2

FIRST BLOOD

Just then, the statue’s enormous eyes glowed red.

Was it a hunter’s “hunch”? No, this was the basic survival instinct of a living creature.

Something was coming.

Something they wouldn’t be able to handle!

Jinwoo whipped around to the hunters behind him and screamed with all his might.

“DUCK!”

Almost simultaneously, a red beam shot forth from the giant’s eyes. Jinwoo grabbed Joohee and flung them both to the ground.

ZAAAP!

The beam struck right where Jinwoo had been standing.

One-tenth of a second. Maybe even one-hundredth of a second. He’d been that close to death.

Unfortunately, not all the hunters were as lucky as Jinwoo.

“AHHH!”

“AGH!”

The beam vaporized whomever it touched. Their remains were all that was left behind as the beam passed. The screams were not from the dead but rather from those who had witnessed their deaths.

“Wh-what was that?”

“F—!”

“Why’s this happening to us……?”

The hunters were horrified. Out of sixteen people, only eleven had survived. They had never experienced an attack this terrifying before in their lives.

I only made it because he said to duck.

If Sung hadn’t shouted……

The other hunters gazed at Jinwoo and licked their dry lips. He’d saved their lives. They got chills thinking of what would’ve happened if he hadn’t been here with them.

“……”

Jinwoo examined the statue as he lay on the ground. Its eyes were still red, but it had ceased its attack.

Is it……over? He looked down.

Poor, frightened Joohee was quivering in his arms. This was why she participated in easy raids with the Hunter’s Association instead of joining a large guild despite being a very talented B-rank healer. Her breathing was getting heavier and heavier.

He couldn’t leave her like that. Jinwoo decided he had to do something and started to stand, but someone grabbed his shoulder and forcefully pushed him down.

“Do not stand up.”

Song had made his way over to them at some point. Taken aback, Jinwoo followed Song’s orders without question.

Song called out to the other hunters as well. “Everyone, don’t move! Stay exactly where you are!”

Song looked around to make sure and then turned back to Jinwoo. “Those who moved were killed. Those who ducked, like you said, survived.”

“I see…”

Song raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you warn us because you knew what would happen?”

“No, I just felt something dangerous was coming……”

Song’s eyes twinkled.

His senses are very sharp. He’s an E rank, eh? If only his abilities were slightly better……

While Song was feeling sorry for Jinwoo, the younger hunter was checking on Song’s condition. His eyes widened in alarm.

“S-sir…… Your arm!”

“I’m fine. It’s tolerable.”

“But……” Jinwoo gulped.

Song had pushed Jinwoo down with his right arm, but his left was now missing.

“……” Song must’ve been in extreme pain, but he said nothing as he looked down at Joohee’s prone figure, then tore a long strip from his shirt and wrapped it around his wound.

“Could you tie the ends together? It’s a little hard to do this with one hand.”

Jinwoo nodded.

They finished up the basic first aid. Instead of a scream of pain or a wounded groan, Song breathed out a long sigh. That one sound exhibited all his years of experience.

“Whew…”

With his emergency treatment done, Song surveyed the area with keen eyes. The situation wasn’t any less grave despite the giant statue’s attack seemingly stalled.

Some time passed as they kept still.

“Hic…… Sob……”

“Wh-why is this happening to us……?”

Some hunters began to cry.

“We can’t just stay like this forever!”

They were all slowly growing impatient. Jinwoo agreed with them.

We can’t stay like this forever.

But what could they do?

If Song was right, they would get attacked as soon as they moved. Even if they were lucky and managed to reach the door, there were stone statues on either side acting as guards.

Those statues were the problem. The guard’s movements from before had been so fast that none of them could even see its movement. Would they be able to escape the room before those things attacked? It seemed like an impossible feat.

That meant it was just a matter of time before they were all killed.

Wait…… A matter of time?

Something about that last thought gnawed at Jinwoo. Something that should’ve been impossible had occurred.

Something nobody else had noticed.

We…… We missed something.

