Chapter 20
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Floor 2 - Lv. 225 (1025-800) Karkrish
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It didn't take much time to return to the Healing Spring together.
The Healing Potion was a miraculous substance with utterly absurd performance.
If not too much time had passed since losing a body part, it would regrow in an instant.
Even if you accidentally nicked your hair during a haircut, it would restore itself.
The only issue was that it didn't recover stamina, which might as well be called HP.
But no one with a spare life would complain about that.
In that sense, it wasn't all that surprising that the Healing Potion even restored the clothes she was wearing.
The catch was that it only worked on clothes, not armor.
And there was a time limit.
That was why the girl's school uniform suddenly dissolved into particles of light.
I'd been expecting it, so I closed my eyes. The Hunter had been meditating facing the wall from the start.
"Kyaaah! Of all times, now?!"
"It's fine. We didn't see anything."
"I'll just keep meditating."
The sound of the girl hurriedly pulling out her stored clothes came next.
I'd told her to change quickly, but she fiddled with her weapons first. Tsk tsk. Who'd she get that battle maniac streak from?
I'd already said goodbye to my jeans at the start. That's why I always make clothes first.
Crafting decent outfits from plant fibers and animal hides was routine.
And while I was pretending to close my eyes out of courtesy, my body hadn't risen properly in ages anyway.
Ninety-seven years hadn't scarred my flesh, but it had thoroughly weathered my mind.
They say it's mostly a mental issue with these things, so whatever.
"If you open your eyes, I'll hit you with Heavy Strike?"
That might actually kill me.
The rustling of fabric brushing against skin reached my ears.
Sounds like this hadn't felt remotely erotic for about fifty years now.
"I'm dressed. You can open your eyes."
Her gaze was averted slightly, embarrassed.
First time seeing her out of the uniform.
But it suited her well.
Grove Fairy clothes were better suited to a childlike vibe than an adult's anyway.
Vibrant and fresh—it was even better than the uniform.
Silent tribute to the fairy girl who left behind such fine hand-me-downs.
"It's a bit big since our heights differ."
The fairy had been nearly 170 cm, model-like, so no helping it.
"And... there's more left over here than I thought."
"Hm, yeah. You'll need to tie the chest straps tighter. Looks a bit empty."
"Aaaah, I know that already!"
The girl rushed over and punched me.
It hurt.
We needed to sort out the situation.
Or rather, there wasn't much to sort.
"We can't clear this."
It's already been four days since we hit Floor 2. We've used two bomb fruits, and the fairy arrows are gone—we'll have to make more ourselves.
The crossbow and bow are starting to wear down; we need to preserve their durability.
No ranged weapons in the party is a disaster waiting to happen.
As a trump card, there's the shotgun, but taking down Karkrish with five birdshot rounds?
Ridiculous. Hero Units aren't called heroes for nothing.
Even shoving the last two bomb fruits down its throat and detonating them might not kill it.
Wait—no.
Maybe? It's weakened, so it just might.
I almost fell for it but shook my head.
We don't know if Trdongt fully lost consciousness or was just pretending before coming in.
If the latter, we're screwed. Level only drops by 500, but that's still 500.
A Lv. 500 mage might land a bite, but Karkrish is a warrior.
Warriors are tough.
Sure, if it was just beating down one weakened Karkrish, maybe—but risks aside from the cost-benefit, normal clears are impossible now.
If there was no Sudden Death, we could grind it out eventually.
But Faction Wars come with Sudden Death.
Completely wiping one side in three days? Straight-up impossible.
The girl tilted her head.
"We're fucked?"
"No 'fucked.' Use nicer words."
"Penis-ified."
"No, just stop talking."
The Hunter chuckled.
"A Floor 2 I'd never seen before. Won't see it again, but it was fun while it lasted."
The girl's face fell, on the verge of tears.
"Why are you like that?"
"It's over? For real?"
She sniffled and stood, her aura intimidating. Why did it feel like facing a beast?
Better correct the party's mindset before things escalated.
"Can't clear it, so we're skipping. Why talk like it's the end?"
They spoke in unison.
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
I explained the plan, and the Hunter's expression grew weirder by the second.
"What the hell is the Abyss?"
"Monsters starting at base Lv. 500 crawling everywhere, dim light, space-time twists making escape iffy—bonus layer."
The Hunter sighed.
"Is going there really the right call?"
He asked worriedly.
Sounds suicidal on paper.
I answered firmly.
"Sudden Death is 100% death. The Abyss is more dodgeable than you'd think."
"Understood..."
The Hunter nodded dubiously—straight-up didn't believe me.
Telling the truth and not being believed. Sad times.
"Can't we just use that thing?"
The "thing" he meant was the dagger at my waist, emanating ominous purple energy.
The girl lit up at the sight, but I shooed her off, saying it was mine.
Too dangerous a weapon.
"Sure, using it would make flying to the Abyss easier."
Stabbing with Backstab procs Banishment up to three times.
