Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Chapter 1 - Floor 1 #6
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[Chapter 1 - Floor 1 #6]
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“Cheon-ho, that was amazing! Truly, truly amazing! Incredible!”
“Mm.”
Lucille hugged Cheon-ho’s neck and jumped up and down in place.
She seemed truly delighted.
Cheon-ho wanted nothing more than to savor this moment, but unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.
It was because of the light windows that kept popping up one after another.
And hadn’t Father said as much?
‘Everything in moderation, son. A man has to know when to pull back sometimes. Why? Because it’s cooler that way...’
Father was always right.
Cheon-ho composed his expression with effort and gently pushed Lucille away just a bit before speaking.
“By the way, Lucille.”
“Yes?”
“The Plague God is furious.”
“Oh.”
Lucille’s mouth formed a perfect circle as she finally turned to look at the light windows.
[The Plague God vents intense rage at you for felling his apostle.]
Honestly, it was unsettling.
A god was still a god, after all.
But Lucille grinned boldly and said,
“It’s fine.”
“The Plague God’s fury?”
“Yeah. The Plague God is just one of the many evil gods in the Great Labyrinth, holed up deep in the lower levels. He can rage all he wants, but there’s not much he can do.”
Lucille even let out a little scoff.
But Cheon-ho still looked cautious as he asked,
“Are the evil gods subordinates of the Demon God? And being in the depths... does that mean they have physical forms?”
Information was always crucial.
Lucille dropped her playful demeanor and answered Cheon-ho’s specific question seriously.
“Yes. Inside the Great Labyrinth dwell many evil gods who serve the Demon God. Each has their own physical body. In fact, the five goddesses and the Demon God have bodies too.”
It seemed the concept of gods here differed from what Cheon-ho had imagined.
“Angels like me belong to a god too, albeit at a very low rank. The lowest of the low gods, you could say... So the Plague God might be called a god, but he’s just a bit... no, a lot... um, anyway, stronger than me. He rules an entire floor of the Great Labyrinth, but he’s not all that impressive.”
‘He sounds plenty impressive.’
Lucille herself seemed to think so too.
It was like she’d talked herself into it.
She was even breaking out in a cold sweat.
“Mm. So we won’t suffer any immediate harm.”
“Exactly. And the Plague God is our enemy anyway, so whether he’s angry or not doesn’t make much difference.”
“Got it.”
Cheon-ho decided to let it be for now.
Lucille then pointed to the light windows again and said,
“But Cheon-ho, look at this. The Labyrinth World has remembered your feat. This is the truly amazing part!”
“Mm, does it come with any benefits?”
“Of course! It means the Labyrinth World has started recording your story. As these tales accumulate, your stature will rise! You might even become a real god someday!”
“Mm.”
Cheon-ho responded with a blank expression, but inside, he was far from calm.
He had to pinch his thigh just to keep his face straight.
‘A god?’
Of course, from the flow so far, it was far from the omnipotent god he envisioned.
But still, a god.
The very word carried immense weight!
It was tempting.
No, honestly, he wanted it badly.
Among countless simulations, endings where he became a god were rare.
‘It always seemed too implausible.’
Though he’d fantasized about marrying a goddess.
“Ahem.”
“Hero?”
Feeling a strange pang of guilt at Lucille’s innocent head tilt, Cheon-ho cleared his throat again and said,
“I see. But that’s for later. Let’s focus on the task at hand for now.”
“Yes, Cheon-ho.”
“First, let’s check the rewards.”
He’d massacred the rat swarm and taken down the Mad Crawler, and his level had quietly risen to 15.
‘It’s still amazing no matter how many times I see it.’
Levels increased mana and physical abilities.
It was real. He couldn’t see exact numbers, but he could definitely feel it.
If his base physical abilities upon entering the Labyrinth World were those of a high schooler who could medal at nationals, now he felt like an Olympic gold medalist.
“Look at this, Cheon-ho. We got some good stuff.”
[Mad Crawler’s Mana Essence]
[Steel Kite Shield +1]
In front of the Crawler’s corpse lay a pitch-black kite shield and a pitch-black mana essence.
If the Rat Ogre’s mana essence had been ping-pong ball sized, the Crawler’s was about baseball-sized.
‘It drops items too?’
Not just dropping what it carried.
It was like a game, dropping things it wouldn’t normally have.
“It looks like a high-quality shield! It’s reinforced too, and rare for Floor 1. Uncommon grade? It has several options.”
Lucille beamed as she lifted the kite shield. It was heavy enough to make her grunt, but her face was endlessly bright.
“Mm.”
Cheon-ho eyed the kite shield briefly before absorbing the Crawler’s mana essence first.
Just like with the Rat Ogre’s, he gripped it and willed it—and it absorbed. The sensation—no, the ecstasy—was utterly incredible.
“Mmgh.”
Swallowing a moan that nearly escaped, Cheon-ho focused on the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. To store the absorbed Crawler mana in his dantian.
‘Nice.’
As expected of a named monster. The accumulated inner energy far surpassed the Rat Ogre’s. His dantian’s reserves nearly tripled in one go.
“Lucille, what are the shield’s options?”
“Additional abilities. You’ll see them if you pick it up yourself.”
Lucille grunted again as she handed the kite shield to Cheon-ho. True to its name, it was a diamond-shaped shield with one end elongated, large enough to cover Lucille’s upper body and then some.
[1. Shock Absorption: Absorbs part of impacts dealt to the shield.]
[2. Lightweight: Slightly reduces the shield’s weight.]
Made entirely of steel, it was quite heavy. Without Lightweight, Lucille couldn’t have lifted it.
“Hm.”
Cheon-ho examined the kite shield more closely. It seemed naturally black, not dyed.
