Rank 1

Schrödinger’s cat.

It was a famous experiment in quantum mechanics, but honestly, I didn’t know much about it in depth.

As someone from the humanities, there was only one thing I knew.

Before the box was opened, two futures existed, but the moment it was observed, one of them became certain.

Of course, I still couldn’t really understand what made that so scientifically important, but at least this experiment had taught me one lesson.

Sometimes, ignorance really was bliss.

Just like now.

I barely swallowed the question that had risen to the tip of my throat.

A common name.

Could it possibly be Hans?

The moment I asked, an answer would come back, and then the future would be decided.

A fifty-fifty gacha.

Needless to say, I didn’t trust my luck.

Yeah, so…

This is where it ends.

It was better not to know.

That way, at least there was still a chance it wasn’t true.

Thump.

I forcefully ignored the pounding of my heart and checked my surroundings.

「The character has entered a special area.」

The cave was exactly the same as before I took the portal, except the bones that had covered the floor, ceiling and walls were gone.

“Let’s get out of here first.”

We passed the spot where we had killed that rat and made our way back through the cave toward the exit. When we stepped outside, a completely different scene unfolded before us.

A blood-red sky stretched overhead, while the ground below was split with cracks, lava flowing through the gaps.

Boom!

It was a field that truly lived up to the name “The End.” Naturally, this area also came with its own special field effect.

「Field Effect: Apocalypse has been applied.」

「Status Effect [Eternal Scorching] has been applied.」

「The character will continuously take fire damage, and that fire damage will increase as time passes.」

Continuous damage is common, so putting that aside.

[Status Abnormality [Terminus] is applied.]

[The character will die in 24 hours.]

Any character who enters the special field ‘Memories of the Apocalypse’ instantly dies after 24 hours. Of course, there were ways to prevent it. The status effect would be removed as long as we returned through the same portal.

But once you leave, you can’t enter again.

Therefore, the standard strategy was to roam around this field and use items found here to reset the time, but…

“This is that island…?”

“I have never seen such a terrifying sight in my life.”

The party members wore dumbfounded expressions at the sight of an entire island exploding continuously like a bomb.

To be honest, I felt the same way. Seeing it on a flat screen was completely different from witnessing it in person.

“Everyone, be careful not to move too far away from me.”

Before officially starting our expedition, I activated the Orb of Fire to offset the Eternal Scorching field effect.

「You have activated the Orb of Fire.」

「All continuous fire-type damage originating within a 15-meter radius is reduced by 50%.」

The Orb of Fire was one of the most useful items in the Memory of the End.

Well, even this would become insufficient over time, but with it, we had practically doubled the amount of time we could stay here.

After we dealt with Terminus, of course.

“All right, let’s move out,” I ordered. “Line up in the order I gave earlier. Our first objective is to get off this island.”

“Huh? Off the island?”

“You’ll understand once we get there.”

I soon led all the members towards the shore where we had first arrived by boat. The coastline looked completely different too.

“Either skeletons or a sea of fire… this island is truly extreme.”

The whole island seemed to have turned into an active volcano, with lava flowing out everywhere and then hardening black as it fell into the sea.

The steam created by the seawater and lava mixing was thick enough to make it difficult to see.

With the shackles of [Terminus] also in place, an ordinary explorer probably wouldn’t even think of going beyond that, but…

The thought process of a veteran player was different.

Huh? If we can summon the boat and leave the island, doesn’t that mean there should be at least one hidden thing out there?

And in reality, that guess had been correct.

It took hundreds of attempts and hundreds of sacrificed characters to prove it, but still.

“All right, we’re heading out!”

Once everyone had boarded the summoned boat, it began sailing through the black smoke and out onto the ocean. We had prepared for situations like this by coating the underside with fire-resistant paste.

The section where our vision was blocked by smoke did not last very long.

Our vision was only blocked for a few minutes. After we kept sailing straight ahead, the smoke soon cleared, and the exploding island came into view behind us.

“But where are we going now?” Raven asked, curious.

“Oh, you didn’t hear?”

“He only told us what we’re searching for, not exactly how we’re supposed to find it.”

Right, I had only told Auyen.

“From now on, we’re heading to Arta Island.”

“Arta Island?” She tilted her head, then seemed to remember something. “Oh! That island! One of the Seven Great Mysteries of the Labyrinth! The tiny island with only those three strange pillars on it!”

“That’s right.”

Arta Island was well known among explorers and mages, and there was a good reason for that. No monsters appeared there, and its only distinguishing feature was the previously mentioned “three strange pillars.” Naturally, everyone assumed something had to be hidden there.

“Wow! So we’re going to find the hidden arrangement on that island?

Can I write a thesis on it?”

“No.”

“But it’s one of the 7 Great Mysteries…”

“Write it later when I’m dead; I won’t stop you then.”

“Geez, why would you say that…? Don’t say things like that, even as a joke.”

Hmm, was that a bit much?

Seeing Raven’s serious expression made me feel a little awkward. Though, if we were talking about the content itself, it wasn’t entirely a joke.

