Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Descent into the Half-Layer
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3rd Floor.
"Keeek!"
Goblins came charging in. Ermé swung her sword and took out two of them, while Rozenta smashed a goblin's head with her fist.
And Teresa...
Boom!
She trusted her armor and barreled right into them.
"Whew."
I let out a soft whistle.
Their goblin-slaying skills were just too polished.
A goblin came at me, and I casually kicked it in the gut to throw off its balance before slicing it clean with my sword.
"It's gotten a lot cleaner somehow."
"Yeah?"
Glasses nodded with an impressed look at my stance.
Impressed over something like this?
We pushed forward quickly like that.
'We'll hit the boss room soon.'
Labyrinth layouts shifted every time, but the boss room's spot was usually fixed.
"We got here pretty fast, huh?"
"Luck."
It really was—we'd spawned close to the boss room.
I eyed it with a glimmer of hope.
Maybe we could snag the boss?
"So, should we head back up quick today? Super lucky to be at the boss room and all."
Ermé said with a bright smile.
The plan was to dive deeper fast—the assumptions were for worst-case scenarios, after all.
"Talk about lucky, though. This happens right as Yuseong joins."
"Yuseong, luck totem. Things get plentiful with Yuseong around."
Teresa chimed in.
Ermé nodded vigorously too.
Something go down while I was gone?
I didn't bother asking.
We kept up the pace and soon reached the boss room.
"...Door's open?"
An open door.
But nothing inside.
Someone had already cleared it and headed down.
"Well, nothing for it. Finder's keepers in places like this."
Ermé tacked on.
"We got here fast, but we're only just strong enough for the 3rd floor now. If we'd hit this speed right after the Nokgolma mess, we might've nabbed it."
Couldn't have pulled that speed back then, so no helping it.
I thought as I watched Ermé sound a bit wistful.
'Labyrinth's no cakewalk.'
The strong monopolized stuff like this.
Sure, you had to be fast finding paths too.
I searched for the path to the lower floor while feeling that out.
"How far do types like that usually go?"
"Below 15."
Ermé answered me.
"Going under 15 means prepping food and gear for at least a month usually. Sucks for us, but they grab bosses for bare-minimum profit."
"15th floor..."
"Past that, some folks hole up for weeks or months, so you need at least a few weeks to a month rest per dive."
"Insane."
I agreed with Glasses.
Even after crawling back from below 15, barely a day passed outside?
The space-time boundary convergence was downright terrifying.
'Part of why powerhouses are sparse in the Labyrinth.'
Famous anecdote: back-alley hit on an adventurer, but their party hunkered down for dozens of days, farmed levels, and counter-killed.
"Sure, it's famous, but best not to try it lightly."
"Why?"
"Labyrinth's darkness might swallow you."
Labyrinth's darkness?
Strange phrasing, but I let it slide.
Ermé said it—better heed her.
With that, we headed to the 2nd floor.
2nd floor was hobgoblin turf.
Sometimes included hobgoblins breeding Arachne that wandered up from the 3rd.
Hobgoblins themselves were fine, but those were a problem.
We descended carefully.
The moment the floor changed, the darkness felt thicker.
A weird smell mixed in too.
"Everyone, advance carefully."
Not long after.
"...This."
"..."
We hadn't gone far into the 2nd floor when we spotted countless corpses.
Hobgoblin corpses.
Nothing odd there, but they'd been butchered without a fight.
"Let's hold position here."
The whole party nodded at Ermé's words.
"Strong party pushed through. We stay put for any surprises."
"Sounds good."
The surprise being the culprits turning hostile.
Might seem overcautious, but Labyrinth defied common sense. Bodies vanished sometimes.
Incidents could hit anytime.
Everyone nodded along with Ermé.
I figured I'd set a trap for surprises.
"Picked up traps too?"
"Polished what I already knew."
"You're seriously multifaceted."
Isn't that thief basics?
I nodded at Ermé and stepped away to set it.
"...?"
-Why do that, my lord? I ignored Rishiel's question and focused.
'Got a weird vibe.'
Something felt off.
I approached the wall.
