Chapter 51
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Floor 7 - Lv. 32 Ordinary Exiles (2)
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There's an old saying: if you listen to your elders, rice cakes will fall into your lap even in your sleep.
In the Labyrinth, the elders are the veteran Exiles.
Most Exiles spend their early days dying over and over, knowing nothing.
Even after somehow scraping by to Floor 2, you're suddenly forced to fight monsters you've never seen before. It ain't easy.
After getting familiar with all sorts of deaths, if you're lucky, you meet a kind senior.
Relatively low-year Exiles haven't shed their humanity yet, and plenty still believe in innate human goodness.
They try to lead and teach the newbies.
Good folks, really.
I think I held onto that mindset for about the first year myself, drawing on my game knowledge.
The very first thing those kind seniors teach newbies?
Things you absolutely shouldn't do in the Labyrinth.
Party size is one of them.
Back in the game days, it was an obvious limit.
Forming companions wasn't hard—just grab any NPC you come across and make 'em a party member.
Even or odd floors? Doesn't matter. Swarm tactics beat everything. Just bash away.
Companion died? No big loss.
Their gear's mine now.
That playstyle was rampant in the ultra-early game.
The devs rolled out an emergency patch, tiering difficulty by party size: 1-4 and 5-9.
Difficulty spikes hard, but rewards barely budge.
Not worth it.
The Floor 4 Barbarian might've been a 5-man instance because of Provence. Lucky we beat it.
Should've milked that floor more instead of letting it go easy.
Naturally, efficient play—over concept builds—settled on 4-man parties.
Any fewer, and class balance screws up your party play.
You gotta puzzle out the ideal comp within the 4 limit.
That's one reason mages are rare early on.
Unless it's a skilled caster, they're useful for scouting or lighting fires, but their combat's negligible—burdens the other three.
Few risk that for a lighter-slash-radar you gotta feed and clothe.
Female archers are at least decent.
So the guys sprawled dead in front of me? Bad call from the start.
A 5-man party? If you're going over, make it 9.
Judging by their trashed gear, they struggled against the ramped-up difficulty climbing up, with rewards that didn't keep pace.
And divided among five? Mismatched gear with screws loose everywhere.
"Four of 'em. Gotta kill all, right?"
"Yeah. No intention of making casualties on our side."
That's why you gotta listen to the elders.
Start with 4+ and even after fighting well, infighting erupts—you end up ditching someone.
Party mood goes to hell.
Even temporarily, you need folks you can trust your life with.
Anyway, let's sort the current situation.
Minimum of 4 in the limit? Yeah, that's from the game too.
But obviously, probabilities shift fluidly with total numbers.
If total's just 20-ish, 4-man limit makes sense.
50? Unlucky, but possible.
100? Is this a game?
But it doesn't happen often. Calm down.
While I cradled my head in thought, the Hunter rummaged through the corpses.
Predictably, nothing special.
"Weapons aren't intact either. Must've suffered hard on Floor 6."
"We weren't the only ones wandering the snowfields—all of 'em suffered, right, bro?"
The maknae's got a point. Frostbite marks on extremities. They reached Floor 7 after dodging death by freezing multiple times.
Forest straight to snow theme? That's a disaster.
Might explain why all five put up such half-hearted resistance.
Ditch the failed run!
The Hunter pocketed the few arrows there were.
Bow's the best ranged weapon early game.
Tricky to handle, sure, but after a few years as an Exile, you pick it up.
Almost like it's beaten into you.
Even these guys honed themselves over years—they wield bows.
No matter how luck-dependent the Labyrinth is, nothing comes without effort.
Boom! Rumble!
"Ominous sound."
Live long enough, and you can gauge the attack type just from distant glacier thuds.
Magic? More physical impact than elements.
Not magic? Some race with insane strength.
Either way, a cold dread's already settling in my gut.
The Labyrinth's a luck-dependent shitshow.
Even floors are manageable, but odd floors get more bullshit as time drags.
Exiles are strong.
Unlike Labyrinth Residents fumbling skills without a Mind Map—cloud-grabbing uncertainty.
They know the methods for efficient growth.
Plus one-life vs. many-lives gap—Exiles get stronger the deeper they go.
Lucky?
Can free-ride for a while.
Like me snagging a shotgun on Floor 1 and milking it.
No rule saying that can't happen on later floors.
To someone else, yeah.
Their fortune's my misfortune.
"Alright. Got a rough plan."
"Quick."
"Not my first rodeo."
First, bail from this hidey-hole.
Normally, guerrilla tactics would work fine, but that ominous sound changed my mind.
Another heavy physical force echoes from somewhere.
"Not a giant... Troll? Not quite ogre strength."
The Hunter reads the situation.
"You think there's already an Exile who's race-swapped?"
"Seems like. Troll's the top suspect."
Troll card's high-performance if you stomach the dumb penalty—and it drops pretty reliably thanks to that.
But that's not the point. A race card at this stage?
Too low-prob encounter for "lucky."
Better assume they know a boss hidden dungeon.
Or heard from a friendly vet.
Or spotted one pulling it off in a boss fight.
Most don't know, but info leaks the more it's used.
Even so, to pull it off? Not 70-year ancient vet, but likely 30+ year monster-class senior from pre-Kingdom era.
Or fixed named Exile.
Not Blanche—powerful nameds are rare.
Plenty of fixed nameds with high-year seasoned setups, though.
Either way, bad news.
Mid-walk, the Hunter suddenly looses an arrow.
A grunt—someone tumbles in the ice passage.
Hot red blood stark against the pale blue ice.
On a clean map like this, shaking pursuit while bleeding's near impossible.
The Girl, oddly, didn't charge ahead. Good call.
I signaled the maknae: shield up, advance slow.
