"Junho, you go in," Kangchan said calmly from within the barrier.
"I can feel that this seal is weakening. It'll probably break in an hour or two."
He lightly scratched the spherical barrier with his fingertip, then shifted his gaze to the fallen Suhee.
"When the seal breaks, I'll take Suhee and escape to the 3rd floor. So, you go through the red door."
"But..."
It's fine by me. I had to enter the red door at some point anyway.
However, I was wary of Kangchan simply yielding the reward. I hadn't revealed to him about my time-reversal ability this time around, so I couldn't fathom why he was being so generous.
"The reason? It's simple."
Kangchan turned to look at the door, a mix of red and gray.
"First off, I'm not interested in that reward."
His eyes looked heavy and weary.
"This is a tower built to judge humans. This floor, in particular, emphasized cooperation. And yet, they've set it up so that if one dies, progress is halted, and they even induced betrayal at the end."
Kangchan spoke the truth. The tower tempts one into committing wrongdoings while simultaneously threatening judgment. It's incredibly hypocritical.
"That's why I suspect the reward might not be all that great. There could even be a penalty."
The door's color was intensely red from the beginning. It's unlikely that the reward would be purely beneficial, as Kangchan mentioned.
"Therefore, I won't take the risk."
Kangchan said, folding his arms.
"I'm already strong enough. Instead of taking unnecessary risks, I'll stick to the basic rewards. You can deal with the risks."
Externally, Kangchan seemed indifferent, but I had a good guess about his true feelings.
In this round, Kangchan hadn't revealed his abilities to me. So he was currently playing the 'ruthless and arrogant strongman Kangchan'. He probably yielded the reward in recognition of my past contributions.
"Um, I also think Junho should go in. But for a slightly different reason," Angyeong-jun interjected.
"Junho was the first to spot the initial wolf... and he played a major role in overcoming the bizarre maze... and wasn't the arrow trap all thanks to him? I believe Junho has made significant contributions and deserves that reward."
His words were true. To speed up the round, I had predicted various threats under the guise of 'insight', which allowed us to easily navigate the 3rd floor. In terms of overall contributions, I might have been at the top.
"And..."
Angyeong-jun looked down at Suhee and continued.
"... I believe Suhee would've wanted that too."
"Suhee is a traitor. She doesn't deserve our sympathy," Kangchan retorted with a frown. Yet, Angyeong-jun just smiled, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
"... Haha. Yes, she is a traitor. But would she have acted this way without the tower? After all, the tower turned a young student into this..."
Kangchan sighed deeply, shaking his head.
"... Enough talking."
I looked at Angyeong-jun, taking care of Suhee, and felt a heavy weight in my heart. Only then did I notice the severity of Suhee's injuries. Her distorted expression was evident.
After Suhee's arm was blown off, what did I think? Did I feel satisfied? Did I think it was a just punishment for a traitor? Even thinking I was merciful for sparing her life?
Is the ideal me someone who'd be glad after blowing off a high school student's arm, regardless of her being a traitor? Even if considering it a just punishment, shouldn't I have felt a sense of duty rather than delight?
My face contorted involuntarily. During the process of overcoming the arrow trap by repeating the cycle, I began to lose sight of humanity.
I had been so cautious about losing my sanity, but it seems I've already twisted my moral compass to some extent.
"It's... it's okay."
It was Kangchan who pulled me out of my sinking consciousness.
"You did well."
"... What are you talking about?"
Kangchan didn't answer. Instead, he intently stared at my right index finger. "...Ah."
In the past, when I was digging into Kangchan's ability and planning how to break through the arrow trap, I had a chance to speak with him.
From what I discerned at that time, Kangchan was someone who precisely recognized the limits of his abilities and moved based on meticulous calculations.
So, he had a habit of observing first when faced with new environments.
Kangchan glanced at my finger and gave a small nod.
He saw it. It's evident he did.
As soon as I entered the room, he must have seen me rushing to the red door. Even if he didn't know how I knew about the red door, why I blew up the door, or even if I knew beforehand that Suhee would betray us...
He could easily deduce that I was involved in the explosion of the door.
And... Kangchan, knowing that I had blown off Suhee's arm, still gave me the opportunity to enter the red door.
It was trust. Kangchan had verbally stated his reasons for not entering, but his actions showed he trusted me.
All the struggles we went through to clear the 3rd floor were not in vain.
I felt that.
After exchanging contacts and briefly discussing our next steps, Kangchan looked straight into my eyes from within the barrier.
"Think carefully. Will you go in?"
To be honest, I'm torn.
I still don't know how to erase my abilities. If I were to receive some bizarre trait or reward as the 'words of a traitor' here... My already unstable mind might completely distort.
Maybe I'll regret this decision forever.
"I will enter."
Nevertheless, I placed my hand on the discolored door.
Even though the surface of the door had been stained with layers of blood turning it red, at its core, it was just a regular stone door.
I believed the distorted ones were not the doors, but the people using them.
I placed my hand on the stone door.
With a rumble,
A blue portal appeared. It looked just like another portal on the right, a normal blue portal.
"...See you later."
Holding a large box to one side, I threw myself into the portal.
When I opened my eyes, I was faced with a massive statue.
[Warrior.]
It seemed to be some mountain area, and a statue resembling a man was speaking to me.
[A warrior needs a weapon befitting them.]
It was the voice from my memory. The one that told us to drink each other's blood in a room where we had to split into pairs.
Although I could only see the back of the statue, it had a profound presence.
"...Who are you?"
[Warrior, did you act like a warrior as you passed through the cave?]
The statue continued to speak without answering my question.
[Originally, this space was for the most honorable warrior. It was created so that, through trials, they evaluate and recognize each other and yield the reward to the most honorable. But...]
The imposing demeanor of the statue seemed to soften.
[...It was corrupted by those who lost their reason to greed.]
Yes.
The red door, which only one person could enter, wasn't red from the beginning. It had turned red after layers and layers of blood stained it.
Such is life. When exposed to the world, things change. Even if it started with good intentions... By the time one realizes, it's grotesquely distorted.
It was the same for Suhee... and maybe for me too.
[Enough of this idle chatter. You will be rewarded.]
Slowly, the statue began to glow.
It turned entirely white and, in an instant, burst into a radiant light.
[A weapon is a mirror of a warrior. To the wicked, wicked weapons are given... Did you act like a warrior in the cave?]
The radiant light approached me and formed into the shape of a sword.
But what materialized was not a sword.
"Huh?"
A sword hilt.
Literally, just a sword hilt was in my hand. "… This isn't a weapon."
Typically, when you look through an item, a status window pops up. But for this sword hilt, no status window appeared. The same thing happened with the ring given by the archangel.
Do hidden items typically not show anything?
[A weapon is a mirror of a warrior. Always remember that.]
The voice didn't respond again.
With the heavy voice of the statue fading away, darkness enveloped my sight.
[You have cleared floors 3-5.]
[Entering floor 1.]
When I opened my eyes again, I was on the 1st floor.