I lit the torch I had prepared and stepped into the cave. The cave itself ended before I could take more than a dozen steps.
“Hmm. Is this the entrance to the Byung-dong…?”
“Yeah. Doesn’t it look suspicious?”
“Definitely does.”
With a large flat stone about the size of a full-length mirror at the deepest part of the cave, it had to look suspicious. The Black Cat was also curiously feeling around the stone.
“Hmm. There’s no response even when I knock… Is it okay if I try to solve this?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded and stepped back.
The reason I specifically chose this Byung-dong to bring the Black Cat was that this Byung-dong had a shape that was very apt to stimulate curiosity.
Before going out to hunt for opportunities with the Black Cat, I needed to instill some anticipation about the incidents.
The Black Cat searched for mechanisms, banged on the wall, and injected Qi for a while, but eventually withdrew with its head tilted.
“Hmm. I’m not sure.”
“Well, it’s simple.”
I understood why the Black Cat couldn’t open the door. A flat rectangular stone like a mirror, and its edges rounded off. The shape reminded me of something modern-day people couldn’t live without for even a day.
Since the Black Cat wasn’t a modern person, it wouldn’t recognize that object just by looking at this shape.
I lightly touched the wall and reached my hand to the side.
A rumbling sound.
The method to open the entrance to the Byung-dong was [Push to Unlock].
*
“Ho, it seems Senior Ho knows something about this Byung-dong?”
“I haven’t been here before. I’ve just seen what was left behind about this Byung-dong.”
While answering the Black Cat’s question, I raised the tension. This [Hyeon Cheon-ja’s Byung-dong] was a regular customer I had encountered countless times in the game. However, this was the first time in reality. It was only right to raise the tension.
“Phew.”
Fortunately, a familiar stone tablet welcomed me.
[Challenger! I am the old man known as Hyeon Cheon-ja! I have had a talent for creating objects since childhood. I made various objects with the money earned from selling my skills in making mechanisms and truths, but I only made objects and never found their owners, so I want to test your abilities to bring down these objects.]
[I want to test your martial arts and wisdom, so if a spirited challenger passes the tests from the first to the third level, you shall receive a fitting object for a challenger!]
[However, those who fail to pass this Hyeon Cheon-ja’s test will never step foot in this Byung-dong again.]
“Oh, that last line is a bit scary. Does it mean they’ll kill me?”
In reality, it simply meant I’d be kicked out for good. I’d just never get to open the Byung-dong door again. If I forced my way through, the natural cave entrance would collapse, releasing poison inside the cave and resulting in death.
The slight pitch in the Black Cat’s voice suggested it was a bit excited about the words left by Hyeon Cheon-ja.
“Senior, do you know anything about the person known as Hyeon Cheon-ja?”
“I only know a little about this Byung-dong from what I’ve heard.”
This Hyeon Cheon-ja’s Byung-dong was less about the difficulty of the Byung-dong itself and more about the process of discovering the Byung-dong being difficult. You would trace various clues and get entangled in different incidents to arrive here, and among that process, stories about Hyeon Cheon-ja would be mentioned a few times.
“Hyeon Cheon-ja is a figure passed down in myths or folklore. It’s told that they created mechanisms for the Imperial Palace, and even immortals suffered within the formations they laid out, so their skills must truly reach the heavens. There’s also a tale that precious materials were sent down from the heavenly realm for them to create various magical treasures.”
“Really?”
“I’m curious if this person is the real Hyeon Cheon-ja or just someone pretending to be them.”
Creak! Bang!
As soon as we entered the first chamber, the door locked tightly. The sound was so loud that even I was taken aback, and the Black Cat flinched and lowered its stance.
I cautiously lifted the torch and found the stone monument.
“There’s a stone monument here too.”
[Challenger! You have three chances to challenge each guardian’s door.]
[Stand on the pedestal while not allowing attacks from the Asura statue and hit the marked points ten times to pass through the door.]
[It’s designed to reveal openings if you block the Asura’s weapon head-on, so remember that.]
[Also, if you do not step back from the pedestal even after taking hits, the attacks of the statue will become very strong, so don’t be stubborn.]
“Hmm.”
As the Black Cat approached the Asura statue, the statue’s six arms moved once.
Shishishik!
To my eyes, the speed was only slightly visible.
The Black Cat memorized that speed and nodded.
