Is there value in the human heart?
In truth, the worth of anything in this world is never fixed. It rises and falls, and its price shifts with the changing times.
Therefore, I have decided to revere above all else—without distinction between joy, anger, sorrow, or pleasure—
only what the outstanding [victorious] possess...
A trapezoidal room, completely enclosed in white.
I turned my gaze once more toward the monument embedded at its center.
It's been translated into Earth's language, but...
No matter how many times I read it, the wording feels strangely familiar.
That abstract, cloud-chasing phrasing that makes the meaning so difficult to grasp—well, mind-creatures tend to speak like that anyway, so I'll let it slide.
"It's the same."
A feeding box beginning with such a distinctive preamble—about values existing and disappearing, and revering what belongs to the victorious—had appeared in my homeland as well.
Looking back, my battles with the descended mind-creatures were troublesome memories I'd rather forget, but at least that past experience was proving useful now.
Indeed, if you keep putting effort into overcoming whatever situation lies before you, eventually you reap the rewards.
That's how life works.
"Hmm."
Still, just to be certain, why not check the next stage as well?
[Rules]
[One: If both choose 'Blue' -> No problem]
[Two: If one chooses 'Blue' and the other 'Yellow' -> Only 'Blue' suffers a major loss]
[Three: If both choose 'Yellow' -> Everyone suffers a minor loss]
Alright.
That's it.
With these three conditions attached, there was no longer any room for doubt.
"That's definitely the feeding box!"
By the time I discovered several lines of writing on the northern door—the direction I assumed the dungeon would continue—I finally allowed myself to show some excitement.
Both fists clenched tightly.
If those three rules were present, then the nature of the space I was standing in was effectively confirmed.
"Moreover, judging by what happened during the transfer, Kang Changho was definitely dragged in here too...?"
An EX-class Gate, excluding scenario-type ones.
What exactly was its purpose?
As mentioned before, dungeons of this sort usually existed to measure characteristics of the dominant species.
At this point, the Gisimche were probably gathering data on the species' overall intellectual capacity.
Unlike blue Gates, where the solution was simply to defeat whatever monsters appeared in front of you, this white space created unusual circumstances and observed how its subjects responded to various stimuli.
"Let's see."
To put it bluntly, the true purpose of this EX-rank Gate was to observe cooperation and conflict among humans.
"Yeah. No matter how many times I look at it, that's definitely what this is."
Heh heh.
A faint laugh escaped me.
Even the Gisimche had limits to their creativity.
They had a habit of unleashing feeding boxes into the world that were nearly identical to ones they'd used before, but today, for once, I was sincerely grateful for their lack of originality.
After all, in my previous life, I had dismantled several cooperation-observation devices just like this back in my homeland.
"Gisimche, you bug-like creatures. It seems even you manage to help others once in a while...!"
For someone who already knew the method for clearing a dungeon inside and out, the Otherworld was no longer something to fear.
Rather, it felt like a magic jar that would spill out gold and treasure so long as you followed the proper formula.
There was only one minor problem.
If the answer sheet I'd brought from Alpha Ursa had somehow leaked all the way to this primitive planet, then things would become rather different.
"Hmm."
Clank.
For a moment, a clear metallic sound rang out.
One of the blue nails that had been restraining someone struck the floor.
As I slowly pulled the pieces of metal from my body one by one, I sank deep into thought.
But no matter how long I considered the matter, my conclusion remained unchanged.
"No matter how much I think about it alone, the result won't change."
If Kang Changho also knew the strategy for clearing this dungeon...
Then being dragged into the EX-rank Gate with him would actually make the situation worse.
Knowledge stored inside another person's mind was no longer a variable anyone could control.
For now, I had no choice but to proceed.
[Open =]
Ah.
The letters were enormous.
Easy on the eyes from the very beginning.
"For now, it's still just a straight path..."
Dddrk.
