Chapter 280: Labyrinth of Change: Labyrinthos (9)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 280: Labyrinth of Change: Labyrinthos (9)
I think she noticed I wanted to go outside because she saw me staring blankly at the ceiling.
From that point on, she frequently tried to carry me on her back and repeatedly leaped toward the ceiling.
Well, it wasn’t as if the ritual of Gu was designed to be escaped so easily.
The higher we went, the less footing there was. Even when she managed to leap upward, magical interference would knock her back down. There was simply no way out.
Just when I thought I would grow old and die in that pit with my wolf friend, she began to act strangely.
She started aggressively killing and devouring the venomous insects and monsters.
She had always been wary of the fusion, struggling to maintain her sense of self, but for some reason, she began to fight like a demon. Before long, she and I were the only living things left within the Gu.
At the time…
It was a period when I trusted no one—not even other humans, save for Seo-ha. So, I assumed she was going to kill me.
I thought that since we couldn’t leave together, she would kill me to ensure she could at least escape on her own.
I figured that wouldn’t be so bad, considering everything she’d done for me.
But strangely enough, even when her mind was hazy from the advanced fusion, she never attacked me.
Even as she lay dying, wounded from excessive combat and riddled with poison, she only let out a small, soft growl toward me.
Only then did I realize what she had been fighting for.
She—no, that girl—wanted to send me outside.
Why me? Had we ever even met before? Leaving those countless questions behind…
For the first time in a very long while.
— Thank you, friend.
The moment I expressed my sincere gratitude to someone.
Regrettably, my benefactor closed her eyes once more and ceased to move.
The moment the conditions were met, the sorcery of Gu caused me to merge with the monsters, and venom began to seethe through my body. It wasn’t as bad as I expected, though.
A command to obey my master buzzed somewhat noisily in my head, but my severed limbs had regrown, and I finally had a means to fight in place of my broken mana circuits. That was enough.
Once the Gu was complete, the mana surrounding the pit vanished, and I was able to crawl out.
— Well, I’ll be. To think a Gu based on you would be the one completed.
— Wow, I thought that wolf would come out. But it’s a cutie instead?
— This works out better for us! A humanoid Gu… won’t communication be much easier?
— But isn’t this dangerous, Old Man? We’re the ones who threw him in the pit.
— A Gu only attacks its caster when a novice makes a mistake. Don’t worry.
Having said that, Old Man Poison Mist approached me and opened his arms with a look of immense pride.
— Let me give you a hug! How does it feel to be reborn, my child! From now on, you may call me Father!
— Oh, me too. I want a hug too. Ah, wait, is the poison a problem for me?
What did I say back then? Ah, right.
I think I laughed because it was just so absurd.
— Cut the bullshit.
— …Huh?
No matter how impressive the sorcery of Gu was, it didn’t seem to hold a candle to the brainwashing the Creator had placed on me. It had almost no effect.
* * *
Anyway, as you can probably tell by now, the benefactor I’m looking for is that wolf from back then.
“H-Here it is. We add new things periodically, so I can’t guarantee the specific item you’re looking for is here, but everything that hasn’t been put into the Gu yet is stored in this area.”
“Hey, don’t be so scared. I told you I won’t kill you even if it’s not here, didn’t I?”
As I looked around slowly, I saw a wide variety of things.
One-horned ogres, all sorts of venomous insects, Ox Demons, and even Headless Knights.
Almost every type of monster that spawned inside this dungeon was present, and there were even a few species that didn’t naturally occur here—I had no idea how they’d managed to get them.
Regrettably, however, the one I was looking for was nowhere to be found.
Had she already been put into the Gu, or had she simply not been caught yet?
I had hoped I might be able to save her, but it seemed my luck wasn’t that great after all.
On the other hand, seeing my expression turn bitter, Old Man Poison Mist grew anxious and immediately began rubbing his forehead against the ground.
“Hey, I said it’s fine. I’ve checked what I needed to check, so let’s just say we’re done here, okay?”
“Yes! Yes! Thank you! Thank you so much!”
“I’ll kill you if I see you again, so keep a low profile.”
