Tension filled the room.
The five large doors stood silently beneath the dimming light, each one carrying a completely different aura, and yet, none of them looked even remotely trustworthy…
With the building's entrance gone, no one dared to move first. A few people had already circled the room, frantically searching for hidden exits or secret mechanisms, but it was all useless. The walls behind the drawers and counters were smooth, and the windows had turned black—not with paint, but with the texture of solid stone.
Every path leading out had simply vanished…
This building, this room, was no longer normal!
If they wanted to leave—
Then they would have to choose a door!
The surrounding people exchanged uneasy glances.
Nobody wanted to be the first to try.
Finally, a thin middle-aged man raised his hand nervously.
"…I-I want to leave," he muttered shakily. "I don't want any opportunities. Just let me out…"
Kora tilted her head slightly.
"I'm sorry," she replied politely. "But it's already too late for that."
The man's face paled slightly.
For some reason, he didn't seem to doubt her words.
"Then forcefully open the exit!" Another person suddenly shouted from the back.
"Yeah! Open the way back outside!"
"Beautiful Lady, I just bought a jar of medicine, how did I get caught up in this?"
"We just came in here to eat, what's going on!"
"Hehehe, Interesting, interesting…"
Kora smiled apologetically.
"I really can't, dear guests. I apologize, but I, too, am part of this place. Even if I wanted to let you leave, I am but a helpless servant subjected to the wild whims of my master." She spread out her hands, looking genuinely helpless.
Only one of Petras servants could truly understand the meaning behind the words, 'subjected to the wild whims of my master…'
"…What?"
"Master…?"
"I also have to follow the rules!" She added lightly.
The atmosphere seemed to instantly worsen.
One of the people in the front, a particularly massive man, stepped forward with an ugly expression. His shoulders were broad enough to resemble a large bear, while his spiritual energy unconsciously surged around his fists. Clearly, he was already preparing himself to take the path of violence.
"Hah! Bullshit rules!" he roared. "Do you think we'll just listen like this obediently?!"
Boom!
He stepped forward and swung his arm directly toward Kora's small neck! The air seemed to scream as the surroundings were scraped by the surging spiritual energy. The people closest to him all felt the pressure, and the floor beneath his feet dipped down as he strongly stepped forward.
But just before his hand could touch her—
Da-dung!
A 'door' suddenly appeared beneath his feet! This trap-door-like structure instantly split open, and a black void replaced his footing.
"…What—?!"
Swoosh!
The man vanished, falling down into the abyss before his mind could even react.
Bang!
The opening slammed shut immediately afterward.
It happened so fast that even Kora had a hard time reacting, causing cold sweat to streak down her face.
Then—
Crunch!
A wet, guttural grinding echoed faintly from below the floor.
Crunch-crunch-crack Crunch-crack-crack!!
It sounded like the escaping echo of enormous teeth slowly crushing bones into paste.
Nobody moved…
Nobody spoke…
They all just stood in place, listening to the sound of 'something' being slowly devoured beneath the floorboards…
Even their breathing became quieter.
Several people's faces turned pale, and one particularly weak woman nearly vomited.
Meanwhile, Kora simply smiled again as if nothing had happened.
"As I was saying," she continued softly, "one door leads outside—"
Her calm voice somehow felt even more terrifying now.
"One leads to fortune—"
"One leads to opportunity—"
"One leads to death—"
"…And one leads to eternal damnation!" She politely clasped her hands before her chest.
"A three out of five chance is actually quite good…"
Nobody responded to her words…
Finally, after an unknown amount of time…
A young man suddenly gritted his teeth and stepped forward.
"I'll go first!"
He rushed toward the wooden door and grabbed the handle, throwing himself through it without a second thought. This was the same boy who had come to buy medicine before being accidentally swept up in this nightmare. There was no hesitation in his movements, and he practically flew through the doorway headfirst!
Bang!
The door swung open, and in the next instant—
Everyone saw the outside world!
The simple street, the darkened night sky, and the way out!
The boy screamed as he tripped, falling face-first onto the stone road outside the shop.
Then—
Bang!
The door instantly slammed shut again!
The crowd erupted with noise.
"It works?!"
"That's the exit!"
"We can leave!"
Before the excitement could fully spread, another man suddenly rushed forward in a panic and violently reopened the same door, but this time—
There was nothing behind it...
Only a black abyss was revealed, and the man stumbled forward too quickly to stop himself.
"…Ah—?!"
His figure disappeared directly into the darkness…
Bang!
The door slammed shut again.
Silence instantly returned to the room…
This time, everyone felt goosebumps crawl down their necks.
The doors were changing!
Or perhaps—
The destination had never been fixed to begin with…
After several long seconds of hesitation, Kora finally smiled and spoke once more.
"So…" Her pale pink eyes swept across the room.
"Who's next?"
-
Eventually, everyone chose their respective doors, or rather—
Everyone was forced to choose a door…
One by one, people stepped toward different doors with pale faces and trembling hands. Some hesitated for several minutes before moving, while others simply closed their eyes and recklessly rushed forward. Some had to be forced through, while others entered without hesitation.
None of them knew that the best and worst options were already displayed…
None of them also knew that Petra was personally picking the path that each door led to! This was a test for both the Castle Crawler and Petra, all focused on reading people and judging their personalities through the changes in the mystic energy surrounding them.
In short, Petra was tasked by her teacher (Levy) to put certain 'blocks' in certain 'holes'.
As for what would happen if she misjudged, well—! Who could know for sure…
-
Finally, as for our legendary trio—
Naturally, Spiky Red was one of the first to march forward.
