Chapter 75

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 75

Chapter Title: Trap

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Ian spread out the map of the green labyrinth he had drawn so far.

Most of the important passages had been checked, revealing the overall layout of this floor.

In the middle of the map, several spots remained unexplored and on hold.

A few locations suspected to house bosses were still left.

"Let's check one more place before resting."

Having heard Ian say there wasn't much left, everyone nodded with faces mixed between expectation and worry.

Ian set his course for the nearest room marked as on hold on the map.

It was a room they couldn't assess from outside, so they had postponed entering for now.

They passed through the labyrinth's darkness—which still felt unfamiliar even after days—and walked quietly down the passage.

It wasn't far, so they soon arrived in front of their target room.

"This is it, right?"

Rin spoke while staring at the door at the end of the passage.

She cracked the door open and peered inside, but a thick darkness shrouded the interior, impenetrable even by the lantern's light.

Hostile, neutral, friendly.

It was an 'unknown' room whose nature couldn't be determined until they stepped inside.

Everyone turned to Ian, exchanged glances, and nodded cautiously to one another.

"Let's go in."

They opened the door—which was eerily silent in an unsettling way—and entered while staying on high alert.

A quick scan of the room showed it completely empty.

"This place gives me the creeps..."

Mika muttered as she brought up the rear.

At a glance, it looked like a barren empty room.

But it carried an inexplicable chill, unlike the rooms they had used for rest so far.

Ian had instinctively realized it wasn't a simple empty room but some kind of event room.

"There might be a trap. Stay sharp."

At Ian's warning, the members—who had sensed something off too—nodded and readied their weapons.

He had tried to avoid unnecessary variables like this whenever possible, but this room was unavoidable on their path forward.

-Clank.

As they each took slow, careful steps.

Suddenly, an ominous mechanical sound rang out, and iron bars slammed down over the entrance.

Ian, who had been prepared, immediately lit his torch.

"It's a trap!"

The walls around them crumbled, unleashing a torrent of bones.

The bone fragments cascaded like waves, piling into small mountains and blanketing the floor.

"Ugh..."

Everyone flinched at the gruesome sight and staggered back.

Then, one by one, skeletons began rising from the bone heaps.

Skeletons—the most common monster in this labyrinth terrain.

They were the weakest and easiest to fight, but their numbers dwarfed anything they'd faced before.

Skeletons were rising from all directions.

"Everyone, over here! Take up positions!"

Having confirmed the trap and retreated immediately, Ian took position first in a corner away from the bone piles, his back to the wall.

Lia and Rin blocked the front, while the others drew their weapons.

Ian kept his eyes on the monsters emerging from the skeletal grave.

A summoning trap.

Fortunately, the main monsters were the weakest skeletons.

If it was just the lowest-difficulty trap by sheer luck, they'd be fine.

But if not, something dangerous might emerge among them.

One skeleton rose silently.

It looked like an ordinary skeleton at first glance.

Infuriatingly, some traps were designed to be unavoidable even if you knew they were coming.

The skeleton that had risen farther away held a staff aloft instead of a rusty sword like the others.

In ambush situations like this—where first strike was lost—it was infamous for unleashing instant-cast magic without preparation time: a Skeleton Shaman.

Black smoke billowed from the staff, enveloping Ian's party.

"Careful..."

"Kyaa!"

No direct damage, but the shaman's wide-area debuff dramatically increased their corrosion.

Thanks to the buildup from their explorations so far, a new curse had been added.

Ian hurriedly traced the source of the black smoke from moments ago.

A skeleton holding a staff atop the bone pile glared with gleaming eyes.

Skeleton Shaman.

No wonder their corrosion had been under control and the expedition going smoothly.

There was no time to check what the curse was right now.

Ian shouted urgently through the smoke.

"Tanya! Hand over all the holy water ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you have left!"

There was no response to Ian's call.

Ian turned his head to look back and called her name again.

"Tanya?"

Tanya heard someone calling her name.

Like she was submerged underwater, the voice sounded distantly far away.

A dangerous situation right before battle.

She knew she had to move, but her trembling hands wouldn't budge.

Frozen like in sleep paralysis, Tanya barely managed a groan as she exhaled.

Confirming Tanya's status, Ian shouted to Rin up front.

"Rin! Rush forward and take that thing out first!"

"Huh? If I leave now..."

"If we leave it, it'll cast again! Before that!"

Rin, who had been holding position to block the approaching skeleton horde, hesitated briefly before dashing out as Ian ordered.

Lia would be left alone on the front line, but there was no choice.

"We might not be able to hold them all, so be careful."

As Rin broke ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠away from the front, Lia stepped further forward.

The skeletons weren't enough to truly threaten Lia, but there were far too many for one person to cover the whole front.

In the end, Ian stepped up to fill Rin's spot with sword in hand.

