<h4>Chapter 187</h4>
“This is absurd...”
“Are they finally out of their mind?!”
Caught off-guard by the sudden start of the college-wide exam, the students grumbled as they urgently prepared. The idea of abyrinth exploration being the college-wide exam of Borsippa, a college specializing in technical skills, seemed absurd. They knew about the ongoing tensions with Demon Force, but the students just couldn''t fathom the logic behind it.
<i>Isn’t this all just to give Lee Se-Hoon an advantage?</i>
<i>He''s supposed to be strong enough to spar with Jake Myers, so he''s probably going to get the best score among the first-year students in Borsippa...</i>
<i>This is ridiculous.</i>
In previous years, each college would just select their honor student when their exam ended. This year, however, an honor student had to be chosen from the entire grade. Because of that,petition between the colleges intensified, and ambitious deans could easily favor specific students with their college-wide exams.
But despite knowing that, all the students could do was grumble to themselves. They quickly finished their preparations and stepped outside their dorms.
<i>Whoosh!</i>
Thendscape before them abruptly changed, defying their expectations.
“...Huh?”
They found themselves surrounded by walls towering over a hundred meters high. Realizing they were trapped in thebyrinth, the students became bewildered.
Then, a small void pocket appeared in front of them from out of nowhere.
“...”
Confused, the students picked up the void pocket and examined its contents:mon materials, crafting tools frequently used in their respective departments, and a small map. The odd assortment puzzled them.
<i>Are we supposed to use these?</i>
<i>This isn’t what I expected...</i>
They had expected to face off against golems or summoned creatures in thebyrinth. However, it seemed they were wrong.
Mulling over the situation, the students soon heard Eun-Ha’s voice echo once again throughout thebyrinth.
—The void pocket given to each of you contains materials and tools to assist with yourbyrinth exploration. The map highlights special areas within thebyrinth. Move carefully and make wise decisions based on the marks on the map.
At her instructions, the scattered students quickly unfolded their maps. The map, which was mostly obscured except for its current location, marked several special areas with symbols and descriptions.
<i>[Material Warehouse] [Production Facility] [Transportation Device]</i>
Staring at the map, which showed them the facilities provided within thebyrinth, the students finally understood the situation. They were wrong; the college-wide exam didn''t explicitly favor Se-Hoon—it was a themed test that involved thebyrinth!
It was still equally preposterous, but some students were able to swiftly assess the situation.
<i>If it’s just a themed test, then even those with lesserbat skills should have a chance.</i>
<i>They probably stocked the material warehouses and production facilities with items useful for exploration. I should head to one of them first!</i>
Despite the unique setting and method, the students now understood that their respective skill sets would still be put to the test appropriately. No longer grumbling, they moved quickly toward the facilities marked on the map.
And all of their actions were observed by Helena from the control room.
“Phew... At least they caught on quickly.”
She had been worried that the students wouldn’t grasp the test''s purpose, but fortunately, they understood almost immediately. It gave her a sense of relief, from avoiding a major disaster at the start of the exam.
“I''m d everything is going smoothly,” Eun-Ha calmly remarked beside her.
Helena stared at Eun-Ha, knowing it was her who conceived this oundishly unconventional exam in the first ce.
<i>I thought she was insane at first...</i>
While the idea of putting the students of Borsippa, a technical college, into abyrinth was oundish itself, the structure of thebyrinth Eun-Ha envisioned was even more so.
<i>“I want it to be abyrinth that students from all departments can tackle equally.”</i>
Individual differences in navigating thebyrinth aside, she desired uniformity in the advantages each technical skill provided. In other words, thebyrinth had to bnce the technical expertise of the dozens of departments within Borsippa.
It was a problem faced every year, but tackling it with thebyrinth magnified its challenge. However, to the reasonable concerns and objections from numerous guidance professors, including Helena, Eun-Ha simply responded with one sentence.
<i>“The Chairman likes this novel idea, so I think we should proceed with it.”</i>
If Eun-Ha had been the only one standing behind the idea of using abyrinth for the exam, they would have voted against it. However, when Babel''s chairman, Ludwig, supported the idea, opposition from the professors was no longer viable.
Thus, the professors from each department brainstormed together for weeks, enduring numerous trials and errors, to create the currentbyrinth.
“...hic.” A professor standing to the side silently wiped away his tears.
“Gosh, you’re really acting like a child.”
Seeing a professor in his sixties wipe away tears upon seeing thepletedbyrinth, Helena shook her head and turned her attention back to therge monitor in the control room.