The unease intensified.
Familiar sensation somewhere.
'Where've I felt this before.'
Hanul's well.
The Labyrinth hidden room Ermé showed me.
When I exposed the thing possessing Glasses' body.
I trusted senses like this.
But.
'Heard some hidden rooms snatch people randomly. Better play safe.'
Should tell the group.
Set a nearby trap first.
'Not anything fancy.'
Just sharp wire from the dwarf, Duran.
Split trap and combat use—laid the trap kind down the path. Should halt a charge once.
I returned to the party.
Told them the sensation.
"...Trap floors aren't here yet, so probably a hidden room."
Ermé said of my hunch.
Hidden room, huh.
Hidden rooms split into half-layers... called 0.5 layers... and plain hidden rooms.
0.5 layers boasted brutal difficulty.
Spawned things stronger than the next floor's boss.
Hidden rooms were similar. Or random trial chambers.
Might cough up a hobgoblin champion like on 1st floor, or a knowledge puzzle.
"What do we do?"
Ermé polled us.
"Boss hunt? Our firepower's solid right now."
"Yeah, we pack heat."
Glasses and Teresa glanced my way.
Fair point.
My Self-Thunder Blade was rated near specialist elemental mage level.
-Yours rivals a specialist's spell plus a level.
Volkan's words.
He'd tipped me off while shooting the bow.
That firepower? No sweat.
'On that note.'
Ermé, tanky Teresa in heavy armor. Rozenta on heals and monk duty if pressed.
Boss room or enemy swarm? Manageable, I figured.
Party firepower was there.
Glasses even leveled up recently, picked a nice skill.
"Time to show support mage power."
Said it with a glasses push my way.
Probably burst-boosts my output or enemy slowdown spells.
Ermé pondered, face a mix of uncertainty.
Seemed this spot hadn't shown before.
"So, what's the call?"
"Huh? Me...? Ah, just a taste then?"
Catch it or just taste—what's that mean?
I nodded, a bit thrown.
'Party leader says go? We go.'
Led them to the eerie spot.
"This it? Looks normal."
"That's why Yuseong's the real deal."
Ermé puffed her chest.
Didn't feel that impressive.
One brick on the wall stood out.
I gave it a light push.
'No give.'
Pull instead.
Then.
Rumble!
The wall slid aside, revealing stairs leading down to a lower structure.
"Not a mover hidden room. Those are nasty."
"Yeah?"
"Warps to other floors. Fine to 3rd, but 5th? Someone dies."
"High odds it'd be me. Would've passed."
"Then let's head in."
Party filed in, and the inner door rumbled shut behind.
"Glasses, light."
Glasses snapped his fingers with a click, conjuring light.
"Hold up, Yuseong. You just called me—"
"Marcel, lead on."
"Sigh..."
We descended the stairs.
A door awaited—no lock like last time.
"No lock."
Ermé muttered gravely.
What did locks do?
"Hidden rooms use locks as indicators. Presence changes the contents."
"Lock means?"
"Think seal. Locks seal a single strong entity inside. No clue how, but Academy half-endorses the theory."
Like that existed.
"Ah, so no lock means no vicious spawn like that hobgoblin champion last time."
"Could still be trouble."
Ermé groaned at Glasses' point, deep in thought.
Then.
"Just a peek for real. Bail if dicey."
"Can we?"
"Smash the wall. Better than gimmicks built to kill—those endanger us too."
We crept inward.
The deeper we went...
Air grew heavier somehow.
Not poison or anything.
-Suffocating killing intent. Rishiel grimaced as she said it.
"Hit or miss, good or bad."
"0.5 layer."
Something boss-room adjacent.
Sounds grew nearer the deeper we went.
Kiruk. Kiruruk.
Down in the dark.
Countless red eyes.
And one massive eye.
Said boss or minions were fine.
'Both? That's poor form.'
I looked down queasily and said to Ermé.
"...Run?"
"Not funny! Yuseong, prep now! Teresa, front up!"
Ermé barked orders, ignoring my escape wish.
I sighed inwardly and nocked an arrow, drawing the bowstring taut.