Trial (3)
Trial (3)
As soon as they returned to the mansion, Deokgu called in Seoyun and Aram and had a serious conversation with the two in his room.
"......So, Dojin got trapped in the Dungeon?"
"Yeah."
"Trapped in the Dungeon, what does that even...."
"I don't know the details either, but for now, my guess is there's an entity in the Dungeon that can change its shape, and Dojin must've run into it."
"Did you tell the Guild?"
"Nah, they wouldn't believe us anyway... and who else is gonna risk their life to go save Dojin besides us?"
The 30th Floor was the boundary line separating Level 2 and Level 3. A demonic realm where even those who'd experienced Leveling System were dropping like flies.
No matter how much money you poured in, you couldn't recruit people willing to risk their lives to save Dojin.
Even if there were selfless saints willing to save others without any reward, it'd be the same. If such people existed, they'd have died saving someone else long ago.
"What's the plan?"
Seoyun asked Deokgu. He wasn't the type to start something recklessly without a thought.
She firmly believed he'd only brought it up because he had a way to save Dojin.
Sure enough, Deokgu already had a plan to rescue Dojin in place.
"Seoyun, you could make it to the 30th Floor on your own, right?"
"─Yeah."
"Then it'll be you, me, and Aram. The three of us go save Dojin."
"......What're you tagging along for?"
Seoyun, who knew Deokgu's Ability well, shot back at him. His Ability offered zero help in combat, and with no Talent, he couldn't even fight....
"A friend's in danger, you think I'm just gonna sit here twiddling my thumbs?"
At the very least, that resolve of his would be helpful.
"......Dojin's trapped, you say."
Aram's eyes welled up with tears. A whole day had already passed. To minimize luggage when entering the Dungeon, they probably hadn't brought much food, so by now, he'd be starving....
Ahh, just thinking of Dojin suffering in the Dungeon made her chest ache.
Sizzle, sizzle—the Werewolf meat, skinned and de-furred, grilled to a golden brown. Orion, who'd been blankly staring at the flickering flames, realized the meat was done and pulled out the skewer.
Dojin, taking the skewer, swallowed hard at the sight of the juicy meat dripping with juices. The oil was sizzling; it looked like it'd burn his mouth if he popped it in right away....
But unable to resist the smell, Dojin chomped down with a kwak. Contrary to his expectation that the muscular hunk would taste bad, the Werewolf meat was delicious.
"......Why's this so tasty?"
Raize, who'd been rummaging through raw meat and puking her guts out, tilted her head in confusion at the flavor. Jilgeong—the moment the meat hit her mouth, it melted away smoothly.
"Man, this is totally a delicacy, a delicacy."
Dojin swallowed the rest in one bite and drooled over the meat still grilling. Thanks to Raize figuring out how to keep monster corpses from vanishing, they didn't have to worry about the monsters dying off and could tear into the meat with ease.
"This is all thanks to Raize."
"......Any mage could've done it."
Raize, embarrassed by her achievement, ducked her head and buried it in her meat. Dojin smiled at her like a proud dad, then checked his watch.
"Time's about up."
Right then, woong—the Dungeon began to shift. This was the fifth change already. After witnessing five transformations of the Maze, the group had grasped some of its characteristics.
'The path changes are completely random. No patterns.'
Also, every time the paths changed, their position shifted too. So even if they were at the left edge of the Maze, after a change, that spot could end up in the center.
This wasn't made to let them pass through the Maze. It felt like it was designed to trap them in there forever.
By who? And why?
Dojin had a rough guess about that.
'The Ruler of the 30th Floor....'
Just as he'd influenced the floors below as the ruler of the 10th Floor, the Ruler of the 30th Floor could probably do the same.
The weird part was why the Ruler of the 30th Floor, whom he hadn't even seen, had awakened.
'Did someone besides me wake the Ruler on the 30th Floor? And right now, of all times?'
Sure, what's meant to happen will happen, but statistically, this was impossible. Dojin ruled out that possibility.
That left only himself. He'd provoked the Ruler of the 30th Floor, causing it to awaken. But how?
'Not by hunting... by stepping foot on the 30th Floor?'
The 10th Floor had its own ruler. So the 30th Floor's Ruler would be on the 30th Floor too.
Stepping into the territory of a higher floor's ruler from a lower one could be seen as an invasion.
And no ruler would just sit idly by while their domain was invaded.
'So I've become the challenger now.'
But the Ruler itself hadn't shown its face. Why? Realizing that was easy.
—Thank you.
He recalled the Giant Orc Chieftain, already dead and gone. As the 10th Floor's ruler, it had expressed gratitude upon awakening.
As a skilled swordsman, Dojin could read emotions from an opponent's blade. It hadn't refused to clash swords with them and had hoped the situation would drag on.
Given how the kids had dropped like autumn leaves the moment it showed its power, it wasn't stalling for an advantage.
