Chapter 73: Chapter 73

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Chapter 73: The Cost of Choice (1)

Two doors opened before my eyes.

▣ Arena Exit Ticket

-Activating it will create a “door” to leave the arena.

However, only the ticket holder can use it.

-Usable once.

One door allowed me to use the ticket and escape the arena alone.

“I’ve looked around. There’s nothing inside!”

“Should we check outside?”

“Maybe there’s something in the forest?”

The other door led outside the arena, into the forest.

At first glance, it seemed like I was being forced to choose between the two options.

But…

There’s no time limit on when I have to use this ticket.

In that case...

“Let’s explore a bit.”

“Outside?”

“Yes. It might be dangerous, so we should split into groups.”

This meant we could search both the inside of the arena and the forest outside for a way out.

If nothing worked after that…

No. I won’t think about that.

I’d figure something out, just like I always had.

“I’ll head outside to take a look.”

Having made my decision, I spoke up.

Immediately, two others chimed in as if it were a given.

“We’ll go with you, hyung!”

“Eunho, can I come too?”

“Of course.”

I had been planning to suggest that anyway.

I didn’t know what dangers lay hidden in the forest, but with the two of them, it would be manageable.

If Jaehyuk and I led the way while Jieun supported us from the back, we could handle whatever came our way.

Both of them were strong enough to protect themselves, as they’d proven confidently before.

Thanks to the healing potion from the blonde-haired friend, I don’t have to stick to Sola anymore.

After running through the calculations in my head, I was ready to move.

“Alright, let’s get going—”

“I’ll go too! I want to go with Eunho!”

“Me too! Me too!”

More volunteers than I expected.

Even the foul-mouthed one and Yeji, who had always been so timid, were stepping forward enthusiastically.

“Me too! We want to go!”

“...Just in case anyone gets hurt.”

These people weren’t normally so bold.

I wondered if they were failing to grasp the situation, so I added a word of caution.

“You all don’t think that forest is some peaceful campsite, do you?”

“Of course not! We almost died being dragged here like slaves to face a dragon. Fuck, Even gladiators didn’t fight dragons…”

“Young man, do you think we’re fools or something?”

The foul-mouthed one and the guard uncle retorted, offended.

“Then are you trying to hunt monsters for growth? Titles or items or something…”

“Come on, only someone like Eunho would think of that.”

“She’s right! And I don’t care for that nonsense. I just want those damn creatures to stop showing up!”

If not for rewards, then why?

I almost asked but held back.

“Are you really sure about this? It’ll be dangerous out there. I can’t always protect everyone.”

“Fuck! Following you and getting attacked by a legendary monster is still safer than staying here and getting mauled by a stray dog.”

“…You’re joking, right?”

“Joking? Not at all. Hey! Am I right?”

The foul-mouthed one made an outrageous claim, but Yeji and the cleaning lady nodded furiously in agreement.

“He’s right! You even killed a dragon! That says everything!”

“Exactly! You’re faster than fire, shift like the wind, and can even teleport! Apart from the managers, who can stop you?”

“Hey, Eunho, at this rate, won’t you end up beating the managers too?”

“Fuck! He could do it. If you teleport and stab them, they’d die just the same.”

Their absurd chatter continued, with everyone chiming in enthusiastically.

“Right! A dragon slayer, no less!”

“D-Dragon…”

Hearing the words felt embarrassing enough to give me a headache, so I turned away.

Jieun, who had been watching with a mix of amusement and concern, carefully asked,

“Should I stay behind? In case the exit appears here…”

“No. Staying alone would be even more dangerous.”

“True… there’s no guarantee this place is safe either.”

Satisfied, Jieun prepared herself with a more relaxed expression.

After one last glance around the arena, we all stood before the “door.”

The massive wooden door was the same one through which the dragon, shackled and chained, had been forcibly dragged in.

“Should we open it?”

“Fuck! This feels like a slave gladiator winning freedom.”

And with combined effort...

Clunk! Creeeeak!

The door swung open wide.

Step!

We stepped forward, onto soft, unpaved ground.

Flash!

The dry sunlight poured down on us like a rainless storm, bathing us completely.

* * *

[Hah.]

The director let out a low, indistinct sigh.

Was it a laugh? Or a lament?

Seung swallowed nervously, waiting for him to speak.

As an ordinary employee, she neither understood nor dared to interrupt.

[So… he defeated the Flame Dragon.]

[Yes, Director. He’s full of extraordinary talent.]

The director’s deliberate tone was met with Harona’s quick reply.

[And he didn’t leave on his own.]

[…Indeed.]

This time, her response came slower.

Was he dissatisfied?

That was understandable.

