Chapter 68 – Floor 10. Moving On Again

Crack- Crack-

The dump truck-sized corpse had become a single log, burning brightly in the center of Floor 10.

The head that had fallen from its grasp had a pained expression as its skin burned black, while the torso spewed toxic black smoke, feeding the flames as if they would not extinguish for the entire day.

The campfire that seemed like it would last for thousands of years came to an ambiguous end as the Headless Ogre’s body gradually crumbled.

Hiss—

As the ogre’s body scattered into ashes, ominous black vine-like growths slowly emerged from the ground, crossing each other in spirals to form a circle.

Then the empty space between them shattered, and as it was sucked into the fissure, it became a hole radiating prismatic light.

Its identity was a portal.

With the magical energy binding the ogre’s corpse now released, the previously inactive portal had activated, allowing passage to the next area.

In other words, there was nothing left to do in the rainforest area, the Maze of Osiris.

I collapsed with a thud, feeling the strength drain from my entire body.

“Ah~ It hurts so much~”

Even though my Health value had fully recovered thanks to the regeneration, the torn wound from the ogre’s blade hadn’t healed.

It wasn’t quite movie-level healing factor, but considering this body’s recovery abilities that exceeded human limits, it might all be healed after a few days of sleep. Still, it was a wound that would require major surgery for an ordinary person.

I turned my head sideways to spit out the blood slowly pooling in my mouth, then raised my upper body again.

‘If they’re going to send me off anyway, couldn’t they do it without the pain? Something like “Pain Sensation 10%!” would be so nice… ugh…’

“I see. I wondered why you were fighting such a monster, but it seems it was a gatekeeper.”

Albert, who had apparently already recovered from the kick to his shin, nodded in understanding as he looked at the portal that had opened behind the ogre’s corpse.

“Now that traitor has completely disappeared, so it shouldn’t matter anymore.”

“Ho. Want to try it? You look quite exhausted, monster.”

As the two started growling at each other again, I pressed my forehead.

Would they be quieter if I beat them both up? But I probably couldn’t win in this state, so I decided to put aside violence as a means of peace for now.

I stepped between them as they pointed their sword and spear at each other, grabbing the tips. The cold weapon edges were quite unsettling, but these two were warriors who had reached the pinnacle of their craft after fighting their whole lives, despite their different paths.

In terms of proficiency, they were masters who couldn’t be compared to me, a fresh newbie who had only entered the battlefield a month ago.

They wouldn’t make mistakes with something like this.

“I get that you both want to stab each other in the gut, but I don’t want to see that, okay? If you don’t want to fight me too, put those away.”

“…Hmm. Is that so?”

“Grrrr… Human, know that you still have a neck thanks to me.”

“Of course.”

Blue Tongue’s eyes began to glow fiercely, but she seemed unwilling to fall for the provocation and took a deep breath.

Although I couldn’t help but sigh, the atmosphere of imminent mortal combat had eased somewhat, so I snapped my fingers telling them to lower their blades, then took out bandages from my backpack and began emergency treatment, wrapping my wound.

“Right… I should thank you first. I would have died without your help, old man.”

“Is that supposed to be gratitude…?”

“Do you know how much trouble I went through because you stirred up both the orcs and lizards? I was planning to take you to the Chamber of Truth if you were alive, but since you saved me, I’ll let it slide.”

Albert looked puzzled, not understanding what I meant by the Chamber of Truth, but I ignored him and tightly bound the wound with the bandage.

A distant pain shot up my spine, but this much was necessary.

“Why are you so hostile?”

“Isn’t it natural? How could humans associate with monsters?”

I turned my head away with a disgusted expression as Albert casually made discriminatory remarks.

‘Are all humans here racists…? With Severa retired, there’s no one to ask…’

Without Severa-wiki’s help, it seemed that every human in this world was a fucking racist.

“Um… I’m not sure why you’re looking at me like that. These different species of monsters are humanity’s enemies who prey on humans, so isn’t it natural to be hostile? Rather, your reaction is the strange one.”

“My kind has never eaten humans!”

“Yes, I’m sure. Since humans who come to this remote place all have confidence in their own strength. It would be better to hunt animals than to hunt those humans.”

It seemed to be a deeply rooted issue.

‘Ah… what a hassle.’

***

While facing the Headless Ogre, I realized something.

I was pathetic.

More precisely, since I couldn’t calculate with sufficient time like when playing a game, and couldn’t move according to commands, I was naturally weaker than a player character.

It was inevitable since I wasn’t a program that moved according to probabilities.

Considering that even with a program that produces results based on probability, excluding human errors, the journey ahead would be difficult—what could someone like me, who couldn’t even match that, possibly do?

This thought had strongly occurred to me after allowing a strike I should have easily avoided while recklessly trying to match the ogre’s combination.

“I rather don’t understand why you associate with these monsters. It would leave a bad taste if a promising young man like yourself got eaten unnecessarily.”

Looking at Albert, who had been provoking and drawing aggro since earlier, I let out a deep sigh.

“You did say you wanted to become a hero.”

