Chapter 11: Chapter 11. The Door test 2
Isaac already knew the answer from the manhwa. But he still had to pretend to be thinking about it, and he was also looking for clues purely for peace of mind.
After all, how could he rely on an answer from a comic when his life was on the line, and the test was flawed in his eyes in the first place.
At that time, Khun looked at Isaac. As the two exchanged meaningful glances, Khun said, "It seems that we need to open a door within five minutes, but let's look for other clues."
"Mhm." Isaac nodded, tacitly agreeing.
After briefly glancing at the twelve look-alike doors, his eyes landed on a large digital clock with red numbers that started moving the moment Han Sung announced the beginning of the test.
He immediately noted that this clok's dials were moving at an abnormally fast rate.
Hang Sun secretly looked at Isaac. 'It seems he's a smart one. But I'm sorry to say this. This isn't a test that can be solved with smarts alone.'
At that time, Khun followed the direction of Isaac's gaze and his expression flashed with surprise.
'Weird. Why is there a clock here when we have Pockets?'
The moment the test began, their Pockets also automatically launched a timer just like during the first test. In that case, why would there also be a digital clock inside the room? That clock was obviously suspicious.
Wearing a focused mask, Isaac observed the clock at the well, sometimes turning to the Pocket's timer and at the twelve doors.
After watching the clock for a while, he then examined the doors.
Khun followed him and did the same.
However, in Isaac's eyes all of the doors looked somewhat the same; there seemed to be no point in examining them.
Taking a step back, Isaac looked around the dark room in search of any other clues.
Apart from the digital clock and the 12 doors, there was only the administrator himself there sitting down and leisurely drinking coffee, and an ornate paper wall behind him.
Isaac looked at the paper wall, but saw that it only consisted of abstract paint marks with no order to them at all. If he kept searching for anything in it, he would probably only waste his time.
Soon enough, three minutes passed on the Pocket.
At that time, both Isaac and Khun thought of the same thing - it was obvious that no matter what, if they cannot figure out any more clues, they must choose any door within five minutes.
Khun thought, 'The clock seems to have a five minute cycle. Within five minutes, a full resolution happens. The teams that didn't scream finished the test within five minutes as well, so does it matter which door we choose? But why? Why is it fine to choose any door when we're supposed to pick the correct one? What is the point of this test? Just what is it testing?'
He hesitated.
Just because the teams that didn't scream finished early, didn't mean that they passed - they could have been killed silently. It could have been another trap.
In addition, it was a very weird test.
How's that clock a proper clue toward the true time limit?
And why would they have to rely on what they could have noticed before the test, when the test's rules was to open a door within TEN MINUTES, not five.
Those teams which have entered first, would have no chance of figuring the clues that they did.
It simply didn't feel right.
There are no more hints.
We can't make any mistakes. If we do, we die.
Don't trust anyone.
There are no more hints.
Why would it be possible to choose any door?
The answer… Is it so simple? Or is it a trap?
What's the point of this test?
Are there any more hints? What are the hints? Did I miss something?
[Aaah! This is so annoying! If there are no hints, let's just open any door!] Mordred whined.
Isaac smiled as he felt that Mordred might be up to something, but he had a certain suspicion. He turned to Khun and asked, "Khun, it was said that we have to find the correct door, was it?"
Khun looked at Isaac for a moment, being pulled out from his thoughts, and wrinkled his eyebrows. "Yes, why?"
"No, I mean - what was the wording used? Was it to find the 'correct' door or the 'real' door?" Isaac rephrased his question.
"Uh, I think it was the 'real door'…" Bam softly answered.
"Yeah, I'm also sure it was the 'real door'." Khun nodded with a thoughtful expression as he corrected himself.
[Yep, 'real door' for sure. But I'm sure why it matters.]
And Isaac smirked at this.
"Did you notice something?" Khun asked him.
Isaac smiled. "I think so… Well, aren't all of these doors… real?"
Khun stared at Isaac for a moment and then his eyes suddenly flashed with realization.
Real - meaning non-virtual, existing in reality.
This was another clue hidden within Han Sung's words!
It was obvious that the ten minutes time limit was some kind of trap, but in regards to the doors - aren't all of these doors 'real' as well?
