10 minutes later, the Ox Pavilion shimmered faintly. What looked like a hazy swirl of light shifted into the shape of a person, and just as it was about to solidify, someone dashed toward the center of the pavilion.
Whoosh! The sound of the air being split rang out.
< This target cannot be attacked. >
A powerful strike, strong enough to distort the air with a bluish shimmer, was nullified with nothing more than a simple notification window. At the same time, Limousine, who had fully emerged, quickly moved backward. If there hadn’t been an invincibility system during the transition, he would’ve been sprawled out as a corpse before he even knew what hit him.
“What are you?”
It took only an instant for him to draw his staff from the equipment window and assume a ready stance. The field was dusted with occasional sandstorms, making it hard to see clearly—an annoyance. He fixed a wary gaze forward, and the opponent stepped half a pace closer. Though his face was hidden behind a mask, the posture and the glaring eyes screamed nothing short of pure irritation. Limousine quickly figured out who it was.
“Oh, so you’re the challenger who met the Rat General?”
“Must’ve had a great time meeting the ox in my place.”
“Well, uh…… I wouldn’t say it was that great.”
The trial that the Ox General presented hadn’t been as straightforward as expected. Limousine had initially tried to beat the crap out of him and pull the shard from his skull, but only after dying once did he realize the first hit was pure luck.
The Ox General wasn’t a monster designed to be taken down by brute force alone—his HP and attack power were off the charts. The proper strategy was to use the surrounding terrain to restrict the Ox General’s movement and then claim the shard. Thank god it was a dungeon and not an open field. Since the mechanic wasn’t too complex, clearing it after that was fairly easy.
“And that’s all you’ve got to say after screwing up someone else’s quest?”
“Hey, you running off to the rat messed things up for me, too. What’s with the attitude? You could’ve just skipped the ox and gone straight to the tiger.”
“I can’t enter the other pavilions anymore.”
Now that was new information. It looked like once you entered a pavilion, your order was locked in automatically.
“Yeah? Then go in now.”
With a shrug, Limousine stepped aside. By relaxing his combat stance, he signaled that he wouldn’t interfere. The man approached, brimming with hostility, and carefully placed his hand on the sigil of the pavilion. Limousine turned his head slightly, anticipating the explosion of light that would follow.
“……”
But it was strangely quiet for something that was supposed to allow entry. He was pretty sure it hadn’t been like this when he went in. Puzzled, he turned his head back—only to find the man glaring at him like he was about to tear Limousine into five bloody pieces.
“……What?”
“It’s not letting me in.”
“What?”
“Yeah, I guess I really do have to kill you.”
What a nasty piece of work. Should he just kill him and bolt? Limousine, who wasn’t exactly one to talk, gripped his staff again.
Just then, a line from the Ox General came back to him.
‘Walking a difficult path alone or together—neither is bad.’
Ah, so that’s what he meant?
After running a quick mental calculation, Limousine casually switched his weapon to his left hand and calmly held out his right.
“Sorry about that. But your quest isn’t totally screwed yet.”
“What?”
“The Ox General said it’s better with two challengers than just one.”
That wasn’t exactly what he’d said, but it was close enough in tone. Limousine mumbled as he bent the truth—a bold move only possible because no one else knew the actual details.
“Send me a party request. We can do this together.”
< ‘Nameless Wanderer’ has requested to join your party. >
< You have accepted the party request! >
An anonymous party on both ends—ah, the trust levels in South Korea. Limousine grumbled, despite not being in a position to talk.
Limousine was slightly famous due to a high ranking that sharply contrasted with his questionable personality. If he went around with his nickname visible, he’d often get dragged into surprise PvP ambushes or other annoying drama. That’s why he usually enabled anonymous mode while doing field quests. Since there wasn’t much reason to hide your name otherwise, he figured the guy must be someone like him. No wonder he’d launched an attack before anyone even stepped out.
“What’s your class?”
He asked out of courtesy now that they were in a party. The guy hesitated for a while, clearly reluctant to answer, before finally squeezing out a response.
“Swordsman.”
“I figured. I saw your sword earlier and kind of guessed.”
“……”
The mood turned even more sour.
“Want me to tell you my class?”
“No need.”
Limousine just shrugged at the cold reply.
The challenger not only had anonymous mode on but also wore a mask that covered most of his face. In <Celestial Wind>, aside from plain black masks like the one this guy wore—with only the eyes visible—there were also many novelty masks, like foxes, rabbits, dogs, or brand collabs. This was mostly due to the game’s strict character customization policy, which didn’t allow major edits once your avatar was made. It wasn’t totally unchangeable, but drastic makeovers were out of the question.
Which meant you had to make your character right from the start. Probably the only real downside of <Celestial Wind>.
So, while masks were technically cosmetic items for player expression, they were more often used to hide faces, especially by veteran rankers whose appearances were usually well known for various reasons.
“Let’s just get this over with.”
Limousine took the lead toward the tiger pavilion he’d noted earlier. The challenger hesitated a bit but eventually followed. Good thing he’d partied up. Now he didn’t have to worry about a knife in the back—players couldn’t attack party members in the field. The thought warmed him a little.
Upon entering the third pavilion, a general with a tiger’s head appeared before them. He wasn’t as large as the Ox General, but his presence was even more intense.
