Chapter 103: 7F Hidden (2)

“...The Sage is one of the four of us?”

The wanderer frowned and muttered as he glanced around at the others.

The other two were doing the same, their gazes shifting warily from one person to the next.

So we had to identify the Sage, who was hiding his true identity among us.

Was this another Gate?

It seemed the trial was not over yet.

[All those except the Sage must reach a unanimous decision and identify the Sage.]

[600]

A number appeared beneath the message.

It decreased by one every second.

A countdown.

So we had to expose the Sage before time ran out...?

The knight was the first to speak.

“Tell the truth. Which one of you is the Sage?”

The woman answered.

“This must be another of the Sage’s trials. To hide among us like this... It seems the Sage had quite a mischievous streak.”

The wanderer spoke next.

“...The Sage lived a thousand years ago, didn’t he? How could he possibly be one of us?”

“He was capable of creating a dungeon that still functions flawlessly after a thousand years. Perhaps the Sage never died and has remained alive all this time.”

“What, you’re saying he’s immortal? That’s ridiculous.”

I looked at the three of them and thought.

‘What am I supposed to do?’

It was essentially a game of mafia.

If I had to choose based on appearances alone, the woman was a mage and therefore seemed closest to what one might imagine a Sage to be, but...

Obviously, I couldn’t make my decision on something so superficial.

“You are the most suspicious among us. You are the only mage here, are you not?”

The moment the thought crossed my mind, the knight pointed his sword at the woman.

She raised her staff defensively.

“A mage, therefore the Sage? I would appreciate it if you refrained from such simplistic reasoning. If the Sage truly intended to conceal his identity, would it not be far more convincing for him to imitate someone whose nature was the complete opposite of a mage’s?”

Faint hostility began to rise among the three of them.

I stepped between them.

“Everyone, let’s not fight. Why don’t we talk this through first?”

All three turned to look at me.

I pointed at the timer floating in the air.

“We have to make our choice before that reaches zero, right? The three of us who aren’t the Sage have to agree unanimously.”

“...I suppose that is correct.”

“Is discussion truly necessary? If I cut down the three of you here and now, the Sage will have no choice but to reveal himself.”

At the knight’s words, the wanderer scoffed.

“Now, that’s not something I can simply ignore. You make it sound as though you believe you can take all three of us by yourself.”

The atmosphere was on the verge of erupting into violence again, so I quickly intervened.

“Do you really think this is something we can solve through force? The Sage is powerful enough to imprison all of us here. You saw what happened earlier. We couldn’t even scratch the walls.”

I pointed toward the section of the wall the knight had struck with his Sword Aura.

“So let’s talk first. We may notice something suspicious along the way.”

The woman agreed.

“He is right. The Sage intends to test our wisdom. Surely he would not expect us to expose him through a mindless brawl.”

“...Wisdom, is it? For a test of wisdom, all we encountered on the way here was an endless storm of arrows.”

The wanderer scratched the back of his head, then nodded.

“Well, fine. I’m in. Nothing good will come from fighting one another in a place like this.”

Everyone’s attention shifted to the knight.

After a moment, he slid his sword back into its sheath.

“And how exactly do you propose we identify the Sage?”

“...That is what we need to determine now.”

[459]

The four of us gathered in a circle at the center of the Cavern.

The woman made a suggestion.

“Let us each speak about ourselves. Where we come from, what we do, what we were doing before we arrived here... Perhaps something suspicious will emerge.”

She volunteered to go first.

“My name is Deilin Targorian. I am a mage and the Vice Tower Master of the Red Mage Tower.”

The wanderer looked at her in surprise.

“Deilin Targorian? You’re the Vice Tower Master of the Red Mage Tower?”

“That is correct. I do not mean to boast, but I doubt there is anyone here who has not heard of me.”

The knight appeared to recognize the name as well.

She must have been quite famous.

Unfortunately, neither the Red Mage Tower nor its Vice Tower Master meant anything to me.

I was practically a stranger from another world. There was no reason I would know anything about them.

“As I mentioned earlier, my reason for coming here was simple curiosity. I wanted to discover whether the rumors about the Sage’s dungeon were true and, if they were, to explore it for myself.”

