episode_0009

“…Do you really have to go this far?”

“Well, it’s meaningless to a mage anyway.”

KWA-AAAAK!!!

My two arms were perfectly bound by rope.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I can’t use magic.

I can cut the ropes and run away anytime.

There’s no way they don’t know that, so the meaning of this meaningless act is just one thing.

‘They’re telling me to stay put.’

“Gerhart’s Painting won’t let you out until you catch the last monster anyway.”

“Isn’t it affected by the labyrinth’s reset?”

“That’s right. So stay put.”

So saying, the knight tied her long hair into a ponytail.

Her name is Karin.

She didn’t tell me her specific affiliation or anything like that.

All I know is that she’s one of the knights in charge of the first floor this month.

Her equipment is full plate armor without a helmet and a two-handed sword.

She then placed the rope tying me in a man’s hand.

“Hans, take good care of this guy.”

“M-Me?!!”

Hans.

An explorer active on the first floor.

He said he just came in to catch a ride because the portal was open.

The fact that he abandoned his party members in the process was a bonus.

It would be lucky if he could pick up a magic stone and get out.

I wouldn’t expect much.

His equipment is a large shield and a one-handed mace.

“A-Are you sure it’s okay to leave the mage-nim to me?”

“He can blow your head off anytime he wants, so be careful.”

“Is that for real?!!”

Hans is making it obvious that he doesn’t want to be saddled with me.

But it was all rejected, not accepted.

That’s because Hans is a guy who came to catch a ride.

He’s weaker than the others, so he has to do these chores.

I turned my gaze to the other two explorers in the front, looking around.

A woman with short red hair and a bear beastman with black fur.

“ACHOO!!!!”

The woman coughed and looked up slightly at the bear beastman.

“Can’t you keep the fur from coming out?”

“…That’s impossible.”

The woman’s name is Grace.

An explorer active on the 3rd floor.

She said she had been waiting alone on the first floor for several days to enter this place before entering the portal.

After several attempts, she finally entered the hidden dungeon today.

“Hmm…”

The bear beastman, a male, didn’t care what Grace said and looked around.

His name is Dret.

An explorer active on the 4th floor.

He said he asked his comrades for their understanding and entered the white portal he found while heading to the upper floors.

He said there was an artifact he had been aiming for.

His main weapon is a greatsword that stands out.

“……”

That’s about it for the relevant information.

The average explorer who enters the hidden dungeon is active on the 3rd floor, so except for Hans, they’re all strong enough.

Smiling broadly.

You can tell by the smile on Hans’ face.

If I came to catch a ride and there were a lot of high-level players, I would be happy to die.

Grace seems to be the same, quietly spinning a dagger around.

But there’s a plunderer among them.

When the three of them came in at the same time,

They entered combat and drew 5 cards.

The reason they haven’t come forward yet is probably because the party members are more skilled than they thought.

But the presence of Karin, a knight of the Imperial Family, loomed large.

“Let’s go!”

The party began to move at the will of Karin, who naturally became the leader of the group.

Karin at the very front.

Followed by Dret.

Grace.

Hans.

Me.

We walked through the ruined city in a line like that.

Actually, the position doesn’t mean much except for me.

They are all melee types.

There are three warriors and one rogue.

I don’t know if the exact name of the position exists in this world, but from my point of view, it seems like the worst combination.

At that moment, Karin stopped.

“But where should we go?”

Dret and Grace are embarrassed by Karin’s statement.

Karin then scratched her head with a friendly smile and said.

“I’m not an explorer, so I don’t know.”

“…I knew something was strange.”

Dret let out a hollow laugh and took the lead.

As a veteran explorer, he began to guide us skillfully.

“Please come this way.”

Following Dret’s guidance, we entered a ruined house.

There was a warehouse full of winter clothes and other cold-weather supplies.

Grace and Dret began to take out clothes and put them on as if they were used to it.

“You may or may not know this, but there are a total of 3 types of [Gerhart’s Painting] on the first floor.”

[Ruined City] [Red Lake] [Burning Battlefield].

“Among them, you must study before entering this [Ruined City]. There are many traps, and it is impossible to catch the monsters that appear in the middle without a specific strategy.”

“What, there’s something like that?”

“Ah, I guess the knight-nim doesn’t know?”

“Actually, this is the first time I’ve ever entered a labyrinth this month!!”

“…I see.”

Karin approached friendly and tapped Dret’s waist.

“Then please take care of me. I’m good at fighting.”

“…Yes.”

