Chapter 510: Grave (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 510: Grave (2)
Hans A. He had been my first night companion, and the first person I ever killed in this world. Thanks to him, I was able to upgrade to a more civilized lifestyle and adapt to life in the labyrinth. In the process, I was also able to meet Erwen as well.
Is it because his name was Hans? He's still a thorn in my side even in death.
His small family portrait had been the first thing I threw aside when I was looking through his bag after looting him. Was it like a cursed doll in a horror movie that would continue to haunt me no matter how many times I threw it away?
"Hm? So it's an object that was left behind in the labyrinth..."
What the...? When did Amelia get here? When I blinked back to awareness, I realized that all my teammates had been listening in on our conversation while continuing to do their jobs. I guess that made sense—adventurers tended to have good hearing.
"...Then maybe this is a place where everything that's been left behind in the labyrinth ends up." Versyl quickly came up with a hypothesis, like a true wizard. Truthfully, after hearing my story about the family portrait, that was a theory anyone could have come up with.
"Oh! That's amazing! Then will I be able to find my lost shoes now? They're my favorite pair!"
"If you're lucky, Ms. Ainar."
"Wait a minute, Ms. Gowland," Amelia interjected. "If we go by your hypothesis, what's the explanation for all the furniture in the water? It doesn't seem likely that all those dressers and tables were things that were left in the labyrinth by adventurers."
The question tripped Versyl up. "Th-that's... true," she muttered, almost to herself. "Why are those there?"
Amelia's observation seemed to disprove the hypothesis that this place was the labyrinth's garbage dump. That was until, surprisingly, our navigator was able to offer up a plausible explanation.
"If I may... I think those might be pieces of furniture that were on large ships."
"Large ships?"
"I heard that before sub-space magic was developed, ancient adventurers struggled to explore the sixth floor since they couldn't summon ships out of thin air like we can now."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yes. So they would cut down trees on the Island of Beginnings and hand-build a ship themselves so they could sail the sixth floor's seas. That's the first bit of history that all navigators learn."
"...How is that possible? If they built a new ship every time, they would only ever be able to reach nearby islands. And I can't imagine they'd want to go through the trouble of building a new one every month just to throw it away after."
"You're right. Apparently, the issue was solved with magic. Back then, sub-space magic wasn't as advanced as it is now, but that doesn't mean other similar types of magic didn't exist."
Auyen didn't know the details, but according to him, a type of magic automatically made the ship sail back to the Island of Beginnings, carried there by the tide regardless of what island you were currently on when you cast the spell.
"So they took advantage of the fact that time on the sixth floor continues to flow even when the labyrinth closes."
"Yes," Auyen confirmed. "However, I also heard that there were many disputes and cases of theft as a result of this practice. Ah, and also, sometimes the ships were wrecked by the time they found their way back to the Island of Beginnings, rather than in their usual—"
"I see. Thanks for the valuable information." I felt bad about having to cut Auyen off while he was excitedly showing off his knowledge. I actually didn't mind hearing him ramble, but right now, I needed him to concentrate on sailing. "But let's focus on our jobs for now."
"Ah... of course!"
"Erwen, stop letting us distract you too. And Ainar, your mop isn't moving."
I quickly ordered everyone to stop eavesdropping and get back to work. The chests or chairs floating out there on the sea may be interesting, but the actual reason they were there wasn't in any way important to us. There was only one thing that mattered, and that was the fact that this place was apparently full of objects, maybe even treasures, that had been left behind when the labyrinth closed.
"Versyl, continue to grab whatever comes floating by the boat. There might be valuable stuff mixed in."
"Yes, will do."
Right now all we had was this useless family portrait of Hans A, but who knew what else we might end up coming across? There might be a Numbered Item or a high-quality piece of equipment. There would surely be countless long-forgotten treasures here, just like how we had to abandon untold amounts of gear at Ice Rock.
When you think of it that way, this place is more of a tomb than a dump. Since it's full of all sorts of expensive stuff from the dead.
I was finally starting to get it. At first, I'd wondered why so many adventurers were risking their lives, waiting around for the portal to open even when they knew Berzak was on the loose. But this opportunity really was one worth putting your life on the line for.
