episode_0065

The moment I opened my eyes, I was met with the sight of a damp cave.

And the familiar darkness was there, too.

—This time, it seems we’ve been dropped quite far away. ‘Yeah, seems like it.’

After a brief moment of preparation, the party began to move.

‘I kinda want to see the boss.’

Unfortunately, I didn’t have much luck with bosses.

Though I’d been to plenty of hidden rooms.

‘But that was only possible because of Ermé.’

Sadly, once you enter a hidden room, it’s hard to get back in.

Their locations keep shifting, and even places you’ve already entered and exited change positions.

“If possible, let’s try to take down the boss.” “Yeah.”

After a short exchange, we quickly moved forward.

After about an hour, I felt like we were halfway to the boss room.

“Already? That’s faster than I expected.”

Ermé nodded with a surprised expression.

“But, Yuseong, now that I think about it, aren’t you weirdly good at finding your way?” “I’m a thief.” “Ah, so you were a thief.” “I was a thief.” “You were a thief.” “……”

Glasses, Teresa, and Rozante reacted in that order.

This was kind of shocking. Even Ermé hadn’t reacted much when I revealed I was a thief—just gave me a look like, “Oh, right.”

Ignoring the party, I focused on finding the path.

After about another hour, we finally reached the first-floor boss room.

“……Someone’s already been here.” “Well, bosses drop a lot of loot. Let’s head to the next floor.”

We made our way to the descending staircase.

And set out to find the boss again.

“Ah, as expected, once we miss a boss, we can’t catch up to the party ahead at our pace.” “What a shame.”

At Glasses’ lament, Teresa nodded in agreement.

“Shall we move to the next floor?” “Yeah. Lamenting here won’t change anything.”

Third Floor – Arachne’s Chamber

From here, even I had to focus.

The spider bastards could ambush us suddenly from the ceiling, and their webs could bind the party’s feet.

Kekekeke!!

Arachne lunged at us.

Swiish.

I bisected one with my sword. Then, I kicked another that pounced from the side, sending it flying.

‘……I’ve really strayed from being human.’

Watching the Arachne get sent flying with a single kick made me think that.

Well, when I thought about it, it made sense.

The iron pellets the old man gave me weighed 0.2 tons, and I was moving around with them without even using mana.

As I cut down another charging Arachne, I pondered.

Somehow…

‘It feels easier now.’

The Arachne’s weak points were clearer.

And my sword moved with a fluid yet eerie sharpness.

‘……Did my swordsmanship level go up?’

It felt like my blade had grown sharper, but more than that—

My body felt much lighter.

‘It must be because of that.’

After fighting, I could tell.

I’d grown strong enough to overwhelmingly defeat my past self.

‘……To think a single skill could change me this much.’

—I’ve said it many times, but this isn’t my fault. It’s yours. ‘……Did I say anything?’

Lisiel desperately defended herself.

But I didn’t feel like arguing with her.

Whatever the case, I’d gotten stronger.

[Skill Acquired: Thunderstrike (A).]

A skill I gained after defeating Selly—no, the demon disguised as Selly—yesterday.

Its effects were as follows:

[Skill] Thunderstrike (A) An exceedingly rare lightning-attribute mental technique. ◇Grants the user lightning attributes. ◇Enhances internal mana, allowing it to be condensed within the body.

It was a skill that refined the mana inside my body into lightning-attribute mana.

Even Lisiel praised it as an exceptional technique.

And it felt like it suited me well.

With that, we headed to the third-floor boss room.

“We’re late here, too.” “The first-floor boss room was pretty far, but the second and third floors weren’t too bad.”

Yet, the boss room was already empty.

“What do you want to do?”

Glasses’ gaze shifted to me, then to Ermé.

“Hmm… Honestly, with our current strength, even the fifth floor wouldn’t be impossible.” “In other words, with our luck, it might still be dangerous.”

As Ermé said—

Every time we advanced a floor, something happened.

Even in dungeons, incidents were common.

Wasn’t the Bone Rot incident like that?

A monster from the so-called “deep layers” suddenly appeared and wreaked havoc.

“But the fourth floor should be manageable. I’m close to leveling up, too.” “……You level up fast, too.” “Well, there’s that, plus the Bone Rot incident.” “Ah, right. You got a lot of experience from that.”

Listening to Ermé and Glasses, I checked my own EXP.

It felt like I’d gained quite a bit—around 70%.

“So, what should we do?” “I think we can handle the fourth floor.”

If this party could take on the fifth floor—

With my current strength, even the sixth floor felt safe.

—You should decide soon. ‘……’

Lisiel spoke to me in a meaningful tone.

I didn’t argue.

“Then let’s head to the fourth floor.” “Yeah.”

In the end, we decided to go to the fourth floor. Staying here when we could handle the fifth would’ve been stupid.

We moved to the next floor.

The next floor was—

‘Lizardmen, right?’

Bipedal walking lizards.

Also known as Lizardmen.

“They’re more annoying than the creatures on other floors.”

Unlike the Arachne on the third floor, they used weapons.

That was both an advantage and a disadvantage.

“Because only a handful of them actually know how to wield them properly.” “I see. So, their low proficiency with weapons gives us the upper hand.”

Ermé nodded at Glasses’ reasoning.

