The 31st Piece Overturns the Game Board

Seol was stunned by the messages that had just appeared.

The messages that indicated his abilities had improved felt like someone had recognized the months of effort he had put in.

Moreover, it was also an Exceptional Skill.

'I made a new Exceptional Skill…?'

He had obtained Night Crow early on, thanks to Mirei’s help. However, all the Exceptional Skills he had gotten since then were for his summons.

It had been a long time since he obtained an Exceptional Skill for himself.

After a long wait, Seol finally obtained a new weapon he could use as his main one.

"Darkness Dweller, huh…?"

Seol satisfyingly smiled while looking at the Darkness Dweller, whose body was covered with the Skin of the Origin.

He hadn’t borrowed it from somewhere—it was his. It was something he created from months of hard work. He knew more about this being than anyone else in the world.

Seol checked out the fine details of this new skill. The description said that he could summon a Darkness Dweller, but there was for sure more to it.

[Exceptional Skill: Darkness Dweller]

[Summon a Darkness Dweller by consuming Darkness. The Darkness Dweller adapts very quickly and possesses strength proportional to the summoner.]

'Adapts very quickly?'

Seol fell into thought upon reading that.

'It was definitely like that…'

The Darkness Dweller evolved.

Although it sometimes performed similarly to Seol's abilities, it did grow faster than expected.

When he first summoned it, it could only swing its fist like a child fighting, but it had now grown to the point where it could use joint locks.

'It started using the Blood, Bones, and Skin of Origin.'

He created its necessary organs. But being able to use them smoothly, just with a few adjustments, meant that it adapted to them very quickly.

'I need to remember this.'

[The target you have formed Lineage with has inherited Eyes of Foresight.]

[Darkness Dweller can use Eyes of Foresight.]

This was an additional effect that came with Seol's Lineage. He could make subjects he had formed Lineage with use Eyes of Foresight and check their field of vision.

'Now… it's time to test again.'

Seol waited for night to fall.

ROAR…

The howl of the night beasts echoed through the forest.

It was time.

Boom…

Boom…

Having already summoned a Darkness Dweller in advance and kept it waiting, Seol took a deep breath and tapped on its body.

"You can do it, right?"

- Focus on studying and don't get involved in fights with the other kids when you’re at school, okay?

- But I'm going to fight…

- Then make sure to become the strongest!

Clap—!

As Seol clapped, the Darkness Dweller sprang forward.

Seol looked at the Darkness Dweller's actions through Eyes of Foresight.

Since he was planning to stay within the vicinity, he signaled it not to get too far.

Grrr…

He encountered a rabbit.

Paaf—!

As he kicked the beast, its form burst and disappeared. Because he didn't have time to absorb it, the Darkness returned to the labyrinth.

'It seems that it will have to control its power…'

The reason Seol could advance so much was ultimately thanks to the Darkness. If he hadn't been able to absorb it, he would have kept moving sideways without clear progress.

Thus, he needed to prioritize Darkness above all and keep accumulating it constantly.

'Reduce your strength.'

As soon as Seol signaled that, a night beast of a similar size to the Darkness Dweller popped up before it.

It was a wolf.

'Ugh… Of all things…'

He wasn't sure how sharp the senses of the Darkness Dweller were, but it was a bit slow to respond to the ambush.

The wolf and the Darkness Dweller exchanged blows, but the wolf's fist reached the Darkness Dweller's body first.

Whoosh…

Whoosh…

CLANG—!

'…!'

The wolf's fist dented the Darkness Dweller’s chest, but it didn't achieve more than that.

CRACK—!

As a result, the Darkness Dweller's fist pierced through the wolf's chest.

'It was a success…'

The Darkness Dweller had successfully repelled the wolf.

Seol made a satisfying smile.

'Today, I'll continue trying it like this.'

Until the Darkness Dweller met a powerful opponent and had to find another way to improve it further, Seol made it continue to patrol a certain area.

And three hours later…

Surprisingly, the Darkness Dweller survived. In the process, it encountered three wolves and ten rabbits.