“Anyway, as per clan regulations, everything regarding the expedition is classified. If you want to write a thesis, just compile the data for now, and write it later after we’ve all retired, understood?”

“I get it. I really do… I just needed to say it. But is that island near here?”

The one who answered Raven’s question was Auyen, who was holding the helm beside us.

“Arta Island is the closest island to Catacoma, Lady Raven.”

“Ah, really? But why didn’t I see it on the way here?”

“Charting the most efficient route is the navigator’s role, after all.”

Just as I specialized in combat, Auyen was skilled in his own area. There was a reason I had brought him along: we needed to travel by boat.

Of course, even without a navigator, finding Arta Island wouldn’t have been too difficult. But with Terminus affecting us, every second mattered.

[Auyen Roklov has cast Fair Winds. The vessel’s movement speed has increased by 50%, and all characters aboard will rapidly recover soul power.]

「Auyen Roklov has cast [Trade Route].」

「While the helm is fixed, the movement speed of the vessel you are riding increases by 300%.」

「Auyen Roklov has cast [Ghost Ship]…」

Abilities imbued the ship we were on, drastically amplifying our speed.
Raven looked slightly surprised by this.

“…[Trade Route]? Wow, you really are a capable navigator. I heard that essence was rare.”

“Haha… Actually, it’s an ability I acquired recently.”

“What? But the labyrinth hasn’t been open all this time. How?”

“I bought it from the Exchange. I spent every bit of money I had saved, but isn’t this the least I can do to keep from holding you all back? Haha….”

“……You’ve been through a lot, too. Somehow getting dragged into a place like this.”

“It’s fine. I’m happy to be here.”

Raven seemed to take quite a liking to Auyen, and they continued talking for a while afterward. When I quietly stepped aside, Aynar approached me.

“Bjorn! I have something I’m curious about!”

“Speak.”

“Where do you get abilities like that?”
Normally, I would have told her to ask Raven, but since Raven was talking with Auyen, I answered in her place.
“There are monsters that steer boats.”
“Eh? But I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“That’s because they appear in areas we don’t usually visit.”
A prime example was the pirate-infested sea of the southern ocean, where orcs, goblins, and other creatures sailed ships and attacked explorers.

Ghost Ships also roamed the waters around Ghost Island. Since neither of those places was on the route to the seventh floor, we wouldn’t be passing by them anytime soon.

It’d probably be hard to feed him Airship too, wouldn’t it?

For a moment, I considered the possibility of obtaining the navigator’s final essence on the tenth floor, but soon gave up on the idea. If he could just consume it, he’d be able to pilot a ship on all floors, not just the 6th, and travel times for all future expeditions would be cut by more than half…

However, that monster was so rare it could only be found through luck, and we didn’t have the ability to hunt it yet anyway.

“Captain, we can now see the Island”

Hearing Auyen’s shout, I snapped out of my thoughts and made my way to the bow, where I spotted the small island in the distance. Or rather, what came into view were the three pillars.

“Oh… So that’s one of the Great Mysteries of the Labyrinth!”

The island looked strange, with three pillars that seemed even bigger than the land they stood on.

“It looks different from the last time I saw it,” Kaislan said.

Just as he mentioned, the pillars of Arta Island did look slightly different from normal. It wasn’t a huge change, though.

“Were those pillars… blue?”

“No, they’re normally black.”

The black pillars had changed to blue. Not that the difference in appearance really mattered.

“Dock the ship.”

“Yes, Captain.”

After guiding the boat onto the island, we had everyone disembark.

Four hours and forty minutes…

If the return trip took the same amount of time, that would make nine hours and twenty minutes in total. Still, the way back might take longer, and even after returning to the island, we would need at least two hours to reset the Terminus status.

‘To play it safe, it would be best to finish the raid within ten hours.’

It might take longer to go back, and even after returning to the island, we’d need at least a two-hour buffer to reset the terminus status.

Tap.

I dismissed the ship’s summon and stepped into the center of the island.

And then…

“So what do we do now?”

“Wait.” I answered

We stood between the three pillars arranged in a triangle. At the center, on the small altar prepared there, blood had to be…

“Parav, you do it.”

“Pardon?”

“Blades don’t work too well on me.”

“Ah…”

Parav sliced his palm with a sword and let his blood drip onto the altar. In an instant, light erupted from the pillars, and unfamiliar symbols, ones I knew were not part of the ancient language, appeared along their sides. Unstable mana crackled outward, seemingly drawn toward the center of the pillars as it began taking shape.

“Another portal?”

“That’s all the labyrinth ever has,” I said, unable to stop myself from smirking.

Honestly, it was almost absurd. Memories of the End was already a hidden secret, yet another secret was hidden inside it.

I don’t know who created this labyrinth, but I can tell they really love secrets.

Well, as long as the reward was guaranteed, I didn’t care where it led.

“Then do we just go in now?”

“After I do this.”

I started a ten-hour timer.

Tick, tock.

If we wanted everyone to survive, we had to get out before the time ran out.

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