The floor, walls, and ceiling were all painted gray. It was a bleak expanse.
“Contractor, I believe that the Cave of Trials is a place that disciplines your spirit.”
“...No, it’s not usually like this,” Seo Jun-Ho muttered, knitting his eyebrows. The last time he had entered, it had been a normal-looking cave.
‘Looking at the message...I guess a problem occurred since this is my second time entering?’
Then what would happen to him? The moment he tilted his head…
Riiip!
The s.p.a.ce ripped open, and a gentleman stepped out. He wore chestnut-brown shoes and a gray frock coat. He wore a top hat reminiscent of an old English gentleman. The brim was wide, so Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t see his face clearly.
Tak, tak.
He tapped his cane on the ground.
“h.e.l.lo. I am the 1st Floor Administrator, Gray,” he said politely.
“...1st Floor Administrator? Does that mean you’re Earth’s G.o.d?”
Gray laughed lightly at his question and shook his head. “Of course not. I was simply ordered to manage the 1st floor from that being[1]...You can think of me as a civil servant of sorts.”
“But if you manage the Earth, doesn’t that make you something of a G.o.d?”
“It’s different. I didn’t even know a planet called Earth existed until about 30 years ago. Additionally, I only manage Gates, monsters, and floors.” He cut himself off and smiled brightly. “Anyhow, seeing a familiar face is a small joy.”
“You know me?”
“Of course. Player Specter. I’ve been watching you for 30 years. It’s late, but congratulations on your return.”
“...Thank you.”
Seo Jun-Ho didn’t even know that such a being existed, but the Administrator seemed to know him. It was a strange feeling.
“Do you know who I am?” The Frost Queen suddenly spoke up.
“There’s no reason I wouldn’t. You are Nilfheim’s Queen, the sovereign who controls all the cold in the world.”
“C-contractor...” Her voice shook as she pulled on Seo Jun-Ho’s hair. “Did you hear that? You heard that, right? Even the Floor Administrator knows who I am!”
“...He knows me too.” He ignored her haughtiness and got straight to the point. “So where is this place?”
“It’s a virtual s.p.a.ce that I created to meet you. There’s a problem, you see.” Gray held out his hand, and a thick book appeared in his hand. The book fluttered open on its own, stopping on a certain page. “Mhm, I was right. It says in the record that Specter-nim entered the Cave of Trials 28 years, 7 months, 16 days, 13 hours and 32 minutes ago.”
Tap.
He closed the book. “And those who had received the rewards from the Cave of Trials cannot enter a second time. You are aware of that, am I correct?”
“Yes. But I’m not Specter anymore. I’m Seo Jun-Ho.”
“The nature of your existence does not change simply because you have changed your name.”
“But what if I don’t have the rewards?”
“...What do you mean?”
“I mean exactly what I said. I don’t have the rewards that I received from the Cave of Trials. Not a single one.” He spread his arms as if to prove his point.
“Hm?” Gray sounded curious. He took off his hat and revealed his narrow, closed eyes. “Let me see...” He smiled with his eyes and opened them slightly. At the same time, Seo Jun-Ho felt like a bug was crawling across his body.
‘He’s examining me.’
He felt like a rat being observed by a viper.
“...” Gray was silent for a moment before he closed his eyes again. “You’re right.”
He realized that Seo Jun-Ho was speaking the truth. He put on his hat again and slowly started to tap on the floor with his cane.
Tak, tak, tak.
“This is quite the predicament. You have once entered the Cave of Trials...Yet you do not currently possess its rewards.”
“According to the rules, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to enter.” Seo Jun-Ho spoke up.
“That’s not wrong. But the decision lies with me as I am the Administrator.” He said this politely, but he was warning Seo Jun-Ho to wait until he had made his decision. About a minute pa.s.sed, and Gray finally stopped tapping his cane.
“Hmm. The problem lies in fairness. You’ve already entered the Cave of Trials, so you know what kind of challenges will appear. I think that it’s unfair to other players.”
“Difficulty.” Seo Jun-Ho spoke up. “Then how about you raise the difficulty to balance it out?”
“...You wish to raise the difficulty? Are you sure that you will be able to handle that?”
“I have to, if that’s the only way I can enter.” Seo Jun-Ho confirmed.
Gray chuckled at his dry response. “I don’t know if you’re honest or clever...” He laughed for a while and nodded happily. “Understood. You’ve entertained me plenty in the past, so you deserve this level of service.”
Tak.
Gray tapped his cane once more. “With the authority of the 1st Floor Administrator, I will allow Seo Jun-Ho-nim to enter once more. However, I will change the difficulty and the subject of the trials a bit,” he declared.
“It doesn’t matter.” Seo Jun-Ho nodded.
“Then, I hope you have fun.”
With an elegant farewell, Gray turned to leave, but the Frost Queen interrupted him.
“Wait. Can you tell me why I lost my memories?”
“...Memories, you say.” He slightly turned his head. “I’m not sure. But everything happens for a reason. I think it will be okay even if you don’t find them again.”
“I’m asking because it’s frustrating.”
“I cannot say anything about that. I’m busy, so goodbye.” Gray turned his head back, and he stepped into another rip in s.p.a.ce. The Frost Queen watched him disappear.
“...I could not tell what he was thinking.” The Frost Queen was annoyed.
“He seemed to know you, though. Do you have no memory of him?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.
“That’s why it’s even more frustrating. I cannot recall anything about the Floors.” She let out a soft sigh and looked up at him. “Anyway, this still turned out well for you. We didn’t ride the floaty-float here for nothing.”
