Ch.22. Life in Full Bloom

Combining the information I can gather from this situation, I get roughly this result:

‘All three were orphans, they’ve been together since childhood. And the three of them routinely engage in plundering.’

To be honest, I thought that elf named Shiro was foolish.

When directly probed, not only did she not lie, but she truthfully admitted to having no family?

‘I thought she was clever, but I guess she’s just a novice explorer after all.’

That elf lacked experience with the Labyrinth to handle this situation.

Even now, she was calmly staring at the floor, unaware of what she’d done.

The three party members, excluding me and Shiro, were secretly exchanging meaningful glances.

They were trying to hide it, but having rolled as a porter and experienced plundering and betrayal multiple times, I was certain.

These bastards are planning to kill the elf soon.

The only fortunate thing might be that they weren’t particularly conscious of me.

They’d probably kill me along with the elf, but they likely wouldn’t invest many resources in a non-combatant like me.

Looking around to figure out how to survive, I spotted a hole right next to me.

‘Fortunately, the exit is right beside me.’

I placed my right hand on the floor, shifting my center of gravity toward the exit. I kept my left hand near my backpack, ready to block the entrance when escaping.

The party member closest to me here is the female mage.

Even if the bald guy attacks me next, I can buy enough time to escape if I block him once with my backpack.

‘If I play this right, I can survive.’

In the Labyrinth, a single moment of vulnerability means death.

Regrettably, I don’t have the capacity to save the elf. Didn’t she bring this death upon herself anyway?

For the sake of the three years I’ve endured so far, I need to survive.

After that, a tense period of time passed, and then—

“…Well, I’m getting tired, shall we sleep? I’ll take the first watch.”

The spear wielder spoke with an awkward smile.

About 8 hours had passed since we entered the Labyrinth.

It’s hard to say it’s already time to sleep, but there must be a lot of fatigue built up in our bodies.

It was quite a reasonable choice, but—

‘Your intentions are so obvious.’

It’s so simple that I wonder how they expect to deceive anyone.

Nevertheless, it’s difficult to refuse.

The female mage and the bald guy had already nodded, and the elf closed her eyes without much resistance.

‘Damn it.’

The agreed sleep time was 10 hours total.

Since we had plenty of time, we could secure quite a generous amount of sleep, but this turned out to be a poison.

‘Should I escape first?’

That might be better, but it’s still impossible.

If I leave now when they don’t need to focus on the elf, I’ll be caught the moment I encounter a monster on the path.

After that, they’d just be more alert.

So it’s wiser to escape when the elf resists them. That would give me time to create distance.

Cruel, but unavoidable.

To survive, that’s what I must do.

‘I want to live.’

I’ve invested 30,000 hours in this game. I can’t die before my life even blooms, not when I can use all the knowledge I’ve gained.

I pretended to sleep with my eyes half-open, in a position where I could bolt at any moment.

For 8 hours, excluding the watch time.

***

Surprisingly, nothing happened.

“Time’s up, let’s all get up. Today might be a bit tough. Hunting on the second floor isn’t easy.”

The spear wielder finished his preparations by tucking his dagger into his waist after saying that.

“…”

…What’s going on?

I had imagined they would all pretend to sleep and then suddenly rise to ambush us, but the sleep period ended without anything happening.

‘Was it my imagination?’

What if my assumption that they’re plunderers was just my delusion, and they’re actually good people who just felt sad about the elf having no parents?

‘No. I can’t let go of my suspicions until the end.’

I felt self-loathing for a moment, but I regained my senses as we left the safe zone.

This is the Labyrinth.

Even if suspecting my party members is paranoid, or spending 8 hours pretending to sleep makes me an idiot. I’ll do whatever it takes to survive.

I’d rather be a paranoid idiot who survives than trust people and get stabbed in the back.

“Gray wolves ahead, Drun! Block the front with your shield!”

“Leave it to me!”

I carefully observed their battle, and just when I thought they had hunted the gray wolves without incident—

“…”

A strange silence fell among the party members as the last monster died.

‘My mana stone pouch isn’t reacting.’

Normally, when a mana stone appears, my pouch should vibrate automatically.

