Free Web NovelAn ominous premonition is usually not wrong. A sensation vaguely brushed off as “just a hunch” is, with high probability, the accumulation of a database.
Do Yehyun unconsciously stepped back a pace.
‘Jin Haedo’ didn’t bother to grab him. He only stared at Do Yehyun quietly with eyes that held traces of a smile.
Just then, from behind, Gi Cheongmin, his face gone pale, hurriedly walked toward Jin Haedo.
“L-let’s think this over. This is different from the original conditions.”
“If you call them conditions, it sounds like a negotiation.”
Jin Haedo tilted his head slightly, as if he really couldn’t understand.
“I’m not signing a contract or negotiating with you.”
“...It’s a kind of contract. You demand payment, and I fulfill it...”
At that, Jin Haedo threw his head back and burst out laughing, as if he’d just heard a very funny joke. The light, cheerful laughter layered over the heavy atmosphere only amplified the sense of wrongness.
After quite some time, when the laughter finally died down, Jin Haedo frowned very faintly.
“A contract means there has to be a clear benefit I gain. What I asked from you is a kind of material. What benefit can I possibly get out of that?”
“......”
Finishing up to that point, Jin Haedo turned back to Do Yehyun and lifted his gaze on a slant. In the eyes of Jin Haedo, who was looking him straight in the face, something red flickered.
Seeing that, Do Yehyun instinctively understood.
This was a ‘god’.
At the hideout, he had clearly watched Seo Jehyun talking with someone else. Naturally, he remembered everything that had passed between them.
The ‘god’ said to appear in the maze. A being that grants wishes and demands a price.
It was a conviction close to instinct. In such a dim place, a being that talked about payment, negotiations, and sacrifices—there could be nothing here besides that ‘god’. On top of that, the pressure coming off the existence in front of him was overwhelmingly immense.
He had gone into countless dungeons recently, but he had never seen anything like this. Normally, you kill the dungeon boss and clear the dungeon, that’s how it’s supposed to go. Yet here, a being that could only be seen as the dungeon’s ‘boss’ had put on the mask of a human and was trying to communicate like a person.
A visceral rejection rose from inside.
Jin Haedo watched Do Yehyun quietly and slowly curled his lips upward.
“Looks like you’ve figured it out.”
The tone of voice that had been relaxed just moments ago suddenly turned hard. It didn’t suit his smiling face at all.
Shrugging off Gi Cheongmin’s desperate grip from behind as if it were nothing, Jin Haedo faced Do Yehyun head-on. The humming voices and miscellaneous noise around them vanished in an instant, replaced by a still silence.
“A simple explanation is in order.”
“......”
“I am a kind of desire whose form cannot be specified. Every living thing is born with several desires. For example, survival. The higher the life-form, the more finely those desires are divided, but basically, desire does not stray far from the desire to survive.”
Thump—his heartbeat pounded irregularly. Was it because he was facing the very core of the dungeon that Seo Jehyun had been so curious about?
'No...'
This too was in the realm of instinct. A certainty that the being before him would know exactly what he wanted.
‘Jin Haedo’ continued speaking.
“However, the form of desire easily causes discomfort in people. Even though most people possess desire, they find it difficult to look their own desires straight in the eye.”
“......”
“So... I fixed the form a little. How is it, does it suit me?”
Spinning deliberately in a full circle, Jin Haedo smiled and finished speaking.
“When people put on new clothes, they show them off like this.... I put on a new shell.”
“...I met Jin Haedo outside. He was clearly alive—how did you get his shell...”
“It seems you misunderstood. I never said I killed him and put on his real shell. I fixed my form to look like that child.” fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Again, his heart gave a sharp beat. Forcing down a dry swallow made his mouth and throat sting. Do Yehyun blinked slowly, trying to face the being in front of him.
“Then... you’re the ‘god’?”
At his question, Jin Haedo was silent for a moment.
“That is also a kind of shell. I don’t know what people decided to call me, but... I’m guessing they borrowed it from mythology or something. That’s how we coexist.”
“Coexist...?”
“Religion is originally like that. As much as humans need a god, a god also needs humans. Enough to cram itself into the stories they make up and live there.”
Do Yehyun tried to focus on Jin Haedo’s words, but the persistent, nauseating anxiety made it difficult. Noticing this, Jin Haedo lifted his head with a mock-surprised “Ah.”
“Shall we move to a place more suitable for conversation?”
At the end of those words, with a sharp snap, they moved somewhere else in an instant.
“......”
It was a sensation he hadn’t felt in a long time. Almost identical to what he’d felt when he used the Teleport Box because of Seo Jehyun.
Do Yehyun slowly opened his eyes and looked straight ahead.
