Labyrinth Shop (2): The Vanguard
Vanguard
The term for groups that tackle and clear a game's main content.
In his past life, they were players who poured time and money into newly launched games or fresh content, aiming for top rankings, rapidly growing through focused strategies.
Once the vanguard uncovers info on new items or content, guides emerge as stepping stones for latecomers.
They're incredibly vital to any game.
Before the Labyrinth Tower opened, the central continent—home to Luddera's most resource-rich and efficient hunting grounds—saw nonstop battles.
It was proxy wars between real-world continental powers, fought by Luddera's top rankers who'd skyrocketed their specs.
Guilds like the Empire's Royal Knights and the Republic's Revolutionary Warriors—ranker players nurtured by continental factions to dominate Luddera's hegemony.
They were Luddera's vanguard.
Their role stayed much the same in the Labyrinth Tower.
Backed by national resources, top-rank guilds surged ahead.
No guild had fully conquered a Labyrinth floor yet, but they'd succeeded in hunting monsters and securing Labyrinth-exclusive items.
The rumor that conquering a floor granted ownership drew challengers, but the monsters were far too fierce for average players.
Many gave up, waiting for the vanguard to leak info.
So even when the alert unlocked the Labyrinth Shop for all players, few actually entered.
Even the community board dwellers—nicknamed "geys"—were holding out for vanguard reviews.
A post has been registered.
Title: Labyrinth Shop Consumable Review
One vanguard player's review flips the community upside down.
Player tackling Labyrinth Tower floor 4 here. Can't spill details or my superiors will notice, so I'll just say I got the clear alert and got kicked out right after.
Saw the message about the Labyrinth Shop opening as I got booted, so I clicked it without thinking.
Inside was this massive warehouse stretching forever. I was too awestruck to speak, then a shop clerk handed me the catalog.
Items buyable with Labyrinth Coins from the Tower. The good stuff was way too pricey for me.
With my coins, all I could afford were consumables.
Bought a few to test, and one blew my mind: [Miracle Spring Water].
You have to buy and use this. It says it cures debuffs, so I figured paralysis or status ailments.
But it regrew my lost hair.
Regrew my lost hair. Important, so twice.
And best of all, it works in reality too.
A concerned follower ignores the higher-ups' community blackout order to post this review.
Follow-up user reviews pour in.
Those cheers propel Luddera players—who'd been waiting on the vanguard—straight into the Labyrinth, ushering in the Great Labyrinth Era.
"Hair loss treatment, huh…."
Albus scrolled the blazing community posts, lost in thought.
Miracle Spring Water was made for Labyrinth Tower floor 4's gimmick.
Added to the shop so raiders could easily handle status ailments like basic potions.
"Never imagined it'd have that effect."
It removes whatever the user sees as their worst debuff.
Hair loss as a debuff? …Well, yeah, baldness does tank your looks from peak form, so technically….
But don't people usually think chronic illnesses? Aged skin, weak joints.
Is hair loss that deeply subconscious?
Even so, regrowing hair? And in reality too?
Albus kept scrolling.
Posts about rushing to the Labyrinth like dogs, how-to-get-Labyrinth-Coins guides, can-my-level-climb-the-Tower queries, even buy-my-coins offers.
Players flooded the Tower, once the vanguard's playground.
These were folks who ignored hidden classes and items—now sprinting for the Tower.
"The power of hair regrowth."
Albus absently touched his hair.
"Would it work on me…?"
Dad's forehead had been expanding lately.
They say baldness skips a generation, but Dad's state didn't bode well for his future.
He'd been massaging his scalp while shampooing lately. If this worked on him….
Poof.
Albus logged back into Luddera.
'Item designation.'
'Item creation.'
A small vial of Miracle Spring Water appeared in his hand.
Click.
As he uncapped it to pour over his head—
Message?
A private message popped up before Albus's eyes.
'From Dad.'
Dad hadn't even seen him off to the Academy.
But when his son asked, he'd instantly fetched a magic tower mage to aid Luddera's development.
The ever-dignified Empire Duke, never slipping from noble poise.
This father, who'd never once messaged via letter, now urgently pinging through Luddera?
That serious?
What could it be?
Albus tensed slightly and opened it.
…Dad?
Somewhere in Luddera, the Labyrinth Shop.
It was pandemonium from the sudden player influx.
"Player? Please calm down just a bit…."
"Shut it! Just take my coins already!"
"Spring water quick! I'm gonna pass out!"
"Sorry, the [Miracle Spring Water] you're requesting is out of stock…."
"Waaah!"
"What the hell?!"
Vast size, hordes of clerk NPCs—it could handle thousands simultaneously.
But players exceeded that by miles, paralyzing operations.
Even creator Albus hadn't foreseen this rush.
"The Labyrinth Shop…."
A middle-aged man in glasses pushed them up, observing distant players arguing with clerks.
He held the shop catalog.
'Excalibur, Gungnir, Longinus, Leviathan…. Unheard names, but just reading them pulses with immense power.'
As Dragon Lord at demigod level, Iosif could tell.
Those top-listed weapons' latent might.
Their aura alone let him gauge the power.
'If someone claims these, not just Luddera—the whole continent's balance shifts.'
Luddera gear can't exit to reality, but weapons like these would evolve the wielder just by holding them.
The Labyrinth Shop.
On another level from prior Luddera.
Class powers were mere beast-level at best.
These were mythic treasures.
'And that's not all.'
Iosif eyed the chaotic [Miracle Spring Water].
Players—even beastkin—were losing it over regrown fur.
But its true value wasn't fur.
"A potion that cures debuffs—special states weakening the user."
Debuff scope unknown, but if it heals curses, fatal diseases… its worth is incalculable.
If an overwhelming powerhouse solos the Tower, monopolizes coins, sweeps the shop?
…Continental balance crumbles.
With crowds storming the Tower, unlikely—but powerhouses existed who could.
Himself, the Dragon Lord, and….
The Demon Realm's Seven Black Lords.
'Time to chat with her.'
Demon King Diana—the strongest ever.