Chapter 309: Seventy-Sixth Floor, Maze of Choices (4)

[Escape the maze. Time remaining: 4 hours 20 minutes.]

It suddenly occurred to me that this floor might not be particularly complicated. Perhaps the maze didn’t actually expand infinitely. Regardless, the fact that doors behind me would automatically close each time I moved forward was important.

Having focused so intently on identifying differences between the doors, I had overlooked an obvious thing, mainly because spot-the-difference mechanisms weren’t all that unusual in other trials.

This seems to be the key, though

What if the door closing meant that the room from two doors ago had somehow shifted so that it was now presented before me again?

It would suggest that I could have been walking through the same area repeatedly, caught in a loop like Penrose’s staircase—an illusion where one endlessly climbs or descends without truly advancing.

I couldn’t say for sure. It was merely a sudden notion, an instinct that surfaced without warning.

Still, assuming it is true...

Then, if I were to choose the correct door, the one leading to the exit, the cycle of identical rooms wouldn’t repeat. The maze would only loop when I took a wrong turn. Perhaps the door two rooms behind only shut when I chose the incorrect path.

Either way, I had a few things to verify.

Thankfully, identifying repetition would be straightforward: I could just leave a mark.

When I first arrived on this floor, I had actually considered trying to break through the room’s walls.

I gave it a try, but much like the Chamber of Agony, a message appeared stating that doing that would cause me to fail the trial.

Still, that didn’t necessarily mean I couldn’t leave a scratch. When I struck the wall hard enough to leave a mark in the Chamber of Agony, the tower didn’t interfere, so I hoped that would happen here as well.

If the same rooms are repeating, then the ones with scratches will eventually reappear.

I could have left behind something else, but in case the maze reset items within a room, a scratch seemed like the safest choice.

Aside from that, I had another reason behind starting with the rightmost door. I needed to confirm whether the doors after it would close just like those on the left path.

I was fairly sure that each primary door had a different escape mechanism. If the doors after the initial right door didn’t shut, then it would suggest the method I had encountered earlier belonged solely to the left route.

Well, if they close as well, then I can conduct the same experiment I planned for the other side.

There was still a chance that both initial doors shared the same solution.

I stepped into the room on the right.

[Time remaining in this room: 14 seconds.]

I scanned the floor briefly, then channeled divine energy into my axe.

This time, I planned to proceed exclusively to the right. Angling slightly toward the right side of the floor, I drew a straight horizontal slash with my axe. The cut wasn’t deep, but it was clearly visible to the eye.

I continued through the right door again. Opening it, I entered the second room. The timer refreshed again, and I made my way to the center.

Second room.

I added a second line to my pattern, carving the symbol 二 into the floor. Then, I continued to the right.

I repeated the process.

In the third room, I marked a 三, then approached the door to the fourth room.

Now it begins.

During my last test run, as soon as I stepped from the third into the fourth room, the door between the first and second quietly closed behind me.

Will the same occur on the right side?

I opened the door and stepped inside. After checking the refreshed timer, I turned my head expectantly.

Thud—

The door two rooms behind me shut with a heavy sound.

“Hmm.”

It wasn’t quite the result I had hoped for.

Does that mean it doesn’t matter which door I choose at the start?

Still, it wasn’t a significant setback. The doors could close either way, and both routes could share the same structure.

If the maze functioned like a Penrose staircase and both sides used the same mechanic, then starting from the fifth room, the scratched rooms I had marked earlier should begin reappearing.

The fact that a door two rooms back had closed meant at least four rooms were being cycled through repeatedly.

I made my way to the next door. Standing before the fifth room’s entrance, I took a short breath and grasped the handle.

“Huu.”

Click—

As the door opened, I focused my attention on the center of the room. However, the scratch I had left earlier was nowhere to be found. I wasn’t too discouraged.

Maybe this path really does have a different strategy.

After all, I had only passed through four rooms so far. If there were a greater number of rooms in the loop than I expected, the marked room could simply reappear a bit later.

I carved a new mark at the center of the fifth room and advanced into the sixth.

This continued until the twenty-second room, but not once did I encounter a room bearing one of my previous scratches.

I think it is time to stop now.

Whether the right path’s mechanism was different or my initial assumption had been flawed, I wasn’t sure. Still, the left path could match my theory.

I waited for the timer to run out and returned to the starting room. Both doors remained tightly shut.

Did the marks reset?

I opened the right door again, but my original scratch was still there. Once I confirmed that, I turned toward the other door.

I repeated the exact same procedure as before.

This time, instead of carving horizontal strokes, I inscribed tally marks in the shape of 正. As the count increased, individual strokes became harder to distinguish, so this method made things clearer.

I also switched tools, using a dagger instead of an axe.

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Eventually, I once again found myself standing before the fifth room’s door.

Please.

I opened it, hoping to catch even a portion of the 正 symbol inside. However, the room was clean, with no marks.

I held back a sigh, completed the symbol on the floor, and continued into the sixth, then the seventh room.

