glanced at the person next to him and reached out his hand.
“Brother, over there—”
Without replying, Leonardo shook his right hand down and formed a blazing Flame Sword. Then, he ruthlessly cut down the weeds blocking the way and went forward as if possessed. Ero, peeking at his expression, hurriedly followed.
“Bro, brother. Shouldn’t we find the Mana Orb first?”
“I think it’s already inside there.”
“Yes? Really?”
Before they could hesitate, the two pairs of legs had already entered the cave. At that moment, the scorching air instantly became refreshing, and the stuffy breath was relieved. As the scorching sun disappeared, the temperature dropped sharply, and small goosebumps rose on the skin that had not yet adapted.
Overall, the interior was filled with darkness, and if it weren’t for the small fireflies-like lights flying around, they wouldn’t have been able to see an inch ahead. The floor, which had been mixed with dirt and sand, was now as flat as if it had been paved with flat Boulder, and there was nothing to trip over. However, the feeling of lush vegetation that should naturally be near the green area had disappeared, which made him feel strange.
“W-what is this place?”
Ero, who was terrified that something might pop out, stuck close to Leonardo and grabbed his arm.
Just as Gold Eyes was looking back at the baggage as if it were disgusting, cold water touched the two men’s feet.
“Eueo, surprise!”
Ero’s voice, making a fuss and stepping back, and the splashing sound of water echoed loudly in the cave. At the same time, light emanated from the puddle they had stepped on and gradually spread out, illuminating the interior. The first thing that came into view as the darkness receded was an oasis that stretched out endlessly.
Based on where the two men were standing, the oasis, which spanned at least a 50m radius, was quite large to be rainwater collected in a cave. He didn’t know what the principle was, but the calm surface of the water emitted a blue light, colliding with the obsidian walls, and the refractions tangled here and there filled the wide space.
Ero, who was sighing and looking around, stammered.
“Is this the goal point of the second part? I really imagined an oasis in the middle of the desert, but I didn’t know it would be in a place like this.”
Leonardo, who had affirmed Ero’s words with silence, also slowly looked around.
‘A door?’
This space was strange. No, where hasn’t there been a strange space so far, but it wasn’t an ordinary cave, and doors were plastered all over the walls and ceiling. The arrangement was irregular, and each door had a number engraved on it.
The numbers varied widely, from very small numbers to astronomical numbers.
‘Is that also related to the number of Mana Orbs?’
At that time, the clear sound of a Token being flicked was heard from somewhere.
Reflexively turning to that side, two Tokens were flying across the air.
Ero, who discovered it later, awkwardly held out both hands, while Leonardo caught both Tokens with one hand first. As soon as he checked the shape, it was the same as the Token he had received before entering the maze, with a number engraved in the middle of the striped pattern like a gambling chip. The numbers were 517 and 62, each subtracted by 1 from the number of Mana Orbs he had last checked.
At the right moment, someone’s voice was heard from a secluded space where the darkness had not yet receded.
“Congratulations on passing the second part. You’ve worked hard to get here.”
The white uniform, which was now even welcome, was walking out from the inside. As if he had taken a nap while waiting, his face was very languid and indifferent, unlike the impressions of the previous guides.
“I thought you’d be here soon, but it took longer than I thought.”
“…?”
“In order to consider the participants who are tired, the third part is composed relatively simply. Do you two see the many doors here?”
Following the guide’s fingertips, Ero, who raised his head, looked up at the doors like planets spread out in the universe. Soon, he blankly nodded his head.
The guide, confirming the reaction, opened his mouth.
“Then, I will explain the rules of the last part. This game is ‘Betting’.”