episode_0006

“…Cold.”

A cold body, as if she had been dead for a long time.

After closing her still-open eyes, I looked around me.

Her hands were stained red, and there were red handprints all over the door.

Evidence that she knew I was here and knocked on the door.

‘Did she smell me in that short moment?’

I don’t know much about beast-kin.

But that’s a reasonable explanation for this situation.

‘If I hadn’t blocked it with ice or had just heard the knocking, she might have lived.’

My hands are shaking.

“No, the choice to block it with ice was right.”

I can’t deny that

In the first place, I’m not one to hear well at night.

It’s better than being attacked and killed.

Then who killed her?

The answer was replaced by a strange sound that filled the surroundings.

Scratch, scratch, scratch.

A slippery footstep.

When I turned my head in the direction of the sound, I saw two monsters slowly approaching from the far passage.

They said that the only monsters that appear in this area are scavengers, so those must be scavengers, right?

Their appearance was more grotesque than I thought.

Their legs were degenerated to long, snake-like bodies, and they had both arms transformed into blades.

The heads had human skulls attached to them.

Most of the skin was peeled off, making them disgusting.

‘This is a monster on the first floor?’

The scavengers looked so bad it made goblins look like angels.

Thanks to them, the tension rose and my body grew stiff.

This is a labyrinth.

A space of death where you never know when people will die.

I succeeded in escaping from Jay’s subordinates, so I guess I relaxed too much.

『Encountered a monster! Draw 5 cards.』

[Strike] [Shield] [Strike] [Ice Shield] [Blink]

I used Ice Shield.

Whoosh.

A shield made of ice spinning around me.

At the same time, the scavenger charged, making a strange noise.

Faster than I thought.

I try to block it with the Ice Shield.

Clang!

The scavenger’s blade is perfectly blocked.

Reliable performance.

It’s incomparably better than the Shield.

Besides, it doesn’t end here.

“Kaaaaaak!!!”

I used Strike against the scavenger that dodged the Ice Shield and came to my side.

Bang!!

I launch the Ice Shield toward the scavenger’s collapsing body.

Swoosh!

The sharp shield cuts off the scavenger’s waist.

“Karaaaak!!”

At that moment, the second scavenger came in from another direction.

It’s slow.

Enough to know why they’re monsters on the first floor.

About half the speed of the one I faced in the guild building.

There’s no way I wouldn’t see it.

I drew its blade in as much as possible, threw off its stance, and then used Blink to move behind it.

“……!!!”

Bang!!

After striking the back of the monster’s head with Strike, I cleanly cut off its head with the returning Ice Shield.

The blood soaring into the sky stained the ceiling, and its head hit the floor first and bounced twice before rolling away.

Its body was stuck to the floor like gum.

“Ice Shield, not bad?”

As the Ice Shield emitted a cold air and disappeared, three cards floated up.

『Check your card rewards.』

[Blood Pact (1)] [Dash (0)] [Darkness (1)]

I passed on the unintuitive Blood Pact.

I have to choose between Dash and Darkness, which appeared again.

“…….”

I chose Darkness.

I don’t think I necessarily need Dash because I have Blink.

I chose Darkness because I thought there would be quite a lot of uses.

Same context as choosing Freezing.

But what the hell happened?

Scratch, scratch, scratch.

Kieeeek!!

The labyrinth is filled with screams and monster noises.

‘I wish there was someone I could ask.’

I didn’t see anyone but looters the day before, so I didn’t have high expectations.

I was packing up my luggage.

“Uaaaaa! Help me!!!”

I saw a person in the distance.

A dwarf running while dripping blood.

He ran to me and sat down on an old chair next to me.

I couldn’t help but stare blankly at the naturalness of it.

It doesn’t seem like a looter, seeing as the status window didn’t pop up…

Whether he knew what I was thinking or not, the dwarf took out a potion from his bag and began healing himself.

Sizzle.

As if he was used to the pain the potion gave, the dwarf poured potion here and there in a hard-boiled way.

At the same time, the dwarf spoke to me.

“Are you alone too?”

“Yes, but what’s going on?”

“Don’t you know? Did you come from outside the city?”

“……I lost my memory.”

“Is that so? It happens from time to time in the labyrinth! My friend, you know, got a curse card and regressed to being a baby.”

“……?”

Curse card? Were there people using cards other than me?

But as if not giving me time to think, five scavengers started approaching from afar.

“I can catch five of them alone, so can you buy me some time? My wound is still healing.”

