Ch.66. Predator

Coincidentally, there seemed to be no people in this area, and a strange silence persisted for a while.

The opposing party had 5 members.

One spearman, two archers, one priest, and a red twin-tailed girl who wasn’t carrying a weapon.

The spearman probably intended to naturally steal using their numerical advantage, but that was something I couldn’t forgive.

‘None of them are capable of penetrating my equipment.’

And a Barbarian’s physical abilities are overwhelming compared to all other races.

“…Haha. I think you have a bit of a misunderstanding. We were hunting this Kobold group, so according to the rules, we have ownership rights.”

Seeing my expression, the spearman hastily explained his own logic as if making excuses.

“Did you lose track of the Kobold group?”

“Huh? We didn’t lose them, they just ran away really fast. If they caused you trouble, I apologize.”

Normally, they probably stole Mana Stones from smaller parties with ridiculous claims, but this time they picked the wrong opponent.

“The Kobolds ambushed us in formation. Even if they were running away and attacked us, how could you lose track of creatures that are naturally slow-moving?”

His excuse would make no sense to anyone with even basic knowledge of Kobold behavior.

From what I remembered, Kobold warriors were famous on the internet for their strong camaraderie.

The idea that they would abandon their dead comrades and attack us was absurd.

“That’s bullshit.”

“Hey, aren’t you being too harsh? Do you know who I am?”

Not only did they pick a fight with our party, but dismissing the Kobolds’ camaraderie was even more unforgivable.

“If what you’re saying is true, you’d be better off as a street cleaner than an explorer. You don’t deserve to be an explorer.”

“You’re talking crap.”

After that, silence prevailed.

The spearman’s face contorted as he gritted his teeth, looking truly hideous.

‘We should get going soon.’

Nothing good comes from confronting another party in the Labyrinth, especially on the second floor.

After facing off with him for just over a minute, I turned and gestured to my party members that we should leave.

Any rational person would just go their own way when faced with this kind of situation.

Especially if they were leading a party in the Labyrinth—

—Whoosh!

A dagger flew past my head.

“…What do you think you’re doing?”

“Who do you think you are, you black-haired Barbarian bastard? How dare you walk away while a human is talking to you?”

He must have thrown it as a threat since it stuck into a nearby tree, but aiming for someone’s head in the Labyrinth meant he was ready for a fight to the death.

‘No, I need to stay calm.’

It’s hard to hold back when someone picks a fight like this, but we can’t waste any more time.

There didn’t seem to be anyone else around besides our parties, and the opposing party seemed rather low-level.

“I’m leaving. You can have the Mana Stones, so let’s just go our separate ways.”

“Ha, you talk all that trash and now you want to leave? I can’t let you go that easily.”

As the spearman tried to grab my shoulder, Shiro approached my side.

“If you come any closer, it won’t end well for you.”

Her voice echoed coldly.

“Who are you? His girlfriend? Your boyfriend has a filthy mouth, you should control him better.”

Despite her warning, he continued to taunt her, and killing intent flashed in Shiro’s eyes.

We’d been facing off for about 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

Damn it.

“Shiro, we’re running out of time. We should leave quickly.”

Even if we start moving now, we’ll have to run. We really need to hurry.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going—”

“—Shut the hell up, you bastard!”

I snapped at the spearman and grabbed Shiro’s wrist as I started running.

I gestured to the mint-haired person trembling behind us, who nodded and began following me.

‘About 20 seconds left.’

Considering a Barbarian’s physique, we still had some leeway.

I wondered why they kept picking fights, but thinking about it, these people probably didn’t know the rules of the second floor.

‘If more than 8 people stay in the same area for over 3 minutes on the second floor, we’re screwed.’

While the first floor has “safe zones,” this place summons a monster.

The exact conditions are too complicated to explain, but my instincts told me all those conditions had been met.

’15 seconds.’

There’s still enough time. If we can just put 100 meters between us and their party, “that thing’s” summoning will be completely canceled.

As I ran with desperate determination—

“Hey, you bastard! Aren’t you taking your party member with you?!”

“!”

At the spearman’s shout, I quickly looked back to see one of his party members trying to grab the panicking mint-haired person.

All of their party members were chasing us. It was impossible to create distance.

‘Damn it!’

I didn’t expect them to chase us this far.

In this case, there was only one option left.

“Shiro! Run in the opposite direction from me with all your might!”

There was no other way.

Just as we were about to split up and run in different directions—

—Crack.

With a strange sound, the sky split open.

[The second floor rule ‘Contempt for the Weak’ has been activated.]

[‘Shade Predator’ comes to life.]

Too late.

***

Why is the second floor of the Labyrinth associated with Libra?