The floaty-float she meant was the airplane.
“It’s a good thing that we were able to resolve this.”
Seo Jun-Ho closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the area around him had changed. They were inside of a cool, humid cave. It looked exactly the same as he remembered.
“I heard that there are ten levels. What kind of trials will appear?”
“Um...I can’t really tell you in detail.” Seo Jun-Ho paused, then sighed. “But this Gate has everything you can imagine,” he muttered.
***
The Cave of Trials was divided into 10 levels. The mechanics were simple.
[Level 1: the Magic Trial will begin.]
As the System rang, numerous b.a.l.l.s formed inside the cavern. They were blue spheres of different sizes.
[Please pop the b.a.l.l.s using magic.]
“This seems too easy.
“That’s because it’s level 1. It’s like a tutorial,” Seo Jun-Ho replied lazily with his arms crossed. He pushed his magic outward.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
The cave soon became filled with loud noises as if balloons were being popped. It only took him 12 seconds to pop all the b.a.l.l.s in the large cavern.
“Not bad. Of course, I would have been able to do it in less than a second.”
“Stop bluffing. You lie every time you open your mouth.” Seo Jun-Ho snorted.
[You have pa.s.sed the Magic Trial.]
[If you wish to continue, please say ‘Go’. If you wish to stop, please say ‘Stop’.]
[The next level is the Gravity Trial.]
Between the Go and Stop, his answer was obviously the former. “Go.”
[You have selected to challenge the 2nd level. A room where you can rest will be created.]
One of the walls shone brightly, and a door appeared. Inside, there were food, drinks, a bed, and a bathroom.
“Contractor, you are not planning to rest already, are you?”
“Of course not.”
He hadn’t even warmed up yet. “Continue to level 2.”
[Level 2: The Gravity Trial will begin.]
At the same time he heard the voice, he groaned out loud. “Keuk...!”
In this trial, the force of gravity on the body changed every minute.
‘Right now… It’s a little heavy.’
It was about 5 times the force he usually felt.
Like this, the force would change as many as 60 times in an hour. ‘
Last time, it lasted for five hours…’
Who knew what would happen this time.
After 1 minute, his body started to float in the air.
“Geez, why does this always happen to me?”
He floated in the air with a look that made him seem like he was about to vomit until the gravity changed again.
“Contractor, you should not pa.s.s up this valuable opportunity.”
“Opportunity?” He wasn’t sure what she meant.
“There won’t be many times in your life where you will be under such strenuous circ.u.mstances.” She sounded excited. “You should train.”
“...In this state? It might look easy, but—Gah!”
The gravity changed again, and Seo Jun-Ho’s body fell to the ground with a loud noise.
‘Eight times stronger!‘
It was hard to even look up, but the Frost Queen was relentless.
“A strong body comes from a strong mind.”
“So you’re telling me to...Huff, huff.” It took much more effort than usual to simply talk. His lungs strained to help him breathe. “Do push-ups or something?”
“That’s not a bad idea either.” The Frost Queen looked around the cavern. “And once you become accustomed to the weight, you should start running.”
“You’re crazy.” He thought that she was being unreasonable.
“If you’re able to move freely no matter how light or heavy your body is, it will be extremely helpful in the future.”
“Easier said than done.”
“I will not force you to do it. I’m simply suggesting a path that you can take to become stronger.”
Ultimately, it was up to Seo Jun-Ho himself.
“...Dammit,” he grumbled. Since she had put it like that, he had no choice but to do it. He didn’t want to give up any chance to get stronger simply because he was afraid of being exhausted.
“Hnnnn!” He put all his strength into his arms and slowly pushed off the ground. His whole body trembled. He couldn’t even go up all the way up. He wanted to let go and lay back down.
‘But…’
Even though Seo Jun-Ho didn’t trust the Frost Queen yet, he learned in the past two weeks that her methods were effective.
‘I have no choice but to follow.‘
With eyes full of spite, Seo Jun-Ho slowly lowered his body.
The level 2 trial lasted for 24 hours.
***
[You have cleared the Gravity Trial.]
[If you wish to continue, please say ‘Go’. If you wish to stop, please say ‘Stop’.]
[The next level is the Phantom Trial.]
Seo Jun-Ho was so tired he couldn’t even speak. He laid on the ground, staring up at the cavern ceiling.
“Contractor, you look exhausted.”
“...” He tried to say with his eyes that he was really f.u.c.king tired, but he also tried to express his grat.i.tude.
‘The Cave of Trials rewards the Player based on their efforts.’
The trial had lasted much longer than last time, and he also managed to train during a trial.
The force of gravity returned to normal, and Seo Jun-Ho felt three times lighter than usual. Understandably, the rewards from here would make him even stronger once he left the Cave of Trials.
“...Phew.” After a long while, he finally stood up.
“Contractor, what is the next trial?”
“...The Phantom Trial.” His face was grim. The Phantom Trial gave hallucinations to Players. In the past, he saw his parents.
‘I fought like crazy to save them from monsters.’
He suffered for half a day until it was finally over.
He wasn’t worried about fighting for half a day. Instead, he was worried about something else.
“Why are you looking at me? I feel as if you are boring a hole through my head.”
‘I feel like it’s either going to be her or the others this time. I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle it.’
He had a strong feeling that he would have to fight either the Frost Queen or his four friends.
‘It would be a lot easier if it were the Frost Queen… But I feel like it’s gonna be my friends.’
Thanks to Keen Intuition (B), he had never been wrong about these things.
1. It’s vague whether it is a person or a whole different ent.i.ty ☜