“Then it shouldn’t be a problem.” “But that low proficiency only applies to me and Yuseong.” “I-I’m decent at fighting, too.” “Rozante might be fine, but Glasses and Teresa are a bit…” “Hmph, don’t worry. I’m not the type to cling to pointless pride. If a 1v1 fight breaks out with a Lizardman, I’ll just run.” “That’s not something to say while trying to look cool.” “Heh.”

Anyway, we pressed forward. Then, we spotted enemies.

“……I sense ten ahead.” “Beginner’s luck? That’s fewer than I expected.” “That many?” “The deeper you go in the labyrinth, the more dangerous it gets. Below the 10th floor, you’ll get casualties if you don’t move like an army. That’s why clans take months-long breaks to train.”

Train like an army?

That sounded terrifying.

‘Just how many swarm out down there?’

To warrant talk like that.

Do hundreds spawn at once?

‘……Horrifying.’

Thinking that, I drew my bow and pulled the string.

Creak—!

“Impressive.” “What is?” “After seeing your performance before, I tried using a bow myself. But it required way more strength than I thought.”

Glasses adjusted his glasses and pulled out a crossbow.

I noticed strange enchantments on it.

“I enhanced it with auxiliary magic—improved aim, power, and eliminated recoil. And its power is…”

Glasses fired at the lead Lizardman.

Fwip! Clang!

But the Lizardman with an iron sword deflected the bolt.

“……” “……”

It wasn’t completely ineffective.

The Lizardman was forced back a few steps.

But after all that buildup, it was just awkward.

I pulled my bowstring again. The Lizardman tried to deflect the arrow, but—

Thunk!

My arrow pierced straight through it—and the one behind it.

“……” “……”

I hadn’t intended to show off, but my role as the rear guard ended up making things awkward.

Silently, I drew my sword.

Glasses cast support spells on me.

My body lightened, my strength increased, and my mana surged.

‘……About 1.5 times stronger.’

I closed my eyes calmly.

Maybe it was the mana’s influence.

Even with my eyes shut, I could vividly sense the Lizardmen’s movements.

‘……’

Three vanguards charged forward.

I threw daggers—enhanced through synthesis—from my pocket.

‘Shadow Dance.’

A dark gleam lingered on the blades.

Swish!

The daggers embedded themselves in the Lizardmen’s throats in an instant.

Poison would’ve been overkill—this was enough.

“Wow, you’ve gotten even stronger.” “……I praised you earlier, but you really have.” “Well…”

Before I could finish, I sensed something approaching.

Frantic presences.

‘What now?’

Normally, I’d assume an ambush, but this was different.

It was like they were desperately running from something.

‘……Their presence is faint.’

The ones chasing them had an incredibly faint presence.

Seeing them, Lisiel stared in a certain direction with a puzzled look.

—The Path of the Wind?

What’s that?

Before I could ask, the fleeing group arrived.

“Get ready. Something’s coming.” “Huh? What is it?”

The closer they got, the clearer it became.

Heavy, lumbering movements.

“Wait, isn’t that the orc staying at the inn…?” “Yeah.”

It was unmistakably Vulcan. But he wasn’t his usual self.

Vulcan.

An orc warrior candidate who admired Volkan.

His green skin was pale with fear, his entire body trembling.

His face brightened slightly upon seeing us.

“My friend! We’re in big trouble!” “What’s wrong?” “Elves! Those crazy long-ears are on this floor right now!!”

I reflexively glanced at Lisiel.

She was staring into the distance with a distant gaze.

—It can’t be helped. It’s like an instinct for their kind… ‘Well, if that’s the case, there’s nothing we can do.’

Even if it caused massive trouble for everyone around.

‘At least they don’t kill them, right?’ —……

Lisiel stayed silent for a long time.

“But why are the long-ears here?” “No idea. Normally, they’d be raiding orc villages to make orc slaves.” “You’re an orc.” “Ah, right… W-Wait, no! The elves attack orc settlements!” “That’s strange.”

Glasses sounded puzzled as he chimed in.

“Aren’t orcs the type to die for honor?” “You’re my friend’s party members, right? To answer that—fighting elves isn’t honorable.” “What do you mean?” “They’re demons in human form…!”

Vulcan trembled with rage as he spoke.

“Dying in battle is honorable. But those bastards do things worse than humans enslaving other races!!” “W-Worse than humans?” “They pamper us orcs. They provide everything—food, shelter, even beds!” “Isn’t that… comfortable?” “Nonsense! From the start, they neuter our instincts! Then, they use us for breeding while letting us grow old and die in peace!”

Listening to Vulcan’s speech, I thought:

‘Isn’t that just… a good life?’

Up to this point, it didn’t seem worse than humans.

“But their true cruelty comes after.” “After?” “We live about as long as humans. So they outlive us. And after stripping our instincts, they prevent us from reaching Valhalla! Then, they even taxidermy our corpses… Sniff!” “How vile…!”

The party was horrified.

Honestly, so was I.

‘Desecrating the dead…’

Truly despicable creatures.

“So, my friend, I beg you—protect us from them.” “To disrespect the dead… They’re truly evil.” “This is the first time I’ve seen Yuseong this angry.” “Yeah, the worst I imagined was rounding up orcs and working them to death, then using their corpses as fertilizer…” “……” “Now that I think about it, humans might be worse… Wait, did I make a mistake befriending you?”

What kind of nonsense is that, Vulcan?