"So… We really just have to open any of the doors before the real time limit is up?... Because they are all real doors?" Khun concluded, wearing an expression of wonder.
Isaac slowly nodded. "It seems so. But let's think about it a bit more, just in case."
"Right." Khun nodded.
Meanwhile Yu Han Sung's eyes secretly glinted, as he looked at Isaac. 'Amazing. He noticed all the clues.'
So far, most teams simply open a random door soon after entry upon hearing that there are no clues. They thought that since there are no clues, it doesn't matter which door they open. They might have also been influenced by the tips from his subordinates.
They passed, but they didn't solve this test at all.
Even the Regular Shibisu Leesoo, who had performed the best so far, did not pick up on that one clue!
Isaac was the first so far.
At that time, Khun and Isaac both looked at the Test Administrator, but Yu Han Sung maintained his poker face without a slightest change in expression and didn't give them any hints.
Following that, although Khun and Isaac already felt that they had the answer, they still kept looking for any other clues just in case. It was for the chance that perhaps there was something that they had missed and the other one would notice.
Once the Pocket reached 4 minutes and 30 seconds and the digital clock was close to completing a full revolution, Isaac decided to not delay things any longer.
After approaching one of the doors, he said, "I'm going to open a random door."
Watching this, Khun was silent and was only slightly frowning.
Bam looked on anxiously and also did not say anything.
Isaac looked at them, then looked back at the door. Hearing no complaints, he placed his hand at the handle and then gently opened it.
Behind him, Khun and Bam looked at that door with differing expressions.
Slowly, the door opened.
And what greeted them was the brightness of the outside world.
"The… outside?" Bam muttered.
"So did we pass?" Khun asked as he then looked toward the Tower Administrator.
As the three turned with anxious and hopeful expressions, they saw the administrator start clapping his hands. "Congratulations! You've passed."
At this, all three let out breaths of relief.
"Sheesh."
"We passed!" Bam gripped his fists.
[Phew. Well, I knew the answer from the start...]
"Amazing. How did you get the answer?" Hang Sun asked with a placid smile.
And Isaac rolled his eyes inwardly with a plain smile, secretly thinking, 'I knew it from reading a comic.'
Keeping this truth to himself, Isaac answered, "The answer is to choose any of the twelve doors within five minutes, because after five minutes all doors turn into wrong doors, right?"
"Correct."
"Then isn't this test extremely disadvantageous for those who enter first?"
"That's also correct. Those who blindly rush into the unknown head first are at a disadvantage"
"At a disadvantage? You basically sentenced the first few teams to certain death," Isaac said coldly and frowned at this kind of excuse.
Yu Han Sung smiled and replied, "In truth, those teams received a clue from my subordinates that were mixed in with the Regulars. But whether they trusted it or not, it was also their test."
Isaac was slightly enlightened when he heard this, but he still continued to stare at Han Sung because in his honest opinion this test still had little to do with fairness and was quite absurd.
One thing was that they were asked to choose a door within ten minutes, these were the rules of the test, so how could anything picked up from outside the test be used to overturn this truth?
In addition, the first few teams normally wouldn't even have a chance to pick up on this clue, making it feel even more wrong for someone in the position of Isaac's team who went in later.
He didn't like it, it felt wrong. This test had too many holes.
Isaac shook his head inwardly and continued explaining, "Anyway, I think the answer is obvious now. We simply kept track of the screams and the time the various teams took to finish, and noted that we have to finish the test within 5 minutes, no matter what it is."
"I see."
"The clock having a five minute cycle is a weird clue, but it's also there. Then we noticed that all of those doors are 'real', so it made things even simpler. However, I still didn't like this test."
After he finished speaking, Isaac turned away in a cool manner and began slowly leaving.
"Interesting, why did you not like this test? Did you not perform very well?" Han Sung asked.
Isaac looked back at him and wavered. There was a lot that he could say.
In fact, if he was in charge of this floor, he would fire whichever idiot administered this kind of test. In the manhwa nearly everyone passed just by stumbling about randomly and it ended up testing nothing while more than half of the Regulars died pointless deaths.
But, if as a Regular that's being tested he suddenly started insulting the test administrator who held absolute power around here, it would only be stupid.
