It happened as the labyrinth began to shift.
I was in a secure spot, quietly breathing, when monsters suddenly swarmed me.
This had never happened before.
They were charging straight at me, their eyes filled with a strange intent.
In that moment, I understood—these were monsters sent by the professor.
I had tried distancing myself from the clearing, hoping her influence would wane.
‘Who would’ve thought she’d resort to sending a horde of monsters after me?’
So, with the monsters hot on my heels, I was herded toward the clearing.
Despite realizing I was being manipulated, I had no choice.
My turtle, battered and broken, had returned to me, leaving me to rely on my dolls to hold off the attackers as best I could.
Eventually, I stepped into the clearing.
A tremendous surge of magical energy whipped through the air.
The space split open, figures emerged—and I was flattened.
There was no time to react.
Before I could even process what was happening, a massive pillar came crashing down from the sky, targeting me.
It was a trap specifically designed for me.
The enormous weight crushed me completely.
The magic embedded in the pillar was bizarre.
Even though my body was shattered and I was on the brink of death, I couldn’t die.
The magic continually regenerated me while simultaneously crushing me again and again.
In the endless cycle of regeneration and death, I felt excruciating pain.
‘This is exactly why I didn’t want to come to the clearing,’ I thought.
As my consciousness began to blur, I was suddenly ejected from the labyrinth.
Even so, the pain made it impossible to think clearly.
Then, out of nowhere, a sharp slap jolted me back to my senses.
The blow was infused with a powerful magic that snapped me to attention.
I slowly opened my eyes to find Professor Irien crouching before me, her face adorned with a menacing smile.
“How was it? Did you have fun? Did you score a lot of points?” she asked.
I nodded blankly, still unsure whether this was real or some strange dream.
Her eyes seemed to flicker with an eerie blue flame.
“Good. Then it’s time for your punishment.”
Without warning, my soul was yanked from my body.
In that moment, I realized this was real.
The flames in her eyes were the manifestation of magical fury born of pure rage.
But it was too late to plead for forgiveness.
A spell shot from her fingertips, and my soul was torn apart, screaming in agony.
In a haze of fire-like illusions, even my screams eventually faded.
My thoughts blurred, my memories disappeared, and everything that made me who I was drained away, leaving only pain.
***
I don’t know how much time passed.
Suddenly, I was back in my body.
I saw her dusting off her hands.
She seemed a bit more cheerful now.
I, on the other hand, was lying on the floor, completely dazed.
The indescribable pain was impossible to forget.
I couldn’t even let my mind drift because she had meticulously restored my soul each time and repeated the entire process from the beginning.
“Not getting up?” she asked, delivering another magical slap to my head.
Rubbing the spot where she’d hit me, I forced myself to my feet.
My mind was utterly drained from the torment I’d endured, but my body and soul were strangely pristine.
That stark contrast was unnerving.
I checked the time, even though it felt like hours had passed.
Less than a minute had gone by.
Looking around, I realized I was in the professor’s room.
The massive bed she often lounged on was surrounded by countless floating mirrors.
Only a few of them emitted light; the rest were shrouded in a dark mist.
Each illuminated mirror displayed a student.
They were locked in bloody combat over the treasure buried deep within the labyrinth.
‘Its location?’ Suspended from the clearing’s ceiling.
The clearing had always been a probable location for the treasure, but it had taken time to confirm.
Only when traps began to fall specifically in the clearing did I realize its exact placement.
“Professor, are you really going to let them have that?” I asked cautiously.
She frowned slightly, likely feeling conflicted.
Yet, her eyes sparkled as she watched the students tear each other apart.
“It’s not much of a treasure, really. It’s too cheap to bother storing in my vault. If it hadn’t consumed the sixth floor, I wouldn’t have even known it existed,” she said with a wry smile.
That so-called treasure, the object they were fighting over with their lives, was nothing more than a trinket to her.
When I first heard how it ended up in her vault, I couldn’t believe it.
It had somehow slipped in unnoticed while she stored other treasures.
Its power was so weak that the barriers sealing the sixth-floor chambers didn’t even register it.
Yet that insignificant object had consumed the sixth floor and now held enough power to construct an entire labyrinth.
‘What, then, could her real treasures be like?’
I thought back to the one treasure of hers I had seen—the eye.
Just recalling it made my head ache.
Compared to that, perhaps this box truly was insignificant.
Trying to refocus, I observed the ongoing battle.
After a grueling struggle, a victor emerged.
It wasn’t one of the noble scions, the swordsmen, or the third group of mages.
To everyone’s surprise, the winner was the weakest, most unassuming participant: Jun.
While the others were preoccupied fighting, he used spatial magic to grab the box.
A mere sapling of a mage, he had hidden this ace up his sleeve all along.
The box resisted fiercely.
The labyrinth’s magic stormed against him, unleashing flames that burned his body and winds that tore him apart.
Yet, even as his body broke, he continued pouring magic into the box.
When the box finally yielded and was completely subdued, the labyrinth came to a halt.
Everyone was ejected in an instant, landing in the infirmary on the second floor.
In an incredible display of magic, the infirmary restored their bodies.
Severed limbs regrew, organs healed—it was as though time itself had rewound.
The professor had set this up long ago.
Once, during a tower inspection, I’d asked her about the mechanism.
She had laughed and told me not to bother understanding it, claiming I could never grasp the magic in my lifetime.
She was probably right.
“May I head down now? I should wrap up the lecture,” I asked.
She nodded.
From the moment the battle ended, she had lost all interest and sprawled out on her bed again, looking content.
At least she seemed pleased with this lecture.
That was a relief; it meant I likely wouldn’t face more punishment.
Suppressing my exhaustion, I made my way to the second floor.
Despite my worn-out mind, I had to finish the lecture.
The survivors, now healed, gathered in the lecture hall as instructed by the notices I’d prepared beforehand.
Even the dropouts were waiting there.
When I entered, murmurs filled the room.
People shouted at one another, shooting sharp glares and magical hostility.
At the center of it all stood Jun, gently stroking the box in his hands, oblivious to the chaos around him.
“Well, that concludes today’s lecture. How was it? Did you all have fun?” I asked.
The arguments ceased as they turned their gazes toward me.
Only Jun smiled.
The others’ stares were piercing.
“Looks like we have a new owner for the treasure,” I said, gesturing toward Jun.
“You can sell it or use it—it’s entirely yours now.”
Some participants turned their attention back to Jun.
According to the rules, taking it from him by force was forbidden.
Jun must have known this, which explained his boldness.
Whether he would sell it remained uncertain.
“I’m glad to see such lively energy from all of you. It seems the lecture was a success. Don’t be discouraged—there will be more opportunities to claim treasures. The next lecture is in three months, so feel free to visit the tower until then.”
As I spoke, I channeled magic.
The coffin dolls emerged from the survivors’ belongings and returned to my arms.
Ignoring the growing commotion behind me, I quickly exited the hall.
I needed rest.
My body was in shambles.
***
Some left. Others stayed.
I returned to my room on the fifth floor and fiddled with my ring.
It displayed my score—just over 2,000 points.
I chuckled.
Even excluding the bonus points, I had earned nearly 700.
Of course, part of that would have to go toward replenishing the resources I’d used.
As I idly stroked the ring, exhaustion overtook me, and I passed out.
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