“...Huh? What...huh?” Skaya’s illusion stuttered. She was unable to process what just happened. The mental blow she suffered was advantageous for Seo Jun-Ho.

‘This is really the end.’

He let out a sharp breath and mustered the last of his strength. His legs were shaky, but for now, they stood firm in supporting him. As he limped toward her, Skaya slowly turned her head.

“...I’ll kill you.” Her eyes were red as tears of blood poured from her eyes. “I swear, I’ll kill you.”

An immense amount of magic poured into her hands. Even if he was at his peak condition, he couldn’t guarantee that he would be able to easily block it. Seo Jun-Ho knew perfectly well what it was.

‘So the illusion can also use Destruction Ray.’

The magic folded and condensed, again and again within her hands as it formed into something. It sparkled brilliantly like the universe was in her hands. It looked beautiful, but it was a ray of death that would completely destroy everything it touched.

“Contractor. That energy...It seems considerably dangerous.” The Frost Queen was worried. Seo Jun-Ho nodded weakly.

‘I came this far, but I still have to use this.’

If possible, he didn’t want to. If he used it, he would be bedridden for at least two days.

“Hup!” The magic in his body started to pour out. Unlike before, he didn’t leave behind a single drop. At the same time, his body started to ache as if he had been beaten up by a dozen men.

‘Fucking burnout.’

The exhaustion from using up all his magic started to set in. But he couldn’t stop there. He continued to pull out his magic, creating a dark energy and condensing it over and over again. A weapon made of darkness slowly formed in his hands.

“...Deathscythe.”

It was also known as the Death God’s Scythe and was made by folding dark energy together. In other words, it was highly inefficient but there was one reason he used this.

‘Skaya has seven magic shields and her Destruction Ray.’

If he wanted to break through them, he needed an energy that would ‘ignore’ and ‘disdain.’ Darkness was the only one that could do that.

‘This is the best weapon I can make right now.’

One hit was much stronger than Law of Life. Seo Jun-Ho slowly raised the Death God’s Scythe.

“Die!” Skaya released the Destruction Ray, and Seo Jun-Ho swung the scythe. A violent noise tore through the air as the two energies clashed.

“...Haa, haa.” The final vestiges of his strength left him, and Seo Jun-Ho let go of Deathscythe. It lost its form and dissipated into black smoke. “I’m really glad you’re just an illusion.”

“...” Skaya silently looked down at her chest. A large cut ran diagonally from her shoulder to her side. Blood started to pour out.

‘If it was the real Skaya, I wouldn’t be the one left standing.’

Deathscythe was the peak embodiment of the darkness element and was a weapon that destroyed everything equally. The illusion’s Destruction Ray had been forcefully canceled because it had been weaker than Seo Jun-Ho’s technique. If the real Skaya was the one that attacked him, things would have been vastly different.

“...” Skaya slowly raised her head, sensing her own impending death. She smiled softly as blood poured from her eyes and mouth. “...Jun-Ho, we’ll be waiting.”

With those words, the illusions in the cavern disappeared. The blood on the ground and the broken walls of the cave disappeared, returning to their original appearance.

“Those illusions were dirty to the end. To think that they’d say that.”

“...They’re smart, like their originals. They know what to say to make me feel like shit.” Seo Jun-Ho muttered flatly. He knew that Skaya’s words were the illusion’s last attempt to make him despair, but it didn’t stop his insides from churning. “Haa….This is really fucking hard.”

The trial was over, but his current condition wasn’t good. His broken arm and rib had been part of the illusions, so they returned to normal, but the magic and stamina he used were real.

Seo Jun-Ho stumbled and leaned against a wall to prevent himself from passing out.

“Are you okay? Go to the resting room right now...!”

“Not yet...The completion message hasn’t appeared yet...”

Thankfully, it appeared right after he said that.

[You have cleared the Phantom Trial.]

[If you wish to continue, please say ‘Go’. If you wish to stop, please say ‘Stop’.]

[The next level is the Insomnia Trial.]

Of course, he chose ‘Go.’ Seo Jun-Ho quickly spoke. “Hey, Frost...”

“Speak.”

“I’m gonna...sleep. So...” He waved his hand as if asking for something, then collapsed where he stood. The Frost Queen huffed as she looked down at him. “Does he consider me to be his servant?” He was such a shameless human. “But I suppose taking care of vassals is the duty of a monarch.” She sighed.

The Frost Queen rolled up her sleeves and pulled him to the bed, complaining the whole time.

***

“...” Seo Jun-Ho slowly opened his eyes like a patient that had just woken up from a deep coma. His stomach rumbled loudly.

‘Just how long was I asleep?’

He was so hungry that his stomach started to hurt. He immediately went to the refrigerator and began eating.

“Phew, I finally feel alive.” He finished his meal and checked on the sleeping Frost Queen, then inspected himself.

‘I really don’t have any injuries.’

The violent battle happened in the space of an illusion, but his body was still stiff. His magic, stamina, and mental energy were drained.

“I’m going to rest for today.” The good thing about the Cave of Trials was that you didn’t have to rush to finish it. If you were injured, you could stay comfortably in the rest room until you were healed. As he rolled back onto the bed, the Frost Queen slowly sat up from her pile of tissues and yawned quietly. “You’re awake.”

