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Chapter 27 – Uncharted Dungeon (5)

Chapter 27 – Uncharted Dungeon (5)

“Nice to meet you again.”

Ketal grinned slyly.

The ghost couldn’t say anything and just stared blankly at Ketal.

Then, several footsteps could be heard.

Soon, three figures appeared.

“Oh, oh, Ketal, you’re too fast.”

“I moved slowly enough. Sorry about that.”

“Oh, oh….”

The panting figures looked up.

A spacious room.

In the center, a ghost and a treasure chest.

They realized that this was the end of the maze, and their faces turned pale.

Ketal spoke slowly.

“This must be the end of the maze, right? We’ve cleared the maze, ghost.”

[…You.]

Only then did the ghost speak.

With a trembling tone that seemed unshaken by the shock, it asked.

[What did you do?]

He actually knew.

But he had to ask anyway.

Ketal replied lightly.

“I broke the walls. Knowing that the exit was on the edge, it was a one in four chance. I didn’t expect to succeed though.”

Ketal proudly boasted with a smirk.

“The strategy for the maze. There are various methods, but the most rational one is simply breaking the walls.”

The maze is a space consisting of square sections blocked by walls.

So, if there are no answers, finding a way through the maze is very simple.

Therefore, break the walls.

Do not keep the maze in the form of a maze.

“It’s a simple but surefire solution.”

“Oh wow….”

“Indeed….”

The priest, the warrior, and the thief marveled.

They thought it was a rational method and were amazed at the barbarian’s excellent abilities and judgment.

And the ghost wanted to scream in disbelief.

‘That can’t be possible!’

Some adventurers had thought about breaking the walls of the maze.

But they all failed.

The reason is simple.

Because the maze is not designed to allow such a strategy.

[…You’re saying something impossible. The walls of the maze cannot be broken. It’s because it’s governed by laws.]

“Was that the intended meaning?”

Ketal murmured as if guessing.

The inscriptions containing information about the maze.

There was one sentence there.

[8. This maze does not change.]

What is the standard for change?

Does it mean that the shape of the maze does not change, or does it block external intervention as well?

Judging by the ghost’s words, it seemed to be the latter.

“It was too easy to leave traces on the floor of the maze, so I thought it wasn’t true. But it seems to be correct. But the walls were broken. Aren’t you mistaken?”

[No. No. I don’t make mistakes. The walls of the maze do not change.]

“But they were broken.”

Ketal shrugged as if guessing.

The ghost was speechless.

It is a law and a concept.

No one can escape it.

But in reality, the barbarian broke the wall and came here.

Ketal said lightly.

“So I broke the law. Originally, breaking the wall was supposed to be impossible. Well, I didn’t know it would succeed.”

Ketal laughed, and the ghost countered.

[No. No. Breaking the law is impossible.]

“Why?”

[Because that’s the law of the dungeon. Even if one is strong, they cannot break it.]

Ketal smiled intriguingly at the ghost’s words.

“The law of the dungeon cannot be broken. How can you be so sure?”

[It’s simple. Because it’s the law.]

“I’m not talking about knowledge, I’m asking about experience. You’re a ghost. Aren’t you the one bound to this dungeon?”

[…That’s right.]

The ghost is bound to this dungeon.

He knows nothing about the outside world.

“In the end, what you know and have experienced is just about this small… It’s too much to say this whole dungeon. You don’t know about other dungeons, and you don’t know about the world’s strongest ones. How can you be so sure?”

Because it’s the law.

It’s a concept that no one can break.

But the barbarian wasn’t asking about breaking that concept.

It was a question of whether he had truly confirmed that the concept couldn’t be broken.

The ghost couldn’t answer that either.

He was just reciting the information that had been in his head since he was born.

The outside world of the maze, he knows nothing about it.

Can a truly strong person break the law?

…It’s not known.

Because all he knows is the information he received when the maze was created.

Birds fly in the sky.

Fish live in the water.

The ghost knows that, but he has never seen it with his own eyes.

[…I cannot be certain.]

In the end, the ghost had no choice but to utter those words.

Ketal, as if finding the ghost’s agony interesting, stroked his chin.

“You’re saying interesting things.”

A ghost bound to a dungeon talked about the outside world.

Although there was incorrect information that the maze couldn’t be broken, it was a quite detailed story.

It meant that someone had given the information to the ghost.

Ketal’s interest soared rapidly.

The ghost, having finished organizing, spoke.

[Fine. You successfully broke through the maze and reached the exit. I’ll admit that.]

“Oh wow!”

[But I cannot provide a reward.]

The party members, who were cheering, froze.

The ghost said calmly.

[Although you reached the exit, the method you used didn’t follow the rules of the maze. I clearly said that if you succeed in the strategy, I’ll give you a reward.]

