In the depths of the cavern, an abundance of tunnels sprawled like the workings of a trypophobic dread. What was meant to be a Goblin Labyrinth appeared more akin to an insectoid hive, teeming with monstrous creatures.
Sorath, however, held little concern for the profusion of passageways. It wasn't a problem for Sorath as he had engraved the entrance containing the hidden treasure into his mind.
If anything, the true challenge lay not in the labyrinthine layout anymore, but in the treasure itself. Nearly five hours had elapsed since Sorath's arrival in the Goblin Labyrinth. That much interval might be as well as giving the prize to someone else.
But Sorath refused to accept until he confirmed it with his own eyes. He still had a chance.
Within the novel, Julian had grappled with a similar difficulty, struggling to locate the treasure despite his second time in life. That alone was enough assurance for Sorath to press on with his original objective.
Still, a pang of uncertainty lingered in Sorath's thoughts, casting a question about the timeline.
After all this time, he still couldn't tell whether the Guardian was using its power to rewind the time of the universe or if it threw him into an alternate timeline.
Both theories were not mere speculations; Sorath had proof to back his claims.
It could be a rewind, as it had already been proven by Julian's action; he acted the same way as in the remake novel and the previous lives, approaching the gate as soon it emerged.
Or it could be a different timeline, as there were too many differences between his current life and the novel as well as the Author's experiences.
Take, for example, Julian's possession of a [Rewind] Trace before his awakening, turning him into a Divergent, a stark deviation from the original and remake versions of the novel. As if this were not enough, the existence of Luke's possessor, Fred, further muddied the waters.
Sorath needed more proof, a trigger, to see which of his two theories would emerge as the answer to his lingering query. Or maybe more than that, considering he held knowledge of not just two, but three—no, four different stories or experiences.
"If I want to know the answer, I must first figure out which of these four parallels holds the most similarity with the current time. If none of them are matched, then I should use them as mere guides in this unforeseen life," Sorath mused, exhaling a sigh. "I can only hope that the deviations won't be too extreme."
"And the only butterfly effect I might have given to this current life came from my relentless assassination that resulted in the death of that trash 26 times and made us both live in a loop."
Sorath rose to his feet after fulfilling his need for a short break.
"I need to figure out what impact it will have on my life in the future."
He thought about that as he walked, resuming his hunt for the treasure.
Dying to an unknown cause 26 times should have cost Julian his sanity had it not been for his regression and mentality honed by experiences.
Seeing that he still looked determined after going through those hellish experiences, it completely nullified one of the four parallels, the original script, from Sorath's matching list.
Then came the variable of Julian having a hold of a Trace that allows him to rewind in time upon his death. This fact would cross out the remade novel from the list since it was never mentioned until the end of the story.
The Author's experiences should have been ruled out, too, if not for Sorath's circumstances. In her (The Author's) timeline, even though the premise was similar to that of the remake. She altered all the events from the novel, creating a new timeline completely different from what she knew.
Thus, the information from the Author's experience was very restricted compared to the two versions of the novel. Because of that, Sorath could only extract from what she experienced throughout her life.
With three out of four parallels being shoved off the list, Sorath was left with the remaining one, which unfortunately had to meet its fate like the rest.
Sorath expressed his frustration with a dismissive sound, "Tch"
"So that old geezer ended up sending me to an alternate timeline? So be it."
He concluded the problem with the time, coming up with the idea of an "Alternate timeline" instead of "Returning to the past."
However, one could agree that both terms held the same meaning since he was thrown off to an alternate timeline of the past time, where he was still a brat who hadn't attained his awakening.
…
10 minutes later…
He arrived at the tunnel passage described in the novel.
It was a small, rocky passage that could only fit one person at a time. Not to mention that they had to crawl through the 100-meter-long tunnel to reach the hidden chamber with a treasure sleeping peacefully in there.
Well, the entrance itself is so obvious. No wonder a mere candidate could find this so-called hidden treasure in Julian's first life.
After safely making it out of the tunnel, Sorath walked a few meters until he arrived at the small compartment of the cavern with a wide smile.
However, he was too late. He searched the vicinity of the small space and found nothing but a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Well, that trash has the advantage in the distance between his starting point and this place. No matter how fast I am…"
Sorath shut his lips and crawled back to the entrance.
"Trial Progress."
[Sorath Shedever, you haven't completed a single trial. You are currently taking the first trial. To progress to the next trial, you must clear the previous one.]
[The requirement to clear the first trial is to eliminate 100 goblins. Current progress: 99/100]
With a heavy sigh, he left to explore the labyrinth for a goblin.
After he found one, he vented his frustration out of the poor goblin and finished his first trial.
[You have finished the first trial!]
[Report! 344 candidates have completed their first trial.]
[Report! 28 candidates have failed the trial.]
[Report! 260 candidates are currently participating in the trial.]
***
10 minutes after Sorath finished his trial…
A ragged boy crawled the small tunnel, and once he arrived at the small chamber, he frowned.
"It's gone?"
He took a few minutes to search the surroundings, even though it was crystal clear the thing he sought wasn't there.
Rubbing his chin, the boy thought:
"Who the hell?"