A majestic bed — check.
A wardrobe — check.
A writing desk — check.
A freaking library — check.
A dining table — check.
A bathtub — check.
A bathroom — check.
A giant silver clock — check.
"How is this not a house but a carriage? It's basically a mansion on wheels!"
I've read about noble carriages in the novel—some were spacious enough for private talks—but this is excessive.
Wait… my family has to own this right? Am I a high-ranking noble's heir?
Sweet!
As long as it's not a villainous family, I'll be fine.
But I'll worry about that later. Right now—there's a window. I should look out!
Several knights camp around a fire, their lips moving soundlessly, careful not to wake me, it seems.
I see no other knights around here other than those.
They must be an elite group!
I have 5 hours before my strength mostly vanishes as the transmigration will be in complete phase by then and looking at that clock the time is about 12pm midnight.
The window opening was just wide enough to slip through—thanks to Moon Soo's gift suppressing my sound and presence, slipping through unnoticed was easy.
Before escaping, I'd changed into darker clothes from the carriage's storage— it will be helpful when I return.
I vaulted into the forest, pausing just beyond the firelight's reach to stay hidden.
I took one last look toward the knights.
They'd impaled a rabbit on a stick, slow-turning it over the fire—and my heightened senses confirmed it was still alive.
AND THEY WERE JUST ENJOYING IT!
This is evil.
I don't even know what to say.
But right now I should be running.
The dungeon was about 120km north from here.
A river stream is what guided me to an hour journey on foot only achievable since I am "superhuman".
I was fast like a car!
A closed cave with a small gap was my destination.
I expected ruins inside—but wow, it was majestic.
It is what you would think "ancient Egyptians tombs" looked like or how they are generally represented in Hollywood.
Of course there are floating disks in front of me, so magical stuff is added.
To my left is empty darkness, and to the right are clay statues holding a familiar weapon — an iron staff!
"I'll take that, thank you."
Master told me these ones, the statue warriors, are for decoration, so I had to believe him. This is the reason I trained with a staff, I believe.
But how he got this info is beyond me!
After all he said no one set their foot in the dungeon, maybe he used qi sense ? that is possible.
I hopped across the floating disks—they were surprisingly stable despite their shape.
My destination was a massive door, large enough for even giants to walk through—yes, giants exist in this world.
One final leap, and I reached it. I pushed with both hands. It was heavy, to say the least, but manageable.
The door groaned open.
As soon as I stepped inside, the doors shut behind me. It was terrifying.
But the interior was mesmerizing. The walls glowed faintly, and at the top of the stairs sat a massive statue warrior made of blackish clay, on a throne.
It was insane—this was all inside a cave.
I was Mesmerized while— a sudden arrow shot right in front of my face!
Instinct kicked in. I threw myself out of the way, barely surviving the explosion that followed.
"What was that?"
I looked toward the direction it came from.
"So he's the guardian… and the arrow was a trap I triggered."
I pulled myself up, bent down to grab the staff—then the light illuminating the place flickered. A shadow swallowed it for just a second. My eyes snapped toward the darkness.
The silhouette was the guardian—massive, leaping across flights of stairs, arms stretched out like a predator snatching prey mid-air, aiming to crush me completely.
I sprinted to the left like a startled deer, bouncing off the walls to reach the opposite side of the room.
The impact of its landing caused a small earthquake.
"Shit, this is bad!"
Guardians are beings found at the entrance of a dungeon, meant to filter out thieves and bandits unworthy of the treasure inside.
They're generally believed to be weaker versions of the boss monster—but that's not always true.
The stronger the guardian, the more dangerous the dungeon.
It jumped again. And again. And again.
For every attack, I had two—sometimes three—ways to dodge, but no matter what, an arrow would fire in the direction I ran.
At this rate, I'll wear myself out.
To win, I either have to outrun it—get up those stairs and reach the door besides its throne...
But that's far. And those arrow machines at the top won't make it any easier.
The other option? Destroy it.
"Okay, I have to try it."
I dodged one of its slams, dashed toward its lower half, and struck its legs with an Arc Strike.
Nothing.
Upper back—another strike.
Still nothing.
Arms? Same result.
An arc strike normally would crush boulders.
But at this rate, it would take 10 hours to destroy it.
Calm down and Think!
Ok let's observe, what is the monster i am fighting ?
A golem? I'd wager it is. Its joints are exposed, it shows no emotion, and it doesn't react to anything I do—It only wants to murder me.
They have a core, either inside the body or placed externally. Judging by the coordination between its movements and the arrows, I'd guess the core's on the outside.
It's easier to engineer that way—or so I've read. Not 100% sure, but it's worth testing.
Now, where is the core? If I were designing it, I'd hide it behind the throne—most distant, most protected. Let's experiment, shall we?
I dodged another attack—then exploded forward, legs coiling like steel springs before releasing every ounce of power into a single thrust. The iron staff struck the guardian's knee joint—not to smash it, but to throw off its balance.
