Chapter 32
Chapter 32
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ruby
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: At Least Three Lives Would Have Been Lost
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After a day of rest.
Diaz and I headed straight to the location where the underground labyrinth was.
What need was there to waste time?
It wasn't like I had any injuries either.
We arrived at a corner of Gilad like that.
Diaz too seemed to have never been to this place, as she showed signs of carefully examining the surroundings.
"To think there was a place like this deep inside the slums......"
I walked forward, finding my bearings while tracing my memories.
According to Romain's words, he only knew that people had been barred from entering since the distant past.
It seemed that even those who had settled here didn't know exactly what was in this place.
'The reason this place became a slum......this was exactly it.'
Originally, the reason for this underground labyrinth's existence was as a prison for ancient monsters.
The monsters from records who had once fought against the gods, he meant.
Naturally, it was absurd for people to be living above it.
However, the ancient records were gradually erased, and at the same time, those who had nothing and were pushed out as if being driven away had nowhere to go and ended up settling near this area.
That gradually grew and the village called Gilad was formed.
In reality, Gilad wasn't even a region that officially existed on maps.
Thanks to that, it was merely a tiny village that was difficult to find unless you attempted the martial artist class.
So the nobles didn't particularly interfere much either.
'As long as you don't cause trouble and guard the land well. That was about the extent of their mindset.'
I heard that it could be said that the place had become livable only after Romain seized that position of leader.
Setting that aside.
The conclusion was that this place was by no means an easy dungeon.
In fact, even in the original work, this was something that should be experienced in the latter half.
'From the start, the guy locked inside is a boss-level named monster.'
Instead, the reward was that satisfying......
But I wasn't without worry.
While I was thinking such thoughts.
We had already set foot in the territory of the underground labyrinth.
Though it wasn't clearly visible due to being hidden by vegetation, I could tell because I felt the texture of the ground had changed.
Diaz seemed to have noticed too.
"Rohan-nim. This ground......"
"Right. Below this ground, a mythical monster is imprisoned."
"M-mythical......! You don't mean the legendary monsters from stories who bared their teeth at gods?"
"They're not easy opponents. In a different sense from demons."
"Does that mean.....they're not the same as demons?"
I nodded.
"Among the mythical monsters, there are those who were born from gods. Their origins are different from demons."
"I see......"
Diaz stared at me intently with an expression that found it curious how I knew even such things.
Well, I only knew it from reading the background settings......
Still, I continued the explanation for now.
"If the place where demons arose is hell, then the place where mythical monsters were born is right here, the middle realm. Just as demons and humans are different, demons and mythical monsters are different too. If you put them together, they would tear at each other. Because everyone is each other's enemy. Humans, mythical monsters, and demons too."
"How can that be......"
Diaz was amazed, listening very attentively to each of my words.
'Does she not know much about mythical monsters?'
She knew so little that I was rather curious instead.
In any case.
While we were having such a conversation, we had already reached the entrance to the underground labyrinth.
"Whew......"
I regulated my breathing without realizing it.
Everything up until now had been nothing but a preliminary skirmish to come to this place.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Thud, thud.
Befitting the name underground labyrinth, the interior was made up of a terrible maze.
So normally, I would have had to wander tremendously......
'Originally, that kind of thing is one-time content anyway.'
As with everyone, even maze-type terrain naturally got memorized after repeating it several times.
Textbooks wouldn't get memorized no matter how hard you tried, but strangely enough, things like this got memorized quickly.
Moreover, they weren't easily forgotten either.
'Really......if I had studied with this brain.'
That thought lasted only briefly.
'If I had only studied, I'd be suffering terribly right now, wouldn't I?'
Hmm.
It seemed rare for me to be as grateful to my past self who played games diligently as I was these days.
Thanks to that, I was preserving my life like this and passing through comfortably even now.
In fact, this labyrinth too had quite a lot of traps and mobs.
But what was really annoying was that those mobs didn't even give items when you caught them.
And if you went down the wrong path, the maze's paths would change too.
I remembered that the complaints from users who experienced this underground labyrinth in the early days were quite substantial.
If I had entered without any prior knowledge about this underground labyrinth......
'Ugh. At least three lives would have been lost.'
That's how tricky a map this underground labyrinth was.
And what you faced after breaking through all those various traps was also a Minotaur with an intimidating build.
'But now my stamina is well preserved too.'
Moreover, my setup was fairly well-equipped too.
Originally, this mythical monster Minotaur was designed to be faced only by martial artists.
For other classes, different monsters existed respectively.
Anyway, perhaps because of that, the Minotaur was a very tricky monster for martial artists to face.
But with my current self......?
'The class is different.'
Literally, the class was truly different.
So naturally, I could compose countermeasures a bit more diversely too.
After walking for about 30 minutes while simulating the Minotaur battle in my head like that.
"Rohan-nim."
"Mm. We've arrived."