Seol had deliberately disconnected the vision link early on.

Viewing the world through someone else's eyes was very exhausting, and maintaining that state for more than ten minutes caused extreme strain on his eyes.

However, it wasn't that bothersome since he could check on it in short intervals.

And finally, after six hours.

'There's only half left…'

It eventually managed to endure the night beasts that appeared after eleven or twelve hours.

'Maybe it could survive the whole night.'

Seol nervously gulped, thinking that maybe the outcome he had been hoping for could be achieved.

But his wish faced an unexpected headwind. Something was wrong with the Darkness Dweller's condition.

Seol quickly used Eyes of Foresight to check the Darkness Dweller's condition.

'What's that…?'

The Darkness Dweller was looking at a tunnel that led underground. It had informed Seol after having found an unknown place.

After pondering for a moment, Seol made a decision.

'Come back.'

The patrol ended there.

The area he had decided on beforehand had already been cleared, so there was no need to risk things further.

Even Seol had never seen such a big tunnel during his night hunts.

Of course, it partly was because he had only been clearing the vicinity of his temporary residence, but it was as if that tunnel had always been there.

Seol recalled the memories of three people—Shin Rip, Shin Hyun, and Shin Kang.

'There wasn't such a tunnel…'

He wasn't entirely sure his memories were accurate, but the only unusual beings were the ones he called tigers. And the only special thing about them was their exceptional strength and resilience. Other than that, they weren't much different from the others.

'I must investigate.'

Perhaps there were stories he hadn't heard yet from Shin Rip and Shin Hyun.

* * *

"Tunnel…?"

"Yes. I discovered a massive tunnel during my hunt. Why was such a thing…"

If there was such a thing in the forest, why hadn't he known until now?

"Aah… That? Hihi… It's that guy's doing."

"Are you talking about Shin Yu?"

"Even though Shin Yu may seem like a monster, he isn’t a real one. The real monster is somewhere else."

Shin Hyun said that to Shin Rip.

"Hyung-nim, it seems Seol saw the…"

"Hmm… I guess it's about time we tell him. That guy seems to have awakened, too."

Shin Rip turned to Seol and said.

"In recent years, there have been a lot of abnormalities in the labyrinth."

"Abnormalities…?"

"Yes. Do you remember the door you saw when you entered here?"

"Door… Ah, door!"

The five doors—each symbolized one of five: Blood, Light, Darkness, Storm, and Dreams.

"The labyrinth's path is divided following which door you take. Those who head to different paths normally don't encounter each other until they exit the labyrinth. Well, we can't give you more details about this since we didn't make it to the end. But anyway…"

They were wrong.

'The final gate of the labyrinth is connected. Just like the Labyrinth of Penance.'

In the Labyrinth of Penance you could also reach the final gate through multiple doors. the Pitch Black Labyrinth was the same.

'Wait… now that I think about it, that was strange too.'

The eldest brother, Shin Rip, passed through the Door of Blood; the second, Shin Hyun, through the Door of Light; and the third, Shin Kang, through the Door of Darkness.

Because of that, Shin Kang couldn't check his brother's whereabouts while he was in the Pitch Black Labyrinth.

Those two hadn't been able to reach the final gate.

'This doesn't make sense. Why are Shin Rip and Shin Hyun together now?'

There was another strange thing.

Shin Rip and Shin Hyun were now incredibly strong. It didn't make sense why they hadn't reached the labyrinth's end.

"Why didn't you go to the end of the labyrinth…?"

Shin Rip shook his head.

"We tried to."

Seol felt a strange emotion from Shin Rip, who was speaking calmly.

Shin Hyun replied instead with a smile.

"Hihihi… The final gate doesn't allow the deceased to pass. We've already become part of the labyrinth. Even though we've become this strong."

"That…"

That meant that they would never be able to leave the labyrinth and had to stay here forever.

If not…

'Choose death on their own.'

Whatever it was, it would be a painful ending.

Seol finally understood why Shin Yu decided to stay and wander inside the labyrinth.