New monsters, new essences, new experiences, and countless treasures floating around on the sea...
How much would we end up making once we returned to the city and sold everything we found?
"Mister!" Suddenly, Erwen, from her position on the bridge, shouted at the top of her lungs. "An island! There's an island!"
...It wasn't another rank-one monster again, right?
***
In the end, what Erwen saw was indeed an island. Or, well, 'island' wasn't quite the right word for it. At the very least, though, it wasn't a monster.
"...It looks like a temple."
There was a building of sorts, one in the shape of two cylinders, floating on the water. We took the ship and did a loop around it to scout it out, but in the end, all we could see from the outside was an entrance leading inside. In other words, going inside was our only option if we wanted to find out what was in there.
"What should we do?"
"What else? We're adventurers. We should go and explore it."
Since the water level around it was shallow, we had to transfer to a smaller ship and paddle ourselves toward the building.
"...What a strange place."
As we got off our rowboat and headed into the temple, we took a look around, but we couldn't see much due to the lack of light.
I can only see about five yards ahead.
All we could see was a wide staircase leading somewhere down below. The height and width of each step was massive, almost like it was built for something that wasn't human. Of course, that worked out perfectly for me.
[You have cast Giantization.]
A staircase that I could comfortably walk down even in Giantization mode? It was enough to make a grown man cry.
Stomp, stomp, stomp.
I took the lead as we headed down the stairs to tank any attacks that might come our way. But a long while later...
"Ah... of course!"
"Erwen, stop letting us distract you too. And Ainar, your mop isn't moving."
I quickly ordered everyone to stop eavesdropping and get back to work. The chests or chairs floating out there on the sea may be interesting, but the actual reason they were there wasn't in any way important to us. There was only one thing that mattered, and that was the fact that this place was apparently full of objects, maybe even treasures, that had been left behind when the labyrinth closed.
"Versyl, continue to grab whatever comes floating by the boat. There might be valuable stuff mixed in."
"Yes, will do."
Right now all we had was this useless family portrait of Hans A, but who knew what else we might end up coming across? There might be a Numbered Item or a high-quality piece of equipment. There would surely be countless long-forgotten treasures here, just like how we had to abandon untold amounts of gear at Ice Rock.
When you think of it that way, this place is more of a tomb than a dump. Since it's full of all sorts of expensive stuff from the dead.
I was finally starting to get it. At first, I'd wondered why so many adventurers were risking their lives, waiting around for the portal to open even when they knew Berzak was on the loose. But this opportunity really was one worth putting your life on the line for.
New monsters, new essences, new experiences, and countless treasures floating around on the sea...
How much would we end up making once we returned to the city and sold everything we found?
"Mister!" Suddenly, Erwen, from her position on the bridge, shouted at the top of her lungs. "An island! There's an island!"
...It wasn't another rank-one monster again, right?
***
In the end, what Erwen saw was indeed an island. Or, well, 'island' wasn't quite the right word for it. At the very least, though, it wasn't a monster.
"...It looks like a temple."
There was a building of sorts, one in the shape of two cylinders, floating on the water. We took the ship and did a loop around it to scout it out, but in the end, all we could see from the outside was an entrance leading inside. In other words, going inside was our only option if we wanted to find out what was in there.
"What should we do?"
"What else? We're adventurers. We should go and explore it."
Since the water level around it was shallow, we had to transfer to a smaller ship and paddle ourselves toward the building.
"...What a strange place."
As we got off our rowboat and headed into the temple, we took a look around, but we couldn't see much due to the lack of light.
I can only see about five yards ahead.
All we could see was a wide staircase leading somewhere down below. The height and width of each step was massive, almost like it was built for something that wasn't human. Of course, that worked out perfectly for me.
[You have cast Giantization.]
A staircase that I could comfortably walk down even in Giantization mode? It was enough to make a grown man cry.
Stomp, stomp, stomp.
I took the lead as we headed down the stairs to tank any attacks that might come our way. But a long while later...
"It's still going?"
We must have gone down at least two hundred steps by now. What the hell was this place? Spatially speaking, how did this make any sense? But I decided to not think too hard about it. After all, it'd be ridiculous to expect this world to follow the laws of physics.