We stood before a door that looked like a boss battle would start.
I looked back at Diaz and spoke.
"After we pass through this door, I won't be able to look after you either."
"Of course, I'm prepared for that much."
"So as soon as the door opens, immediately go all the way to the left corner."
"......Pardon?"
It didn't take very long for Diaz to understand the meaning of my words.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Creeeeak.
As soon as I opened the iron door.
Thoom! Thoom! Thoom! Thoom!
Along with tremendous footsteps that shook the ground.
"UWOOOOOOOOH!"
The crazy bull-headed bastard's charging attack began.
'Right, this was it! Ugh!'
The Minotaur, with two red eyes flickering and holding an axe, came rushing with its horns forward.
"Wh-what is this......!"
Though Diaz was fairly experienced, she seemed quite surprised when a cow nearly 3 meters tall came charging at her out of nowhere.
That's why I had given her a heads-up beforehand.
"Left corner!"
I shouted those brief words to her.
Only then did Diaz come to her senses and swiftly threw her body.
I rolled in the opposite direction to split the aggro.
Kwa-ga-ga-ga-gaaaa......!
The charging attack obliterated the entrance we had come through.
However, I wasn't flustered.
Because I had already anticipated this first pattern.
The next pattern was......
'Random aggro!'
The aggro would randomly be drawn to one of us two.
But if the aggro was drawn to Diaz now, it would differ a bit from my calculations.
'If I deal damage at the precise timing......it changes to fixed aggro.'
I created a golden spear with my left hand and threw it at the Minotaur.
Pyeo-eok!
The golden spear lodged precisely in the bastard's back.
However, as expected, one-shot one-kill was impossible with just this.
It truly had durability befitting a mythical-grade monster.
"Krrrrrrr......!"
And a terrifying cry was heard along with it.
The bastard whipped its head toward me.
"KWOOOOOH!"
It shouted and attempted another charging attack.
However.
Wobble.
The bastard's center wavered for a moment, and I caught it with my eyes.
'So it's not without effect.'
Perhaps because it was a mythical class skill.
This bastard wouldn't even get a scratch from ordinary skills......
To produce such an effect in just one strike.
I was amazed.
And thanks to that momentary stagger, I bought time to reorganize my mind.
"Whew!"
I steadied my breathing.
To calm my excited heart.
I suppressed my pounding heart and the rising exhilaration.
However, it was a bit different from when facing demons.
It was a feeling similar to when I had a virtual sparring match with Romain.
'My heart is surging......but strangely my head is cold. Nothing could be better, it's perfect!'
The corners of my mouth slightly rose.
This moment right now was too enjoyable.
This moment of purely concentrating on combat!
At first there was fear, but now there was confidence.
'I can win.....!'
The Minotaur gradually approaching.
It seemed as if the bastard was moving in slow motion.
I rather charged forward.
"KWOOOOOH!"
The Minotaur became even more frenzied as I drew closer.
The difference between the bastard and me was stark.
If I was like ice, the bastard was like an endlessly blazing flame.
'Just a bit more!'
I heard Diaz cry out in surprise when she saw me continuing to close the distance.
"R-Rohan-nim!"
However, I didn't stop.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The time that was only mine returned once more.
The world became muffled, and I could only hear my heartbeat.
However, at the same time, all my senses became insanely sharp.
I felt it myself.
That I had evolved one stage.
"KWOOOOOH!"
Now the distance between the Minotaur and me had already reached close enough for us to attack each other.
The Minotaur swung its axe while charging without a moment's hesitation.
Unlike before, I leaped forward without running away.
Bwoong!
I dodged the bastard's attack.
Shaaaak!
I slid between its legs.
At the same time.
Slash!
I slashed the Minotaur's Achilles tendon using Space Severing.
"KUAAAAAAAH!"
With a cry that could be either a scream or a roar, the Minotaur staggered.
'Now!'
I grabbed the floor using my left arm.
Drrrrrk!
I slowed my speed with that.
Kwaak!
After forcefully gripping the ground, I pulled up power again and threw my body in the Minotaur's direction.
If the bastard had been fine, it would have reacted even to this kind of sudden change in direction.
That mythical-grade monster was, befitting its build, incredibly fast as well.
That's why I had set up a trick.
The Minotaur, whose ankle was already half gone, had very slow reaction speed.
"KWOH!"
Even though it realized I was being launched at it, it couldn't quickly change direction.
I struck the floor once with my fist and soared high.
Bwoooong......
My body rose while maintaining the flying speed.
I precisely aimed at the bastard's head.
"Heurgh!"
Zzzzzzzing, kwarreung!
I emitted lightning like a storm and paralyzed the bastard.
"WOOOOOOH!"
As I swung down my sword.
Sheo-geo-eok!
Space was cut.
After that, the bastard let out its last cry before death.
"Mooooh......"
Kuuuung.
As the bastard fell, the underground labyrinth shook.