Survive the labyrinth with EX-grade traits

“Whoosh!”

I easily caught the last arrow that was aimed at the gap.

If it were an ordinary low-level adventurer party, they would have been wiped out by the trap.

We quickly traversed the straight path, and in front of us was a single large staircase, unlike the previous floors.

Veronica stared at the stairs with a sigh of relief.

“Finally, the end is near. In my adventurer’s life, this is one of the most intense explorations.”

It was surprising that this wasn’t the first time I had experienced such a difficult exploration.

“Haa. More than anything else, I just want to lie down on a comfortable bed and rest when I get back.”

“I want to visit the Magic Tower at least once…”

Lumia didn’t forget the fragment of Cresdowzer, which she needed to obtain free access to the Magic Tower.

“As I said before, I’ll do my best to make sure you can freely enter the Magic Tower. Just be patient for a little while longer. Let’s go together later, and I’ll introduce you to a friend.”

“Okay. I’ll wait quietly.”

Lumia smiled at the girl and thanked her.

I continued to look up at the top of the staircase, where the last subject was supposed to appear.

Person!

I breathed a sigh of relief and clenched my fist.

“There’s no need for long explanations. Let’s go up and return quickly. I’ll treat you to a meal and a drink when we get back.”

It was over. Now, I just needed to return to the dungeon city and eat and drink.

.

.

.

Yes, I knew that much.

To be precise, I was filled with joy when I broke through the fog and escaped from each floor.

[Bad luck strikes the user.]

Damn it.

The dungeon was determined to make me suffer until the end.

.

.

.

The Tower of Proof, which was divided into countless independent spaces due to dimensional distortion, or the Black Tower, as it was also called, was constantly watched over by several observers.

“Hmm. The laws of Karma surrounding the tower seem to have been twisted…”

Just after Ahren’s party climbed the stairs.

Among them, one observer who was particularly interested in the □□th tower.

No, that couldn’t be called a face.

A middle-aged man with a thick beard and a unique-looking cape.

He was clearly a skilled archer, and his extravagant armor indicated that he was no ordinary person.

However, his face was distorted, making it impossible to see his features or even guess what he looked like.

The middle-aged man, who was dressed in extravagant armor and exuded an overwhelming aura, muttered in an intriguing voice.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I can’t just let this interesting situation pass by without getting involved. Is that okay?”

A white-clad woman with a heavenly aura shook her head at the middle-aged man’s suggestion.

“What are you trying to do? They have already proven themselves. Just let them pass quietly.”

“I don’t want to get involved in your crazy schemes. Isn’t quietly observing from a distance enough?”

The man in the black robe, who had been listening to the woman’s words, nodded.

“If you’re tired of your constrained life and want to be eliminated, I won’t stop you. But…”

Koo-koong!

The man in the black robe released a powerful force that shook the space that had been specially prepared for the observers.

“Whatever method you use to intervene, the aftermath should not affect the observer.”

“I agree. Just quietly observing the lives of those who have reached the end is enough to make me happy.”

The middle-aged man in extravagant armor turned towards the woman in the black robe and smiled.

“Tsk tsk. Are you really satisfied with just being caught up in the distortion of dimensions, living a life that’s just like the old folks who have lost their zest for life?”

The woman in the white dress grabbed the hem of her dress and sighed.

“Haa. In the past, we should have died, but thanks to the dungeon, we can meet and talk like this… What do you want to hear? Do you really want to be eliminated?”

Chak!

The woman in the black robe warned the middle-aged man not to drag her into this unnecessarily.

“I’m not forcing you to open the passage, and I’m just curious about the twisted laws of Karma. Why are you making such a fuss?”

“Don’t you know that it’s wrong to stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong?”

“Tsk tsk. You guys are so annoying. Isn’t this an opportunity that only happens once every few decades, even by the standards of the lower world?”

Anyway, this was a fun moment, and the middle-aged man didn’t want to interfere, so he just told them to stop fighting.

At that moment, the atmosphere among the observers was about to heat up.