The answer had to be here somewhere. Just as the thought occurred to Jinwoo…

“Don’t move!”

Song yelled across the room to Joo, but Joo had run out of patience.

“We don’t know when that bastard will start attacking, but you want to just wait?!”

Joo was a brawler-class hunter. Brawlers fought with hand-to-hand combat, so their physical abilities were much higher than even regular hunters’. Joo’s abilities were actually so outstanding that he was lined up to sign a contract with a well-known guild.

“This can’t be the end.” Joo kept his low stance as he started focusing his energy into his legs. His goal was the exit. The muscles in his legs swelled and tightened.

“Oh no……,” Song muttered under his breath.

Joo launched himself toward the doors.

Da-da-da-dash!

Jinwoo turned his attention to the statue. As expected, its eyes were following Joo. A second later, the killer beams fired.

ZAAAP! The rays hit Joo squarely on his back.

“Aieeee!” One of the female hunters in the party screamed hysterically. This was followed by a yellow liquid slowly pooling out from where she sat, as if she’d had an accident.

The male hunters were no less petrified.

“Oh my God……”

Wherever the beam had connected, Joo had vanished. All that was left of him were his detached feet.

A squeamish male hunter started puking. “Blaaargh!”

Jinwoo was also stunned. He was right; the statues could easily kill all the hunters here if they wanted to. It’d be as easy for them as squashing a bug.

So then……why aren’t they?

The statues could kill them, but they wouldn’t.

Magic beasts attacked hunters as soon as they spotted them, but this was a completely different pattern of behavior. These guys moved only when a certain condition was met. The guards attacked when someone got close to the door, and the giant statue fired its lasers when someone moved. They were like triggers in a video game.

Are there……rules to this room?

In that instant, one of the puzzle pieces fell into place in his head. He remembered the contents of the slate that Song had read aloud.

The commandments of the Cartenon Temple.

The patterns revealed the rules, and the rules were the commandments. The key to survival here lay within those.

“……Thou shall worship God.” That was the first commandment.

“Hmm? Did you say something?” Song looked at Jinwoo.

Jinwoo gestured at him to keep quiet instead of answering. He needed more time to think.

If I’m right……

Jinwoo slowly started to get up.

Song quickly moved to grab him, but Jinwoo shook his head resolutely.

……That’s not the look of someone who’s given up.

Song nodded in understanding.

Jinwoo kept his eyes fixed on the statue as he carefully stood. The giant’s eyes immediately locked on Jinwoo.

ZAAAP! The beams shot out like he’d expected.

Had he dropped any slower, Jinwoo’s entire face would’ve melted off instead of just a few strands of hair. He lay flat on his back, gulping in air.

“Huff, huff, huff, huff.”

That had been way too close. He’d expected to die as soon as he’d locked eyes with the statue. He had managed to barely escape the attack, but his legs were shaking.

Still……

It’d been worth the risk.

The statue doesn’t attack just any moving object.

As long as they stayed low to the ground, the statue would pay them no heed even if they shifted their positions. However, it would start raining down lasers without mercy once they tried to stand.

It only shoots if we raise our bodies above a certain height.

Jinwoo had risked his life to test this theory. And he’d received validation.

He’d solved the first commandment!

He yelled at the rest of the hunters. “Everyone!”

They turned their attention to him.

Jinwoo looked around and told them, “Face the giant statue and bow to it!”

The hunters all looked bewildered.

“What……?”

“Bow to the giant?”

Sensing the feeling of contempt was mutual, the hunters began spitting curses at Jinwoo.

“What……the fuck are you talking about?”

“I mean, how could you even say something like that?”

“Are you insane?”

Kim’s face was especially red as he fumed. “You want me to bow to that demonic thing? I guess I was wrong about you! Why, if I could move right now, I’d beat that insolent mouth of yours!”

Jinwoo bit his lower lip. Six of their colleagues had been killed by the statue. It was only natural they’d get heated being told to bow to something like that. He more than understood how they felt.

