The Gloom of the First Floor

First, secure visibility. “Yeriel, Lumia, you two are alert, right?”

“Yeah. This is my second time entering the Labyrinth, but the nausea still hasn’t gotten any easier to handle.”

“I’m fine except for a bit of queasiness.”

“Good. Since you both seem steady, let’s light the torches first.”

Whoosh. I struck flint against steel and set the torch ablaze. The flame pushed back the darkness, illuminating our surroundings.

‘This is completely different from the third floor.’

The third floor had been forests, plains, and hills. The first floor, however, carried a heavy, oppressive darkness that screamed “this is a labyrinth” to anyone who stepped inside.

“Lumia, shall we check the curse you placed?”

“Okay. Just a moment.”

Lumia closed her eyes, focused, then opened her palm. A black arrow appeared above it, pointing in a single direction. No matter how she moved her hand, the arrow remained fixed on one path. It seemed to be functioning normally, just like it had back at the inn.

“Yeriel, could you hold the torch for a second?”

I handed her the torch and pulled a bundle of maps and a compass from my pack. Let’s see… the first-floor map… here it is. The floor was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠divided into northern and southern sections. According to the compass, we had landed near the northern area. Pinpointing our exact location proved difficult—I still wasn’t used to reading maps.

“Hmm.”

I knew the escape portals were located at the edges of each cardinal direction. Since our goal wasn’t escape, following the curse’s direction made the most sense. The arrow pointed firmly south.

‘If the target had been close, we could’ve grabbed him and headed straight for the northern portal. Why do we always end up on the complete opposite side no matter where we land?’

“Let’s move according to the curse for now. Lumia, it’ll be tough, but keep the curse active. I’m counting on you.”

“Okay. This kind of curse only drains a lot of mana when first cast. Maintaining it isn’t too hard. Don’t worry.”

“Yeriel, if any projectiles come flying, use a barrier on the rear. I can dodge if I see them coming, so prioritize your own safety above all else.”

Yeriel’s expression grew slightly worried at my words, but she nodded. “Got it. Still, you have to be careful too, okay?”

If an attack was something I couldn’t dodge or block, a barrier probably wouldn’t help either. I acknowledged her concern with a nod, took the torch back, and began walking slowly.

Thud, thud.

We had been walking for about ten minutes when Lumia suddenly approached and tapped me on the arm.

“Aren, I hear unusual footsteps.”

I couldn’t hear anything. Was this thanks to her beastkin senses?

“Judging by the intermittent, heavy steps, they don’t sound like adventurers. One moment.”

Lumia stopped walking and perked her ears, concentrating.

“That dull, heavy gait… considering we’re on the first floor, it can only be Woodmen.”

Woodmen. Wooden doll monsters the size of an average human male that appeared on the first floor. They were somewhat avoided by low-floor adventurers because, true to their name, their entire bodies were made of solid wood. Unlike Ratmen or Goblins, they were resistant to certain weapons.

‘Not that it matters to me.’

My Strength while Fortify Body was active sat at D-rank. That should be enough to handle them without needing a specially advantageous weapon.

“No point waiting for them. If we’re going to run into them anyway, we might as well strike first. By the way, Lumia, that’s impressive.”

“Eep. Did I do well?”

Truthfully, after recruiting Lumia, I had posted recruitment notices on the party-matching board for a scout or rear guard before entering the Labyrinth—much like when I had wandered magic tool shops and questioned receptionists while searching for curse sorcerers or black mages. But every time I asked the receptionist if there was any news… the only responses were people demanding disproportionate shares in exchange for tolerating the curse, or boasting they were Blood Princess’s disciple and would join only if we kicked “that girl” out, or claiming they had reached certain floors themselves. After hearing nothing but garbage, I gave up.

We had entered as a three-person party, but without a scout, reconnaissance and detection were impossible. The map-reading skills I had only superficially learned during training still felt unreliable. Yet Lumia could detect our surroundings to this degree using only black magic. She wasn’t a professional scout, of course… but this was already far better than nothing.

“Thanks to you, I can breathe easier. Let’s ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠keep moving.”

I praised Lumia and resumed walking.

“Uwooo.”

Thud. Thud.

Before long, the monsters came into view even to my eyes.

“They’re coming. Can you see them over there?”

“Huh? Where? All I see is darkness in the distance…”

…Ah. Chaos Eye.

“A group of Woodmen is approaching from up ahead.”