“Hey, stop fighting! We’re not going to gain anything from fighting each other.”

The girl in the tall hat, who had been quietly observing with her mouth shut, spoke up.

“Oh, our little girl! If you’re going to intervene, at least come up with a good idea first.”

The girl pouted and added,

“And I’m not a little girl. I’m the oldest one here.”

“Of course, since you’re a transcendent being, you’re different from the gods who created us. From the moment we entered transcendence, the problem of lifespan became meaningless.”

The middle-aged man stroked his beard and said with a smile,

“Do you want special treatment because you’re the oldest?”

“No, I’m not a fool. I know that you can’t have a normal conversation with me. Let’s move on.”

The girl in the tall hat nodded and began to explain.

“As you said before, the laws of Karma have been twisted in a way that we don’t understand, and the theme of the final floor has changed. So, as the final challenge, the dungeon will create separate spaces for each of them and make them fight their own doppelgangers.”

Tak!

The girl snapped her fingers, and a full-length mirror that could fit an adult appeared.

“…”

The woman in the white dress, who had been quietly observing with her mouth shut, was startled and shouted,

“Wait! The dungeon is already giving them a hard time, and this is too much! What kind of effect does this mirror have?”

“You two are not in your right minds.”

The middle-aged man in armor ignored him and waved his arm dismissively.

“Pfft. That’s not the end of it. Keep going.”

“The rest is simple. Either you pay the price in power and infiltrate through the twisted Karma, or you use some other trick to take over one of the doppelgangers’ bodies and fight in its place.”

“Oh ho.”

“Of course, even in this special case of twisted Karma, it’s up to the challenger whether they want to risk dying or using more power than necessary and face the consequences of their actions.”

“In other words, you’re saying that if we’re willing to take the risk, we can go and fight, but we shouldn’t kill anyone?”

Crack. Snap.

“Well, that’s a reasonable condition. It’s been a while since I’ve felt the thrill of battle!”

The man, now in high spirits, cracked his knuckles and nodded to end the conversation.

“Alright. It’s getting tiresome just watching the idiots who have just started challenging the tower. Let’s test that black-haired kid! I’ll just show up halfway through the battle!”

Hahaha!

His hearty laughter filled the space, and the middle-aged man in armor disappeared without a trace.

“Haa.”

The girl in the dress sighed.

“How did I end up tied to such a crazy guy? And what were you thinking, bringing out that bizarre mirror?”

“I just wanted to get rid of him because he was being too noisy.”

“Still, it’s not like I did anything better by just chattering away. It’s a burden to use force, so I just talked.”

“If you’ve decided, then watch over that kid.”

The girl in the cone hat pointed to Ahren and continued.

“Do you see the traces left on that kid’s body and equipment? He’s already been targeted by several Transcendents.”

“Hmm. That’s true.”

“The mirror also has hidden blind spots, so they should be able to handle it once they reach the 10th floor. Let’s just watch over them as usual and not worry.”

“I’ve been wanting to ask this since a while ago. Why is your face so red? It’s not like it’s covered by your hat.”

“That kid… I personally like him a lot.”

“Huh? Of course, he’s an outstanding mortal, but there are occasionally humans or elves with looks like his.”

“It’s my preference. Please respect it.”

The girl in the cone hat’s blunt response made the girl in the dress feel awkward, and she fidgeted with the hem of her dress.

“Uh, yeah. Let’s do that.”

.

.

.

[Karma is twisted, and the predetermined outcome is altered.]

[The theme of the 10th floor will be randomly changed.]

Damn it.

Swear words and anger rose from within.

Is my bad luck always watching my inner thoughts?

I was just wondering why it didn’t appear this time, and I thought it was fortunate, but it came out without my knowledge and bothered me.

Why are you ruining everything at the last minute?

What did I do so wrong that I’m being disturbed like this right before returning? I was so angry and frustrated.

[Chaos is sweating profusely.]

As soon as he broke through the black fog on the last step and reached the 10th floor, he apologized to everyone.

