Beyond the enormous door.
A vast hall.
A place thick with nothing but deep darkness.
[ ...... ]
Upon a throne set there all alone sat a being, staring fixedly at the firmly shut door.
Thump—!
Without a word, he stared at what lay beyond the shut door. At a man lying collapsed on the other side.
How long did it go on like that?
As he gazed blankly at the man who had fallen beyond the door, the corners of his mouth slowly curved upward.
At the same time, his fine white hand rose to his cheek. To a faint wound there.
Drip—
He idly wiped away the blood trickling from the wound and spoke in a low voice.
[ Interesting. ]
At his words, an old man answered with a smile— a small, pleasant one.
"It has been a long while since I last saw a wound upon Your Majesty's sacred person."
The old man was Baek-no.
The door was firmly shut.
It was unclear how or when he had come inside...
[ The first time since then. ]
"Yes. Decades ago, that was the last time. Ho ho—"
He carried on the conversation naturally with the being called the Emperor, the Sovereign Dragon Emperor.
Not Baek-no.
Not the Emperor.
Neither of them found it the least bit strange.
"Has your interest been piqued a little?"
[ Interest... ]
At Baek-no's words, the Emperor's gaze turned to Ju Muk-rin, lying collapsed beyond the door.
[ Perhaps a little may come of it. ]
As he said this, the Emperor touched the wound on his cheek again.
[ If he mends the constitution he was born with, and learns to wield the power he gained without being devoured by it... ]
The corners of his mouth, as he touched the wound, were still curved.
[ If, in that way, he becomes able to stand against Heaven and his brothers, who covet his life. ]
"......"
[ Then perhaps I may take a little interest in him. ]
But as soon as he finished speaking, the corners of his mouth were back as they had been, as if it had never happened.
[ Still, a reward must be given. As payment for stirring a little interest in a tedious routine. ]
He took something from inside his robes and tossed it to Baek-no. It was a key that shone gold.
"The Vault Key."
[ Yes. ]
"I did not expect you to hand this over. As I recall, the other princes received theirs much later... If they learn of this, His Highness the Third Prince will find himself in quite a bind. Ho ho—"
[ That too will be that child's fate. ]
"However precious this Vault Key may be, whatever he gains inside, it will be hard for him to stand shoulder to shoulder with the others, who are already established. Is it not as good as poison to His Highness the Third Prince right now?"
[ Who knows. That will depend on the child. ]
With that, the Emperor leaned back on the throne.
[ To a fool, it is merely a vault full of rare treasures. But to one who knows its worth... ]
Leaning back, he turned his gaze to Ju Muk-rin.
Languid.
Bored eyes.
But only for a moment.
[ For there is no better opportunity than the vault. And should that child obtain even 'that'... ]
He studied Ju Muk-rin with those eyes, then closed them.
[ Then before long, the time will come when he does not merely stand shoulder to shoulder with those ahead of him, but overtakes them. All of it depends on the child. ]
His emotionless voice was the last to speak.
[ Whether he becomes a dragon ascending to Heaven or a serpent plummeting to earth, whichever it may be. ]
The hall sank into darkness.
***
I eased my eyes open.
"Are you awake?"
A face that was familiar by now filled my vision.
"...Baek-no."
"First, please drink your decoction."
He handed me a bowl. Just as he had the first time I opened my eyes in this world.
Grab.
But unlike back then, I took the bowl as a matter of habit and downed the decoction without hesitation.
Gulp— gulp—
The decoction was especially bitter today.
"Ugh—"
"It is a new decoction I received. Is it to your taste?"
No wonder.
So that was why.
"It's disgustingly bitter. Worse than the last one."
"They say good medicine tastes bitter, so it cannot be helped. But you must not skip it."
I nodded and handed the empty bowl back to Baek-no. I had no intention of skipping it until my body was healed. If I didn't take it, I was the one who would suffer anyway.
"Was it you who carried me here after I collapsed?"
Right away, I asked Baek-no, to get a grasp of the situation.
"It was."
"Thank you for your trouble."
"I merely did my duty."
Baek-no smiled— a pleasant little smile.
Then he looked at me and asked.
"By the way, how was it?"
A question with no subject.
But I understood at once.
"I have no wish to see him a second time."
"Ho ho— please do not be too angry. Your Highness must know it too. That His Majesty had no intention of killing Your Highness."
Well, had he really had no intention of killing me?
'He probably didn't really mean to kill me. Fail to prove yourself and die. Even if he did say something along those lines...'
Even if I had failed to prove myself, the Emperor wouldn't actually have killed me.
Not simply because we were family. Did that monster of a man even have any love for family to begin with?
'Not a chance.'
Family love or no, this damned world was a filthy, unkind place, but when a Trial put your life at risk, it told you so in advance.
A truly dangerous Trial would say something like: fail and you die.
But this Trial had said nothing about failure leading to death. That was why I had gone to see the Emperor so meekly.
Knowing I wouldn't die.
Even knowing that, the moment I faced the Emperor, my head filled with the thought that I was going to die.
Not because the Emperor had made up his mind to kill me, but simply because he was on another level.
Like meeting a being from a dimension above ours, you could say?
That was why I had used my Authority.
To live.
'...Of course, it cost me a whole year of my lifespan...'
