Chapter 128
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: 33. Floor 12 (4)
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I stared blankly at the message floating before my eyes.
Reconfiguring the body more efficiently?
I grasped its meaning right away.
Crack. Crackle!
"Ngh...!"
It felt like my body was being pulverized while still alive.
Muscle fibers, cartilage, bones, blood vessels—even nerves.
Everything that had been subtly twisted and warped was being meticulously realigned, piece by piece.
As people live their lives, bad posture, habits, and little behaviors build up, gradually breaking the body down.
But no one obsessively corrects every single one perfectly.
Because the pain from those accumulated flaws doesn't show up right away.
The body's errors pile up over long periods, only to sabotage you at the most critical moments.
Crack. Crackle!
And what was happening to me now—this 'body reconfiguration'—felt like forcibly ripping apart and rebuilding a body on the verge of collapse ahead of time.
Exactly as it said: my body was being reconfigured more efficiently.
But the process was anything but gentle.
'Fuck. Should've just passed out...!'
If your insides were on fire, it'd feel like this.
Every time muscle fibers regenerated properly or bones and nerves clicked into place, a scorching pain burned from within.
"Balkan! Quick, the fountain teleport scroll—"
"Already tore it! Hurry—"
The party members' urgent voices rang out.
Splash!
Suddenly, it felt like plunging into water.
I'd been dunked into the healing waters of the 10th-floor fountain.
I gulped down the water frantically, and the searing pain began to ebb bit by bit.
I'd escaped the immediate agony.
As I sighed in relief and let the healing waters cradle me, a long-forgotten hunch resurfaced.
Upon entering a floor that's a multiple of five and touching the fountain for the first time...
I might meet the One Enveloped in Light.
My mind was hazy.
Stroking—
Someone gently caressed my head.
[Good job.]
A tender touch that tickled warmly at my chest.
A warm, nostalgic touch.
Those simple words melted my heart away.
At the same time, my consciousness sharpened.
The moment I opened my eyes, I saw her—a woman enveloped in dazzling light.
[You've already reached the 10th floor.]
Until now, her voice had been muffled like static, but this time it came through crystal clear.
The deeper I delved into this mysterious space, the more the censorship seemed to lift.
In a slightly hoarse voice, I asked,
"Who the hell are..."
Shh.
The woman pressed a finger—shrouded in light—to my lips.
Then, with her other hand, she pointed upward at the sky.
Following her gesture, I naturally looked up.
Beyond the 'cage of light' enclosing us, all manner of sinister auras swirled thickly.
They felt eerily similar to demonic energy, spewing malicious intent toward the cage.
[So much I want to tell you, but even more I can't right now. Sorry.]
I nodded slowly at her words.
Her warning last time—that floors that are multiples of five are dangerous.
That single phrase had nearly shattered this cage outright.
What was her true identity? Why me, of all people? Why was she helping me?
I had questions burning inside, but I held them back.
Her actions so far made it clear she meant to help me.
[Time. Short. Two. Chances. Ask.]
Were her sentences restricted somehow?
Her words had shortened drastically, but I pieced together the meaning.
'Two chances to ask something.'
She probably wouldn't answer the things I'd just been wondering about.
So I needed answers to turn my guesses into certainties.
After agonizing deliberation, I settled on my questions for her.
"Is the condition for meeting you entering a multiple-of-five floor for the first time and touching the fountain?"
"For now. Yes."
She nodded.
I could guess why she'd added 'for now.'
Right before Gluttony nearly devoured me.
She'd said I had no miracles left.
There might've been other ways to reach her besides the fountains, but I'd exhausted them all.
I'd already met her at the 5th- and 10th-floor fountains.
15th, 20th, 25th, 30th.
If I kept delving the labyrinth, I'd have four more chances to see her.
And I needed motivation to keep those meetings going.
Should I ask? Or not?
It wasn't urgent, but asking would clear the knot in my chest.
After long hesitation, I spoke.
"Are you... connected to my little sister somehow?"
Her body flinched at my words.
The light enveloping her wavered faintly.
In that split second, her lips—hidden by the light—peeked through ever so slightly.
A smile.
She was smiling, faintly.
[Curious?]
Her question solidified my half-certainty.
This enigmatic woman had some link to my sister.
"Yes. Very."
My sister's whereabouts.
That was my greatest curiosity right now, the biggest reason I'd entered this deadly labyrinth.
"It's... the most important thing to me."
Her smile deepened at my answer.
Swish.
She drew closer, step by step.
Clang! Claaang!
Rough energies battered the cage from outside.
But she ignored them entirely, eyes fixed only on me as she approached.
Swish.
Her light-wrapped arm encircled my neck.
I didn't resist.
