------------------
HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
------------------
Chapter 3
As my surroundings shifted, everything became clear again.
No matter how much time had passed in each of the halls, I only came to my senses after everything was over.
It was such a relief that the ones who suffered were the versions of myself trapped in those places—not the current me.
* * *
I looked around.
The place I arrived at after that complicated process was the same space where I had first randomly pressed the symbols.
The crimson sky and the blood-red moon, which had started to feel as if they’d always been there, were nowhere to be seen.
I looked down at my hands.
The essence of the sword, distilled to its peak, remained intact.
But the fact that I was here meant...
[Congratulations.]
[You have completed all tasks and returned to this place.]
"Finished, you say?"
I felt dizzy for a moment, but it quickly passed.
It seemed I had succeeded in completing all the halls while keeping my memories sealed.
Hearing that it was all over felt anticlimactic.
The conversations with the text, the deals I made with it...
Currently, I had no memories outside of the Hall of Swords.
So in essence, I was no different than the moment I had just exited the Hall of Swords.
The other memories were probably still sealed and unretrievable.
There was a strange sense of disconnection, but it was mild.
The condition of not being able to lose my sanity was the same as when I had first arrived here.
[At present, you can recover one memory other than that of the Hall of Swords.]
"Is that so?"
[Additional memories will be restored as your mental state stabilizes. Do you agree?]
"That was the deal."
Anger?
Hatred toward the damned text?
None of that mattered anymore.
Anger doesn’t last forever.
After too much time had passed, I had naturally grown tired of it.
Now, I just wanted to leave.
[Your memory will now be restored. Do you have any questions?]
"My memories are becoming clearer. My memories before entering the Labyrinthos—my past life memories—everything I saw back then feels vivid now."
[This space prioritizes your safety above all. Thus, your past memories are absolutely preserved.]
So, my memories from before entering Labyrinthos would remain completely intact?
That was a bit of good news.
After all the suffering, it would be absurd if I returned without any of my past memories.
"Then hurry up and give me the memory so I can leave."
[Restoring the memories of the Hall of Nothingness. Extreme vertigo is expected. Please brace yourself.]
“Urgh... Uweeeehhh... Oh, god, I’m gonna die—Uweeeehhh.”
I collapsed, unable to resist, and vomited everything inside me.
Though I hadn’t eaten anything, only stomach acid came up... It was impossible to endure without retching.
At the same time, memories that hadn’t existed a moment ago surfaced.
Memories of smashing enemies with bare hands or gauntlets, ultimately seizing and breaking the space with my will.
They were the memories from the Hall of Nothingness.
The trial there must have required martial arts.
Goodness, how hardcore...
Oddly, since they were past memories, they didn’t weigh heavily on me.
Though vivid, they weren’t as painful as I had expected.
Beep!!
Name: Leon Cascadia
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Abilities:
(Hall of Swords)
Mastery – Acquired techniques can be reviewed in detail.
(Hall of Nothingness)
Star of Calamity – Acquired techniques can be reviewed in detail.
The familiar status window now included information about the new hall.
[Memory restoration complete. As of this moment, I will cease to exist as your support.]
“What?”
[Excessive energy was consumed to accommodate your requests. As a result, Labyrinthos will also be destroyed.]
So, because of my decisions, the text and this space would both be annihilated.
“Don’t kidnap people again, you bastards.”
[Thank you for your efforts. Farewell.]
Whether the text had a will of its own, I didn’t know, but it spoke as if it accepted its own demise without complaint.
What a disturbing entity it was.
I raised my middle finger toward the text with a cold smirk.
And then, the world shattered.
Whoosh!!!
At the same time, my vision changed completely, and I realized I was slumped over a desk.
Startled, I lifted my head, and the document stuck to my cheek fell off.
A business investigation report?
Ah, right.
“Hahaha... Hahahahaha!!!!”
I began laughing like a madman.
Of course, I couldn’t help it.
This was my room.
The house of the Cascadia family, the place I had lived in before becoming trapped in the dreamlike maze of Labyrinthos.
The home I had longed to return to.
And unbelievably, not even a single second had passed here during all the eternity I spent in Labyrinthos.
“Finally!! Damn it, finally, I’m back!! Hahahaha!!”
I began to laugh like a lunatic.
It wasn’t just laughter but a mix of rage and relief spilling out.
Without laughing like this, I felt I wouldn’t be able to handle the swirling emotions inside me.
The mansion grew noisy.
Suddenly, BANG!!!
The door to my room slammed open.
“You’re so loud!!! What the hell are you doing at this hour, you crazy idiot?!”
At the harsh yell, I finally stopped laughing and turned to the uninvited guest.
A girl with long gray hair cascading down and gentle amber eyes that resembled our mother’s.
At first glance, she looked delicate, but the dark circles under her eyes betrayed her stress and fatigue.
Her gaze was filled with anger.
As soon as I saw her, I rushed to her and pulled her into a tight hug.
Honestly, I couldn't quite adapt to the strange sense of dissonance I felt after coming out of the labyrinth.
So, I stumbled awkwardly, nearly falling, but crawled forward if I had to and pulled her into a tight hug.
I didn’t cry. I just laughed like a madman, a hollow laugh.
Because this was the home I had longed for so desperately.
“What... what are you doing!”
