Why Did I Have to Enroll

The Trick Room had two rule patterns.

The first applied to all elements within the room, while the second was limited to specific targets.

For instance, in Room 23, the rule of not attacking the innocent didn't apply to the group of murderers.

However, the rule that those who hadn't contracted with the constellations couldn't act within the city at night applied to everyone.

One might question why such rules existed if they could be bent at will.

Ultimately, the purpose of the Trick Room's rules was to make the climb challenging and valuable.

Moreover, the fact that the rule's application varied could itself be a hint.

'Though it's an extreme example, those who could break the rule of not attacking the innocent were all culprits.

This room is probably the same.

Furthermore, the second condition given in this room was consistent with the first.

Anyone who attacked them first would at least be guilty of assault.

In other words, a criminal.

They could be mercilessly taken down.

‘However, we can’t attack and kill a criminal immediately upon discovery, like before.’

Did the Trick Room’s rules change according to their actions? Ban Yu-won pondered this seriously while Light stomped his foot beside him.

“Is that really important now? What’s important is that the connection extended to Room 24. What are we going to do? It’s a four-room connection.”

“Now that you mention it, you’re right. Considering the blunders in Room 23, we can expect a reward in Room 30.”

“Ah, this is troublesome.”

Dokgo Yeon spoke in a gloomy voice as she looked up at the city walls that had approached them. The vigilance here was incomparable to the small town in Room 23. Although they didn’t immediately shoot arrows upon seeing them, everyone was ready to attack at any moment.

There were two gates, with the large one tightly locked and a smaller one open for a few people to pass through.

“Come this way.”

A guard who spotted them beckoned them over. The group, as if by agreement, pushed Ban Yu-won to the front to approach the guard.

“We didn’t usually conduct inspections, but with those cultists rampaging lately, we have no choice. Where are you coming from?”

“We’re coming from the small town.”

When Ban Yu-won mentioned the name of the small town, the guard’s complexion turned pale.

“What? The town where the god descended? They say pillars of light and darkness rose. They say the situation started getting serious after that… What was it like there?”

“It wasn’t that bad… But how did the rumors spread?”

According to the guard, the two pillars that rose from the small town two weeks ago became a major topic. Humans, fearing divine punishment, stopped even urinating in the direction of the small town. If something significant had happened, there should have been people fleeing from the small town, but there were none. Thus, they officially treated the small town as if it had disappeared.

“Indeed, it’s understandable to think that way. But in reality, it was quite the opposite.”

“The opposite?”

“Of course. At that time, a group of cultists were secretly active in the small town with the power of the constellations, and I…”

“You?”

“Yes.”

Ban Yu-won nodded with a devout expression, then shamelessly lied.

“I was the one who punished them, borrowing the name of the holy one.”

With those words, Ban Yu-won displayed a sphere of light on his palm. It was photon magic he had just learned, but since its activation principle wasn’t much different from the elemental magic he had been diligently practicing, it wasn’t difficult for him to use the magic.

“What?! No way! Then the pillar of light was?!”

Indeed, was magic that manipulated light extremely rare? The guard’s eyes widened in astonishment.

Good, it was confirmed that no one from the Wings of Justice was openly active in this city. Now that this was confirmed, it was Ban Yu-won’s turn!

“That’s right. Of course, I was recuperating for a while due to the aftereffects of borrowing too much of that power… Ahem, so I’d like to hear more about the recent events.”

“Oh…! Does that mean you’ll assist in resolving the incidents here, or rather! Instead of standing here, please come inside! Your companions too!”

The guard hurriedly called a colleague inside to take over his duties and personally escorted them into the city walls, bowing deeply. Ban Yu-won followed with a benevolent smile, as if he were truly a saint, and glanced back at his companions with a look that said, “Did you see that?”

“This man is really something… Even as a beggar, he’d end up leading the Martial Alliance…”

“Why do I feel guilty? Ban is the one lying, but why do I feel guilty?”

“Maybe because Light is.”

“…Luciel, why did you stop talking? Huh? Luciel?”

The group received a warm welcome. After a knight appeared to verify that Ban Yu-won’s light magic wasn’t a scam, their already nice accommodations were upgraded even further!

“Ah, I could live here for a while.”

“No, you can’t.”

In the knight’s mansion, after being served a sumptuous meal, Dokgo Yeon firmly replied to Ban Yu-won, who was patting his belly with a satisfied expression.

“Don’t forget that this is part of the tower and a test space. It’s not a place to settle down.”

“I know, I know. That’s why I just ate the food.”

“Huh? Food?”

Light, who had overindulged and was leaning back in his chair with a languid expression, blinked at those words.

“Why? It was delicious.”

“You fool, didn’t you realize the food was poisoned?”

“Poison?”

“It was a deadly poison.”

Light looked crestfallen. In fact, due to his contract with the holy sword, he had a constitution that nullified most poisons. Thanks to that, he had eaten the poisoned food without noticing anything.

“Ban, wasn’t this a place to relax?”

“There’s no such place in the world.”

“As long as I’m by Yu-won’s side, I can rest anywhere…♡”

“Beast, stop sneakily appealing whenever you get the chance.”

Ban Yu-won sighed and activated the language magic of 解 (解), neatly eliminating the poison that had entered their bodies. While strong individuals like Dokgo Yeon or Luciel had high resistance and might not have needed his intervention, he eliminated it to prevent any potential aftereffects.