"IT WORKED!"
I bolted—full speed—up the stairs.
As always, three arrows were fired with each dodge, all at different angles.
I caught one mid-run, just like I did with the leaves, to avoid detonation.
"Thanks for the training master"
The golem, even while being expressionless, somehow felt pleased— as I had taken a narrow path that had no way of escaping, it charged at me like a dog reuniting with its owner. I reached the halfway mark and threw the arrow with everything I had—It curved hitting the wall behind it.
BOOM.
It was stronger than my attacks by at least three times.
Sweet.
The narrow path is escapable if you are in half ways through.
Now I had a solution.
Three arrows per dodge. Catch, store, repeat.
For twenty minutes, I did just that, exploding the walls behind the thrown cracking it to the point it revealed the core.
The golem didn't react. Not once.
"Seems like an adventurer catching an arrow and using it as a weapon was beyond them."
If I were a mage and used a fireball, I'm sure the guardian would've reacted—after all, a golem is a magical artifact.
Thus sensitive to magic!"
But catching an explosive arrow capable of crushing three boulders was crazy move they didn't consider it.
For the final attack, I used three arrows—and the staff itself.
The core was completely destroyed.
The guardian crumbled into dust.
"Finally".
I pushed open the next door—It was located to the right of the throne.
The moment I stepped in, it closed behind me with a low, heavy thud.
Then I heard it—another door opening.
It came from the room I'd just left.
Am I hearing things… or are the dungeon rooms shifting? There is no way someone is here right ? I can't confirm it now so It is fine!
"Till then, Let's see what this room holds."
A sign greeted me: RIDDLE ROOM.
How generous of them to tell me what to do—unlike the last one. Tsk tsk.
well off we go I guess!
RULES OF THE RIDDLE ROOM!
"Declare the verity you most profoundly grasp, even amid derision. Know that the world is not a chorus of voices but a singular continuum—and truth emerges only at the nexus of consciousness and reality."
What the fuck did I just read?
Yup. A wizard definitely wrote this one. Those fish-heads love messing with people's minds.
Damn it.
Haa... alright, let's break it down.
"Declare the verity I most profoundly grasp?"
Okay—verity is just a fancy way of saying truth.
Profoundly? That means deeply. So they're asking me to state the one truth that hits so deep, it practically defines who I am.
And "amid derision?" That just means even if others laugh at it—mock it, deny it—I have to say it anyway.
And then, "the world—not a chorus, but a singular continuum?"
This one's a hard one.
To my understanding, it's saying the world isn't just a bunch of separate voices or pieces—it's one big, connected whole.
And "truth emerges only at the nexus of consciousness and reality."
I thought for a moment before coming up with an answer: Truth isn't something that just exists out in the world, like a hidden object we can dig up. And it's not just something we imagine in our minds either, like a dream. Truth happens when the real world and our awareness of it come together. It's that moment where what's actually happening and how we see it combine. It's when we—our minds—and the world meet halfway- make compromise on what is TRUE!.
The whole definition still feels shaky. If the questions are like this, I'm cooked.
Ok, first question:
If I roll this ball, it'll reveal the riddle.
(Rolls it)
"I spin without legs, chase without eyes, and govern the tides. What am I?"
Alright.
No legs, but it spins.
Chases? Without eyes? And… tides?
"The Moon."
The ball glows faintly—"Correct."
Nice. A good start.
If I mess up, I fall into a different room, complete whatever's there, then come back here.
That's what I've read—so I need to be careful.
Next:
"I twist in pairs, unseen but in all. Break me, and kingdoms fall."
Hmm… twists in pairs. Not visible. But in all of us?
Break it, and everything collapses?
Last day of school.
Old biology teacher yelling through her coffee breath:
"DNA helix."
Double helix. The blueprint of life. One mutation and a system crumbles.
"Correct."
NICE.
Third one:
"I bend and dance but have no form. I reveal the unseen yet exist in plain sight."
This one's trickier.
Bends… dances… reveals the unseen. No form, yet always there.
Think—mirages, lenses, illusions.
"Light."
The glow pulses. "Correct."
Still on a roll.
Fourth riddle:
"I travel without feet, speak without a mouth, and vanish into silence. What am I?"
No feet, but travels. No mouth, but speaks. Fades into nothing…
Sound.
Not just sound. Sound waves.
"Sound waves."
"Correct."
Final question:
"I am neither seen nor touched, yet I shape reality. Without me, logic crumbles, patterns vanish, and the universe loses its order. What am I?
...Okay. This one.
This one has weight.
Something abstract. Untouchable. But everything falls apart without it?
Numbers. Music. Astronomy.
It's the framework. The invisible order behind everything.
Mathematics.
"Mathematics!"
The ball shimmers—brighter than all the rest.
"Correct."
YEEESSSSS!!!
The door opened by itself, revealing a corridor!
Now only one room left to go!