[Well, well. So both the Rat General and the Ox General sent you?]
Seemed like this one had a faster grasp of the situation than the Ox General. Maybe that’s the wisdom of a mountain king? Limousine mused idly, steeped in bias.
“So what do we have to do?”
[You’re a little rude, but that can be corrected.]
What kind of AI talks like that? The tiger-headed general replied to every word with frightening precision. Above his head floated the name ‘Tiger General.’
[The trial of I, Tiger General, is……]
💔
The challenger was better at the game than expected. Contrary to Limousine’s modest hope that he wouldn’t become dead weight, the guy had decent sense and physical ability, and while his way of speaking couldn’t be more uncooperative, he did at least understand the concept of teamwork. Limousine’s cold-hearted plan to ditch the guy immediately if he died early went up in smoke, and the two of them smoothly cleared the quests in the pavilion.
“Vajra’s Protection.”
< The first attack received within 3 seconds is nullified. >
What kind of skill is that? It’s definitely not a swordsman skill. While the challenger drew aggro from the Goat General and held on, Limousine, who had approached from behind, widened his eyes at the unfamiliar skill being cast.
Limousine liked PvP, so he was fairly knowledgeable about skills used by other classes, especially defensive ones—but even so, he’d never heard that skill name before. A rare sect skill? Or a hidden reward? Since the challenger had arrived earlier and was already progressing through the main quest, it wasn’t impossible that he’d cleared a few hidden quests. Having one more invincibility skill than most…… lucky guy. Grumbling, Limousine stabbed his staff into the wool sticking out from between the Goat General’s armor plates and steadily dealt damage.
Unlike the early stages when hints were handed out plainly, the generals offered fewer and fewer words as they progressed. Now it was just ‘overcome the trial’ and an onslaught of attacks. Seriously, he came here for the spider lily, and now suddenly it’s trial time?
Anyway, after several attempts, they figured out that the Goat General could use ranged attacks and wouldn’t move from his position even if the aggro holder moved. But once his HP dropped past a certain threshold, a status message—’The Goat General has become enraged’—would appear, and he’d switch to melee attacks only. At that point, if the aggro holder lured the Goat General to a corner of the map, the floor patterns he’d been stomping over—completely hidden before—would be revealed. Depending on the type of pattern, the strategy to clear the fight changed.
The catch was that there were more patterns than expected, meaning each attempt required developing a new strategy. If this was the Goat General, then the zodiac sequence would go: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat…… That’s eight already—how many more to go until all twelve? Can we even finish this today? If someone else shows up and messes with us, that’d be a disaster.
Limousine had gotten so used to the Goat General’s attack patterns that he could deal damage while spacing out, thinking idle thoughts. Just as he was doing so, the Goat General crouched and then shot up like a spring.
< The Goat General has become enraged after continued attacks! >
At the same time, a status message appeared, and the Goat General’s weapon changed. The challenger led the Goat General to a corner of the map. As soon as the Goat General vacated the area, Limousine quickly checked the pattern on the floor.
The sun. It was a new pattern. He frowned instinctively. Shit. Another retry?
“What’s the pattern?”
“Sun!”
The challenger called out from a distance, unaware of the dread of another retry settling over Limousine. Still, they had to try. Answering the question, Limousine immediately turned around.
This map had various symbols carved into the walls like murals. That must be some kind of hint too…… Quickly scanning the wall, he soon spotted the same sun pattern he’d seen on the floor. The sun, and beneath it—Sheep…… But why is it all the way up there?
< The Goat General’s roar shakes the earth! >
“Serene Reflection.”
< You and your party members are immune to status effects for 3 seconds. >
A new status message appeared. Soon, the map began to tremble, and bits of rock debris began to fall. What? Is the place collapsing? A wipe mechanic this fast? Limousine instinctively used a defensive skill and kept an eye on the Goat General, but nothing about the general’s status seemed to have changed. He couldn’t have screamed just for fun, right?
Limousine’s brain kicked into high gear. Every system in a dungeon was a hint in itself. There was no such thing as a randomly appearing status message. A roar…… the earth…… the earth? Limousine tore his eyes away from the Goat General and scanned the surrounding map.
The maps of the Twelve Generals were all based on the same concept: rocky caves with uneven floors and walls, no natural light, lanterns scattered here and there, and small puddles from dripping water…… It was the kind of setting that screamed hidden treasure or some mystical encounter.
But when he’d looked at the mural earlier, the wall had been smoother than this.
Now, the wall where the Goat General’s roar had passed had new ridges and grooves here and there. Enough that he could plant his foot and jump, scaling the wall like rock climbing up to the ceiling. Limousine’s lips curled up into a grin.
“Just hold on a little longer.”
“Make it quick.”
The jump was harder than expected. What is this, the ‘Forest of Patience’? After falling a few times and getting a bit pissed, he managed to calm himself with some deep breaths. Once he finally made it to the top, the sun pattern he’d seen on the wall earlier was glowing red beneath his feet.
Bingo. Without hesitation, Limousine stepped on the sun.
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TL/N: Forest of Patience is a game from Maple Story where the player must jump from one foothold to another to move up toward the end, like this: