Chapter 501: Labyrinth of Choice Part 4

After walking a bit farther, the corridor came to an end, revealing a room that was neither particularly large nor small.

On all four walls were murals depicting golems. Magical circles were inscribed on the floor, and in the very center stood a sizable altar.

When we placed the activation core on it, a message appeared on the screen:

[You feel a strange compulsion……]

[A sacrifice seems to be required.]

[HP 0/10]

[MP 0/10]

Staring at it, Dang Gyu-young asked,

“Do we have to fill both to 10?”

“Yeah, both.”

“Is there a specific method?”

“It’s up to us.”

For reference, here’s our current status:

[CrossbowHo HP 5/5 MP 2/5]

[TanQyu HP 3/6 MP 3/4]

[HolySho HP 2/4 MP 4/6]

[Blink HP 3/3 MP 4/7]

We had just finished a tough battle with a mid-boss, so everyone was carrying various levels of damage.

Jegal So-so did a quick calculation, then furrowed her brow.

“If the four of us each chip in 2 or 3, we can make it work… but that’s a big burden.”

The party’s total HP and MP were 13 each. With healing skills, we could push it to 14/12.

If we split that evenly to satisfy the altar’s demand, we’d be left with 4 HP and 2 MP total.

Divided among four members, that’s 1 HP each. Basically, we’d die if we even got grazed.

On top of that, two of us would be completely out of MP, and the other two would only have 1 MP left, meaning they could only use one more skill before being tapped out.

In other words, both the healer and the mage would become useless almost instantly.

Dang Gyu-young and Jegal So-so discussed.

“What if we have just two people handle it all?”

“And let them continue after respawning?”

“Better than putting the whole party at risk.”

“Agreed.”

As they looked toward me, I nodded.

“I was just about to suggest the same.”

“Can we finish the game with what we have left?”

“If everything goes smoothly, yeah.”

“Then it’s settled. Sho and I will be the sacrifices.”

The two of them had the lowest remaining HP and MP anyway, so they figured this was a good opportunity to replenish.

It made sense, so I nodded in agreement.

“Sounds good. I’ll go first and offer 3 HP.”

I hadn’t even been hit yet, so I figured I could afford to play it close.

As CrossbowHo stepped onto the magic circle, a blood-red energy was drawn from his body and absorbed into the activation core.

[CrossbowHo HP 5/5 MP 2/5]

[CrossbowHo HP 2/5 MP 2/5]

[HP 3/10]

[MP 0/10]

Next, TanQyu and HolySho each stepped onto the magic circle in turn and vanished, turning gray.

[HP 8/10]

[MP 7/10]

Then, one by one, they placed their tokens and were revived in perfect condition.

As a result of offering some of their HP and MP again:

[TanQyu HP 5/6 MP 3/4]

[HolySho HP 3/4 MP 4/6]

[HP 10/10]

[MP 10/10]

[A huge energy dwells within the activation core.]

Voom—!

The activation core, which had looked no different from a round rock, began to emit a soft glow.

I handed it to Seo Ye-in and said,

“Make sure to keep this safe. Without it, you can’t pilot the robot.”

“…Very precious.”

And with that, we all started retracing the path we had come.

Defeating the occasional monsters that appeared and navigating the choices along the way, we finally made it back to the sanctuary.

The adventurers welcomed us with visible relief.

Their faces brightened even more when they saw the activation core.

“You succeeded! We finished the maintenance while you were gone.”

They pointed at the golem, and sure enough, the wear and tear from age was completely gone. It looked freshly built.

Soon, the adventurers guided Seo Ye-in to the control seat and pointed to the empty slot as they explained.

“Insert the activation core here, and the weapon goes here.”

Seo Ye-in calmly did as instructed.

The energy within the core spread throughout the golem, and it began to come to life.

Vooooom— Clack, clack,

It slowly rose from its kneeling position to stand upright.

At some point, it had gripped a staff-like weapon in one hand. It was adapted to match the pilot’s class.

Seo Ye-in looked at me with sparkling eyes.

“Whirr, checking.”

“Look at you, having a blast. Even mimicking the sound effects.”

“Fun.”

The adventurers too couldn’t hide how moved they were.

The man who seemed to be their leader wiped at the corner of his eye and bowed repeatedly to us.

“Thanks to you, our long struggles have finally paid off. I don’t even know how to repay you.”

“We weren’t helping out just out of kindness. We needed the golem to make the dungeon easier to clear.”

“We understand. Still, thank you.”

The man paused for a moment.

“Are you… heading to the boss room now?”

“That was our original goal.”

“Would it be all right if we accompanied you? We don’t need any treasure. We just want to observe the golem up close. Might help with our research.”

A set of choices appeared on the screen:

1. Sure, that’s fine. Accept.

1. Says who? Reject.

1. Hand over everything you’ve got!

1. Wipe them all out!

I glanced over at Seo Ye-in and asked softly,

“They’re kind of useless… should we just clear them out and move on?”

– Head shake,

“Why not?”

“Nice people.”

“For letting you pilot the robot?”

“Mhmm.”

Honestly, I also didn’t see any reason to attack them.

Even setting emotions aside, having more people on our side would clearly be an advantage in combat.

Dang Gyu-young and Jegal So-so seemed to share the same thought, so we chose “Accept” and started moving together.

Thud, thud.

The golem led the way.

