Chapter 512: Grave (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 512: Grave (4)
One, two, three, four, five, six...
Out of habit, I counted how many of them there were.
Twenty-four.
There were twenty-four adventurers awkwardly standing around in front of the entrance.
This is the Hektz Clan, right?
As if in answer to my silent question, Versyl noted, "It seems that Myrtane's team is working with them as well."
"Myrtane?"
"The five-man party that didn't have a warrior. Their leader's name was Myrtane."
I see. Then did that mean the other four-man team and five-man team were working with the Silver Lion Clan instead? Well, since I had no way of knowing, I decided to see what the group in front of me was up to.
Plus, just the sight of them is kind of pissing me off.
"Are you trying to fight?"
"...Pardon? Oh... We heard a sound and thought it was a monster approaching..." My question seemed to snap their leader out of his stunned state, and he barked out orders to stand down. "What are you all doing? Lower your weapons, now!"
I'd been wondering if they were going to try to PK us, but that didn't seem to be the case. Everyone quickly lowered their weapons, and the leader's tone was polite and cautious as he addressed me. "Excuse me but... did you finish exploring down below?"
"For the most part. Did you all just get here?"
"Yes, we did..."
"Then this is fate. What's your name?"
"Wyatt. Wyatt Hektz. I'm the second captain of the Hektz Clan."
"Second captain?"
"Yes, the first was my father."
So on top of the silver spoon he was born with, he inherited a clan. That alone made me want us to go our separate ways as soon as possible, but I had a few questions to ask first, so I stuck around to pick his brain a bit more.
"Wyatt, what happened after we left?"
"Oh, after you left..."
Normally, if you asked that type of question to an adventurer, they'd tell you to screw off and figure things out yourself. But things were different with me. Not only was I famous and well-known, but I was also the one who opened the portal to this place. So even though I left them behind on that rocky island and told them to fend for themselves, they still saw me in a favorable light.
"I'd say things went as you might have already assumed they would, Your Lordship."
The story turned out to be rather simple. After I left, the Silver Lion Clan and the Hektz Clan formed a temporary alliance. They didn't establish a single command structure or completely blend their groups, but since they didn't know what they might be facing, they decided to move together for a while and help each other in times of danger.
"Then what about the smaller and medium-sized parties?"
"Since they didn't want to risk being trapped between two bigger clans, they decided to unite and form an alliance of their own to team up with us."
Thus, a cooperative relationship between the three parties was formed. The newfound coalition then left the rocky island by boat to explore the surrounding seas together.
"But a problem arose after we found an island."
"An island?
When I expressed interest, however, Wyatt seemed to realize he was being a pushover and offered me an ultimatum.
"If you tell us about what you discovered downstairs, I'll be willing to share information with you as well."
"Really? Then let's do that. Please continue."
We didn't even write a contract, but Wyatt nodded his head all the same. It seemed a verbal promise from me was good enough for him.
"It was a very large island. And we even found an undiscovered species as well."
"Are you talking about Tentaculan?"
"How do you know that name...?"
"I'll tell you after, so keep going for now."
"...What we found wasn't a Tentaculan. We fought Tentaculans on our way to the island, but what we ended up finding there was much stronger."
A much stronger monster... Since Tentaculans were rank-four, that meant it had to be at least rank-three.
"Please tell me more."
"We managed to defeat it, but we still have no idea what its essences were. However, we were able to confirm it at least had a Death Lord's Fog of Salvation, Rektas's Corpse Poison, and Hellsmith's Hellfire. We decided to call the monster 'Diamont.'"
Diamont's rank was still unknown, but it seemed it didn't move in packs, because it was found wandering around on its own.
"So what happened after you defeated it?"
"I decided it would be too dangerous to go any further inland, and that it would be better for us to camp on the coast and continue to hunt for more lone Diamonts. But... that's where our opinions clashed."
"How?"
"The Silver Lion Clan thought it would be better to head further in. But since killing a single Diamont on the coast was already dangerous enough, I was heavily against it."
Even so, the Silver Lion Clan was stubborn. Rather than trying to persuade each other and come to a consensus, they decided it would be better to go their separate ways.
"Of the smaller teams, two decided to join the Silver Lion Clan. Only Myrtane's team decided to come with us."
"But why did you leave the island?"
"We were certain that there would be other islands in the area as well, including one that we would be able to explore at our current level."
So they figured it would be a better idea to find another place than stubbornly stick to an island where the very first thing they ran into was a rank-three monster. My impression of this guy when we met on the first floor was that he was unhinged or suicidal. But now, I saw him as a kindred spirit in the art of being a realist.
"Can you tell me what you found downstairs, then, Your Lordship?"
