Chapter 60: Follow Me
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 60: Follow Me
“The surface! Please, send me to the surface immediately!”
“What’s the matter? Did something happen?”
A young-looking female explorer burst into the 5th Floor Base, gasping for air. Heaving deep breaths, she wiped the sweat pouring down her forehead and shouted.
“I’m from the 10th-floor Orc Chieftain raid party! Something went wrong, and I need to go to the surface to request reinforcements!”
“Good heavens...! Hurry, get in!”
Her gloves were stained with blood, as if she had been trying to recover bodies. Seeing the droplets of blood mixed with sweat trickling down her face, one could faintly imagine the horrors she had just witnessed.
The guard hurriedly cleared a path to the portal. After a quick, frantic bow, she thrust herself into the shimmering gate. The guild building would be on the other side; if she requested help quickly enough, they might finish the raid without further casualties.
Of course, that was assuming there were suitable explorers on standby at the guild.
“Phew, honestly.”
Serving as a guard on the lower floors, one encountered these situations from time to time. The guard himself had zero confidence in combat and had never truly wielded a sword, so he didn't know what it was really like. But considering how he’d whine all day if he so much as stubbed a finger, he found the explorers who roamed the labyrinth truly impressive.
“I can’t settle down.”
He had done his part, but that didn't change the fact that people were still in danger. About fifteen minutes passed as he tried to calm his racing heart, and then, an explorer appeared in the distance.
“Hmm... is that two of them?”
It looked like a male explorer carrying a woman in his arms. They seemed to be lovers. They must have energy to spare, he thought, acting like a couple of lovebirds even inside the labyrinth.
“Some people are out there risking their lives in a raid... and here they are, playing house in the labyrinth.”
He muttered it under his breath, but he had picked the wrong person to snark at. The explorer, who had closed the distance to the base at an incredible speed, approached and asked:
“Hey, Mr. Guard. What was that you said?”
“Huh? Oh, nothing! I didn't say anything!”
“That raid is already taken care of.”
“Excuse me...?”
The guard stood up from his seat, gripped his spear tightly, and straightened his posture.
Wait, is he a high-ranking explorer I don't recognize? Am I going to get lectured for lack of discipline when I return to the surface? Judging by the speed he just showed, he had to be at least a Gold-grade explorer.
To move at that speed while carrying an adult woman—and to look so calm, without even a hint of heavy breathing...
“You’re talking about the Orc Chieftain raid on the 10th floor, right?”
“Ah, yes... th-that’s right. A few minutes ago, an explorer took the portal to the surface to ask for reinforcements...”
“Oh, really? Well, that’s a shame. It’s over. They should be cleaning up the mess on the 10th floor right now.”
“Wh-what...?”
* * *
It seemed I was a bit slower than the explorer who went to request reinforcements. Since they said she went up about ten minutes ago, a few people must have gathered by now.
It would be a bit awkward to go up now and say, “I just went in and smashed everything, so you can all go home.”
“How should I put this?”
I had run as hard as I could while carrying Theodora just in case something like this happened. Well, I had to go up anyway.
“Anyway, don't worry about it. They’ll probably be up before long.”
“A-all right! Please, head on up to the surface!”
“Yeah, see ya.”
Vroom—
As I stepped into the portal, a brilliant white light enveloped me, and a moment later, I was back on the surface.
“Theodora, where are you going?”
“Oh, right. We entered through the Southwest lobby today, didn't we?”
Theodora habitually started heading toward the Northwest lobby, so I guided her toward the Southwest guild lobby instead. They probably would have sent requests for high-ranking reinforcements to the other lobbies as well.
It was common knowledge that high-ranking explorers rarely sat around the guild building idling. Usually, they’d issue support quests to any explorers they could find, ranging from Iron to Gold Grade.
In principle, a request for reinforcements should be made at the guild lobby where the raid party quest was originally issued. For a 10th-floor raid, just a few more Silver Grades would have been enough.
“You just need to fill out the simplified form. The guild will provide the preserved rations...”
“You look busy, Dahlia.”
“Ah, Aven...!”
Dahlia was frantically handing out papers to a group of about eight explorers. She was busy with the paperwork and distributing supplies like preserved rations that were given out during emergency quests. Unusually, Katrina was beside her, helping out.
“Aven! You’re back! Right now, the 10th-floor raid is—”
“Dahlia. Calm down.”
“B-but, yes...! This isn't the time for that...”
“You’re talking about the Orc Chieftain raid on the 10th floor, right? How many people have you sent?”
“No, not yet...”
So they hadn't sent anyone yet.
“That’s a relief. That raid has been resolved. They’re just cleaning up now.”
“What...?”
Katrina, who had been listening nearby while carrying an armful of packaged rations, froze in her tracks.
“Hmm. I figured as much.”
She then tore open a pack of jerky and started munching on it.
“A-Aven! Is that true?”
“Of course. I ran into them on my way back from the 12th floor. I just finished off the monsters and came up first. They’re probably tidying up the 10th floor right now.”
“Just so you know, you shouldn't joke about things like this,” Katrina said, chewing on her jerky. I might crack a joke now and then, but I wasn't the type to mess around when lives were on the line.