As soon as it stepped on the pedestal, the Asura’s arm moved. The diagonal falling attack was deflected by the Black Cat.
When the other arm didn’t seem to want to move, it hesitated for a moment. Then, the Black Cat immediately reached out toward the statue.
One of the ten eyes on the Asura lit up.
Immediately after, it dropped an i-attack and a three-hit.
Tap, tap!
The Black Cat blocked the i-attack and took the three-hit. Consequently, the second arm, which awkwardly retracted, slowly returned to its place.
“Oh, so that’s how it works!”
Phew!
After getting hit by the i-attack and the three-hit, the Black Cat aimed for the Asura statue with one blow. Two of the ten eyes lit up.
When seven of the statue’s eyes lit up, all six arms attacked the Black Cat’s body in coordinated strikes.
Tatadatadatadat!
“Combine!”
The six attacks weren’t easy to fend off, but the Black Cat finally broke through. It seemed to catch the rhythm of the statue as it unstoppably reached out and deflected all six weapons.
Eight eyes lit up.
With the speed increased further, the Black Cat wobbled. Maybe realizing the situation, the Black Cat summoned a shield. As the shield defended against a couple of the incoming assaults, the Asura’s arms slowly began to retract.
Although the recovery speed of the arms decreased by half, it wasn’t necessary to knock them all back.
As three arms retracted, the Black Cat actively used the shield to fend off the attacks of the remaining two arms and struck the Asura with its other hand.
Shwarrarak!
Then, in that moment, all the retracted arms of the Asura came together.
“No, that’s sneaky!”
Despite the Black Cat’s flustered voice, the six covering arms kept blocking the strike points. Alternating between guarding the strike points, the remaining five arms launched attacks at the same speed as before.
“Black Cat! You’ll need to retract the next arm to create an opening!”
Shishishik!
Tatadat!
Even with one of the arms sealed for defense, the Black Cat had no respite; it had to land a precise strike otherwise, the retracted arm would quickly return, leaving only a brief opening.
“Combine!”
The Black Cat made its final move.
Using the shield to block the attacks of two arms, it deflected the other two arms’ attacks with its arms. The fifth arm lowered to cover the strike point, while the fourth arm strayed, launching an attack.
Just as the Black Cat twisted its body to evade the attack from the fourth arm, its leg shot forward.
The knee caught the fifth arm that was moving to cover the critical point. The fifth arm bounced off, but the two arms that had been blocked by the shield were already launching their attacks!
It was clear that the arms of the statue would reach me first before I managed to strike it.
Dread flickered through my mind as I thought I was going to miss this hard-earned chance.
In that moment, the Black Cat’s knee straightened.
Whack!
The final move from the Black Cat was a kick, a combination attack starting from the knee.
The frenzied sequence of attacks from the Asura statue came to a halt at that instant.
“Phew…”
“Wow… Well done.”
I gave a thumbs-up to the Black Cat. I had never seen the Black Cat using its martial arts, so I thought that last knee kick was just a spur-of-the-moment move; I never anticipated it would seamlessly lead into a kick, so I got quite absorbed.
Judging from the fact that it didn’t use Qi even in a pinch, it was definitely not at Peak Stage.
“It was a tough opponent.”
The Black Cat lightly tapped the statue’s arms, but unlike before, the Asura’s arms remained still.
Kugugugugu!
With a similarly loud noise, the path to the next chamber began to open.
“As expected, it was an automaton worthy of calling itself Hyeon Cheon-ja. I wonder if there will be more like this in the next chamber? Hehe, I’m quite looking forward to it.”
Indeed, there were plenty of interesting things in Hyeon Cheon-ja’s Byung-dong.
[Challenger! Congratulations on passing the first chamber.]
[If the first chamber tested your martial arts, the second chamber will test your intellect.]
[Challenger! Do you see the wooden boards stuck to the floor? Inside, there are twenty bombs. If you can identify all twenty bomb locations without detonating even one, you will pass.]
[Remember, you must complete all tasks before any weapon from the Asura statue touches the ground.]
[When you open a wooden board, there should be a plate with a number. That signifies the number of bombs in each direction.]
[You will be able to pinpoint the bomb’s locations through the connections of the numbers you opened, so think carefully!]
“Hmm… What does that mean?”
“So in other words…”
It meant to play Minesweeper.