The wanderer nodded.

“I’ve heard rumors that the Vice Tower Master of the Red Mage Tower has a habit of wandering wherever her curiosity takes her.”

“...A habit of wandering? Where did such a rumor come from?”

The knight introduced himself next.

“I am Keilon Gaitan, the eleventh king of the Ton Principality.”

Both Deilin and the wanderer looked startled.

“...Now that is unexpected. Keilon, the Knight King? You were the Retired King of the Principality?”

Apparently, the man was a king.

Or rather, if he was the Retired King, did that mean he was its former ruler?

“My reason for seeking out the dungeon was also personal curiosity. I wished to confirm the rumors with my own eyes. Once I discovered that the Sage’s dungeon truly existed, I passed through its Gates and made my way here.”

Wait.

This was bad.

If things continued like this, I was going to be in serious trouble.

“Ha! Once the masks come off, everyone here turns out to be someone important.”

Finally, the wanderer introduced himself.

“I’m only an adventurer. My reputation may not be as grand as yours, but I imagine you’ve at least heard the name Pahel.”

“...The legendary adventurer Pahel? You?”

Deilin stared at him in astonishment.

Wonderful.

Now there was a legendary adventurer among us too.

“Like I said, I came all this way to steal the Sage’s treasure and walk away with the score of a lifetime. A sparrow doesn’t pass by a mill, and an adventurer doesn’t pass by a dungeon, right?”

Once all three of them had finished introducing themselves, their attention naturally shifted to me.

I stopped time and began to think.

All three were famous enough to recognize one another by name.

The problem was that I knew absolutely nothing about the history or society of this world.

They were going to suspect me. There was no avoiding it.

What should I do?

‘...I’ll have to bluff my way through.’

For now, I had no other choice.

I let time flow again and opened my mouth.

“My name is Hyeon. I’m an adventurer as well.”

“...Hyeon? I’ve never heard that name before. An adventurer skilled enough to survive every arrow Gate and make it this far? There is no chance I would not know of him.”

Pahel narrowed his eyes at me.

And just like that, I had become the prime suspect.

But there was nothing I could do.

If I faltered now, they would only become more suspicious, so I forced myself to remain confident.

“Of course you haven’t heard of me. I come from a continent far to the east.”

“The Eastern Continent?”

“Yes. I heard the rumors about the Sage’s dungeon and traveled all this way to find it. As you said, Pahel, an adventurer cannot simply ignore a dungeon like this.”

Pahel continued to eye me suspiciously.

It was understandable.

I was the only one whose identity could not be confirmed.

“What do the rest of you think? Am I the only one who finds this man suspicious?”

Deilin answered him.

“If anything, I find him less suspicious.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“If Hyeon were the Sage, would that not be far too obvious? Everyone else’s identity has been established, while his alone remains uncertain. If the Sage truly wished to conceal himself, it would be strange for him to do so this clumsily.”

In other words, because I was too suspicious, I was unlikely to be the culprit.

Keilon nodded.

“There is reason in that. I also doubt that man is the Sage.”

Unexpectedly, both of them were defending me.

At that, even Pahel eased back.

“Well... judging by his appearance, the claim that he comes from the Eastern Continent does not seem like a lie. And now that I think of it, wasn’t the Sage originally from the Empire?”

“Judging by appearances is meaningless. For a mage who has lived for more than a thousand years, altering his appearance would be child’s play.”

Escaping suspicion was all well and good, but...

I still had to determine which of the three was the Sage.

‘...Could it really not be Deilin?’

If she were the Sage, why would she go out of her way to defend me?

That left Keilon and Pahel.

I stopped time once more and considered the possibilities.

Nothing about either of their stories seemed especially suspicious.

Then again, I would have needed to know something about this world before I could recognize any inconsistencies.

Strictly speaking, I was the most suspicious person here.

And that was the truth.

‘Demon King, do you have any idea which one it is?’

I tried asking the Demon King.

– That knight bastard.

‘...Why?’

– Strutting around and calling himself a king. Ridiculous.

So much for receiving a serious answer.