With each step it took, the entire labyrinth seemed to tremble.

Naturally, there was no way the monsters wouldn’t notice such a commotion. Sure enough, the orc leader reappeared, leading another group.

But despite his bold entrance, he looked visibly shaken.

“Ch-Chiik! What the hell is that?!”

“What do you mean? It’s a golem.”

CrossbowHo replied flatly.

Without anyone giving a command, Seo Ye-in stepped up and began operating the golem. It strode forward with long, powerful steps.

Then it swung its arm wide, sweeping the ground.

Baaaang—!

The monsters were blasted away in an instant.

Next, the massive staff in its other hand swung through the air and mowed down the remaining enemies.

Baaaang—!

“Overwhelming power.”

“F-Fall back! Run for your lives!”

The orc leader and the rest of the monsters scattered in panic and never came near again.

So much for monster loyalty.

Thud, thud.

As we followed behind the golem, Dang Gyu-young and Jegal So-so couldn’t hide their awe.

“It’s gotten this easy?”

“This doesn’t even compare to when we tried it.”

“Pretty smooth, right?”

All that trouble we went through from backtracking, to continuing from saves, to spending HP and MP….it finally paid off.

Even beyond monsters, the difficulty of various obstacles had dropped drastically. For example, whenever we ran into a trap, a set of options would pop up like this:

1. (Rogue) Attempt to disarm it.

2. Look for another route.

3. (Golem) Step on it and move on.

“Step on it.”

“Let’s crush it.”

Shweeeeeeek—!

Arrows rained down as the trap activated, but they couldn’t scratch the golem’s stone-and-metal body.

Seo Ye-in nodded in satisfaction.

“Golem strong.”

With the golem bulldozing everything in its path, we eventually reached a space even larger than the sanctuary.

Bones of unknown origin were scattered everywhere, and atop a mountain of them sat a lone lizardman.

His eyes gleamed as he stared at us.

“…So you’ve stolen the archmage’s legacy.”

“Let’s get something straight. It was never yours to begin with, so how could we have stolen it?”

“I am the master of this dungeon. Everything within it belongs to me.”

“Not after today, it doesn’t.”

“Just because you got your hands on a golem, you think you’ve won?”

The lizardman slowly descended the mountain of bones.

With each step it took, the creature’s body grew larger, and before long, it had transformed into a towering lizardman that resembled a dinosaur.

“I’ll show you what true power is.”

Suddenly, the creature charged at high speed which was surprisingly quick for its size then spun around and lashed its tail like a whip.

But the Sloth Golem blocked it effortlessly with a single raised arm.

Thud—!

“What the—?!”

“Golem strong.”

Next, the golem stepped forward and extended its arm, landing a solid punch right to the giant lizardman’s face.

Boooom—!

The lizardman staggered briefly, then regained its footing only to have an arrow shoot straight into one of its eyes the next moment.

Naturally, I was the one who fired it.

Nobody said it had to be a one-on-one.

“Kieeeek—!”

As it writhed in pain, the Sloth Golem began to pummel it relentlessly.

All we had to do was offer the occasional support shot or cast a buff spell here and there.

So we ended up watching the boss fight like it was someone else’s problem until Dang Gyou-young spoke up.

“Nice fighting. Great control.”

“Looks like it really suits her.”

She’s insanely talented. Whatever you give her, she picks it up in no time.

Boooooooom—!

Another devastating punch from the Sloth Golem.

The dino-lizardman was now a mess after taking such a brutal beating.

I turned to Seo Ye-in and said,

“Let’s wrap it up. Use the ultimate move.”

“Ultimate move?”

“Same as using a skill.”

And skills adjust based on the rider’s class.

Seo Ye-in seemed intrigued and began manipulating the golem. The huge staff in its hand lit up with a brilliant blue glow.

Then, a beam as wide as the golem’s body itself fired out, engulfing the dino-lizardman completely.

Whooooooooooooosh—!

The thing was erased without even managing a final scream.

Bang!

A moment later, the whole arena seemed to rumble, and the door in one corner of the boss room slowly creaked open.

A mountain of gold and treasure came into view.

The party grew overjoyed and dove into the treasure, tossing gold coins into the air like kids in a playground.

The golem struck one final, dramatic pose, while the adventurers busied themselves jotting things down.

The camera zoomed in to capture it all.

[The Four Fools finally succeeded and became legends.]

[- The End -]

Then, the ending credits began to roll from the bottom of the screen.

Dang Gyou-young and Jegal So-so watched in silence, each offering a quiet comment, as if they were caught in the afterglow.

“Ah, that was great. Brings back memories.”

“Trying it a different way was fun, too.”

Seo Ye-in stared at the screen with an even more wistful expression.

“…It’s already over.”

“You barely got to ride the golem, right?”

“So sad.”

“We can always play again. Come on, let’s go.”

And with that, we confidently made our way to the prize counter.

To earn the [Mystery Book], the conditions were watching the ending credits and using no more than 15 party tokens.

We started with 4 and used another 5 to continue. So we were well within the limit.

Since it was a limited item, I made sure to grab the Mystery Book first. Seo Ye-in chose the random rank-up, and Dang Gyou-young and Jegal So-so each picked the rank boost.

That was it for our day at the arcade.

Dang Gyou-young grinned and jerked her chin toward the exit.

“Time to grab some food?”