If I hadn't, I wouldn't have lost 1 year of my lifespan. I would have died on the spot. With my body collapsed.
In a way, 1 year of lifespan for survival could be called a bargain.
But I made the resolution again.
'I definitely can't use this power recklessly.'
It might be an incredible power.
But the risk was too great.
And the stronger the target, the bigger the risk, like this time, so I figured I shouldn't use it if I could help it.
Anyway.
That was that.
Having faced the Emperor this time, I came to a conclusion.
'I have to change the stage.'
It was a thought I'd had vaguely ever since I first entered the Imperial Palace.
I prided myself on knowing this game, no, this world, fairly well.
But that only applied to the world outside the Imperial Palace. The Imperial Palace, never once revealed in the game, was uncharted territory even to me.
So I had been thinking: until I had fully healed my body, until I could hold my own, shouldn't I operate somewhere familiar?
At the same time, I had also wondered about staying in the Imperial Palace and building my strength through Missions.
Unknown territory or not, the Missions here seemed likely to have exceptional rewards.
But after meeting the Emperor, that dilemma vanished completely.
'This place is dangerous.'
It was already my second Sudden Trial.
There was no telling when the next Sudden Trial would hit. If I had the strength to protect myself, maybe. But in my current state, going after palace Missions would be overreaching.
So I had to change the stage.
To a stage I knew.
But there was one problem.
'If I force a change of stage, there's a risk that comes with it.'
In this world, your birth mattered a great deal. This world hated anything straying from its set mold.
So if I left the stage set for me, the Imperial Palace, a risk would follow.
But even accepting that, I thought leaving was the right call.
'Even if it costs me, I have to take the lead on a stage I know.'
Only then could I survive, even with this damned body.
But before I left the Imperial Palace, I had to stop by the vault.
'The Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture.'
Because one of the two things that could fix this body was in there.
Swish—
I felt something foreign inside my robes.
[ You have overcome the second Trial that befell you. ]
[ Reward: The Emperor's Favor + Vault Key ]
It was the Vault Key.
"Baek-no."
Having confirmed the key was there, I called Baek-no quietly.
"Yes."
"Take me to the vault."
***
A little later.
The sky had already gone dark.
"This is the Yellow Dragon Vault."
Following Baek-no, I reached the destination in no time, and before my eyes, a tower soared into the sky.
'So this is the famous Imperial Palace vault.'
The game, no, this world, had many rumors. The Imperial Palace vault was one of them.
-The Yellow Dragon Vault is said to hold every treasure in this world. The ultimate arts of the Martial God. Peerless treasured swords. Elixirs for the ages.
-An impregnable fortress, the fortress of the ages, which even the Divine Thief, who robbed every place under heaven, could not rob.
-From ancient times until now, only the chosen could enter the Yellow Dragon Vault. And the chosen, past and present alike, all say the same thing.
-That the Yellow Dragon Vault is the vault closest to being the greatest of all time.
The Three Great Vaults under heaven.
The Demonic Cult's Heavenly Demon Vault.
Shaolin's Sutra Library.
The Imperial Palace's Yellow Dragon Vault.
And the one ranked the very best among them.
"The Yellow Dragon Vault."
A place I had never once seen in countless playthroughs.
I had always wanted to come here at least once. I had been dying to know what it was like.
Seen in person, the Yellow Dragon Vault was tremendous, as if to prove it wasn't called the foremost for nothing.
The Yellow Dragon Vault was a massive tower of seven floors.
But it wasn't shaped like an ordinary tower.
As anyone could tell from the name, the vault was shaped like a dragon ascending to heaven.
It had a grandeur the Heavenly Demon Vault and the Sutra Library couldn't begin to match.
If not for my situation, I might have stood gaping at it for a good while.
But I had no time to lose myself in admiration.
"Do I just walk in like this?"
"Yes. I believe I have already explained everything, so you need only go in with the key on your person."
The Vault Key was tucked safely inside my robes.
Step—
Without hesitating, I headed for the vault's entrance. At the same time, I called to mind where the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture was.
-To cure the Nine Yang Severed Meridians, you first need a martial art called the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture. It lies dormant on the first floor of the Imperial Palace vault.
「All About the Nine Yang Severed Meridians -Middle Volume-」
The Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture was on the vault's first floor.
Lucky for me.
According to Baek-no.
'He said you need some method to go up to the second floor.'
But he said no one knew what that method was.
The Imperial Palace might have stayed still for a long time, but that didn't mean no one had ever gone in and out of the vault.
'People inside the Imperial Palace. He said a few of those the Emperor permitted had been in and out of the Yellow Dragon Vault.'
But he said none of them had ever made it to the second floor. Not even my brothers, the other princes.
So if what I needed had been on the second floor or higher, I would have been in trouble.
But the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture was on the first floor.
Tap—
Thinking myself lucky, I stopped in front of the vault's firmly shut door.
Whooooosh—
Then, without hesitation, I pushed on the door embroidered with a golden dragon, which gave off an unmistakable, inexplicable air of mystery.
Creak—!
Flash—!
The moment the door opened, a tremendous light engulfed me.
***
[ You have entered the Yellow Dragon Vault. ]
[ Time Limit ]
[ 02 : 00 : 00 ]