The Altar's Bargain

After encountering the Acid Slime and safely finishing the battle, I pressed onward, now forced to watch not only the front and rear but even directly above my head. The added vigilance left me feeling even more exhausted. How long had we walked like that?

⋯A fork in the road. I handed the torch to someone else for a moment and unfolded the map.

“This is troublesome. The paths weren’t supposed to split into multiple branches this early.”

I wasn’t ignorant of this phenomenon. Up to the middle layers, the terrain shown on the map could change whenever a new entrance portal opened—something new might be added or removed. For example, fresh paths could appear leading to hidden traps or secret caches of treasure. There was also a slim chance of encountering special or rare monsters that no one had ever seen before. And then there were the forgotten shrines of the gods or remnants of the past that could appear at random on any floor. If you managed to obtain something from those places, it could turn your life ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠around—but they were said to be extremely rare.

Unless the terrain itself was completely rewritten by some artificial factor, like when the Efusio appeared, a sudden fork like this would eventually reconnect to the mapped paths if we kept going. The real problem was not knowing what waited down each branch.

‘Which way should we go? Right? Left? Straight ahead and ignore the split?’

It was a decision that required caution, yet none of the options offered any solid basis. In times like this… right. I should trust Yeriel’s intuition. She had the highest Luck stat and even possessed a natural Luck trait.

“Yeriel, want to pick one of the two directions?”

“Huh? But…”

Yeriel trailed off with an awkward expression. I understood. Being suddenly asked to choose in front of the unknown was enough to make anyone hesitate. I quickly added that it wasn’t a big deal.

“We have to keep moving forward no matter which way we go. Besides, when it comes to Luck-related traits or stats, you’re the best in the party, right?”

I shrugged and scratched my cheek.

“They say even natural luck counts as skill inside the Labyrinth. Since we’ve got a choice to make, I figured we might as well test it out.”

“Geez, if we end up in trouble because of this, you two aren’t allowed to blame me, got it?”

“Of course. Don’t worry about it. Just pick whichever feels right. Worst case, if a trap or monster shows up, we’ll just smash through it like before.”

Lumia, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.

“She’s right. And at the very least, if I chose, I’m certain it wouldn’t lead to anything good.”

It wasn’t wrong, but why the sudden self-deprecation? Yeriel, who had been looking flustered with spinning eyes, fidgeted with her fingers. Then she seemed to steel herself, nodded, and pointed decisively with her index finger—toward the right path.

“Why? I just feel like there might be something this way… Of course, it’s only a hunch, so don’t take it too seriously!”

Something might be there, huh.

“Alright. Decision made—let’s not waste any time.”

Once I decided, I never hesitated. I turned sharply to the right and stepped forward with purpose.

We entered the right fork and walked diligently. Splash.

‘The deeper we go, the more water is pooling on the ground. What does that mean?’

Were we simply approaching the center of the zone? Or was it a sign that new monsters were about to appear? Either way, I had the feeling that the moment we encountered something, the situation would change drastically.

Yeriel whispered softly.

“Ugh, it’s so stuffy. No wonder other adventurers prefer the Beast Zone even if there are more monsters there.”

“The fact that nothing’s showing up makes me even more nervous and drained.”

Lumia said that while shaking her head. Her ears, which usually stood upright, had gone limp, showing just how much the oppressive atmosphere was affecting her.

‘Yeah. I’d rather something appeared at this point.’

Two or three hours had already passed without encountering anything. As the two of them said, advancing through this dark, damp space while staying constantly on edge was draining an enormous amount of mental energy.

“If we reach the shelter without any problems, that’d actually be great. Everyone, just hang in there a little longer—”

Huh?

The path suddenly ended. Or rather, a massive stone gate had appeared right in front of our party, blocking the way.

Yeriel looked up at the gate in awe.

“Whoa, it’s huge. A gate just appearing out of nowhere like this… something’s definitely off.”

Meanwhile, Lumia closed her eyes the moment she saw the gate. After concentrating and perking up her ears, she spoke.

“I can’t tell if there’s simply no living creature ahead or if the space beyond is special and blocking any presence, but… I don’t sense anything at all.”

So that was how it was. Since the path ended here, we only had two choices: open the gate and go inside, or turn back the way we came and return to the original three-way fork.

‘If I have to pick one, it’s obviously the former. Who knows what’s down the other paths?’

“Alright. Let’s go inside.”

Standing before the enormous stone gate, I took a deep breath and placed my hand on it. Just as I was about to push with all my strength—

Grind—

With a low rumble, the gate began to open by itself. It didn’t open completely, only wide enough for one or two people to pass through, as if inviting just the three of us in. Even so, it was enough to glimpse what lay inside.

‘Doesn’t look like there are any monsters. There’s something like an altar in the center. …Is that a treasure chest?’

Given how large the gate was, I had expected the interior to be spacious. I wasn’t wrong. The vast space contained nothing but a single large treasure chest sitting in the middle?

Anyone could tell it was probably a trap.

I turned to look at the girls.

“That chest is likely bait. The moment we approach, a trap might trigger or monsters could jump out. Lumia, can you summon a familiar and send it in first?”

