“What?”
However, Cha Rui was not bothered at all.
Even now, his expression showed that he didn’t understand what I was talking about.
Seeing his puzzled face, I suddenly felt a sense of emptiness, and all motivation to answer vanished.
‘What the heck have I been doing alone all this time?’
While Cha Rui watched, bewildered, I openly took out a stamina recovery potion.
Since I had already been caught, I just gulped it down as if challenging them to watch.
Even at that sight, Do Soohyuk and Woo Jaehyun showed no particular reaction.
Their calm demeanor clearly indicated that they, too, had known all along.
“Let’s just… go in.”
To think I believed I could hide something from these guys.
I gave up and followed Do Soohyuk, stepping inside the gate.
Whooong—
And the scene that unfolded was truly majestic itself.
The space, reminiscent of ancient ruins, looked as if the interior of a pyramid had been moved there intact.
Of course, I had never actually been inside one, but it was very similar to the images I had seen through the media.
The dungeon was indeed based on a pyramid motif.
“It really feels like we’ve entered a pyramid.”
As I slowly moved, lost in awe, I looked up as if drawn by something.
The stone walls, which seemed to have endured for thousands of years, were densely covered with unintelligible hieroglyphs and murals.
Flanking them were statues stylized after ancient Egyptian gods.
Their size was immense; even at a glance, they seemed well over 10 meters tall.
From the posture with one foot slightly extended, and the fairly detailed muscle depiction, they looked as if they could come alive and move at any moment.
“They look like Egyptian gods.”
Woo Jaehyun also seemed to recognize them right away, gazing up at the statues.
I wondered why he was showing interest for once, but as expected, his expression quickly became noticeably indifferent.
“Hyung, doesn’t it feel like we’re touring a historical site?”
“It does.”
However, the surroundings were surprisingly well-lit thanks to torches hung everywhere.
We had constantly gone through dark dungeons, so even this level of brightness was something to be grateful for.
Chirpy, who had been struggling to light up the dark dungeons, was completely passed out.
The number floating on the ceiling was [0/4].
Compared to what we had experienced so far, it was an incredibly low number, but there was a reason for it.
While the count used to be filled with regular monsters, starting from the 61st floor, only the Mid-Bosses were counted.
In other words, we had to eliminate all four Mid-Bosses to move on to the next floor.
“Someone is there.”
However, Do Soohyuk, who had been looking at a spot for a while, narrowed his eyes.
At the end of the path lined with statues, there was a thick sand wall and a large door.
The front of the door was guarded by a figure that looked undeniably unusual.
Although the distance was far, it seemed to be at least 3 meters tall.
It was bare-chested, wearing only a metal breastplate, and had a white cloth wrapped around its waist.
Wearing a black mask, exactly modeled after Anubis, it looked unreal, as if it had just jumped out of a mural.
“Is that a monster…?”
The three people tilted their heads at the sight.
This was because the creature’s behavior was strange for a monster.
Generally, monsters lack intelligence and move by instinct, but the way this one was vigorously scratching its forearm seemed exactly like a person.
What kind of monster would spin its spear around to pass the time out of boredom?
Of course, it wasn’t a real person, but rather a gatekeeper closer to an NPC.
Should I call it a kind of passage administrator responsible for judging our entry?
“Let’s not provoke it unnecessarily.”
I knew well how these guys would act, so I warned them in advance.
The NPC couldn’t be killed, and provoking it would only be a waste of time.
A moment later, as we reached the door, the gatekeeper, who belatedly noticed us, quickly straightened its posture.
It hastily blocked the door with the spear it was holding and opened its mouth.
“Stop, this is not a place where just anyone can enter!”
Its voice was as resonant as its size, echoing loudly.
However, its movements were awkward, suggesting it had been quite a long time since it last encountered a person.
A flicker of curiosity crossed Woo Jaehyun’s eyes as he looked at the gatekeeper.
Since this was the first talking monster he had encountered, even after going through so many dungeons, he seemed intrigued.
“Interesting. Should we try killing it?”
“…”
‘Did he even hear me say not to provoke it?’
I swallowed the sigh that was about to escape and pushed him aside, stepping forward.
The black jackal mask slowly moved down to follow my movement, tracking me.
“Then what do we need to do to enter?”