[131]

Ten minutes was nowhere near enough time.

By the time everyone had finished introducing themselves, only two minutes remained.

I spent a long while thinking with time stopped, but...

It was useless.

There was nothing concrete to work with.

I concluded that identifying the Sage through deduction was impossible.

‘Then I’ll manipulate them instead.’

No matter what happened, I had to make them choose someone other than me.

If I guessed correctly, perfect.

Even if I guessed wrong, I could rely on my next attempt.

I released time.

For a while, the four of us simply stood there in silence, staring at one another.

When only one hundred seconds remained, I spoke.

“If we have to choose someone regardless, then I choose Pahel.”

“...What?”

“You were the first person who tried to accuse me of being the Sage. We have almost no time left, so all we can do now is trust our instincts.”

When manipulating others, the first person to act held the advantage.

Deilin nodded.

“There truly is not enough time. In that case, I will choose Pahel as well.”

“Hey, hold on. Is this a joke? What the hell are the two of you doing?”

There seemed to be a trace of personal irritation behind Deilin’s decision, but either way, she had taken my side again.

“The three of us must reach the same conclusion. There is no other choice.”

Keilon also looked toward Pahel, evidently prepared to follow the decision Deilin and I had made.

In an instant, Pahel had been declared the culprit.

Hm.

What was this?

Honestly, it had been so easy that even I was taken aback.

I could only imagine how Pahel felt.

His face was a portrait of disbelief.

“I choose Pahel.”

Before the stunned man could protest, I pointed at him.

“I choose Pahel.”

“I choose Pahel.”

The other two followed.

Did that count as a unanimous decision?

The timer vanished.

A single symbol appeared in its place.

[X]

“...”

An X.

Apparently, I had chosen incorrectly.

The other three turned their eyes toward me.

“...Ha.”

The moment an awkward laugh escaped me—

Rumble, rumble, rumble—!

The entire Cavern began to shake violently.

The walls on every side started closing in.

They were going to crush all four of us to death.

“...!”

Was this the penalty for giving the wrong answer?

Startled, everyone immediately attacked the advancing walls.

Bang! Crash!

Keilon and Pahel struck with their swords, while Deilin unleashed a powerful spell.

But naturally, the walls did not suffer so much as a scratch.

Pahel glared at me and shouted.

“You goddamn bastard...!”

I had nothing to say in my defense.

Sorry.

“So you really are the Sage! Aren’t you? Stop this at once!”

Pahel hurled a dagger at me.

I threw myself desperately to the side.

The other two were radiating hostility as well, ready to attack me at any moment.

In the blink of an eye, I had become the common enemy of everyone in the Cavern.

...Fighting in such a confined space would be dangerous.

I stopped time.

‘Demon King!’

I called out to him for help.

‘Freeze all three of them.’

– And why should I do that?

‘Why? Because you promised to cooperate actively with me during the climb from now on.’

The Demon King sounded irritated.

‘Or can you not do it? They are fairly strong opponents.’

– Switch.

The moment I provoked him, the Demon King stepped forward.

I surrendered control of my body and released time.

Whoooosh—

A wave of bitter cold swept through the entire Cavern.

My Willpower plummeted to nothing in an instant, and all three of them froze solid.

The Demon King’s power was formidable indeed.

The Cavern continued to contract.

I took control of my body back from the Demon King and quietly observed the three frozen figures.

If one of them was truly the Sage, surely he would do something now.

But contrary to my expectations...

Crack! Crunch!

The advancing walls crushed the frozen figures one after another.

Their bodies shattered.

Blood spread across the floor.

‘...What?’

They all died?

The walls had almost completely closed in.

Either way, this attempt was a failure.

[Will you exit the Tower?]

I left before I could be crushed.

[You have failed to clear Nightmare difficulty 7F Hidden. (2/3)]

Back in my room, I sank into thought.

I had assumed that if death became unavoidable, the Sage would reveal himself at the last possible moment.

But...

Was it impossible to expose his identity with such cheap tricks?

In any case, I had learned one thing.

Pahel was not the Sage.

That left two possibilities.

