Chapter 36: I want to go to the second floor (8)

Chapter 36: I want to go to
the second floor (8)

Gregor
the Lizardgirl shuddered at the sight before her.

A
man in a helmet, the inn’s part-timer, and the male who had caused
her so much heartache.

Ever
since her defeat in the arm wrestling match, Gregor had been working
to sharpen her scales.

Turning
down offers to join smaller clans, she traveled to the lower levels
of the Labyrinth to become stronger.

A
chance encounter gave her the opportunity to join a party on the
seventh floor as a porter, giving her a taste of higher-level combat.

However,
the man had reached the fifth floor, a place that had been ghastly
and frightening to begin with.

“No,
why is he here, and all alone?”

Jubeel,
the bovinegirl, sounded puzzled. She was always drunkenly slurping
milk at Diana’s inn.

“It
doesn’t matter, he’s too badly hurt.”

Hitolis,
the catgirl, examined Balkan’s thighs and his entire body.

“It’s
not a wound that can be healed with a lowly potion. I’ve used up the
water I brought from the fountain, and I’ll have to wait a while
before I can use my healing miracles.”

“⋯I
don’t think he’ll be able to hold out until then.”

Dwarf
Joy Hog muttered with a serious face.

He
was still breathing, but he didn’t know when his heart would stop
beating, and his consciousness was fuzzy.

“I’ll
use the ⋯fountain
travel scroll.”

Gregor,
the porter, said through gritted teeth. Everyone in the Joy Hog party
glanced over.

“No.
What do you mean, Gregor?”

The
Fountain. Even in a labyrinth of mysteries, its presence was unique.

The
fountains, which exist only at the edges of floors that are multiples
of 5, gushed forth the same kind of mystical healing water that
potions are based on.

Like
the safe zone on level 15, this gimmick is uniquely beneficial to
explorers in the Labyrinth.

Some
explorers have gone so far as to call the Fountain the conscience of
the Labyrinth.

It’s
as if the fountain is the conscience of the Labyrinth, placed with
the explorer in mind as the difficulty of the Labyrinth increases
exponentially every 4 levels.

It’s
not unreasonable for some explorers to think so.

“Do
you even know how much a Fountain Travel Scroll costs? A mystical
scroll that can only be used on multiples-of-5 floors! A precious
relic that opens a portal beyond human understanding! Do you even
know how valuable that is?”

That
was because of the existence of the Fountain Travel Scroll.

The
Fountain Travel Scroll is exactly what it sounds like: a scroll that
opens a portal to the Fountain.

And
the Fountain is at the end of the floor. At the end of a floor, there
is an ascending portal and a descending portal.

This
means that you can skip a floor that is a multiple of 5, which has a
different environment and difficulty than the other floors.

As
an added bonus, the lukewarm fountains provide healing.

The
Fountain Travel Scroll was the one and only miraculous relief for a
weary explorer in a labyrinth of blood and terror.

“But
that’s only worth one silver coin⋯!”

“Yes,
one silver coin. It’s a penny to us. Nice idea, Gregor.”

And
the price of such a miracle scroll was only one silver coin, because
there were too many of them.

Fountain
Travel Scrolls are scattered throughout the multiples of five floors
and strangely enough there were a lot of them.

As
a result, few explorers, like Joy Hog’s party, bother to properly
explore the fifth floor unless they have a specific goal in mind,
such as obtaining Shaman Hobgoblin’s staff.

Not
to mention that the fifth floor is more difficult than the 6th and
7^th
floors.

The
5^th
floor it’s a zone that the vast majority of explorers pass through,
it’s too expensive for top explorers, too dangerous for beginner
explorers, and there’s no reason to go.

Even
a party without enough money can find the Fountain Travel Scroll if
they search the passageway at the entrance to the monster village.

Tear
the scroll, go to the fountain, and leave the fifth floor.

Often,
however, explorers are captured by the beasts.

“Either
they were too inexperienced and got caught while searching the
entrance, or they fell into a transition trap.”

“⋯I’m
guessing it’s the latter.”

The
Joy Hog Party speculated that Balkan had fallen through a transition
trap and landed on the fifth floor.

“He’s
pretty unlucky, I’ve been an explorer for three years and I’ve never
fallen into a transition trap.”

“You’re
the lucky one. You cow-bitch.”

“Both
of you. Enough small talk, let’s go.”

-Boom!

Priest
Hitolis tore open the Fountain Travel Scroll, and a portal that
glowed yellow appeared.

Fountain
Travel Scrolls were a necessity for explorers aiming for the fifth
floor or higher, so naturally, Joy Hogg’s party had a spare.

“If
we can get the inn’s mascot for a single silver coin, we’ll have a
surplus.”

“I’ll
have to ask the innkeeper for a cold ale later.”

Bovinegirl
Jubeel said, and lifted Balkan to his feet.

The
Joy Hog Party all joined hands and crossed the portal to the
fountain.

As
soon as they crossed the fountain portal, they noticed three changes:
First, the landscape.

They
were suddenly standing inside a giant circular fountain.

The
healing water spewing from the fountain instantly restored their
exhausted bodies.

“Chit.
No.”

“Well,
they said they were just up on the second floor, so there’s no way
they had the scroll for the fountain. He must have searched on the
fifth floor. Mmm. Good.”

Second,
the seven reformed explorers they saw last time, standing guard in
front of the fountain.

They
didn’t think much of it because it was a common occurrence up until
this point, but the third change was a bit disconcerting.

“⋯No.
Where’s the kid?”

Jubeel
muttered in a panicked voice.

He
should have been recognized as part of the party and crossed the
portal with them, but he was nowhere to be seen in the fountain.