Ian pulled out his emergency holy water and poured it over his blade.

In that meantime, the skeletons closing in targeted Lia first, who was farther ahead.

But inevitably, some skeletons slipped past Lia toward the rear.

Ian blocked their path, and the skeleton mechanically swung its sword at him right away.

The rusted, worn blade came flying at an unexpectedly fast speed.

Fortunately, skeletons had no combat-related traits and stats lower than their level would suggest.

They were fast and aggressive, but their movements were overly simplistic.

Ian's swordsmanship—honed bit by bit in his spare time—was more than enough to dodge a single skeleton's swing.

Ian's sword slashed the approaching skeleton.

As the blade clashed with bone, the holy water flowed down and reacted with a faint glow.

A vivid golden flame erupted, sending the skeleton flying backward.

"Mika! Grab the purifier from the bag and give it to Tanya!"

"Wh-where is it?"

"Probably in pocket 3!"

3, pocket 3...

Mika frantically rummaged through Tanya's bag.

Some had been used already, so the contents were sparse, but finding a specific item amid the neatly packed goods wasn't easy.

Panicking from the rush, Mika fumbled as she spoke.

"Sh-shouldn't we prepare the barrier first?"

"Heal Tanya first!"

Mika soon found what she was looking for in the potion compartment.

"Found it..."

Mika picked up the potion vial.

Erosion purifier.

Mika approached Tanya with it.

"Tanya! Drink this!"

Tanya was still frozen in place.

Mika grabbed Tanya and forced her mouth open to pour in the potion.

"Ugh... *cough*."

As the liquid from the small vial slid down her throat, Tanya twitched briefly, then coughed and doubled over.

"Tanya! You okay?"

"Prepare the barrier now!"

Ian had been watching Rin the whole time.

Rin had closed in near the shaman but was held up by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the skeletons blocking her path.

In the meantime, he spotted black smoke gathering again on the shaman's staff as its next spell readied.

"Tanya! Thunderclap bomb!"

The suffocating tremors stopped.

Hearing Ian, Tanya immediately activated the thunderclap bomb and tossed it into the air.

The flying orb whistled sharply as it burned before exploding.

A deafening blast of flames and an ear-shattering boom erupted.

The thunderclap bomb's disruption broke the shaman's concentration, halting its spell midway.

Seizing that extremely brief moment—even the normal skeletons froze briefly—

Rin lunged forward and thrust her sword at the shaman.

The tip of Rin's blade pierced the Skeleton Shaman's vital spot precisely.

Skeletons already had low stamina, and as a mage-type, the shaman shattered and collapsed from that single strike.

Right after that, the number of skeletons ceaselessly rising began to dwindle.

Without the shaman, the rest were just basic skeletons.

The horde charging at Ian and the others was cleaned up handily, and before long, no moving skeletons remained.

Everyone scanned the room warily, on guard against the mountain-like bone piles.

They watched for a long while, but no more skeletons rose.

Only after a clank sounded and the mechanism activated—reopening the iron-barred door—did everyone finally exhale in relief.

"Haa..."

"Tanya, you okay?"

Tanya, whose hands were still trembling slightly, jumped at her name and looked at Ian.

She bowed her head deeply with a flustered expression and apologized.

"Sorry. It was because of me... That potion—we only had a few vials."

"We brought it for times like this. Don't worry about it."

The situation had been too urgent to check earlier, but Ian now reviewed the members' statuses belatedly.

Rin and Lia had slightly reduced stats but no major curses.

This was thanks to the erosion-resistance gear—modest in effect but still—he had prioritized giving them before entering the labyrinth.

"You two, drink this beforehand too."

Ian handed a vial of erosion purifier each to Rin and Lia.

They were fine for now, but a bit more corrosion buildup could trigger curses anytime.

If something like this happened mid-fight to their vanguards, it would be disastrous.

Better to lower their levels preemptively.

"Mika... sorry, later for you. Doesn't look dangerous."

"Got it. I'm fine."

Mika's curse... would have been serious at the expedition's start, but now they were near the end.

It'd be tough short-term, but better to save the purifier just in case.

"What about you, Captain?"

"I'm good too. It's nothing major."

Ian checked his own curse as well.

This counted as a very mild curse.

Ian likewise decided to hold off purifying his own.

With curses already applied, they could endure more corrosion for a while.

Purifying half-heartedly only for corrosion to build right back up into a worse curse would be worse than nothing.

Once Rin and Lia drank their purifiers and cleanup finished, everyone stood.

Mika glanced around the nearby bone piles.

The trap had stopped, so no more monsters would rise, but the place still felt awful.

"This spot's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠creepy. Let's get out."

"Yeah. The next room... should be a good rest spot."

Ian spoke while eyeing the passage on the far side of the trap room, overgrown with foliage.

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