Chapter 220: Floor 10 (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 220: Floor 10 (2)
This was confusing.
The appearance of a fountain that shouldn't have existed on the 10th floor, and the fox bead resting inside it.
‘Whose bead is this?’
Hyedam’s fox bead had returned to her. Fox beads were items that naturally returned to their owners after a certain amount of time.
So what did it mean for this bead to be in the fountain?
Either the owner of the fox bead was already dead, or they were inside the fountain. One of the two.
Bubble, bubble!
I plunged my face into the fountain’s water to take a look.
‘There’s nothing here.’
Not a single strand of fox fur, let alone a member of the Fox Spirit tribe. Whether I looked from the outside or the inside, the water was empty.
“Ptoo!”
I pulled my head out and tried to organize my thoughts again.
Why did the fountain appear?
What condition was different from the game?
Fountains were originally how gods devoured during the Age of Mythology shared their skills with adventurers inside the Labyrinth.
The gods who survived the Age of Mythology had all evacuated to the Ethereal Galaxy, and since then, the two forces had been in a constant standoff.
‘In the game.’
That’s how it was in the game. But here, one thing was different.
One of the gods had been summoned into the Labyrinth before.
‘The Gumiho.’
The patron deity of the Fox Spirit tribe, and the king of all fox beads and fox-fires.
I had used Hyedam to summon the Gumiho into the Abyss.
That was a deviation from the game. It was the first time a god had directly clashed with the Labyrinth since the Age of Mythology.
Could that be why a fountain appeared on the 10th floor?
Because the Labyrinth had devoured the Gumiho?
There was no proof, but it seemed like the most plausible theory.
Then the fox bead here was…
‘The Gumiho’s fox bead?’
An artifact of the gods, like the Staff of the Apex or the Compass of Greed.
I see.
I understood.
The compass had led me to the Gumiho’s fox bead to teach me the truth hidden behind my amnesia.
I could even guess what I was supposed to do with this bead.
‘The fox bead kiss.’
Normally, it was a way to receive another person’s memories through the bead as a medium.
‘If the fountain itself is the Gumiho, then holding the bead in my mouth underwater would…!’
Nothing happened.
“I guess that’s not it.”
When I got out of the water and turned around, I saw the other three members of my party staring at me intently.
“Are you saying Caleb’s past before his possession is contained in there?” Aimus asked.
“No, that’s not it, hyung-nim. That Taoist said he was the same person before and after the possession. It’s amnesia,” Back Attack pointed out.
“We don’t know that for sure yet.”
I wanted to keep all possibilities open.
“But I’m not sure how to use the bead.”
“Let’s find a way before we go, Caleb,” Yernil said.
To be honest, I didn’t want to stay on the 10th floor for long.
Because the Deep Layer and the Labyrinth Master were just one staircase away.
‘Floor 10’ was the closest place to the Abyss.
There was no telling what might happen.
And then there were the Floor Bosses.
We had killed numerous Floor Bosses, from the Dagger Raptor to the White Lion, and the Spider Doctor had even formed an alliance with me.
But there were still a few we’d ‘missed.’ The ones on the 4th and 5th floors, and the Gourmet Whale on the 2nd.
I was a little worried about what they might be up to right now. If possible, I wanted to avoid a prolonged adventure on the 10th floor.
“Let’s do that.”
Still, it would be best to camp here for a day.
Why?
Because we needed to level up.
Having wiped out all those Floor Bosses, we should be able to gain quite a few levels.
When I’d stuck my head in the fountain just now, no skills had appeared.
But it would probably be fine after a night’s sleep.
The place with the most traps in the entire Labyrinth.
‘The 5th floor.’
The reason was simple. The traps on the 5th floor, buried in the sand, were extremely difficult to spot with the naked eye.
On other floors, even a non-expert could find traps if they kept their eyes peeled and paid enough attention, though their progress would slow to a crawl.
But on the 5th floor, a trap detection specialist was essential.
The two deadliest traps here were, first, the sand hells. Even a party as skilled as Caleb’s had fallen into a sand hell and been sent straight to the 6th floor in one go.
The second deadliest trap was the ‘Oasis of Life.’ Adventurers suffering from sunburn and dehydration would joyfully leap into the water, only to be attacked by monsters and sent to the afterlife.
“He used the vortex orb.”
The ruler of the 5th floor, the king who commanded all the Labyrinth’s traps, Cobra, realized that some of the 5th floor’s best traps had been drained.
It was as if water was draining through the bottom of a giant swimming pool.
A portion of the water from the Oasis of Life had been drained from its very bottom.
Cobra could even trace it.
“The 9.5th floor.”
