The Taste Trial lasted for one day, and Seo Jun-ho cleared it without a single sip of water.

“What a relief. You should go eat in the rest room now.” 

He shook his head. “No. I have to go right onto the next one.”

“What…? Why must you go so far?”

“The food in the rest room will also taste like shit.” He laughed weakly, looking pitiful with his tearful eyes. He turned away from the Frost Queen and started the Stench Trial. 

“Urp! Bleegh!” As it began, Seo Jun-ho covered his mouth. He’d only breathed, but the cavern was filled with the stench reminiscent of rotting corpses. No matter how filthy something was, one should get used to the stench after some time, but the Cave of Trials did not adhere to such common sense. It continued to penetrate his nose.

“Haa, Haa…”His complexion paled. Seo Jun-ho had already been starving for one day, and he couldn’t even breathe properly. His body was quickly starting to deteriorate. 

But… I have to do this… He bit hard on his lip.

He’d already survived the Insomnia Trial, and he’d already cleared this Trial once in the past. There was no reason he couldn’t do it twice. 

…But why is it so hard?

Growwwlll. Seo Jun-ho passed the Stench Trial as he rolled on the ground in pain, but his body couldn’t handle it. It was a different kind of pain from the Insomnia Trial; he’d been able to eat and drink if he got too hungry then.

“…Shouldn’t you eat something?” The Frost Queen asked carefully. She looked at him with pity. 

She was right. He had more muscles than the average person, and he absorbed more calories to maintain them. I haven’t had a single drop of water in two days… I feel like I’m going crazy. 

His nose was still filled with the rotten stench, but his survival came first. 

“Just a bit, then…”

Seo Jun-ho walked into the rest room and tore a tiny piece of bread. He pondered for a long time, then carefully put it into his mouth and swallowed without chewing.

“Bleeghhh!”

And he threw it all up. Since he didn’t eat anything, it was mostly gastric fluids. He felt like his own insides were coming up. When he finally stopped vomiting, his eyes were stained with tears. 

“Huff, huff… This… This is worse than shit.” He didn’t even know how to describe it—didn’t even believe that such a revolting taste existed. 

But if I don’t eat… He would die. No matter how strong of a player he was, if he didn’t eat and drink, he would die. 

“Hey, Frost…”

“Yes, what do you need?” She asked carefully. She was scared to piss him off in his current state. 

“If you had to eat shit-flavored curry or curry-flavored shit, which would you rather eat?”

“I would rather starve.”

“Starving isn’t an option. You have to choose one.”

“……”

The Frost Queen fell into a dilemma. She didn’t know if she should prioritize her dignity or her nutrition. 

“Then… What would you choose?”

“The curry-flavored shit. Every time.” He spoke with tears in his eyes. He swallowed the bread, trying to swallow his pain and disgust. 

The tear-soaked bread tasted sickening. 

* * *

Seo Jun-ho gulped down a bottle of water. The Frost Queen watched and wrote something down on the memopad. 

– Contractor… A-are you alright…?

– Yes. I’m great. How was your day?

There was no energy in his response. One might say that he was too far gone. 

– The stench is as bad as always… But I’m starting to get used to the food.

His eyes lit up like a wise old sage.

– As long as I can swallow it down, it’s still food. The taste isn’t really important.

– Contractor… You seem like you have given up your dignity.

– It’s alright. Things will return to normal once the Trials are over. I’ve done this before.

Seo Jun-ho held the pen weakly and let out a sigh. He was in the middle of the Stillness Trial. 

The Trials changed. In the past, the Sound and Silence Trials had come after the Stench Trial. You become deaf and mute. 

But this time, they had combined to become the Stillness Trial. Because he couldn’t hear or speak, he was communicating with the Frost Queen on the memopad. 

Two Trials combined into one… His eyes darkened. Which means that one more Trial will be added at the end. It seemed that it was the ‘change’ that Gray had referred to. Every time Seo Jun-ho started a new Trial, he felt himself withering bit by bit. Ironically, he would then become more determined after he cleared the Cave of Trials.

I’ve come this far. I’m gonna clear it no matter what. He grit his teeth. If he gave up, he didn’t deserve to call himself hardworking. 

