Ch.4040. Securing My Own Home

Shiro seemed to have been fed some incorrect information.

“…Really, it’s not true?”

She seemed to have made a similar misunderstanding before, which made her even more firmly convinced this time.

“I really don’t have that kind of preference.”

Only after several minutes of back-and-forth could I finally stop Shiro’s endless interrogation.

“Hmm. I understand for now.”

“Thank you.”

To be honest, she didn’t seem particularly convinced.

Judging by how she blankly stared at me for a while, she seemed to be thinking she’d wait and see how long I’d keep hiding it.

Well, even her suspicions were cute at worst.

Shiro was just innocent. Even if I really did have such preferences, I didn’t think she would mind much.

“By the way, Shiro. Did you resolve your identity issue?”

That was why she had been absent for the past few days.

She had told me not to worry, saying it was nothing serious, but it would be abnormal not to worry.

“Yeah. It’s fine now. I was processed as deceased a few years ago, but they noticed my recent Explorer activities.”

She wore an inexplicably bitter, expressionless face.

“…I see. That’s good.”

Why had Shiro been processed as deceased?

I was a bit curious, but it seemed like a sensitive topic for her, so I deliberately didn’t ask.

Afterward, we chatted about daily life and the Labyrinth.

Then night came.

“I should head back now. Thanks to you, I had a good time.”

“Me too.”

We weren’t going to sleep together like last time.

I hadn’t even showered yet, and even for a couple, sleeping in the same room still felt a bit awkward.

The inn rooms and beds were small, and sleeping together last time had been rather unusual.

We were both too embarrassed to embrace each other like before.

‘If we had the same house, we could sleep together.’

My income was still too uncertain to buy a house.

I’d have to steadily save money from now on.

Though it was a bit disappointing, it didn’t really matter since we’d be sleeping next to each other for two weeks straight once we entered the Labyrinth.

‘I’m looking forward to it.’

Not that I was looking forward to sleeping with Shiro.

We had both experienced tremendous growth, and both of us had perfectly matched equipment.

Moreover, when we entered the Hidden Dungeon this time, we would grow even more.

As long as we were careful, we shouldn’t face any life-threatening situations from now on.

‘…Still, let’s not get careless.’

I’ve had too many close calls with death already.

***

The day we entered the Labyrinth.

We reached the second floor in less than half a day.

Even before, the monsters on the first floor were no challenge at all, but now our physical abilities were on a completely different level.

Shiro had obtained a decent 4th-grade Yeti Source, while I now had two 3rd-grade Sources.

Shiro’s Source might be slightly lacking, but thanks to her genes, she naturally had a higher physical capacity.

The two of us could easily hunt on the fifth floor with plenty of room to spare.

“There are so many people here.”

Usually, only large guild members establishing base camps are found on these lower floors.

But now, the second floor was much more crowded than usual.

Especially, there were many mid-level Explorers, making it hard to believe this was actually the second floor.

“It feels strange.”

Shiro muttered quietly as she looked at the scene.

“I agree. I’m wondering if there were always this many Explorers above the fourth floor.”

The spring theme had ended, and with the start of the first week of summer, the reservation period for the fourth floor had expired, so everyone had to start from the first floor.

Considering how fast we were, most people here were probably at least fifth or sixth floor Explorers.

“Since we’re in a hurry, let’s move on quickly.”

“Okay.”

We no longer needed to climb from the first floor either.

‘Of course, we still need to clear this Hidden Dungeon.’

The fifth floor dungeon, where we could synthesize Shiro’s Source and find valuable artifacts and consumables.

The downside was that clearing the dungeon would count as two weeks passing in the Labyrinth, but we hurried our steps anyway.

After three days from the Labyrinth opening, entry would be prohibited.

As I was thinking this and about to move into the forest on the second floor,

“…”

A black silhouette appeared in the distance and disappeared immediately before I could identify it.

“Adel, was there something?”

“It’s nothing. Must have been my imagination.”

