Chapter 129: The 12th floor (5)

Chapter 129: The 12th floor
(5)

A
chill ran across my cheek.

It
felt as if I had been cut by a blade.

Beyond
the 11th floor of the fall was the 12th floor where winter reigned
and it was a snowfield.

Ellie
stared at it, mesmerized by the majestic sight before her.

Indeed.
The Labyrinth is mysterious.

Bony
undead and bull monsters lurked in the dank marshes.

Small,
green demons dwell in cold, dreary caves.

Mysterious
portals beyond the current magical understanding of mankind, and a
variety of traps that could hardly have been created by humans…all
of it felt so foreign to Ellie.

At
the same time, it was also incomparably intriguing.

Carefully,
Ellie touched the potion vial strapped to her belt.

She
gazed at the portal magic that filled it.

‘I
wonder if I can solve this mystery.’

As
she turned her head absentmindedly, she saw a figure being hit by the
sharp wind like a blade.

He
had a broad, massive back, supporting a massive axe.

The
man with the strong back asked her to do him a favor.

‘Can
you reveal the secrets of the Labyrinth and study the Portal?’

‘It’s
not whether I can.’

Ellie
shook her head.

‘I
must.’

No
need for uncertain assumptions.

Even
if it takes months or years, the inscrutable phenomenon of the portal
would be deciphered for the sake of the man who had smiled and
stroked her hair that day.

Ellie’s
gaze naturally turned to him.

As
he passed the 10th floor, his already tall height grew even bigger,
so Ellie had to look up at him for a long time.

Every
time her eyes traced his body, her heart pounded a little faster.

His
already perfect body became more artistic.

What
female wouldn’t blush at the sight of such a truly masculine body?
Ellie wasn’t sure.

At
least her heart was beating like crazy now.

Just
the thought of him made her body heat up and her nipples stand erect,
a side effect of the aphrodisiac.

His
gaze, however, was blank.

Ever
since he crossed the tenth floor, he seemed to be looking somewhere
else.

Suh-

Such
thoughts were quickly blown away by the bitter cold of the snowy
field.

He
took a step forward, and the rest of the party naturally followed.

Ellie,
fists clenched tightly, quickly followed behind him.

***

~The
12^th
Floor~

They’ve
heard stories from some of the mid-level explorers who come and go
from Diana’s tavern, but they can’t judge the labyrinth based on
those stories.

“Is
this… the entrance to the middle floors?”

“It’s
bigger than I imagined.”

The
first thing they noticed was the majestic scenery.

The
first through eleventh floors were also spacious, but that’s just the
total distance.

Even
though there were dangers such as mazes and traps, they had a strong
feeling of following the ‘wide cave’ while exploring.

The
12th floor, the middle floor, was a different story.

The
surroundings are wide open, with no cave walls to restrict your view
and behavior.

Most
importantly, there is no ‘ceiling’.

“Is
that the sky?”

A
blue sky filled with clouds came into view and there’s even a sun.

It
was a view they couldn’t see on the previous floors, where the
ceiling was blocked.

“What
kind of principle makes that possible⋯?”

“If
we knew that, we would have been labyrinth scholars. Would we have
been rolling around as explorers?”

“That
makes fucking sense.”

It
was like playing a side-scrolling game and then playing a massive
open-world game.

There
was so much more to care about.

Joy
Hog, our guide, pulled a map out of her backpack.

The
map was quite large…something that big would be hard to carry.

An
artifact map would have been handy, but the floors were so massive
that we’d have to buy our own.

As
with anything with the word “exclusive” on it, it was going to
cost a lot of money, and our party didn’t have the funds for such an
expensive item.

“Got
it. Tsk. We’re a long way from this portal, all the way out in the
middle of nowhere.”

It
was disappointing news, but not the kind of news that makes us want
to hit the ground and mourn.

We’d
be entering labyrinths dozens of times, falling through floors
hundreds of times.

You
can’t be an explorer if you sweat the small stuff.

“This
is the first time we’re exploring the middle floors properly, so
we’ll be as cautious as possible.”

“Good.
It never hurts to be cautious.”

The
party nods at the simple suggestion.

The
environment has changed, but the task remains the same.

