4.

Viewers who had purchased live tickets watched with expressions filled with shock, surprise, and excitement.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.

It was only natural for them to be thrilled by a new broadcast.

But there were others watching the same screen who shared the shock and surprise—yet instead of joy, their faces were filled with sheer misfortune.

None other than Lee Won-sang and Oh Jin-hyuk.

The two of them were staring at the screen with grim expressions.

A single Homunculus.

They had accepted the fact that it had doubled.

"Using Carmen’s corpse, that was to be expected."

At this point, they had at least hoped that the alchemy would fail.

But in the end, not only was it a complete success, but even the bonus alchemy had gone through flawlessly.

Even if an Alchemist NPC had been resurrected, they wouldn’t have done it this well.

And to top it off, the Death Creation skill that Seong had obtained just before played a crucial role.

Without that added stability, the success rate would have been significantly lower.

Not even fate manipulation could have changed this outcome.

They had expected it to fail.

Yet every factor of luck had sided with Seong.

Both of them—mythic-grade summons.

Especially the one that looked exactly like Helena...

"It’s beyond mythology..."

The materials used were absurd to begin with.

So perhaps it was only natural.

"Run a damage analysis."

"Y-Yes, sir!"

At Lee Won-sang’s command, Oh Jin-hyuk hurriedly initiated the damage assessment.

He focused on the skills Serpina was currently using.

Especially that Crimson Moon Beam.

"It’s over 300,000!?"

"Haaa..."

A level 130 character dealing 300,000 damage.

That was practically legendary-tier user damage.

Then they measured Helena’s damage.

"Wow, this one’s over 400,000! And that final sword attack hit 550,000!"

"So, it's practically pseudo-Almighty tier now."

Lee Won-sang clutched his throbbing head and lowered it.

Damage output on par with the Almighty tier.

No wonder Kyo got wrecked by Fiora.

Fiora’s attacks easily surpassed 400,000.

But Helena had gone beyond that, hitting 500,000...

Seong had always been powerful.

But now, calling him a one-man army wouldn’t even be an exaggeration.

"It’d take at least five Almighty-tier players and ten Legendary-tier ones to take him down."

The numbers were absolutely ridiculous.

And that was just the bare minimum.

With his skillset factored in, it could go even higher.

His stat values weren’t normal, either.

There was no telling what Seong’s limit was.

At this point, Lee Won-sang simply gave up.

"I don’t even care anymore."

It would be better for his mental health not to think about Seong anymore.

"Se-Senpai?"

"Just stop worrying about Seong and focus on the other players."

"Huh? But... isn’t it our job to monitor the most dangerous player?"

That was the thought running through Oh Jin-hyuk’s mind.

But Lee Won-sang spoke coldly.

"What can we even do by watching? Our job is just to predict anomalies and adjust content pacing for the other departments."

"Th-That’s true."

"Besides, even without that unknown power or the absurd number of hidden pieces, Seong would’ve definitely obtained an Almighty-tier class anyway."

Lee Won-sang had watched Seong’s gameplay long enough to complain about it.

But there was no denying his skill.

"Yeah... he’s the only player with a synchronization rate over 100%."

"Which means he can utilize his stats to their absolute maximum."

Nobody in the User Management Team doubted Seong’s abilities anymore.

With his overwhelming synchronization rate and skill level, even the developers themselves couldn’t help but be impressed.

So, they decided to give up.

Watching him any longer wouldn’t change anything.

It was the exhausted conclusion of a thoroughly drained Lee Won-sang.

"Let’s just monitor for actual glitches or exploits."

"Ah, got it."

"Good."

With that, they shifted their attention to the other players.

And it was... oddly relieving.

Whether Seong got stronger with his unknown power or not—

Lee Won-sang no longer cared.

Yet just as they were settling into their new mindset, Seong’s screen popped up again.

What now?

The system was set up so that his screen wouldn’t appear unless something major happened.

Lee Won-sang turned his gaze to the monitor.

[User "Seong" has arrived at the hidden city: "Ninyaru, the City Above the Labyrinth."]

"What!? How the hell did he get there!?"

There was no escaping Seong’s screen.

0.

The heart of the Labyrinth.

Seong turned to Helena in shock.

Of course, Helena’s immense power was impressive.

But what was even more terrifying was her knowledge.

After all, she was one of the few transcendent beings in the Eternal World’s lore.

She had lived for ages—even before Hindel was born.

Helena smiled playfully and spoke.

"What do you think? Pretty useful, huh?"

"Yeah, obviously. But..."

Seong trailed off mid-sentence.

After thinking about it for a moment—

"Helena, the things you know... they’re really ancient, aren’t they?"

"That’s rude!!!"

Helena barked at him.

So, she was sensitive about her age after all.

Feeling a little guilty, Seong chuckled awkwardly and changed the subject.

"So, how do you know about this place?"

He couldn’t read Helena’s memories.

So he had to ask.

He was genuinely curious.

After all, in a way, Helena was practically a living history book of the Eternal World.

Helena narrowed her eyes and stared at him.

"You weren’t just thinking something rude again, were you?"

"Uh... no."

"Hmm..."

He had taken a moment too long to answer.

Helena looked at him suspiciously before shaking her head.

Whatever.

"Sigh, I can’t win against you, can I?"

As a ghost who had no choice but to be fond of Seong—

Helena shook her head in resignation.

Feeling a little embarrassed, Seong cleared his throat.

"Ahem."

