Chapter 453: Chapter 453: The Endless Single-Plank Bridge

Yang Yu furrowed his brow, “No reward system at all? Crossing the flames just means getting burned?”

[No. It does.]

The Guardian affirmed decidedly,

[Whatever decision you make, the price must be paid for wanting to turn back. Still, to proceed with the resolve to see it through to the end, that’s what we call courage.

This is the test of the fourth floor.]

“This all seems to rely on luck. If your luck is bad, after maybe ten tries, you’d probably be burned alive by these scorching flames.”

Yang Yu felt his scalp tingle. Thankfully, they had Iyas in the team. Otherwise, if he were traversing alone, he reckoned no amount of fire extinguishers would suffice.

“Hero Lox, your understanding of courage is truly twisted.”

[Everyone has their own view of courage. As for the true meaning this maze aims to express, perhaps only Lux, creator of this Underground Maze, would know.]

A gentle breeze blew through the fifth floor of the maze, dispelling all weariness from those present. Yang Yu’s hands, which had been aching slightly, also recovered in the wind.

[This is your reward for passing this level. This Underground Maze has only seven floors in total. Once you overcome the trials of the fifth and sixth floors, you’ll meet me on the seventh floor.]

Having said this, the staircase to the fifth floor lit up with bright lights, illuminating the way to the fifth floor.

After some light physical movements, Yang Yu and his companions entered the fifth floor. There at the exit of the staircase was a square platform, the size of a basketball court.

Surrounding the platform was an abyss so deep that no bottom could be seen, and a gaze to the left and right revealed only darkness stretching endlessly, with no way to determine if walls existed on either side.

In the center of the platform stood a large, round log, like a giant peg plunged into the heart of darkness.

Half of the log’s cross-section was embedded in the platform, appearing sturdy, yet its end was not visible, its destination unknown.

[The trial of the fifth level—an endless log bridge.

Cross this log bridge to reach the sixth floor. On this bridge, any hesitation could send you plummeting into the abyss.

Magic remains prohibited here. The trial begins.]

The [Magic Control] status still hadn’t dissipated from their bodies; except for Iyas and Hake, their mana remained steadfast at a single point. Yang Yu naturally gave up any thoughts of using his Skill [Climbing], to scale down the nearby walls of the platform.

But in the next instant, he took out a hammer, nails, and wooden planks and leaped onto the log, affixing a wooden plank at regular intervals.

The Guardian appeared puzzled: [Why waste time constructing such a thing?]

Yang Yu responded, “Crossing this log bridge is absolutely no problem for me. However, I have companions following me.

You also haven’t told us if there are monsters waiting for us on this log bridge, so making some preparations first isn’t a bad idea.

Reducing uncertainties can ease inner turmoil, and when the time comes, courage will naturally flow ceaselessly.”

[I see. Good luck.]

The voice of the Underground Maze Guardian fell completely silent.

In a space shimmering like the starry sky, a young man slowly opened his eyes, patterns of stars within them twinkling along with the surrounding stars.

Alone, he sat on the throne at the center of the seventh floor, murmuring to himself:

“I have a feeling I’ve encountered a remarkable person.

Once the true essence of courage is understood, one can bravely press forward, dispelling the mess and vehemently advancing towards the future.”

There was nothing left that could stop him now.

Lox, you have your own understanding of courage, as does he.

Lox, like me, you are just a mortal and have not changed simply because people have hailed you as a hero.

You still have things you can and cannot do, you are not omnipotent.

Every page of history is like the Star Sky, composed of countless twinkling stars, but only the few that shine the brightest are truly seen and remembered by people.

Yet, many people don’t realize that the brightest stars are essentially no different from the others.

Lox, when you awoke me from my slumber, you did not tell me any of your plans.

I don’t know what you intend to do, but I hope you never stray from your original heart as a Hero, and that you’ll have no regrets for all that you’ve done.

Only then, would my sacrifice have been worth it.”

…

As they laid wooden planks across the log bridge, Yang Yu and the others followed it forward.

Along the way, as Yang Yu had expected, they encountered several monsters guarding the pass, all of them gnashing their teeth and contorting their features as if they’d run off from a neighboring Cthulhu set.

But upon checking their Status, they were just paper tigers, flimsy through and through, with just a couple hundred blood points at most, and their attack power was pitifully low; a straight punch from one was like a tickle to Yang Yu.

These seemingly invincible monsters served only to frighten Tamer away, causing them in their panicked state to slip off the rounded log.

Even if one was lucky enough to get through the Fourth Floor, those without real courage would stumble on the endless log bridge of the Fifth Floor.

Whenever monsters appeared, Yang Yu had the habit of checking their Status first; these paper tigers naturally couldn’t impede their progress.

While walking, Yang Yu saw a wooden plank nailed onto the log in front of them.

Bai Jin and Iyas exchanged glances, looking ahead down the log bridge, where they could see other planks beyond that one.

Yang Yu bent down to confirm; facing his side on the wooden plank was the Chinese character for thirteen.

This was the thirteenth plank that Yang Yu had laid down.

He had gone in a circle and returned to the place he had once passed.

Inside the Underground Maze, it was impossible to construct a truly endless log bridge; to create the illusion of an “endless” bridge, one would likely rely on some sort of Magic Tool.

The simplest way Yang Yu could think of to achieve the “endlessness” would be to form a closed loop with the whole bridge after they had stepped onto it using some tool.

The beginning was the end, and the end was also the beginning.

Yang Yu didn’t know how to achieve this feature, but from the appearance of the plank, they had unwittingly entered this closed loop.

To continue forward would only mean endlessly circling within this loop.

To explain the situation to everyone easily, Yang Yu asked Bai Jin and the others to stay put, and then he ran ahead at great Speed. After about ten minutes, Yang Yu appeared behind Iyas and the others.

The group was quite astonished; they couldn’t understand how Yang Yu, who had been continuously moving forward, had suddenly run to their rear, even suspecting that the Yang Yu now was not the real Yang Yu.

Yang Yu simply asked them to leave something behind and told them to continue walking forward. After another fifteen minutes or so, they were shocked to see Yang Yu standing in front of them again.

Yang Yu returned each of their belongings to them and began explaining their current predicament, briefly sharing his own hypothesis.