Be
wary of the dangers around you, and make your way through the
labyrinth without dying.

“Since
we’re on the outskirts, why don’t we harvest some winter saplings and
winter flowers?”

Joy
Hog chuckles as she pulls out the request form.

It’s
always a shame to leave out something that pays the bills.

Making
money is the primary goal of most explorers.

For
me, it’s a close second. I’ve invested a lot in equipment, and I need
to make money again.

“Great!
We can sell Winter Saplings in the market at the price of 30 silver
for five bundles.”

“Winter
Saplings are used in black magic and command spells to raise corpses,
and winter flowers are also in high demand for their ability to make
your dick cold and allow for unusual play.”

“Hmph,
that would be a good trade!”

There
are many winter trees on the outskirts of Tier 12.

They
are native to the area, so we should be able to find quality winter
saplings and winter flowers.

We
have a rough plan for our exploration.

We’ll
walk up and around the outskirts, looking for winter saplings and
flowers.

With
a plan in place, there was no reason to stand still.

The
party set off on their way.

***

-Swoosh.
Swoosh.

Our
footprints carved into the fresh snow, and soon we were on the
outskirts of a clearing of winter trees.

Winter
trees were different from ordinary trees.

They
were not green and brown, but clear and blue, like the midwinter sky.

The
trees were tall enough to tower over me, but they didn’t obstruct my
view too much because of their midwinter appearance.

“Even
if we cut them down, we can’t carry something that big. Smaller ones
are more marketable.”

We
worked in groups to find the smaller saplings.

We’d
be more efficient if we split up, but this is a labyrinth.

If
we were to be attacked by a monster while scattered, we’d be torn
apart.

Footprints
were imprinted in the snow.

There
are even footprints on the 12th floor.

Since
no one has reached the state of ‘stepping on snow without leaving a
trace,’ it is impossible to erase traces perfectly.

The
more we stick together, the better our chances of survival.

“Found
it! Winter flower!”

“There’s
a sapling to the east, too.”

Jubeel
and I shouted at the same time.

It
wasn’t hard to find, as there were plenty of people to check in
different places.

“This
little tree is worth six silver coins.”

We
carefully cleared the snow around the tree and dug with Bunny.

[Ew!
How dare you use my body for digging!]

I
ignored Bernie’s comment and focused on the task at hand.

Those
who have dug in the winter know how cold it is. They know how cold
the ground is in winter.

-Kaang!
Kaang!

“Damn
it. It won’t work with a sword.”

Jubeel,
who was beside me, helping me dig with her sword, clicked her tongue.

It’s
almost glacial at this point.

I
swung my oversized axe in silence.

-Pow!

Bunny
glided smoothly over the frozen ground.

In
just four strokes, I was able to pull the sapling completely out of
the ground.

“What
kind of power is ⋯?”

“Well,
the weapon is good.”

“If
it were all about the weapon, everyone would have stolen an
incredible sword and lived off it. It’s just that you’re like a
monster. A body that’s not only enticing but also vicious. That’s
scary.”

Jubeel
stuck her tongue out at me as he casually scanned my body.

Certainly,
my physical prowess, which was already excellent after my physical
realignment on the tenth floor, was even better.

I
carried Bunny on my back with one hand. Now I can swing Bunny
around easily with one hand.

“I’ll
put the seedlings in my backpack.”

“Thanks.
The subspace backpack is definitely more comfortable!”

Everyone
has a lot of stuff in their backpacks, so I put the seedlings in my
subspace backpack.

Considering
the convenience of storage and the possibility of damaging the goods,
it was the right decision.

“Oppa.
Here’s a winter flower.”

Ellie
picked a winter flower that could make the cock cold and brought it
to me.

“Yep.
Thanks for the trouble. Give it to me.”

I
took the flowers from Ellie and took stock of her appearance.

She
was in her school uniform, wearing a thick fur coat, thick socks, and
long winter boots.

‘You’re
going to smell like sweat when you take it off.’

No,
Ellie’s face was not greasy after a week in the Labyrinth. As an elf,
she would smell like grass.

But
apart from that, her bare elven ears and cheeks were flushed red.

“Are
you cold?”

It
wasn’t just Ellie, the rest of the party was chilled to the bone.

