Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Labyrinthos (2)
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A Gnoll.
A monster with the head of a dog. They were typically a little larger than a human, but since they stooped forward, their eye level was about the same.
They were strong and agile, but tended to focus solely on the enemy directly in front of them, making them vulnerable to coordinated or flanking attacks.
The information crammed into his head surfaced once more.
The gnoll opened its mouth. In what felt like slow motion, he could see its yellowed teeth, brown fur, and the saliva flying through the air.
“Krrhung!”
The sound accelerated time. Kang-seok dropped his center of gravity low, dodging the greatsword the gnoll swung horizontally. He kicked off the ground, springing forward, and planted his empty left hand on the floor.
In that instant, his left hand became a pivot. Kang-seok spun his body as if it were a blunt weapon. Struck by his low attack, which was loaded with his body weight and centrifugal force, the gnoll tumbled backward.
That was the end. Kang-seok, having already righted himself, plunged Durandal into the chest of the gnoll, which was still dazed from the impact of hitting the ground headfirst.
The sensation of the blade’s tip parting leather, flesh, and bone.
The gnoll’s body trembled before it finally went limp. The light in its eyes faded, turning them into glass marbles.
“Hooah.”
Kang-seok let out a long, held breath. The scent of blood assailed his nostrils anew. Averting his gaze from the two gnolls sprawled on the floor, Kang-seok looked in the other direction.
Seong Yu-jin was mounted on the corpse of a gnoll that had fallen backward. She was crouched low, Almace piercing its chest, her entire body drenched in blood.
“Urp... Ugh...”
Seong Yu-jin, who had been retching, finally vomited next to the gnoll’s corpse. Fortunately, it seemed all the blood covering her was the gnoll’s.
Before approaching Seong Yu-jin, Kang-seok flicked his fingers in the air. He summoned the letters of light, a now familiar action.
[Kron Acquired: 150]
The amount of Kron earned for killing three in total—two by Kang-seok, one by Seong Yu-jin.
Shaking his head to dismiss the letters of light, Kang-seok unfastened the waterskin from his waist. He walked over to Seong Yu-jin, with whom he had grown close enough to speak casually over the past two days, and asked.
“You okay?”
“I’m… urp.”
Seong Yu-jin tried to answer but had to bend over again. There wasn’t much in her stomach, so nothing came out, but she looked to be in great pain.
But it was a necessary process.
To replenish their remaining survival time, which was ticking down even at this moment, they needed Kron. And to get Kron, they had to fight monsters. Seong Yu-jin had to get used to fighting.
Once she seemed to have calmed down a bit, Seong Yu-jin wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and stood up. Kang-seok offered her the waterskin he had prepared.
“Here, water.”
“Hah… thanks.”
Staggering toward Kang-seok, Seong Yu-jin quickly drank the water. She drank so hastily that nearly half of it flowed down her chin.
Seong Yu-jin was wearing a chain mail shirt made of thin steel links under her coat. She had a shield on her arm and had replaced her large officer’s cap with a leather helmet taken from the gnolls.
It wasn't a great look, but it was all to increase her chances of survival, even if only by a little.
Keeping his eyes on Seong Yu-jin, Kang-seok moved his fingers. New letters of light appeared.
[Party Member’s Kron Acquired: 135]
Two days had passed since he obtained Leif Eiríksson’s conquest journal.
Here was what Kang-seok had newly discovered.
First, when in a party, Kron is distributed equally.
Second, the higher one’s level, the less Kron one receives from the same type of monster.
The discrepancy in the amount of Kron he and Seong Yu-jin acquired was due to the second reason. Seong Yu-jin, having gone through several battles, was now level 2. While she had grown marginally stronger with the level-up, her Kron acquisition had decreased.
‘The higher your level, the stronger the monsters you have to fight to survive…’
It might be looking too far ahead, but it was a future that would one day come for Seong Yu-jin.
‘The problem is me.’
