Chapter 8: Never Abandon a Comrade
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 8: Never Abandon a Comrade
“Hey, Young Lady. Are we alive?”
“Yeah. We’re alive. Fortunately. Thank god. Really... hic...”
When I opened my eyes, the Young Lady came into view.
Her face was covered in dirt and dust, and for some reason, she was crying.
“Why are you crying? It’s ruining your pretty face.”
“Hey...! Shut up... I really thought we were going to die.”
“Tears are falling on my face. Wipe them off, please.”
“This damn porter...! Even when I’m worried about you!”
The Young Lady scowled fiercely and pushed me away.
The knee pillow felt nice, though. What a shame.
“Ugh. Ow. Every bone in my body feels like it’s screaming.”
“A-Are you okay!?”
“Yeah. I won’t die from just this. Why are you getting all serious and surprised again?”
“No... you...”
After a bit of teasing, the Young Lady returned to her usual self.
The sadness and despair were gone from her eyes.
It’s important to keep her mental state in check, even if it means making her a little annoyed. From here on out, it’s a race against time, so managing her morale is crucial.
‘If her mental state breaks, it’s over. It’ll be trouble if she panics or loses her mind.’
A rescue team is likely on its way, but we have to abandon the hope of being saved immediately. I needed to stabilize the Young Lady’s mind as much as possible until they arrived.
‘The Labyrinth map is probably useless now because of the Cataclysm, so there’s no telling how long it’ll take for the rescue team to get here.’
The upper levels were mostly mapped out, even if the Underground City and the floors below weren't.
Between people with the Map Creation ability like me and adventurers who frequented the Labyrinth, the upper floors were almost entirely charted.
But the Cataclysm would have shifted the geography entirely, and the Layer Division phenomenon had occurred.
It would probably take at least two days just to reach the 3rd floor.
They’d have to conduct rescue operations for other survivors on the way down while redrawing the lost maps.
‘We could just head up ourselves, but...’
The Young Lady might be fine, but my stamina is completely depleted. I need some rest.
Therefore, I plan for us to rest on the 3rd floor for about a day.
If we run into the rescue team during that time, great. If not, the two of us will have to make our way back up.
Anyway, the Young Lady found a good room to hide in.
The entrance is narrow, so it’ll be hard for monsters to spot us easily.
When you move between floors using a Transfer Stone, you’re warped to a random location. This room must have been nearby.
“Are you hurt anywhere, Young Lady?”
“I’m fine. Just... a bit dirty, hygienically speaking.”
“We can’t do a full bath, but you can at least wash your face.”
I pulled out a bucket and a water skin.
“Shouldn’t we be saving water?”
“I have about ten more of these water skins. Don’t worry about the water; go ahead and wash up.”
“A Subspace Pocket... it’s a total cheat.”
“I think so too.”
I also believe the Subspace Pocket is a truly broken ability.
As long as you’re properly prepared, you can survive in the Labyrinth for days on end.
“For now, it’s very difficult for me to move. I think we should rest in this room until I recover.”
“Got it.”
“And if this really is the 3rd floor, those guys are probably around.”
“Those guys?”
“Yes. There will be Hoarding Rabbits.”
Hoarding Rabbits have a habit of collecting fallen adventurers or dead bodies.
They’ve likely gathered a hoard of corpses and equipment somewhere.
“Are you saying we should go get that? The gear they’ve collected?”
“No. It’s not that. They’ll be coming here soon. I’m just warning you in advance.”
“Wait, what? They’re coming?? What does that mean?”
“They can track down dead or fallen adventurers.”
Weakness Detection—it’s their specialty.
They’ll likely approach to drag me away since I’m incapacitated.
“Can you hold them off until I can get up, Young Lady?”
“Hmph. Let me ask first: are Hoarding Rabbits strong?”
“No. They’re similar to Horn Rabbits. They’re just a bit bigger.”
“Bigger?”
“Yeah. They’re larger than Vorpal Rabbits. Since the entrance here is narrow, they won’t be able to push their way in all at once. Because of their size, you can just stab blindly and you’ll probably hit and kill them.”
“Hmph. Giant rabbits, huh...”
“Their fur sells for a pretty good price. It’s even exported to the North. Whatever you catch is all your profit, so do your best. You’ve got to pay off the cost of your life, after all.”
“Ugh... fine.”
The Young Lady nodded reluctantly.
That’s a relief. Her will still seems strong.
‘I should probably drink a potion too.’
I downed a tonic for stamina recovery.
It wasn’t anything incredible like an Elixir, but drinking this would help my stamina recover quickly.
There was a limit to how long the Young Lady could hold off a Hoarding Rabbit wave alone, so I needed to get on my feet fast.
‘The Hoarding Rabbits will definitely come.’
Those things are uncannily good at sniffing out the scent of the weak.
They never fail to find fallen adventurers or those hiding because they’re injured.
Their attack power might be low, but they’re a nuisance because of that damn trait.
