Chapter 23: Entering the Underground City
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 23: Entering the Underground City
"We made it down incredibly fast."
"It took barely three hours."
We had reached the 4th floor of the Labyrinth in just three hours.
So this was the power of a Gold Badge adventurer.
Combat with monsters lasted only a minute or two, and they simply charged through most traps with brute force, allowing for a high-speed conquest.
For a Gold Badge adventurer, the upper levels of the Labyrinth were clearly a low-difficulty, easy zone.
It felt as if they simply identified the general direction of the Transfer Stone and punched a straight line through everything in their path.
"Multiple Seed Shooters ahead."
"Damn bastards. These weaklings just keep crawling out in droves."
Stein of Lightning hurled a spear toward the cluster of Seed Shooters.
Seed Shooters are annoying monsters that attack by firing seeds at adventurers. If a seed embeds itself in the body, it takes root instantly, binding the victim in place.
Perhaps because they were such a nuisance to deal with up close, Stein didn't even bother approaching them.
Once Hachi identified the monsters' location, Stein simply threw spears wreathed in lightning.
Crackle! Zap!
The lightning-clad spears slammed into the walls, flash-frying the Seed Shooters in an instant.
When killed like that, the corpses became worthless for harvesting. There was nothing left to salvage from a charred Seed Shooter.
'I guess he doesn't even care.'
He never had any intention of picking them up in the first place. To a Gold Badge, upper-level monsters were nothing more than worthless scrap.
"Retrieve."
As I watched the dead Seed Shooters with a lingering sense of waste, Stein waved his hand, and the spear embedded in the wall flew back to him.
The thrown weapon returned directly to Stein's hand. This was his Ability: Weapon Retrieval.
'It’s like telekinesis.'
To be able to remotely retrieve a thrown weapon... I suppose one needs an Ability of that caliber to reach Gold Badge status.
Once again, I realized just how high the wall to becoming a Gold Badge was.
A Gold Badge adventurer was, quite literally, a 'superhuman.'
They combined their Abilities perfectly to slaughter monsters like insects. Through mana adaptation, their physical reinforcement was so great they could tear upper-level monsters apart with their bare hands.
I had a feeling I’d have to work like a dog if I ever wanted to catch up to that kind of power.
"Wow."
"Hey, Sion. You're about to start drooling."
"Slurp. No, I mean, is this even real?"
"What is?"
"The spear just flying back to his hand like that."
"Are you jealous of Stein's Ability?"
"Huh? Well... I'm jealous of their strength. Since I'm weak."
"Hmm. Really? From where I'm sitting, you seem plenty strong yourself."
"Me?"
"Yeah. Abilities and physical prowess aren't everything when it comes to strength."
"Is that so?"
"And besides, an Ability is just a tool in the end. How it's used depends on the owner. Don't limit your Ability to the narrow frame of being a 'porter.' And more importantly, it’s a bit annoying to hear a guy with a Subspace Pocket say he’s jealous of others, you know?"
"Haha..."
Yuria was giving me serious advice for once. I suppose she really was an adventurer close to the Gold Badge level herself.
She was right. I had been viewing my Subspace Pocket solely as a support skill. I might have been limiting the Ability to just 'putting things in and taking things out.'
'Come to think of it, I don't even know the exact specifications of the Subspace Pocket.'
This was something worth contemplating. I didn't know the effective range for manifesting items, or exactly how much I could move in and out at once.
If I delved deeper into those aspects... perhaps my Subspace Pocket would enter a new phase.
"Thanks for the advice."
"If you're grateful, give me a leg massage later. My calves are killing me."
"What are you talking about? No way."
"Aw, come on, just do it."
"No. It'll smell. You've been wearing those boots all day."
"Hey! I don't have smelly feet, okay?"
Is that so?
Admittedly, Yuria did always smell nice. But still, there was no way her feet wouldn't smell after walking in boots all day.
"Don't you know I have a Body Odor Removal Ability?"
"How am I supposed to know every single Ability you have?"
"Wait, did this jerk seriously forget? I told you last time!"
"Uh... did you?"
"Wow."
Yuria stared at me with an expression of pure disbelief.
Hey, how was I supposed to remember all that? It’s easy to forget something like a scent-removal Ability.
"You. Smell it yourself."
"What?"
"So you'll remember it for sure. Smell me."
With a dangerous look in her eyes, Yuria grabbed the back of my head. She tried to shove my face right into her chest.
This was dangerous. At this rate, my face was going to be buried in Yuria's breasts.
Wait, was this actually a good thing? It was a chance to bury my nose in her chest, after all.
"Hey. You two. Are you paying attention?"
"Ah, sorry."
"Hmph. We found the stairs, so stay sharp from here on. We're entering the 4th Floor Layer Division."
Karan the Female Thief gave us a warning while Yuria and I were fooling around. Sola, who was in the lead, had found the stairs leading down to the Layer Division of the 4th floor.
The Layer Division phenomenon on the 4th floor had appeared after the Labyrinth Eruption. Based on my experiences in the Breeding Grounds and the Sewer Zone, there was almost always an upper-level elite monster waiting at the bottom of a 4th-floor Layer Division.
In the Breeding Grounds, it was the Bunnyman.
In the Sewers, Baek-ak had crawled out.
Which meant there was bound to be something here as well...
"Dryad spotted. Everyone below Silver Badge, hold your breath."
As expected, it appeared.
The master monster of the Botanical Garden.
The flower-keeper, the Dryad.
It was a female-type monster with green skin. It toyed with adventurers by spreading sleeping powder from the flowers on its head. If you inhaled the powder, your body would grow lethargic, and you’d be captured and have your life force drained away.