Unlike Seong Yu-jin, Kang-seok had no level. Did that mean he could continue to accumulate Kron without any loss?
That would be great, but a part of him felt uneasy.
He didn't know ‘who’ was behind everything that was happening now.
Why were they given the same appearance and abilities as their game characters?
What were the remaining survival time and the letters of light?
Nothing was clear, but he could be sure of at least one thing.
‘It’s logical. No, more than that—it feels like they paid attention to game balancing.’
When you form a party, you share the Kron earned from battle equally. That makes sense.
As your level increases, the amount of Kron you get from the same monsters decreases. That also makes sense.
It was a common setup in RPGs. If you replaced Kron with experience points, it was exactly the same.
A system designed to encourage players to continuously fight stronger enemies instead of simply grinding.
Whoever built such a system—and there was no guarantee it was a person—wouldn't just give Kang-seok an advantage. There had to be some kind of penalty.
“Here, thanks.”
Seong Yu-jin’s outstretched arm holding the waterskin broke Kang-seok’s train of thought.
Taking the waterskin, which was now about a third full, Kang-seok took a sip himself before speaking.
“Let’s head back for today. Don’t be too hasty.”
It was advice meant as much for himself as for Seong Yu-jin. Even now, their remaining survival time was relentlessly decreasing, but they had earned Kron through their hunts over the past two days.
You could buy survival time with Kron.
He had actually tested it out the night before.
He had no desire to push his luck out of impatience and end up in a disaster. With nothing certain, the best they could do was to slowly get accustomed to combat and gather Kron.
Nodding slightly in agreement with himself, Kang-seok blinked. It was because of a sudden gaze he felt on him.
Seong Yu-jin stood with her hands behind her back, tilting her body slightly to the side as she looked up at him.
“What?”
Feeling a bit awkward, Kang-seok took the initiative, feigning nonchalance. Seong Yu-jin’s eyes widened as she spoke.
“No, it’s just… you’re amazing. And impressive.”
Both he and she had started from more or less the same point. Yet, the paths that had led them to this moment were vastly different.
How could he be so calm?
If she had been alone, without Kang-seok, she would still be cowering in a corner, trembling.
No, she would have surely been dragged off and killed by the minotaur-like monster in the first place.
It was nothing short of a catastrophe, yet watching Kang-seok handle things so methodically was fascinating. He seemed a little—no, he just seemed cool.
Reading the mix of emotions and thoughts in Seong Yu-jin’s gaze, Kang-seok let out an awkward cough.
“Every guy who's been through the military can do this.”
“Look at you, getting all modest.”
Seong Yu-jin laughed, and Kang-seok just shrugged his shoulders once.
Kang-seok and Seong Yu-jin returned to the large chamber that served as their ‘forward base’.
Labyrinthos was a dungeon composed of eleven floors.
The lowest level, the 11th floor, was where Kang-seok had first opened his eyes, and it consisted of only the final boss’s room—or so Kang-seok called it for now.
The ‘large chamber’ where Leif Eiríksson and his companions had fallen was, of course, on the 10th floor.
The conquest journal made no mention of Leif or his companions. It only detailed information about the monsters Leif's party had encountered and the routes through each floor.
Leif and his companions had lost their lives on the 10th floor. If the skeleton lying dead with the final boss on the 11th floor was also one of Leif’s companions, then in a way, they had succeeded in conquering the dungeon.
That gave Kang-seok hope.
This dungeon has already been ‘conquered’ once.
The most powerful monsters had likely been cleared out, and since this was the lowest level, the difficulty of the dungeon floors would probably decrease as they ascended.
For now, escape the dungeon.
If Leif and his companions weren’t ‘Players’ like him and Seong Yu-jin, it meant a world existed outside this dungeon. If they could get out, they would be able to find information, one way or another.
“I’m going to wash up first.”
As soon as they returned to the large chamber, Seong Yu-jin dropped her shoulders, setting her shield and coat on the floor. Kang-seok, who was re-barricading the door with materials they had scavenged, replied distractedly.