Since he gave me a valuable piece of information, I shared several pieces of information about the library in kind. At first, he listened to me quite excitedly, but as my explanation continued, his expression began to change.
"So you're saying that there's not much we can get out of going down there."
"If your goal is to hunt monsters, then it's great. There are still plenty of books down there that we didn't get to use that you can use to summon them. You might even unearth something that we weren't able to."
"That's... true."
After our conversation, Wyatt called on his navigator to share the location of the island with Auyen. With that, our business with each other came to an end.
However, right as we were about to leave, Wyatt said something that piqued my interest.
"As I thought... you haven't found a way out of here yet either."
"If you tell us about what you discovered downstairs, I'll be willing to share information with you as well."
"Really? Then let's do that. Please continue."
We didn't even write a contract, but Wyatt nodded his head all the same. It seemed a verbal promise from me was good enough for him.
"It was a very large island. And we even found an undiscovered species as well."
"Are you talking about Tentaculan?"
"How do you know that name...?"
"I'll tell you after, so keep going for now."
"...What we found wasn't a Tentaculan. We fought Tentaculans on our way to the island, but what we ended up finding there was much stronger."
A much stronger monster... Since Tentaculans were rank-four, that meant it had to be at least rank-three.
"Please tell me more."
"We managed to defeat it, but we still have no idea what its essences were. However, we were able to confirm it at least had a Death Lord's Fog of Salvation, Rektas's Corpse Poison, and Hellsmith's Hellfire. We decided to call the monster 'Diamont.'"
Diamont's rank was still unknown, but it seemed it didn't move in packs, because it was found wandering around on its own.
"So what happened after you defeated it?"
"I decided it would be too dangerous to go any further inland, and that it would be better for us to camp on the coast and continue to hunt for more lone Diamonts. But... that's where our opinions clashed."
"How?"
"The Silver Lion Clan thought it would be better to head further in. But since killing a single Diamont on the coast was already dangerous enough, I was heavily against it."
Even so, the Silver Lion Clan was stubborn. Rather than trying to persuade each other and come to a consensus, they decided it would be better to go their separate ways.
"Of the smaller teams, two decided to join the Silver Lion Clan. Only Myrtane's team decided to come with us."
"But why did you leave the island?"
"We were certain that there would be other islands in the area as well, including one that we would be able to explore at our current level."
So they figured it would be a better idea to find another place than stubbornly stick to an island where the very first thing they ran into was a rank-three monster. My impression of this guy when we met on the first floor was that he was unhinged or suicidal. But now, I saw him as a kindred spirit in the art of being a realist.
"Can you tell me what you found downstairs, then, Your Lordship?"
Since he gave me a valuable piece of information, I shared several pieces of information about the library in kind. At first, he listened to me quite excitedly, but as my explanation continued, his expression began to change.
"So you're saying that there's not much we can get out of going down there."
"If your goal is to hunt monsters, then it's great. There are still plenty of books down there that we didn't get to use that you can use to summon them. You might even unearth something that we weren't able to."
"That's... true."
After our conversation, Wyatt called on his navigator to share the location of the island with Auyen. With that, our business with each other came to an end.
However, right as we were about to leave, Wyatt said something that piqued my interest.
"As I thought... you haven't found a way out of here yet either."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Pardon me... it was nothing. I just had a useless thought, that was all."
"I'll judge whether it's useless, so tell me."
When I pressed, he finally gave in, a hint of shame marring his expression. "I was just wondering when this place is supposed to close. I'm even starting to worry that it might never close and that we'll never return to the city... Part of me is worried that this place might become our grave."
I sighed. I'd been wondering if he had something important to say, but...
I shouldn't have heard him out.
His words only made me feel uneasy.
***
Shaaaaaa—
Our ship traversed the silver sea. Our destination was the island the Hektz Clan had given us coordinates for.
"At our current pace, we should arrive there in less than five hours."
Auyen was able to shorten our travel time using his skills as a navigator, and in the meantime, the rest of us went back to doing our own respective duties on the boat. A glance at my watch told me it was around 2 p.m.
It's already the eleventh day...
Even though it had been eleven days since the labyrinth opened, this place still hadn't closed. I'd been paying close attention to the days going by ever since the seventh day, but—and maybe it was because of that unpleasant conversation earlier—unlike before, that number now disturbed me. I would normally be relieved that this place hadn't closed yet since we were in the middle of an expedition, but I was now beginning to feel a prickle of anxiety.
The unknown can make people lose their minds.
This place was a part of the labyrinth, so I was certain it would eventually close. Yet at the same time, I wondered if that was even an assumption I could safely make. Floors One through Ten all had that in common, yes, but I wondered if this place might be different since it was a basement floor.