Using the moderate strength of an F-rank hunter, I pushed open the door before me.
Beyond it lay the sort of enclosed white chamber commonly seen inside special Gates on Earth—in other words, a room roughly thirteen pyeong in size.
At its center stood two rectangular pillars painted in colors so vivid they almost seemed noisy.
Come to think of it, the Alphaut, who relied primarily on sound to perceive the world, often used that exact expression when confronted with flashy visual objects.
Each pillar was roughly as tall as two Kim Giryeos stacked on top of each other, while its width was about half a Kim Giryeo.
By Earthling standards, they were fairly tall and slender structures.
"Anyway, these space parasites really do love their light signals—"
Bam!
The moment I located the mysterious pillars, I struck the blue one with my fist without hesitation.
Swoosh.
Light of the same color began seeping upward from the bottom of the pillar like spreading paint.
Soon it surged toward the ceiling in a wave, announcing the challenger's selection before disappearing high above.
Clank.
After confirming the phenomenon, I returned to where I'd been standing and resumed pulling out the remaining nails embedded in my upper body.
The die had already been cast.
Now all I had to do was wait for the other side's response.
"Agh. The ones stuck in from behind are a little harder to pull out."
I twisted one arm behind my back and paused to think.
Now that I was inside a Gate, Esther's ongoing curse had probably suffered some sort of connection failure.
That meant everything depended on how I handled the EX-rank challenge ahead.
Magic had always worked that way.
Seonwoo Yeon's [Searcher] was no exception.
Whenever a target entered an isolated space like a dungeon—especially a place formed using such primitive spellcraft—the effect generally weakened.
"Even with the curse still clinging to him, escaping would barely be difficult..."
But wait.
Had Kang Changho, back when we were together earlier, seemed to have any trouble moving his legs?
"He walks perfectly fine."
Well, that Earthling kept all sorts of magical tools hidden on his body.
Perhaps one of those miscellaneous artifacts reduced the curse's effects.
"Besides, even though he was wearing short sleeves, I couldn't see any burn marks anymore. His recovery is clearly complete. If we fought normally, head-on, I'd definitely get completely wrecked."
Clank.
I finished organizing my thoughts and pulled the last blue nail from my right bicep.
At the same time, blood I hadn't swallowed ran down my chin.
But what did a fake illness like this matter now?
"Anyway, I'm going to get injured from here on out, so I might as well deal with all the healing at once."
Only after the fact did I make a rough attempt at cleaning myself, wiping the mess away with the arm of the corpse I'd taken over.
But then—
Drrrrrrrrk!
As though massive stone gears had begun turning, the next door—which had remained firmly sealed—suddenly opened with a thunderous rumble that seemed to shake heaven and earth.
"Ahhh!"
At that exact moment, lightning struck inside the skyless space.
Crack!
The sound was like an insect being crushed.
Or something bursting violently into flame.
And with it, the victim abruptly collapsed.
"Ugh...!"
In other words, I, who had merely been standing there, was suddenly struck by the dungeon's attack.
At first glance, it resembled an electrical attack, but its true nature was something else entirely.
The impact was so intense that my entire right arm, which had taken the blow directly, felt as though it were about to burn away.
The instant it hit me, I toppled to the floor like a felled tree.
"U-ugh..."
And yet, despite suffering that much 'damage,' the corners of someone's lips eventually twisted upward into a faint smile.
At this point, I could say it with absolute certainty.
Kang Changho, who had been trapped inside this dungeon with me, didn't know the proper strategy!
"It worked!"
The magic that had just struck me...
[If one person chooses 'Blue' and the other chooses 'Yellow' -> Only 'Blue' suffers a major loss]
It only activated when the dungeon's second condition was fulfilled.
That bastard had chosen that color.
Well, yes.
From the perspective of someone who knew nothing about the proper clearing method, blindly choosing yellow every single time was actually the safer option.
