43. Master's naked welcome ceremony
43. Master's naked welcome ceremony
Every 1st of the month in the morning, crowds flock to the Labyrinth.
To suck up the honey from the 1st to 10th floors, where the layout resets every month.
Not just the placement changes—herbs and treasure chests get fully initialized too.
That's why parties that only go up to the 10th floor swarm in every month.
A few days of hustle to live off for the whole month, like valley peddlers...
But these parties are after something specific.
Namely, Mimics. Box-shaped monsters.
Chests hiding Mimics drop way more magic stones and items when you take 'em down.
The only issue is they're hard to spot without a mage.
That's where I had something I wanted to test out.
That being...
"Are you heading out, baby?"
"Yes, I'll be back."
I nodded and pulled out a 6th Floor portal shard from my Inventory.
"It's always such an amazing ability no matter how many times I see it. Not an exaggeration to say you're loved by Yuanshi Tianzun..."
"I think so too."
I don't know why I was given this power, but I'm living gratefully for it.
It opens a path for me to grow way faster than others.
Current time: 23:59. Departure's coming up soon.
I stood up and gave Master-nim a quick peck on the forehead.
"Mwah!"
"...Pfft! Have a safe trip, honey♥"
"See you soon."
The second the clock hit twelve, I stuck my hand into the portal shard.
My body got sucked in instantly, and when I looked around, I was inside a cave.
'Made it... 8 hours till Labyrinth opening. Plenty of time.'
Labyrinth initialization is at the stroke of midnight, but adventurers can enter from 8 AM.
When all the administrative offices start working.
They say it's a measure because fights break out inside the Labyrinth every 1st.
Thanks to that, I could start my adventure in total comfort.
Night Vision made my field of view super bright.
I confirmed no monsters around and slammed my head into the ground.
-Splurt!
...Never get used to this pose.
With the Labyrinth paths crystal clear, I memorized a few treasure chests and set off.
On the way, I ran into some goblins.
"Kerruk!"
I swung my sword lightly.
-Swish!
Goblins that barely register anymore went straight into my Subspace after I gutted 'em.
After fighting the Orc Hero once, goblins just seem pathetic.
Still, no room for complacency.
Too many variables.
Staying sharp, I ran and soon reached the first chest.
Checked my surroundings, then slammed my head into the chest.
-Splurt!
I inspected the chest's underside closely.
Flat and angular. Definitely a normal chest.
Pulled my head out and opened it—out came a fist-sized magic stone and a sharply honed dagger.
"Tch... Why doesn't my Status Window have an appraisal function... Nah, this alone is jackpot."
No whining from a full belly—I headed for the next treasure chest.
Swept through skeletons and goblins on the way and arrived quick.
Slammed my head in again...
-Splurt!
'Jackpot.'
This chest's underside had gum-like flesh connecting it to the floor.
Open that blind and I'd have gotten jumped.
Pulled my head out and jammed my sword hand into the floor behind the chest.
Twisted my wrist to stab the sword into the chest's underside and slash around...
-Splat! Squeee! Crunch!
-Brrrr...
The sensation of scraping flesh in my hand, and the chest started shaking.
To keep my grip, I used Hardening to stiffen my hand and kept twisting.
Scraped it out like shucking an oyster and...
-...
Saw the chest go still, nodded, and pulled my hand free.
-Clunk!
But it felt caught on something—wouldn't come out.
"?
-Clunk! Clunk!
Just in case, I released Hardening and tried pulling.
-Slop!
"...Oh."
New discovery.
Looks like Hardened parts don't come unstuck.
"Nice?"
Went to a wall and lightly embedded my sole.
-Thud...
Tough to control the force, but foot-on-wall success.
Hardening in that state...
-Clunk! Clunk!
Yup, sole stuck solid to the wall.
I lay back and did the other sole the same.
-Clunk!
'Normally it'd sink in like quicksand...'
Huge fatigue and stamina drain before, but found a killer use.
'Control the core power right and I could stand on walls?'
Powered my ankles and abs hard and stood on the wall.
Boosted strength made it not too bad.
Release Hardening, re-embed feet, Hardening... Repeat?
-Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!
Bio-spike boots complete—now I can walk on walls.
Weird method, but wall-walking's a guy's dream, can't help it.
'Bit dizzy, gotta practice later.'
Dropped to the floor from bat-hanging on the ceiling, releasing Hardening.
-Thud!
'Gotta try trees and dirt on the 8th Floor too.'
For now, loot the chest.
Opened the well-scraped chest...
-Flash!
Out came a fancy silver bow and a two-fist magic stone.
Seeing the shiny loot sent chills down my spine and my head buzzing.
Dug out the limp flesh, tossed it with the items into Inventory.
Heard Mimic corpses make Subspace pouches.
No clue how, but they fetch good prices...
Suddenly, a ding in my head.
-Ding!
[Grow your Inventory?]
'Oh? Mimic corpse effect?'
Hit 'Yes' and checked Inventory.
Scrolled the new bar on the right—inventory expanded a row.
"...Status Window's the best."
7 hours 40 left. Leisure time around 7 hours.
All these chests are mine.
Swept most of the 6th and 7th Floor chests in three hours.
Found three more Mimics, used all but one to expand Inventory.
'Insane... totally insane...'
Stared blankly at my half-full Inventory of gear and herbs.
I'm rich now... head already ringing with excitement.
