I Activated Cheat Mode in a Bizarre Game

Creak—
Thud.

As all the team members entered the labyrinth through Team 8's exclusive entrance, the heavy door automatically shut behind them.
The cold, eerie air of the labyrinth brushed against their skin.
It was quite an elaborate set.

Under dim lighting, metal walls twisted intricately, and symbols with unclear meanings were etched all over.
On the surface, it looked like a convincing test environment.
Even now, this is an insane team.

I paused to catch my breath and glanced over the 'team members' who entered with me.
A hastily assembled group for this practical exam—definitely not an ordinary mix.
First, there was Hanbit.

The youngest son of the Jinmyeong Group, famous for selling items and doing shaman work.
His seemingly ordinary clothes and accessories were almost certainly items too.
I didn’t know why someone like him would personally volunteer for a freezing-zone exploration team like this, but he was definitely no ordinary guy.
Next was Bora.

A woman whose profession was listed as an exorcist. Bora, who was already known in the field for personally hunting monsters, was a well-known name if you'd been in the industry even once.
Why someone who could take down monsters solo had applied to this exploration team...
In her gaze, there was no nervousness of a rookie interviewee—only the calm and composure of a seasoned exorcist.

The talisman pouch hanging from her waist confirmed her identity.
This last person is the biggest mystery.
Shun—an applicant from Japan.

There wasn’t much information about him, but our company, Baekho, had marked him as a “person of interest” and requested special monitoring.
That alone said he wasn’t just an ordinary candidate.
And finally, me—Park Sunja. A spy from Baekho’s exploration team, infiltrating under the fake identity and name the company assigned me.
Right now, I was using the alias Park Soyeong.

Honestly, I liked that name better.
...Isn’t this overkill for a bunch of interviewees?
Including myself, our Team 8 was clearly far removed from the average “new recruit” group.

We had more than enough power to take down a real monster, not just an examiner pretending to be one.
What was Dongto thinking, grouping us together?
...Don’t tell me they already noticed I’m a spy?

Suddenly, I found myself envious of Dongto as a company.
To think candidates of this caliber were trying to join their exploration team.
“Alright, shall we get started?”

While I was lost in thought, Bora spoke up first.
She quickly scanned the labyrinth, then addressed us.
“We’re not here for escape or survival, right? Let’s start by dealing with the examiner… the ‘monster’ assigned to us.”

At her words, neither Hanbit, Shun, nor I raised any objections.
From the start, we had the same goal.
Neutralize the examiner of this half-baked test, and then leisurely explore the labyrinth Dongto built until we passed the test.

We moved in perfect sync.
Hanbit pulled a thin rope-like item from his coat and expertly set it up on the floor at the entrance to the labyrinth, right where the shadows were thickest.
It wasn’t just a simple tripwire—it was a special item that caused temporary paralysis on contact.

Bora took out a talisman mixed with red and yellow from her pouch and held it in both hands.
As she muttered a chant, a faint glow seeped from the talisman.
According to her, it caused mental fog the moment it touched a person.

“...Will that actually work?”
“Fufu, even a tiger starving for three days would calm down with this. Want to try sticking it to your forehead?”
“...I’m... fine.”
Shun asked in awkward Korean, and Bora laughed in reply.
Carving letters onto a plain-looking sheet of paper and chanting something to create a talisman, basically an item—none of it made much sense to me.

Then again, anything related to monsters or abilities was hard to understand anyway.
Shun and I naturally hid ourselves in the shadows on either side of the trap.
Our roles were clear.

Once the examiner stepped into the trap and got disoriented from the talisman, we’d subdue and neutralize him.
I had already received multiple drugs from Baekho Pharmaceuticals that gave me physical abilities far beyond an average adult male.
I’d even wrestled with low-grade monsters before.

Judging by his size, Shun also looked more than capable of handling the examiner.
Everything was ready.
We held our breath and focused on the entrance we’d come through.

The ten-minute prep period was almost over. The examiner would be entering soon.
Rumble.
Just as expected, the door to the labyrinth opened.

Footsteps echoed from beyond the entrance.
We each stayed hidden in place, ready to face the approaching “monster.”
Step, step.

A man with the number 8 badge stepped in from the darkness.
Why was he putting so much effort into this monster role?
He wore a hazmat suit decked out with creepy fake weapons and scraps of cloth.