It was quite funny to see him bolt upright only to start rubbing his forehead against the ground again.
Just as I was about to leave.
“Old Man~! Look what I caught!”
A familiar, yet unwelcome, voice rang out.
“This is a huge catch! …Huh? Who are they? Did you catch new test subjects?”
Wildcat. What was her real name again…? I think I just called her that because she used those baseless weapons called claws.
“Wow, they’re all pretty. Especially the black-haired one; you don’t see that often. It’s such a waste to use him as a test subject.”
“Q-Quiet, you fool!”
“…What’s wrong?”
Anyway, she was a subordinate who had given me a headache in the past by going around violating male heroes alongside Aisha. To be honest, she didn’t leave much of a lasting impression compared to Aisha.
She died relatively early on after acting cocky toward Cheon Yu-hak and getting hit by his spear.
As you can see, she was also incredibly slow on the uptake.
Regardless, she wasn’t important.
I might have to take back what I said about having no luck.
To be able to meet my benefactor at such a perfect time… maybe I’m actually lucky?
“Hey.”
“…Huh? ‘Hey’? How old are you? You look young… Oh my? Wait, your voice? Your Adam’s apple? Are you a guy?”
She smoothed out her blatant scowl, and it made my skin crawl because I knew exactly what she was thinking.
Even after dying in the 1st Timeline because she was obsessed with men’s faces, she hadn’t changed a bit.
I thought that meeting people earlier might change things, given Aisha’s case, but she was exactly the same as she had been back then.
“Oh my, oh my! Wow! A boy like this actually exists?! Hey, you want to do something fun with Noona?”
“I AM SO SORRY!!!!!”
Old Man Poison Mist began to foam at the mouth as he apologized.
He should have just cut ties and asked who she was, but the old man had loyalty in the strangest places.
“I am a guy, but I have no intention of doing anything ‘fun’ with you.”
“Aw, what a shame. Well, if you’re not interested, I guess there’s nothing…”
“Hey, knock it off, you brat…! You’re going to get us all killed…!”
“…Huh?”
“I’m in a very good mood right now. And since I don’t have any particular grudge against you, I’ll let it slide just this once. That creature you’re holding in your hand.”
“Hmm?”
“Hand it over to me.”
She was still small and hadn’t been poisoned yet, but I was certain.
The look in her eyes as she watched me was no different from the look she gave me when we first met.
There was no way I could be mistaken.
Besides, wolves didn’t naturally live in this dungeon.
However, our Wildcat still seemed to have no sense of the situation.
“…Listen, kid, strength is everything here. I don’t know how great you are to make Old Man Poison Mist act like this, but…”
Mm, I should probably apply some reinforcements in advance. A 3-stack Reinforcement should be enough.
The moment I used my reinforcement, the Wildcat bitch began to accelerate, using her footwork.
That was her talent—Acceleration. It was simple, yet powerful.
“I don’t acknowledge anyone until I’ve tested them myself!”
I heard she said the exact same thing before getting speared by Cheon Yu-hak.
“Haha! You won’t even be able to track me with your eyes!”
Now, she wasn’t weak, but honestly, her compatibility with our current party was terrible.
Except for Aisha, none of us would ever lose track of that level of movement. And Aisha, the only one who wouldn’t be able to react to her speed, was her worst possible match.
Her claws, coated in Old Man Poison Mist’s venom, flashed as they aimed for her target.
“I’ll take care of the women first so you can focus on me!”
A metallic clang echoed through the dungeon.
She seemed to have attacked Aisha after realizing her reactions were slow, but well, poison only works if it enters a wound—or at least touches the skin.
“…Did you just do something? I didn’t feel a thing.”
“…Huh?”
A mediocre physical attack couldn’t even scratch Aisha’s armor, so what was the point of a surprise attack?
After that, the Wildcat called it a mistake and lunged at my Master, only to be sent flying by the Plum Blossom Sword. She tried to jump Baek Seol, only to be reduced to a test subject for a new artifact. Finally, she lunged at the Chairperson, only to be sent tumbling away in a mess by a storm.