<i>It was tough, but... the end result doesn’t seem bad at all.</i>
Despite varying themes, Borsippa''s previous college exams had all followed a certain temte. Each field of study adhered to standard structures and forms, categorizing thepleted items based on the same quality and grade of information.
And while that wasn''t inherently bad, fixated structures often proved vulnerable on unpredictable battlefields.
“Wait, it''s still charging...!”
“Ahhh!”
Initially, before the students could even use the weapons they had made, golems or summoned creatures would repeatedly send them back to the starting point. The unfamiliarity made them make mistakes they wouldn''t have otherwise.
However, as time passed, they each began adapting, understanding what was efficient and how they should handle the challenges more adeptly. Some even discovered talents they hadn’t known they possessed.
“What...? Who knew they had talent in this area...”
“They might as well switch to that field entirely...”
Periodically discovering previously unnoticed talents of the students, the professors watched the exam take ce in admiration. Thankfully, the college-wide exam was proceeding smoothly, despite earlier worries. But just when they had that thought, a voice called out.
“Dean Ryu!”
An assistant monitoring thebyrinth ran over to where Helena and Eun-Ha were standing.
“We have a problem! The control authority over thebyrinth...!”
Seeing the assistant''s serious expression, Helena and Eun-Ha’s faces hardened. Could it be another attack by the Demon Force? However, Helena quickly regained herposure and scoffed at the possibility. After all, Ludwig himself was the one controlling thebyrinth.
<i>They’ve chosen the wrong timing this time.</i>
Even if the Ten Evils attacked, there was no way they could steal control of thebyrinth from Ludwig. Confident that was the case, Helena listened to the assistant’s next words.
“Lee Se-Hoon has managed to copy the control authority!”
“...Huh?”
“...What?”
The truth was beyond imagination.
***
“<i>Hmm...</i>”
Upon entering thebyrinth, instead of rushing around like the other students, Se-Hoon took his time observing his surroundings.
<i>At first nce, it looks like a single connected maze, but it’s actually like a puzzle.</i>
Under normal circumstances, it would have fallen in pieces, but high-level spatial magic was seamlessly connecting them. And there was only one person in the world who could use such advanced spatial magic on abyrinth of this size.
<i>It has to be Ludwig, that old man.</i>
Deducing who the creator of thebyrinth was, Se-Hoon was now also able to figure out how thebyrinth had appeared above the city overnight.
<i>He superimposed a void dimension above the city.</i>
Externally, everything looked like a single space, but thebyrinth was actually ovepping the original space. Except for Borsipa''s students and staff, other people likely saw only the cityscape, not thebyrinth.
<i>This kind of technique is usually used for secret passages or vaults... but this is on apletely different scale.</i>
Creating such a structure, not just for a building but for an entire city, was a true demonstration of the power of a Perfect One. Realizing the extent of Ludwig’s power once again, Se-Hoon approached the wall and touched its surface.
<i>Hmm. If it''s like this...</i>
Unlike most students, who focused on using the internal facilities to create the necessary tools to navigate thebyrinth, Se-Hoon thought differently. If reaching thebyrinth’s center was the goal, why not create something to control thebyrinth itself?
<i>If there''s a core that controls everything, it means thisbyrinth is ultimately just one construct.</i>
If the walls were just solid barriers, then he just had to navigate around them. And if not, there was no need to do such a thing in the first ce. Checking the map to locate nearby facilities, Se-Hoon headed straight for the areabeled “Transportation Device.”
<i>Woong-</i>
Arriving, a massive gate prevented Se-Hoon from entering the ce marked ‘Transportation Device.’ He looked to the side. Beside the gate, there was a transparent box with visible contents. ording to the instructions written on it, Se-Hoon needed to create and submit a specific item inside the box to open the door.
<i>I guess if you''re not confident in navigating through the maze, you can just solve the problem to get through.</i>
In simple terms, it was an option to take a shortcut by solving a puzzle. It allowed Se-Hoon to gain a bit of insight into the nature of the exam. Suddenly, a semi-transparent panel appeared in the air with words written on it.
[Direct the lights inside the box toward a single point.]
Following the appearance of the panel, dozens of lights appeared inside the transparent box. Assessing the positions of the scattered lights, Se-Hoon took out an iron ingot from the void pocket.
“Let’s see...”
Instead of going to a production facility, he gathered his mana to perform alchemical forging, something he hadn’t done in a while.
<i>Woong-</i>
The mana array in the iron ingot resonated with his mana, making it fluid and malleable. Se-Hoon then carefully shaped the ingot with his hands.
In no time, he had created an intricate frame with branches extending in all directions. With the forging done, he polished the surfaces to a mirror-like finish using White Light.