Step.
The moment he stepped into Hanbit’s rope trap—
Snap!

The hidden rope shot up from the floor, instantly entangling his arms and legs.
At the same time, Bora, hidden on the opposite side, threw her talisman. It flew like a magnet and slapped onto his forehead with a smack.
“…Clean hit.”

I muttered to myself and stepped out from behind my pillar.
Shun also silently emerged from the other side. Now we just had to approach the immobilized examiner and carry out the necessary "subjugation."
We approached him at a relaxed pace.

But then, something unbelievable happened.
Snap!
Like an old rubber band snapping, the rope—an item—broke apart pathetically.

The bindings wrapped around Kim Minjun’s limbs didn’t even last two seconds before falling away.
At the same time, the red talisman stuck to his forehead was suddenly engulfed in dark red flames without activating its effect!
Fwoosh!

The talisman burned to ash in an instant and scattered on the floor.
It hadn’t disoriented him in the slightest—it had vanished the moment it touched him.
“…!”
“How did my talisman...!”

My legs froze in place.
What the hell is going on? Hanbit’s binding item could restrain even 2–3-star monsters for a short while.
Bora’s disorienting talisman wasn’t a low-level thing either.

But it hadn’t worked at all on this so-called rookie examiner.
The plan failed. Should we still proceed?
While I hesitated, Shun moved first.

He lunged at Kim Minjun with incredible speed, reaching for the sword-shaped weapon at his waist.
His physical ability was well beyond what I’d expected.
“Hup!”

Shun grabbed the weapon with both hands and yanked.
He probably intended to disarm him first.
But—

“Guh...!”
No matter how hard he pulled, the sword in Kim Minjun’s hand didn’t budge, like it was stuck in stone.
Meanwhile, the examiner just stood there, silently staring at Shun.

I saw Shun’s eyes widen in shock.
That’s when I realized—
...Something's seriously wrong.

Our trap had completely failed, and his power far exceeded our assumptions.
This wasn’t a rookie examiner.
What the hell was a guy like that doing on Team 15?

Don’t tell me all of Dongto’s people are monsters like this...?
I wasn’t the only one shaken.
The same sense of danger flickered across Hanbit and Bora’s faces.

We exchanged glances.
Continuing the fight was pointless. No—downright dangerous.
Team 8 was quick on the uptake.

The moment we realized we’d picked the wrong fight, we all decided to retreat almost simultaneously.
Bora tossed a talisman to the ground, and white smoke burst up as it ignited.
Using the smoke as cover, we all turned and bolted deeper into the labyrinth.

But our enemy reacted just as quickly.
No—he exceeded our expectations.
“Ugh!”

Crackle! Zap!
Thud.
Just as we turned to run, a cold mechanical sound rang out behind us, followed by a flash of blue light.

A short scream was heard as someone collapsed.
Even through the smoke, I could see the faint blue glow.
I thought it was a fake sword… it’s a taser?!

The examiner had pursued us and used the sword-shaped taser in his hand.
Whether it was an actual taser or some kind of item, I wasn’t sure.
But it was probably Shun ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) who got hit while trying to grab the weapon.

It’s fine—we’re far enough.
The blue light was pretty distant, even through the smoke.
If we kept running—

Crackle!
“Kghak!”
Another blue flash burst behind us.

What?
Someone else got hit.
Too fast.

We should’ve had plenty of distance—but someone still got caught.
How did he find people so accurately in this smoke?
I stopped running.

Instinctively, I knew I couldn’t make a sound, and that left only my own footsteps in the smoke.
I had put enough distance.
Surely I could get away now...

Tap—!
Crackle!
“…Gah!”
“…”
Short footsteps—then another hit.

I held my breath.
In the end, I was the only one left in the smoke without making a sound.
As time passed, the smoke cleared, and I saw my teammates collapsed on the floor.

And the man holding the sword scanned the area—until our eyes met.
The costume that had seemed silly before now looked downright terrifying.
“Shit… we’re screwed.”

The man walked over and raised the taser.
Crackle—!
“Mmgh…!”

A jolt that felt like every muscle in my body seized up.
I had no chance to resist.
Hanbit, Bora, Shun, and I—none of us could even scream properly before collapsing to the floor unconscious.

We… seriously picked the wrong fight…
That was the last thought I had as my consciousness faded.