“…I didn’t kill her because she seemed to be an acquaintance of yours, but her persistence is quite remarkable,” the Master remarked.
“I don’t know. To me, it looks like she’s finally reached her limit.”
I wondered if she would finally come at me directly, but even the brainless Wildcat seemed to have realized the gap in power by now. She was currently kneeling politely next to Old Man Poison Mist.
“Why stop? Keep going.”
“Old Man Poison Mist! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!”
“You crazy bitch! You’re the one who wouldn’t listen, so who are you getting angry at?! And I didn’t know the rest of them were that strong either! We’re all dead because of you!”
Honestly, it was a bit hurtful.
I told them I wouldn’t kill them, so why couldn’t they trust my word?
“Don’t worry. Unlike that Wild Dog bastard, I’ll actually give you guys a pass this once.”
“…Huh?”
They seemed confused by my words, but that was none of my business.
I reached out toward the wolf, who had been watching me without running away even though she’d been left unattended during the fight.
Mm, she’s still a bit small, so she looks more like a puppy than a wolf. You’ve been through so much since you were young.
“Come here.”
She was just as clever as she used to be. The moment I told her to come, she wagged her tail and approached me, looking exactly like she did in the past.
I had been worried she might dislike me this time, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
Strangely, since a long time ago, animals that liked me really loved me, while those that hated me really despised me.
“So, I’m going to take this little one as payment for your lives. Anyone have an objection?”
“O-Objection? Please, please take her.”
“Yes, yes! Please consider it a humble gift from me!”
Mm, I feel good. See, people can survive just fine even without laws.
We just shared a few blows, and look how polite they’ve become.
“Arf! Arf!”
Oh boy, she can’t even howl like a wolf yet.
“Did you come all this way just to get her?”
“Hmm, she seems clever and I can feel a certain energy from her. She might become a fine spirit beast when she grows up.”
Aisha and Master approached to look at the wolf. My gentle wolf started to show a strangely hostile reaction, but as soon as I told her not to, she immediately softened her expression and began to act cute.
My, what a good girl.
You saved me last time, so I’ll save you this time.
* * *
In this strangely chaotic yet heartwarming atmosphere, there was exactly one person who couldn’t smile.
Leilan Claudia.
Before being the Chairperson of the Academy, she was of a chosen bloodline—a High Elf. As a denizen of the forest and a friend of nature, she possessed the ability to understand the intentions of animals to some extent.
This was especially true for a creature with such high intelligence.
On the surface, it was a touching scene of a cadet rescuing a pitiful animal, but from the Chairperson’s perspective, looking at the wolf’s entrance again made the story quite bizarre.
First, if one were to translate the statements of the wolf, who had been staring at So-hyun since her first appearance, they were as follows:
— Oh my, what a handsome man. Oppa! Do you have a girlfriend?!
— Let go! You ugly hag! I’m going to that Oppa!
— Oh? Is that Oppa trying to save me too? Hehe, I’m right here!
— You’re telling me to come here, right?! Wow! Seeing how he’s saving me, that Oppa must like me too!
— But are there too many other females around him? Well, isn’t that proof he’s a superior male?! Whatever, that Oppa isn’t even a wolf!
— Get lost! This Oppa is mine! I’ve already picked him as my hubby!
— …You want me to get along with them? Hmph, I guess I have no choice. Since I’m the last one to join the pack, I’ll yield for now!
— Let’s all get along, Unnies!
It was, in a word, horrifying.
For a brief moment, the Chairperson considered saying, “Cadet Kang So-hyun, I think that wolf views you as her mate,” but she slowly shook her head.
Yes, that too must be his fate.
It had been suspicious ever since he seduced Cathy, who had never had a hint of a dating life, but now even a wolf.
He truly was an irresistible cadet.
It wasn’t that she was letting it slide because she thought no one would believe her if she said a wolf had fallen for a human.
Definitely not.
“Woof!”
“You like it that much~?”
Predicting that her friend’s romantic prospects would continue to be incredibly rocky, the Chairperson shook her head.
Just how far was he planning to go?
…But wait, that wolf. Had she seen it somewhere before?