If this place still doesn't close by the thirtieth day, I'll revisit this train of thought.
With that decided, I started to feel a bit better. It was always good to assume the worst, but obsessing over what you couldn't change would only wear you down.
"Bjooorn! It's Tentabulan! It's here!"
"You mean Tentaculan."
As we drew closer to the island, it was no longer Gullfrogs but instead Tentaculans that started to show up in the area. I still didn't know how the hell they lived in the water, but they began to jump in the air like flying fish, flopping onto our ship's deck.
[You have killed a Tentaculan.]
[You have killed a Tentaculan.]
[You have killed a Tentaculan.]
[You have killed...]
We continued to hunt them on our journey to the island, but an essence never dropped. That was pretty disappointing since the essence of a new rank-four monster would definitely sell for a high price.
If there's time later, we should come back here and farm them...
I tried to let go of my lingering regret and focus on our current goal.
"Ohhh! It's an island!"
As soon as we could see our destination with our naked eye, we started preparing to get off the ship. We ended up dropping anchor on a small beach next to a cliff, as aside from this spot, the entire island was bordered by cliffs, so there was nowhere else for us to disembark.
Well, it's not like we can't anchor the ship next to a cliff and safely get onto the island...
But I felt it was best to enter the island by walking from the small beach. If nothing else, the fact that this was the only beach on the entire island suggested it was the intended starting location.
"Let's start with surveying as much of the island as we can first. Everyone follow my lead, and let me know immediately if you spot anything."
The moment we arrived, we immediately searched the beach. Even though there were no monsters around, none of us were willing to let our guards down.
Visibility is only about ten yards in any given direction.
Visibility that varied significantly depending on the area seemed to be a staple of this floor. Out at sea, we could easily see the entire island. But the moment we stepped foot on it, our line of sight drastically decreased. It was rather restricting.
"Auyen, you can draw a map while following me, right?"
"Of course. Leave it to me."
I could have drawn the map myself, but I left it to Auyen. My main job was to stand in front of the group and tank anything that came our way. It wouldn't make sense for me to hold a notebook and pen while I did that, right?
"Captain, it seems we've seen all there is to see here."
"That was quicker than I thought."
It only took about twenty minutes for us to explore the entire coast. To get off the beach and move further inland, you either had to climb the massive cliffs surrounding it or squeeze your way through a narrow gap between their faces. The latter seemed like the standard route.
The problem is that there are three paths.
In front of us was a right, middle, and left path. There was a chance that they all led to the same place, but we had no way of knowing that for sure. We had no choice but to randomly choose one to explore.
"Ainar, what do you think? Which way should we go?"
"Going straight forward is the way of the warrior, of course!"
I decided to go with her choice since there wasn't really a right or wrong one either way.
...This is much narrower than I thought.
The gap between the cliffs was extremely tight. Even though I deactivated Giantization, my head kept bumping into the rocks overhead and my shoulders kept getting stuck. After forcing my way through for about twenty minutes, I finally reached the exit.
Phew, I can finally breathe.
I'd been on the verge of passing out from claustrophobia if we didn't get out of there soon. After hurriedly squeezing my way through the last few yards, I surveyed our surroundings.
It was a rainforest reminiscent of the Amazon. There was greenery all over the place that reached around knee height, and the ridiculously massive trees that surrounded us were bigger than any I'd ever seen before back in Korea.
Drip.
Liquid dripped down on me from above.
Rain?
At first, that was what I assumed. However, as it dripped onto my cheek and slid down my skin, it felt nothing like normal water. The sensation was one I could no longer confuse for another—not after so many years in this world.
It's blood.
My eyes snapped up toward the source.
"...Shit."
Above us, three mangled corpses were hanging by their necks from vines.
"...They're members of the Silver Lion Clan," Versyl confirmed.
A heavy silence filled the air for one reason and one reason alone.
Monsters don't do that.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Pardon me... it was nothing. I just had a useless thought, that was all."
"I'll judge whether it's useless, so tell me."
When I pressed, he finally gave in, a hint of shame marring his expression. "I was just wondering when this place is supposed to close. I'm even starting to worry that it might never close and that we'll never return to the city... Part of me is worried that this place might become our grave."
I sighed. I'd been wondering if he had something important to say, but...
I shouldn't have heard him out.
His words only made me feel uneasy.
***
Shaaaaaa—
Our ship traversed the silver sea. Our destination was the island the Hektz Clan had given us coordinates for.
"At our current pace, we should arrive there in less than five hours."