"I just didn't like it," said Isaac.
Han Sung maintained a tranquil smile, as he replied, "Well, that's alright. You all did well, but I would like to give you one piece of advice, Mr. Isaac and Mr. Khun."
'Hm?' Isaac and Khun both raised their eyebrows as they turned back.
Han Sung faintly smiled. "Don't try to always solve everything by yourselves. Don't forget to rely on your teammates. And sometimes… It's better to not overthink things and simply open the door in front of you."
[Master, he's right, you know…]
Isaac was a little taken aback, smiled and then nodded. "I'll remember it."
He was aware that it was indeed one of his problems back in the first life.
Because he felt that everyone around him was an idiot, he would make all the decisions by himself, but it didn't mean that he always made the right ones.
Meanwhile, Khun frowned.
Han Sung gently smiled and continued, "You have good teammates to go up the Tower with. Congratulations. The test is over, so let's say goodbye for now."
As the administrator cupped his fists and bowed, Isaac and Bam returned the gesture and began to leave while Khun stood expressionlessly at the side for a moment, before finally beginning to catch up.
"And one more thing, Mr. Khun," Yu Han Sung spoke once again before they all left. "Your bag… looks heavy, huh?"
Chapter 12: Chapter 12. Break time, bonus game
"Woah, you were amazing, Sir Isaac! I didn't notice that hint about the real doors at all," Bam said while innocently smiling at Isaac.
"I just got lucky." Isaac faintly smiled.
As the three left the testing room, Bam looked relieved and happy while Isaac was relieved and satisfied.
Only Khun's expression was dark as he walked in the back.
'Don't try to always solve everything by yourself.'
'Don't forget to rely on your teammates. Don't overthink things.'
Han Sung's words reverberated in Khun's ears. And it felt as if it was a jab aimed straight at his incompetence.
'Damn it! Why didn't I see the clues?' Khun cursed at himself inwardly.
He was supposed to be the brains of the team. He was supposed to be the smartest.
In other words, not noticing the clues that Isaac noticed was his failure.
'I was so useless…'
He also didn't quite like this test, but the truth remained that he was simply useless.
The hint outside in regard to the differences between the timing of when the various teams finished, and the subtle world play in the Test Administrator's words… They were both very simple, but he failed to notice both.
If not for Isaac, who noticed them at a glance, he might have even missed them!
His intelligence, which he was an asset that he was always the most proud of, turned out to be useless here.
At this rate, did Isaac even need him?
Thinking this at the back of his mind, Khun slowly turned to expressionlessly look at Isaac who followed a guide robot to lead them to the gathering room.
"What's up?" Isaac asked with a light smile as he noticed Khun's strange gaze.
Khun shook his head and formed a small smile. "Nothing. I only thought that I was quite useless during this test. You basically solved it yourself."
Bam smiled a little, as if tacitly agreeing because he also felt quite useless.
[Yeah, you did great, Master! I guess that's why you're the Master.]
"Well, I got lucky…" Isaac shrugged.
In truth, he was a little happy that he noticed the hint in Yu Han Sung's words about 'real doors' because it was something that he had come up completely on his own; he didn't rely on his manhwa knowledge for this.
However, he still felt that it was a lucky find - because he already had a strong clue that they could open any door, he had the leisure to think about things like that.
But he still felt that he certainly needed people like Khun.
Isaac placed a hand on Khun's shoulder and told him with a small smile, "I got lucky this time, but I'll need you in the future. We're a team."
"Hm?... Sure! I'll show you guys just what I can do!" Khun smirked.
However, it was clear to him that Isaac was only polite.
'I'll have to do better on the next test.' Khun secretly squeezed his fists.
…
Inside the gathering room, Isaac's team picked a random bench and sat down together.
Soon after, Isaac noticed Shibisu walking toward them.
After approaching the group, Shibisu raised his hand at Isaac with a friendly smile. "Hey, Isaac! I knew that you would all pass! Haha."
"And you passed as well." Isaac smiled. Both his hands held precious weapons, so he simply smiled in a greeting.
Shibisu placed his hands at his hips and said, "Yeah, that test wasn't too hard. And after I noticed you watch how long the other teams took to finish their tests, it made things even easier, haha!"