In a space so dark he couldn’t distinguish even an inch ahead, Jin Haedo was standing there. As if something behind him were shining.
“There were too many distractions before.”
“......”
Summarizing the situation with a simple sentence, Jin Haedo smiled and clapped his hands lightly.
“Good, now it’ll be much easier to talk. Once our conversation is over, I’ll send you back to where you were, so don’t worry too much.”
“......”
Saying that, Jin Haedo curled his fingers, drawing Do Yehyun closer.
“You’re not all that curious about the details anyway.”
“......”
“Sometimes there are people who want to know why I chose that kid as my shell, how my existence is defined, what the principle of this maze is, things like that... but that also depends on their desire.”
Wrapping up his little monologue, Jin {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Haedo smiled faintly and asked:
“So, is there a desire you’d like to confess?”
“......”
“When they’re young, desire is usually simple. I don’t mean pure in a good way—I mean the degree of desire tends to be light. I can grant wishes of about that level.”
“Why?”
Only then did a question come out of Do Yehyun. The face that had been staring blankly at Jin Haedo scrunched slightly.
“Why do you grant wishes?”
“Because it’s interesting.”
“......”
At the answer that came without hesitation, doubt colored Do Yehyun’s eyes. freёweɓnovel.com
“In exchange for a price?”
“Mm, I’ll explain that too.”
Grinning faintly, Jin Haedo spoke simply.
“What you people call a ‘price’ is actually just material. The only thing I take is desire. Strong desire. I was born from desire, I govern desire, and I’m made solely of desire. To maintain this form, I need it.”
“......”
“Then how do I replenish desire? It’s simple. I take your desires.”
Letting out a short giggle, Jin Haedo drooped his eyebrows and made a pitiful expression.
“That’s why I grant your ‘wishes’. It’s a kind of stimulant.”
“...A stimulant?”
“Yeah.”
Jin Haedo lightly laughed as he looked up into empty air.
“The wishes of people who come here are all limited. They’re gathered because they want to become stronger. I can’t do what is truly impossible... but I can break the limits of those for whom it’s possible. To explain it your way—if someone who could originally reach C-rank is stuck at a low rank for now... I give them a little push.”
“Is that possible?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? I’m just pulling their limit forward.”
As if his question were the strange one, Jin Haedo tilted his head and smiled.
“What Cheonmyeonggyo talked about... is that really... really true?”
“I don’t know their doctrine well, but I know that kid is using my ability to do something. The before-and-after is a little reversed.”
“......”
Still smiling, Jin Haedo continued.
“Don’t doubt my reason for granting wishes too much. I can explain all of it.”
“......”
“Humans with the desire to become stronger usually start with low standards. ‘I just want to get a little stronger.’ So if they get a little stronger, do you think they’re satisfied? No... never. Next time they want more, and then even more. I calmly swallow that swelling desire bit by bit. The first wish I grant actually becomes the stimulant.”
What does it even mean to swallow desire bit by bit?
Unconsciously, Do Yehyun furrowed his brow slightly at Jin Haedo’s words. He knew it was something ominous, but it still wasn’t easy to grasp.
“I don’t really understand.”
“Simply put, I steal desire.”
“......”
“I fatten up that person’s desire as much as possible and swallow it in the end, turning them into someone without desire.”
A person whose desire has vanished.
Do Yehyun briefly imagined what that would look like, then refocused on Jin Haedo’s explanation.
Jin Haedo gave him only a moment to absorb his words before continuing.
“But a human whose desire has been castrated usually loses the will to live. Or goes insane.... That’s why, at least in this maze, I’ve been generous.”
“...How?”
“Every human has basic desires, so I allow them to bring someone else who can substitute for their desire. Then I swallow the sacrifice’s desire instead and grant that person’s wish.”
“......”
“Of course, I don’t revoke it even if they leave this place and go back outside. What has already happened can’t be undone.”
Using someone else’s immense desire as a sacrifice in order to grant another’s ‘wish’. Was that really kindness?
Instead of doubting the god in front of him, Do Yehyun slowly nodded.
'He’s not trying to deceive me. It’s just... his standards are different.'
Even if this god told them about all these dangers, would people really have refrained from pouring out all their desires before it?
The answer was obvious. If they were desperate...
Reading Do Yehyun’s silence, Jin Haedo smiled quietly.
“So, do you have anything else you’re curious about?”
“......”
“If not, then I’ll ask a question. No—I already know, but I want you to face it yourself.”
A massive sound reverberated through the space. Do Yehyun stepped back and clenched his fists tightly.
His heart was pounding irregularly again. Because he already knew what the next words would be.
Jin Haedo’s mouth slowly opened.
“So, is there a desire you’d like to confess?”
