Chapter 10 : Boss

It took about two more hours to arrive at the place where the portal to the 5th floor is located.

There was a base there as well.

How far have I actually fallen?

There’s no easy way to get there.

“Are you a Knot rank? Going to the 5th floor alone?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Impressive. To be honest, when I was Knot rank, I went with a 4-person party.

Even a Steel rank explorer helped us halfway through.”

“Is that still okay?”

“It’s not really a big problem. Only one or two people should be going from Knot to Lead rank.

If you nitpick everything like that, it never ends.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have tried to do it alone.

Normally, going to the 5th floor with a party is the rule.

But I got stubborn and told the guy I was partying with that I’d go alone.

There aren’t many solo players to begin with.

Without mobility-related skills, it takes at least a day to reach the 5th floor.

Sleeping in a dungeon alone without any warding totems is very dangerous.

“So, are you going now?”

“Of course. I met a peculiar person, so it took some time.”

I took a short nap at the base as well.

Not a long sleep, just about three more hours.

Still, it’s better to keep at least the minimum sleep time.

Is it already around 3 o’clock?

“Good luck. You’ll return right after the 5th floor, right?”

“Probably. Is there anything I should be careful about?”

I’ve been to the 5th floor only once before, and back then, I was lucky to land near the portal and walked about 20 minutes to get there.

I didn’t encounter anything threatening, nor did I see the things I was warned to be cautious about.

“From the 5th floor, goblins come out of the mountains.

Other than that, there’s not much difference.”

“That’s true.”

From the 5th floor, it’s no longer beasts, but goblin-like monsters that you can really call monsters.

Their individual combat power isn’t very high, but they use threatening weapons like stone axes and stone spears.

I hope I land close to the portal.

“Here I go.”

“Good luck.”

Rustle –

“It’s a mountain.”

The moment I stepped over the portal and touched the ground, a pile of fallen leaves slid down the sloped surface.

“The portal is over there.”

As far as I remember, the 5th-floor portal is in the middle of the forest.

I need to get out of the mountains quickly.

Luckily, the portal is in the direction going down the mountain.

Better than climbing uphill right away.

“Hmm.”

There’s a mountain on the way, so I’ll probably have to detour a little.

Because it’s a mountain, there are all kinds of ordinary animals without magical power around.

Even though physical abilities improve at night, during the day, the view is wide open, so I’m less nervous than at night.

Other animals are active too, so there are a lot of sensory triggers, but none of them seem threatening.

“I should run.”

Staying long in the mountain only increases mental fatigue, and meaningless all-around sensory alertness dulls your vigilance.

Fortunately, it seems I wasn’t in the center of the mountain.

After about 30 minutes of continuous descent, I saw flat terrain.

Because I detoured around a dangerous path, the direction the compass pointed changed a bit.

I’ll hurry and mark the 5th-floor return stone, then rank up to Lead.

So, I have to climb the mountain here?

The Direwolf should be in the forest, right?

Going up the mountain doesn’t seem like a good idea.

I heard human voices.

The first was a peculiarly husky male voice, and the second was the voice of a beautiful woman.

‘They’re beastmen.’

The woman was a beastman.

Cat? Fox? Wolf? I’m not sure. Orange fur.

The man was…

‘An Orc.’

Typical orcs have low intelligence and can’t speak calmly like that.

Roughly… Humans!! Fight!! Kill!! That kind of vibe.

This must be a human with the [Orc] skill.

“Oh, a human.”

“Good work.”

“Did you come down from the mountain?”

The orc man asked me.

“Yes. I’m heading to the portal.”

“Have you seen a giant wolf in the mountain?”

“A giant wolf?”

“Yes. I heard the Direwolf leader is here.”

According to the female beastman, there was news that the Direwolf leader appeared in the northeast of the 5th floor, where I’m currently located.

Why did I have to land in such a dangerous place?

“I haven’t seen it. I just arrived at the 5th floor. I got to the foot of the mountain but haven’t looked around the top.”

“I see. You should be careful. They say that thing is really strong.”

“Are you two going to catch it?”

“We’re scouts. We’re Lead rank, but not strong enough to catch the leader.”

A scout should be fast, right?

I know beastmen have great running skills.

Surprisingly, the orc has the [Light Footed] skill, so escaping isn’t a problem.

The fat orc’s feet are light? That’s quite a story.

“Well then.”

“If you see it, scream first. There are quite a few people around here right now.”

“Yes.”

As they said, I met quite a few people.

About four teams in total, roughly one every 10 minutes.

They were fast-moving parties of two.

It’s not that dire wolves don’t live in the mountains, but the environment they mainly operate in is the forest.

From the 5th floor of the labyrinth, there are goblins in the mountains, so most caves are occupied by those guys.