She shouted in a flustered tone.
Despite all the time that had passed, my memories of her and this house were more vivid than anything else.
------------------
HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
------------------
“My little sister... my stubborn, hot-tempered little sister...”
“Wait, has this lunatic completely lost it in the middle of the night...?”
Despite her sharp words, for some reason, she didn’t push my hands away.
“With that temper, I worry what kind of trouble you’ll give your future husband.”
“S-shut up!!”
In the end, she pushed me away with enough force to easily break free.
“I missed you, Melissa.”
I sat down helplessly on the floor, looking up at her with a laugh.
We had fought so much.
An infuriating younger sister.
And yet, at this moment, I was so glad to see her.
But she only frowned at me.
“What are you saying? I saw you two hours ago, and now you’re acting like this? Do you have any idea how many people you woke up? I was finally asleep, and now I’m awake because of you.”
Sure, to her, it might have been just two hours.
But for me, it was an unmeasurable longing.
I thought back to my memories with her.
—Hey, I got you a gift.
—Huh? Eek! Ahhh!!!
Like the time I randomly stuck a bug down the back of her neck.
—Huh, really? So pathetic, Leon. Are you planning to move around on all fours instead of walking upright?
—What about you? You look like a dinosaur that headbutts walls. And that nasal tone—ugh. You think just being strong like a gorilla makes it all okay?
—You... you little—get over here!!!
Yeah, come to think of it, we were probably the epitome of what siblings should be.
From the moment we were born, we fought endlessly and yet got along just as well.
Maybe we wanted to prove the saying, "Siblings exist to fight each other!"
Or maybe it was more like...
“I can’t forgive that brat who stole our mom’s attention!” or something like that.
Since we were only a year apart, the clashes were inevitable.
I teased her every chance I got, and she retaliated through duels that left me defeated.
When it came to our youngest sibling, who was born much later, both of us became incredibly gentle.
But the fact remained—we fought a lot.
And at the same time, we had a fair share of good times together too.
“Why are you awake? Shouldn’t you get some more sleep?”
“What are you, insane? You were laughing and yelling like a lunatic in the middle of the night! Don’t you see you’ve woken the entire household staff?”
Ah.
Finally, I noticed the sky outside the window.
If they were asleep, it meant it was nighttime.
In other words, I had been laughing like a maniac and woke up everyone in the mansion.
Ahem. Cough.
“Haha... I guess I couldn’t stop laughing.”
“Ha! So it’s funny now, is it? Unbelievable.”
“Uh?”
“You think this situation is funny? You’re laughing?”
Her voice dropped an octave.
“Mother, Father, and even our youngest sibling were caught in an accident, and we haven’t even recovered their bodies. Don’t you get it? The only ones left of this family are you and me.”
A sixteen-year-old girl and a seventeen-year-old boy.
We were the only ones left.
“While someone spent six months stumbling around, I’ve been staying awake trying to keep this family from falling apart... and you think it’s funny? Is it funny to you?!”
Her sorrow suddenly broke through, and she shouted as tears streamed down her face.
Ah.
Of course, I could never forget.
Our family wasn’t in a good place at all.
Six months ago, our parents and our eleven-year-old youngest sister, Arsha, went on a trip.
But their ship met with an accident, and not even their bodies were recovered.
With the death of our father, the head of the family and its pillar, the House of Cascadia was on the verge of collapse.
“Melissa.”
“Forget it. You have no idea how hard this is for me.”
She grabbed my arm tightly, sobbing.
It was a rare sight—her vulnerable side.
“If I make one mistake, the entire family collapses, Leon. Everything is so precarious that I can’t even guarantee the staff will get their wages on time. Do you know what their families will do to survive if they’re not paid? Do you know how many lives will be ruined if our family falls?”
She pleaded through her tears.
“I’m begging you. I won’t ask for help. I’ll protect our family and handle everything myself. Just don’t make it harder for me.”
The once-spirited girl had to grow up in an instant.
Completely drained, she let it all out before turning away weakly.
“...Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. I must be a little on edge.”
The invisible weight of responsibility was crushing her.
Why was she bearing such a burden?
The reason was simple.
She had to protect our family as the acting head.
Our family was a border-count family that protected the northern frontier of the kingdom.
Near our territory was a labyrinthine zone called the Demon Realm, and our family had long been responsible for ensuring monsters didn’t escape from it.
The accident involving our parents and youngest sibling happened only six months ago.
Normally, as the eldest son, I should’ve succeeded my father.
But my father’s chosen successor wasn’t me—it was her.
The reason was simple.
Unlike me, a hopeless dullard, she had talent in swordsmanship and was remarkably intelligent.
To be the lord of the border, certain qualifications were required, and I, lacking talent in swordsmanship, couldn’t meet those standards.
At the time, I understood and accepted that without hesitation.
Now, seeing her like this, I couldn’t help but feel guilty for not stepping up.
But saying that out loud would only crush her more.
In other words, she had to shoulder all the responsibilities that came with leading the family.
“Coming out of the labyrinth, I must’ve gone insane.”
At her young age, she wasn’t just an aura user—she had reached the initial stage of Sword Expert, a prodigy.
Meanwhile, before being trapped in the labyrinth, I was barely at the level of a swordsman who couldn’t even sense aura properly.
------------------
HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
------------------
