The Shifting Labyrinth
Located on the outskirts of the Academy City, the Labyrinth was one of the most unique dungeons in this world. Its structure changed every year, earning it the moniker of the "Living Dungeon." And that wasn't entirely inaccurate, considering the "Labyrinth Administrator" resided in its deepest depths.
But its shifting nature wasn't the only peculiar thing about it. The Labyrinth, which only allowed one person to enter at a time, automatically cast a protective spell on anyone who crossed its threshold. This spell, presumed to be ancient magic, would nullify any fatal damage and immediately eject the challenger from the dungeon. Those who were kicked out had to start all over again from the first floor. Of course, non-fatal injuries were still very much a reality. Now that the Labyrinth was open, the infirmary was bound to be packed.
How did such a convenient system—perfectly tailored for training the Academy's cadets—come to exist in the first place? It was actually the creation of a single individual. Long ago, the person who inherited the Hero's will and founded Innocence Academy built it. The world knew him as the mage of the Hero's party, or simply the "Sage."
It was a classic tale. Since he was a figure from hundreds of years ago, the public believed the Sage had long since passed away, but he was actually still very much alive. The "Labyrinth Administrator" dwelling in the deepest depths of the dungeon was none other than the Sage himself.
With no risk of death, a layout that changed annually, and a difficulty that scaled exponentially with each descending floor, it was the ultimate training ground to foster a competitive spirit and gain real combat experience. This was the "artificial dungeon" the Sage had crafted for the Academy: the Labyrinth.
Of course, in Edward's classes, the Labyrinth was introduced to the cadets with entirely different lore, described as an ancient natural dungeon. Those who knew the truth behind the Labyrinth were extremely rare even within the Academy. It made sense, given how ancient the history was. As a player of the game, I had only stumbled upon this piece of lore by chance while grinding for experience inside it.
Even in the game, I had never reached the deepest floor. Time marched on in the game, and I had to progress the main story. Since the Labyrinth's difficulty kept scaling infinitely and its end was unknown, I had assumed the deepest depths simply weren't implemented in the game.
But now that this has become reality, who knows... If one thought about it, the Labyrinth was riddled with suspicious anomalies. Time flowed slower inside. Twenty-four hours in the Labyrinth equated to only about eight hours in the outside world. To prevent outsiders from exploiting this temporal dilation, access was strictly regulated.
Entry was permitted only to those carrying a magic-infused stone known as a "pass," which served as proof of enrollment. Each pass was engraved with the cadet's personal information. Because of this, the maximum number of cadets at the Academy was always capped by the exact number of passes in existence. Even if some cadets dropped out midway, the Academy never exceeded that hard limit when admitting new students. The characters who occasionally appeared through special admission in the game were only able to enroll because other cadets had left, freeing up their passes.
There were various other strict conditions as well. Because of these constraints, people often debated whether the dungeon was made for the Academy, or if the Academy had been built here simply because the dungeon existed.
Well, as a cadet, none of that was my concern. My only job was to grind levels diligently in this experience-rich playground created by the Sage. I also planned to clean up the "impurities" on his behalf and hunt for hidden items. Even though the structure changed every year, having experienced this specific iteration of the Labyrinth in the game, I already knew exactly which items were hidden on which floors. I intended to sweep up every single hidden piece left for the player.
I wonder if Eisel will do the same. Since Eisel was a regressor, she would undoubtedly seek out the hidden pieces only she knew about. After all, her growth rate had skyrocketed after entering the Labyrinth. In the game, the hidden pieces meant for Eisel couldn't be intercepted by the player anyway. I had no intention of stealing her hidden pieces, nor did I have any need to.
The hidden pieces aren't an issue since I know their locations, but... The Lycanthrope was the real problem. In the game, the beast spawned randomly between the second and tenth floors. If it appeared on the tenth floor, it would be a relatively late encounter, but if it spawned on the second floor, I would face it almost immediately. To make things easier, it would be best to encounter it around the fifth floor, when my level would be sufficiently high. But when did things ever go exactly as planned? Still, I had a foolproof plan to take it down—a natural, seamless strategy made possible by my membership in the Medical Society.
"Cadet Zeto, Class A, First Year. First floor. Your pass has been verified."
The Academy staff member managing the Labyrinth entrance handed me my pass. The pass recorded which floor I was currently on, which was also used to determine the exploration rankings. Perhaps because I had arrived early in the morning, there weren't many people yet, allowing me to enter quickly. Judging by the faint presence of people gathering behind me, a queue was finally starting to form. Since the Labyrinth was open to all grades simultaneously this year, the line was bound to be massive, at least on the first day. I took the pass from the staff member and stood before the entrance. The entrance to the Labyrinth resembled the gateway of an ancient temple or shrine, with a massive dimensional portal swirling open. Without hesitation, I stepped through the portal.
[So this is the Labyrinth. It is pitch-black and utterly dreary.]
As soon as I regained my senses, Sierra's voice echoed in my mind. I immediately focused on my hearing to survey my surroundings. Since the initial entry spawned challengers in random locations, a stroke of bad luck could land you right into combat the moment you stepped through. Fortunately, I didn't hear anything alarming. Only the occasional sound of dripping water echoed from afar. It seemed there were no monsters in the immediate vicinity.
