Yeniel smoothly brushed past my question and spoke slowly.
“…If we assume the standard for value is taste, then a sour green apple would naturally be worth less than a sweet red apple of the same weight. To make the values equal, you’d either need to bring more green apples, or the green apples themselves would have to become more valuable. Only then would the exchange be truly equivalent.”
It was such a kind and simple explanation that she could probably work as a kindergarten teacher.
“Waaah, I get it now!”
I smiled brightly.
Of course, nobody here looked like they believed I had actually understood any of it.
“So in other words, we are inferior to our ancestors, and this Reverse World was created to kill them. Therefore, to satisfy the Law of Equivalent Exchange, the Reverse World must either impose a penalty upon itself or grant us some sort of advantage?”
The Crown Prince voiced the conclusion.
“Exactly, Your Highness.”
As he smiled, the wound on his neck must have started hurting again. He pressed a handkerchief tightly against it.
“In other words, the fact that we are weaker than our ancestors is precisely why there is still hope.”
Sian’s expression brightened as he continued his explanation.
For some reason, it felt like I had skimmed over this dialogue before.
Probably.
“The First Emperor and the founding heroes may or may not have truly killed the Archmage, but they certainly possessed power on that level. Compared to altering monsters and rules that have existed for over a thousand years, it would be much easier for the Reverse World to simply give us something.”
“That means…!”
The Crown Prince’s eyes widened.
Only then did I finally realize what this was.
A tutorial for the Awakening System.
‘Are traits about to appear already?’
Traits.
Simply put, they were attributes that automatically improved a character’s stats.
“Yes. It’s possible that we’ve been granted abilities equivalent to those possessed by the First Emperor and the four founding heroes.”
The awakening of powers once held by those legendary ancestors.
The possibilities were endless, though what ability someone received was completely random.
Personally, I thought the best traits were the ones that increased damage against monsters or boosted movement speed. Since this was basically a horror game, most of the other traits rarely saw any use.
‘The problem is I barely remember who had what trait.’
The only thing I could vaguely recall was one of the traits possessed by Uriel, the slave knight who served the villainess Eveline.
Ah, and I knew what Yeniel’s trait was too.
It was basically a Gallery function, like the one on a smartphone.
After finishing his explanation, Sian looked around expectantly.
“Has anyone noticed any changes since arriving here? Even something minor would help.”
No one answered.
‘Why is Yeniel staying quiet?’
I found it strange.
The reason I remembered her ability as something like a Gallery was because screenshots started being saved from the very beginning of the game.
Whenever Yeniel came across something suspicious or potentially important, she would carefully observe it and commit it to memory.
[Yeniel: This feels important. I should remember it.]
[Yeniel: I have a feeling this will be useful later.]
There was no way she wouldn’t have noticed it.
Yet Yeniel simply shook her head.
“I’m not sure either. I haven’t experienced anything unusual.”
I glanced at her calm profile.
Could this be another anomaly?
Or…
Had her trait awakened, and she was simply choosing not to tell anyone?
“I don’t know either. I haven’t noticed anything special. Though perhaps it’s because of the pain. My neck hurts quite a bit.”
The Crown Prince forced a bitter smile.
“And if Max had something, he’d tell me. As for Lady April…”
He waved it off dismissively.
The hell is that supposed to mean?
“So, in conclusion, nobody has gained anything yet.”
Sian swallowed a sigh, then quickly regained his composure.
“That’s fine. It’s still too early to draw conclusions. If anyone experiences anything unusual, please inform us immediately. Now then, let’s head to the second floor.”
The entire group moved toward the second floor of the temple.
The stone staircase that had descended from the ceiling remained in place, still connecting the first and second floors.
At first I thought it was made of white marble, but the higher we climbed, the darker it became.
“From this point onward, the monsters that appear will be cultists who sacrificed ninety-nine people. And there will probably be demons as well.”
At Yeniel’s quiet words, Max nervously swallowed.
Honestly, there was no need to be so tense.
The mid-boss was a complete pushover, and the boss wasn’t even designed to be fought in the first place.
And so we reached the second floor.
Unlike the barren emptiness of the first floor, the second resembled the interior of an aristocratic mansion.
As soon as we stepped onto it, we saw numerous doors lined up on both sides. The area where we stood appeared to be a wide hallway.
“Why are there so many rooms?”
The Crown Prince examined the doors carefully.
“Six on the left, six on the right… Rooms 201 through 212. What kind of place was this? Ah, right. You said people were sacrificed here.”
Apparently disturbed by his own conclusion, his complexion worsened.
At the end of the hallway was a small lobby.
And beyond the lobby stood a massive door.
The door leading to the temple’s inner sanctuary.
“It appears this door leads to the next area, or perhaps another section of the temple.”
Following Sian’s words, we approached the giant door.
“It’s locked. How exactly are we supposed to get through?”
Max shoved against it unsuccessfully before grumbling.
Sian ignored him.
Meanwhile, I discreetly examined the floor near the bottom of the door.
‘Didn’t my brother pick up the Master Key here?’
The item that opened every door on the second floor.
I searched the ground for the faint glimmer of metal.
Nothing.
The floor was covered in only a thin layer of dust.
There wasn’t even a mark suggesting a key had ever been dragged across it.
No sign it had ever been there at all.
As though the Master Key had never existed from the beginning.
What if it really never existed?
That meant it wasn’t just the monsters that had become stronger.
Even the conveniences had disappeared.
‘I wish my trait would awaken already. I need to get stronger… Trait Window. Awakening Window.’
I knew it wouldn’t work.
But the moment I thought it absentmindedly—
A cheerful chime rang out, and a translucent window appeared before my eyes.
April Sharon: Awakening in Progress...(76/100)%
‘I’m awakening?’
Looking closer, I noticed the decimal numbers continuously rising.
[April Sharon: Awakening in Progress...(76.1713941.../100)%]
[April Sharon: Awakening in Progress...(76.226137.../100)%]
■■■■ Patch in Progress...
The words hidden behind black squares were unreadable.
‘What exactly is being patched?’