Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Chapter 1 - 1st Floor #7
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Father had said:
"Son, you must learn to cook no matter what. A man who cooks well is popular."
"More than a hero?"
"What a foolish question. Just become a hero who cooks well!"
"Ahh, ahhh!"
Father, the seasoned hero, was always right.
And watching Lucille devour the meat with an utterly blissful expression, Cheon-ho was once again convinced.
"Indeed."
The way she chewed with her tiny mouth was just too adorable.
"I want to keep making it for her."
Of course, considering nutritional balance, more vegetables would have been ideal.
Cheon-ho kept grilling meat while lost in such idle thoughts.
And after about an hour more.
Lucille, who had been lounging with a hand on her full belly and a drowsy look, began nodding off as her tension eased.
Cheon-ho asked her to clean the grill—the kite shield—then prepared for the next task.
"Water skins alone won't cut it... No choice, then."
They couldn't stay here forever, so they needed to carry as much water as possible.
Cheon-ho skinned the bladders from the giant rats, rat ogre, and giant crawler, then washed them clean.
[Re sewing Lv3 has been achieved.]
Using the needle and thread from the survival kit, he crudely fashioned water skins.
With Lucille's purification magic added, they should serve well enough as containers.
"Then I'll rest a bit too."
Taking a spot beside Lucille in case of emergencies, Cheon-ho sat cross-legged.
Though slightly less efficient, he circulated the Heavenly Demon Divine Art according to the breathing technique that allowed building internal energy even while moving.
Internal energy gathered in Cheon-ho's dantian.
*
"Cheon-ho? You're awake?"
The first thing he heard upon opening his eyes was Lucille's voice.
It seemed he'd dozed off mid-meditation.
"About two hours passed."
Checking his wristwatch, Cheon-ho stood up.
Lucille also rose with a refreshed face, dusting off her bottom.
Cheon-ho first washed his face at the spring, then handed her the makeshift water skin. For purification magic.
Lucille froze at the sight of the bladder skin, but only for a moment. She soon cast purification with trembling hands.
"Stomachs full and rested—now let's explore the Rat Hole."
"Yes, Hero!"
At Cheon-ho's words, Lucille clenched her fist as always.
Cheon-ho handed her a small leaf.
"Ankaburai leaf. Antidote to Ankabura poison. Just in case, keep it in your mouth."
Father had taught that poison without an antidote was no poison at all.
Lucille bit down on the blue leaf as instructed, and after a slight hesitation, Cheon-ho asked:
"Lucille, mind if I cut a bit from your skirt hem?"
"Mmph?"
Her voice was muffled from the leaf in her mouth.
Cheon-ho explained again.
"I need cloth to cover nose and mouth."
"Mmph-mmph."
She nodded, so it seemed okay.
When Cheon-ho offered scissors, Lucille cut the hem herself. Generously, so it now stopped at mid-calf instead of ankle.
Cheon-ho bit an Ankaburai leaf, soaked a piece of her skirt hem in water, and wrapped it over his nose and mouth. He did the same for Lucille, then lit the pre-made torch.
"Let's go."
He retrieved the wire and entered the Rat Hole. With a diameter of two meters, standing and moving was no great hardship.
"I'm 180cm... Lucille's probably mid-160s?"
As expected, the tunnel—Rat Hole proper—was thick with smoke.
Giant rat corpses poisoned by Ankabura lay scattered everywhere.
How long had they traveled like that?
The near-straight passage suddenly sloped upward, soon opening into a fairly large cavern.
"Mmph-mmph-mmph!"
"You've held the Ankaburai leaf long enough—spit it out now."
"Hah... ha... W-wait a sec. Let me... breathe first..."
Lucille, who'd struggled to breathe, took small deep breaths before pointing to a large altar at the cavern's end.
"It's the Plague God's altar. The thing in the center is his statue."
Instead of rushing in, Cheon-ho narrowed his eyes and peered at the altar.
A dark green statue the size of a child stood there: a sleek monster with a rat's head.
"Destroying that altar and statue should complete the quest."
Nodding once more at Lucille's words, Cheon-ho scanned the surroundings.
Rat-headed monsters in robes lay sprawled about—priests of the Plague God, judging by their attire.
Cheon-ho moved toward a pile of miscellaneous items opposite the altar. His eyes had caught a large hammer fit for a construction site.
"Any curses on it?"
"No, it's clean. But just in case, purification magic."
Pink light from Lucille's fingertips enveloped the hammer.
[Wrecking Hammer]
Gripping the bluntly named war hammer, Cheon-ho steeled himself and approached the altar.
"I'll smash it."
"Yes!"
Lucille gulped and replied. Cheon-ho gathered internal energy in his arms and swung at the statue's head.
Boom!
The head shattered in one blow. Repeated hammering crumbled the body, and the wooden altar splintered to pieces.
And right then.
Sensing the anomaly, Cheon-ho widened his eyes and looked up. He raised his left arm to shield Lucille, who gathered pink mana behind him.
