Ch. 216

## Chapter 216: The Woman in Sunglasses (2)

On the 23rd floor…

Papy’s steps, originally heading toward the surface world, came to a sudden halt.

He quietly closed his eyes before speaking up.

“Holy Maiden-nim, it would be best if we returned to the hideout.”

“Hmm…? For what reason?”

“The presence approaching this direction feels considerably more powerful than anticipated.”

“What level domain are we speaking of?”

“I cannot discern it with exact precision… but it is certain to be a force that would prove far too overwhelming for Holy Maiden-nim to face alone.”

“Mmm. Is Level 300 still insufficient?”

“Yes, it appears so. It would be far wiser for us to engage within a realm familiar to us.”

“However, are you not by my side as well? In a two-against-one scenario, I hardly believe we would suffer defeat.”

At Louise’s inquiry, Papy offered an instantaneous response.

“…I hold very little desire to engage in battle.”

“Ha! That talk once again! Are you truly asserting that you are not simply shrinking back out of fear?”

“You are putting strange words into your mouth yet again. At any rate, I shall not be participating in combat.”

It was only natural for Papy to refuse combat.

For a Celestial to exert power while outside the Heavens or outside domains belonging to the Celestial Realm required the absolute expenditure of their very life force.

Barring a few rare eccentrics like Radiate or Maria, almost zero Celestials would ever choose to unleash their true strength in proximity to the surface world.

“Phew… Very well then, let us return as you suggest.”

Following their brief exchange, the two turned back to retrace the steps they had traversed thus far.

*‘I had hoped to meet much sooner, though…’*

Even amidst their turn, Louise could distinctly feel the aura of darkness drawing progressively closer.

Then, an utterly absurd hypothesis flashed across her mind.

*‘Surely… the individual Papy speaks of could not possibly be Hyun?’*

Louise shook her head.

Had he not stated that the approaching presence possessed Holy Power?

Hyun possessed Demonic Power. It was a fundamental law that conflicting forces like Demonic Power and Holy Power could never coexist within the same vessel.

*‘One possessing Holy Power… I only pray it is not an agent bearing a Divine Oracle.’*

Having remained safe for five long years, Louise silently prayed that her safety would hold just a little while longer.

—

“Are you Abyssal?”

Those were the very first words out of the woman in sunglasses.

“Are you referring to… my faction alignment?”

For a fraction of a second, Hyun was taken aback.

In all his time, he had never encountered a user whose very first sentence upon meeting someone was to press about faction alignment.

Suddenly, the Rune of Lightning etched onto the back of her hand caught his attention.

Unless she had forged that mark, this woman undoubtedly belonged to the Celestial faction.

Surely she wasn’t proposing a duel in a place like this simply because their faction alignments differed?

“I am Abyssal. What of it?”

“Ah… no special reason. Just… noticed you were wielding flames earlier.”

“…?”

Hyun prioritized asking for the woman’s name first.

“What’s your name?”

“My ID? It’s Macaron.”

*‘Macaron…?’*

Hyun narrowed his eyes.

It was an ID he had never once heard or read about before.

Neither on the official Hall of Fame nor across any community forums had such a name ever been logged.

“And what about yours?”

Instead of providing a verbal answer, Hyun removed his hood.

Since Ain was an absolute celebrity among the player base, almost anyone—barring a tiny minority—would recognize her visual frame instantly.

Macaron stared intently at Ain’s features for a prolonged moment, only opening her mouth after quite some time as if a realization had finally clicked.

“Ah, I think I know who you are. Your ID is probably… Awen?”

“No, it’s Ain.”

“Ah, right, Ain, that’s it. It’s been so long that my memory was a bit hazy.”

“So long?”

“Ah-ah. Don’t mind it. My memory retention is just terrible.”

Amidst the subtle, peculiar atmosphere, Hyun felt the urge to press her on several other details.

Her level, her class, and her ultimate purpose for stepping into the Labyrinth.

Unless she had literally dropped out of thin air, there was zero chance a player of this caliber could simply materialize out of nowhere.

There were far too many suspicious anomalies surrounding her presence.

However, before Hyun could formulate a question, Macaron took the initiative to speak first.

“By any chance, do you know how to open this door?”

Macaron pointed directly to the firmly shut metallic door right beside them.

“I feel like I could force it open with raw output, but I was hesitating because it looked like it would take way too much time.”

“This door? Breaking it open through raw force is going to be near impossible.”

“And yet I somehow feel like I could break it. Though I’m not entirely certain.”

“Where are you trying to go?”

“That’s a secret.”

Hyun clicked his tongue internally.

He had attempted to extract operational intel on the sly, but it appeared she wasn’t the type to drop her guard so easily.

Right at that moment, a useful tactical idea crossed his mind.