Then, in the eighth room, it happened. Just as I was about to add three more strokes to complete the next 正, I saw the 丁-shaped mark I had carved into the second room.

***

[Escape the maze. Time remaining: 3 hours 55 minutes.]

A surge of quiet elation—and the psychological satisfaction of confirming a hunch—passed through me, before my composure returned.

Based on what I had discovered, the left path contained at least seven unique rooms, not including the first, which repeated when I made a wrong turn. I realized this the moment I went into the room bearing the 丁 symbol.

I didn’t see any of my marks in the previous seven rooms.

In other words, progressing down the correct path revealed new rooms.

The first room, which I had carved 一 into, had likely been the correct option, but in the second room, I had chosen incorrectly and entered a cycle of repeated rooms.

Now that I had discovered this, I simply had to start over. I would carve fresh marks and continue through the left doors until a symbol reappeared. When that happened, I could simply head right again.

In the end, two of my theories ended up being true.

The two doors in the starting room have different escape strategies.

The tower’s message to “select one of the two doors to proceed” had been its way of conveying that truth. When it urged me to “escape the maze,” it meant discovering the correct method tied to one of those doors.

I returned to the starting room to bring Doppy with me.

When I reopened the left door and saw that my mark had vanished, I was momentarily taken aback. Of course, since the two paths had different methods of escape, it made sense.

When I ran the experiment again and received the same outcome, I felt reassured. At the very least, it confirmed that the left path’s method of escape was real.

Hmm.

There were still four hours left.

Once I understood the left door’s escape route, I couldn’t help but grow curious about the other’s. Even after passing through twenty-two rooms along the right path, none of the marks had repeated. There wasn’t a single noticeable difference between the doors either.

I still couldn’t tell which one was the correct answer. Maybe, as I had initially thought, it was just about forging ahead. Or perhaps the door that led to the correct path offered some sort of clue.

I lingered in the very first room, deep in thought.

Do I even try to find another solution, or just stick with the left path?

It was even possible that the rewards varied depending on the approach.

However, even after taking some time to consider it, no clear method came to mind.

That is enough.

I brushed aside my thoughts as I couldn’t afford to waste any more time. Even the left route could take a while to lead me to the exit. There was no need to take unnecessary risks in a situation with so many unknowns.

For now, I was only certain about the left path, and continuing along it would be the safest option.

I stood up, slid the chair back into Mung-chi, and turned to Doppy. “We’re good now. Let’s head to the first room.”

“Alright! Let’s go!” Doppy nodded firmly, his energy undiminished.

***

[Escape the maze. Time remaining: 2 hours 49 minutes.]

Even after figuring out the correct method of escape, it still took me fifty minutes to reach the final door.

It was longer than I had expected. That was largely due to the maze’s inconsistent structure. Similar to the Penrose staircase, it didn’t follow a set pattern. Sometimes I spotted markings as early as the fifth room, and at other times, not until the seventeenth.

Back then, I really thought I messed up. Scared me half to death.

If the marks reappearing had been a coincidence, and the rooms truly appeared at random, then I would have been wasting time for nothing.

Either way, I was lucky. Though it took a bit longer than I had hoped, the worst-case scenario hadn’t occurred, and I had managed to find the exit.

I now stood before a wooden door set at the center of a small room.

This is the exit, right?

Unlike the rooms before it, this one had only a single door.

I placed my hand gently on top of Doppy’s head. He looked up at me, round eyes blinking.

“Nice work.”

Doppy shook his head emphatically as he responded, “No, Su-Yeok did more! You found the path all on your own! That’s amazing!”

Though he hadn’t done much, his expression was filled with genuine joy.

Did the encouragement he received back in the waiting room lift his spirits a little

?

Whatever it was, it was a good thing.

“Flatterer,” I muttered as I ruffled Doppy’s smooth head, though a smile crept across my lips without me realizing it.

To be honest, I was proud of myself, too. I didn’t consider myself particularly clever, so when one of my guesses turned out to be right, it brought a real sense of satisfaction.

I reached for the doorknob in front of me.

What is waiting beyond it? A boss? Or maybe a chamber holding a unique reward?

Just as it had been when I first stepped onto the seventy-sixth floor, the structure of the trial blocked my ability to sense what lay beyond the door. It was possible that opening it would immediately end the trial and send me back to the waiting room.

I had a lot of questions.

There had been various ways to escape, but I still hadn’t fully grasped the nature of the trial.

What was the escape method on the right path? Was there a hidden mission? What will I find behind this door? Well, it isn’t like any of it matters now.

Taking a quiet breath, I readied my axe, just in case something hostile awaited me.

Click—

I turned the doorknob and pulled it open. As the gap widened, the room beyond gradually came into view.

“

Huh?

”

It wasn’t quite what I had expected.

***

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has selected the left door in the starting room. The escape method has been reconfigured.」

...

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has successfully escaped the Maze of Choices through the left door.」

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s title has been changed to ‘Seeker of Answers.’」

「Invisible message: From this moment on, Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s title will change dynamically based on his actions.]