Green smoke billowed up.
Bursting through the altar, it coalesced into form. A massive rat head.
[Hounds of the Five Goddesses!]
[Wretched vermin deserving cursed deaths!]
The cavern reverberated.
It wasn't just size—the voice chilled to the bone with dread.
Plague God.
The abyssal evil god ruling disease!
[I shall remember you!]
[I will never forgive those who slew my apostle and destroyed my statue!]
[I shall grant you the most horrific death!]
[I shall make you beg for a painless end!]
The Plague God glared at Cheon-ho and Lucille.
Its blazing eyes seemed ready to incinerate them.
Cheon-ho met the Plague God's gaze with tightly pressed lips, while Lucille mustered courage and shouted:
"D-don't make me laugh! The H-Hero will... no, he'll smite you!"
Her eyes squeezed shut in the yelled defiance, the Plague God's eyes flared wider.
At the same time, Cheon-ho thought—no, screamed inwardly.
'W-wait. Hold on!'
Why am I the one stepping up here!
Cold sweat beaded, but Cheon-ho didn't show it.
Showing fear here would do no good.
He just faced the Plague God with feigned composure, who narrowed its eyes.
"Impressive backbone in you vermin. But remember this. Fear me always. For I shall never forget you!"
"Hmph, yeah right!"
Lucille shouted again, and Cheon-ho seriously debated stopping her but let it go.
Water under the bridge anyway, and the Plague God seemed about to vanish.
"Wait. Death shall find you!"
The green smoke forming the Plague God's head burst apart.
And seconds later.
Lucille collapsed in place, legs giving out.
Cheon-ho wanted to do the same but held his ground for now.
Panting, Lucille said:
"S-sorry. I acted on my own..."
"No, it's fine."
Cheon-ho didn't scold her.
Whether she'd spoken or not, the situation wouldn't have changed much.
'Enemy either way.'
Moreover, the Plague God had spewed curses before she even opened her mouth.
Showing spirit through words like this might even be better.
And that thought proved true.
[Hidden Quest 'Rat Hole' completed.]
[Thwarted the wicked Plague God's scheme.]
[The Labyrinth World is a tiny bit safer.]
[The Labyrinth World remembers your shining feat.]
[Chronicle Quest 'Adversary of the Plague God' created.]
[The Healing God, hostile to the Plague God, takes a liking to you and your angel for not only foiling the scheme but defying the Plague God.]
[Healing God's Blessing bestowed.]
[Healing God's Blessing Lv1]
[1. Healing speed increased by 1.2x.]
[2. Resistance to various diseases strengthened by 1.2x.]
[Level up.]
[Acquired Disease Resistance Lv1.]
[Hidden Quest reward: Burning Kaibos Heat Dagger]
Strings of light text appeared in succession.
Blue light poured over Cheon-ho and Lucille's heads, and glowing sigils formed on the backs of their right hands. The Healing God's Blessing.
"Ch-Cheon-ho! It's a rare-grade dagger!"
Lucille scooped up the dagger from the floor with sparkling eyes.
A dagger with a crimson blade, its hilt embedded with an orange gem like a serpent's eye.
[Burning Kaibos Heat Dagger]
[Dagger that infuses blade with fiery heat.]
[1. Sharpness]
[2. Heat]
[3. Self-Repair]
Definitely a solid—no, outright excellent—dagger.
Satisfied, Cheon-ho sheathed it in the accompanying leather scabbard and equipped it to his right waist.
But the rewards didn't end there.
"Ah!"
Lucille suddenly exclaimed and approached the broken altar. Cheon-ho followed and saw a helmet and armor inside.
In a somber voice, Lucille said:
"Items left by a summoned hero. Seems they were sacrificed as offerings to build the Plague God's altar..."
"Summoned... like me?"
"Yes. When summoned heroes die, no bodies remain. They dissolve into light."
When had this hero been summoned?
From what world, what era?
Lucille clasped her hands and prayed.
To honor the fallen hero's spirit.
Cheon-ho stood silently beside her for a moment of remembrance, then examined the helmet and armor. Finishing her prayer, Lucille said:
"Take them. The hero would want that."
Those summoned to the Labyrinth World were mostly heroes from their own realms.
As Lucille said, even in death, they'd wish their gear to aid the Labyrinth's liberation.
Cheon-ho nodded heavily and reached for the helmet and armor.
The helmet was square-shaped, the armor Western-style chain mail.
Cheon-ho focused on the helmet.
A boxy steel helmet.
Far too large for him. The interior was lined with soft leather.
"Cheon-ho?"
Hearing Lucille call, Cheon-ho closed his eyes briefly. He sketched a rough blueprint in his mind.
'I can do this.'
Remove the lining, dent the nasal guard, add some processing to form a handle.
What he'd get.
'I'll put it to good use.'
Cheon-ho picked up the pot.
*
[Chapter 1 - 1st Floor #7] End