As Karin was leaving, Grace, who had already changed her clothes, arrived in front of Dret.

“More than that, I want to decide properly when we’re in a warm place.”

“What?”

“The distribution.”

“I see. What about you, knight-nim?”

Grace and Dret’s eyes are fixed on Karin.

It’s only natural for Karin, the strongest, to decide what share she will be given.

But Karin laughed heartily and scratched her head.

“As a rule, knights assigned to the labyrinth are not allowed to take anything from the labyrinth. You guys decide.”

So Hans, Dret, and Grace opened a negotiation table.

For the record, I, who am treated like a criminal, was naturally excluded.

“That’s a relief…”

Hans was the first to leave the negotiation table.

He must have promised to get what he wanted.

Soon, the two of them finished negotiating.

“I was surprised that they accepted my conditions so easily.”

“…There’s not much to gain here anyway.”

It seems Dret divided the distribution more fairly than I thought.

Everyone can get what they want.

The situation is going so well.

The tension was all mine.

**

Fully prepared, we went outside and passed through the ruined remains.

Dret, who is walking in the forefront, opens his mouth familiarly.

“There are no monsters here. There are plenty of clothes and supplies, so you can take as much as you need.”

“That’s right. We don’t know which of the three places we’ll go to, so we can’t pack cold weather gear separately in our bags.”

“That’s right, knight-nim. It’s Gerhart-nim’s consideration.”

Passing by the remains, we see a huge gate.

The walls, which have collapsed in the middle, make me wonder what happened here.

Passing through the open gate, we see the drawbridge that has not yet been lowered.

Still, there’s half a bridge, so the group crosses it.

As soon as they passed through the gate, Grace and Dret stepped back and began to close the gate at the same time.

“It’s very dangerous if you don’t close this place.”

“They’ll swarm in,”

Familiar movements that show they’ve been here often.

Hans also urgently clings to Grace’s side to help.

Karin, watching the scene, touched her chin as if she was intrigued.

“Is there a lot of information already known about Gerhart’s Painting on the first floor?”

“Of course! How many years has the labyrinth’s history been? Of course, it’s difficult to find information from the 5th floor and up, and even if you do find it, you don’t know if it’s accurate.”

Grace took a book out of her arms.

“There are even books like this that contain all the information about the 1st floor’s [Gerhart’s Painting]!”

“Oh, can I take a look?”

“Anytime. But not now.”

“What the hell is going on?”

No matter how much Karin asked, Grace just smiled mysteriously.

Like a child playing a prank.

At that moment, a huge sound was suddenly heard.

Doo-doo-doo!!!!!

The sound of drums filled the surroundings with a heartbeat that felt like it would explode.

It shakes the brain so much that it’s hard to come to your senses.

But only I and Hans are weak.

The other three were looking in one direction with sharp eyes.

The drawbridge is slowly lowering.

There were countless skeletons on it.

‘Is this the difficulty of the first floor?!!’

Unlike me, who was embarrassed, Dret stepped forward with his heavy body.

“Prepare for battle!!!”

Hans also came to his senses at the intense shout that broke through the drums and picked up his shield.

I also keep an eye on the situation, ready to use my cards at any time.

KWA-AAANG!!

The surroundings shook from the impact of the drawbridge coming down, and the skeletons on it poured down like a waterfall.

Fortunately, I didn’t have anything in my hands, so it was just the bones themselves.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the countless numbers.

A situation that seemed like it could come out of a zombie movie.

Even the skeletons couldn’t handle the large population and were falling off the side of the drawbridge.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo!!!

Vibrations are heard from beyond the gate that we closed.

The sound of countless knocks can be heard.

I can feel it.

The location of the knocking is gradually going up.

That means the skeletons that couldn’t get in because of the gate are gradually piling up.

If we hadn’t closed the door.

We would have been attacked by skeletons from the front and back.

As Dret said, this is a kind of gimmick dungeon.

If you don’t know anything, the difficulty feels like it’s doubled, or even more.

KWA-AAANG!!

I turned my head back to look at the situation at the sound of fighting.

Dret, Karin, and Grace, fighting without fear even with the incoming skeletons.

In particular, it’s impressive to see the bones flying in all directions every time Dret swings his greatsword, which is over 2m long.

The skeletons are unable to withstand the heavy, swung greatsword due to its huge size and disappear.

“…What’s that?”

Something is visible when you concentrate.

Every time he caught a skeleton, the red mana from the skeleton was being sucked into his body.

His body was being healed little by little each time.

