Chapter 63: Debriefing the Third Run
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 63: Debriefing the Third Run
The Sohen Labyrinth Union.
An unprecedented situation had occurred.
On the 3rd floor, two Eccentric Bosses had appeared and were roaming the field, and a monster wave had broken out.
And, most surprisingly, a local 3rd-floor party had managed to handle it all by themselves.
Before a monster wave rescue team could even be properly formed.
Normally, resolving a monster wave requires a party at least two floors higher than the affected one.
For a 3rd-floor wave, a 5th-floor party would be the minimum requirement.
But a 3rd-floor party had dealt with it on their own?
They had even activated the stone monument that no one had been able to solve for so long.
And it didn't stop there...
“We’re alive!”
“A priest! We need a priest!”
“Help!”
Four adventurers, barely clinging to life, burst out of the 3rd-floor exit gate.
Looking too weak to even walk, let alone fight an exit boss, they said they had bought their way out.
From Caleb's party.
“That party found Gildal’s exit room, so they knew its location.”
The exit room, which had no exit boss, already had an open gate. The four injured adventurers had paid to be escorted to that point and escape.
This was a common occurrence in the Labyrinth.
Clearing an exit room for adventurers incapable of fighting, in exchange for money.
However, compared to normal times, the demand today was unusually high.
Because of the monster wave.
“We’re alive!”
The 3rd-floor exit gate opened again and again without rest.
Some crazy party was clearing the exit room repeatedly.
“Thirty thousand gold per person. It’s not a small sum, but it’s cheap when you consider it’s the price of your life.”
People who were too injured to be confident about clearing an exit room even on the 2nd floor, or those who found it difficult to even get to the 2nd floor, used this broker party.
And the testimonies they gave upon returning were all insane.
“I heard they killed the Lich. That’s why the wave ended.”
“They say Caleb activated the monument without even touching it.”
“Back Attack supposedly killed a patchwork zombie made from 4th-floor adventurers all by himself.”
“Does that even make sense?”
“I heard they caused an avalanche on the snowy mountain.”
“They say they just broke through the monster-wave-occupied area by brute force.”
Some of the stories were slightly exaggerated.
And that wasn't all...
“Gildal!”
When the Dokkebi emerged with his party members, nearly everyone in the Labyrinth Union almost fainted.
Gildal could have left earlier with the other injured adventurers, but he had remained with Hijikata's party.
Although he couldn't fight, his Dokkebi-like vitality allowed him to stay with them until the escape.
“Hijikata! You really did it!”
The Union's receptionist congratulated him, thinking that the famous swordsman's party from the 3rd floor had finally pulled it off, but...
“Caleb's party was a huge help.”
Once again, the brokers' names were mentioned.
They were involved in everything.
‘Caleb!’
Meldini was so excited she felt like she could do a backflip.
‘What in the world are you doing in there!’
*
It was late dawn by the time we left the exit room.
The Labyrinth Union was quiet, with only the night-duty staff remaining.
“Caleb! You’re finally out!”
After a brief chat with the secretary, it seemed the parties we'd helped escape for a fee had been talking a lot about us.
“I heard a monster wave broke out and you took care of it. We need you to file a report on what happened inside, Caleb.”
“Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”
“Of course. You must be exhausted, so please go and get some rest for now. We'll need you to visit the Union tomorrow to report the incident.”
“Understood.”
We left the Labyrinth Union building.
“Caleb...”
Yernil, dark circles hanging under her eyes, leaned her forehead against my shoulder.
“I’m so tired I could pass out.”
“I feel like I'm gonna die, boss.”
“I feel bad that the kids must have been waiting for a long time.”
Everyone was exhausted.
And for good reason.
After all that hell we went through, we had to clear several more exit rooms in a row.
But thanks to that, we made a massive profit this time. Probably the highest in the entire history of the Labyrinth Union's 3rd floor.
“We'll sort out the profits starting tomorrow. Let's dismiss for now. Everyone go home and rest. You all worked hard.”
I disbanded the party there.
“You worked hard too, Caleb. See you at the Labyrinth Union tomorrow.”
Aimus was the first to leave the party and head home.
“I'm heading to the inn to sleep then, boss.”
Back Attack had moved out of the dormitory, as his resurrection process at city hall was complete and his bank account had been restored.
“Get some good rest.”
“You too, boss.”
Back Attack waved at me, took a few steps, then looked back.
Seeing Yernil and me standing side by side, he shrugged.
“By the way, Elf.”
“Huh?”
“You just gonna keep freeloading at the boss's dorm?”