More importantly…

He didn’t have any solid evidence to back up his theory. A hunch. It was nothing but a hunch.

But then…

“I’ll do it.”

The voice came from behind Jinwoo. Everyone gazed at the speaker.

It was Song, the one they considered their leader.

“Mr. Song……?”

“You’re gonna bow to that damn thing?”

While the others were mystified at his declaration, Song looked Jinwoo in the eye. “You’ve discovered something, haven’t you?”

Jinwoo nodded.

“Another hunch?”

“……Yes. For now.”

“Okay.”

His earlier hunch had saved the lives of eleven people. There were only ten of them left because Joo had died. If it was Jinwoo’s hunch, it might be worth a shot. That was Song’s assessment.

The group solemnly watched as Song shifted to his knees.

“Do we really have to do this?”

With this turn of events, Jinwoo urged them. “Please, everyone! We just have to kneel toward the statue. If this works, we might be able to get out of here alive!”

Alive. We can get out of here alive.

A single word can wield enormous power.

Alive?

You mean we can get out of here alive?

All it takes is one bow?

Though they’d been hesitant before, the hunters started kneeling, one by one. It was as if they were bowing to some deity. One, two… The number of those bowing grew. Even Kim, who had kicked up a fuss, eventually followed suit.

Alas, there was no change with the statue. Its eyes continued glowing a fiery red.

Jinwoo’s heart sank.

Was I wrong?

That was when he noticed Joohee. She was shivering, curled up tightly with her head buried in her arms, and even Jinwoo had to admit that her posture looked nothing like a bow.

How should I……?

He took her gently by her wrists. She peeked up at him like a frightened kitten. When Jinwoo quietly nodded, she finally relaxed her arms. He slowly corrected her pose.

Done.

And then there was one. Jinwoo himself was the only one left.

He went on his knees before the statue, placed his hands on the ground in front of him, and slowly lowered his head.

As soon as he did, things began to change.

“H-huh?!” the hunters who noticed it exclaimed.

“The statue! Look at the statue!”

“Its eyes!”

The burning red light in its eyes was dissipating.

“What? Is it finally over?”

At long last, the deadly beams fizzled out.

“““Yeaaah!””” Everyone cheered.

“The beams are off!”

“We’re alive!”

The overly excited hunters sprang to their feet to celebrate. Despite their recklessness, nothing shot out from the statue’s eyes.

Jinwoo, the last to raise his head, let out a sigh of relief.

“Whew…” It was just as he’d suspected.

Then that means……

The game wasn’t over yet. There were still two more commandments. The second, “Thou shall praise God.” The third, “Thou shall prove thy faith.”

Right on cue…

RRRRRUMMMBLE.

The whole room started to quake, accompanied by a grating noise.

Jinwoo grimaced. I knew it……

His premonition was correct. This wasn’t the end.

The colossal statue was slowly rising from its throne.

“U-um…”

Hunters who’d been exchanging hugs and crying tears of joy just seconds ago were now frozen in place.

“Wh-what…? It’s not over?”

“Th-this can’t be happening!”

Everyone was stunned. Their faces reflected their despair.

“Ohhh…… Wh……?”

The statue finally straightened up to its full height. The imposing figure swept its gaze around the chamber before slowly lumbering toward them.

STOMP!

STOMP!

The entire room shook with the giant’s every step.

STOMP!

It was so tall that its head seemed to almost scrape the impossibly high ceiling.

STOMP!

While the hunters were standing dumbfounded at the statue’s immense size, the gap between them and it was steadily shrinking.

“Hey, Sung! Jinwoo!”

“You got any ideas?”

The hunters who’d cursed out Jinwoo earlier now clustered around him.

“Is there a way out of this?”

“Say something!”

Despite being fully grown adults, they all looked like they would burst into tears at any moment. Jinwoo was their only hope now.

He told them about the second commandment as he coaxed Joohee up from the ground. “‘Thou shall praise God.’ That’s the key.”

“Wait, that’s…!” Kim wasn’t sure what Jinwoo was getting at, but he did recognize the saying. “That thing from the slate?”