“Yeah. How long was I out?”

“Around 30 hours.”

“...Ugh.” He slept a lot. “But considering I used Deathscythe, that’s not too bad.”

“Are you talking about the scythe at the end? It was as fierce as ever.”

He also used Deathscythe against the Frost Queen. But of course, she hadn’t fallen as easily as Skaya’s illusion.

“I thought I’d be out for a solid two whole days, so 30 hours is pretty good. My body doesn’t feel that bad either.”

“...” The Frost Queen silently floated over to him and poked his arms and chest with her finger.

“Hey! Ow! Why are you doing that?”

When he shouted unintentionally, she sighed. “Why are you pretending to be okay when your body is in this state?”

“...If I rest for today, I’ll be all better.” He was confident because his stamina and magic recovered rather quickly.

“Don’t be stubborn. Anyway, this Cave of Trials is quite fun in its own way.” The Frost Queen took a seat at the edge of the bed. “How many trials are left?”

“I don’t know exactly. But most people think that it stops at level 10.”

“Level 10...So there are still seven [1] trials left that are as perverse as yesterday’s?”

“Yes.” Seo Jun-Ho nodded but he was getting slightly worried.

‘Gray, the Administrator, said he’d raise the difficulty of the trials and change their contents a bit…’

But except for a few trivial things, the trials weren’t very different so far. In the Cave of Trials, the levels would get progressively difficult.

‘It’s driving me crazy. But I’d rather have the ball drop earlier than later.’

He was starting to worry because the Cave of Trials was easier than he expected.

“How do you feel? You have not seen your comrades in a long time.”

“It doesn’t matter. They were just illusions.” He suddenly remembered something. “...Well, I’m a bit sad that I didn’t get to meet my parents in the trial,” he muttered. They showed up the first time he entered the Phantom Trial. It had been so long since he saw them that he cried.

“Your parents? Why would they appear in the Phantom Trials?” The Frost Queen asked.

“What do you mean why? They’re both dead.” Seo Jun-Ho directly responded.

The Frost Queen was dumbfounded at his blunt response. “Huh...? Ah, I...I seemed to have made a mistake...”

“It doesn’t matter. It was a long time ago.”

“...That’s a good thing, I suppose.” She patted Seo Jun-Ho’s shoulder with her small hand. “I lost my parents at a young age too, so I can sympathize.”

“Really? How old were you?”

“Six.”

“...What? That’s worse than me though.” He was surprised. He looked at her with pity.

“There is no need to look at me so. It had been a long time for me as well.”

“...Yeah. We’re in the same boat.” Oddly enough, he had quite a bit of commonality with the Frost Queen. At times, it pissed him off, but it was also comforting sometimes.

“What is the next Trial?”

“...Insomnia.” He got dizzy just from just thinking about it. “You have to stay awake for ten days without sleeping.”

“What? Ten?! What a difficult Trial.”

“It’s the Trial that makes people go mad.” Staying up for a day or two was pretty easy. Even non-Players could do that.

‘But ten days...That’s on a different level.’

You would have to stay awake for 240 hours and give up the most important of the three basic human necessities.

“The Guinness World Record for staying awake is eleven days straight.”

“Ah, they must have been a Player with amazing willpower.”

“Actually, it was a normal person.” Of course, the results of the reckless challenge hadn’t been good. In an interview the next day, the challenger had a noticeably decreased memory retention and attention span. He also confessed to having auditory hallucinations[2]

‘Since I’m a Player, I didn’t have those kinds of setbacks last time.’

This didn’t mean that the Insomnia Trial was easy. After all, this Trial sent the most number of people back.

“I’m going back to sleep.”

“Wait. Has it not been less than an hour since you awakened?”

“I have to sleep a lot when I can.” He had to be as sharp as he could before he stayed up for ten days straight.

***

Seo Jun-Ho slept for another 13 hours. His eyes opened a few times, but he forced himself back asleep.

“Wow, I feel great.” Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes sparkled. How long had it been since he had taken a break and slept this well? He suddenly stopped with a peculiar look on his face. “Wait….Really, I think it’s been a few years since I had a rest like this.”

He technically slept in the ice for 25 years, but his body had been so worn out that it didn’t feel refreshing.

“This is the first time I’ve rested this well since the last time I challenged the Cave of Trials.” In Gray’s words, it had been 28 years and 7 months. Since then, he hadn’t taken a single day off from hunting and only slept a maximum of 6 hours a day.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes. Everything’s perfect.” Seo Jun-Ho nodded confidently. “Let’s go.”

He stepped out of the door.

“I wish to continue to the 4th level.”

[Warning: Once the 4th Trial begins, you cannot sleep for ten days.]

[Are you sure you want to proceed?]

Seo Jun-Ho once again felt that the Gate was too kind to the Players. “But if you’re gonna be this nice, at least lower the difficulty a bit,” he grumbled.

Afterward, he nodded. “Proceed.”

[Level 4: The Insomnia Trial will now begin.]

A large hologram timer appeared on the cavern wall.

239:59:59

It depicted the time that Seo Jun-Ho had to stay awake.

1. The raws says 6 trials are left, but he’s only gone through 3 trials so far ☜

2. This may be referring to Randy Gardner ☜