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“No peeking.”
“I won’t, I won’t.”
Waving his hand dismissively, Kang-seok plopped down next to the now sealed door.
He watched Seong Yu-jin’s back as she scurried into one of the several smaller rooms attached to the main chamber, then pulled the conquest journal from his coat.
‘So they don’t approach the main chamber.’
The gnolls that roamed the 10th floor didn’t come near the large chamber. It didn't seem like they were fundamentally forbidden from approaching, but more like underlings avoiding a passage reserved for their superiors.
Kang-seok raised his head and briefly scanned the large chamber. They had moved all the monster corpses that had filled the room outside, and the bodies of Leif and his companions were respectfully laid in one of the small adjoining rooms.
There were a total of four small rooms attached to the main chamber.
Three were just small, empty rooms, but one was special.
The room Seong Yu-jin had just entered was connected to a waterway.
A stone wall ran along one side of the room, with a channel of flowing water inside it.
In a typical game, it was natural for monsters to be placed inside a dungeon. There was nothing strange about such an arrangement.
But this wasn't a game; it was reality.
The monsters in the dungeon needed food, water, and shelter. It was reasonable to assume that some kind of ecosystem had formed within the dungeon.
‘The waterway supplying clean water is proof of that.’
Putting away the conquest journal, Kang-seok covered his face with his hands. He focused his attention on the weight he felt in his coat, opposite the journal.
Survival time wasn’t the only thing that was limited.
Food, another resource necessary for survival.
Currently, they were sating their hunger with tiny combat rations found in Leif's pack. They were similar to the fasting pills from martial arts novels; just one was enough to keep hunger at bay for half a day.
Leif and his companions couldn't have carried regular provisions into the dungeon, so they must have survived on these combat rations as well.
At a rate of two pills a day, they had enough for about two weeks. But there were nutritional concerns, so they would have to find another solution after that.
[Remaining Survival Time: 660 hours 01 minute 07 seconds]
Kang-seok waved his hand, dismissing the letters of light. He closed his eyes, waiting for Seong Yu-jin to come out of the room.
* * *
About a week later.
Labyrinthos, 6th floor.
Thwack!
A crossbow bolt slammed into the wall with a dull thud. It was a clean shot that had passed through the empty space where Kang-seok’s head had been moments before.
Seong Yu-jin, who had been crouching, didn't scream at the surprise attack but quickly stood up and drew Almace. Kang-seok was already dashing toward the direction the bolt had come from.
“Kyak!”
It was a gnoll, the same kind he had faced an infuriating number of times on the 10th floor.
Though larger than a human, its stooped posture kept its eye level about the same.
They were skilled with crossbows and greatswords and moved in packs.
Startled that Kang-seok had dodged its first shot, the creature hurriedly tried to reload the crossbow. But Kang-seok was faster.
The distance between the gnoll and Kang-seok was about five meters.
The corridor was only about two meters wide, making it nearly impossible to dodge left or right. So Kang-seok chose the option of not getting hit at all.
Leaning forward so far it seemed he would fall, Kang-seok’s body shot forward like a lie. After his initial push-off, he didn't even take another step, yet he moved forward quickly and smoothly, as if something were jetting out from his back.
Second Dash.
The distance it could cover was only a few meters, but in exchange, its speed was incredible.
By the time the gnoll registered Kang-seok’s approach, Durandal was already drawn from his back, tearing through the gnoll’s chest.
An upward slash following the dash, Flying Swallow Strike.
There was no opening in the non-stop action, and the gnoll collapsed with a bizarre scream.
Kang-seok immediately shifted his gaze. The gnolls he had fought to death on the 10th floor always moved in packs of at least three.
Sure enough, as he scanned the area, two more gnolls, armed with a shield and a greatsword, came running from around the corner of the corridor.
In a narrow corridor, a frontal clash was the only option.