If you compare combat power per individual, the dire wolves are about equal or slightly superior, but goblins live in tribes of at least 30 in one cave.

Naturally, it’s easier for higher-ranking individuals to appear, and for that reason, dire wolves rarely share the same living range with goblins.

For monsters that form packs, there needs to be a large group for a leader to emerge.

The dire wolf pack has to go to the forest to increase their numbers, and others probably know that too.

Sure enough, the scouts increase as you go deeper into the forest.

I think wolves might be here, but at least there are many scouts of rank ‘Lead’ or higher around.

If anything, it’s safer to be here when in danger.

One of the people I met said there’s a reward for reporting if you find one.

Others will probably be aiming for that too.

After that, I walked for about another hour.

We got farther from the mountain, and it turned back into an ordinary forest, where thick trees similar to those on the 4th floor began to grow.

I drank water from a grain cube and my canteen, rested for about 30 minutes, and then moved forward again.

If I just get over this low mountain, the path to the portal will be all forest.

‘Bloodstains.’

The blood stretched out in a straight line, and far to the right, it led to a dire wolf corpse.

I approached to check the wound; it wasn’t killed by a human hand.

‘Cannibalism?’

There were two dire wolf corpses with messy wounds.

Looking at the long bloodstains, it seemed they walked a long distance while injured.

Did they fight each other?

They are creatures that control the lower floors with teamwork.

‘Is this about leadership?’

There’s no fight in a small pack.

Even if they fight, no one dies.

Unless the dominant individual in a large pack eliminates rivals unilaterally…

The corpses were not completely cold yet.

Since they bled a lot while walking, it was hard to estimate the time of death.

I stuffed a grain cube into my mouth, chewing slowly, and started following the bloodstains’ direction.

There might be a pack including the leader on the side opposite the corpse.

‘Is it a dire wolf instinct?’

Not just a dire wolf instinct, but most monsters have it—higher individuals eliminate competitors who threaten their safety.

“Fortunately, it’s in the direction of the portal.”

The wounded wolf was walking toward the portal.

The leader must be in the opposite direction.

If I stay here, I might actually run into the dire wolf leader.

Or so I thought.

“Shit.”

I sensed it.

The presence of a nearby leader individual.

I felt it from the portal side.

My body trembled involuntarily.

They were settled in the direction I was going.

The wounded ones weren’t fleeing from the leader.

Were they returning after hunting?

Following the bloodstains was a mistake.

I should have gone somewhere else.

Quickly, I took out my shield with my left hand and gripped my sword in my right.

I ran to the right from here.

There’s one on the path to the portal, so I have to go around as widely as possible.

No, it’s basically too late.

I sensed him, so he probably noticed me too.

If a dire wolf runs seriously, no matter how hard I try, I can’t outrun it.

Do I have to fight? Alone?

‘I got far away from the search range.

There were no scouts around here.’

My whole body cooled down.

My heartbeat was loud in my ears like it was climbing up my brain.

Can I win if I fight?

It’s worth trying.

If it was me before, I’d definitely die.

I don’t have the combat power to catch him, and even if I somehow catch him, I’d probably die from my wounds.

But now?

‘As long as I don’t die right away, it’s fine.’

Like last night, maybe if I sleep and wake up, the wounds will have healed.

I don’t mind getting hurt.

His presence was getting closer by the moment.

If I crawl beside this tree where I’m hiding,

I feel like I’ll see him soon.

The leader is wary of me too.

Yeah, since he’s old, he must have that much intelligence.

All right.

“Phew…”

—tap tap—

I stepped out from behind the tree I was hiding by, exposing myself.

Just as I expected, a pack of dire wolves, including the leader, was staring at me.

—click—

I drank half the water in my canteen, poured the cold water over my head, took out the remaining four grain cubes, stuffed a handful into my mouth, and chewed them down with water.

I didn’t need the pouch anymore, so I loosened my belt and threw it on the ground.

“Damn, it’s huge.

The leader really lives up to his name.”

The leader’s bright yellow eyes in the back of the pack locked onto me precisely.

He’s about 1.5 times taller than a normal dire wolf.

With a big mouth and fierce fangs to match.

Since it was daytime, my senses weren’t as sharp as at night.

Thanks to that, I probably didn’t see so many dire wolves roaming around.

‘Including the leader… about 14 of them.’

Even though it’s day, my physical ability is much better than before.

It’s more pronounced at night, but it’s not weaker during the day.

I lightened my body and moved my feet with low steps back and forth to circulate blood throughout my body.

They’re really cautious.

Still standing still.

“Come on, bitch. I’ll kill you.”

I swept my wet hair back and cracked my neck.

—Awooo!!!

The dire wolf pack started rushing toward me.