BHDGB-Bab 618

Chapter 618: Triumphant Return (1)

The passage, about three meters long, ended, revealing a space that resembled a control room.

Rectangular panes of glass filled the walls, displaying the current status of every location within the building in real time.

And…

‘So many controls.’

So many buttons and levers were laid out, it made me wonder if this was what a cockpit looked like.

“Yandel.”

At Amelia’s call, I turned my head.

On one of the screens, I could see the room where the members of our expedition were trapped.

‘…This is why we couldn’t find them no matter how much we searched.’

The room they were trapped in had no door.

Instead, there were dozens of rails for entry and exit.

It seemed the only way in or out was via those rails…

‘Now I roughly understand what we had to do to get to that room.’

To find that place, we would have had to get on the right rail and move in a precise sequence.

Like a mini-game where you have to solve a puzzle.

‘…There was something like this at the end of the Tenth Floor too.’

Even thinking back, it was a truly nasty section.

It was a section that required multiple attempts, yet the price of failure could be the annihilation of the entire party.

Honestly, I could understand it on the Third or Fourth Floor, but to have a section like that on the Tenth Floor? That’s just shameless, isn’t it?

“Thankfully, they seem to have returned unharmed.”

“Hm?”

“I’m talking about the ones who were taken before me. The ones you said had a high chance of being turned into Magic Stones in that underground space. Looking now, they’ve all returned safely.”

“Ah!”

Only then did I look closely at the screen and see that, along with Amelia, all the members we thought were missing were standing unharmed in the room.

“So what will you do now?”

At Amelia’s question, I took a moment to think.

Countless buttons and levers.

If I could operate these correctly, I might be able to rescue our companions from right here…

“For now, don’t just press anything. Stay still.”

Since I didn’t know what these buttons did, I couldn’t just try them recklessly.

After all, if there was a button that released poison gas and wiped everyone out, we’d be in big trouble.

“Do you… think I’m you?”

“I’m just saying, just in case. Just in case. Now then, let’s start by pressing the one furthest away.”

“…Didn’t you just say not to press things randomly?”

“Still, we have to press something to figure anything out, don’t we?”

After that, Amelia and I started by carefully investigating the control room to learn about this place.

We pressed the buttons furthest from the screen showing our companions’ room in sequential order, and through this, we learned one thing.

The buttons below a screen affect the location that screen is showing.

Once we realized this, we were able to press various buttons and levers more boldly, and we soon figured out the purpose of most of them.

‘Pressing the red button stops the rails, the green button restarts them, pulling the left lever makes the rails move in reverse, but…’

Pulling the right lever switched the display on the screen, allowing us to control that area.

Each button and lever had a different purpose.

The problem, however, was that there were still a total of three buttons and levers whose functions were unknown…

‘What in the world could those be for?’

These particular buttons and levers weren’t attached below the screens but were placed alone in the center of the room, so I couldn’t check them hastily.

It was obvious they were something significant, to say the least.

If my guess was right, they were likely devices that affected this entire building…

“If you’re looking for a way to get to that room, the fastest way would be to let one person turn into a Magic Stone and then follow them.”

I let out a hollow laugh at Amelia’s advice.

As if I didn’t do it because I didn’t know that.

“Absolutely not. It seems their lives aren’t in danger, but we still don’t know what side effects there might be.”

“Then we have no choice but to keep waiting like this.”

Well, it wasn’t a bad option.

It had the disadvantage of having to wait with bated breath for each person to come out one by one, but if we chose this method, we could eventually save them all.

Assuming the current situation remained unchanged, that is.

“Or, there’s the option of finding it ourselves.”

“Finding it ourselves?”

“Yes.”

When I checked the underground factory on the screen earlier, I saw that over twenty people had already gathered there.

If we stopped all the rails in the building and had everyone enter the rails to conduct a search, it might be much faster.

“More importantly, we have to find that room to be able to search it. We don’t know what might be hidden there.”

“True… we did come here to explore, after all.”

“Right. We haven’t figured out anything yet.”

Escaping this Temple would be easy.

I could just leave the way I came in.

But what was our purpose for coming here?

It was to escape this dreadful Underground First Floor and return to the city.

Yet, for now, we hadn’t even found a way to leave this rainbow island.

“Now that you put it that way, it makes sense.”

Since our opinions aligned, there was no need to hesitate.

Amelia and I began pressing buttons in earnest, shutting down all the rails throughout the building.

Then we went down to the underground together, joined the main force, and explained and executed our plans based on what we had discovered so far.

One day, two days, three, four…

Under Amelia’s command, the days continued as we steadily mapped out the structure of the rails, which were as tangled as an ant farm.

“Everyone, take a copy of the map! It’s been updated to yesterday’s latest version!”

“We’ve checked this way to the end, but it just leads back out to this path. We’ll check another route today.”

It was a commendable sight, everyone working together with a single goal in mind.

And right now, I was watching that scene from the top-floor control room through the screen.

I had come up to check after receiving a report that a moving rail had been discovered during the exploration…

‘What the, I thought I turned that off back then?’

It wasn’t too difficult to find the problematic rail and stop it again.

The problem was…

Fzzt, fzzt—

Just as I was about to go back down, all the screens suddenly turned black.

And…

[Shall we talk for a moment?]

A strange voice began to be heard from beyond them.

***

An Ancient Language phrase suggesting a conversation.