And since I had two attempts remaining, I could still identify the Sage through pure guesswork before I ran out of chances.

[You have entered Nightmare difficulty 7F.]

My second attempt.

I passed through the arrow Gates and encountered the same three people again.

“Everyone, let’s not fight. Why don’t we talk this through first?”

Everything unfolded exactly as it had before.

After everyone introduced themselves, Pahel became suspicious of me again, and Deilin defended me again.

This time, I had to shift the blame onto Keilon.

When little time remained, I began manipulating them once more.

“...We’re almost out of time. If we have to choose one person, then I choose Keilon.”

“What did you say?”

“Wasn’t Keilon the first person who tried to steer everyone’s suspicions toward Deilin simply because she was a mage?”

Keilon glared at me.

But, remarkably—

“Then I suppose I will choose Keilon as well.”

Deilin immediately sided with me again.

“Hm... Is that so? Well, there’s no time left, so I suppose it can’t be helped. I’ll choose the Knight King too.”

Pahel was no different.

Were these people really that easily influenced?

I was grateful, but I couldn’t understand why they allowed themselves to be swept along so readily.

“You fools. Every one of you is making the wrong choice.”

Keilon protested, but it was already too late.

The three of us, myself included, chose Keilon.

And then—

[X]

“Ah.”

Wrong again.

Which meant Deilin had to be the Sage.

Rumble, rumble, rumble—

The Cavern began to close in once more.

I exited before a fight could break out.

[You have failed to clear Nightmare difficulty 7F Hidden. (1/3)]

Only one attempt remained.

But I had identified the Sage now, so there was nothing to worry about.

I entered for the Last Try.

[You have entered Nightmare difficulty 7F.]

I cleared the arrow Gates and encountered the three of them again.

Everything proceeded exactly as before.

“...It seems Keilon’s reasoning was correct after all. If I have to choose one person, I believe Deilin is the Sage.”

This time, I directed everyone’s suspicions toward Deilin.

Keilon nodded, his arms folded across his chest.

“Indeed. Choosing the mage was the correct decision after all.”

Pahel nodded as well, offering no objection.

“We’re out of time, so it can’t be helped. We have to choose someone.”

Suddenly branded the culprit, Deilin looked around at us in dismay.

“...Wait. You are all making a grave mistake. Do you truly believe it is reasonable to identify me as the Sage on such flimsy grounds?”

Her protests were pointless.

All I had to do now was choose Deilin, and it would be over.

But then...

“...”

I stopped time.

That persistent sense of wrongness.

That faint unease that had been bothering me for some time.

‘...Is Deilin really the answer?’

Why had everything been so easy?

It was not as though I had carefully engineered the situation or skillfully manipulated them.

I had simply offered a few flimsy excuses and pushed them blindly in one direction.

Why had they all followed me so readily?

The moment I accused someone, the others fell in line as though they had been waiting for me to make the decision.

And yet anyone could see that I was the most suspicious person among us.

How could I put it?

It almost felt as though I were the one being manipulated.

A sudden thought occurred to me.

I had only one chance left.

If I was wrong, I would fail the hidden clear.

Even so, I decided to trust my instincts.

I released time.

“...Wait. I think I’ve been approaching this the wrong way.”

Everyone turned toward me.

“That’s right! I’m telling you, I really am not the Sage.”

Deilin spoke indignantly.

“You’ve been approaching it the wrong way? Then who is the Sage?”

Pahel asked with a scowl.

“As for who the Sage is...”

Deilin.

Keilon.

Pahel.

I pointed at each of them in turn.

“All three of you.”

In that instant, every trace of expression vanished from their faces.

None of them spoke.

They merely stared at me in silence.

A faint chill ran down my spine at their eerie reaction.

Then—

Shhhh.

All three bodies collapsed into sand.

I stared dumbfounded at the grains scattered across the floor.

Slowly, the sand began to gather together.

It rose and shifted, gradually molding itself into the shape of a single person.

An old man with a full head of white hair appeared before me.

With both hands clasped behind his back, the old man looked at me and smiled.

“Congratulations. You found the correct answer.”

...It seemed he was the Sage.