Stomp!
Eventually, we reached the end of the staircase.
"Ugh... it's so dusty."
The chamber we entered had a musty smell to it. Due to poor visibility, it was hard to make much out, but as we ventured further inside, our surroundings began to brighten.
In fact, in a flash, the entire space lit up like someone had flicked the lights on.
The whole team flinched and immediately went on high alert, waiting for an enemy to appear. However, when nothing jumped out at us, we all turned to stare at each other with blank looks.
"This place..."
The ceiling was extremely high, approximately as tall as the stairs we took were long. Not only that but the entire room was lined with massive bookshelves that reached all the way up there.
"What is this place? It's like a library..."
The first thing that came to mind was a library, but it was different than any we'd ever seen if only for its sheer size. The books were so big that you needed to use your full wingspan to hold a single one, and each bookshelf was full of thousands of them.
"Oh! It's not as heavy as I thought it would be?"
But for some reason, each book was light enough that anyone with an adventurer's strength could easily lift it.
"Ms. Fenelin, could you help me open this book?"
"Of course!" Ainar quickly grabbed a book off the bookshelf for Versyl, then placed it on the floor and opened it. "It's empty..."
What? Are they just props, then?
"Versyl, you'll be in charge of investigating the books here. Ainar, you'll stay here and help her. And make sure to protect her if anything happens."
I left Ainar and Versyl with the books as the rest of us headed off to investigate our surroundings a bit more. The chamber seemed to be cylindrical, and going around its outer walls were large, curved bookshelves that reached up to the ceiling.
"...What the hell is that thing for?"
In the center of the room, there was a stone slab crafted into the shape of a table. There was also a large stone door nestled between the bookshelves, opposite the staircase we came down. A thorough investigation didn't reveal anything else.
This seems to be a place where we have to trigger something...
Since there didn't seem to be any monsters or traps around, we all split up to investigate. Eventually, we finally found something.
"Mr. Yandel, I found a book over here with something written in it! But it's in the ancient language, so I think you should come and read it for us."
My knowledge of the ancient language was already paying off a lot. I jogged over to Versyl to look at the book she had laid out on the floor. It was open to a spread that had a picture on one page and a written passage on the other.
"The illustration looks like it's of the rank-nine monster Wall-Mole Rat... but I can't read what it says."
Like Versyl speculated, the drawing was of a Wall-Mole Rat. It was written right there next to the picture—its name, its habitat, its skills. The description even went into the origins of its name, characteristics of its essences, its unique habits, and more.
"It's still going?"
We must have gone down at least two hundred steps by now. What the hell was this place? Spatially speaking, how did this make any sense? But I decided to not think too hard about it. After all, it'd be ridiculous to expect this world to follow the laws of physics.
Stomp!
Eventually, we reached the end of the staircase.
"Ugh... it's so dusty."
The chamber we entered had a musty smell to it. Due to poor visibility, it was hard to make much out, but as we ventured further inside, our surroundings began to brighten.
In fact, in a flash, the entire space lit up like someone had flicked the lights on.
The whole team flinched and immediately went on high alert, waiting for an enemy to appear. However, when nothing jumped out at us, we all turned to stare at each other with blank looks.
"This place..."
The ceiling was extremely high, approximately as tall as the stairs we took were long. Not only that but the entire room was lined with massive bookshelves that reached all the way up there.
"What is this place? It's like a library..."
The first thing that came to mind was a library, but it was different than any we'd ever seen if only for its sheer size. The books were so big that you needed to use your full wingspan to hold a single one, and each bookshelf was full of thousands of them.
"Oh! It's not as heavy as I thought it would be?"
But for some reason, each book was light enough that anyone with an adventurer's strength could easily lift it.
"Ms. Fenelin, could you help me open this book?"
"Of course!" Ainar quickly grabbed a book off the bookshelf for Versyl, then placed it on the floor and opened it. "It's empty..."
What? Are they just props, then?
"Versyl, you'll be in charge of investigating the books here. Ainar, you'll stay here and help her. And make sure to protect her if anything happens."