“Don't worry. The subjugation is over. I told them to just clean up well and come back up.”
“Is that really true?!”
The female explorer, who had been trembling with an anxious expression nearby, rushed over and shouted. The blood-stained gloves, the sweat-soaked hair... she must be the one who came to ask for help.
“If that’s true... thank you! Truly...”
“A-Aven. I’d like to hear the details for a moment—”
“Well, well, look who it is. You... you’re Yoo Eon, aren't you?”
A voice cut Dahlia off. It sounded familiar, yet unpleasant.
“And you are...”
A young adult male explorer with a mop of bright orange, permed hair.
“Long time no see! Did you finally escape the Brass Grade? That’s a relief, seriously! I haven't seen you around lately, so I thought you’d died in the labyrinth!”
“Lance.”
Lance. He was one of the people I had first partied with when I arrived in this world. We had gone on two labyrinth runs together, but after I got that skill and my right arm turned into a steak, I couldn't go to the labyrinth for a while.
During that time, he had convinced the other party members to kick me out, recruited another explorer, and moved up to Lead Grade ahead of me.
I understood why. I didn't hold a grudge. Unless you were Anne Sullivan or Mother Teresa, you wouldn't stick by a party member who spent all day crying in his room because his arm had turned into meat.
“I’m glad! Your arm is back to normal? Did you pay to have the skill deleted? I guess you’re back to diving in the labyrinth!”
“Yeah. Something like that. I didn't delete the skill, but I got it sorted out.”
“That’s great! Have you been studying the labyrinth? You didn't know anything back then!”
“Sure have. I’ve been learning with my body as I go.”
He had a constant grin and was always full of energy. But for some reason... even though his personality wasn't technically 'bad,' I couldn't stand him. Maybe I’d just become more cynical.
“You must be working hard! I’m an Iron Grade now, you know. I got this amazing skill. I might even move up to Silver soon! Hahaha! But wait, what did I just hear?”
Lance stepped closer and slapped a hand onto my shoulder.
“You... resolved the raid? That’s funny! But that’s a crime! If you spread false information like that and stop reinforcements from going to the 10th floor, it’s going to be a huge problem!”
“Is that so? Well, too bad, because I actually did resolve it.”
“Wow, incredible. You’re telling me you intervened in an Orc Chieftain raid and finished it without getting a single drop of blood on you?”
“That’s how it happened.”
Lance clutched his stomach and roared with laughter, his other hand pounding against my chest.
“Pwahaha! I get it! Your second skill must be a mental illness skill! Why do you keep getting skills like that? I’ll lend you some money! Go get it deleted! I’ve been making decent coin lately!”
“Lance.”
“Yeah! Speak up, Yoo Eon!”
Slap—
“Get your hand off me.”
“Ah, right. Sorry about that. I have this habit of hitting the person next to me when I laugh. My bad.”
He had a unique way of talking that really grated on the nerves. Was it intentional, or was he just born this way? If it was the latter, it was pitiful; if it was the former, he was exceptionally gifted at being a prick.
I brushed past the grinning Lance and spoke to the explorers gathered at the desk.
“I have definitely taken care of the Orc Chieftain raid on the 10th floor. If you really want to waste a trip down there, be my guest. If you don't believe me, go see for yourselves.”
The half-dozen explorers began to murmur among themselves.
“Oh, and Dahlia.”
“Y-yes...?”
“I’m on my way back from the 12th floor. You said you’d promote me to Gold Grade once I reached the 11th, right?”
“Ah...! Th-that’s right. Please wait a moment...!”
“Sure. Take your time.”
“You explorers over there? Leave your forms here. I’ll handle them.”
To the other explorers, seeing the reactions of Dahlia and Katrina at the reception desk made it clear that Yoo Eon was telling the truth. If he really had a mental illness skill and was just delusional, as Lance suggested, the guild attendants wouldn't be reacting like this.
Katrina was already moving to discard the raid reinforcement request forms based on Yoo Eon’s word alone, and Dahlia had headed up to the second floor to fetch a new Explorer’s Plate.
No matter how you looked at it, Lance was the one in the wrong.
“Aven, what’s with that name?”
“Yoo Eon? That’s my real name.”
“What...? Why did you hide that from me?!”
“Everyone said it sounded weird. So I made up a pseudonym.”
As I was talking with Theodora, Lance approached from behind.
“Wow, what a beautiful beastkin lady! Were you in a party with Yoo Eon?”
“Uh, me...?”
“You must be high-ranked! To take a Brass Grade down to the 12th floor. Are you boosting him?”
“...What did you say?”
At Lance’s words, Theodora’s expression soured instantly.
'Boosting'—or 'point-padding'—referred to a high-ranking explorer accompanying a low-ranking one and giving them all the points from the monsters they killed.
It was like being carried by a pro. While her lips remained tightly shut, Theodora’s reaction was ominous.
“What is it about Yoo Eon... Ah! His face? He is a bit handsome, I guess! But boosting is forbidden! If you’re looking for a boyfriend, how about me? I’m almost Silv—”
“Lance.”
This was crossing the line. I reached out, grabbed his jaw, and whispered.
“Follow me, you little shit.”