“Did you all know?! Was I the only one eating happily like a fool? Why? Why did you just eat it?”

Of course, Ban Yu-won had weakened the poison the moment he confirmed it was in the food. Specifically, he extracted and absorbed only the ‘deadly’ part from the word ‘deadly poison.’

So why hadn’t he removed all the poison and left a bit? That was because…

“We needed to be attacked first. Poison is an excellent attack method.”

Ban Yu-won sighed and replied, then stood up to observe the outside. It was suspicious from the moment they were told to dine leisurely among themselves. They must have been afraid of being poisoned themselves.

The important thing now was to determine who was an enemy and who was an ally. For now, the knight was definitely an enemy. Ban Yu-won’s All-Reading Eyes saw him as pitch black.

“In other words, he’s the one who ordered the poisoning.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. He could be a cultist following the Claws of the Dark Forest or someone trying to kill us on the Wings of Justice’s orders. But that’s not really important.”

“Not important?!”

“Yeah. Anyway, it’s certain that we were attacked by him.”

Light still didn’t understand the essence of this Trick Room. Fundamentally, it wasn’t much different from Room 23.

“Light, let’s say an incident occurred here. What’s important then?”

“Well, the reason the incident happened…?”

“The answer is the culprit. You don’t need to know why or how, just catch the culprit. And the next important thing is the person who caught the culprit.”

“Ban, don’t people often say your thinking is twisted…?”

“Hold on. Here’s some popcorn… Haha!”

Ban Yu-won took out popcorn from his inventory, handed it to his companions, and opened the door to step outside. As the soldiers on guard within the mansion turned their gaze towards him, Ban Yu-won, who seemed fine, suddenly coughed up blood like red paint!

“What’s wrong?!”

“Poison, someone poisoned the food! It must be a cultist…!”

“This can’t be, get treatment immediately!”

“Who prepared today’s meal?!”

“Hahaha… The cultist is you!”

“What?”

At the perfect timing, the knight stepped forward. He held a thick sword, perfect for beheading someone, and glared at Ban Yu-won. Surprisingly, the knight’s sword emitted a brilliant light. A light enchantment! He was a magic swordsman.

“You imitated it quite well, but you couldn’t replicate the true power of the holy one. As expected, the holy one’s words were correct. You are an evil that must be erased here!”

“This can’t be, light?!”

“No way, our knight!”

The knight pointed his dazzling white sword at Ban Yu-won. At that moment, Ban Yu-won, who staggered, was struck on the shoulder by the knight’s sword and fell to his knees.

“Ugh!”

“It must be hard to even stand. To ensure your demise, I mixed the deadly poison of a basilisk, said to kill even an ogre with a single drop.”

“Coward, to poison someone while claiming to follow the light…!”

Ban Yu-won thought as he cried out in apparent agony. ‘I tried getting hit just in case, but it seems the rules don’t apply to them.’

―Ordering the poisoning was essentially a direct attack on you.

‘Still, just in case. Anyway, this confirms that the second rule doesn’t apply to all contractors of the [Wings] and [Claws].’

The soldiers, watching the staggering Ban Yu-won, were in a state of confusion. Could it be that the knight they trusted and followed was attacking someone contracted with the light constellation? Moreover, wasn’t he wielding that light himself? The not-so-bright soldiers gave up trying to determine who was good and who was evil. Although they had a sentimental trust in the knight they had known for quite some time, the impact of the massive pillar of light that rose from the small town two weeks ago was also significant, so they couldn’t make a hasty judgment and act. The conclusion they reached was to wait until one of them died. In such cases, the winner is usually the righteous one.

“This is the judgment of light! Die!”

“The true light-!”

Alright, he had gathered most of the information he needed. Just as the knight raised his sword high to strike Ban Yu-won’s head, Ban Yu-won, who had been kneeling, used the momentum to jump up and thrust his sword into the knight’s now exposed neck!

“Ka, haak?!”

The knight, who dropped his sword, made a deflating sound and staggered backward. A large hole was pierced through his neck. Ban Yu-won stood tall, raising the executioner’s sword enveloped in pure and beautiful light, and shouted.

“The holy one has healed me and granted me strength to punish the cultist who dared to impersonate his light! I will purify this city with his light!”

“Cultist, cultist…!”

The knight knelt. The black light that began from his wounded throat gradually enveloped his entire body. It was very similar to the deaths of cultists discovered so far. Ban Yu-won was truly grateful that the magic he had learned was photon magic.

“Ooooooh!”

“This can’t be, the knight was a cultist…!”

“The warrior of light has vanquished the hidden cultist!”

The soldiers, shocked by the knight’s death, cheered even louder to erase their agitation. And Ban Yu-won, silently emitting light, further strengthened the soldiers’ belief. The members of the Rebellion, who were still in the room, watched Ban Yu-won from behind with wide eyes.

“So how long do we have to keep doing this?”

"Light, there's a saying that those who tie the knot must untie it."

“What does that mean?”

“It means let the person who started it handle it.”

Indeed. There was a deep meaning behind Ban Yu-won giving them popcorn. Light nodded and decided to quietly eat the popcorn. The constellations had underestimated Ban Yu-won. Ban Yu-won, who happily added fuel to the fire started by the constellations, eventually escalated the situation uncontrollably and rampaged under the Trick Room’s rules. By the time the connection reached Room 27, Ban Yu-won’s group was visiting the palace of an ancient kingdom.