“I know the method to unlock this door.”

“Then open it for me.”

“I refuse.”

In that micro-second, Hyun could feel Macaron’s gaze scanning him up and down behind those dark lenses.

Did that response come across as picking a fight?

After maintaining a brief silence, Hyun resumed speaking.

“However, if you answer a few questions for me, I might just open it for you.”

“What kind of questions?”

“Nothing that should be difficult for you to answer.”

“…Fine.”

Macaron offered a nod, appending a sharp condition of her own.

“However, I will only answer a single question.”

“Two.”

“…”

Once again, a prolonged silence descended between them.

Ain’s voice broke the quiet first through their link.

「How about adding a condition that allows either side to swap out any question they don’t wish to answer? How’s that sound?」

“…As long as you don’t throw multiple questions at me simultaneously. Fine.”

Thus, a peculiar transaction was struck.

Hyun immediately led with the detail he was most curious about.

“What is your current level?”

“…Next question.”

His first query was flat-out rejected.

Just as anticipated, she was thoroughly shielding any personal baseline data.

No matter how many personal info questions he threw at her, she likely wouldn’t provide a straight answer.

Instead, Hyun pivoted his strategy, aiming to deduce her true identity through alternative angles.

“How did you bypass the 18th floor?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I’m asking how you made the spatial transition from the 18th floor down to the 19th.”

“Well, naturally, I completed the Gate Opening Ceremony. Alright, you have one question remaining.”

Hyun knitted his brows, pressing her once more.

“Isn’t that… a flat-out lie?”

“I have never told a lie in my entire life. Now then, that’s two completed, right?”

“No, that last part was just me talking to myself.”

“…”

Silence settled over them yet again.

This time, Macaron was the one to break the standstill first.

“Fine. I was planning to let that slide anyway. Hurry up and launch your second question.”

Given this rigid atmosphere, asking anything further on that topic would clearly yield zero results.

The second question would effectively be the absolute final query he could direct at Macaron.

「Hyun-nim, let’s ask her to take off those sunglasses!」

He completely ignored Ain’s nonsensical request chiming through their mind.

Hyun selected his question with extreme care and deliberation.

*‘What is her ultimate objective here? It’s best to ascertain her underlying intent.’*

Asking a direct question like “What is your purpose in entering the Labyrinth?” might yield zero useful intelligence depending on the situation.

She could easily offer empty, meaningless responses like “To descend further down” or “To search for something.”

Therefore, Hyun threw out a targeted question designed to extract the most definitive answer possible.

“What floor is your target destination?”

“Is that your actual question?”

“Yes.”

“…”

Macaron repeatedly adjusted her sunglasses, looking as though her eye area felt uncomfortably tense.

Whether she was blinking repeatedly or scowling behind the dark tint was impossible to discern.

Her mouth finally parted only after the subtle twitching across her lower face ground to a complete halt.

“The 23rd floor.”

—

Unlocking the door proved surprisingly simple.

The key mechanic was simply solving the pattern puzzle etched directly onto the door handle.

Standard progression required players to thoroughly search every nook and cranny of the 20th floor to gather puzzle clues, but Hyun had zero need to do so.

*CLICK!*

The lock mechanism disengaged cleanly the second he aligned the rotating dials according to his database from the previous game.

“You… how did you know the key inputs to unlock this?”

At Macaron’s inquiry, Hyun threw her exact words straight back at her.

“That’s a secret.”

At that reply, she fidgeted with her sunglasses a couple of times before turning her head away.

Suddenly, Ain yelled through their spiritual link.

「Hyun-nim, should we try stealth-attacking her from behind?!」

「What? Why all of a sudden…?」

「No matter how you look at her, she’s super suspicious!」

「Does that mean we should just launch a random attack out of nowhere?」

「But those sunglasses… I seriously want to pull them off her face so badly!」

「Just stay quiet for a second.」

Hyun smoothly calmed Ain down.

Whenever her curiosity was spiked, Ain was the type to keep her eyes gleaming until the itch was fully scratched.

Even without taking aggressive action, there was a clear method to uncover the identity of this woman named Macaron right now.

「You’re super curious about her true identity too, aren’t you?」

「Well of course I am!」

「For now, let’s just observe her from behind.」

「Observe what?」

「Her combat loop. Let’s watch how she handles hunts.」

Engaging in hunts inevitably forced a player to deploy their active skill set.

With any luck, extracting intelligence like her class specification might prove surprisingly straightforward.

Immediately upon passing through the threshold down to the 21st floor, Hyun intentionally slowed their pacing vector.

His objective was to observe Macaron carving open the path ahead.

From a fixed distance behind, Hyun tracked her combat loop with extreme focus.

「Make sure you watch closely too.」

Macaron’s chosen weapon spec was exceptionally unique.

