Chapter 17 : Akiro's Labyrinth

Back when I played World of Justice, I didn't particularly engage in intentionally toxic behavior or go around hunting down and killing other users.

At the time, I was crazy about hunting, and I considered conflicts with other users to be just a hassle.

However, I killed everyone who persistently bothered or annoyed me despite my ignoring them.

Naturally, many people held grudges or criticized me for it, and indeed, many came looking for me.

Of course, I killed them all too.

Later on, large forces like major guilds made their move, but in the end, I killed them all.

As a result, the number of people who messed with me gradually decreased, leading to the present.

‘Hmm…….’

That's probably why.

I didn't think that the reason someone was looking for me now was for a good reason either.

No matter how they referred to me as Cain-nim in the posts, statistically, there were far more users in World of Justice who had negative feelings towards me than those who had positive ones.

‘Luna…….’

No matter how recklessly I had played the game, it wasn't that I didn't have any users I was close with when I played World of Justice.

However, at least among them, there was no one with the nickname or alias Luna.

‘For now, ignoring it is the best course of action.’

The fact that someone I didn't know was looking for me was quite unsettling in itself, but if I ignored them, there was no way for them to know of my existence anyway.

Because I wasn't Cain now.

However, it was true that I was a little curious about the user named Luna, so I decided to look for a little information.

Because it wasn't entirely impossible that Luna was someone I knew.

[Author Search : Luna]

With that, countless posts that Luna had written so far appeared.

-Luna : (Luna's Cooking Time) Made seasoned fried chicken today!

-Luna : Has anyone seen Cain?

-Luna : Anonymous55 I'm warning you. Don't go around running your mouth.

.

.

.

-Luna : (Hunting Proof) Caught a Kokundara today.

I was able to get quite a lot of information from the posts Luna had written.

In particular, she seemed to be a user of a considerably high level when I saw the proof post stating that she had casually caught a Kokundara, a demonic beast whose average individual level is 6 or higher.

‘Hmm…….’

I looked at more posts written by Luna.

-Luna : Ah f*ck, this sucks.

-Luna : (Luna's Dish of the Day) Made curry! So damn good!

-Luna : I want to be alone today, so everyone please leave.

Most of them were about cooking or daily life, so-called nonsense posts, but among them, I found one post that particularly stood out.

-Luna : (Troubles Post) There's someone I really want to find, but I don't know how to find them...

As if possessed by something, I clicked on that post.

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There's this really, really grateful person who helped me a long time ago, you know?

But I can't find them...

I really wanted to see them at least once.

Is there any way to find them?

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-Anonymous99 : Who is that?

-SpeculativeHeadcanon3 : She's always looking for Cain, isn't she talking about Cain?

-Hesen : Anyone can tell it's Cain lol for real haha

-Anonymous97 : The official Cain-stan of the anon board, Lunaㄷㄷ

-Knight Commander : Hmm... Is it that serious?

-Anonymous55 : She's sharpening her knives to kill Cain ㄷㄷ

-Newdeulbak77 : You're looking for a dangerous person;; What are you going to do if he actually shows up...

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As the comments said, just looking at the anonymous bulletin board, it seemed the person Luna was looking for was Cain.

To be precise, it looked that way.

However, I had already learned through Aichuwong's posts how dangerous it was to only see what was revealed on the surface through the anonymous bulletin board.

The posts on the anonymous bulletin board are, for some, like traps set to wait for prey.

Believing them at face value was not a very wise thing to do.

‘It's better not to get involved.’

Above all, the most important thing was that I didn't know the person named Luna at all.

Even looking at the posts Luna had actually written, not a single one of them overlapped with any person I knew.

In other words, it was overwhelmingly likely that Luna was not an acquaintance I knew who had changed their nickname, but a person looking for me for some ulterior motive.

And that motive was probably much more likely to be a negative one, such as a grudge, rather than a positive one.

Having classified Luna as a potentially dangerous person, I shifted my gaze to other posts on the anonymous bulletin board.

The first thing I looked at was, as expected, the list of recommended posts that had received the most recommendations.

It was because I hadn't been able to check the anonymous bulletin board at all recently, so I was wondering if there were any new posts.

-DoDo : (Reward offered) Does anyone know how to do the 2nd floor of Akiro's Labyrinth? [★]

Then, one particular post caught my eye.

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Requesting information on how to clear the 2nd floor of Akiro's Labyrinth.

I will reward handsomely for a proper strategy.

Ah, and for the reward payment, there's no need to meet in person; if you post a junk item we agreed on beforehand using the auction house function, I will bid on it.

For those who haven't reached bulletin board level 2 yet, I'll give it to you when you do.

Leave a comment.

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Akiro's Labyrinth.

One of the few labyrinths in World of Justice, it is an extremely difficult dungeon that even I, the most hardcore of hardcore players in World of Justice, have only cleared up to the 9th floor.

One might say it's only the 2nd floor, but as someone who has experienced Akiro's Labyrinth firsthand, I knew very well how difficult the 2nd floor of the labyrinth was to clear.

-Anonymous21 : I did clear it a long time ago, but I forgot how.

-NoobNoobie : The level 2 bulletin board function was an auction house? Holy crap, I'm going to level up right now.