It was impossible to claim success if they cleared it by unconventional means.

So, there’s no reward.

Despair lingered on the faces of the party members.

They almost died, but couldn’t take anything with them?

But only Ketal’s face seemed to have expected that.

“So, if one knows the strategy according to the rules, can they receive a reward?”

[What?]

“In reality, it may not be feasible. Since the maze is already destroyed. But if, according to your judgment, the strategy follows the rules of the maze, is it possible?”

[…It is possible.]

The ghost, who had been pondering the meaning of the words for a moment, replied.

They had already reached the exit of the maze.

If they could pass through the maze with the strategy they were talking about now, it could be considered a successful strategy.

But does the brute barbarian, who broke the wall, know the strategy of the maze?

The ghost didn’t believe it.

He looked at Ketal as if asking him to say something.

So when Ketal’s mouth opened, the ghost paused.

“There were torches in the maze.”

Torches were present at regular intervals.

They helped navigate the dark maze.

“There were torches at regular intervals. But there was a place where that rule was broken. It was at the junctions.”

As if torches had to be present only at the junctions, there was one torch in every direction at each junction.

“So it’s simple. Turn off the torches in the direction you came from and the direction you’re going at the junction. That’s the strategy.”

[…….]

The ghost couldn’t say anything.

But it could clearly feel a sense of shock.

Ironically, the priest, who had been quietly listening, tilted her head.

“Is that the strategy?”

It didn’t make sense.

Just turning off torches was all there was to it.

It was too simple compared to the complex and difficult strategies of the maze.

Ketal replied.

“After all, a maze is about finding the one correct route among many routes.”

If there are a hundred routes in the maze, only one of them is correct.

The rest are all wrong.

“So it’s simple. The moment I enter that route, I leave a trace that I entered it. If that route is wrong, the trace will soon be made by excluding the route.”

“Um, hhmmm?”

The priest still didn’t understand.

Ketal shrugged lightly.

“There’s no need to think too hard about it. Just think of it as filling up a blocked path. That’s what the torches are for. Instead of torches, it could be straw or breadcrumbs. But in that case, it would require quite a lot of resources.”

“Um, um.”

The priest shook her head.

The answer wasn’t coming easily, and she groaned in frustration for a while.

And after a while, a slow amazement spread across her face.

“…It’s possible.”

If Ketal’s method was followed, one could escape even a maze with inner walls.

It was truly a simple yet astonishing idea.

The priest stammered,

“H-how…”

“Out of interest.”

Ketal said lightly, but the priest couldn’t accept it like that.

What Ketal had just said was establishing a theory for the countless attempts at conquering the maze.

For a maze of this form, Ketal’s method could conquer them all.

It didn’t require much investment.

Just leaving a very small trace at the junctions was enough.

It was incredibly simple, but it wasn’t a theory that could be easily conceived.

In fact, even after hearing it from Ketal, she realized it only after much contemplation.

The thief and the warrior still seemed perplexed, not understanding.

‘This barbarian…’

Was a genius.

With an ambiguous smile at that thought, Ketal guessed what the priest was thinking, but it was a complete misunderstanding.

He wasn’t a genius.

He just knew and learned a lot.

What he had just mentioned was the Trémaux algorithm.

It was a theory of maze exploration established in 1800.

Exploring the maze while dragging a thread.

It was a theory that established maze conquering methods like dropping breadcrumbs.

He only knew that fact.

He knew many things they didn’t.

It wasn’t because he was exceptional.

It was because he was a modern person.

He learned of the myriad of stories accumulated by millions of people.

The countless conspiracies and stratagems hidden in thousands of years of history that might not have been known to people.

The many concepts and laws created by outstanding geniuses, and the rules that organized them so even ordinary people could understand.

He knew and learned a lot.

It was something he naturally knew as a modern person.

The sharing of knowledge was relatively recent.

But since he couldn’t say that fact, Ketal just smiled.

The ghost was deep in thought.

Could the maze be conquered with Ketal’s method?

The answer came immediately.

Yes, it could.

It might take a considerable amount of time due to the maze’s vastness, but they would eventually reach the correct answer.

That’s how the maze was designed.

In the end, the ghost had to admit it.

This barbarian could conquer the maze.

[…Very well.]

Positive words came from the ghost’s mouth.

Hope shone on their faces.

[You spoke of a method to conquer the maze. And it’s clearly possible. You have succeeded in conquering the maze.]

“That’s wonderful.”

[Challengers. You have excellently succeeded in conquering this dreadful maze. You are the first and last challengers to conquer this place.]

The ghost declared.

[Enjoy the reward worthy of that.]

As those words ended, the treasure chest opened wide, frighteningly.