"But more than that, I wanted to talk about the labyrinth. The balance of the labyrinth has collapsed."

"The balance collapsed?"

"We don't know why. However, the labyrinth I and Hyun know is continuously changing. The tunnel you saw is also a result of that."

"Please, continue speaking…"

"The boundaries of the paths have collapsed, making invasion possible. Darkness now flows in all directions, light pierces your eyes, there's blood all around that makes you drenched, the storm rages relentlessly, and the nightmare makes you groan."

Seol's mouth dropped in shock.

- What kind of middle school syndrome talk is this?

- Fufu… I'm Shin Rip, the strongest swordsman. Pshooh!

- Everyone, be quiet! Listen to the end! Think about how hard it probably was for him to utter those words finally!

Seol quietly posed a question.

"So… are you saying the path I'm walking on isn't Darkness?"

"That's right. If I were to describe it somehow…"

Shin Hyun smiled at Shin Rip's gaze and said.

"The Path of Everything."

"The Path of Everything…"

"The five paths have merged into one."

A great shock ensued.

"How could that be…"

"Things are a bit better now. But initially, there were serious problems. And the fights that happened here were…"

"Fights?"

Although Seol asked a question, there was someone he could think of.

'No way…'

Shin Hyun nonchalantly said.

"You might not know. But each gate was guarded by terrible demonic beasts—creatures who complained about their territories being small. What do you think happened when five of them gathered in one place?"

Each door had beings that were like gatekeepers.

Since they weren't related to breaking through the labyrinth, Shin Kang hadn't dealt with them. But they were still dangerous beings.

"They kept fighting. That's how the Demonic Beast of Darkness took over this place, and the Dream one fled."

What about the rest…?"

"They all died. Some died while fighting, and others, who were just wounded, retreated. But we cut off their breath."

"…"

Shin Rip and Shin Hyun had become strong enough to be on par with them.

'Ah, could it be that tunnel…'

Shin Rip shook his head.

"The wounded Demonic Beast of Darkness ended up dying."

"What? Then, who's behind that tunnel?"

"It died, but it left behind traces. The number of night beasts is increasing day by day because of that. I don't know why, but they have a tendency to try to return to their original forms. The bigger ones eat the small ones and become huge again like before. The largest one among them is currently underground."

In other words, if left alone, another Demonic Beast of Darkness could be born. And the largest night beast—the one closest to becoming one—resided underground.

Only now did Seol understand why the Shin brothers diligently hunted night beasts every night—it was for survival, not inconvenience.

The merging of the five paths had formed the path of everything. All those who had stepped into the labyrinth had inadvertently been in one space. However, he hadn't encountered anyone besides the two sisters from the Artifact Association.

'Well, I guess it doesn't concern me… It’s not like the demonic beasts…'

Although it was harshly put, the labyrinth changing and the current situation had nothing to do with him.

Seol had come here to break through it, not to live in it.

And thus, it was someone else's business.

"Hihi… Should I bring that up around now?"

"He already heard enough. Is there a need to hesitate?"

"Fine. I'll tell you everything."

Just as Seol was puzzled by Shin Hyun's hesitation, words poured out of his mouth.

"For you to go out of the labyrinth… You must go through the door and pass through the next gate. It's a very unpleasant place where the Demonic Beast of Dream lurks."

"Hmm…"

The Demonic Beast of Dream.

He didn't know much about it. But monsters with unusual attributes were generally hard to deal with.

"The Demonic Beast of Dream isn't particularly ferocious, so there's nothing dangerous about it… The problem is the night beasts underground in the forest."

"Yes…? But if the night beasts are hiding underground, there shouldn't be any problem unless I encounter them, right?"

Shin Hyun laughed.

"Hihi… The problem isn’t whether you’ll encounter them—it's that you definitely will."

"Yes…?"

His next words left Seol bewildered.

"Where do you think the door to the next gate is?"

"…"

"It's underground."

"Don't tell me…"

He would eventually encounter that dangerous creature if he wanted to break through the labyrinth.

"That demonic beast is blocking the door."

It wasn't someone else's business—it was his own.