The Darkness Trial took away your vision. Seo Jun-ho quickly scribbled on the memopad. 

– Do you know what Morse code is?

* * *

“……”

He couldn’t see.

He couldn’t hear. 

He couldn’t speak. 

And all the while, a repulsive stench filled his nose. 

Tap tap, ta-ta-tap, taptap?

It was smart of him to teach the Frost Queen Morse code. She picked it up quickly. She asked something along the lines of “Will you eat?”

Taptaptap. Seo Jun-ho replied. This Trial would end in a few hours. I’ve already slept a lot, so I’m going right into the next one. 

If he remembered correctly, the next one was the ‘Void’ Trial. He swallowed. 

There’s a reason why all the players have left the Cave of Trials after the 9th level.

It was fear. The players lost their sense of sight, sound, smell, taste, as well as their speech. Their bodies and minds were weary at that point. 

Void. A state of empty nothingness. If you thought about it, the word didn’t mean much, but his past self was shaken by the idea. 

I felt like my entire existence would be erased. And he still felt that way. Seo Jun-ho suddenly felt his hand start to tremble. 

Void… Humans were already powerless without their senses. But if one continued on to the Void Trial in that state… Players with a weak mind will probably be erased from existence. 

He wasn’t just being paranoid. The System itself warned of this. 

It preys on the primal fear that we humans cannot escape. But… that’s only the 9th Trial?

Seo Jun-ho felt the cavern darken—even though he couldn’t see. The Administrator, Gray, had combined the Sound and Silence Trials into one, which meant that the Void Trial would be 9th; a new one would appear as the 10th. Seo Jun-ho started to wonder what the final one would be. 

…What? Seo Jun-ho was shocked. He’d expected the Void Trial, but he hadn’t expected the 10th to happen at the same time. 

This is the first time this has happened. A Time Trial? A shiver went down his spine. The Void Trial was already dangerous, but another Trial on top of that? 

If… If I mess this up, it’ll be a trouble. 

The System lit up again.

It was a brutal message. Most players who entered the Cave of Trials were below level 30, which meant that they had a lot to lose. The thing that they most feared was death. But the Trial did not simply end with death; it could erase your entire existence.

My younger self would have run away at this point. Seo Jun-ho grinned. He thought that his past self, and all the others who gave up after the 9th Trial, were adorably naive. 

The Cave of Trials rewards you for how much you struggle. The Sense Trials were hard, but they didn’t put your life at risk. But that’s not the case for the Void Trial. 

High risk, high return. Seo Jun-ho sensed that there was something that could only be gained if he risked his life. 

And if it’s concurrent with the Time Trial… He had an idea of what would happen. I’ll probably be alone, unable to feel anything at all. 

He didn’t know how long it would take. All he knew was that he would have to see it through to the end. 

“……” He pondered for a long while before tapping his finger on the ground. He sent a message to the Frost Queen. 

– I’ll be back.

She tapped on his shoulder. 

– Do not worry. I will keep waiting here.

For some reason, that encouraged him. Seo Jun-ho smiled weakly and made his decision.

I will continue. 

As it began, Seo Jun-ho started to feel like his consciousness was drifting away. 

…Huh?

He couldn’t feel the Frost Queen’s fingers on his shoulder. He tried to reach out his arm to find her, but he started to forget how to do that. 

Wait. 

It wasn’t just his arms. As he realized that he could think, he was sure that his head was attached to his body but forgot how to move it. No, actually, he wasn’t sure if his limbs were all attached to his body. 

…I can’t feel anything. 

If he could describe it with one phrase, it would be ‘wandering mind’. He could not see, hear, or feel his magic. In some ways, he was happy because the stench had finally disappeared. 

I have to get it together. 

He now understood why the System had given such a warning. He could not feel anything, and his fears started to creep in. 

…I’m alive, right? He pushed away those thoughts. His mind started to drift, floating without any sense or purpose. 

I am Seo Jun-ho. 

Seo Jun-ho repeated this firmly. 

He was Seo Jun-ho. 

He was Specter.

He always won. 

He would win this Trial too. 

“……”

There had been a time when he’d thought that way.