“……”

I looked closely at the dwarf’s outfit.

His outfit was different from that of a novice explorer.

I had never seen an explorer on the first floor wearing more than leather armor.

The dwarf was wearing armor with steel on the joints and other important parts.

In addition, the huge hammer he was carrying on his back was so big that it made me wonder how he carried it around.

Putting all of this together, this dwarf is probably not an explorer who normally works on the first floor.

Perhaps I could get some help.

In terms of knowledge.

Should I get rid of the scavengers first?

『Encountered a monster! Draw 5 cards.』

[Freezing] [Strike] [Shield] [Fireball] [Wind Blade]

First, I launch the burden-free Wind Blade.

A mental image is drawn in my head.

Soon, I found the most efficient trajectory.

Swoosh!!

Wind Blade cuts through the legs of one of the scavengers.

The muscles were cut exactly, stopping its movement.

One out of combat for now.

The remaining four scavengers run in while maintaining two lines.

There are two options.

Use 3 cards with 1 cost.

Or

Use Freezing + 1 card with 1 cost.

But what I chose was the latter.

Because the value of Freezing is overwhelming compared to basic cards.

Shhh.

As I used Freezing, a cold energy surged through my body.

Just as I heard the surprised dwarf’s voice.

I reached out and sprayed cold air forward.

“Kieeeek?!!”

The two leading scavengers were flustered by the sudden change in temperature.

The Freezing magic that even Jay couldn’t avoid froze the two scavengers.

The two scavengers froze in an instant.

But it’s not over.

The remaining two scavengers run, splitting to the left and right around the ice block.

Remaining energy is 1.

Strike and Shield are too low value, so I used Fireball.

But now is not the time.

I can only use 1 card to respond to attacks from both directions.

I retreat while timing it.

Then the two stupid scavengers gathered together and approached in a line.

I used Fireball towards them.

“Hey! Watch out!!!”

Perhaps concerned about me, the dwarf appeared again.

The dwarf, holding a large warhammer in both hands, advanced while using Whirlwind.

Whump!!!

With a strong impact sound, the bodies of the two scavengers were smashed, and blood and flesh splattered everywhere.

I frowned slightly at the sight of the completely pulverized monsters.

But it’s not over yet.

Whoosh.

I launched a Fireball at the scavenger that fell after being hit by Wind Blade.

Seeing that, the dwarf jumped high again and smashed the ice block while spinning.

Then, the ice and the scavengers inside were shattered.

Actually, I didn’t expect the ice block to break all at once.

The dwarf is more likely to be a strong person than I thought.

Should I suggest we go together like this?

“Ugh…spinning around.”

I abandoned that idea as I watched the dwarf suddenly lie down in the shape of a large character.

『Check your card rewards.』

[Water Spray (0)] [Fireball (1)] [Quick Cast (0)]

Let’s choose a reward for now.

Fireball came out again.

First of all, I’m never going to choose the same card unless it’s really good.

I have to choose between Water Spray and Quick Cast.

Both are ambiguous.

But since I didn’t have any water-related magic yet, I chose Water Spray, thinking it might be helpful someday.

“You’re a mage!!”

The dwarf, who had regained consciousness at some point, approached me.

Unlike the coldness from before, his eyes and attitude were full of friendliness.

Mages in the labyrinth city must be rare talents.

“Is it difficult to find a mage in the labyrinth?”

“Oh! You must be from outside the labyrinth city! Or from a magic tower?”

“……That’s right.”

“It’s really hard to find mages entering the labyrinth! They’re busy researching, and there are endless ways to make money, so there’s no reason for them to enter the labyrinth!”

It’s a reasonable reason.

Certainly, I could somehow live outside the labyrinth with just the magic I’m using now.

I’m confident that I can earn enough money to eat and play for the rest of my life just by making ice with Freezing magic.

“……Ahem.”

The dwarf saw the corpse of the beast-kin behind me.

“You’ve lost a companion.”

“No…”

“Dead explorers are eaten by the labyrinth.”

The dwarf suddenly cut me off and approached the dead beast-kin.

Soon, he began rummaging through her bosom.

“What do you mean?”

“It means you can’t take the body to the city. Besides, it all disappears when the labyrinth is reset. That’s what they call being eaten by the labyrinth.”

“……”

“So when you find a dead explorer, it’s polite to take their explorer’s pass and leave. Of course, stealing items is not allowed, but no one cares.”

He took out an explorer’s pass from her bosom.

It’s bronze.