“Uh... uhh?”
A flustered Yernil stammered.
“Boss, you gotta watch out for her. Don't ever drink with her. One wrong move and she'll eat you alive. For real. Next thing you know, you'll end up like Aimus.”
“What are you talking about!”
“Make sure you lock your door when you sleep. Haa. And I can't even be there to protect you.”
“Heyyy!”
Yernil stomped her foot.
Back Attack cackled and disappeared into a back alley.
*
My third return from the brink of death.
The first and second times had also exposed us to immense danger, but this time was on another level.
Not just us, but the entire 3rd floor had been on the verge of annihilation.
Soaking in a tub filled with hot water, I felt my body melting.
“Now this is living.”
Let's review this 3rd-floor adventure in my head.
The necromancer's trail, discovered back on the 2nd floor.
Following it led me to Antonelli.
His plan for an experiment, which I finally uncovered after interrogating him due to his suspicious behavior.
I stunned him with Superconductivity as he tried to escape with a Stair Scroll and finished him off, but he revived as a Lich.
And then, the monster wave.
While fleeing on the snowy mountain, Yernil shot me with a magic-tipped Stair Scroll. The monument's cipher, solved with Soyul's hint. The appearance of the patchwork zombie. The appearance of Gildal. The tangled battles on the mountain. Activating the monument with a combination of Cumulonimbus, sound mapping, magic-tipped arrows, psychokinesis, a Blank Scroll, and the Ring of Transcribing.
Everything up to that point went almost smoothly. There was a slight hiccup with the patchwork zombie, but no part of my strategy was derailed.
But the end.
‘The Spider Doctor.’
At that moment, I truly thought Soyul had become the exit boss.
At first, I was skeptical whether the experiment would succeed, but analyzing the circumstances, I concluded there was a high probability it had.
Gildal's soul had returned, Soyul had disappeared, and the ossuary had appeared.
‘But I was wrong.’
A grim, unpleasant feeling washed over me. An irritating sense of defeat, as if I had lost a battle of wits with the Labyrinth.
No, it wasn't just a feeling; it was an objective fact.
‘What if the Spider Doctor had been an enemy?’
Then it would have been game over for me right there.
The Spider Doctor had prepared a perfect counter to my tactics.
He must have seen his spider body recover after the monument's activation and predicted that the ossuary would reappear in the sanctuary. Then, he cast his spell at the exact moment Soyul destroyed the soul vessel and abducted her.
All to make it seem as if Soyul had become the exit boss.
To lure me into the exit room.
I had been played beautifully.
Of course, the sheer amount of information we each had was severely imbalanced.
The Spider Doctor seemed to know my entire plan, while I didn't even know he existed.
But was that truly the best I could have done at that moment?
No.
I could have been more cautious.
For example, when the exit room opened, instead of rushing toward Soyul, I could have cast Wizard's Eye.
What if I had noticed beforehand that the Labyrinth Master's seal was missing from her forehead?
Then, facing the Spider Doctor alone wouldn't have been a forced situation, but a choice I could have made.
I might have been able to get support from Hijikata, Aimus, and Back Attack.
Not that I could be certain of victory even then.
‘Damn it.’
Let's be honest.
The moment I saw Soyul inside, I let my guard down.
I should have been more meticulous, more careful. Especially when I was in the process of studying the exit boss system, which I still didn't fully understand!
And in truth, I'd made a mistake long before that.
When Antonelli's soul vessel was shattered.
I should have never taken my eyes off Soyul.
‘The Spider Doctor said he was hiding in the trees then, casting Soul Separation Magic on the soul vessel.’
Considering Yernil didn't detect him, he must have used a sound-suppressing spell like Night of Silence.
And he must have snatched Soyul with the same spiderwebs he used to pluck Aimus and Hijikata out of the exit room.
The sun had set a long time ago, and on the dark mountain peak, our vision was severely limited since Back Attack had even taken the Torch Helm down with him.
In that darkness, the only thing that caught the eye was the foxfire shattering the soul vessel.
Everyone's aggro was focused on it, and in that moment when we were all looking up at the sky, he struck when we least expected it.
Of course, it wasn't something I could have predicted. It's nonsensical to assume another monster besides the exit boss would be present after the monument was activated.
But such excuses are meaningless after you're dead.
“Damn it.”
A sigh escaped with the steam rising from the tub.
“I'm so pissed off.”
The really infuriating part is that it would have been better if that bastard, the Spider Doctor, had gloated. Instead, he praised me.
