3.
Deep within the tomb.
In the very heart of the place where countless empty masks lined the walls, a subtle change occurred.
Crackle...
A fracture ford, and one of the masks began to change.
Where once there was nothing but emptiness, the Clown Mask had appeared first, then the lting Mask.
Though the tomb remained eerily silent, the newly ford masks all turned their gazes in one direction.
Atop a throne-like chair sat a single mask, glowing gold.
In front of that mask, a single phrase had been inscribed:
[The one who awakens all masks shall draw forth the Mask of the Lord from the Abyss.]
The aning of the phrase was unclear, and the empty masks continued to gaze upon the throne with hollow stares.
4.
BOOOOM——!!!
With a raging breath like a crashing tide expelled from Fiora’s mouth, the mask could no longer endure and crumbled into nothing.
“Screeee...”
The puppet wearing the mask vanished before it could even utter its final death cry.
As the puppet disappeared, a system ssage appeared in front of Seong.
[You have defeated the 『Swamp Mask』 in the Masked Trial.]
[You have acquired the 『Swamp Mask』.]
“I figured as much from the ability, but it really does just go with ordinary terms.”
“Masks are ant to convey their traits.”
“Hm.”
At Helena’s remark, Seong nodded.
He understood well enough that Helena had just given him a small hint.
Deciding to move on, he turned his attention to the next system prompt.
[Do you wish to challenge the next trial?]
[Yes / No]
[If you end the trial now, you can exit with your current rewards.]
Naturally, there was no way Seong would leave in the middle of the trial.
As he selected [Yes], the platform began to move again like an elevator.
However—
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu.
“Hm?”
—T-this ti, it’s moving f-forward again.
—It seems to be shifting into a cube-like structure.
“Huh, quite a bit of effort went into this.”
“Ahaha, it’s definitely got that ‘Pessel’ flair to it.”
Each reacted differently, but since it was just another transition between stages, nothing dangerous occurred.
Seong looked around, noting there were no major changes, but the space continued shifting.
Where was it taking them?
As Seong stayed calm and watched, a new chamber finally erged—distinct from those before.
5.
Kim Eunseok had always admired Indiana Jones.
Of course, he was just one of many ordinary Korean students who had long abandoned that dream, thinking such adventures didn’t exist in real life.
But now, he had a chance to live that dream.
All thanks to Eternal World.
Becoming another version of himself to explore another world? How romantic!
Overjoyed at the chance to pursue his long-held passion, and fortunate enough to have a knack for gaming, Kim Eunseok had leveled up faster than others and reached the eighth region.
His talent had earned him recognition, and so Kim Eunseok—now known in-ga as Baren—was selected to join the expedition team. And he was quite pleased with his current work.
Not to ntion, he also moonlighted as a Tuber.
“This one’s going to be a ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) jackpot!”
So might accuse him of exploiting the expedition team’s findings for content.
But in reality, that’s exactly what the expedition team wanted—recognition for their discoveries.
Most user expedition mbers, excluding NPCs, were also Tubers.
While his channel didn’t pull ga-hits like the guild-run Tube channels, Baren’s channel was well-established.
With over 500,000 subscribers, he was a mid-tier Tuber with steady demand.
Naturally, he was visibly thrilled.
“I think we’ve found sothing big this ti.”
While it was partially for content, Baren genuinely loved exploring, and his viewers shared in the excitent.
—Wow, hasn’t it been ages since the last ruins discovery?
—Fr fr lol
—Baren looks so happy I’m grinning too
—Seriously tho lol
—It’s been so long since the last one, right?
As the chat celebrated the new discovery, sothing odd happened.
Including NPCs, the expedition team that stepped into these ruins had 15 mbers.
But then—
[You have entered the tomb.]
[The Masked Trial begins.]
[Current number of people in the tomb: 30]
“Huh? What’s this?”
“Wait—there are others in here?”
“There are fifteen of us... So more than half are other users?”
“Whoa! So we’re not the first?”
The expedition mbers panicked upon seeing the system ssage.
They had all been giddy, thinking they were the first discoverers—only to learn otherwise.
Their disappointnt was understandable.
They had anticipated this for so long.
Baren was just about to regain composure and calm them down when—
“Everyone, we don’t know what might co out, so let’s sta—”
His sentence was cut off as they were suddenly scattered—teleported away from each other.
As they looked around the unfamiliar rooms, confused—
A system ssage appeared again.
[The Masked Trial is conducted in groups of five.]
“Huh. I guess it really is a trial for five-man teams,” Baren said, and everyone nodded.
The only saving grace was that they’d ford their teams with capable combatants.
—What the heck???
—Bro, it just force-split them??
—How hard is this trial supposed to be!?
—Y’all okay???