It looked like something I’d seen somewhere before, but there was no presence at all, so I couldn’t be certain.

After that, we stably climbed to the fifth floor in just two days.

***

The Hidden Pieces on the fifth floor are arranged in a somewhat strange structure.

The boss with the “Arid Wilderness” background that the Baron tried to catch last time can be summoned in the “Land of the Dead,”

And the entrance to the “Frozen Glacier” themed dungeon is accessed from the Arid Wilderness.

Strangely, on the fifth floor, the Hidden Pieces from different regions were all mixed up.

Anyway.

“Shiro, please follow me while keeping watch around us.”

“Okay.”

We walked through the wilderness under the intense sunlight.

To synthesize Shiro’s Source, the Frozen Glacier themed dungeon was essential.

The entry method was quite simple yet difficult, making it not too unnatural.

‘It might seem strange to keep entering Hidden Dungeons under the pretense of coincidence.’

But Shiro wasn’t the type to go around bragging about this, so the possibility of problems was extremely low.

After all, if this is how the Labyrinth system works, what could anyone do about it?

‘Now exactly 1,200 steps.’

Putting aside unnecessary worries, I recalled the dungeon entry method.

Upon entering the Arid Wilderness, walk 1,200 steps westward.

You can’t walk in other directions, but encountering monsters along the way is fine. After all, only moving while facing forward counts as walking.

After walking 1,200 steps westward, walk between 550 and 600 steps northward, and finally 300 steps eastward.

Then amazingly.

‘Now it should work.’

Familiar white powder engulfed our vision.

…

When I opened my eyes, the hot wilderness was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, a strong blizzard was raging, and in the middle of numerous snow-covered mountains stood a massive ice tower.

‘It’s been a while.’

I had accidentally entered this dungeon while mindlessly walking at dawn, and to prepare for any situation, I had recorded a video to figure out the entry method.

I felt quite proud when I figured out the reason.

“…”

Faced with this sudden, strange scene, Shiro remained silent for a moment as she surveyed the surroundings.

Despite the raging blizzard, visibility was clear, and we felt no cold.

When hit by falling snow, our bodies seemed to get wet, but then returned to their original state as if it had been an illusion.

And then,

“Even when I saw the snow mountains on the fourth floor, I didn’t think this… but this place is quite beautiful.”

Rather than feeling alarmed about falling into a strange place, she seemed more inclined to humbly accept this magnificent world.

“What do you think?”

“Indeed, it is.”

An aurora spread across the center of the sky.

Beyond the numerous snow mountains, a long horizon was visible.

A small sun was rising from the western end.

The light from that small sun couldn’t cover the entire sky, so only an endless sunset spread across the western sky.

Meanwhile, at the eastern end, the moon was about to disappear below the horizon.

The silver light emitted by the moon, intertwined with the aurora, created a mystical atmosphere.

“So the Labyrinth has places like this too.”

After staring around absentmindedly, she seemed to regain her senses and tried to assess the situation.

“Sorry, I was a bit shocked and just stood still. Let’s move.”

“It’s okay. Let’s go forward for now.”

There are no monsters before entering the ice tower visible over there, but I moved cautiously, following Shiro’s lead.

It would be strange if only I knew what was going on when we were both brought here together.

“…The path to the side is blocked.”

Except for the path leading to the tower, all other paths were blocked by transparent barriers.

“Do we have to go to that place over there?”

“It seems so. Let’s go slowly.”

She maintained a state of tension as she continued to move.

After walking for dozens of minutes, we arrived at the entrance of the ice tower.

There, a massive door, easily over 10 meters tall, blocked our way.

“Shall we open it?”

I said as I approached it.

“…We don’t seem to have many other options.”

The paths to other places were blocked, and we didn’t even know where we were.

In a normal Labyrinth, we would need to achieve something to escape from this place.

There was no other way but to enter the tower.

“Let’s go.”

We pushed the massive ice door and entered.