[Rules]
[One: If both choose 'Blue' -> No problem]
[Two: If one chooses 'Blue' and the other 'Yellow' -> Only 'Blue' suffers a major loss]
[Three: If both choose 'Yellow' -> Everyone suffers a minor loss]
If you interpreted the inscription written at the dungeon's entrance, this place was essentially a kind of [trust experiment].
Blue.
In Korean terms, if one wanted to elaborate, it represented an expression of trust extended toward the other party.
If mutual trust existed between the challengers, then the two people trapped in this Otherworld could repeatedly choose blue and advance without suffering any damage.
The problem was the second rule.
"Ugh! That hurt so much I nearly died. Let's reactivate pain tolerance right away!"
When a raider who chose blue—the signal of cooperation—was betrayed, they suffered an especially brutal punishment from the Otherworld, severe enough to make parts of their body feel as though they were being burned away.
When viewed rationally, simply sticking with yellow appeared to be the easier and safer choice.
"Hoo, hoo hoo..."
But life was never that simple or straightforward.
That was exactly what made it interesting.
Even the silver-spoon heir of some enormous steel-industry tycoon was bound to encounter hardship at some point in the middle of life.
"I knew this would happen!"
Now, no matter what Kang Changho did, he could no longer change the outcome waiting ahead.
I restored my body using superior healing magic and rose to my feet.
Then, without hesitation, I entered the next room and selected the same pillar again.
Bam!
From now on, I simply had to repeat this whenever another choice appeared.
"It's fortunate that the lightning attacks produced by the dungeon deal damage in proportion to magical power. If this were absolute damage, my body would've been turned into charcoal."
A few seconds later, another penalty struck in the second room.
Bang!
Judging from the intense force that nearly burned away the back of my neck, that mammal had apparently chosen yellow again.
"No."
Oh my.
Seriously?
"Even after clearly realizing that the other person chose blue, he still picked yellow?"
Thanks to him, I was accumulating plenty of 'victory points.'
However, since I had no idea how many rooms had been generated in total, I still couldn't afford to alter my strategy.
To preserve my advantage, I chose the same pillar in the next room.
Once again, I struck the blue symbol of trust—the color people often associated with the vast ocean.
"The damage is worse than I expected. If the other side keeps choosing yellow all the way to the end, I might run into trouble because my recovery can't keep up."
Part of me worried about that.
But the joy of victory outweighed the concern.
While waiting for the result, I even hummed the jingle from A Mart that I'd once heard on a video-streaming app.
Drrrrrrrrk!
Once again, the same monotonous result arrived, accompanied by the smell of something burning.
To think I'd been struck by an illusion of lightning powerful enough to leave someone in a critically injured state.
"Ey, damn it."
Frankly, I'd expected him to choose blue by at least the third round.
But seriously—
how could someone's personality be this rotten?
I grumbled to myself and crawled toward the next room.
It was a simple tactic to conserve energy by reducing the number of times I had to use healing magic.
Tok.
"Actually, it recognizes your choice just from touching it."
But what was this?
Until now, each decision had taken roughly thirty seconds.
Yet after I touched the pillar this time, no matter how long I waited, the next door showed no sign of opening.
Naturally.
The door only opened once both challengers had made their choices.
"Hmm?"
The Earthling who had previously selected yellow without the slightest hesitation had suddenly stopped.
Perhaps seeing me stubbornly choose blue despite suffering two penalties had finally struck him as suspicious...
"Haha. What do you think will change just because you've finally noticed something now?"
The hesitation didn't last long.
For a moment, I worried that the bastard might deliberately refuse to choose anything and attempt to starve the other challenger out.
But then I remembered that Kang Changho had also been dressed rather lightly when he was dragged in here.
"Right. Good choice. It's not like you have any food either, is it?"
Soon, the door opened.
"Ah, you damn b*stard!"
Crack!
Once again, exactly as expected, the chosen pillar was yellow—distrust.
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