“Hmm, that’s right. That’s why I followed you.”

Albert was smoking a pipe he had found somewhere while cleaning his daggers, which were covered with the ogre’s rotten flesh, using an oiled cloth.

“In my active days, I was a Royal Guard serving at the royal palace. A knight admired by all, protecting noble blood and defeating foreign enemies! Although I was expelled due to an unfortunate incident, I was still able to return to my hometown of White Chamber and lead the youngsters.”

“And such a great person was exiled for a crime?”

“It was a mistake. A trivial thing that anyone human would commit, something that happens because we are human.”

It sounded like a criminal’s excuse no matter how I thought about it, and I was curious what kind of accident would lead to exile for just a “mistake,” but I decided to remain silent for now.

Albert’s body twitched as if excited as he continued his story.

“One day in peaceful White Chamber, a monster invaded. It had large ears, sharp claws, and eyes that seemed to have been heated in sulfur. The guards had grown lax and were asleep, and I was tired after drinking heavily the night before. Nevertheless, I was fulfilling my duty as a guard. And as if to prove it, the monster lost its life to my sword.”

The light reflected off the blade gleamed coldly.

“I protected many people. I just failed to protect one person.”

His eyes showed lingering attachment, but his face showed no regret, which felt strangely contradictory.

Blue Tongue also couldn’t hide her skepticism at Albert’s words but listened quietly while flicking her blue tongue.

“It was the mayor’s wife I failed to protect. I should have protected that one person even if many others died, but I did the opposite, so the mayor condemned me. Overnight, a respected knight became a fraud who couldn’t even properly guard someone.”

“I can picture what happened next.”

“Well… it’s not a complicated story. The mayor, in his anger, issued an exile order to kill me, and my name will remain a dishonor to White Chamber.”

The old knight’s eyes looked straight at me.

“That’s why I’ve joined your path to become a hero. My body is already old, my mind eroded, and my honor has fallen to the ground—I can’t become a hero myself, but if you truly become a hero and leave your mark in history, I might at least be remembered as your guide.”

“That’s a truly foolish method.”

“Getting old, I couldn’t think of any other way. And you’re quite the monster yourself.”

Albert, who had now cleaned all the filth off his daggers until they shone, put them back in his holster and stood up.

Then he began walking as if to pass through the portal.

“Wait a moment.”

“What is it?”

According to Albert’s words, he intended to continue following me. Although he seemed to have gone through great trouble in the Maze of Osiris, his demeanor suggested it didn’t matter to him, and the fact that he was still alive despite that indicated he would be helpful for the journey ahead.

“I’ll tell you about the next area.”

If I couldn’t do it alone, there was no need to be stubborn.

***

I told him about the next area and what to be careful of, so he should manage well enough.

With that, Albert walked into the portal and disappeared, leaving me and Blue Tongue behind.

Still in a bad mood, her tail tapped the ground, causing dirt to fly up and fall back down.

“…I should get going too.”

There was no reason to remain in the rainforest any longer.

“You’re leaving, human?”

“Yeah, thanks for everything.”

Though it was brief, Blue Tongue had helped me a lot. When retrieving my backpack, when fighting Alraune, and during the battle with the Headless Ogre, she had risked her life.

I wanted to reward her somehow, but my backpack—once bulging after thoroughly looting the goblin and fusion entity—was now slim, and I had nothing left to give.

It was slightly embarrassing, but I needed to be thick-skinned here.

“So you’ll never return?”

“Probably not. I told you from the beginning that I was doing this to get home. Besides, I don’t know how to return via portal.”

I deliberately didn’t mention that there was a high probability I could die. Blue Tongue probably already knew that.

Blue Tongue’s eyes stared fixedly at the portal.

The prismatic light reflecting in her sharply slit pupils flickered from the portal.

“I see.”

With this simple farewell, I slowly walked toward the portal.

The ashes of the ogre’s corpse made crunching sounds like freshly fallen snow, leaving footprints.

Crunch- Crunch- Crunch- Crunch-

The portal slowly burning with prismatic colors. Once I cross it, that guy would be waiting.

And just as I reached out my hand.

“Human!”

Blue Tongue’s voice called me. When I turned around, Blue Tongue was making a “grrrr” sound as she smiled.

“Then I will follow you.”

“What?”

“I was thinking, the green-skinned competitor is gone, the Flower King is gone, and even the traitor is dead, so there’s no major threat to the village anymore.”

Thinking about it, that was certainly true. The lizard village was probably more prosperous now than it had been since establishing itself in the Maze of Osiris.

“The village no longer needs a great warrior, so I decided to quit. With nothing left to do… human, following you seems more fun.”

[The Lizard Great Warrior, Blue Tongue, wants to join your journey.]

[Y/N]

“Uh…”

I pursed my lips at this text I was seeing for the first time.

***

“Oh- This time it’s fas—”

Thwack—!

With a surprise punch, ㅇㅇ(112.311)’s face was smashed as the sofa flipped backward, spilling nosebleed onto the pure white floor.

I like it! I’m happy!