“If you can solve my riddle, I shall let you in. Though I doubt your tiny brain can manage it.”
The gatekeeper, quickly regaining its composure, crossed its arms arrogantly and tilted its head sideways.
The way it lightly tapped its own head with its fingertip seemed deliberately intended to provoke our pride.
Of course, I had no intention of falling for such an obvious provocation, but Cha Rui didn’t seem to feel the same way.
“Should I just kill it?”
It was baffling why he was more enraged when I was the one being provoked.
He strode forward quickly, looking ready to charge at the gatekeeper immediately.
Thud!
“If you’re so confident, try me.”
At this, the gatekeeper scoffed as if we were beneath contempt and immediately took its stance.
It slammed the spear it was holding onto the floor, and a crack instantly formed with a jeok sound.
‘No, shouldn’t at least one person step up and stop this?’
Woo Jaehyun and Do Soohyuk seemed to have no intention of intervening, just watching from behind.
I couldn’t just stand still like this.
The gatekeeper wouldn’t die, and instead, it would multiply twofold if attacked. It might sound absurd, but this was a setting made because the NPC guarding the door shouldn’t be easily killed.
It wouldn’t be difficult to kill the one standing before us right now, but the thought of the number continuously increasing to hundreds or thousands would change things.
Even in the movie, they attacked without thinking but eventually couldn’t handle it and had to temporarily retreat.
In truth, calling it a retreat was no different from an escape.
Knowing this, the gatekeeper kept provoking us.
From its perspective, the more our strength was drained, the lower our clear probability would be.
But that won’t happen.
I had absolutely no intention of playing along with its pathetic tricks.
“Enough. So, what’s the riddle?”
Before Cha Rui could lose his temper and charge, I went straight to the main point.
As I stood in front of him, looking up at the gatekeeper, its provocative momentum gradually subsided, and silence fell.
It was like throwing cold water on the tense atmosphere.
Although I couldn’t see its face due to the mask, it was probably looking very displeased.
But having been asked for the riddle, the monster had no choice but to move according to its given role.
That was the fate of an NPC.
“…What is the money a thief steals?”
The gatekeeper sighed softly, crossed its arms again, and opened its mouth.
Judging by its arrogant posture, it seemed confident that we wouldn’t be able to guess the answer right away.
“What the hell is he saying, f*.”
It was understandable, as the three people, including Cha Rui, were quite far from being good at nonsense riddles.
They seemed completely unable to even grasp the nature of the question, with question marks filling their faces.
‘How many hours did they waste here?’
Considering their personalities, it was a miracle that they managed to guess the correct answer and get inside.
It was mostly a lucky guess, half-giving up, but at least they got through.
“As expected, simpletons like you could never solve such a high-difficulty ri…”
“The answer.”
I, who had lived my whole life focused only on work, was no different.
I only found out about nonsense riddles for the first time while watching the movie, so that says a lot.
But thankfully, I remembered the answer to the riddle clearly.
It was so absurd that it remained in my mind even months later.
I raised one hand and immediately spoke.
“Secretly/Stealthily.”
I actually considered stalling for a bit longer, but I was too tired and didn’t want to waste any more energy.
Having finally reached the 60th floor, all I wanted now was to end this quickly.
While the gatekeeper froze in shock, the three men still hadn’t a clue.
Even though I had given them the answer outright, they didn’t seem to understand it at all.
‘How did they ever manage to stumble upon the answer in the movie?’
“…”
The gatekeeper seemed speechless, unnecessarily fiddling with its spear, then slowly stepped aside.
Judging by its hesitant movements, it seemed quite flustered by the situation.
Its relaxed attitude was completely gone, and it looked utterly deflated.
Ku-gu-goong—!
With a heavy sound, the gigantic door slowly began to open.
The thick stone wall constantly spewed out dusty, white particles, as if it were being opened for the first time in hundreds of years.
I quietly watched the magnificent sight, then stepped inside before the door was fully open.
As I moved forward, leaving the somewhat stunned gatekeeper behind, the three men also hurried to follow.
“How did you know?”
At that moment, Cha Rui cautiously approached and spoke first.
He seemed perplexed that I had guessed the answer immediately, but I replied with a calm expression.
“Doesn’t everyone know something like this? You must have heard it at least once when you were young.”
