Dimensional Mage, Labyrinth Day 37
Team 4 joined me today to explore Cave 2. Or rather than exploration, it was more accurate to say they came to help tame monsters.
[Sii!]
[Siiiii!]
[Siiiik!]
Dog Spider (Hekhekshaaak) habitat. As soon as we arrived, memories flooded back from the first day in the labyrinth when I stole an egg and tamed it. That monster I tamed back then—my first companion monster—was right beside me: the special evolution form of a Dog Spider, Kinogine Arachne.
"Kino. Your parents might be among these guys."
[No way. My only parent is Father.]
"I mean biological parents."
[Biologically, Father is still my parent.]
"......"
Kino spouted her utterly absurd nonsense with utter conviction. Leaving her by my side as a guard, I began taming the Dog Spiders here one by one. No combat broke out. Every single Dog Spider was friendly toward me without exception. They weren't as fast as Medical Mushroom or Melody Fox, but the red-spot discoloration speed was still impressively quick.
"I could've handled this solo without issue."
The Dog Spider species itself seemed non-aggressive toward other races, showing friendly attitudes.
I agreed. Just as humans had psychopaths among them, there could be aggressive mutants among these too. Fortunately, none here.
Anyway. The reason I'd come to tame these guys on such short notice was simple. I'd decided to tame as many monsters as possible. Dog Spiders seemed relatively easy to tame. Better to prioritize the easy ones.
I tamed 24 Dog Spiders in total. I tried taking them back to the hideout first, but they vehemently refused to relocate.
[We like it here!]
[Don't wanna move! Sii!]
[Siii. We'll keep living here, but we'll visit Explorer's place sometimes!]
[I'll visit a lot!]
[Hate moving. Sii.]
No big deal. If anything, it worked out fine. My Central Chamber base was spacious, but with monsters multiplying, it'd get crowded eventually.
"Fine, stay here then."
[Sii!]
[Thanks!]
"But you gotta do exploration steadily. Map-making too—no slacking."
[Got it! Siiii!]
[Sii! I draw good! With silk sssshhh—love drawing!]
They'd handle deep exploration of Cave 2 as part of Team 7 going forward. I stationed one Iris here and left a spare severed arm before heading back to the hideout.
Come to think of it, they mentioned a voice meetup today. Until RiseNova said it, I'd wondered why it was so quiet today.
Guess they're voice chatting with the broadcast still on.
As I glanced at the three nicknames lit up in my helper list,
The once-silent helpers flooded the chat. Speak of the devil.
"What nonsense is that?"
I had no clue what they meant. As I puzzled over the disjointed messages,
Ha Yu-mi began laying out the situation step by step.
The sequence of events boiled down to this:
1. The helpers were having an offline meetup at the cafe.
2. Suddenly, the part-timer collapsed.
3. When she woke, she claimed to have recovered her memories, grabbed the cafe owner's hand, and rejoiced.
4. Then she approached the helpers out of nowhere and asked if they knew Gauntlet.
5. The part-timer introduced herself as Sage Lunaris, revealed her identity, and explained her purpose in coming to this world. The cafe owner was baffled.
6. The helpers explained my current situation to Sage.
"......"
What the hell. This out-of-the-blue mess.
Sage Lunaris. I knew the name. She was the dimensional mage who'd sent me back to Earth. Ellis had mentioned that when the Human-Maze War broke out, she'd come to Earth seeking my help.
Doesn't seem like the part-timer's lying. No ordinary Earthling would know the name Sage or about dimensional mages.
Impersonation was highly unlikely.
Pruru posted a photo. Seemed to be Sage's face. So Sage was a woman. I'd never known—always wore a mask and a robe covering her head.
Her voice was androgynous too.
"Ellis, you've seen Sage's face before."
The dimensional mage had never come looking for me. I'd worried she'd ended up in the wrong world, but the reason was memory loss. And she remembered the instant she heard my name...
Ridiculous.
I was about to ask the helpers to inquire why she'd lost her memories when,
Ellis beat me to it. She must've been curious about Sage's whereabouts too.
A plausible explanation.
Ellis had no intention of blaming Sage. It was an accident that kept Sage from requesting help.
Fair enough. Ellis wasn't petty enough to whine, If you'd handled things properly, Elemen시아 wouldn't be like this.
Truly a considerate woman. As expected of the true hero I acknowledged.
"Dan-bi. Ask if she can locate the Ancient Labyrinth and link a portal here."
I had no plans to ask about my seal. She was a dimensional mage, not a sealing specialist. For reference, Elemen시아's sealing mages were mostly dead.
"Why?"
Ellis and I asked simultaneously. No portals? From a dimensional mage?
"Lost her powers too?"
"Got it. Tell her to focus on recovery and say thanks."
I wasn't expecting much. Just checking. Azeras said even gods handling dimensional magic couldn't open portals to the Ancient Labyrinth. Maybe without a target, but... I doubted Sage could link what gods couldn't.
"Oh, one more thing."
"Monsters occasionally pop up on Earth now. Ask if it's because of Sage."
"Wondering if her crossing damaged Earth's protective veil."
Just checking.
Not Sage's doing then. Good.
"Does she know why monsters are appearing?"
Time passed. Sage finished meditating, and Pruru chimed in.
Veil confirmed damaged. But a dimensional mage offering repairs eased my mind.
"Thanks again for that. Didn't ask why the veil tore?"
"Getting so much help... Tell her sincerely thanks again."
This sudden reunion—for them, anyway. I wasn't reuniting, but still. I sorted my thoughts on Sage, Earth's monsters, and the veil.
...Hope we stay in touch with Sage for info exchange.
Unfortunately. Without an invite ticket higher than mid-tier, no way to make her a helper.
"Dan-bi."
"If Sage has a personal phone, swap numbers. For veil repair updates and cause."
Good, she had a phone. Cafe owner buy it?
"Nice. You got good sense, Dan-bi."
"But who's Hwang Mi-reu?"
"Sudden chaebol heir?"
"...How'd you befriend a chaebol heir, Dan-bi?"
Stumbling on a dimensional mage was shocking enough. Seo Dan-bi friending a chaebol heir was just as wild. Apparently, Dan-bi had already spilled about me, so Hwang Mi-reu was somewhat briefed on the Ancient Labyrinth, monsters, isekai stuff.
Chaebol heir...
Invite her as a helper later if possible. With higher than mid-tier tickets, alongside Sage. No connection to Hwang Mi-reu yet... but high-tier might allow friend-of-friend invites. If not, oh well.
(High-tier allowing one specified person was just my guess.)
"Anyway, not just giving Sage a place—living together?"
"Not awkward living together?"
"Good. Sage cool with it? Not forcing her?"
And so, dimensional mage Sage Lunaris decided to live with Seo Dan-bi's friend Hwang Mi-reu. She'd keep working at the cafe to repay the owner's kindness.
The pond in Passage 8.
[When will you remove my panties?]
"Once we're closer."
[Hehe. Looking forward to it.]
"Don't."
Washing up with the centaurides. A loud voice erupted from the Iris screen tagging along.
—[Duumbaaaah!!!!!]
—[Piii!!!]
The source: Team 2 exploring Passage 7—Hedgehog Summoner God and Jellyfish-002.
What was the commotion? Zooming in, a familiar object appeared behind the monsters.
—[Found it yot! We found it yot!]
—[Pi, piii!]
A Vending Machine. Fancier than the previous ones.