It’s my choice whether to take it or not.

It’s eerily quiet.

Which means what just dropped from the monster isn’t a mana stone but—

“Shit, dodge!”

—Clang!

An axe tried to split the elf’s head, but I pushed her away and rolled on the ground.

—Thunk!

At that moment, I heard an unidentifiable sound and saw a golden sphere enter my field of vision.

‘So it was that after all.’

Of all things, a Source dropped from the gray wolf.

In the split second while rolling on the ground, I made my decision.

‘Run away.’

Where should I flee, and what judgment should I make?

Thanks to rolling in the opposite direction from them, the distance is considerable.

I threw the torch I was holding and ran into the darkness.

Though I’m a half-blood, I inherited barbarian blood. In terms of pure physical ability, I’m not inferior to explorers who haven’t consumed a Source.

The reason I work as a porter with this body is simply because the survival probability is higher as a porter than as a low-level explorer.

“Grab the elf and run! Chase them quickly!”

As I ran through the Labyrinth’s complex paths, I heard intense footsteps behind me.

The running sound is light. The only one who could chase me would be that spear wielder bastard.

‘The gap is slowly closing.’

No matter how superior my physique is, I’m carrying too much.

My left arm is carrying a backpack, and my right shoulder is supporting the elf.

‘And why isn’t she moving?’

Except for slight tremors, she remained motionless on my shoulder.

Feeling something strange, I glanced back and discovered the cause of the odd sound I’d heard while rolling on the ground.

A dagger was embedded in the elf’s thigh.

It seems the spear wielder threw it, and it must have been coated with poison since she’s not moving.

Given the situation, there’s only one choice I should make.

‘I have to abandon her.’

That’s the wise choice.

Anyone who isn’t an idiot would know it’s better to throw the elf to them and run.

That would increase my chances of survival.

“…”

But my body doesn’t comply.

‘I am an idiot.’

A real idiot who can’t make a single proper judgment.

If I continue like this, I’ll really die. I know that, but I just can’t abandon her.

As I felt a chill down my spine from the closing distance—

“Grrrr!”

After turning a corner, I fatefully encountered a pack of gray wolves.

Three in total.

They appeared at the worst possible time, threatening my life, but—

They were also the reason I had been carrying my backpack on my arm while fleeing.

“Hup—!”

Using my overwhelming physical abilities and the mass of the backpack, I cut through between the wolves.

I knocked aside the first two wolves that lunged at me with my backpack and managed to get to the path on the opposite side.

But there were three of them.

—Crunch!

“Shit!”

I barely gained some distance while sacrificing a chunk of my left leg.

And then, I made eye contact with the pursuing spear wielder.

Gray wolves live in the deep parts of the first floor where there’s no light, so their vision is sensitive enough to react to light behind them.

Therefore—

“Shit! Drun, hurry up and block these bastards!”

The wolves attacked the spear wielder who was holding the torch, ignoring me.

I had gained time to escape. However, the deep part of the first floor is a narrow maze.

‘I’ll finish this here.’

I pulled out the dagger embedded in the elf’s thigh and threw it at the head of the spear wielder who had fallen to the ground.

“…!”

After quickly dealing with him, I immediately turned and hid in the darkness.

I could faintly hear the voices of the bald guy and the female mage who had arrived late, but I had no time to pay attention to that.

‘I’m bleeding like crazy.’

Both me with my torn flesh and the elf with blood gushing like a fountain from the hole in her thigh.

I tried to stop the bleeding while moving.

After passing through several intersections, I easily dispatched a single goblin I encountered, then sat at the end of a corridor and began to stop the bleeding.

First, I tore the elf’s clothes to stop the bleeding in her thigh, which was the most urgent, and used a bandage for myself.

It might seem stingy, but the bandage was such a dusty, rag-like material that it was embarrassing to even call it a bandage.

If I were to be picky, the elf’s clothes would be more suitable for stopping bleeding.

If I were truly garbage, I would have used the elf’s clothes to treat my thigh.

“Haa. Haa.”

My head hurts and I feel like I’m going to die from exhaustion, but there’s no time to catch my breath.