And he could also tell how it had been used. It was quite shocking.
‘The Lancer is dead!’
The vanguard of the Labyrinth Master.
The creature with the most tenacious life force and overwhelming defense in the entire Labyrinth, from the 1st floor to the Deep Layer, had been killed.
By using the Oasis’s curse, which averages the life force of everyone within it.
The one who had buried the Lancer in that trap and killed him was…
“Caleb.”
That wizard.
At the mention of a familiar name, Birtanen, Avison, and the Lizard Paladin Bernard all looked at Cobra simultaneously.
“Yes. It seems Caleb is fighting the Floor Bosses on the 9.5th floor,” Trap Cobra said.
“Really?”
Avison’s eyes widened. The two mid-level adventurer parties briefly erupted into a clamor.
“He’s fighting a Floor Boss again!”
“I’m worried.”
“Caleb will be fine.”
“Oh, Caleb! You’ve already made it down to the 9.5th floor. Are you seizing another ossuary there! May the blessing of Nathaniel be with you!”
“Damn it! We just ran away from the One-horned Ox! What a disgrace for a barbarian!”
Cobra was about to reply when he froze.
Bubbles were rising in the water. Something was coming up from the bottom of the oasis.
It was a sight the adventurers here had never seen before, but it was a familiar face to Cobra.
“Gourmet Whale!”
It wasn’t the main body that had appeared in the skies of Sohen. This miniaturized clone was only the size of a person.
“It’s the Gourmet Whale!”
“Aargh!”
The adventurers yelped and aimed their weapons at it.
“Cobra. I came looking for you, but it seems you already have a crowd of guests.”
“Everyone, calm down,” said the Dwarf Mage, Astin.
“This thing is a projection clone. It can’t fight.”
“It won’t be able to physically interact with anything,” Priest Emma agreed.
She had diagnosed the Gourmet Whale’s condition the moment she saw it.
She’d heard that the Gourmet Whale had been severely injured during the last eruption in Sohen. It seemed it hadn’t fully recovered yet.
“Its lower jaw is still crushed.”
The jawbone, shattered by the Labyrinth Master’s Abyssal magic, had regenerated, but the muscle and skin hadn’t fully grown back. Moreover, its body had no luster; it was cracked all over, oozing fluid.
“So, if it were real, we should all be feeling sick right about now.”
If the Gourmet Whale was corporeal, that is.
The Oasis would have averaged out their life force percentages, and the eight adventurers and Cobra here would have all been injured together.
But so far, no one was hurt.
“So this is like a shadow projected by the main body. Everyone, relax.”
At her words, Birtanen, Jikal, Greg the Barbarian, and Remus the crossbowman cautiously lowered their weapons.
“She’s right. This thing is like a herald of the Labyrinth. It wanders around, delivering the Labyrinth Master’s will,” Cobra said.
“So, why are you here?”
“The Master has summoned you.”
“Why? Is he causing an eruption already?”
“The Lancer is dead.”
“I know.”
Cobra slowly nodded his head. It was just as he’d expected.
“The White Lion is fighting valiantly right now, but the Master says he cannot win.”
“Is he fighting that wizard’s party?”
“He’s not fighting the ‘party.’ It’s one-on-one with the wizard.”
“And the White Lion can’t win?”
“I find it hard to believe myself.”
“…”
“I, you, and the One-horned Ox have all been summoned. The rest are fighting alongside the White Lion in the inter-floor village.”
“Should I head to the Deep Layer?”
“No.”
The Gourmet Whale shook its head.
“To the 10th floor.”
“What the hell is with today?”
Hijikata felt completely drained.
First, they were blocked by the Floor Boss, Trap Cobra. Then, they made it down to the 7th floor with the help of the Elf Matriarch, who then suddenly attacked them, nearly wiping them out. Then, they met an Eight-Tailed Deep Layer Fox Spirit Shaman and barely survived.
“We parted ways and came up to the 6th floor, and now this…”
Another Floor Boss.
A bipedal ox with a massive frame and a single horn.
It snorted steam from its nostrils, its bulging muscles tightly gripping a two-handed hammer.
“Have you seen a barbarian?” the monster asked.
“What barbarian?” Soyul replied, tense.
“I was chasing an adventurer party on the 4th floor. A Lizard Paladin, a Halfling crossbowman, a Dwarf Mage, and a barbarian.”
Soyul exchanged a look with Hijikata.
They knew Bernard’s party well.
“But I lost them,” the One-horned Ox said.
“Another party interfered. A Dwarf Warrior, a feline Beastman Rogue, a Human Priest, and a Human Mage. Have you seen them?”
Soyul and Hijikata exchanged another look.