“This should do.”
cing the finished creation inside the transparent box, Se-Hoon watched intently. Within the box, the scattered lights were reflected off the structure''s branches, converging towards the center. At some pointter, the light shed brightly and the door beside him slowly started to open.
<i>Thud-</i>
With a heavy sound, the gate revealed the scenery beyond. Surveying it, he soon crossed over to the other side.
<i>Whoosh!</i>
Feeling a sense of déjà vu, he found himself on the other side. Checking the map, he noted that his distance to the center had decreased by about tenfold.
In that case, he ideally just needed to submit nine more items for the remaining puzzles. However, the requirements were sure to be more challenging, and the shortcut could likely end up not being much of an advantage in reducing distance, making it not an effortless task.
“Ah, I get it.”
Thanks to it though, he hadpleted the rough sketch of the entirebyrinth while passing through it just now. Thinking of his next step, he quickly headed to a material warehouse marked on the map.
There were dozens of stalls lined up inside. From among them, Se-Hoon chose one shadowy ore and one bright white ore: Rare materials known as Shadow Imprint Stone and Light Prison Crystal.
They weren''t particrly extraordinary items, but...
<i>Anything can be useful if used correctly.</i>
Holding the Shadow Imprint Stone and Light Prison Crystal in his hands, he infused his darkness mana, Moonlit Shadow, into them.
<i>Woong-</i>
The stones drank up the darkness mana, and he once again used alchemical forging to create an alloy with the two materials. The end result was a unique thin, dish-like object that served as both a dish and a mirror. The bottom of the inside surface was as smooth as a mirror, while the sides had ck lines forming a swirling pattern around the center.
Satisfied with the result, he used Shadow Thread to carve a magic array inside before imbuing Incantation Inscription onto it.
<strong>“Echo Spell, Form Fixation, Space Projection...”</strong>
The effects of the incantations melded into the mirror’s surface.
With all preparationsplete, Se-Hoon headed back to the transportation device.
<i>Vrrrrm-</i>
Upon approaching, the gate opened naturally, suggesting he could move freely through the gate now that he had solved the puzzle. Pausing before its gates, he raised the dish above his head and stepped through.
<i>Crack!</i>
The mirror within immediately shattered, scattering shards inside the dish. Wasting no time, Se-Hoon dumped the shards onto the ground and observed the pattern inscribed on the floor.
The shards’ spread-out pattern resembled a keyhole.
Smiling, Se-Hoon infused his mana into it.
<i>Woong!</i>
The pattern glowed, and he felt a faint sense of spatial distortion just as the surroundings rapidly changed. The entire view of thebyrinth and the cityscape ovepping mystically appeared in front of him, indicating that he had sessfully copied the authority to control thebyrinth.
<i>Just as I expected.</i>
When he first used the transportation device, he noticed two odd sensations. Upon entering the gate, he experienced a sensation of a force pushing him back and a force enveloping him from above.
From just those two fleeting sensations, he understood the exact mechanism of the transportation device.
<i>It temporarily grants the students who submit the required items the authority to use spatial teleportation within that passage of thebyrinth.</i>
Designed to prevent students who hadn''t submitted items from using the transportation devices, Se-Hoon realized that if he could copy the authority, he could use it freely to teleport anywhere in thebyrinth.
Of course, copying such aplex authority wouldn’t be easy. Even a partial replication required him to manuallypensate for any deficiencies. And a single error could result in misdirection or even ejection from thebyrinth.
“I guess it’s time to finish it.”
However, being the one who understood Ludwig’s spatial magic better than anyone else, Se-Hoon proceeded boldly. Activating the pattern on the floor, it glowed brighter and the scenery beyond the gate shifted rapidly, eventually revealing an entirely new location.
Looking up, the massive core floated above the central region of thebyrinth could be seen right in front of him.
<i>Crack!</i>
“Ugh...”
When he crossed through the gate, a massive crack formed on the dish, and a sharp pain pierced through his head. The spell''s replication appeared imperfect, necessitating significant mentalputation on the spot due to spatial teleportation. It had nearly induced vertigo.
<i>If the distance had been any greater, my head might have exploded or I might have be trapped between spaces.</i>
Thinking he needed to be more careful next time, he discarded the dish and approached the core. But just as he was about to grab the g beneath it—
<i>Cling!</i>
He instinctively deflected something with his hand. Turning around, he noticed ice shards scattered around him in all directions.
<i>Are these... ice nails?</i>
Unmistakably, someone had just thrown an ice nail at him. Turning in the direction it came from, he saw a familiar figure.
“It seems I’m still a bitte.”
Amir was standing there, looking troubled, with ice daggers in both hands.