No wonder he was ignoring all the minor attacks of the skeletons and focusing only on attacking.

I’ve heard that explorers who have reached a certain level organically connect all 7 cards, so Dret can be seen as a berserker-type warrior.

Next is Grace.

Movements so fast that my eyes, which have not been strengthened, cannot follow.

The skeletons also seemed to be the same as me, unable to keep up with the tempo and were being destroyed.

Karin is…

I guess she’s just fighting casually.

No one can say anything since she has already declared that she will not take a share.

Hans smiled awkwardly and stuck right next to me.

Hans’ mission was solely to keep me safe.

Of course, the truth is that he wants me to get out of his way.

While Hans and I were watching the three’s fight from afar.

Before I knew it, the sound of drums and knocking was gradually decreasing.

The skeletons were slowly disappearing.

It took less than 10 minutes for the battle to end.

Certainly, the party has overwhelmingly overpowered compared to the difficulty, so there is no sense of crisis.

This was a bit disappointing.

I need to do something, so I can at least try to make a deal with Karin.

But that doesn’t mean I didn’t do anything.

I was secretly testing the newly acquired cards.

[Terrain Manipulation]

As a 3-cost power card, it has overwhelming power.

But the penalty is a bit strange.

I feel like the strength is draining from my body.

Is this using mana?

I don’t really know because this is the first time I’ve ever used a power card.

However, I’ll have to see if only the [Terrain Manipulation] card is like this, or if all power cards are like this in the future.

“Don’t you want to eat?”

Grace approached me, who was quietly lost in thought.

She brought a bowl of moist soup in a wooden bowl.

‘As expected of a 3rd floor explorer, they sometimes bring meals to eat.’

I showed Grace my tied hands.

“Ah, that’s right. Ah~.”

What? Does that mean she’s going to put it in my mouth if I open it?

With a rational judgment, there was no reason not to.

Ah-

I opened my mouth, but before I knew it, the rope was untied and I had a plate in my hand.

…I didn’t even see her move.

“Ahaha, you’re so cute, Mage-nim.”

I ate the soup while watching Grace walk away.

The taste was just average.

Exactly the taste I had when I was in the guild.

Still, it feels good to have something warm inside after only eating jerky and hard bread.

We are currently resting in the ruins of the castle.

There’s no trace of the castle, and at best, only three floors remain.

It is said that the mid-boss is located in the center of the castle ruins.

“Grace-ssi.”

“What’s wrong, Mage-nim?”

“Can you show me that book from the 1st floor from earlier?”

“I don’t mind.”

The moment Grace was about to take the book out of her bag.

“I think we should go quickly.”

Dret said while looking at the weather outside.

“Ah, that’s right! The blizzard is getting stronger and stronger.”

Since Grace also agreed, it seems that the situation is not going well.

“Let’s go!”

A brief sweet break is over.

We continue to move forward, braving the blizzard again.

Shwaaaaaaaaa.

The blizzard is getting stronger and stronger.

Even the field of vision is gradually obscured.

Besides, it’s getting dark around us.

It’s not easy to light a torch because of the blizzard.

Looking at the dimly visible compass, we rely on a rope that binds each other together and move forward.

After about 30 minutes.

The blizzard has cleared.

But the blizzard is still blowing behind us.

As if this blizzard was a kind of barrier.

A blizzard blows between the clearly divided boundaries.

Since the blizzard has stopped, we lit a torch.

Then, we see a shrine behind it.

Unlike the ruined city, it retains its original form, so it feels out of place.

“Let’s catch it quickly and rest.”

Grace says grumbling.

That’s because the basic strategy is to catch the mid-boss and rest here.

While Grace slowly walked into the shrine, Dret repeatedly asked Karin.

“I’ll say it again, you must never approach the [Frozen Demon].”

“I know. You told me to prepare for any unforeseen variables nearby, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll take care of him, so hurry up and unseal that statue?”

“…Good luck.”

Soon, Dret and Grace entered the shrine.

It’s dangerous if there’s someone who doesn’t know much about the gimmick.

“That’s too obvious.”

“What?”

“…Nothing.”

Now that the plunderer has decided to make a move here, I can’t let him have his way.

Let’s get moving.

“Let’s go inside.”

“Why? What, are you going to cause trouble again?”

“Don’t you want to see it? The Frozen Demon? You’ll never see it again if it’s not now?”

“…It’s true that an Imperial Knight wouldn’t enter the labyrinth.”

“I vaguely received a book from Grace and read it, so I know a safe place.”