No resistance till the corner. Just a blood trail.
Alone? Already?
Then a fruit rolls in. Gray.
Quick judge.
Unidentified, but slashed open.
Explosion fruit's purple. Not that.
Used like this? Smoke bomb?
Practiced combat signals in downtime.
My hand signs alone, Hunter and Girl get it—retreat.
Maknae gets rhythm taps on back.
Smoke bursts.
Normally non-lethal, but narrow space? Asphyxia risk.
"Can't go that way."
Told maknae: don't lower shield.
Passing while choking? Way too risky.
Just for escape?
Right on cue, eerie chill.
Mana wave brushes me. Girl flinches too.
Followed by sharp prickling. Instinct screaming imminent threat to life.
Yeah, like a gun barrel to the face?
Blast erupts.
Narrow confines—echoes shred ears.
Maknae staggers back. Sparks off shield.
Rapid gunfire.
Guns shock not just vs. monsters.
Narrow spot, unexpected blasts? Comms blackout.
Gestured instead of yelling.
Trusting maknae's defense to push good, but full ambush possible.
Retreat first.
Shield does job.
Blocks relentless 3-round bursts from rifle.
After heavy retreat, they don't cross smoke.
Mana probe spreads again.
I counter-probe.
Expanding mana circles clash, cancel.
Despite flaws, reason parties raise mages early: PvP mana detect edge.
Boosted stats—tinnitus clears fast for all.
"Keep falling back. Wide open? Maybe. Auto-rifle party in here? No way."
Showed counter—they know we got a mage.
Floor mages? Pure PvP.
Mage means PvP mindset.
"Whew. Gotta take the backup path. Better hurry."
Cracking starts.
Whoever the troll is, smashing glacier?
Smart—flood and thin the herd.
Map size?
Huge.
20 total? Meeting folks this quick's weird.
More.
Splitting glacier outside to cull? 100 easy.
Is this a game?
Mana probes sweep repeatedly.
No clue how many PvP parties.
Countering's a breeze.
No dope needed—my magic stats crush any Floor 7 mage.
Initial stats? Mage's the only pick for me.
Maknae grips shield horizontal.
Not full cover—urgent self-expose but shield priority stance.
Angle spot-on, as taught.
Hunter sticks right behind maknae, synced.
Narrow PvP? Ranged owns.
Girl—rare sight—holds potion vial, healer standby.
No springs on PvP floors.
True spare lives. Never waste.
Tunnel end in sight.
"Charge in!"
Arrows incoming. Familiar lightning at tips.
Lightning crashes after. Ice insulates.
Lightning Arrow-level shock—no splash.
Memorized attack dirs pre-reentry.
Two archers, one mage. Warrior guarding 'em.
"Ready."
Girl stows vial, nods.
Maknae and Hunter prep follow-up rush.
Can't lead tank.
No strong magic resist timing. Maknae takes too much.
Plus elec stuns momentary.
Girl recreates Floor 1 miracle.
Bold [Dash] into ambush fire net.
One diff: I'm as swift as her now.
Ghostly Girl—foe archers whiff capture.
Faint Hunter snicker.
Recalling his own eat-shit? Absurd frontal charge works 'cause absurd.
Foes miss Girl—I spot her.
Intentional.
Arrows fly.
Snap fingers both hands. Tiny lightning orbs form.
Right-hand bolt: instant, destructive.
Hitscan [Lightning Bolt] streaks.
Downs incoming arrow.
Aiming archer scowls.
Other hastily aims.
Left bolt lands. No real dmg, but aim disrupt hit.
Girl arrives.
10x [Dash] barely flight-diff.
Her monster stamina enables the cheat.
Girl's expression soured.
"What's up?"
"Something... off."
Surprisingly, no deaths. Girl KO'd all three with precise force control.
Remaining warrior couldn't even trade blows properly.
Gear gap glaring, skill aside.
Warrior not party core? Still in outside-world casuals.
Puffy jacket looks warm, though.
"Damn. Kill him."
I obliged.
Flops over.
Unexpected: proper puffy's warmer than medieval cold gear.
What'd he do to get exiled?
Dragging it safe to Floor 7? Impressive.
"Want it?"
"Nah. Magic keeps me warm."
"Pity—no [Cold Resistance]."
"Yeah."
Girl seemed oddly drained.
Wonder why.
Focus on now.
Hunter thrilled with special arrows.
"Feels empty without these."
His arrow fixation—maybe 'cause zero magic talent.
Pure ranger relies on quality arrows.
"These guys were super lucky."
Mage had a decent staff too.
Game terms? Blue-text Magic item at best?
For a raw caster like me with passives—jackpot.
Mana probe ripples again.
Combat din echoes.
Distant thuds.
Screams.
"Doesn't seem like a troll?"
I froze a beat. No basis for me to judge that.
But the goddess is an ascended Exile too.
'Any reason?'
「What race could a god sense before the on-site Exiles?」
Angels or demons—races closest to gods.
'Angel or... demon.'
「Whoever it is, they drew that. Feels less like a game now, huh?」
Spot on. Their luck's my curse.
Floor 5 boss gut-split prob for that?
High-tier races? Dirt-low odds.
0.075% or so.
Yet someone hits it—that's probability.
This!
Is!
A!
Game!
Jealous as hell. Rolled 97 years, never drew one pre-Kingdom.
Beat those odds? Free-ride that run.
Kingdom pre-pass equivalent.
Nothing pre-Kingdom stops a high race.
Except me being here.
"Uncle, feathers flying over there? Birds in here?"
Angel, huh.
Time to make 'em regret the 4-man cap.
First strike always.
Fights won on first punch.
Angel feathers? Prime material.
Can't party—die and make gear.