Thinking just that, the gnolls charged at Kang-seok. He momentarily flicked his eyes up to look above their heads. The ceiling was about five meters high.
Kang-seok’s body instantly shot into the air. He slid forward as if kicking off the air itself, then spun his body mid-flight.
Naturally, the backs of the gnolls' heads came into view. He descended, executing a downward Flying Swallow Strike.
A blue flash of light flickered, and another gnoll met its end. Only one remained. By the time the startled creature turned around, Kang-seok’s Durandal had already swung.
“Seriously, just looking at your movements, fighting game characters are totally broken.”
Seong Yu-jin, shield in hand, said with a mix of resignation and delight. In terms of ‘mobility,’ Kang-seok, the fighting game Player, was, as she put it, practically a cheat.
‘No, maybe he's just a natural?’
Over the past few days, not only Kang-seok but she too had experienced numerous battles. She was now level 7, and while she was still a bit anxious on her own, she could hold her ground against the monsters. But Kang-seok was on another level. He had just dispatched three gnolls in an instant.
Shrugging as a casual response, Kang-seok turned away instead of retrieving Durandal. He cracked his neck a few times as if to loosen up and said.
“More are coming.”
Gnolls moved in packs. Since a scream had been let out, it was only natural for more to swarm in.
Hearing the footsteps of gnolls from beyond the corridor, Seong Yu-jin narrowed her brow.
“Sounds like… a lot of them?”
It felt as if the corridor itself was shaking.
Kang-seok bit his lower lip. He re-gripped Durandal and said.
“Let’s break through. Stay close!”
When gnoll packs grew large, some of them would use bombs or firebombs. Getting hit by such area-of-effect weapons while cornered in a narrow, dead-end space like this would be disastrous.
Seong Yu-jin had also fought her fill of gnolls on the 10th floor. Agreeing with Kang-seok that forcing a breakthrough was their only option, she quickly ran toward him and activated her sustained skills.
[Iron Wall Lv1]
[Endurance Lv1]
They were tanking skills that increased defense and resistance to various status-inflicting attacks from enemies.
Seong Yu-jin's character was originally a damage-dealing tank, but with the priority on survival in their current situation, she had no choice but to build her as a tank rather than a dealer.
Kang-seok took the lead and rounded the corner first. Two gnolls were visible in the corridor leading to a large, open chamber.
As the creatures charged, drooling like rabid dogs, Kang-seok ran to meet them. He didn’t leap this time. He had Seong Yu-jin with him.
[Taunt Lv1]
A white light flashed from Seong Yu-jin, who had rounded the corner slightly after Kang-seok. The gazes of the gnolls, which had been fixed on Kang-seok, momentarily shifted toward her.
In the game, it was a skill that focused the monsters’ aggro, making them attack only the tank. But perhaps because her level was low, or because this was reality, it didn’t have such an absolute effect. It was just enough to divert their attention for a moment.
But that was enough.
The instant the gnolls’ eyes shifted, Durandal traced a sharp arc. As if it were a single, fluid technique, it sliced through the necks of both gnolls.
“Hah.”
As the gnolls collapsed, spewing dark red blood, Seong Yu-jin let out a sigh of relief. But Kang-seok’s brow furrowed.
He had definitely heard the sound of charging gnolls. But there were only two?
“They’re not after us.”
Kang-seok said suddenly. As if in response to his words, the monstrous screams of gnolls echoed from beyond the wall.
The gnolls were fighting someone.
Who could it be? Could monsters be fighting each other?
Kang-seok and Seong Yu-jin’s eyes met in mid-air. They both had the same thought at almost the same time.
Kang-seok moved first. Seong Yu-jin quickly kicked off the ground and followed.
The large chamber. To its right. The room with the stairs leading to the 7th floor.
A group of individuals with excessively flashy appearances were fighting a desperate battle against the gnolls.
Players.
Kang-seok didn't hesitate any longer.