"Haha, I had a feeling that you're a sharp guy," Isaac casually replied.
And Shibisu touched the back of his head in embarrassment, saying, "Haha, I'm a pretty normal guy…"
Isaac slightly smiled. Strength wise, Shibisu indeed was not exceptional at all; he was even weak. Even so, he seemed to be an important character in the story and had a good head on his shoulders.
Shibisu turned toward the other two sitting next to Isaac and said, "By the way, my name is Shibisu. I already know Isaac, but I'm not too familiar with you two."
"My name is Khun Aguero Agnes, I'm from the Khun family." Khun smiled courtly as he stood up and extended his hand to Shibisu, staring at him with a look of superiority.
With a somewhat nervous smile, Shibisu shook Khun's hand. "Haha, nice to meet you…"
After that, Bam also meekly extended his own hand. "I'm Bam, the Twenty-Fifth Bam. Nice to meet you."
"Yeah, I remember you, lucky guy." Shibisu chuckled as he shook Bam's hand. "It's amazing for someone who looks so ordinary to make it up here. It seems you're quite special."
Bam smiled sheepishly. "No… not really. It's all thanks to my teammates."
"The humblest ones turn out to be the scariest, haha."
After some more small talk, Shibisu returned to his own team.
When this happened, Isaac focused on the Clarent in his right hand, with Mordred's spirit inside.
Isaac thought of something and asked, 'Saber, how much energy did it cost you to ignite on the first floor?'
[Ah, about that. It didn't cost me any energy. Because... it doesn't seem as if I have any energy reserves or anything.]
'What? You have no energy reserves?' Isaac was surprised and confused.
[Yeah… That's how it is, Master. I only felt a little tired after igniting. I could probably keep blasting off Noble Phantasms several more times until I become exhausted.]
"Eh? What?"
Isaac thought about it. As far as he remembered, Yuri's special weapon that she used against Karaka had a limit of being able to ignite only once a day. Didn't it mean that it had a limit on its energy reserves?…
Or did he remember or understand something incorrectly?
Mordred continued, [By the way, Clarent and Clarent Blood Arthur are both far stronger now, but I don't think we can bring out their full power even if we work together.]
'I see… So basically, as we grow stronger, the strength of Clarent's ignition will increase, right?' Isaac summarized.
[Yep, that's how it seems to be. Clarent… Is a weapon that focuses and amplifies magical energy. The more you put in, the more you get out!]
'Hmm…' Isaac entered a deep thought.
He previously thought that Clarent as an Ignition Weapon would have a limited energy supply and a capped level of power, but it wasn't like that.
Clarent's ignition had an inherent base level of power based on Mordred's strength and then it can be increased depending on his own strength.
'This is much better. Rather than being a trump card while I'm weak, Clarent is a growing weapon and will be helpful to me even at a high level.'
At this time, the ignition that he did on the First Floor already seemed to have surpassed Mordred's usual Clarent Blood Arthur from the time of the war. At his current level, he can at least use it to crack Headon's Ball just like the Black March.
As time passed, eventually all teams finished participating in the test and assistant Yellowy announced a 30-minute break.
The break time was rather uneventful. The three in Isaac's team didn't talk much, but as they all silently sat together, Isaac could still see that the atmosphere was rather comfortable.
During the break, Isaac tried to explore some more mysteries of his powers inside the Tower and also secretly chatted with Mordred.
At one point, Mordred said, [Hey, Master… So we didn't have a good chance to talk about it before, but what was it that really happened after the final fight? You… used a wish to bring me back, did you?]
Before this, when they appeared inside a weird underground space still before being summoned to the First Floor, Isaac only had a chance to say that their situation should be because of the wish he made, but that's all he told her.
'... Yes, it seemed to be a part of my wish. I feel that… I wanted to bring you back,' Isaac said honestly with a small smile.
[Master…] Mordred said in emotion.
Isaac faintly smiled. He felt it was the truth.
Mordred, although quite childish, reckless and sometimes stupid, had taught him to be more honest with himself and was his first and only friend.
Concentrating on his connection to Mordred, Isaac continued, 'Well, I don't know if it's what you wanted. All of this happened very suddenly. Even I was surprised that this is what happened.'
