We stopped in front of Training Gate Number 17.
The air around it felt slightly colder, carrying a faint scent of damp earth and mildew, as if we were about to enter a forgotten cellar abandoned for centuries.
There were no dazzling glows or swirling vortexes of energy like the gates I had sometimes imagined…
In reality, it was simply a massive circular glow.
"Is… is everyone ready?" Maya asked, our team leader sounding tense.
She held a small tablet in both hands, examining what looked like a basic map of the gate.
Rex Barnes—the muscular boy with the perpetually grim expression—nodded with exaggerated enthusiasm and clenched his huge fists as if preparing to wrestle a bear.
"Absolutely! Let's smash some goblins!"
Samuel Ko—the glasses-wearing boy who looked like he might faint from nervousness at any second—muttered something unintelligible and pushed his glasses higher up his nose.
I bet he wishes he were reading about goblins in a safe, comfortable book instead of meeting them face-to-face, I thought.
As for me, I simply gave a silent nod.
Ready? I mocked internally.
I'm ready to be wrong and for this to be nothing more than a boring, stupid mission… but I'm also ready for everything to turn into hell at any moment. Preparing for every possibility is my new motto in this cursed world.
"Alright," Maya said, taking a deep breath that seemed meant to calm her nerves.
"According to the preliminary information, this is an F-Rank gate: 'The Annoying Goblin Maze.' The objective is usually to find something inside the maze or deal with a few goblins that aren't particularly dangerous. We need to be careful, stay together, and maintain constant communication… Is that clear?"
We all nodded again.
Stay together. Communicate. Nice words in theory, I thought. But they're usually the first things to collapse when everything starts going wrong.
"Then… let's go in," Maya said, taking the first step toward the darkness behind the glowing gate.
We followed her.
Rex walked beside her like a loyal bodyguard.
Samuel stayed close behind.
And I took the rear, watching our backs.
"Whoosh!"
The moment we crossed the gate, I felt a subtle shift in atmospheric pressure, as if we had stepped into a bubble with slightly different physical laws.
There was no dizziness or nausea this time, unlike what I had read about stronger gates.
We found ourselves inside a narrow, dark stone corridor, barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
The walls were covered in sticky moss, and the smell of damp earth had grown stronger.
A faint light came from somewhere ahead, casting long, dancing shadows along the walls.
"Okay…" Maya whispered, her voice echoing strangely in the corridor.
"This… isn't exactly what I expected from a 'maze.'"
I agreed.
We moved forward cautiously.
The corridor curved and branched repeatedly, making it feel more like a complex tunnel system than a traditional maze.
"Clank… clank… clank…"
There was still no sign of goblins.
Only an oppressive silence broken by our footsteps and the occasional drip of water falling from the ceiling.
This is too quiet… suspiciously quiet.
At that moment, I decided it was time to test the cursed skill [Narrative Engineer Blueprint] in a real environment.
If I remember correctly, skill activation in the original novel worked through willpower…
I focused, trying to summon the blue interface I had seen in my room.
Status… or rather… Narrative Analysis, I thought intensely.
Show me the blueprint of this "story," you damn system.
Just like before, the semi-transparent blue panel appeared before me—visible only to me.
This time, it wasn't displaying my catastrophic stats.
Instead, it showed something else.
[Active Narrative Analysis: Annoying Goblin Maze (F Rank)]
[Primary Story Objective]:
Locate and retrieve the "Glowing Goblin Gem" from the Small King's lair.
[Hidden Conditions / Mechanics]:
The maze subtly shifts its pathways every 10 minutes based on the "mood" of the goblins.
The goblins here are not naturally aggressive. They are "annoying" and mischievous, preferring to steal small items or create noise to confuse intruders.
The Goblin King is actually a child-sized goblin, cowardly by nature. He will surrender the gem if frightened or offered a "shiny gift."
There are no real lethal traps in this rank.
[Potential Threats – F Rank]:
Small Goblins (Strength: F-, Agility: E) – use slingshots and small stones.
Goblins hate loud noises.
Expect distracting sounds and flashing lights.
Getting lost in the maze is possible if the path is not tracked.
Additional Notes:
Goblins fear sudden loud sounds.
The Goblin King likes shiny objects more than his own gem.
The maze has a fixed central point, while paths shift based on goblin moods.
The center can be reached easily if you stay on the correct route.
My God…
My eyes widened slightly as I read the information.
This… this is unbelievably detailed.
It wasn't just general "rules."
It was practically a complete walkthrough guide for this gate.
So the goblins aren't really dangerous, the king is a coward, and the maze can be navigated if you know the trick.
A bit of relief washed over me.
Maybe this won't be so difficult after all…
But a part of me still felt uneasy.
"Is everything okay, Adam?" Maya asked, noticing that I had stopped walking and was staring into empty space.
"Ah… yeah, everything's fine," I replied quickly, closing the panel with a thought.
"I was just… thinking about the best way forward."