“I’m sorry, everyone. It seems like the theme of this floor has been randomly changed to something other than a person because of me.”

Damn it.

I felt so sorry for my teammates who were dragged into this.

Now that I think about it, my bad luck is on par with the curse of darkness surrounding Rumia and Veronica’s halo, which absorbs the magic power of nearby allies.

To begin with, the only normal person in our party was Yeriel.

Surprisingly, my teammates didn’t say much and just accepted my apology.

They must be getting used to my bad luck.

“Hey! Look ahead!”

As I looked up from my bowed head in apology, I saw a huge full-length mirror placed in the center of the 10th floor’s open space.

After stopping Yeriel, who was approaching out of curiosity, I observed the mirror from a distance through Chaos, but no information appeared.

‘Tsk. I have no choice but to check it out myself.’

No matter who looked at it, the object was suspicious, but in order to pass through the tower and return, I had to touch or break it.

“Yeriel, get ready for purification. Everyone else, stay alert.”

As I tensed up, wondering what would come out of the mirror, I checked the back, which was blocked so that nothing could be seen, and then approached the front.

As soon as my body and my teammates’ bodies were reflected together in the shiny and smooth surface of the mirror.

Before I could react to the strange phenomenon, I felt my strength drain from my body.

Thud.

Everyone, without exception, fell to the ground.

“Hmm.”

“Ugh.”

“This…”

‘Open your eyes! Move!’

Ignoring my will, my body went limp, and the world went dark.

.

.

.

[Chaos urgently tells you to open your eyes.]

[Chaos shouts that now is not the time to be lying around.]

“Hmm. Hmm.”

As soon as I regained consciousness, I stood up and looked around.

‘Where is this place? Chaos, do you know anything—’

[Chaos tells you to look far ahead.]

Following Chaos’s calm instructions, I looked ahead and saw someone approaching.

“Hey. Are you awake?”

“Who… are you?”

I thought about what this fucked-up situation was.

How could there be someone standing in front of me who looked exactly like me, from my face to my clothes?

I tried to observe him to bring up information, thinking he might be a named monster like a doppelganger, but it was useless.

The person, who had raised one corner of his mouth in a smirk, opened his mouth.

“I am you. To be precise, you can think of me as another personality split from your self. If that’s hard to understand, just think of me as a doppelganger.”

Another me?

But the most important thing wasn’t his identity.

“Forget it. Where are my teammates?”

“Ah, Yeriel, Lumia, and Veronica are probably in the middle of a battle with their respective doppelgangers right now.”

If they were each fighting, then at least I wasn’t the only one separated like on the 4th floor.

Damn it. It might have been better if I was.

“You have a mountain of questions on your face. Sorry, but we’re not in a position to leisurely answer your questions.”

Crack.

The person gripped the handle of the greatsword on his back.

Wait a minute.

If he were really another me, he wouldn’t need to carry the greatsword on his back.

Something flashed in my mind.

I quickly looked him up and down from head to toe.

As a result, I found something very important to get through this absurd situation.

‘He doesn’t have unique items.’

The gathering of equipment, which looked like ordinary white gloves on the outside.

The Solace, which grants lightning resistance, and the Solace, which increases all stats and has the option of never being damaged.

In addition, although not visible to the eye, it was unlikely that he only had the Stellar Twin without the three unique items in front of him.

In conclusion, the equipment and items he was wearing were—

Only those with grades, like the greatsword Rehagen, the Silver Radiance, and the Highnax Earrings.

Literally ‘unique’.

Items that were unique to me, that no one could replicate no matter what method they used.

With such a clear difference in equipment, it was enough to fight the person in front of me, no matter if he was a doppelganger or something else.

‘I don’t know what this situation is, but I have to knock him out first.’

I naturally summoned Solace and took a stance.

“Your eyes are so sharp. But before I forget, there’s one last thing you should know. If I kill you, the fake and the real will switch places!”

Bang!

Another me charged with the greatsword in hand.