“How did a new explorer end up like this with such bad luck.”

Soon, he took out a small pendant from inside.

A photo taken with a beast-kin that looked just like her.

The dwarf threw the pendant and the explorer’s pass to me.

I took it and put it in my bosom.

But why do I get the strong feeling that he’s passing it on to me?

“Monsters are mass-producing. It sometimes happens just before the labyrinth is reset.”

His subtly passing-over skills are very skillful.

“Well, it’s just scavengers, so I’m not too worried, but sometimes they come in endless swarms.”

“……”

“So how about going to the safe zone with me? Two is better than one!”

He’s definitely selfish, like the dwarves I’ve seen.

He’s the type that will be tiring to be with.

But it’s a shame to refuse.

I thought it would be good to have a vanguard.

Even the goblin hero I met on the first day of being possessed would not have guaranteed victory without the sacrifice of the three people he took out of prison.

There’s no reason to refuse no matter how you look at it.

But…….

Why do I hate it so much?

“I too, think that’s not a bad suggestion!!!”

Seeing that triumphant dwarf makes me want to refuse even more.

Besides, I can see the sinister intentions behind it.

I would have gone with him if he had been honest and just asked me to come with him from the beginning.

“It’s okay.”

“Yes, let’s go together… What?!”

“I think I can go by myself.”

“D, do you really think so? Think about it again! I don’t think you know how serious this situation is?!”

I turned to leave, but the dwarf stopped me at some point.

“You can’t get to the safe zone alone!!!”

“How do you know that?”

“It’s my intuition! The intuition of a long-time explorer!!”

He’s persistent.

While I was wondering how to reject this.

Scratch, scratch, scratch.

Scavengers appeared in droves at some point.

I roughly counted, and it seems like there are about 12 of them.

“Look at this! You can’t do it alone, right?!”

『Ambushed! Battle start, draw 5 cards.』

[Blink] [Whirlwind] [Strike] [Shield] [Charge]

I used Whirlwind.

A swirling wind spread out and tore the scavengers to pieces.

Just 5 seconds.

That’s how long it took for 12 scavengers to die.

『Check your card rewards.』

[Rain (0)] [Wave (2)] [Pyre (3) – Rare]

I chose Pyre.

I’m going to be fighting trash mobs from now on, so I need to speed up the tempo.

To do that, I don’t have enough damage cards right now.

I chose Pyre, a card that looks like it destroys everything with fire just by its name.

It’s also a rare card for one person.

After choosing the rewards like that, I glanced at the quiet dwarf.

“Uh…”

Sparkling, sparkling.

The dwarf’s eyes are burdensome.

Well, it’s natural to show this kind of appearance, right?

A relationship that was reversed in an instant.

It would be foolish not to use this.

“Then…….”

I tried to leave in a hurry.

“I’ll give you all the rewards for catching the monster!!!”

The dwarf persistently chases after me.

“I, I can also find the way!! I’ll also answer all your questions!! I’m an explorer who works on the 3rd floor!!”

“You said you work on the 3rd floor, so why are you struggling with first-floor scavengers?”

“T, that’s… It’s a characteristic of my power.”

Is he talking about spinning around and being dizzy earlier?

Then why doesn’t he just not spin?

He’s still an incomprehensible person.

“……Eish! If you save me and let me out, I’ll make you something in my workshop!!”

A tempting offer.

I subtly probed him.

“Are you a blacksmith?”

“Of course!!”

“What can you do for me?”

“I’ll do everything I can in my workshop!! Just let me get out of here safely!”

“To be exact, until we arrive at the safe zone, or before the red portal opens, right?”

“That’s right!!”

“Keep your word. I’ll help you.”

“Good!!”

A labyrinth filled with the eerie footsteps and cries of scavengers.

I thought I would be traveling alone, but I still have a temporary party member.

It was annoying because I had to take the initiative.

“Ah, the safe zone is on the opposite side.”

“……Yes.”

I turned away.

I almost went the wrong way.

As expected, this dwarf might be more useful than I thought?

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

『Deck List』

[Strike] [Strike] [Strike] [Strike] [Strike]

[Shield] [Shield] [Shield] [Shield]

[Charge] [Wind Blade] [Electrocute] [Fireball]

[Whirlwind] [Freezing] [Body Enhancement] [Blink]

[Ice Shield] [Darkness (New)] [Pyre (New)]

[Water Spray (New)]

9 Attack Cards

11 Skill Cards

0 Power Cards

0 Curse Cards

Total of 20 cards.