—Ugh this vibe is tense af
Baren’s viewers were understandably loud in the chat.
He’d explored tons of ruins and tombs before.
And the long-ti viewers had beco semi-experts themselves, but even they felt this room was different.
As the elevator-like space descended, countless masks began to rise from the walls.
And the masks were—
“A deer?”
Deer masks.
Masks shaped exactly like taxidermy deer heads filled the chamber, creating a chilling atmosphere.
The viewers felt it too and lost it in chat.
—Wtf;;;
—What, did this beco a horror ga???
—Okay this is creepy
—Lol what’s so scary? sniffle Guess I’m sleeping with the lights on tonight
—LOL this isn’t even scary—brb changing my underwear
At that mont, a section of the wall opened and a puppet wearing a deer mask appeared.
Baren, visibly tense, shouted,
“Prepare for battle!”
Being the strongest fighter among the expedition mbers, Baren naturally gave the command.
The mbers, despite their surprise, were all experienced users and quickly adjusted to the deer mask and engaged it.
How much ti passed?
One of the antlers snapped off, and Baren’s sword pierced the deer mask’s heart.
“Screeeech...”
With a final shriek, the puppet collapsed.
The deer mask hadn’t been as strong as expected.
The fight didn’t last long.
Even so, so expedition mbers were exhausted and slumped to the floor.
“Damn, that was rough.”
“Yeah, it was easier than expected, but still felt like a mini-raid.”
“For real.”
The mbers shared their thoughts, and the viewers agreed.
—Yeah, it was more intense than I thought.
—lol good stuff though.
—Baren’s stronger than ever.
—His movents were clean af lol
—Wait, what’s Baren doing?
Just as one viewer pointed out, Baren seed to be searching the area.
He’d begun investigating the room now that the fight was over, but then he felt sothing strange.
And another system ssage appeared.
[You have defeated the 『Deer Mask』 in the Masked Trial.]
[You have acquired the 『Deer Mask』.]
The exact sa mask from the fight had now appeared again.
Baren continued examining the area when yet another ssage appeared.
[Do you wish to challenge the next trial?]
[Yes / No]
[If you end the trial now, you can exit with your current rewards.]
“Hm.”
Baren hesitated aloud.
Naturally, the expedition mbers exploded.
“C’mon! Let’s go all in!”
“We just made it to the entrance—of course we’re going further!”
“Indeed, indeed!”
“Still, Baren—if you think it’s too risky, let us know.”
The mbers were fired up.
The viewers too, eagerly chid in through the chat.
—Please accept!
—No way Baren would bail now.
—Facts lol Baren always goes all-in.
As everyone chattered, Baren looked at them as if they’d lost their minds and spoke in disappointnt.
“Wait—you guys don’t see that?”
“Huh? W-wait!”
“Huh?!”
“Gasp!?”
“Is that...!?”
They all looked where Baren was pointing.
It had been hidden beneath the sea of deer masks, but now they noticed it—an indent on the floor, a socket-like space.
—How’d he spot that so fast?
—That’s our Baren! That’s our Baren!
—Did he notice it mid-fight???
—No wonder he went straight for it.
The viewers gave him credit, and the other mbers were equally impressed.
“I totally missed that during the fight... That’s amazing.”
“Right?”
“Also, the mask looks like it fits perfectly into that.”
Another mber’s remark prompted Baren to glance at the deer mask in his hand.
In most gimmicks like this, traps were rare.
So the others couldn’t hide their excitent.
Naturally, in this situation, there was only one thing to do.
“Adventure awaits!”
With that thought, Baren placed the deer mask into the socket.
The entire room began to shift, descending like an elevator.
The motion was just like when they first entered—causing so mbers to flinch and mutter.
“Don’t tell it was a trap?”
“No way—if it was, they wouldn’t hide it so cleverly...”
“R-right...”
The deer mask room descended.
When the motion finally stopped, the next room was clearly different from the ones before.
For one, there were no masks on the walls. It didn’t feel like a combat zone either.
So they were just starting to relax—
When suddenly, one of the walls began to slowly open.
Seeing it, the expedition mbers imdiately looked alard, and Baren raised his sword with a grim expression.
“Prepare for battle!”
Tension filled the air as the wall finished opening.
A man wearing a black mask stepped out.
He wore a crown made of obsidian and a robe like a cloak of night, exuding regal authority.
Tap, tap.
His footsteps echoed.
At first, seeing a masked man erge, everyone had instinctively prepared for combat—
But Baren’s words made them all freeze.
“...The Demon King?”
Hearing that, the man in the black mask—no, Seong—looked at Baren with a slightly awkward expression and replied.
“...Hello?”
And naturally, the chat erupted.
—BRO WHY ARE YOU HERE!?!?!
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