Saying things like he'd never seen anyone try to swindle the Labyrinth Master before, that my cunning and craftiness in using Soyul to experiment indirectly were impressive, that they were chess pieces while I was a knight playing a grand game.
In fact, if you interpret it according to his analogy, didn't I place the piece called Soyul in the wrong spot, thereby conceding a major point to the Spider Doctor?
And that bastard dares to praise me, saying I played well enough?
“Just you wait.”
The atmosphere won't be like this the next time we meet, Spider Doctor.
I don't know if he's friend or foe, just a black-hearted bastard, but either way, I have to be the one to seize the initiative.
*
As I was lying in bed, trying to sleep.
“Caleb.”
Yernil came to my room, her wet hair wrapped in a towel.
“Yes?”
“Um... I didn't get a chance to talk about it in the Labyrinth.”
She hesitated for a moment, then came over and sat by my bed.
“I was sorry about what happened.”
“About what?”
“For shooting the Stair Scroll at you, Caleb...”
Ah.
“Actually, I followed you back to the dorm today to talk about this... If you tell me to leave, I'll leave tomorrow!”
I wonder what kind of scolding she imagined getting from me.
“I didn't know you could drive the wolves away with Inferno back then! I'm so sorry! The situation got more complicated because of me, didn't it!? It was my fault! Please don't kick me out of the party...”
So she was even thinking about being kicked out of the party.
Seeing Yernil's innocent, anxiety-ridden face, I suddenly compared her to the Spider Doctor and scoffed.
Did the situation get complicated because of Yernil back then?
Well.
It did deviate from my plan, but thanks to her, I was able to leave the battlefield and get some time to think. I got the hint from Soyul to solve the monument's cipher, farmed a treasure room on the way, and confirmed the exit room was open.
So, in the end, it was closer to a good outcome, but...
“Yernil.”
Still, I had to say what needed to be said, and sternly. I put on my most serious expression.
“Don't you ever do that again.”
“...!”
Yernil fidgeted, watching my expression.
“...I... I'm sorry...”
Yernil lowered her head, and the corners of her eyes quickly grew moist.
“From now on, I'll stay quiet and won't act out unless you tell me to... Caleb. I'm really sorry...”
“I'm not talking about that.”
“Huh?”
“Shooting me with the Stair Scroll is fine. I can handle a mistake of that level. But using Sentry Relocation to move into the middle of the monsters was a huge mistake.”
“...”
“You were trying to die in my place, weren't you? Even if the wolves got me, you shouldn't have done that.”
“Oh...”
“I'm telling you not to throw your life away so easily.”
I mean it.
A party member dying outside the scope of my calculations is fatal to my tactics.
During the battle on the snowy mountain, if Yernil hadn't been there, wouldn't activating the monument have been hellishly difficult?
It might not have ended with just one or two deaths.
That's why, after I was teleported by the scroll, I was constantly...
“...very worried until we met again.”
She didn't even have a Torch Helm, so she was fully exposed to the cold and delirium. Hiding on the 3.5th floor was just a last resort. The inter-floor villages are dangerous places to begin with.
“When we're in combat, try to stay behind me.”
Right now, with Superconductivity, I'm better at handling close-quarters situations.
“I'll protect you.”
“...”
“...”
A flustered Yernil gulped.
Silence fell.
Wait a minute.
Her face suddenly started to turn red.
Did I just say something that could be misunderstood?
“From now on, we'll be together...”
“G-good...!”
A malfunctioning Yernil cut me off and shot to her feet.
“I will now sleep well!”
She spat out the greeting, which seemed to have gotten twisted somewhere in her head, like an incantation before bolting to her room.
*
The next morning, the Labyrinth Union members seemed busy.
They were preparing for the report on the circumstances of the unprecedented events on the 3rd floor—from the omniscient (?) point of view of Caleb.
“Hello.”
I had slept soundly and was in good condition.
And at the Union...
‘There are a lot of spectators.’
They weren't the usual low-floor parties anymore.
Veterans interested in the monster wave and the monument's magic were scattered about.
And even...
‘Are those professors?’
Three professors from the magic university were here.
Isilof, Meldini, and even Dalstream.
It seemed the monument's magic had piqued their interest.
“Caleb!”
Meldini waved happily.
I answered with a nod.
“Welcome, Caleb! Let's conduct the interview inside.”
The secretary guided our party to a small conference room.
From our encounter with Antonelli to the activation of the monument and Gildal's rescue.
I should tell them everything in as much detail as possible.
Except for anything about the Spider Doctor.