Somehow, I need to reach the second floor to survive.

‘There’s a survivor base camp at the entrance of the second floor.’

If I can just get there, I’ll be safe.

However, even though this is just the first floor of the Labyrinth, it’s too much for a half-blood barbarian with an injured leg to survive alone.

‘Now I need her again.’

Her name was Shiro, wasn’t it? From now on, I needed to cooperate with her.

I considered abandoning her earlier because it was urgent, but now the most important thing is to escape the first floor.

‘Please wake up.’

I prayed as I checked the elf’s condition.

Putting my ear near her face, her breathing was normal. And when I checked earlier, the skin color around the dagger wound was fine.

‘Is it the poison from the second floor sewer rats?’

Among poisons with these symptoms, that’s the only one low-level adventurers could use.

She should recover after some time.

I stayed still and focused on recovery for about thirty minutes.

My thigh kept stinging and I felt nauseous like I was going to die, but I was satisfied that the elf’s condition had improved.

“Mmm…”

Now she was making groans while her eyes fluttered open and closed. Evidence that the sewer rat poison was weakening.

If we stayed like this for another hour, her condition would definitely improve, but—

—Click.

Judging by the approaching footsteps, things were about to get ugly.

‘Two people.’

One wearing light leather shoes. One wearing iron boots.

The types of footwear match those guys. And considering the walking speed, the possibility that only two people would be active in the deep part of the first floor even after a day…

It’s definitely them.

“…”

I drew the longsword from the elf’s waist while making as little noise as possible.

Then I stood next to a trap set by goblins, waiting for them, and—

—Click.

Half a beat before the opponents entered my field of vision.

—Clang!

I kicked the side of the trap, sending it forward.

“Aaaaargh!”

The bald guy stepped on it. Not missing the moment of confusion from the suddenly appearing trap, I rushed forward.

I put strength into the longsword and cut the back of his left knee.

‘Shit.’

Blood burst from my wound from the movement just now.

It hurts like hell, but I can’t stop here. My opponent is also an explorer who has been through all kinds of battles.

He tried to split my head with his axe, but I quickly rolled to avoid it and approached the female mage.

The time from my first move until now was about 3 seconds.

Since the fastest casting time among the female mage’s spells was 4 seconds—

‘I’ll kill her instantly.’

From a half-lying position, I raised my upper body and stabbed the female mage’s neck.

Then, using her body as a shield, I looked at the bald guy.

It was to block if he rushed at me, but—

“P-please spare me! I-I’m sorry!”

It wasn’t necessary.

The bald guy had dropped his axe and was kneeling on his left knee.

‘He’s lost his will to fight.’

During introductions, he bragged about being a second-year adventurer, so I was careful until the end, but it seems that was all lies.

I laid the female mage’s body on the floor and approached the bald guy. Of course, only to a distance where I could slash him with my sword without being ambushed.

Then I questioned the guy who was begging for his life with broken morale.

“Have the three of you known each other for a long time?”

“…Y-yes!”

“You said you were a second-year. How many people have you killed so far?”

“Directly… I’ve never directly killed anyone.”

“Really?”

I immediately beheaded him.

It wasn’t because I was angry at what he said; I just wanted to finish quickly because my body was in excruciating pain.

I felt like I was about to collapse.

“Haa, shit.”

I clutched my thigh and collected spoils from the corpses.

I discarded equipment that was about to break from long use and only took the essentials. Potions they were carrying personally, and most importantly—

“…Source.”

The golden “Source” that was in the female mage’s spatial pouch.

Normally, I would have cursed about not being able to use it anyway, but this time the situation was different.

Regular Sources are unstable blue energy, so they can’t be taken outside the Labyrinth.

But this golden one, which drops with an extremely rare probability, is different.

‘I can take it outside and sell it.’

Even though it’s a first floor Source, this type has tremendous value.

Especially one from a gray wolf, which compares in performance to second floor Sources, so in terms of price…

It would be equivalent to what an adventurer active on the 3rd-4th floors would earn in 2 years.

“…Amazing.”

Yes.

My life has finally bloomed.