'A Dryad that has claimed many victims is a disaster.'
While Baek-ak from the sewers or the Bunnyman from the breeding grounds tore adventurers apart with pure martial force, the Dryad was optimized for building a nest. It would put adventurers to sleep, consume them alive, and establish a territory on the 4th floor. If not dealt with in time, it would evolve into a monster on par with an Underground City field boss.
Of course, they had no answer for fire. Plant-type monsters had fire as their ultimate natural enemy. Most would burn to death from a 3rd Circle fire spell or higher.
"Gou. Kill it."
"Understood."
At Sola's command, Gou of the Storm—who hadn't participated in combat until now—pulled out a massive greatbow and notched an arrow.
The greatbow was nearly as tall as a grown man. The arrow itself looked more like a throwing spear.
WHOO-OOMPH!!!
The moment Gou fired, a thunderous roar shook my eardrums. The arrow tore through the sleeping powder as it flew.
BOOM!
The yellow sleeping powder that had been clouding the air ahead was instantly scattered by the wind, and the arrow punched straight through the Dryad's chest.
The arrow quivered as it embedded itself in the wall behind. Having lost nearly its entire upper torso, the Dryad collapsed forward, lifeless.
"Hunt successful."
"..."
"Whoa."
Wasn't that basically a siege weapon?
"Um... excuse me... the recoil seems quite severe... shall I cast a healing spell on you...?"
"Hmm? Thanks."
Yata, the healer of our team, approached Gou and cast a healing spell. Only then did I notice that Gou's hand was trembling slightly.
Being a healer, Yata was quick to assess everyone's condition.
'Still, the physical recoil is as massive as the destructive power.'
Then again, it would be weirder if there was no recoil from firing such an insane bow. Its power seemed almost on par with a ballista.
"Transfer Stone discovered. Watch out for Nepenthes, and let's take a break."
Sola had found the Transfer Stone. Now we just had to wait here until the hourglass ran out.
Since it had taken about three hours to get here, we had to wait for about four more hours before heading down. The condition was to gather in front of the 4th-floor Transfer Stone within seven hours.
"It's a Nepenthes."
"Gah!"
The Nepenthes is a plant-type monster found in the Botanical Garden. It’s a creature that approaches silently to swallow adventurers whole. Also known as Gulp Grass, it has strong stomach acid that can cause chemical burns if you're swallowed.
"Be careful."
"Thanks."
Yuria, who had sliced the Nepenthes in half with a single stroke, gave me a smirk.
I had almost been swallowed by the hidden Nepenthes while trying to pick up the Dryad's corpse.
"Your group can divide and keep the proceeds from the Dryad and the other upper-level monsters."
"Huh? Is that okay?"
"You don't mind, do you?"
"I don't care."
"Do whatever you want."
The Morning Sun team handed over the corpses of the Dryad and the other miscellaneous monsters to our team. They didn't seem to have any interest in the remains of upper-level monsters.
Just what kind of people were these Gold Badges? Even if the others were trash, the Dryad was technically one of the upper-level bosses, yet they had zero interest in it.
'Fine by me.'
If they were giving it away for free, I wasn't about to say no. I accepted the haul gratefully.
"You're already here."
"I thought we'd be the first."
As we waited in front of the 4th-floor Transfer Stone, other adventurers soon began to gather.
A team that included a hunter arrived after us, and after waiting about three more hours, most of the teams had successfully reached the stone.
"Twelve teams gathered, then."
"Two teams didn't make it."
A total of fourteen parties from the Raid Force had entered the Labyrinth. Two of those teams failed to reach the 4th-floor Transfer Stone before the seven hours were up. They likely had an accident or got lost along the way.
"We can't wait any longer. We're heading down."
"Total count: 63 people. Entering the Underground City."
Seventy-two had entered, but nine had fallen behind. The remaining personnel would proceed to the Underground City. We couldn't afford to wait for people who might never show up.
The missing teams probably saw their hourglasses run out and headed back up to the surface. Or they were dead somewhere.
"Well then, shall we head down?"
Sola took the lead. The gate remains open as long as someone is touching the Transfer Stone, so once opened, it sends everyone to the same location until it closes.
'Finally, the Underground City...'
Aside from a brief, accidental visit in the past, this was my first time truly entering the Underground City. For all intents and purposes, this was my first real experience there. Moreover, there was a high probability that the landscape had changed significantly due to the Labyrinth Eruption.
"It would be great if we dropped right into the Plaza Section."
"Tell me about it."
As Yuria said, dropping into the Plaza Section would be ideal. If we did, we could immediately find the corpses of Rohan's hidden companions and head back up quickly.
"Next, Porter party, enter."
Once the Morning Sun team went through, it was our turn. Once we were inside and unpacked the supplies, our real exploration of the Underground City would begin.
The Gold Badge adventurers would no longer be protecting us. Our party of Silver Badges would have to conduct the search for the bodies on our own.
"Are you nervous?"
"What? No. Just... a bit excited."
"Liar. Your hands are shaking."
"Ah, hey...!"
Yuria suddenly gripped my hand tightly.
"Big sister will protect you, so don't be nervous. Tee-hee."
"I'm older than you, you know."
"But I'm overwhelmingly more experienced."
"Wait... are you saying you're not a virgin?"
"What?! You son of a...! What are you talking about?! I meant I have more experience in the Labyrinth!"
"Hey! You two, get in there already!"
"Ah, yes!"
"Sigh. Dammit, Sion..."
Listening to Yuria's grumbling, I stepped through the gate.
We had entered the 5th floor, the graveyard of veterans: the Underground City.