How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game

The quicksand slowly engulfs my body. Starting from the ankles, it climbs up my calves, thighs, and reaches my waist.

It’s now passing my solar plexus. The feeling of sinking into a sandpit is naturally unpleasant.

Thankfully, I can’t feel the sensation due to my Winds barrier. It would have been extremely uncomfortable otherwise.

Especially having this stuff get inside your clothes is something that makes you feel uncomfortable just imagining it.

“Oh! This is interesting!”

Aron and Jofor laugh and shake their bodies, finding this amusing.

The more they move, the faster they sink, but they seem excited, probably because they’re under my protection.

Jofor, who was next to me, suddenly threw a handful of quicksand towards Aron’s face.

The sand flew roughly towards Aron. Even though protected by Winds, Aron waved his hands to block it.

Aron shouted, and Jofor burst into laughter. But he quickly fell silent. It was because of Rina.

Some sand must have splashed onto Rina who was behind them.

A slightly furrowed brow and eyes full of displeasure turn towards Jofor. Everyone’s gaze shifts to Rina.

Rina, seemingly uncomfortable with the attention, forgot her momentary annoyance and looked flustered before turning her gaze to me.

“This… is really okay, right?”

She’s not asking out of anxiety. The quicksand has already reached her chest. Her face was calm too.

She hadn’t doubted my words since I said we’d enter.

Only Osten and Mary looked uneasy.

In fact, Mary seemed to have a mix of anxiety and curiosity, while Osten was genuinely scared.

Anyway, it meant she was saying this to avoid the situation.

‘It’s been days since she spoke first.’

She would respond when Denif or Mary spoke to her, but after Namir joined, her words drastically decreased.

She was already that type, but it got worse to the point where she barely spoke at all.

She seemed to be thinking a lot. She kept observing while listening to our conversations.

As if waiting for the right timing.

It’s like the walls around her heart had opened a little, but she didn’t know what to say?

“Sister! Trust our brother!”

Aron, who was in front, shouted with a smile. Rina turned her gaze back to me.

I quietly nodded, and she nodded back.

“I’m going first!”

As if trying to break the slightly awkward atmosphere, Aron shouted.

He thrashed about saying he was playing with Jofor, so he ended up going in faster than even the short Mary.

“I’ll be waiting for you!”

They entered the quicksand in the order of Aron, Jofor, Mary, Rina, Osten, and Namir.

I was last.

Just in case Osten or Mary got scared if left alone. Sand was everywhere.

At first, sunlight was slightly visible above the sand, but it soon became dark.

I keep going down and down. It felt similar to when I entered the Sea of Ashes.

‘Soon?’

The pressure of the quicksand weakens from beneath my feet. And then – with a sense of release, my body starts to slide.

My vision suddenly clears. My body was sliding down a gently sloping sand hill.

The place we arrived at was quite a large cavern. The others were waiting for me.

Only Denif, and Aron and Jofor who went down first, were standing properly though.

“You’re here?”

Denif reached out his hand to me through the others who were getting up after sliding down the sand.

I grasped his hand in return.

“Everything okay?”

“Of course.”

Denif grinned.

“But what’s this about? You’re actually holding someone else’s hand.”

It was a reaction from before when I disliked even body contact. But now there’s purification.

If I told the truth, he’d obviously show displeasure, asking if his hand was dirty.

“People change, you know.”

I deflected while examining the cavern. It was a large rectangular space artificially created within the quicksand.

It wasn’t dark. There were stones emitting sunlike light in several places around us.

“What are those?”

“I don’t know either.”

I couldn’t sense any mana.

It was strange enough that they emitted light without being magical lamps, but that light was like the sun.

“It doesn’t seem to involve mana…”

Osten showed interest in this. He approached carefully and started to observe.

“Can you figure anything out?”

“No… I’d need to research it.”

Osten shook his head at my question.

Beside us, Namir, who was looking around, muttered with a slightly dazed expression.

“The Desert Kingdom of Lutum…”

“Desert Kingdom?”

“There’s such a legend in this desert. That there was a desert kingdom more powerful than any other kingdom on the continent before the founding emperor.”

“Huh, really? This is the first I’m hearing of it.”

“That’s to be expected. There are no historical records, and nothing has been found to prove it.”

Could this really be a remnant from that desert kingdom era Theodore mentioned? It seemed highly likely.

I’ve never seen stones that emit sunlight like this either.

“Should we take some?”

Rina, who had quietly approached my side, asked softly.

As expected of a thief, already thinking about that…

“Later. We don’t know if touching something might cause problems.”

“Okay.”

We need to be careful about even small things in a place like this. There are often many traps prepared for those who enter without permission.

I first checked the surroundings with Winds. There was nothing particularly concerning for now.

‘I wonder if it’s not too dangerous.’

If these are remnants from before the founding emperor, any traps are likely to have become useless.

The most common devices for arrow or floor traps would have rusted and crumbled away.

There was a path ahead. It was a straight path lined with the sunlight-emitting luminous stones.

It might be a signpost.

“Let’s move for now. As I said earlier, Denif will take the lead, and I’ll be right behind. Namir, Jofor, and Aron will be in the rear, and the rest in the middle.”

It’s a choice considering both the safety of the group and the Mystic Power.

Denif alone is enough for the front, we have three combat personnel in the rear, and I can watch all directions.

***

It was quiet. Only the footsteps of the group overlapped the sound of sand flowing around us.

After advancing about 100m.

Pillars rose up on both sides. A giant luminous stone sphere in the shape of the sun emitted light from above.