-Newdeulbak77 : Oh... Akiro's Labyrinth brings back memories haha. Good luck.

└DoDo : Thank you. It's so hard ㅜㅜ

-Anonymous651 : Where is Akiro's Labyrinth? I think I've heard of it before.

-Dr. Kim : The 2nd floor there is a bit tough.

-Knight Commander : Hmm... Is it worth putting up a bounty?

-Anonymous1426 : It's a question post, but the content is actually information about the level 2 bulletin board function haha. Great info.

-Anonymous23 : [Secret comment.]

└DoDo : [Secret comment.

└Anonymous23 : [Secret comment.]

└DoDo : [Secret comment.]

-Gusada : I'll tell you if you pay first ㅇㅇ I'm experienced, cleared up to the 4th floor.

└DoDo : [Secret comment.]

-Anonymous536 : Is it closed?

└DoDo : Not yet. If you let me know, I'll reward you right away.

Was it because of the mention of a reward?

Or was it because the method of paying that reward was quite specific and safe?

The post looking for a strategy for Akiro's Labyrinth, which in some ways was close to a simple question post, drew an explosive response, enough to make it to the list of recommended posts.

That must have also been because it contained information about the level 2 bulletin board authority, which had been almost completely undisclosed until now.

‘Hoo…….’

I had been wondering what the level 2 bulletin board authority was, but I ended up getting information about it through a completely unexpected opportunity.

If it was an auction house function, it would be useful in many ways, so I had more reasons to raise my bulletin board level.

‘That aside, Akiro's Labyrinth…….’

Of course, I knew the strategy for the 2nd floor of Akiro's.

For me, it was a dungeon I had tried over hundreds of times.

Therefore, I briefly contemplated whether to leave a comment, but the problem was that I hadn't unlocked the auction house function yet.

‘Of course, he said he'd reward me later if I answered now…….’

It was a situation where I could be a victim of a so-called scam and run.

Of course, it was also true that even if I got scammed and ran on for the 2nd floor strategy of Akiro's Labyrinth, it wouldn't be a big deal for me, but I still hesitated.

‘Is there no possibility that this itself is some kind of trap?’

The possibility was low.

If the reward was paid as DoDo said, it was true that it would be difficult for any kind of trap to be involved.

‘Huuuum…….’

My deliberation was not long.

‘There's nothing to lose anyway.’

Akiro's Labyrinth was certainly an extremely difficult dungeon, but if it was just the 2nd floor and not a higher one, there would be plenty of others besides me who knew the strategy.

In fact, in the comments, a few people seemed to know the strategy.

‘The problem is, what nickname to use for the reply…….’

Strictly speaking, it wasn't something to worry about at all, yet I found myself deliberating.

Because I was the type who actually spent quite some time thinking when creating character nicknames in games.

Cain or any related nicknames were obviously rejected.

Since there were people on the anonymous bulletin board looking for or interested in Cain, using such a nickname was truly an act of suicide.

‘The most common one is the Anonymous series, which is the most numerous on the board…….’

If we were to be purely practical, creating a nickname from the Anonymous series would be the most unremarkable choice.

Isn't it because other users also think so that they create nicknames from the Anonymous series?

It meant that the Anonymous series wasn't the most common nickname on the anonymous bulletin board for no reason.

But why was it?

For some reason, the Anonymous nickname didn't appeal to me.

Did it feel like I was burying my own identity in anonymity?

‘……Alright.’

Having finally decided on a nickname, I wrote a reply to DoDo's question post.

The nickname I decided to use on the anonymous bulletin board after long deliberation was simple.

[Dragon Slayer]

It was a nickname that was completely unrelated to Cain, and at the same time, it could be said to express a little of my inner desire to boast after catching the Destruction Dragon.

Because it was true that a desire for fame also held a certain place among the reasons I had pushed myself so hard to catch the Destruction Dragon.

In addition to that, I even captured a bit of cuteness in the nickname, so I was able to nod to myself after creating it.

‘Hmm, that’s enough.’

I wrote the reply as a secret comment.

Although the 2nd floor strategy for Akiro's Labyrinth wasn't a huge secret, information always has value.

On top of that, even if DoDo scammed and ran with the 2nd floor strategy for Akiro's Labyrinth, it was better than the information being completely public to an unspecified number of people.

-Dragon Slayer : Regarding the 2nd floor strategy for Akiro's Labyrinth.

‘Well, if he really does scam and run, it wouldn't be bad to make it public either.’

However, every single piece of information I possessed was, in a way, a valuable asset.

It was right to save it as much as possible if I could.

The 2nd floor strategy for Akiro's Labyrinth seems complicated at first glance because the labyrinth structure keeps changing, but if you know its rules and laws, you can break through it surprisingly easily.

Of course, it took me about 105 tries on the 2nd floor alone to realize that, so it wasn't a huge stretch for DoDo to be searching for a strategy like that.

Unlike me, who could make countless tries, failing a strategy now meant literally laying down one's life.

‘This should be enough.’

After writing the strategy using three replies, I closed the bulletin board.

I didn't know where DoDo was, but since it was currently dawn from my perspective, it would take some time until he checked the post.

I also intended to wait for DoDo's confirmation slowly without needing to be anxious.

If he did scam and run, that was something to think about separately when the time came.