With such a monumental achievement, why hadn’t he taken the exit and claimed his reward?

There could only be one reason he’d lingered instead.

Thinking she had figured it out, Harona spoke with a nonchalant expression,

[If it’s about the rest of the stragglers, I can handle them—]

[That won’t be necessary.]

But the director raised a hand, dismissing it as unimportant.

[Now I understand why you were so eager for him.]

Ah.

For the first time in her long career as a manager, Harona felt overwhelmed with emotion.

The raw gem she had discovered had been acknowledged by the heavens themselves.

…Or so she thought, just as she was about to let her emotions settle.

[Then, let us proceed with the evaluation…]

[Destroy it.]

[Excuse me?!]

[The entire arena.]

[!!]

The girl’s skies were struck by a command like a bolt from the blue.

[But I’ve completed the mission as instructed! Why…?!]

It was a short order.

No explanation of the reason, purpose, or hidden intent. A cold and unkind directive.

But.

[Let us see.]

The expression accompanying the words wasn’t entirely grim, leaving the girl with a faint sense of her intentions.

[If they manage to escape even from there, then…]

The girl held her breath.

Her jewel-like eyes shimmering.

* * *

“Eunho, this is surprisingly…”

“Peaceful, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is.”

Jieun was right.

The forest outside the arena looked lush enough to teem with life, but upon entering, it wasn’t nearly as lively as expected.

It was more peaceful, more tranquil than one might imagine.

Whirrrr-

The only sounds were the occasional whistle-like calls of birds.

The green sky above, glimpsed through the leaves, was illuminated by warm sunlight, making it feel almost like a leisurely forest retreat.

“We’ve been walking for almost an hour now… and still, nothing.”

The only “crisis” we’d encountered in the hour-long trek was pacifying little Yura, who was whining about her tired legs.

Even that was quickly resolved when Han-ul gave her a piggyback ride.

“Birds, smiling faces, airplanes…”

The little girl had been counting cloud shapes with childlike delight, setting a scene straight out of a children’s animation.

But.

“Still, we should stay alert.”

Complacency was dangerous.

A monster could appear at any time and grab us by the neck.

Hearing my words, the group nodded gravely.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Eunho.”

“Understood, brother!”

Even so, as we continued navigating the forest trail, eventually, the message we had been waiting for arrived.

[‘Selection’ mission completed!]

“!!”

The notification that this dreadful mission was over.

Judging by the calm expressions of the others, it seemed the completion alert had been delivered only to me.

Wait.

But…

‘If they were going to end it like this, why even make exit tickets?’

Smack!

As a creeping sense of unease overcame me, I instinctively stopped walking and strained my ears.

Then came a welcome announcement.

[Evaluation grade calculated!]

[Participant ‘Lee Eunho’s entry exam evaluation grade is…]

Finally, a proper reward was coming.

Unlike others who received an unknown variable, I was about to get an actual letter grade.

And not just any grade—

[S+!]

The highest grade.

‘Got it!’

Last time I received an S+, I was granted special training points as a bonus reward.

That led to unlocking swordsmanship skills and even acquiring a beginner’s swordsmanship course voucher, which I had used to its fullest potential.

‘Will they give training points again?’

[Congratulations!]

[The participant who achieved extraordinary performance has successfully completed the ‘Additional Mission.’]

[The pre-determined reward has been doubled.]

Ding!

[Check your mission rewards!]

I was about to shout “Mission rewards” when another announcement interrupted.

[The arena is being dissolved.]

[Brace for impact.]

“The arena… dissolving?”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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The moment those words ended, a brief silence fell.

Footsteps, the rustling of leaves, and the chirping of unknown birds—all ceased as if the world had held its breath.

The air itself seemed to twist, layered sounds overlapping with something new.

And shortly after.

Whirrrr—

The whistle of birds resumed.

“Huh?”

“Min Yeojin! I think I got rained on.”

“Me too!”

The high school girls opened their palms and glanced up at the sky.

“Birds, faces, airplanes… huh?”

“Wait a minute. The sky…”

Plop, plop!

Large raindrops began to fall from the rapidly darkening sky, hitting foreheads with a chill that hadn’t even been fully felt yet.

Then—

Flash!

From the dim sky, a sudden burst of blinding light.

Crackle!

Sparks flew.

Boom!

The arena where we had first been summoned collapsed with a deafening roar.

Rumble!

The entire space we had just stood on crumbled like a sandcastle.

“!!”

“L-look over there…!”

“If we’d waited patiently, we’d have been crushed!”

Although we had distanced ourselves, the sounds of crumbling stone and the vibrations were still palpable.