[Entering The Vanished Glacier-Ice Tower.]

This time, a blue message appeared, and my consciousness faded.

***

-Ding.

I opened my eyes to a cheerful notification sound.

[The first monster wave will begin in 100 seconds.]

It was a familiar yet terribly unhelpful explanation.

‘At first, I struggled because this was all they told me.’

The Hidden Dungeon, Ice Tower, had a structure where you climb one floor for every 2 waves you survive.

Each time you climb, individual rewards are given, and when you clear the final 9th floor, you can choose one common reward.

‘Of course, there’s more than just rewards.’

The fifth floor was a rest floor with an altar where Shiro’s Source could be synthesized.

That’s basically why we came here.

“Are you okay, Shiro?”

I approached her.

“Yeah, I’m fine… just a bit confused.”

She looked around as she answered.

A circular space made of blue ice. The ceiling was just under 3 meters high, and ice doors were attached in the four cardinal directions.

“For now, it seems we’ve entered that tower.”

“It seems so.”

The Labyrinth had numerous undiscovered Hidden Pieces.

Usually, the conditions are so difficult to achieve that even the tier rules of the second floor haven’t been revealed in this world.

Because those conditions are almost never fully met.

Even on the rare occasions when the conditions are met, it’s common for several people to die, so they remain undiscovered.

Anyway.

“We’ve gotten involved in something strange.”

“…Yeah. We seem to get entangled in these things a lot.”

Shiro lightly responded to my words, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty.

Most of the time, I was the one who directly pulled her into dungeons.

“You never know what will happen in the Labyrinth. I guess we were unlucky.”

“Right. It’s not like we could enter a place like this on purpose.”

…Hmm.

“By the way, did you also see some kind of text appear in front of you just now?”

I pretended not to know anything.

“Yes, I saw it. It said something about a monster wave starting in 100 seconds.”

“It seems it appeared to both of us.”

Shiro and I put our heads together to deduce the current situation.

“…The doors won’t open either.”

We tried breaking the walls and opening the ice doors.

But of course, there was no success.

“It seems there’s nothing we can do here, and waiting for something might be our best option. Monster wave… does that mean monsters will swarm here?”

“Probably.”

She agreed, and I suggested a strategy as if I’d been waiting for this moment.

“If monsters are going to swarm from all four doors, it might be better to be in a corner rather than in the center.”

We positioned ourselves against the wall with doors on either side.

With four doors where monsters could emerge, having our backs against the wall was much safer.

[Wave 1 begins.]

-Rumble!

The doors rose upward, and we formed our formation to wait for the wave.

Shiro pressed herself against the wall to secure visibility on both sides, while I stood in front of her to draw aggro.

‘It’s going to be easy anyway.’

The difficulty of Hidden Dungeons is set slightly higher than the corresponding floor.

The gap between the fifth and sixth floors is really large, and considering we were at sixth floor level, this would be comfortable for us.

The monsters that appear on the first floor are random, so we waited quietly.

“Grrrr!”

What we encountered in the first wave were Frost Wolves.

They were 4th-grade lower-tier mobs that inhabit the 4th-5th floors.

Interestingly, despite being 4th-grade lower-tier, their Mana Stone price was slightly lower than that of Yetis.

Due to their small numbers and weakness, Frost Wolf packs were treated almost like golden goblins on the fourth floor.

[Remaining enemies: 102]

The money we earned from hunting over 100 Yetis last time was 1.24 million Ars.

And now, creatures of similar value were about to swarm in such numbers.

‘That’s almost 800,000 Ars.’

In Earth money, we were about to earn 8 million won from this one battle.

Both Shiro and I had already matched our equipment, so we hadn’t been thinking about money, but I realized there was one more reason to save money.

The dream of having my own home where Shiro and I could live together.

‘This is awesome!’

As I sliced through the slowly approaching monsters, my heart suddenly started racing.

I wondered how much money would be generated over the 9 floors we were about to traverse.