Dragging out time was the goal itself.
Rulers value time immensely. Thus, they want to savor as much of it as possible.
He didn't know the reason...... With his limited gaming experience and knowledge, this was the limit of his deductions.
What was certain now was that they'd been granted quite a lot of time.
'If Deokgu were here, I wouldn't even need to think about this stuff.'
With Deokgu, who'd consumed tons of subculture, he might've figured out the Maze's meaning and the Ruler's purpose right away.
He might've even come up with a way to navigate the Maze and escape the Dungeon.
Dojin wasn't Deokgu. He couldn't break through the Dungeon using his brains like that.
So Dojin chose what he could do: break through with his body. As the saying goes, when the body's weak, the mind suffers.
"All done eating?"
Swipe, Raize wiped the grease from her mouth and nodded. Orion and Eunha had finished preparing to leave long ago.
"Then... let's go."
Dojin's group set off through the Maze.
Do you know of the Cretan Labyrinth?
Labyrinth.
The absolute maze said to have been created by the Greek genius engineer Daedalus, from which no one can ever escape once entered.......
Dojin knew of it too, from a comic he'd read as a kid. The reason it came to mind now was because his current situation felt just like being trapped in that labyrinth.
'How long.'
Shwaaak—!
He slashed a suddenly appearing Monster. An Orc Warrior from around the 20th Floor. Orc meat was too gamey to eat.
'Just how long.'
Puk—!
He stabbed the throat of a Shadow Monster hiding on the floor, pretending to be a shadow. Shadows weren't edible to begin with. Naturally, no corpse remained.
'How long.......'
The Maze had changed over ten times by now. Dojin was starting to tire. Unavoidable. Standing watch in case Monsters attacked, catching only light naps, and even that on monster hides laid over the mud.
In an environment where fatigue only piled up instead of easing, fighting non-stop for three days without dropping his guard pushed his mental strength and stamina to the limit.
Raize had long hit her physical limit and collapsed, and while Eunha didn't show it, signs of exhaustion were appearing.
The only one in the group still fine was Orion. Dojin marveled at her pristine state.
"......How the hell are you still so fresh?"
"Huh? Oh, lots of experience...."
Orion said, scratching her cheek. She recalled the seven-day no-sleep training from her Ranger drills.
'Back then I just cursed wondering what it was for.......'
Everything you learn ends up useful. Orion felt that now. But even that had limits.
'Everyone's getting worn out.......'
She looked at her party members. Fatigue was etched on every face. Expressions like they'd collapse any moment.
If a few more days passed like this, or they faced a few more Monsters, they'd break eventually.
'......I have to do something.'
If only Dojin, with his clear head, were the one still fresh—recovering some fatigue wouldn't be a big worry......
Finally resolving herself, she looked at Dojin.
"Um, Leader."
"......Yeah, what?"
His reaction was slow. His hearing responded, then his visual nerves, and only then did his mouth open.
"......Just a sec, over here."
"Uh, yeah? What?"
Orion pulled Dojin a few meters away from Eunha and Raize. She didn't really want to show this in front of them... but straying too far in the Dungeon was risky.
Face-to-face with Dojin, her back to the group at arm's length, Orion forcibly calmed her pounding heart and asked.
"......Leader, you're really tired, right?"
"......Nah, I'm fine. Just... need a little rest."
"W-Well, how about I... relieve that fatigue for you?"
"......How?"
Thinking she was just worried about him, Dojin asked in puzzlement. Relieve fatigue? If possible, hell yeah.
They needed to shed even a bit of fatigue right now.
He nodded lightly, and Orion pulled him toward her. Hwaaak—the forest scent unique to elves wafted deeply.
Embracing him against her chest, she turned her head away, face flushing in embarrassment.
"An elf's body scent and fluids have a fatigue-relieving effect... Y-You can lick a little, if you want."
"......Wait, what's this."
"Hey, just accept it."
Dojin looked up at Orion in bewilderment. But Orion hugged him tighter. Hwaaak—nature's fragrance enveloped him.
The elf's all-day sweat, accumulated without washing, began restoring Dojin's vigor.
Fairies had always possessed such special powers, after all.
"......Sniff, haa. Sniff, haa—."
Dojin buried his face in her chest, inhaling the scent. Occasionally, he stuck out his tongue to lick the salty-sweet skin.
Just as Orion said, the fatigue vanished, and strength surged through his body.
'......If I play this right.'
A thought flashed through Dojin's mind.
"......?"
On the Dungeon's 10th Floor, Seoyun, who'd just started climbing, stopped in place and looked up.
"Seoyun, what's up?"
"Nah, just... suddenly got a weird feeling."
A woman's intuition is sharp—Seoyun felt like Dojin was cheating on her or something.
She knew it couldn't be true, but the feeling wouldn't shake off easily.