Along with it, a rainbow-colored halo of light emerged from the central screen.

[Do not worry.

I have no intention of harming you.]

With every word, the halo of light stretched and contracted like a rubber ball in time with the sound waves.

It’s not like it’s some AI.

How was I supposed to take this situation, with a mysterious entity trying to converse with me from beyond a screen?

[Markus, it’s been a long time for you as well.

Seeing you are well puts my mind at ease.]

As I was pondering, the mysterious entity offered a greeting to someone.

“Markus?”

[Could it be… are you talking to me?]

As I tilted my head, Hamsik stared at the screen and cautiously asked.

[Ah, that’s right.

You wouldn’t know who you are or why you are here, would you? That was your wish, after all.]

[What are you talking about? Do you know me?]

[Of course.]

At the affirmative answer, Hamsik gripped my hair tightly.

It seemed he was also losing his composure in this sudden situation.

Therefore, this was when a friend needed to step in.

“I know you might be happy to see him, but how about introducing yourself first? Who are you?”

[Director.

If you need a title for me, you may call me that.]

“Director is too long. I’ll just call you Director.”

[As you wish.]

I threw the comment out to gauge its personality, but the reaction was weaker than I expected.

Whoever this guy was, it really felt like he couldn’t care less about titles.

“Alright then, Director, start talking. You must have a reason for appearing before us.”

Before trying to find out who the Director was, I asked for his purpose first.

It was the most important thing I considered when dealing with a stranger.

What is this guy’s goal?

However, unfortunately, the Director gave an irrelevant answer.

[The Centurion, is that friend of yours doing well?]

“…Centurion?”

[There are things one can know even while stuck in this place.

Did you not meet that friend a short while ago?]

I instinctively knew who he meant by ‘Centurion’ from that question.

The very being I met in that mysterious space after defeating Dreadfear, the Lord of Terror.

“…What in the world are you people?”

[We are pitiful beings who have received both a blessing and a curse.

Markus, that friend of yours is the same.]

“So you have no intention of telling me.”

[Do not be hasty.

Someone like you will surely reach the truth one day.]

Somehow, his words were similar to the Centurion’s.

The only difference was that the Centurion had phrased it as a question, wondering if I might be able to find out, while the Director spoke with a tone of certainty.

[However, I can give you a clue.

It is timely that Markus, that friend of yours, is right beside you.]

“A clue?”

[Before I begin the story, I must ask.

Markus, do you wish to know your past? I must tell you beforehand, your current memory loss was entirely your own request.]

At the Director’s question, I felt Hamsik’s body tremble.

But it didn’t last long.

[I want to know.]

At Hamsik’s answer, the halo of light on the screen began to move.

[This place you are in is a research institute named Panthelion.

It was an underground facility secretly operated by the Empire in the past.]

He said he would talk about Hamsik, so why was he talking about the research institute?

It was a little strange, but I listened without interrupting.

Hamsik had also said he had been here before.

[The Empire established this institute for a single purpose.

To create living weapons, more loyal and powerful than any soldier.]

[To this end, numerous mages, scholars, and alchemists gathered to study and experiment with all the world’s knowledge.

However, the research results were always meager.]

[That situation changed after the witch appeared in the world.

An unprecedentedly large war broke out, and the Empire’s feet were to the fire.]

[All of the Empire’s talents gathered at the institute, and an incomparable amount of support was focused on it.

And most importantly, the number of new test subjects increased.]

[Monsters, which we could only obtain in small numbers due to treaties, began to arrive by the thousands each day.

Among them were monsters created by the witch.

Panthelion’s research made incredible progress in a short period.]

As if closed eyes were opening, the halo of light in the screen flickered greatly.

[One of the test subjects who gathered here was Markus, you.]

[I… was a test subject…?]

[Yes.

You were captured and brought to this institute, where you endured harsh experiments.

That is, until the witch who owed you a debt of gratitude in the past led an army and invaded.]

[…So I was freed thanks to the witch?]

[No, you were not freed.

You lost your life in the process.]

[I died? Then why am I here?]

[It means that your death held that much significance to the witch.

So much so that it was deeply etched in her mind, impossible to erase.]

[No, I don’t get it! What does that have to do with me!]

To Hamsik’s shout, the Director replied in his still-mechanical voice.

[As you lay dying in the witch’s arms, you said this.

If the Land of Dawn she spoke of truly existed, you wished to go there, forget all your memories, and live peacefully, just reading books.]

That was the entirety of the story the Director told about Hamsik.

The Director then continued.

[I am in a similar situation as you.

Although I made many mistakes during my human life… I was finally given a chance to atone to the witch.]

His monotonous tone should have been the same.

[But time changes everything.]

If it wasn’t just my imagination, for some reason, his voice felt different.

[Isn’t that true for you as well? In the end, you couldn’t endure all that time and ended up leaving that place.]

[I was only forced out because of this guy—.]

Before Hamsik could lose the initiative to him, I quickly intervened.

“Enough. What is it you really want to say?”

According to my big data, none of the guys who rambled on like this were ever normal.

It was this guy who appeared first, wasn’t it?

Furthermore, it was highly likely he was the one behind the abduction of my companions.

No matter how you look at it, he was someone difficult to trust…

[I would like to propose a deal to you.]

“A deal…? Go on, I’m listening.”

[I will help you leave this place.]

It seemed it wouldn’t hurt to at least hear him out.