I left Ainar and Versyl with the books as the rest of us headed off to investigate our surroundings a bit more. The chamber seemed to be cylindrical, and going around its outer walls were large, curved bookshelves that reached up to the ceiling.
"...What the hell is that thing for?"
In the center of the room, there was a stone slab crafted into the shape of a table. There was also a large stone door nestled between the bookshelves, opposite the staircase we came down. A thorough investigation didn't reveal anything else.
This seems to be a place where we have to trigger something...
Since there didn't seem to be any monsters or traps around, we all split up to investigate. Eventually, we finally found something.
"Mr. Yandel, I found a book over here with something written in it! But it's in the ancient language, so I think you should come and read it for us."
My knowledge of the ancient language was already paying off a lot. I jogged over to Versyl to look at the book she had laid out on the floor. It was open to a spread that had a picture on one page and a written passage on the other.
"The illustration looks like it's of the rank-nine monster Wall-Mole Rat... but I can't read what it says."
Like Versyl speculated, the drawing was of a Wall-Mole Rat. It was written right there next to the picture—its name, its habitat, its skills. The description even went into the origins of its name, characteristics of its essences, its unique habits, and more.
"...It looks like a page from some kind of field guide. Is this the only thing inside?"
"Yes. No matter how many other pages I flipped through, they were all blank."
I hummed. "I see..."
"You sound like you have an idea?"
"There's just a lot to process."
First of all, this book alone was incredibly valuable. If Raven were here, she'd be running around in excitement, rambling about what an unbelievable discovery this was like the history fanatic she was. I, however, wasn't interested in all that. Adventurers weren't like wizards. Instead, we valued other things above knowledge.
How can we use this?
Namely, we cared about what a new discovery could do for us. No, more than that, we tried to figure out why the thing—whether a magic item, a helpful bug, or a hidden feature—existed in the first place.
But instead of research, we did things the adventurer way: trying everything we could think of and seeing what worked.
"Everyone, gather up." I immediately called a team meeting.
"Did you figure something out?"
"No, but I think I might have an idea worth trying."
"Worth trying?" Amelia tilted her head, but it would be faster to just show them than to explain. Especially since I wasn't even sure it would work.
Thud.
I grabbed the book that Versyl found and placed it on the stone plate in the center of the library.
Roughly three seconds later, Amelia broke the silence. "I guess there are times when even you are wrong—"
Shaaaaaa!
The slab suddenly began to glow a bright blue. That meant something was happening, and since this was Dungeon and Stone, chances were that whatever it was would be dangerous.
"Bjorn! Over there! The stone door is opening...!"
I ran in the direction Missha was pointing and positioned myself in front of the pack. "Everyone, prepare for battle!" I shouted urgently.
The team got into their stances, alert and ready to take on whatever came our way. The tension in the air was thick as the seconds ticked by.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds...
After four seconds, the monster finally appeared, slowly emerging from the crack in the stone doors.
Squeak.
It was a Wall-Mole Rat.
Squeak!
And just one of them.
The first monster we encountered on this new floor was a whopping rank-one monster. As a result, everyone including myself had been extremely wary of whatever would be coming out of that stone door.
"A Wall-Mole Rat...?"
What we got instead was a singular rank-nine monster.
"Don't lower your guard. Something else might come out."
Even though I was the leader, I was momentarily at a loss as well. However, it didn't take long before I was able to collect myself enough to figure out what was happening.
...So, that's what's going on.
There was a passage about Wall-Mole Rat written in that book. When we placed said book on the stone slab, a Wall-Mole Rat then appeared through the stone doors. How could that be a coincidence?
"...It looks like a page from some kind of field guide. Is this the only thing inside?"
"Yes. No matter how many other pages I flipped through, they were all blank."
I hummed. "I see..."
"You sound like you have an idea?"
"There's just a lot to process."
First of all, this book alone was incredibly valuable. If Raven were here, she'd be running around in excitement, rambling about what an unbelievable discovery this was like the history fanatic she was. I, however, wasn't interested in all that. Adventurers weren't like wizards. Instead, we valued other things above knowledge.
How can we use this?
Namely, we cared about what a new discovery could do for us. No, more than that, we tried to figure out why the thing—whether a magic item, a helpful bug, or a hidden feature—existed in the first place.