Urgh. Their faces—wooden doll bodies with grotesquely placed eyes, noses, and mouths—filled me with disgust. Was this the uncanny valley? Either way, striking first was the winning move.

“Since this is our first battle, I want to gauge the strength of first-floor monsters myself. I’ll fight alone.”

“Okay. Be careful.”

Crack. I launched a preemptive strike before they could reach us. When fighting Woodmen, the advice had been to split their heads or stab the protruding core in their torso. First one.

Crack!

“Uwo.”

I cleaved its head vertically, and the Woodman collapsed, motionless. Whoosh. Whump. The two behind it lunged with the eerie movements typical of wooden dolls.

Whoa. Their joints could bend like that? This one’s wrist rotated completely. Still, a little visual trickery wasn’t enough to land a hit on me.

Crack! I dodged and struck, then—

Thud! I pierced the core and neutralized it.

“Uwooo.”

The remaining three twisted their joints in bizarre angles and charged, but no matter how erratic their attacks, their trajectories were visible. Whether because it was the first floor or simply due to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stat gap, they were easy to handle.

“Good work! You really flew around out there. Must be thanks to your third-floor experience.”

Yeriel smiled, saying she could probably just focus on barriers for now.

“I felt it watching you fight at the guild too, but you really are strong.”

Lumia gave a thumbs-up.

After fighting the Woodmen, I concluded that other adventurer parties on the path to Isaac posed a greater threat than the first-floor monsters themselves. That said, just like cutting off Goblin ears, we needed to collect Woodmen parts for proper settlement. For Woodmen, the core in the torso—like the one I had stabbed—was the required material. Together, we extracted the cores and stored them in my pack.

“Alright, first battle’s done. Let’s move again.”

“Adventurers are coming from up ahead. About two hundred meters away.”

Lumia whispered. Adventurers, huh. No need to detour just to avoid them. Training had emphasized staying wary of fellow adventurers but not being overly hostile or fearful from the start. There would be many parties on the first floor—if we turned back every time we crossed paths, we’d never explore the Labyrinth properly.

“Our numbers are small, so they might see us as easy targets and attack. Stay sharp.”

With that, I walked slowly forward.

Thud, thud.

Thump.

“Halt.”

The lead adventurer raised an arm, stopping their party. A mixed-gender four-person group? I spoke to the man whose eyes swept over us.

“Our paths don’t seem to align anyway. Let’s just go our separate ways.”

As he nodded and opened his mouth to reply, the wolf beastman who looked like a rogue behind him pointed accusingly at Lumia.

“Fuck. That’s an Arar, isn’t it? Wow… She’s already wrecked two parties and now she’s dragged in another guy? Luke, let’s just go. Nothing good’ll come from getting involved with her.”

“Creep, shut your mouth.”

“What? Did I say anything wrong? Why’re you glaring like that?”

If they didn’t want trouble, they could’ve just walked past. Why the hell were they making a scene?

His stats were low, and only his mouth was alive. No need to check his traits.

His stats were better than the previous guy’s. Almost on par with Derick? The other two… seeing how they stayed silent while the rogue ran his mouth, their characters were obvious. What a waste of a leader.

Still, we weren’t even in the city. Hearing them say we’d wrecked parties and that Lumia had “dragged in another guy” wasn’t something I could let slide. Even if a fight broke out here, I could kill them all. First, I needed to drop a lightning bolt to seize the initiative.

Click. As I placed my hand on my sword hilt, Luke suddenly punched Creep in the mouth.

Thud!

“Kuh! What the hell…”

“I!”

Luke glared at Creep with murderous intent.

“I told you to shut your mouth. Have you already forgotten how you caused trouble on the second floor last time by running your damn mouth?”

“…Fine. I was rash.”

Luke looked at us and spoke.

“Sorry. We could’ve just passed by, but this guy tends to overreact to beastkin. My apologies.”

Hmm.

“Aren, as long as you’re here, I don’t care what anyone says. We might run into something that’ll try to stop us later… let’s not waste energy.”

Since she herself said it was fine from behind, getting angry felt pointless. I removed my hand from the hilt. Still, I couldn’t just leave without doing something, so I locked eyes with the wolf beastman clutching his mouth and stared him down.

“…Damn it.”

The guy lowered his gaze. That was enough. I gave Luke a slight nod and walked past them, resuming our journey.

Somehow, I had a feeling we’d meet again…