They’re one of the main reasons rookie parties often get wiped out in the Breeding Grounds of the upper levels.
‘When someone gets injured, they smell it and close in. Then, eventually, people find themselves in a corner where they have no choice but to abandon their comrades...’
If you start abandoning your injured and powerless comrades one by one, you eventually end up alone.
The important thing here is that the Hoarding Rabbits’ definition of 'the weak' includes 'those left alone.'
Fallen stragglers, adventurer corpses, and lone survivors.
These are the primary targets the Hoarding Rabbits track.
In short, the moment you abandon an injured comrade to save yourself, the probability of becoming the Hoarding Rabbits’ prey skyrockets.
Of course, they rarely show themselves to a healthy party, so some people pass through the Breeding Grounds without ever seeing a Hoarding Rabbit.
—Kkuruk. Kkuuuk.
“You hear that, right?”
“Yeah. It’s a disgusting sound.”
“That’s the cry of a Hoarding Rabbit.”
A sound like a pig squealing drifted toward us.
The Hoarding Rabbits were approaching to drag away the weaklings of the Labyrinth.
“Kkueeek!!!”
Finally, a Hoarding Rabbit appeared.
It shoved its head into the room’s entrance, struggling to get inside.
As expected, it was quite large.
“Take this!”
The Young Lady, who had been waiting, thrust her spear into the eye of the Hoarding Rabbit trying to squeeze through.
The bright red rabbit eye was crushed, and the Hoarding Rabbit collapsed.
“What? They’re easier to kill than I thought!?”
“I told you. They’re weak.”
“They really are weak. This is nothing.”
“But there are a lot of them. Don’t let your guard down. In the Labyrinth, if you let your guard down, you die.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know.”
At my advice, the Young Lady’s expression hardened again.
In the meantime, the dead Hoarding Rabbit blocking the entrance was dragged away by the others.
Immediately, a second giant rabbit tried to crawl into the room.
That persistence is terrifying.
The fact that they swarm in such annoying numbers is also daunting.
Usually, they stay quietly tucked away somewhere, but the moment they sense weakness, they gather like ghosts.
“Ugh...! There’s no end to them!”
She had already killed twelve, but every time one died, it was replaced by a new rabbit.
The corpses that could have blocked the entrance were dragged away and cleared by the others, and every time the path opened, another Hoarding Rabbit would shove its head in, knowing it would die.
“Kkueeek!”
“Ugh!! Another one!”
She’s working hard at slaughtering them.
It’s good to see. The Young Lady will definitely undergo Mana Adaptation once she gets out of the Labyrinth this time.
And there’s a high probability she’ll gain an ability.
‘By the way, if we can recover the corpses, the income will be quite decent.’
Watching the Hoarding Rabbits die made me feel naturally satisfied.
Some high-level adventurers even intentionally create a 'weakling' to lure Hoarding Rabbits for a mass hunt.
It’s most popular right before winter.
There are even professional teams that camp out in the Breeding Grounds just to farm Hoarding Rabbits for the fur exported to the North.
“Kkueeek!!!”
“Oh, they’re backing off. Is it over?”
“No. The first wave is over. They run away once their numbers drop below a certain point.”
They flee when their numbers dwindle too much.
Then they come back once they’ve replenished their ranks.
They really are persistent bastards.
“Haaaaa. Dammit. Stupid rabbits. I’m sick of them.”
“Right?”
Since rabbits are the main monsters in the Breeding Grounds, people who have a rough time here often find themselves unable to even look at rabbit meat.
I eat it just fine, though.
The meat did nothing wrong.
“Anyway, what about the Hoarding Rabbits I caught?”
“Well, they have a habit of collecting corpses. They probably dragged them back to their nest.”
“Huh? Wait. Then all the ones I killed...”
“Yes, yes. They’ve likely been dragged to the nest.”
“Those bastards!”
The Young Lady shouted in anger.
All the rabbits she had worked so hard to kill had been taken away by their own kind.
She had hunted rabbits with zero profit to show for it.
“We can find the nest later by following the blood trails, so don’t be too angry. It’s actually a benefit because we can find their nest quickly. We’ll be able to monopolize everything in the Hoarding Rabbit nest.”
“Ugh. Still... I don’t know. The Breeding Grounds are annoying.”
“I agree.”
I chuckled as I watched the Young Lady slump down.
Slowly, my body was improving to the point where I could move.
It was the effect of the tonic.
The side effect was that I couldn't stop my erection...
But since it allowed for rapid stamina recovery, it was a small price to pay.
“Heave-ho. I can move now. Good job out there.”
“Yeah. Thank god. Phew. Now I can finally rest a bit.”
The Young Lady stretched and loosened her muscles.
Now that I was in a state where I could move, we had likely stepped out of the 'weakling' category for the time being.
Since the weaklings were gone, they wouldn't come back for a while.
Let’s check out the Hoarding Rabbit nest once I’ve recovered a bit more.
For now, I need to regain more strength until we’re ready to head back up.