The Labyrinth exuded the heavy, ominous atmosphere of a cursed cavern. The cavern was massive, with wide, spacious pathways. Green torches flickered at sparse intervals along the walls. There was more than enough room to swing a sword. Contrary to Sierra's words, I didn't find it creepy at all. Perhaps because I had seen this sight countless times in the game, it felt rather familiar. Although I didn't sense any other human presence, I couldn't afford to chat with Sierra. This was the first floor, where encountering a newly spawned cadet at any moment wouldn't be surprising. Leaving her words unanswered, I began to walk.
As I traversed the cavern, my memories of the Labyrinth came flooding back. I remember looking up strategy guides for the hidden pieces back then... Even so, I hadn't memorized the entire map of this vast maze. What mattered right now was that descending stairs would occasionally appear as I explored, and that there were no hidden pieces on the first floor. It seemed best to get accustomed to combat in the Labyrinth on this floor and head down as soon as I found the stairs. I wondered where the Lycanthrope was. I hoped it wouldn't show its face until at least the fourth floor.
I wonder if the others are doing alright on their own. Eisel, being a regressor, would go fetch her own hidden pieces. Yuri detested complex things like mazes, so she might end up wandering around, unable to find her way. As for Kaen... Kaen would probably put on her act and pace herself accordingly. Did I accept her sparring request too hastily? I didn't know the details, but it was unsettling that she seemed to be deeply misunderstanding something about me.
"Hmm..."
Now was not the time to worry about others. I sensed the presence of monsters ahead.
Kereuk... Kereureuk...
Their raspy breathing bounced off the cavern walls, reaching my ears. Since this is the first floor, they must be Kobolds. They didn't seem to have noticed my presence yet. There were no traps along the path. The traps on the first floor were simple anyway; one could easily avoid them just by keeping an eye on the floor and walls.
I'm finally fighting a monster. This might actually be the first time I was facing a normal enemy since coming to this world. Resting my hand on the hilt of the Demonic Sword Sierra at my waist, I channeled mana into my legs. Then, I dashed toward the source of the Kobolds' presence in a single breath. Only two of them? The moment I closed the distance and appeared right before their eyes, the Kobolds flinched in surprise, throwing their arms up.
"Kereu-reuk?!"
Their reaction was identical to their animations in the game, causing a faint chuckle to escape my lips.
There was no need to use Reverse Heaven against mere Kobolds. Drawing the Demonic Sword in a reverse grip, I slashed upward at the nearest Kobold. Weakness Detection worked perfectly on monsters as well. Before it could even let out a shriek, the creature was cleanly sliced in half.
"Kereuk!!"
Seeing its companion fall, the remaining Kobold snarled in rage and rushed at me. Kobolds weren't particularly large—only slightly bigger than Ram had been when he was nine. It lunged at me, thrusting its crude dagger forward.
But its attack never reached me. Long before the Kobold's dagger could get close, my blade swept through its neck as soon as it entered my striking range. As if signaling the end of the battle, the Kobolds' corpses dissolved into ash and vanished. In their place, a tiny black stone clattered to the ground. A mana stone. It was an item carried by every monster. The stronger the monster, the larger or higher the quality of the mana stone.
Normally, one would have to rummage through a monster's carcass to extract the mana stone from its body. However, these monsters were creations of the Labyrinth. Thus, their bodies vanished, leaving only the mana stones behind. Mana stones had various uses and could be sold for a decent price. On the other hand, the Lycanthrope—the boss I had to defeat in the early floors of the Labyrinth—would not leave a vanishing corpse. The reason was simple: it wasn't a creation of the Labyrinth. Because it wasn't a dungeon monster, it wouldn't have a mana stone in its body, but there would still be rewards to harvest from its corpse. Besides, since its presence was an anomaly, I would likely have to sever its head to show the instructors as proof. At least, that was how the quest progressed in the game.
[Wielding a sword in a reverse grip is no easy feat... but it would be wise for thee to familiarize thyself with it as quickly as possible in this Labyrinth.]
As I picked up the fallen mana stone, Sierra offered her thoughts after observing my combat. Indeed, holding a sword in a reverse grip still felt foreign. Even though I had acquired Reverse Heaven through the system's power, it seemed that mastery over reverse-grip swordsmanship itself required actual practice. Standing back up, I resumed my trek.
The Kobolds I had just defeated were probably around level 7. I was already level 18. On top of that, thanks to my Weakness Detection skill, merely striking their weaknesses allowed me to slice through them effortlessly. The Kobolds didn't even have proper armor. Whether in terms of experience points or practical combat training, the first floor was of little help. Should I head straight down to the second floor? There was no Lycanthrope on the first floor anyway, and there was a hidden piece I needed to claim on the second.
Once the time limit expired, the Labyrinth would automatically eject the cadets. This was because the temporal dilation magic cast over the entire dungeon began to take a toll on the human body. The absolute limit was about ten hours of outside time per day. Translated to Labyrinth time, that gave us roughly thirty hours. The Sage is surprisingly considerate... He had calculated every little detail and poured an immense amount of effort into this Labyrinth. It was suspiciously elaborate for something meant solely to educate Academy cadets, but what did it matter to me? I wouldn't be having a chat with the Sage anyway, and as someone whose supervising instructor was Edward, my leveling options were severely limited. As long as I can grab some good items and level up, that's all that matters. I might have to search every nook and cranny of the second floor, but I still had plenty of time.