010. The Method of Winning the Jellyfish Queen's Favor with Bait Succeeded

Jellyfish-002 devoured the bread crumb, her expression one of pure satisfaction. Right after, the speed of the red spot's color change accelerated dramatically. About five minutes later.

By the way, only I could see the red spot. It wasn't visible to the Jo-ryeokja.

"Yeah. I can feel a connection with her now, and the spot's fully green. She's listed in my tamed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠monster roster too."

The tamed Jellyfish-002 circled around me happily, her gaze full of affection.

I told her I'd call her "Jellyfish" from now on, then gently stroked her head. And made a request.

"Jellyfish. Mind casting Haste on me?"

Jellyfish-002's specialty was explosion magic. But she could also use various buffs and protective spells. The one I'd killed in that other world had fought the Devoted Hero Elris before coming after me, and I'd glimpsed her spells then—including Haste.

[Pii?]

Jellyfish blinked rapidly. No Haste.

As Ppururu said, she might not know buffs. She was a different individual from the one in that world, two threat levels lower anyway.

But I thought otherwise. It seemed like Jellyfish either didn't grasp her own spells fully or hadn't understood my request. Sorry to say it, but her intelligence looked low compared to the otherworldly one.

"Fishy. You get what I'm saying, right?"

[Pii!]

Jellyfish nodded. Good—my words were getting through.

"So you don't know what Haste is?"

[Pii!]

She nodded again. Second guess confirmed. The word "haste" hadn't translated right.

"Hmm... how about 'magic that makes the body light'?"

[Piii!]

Suddenly, my body felt feather-light. My feet lifted off the ground, and soon my whole body hovered slightly in the air.

This was Float, not Haste.

Not bad either. But I still needed Haste for faster labyrinth runs. I had her cancel Float for now. Scratching my head, I pondered, then hit on a way to get through to her.

"Fishy, watch me closely now."

[Pii?]

I jumped with all my might in place. Average adult male jump height.

After the demo jump, I gave clearer instructions.

"You saw that jump, right?"

[Pii!]

"Can you make me jump even higher than that?"

That should do it. Can't explain simpler.

[Pii, pii!]

Blue light flowed from her body, streaming into mine like clear brook water. My body lightened, vitality surged, and a refreshing coolness washed over me.

"Knew you could do Haste."

I hopped lightly. My body shot up, smacked the cave ceiling palm-first, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠then landed softly.

"Thanks, Fishy. Now Float again."

[Pii?]

"...The one from earlier."

[Pii!]

Haste plus Float for boosted flight speed.

Labyrinth scouting just got way faster and easier.

My plan was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to skim all passages, mapping layouts and features—including resident monsters. Like with Passage 2, no deep dives into Passage 3 until I had Haste.

I delved deeper into Passage 3. Shorter scouting time meant pushing farther. All thanks to Jellyfish.

The deeper I went, the wider the cave. Then large holes appeared in the walls. Peering out one: a short 10-meter cliff drop. Below swarmed familiar monsters.

That's Jellyfish habitat, huh.

A mesmerizing swarm of countless Jellyfish.

All B-grade, so less shocking. S-grades swarming would've been apocalyptic for others.

Not all adults probably, but...

Seemed like fully grown Jellyfish here topped out like this. I'd assumed mine wasn't mature—smaller and dumber than the otherworlder. Demon King Jellyfish was three times bigger, for reference.

Are labyrinth Jellyfish weak, or was the other one special...?

Headache. Things are getting murkier.

But what's that?

Scanning the cliff base, a humanoid caught my eye. Like a normal human woman with a jellyfish on her head.

"...A-grade. Looks like the leader."

Probably an evolved form. Still weaker than the Demon King Jellyfish I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slain.

Even that world's hellish deepest dungeon didn't have B-grades as trash mobs.

Slow scan: way too many Jellyfish. Over a hundred. B-grades are boss-tier even nerfed. Ten together is rare; a hundred crossed every line.

Didn't matter if this was the core or had weaker mobs. B-grade swarms as trash mobs said it all about this mad labyrinth's danger.

To survive, gotta break the seal ASAP. This place defies all logic.

Passage 3 scouting ends here. Know when to bail. Feels like worse awaits deeper.

Back at the hideout. Checked the clock by the crate: 10:30 PM. Bedtime.

"Getting sleepy. Time to crash."

Activating Jo-ryeokja block for sleep—broadcast off.

"Back on tomorrow. You coming?"

Ppururu'd show; she'd dropped serious cash today. 002, who knows.

Said goodnight, blocked Jo-ryeokja. Called Jellyfish for precautions.

"Jellyfish. Barrier around us? You can do it?"

[Pii?]

"...Magic to keep other monsters away."

[Pii!]

She closed her eyes serene. Blue mana flowed out, seeped into the ground, writhed like living things, spread everywhere, then shot skyward. A transparent hemispherical shield formed around us, radius about 5 meters.

No night watch needed. She'd guard our sleep. Break it, and the noise wakes me.

Before my first labyrinth night, I pulled out my notebook and sketched today's monsters. Jellyfish was right there, but the leader's image might fade by morning.

Named the leader roughly.