Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: 2nd Floor (1)
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"...With that kind of pattern, if you manage to successfully strike the spine, taking down the 2nd floor boss will essentially be very easy."
"I see."
"Of course, as I mentioned, the 2nd floor boss is a bit larger than the 1st floor one, so you absolutely have to be careful."
Right after that, Kim Hyunwoo—who had promised Elena he'd move her to another room once it was cleared—gave her a full rundown on the 2nd floor.
"That's the gist of the info on the 2nd floor. Any parts you're curious about or don't quite get?"
"You explained it so well that I get it all... but could I ask something else?"
Elena responded to Kim Hyunwoo's follow-up.
"Something else?"
"Yes."
"What's it this time?"
As Kim Hyunwoo asked with curiosity, Elena cautiously opened her mouth.
"Um, Lord, have you ever gone into the labyrinth yourself?"
"Ah."
Kim Hyunwoo instantly grasped the intent behind her question and pondered for a moment before answering.
"To be precise, yes, I've gone in and tackled the labyrinth alongside the heroes."
'To be even more accurate, it wasn't so much going in with them as just manipulating the heroes on my smartphone or PC screen to fight the battles.'
Of course, Kim Hyunwoo realized there was no point in telling her that—it would only confuse her more without any benefit—so he stuck to his answer.
"You've gone into the labyrinth yourself?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty decent at commanding, believe it or not. Though right now, there's no real need for me to go in, so I haven't."
As he said that, a thought suddenly crossed Kim Hyunwoo's mind.
'Come to think of it, maybe around the 4th floor, I should start accompanying them.'
Naturally, even after clearing the 3rd floor and building the labyrinth city, Kim Hyunwoo planned to keep conquering the labyrinth.
Clearing the 3rd floor was just the bare minimum to unlock the labyrinth city; to fully activate it, conquering as many floors as possible was key.
And to tackle floors below the 3rd, Kim Hyunwoo would need to head down into the labyrinth personally.
In the game, up to the 3rd floor could be cleared decently by just auto-battling the heroes all the way to the boss zone.
But the 4th floor required proper strategies even when fighting regular mobs.
'It'd be so much better if I could just control them from my smartphone screen like before.'
Unfortunately, Loria couldn't manage that, so if the time came to descend to the 4th floor without finding a way to issue commands from outside, Kim Hyunwoo was mentally preparing for it.
"I'll need to get a lot stronger to protect you, Lord."
Snapping out of his thoughts at the sound of Elena's voice, Kim Hyunwoo belatedly remembered their conversation and replied.
"The stronger you get, the better. Once you're strong enough, I can head into the labyrinth without so much worry. But don't push yourself too hard. You're already growing steadily, and by then, we'll have other heroes too—"
"...I'll definitely get stronger. Strong enough to protect you on my own."
Elena declared it like a vow in response to Kim Hyunwoo.
"Sure, I'd appreciate that. Like I said, the stronger you are, the less I'll worry about going into the labyrinth."
Kim Hyunwoo sensed the conversation veering slightly off-track and made a subtle face, but he nodded anyway.
Soon after wrapping up their talk and deciding to head to the 2nd floor tomorrow, Kim Hyunwoo watched Elena leave the office and opened her info window.
Seeing her stats had risen sharply again compared to two weeks ago, Kim Hyunwoo thought this should be more than enough to clear the 2nd floor.
'Huh?'
He suddenly noticed her Luck had gone up once more.
'...Why did her Luck rise again?'
Kim Hyunwoo frowned in confusion.
'I definitely haven't assigned her any tough missions. If it seemed even a little risky, I always sent soldiers with her.'
He tilted his head, wondering if there had been any situations where her Luck could have increased despite all the precautions to keep her out of danger.
'Guess I need to look into this.'
He decided to investigate the Luck increases.
Rising Luck was good, but it meant Elena had been in mortal danger repeatedly.
While Kim Hyunwoo was mulling over the Luck stat...