"I think we should look for signs of goblins," Rex said excitedly, scanning the dark walls as if expecting something to leap out at any second.
"Right," Maya agreed. "But carefully… we don't want to surprise them… or be surprised ourselves."
We continued through the twisting corridors.
"Kheehee… fssh… click!"
Now I began hearing faint noises—muffled laughter, scratching sounds, quick movements in the shadows.
Goblins, I concluded.
Looks like they've noticed us.
"BAM!"
A small stone suddenly flew out of a side corridor and nearly hit Samuel's head. He quickly retreated behind Rex.
"What the hell was that?!" Rex shouted, taking a defensive stance.
"It's them!" Maya said nervously. "The goblins! Get ready!"
"Kheeheehee!"
Three small goblins appeared from the side corridor with shrill laughter.
They were no bigger than house cats.
Pale green skin.
Pointed ears.
Large black eyes that gleamed like beads.
Each held a small slingshot and grinned with mischievous, sharp-toothed smiles.
Disgustingly cute, I thought as they prepared to fire more stones.
"Attack!" Rex shouted, charging toward them.
The goblins, clearly surprised by his sudden assault, quickly retreated into the darkness, leaving only muffled laughter behind.
"They ran!" Rex said proudly, as if he had just defeated a legendary dragon.
Yeah, they ran after hearing your damn battle cry, I thought dryly.
Exactly like my status screen said… they fear loud noises.
"Good job, Rex," Maya said, sounding somewhat relieved.
"But we still need to be careful. We don't know how many there are."
We continued forward, encountering more of these annoying "encounters."
The goblins would appear suddenly, throw stones or small objects, then vanish while laughing.
It wasn't dangerous—but it was incredibly irritating and nerve-wracking.
Rex enjoyed chasing them.
Samuel hid behind him.
Maya struggled to keep the team together while guiding us toward what she assumed was the Goblin King's lair.
As for me, I stayed in the back, remembering the information from [Narrative Engineer Blueprint].
The goal is the gem… and the king is a coward who loves shiny objects.
This is easier than I expected, I thought, feeling a growing sense of false confidence.
Maybe not every gate will be hell…
How naive.
How stupid.
It was as if the universe heard my optimistic thoughts and decided to slap me across the face.
We were walking through a corridor slightly wider than the others when I suddenly felt something change in the atmosphere.
"Whoosh… whoosh… fsssh!"
Not just cold.
Something heavier.
More oppressive.
The faint lights illuminating our path began to flicker violently.
"W-what… what's happening?" Samuel whispered in panic.
"Click—clack—CRACK!"
The stone walls around us began to tremble.
We heard the grinding of rock deep beneath us—as if the maze itself were waking from a long slumber.
This isn't good, I thought as my heart started pounding.
This isn't part of the F-Rank 'Annoying Goblin Maze' scenario.
The ground shook violently beneath our feet, nearly knocking us over.
"Hold onto something!" Maya shouted, trying to keep her balance.
Then—just as suddenly as it began—the shaking stopped.
"Ha…!"
But something had changed.
Changed drastically.
The corridor was no longer the same.
The walls looked older… darker.
The goblin-like decorations had vanished, replaced by strange, unsettling symbols I had never seen before.
And the smell of damp earth and mildew…
had grown stronger.
Mixed with a sweet, strange scent that resembled rotting cotton candy and dried blood.
"Damn it…" I whispered to myself as cold fear crept into my bones.
It happened.
The thing I feared most.
"Is… is everyone alright?" Maya asked, her voice still shaken.
"I think so," Rex said, staring around with wide eyes.
"But… where did the goblins go? And this place… looks completely different."
At that moment, the status screen appeared before me again.
But this time…
The information it displayed made my blood run cold.
The line that read:
[Active Narrative Analysis: Annoying Goblin Maze (F Rank)]
began flashing red.
Then it changed.
[WARNING! Severe Narrative Instability Detected!]
[Emergency Protocol Activated… Reinitializing Narrative…]
[Original Gate Rank: F]
[Hidden Evolution Condition: Entry Number 555]
[Current Counter: 555 / 555 — Condition Activated!]
[New Narrative Forming…]
[New Narrative Title: Carnival of Stolen Faces (Rank A)]
Five hundred… fifty-five…
The words echoed in my mind like a death sentence.
We were the ones… the ones who completed the cursed count.
I looked at my teammates' shocked, confused faces.
They didn't know.
They had no idea about the scale of the disaster we had just walked into.
"Guys," I said, trying to keep my voice calm—but it came out hoarse and strained.
"I think… I think the goblins decided to throw us a surprise party."
"A very… very big party."
"Kihihihi… KYAHAHAHA!"
And then—
from the depths of the darkness ahead—
we heard laughter.
Not the annoying laughter of goblins.
This one was deep.
Rumbling.
Filled with cold madness and promises of pain.
The voice of the master of this festival had arrived.
And the curtain on the Carnival of Stolen Faces had just risen.