I don’t know what the zodiac has to do with the Labyrinth, but I had a rough idea about the second floor.

It was back when I had about 5,000 hours of playtime, still a newbie discovering the charms of Arks.

My newly reset party was leading an NPC party to collect the Hidden Piece on the second floor.

But to my surprise, I saw the same strange message I just saw now, and my vision went dark.

At first, I thought my monitor had turned off, but after a few seconds, I realized what was happening.

[The Shade Predator moves to find its prey.]

Ah, so this is the rule of the second floor!

Setting aside my elite party that was wiped out by the Shade Predator, I became obsessed with that creature for a while.

I couldn’t find anyone on the internet who had discovered the rules of the second floor.

The summoning method I eventually discovered was bizarrely specific.

[First, there must be between 8 and 15 individuals within a 100-meter radius.]

Only people who have seen each other’s faces can satisfy the summoning condition.

However, even those who haven’t seen each other can contribute to canceling the summoning.

If summoning begins because of 8 people who have seen each other, but the number of people within 100 meters exceeds 15 before 3 minutes pass, the creature won’t be summoned.

[Second, there must be no one who has absorbed a Source of rank 4 or higher.]

Monsters from early floor 3 to early floor 5 are classified as rank 4.

This seems to be related to the “contempt for the weak” concept, but it doesn’t matter much.

[Third, less than 3 days must have passed since the Labyrinth opened.]

After spending 200 hours here, I was able to discover these three conditions.

‘I guess it does have something to do with balance.’

If weak people gather in moderate numbers, they die, so it’s about maintaining balance like a scale.

It’s a bit strange, but that’s roughly the conclusion I came to.

—Zzzzing.

Right on cue, my darkened vision returned.

“Haah. Shit…”

The fear effect made me think all sorts of things during those 30 seconds.

My hands and feet are still trembling. If I hadn’t been recalling past events just now, my mental state might have collapsed.

‘Still, I need to move, whatever happens.’

After the fear effect ends, the Shade Predator enters the shadow of the most mentally shaken target and ambushes them 10 seconds later.

The ambush target dies instantly, and anyone nearby is also crushed.

Shiro, who was nearby at the end, was standing blankly, staring into space.

I wondered if her mental state was unstable, but her shadow looked normal, so it wasn’t her.

‘It’s not me, right?’

I looked down at the ground. Thankfully, my shadow was normal.

That means it’s on the spearman’s side.

“Ah, aaaah! Aaaaargh!”

A terrible scream was heard.

Looking toward the sound, I saw the mint-haired person having a seizure while being carried on an archer’s back.

And the shadow beneath them was rippling violently.

“…This feels disgusting.”

It’s been exactly 7 seconds since the fear wore off.

Only 3 seconds remain.

That person may have been a bit slow-witted, but I didn’t wish death upon them.

However, this was unavoidable.

An accident happened here, and they became its sacrificial lamb.

‘If only I had been more careful.’

Such thoughts briefly crossed my mind, but regret won’t change what has already happened.

Those kinds of thoughts don’t help with survival at all.

—Kuuuung!

A pillar of pitch-black rose from the shadow, leaving only six people in this area.

‘This is terrifyingly scary’

The sky, stained red, was divided into many pieces like broken glass.

The trees that formed the forest were left with only bare branches and roots, turned black, and the 100-meter radius was wrapped in a red curtain that no one could pass through.

“Phew…”

I face reality. Assess the situation.

And survive.

I immediately put into action what I needed to do.

“Shiro. Can you hear me?”

“…Yes.”

“I’m going to kill that thing.”

Us defeating it and surviving?

It was nearly impossible.

The Shade Predator is a monster on par with field bosses from floors 4-5.

If I had consumed just 1-2 Sources, I could somehow defeat it alone, but now there’s really no solution.

“What do you think, Shiro?”

Still, we have to fight.

If everyone stays a certain distance away from the Shade Predator, it unleashes area attacks throughout the entire zone.

Since running away means certain death anyway, fighting in close quarters actually gives us a higher chance of survival.

“It seems the space has been isolated by something like a curtain.”

Shiro turned her head toward me as she spoke.

So that’s why she was staring into space earlier. She’s truly perceptive.

“We have to do this, right?”

Yes, we have to.

“So I’ll fight alongside you.”

“Yes, understood.”

We approached the Shade Predator as it gradually revealed itself.

The spearman and the others had already fled after seeing the mint-haired person and the archer die.

Two black arms like thick tree trunks, dozens of branches extending from them, forming a body about 5 meters tall.

Finally, dozens of legs rooted into the ground.

[The Shade Predator reveals its complete form.]

The battle began.