“Right. ‘Thou shall worship God,’ ‘thou shall praise God,’ and ‘thou shall prove thy faith.’ We have to fulfill all three commandments.” Jinwoo spoke quickly.

The statue was almost on top of them by now.

STOMP!

The statue’s enormous shadow engulfed the hunters.

The blood drained from their faces.

“I—I can do it,” a timid young hunter volunteered.

“What? What’re you gonna do?”

“I was in a church choir. I’m pretty good at singing praises.”

Even though Kim tried to stop him, he slowly stepped in front of the behemoth.

The young man steadied his breathing as he looked up at it, then took one last deep breath.

“Lord, let me stand before You.” His clear voice echoed throughout the room. “Though unworthy, I crave Your judgment. In my faith in You, I know I find my purpose. In Your eyes, I know I shall be reborn.”

The statue came to a stop in front of him.

“““Ooooh…!””” the group exclaimed quietly.

The statue didn’t move an inch, seemingly enchanted by the song. All other background noises faded away. Only the young hunter’s beautiful timbre filled the room.

Encouraged, he raised his voice. “Though unworthy, I crave Your judgment.”

Among them, Jinwoo was the only one who was filled with cold dread.

No……this isn’t right. He reluctantly kept his thoughts to himself.

This room had its own rules. The young hunter was praising in a way that followed the rules of his own beliefs, Christianity, not the rules of this place. Luckily, the statue wasn’t moving, so perhaps the room was acknowledging this as them following the commandment?

Jinwoo wasn’t convinced. The only reason he didn’t stop the young man was because he couldn’t think of any other way to halt the statue.

All of a sudden…

STOMP!

The heavy sound reverberated throughout the chamber.

“Aieeeeee!” A female hunter shrieked like a banshee.

The statue raised its foot to reveal the pulverized body of the young man.

Others also started to scream.

“Ahhhhh!”

“E-eeeek!”

The statue had been expressionless, but now its face was contorted with anger.

“It’s mad!”

“R-r-run!”

The panicked hunters ran for their lives.

“Aieeeeee!”

Witnessing the young man getting crushed right before her eyes had been the last straw for the female hunter. She’d lost her mind and was unable to move or do anything but scream.

“Aieeeeee!”

Shit…… Jinwoo, who had fled from the giant’s path with Joohee held tightly in his arms, turned around to rescue her.

But Song blocked his way.

“Mr. Song…?”

“It’s too late.”

The statue slapped its hand down on her as if it was swatting a fly.

BANG.

“Urgh……” Jinwoo had to turn away.

It was a horrific scene to look upon.

“There’s no time to lose. Are you going to let this girl die like she did?”

Jinwoo sobered at his words. Song was right.

STOMP!

“Aaargh!”

STOMP!

STOMP!

“Help me!”

The statue wasn’t just walking anymore. It was now running around the enclosure, squashing people beneath its feet. The length of the room shook with every footfall.

STOMP!

STOMP!

Jinwoo gritted his teeth and got a move on. Joohee shut her eyes tightly and hung on to him for dear life.

“Let’s split up!”

“Yessir!”

Jinwoo and Song had come to the mutual conclusion that it would be more dangerous to stick together, so they headed their separate ways. Jinwoo evaded the raging statue and ran straight for the farthest corner, but another hunter with the same idea had gotten there first.

It was Park.

Park had sprinted with all his might. Tears had sprung to his eyes as his family flashed in his mind.

“Sob…”

A son who looked just like him and a wife pregnant with their second child were waiting for him at home. He couldn’t die in vain here. Perhaps because of his desperation, he was the fastest of all the hunters to put some distance between himself and the statue.

“Huff, huff…” Park was catching his breath in the corner when his friend Kim urgently cried out.

“Park!”

Park turned toward the familiar voice. “Huh?”

Kim gestured wildly at something behind Park and yelled: “Behind! Right behind you!”

Something sharp glinted behind Park. “Uh……?”