Behind it was an arched entrance, but there was no door. There was only a narrow path.

Unknown ancient characters were engraved on the arched entrance.

“This seems to be the entrance? Do you sense anything?”

“No. Not really.”

“Shall we continue then?”

At Denif’s question, I briefly glanced at Namir.

“Do you know what that says?”

“I’m not sure, boss.”

“Hmm. Let’s go for now.”

The 2.5m high, 3m wide passage was quite dark. There were luminous stones, but they were sparse.

The visibility becomes extremely narrow.

The Winds advancing ahead along the passage detected unusual signs. They were small objects difficult to identify.

“Wait.”

I stopped the group and checked. Due to the darkness, a magic lamp was necessary.

From what I could see, there were bones in the process of decomposition and rotted equipment that seemed to be from the distant past.

When I touched them with Winds, they crumbled with a soft sound. The meaning of this was clear. It’s a passage with traps.

“This place has traps.”

“But would they still work until now?”

It was Denif’s counterargument.

He seems to have made the same judgment as me. People who came before would have fallen victim, and time has passed.

“Still, there’s no harm in being careful.”

“You’re not wrong.”

“If it’s too much, should I go first?”

“It’s fine. This is enough.”

I didn’t ask twice unnecessarily. I trust Denif’s reaction speed. This could also be a test for the Mystic Power.

No sooner had we taken a few steps when a clicking sound was heard from the floor.

“Deni…!”

Before I could finish speaking, Denif reacted, but embarrassingly, nothing particular happened.

“Why are you calling so urgently? I told you there wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Still, be careful.”

“You’re as nagging as ever.”

Denif grumbled and moved forward again. Despite his words, his actions had become more cautious.

He was in a posture with tense muscles and a lowered center of gravity, ready to move at any time.

Similar incidents occurred a few more times after that. There was a clicking sound, but nothing came out.

By now, we were approaching the end of this passage.

In the distance, an arched light could be seen shining. It looked like sunlight. It must be the light from the luminous stones anyway.

From what I saw with Winds in advance, it was a cavity similar to before. Just in case, I cautioned again.

“Be careful. There are no traces of dead people ahead like before.”

Denif nodded silently. It was when he had taken exactly 11 steps.

Once again, a clicking sound was heard.

This time was different from before.

Tick-clack! It was the sound of a mechanism working normally. The focused Winds detected the source.

“Above!”

Simultaneously with my shout, there was a series of shattering glass sounds, and the ceiling opened with a thud.

Then sand and dust poured out at an incredible speed.

The problem was that among the sand and dust, smoke with an ominous green light came out as well.

“Damn it!”

Denif cursed and quickly threw himself. Being prepared, I immediately pushed the smoke with Winds.

The green smoke, pushed by Winds, touched the wall and burned away with a hissing sound.

‘Is it some kind of acidic gas?’

Denif, having caught his breath, exhaled deeply and looked at me. It had been quite dangerous.

It wasn’t arrows or liquid, but gas.

“Thanks to you, I survived.”

“Wouldn’t you have dodged even if I hadn’t blocked it?”

“Maybe? But it was still dangerous.”

The reason I’m certain is that Denif had penetrated this place alone. Well, I’m not sure if he was alone or not.

I checked if the group behind was alright.

They were watching Denif and me with wide eyes, seemingly quite surprised.

“Wow, how can our brothers be so calm?”

“That’s why they’re our brothers, right? Wow, I was scared out of my wits.”

Aron and Jofor whispered softly, hiding behind Namir. I pretended not to hear and nodded forward.

“Let’s go. Be a bit more careful. Something unexpected could come out.”

There weren’t many steps left, but it’s usually those last few steps that are scary. Denif nodded.

However, that was the end of the traps. We entered a new cavity.

It was a cavity twice as large as the previous one. It was also brighter. There was light other than the luminous stones.

I’m not sure where it was coming from, but sunlight was really seeping in from various parts of the ceiling.

“Oh…”

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

The sparkle of sand dust floating in the beams of light was visible. It was quite a picturesque place.

Even the group took a moment to appreciate the scenery.

We continued to move forward. There was nothing in the cavity. Just flowing sand. There was more of it than in the first place we came to, though.

It was when we were standing near the center of the cavity.

Suddenly, an anomaly appeared.

Shhh- Shhh- The sound of sand friction could be heard from all around. At first, it was a small whisper.

However, that sound began to speed up at a tremendous rate. It wasn’t a normal phenomenon.

The group was bewildered.

“What’s this?”

“I don’t know either!”

“This doesn’t look good.”

It was Denif’s words. I agreed.

“Everyone, prepare for battle!”

The group drew their weapons. Suddenly, sand shot up, piercing through the sound of metal ringing back and forth.

The sand that shot upwards quickly began to take shape.

“Oh, damn…”

They were soldiers made of sand. In an instant, over hundreds of sand soldiers surrounded us.

And as if it were natural, these expressionless and silent soldiers rushed towards us.

“Maintain your positions! Don’t break out under any circumstances! You take the front and back! I’ll handle the sides!”

“Yes!”

Aron and Jofor’s response. I first swung Moonlight towards the ones rushing from the right.

I blocked the left with Winds. Compressed strong winds struck the sand soldiers.

Their level wasn’t that high. Neither was their rigidity. The sand that was hit scattered and fell to the ground.

The problem was…

The shattered sand began to take shape again in less than a second.

“Brother!”

Aron’s urgent cry was heard.

“These guys won’t die!”

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