And with that as the catalyst—

Thud-thud-thud! Whoosh—

A torrential rain began to pour down.

“Ahhhh!”

“Is this an earthquake?!”

“The ground is collapsing!”

The solid ground, seemingly untouched moments before, gave way.

The arena’s destruction rippled outward like a black hole, swallowing the earth beneath it.

[The arena is being dissolved.]

[Prepare for Shock!]

"The arena…"

"What?"

"I said, the arena isn’t just collapsing—it’s disappearing!"

"…?!"

Jieun looked puzzled, unable to grasp the gravity of the situation.

"For now…"

Unable to muster the courage to say, "This entire space is vanishing," I instead shouted:

"Run!"

We took off, leaving the crumbling ground behind us.

Rumble!

A torrential downpour raged, as if the sky itself had been torn open.

Whirl!

Piercing through the deluge came faint, eerie whistling sounds.

CRACK!

Lightning struck, tearing through the dark sky like a sword of light.

It obliterated trees and rocks, erasing them in flashes of fire and destruction.

A direct hit would be fatal.

Tap-tap!

Desperately, we ran.

"Sword Wind! Sword Wind! Sword Wind!"

Swinging my sword twice as fast as usual, I cleared the obstructing foliage ahead.

But what lay before me was…

‘The arena…?’

The remnants of a collapsed arena and a black hole that had drawn impossibly close, despite how far we’d fled.

"Stop!"

I shouted to the others trailing behind me.

"Huff, huff… What the hell? Why are we back here?!"

"Ahhh! Why are we here again? We ran in the same direction… didn’t we?"

Think. Think. Think.

Why had we ended up back here?

Did we unknowingly pass through some kind of "gate"?

If not…

Whirl!

In this chaos, birdsong?

Occasionally, faint bird calls pierced through.

Wait.

Hold on.

Could it be…

Pop!

I jerked my head upward, scanning the sky.

Though it was filled with nothing but thick black clouds, a few peculiar shapes stood out.

"Birds, a smiling face, a plane…"

"Huh? Are you cloud-watching, Uncle?"

Yura’s innocent question caught me off guard.

Could it really be…

"Yura, have you been counting the same clouds over and over since earlier?"

"Yep!"

Unbelievable.

The birdsong, the cloud patterns… And next?

"Lightning will strike! Everyone, stay away from the trees!"

Flash!

A blinding light erupted from the pitch-black sky.

CRACKLE!

A bolt of lightning slammed down onto a tree where the foul-mouthed guy had just been leaning.

"Shit! That scared me!"

Now I understood.

Why this forest had been unnervingly peaceful.

Why we hadn’t encountered a single monster.

"There are rules here!"

"Rules?"

"The same birdsong repeats every five minutes."

"Huh? Isn’t that just a coincidence, bro?"

"The clouds follow a pattern, and after each cycle, lightning strikes. Still think it’s a coincidence?"

Jaehyuk’s eyes widened.

As I explained, one by one, the others tilted their heads in confusion.

"Did that… really happen?"

"I didn’t notice…"

"Wait, so… is someone controlling this?"

And lastly.

"There’s been something bothering me from the start."

"What is it?"

A vague unease had lingered in my mind, overshadowed by the immediate need to find a way to fight the threats in front of us.

"What does ‘meticulously crafted’ mean?"

[You have defeated the ‘Meticulously Crafted Flame Dragon’!]

The adjective seemed oddly out of place as a descriptor for a divine beast.

After some thought, Jieun offered a suggestion.

"Um… doesn’t it mean ‘skilled’?"

"Exactly."

Skilled craftsmanship, intricate design, precise machinery.

It’s not a term you’d expect to see before ‘dragon.’

"Or maybe it means well-made…?"

!!

Now I understood.

The reason behind this strange sense of mismatch.

"…It’s all manufactured!"

"What is, hyung?"

"The arena, the dragon, the forest, the lightning—everything! The administrators designed all of it to trap us!"

"What? That’s ridiculous…"

"Shot! So they set this up to make us run in circles?!"

There must be some mechanism behind this.

This space, which looks flat to us, might actually be curved.

Like a miniaturized version of Earth.

"Exactly. And now, it’s being destroyed from the inside out, with the intention of taking us down with it."

"Fuck! What?!"

"Does that mean we can’t escape this place?!"

At my declaration, everyone—including the foul-mouthed guy—looked up in alarm.

But.

"That’s not happening."

"What? Didn’t you just say it’s going to collapse…?"

"Exactly. And since it’s collapsing, are you just going to sit here and let it happen?"

"…?!"

I already had the answer.

"We’ll smash our way out."

"What?!"

There’s a way to escape this crumbling world together.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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