I don’t actually know. Dret cut me off when I was about to read the book in the first place.

“Why are you suddenly being so nice to me?”

“Isn’t that how you’ll let me go?”

“Wow, you’re so shameless.”

Karin kicked her feet twice and then nodded as if she had made up her mind.

“Shall we?”

I entrusted all my luggage to Hans, who said he would stay in the first place because he was scared, and entered the interior.

Unlike the clean exterior, the interior is a mess.

Broken walls and broken windows.

Fragments and overturned chairs.

As if there had been a ritual, there were numerous lines made of red blood.

In the center of the line was a frozen monster.

The biggest monster I’ve ever seen in the labyrinth.

It’s about 5m tall.

I’m sure I’ll die if I get stepped on.

‘That’s the mid-boss, right.’

If he’s this big, how big will the final boss be?

I’m a little curious.

Of course, that’s only if I can get through this place safely.

“Can you release this?”

“Suddenly? Well, I guess you’d be scared if you saw that.”

Karin, hearing my words, smiled and stayed still.

I guess she thought it was just a joke.

“…I’ll release it myself.”

I used the [Strike] card to untie the rope.

“You shouldn’t think about running away.”

“If I can survive.”

“…Is something going to happen?”

Karin stares at me intently.

Only then does she realize that something is wrong and begins to look around.

“Nothing’s happening?”

KUNG!!!

At that moment, a person suddenly fell from far away right in front of the mid-boss.

It was Grace.

“Grace?!!”

Bright red blood, like her red hair, stained the floor.

Crack, crack, crack!!!

The monster, smelling the blood, breaks the ice and reveals itself to the world.

A monster with a huge body and two chainsaw-shaped greatswords in both hands.

Individual name, Frozen Demon.

“Krrreeeeerrr-REEUK!!!!”

The demon’s blade is aimed at Grace’s neck.

“No!!!”

Karin, rushing desperately, blocks the demon’s blade and pushes it far away with a sword containing aura.

KWA-AAANG!!

Karin, who has already disappeared from my sight.

As expected, she acted quickly.

Then, he’ll slowly appear now.

I turned around and looked at the entrance that Karin and I had entered.

“…Why did he come inside?”

Dret was slowly walking over, holding a blood-stained greatsword.

“No, how did you know I was going to betray you! And even that I was going to feed that bitch as food!”

“I didn’t know you’d throw her like that.”

“……”

Actually, it’s a simple story.

Whether it’s a hidden dungeon, an instance dungeon, or Gerhart’s Painting.

After the status window appeared saying that I felt murderous intent and drew 5 cards, I had been in combat mode all along.

This can be proven by the fact that card rewards did not appear when I secretly defeated monsters.

That means one thing.

The traitor or plunderer who is trying to kill us is still inside and has not given up.

Hans is not the one.

He’s not hiding his strength and he’s not proactive.

Then it’s either Grace or Dret.

I put more weight on Dret.

Dret was trying to hide information from me and Karin and do everything himself.

Grace wasn’t.

She was going to show me the book and explained everything in detail.

Well, even if I speculate like this, it was a problem that could not be proven until he committed the act himself.

I thought this was the place to do it.

After waking up the boss without solving the gimmick.

While Karin is blocking the boss, he would take care of the rest and then hit Karin in the back of the head.

After that, he would solve the gimmick and leave the dungeon.

It’s a possible choice since he was confident that he could break through the hidden dungeon alone anyway.

Of course, there was no reason to tell him this.

“…As expected of a bear beastman, he’s stupid?”

“You weak mage bastard!!!”

Tatat!!

Dret kicked off the ground to rush at me.

That face full of confidence that he will never lose.

Certainly, in a fight between a mage and a warrior at this distance.

Of course, you can only expect victory.

That’s right.

If we fight one-on-one, my chances of winning are 0%.

If we fight fair and square.

The preparations were completed a long time ago.

7-8 hours after entering the hidden dungeon.

I had already used all the [Momentum] and [Terrain Manipulation] power cards because I had been in combat the whole time.

[Body Strengthening] [Time Stop] [Blink] [Charge] [Freeze].

I had been rolling the deck for the best hand for a long time.

I stretched my hand into the air.

[Terrain Manipulation]

Crack, crack, crack!!!

All the walls of the shrine cracked and the world shook.

A natural disaster like a huge earthquake.

“Wh-What’s going on?!!”

The ground that Dret was running on rises into the sky.

And the fragments that collapse toward Dret pour down like a waterfall.