They knew that party too. Birtanen’s team, which had recently recruited Avison.
“It seems our paths crossed. I was glad to meet a fellow barbarian. But the bastard ran away. Back when I was chieftain, I would’ve smashed a guy like that’s head in with my hammer right away.”
The One-horned Ox slung the hammer onto its shoulder with a thud.
“You were a barbarian chieftain during the Age of the Nine Kings?” Gadozumi asked.
“I was.”
In that era, demi-human races like elves, dwarves, and dokkebi were powerful, while humans were actually quite insignificant.
Nowadays, the dandies in cities like Sohen treat the northern barbarians like savages, but back then, ‘everyone was a barbarian.’
It was an age of savagery, where civilization had yet to fully blossom for most humans.
And among them, in the harshest north, was a conqueror who stood shoulder to shoulder with powerful nations like Vimungol and the Highest Kingdom, relying on strength alone.
“Ighaim the Spine Crusher.”
That was the name the One-horned Ox had held long ago.
“That was m—”
“Barbarian?”
Someone thrust their head through a patch of mushrooms, parting the stalks left and right.
“I heard something about a barbarian chieftain.”
It was Romkier, a man known as the most insane chieftain in the history of the northern barbarians.
“Which brave son of a bitch is challenging me?”
He had once been sent by his father, the former chieftain, to study at Mount Dalai, but he quit and went home.
When his father asked if he was disobeying the chieftain’s order, he challenged him to a duel for the chieftain’s seat and ended up kicking his own father out.
‘An expert in patricide.’
That crazy barbarian chieftain was searching for the stairs with his barbarian warriors.
“Was it you? Horn-head?”
[Caleb’s level has increased.]
Lv.34 → Lv.37
[Yernil’s level has increased.]
Lv.34 → Lv.37
[Aimus’s level has increased.]
Lv.34 → Lv.37
[Back Attack’s level has increased.]
Lv.34 → Lv.37
It wasn’t as much of a jump as I’d hoped.
The stat distribution was decent, though. But I failed to acquire a new skill.
I’d get my last skill at level 38.
I should have hunted a few more monsters on the 10th floor on our way here.
‘But how am I supposed to use this bead?’
That was the bigger problem.
Just in case, I flipped the hourglass and tried using it in turn-based mode, but the result was the same.
‘Do I have to take this to Wizus?’
I shook my head violently at the dangerous thought.
I could probably meet Wizus the same way Professor Dalstream was murdered, but that was just wrong.
I shouldn’t risk my life so easily, no matter when or where. I was already betting like a beast as it was.
Unless it was an urgent situation, it was right to explore the safest methods first.
“Caleb.”
I was tossing and turning, unable to sleep while holding the bead, when Yernil spoke from the sleeping bag next to me.
“Yes.”
“Someone’s coming.”
At her words, Back Attack, who was on watch, shot his head up, kicking Aimus awake.
“Who? How many?” I asked Yernil as I crawled out of my sleeping bag.
“Four of them!”
“Are they monsters?”
“No.”
They were people we knew.
“Hello.”
The person turning the corner at the far end of the dim maze was…
“Blackdog!”
“We meet again.”
Next to him, a giant orc berserker strode forward.
“So you bastards finally made it here. You looked like small fry when I first saw you, but to think you’re already on the 10th floor.”
“Thanks for the warm welcome, Krom.”
“Caleb! Have you seen the stairs to the Deep Layer?” asked the Frostian Mage, Nimue.
Blackdog’s party had entered the 10th floor via the elevator and had been wandering the maze for a while, but they still hadn’t found it.
“We found the stairs to the Deep Layer as soon as we came down here. There were stairs right in front of the stairs.”
“Oh, my. The Labyrinth Master really does play favorites!”
“At this rate, I bet they had a welcoming party ready for you in the Deep Layer,” Blackdog joked.
“Yeah, they even left welcome drinks in front of the gate,” I joked back.
“In any case, if we stick near them, our chances of finding the stairs to the Deep Layer should be high,” Rococo said.
“Do you mind if we tag along for a bit?” Blackdog asked.
“If I said no, would you not follow us?”
“Then we’d just follow you secretly, so we wouldn’t be a bother.”
“…”
So the answer was already decided.
Truthfully, I had no reason to refuse. Having skilled people like them around could be helpful in a pinch.
But.
“Can I ask you one thing?”
“If I told you not to ask, would you not ask?”
“I’d just investigate you discreetly so it wouldn’t be bothersome.”
“What is it? Go ahead,” Blackdog said.
“I have a pretty good idea what you’re going to ask, though.”
“What are you planning to do in the Deep Layer?”
I still wasn’t sure what Blackdog’s position was.