***

The
world was dazzling. I was standing in the light now.

‘No,
am I lying down?’

I
don’t really know. My senses are not intact. But

‘⋯It’s
warm.’

It
didn’t really matter whether I was standing or lying down; right now,
I just wanted to feel this warmth a little longer.

As
my vision gradually blurred, a nostalgic memory came back to me.

–
Hey, brother. Put your head here. Here.

–
Why do you want me to put my head on your thigh when there’s a
perfectly good pillow?

–
Oh, just hurry up. It’s because I’m grateful to you. It’s the only
thing I can do for you.

It
was the day I went to visit my sister So-eun after work as usual.

She
kept patting her thighs, and I buried my head in her soft, smooth
thighs.

Then
I felt a hand stroking my hair, warm, slender, fine fingers gently
running through my hair.

–
Thank you, always. Big brother.

My
heart swelled with the words. At least I’m not doing something stupid
right now.

I
never dreamed of anything big in life, just a simple happy life.

At
the very least, I was happy enough to have a warm house, a healthy
sister, and no hunger pangs.

That
was a day before the trip to the Labyrinth.

‘Ah.’

I
woke up a bit. Yes. I’m in the Labyrinth now.

I
blinked back tears, and a pure white light pierced through my
slightly blurred vision.

“⋯?”

I
tried to look around, but my head wouldn’t move, so I just stared
straight ahead.

I
was lying in the white, dazzling, beautiful, warm light but the area
of light was too small.

The
area outside the light was filled with darkness.

It
was as if the light had been forced into the darkness and I was in
the light.

I
don’t know how this happened but somehow, I remembered a nightmare I
had once.

A
world of darkness, with the tiniest bit of light in it.

And
it smiled at me.

“So-eun.

–
Sigh.

Something
warm stroked my lying head.

A
very familiar touch that contained longing and affection.

Slowly,
I turned my head and saw a [being] bathed in light.

It
was offering me a lap pillow and stroking my hair.

I
don’t know if it was because the light was so dazzling or because I
felt it instinctively.

I
intuitively knew that the being in front of me was something
transcendent, far beyond my perception and understanding.

But
I wasn’t afraid or terrified of it.

There
was not even a hint of malice in the hand that swept through my hair.

“-“

Who
are you?

I
wanted to say, but my mouth moved, but no voice came out.

The
being wrapped in light responded slightly.

It
seemed to smile slightly, but the light was too intense to make it
out clearly.

Then
its mouth opened slightly. Again, this was only speculation.

[■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■]

I
could tell that it was trying to communicate something to me but I
couldn’t make it out clearly, partly because the voice sounded
complex, as if it were an amalgamation of the sounds and languages of
many creatures, and partly because it was full of noise.

[5
of ■■
■■■
Dangerous for ■■.
Special for ■■.]

But
I strained my ears to make out even a fraction of the voice.

And
then, just a little, just a little, as if my ears had been opened, I
could make out the being’s words.

But,

Immediately,
the light-filled realm began to shake uneasily.

The
darkness seemed ready to tear the realm of light apart at a moment’s
notice.

The
being enveloped in light grew impatient.

The
being began to do something I couldn’t recognize, and in an instant I
was plunged into darkness and began to move away from the area of
light.

My
body didn’t move an inch but as hard as I could, I forced myself to
move and reach for the light.

It
was instinctive. I wanted to feel a little more of that nostalgic
warmth.

The
darkness grew closer and the light receded.

I
struggled in the darkness again, trying to move toward the light but
it was a pointless struggle. I didn’t have the strength to push
through the darkness yet.

In
the distant light, the being spoke.

[I
am sorry. ■■]

***

“Tsk.
Well. I didn’t think you’d make it this far.”

Derucio
clicked her tongue in relief.

What
had she been so afraid of?

“Oh,
yeah. He was nothing more than a weakling to begin with, a weak guy
who used his body to ambush me.

Although
she was caught off guard and wounded, if she had been alert, she
would have been able to handle him.

Is
that all? She would have overpowered him, kidnapped him, and fucked
him all the way around the labyrinth.

She
was confident that she could traumatize him and even just catching a
whiff of a woman’s scent could trigger his trauma

“⋯⋯”

But
Derucio was thinking to herself.

‘⋯Then,
how do I explain how that bastard easily subdued two
of my men?’

Even
if they were weaker than her, they were still capable on their own.
Yet, they almost got their heads chopped off before they could even
react.

An
unexplainable feeling of anxiety rose up inside her.

If
she really thought the man was weak, there was no reason for her to
be so wary now.

The
game was over by the time she hit the fifth floor transition trap and
he fell to the fifth floor alone.

It
would have been over if she’d just ripped up the Fountain Travel
Scroll, healed her wounds, and gone about her business as usual.

But
Derucio didn’t.

No,
she couldn’t.

She
sat at the fountain, anxiety bubbling inside her, waiting for ‘the
one’ to get here.

Waiting
for him to break through the fifth floor, to reach the end of the
tier, and then kill him.

But
now the wait is over.

‘It’s
impossible.’

Derucio
had concluded after two days of deliberation.

No
matter how she thought about it, the odds of a beginner explorer
falling to the fifth floor alone and coming back alive were zero.

“Let’s
go! What are you doing?”

It
was eerily quiet around her.

No
subordinates who would have followed at the sound of her voice, no
party that had just come to the fountain.

They
were staring blankly in the middle of nowhere.

‘⋯What?’

Derucio’s
gaze naturally shifted upward as well.

She
opened her mouth in confusion.

“What⋯?”

At
the top of the fountain, the highest point of the fifth floor of the
Labyrinth, a man wrapped in a blinding light was falling like a
meteor.