But instead of research, we did things the adventurer way: trying everything we could think of and seeing what worked.
"Everyone, gather up." I immediately called a team meeting.
"Did you figure something out?"
"No, but I think I might have an idea worth trying."
"Worth trying?" Amelia tilted her head, but it would be faster to just show them than to explain. Especially since I wasn't even sure it would work.
Thud.
I grabbed the book that Versyl found and placed it on the stone plate in the center of the library.
Roughly three seconds later, Amelia broke the silence. "I guess there are times when even you are wrong—"
Shaaaaaa!
The slab suddenly began to glow a bright blue. That meant something was happening, and since this was Dungeon and Stone, chances were that whatever it was would be dangerous.
"Bjorn! Over there! The stone door is opening...!"
I ran in the direction Missha was pointing and positioned myself in front of the pack. "Everyone, prepare for battle!" I shouted urgently.
The team got into their stances, alert and ready to take on whatever came our way. The tension in the air was thick as the seconds ticked by.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds...
After four seconds, the monster finally appeared, slowly emerging from the crack in the stone doors.
Squeak.
It was a Wall-Mole Rat.
Squeak!
And just one of them.
The first monster we encountered on this new floor was a whopping rank-one monster. As a result, everyone including myself had been extremely wary of whatever would be coming out of that stone door.
"A Wall-Mole Rat...?"
What we got instead was a singular rank-nine monster.
"Don't lower your guard. Something else might come out."
Even though I was the leader, I was momentarily at a loss as well. However, it didn't take long before I was able to collect myself enough to figure out what was happening.
...So, that's what's going on.
There was a passage about Wall-Mole Rat written in that book. When we placed said book on the stone slab, a Wall-Mole Rat then appeared through the stone doors. How could that be a coincidence?
"Erwen."
The moment her name left my mouth, Erwen let the arrow she had nocked fly. Was she a psychic or something? How did she know what I was going to ask the moment I said her name? I had no idea, but that didn't really matter right now.
The Wall-Mole Rat, which had been running at us, died without so much as a squeak.
Shaaaaaa!
There was a burst of light as a singular rank-nine mana stone dropped where it had been standing. Since Beginner's Luck didn't kick in, it didn't drop an essence. Though it was so low rank we probably would have just ignored it anyway.
Rumble!
As soon as the monster died, the stone doors began to close again.
"Oh! Mr. Yandel! Over there!"
Suddenly, a staircase leading up to the second row of the massive bookshelf appeared. In a game like Dungeon and Stone, this was an obvious cue to the player.
So it's telling us to keep going up and summon more monsters.
However, before going up the stairs, I checked out the book I placed on the stone slab.
"The picture and text are all gone..."
That meant that a book couldn't be used twice. I tossed the now empty book on the floor as I climbed up the stairs, and a sudden thought flashed through my mind.
Can't I skip the stairs and go for a higher book?
If you had the thought, you might as well give it a shot.
I took advantage of my height to grab onto the bottom of the third row of shelves, which the stairs didn't reach, and then used my arm strength to climb up. However, when I tried to take out a book, it didn't budge in the slightest.
So even if we're physically able to climb up to a higher level, we can't take out a book.
But what would happen if I climbed all the way up? The curiosity ate away at me, but I decided to check it out later when we either reached a dead-end or had some extra time left. We had enough to do as it was.
"Everyone, grab a book and find a page with a drawing on it."
Once I doled out orders, everyone quickly dispersed to pick up a book and flip through the pages. With all of us searching together, it only took a few minutes to hit pay dirt. This time, there were two monsters listed inside a singular book. One was the rank-eight Nightplar.
"Oh! I know this one! Isn't that that monster with the same essence as that Vampire we met in the Bloody Citadel?"
The other monster in the book was Gullfrog, which we had run into quite a few times on our way here.
"...So, what's written down about it?"
"I guess it already has an official name, huh? Then we voted for no reason."
Since we'd been the first to discover this monster, everyone seemed curious about what might be written down about it.
Then let's see its real name...
As soon as I read what was written at the top of the page, however, I stiffened.