Squeeze.
A light embrace.
The tension melted away as a warm energy, akin to divine power, seeped into my body.
After hugging me tightly for a moment, she whispered softly into my ear.
"Survive no matter what, and come to the labyrinth's depths."
Her hot breath carried my deepest wish.
"Then, you'll get what you want most."
Right after those words, she crushed me in a bone-breaking hug.
"Guh?!"
Suddenly exerting force, she murmured in a chilling tone.
"And, women. Don't make too many—"
She tried to say more, but her voice cut off.
She let out a deep sigh, hugged me silently once more, then gently pulled away.
Wave— wave—
Like bidding farewell.
Or hoping I'd return.
She waved to me.
With that, my consciousness returned to the fountain.
"Balkan! You with us?!"
I opened my eyes to Joy Hogg shoving his face in mine.
"Agh, fuck. Ahem. Sorry."
Zirnier the half-dwarf aside, a full dwarf like Joy Hogg looked rough up close.
Regaining my senses, I quickly assessed the surroundings.
Ellie lay beside me.
No more nipple-fiddling; her face relaxed, she soaked peacefully in the fountain's healing waters.
Hitollis gave a quick update on Ellie's condition.
"She's much better. The aphrodisiac's mostly flushed out by the waters."
"So she's fine now?"
"Well... two days steeped in it means bad luck could leave minor side effects, but she'll be okay for now."
Soon after Hitollis's explanation, Ellie stirred awake.
"Ah... where...?"
Her memories from the aphrodisiac haze seemed foggy.
We gave her a rough rundown of events.
Of course, we skipped the part about her frenzied midnight nipple masturbation.
Too brutal for a young girl like her to handle.
"S-Sorry! For causing such trouble...!"
"It's fine. Shit happens."
"Aphrodisiacs are tough to resist. You're lucky you didn't go feral on some passing male party."
The party accepted Ellie's bowed apology.
Being closest to primal female instincts themselves, they were relatively forgiving of her slip-up.
With Ellie recovered and our rest taken, no reason to linger at the fountain.
The party packed up and prepared to head to the 11th floor.
From the 11th floor on, seasons emerged per level.
11th was autumn, 12th winter.
Donning winter gear before the descent portal saved time.
Shlorp!
I stood in the fountain, wringing out my soaked leather armor and layering on winter clothes underneath.
The waterlogged leather weighed a ton.
Gonna be a pain to maintain.
Casually rummaging my subspatial backpack for a change of clothes, I felt odd stares.
"..."
"..."
Ellie and the party gawked at me blankly.
"What? Something wrong?"
"Uh..."
Ellie looked up at me dazedly.
"Bro... you're taller, aren't you?"
"...My height increased?"
Tilting my head at her words, I belatedly noticed the unfamiliarity in my movements.
My viewpoint had definitely risen.
About 3cm?
The changes weren't just height.
My body felt much lighter in motion.
Limbs stretched more elastically, movements flowed more naturally.
Whoosh!
Testing with a swing of my artifact axe through the air, the motion connected more crisply than before.
Glancing at my forearm, the muscle contours looked subtly refined.
Not in a bad way.
More aesthetically pleasing, and functionally superior.
No status window changes, but overall bodily functions had improved.
I glanced back at my lower half.
'...It's thicker.'
Even soft, length and girth had grown slightly.
'Effect of the body reconfiguration?'
Something similar happened on the 5th floor, but my growth was minor enough to miss.
'...This is nice.'
Essentially free constitution upgrade, right?
I didn't fully get the Question Mark Blessing yet, but good was good.
'Serif said she'd explain blessings someday.'
As I'd felt today, it was definitely helpful to me.
"Feels like your body's even hotter now."
"Like a body sculpted by the gods themselves..."
"Gods personally crafting a slutty body like that? Blasphemy. If that's a god's taste, it's no god—just a rug-humping bitch wannabe."
"D-Don't say that, Jubel. Th-That's real blasphemy..."
"D-Don't talk bad about my bro like that."
"Just facts, though..."
I tuned out the party's chatter about my body as I slipped into winter underclothes made from winter bear hide and fur.
'The labyrinth's winter is brutal.'
To survive, preparation was key.
I stared alone at the descent portal to the 11th floor.
—Survive no matter what, and come to the labyrinth's depths.
Her voice, hot against my ear, still rang vividly.
—Then, you'll get what you want most.
The labyrinth's depths.
Down in the profound abyss, brimming with foul, dark energies.
A clue to my sister awaited.
Crunch!
My unconsciously clenched fist trembled.
The joy of finally finding a lead on my sister ignited into fuel to burn my body onward.
"Just wait a little longer."
Big bro will definitely come find you.