"Anyway, I think I know the owner of this place. At first, I wasn’t sure, but after seeing it, I’m certain."

"Oh, really?"

"Just a hunch, but I recognize one of the merchant cats. If my memory’s right, then the location of their base should also be correct."

This place had existed since back then?

Seong considered asking Helena, but—

He worried she’d scold him again for being rude.

However—

"Heh. This used to be a sanctuary within the Labyrinth. But now, it seems like it’s become the headquarters for those merchants."

"Oh, I see."

"Yeah. So... we’re going in, right?"

Helena looked at Seong and spoke, her tone playful.

Seong smiled as if to say, Why even ask?

Just by looking at it, he could tell—it had the unmistakable scent of a hidden field.

And there was no way he would pass up on something like this.

Especially since this hidden field was a place packed with cat merchants.

So there are tons of creatures like Becky here, huh?

That thought intrigued him.

It wasn’t like he was particularly obsessed with cats.

But who didn’t enjoy looking at something cute?

With his mind made up, Seong nodded.

"Then I'll guide you," Helena said.

"Sounds good."

"I’ll follow~"

Seong moved forward with Helena and Serpina, but just in case, he also summoned Fiora, Noctrynium, and Valtar to act as the vanguard.

As expected, Leonic was still training.

When the Gate of the Underworld had opened earlier, Seong thought he saw Leonic’s arm reaching out—only to be yanked back by something.

He decided to ignore that.

With the six of them forming a party and setting off, Fiora seemed to remember something.

—Ah! We’re going there, right? Ninyaru?

"Oh, correct, Fiora. You’re sharp."

—Hehehe~

Fiora beamed under Helena’s praise.

Valtar, on the other hand, furrowed his brows in deep thought.

Ninyaru? That sounds familiar...

As he stroked his chin, trying to remember, Noctrynium scoffed at him in disappointment.

"You left Nyao there, remember?"

—Ohhh!! That’s what that place was called!? KHAHAHAHA!!! It’s been ages since I heard that name! Wonder if it’s still alive?

—M-Maze beastfolk live for over a thousand years, s-so it should still be alive...

Hearing this, Seong and Serpina simply stood and listened in silence.

Nyao, huh?

That was an incredibly cat-like name.

Just as Seong was thinking that—

[Keyword 『Ninyaru』 and Keyword 『Nyao』 have been acquired.]

An unexpected message popped up.

Oh? So this was a keyword system.

Apparently, these hints and clues were meant to guide him toward the maze merchants' headquarters.

But Seong ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) didn’t need to gather clues or keywords.

Helena was already wandering around the labyrinth, mumbling to herself.

Though, she seemed a little unsure as she tilted her head in thought.

"Hmmm, I think it was around here somewhere."

"What exactly are you looking for?"

Seong asked as he watched Helena muttering to herself.

Scratching her cheek, she responded.

"Look closely—there’s a gap here, right?"

Following her gaze, Seong examined the area.

There was indeed a very thin gap.

No, rather than a gap, it felt more like the labyrinth’s walls weren’t perfectly aligned.

Almost as if—

There’s a step misalignment.

It looked like a construction error had left a small step.

Something was definitely off.

He scanned the surroundings, but there was nothing out of place.

What was Helena searching for?

As he wondered, she continued.

"There should be something around here that looks like dogtail grass, but I don’t see it..."

"Dogtail grass?"

In a labyrinth?

It sounded strange.

But Helena wouldn’t be wrong about something like this.

Just as Seong was about to start looking for it himself, he called out to Noctrynium.

"Is there any dogtail grass around here?"

"Tch. I wanted to find it first."

"Please wait a moment."

If Noctrynium searched for it, he’d find it quickly.

Seong asked, and Helena pouted in disappointment.

Apparently, she’d wanted to find it first.

But no matter how hard they looked, they couldn’t spot it.

A spatial detection ability like Noctrynium’s was perfect for this kind of search.

Soon enough, Noctrynium spoke up.

"Hmm... I believe it’s here."

His uncertain tone made both Seong and Helena tilt their heads.

It was rare for Noctrynium to sound unsure.

When they looked toward the spot he indicated—

They did see some leaves.

And they weren’t far from the misaligned wall.

But they were cleverly hidden within the moss on the labyrinth’s surface, making them nearly impossible to notice.

The fact that he even found it was impressive.

However—

"There’s no stem?"

"Just the base?"

It looked somewhere between a sprout and a root.

The way the leaves spread flat on the ground was a bit like a dandelion.

It was an odd shape.

But—

"The composition suggests it is dogtail grass."

Since Noctrynium confirmed it, it had to be.

Seong and Helena exchanged a glance before standing up.

So, this was the entrance?

Seong looked at Helena.

She nodded and gently ran her hand along the wall, from the misaligned section toward the dogtail grass.

KUGUGUGUGUGU—

With a deep grinding noise, the labyrinth’s wall slid sideways.

A long, dim passageway was revealed.

Torches lining the walls flickered to life as they stepped inside.

They walked for a short distance before they came across a massive gate.

And standing guard in front of it—

A group of cat beastfolk.

Creatures that looked similar to Becky gasped in shock as they spotted Seong.

"An outsider?!"

"How did you even get in here, nya?!"

[You have discovered the entrance to the Hidden City: 『Ninyaru, the City Above the Labyrinth』.]

It seemed they had arrived in the right place.

And then—

"Hoh? It’s my first time seeing an outsider here, nya."

A cat ghost floated in front of them.