"...Huh? Bjorn? What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Ainar, concerned by my sudden shift in demeanor, worriedly approached me.
Versyl, who was nearby, seemed worried too. "...Mr. Yandel? Is there a problem?"
I was slow to respond. "Gullfrog."
"What?"
"In this book, the name written down is Gullfrog."
"...What? What do you mean by that? I'm sure you were the one who came up with that name though, Captain..."
Exactly. It didn't make sense.
"I-Isn't that an unbelievable coincidence...? I can't believe you picked the same name..." Auyen murmured to himself while I quietly stared down at the book. I understood where he was coming from, of course. It would absolutely make far more sense to assume this was just some sort of unbelievable coincidence.
However...
Name. Habitat. Essence.
I quickly skipped past the rest of the data and went straight to the origin of the name.
Bjorn, son of Yandel, who was the first adventurer to enter Basement Floor One's Archives, named the monster after being the first to discover it.
What the hell was this?
"Erwen."
The moment her name left my mouth, Erwen let the arrow she had nocked fly. Was she a psychic or something? How did she know what I was going to ask the moment I said her name? I had no idea, but that didn't really matter right now.
The Wall-Mole Rat, which had been running at us, died without so much as a squeak.
Shaaaaaa!
There was a burst of light as a singular rank-nine mana stone dropped where it had been standing. Since Beginner's Luck didn't kick in, it didn't drop an essence. Though it was so low rank we probably would have just ignored it anyway.
Rumble!
As soon as the monster died, the stone doors began to close again.
"Oh! Mr. Yandel! Over there!"
Suddenly, a staircase leading up to the second row of the massive bookshelf appeared. In a game like Dungeon and Stone, this was an obvious cue to the player.
So it's telling us to keep going up and summon more monsters.
However, before going up the stairs, I checked out the book I placed on the stone slab.
"The picture and text are all gone..."
That meant that a book couldn't be used twice. I tossed the now empty book on the floor as I climbed up the stairs, and a sudden thought flashed through my mind.
Can't I skip the stairs and go for a higher book?
If you had the thought, you might as well give it a shot.
I took advantage of my height to grab onto the bottom of the third row of shelves, which the stairs didn't reach, and then used my arm strength to climb up. However, when I tried to take out a book, it didn't budge in the slightest.
So even if we're physically able to climb up to a higher level, we can't take out a book.
But what would happen if I climbed all the way up? The curiosity ate away at me, but I decided to check it out later when we either reached a dead-end or had some extra time left. We had enough to do as it was.
"Everyone, grab a book and find a page with a drawing on it."
Once I doled out orders, everyone quickly dispersed to pick up a book and flip through the pages. With all of us searching together, it only took a few minutes to hit pay dirt. This time, there were two monsters listed inside a singular book. One was the rank-eight Nightplar.
"Oh! I know this one! Isn't that that monster with the same essence as that Vampire we met in the Bloody Citadel?"
The other monster in the book was Gullfrog, which we had run into quite a few times on our way here.
"...So, what's written down about it?"
"I guess it already has an official name, huh? Then we voted for no reason."
Since we'd been the first to discover this monster, everyone seemed curious about what might be written down about it.
Then let's see its real name...
As soon as I read what was written at the top of the page, however, I stiffened.
"...Huh? Bjorn? What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Ainar, concerned by my sudden shift in demeanor, worriedly approached me.
Versyl, who was nearby, seemed worried too. "...Mr. Yandel? Is there a problem?"
I was slow to respond. "Gullfrog."
"What?"
"In this book, the name written down is Gullfrog."
"...What? What do you mean by that? I'm sure you were the one who came up with that name though, Captain..."
Exactly. It didn't make sense.
"I-Isn't that an unbelievable coincidence...? I can't believe you picked the same name..." Auyen murmured to himself while I quietly stared down at the book. I understood where he was coming from, of course. It would absolutely make far more sense to assume this was just some sort of unbelievable coincidence.
However...
Name. Habitat. Essence.
I quickly skipped past the rest of the data and went straight to the origin of the name.
Bjorn, son of Yandel, who was the first adventurer to enter Basement Floor One's Archives, named the monster after being the first to discover it.
What the hell was this?