Shhhk!

Park’s body was split in half from head to groin. The halves toppled to the ground in opposite directions.

“Park!”

The stone statue that had bisected Park with a sword returned to its spot as if nothing had happened, just like the stone guard earlier.

Kim was on the verge of tears. “You fuckers……!”

STOMP!

STOMP!

STOMP!

On one side, the giant statue was trampling people to death, and the stone guards attacked those who were trying to hide from it in corners.

“Aaaaaack!”

“My arm! My arm!”

Fear and confusion filled the room.

“Huff, huff……”

Jinwoo’s forehead was dripping with sweat. His legs were slowly feeling heavy. His lungs were burning. He had just one thought in his head, though:

Thou shall praise God, thou shall praise God, thou shall praise God…

The second commandment echoed in his mind. The key to the riddle was in this room. There had to be something they could use! However, when the hunters had first entered, they’d searched the whole place and turned up empty-handed.

Those stone statues are the only moving things in here, both then and now.

Wait. Jinwoo was struck with a revelation.

The only moving things are the statues?

Oh.

His eyes widened. “Why didn’t I think of that before?!”

If the stone statues were the only things allowed to move, that meant the statues were also the only things they could use. And the statues moved only when someone got too close.

What if……?!

Jinwoo was gasping for breath, but he still managed to yell across the room.

“Everyone! Head to a statue with a musical instrument!”

Every hunter heard his voice.

“……!”

“A musical instrument?”

A glimmer of hope sparked in their eyes. They acted quickly, unlike when they’d been asked to bow to the giant statue.

Of course, if Jinwoo was wrong, they would die as soon as they approached the graven figures, but at that moment, not a single person doubted him.

Song was the first to find a statue that fit the bill.

“……” He held his breath as he looked up.

As he did, the statue’s fingers moved toward its harp.

Struuummm… Strum…

It was a beautiful sound.

“It worked!”

“Get to one with an instrument!”

The hunters rushed to the nearest statues. A statue with a bugle trumpeted. Another with a flute joined in, and a statue with a lyre strummed along.

“Huff, huff, huff.” An exhausted Kim collapsed in front of the statue with the lute.

Plink… Plink…

The colossus stopped chasing Kim as soon as the smaller statue strummed its lute.

Still on his knees, Kim started sobbing as his emotions overwhelmed him. “H-hic… Sob…”

The giant whirled around. It scanned the area and locked onto its new prey.

“Crap.” Jinwoo swore after making eye contact with the behemoth. His heart felt like it would explode. His back was already drenched in cold sweat.

Why?! Why isn’t this thing working?!

He glared at the stone statue in front of him. Though it held a drum, it gave no sign of moving anytime soon.

STOMP, STOMP, STOMP!

The giant statue was advancing at a terrifying speed. It had just been all the way on the opposite side of the enclosure, but it was quickly closing the gap.

Jinwoo gulped.

Is it because both Joohee and I are standing here?

He couldn’t think of any other explanation. The rest of the stone sentries were playing their instruments without any problems.

No time to think.

Jinwoo put Joohee down and got ready to run.

“Jinwoo……” Joohee clung to his sleeve in fright.

He quietly whispered to her, “If we stick together, we’ll both die.”

Tears welled in her eyes. The fingers gripping his sleeve trembled, but there was no time to explain the situation to her.

Jinwoo carefully removed Joohee’s hand and dashed away from her.

Boom! Ba-doom! Boom!

As he looked back, the stone statue behind Joohee started banging its drum slowly.

Good…

He just had one more thing left to do—safely get to another musician! Jinwoo was the only one not yet protected by a statue with a musical instrument. As expected, all of the behemoth’s anger was focused on him. He scrambled to get to the other side of the room while avoiding the statue’s house-size feet.

STOMP!

STOMP!

He tripped and even took a tumble but somehow avoided getting stepped on.

“Huff, huff.”

Even if Jinwoo was merely an E-rank hunter, his heightened physical abilities saved him in this case.

Just a…little more…!

