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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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Minesweeper!
Minesweeper could be called a paradoxical game.
Although it has disappeared these days, it was a Windows default game, so many people know about it.
However, there aren’t many gamers who have seriously played Minesweeper.
If the internet had been installed, there would have been far more stimulating and attractive games available, so was there any reason to play Minesweeper?
I, too, had only dabbled in it a few times during computer practice sessions.
Of course, after learning about this secret cave of Hyeon Cheon-ja, my Minesweeper skills had improved dramatically.
At least I was at a level where I could easily break through Hyeon Cheon-ja’s secret cave.
“So, if this square is 3, then the mine for the 2 in the next square automatically becomes this position.”
“Oh…”
While I was skilled, I needed to make Black Cat understand this board.
If I solved it smoothly without her knowing anything, it would be difficult for her to find it interesting.
Although it was an intermediate-level problem, it would have been better for two heads to solve it if we had them.
It had been 8 years since I last played Minesweeper.
It was an unknown problem, so how rusty my brain had become was pretty obvious.
“If you’re not sure, just skip it. Only mark the ones you’re absolutely certain about with these red stones.”
“Hmm. Alright.”
As I watched the Minesweeper newbie with fondness… suddenly, I thought of the KakaoTalk chatroom.
That bastard [Reincarnation Truck].
For a moment, an ominous feeling flashed by.
Back then, I was dragged in while coddling a newbie. Could something be happening now, too?
“Ugh…”
“I solved it!”
Black Cat opened the last square.
“Phew.”
Fortunately, there was a number written inside, not a bomb.
Clunk!
But at that moment, all the squares opened, revealing the bombs.
Although they looked like small wooden barrels on the outside, the red paint on the barrel lids made it clear to anyone that they were bombs.
Sizzle…
And somewhere, the sound of a fuse burning could be heard.
“What the hell?”
When I turned my gaze towards the nearest bomb, I could see a lit fuse connected to the bomb from somewhere.
“But we got it right!”
“Senior! Let’s get out of here first!!”
Damn it, where did we go wrong?
It could happen.
After all, wrong answers usually come from blind spots in cognition.
No matter how much I said I would double-check, the probability of getting the same wrong answer again is high.
No matter how unfair it feels, the fuse is already lit!
Before I knew it, Black Cat had embraced me and leaped.
A fragrance wafted by momentarily, and then I was grabbed and thrown outside the Minesweeper board.
“Let’s hide behind the rule stone!”
“Alright!”
Right after, Black Cat and I hid our bodies behind the stone tablet.
Whoosh-
BOOM!!
Fireworks that rose high to the ceiling of the secret cave decorated the sky.
“…Wow.”
“Geez… that startled me.”
Did fireworks go off when you solved Minesweeper correctly?
It seems like they might have, or maybe not.
In the game [Murim Cheonha], there are usually screen effects when you solve such mini-games.
Like confetti bursting or flower petals scattering.
Even a veteran player couldn’t remember every single detail like this.
The bombs, or rather fireworks lit one by one, decorated the air.
The bursting fireworks were quite picturesque since the secret cave was so dark that it was hard to see without a torch.
Fireworks, huh.
Before COVID-19 became prevalent, I saw them once or twice a year.
When fireworks from some unknown event started decorating the sky, that’s when I would stick my head out and appreciate them.
Although different from those large-scale fireworks, these small fireworks were still charming enough, blooming into small flowers of fire and scattering sparks before disappearing.
It was beautiful enough to captivate our attention even as we calmed our startled hearts.
I also appreciated the fireworks, following Black Cat, who was letting out constant exclamations of admiration.
“Ah…”
As the flames of the last firework faded, Black Cat let out a regretful exclamation.
“That’s a shame… It was quite pretty.”
“Yeah… it was.”
I, too, had become engrossed in the fireworks display I was seeing after such a long time.
But regardless of the lingering impression, we had to hurry to move on to the third gate.
Although the ceiling of the secret cave was relatively high, it was still an enclosed space after all.
The acrid smell of gunpowder pushed at our backs.
“I wonder what the third gate will be like.. I’m getting more and more excited. Ah, that test from earlier, I think it would be fun to do it again.”
Contrary to Black Cat’s sparkling eyes, I was starting to relax.
Black Cat walked towards the third gate, filled with anticipation.
Was it because of the shock from the bombs exploding earlier?
Ho Cheon-an seemed a bit bummed out.
‘This is indeed fun.’
Black Cat hadn’t expected that Ho Cheon-an was hiding things other than enlightenment, but that made it all the more enjoyable.
What an interesting secret cave this was!
The Asura statue, the bomb-finding game, and the fireworks display to commemorate finding the bombs – all these were fascinating and beautiful beyond comparison.
What kind of test would be waiting in the third gate?