No
matter how much winter gear and tools they wore, unless they brought
artifact or relic-level equipment, they couldn’t fully withstand the
cold of the 12th floor.

Of
course, that wasn’t the case for me.

-Whoosh.

The
chilly wind that had been blowing at me was instantly pushed back.

Because
the miracle of warmth I received from Serif was working properly, I
didn’t feel cold right now.

Ellie
shook her head, a tongue-in-cheek remark, but she didn’t care.

“Oh,
no!”

Ellie
exclaimed, and produced a small flame in her hand.

“I
can melt it with a tiny fireball⋯”

“⋯Crazy,
how is that possible⋯”

Looking
at Ellie, the harpy mage Lammel was silently amazed.

Apparently
it was not a normal skill.

The
party spent the next four hours walking the outskirts, harvesting
winter seedlings and flowers.

“Seven
saplings and three flowers?”

The
saplings alone are worth 42 silver coins. The flowers are slightly
less expensive than the saplings, costing two silver coins per
flower, for a total of 48 silver coins.

We’re
lucky, we’ve earned half a gold coin in just four hours.

“Crazy!”

“Is
this why everyone is gritting their teeth and trying to become a top
explorer?”

“It’s
different. It’s different.”

Everyone’s
mouths dropped open at the enormous amount of money.

Suddenly,
I remembered the time I explored the labyrinth with Grumpy.

In
our second trip through the labyrinth, we had risked everything to
get five silver coins.

Now
we have nearly ten times that amount.

‘I
wonder what she’s doing now.’

I
was just curious because she had a lot of potential but suddenly fell
off.

I
peeked into her status window for the first time in a while.

[Bonded
Slave: Denshi LV.31]

TLN:
Denshi is her real name, while Kachil is the name she used as a slave
and the MC calls her Grumpy.

The
slave contract was still in place.

I
was about to close the status window when I realized that it was
still open.

[Denshi
Lv.31]

[Stamina:(7)
Strength:(10+2) Dexterity:(21+15) Wisdom:(2+10) Finesse:(7)]

[Blessings
and Curses currently possessed by Denshi: 3]

[◆
Curse of the 30th Puppet]

“What?”

I
look at the details of the status window.

Even
the stat distribution is crazy.

Until
now, I was far away so I could only see her name and level.

“⋯What?”

I
looked around quickly.

The
status window in front of me meant only one thing.

‘Grumpy
is nearby.’

Not
too far away!

-Aaaahhhhhhhhhh!

As
soon as I realized that, I heard a sound that ripped through the air.

-Kaang!

I
quickly drew Bunny and parried the arrow.

A
heavy vibration traveled through the axe.

This
was no ordinary arrow.

I
immediately activated my perception and glared at the direction the
arrow came from.

“Cheruk.
Cheruk.”

A
white-skinned monster with a hobgoblin-like appearance held a pure
white bow in its hand.

“Chhhhhh.”

The
creature stood atop a winter tree, sneering down at me.

“Who’s
that?”

“It’s
a snow kobold!!! All hands, prepare for battle!”

Joy
Hog, realizing the situation, shouted urgently to the party.

-Thump!

The
party instantly readied their weapons.

I
grabbed my axe again.

I’ve
finally located Grumpy and there’s no time to be tied down by those
guys.

‘Did
the party members call Bunny, Bernion?’

The
giant woodcutter, there’s never been a better time for that nickname.

The
snowy kobold has strung up her bow.

-Squeak.

I
grabbed Bunny and prepared to pounce.

[Huh…?!
Yes, you…! Be a little more gentle!]

I
hear Bernie’s whining in my head, and I tighten my grip on the
oversized axe.

Ziying-!

As
I aimed at the target, a crosshair appeared, like the scope of a
sniper rifle.

The
crosshairs darted in and out of my vision.

-Clang.

It
floated in the corner of the ice tree’s base.

That
was the magical effects of Weakness Detection and that’s where the
ice tree’s weakness is.

As
the snowy kobold’s arrow left the bowstring, I sprinted and swung my
axe.

-Kaaaaaaaa!

The
face of the snowy kobold perched on the treetop turned in horror as
the giant ice tree began to tilt in an instant.