Banishment forcibly teleports the target to the dark, damp Abyss—a spell or divine power.
"Fine for two. But who do we backstab for the third?"
Backstabs hurt like hell. Not something to inflict lightly.
The Hunter shut his mouth, out of arguments, then...
"Still, isn't this plan way too risky? What if that orc gets ideas?"
Haha, after watching that guy for years. What a clueless one.
"Don't worry. I know Karkrish's panty color."
Karkrish worships the Abyss God, so purple panties. True story.
Karkrish is the most common fixed NPC among Greenskin faction warrior Hero Units—frequent and reliable.
Solid, well-rounded hexagonal stats for a warrior NPC.
Strong, tanky, sharp combat sense.
And extremely cautious.
As the saying goes, even a lion hunts a rabbit with full effort.
Karkrish is the poster child for that proverb.
No standout combat strengths, but no weaknesses either.
Most troublesome if outmatched in class.
That's why no chance of winning.
For this vanilla high-level warrior, his notable trait—if any—is random faith unbound to faction.
And he's always sealed somewhere.
Lore-wise, this orc fought in the Fairy War a thousand years ago.
Fairies couldn't beat the cautious Karkrish outright, so they trapped and sealed him.
Labyrinth lore shifts per run, but history has fixed elements.
Greenskin invasion toppling the ancient Fairy Empire is always canon.
Karkrish is from that era—an orc from back then.
Meaning he's never seen a gun.
A magic wand always wows the clueless.
That's what I was banking on.
The Hunter was skeptical.
But after hearing I'd tested it in past runs with consistent reactions, he finally bought it.
Plan was simple.
Trdongt would've blabbed about me to his tribal hero, obviously.
I looted his gear; he'd ask regardless.
Plus, Trdongt knows I'm an Exile.
"So he'll come looking for us."
The Healing Spring is a space native NPCs can't find on their own. System-locked.
But they know about miracle Healing Potions.
Anyone who's faced Exiles knows about their spare lives.
Natives hate Exiles but not their loot.
Healing Spring water from dead Exiles—before they could use it—is priceless.
The girl marveled at the idea.
"From their view, we're like lotto jackpot monsters handing out rewards?"
"You know the saying: if you're gonna kill, be ready to die."
"I'm always ready."
"Exactly."
Depends on the floor's vibe.
Here, Greenskins would happily hunt Exiles, but Grove Fairies wouldn't bat an eye.
The girl took it further.
"But don't some sell Exiles off?"
"Yeah. Go deeper, you might spot natives carrying Healing Potions."
Sharp observation.
One per person, bottle's an artifact.
If not for those limits, weirder shit would've happened.
Exile-trading Kim Seon-dals popping up.
Anyway, to aggressive NPCs, Exiles are pesky invasives—but juicy prey too.
"Luring them is easy."
Show up, wiggle your butt a few times, and they'll chase, starting a hunt.
Then hit 'em with the unknown terror.
Magic wand pew-pew!
Ridiculous, but low-floor guns excel at that.
Even old Trdongt probably doesn't know guns well.
Karkrish? No clue.
So what does the famously cautious warrior do facing an unknown weapon?
"Here he comes."
Ruins trashed, fairy village's fate irrelevant—he'll prowl the Healing Spring area.
The heavy presence ahead was unmistakably a Hero Unit.
I signaled the Hunter and girl.
Both nodded.
Not hard, but timing's one-shot.
"Who's there?!"
Karkrish's sharp senses caught our hiding spot.
His gravelly voice felt familiar, like an old buddy.
I didn't answer—just charged out and blasted the shotgun.
Successive blasts.
Unfamiliar and threatening to this geezer orc.
Karkrish furrowed his brow—his habit for unknowns.
I ignored it, unloading the shotgun relentlessly.
Ran dry quick.
Aim wasn't off.
But couldn't dent a high-level warrior's steel-hard body. Just scratches.
Karkrish weighed minor damage against unknown attack method, then...
"Abyss God!"
Cast Banishment.
Surefire way to remove a foe.
Sounded right for the cautious type.
Without Exile perks, what matters more than his own life?
"Hahaha, knew you'd chicken out. See ya!"
Space warped, Abyss hole forming to banish me.
As planned, the girl and Hunter dove to grab me.
"What?! What are you doing?!"
Karkrish panicked now.
Or bewildered.
Leaping into a deadly banishment spell?
Incomprehensible.
Vision blurred.
World twisted, crumbling everywhere.
Like descending stairs to the next floor, darkness engulfed us.
[TIP: The Abyss is a den of highly dangerous creatures—or things that aren't creatures. Surviving and escaping this dank, humid land of chaos is extremely difficult. And to top it off, the flow of time here is distorted too!]
System glitch, that.
Normally, escaping the Abyss bounces you back to Floor 2.
But escape after Sudden Death kicks in on day three?
No anchor to return to.
You spawn on Floor 3.
That's floor-skipping.
...Realizing this now, why start at Floor 2? Kinda regretting it.
Wasn't supposed to be this kind of game.