Elena was...
"..."
Heading to the training grounds for practice, she recalled Kim Hyunwoo's earlier words.
'Other heroes...'
Of course, Elena didn't think Kim Hyunwoo would recruit just one hero.
Lartania had already brought in the support hero Lani, and hardly any lords hired only a single hero.
Yet it still bothered her.
It felt like something unresolved was stuck in her throat—a strange sensation.
'What if we recruited someone besides Elena?'
Alto's voice suddenly echoed in her mind.
"...I need to get stronger."
...Elena muttered softly.
Kirral—one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Red Eyes beastkin horde—was away from the horde he'd never left since its formation.
The reason? Their leader, Merrillda, had suddenly vanished a few months ago.
Beastkin didn't fuss much over such things.
A missing leader spelled big trouble and chaos for the group, but beastkin societies ran on raw power, so chaos never lasted.
If the top dog vanished, the next strongest simply took over.
Sure, a few challengers might scrap for the spot, but that hardly counted as chaos.
In a typical beastkin horde, Merrillda's absence would cause brief turmoil, then a seamless leadership shift, end of story.
But Kirral had left the group to search southward for her because the Red Eyes—formed by Merrillda—was different from other hordes.
Every beastkin who joined had been drawn by her overwhelming, untouchable power.
Power that could match the North's greatest warrior, the Great Snowman, and stand toe-to-toe with the continent's famed great heroes.
Thus, the Red Eyes was unique, and hoping to keep it intact, Kirral had left the rest to the other Heavenly Kings and come here.
Near Lartania territory, where rumors swirled of the Red Eyes' emergence.
Upon arriving, Kirral couldn't help but smile.
Despite doubts about the rumors, his keen senses—sharper than most beastkin—picked up her faint presence.
So Kirral headed straight toward it to meet Merrillda.
After some time, he reached a cliff riddled with craters.
"..."
There she was—Merrillda.
"...?"
He could see Merrillda...?
"??"
Kirral stared at her back in utter shock, his face a mask of disbelief.
He hadn't even seen her face yet, but the reason for his astonishment was...
'Her tail... it's wagging?'
Sway— sway—
Merrillda's tail was gently swishing side to side.
"..."
Beastkin tails reflected their owners' emotions.
And a soft sway like that usually meant they were in an extremely good mood.
...No, beyond good—it was practically screaming, 'I'm so happy I'm wagging!'
Kirral looked incredulous.
He'd never once seen her tail move. Aside from shaking off blood, it was always limp, dragging on the ground.
Plus, their leader always had those hollow eyes, indifferent to the world, her thoughts unreadable—yet now her tail was wagging? It left Kirral speechless.
At that moment.
Swish—
"...!"
Kirral met the eyes of the turning Merrillda.
Gone were the weary, apathetic red eyes dulled by fatigue and boredom. They were still hollow, but a spark of life flickered within.
As Kirral reeled from the sight...
"You're here?"
"Gasp."
Her calm voice—tinged with that new vitality—drew an involuntary gasp from him.
...Kirral had been with the Red Eyes for ages, but she'd never greeted him before.
No, beyond that—aside from her recruitment grunt of 'Just fill the numbers,' he'd barely exchanged words with her.
Yet now she greeted him?
And not in her usual flat tone, but almost welcomingly?
In truth, Merrillda had said it without thinking, but for Kirral—seeing this side of her for the first time—it froze him, wondering if this was even the same person.
Merrillda, turning back, gazed at the territory in high spirits.
Her mind had already erased the Absolute Ruler of Darkness who'd picked a fight days ago or the arrogant heroes trash-talking her.
Instead, the wolf recalled Kim Hyunwoo's words as she watched him.
'Yes, quite reliable. As my first hero, I do feel a bit attached.'
And.
'Maybe, just maybe—if it's now—'
An irrepressible hope began to bloom uncontrollably in Merrillda's heart.
'For real—'
...Little by little.