To Black Cat, the test in the third gate felt more like a gift than a test.
Upon reaching the third gate, a larger cavern than ever before greeted Black Cat and Ho Cheon-an.
‘Structures?’
Black Cat raised the torch high.
In the space below the third gate, temporary structures were spread out widely.
“There’s a stone tablet here. Let’s read it.”
“Alright.”
With a pounding heart, Black Cat read the inscription on the secret cave’s tablet.
[Congratulations, Challenger, on passing the second gate.]
[If the first gate tested your martial arts and the second gate tested your mind, the third gate will test your luck.]
[Challenger, do you see the numerous buildings before the stone tablet?]
[They may look intact from the outside, but they’re just buildings made of wooden boards and logs stacked together.]
[Do you see the green spheres placed between the buildings? Use the three types of bombs placed below, three times in total, to destroy them.]
[The red bomb is the most versatile. The blue bomb splits into three smaller bombs when it explodes. The yellow bomb is light and can fly far.]
[The green spheres can be destroyed sufficiently just by the structures shaking or falling, so remember that bringing down the structures can also be one method for the Challenger.]
“Luck, huh…”
Ho Cheon-an smiled wryly.
How many people had been fooled by this phrase and tried to use save-and-load techniques in this third gate?
Ho Cheon-an had been one of them.
Trying to destroy even one more green sphere by adjusting angles and choosing bombs…
It had all been futile.
Ho Cheon-an asked Black Cat, who was examining the bombs:
“What do you want to throw?”
“Hm? Don’t you know something, Senior?”
“This gate is about luck, isn’t it? Besides, I’m too weak to throw far anyway.”
“But it looks fun. You should throw too, Senior!”
“No, you just throw them all.”
Ho Cheon-an smiled at Black Cat’s attitude, which seemed to scream, ‘I want to throw them all!’ even though her face wasn’t visible.
Such an uncharacteristic show of generosity.
“If Senior insists! Then shall I start by throwing the red bomb?”
Black Cat, who had been secretly pondering which bomb to throw, cleanly picked up the red bomb first when given the chance to throw all three.
“Hmm. There’s no fuse. Don’t we need to light it?”
“It’ll explode on impact when you throw it down.”
“Alright, here goes!”
Black Cat threw the bomb forcefully.
The bomb imbued with the strength befitting a peak master, drew a parabola as it entered the middle of the largest building.
And a moment later.
BOOM!!
With a massive explosion, the building started to collapse.
Pillars fell, floors crumbled, and the building literally caved in!
Rumble. Rumble!
“…Wow…”
The sight of a structure about four stories tall collapsing with just one bomb!
Black Cat gaped in admiration.
Even if it was a structure designed to collapse, the sight of a large structure caving in by her hand was enough to thrill Black Cat.
“Senior! This is amazing! Are you really not going to throw, Senior?!”
“Yeah. I told you to throw them all.”
Although Ho Cheon-an’s heart was also pounding at the real demolition scene, which was a different level from what he had only seen on screen, somehow those bombs felt more like grenades than ‘those birds’ to him, so he wasn’t keen on throwing them himself.
Black Cat excitedly threw bombs one after another.
The blue bomb thrown at another structure fired three small shells as it exploded, and those three shells hit different structures, bringing down parts of them.
“Senior! Senior! Watch, I’m going to put this yellow bomb in the middle of that cylindrical structure over there!”
“Oh, okay.”
The giggling Black Cat and the indifferent Ho Cheon-an.
It was indeed a contrasting picture, but Black Cat was happy because she was having fun, and it was suitable for Ho Cheon-an because he could get his hands on a qi-invigorating treasure.
As Black Cat had boasted, the yellow bomb went right into the center of the cylindrical structure, and soon it collapsed with an explosion sound.
“Oh, this is totally like a scene from a movie.”
“Movie? What’s that?”
“It’s a thing. Anyway… ah, over there.”
Rumble rumble.
Ho Cheon-an, who had unconsciously let slip an appreciation, changed the subject.
Black Cat also gradually woke up from the afterglow of the demolition and came to her senses.
“Ah, that’s a shame. I wanted to take one as a souvenir.”
Black Cat licked her lips, seeing that the compartment where the bombs were placed was closed.
Whether the creator of this mechanism was really Hyeon Cheon-ja or not was unknown.
Still, given that it had shown mechanism technology worthy of being called Hyeon Cheon-ja, it seemed that damaging the mechanism would lead to unpleasant consequences.
“They wouldn’t let you take such dangerous things.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Black Cat readily agreed.
The sight of exploding temporary buildings showed that they were hazardous objects.
If she took one, there would be various problems from handling it.
“Well, we’ll get our souvenirs from now on.”
Ho Cheon-an gazed inside the opened door.
Now that the secret cave’s test was over, it was time to reap the rewards.
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