“It should have solid defense. With Shock Absorption, it’ll easily block Rat Ogre attacks.”
“I see.”
Cheon-ho nodded lightly, set the kite shield down, and asked Lucille,
“By the way, Lucille, it looks like the hidden quest is still ongoing.”
“Oh...”
Lucille hurriedly flicked her fingers. A light window related to the hidden quest appeared, and as Cheon-ho said, it was still in progress.
“The conditions are defeating the Crawler and destroying the altar, so we’ll need to go inside the rat hole.”
“Is it safe? There might still be smoke inside. Purification magic could handle it, but...”
As Lucille looked anxious, Cheon-ho glanced around. He gauged the time and came to a decision.
“Let’s rest a bit first. We don’t know the exact size of the rat hole.”
“Here?”
“Yes. This is the best spot. Block the entrance we came from and the rat hole, and it’s sealed—no risk of enemy raids. Plus, we have that.”
Cheon-ho pointed to a small spring—more precisely, a fountain where water trickled from a hole in the wall.
The only water source they’d found on the way here.
The rat hole might be in this room because of the spring.
Rats needed water too.
“Purification magic should make it drinkable, right?”
“Uh, yes. It should.”
“Good.”
Cheon-ho took a deep breath.
He closed his eyes lightly and reviewed what lay ahead.
Lucille watched him and thought,
‘Something feels ominous.’
No, not ominous—eerie.
And that eerie feeling intensified with Cheon-ho’s next words.
“Then let’s get to work.”
Work.
It felt like it carried a special meaning.
&
‘Son, a man needs survival skills first and foremost.’
‘Survival skills?’
‘Yeah. Women are drawn to men with survival skills.’
[Camp Construction Lv3 achieved.]
[Butchering Lv3 achieved.]
Cheon-ho first sealed the room’s entrance. Being a hidden entrance, piling debris quickly separated inside from out.
Next, he stuffed the Mad Crawler’s corpse into his inventory and rewired the rat hole. To block any potential surviving—no, survivor rats from emerging.
With the basic groundwork done, Cheon-ho laid out Giant Rat corpses near the spring.
‘Five for now.’
He skinned them with his combat knife and washed the blood in the spring water.
Lucille’s face paled and her hands trembled, but she didn’t look away.
‘Tanning will have to wait.’
To use beast hides, two processes were needed.
1. Remove fat.
2. Depilate.
Fat was easy—just scrape with a knife. But depilation was tricky.
Soak in lye or tannin to loosen fur, requiring a large enough vat.
Keeping the fur for pelts was possible, but Giant Rat fur was stiff and sharp—not ideal.
So Cheon-ho removed only the fat, then stored the hides in his inventory.
No rot in inventory, no spoilage worries.
‘So convenient.’
Deboning the Giant Rats, Cheon-ho smiled faintly.
Normally, smoking preserved meat, but inventory meant raw storage was fine.
He wrapped and stored all but half a rat’s worth of meat.
Watching every step, Lucille thought,
‘What kind of person is he really?’
The skinning and deboning were expert-level.
Literal pro vibes.
And under the labyrinth system’s influence, his hands moved faster and faster.
Seal entrance, skin, bleed, debone.
Hands clean in the spring, he moved to the next task.
Gathered usable stones from debris, piled them roughly in two by the rat hole.
Lit a campfire in between, shoved in leftover solid fuel and kindling.
‘Heat’s good enough.’
Eyes narrowed, Cheon-ho placed the kite shield atop the stones. Directly over the fire.
“Y-Hero?”
Lucille’s eyes went wide, but Cheon-ho didn’t stop.
This was why he’d checked if it was pure steel.
“Just wait a bit. I’ll make something delicious soon.”
“Uh, uh, yes?”
Cheon-ho smeared fat from the hides over the kite shield’s surface—like a griddle.
Sizzle—
Appetizing sound.
Fat smelled savory too.
Lucille went blank. Cheon-ho, satisfied, laid thin-sliced Giant Rat meat on the griddle.
Sprinkled salt from the survival kit too.
‘Don’t skimp—let’s eat this too.’
Kimchi pulled out for instant noodles.
Opened the sealed container, tossed slices on the griddle—more good smells.
“Lucille, sorry, but could you flap lightly? Direct smoke into the rat hole, not out.”
“Uh, uh, yes.”
Lucille started flapping.
Meanwhile, mouthwatering sounds continued from the griddle.
Sizzle—
Meat cooking.
Fat rendering, kimchi grilling.
Lucille gulped involuntarily.
Cheon-ho flipped the meat with chopsticks.
[Cooking Lv4 achieved.]
‘Lucky to have a griddle.’
Cheon-ho thought, and Lucille vaguely agreed.
“Let’s eat.”
Mess kit had utensils aplenty—spoons, chopsticks.
Lucille gripped chopsticks awkwardly, gulped again.
It made sense.
No time to eat before escaping HQ—starved nearly a full day.
‘Uncommon-grade Steel Kite Shield...’
Two options too.
But now, perfect griddle.
‘Giant Rat meat...’
Rat meat, bluntly.
But Lucille shook her head. The temptation before her was too strong.
Sizzle—
Sound conquered her. Scent brought her to her knees.
Lucille gave in and shoved meat in her mouth.
‘Ah!’
Juices burst on chewing.
Never tried Giant Rat, but it tasted like chicken.
Plus salt’s savoriness.
Essence of grilling from years of practice.
“Tasty, right?”
Cheon-ho asked. Lucille, munching, nodded reflexively.
Answered honestly on instinct.
“Yes♥”
Lucille was happy, Cheon-ho satisfied.
&
[Chapter 1 - Floor 1 #6] End