Heart pounding thinking of dashing to the essence shop with this cash.
Glanced at the blue orb in my hand too.
Glistening... not really, but just looking at it made me feel full.
This orb's a Mimic essence—insanely rare drop.
Wanna appraise it, hit the shop...
Monopolizing a mere 10th Floor zone like this.
Expand to 11th-20th? 21st-30th?
'Total bug...'
Happy fantasies of drops as I stood before the 8th Floor portal.
About to snap and grab it, inspiration hit.
"...Chop it up?"
Put 7th Floor ones in whole, but test sizes this time.
Sliced off the end of the 8th Floor portal quick.
-Squelch!
Finger-smaller chunk vanished.
"Hmm... bigger?"
Two-finger size this time.
-Swish!
Fell to floor, didn't vanish.
Sliced portals by size, stored in Inventory.
Grabbed the smallest of five and waited.
Soon, sucked-in sensation...
-Ding!
[Transmigrator title activated! Intelligence +3]
"???????????"
Suddenly standing in black void. No footing.
Goosebumps everywhere, heart dropping expecting a fall.
"Argh... huh?"
Tried quick portal escape, but no float—looked around.
Space black but not dark.
Looked up: trees and sunlight lit my spot.
Caves below.
"What? Where am I?"
Transmigrator triggered, so first to arrive here.
"Like 7.5th Floor or something?"
8th Floor onward signals 11th Floor's forest zone with trees.
Cave below, forest above—makes sense as midway.
Weird part: head-in-ground never showed other floors...
'If Orc Hero hit me then and I fell, would've gone to 9th?'
Questions galore, but too risky for retest.
Two-finger size goes to mid-layer?
Calmed my stiff body, tested foot forward.
-Swish...
Good, no invisible cliff.
Relaxed and explored walking around.
But just pitch-black backdrop, nothing special.
Looked up: gaps in visibility here and there.
'Invisible spots where? Chests and herbs peek through...'
How to use this...
Obvious: trap bad guys? Map terrain?
Terrain mapping works on normal floors too.
Transmigrator popped, no other uses came to mind.
'Still great for scouting... Wonder if title triggers on 8.5th?'
That changes everything. Random +3 stats per floor.
Turned to look up.
'Oh, chest up there.'
Pulled Adventurer's Badge to mark position.
No blue dot—no floor recognition for portals.
Swallowed regret, grabbed 8th Floor portal.
'Maybe right above...'
-Hum
Nope.
Random spot teleport's enforced.
"Close one."
If it worked, straight to 100th Floor maybe.
Shook off the freeloading thought.
Keep regretting and I'll get cocky.
'Not the time. Quick-loot 8th and 9th, experiments on 10th.'
One more 10th Floor test I wanna try.
Maybe risky...
Mapped terrain, dashed into forest.
Checked 8.5th and 9.5th—no stat ups.
But nabbed two more Mimics, hauled tons of items.
Used one more Mimic for Inventory space, but items worth it.
Practiced tree-climbing en route. No hands.
Felt like a ninja cartoon hero from kid days.
Core and joint power heavy, but daily Training paid off.
'Master-nim again... as expected...'
My love's the best.
This floor's 10th—Orc Great Warrior boss.
Treasure chest at boss lair, boss has high essence drop.
Higher in berserk, but month start now.
Prepped to blitz the boss.
Called Guild Master via Adventurer's Badge, pinpointed portal.
Picked a tall straight tree, climbed midway.
"Whew... should be fine?"
Mouthed top-grade potion.
Orc Hero launch recalled—skyrocketing memory.
Honestly hope not. Kinda spooked.
But master it, insane speed weapon.
'As long as not blasting straight up... Trust Slime Body.'
Slammed head into thick trunk.
-Spluuurt!
Works. First embed ever was a tree.
Powered limbs in too, scraped tree innards.
Hands pushed back? Hardened toes and fingers, shuffled ugly.
Body slid out smooth...
-Thunk!
Body in cross pose, launched dead straight.
"Mmmph!"
Lips sealed tight—no spilling potion.
Blasted to Orc camp in a flash, foot-kicked at seated Orc Great Warrior.
Slicing wind, swimming air.
Knee up at insane speed toward Orc Great Warrior.
Normally pelvis crushed, body mincemeat—but trust Slime Body.
-Shiiiish!
"Gruk?"
Wind-whistle—Orc gawking skyward, jaw dropped.
My knee smashed Orc's chest...
-Crunch! Splat!
Orc burst apart sans scream.
-Crash!
-Clink! Rollrollroll
Rolled on ground, gulped potion quick and stood.
"Gulp! Phew... damn, nearly died."
Experiment... success somehow!
Snagged bounced essence nearby, into Inventory.
Four guard Orcs rubbed eyes, dumb noises.
"Kururuk? Gruk?"
"Grr..."
Bagging soulless Orcs? Piece of cake.
"Whoa... what all this on the Great Warrior's axe..."
Used one more Mimic corpse, packed items.
11th Floor portal and return portal secured nice.
Mood's peak. Everything flowed perfect.
'Happy...'
Not saying covered in blood, but yeah—happy.
Generosity from the pantry, they say...
"Puhaha! Wonder if Master's arrived..."
Laughed all cheery, returned to Labyrinth City...
"Ryu-o-nim! Qu-quick, strip! P-people!!! If they find out your life's!!!"
"..............????"
Ran into the nude Guild Master.