[Sinseki Era — Year -21]
[Central Lands · Voll Basin]
"Mut, do you think the hidden realm is located here?"
"Of course, I'm confident."
Mut patted his chest and replied, "Although the mapmaker marked five potential points near this region that may lead to the hidden realm..."
"Both the deductions left by the cartographer and the conclusions I reached from intensive research point to where we're standing now."
"The chance of the hidden realm being here is higher than all other points combined."
"I see…"
Gut took the map from Mut's hands and carefully examined it.
Thanks to his innate trait [Innate Tomb-Raiding Physique], even if he had no evidence and judged only by instinct, when it came to ruin exploration, Gut had complete faith in his gut.
And right now, his instinct screamed—this map has a problem.
He hadn't noticed anything wrong just by looking before, but now, standing in the Voll Basin, comparing the terrain one-to-one with the map—he felt it at once.
His trait-enhanced intuition revealed something odd: of the five points marked by the mapmaker, three were "correct," but two of these gave him a faint sense of wrongness—as if something was "off" within the correct.
Mut had chosen one of those two "correct but wrong" points.
Only one point felt purely and absolutely "correct."
The remaining two were clearly wrong—but strangely, felt as if something "right" was buried within them.
Gut's gaze shifted to an unmarked spot on the lower part of the map.
A premonition struck him—there's another unmarked point here.
Fidgeting with the map and terrain, Gut eventually connected the two "wrong" points into a line—and then dug a mark into the midpoint below that line with his fingernail.
The result was a perfect equilateral triangle.
And when this point emerged—Gut's trait went wild.
It felt like the hidden realm could only exist here.
But—this spot also stirred deep unease in Gut's heart.
Something about it… just repelled him.
Could this hidden realm be something sinister?
While Mut and Himmel searched nearby for the entrance, Gut stayed behind and continued to decipher the map with his trait.
But ten minutes later, Himmel called out from ahead, having found an entrance—and Gut had learned nothing further.
"Oh well, for a green-tier trait, this is already impressive."
He stored the map, called to Serie resting under a tree, and headed toward Himmel.
Just as the master and disciple arrived, Mut returned breathless from the other side.
Catching his breath, he looked up at the entrance found by his idol and exclaimed, "To think you could find this kind of entrance… you truly are the Hero!"
No wonder Mut was surprised. The Unified Empire era map was over a thousand years old. In that time, even minor landscape changes become significant.
This entrance wasn't so much "found" as it was carved open by Himmel.
Outside the entrance lay shredded vines and shattered stones—evidence of his handiwork.
"I'm curious,"
Gut glanced at the sheer cuts in the rubble and asked Himmel, "These vines and rocks should've completely concealed the entrance. How did you know it was here?"
"Oh, that's simple."
Sheathing the Hero's Sword, Himmel explained with a smile.
"I sensed a different wind here."
"No matter how well an entrance is concealed, air always finds its way through cracks. That slight difference in breeze gave it away."
Gut: ...
Perfect answer. Clear logic.
But… he couldn't copy it.
No tricks. Just raw stats.
No wonder this was the same Hero who, even while cursed with the "Paradise Ferrying Magic," could slice down a Seven Calamities general by hearing a single discordant sound.
His stats were leagues above Gut's own.
"Tch."
Ahead, Serie had already stepped inside and was inspecting the ruins.
"While the stonework is clearly manmade, it appears to be just an ordinary labyrinth—not the place I was thinking of."
"Or maybe… that place lies within this labyrinth?"
As that thought struck her, Serie began spreading her magic to scan the surroundings.
"…No."
Suddenly, Serie retracted her aura and turned toward Himmel.
"Can you come in and slash something for me?"
"Wall or floor—it doesn't matter."
"Of course."
Himmel nodded, stepped forward, and slashed through a wall of the labyrinth.
"Huh?"
Though he had already cleaved the wall, Himmel still let out a small gasp—his blade had struck a jagged, translucent crystal.
"This texture… could it be?"
"Indeed. High-value, ultra-dense, anti-magic mineral—Sealstone Ore."
Serie confirmed with just a glance.
"Even as mere fragments, embedding them in the walls drastically hinders both spellcasting and magical sensing."
"If you force your way through with raw mana, the light they emit will dazzle you—maybe even blind you briefly if the dust was placed outside the walls."
"Interesting."
"To go this far in design… what kind of person built this labyrinth?"
----------
Powerstones?
For 20 advance chapters: patreon.com/michaeltranslates