‘It’s strange, didn’t the swamp seem smaller when I looked at it on the map? If I moved in a straight line from the tombstones then we should’ve already exited the swamp and reached the City of the Dead.’
“Ah, Ark-nim! There’s another glowing tombstone in front of me!”
Buksil exclaimed after scouting the area with his eyeballs. When he moved in the area Buksil indicated, a saint’s tombstone soon appeared.
“Another saint’s tombstone? Then there is one saint’s tombstone at every fixed distance? Anyway, it’s lucky. We can rest here until morning and then move on.”
“I’m glad Baekgu.”
“Yes, Master. Huk, it really is fortunate.”
Baekgu replied in a tearful tone and ran to the saint’s tombstone. However, Baekgu tilted his head to the side with a puzzled expression when he arrived.
“Eh? This is……?”
“Eh? What’s this? Fire and stripped down japtem? Who was camping here? Has someone else come here?”
Buksil muttered while exploring. However, Baekgu shook his head.
“No, our smell is the one left behind.”
“What? Hik, come to think of it……?”
Buksil touched the tombstone with surprise. A graffiti that said ‘Buksil was here’ was recorded on the tombstone. Although it was shameful writing on a tombstone…… That concept wasn’t a problem for Buksil.
Anyway, the situation became clearer thanks to Buksil’s scribble.
“Get out of the way!”
Ark arrived after Buksil and checked the tombstone.
-The saint ‘Betelgeuse’ lies here.
‘Betelgeuse…..it’s definitely the previous tombstone. What on earth is going on?’
Ark opened the map with a puzzled expression. Ark’s group had headed straight to the east after leaving the tombstone. He had checked the map while walking yet they had ended up in a circle. After checking the map again, the unconfirmed area was still obscured. Then somehow they had got their directions mixed up and was walking backwards?
“Ark-nim, what is going on?”
“Well…..damn, I want to ask that too……”
Ark worried about it for a while before standing up again.
“Racard, fly as high as possible and pay attention. If something changes then tell me immediately.”
This time Ark ran across the swamp in the opposite direction. After running for 4 hours, the tombstone once again appeared in front of them.
“Again! Betelgeuse’s tombstone. Racard!”
“I don’t know, there were no changes. The direction also didn’t seem to change.”
Ark’s face became even more serious at Racard’s answer. He moved in two different directions yet ended up at the same spot. This couldn’t be a coincidence.
‘We’re stuck in the swamp. Oh my god, I only became aware of it after ten days……’
The swamp located in the Land of the Dead was one giant labyrinth. Now the Mould Zombies wasn’t the problem. He was stuck in a labyrinth without any markers or clues. The only way to escape this place was to die and resurrect in another location.
‘Wait? Markers or clues?’
Ark considered something and looked at the tombstone. It was the only glowing tombstone in a dark swamp. And he always ended up back here despite the direction he moved in. Then wasn’t the tombstone itself a clue for escaping? No, it definitely was. In fact, Ark had been doubtful from the moment he saw the tombstone. He wandered why there were tombstones in a swamp. But if somebody made this tombstone as a marker to escape the swamp?
‘There’s no doubt about it. This tombstone is the only thing without an explanation. Obviously this tombstone is a reference point. The problem is what the reference point means…….’
Ark went over the tombstone carefully. However, he couldn’t find anything no matter how hard he looked. Ark had thought it was strange so he checked the tombstone when he first found it. But he never found a secret passage or item.
‘Damn, does that mean I can’t reach the City of the Dead if I don’t solve the tombstone’s secret? The key to entering the City of the Dead is the tombstone……. But what type of hint is it? This ridiculous trap appearing out of nowhere…… Huh? Wait…..hint?’
Something flashed through Ark’s head.
-Heaven and earth, life and death, find the place where they are reversed and follow the hero’s star path.
It was one of the phrases he heard when he received his class change quest. And the place to complete the quest was the City of the Dead. Then wouldn’t this phrase be a clue to reach the city? A big problem could be solved if he thought carefully. The place where life and death is reversed was clearly about people changing to the undead.
‘Yes, then I have to follow the hero’s star path to escape from this place…….’
The hero’s star path? Did that mean follow the constellation? But he couldn’t even see the sky while in the gloomy swamp. Thanks to that, his dark attribute bonus was applied even in the daytime.
“Heaven and earth is reversed……hero’s star……what does that mean? Wait? D-don’t tell me…..?’
Ark had a flash of inspiration after thinking for a while.
“Buksil, do you know anything about constellations?”
“Huh? Ah, no……”
“Sheesh, do some studying!”
Ark declared coldly and exited the game unit. Then he sat down in front of his computer and accessed the internet.
‘There’s no doubt about it. Saint Betelgeuse, I heard about it when I was a child. If I remember correctly…..’
Ark searched the internet for the name Betelgeuse. He confirmed that his guess was correct when he saw the information.
-Betelgeuse (α Orionis) a red variable star that can be easily seen.
Yes, Betelgeuse was the name of a star in the Orion constellation. All of Ark’s questions were answered with that information.
‘That’s it. The saint’s tombstone contains the name of an Orion star. Then the meaning of the rest of the phrase is automatically solved.
The hero mentioned in the class change profession quest was Orion, son of Poseidon and the one who drove the monster away from Chios Island. If he swapped the sky and earth around, then the tombstone would act like a star on the ground and the mystery would be solved. Now the only thing left was following the hero’s star path. However, that was also solved after reading the rest of the information on Betelgeuse. The first tombstone that Ark had found in the swamp was Betelgeuse’s. Then that was the starting point. And Betelgeuse was the brightest star in the Orion constellation. If so, then the next saint’s tombstone Ark had to find was…….
‘The other bright β Orionis star, Rigel.’
Ark immediately searched for information on Rigel. Rigel was located in Orion’s left foot. If he applied Orion’s constellation to the swamp using Betelgeuse as a marker, he would have to head in the direction of Rigel.
“That’s it, I found it! Hero Maban’s puzzle has been solved!”
At first, he had been quite puzzled but now he felt a sense of accomplishment. This was the reason why people enjoyed brain puzzle games.
“Hyun-woo, have you finished for today?”
While Ark was skipping around his room, his mother’s voice could be heard outside the door. His mother was living with him so he couldn’t lie to her anymore about making money from the game. Well, luckily his mother seemed to have received a hint from Gwon Hwa-rang so she didn’t protest. She was just worried when he played the game for an excessively long time. Ark opened the door quickly and grinned at his mother.
“Not yet. I need to go back to do something important. But it will take quite a bit of time.”
“Please don’t go overboard.”
“Yes, don’t worry. I’ll still exercise every morning.”
Ark replied before entering the game unit again.
“Huhuhu, Hero Maban, you can’t catch me with this degree of riddle. I’ll solve the rest of your puzzle and seize your legacy!”
Ark’s eyes brightened as he entered New World. The person who entered the unit wasn’t Hyun-woo but Ark.
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