Auyen was able to shorten our travel time using his skills as a navigator, and in the meantime, the rest of us went back to doing our own respective duties on the boat. A glance at my watch told me it was around 2 p.m.
It's already the eleventh day...
Even though it had been eleven days since the labyrinth opened, this place still hadn't closed. I'd been paying close attention to the days going by ever since the seventh day, but—and maybe it was because of that unpleasant conversation earlier—unlike before, that number now disturbed me. I would normally be relieved that this place hadn't closed yet since we were in the middle of an expedition, but I was now beginning to feel a prickle of anxiety.
The unknown can make people lose their minds.
This place was a part of the labyrinth, so I was certain it would eventually close. Yet at the same time, I wondered if that was even an assumption I could safely make. Floors One through Ten all had that in common, yes, but I wondered if this place might be different since it was a basement floor.
If this place still doesn't close by the thirtieth day, I'll revisit this train of thought.
With that decided, I started to feel a bit better. It was always good to assume the worst, but obsessing over what you couldn't change would only wear you down.
"Bjooorn! It's Tentabulan! It's here!"
"You mean Tentaculan."
As we drew closer to the island, it was no longer Gullfrogs but instead Tentaculans that started to show up in the area. I still didn't know how the hell they lived in the water, but they began to jump in the air like flying fish, flopping onto our ship's deck.
[You have killed a Tentaculan.]
[You have killed a Tentaculan.]
[You have killed a Tentaculan.]
[You have killed...]
We continued to hunt them on our journey to the island, but an essence never dropped. That was pretty disappointing since the essence of a new rank-four monster would definitely sell for a high price.
If there's time later, we should come back here and farm them...
I tried to let go of my lingering regret and focus on our current goal.
"Ohhh! It's an island!"
As soon as we could see our destination with our naked eye, we started preparing to get off the ship. We ended up dropping anchor on a small beach next to a cliff, as aside from this spot, the entire island was bordered by cliffs, so there was nowhere else for us to disembark.
Well, it's not like we can't anchor the ship next to a cliff and safely get onto the island...
But I felt it was best to enter the island by walking from the small beach. If nothing else, the fact that this was the only beach on the entire island suggested it was the intended starting location.
"Let's start with surveying as much of the island as we can first. Everyone follow my lead, and let me know immediately if you spot anything."
The moment we arrived, we immediately searched the beach. Even though there were no monsters around, none of us were willing to let our guards down.
Visibility is only about ten yards in any given direction.
Visibility that varied significantly depending on the area seemed to be a staple of this floor. Out at sea, we could easily see the entire island. But the moment we stepped foot on it, our line of sight drastically decreased. It was rather restricting.
"Auyen, you can draw a map while following me, right?"
"Of course. Leave it to me."
I could have drawn the map myself, but I left it to Auyen. My main job was to stand in front of the group and tank anything that came our way. It wouldn't make sense for me to hold a notebook and pen while I did that, right?
"Captain, it seems we've seen all there is to see here."
"That was quicker than I thought."
It only took about twenty minutes for us to explore the entire coast. To get off the beach and move further inland, you either had to climb the massive cliffs surrounding it or squeeze your way through a narrow gap between their faces. The latter seemed like the standard route.
The problem is that there are three paths.
In front of us was a right, middle, and left path. There was a chance that they all led to the same place, but we had no way of knowing that for sure. We had no choice but to randomly choose one to explore.
"Ainar, what do you think? Which way should we go?"
"Going straight forward is the way of the warrior, of course!"
I decided to go with her choice since there wasn't really a right or wrong one either way.
...This is much narrower than I thought.
The gap between the cliffs was extremely tight. Even though I deactivated Giantization, my head kept bumping into the rocks overhead and my shoulders kept getting stuck. After forcing my way through for about twenty minutes, I finally reached the exit.
Phew, I can finally breathe.
I'd been on the verge of passing out from claustrophobia if we didn't get out of there soon. After hurriedly squeezing my way through the last few yards, I surveyed our surroundings.
It was a rainforest reminiscent of the Amazon. There was greenery all over the place that reached around knee height, and the ridiculously massive trees that surrounded us were bigger than any I'd ever seen before back in Korea.
Drip.
Liquid dripped down on me from above.
Rain?
At first, that was what I assumed. However, as it dripped onto my cheek and slid down my skin, it felt nothing like normal water. The sensation was one I could no longer confuse for another—not after so many years in this world.
It's blood.
My eyes snapped up toward the source.
"...Shit."
Above us, three mangled corpses were hanging by their necks from vines.
"...They're members of the Silver Lion Clan," Versyl confirmed.
A heavy silence filled the air for one reason and one reason alone.
Monsters don't do that.