A pair of circular weapon rings known as Chakrams.

*KA-RUMBLE! KA-RUMBLE!*

Every time the pure white rings spun through the air, mob hitboxes were bisected, leaving deep structural cracks gouged across the floorboards and walls of the Labyrinth.

*‘Chakrams… but they aren’t physical weapons. Is that a weapon conjuration skill?’*

A pair of Chakrams manifested directly from Macaron’s hands, automatically dissolving into thin air after a set duration elapsed.

Hyun noted that the skill mechanics closely mirrored his own *Darkness Sword*.

The underlying process of generating virtual weaponry was functionally identical.

*‘Her mechanical proficiency with those Chakrams is ridiculously high.’*

Furthermore, Macaron was controlling the pair of conjured Chakrams as fluidly as if they were extensions of her own limbs.

*‘How on earth does she possess that level of mastery?’*

A sudden question surfaced in Hyun’s mind.

Under standard player conventions, primary weapon choices defaulted to swords, spears, axes, bows, or maces.

The overwhelming majority of players had likely never even held a niche weapon like a Chakram in their lives.

To exhibit that level of raw mechanical control, shouldn’t she possess extensive experience handling similar weapon types since early childhood?

No matter how he analyzed it, the hyper-precise trajectories of the Chakrams slicing through open air were impossible to explain merely through system skill-assist features.

「What do you think, Ain? If we fight her, can you secure a win?」

「There are way too many suspicious variables… so I’m really not sure.」

Even Ain, who was always supreme in her confidence regarding PvP duels, offered a hesitant, uncertain assessment.

「Still, if Hyun-nim is with me, shouldn’t we win for sure?」

「What if you were fighting completely solo?」

「Mmm… if I pre-cast Potential Explosion to scale up my Agility in advance, I don’t think I’d lose.」

The reason Ain specifically brought up *Potential Explosion* was simple.

Macaron’s raw Agility stat appeared outrageously high.

A rough internal estimate placed it at 300 minimum—no, given how relaxed her movement frames looked, 300 was simply the baseline, with her actual stat potentially scaling vastly higher.

Hyun’s confusion deepened.

*‘She couldn’t unlock the 20th-floor puzzle door on her own. Which means she definitely isn’t a veteran Asra player.’*

Was it truly possible for a player lacking database knowledge from the prequel to achieve this level of growth?

It wasn’t as if she had maximized global brand authority to leverage top-tier resources like Latis or Mayday had on the leaderboards, either.

Furthermore, the fact that a player of her caliber had never been mentioned across a single community forum was beyond bizarre.

「For now, it’s best we don’t engage in combat.」

At Hyun’s low murmur, Ain asked in surprise.

「Does she look that dangerous to you too, Hyun-nim?」

「I can’t say for sure on combat outcome, but there are far too many structural red flags. Even if we were to win, we need to uncover her true identity first.」

Navigating through the 21st floor proved remarkably effortless.

As Macaron launched her twin Chakrams to clear the pathing vector ahead, Hyun and Ain simply trailed closely behind her path.

As a result, with zero need to worry about mob spawns or mechanical traps, they were already descending the staircase toward the 22nd floor in no time at all.

“Why do you keep trailing behind me?”

However, the second they reached the bottom of the staircase, Macaron was standing directly ahead with her arms crossed over her chest.

Feeling a sudden twinge of guilt as if caught red-handed doing something wrong, Hyun spoke up quickly.

“We weren’t trailing you.”

“Then what were you doing?”

“This is the sole transit passage leading down to the 22nd floor. Our progression vectors simply happened to overlap.”

“I suppose… that makes sense.”

Macaron accepted Hyun’s excuse with surprisingly little resistance.

“Then we shouldn’t run into each other moving forward, right? Since there are numerous branching passages connecting the 22nd floor to the 23rd floor.”

“Well… I suppose so?”

“If you were actually following me, you’d best cut it out.”

Leaving those final words behind, Macaron rounded the corner of a four-way crossroad and vanished from sight.

When Hyun walked over to the exact same crossroad a moment later…

*‘She vanished?!’*

Every single trace of her presence had completely erased from the area.

Macaron had completely erased her visual and auditory presence in a span of mere seconds—just like that moment near the Labyrinth entrance where she had vanished into thin air.

「Where on earth did she go?!」

「There was zero logout effect. She definitely triggered some kind of utility skill.」

「What kind of skill?! I didn’t even hear a single footstep!」

Ain shouted in frustrated irritation at having lost track of Macaron, but Hyun’s internal reaction was entirely different.

「Ain, I think I’ve figured it out.」

Before he even realized it, a deep, knowing smirk surfaced across Hyun’s emotional stream.

「I was suspicious from the very beginning, but that last movement completely confirmed it for me.」