“Got it. Shadow, heed my call and move. …Huh?”

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

“I don’t know why, but the familiars are refusing to be summoned. It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠feels like they’re reluctant about something…”

Hmm. I nodded and fell into thought. That’s it! I rummaged through my backpack for something throwable. The Woodman’s Core. This would work perfectly.

I took out the core.

“If familiars won’t work, we’ll use an inanimate object. I’m going to throw this in to check before we enter. Does everyone agree to using the byproducts?”

They weren’t worth much individually during distribution, but it was important to confirm even small matters like this to avoid future resentment or conflict.

Both of them nodded without hesitation.

Good. Then let’s start from the ground. I rolled three round cores across the floor. They tumbled in different directions toward the treasure chest.

“Doesn’t seem like there are any traps on the floor.”

Next, I gripped a core tightly and threw it with all my strength.

Thud!

Crack.

‘Damn it. Of course. No one in their right mind would just touch a treasure chest without caution.’

The Woodman’s Core that struck the chest instantly froze solid. One, two, three. Crack. Snap. Crack.

“Hup!”

Even though they froze on contact, I kept throwing the rest without pause. Four. Five. Six. Snap. Crack. Thud!

Oh! The first five froze the same way, but starting from the sixth throw, the cores simply bounced off the chest without freezing.

‘What’s the mechanism? If I think simply, most parties consist of five people, so maybe it’s set to freeze anything that touches it up to five times?’

Just in case, I threw one more, but nothing froze anymore. When I threw one upward, there was no reaction either, so further caution seemed pointless.

After swinging my arm so many times at full power, I slowly caught my breath.

“Sorry. Because I failed to summon, things got unnecessarily complicated.”

Lumia looked like she was about to sink into gloom again over her failed spellcasting, so I cut her off sharply.

“No. It’s not like you did it on purpose. Don’t blame yourself. Let’s go now. We’ve already done everything we could without going inside.”

“Okay.”

I patted Lumia’s head once, and together we entered.

Wide and empty. That was my first impression upon stepping inside. In the center of the dark, silent cavern stood only a single altar-like structure made of pale blue crystal that glowed faintly, like ice.

“Hmm.”

Atop the square altar sat a large treasure chest, proudly displaying its presence. Yes, the very same chest I had struck multiple times with the Woodman’s Cores earlier. Other than that, there didn’t seem to be anything particularly noteworthy.

Clunk!

Grind—

‘Damn it. Now what?’

At the sound of rumbling, I turned around to see the gate rapidly closing. I let out a deep sigh.

Right. I hadn’t planned on leaving anyway. I walked slowly toward the altar.

“What’s this?”

I spotted an inscription carved into the altar. Thanks to the Language trait, even though it was a language I had never seen before, it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠translated instantly.

Let’s see.

‘Offer. Then you shall live a new life.’

This felt ominous. Still, simply approaching didn’t trigger any reaction. Soon I was close enough to examine the treasure chest’s exterior. Like the altar, it was pale blue, as if made of ice, and a chill emanated from within.

“Whoa! I’ve never seen a treasure chest like this inside the Labyrinth before!”

“I wonder what’s inside?”

‘I already dismantled one gimmick earlier. There won’t be another, right?’

I widened my eyes and focused solely on the chest. That’s it! If I looked at it through Chaos Eye, I might see something.

A blue line. A single thick line, as wide as my forearm, pierced through the ceiling and stretched endlessly upward. It was connected to something…

“Kugh!!”

“Aren?! Light, grant healing!”

“Y-your eyes are bleeding!”

The blood vessels in my eyes had burst, and tears of blood were flowing down.

‘Frozen ground… and a white-haired figure from behind amid a raging blizzard.’

Ugh. My head and eyes hurt so much. It would be better not to think about what I just saw. Seeing Yeriel frantically casting Heal in panic and Lumia wearing an uncharacteristic worried expression, I reassured them that I was fine. Just as I was rubbing my throbbing eyelids—

What the—?

‘Who are you? Are you… a god?’

Damn it. What’s with suddenly demanding a trait? If I didn’t resolve this somehow, none of us would be able to leave. But—

‘Does it matter which trait I offer? Can I choose?’

Cold sweat ran down my back. What if it was random? For a moment, my vision went dark.

So in other words, not only did the chest freeze the first five people who touched it out of greed, but even after solving that, if someone else had touched the chest instead of me, they would have had to pay that ridiculous price just to open it and escape? This was outright robbery.

‘⋯After placing my hand on it, how do I offer the trait?’

I opened the status window and looked at my list of traits.

Perfect timing. I hadn’t used this even once since obtaining it. After acquiring this trash trait, I’d made it all the way here. Did it actually have any use? Well, it looks like its time to be useful has finally come. Farewell.

‘Shoddy Concealment.’

Leaving the two girls, who were still watching me with worried eyes, I placed my hand on the chest and strongly willed it.

‘I offer it!’

Whoosh.

“Kgh.”

It felt as though something was being pulled out from deep inside me.

Click.

The treasure chest, which had seemed like it would never open on its own, began to slowly creak open. So, what would the one who boasted so much give me?

A pale chill spread as the interior of the chest was revealed. Inside was—