[No, Master, it's okay. I already figured things out during the war, so I didn't care about the wish anymore… So, thank you. Thank you for wishing to have me around.]
As Mordred said the last words with a sniff as if she was about to cry, it caused Isaac's eyes to slightly glaze over.
He knew that Mordred had traumas related to her 'father' whom she admired not having any expectations of her; he happened to see it in his dreams. As such, she should have been happy that someone wanted her around and wanted to rely on her.
[Hey, Master. This Tower seems like an interesting place. Since we're already here, let's crush those tests!]
'... Yeah.'
During the break continued, Isaac took this chance to observe some of the Regulars in the room using his 'Instinct A' skill.
Instinct was primarily a skill used for combat to predict the enemy's attacks. It didn't give him precise data like some kind of game system, but he could still use it to roughly feel out the threat level and the physical ability of the Regulars around him.
Firstly, he already saw Khun as someone who was not a threat at all - he was far stronger than Bam, who appeared as an ordinary person, but was not a threat.
For Hatsu and Rak, they were similar to Khun.
The only person here that made Isaac feel a level of threat was Anak. She still seemed significantly weaker than him, but she couldn't be ignored.
She already gave him the feeling of a weak-ranked Servant like the Assassin he saw during the war. The other Regulars seemed only slightly superhuman, but Anak was on another level, and this didn't even include the strength of her weapon.
'It's the effect of Jahad's Blood on her body, huh?'
Thinking this, Isaac then asked Mordred, 'Saber, how do you think we would fair against a Ranker?'
[A Ranker? Like that Pikachu or crossdresser guy?]
'Yeah.'
Mordred spoke in a complicated tone: [You know, Master, it's hard to say. People here don't have any Magical Energy, so it's difficult to judge their level. What my gut tells me is that they are physically strong, I can say that... But if it was just that, we might be able to beat them. But they still give me a bad feeling. It's better not to try it.]
'Well, okay.' Isaac couldn't imagine a Ranker not using Shinsoo to fight, so just looking at their body didn't seem like a good measurement of their strength.
[And with that Yuri girl, there is no chance at all. Seriously, Master, just that woman's body seems like it's Divine Construct grade.]
'Okay.'
Isaac also wondered whether he could kill a Ranker with Clarent Blood Arthur, but ultimately had no way to know.
…
As the break was slowly reaching the end, Khun stood up and excused himself to visit the bathroom.
Isaac noted how Khun's bag seemed much lighter in his hand afterwards, but he kept it to himself.
At one point, the electric door slid open as Lero Ro entered the room with the assistant Yellowy at the side.
"Did you have enough rest, Regulars? I'm so happy to see you again!" Lero Ro spoke up with an excited expression.
"Oh! Mr. Lero Ro!" Bam smiled when he saw the Ranker he had a good impression of.
Lero Ro smiled as he raised his finger. "I came here… with very good news."
"Good news?" one of the Regulars asked.
"Yeah! I talked with the Test Director before I came here and he told us to give you a bonus game!"
At that, Shibisu raised his hand as he politely said, "I'm sorry, but I don't think it's in our best interest to take more tests than necessary."
"I'm sorry to hear that, but the bonus game has nothing to do with the tests. It is up to each team to choose whether to play the bonus game or not. There is no penalty if you decide not to."
As Lero Ro clarified, he managed to calm down some of the more cautious teams.
Lero Ro then continued, "But the winner of the bonus game gets to pass the final test of this floor. They get the right to go straight to the next floor."
Hearing those words, the Regulars looked at Lero Ro with interest.
Among them, only Isaac was indifferent.
"Gets to pass to the next floor? Then what about the remaining tests?" Khun asked, appearing moved.
"They don't have to take them," Lero Ro replied.
And the crowd of Regulars seemed to be very intrigued as they began reacting.
"Wow... that's a huge advantage!"
"It is a big chance…"
"But that luck to move on to the next floor goes to only one team…"
'Is skipping a free month of training under Rankers really an advantage for those who would pass anyway?' Isaac thought inwardly.
"So, what is the bonus game?" someone asked.
At the last comment, Lero Ro spoke up, "This game is called the 'Crown Game'. I will explain the details to you when we get to the game spot."
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