He kept an eye on the giant’s movements while focusing his power into his legs. He sped up. He was only a few steps from a stone statue.

“Not that one!” Song bellowed.

Jinwoo, who’d been focused solely on the colossus, whipped his head to the front in surprise.

“Ah!” Was it not holding an instrument?

What Jinwoo had seen as a musical instrument from afar was actually a shield. The statue struck down with the shield without any hesitation.

“Whoa!” He threw his body to the side.

“Nooooo!” Joohee screamed.

Jinwoo looked up from his roll to see that the giant was right on top of him. “It’s just one thing after another…”

His vision blurred as blood dripped in his eyes from a scrape on his forehead, presumably because of his hasty roll. His field of vision narrowed, and he found he couldn’t see far. Jinwoo urgently looked around.

An instrument, instrument……

No matter how hard he searched, there wasn’t a statue with an instrument to be found.

The giant raised its foot over him.

“Argh!” Jinwoo threw his body to the side again and barely escaped.

STOMP!

But he’d reached his limit. He felt faint and found it strangely difficult to maintain his balance.

Please……

If there was a God, he wanted to pray for mercy.

At that moment, he noticed a statue holding neither a weapon nor a musical instrument.

Is that…?

Jinwoo put his last hope on that figure and half crawled to it. At last, he faced the approaching giant and flopped down. He had no energy left.

“Huff…huff…” He tried to catch his breath as he watched the giant draw closer.

Its scowl seemed to have deepened since Jinwoo had evaded it so many times. The giant stood at attention in front of him. It was as tall as a skyscraper, and Jinwoo felt suffocated with it closing in on him.

“Huff…huff…”

Did it consider Jinwoo a mouse trapped in a corner? The giant did nothing but stare silently down at him.

This is the end……

Jinwoo expected his inevitable death to come from the eyes focused solely on him. But then…

La, la, laaaaa…

Singing that could only be described as heavenly came from behind him. Jinwoo looked over his shoulder.

La, laaa…la, la, laaaaa…

Every time the statue holding a book opened its mouth, beautiful notes spilled forth and echoed throughout the chamber.

La, la, laaa…laaaaaaa…

The giant’s expression was slowly reverting to its default. The severe, scrunched-up face softened and smoothed out again into a blank look. The giant turned around once the song was over. Just like the smaller statues, it headed back to its throne as if nothing had happened.

THUD!

The sound of the colossus sitting down reverberated throughout the temple.

“Huff, huff… Guess I…made it…” Jinwoo gave a small smile.

Joohee bolted toward him. “Jinwoo!” She ran to his side with all her might and knelt down, crying.

“What should I do……? What should I do……?” She poured all her magic into a healing spell. But nothing happened.

The scattered hunters gathered around Jinwoo one by one. Their faces all looked grim.

“Oh no…… Jinwoo……”

At this point, Joohee was weeping, completely distraught.

What was wrong with everyone?

Jinwoo let out a gasp. He tried to ask them why they were upset, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. He tried to sit up, propping up his aching torso.

“……?”

From the waist down, he was a bloody mess. He soon realized why he’d felt so off.

“Ohhh……”

His right leg was severed at the knee. Jinwoo sought out the stone statue with a shield. The blood on the edge of its weapon was clearly visible.

The rest of his leg was right below the shield.

Drip…

Drip…

Joohee’s nose started bleeding. It was a sign that she’d reached her limit. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to restore a severed limb with B-rank healing magic. It would be like trying to fill a leaking pot with water.

“That’s enough, Joohee…… You can stop now……”

“I’ll fix you! I’ll make you better!”

The others watched them with pitying looks.

Only six remained of the seventeen people who’d come here. Two of the six had sustained severe injuries. Song had lost an arm, and Jinwoo had lost a leg. They’d survived, but none of them could celebrate.

Just then, another noise echoed through the room.

KRRRRRRK!

The divination circle at the center of the temple rose up.

Thou shall prove thy faith……

Jinwoo had an inkling what this meant.