"Hmph!" he declared proudly while gripping his sword. "Opportunity favors the bold! Come, let us seek a great fortune to better prepare for tomorrow!"
"…Boss," the woman stuttered nervously. "A-are, are you sure about this?"
"Of course!"
"…You didn't pick this door because you thought it matched your hair, did you?"
"…T-That's strategy!"
The three of them eventually stepped through the same door together.
The moment they crossed the threshold, the surrounding world violently distorted.
The room behind them stretched apart like smeared paint while a long tunnel of warping violet light swallowed their bodies. Strange root-like tendrils twisted through the air around them while glowing specs of light drifted like stars through the dotted darkness. Everything seemed to both extend and retract together, as if they stood in a long, tunneled form formed from liquid glass located underwater. They were both walking and running, unaware of whether they were advancing or retreating.
Unlike Petra, normal people had an extremely hard time traversing spatial corridors.
This was especially true when the Castle Crawler didn't care about them…
"WAAAAAAAHHH!"
The bulky man was the first to scream!
At the same time, the woman immediately grabbed onto his armor while Red desperately tried to maintain his dignity despite thinking that he was spinning uncontrollably through space.
"I-IT'S JUST A NORMAL TELEPORTATION FORMATION!" he roared while tumbling head-over-heels.
"DON'T PANIC! DON'T PANIC! HOLD ON!"
It definitely wasn't a teleportation formation…
If any spatial mage were here, they would undoubtedly smack him on the head, because from Petra's perspective, he was just laying on the ground, flailing wildly like a fish out of water… If not for the Emerald Ghost Trees vague support, then she doubted whether these people would even be capable of getting here at all, despite the 'front doors' already being wide open!
Three seconds later, no, maybe three minutes later, it was impossible to tell—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
All three of their figures crashed face-first into something akin to soft grass!
"…Ow-ow-ow…!" They slowly raised their heads to look around…
They froze, because before their eyes stretched a massive glowing garden overflowing with strange flowers, giant mushrooms, stretching vines, and countless colorful plants that radiated a dangerous beauty that was bathed beneath a moonlit haze. Several enormous insects crawled slowly across the distant green, and the air itself seemed to shimmer with a visible light.
Spiky Red swallowed nervously.
"On second thought…"
Gulp!
"…Maybe it's time to panic a little..."
-
Elsewhere—
The two cloaked men who were searching for Petra stepped through the silver door and vanished directly into the darkness. Even before they had a chance to adjust, they were already unconscious, completely unaware that they had become volunteers willingly walking towards Petra's laboratory.
-
On the other side—
The lion beastmen and his two cub companions entered another door, only to immediately find themselves standing atop gigantic branches at an unknown height above the ground, their surroundings completely enclosed on all sides by dense foliage, like some kind of treetop maze.
-
Meanwhile, the old woman and the two young girls quietly stepped into the depths of the mines.
-
As for the remaining 'guests', they were all either thrown back outside or dumped into Petra's medicine slave recycling bucket. As for how this was determined, well, it was based on their personalities, personally judged by Petra…
* * *
While Petra's night continued to heat up, the scene slowly shifted to the Royal Palace—
-
The palace ballroom was gradually emptying...
The music had already softened into lingering notes while the nobles, foreign dignitaries, and young masters and misses slowly dispersed beneath the warm glow of the palace chandeliers. Laughter and calm conversation still lingered throughout the massive hall, but compared to earlier, the atmosphere had clearly settled down, transforming into the calm exhaustion that followed a long night of social maneuvering among the upper class.
Servants moved gracefully between the departing guests while the towering crystal lights reflected across the polished marble floors like flowing water.
Outside the palace windows, the night sky stretched endlessly above the capital.
This gathering was not a normal ball.
Ever since the news surrounding the Third Calamity and the opening of the Royal Ring Secret Realm spread throughout the world, the Hellion Empire had become the center of attention. Influential powers from overseas continuously arrived within the southern region, causing the capital to become livelier with each passing day.
Naturally, the Royal Palace had become a large center for diplomacy.
Although Rolilly was not directly responsible for entertaining these visitors, much to her dissatisfaction, her 'special identity' alone made her someone many people wished to interact with. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, each of her appearances became part of the political atmosphere surrounding the empire.
Near one of the quieter exits of the ballroom, only a small number of elite guests remained.
It was here that Rolilly finally emerged.
Her short blond hair was slightly disheveled from the long evening, while a faint sheen of sweat lingered against her pale skin. The fitted black dress that hugged her petite frame emphasized her refined figure while still exposing her shoulders and collarbone in a way that somehow made her appear both sharp and strangely fragile beneath the palace light. It was not correct to call her a sickly beauty, but many people lacked the proper word to describe her…
Currently, she looked a bit irritated.
And yet, for some reason, that only made her more attractive.
The moment she left through the side door, a nearby servant immediately approached.
"Your Highness…"
The maid respectfully bowed before carefully placing a dark cloak around Rolilly's soft shoulders.
Rolilly slowly exhaled.
"…Finally over," she muttered, the exhaustion impossible to hide.
Just then, another young woman approached from behind with a graceful smile.
She wore a silver dress embroidered with soft blue patterns and several foreign attendants that quietly followed her from behind. Clearly, she was someone of high status from overseas, and she seemed to be on very good terms with Rolilly.
When she passed Rolilly, she paused briefly.
"…You were very beautiful tonight, Third Princess."
Rolilly blinked slightly before narrowing her eyes.
"…Hmph!"
The woman, seeing the slightly reddened face, only smiled knowingly before continuing ahead…
* * *