episode_0045

“Kieeeek!”

Goblins swarmed in. Erme swung her sword, killing two, while Rosenta shattered a goblin’s skull with her fist.

And then there was Teresa.

BAM!

She barreled straight into them, relying on her armor.

“Phew.”

I let out a small whistle.

Their ability to handle goblins was just too smooth.

I lightly kicked an approaching goblin in the stomach to disrupt its balance, then cleanly sliced it down with my sword.

“You’ve gotten cleaner with your movements.” “You think so?”

Glasses nodded with an impressed expression at my stance.

What’s there to be impressed about? It’s just basic stuff.

We advanced forward swiftly like that.

‘Seems like we’ll reach the boss room soon.’

Though the location we’re transported to in the labyrinth changes each time, the boss room’s position usually remains the same.

“We got here pretty fast, huh?” “Just got lucky.”

It was because we happened to spawn close to the boss room this time.

I stared at the boss room with hopeful eyes—just in case we could take it down.

“Then let’s head up quickly today. We’re lucky the boss room is right here.”

Erme said with a bright smile.

The faster we descend the lower floors, the better.

Our plan accounted for the worst-case scenario, after all.

“Speaking of luck, it’s been great ever since Yuseong joined us.” “Yuseong, the luck totem. With him around, things get better.”

Teresa chimed in.

Erme nodded vigorously in agreement.

Did something happen while I was gone?

I didn’t feel like asking.

We moved ahead quickly and soon arrived at the boss room.

“…The door’s open?”

An open door—but nothing inside.

Meaning someone had already killed the boss and moved further down.

“Well, can’t be helped. In places like this, first come, first served.”

Erme added after saying that:

“Even if we got here fast, we’re only just strong enough to set foot on the 3rd floor. If we’d been this quick right after the Rustbone incident, maybe we could’ve taken it.”

Back then, we couldn’t move at this speed, so it couldn’t be helped.

Watching Erme speak regretfully, I thought to myself:

‘The labyrinth isn’t so easy after all.’

The strong monopolize these things.

Of course, strength alone isn’t enough—you also need to navigate quickly.

With that in mind, I searched for the path leading to the lower floors.

“How far down do those guys usually go?” “Below the 15th floor.”

Erme answered my question.

“To go below the 15th floor, you normally need at least a month’s worth of food and other supplies. For us, it’s a shame, but for them, taking down the boss is just the bare minimum for profit.” “The 15th floor…” “Beyond that, some stay in the labyrinth for weeks or even months. So every time they descend, they’d need at least a few weeks to a month to recover.” “That’s terrifying.”

I agreed with Glasses.

Even if they spent weeks or months below the 15th floor, less than a day would’ve passed outside, right?

The merging of space and time was truly a frightening thing.

‘This is also why strong adventurers from the labyrinth are rare, isn’t it?’

There’s even a famous story about a thug trying to kill an adventurer in an alley, only for that adventurer’s party to spend dozens of days leveling up in the labyrinth before retaliating.

“That story’s famous, but it’s best not to rely on it.” “Why?” “Because you could get swallowed by the labyrinth’s darkness.”

The labyrinth’s darkness?

It was a puzzling statement, but I let it slide.

Since it was Erme saying it, it was probably best to take her word for it.

And so, we descended to the 2nd floor.

The 2nd floor was Hobgoblin territory.

Occasionally, Hobgoblins here would breed Arachne that wandered down from the 3rd floor.

The Hobgoblins themselves weren’t a problem, but those things were a different story.

We proceeded cautiously.

As soon as the floor changed, the darkness felt thicker.

A strange smell lingered in the air, too.

“Let’s all move forward carefully.”

We advanced cautiously for a while—

“…This is…” “…”

Not long after entering the 2nd floor, we came across countless corpses.

Hobgoblin corpses.

That alone wasn’t unusual, but they had been slaughtered without even putting up a fight.

“Let’s stay put for now.”

At Erme’s words, the entire party nodded.

“A strong party must’ve passed through ahead. To prepare for any unforeseen events, we should stay here for a bit.” “That sounds wise.”

The “unforeseen event” being the possibility that whoever did this might turn hostile toward us.

It might seem overly cautious, but common sense doesn’t apply in the labyrinth. Corpses sometimes just vanish.

Unexpected incidents could happen at any moment.

So everyone agreed with Erme’s suggestion.

I figured I should set up traps just in case.

“You learned how to set traps too?” “I already knew the basics—just refined them a bit.” “You’re really versatile.”

Isn’t that just what a rogue does?

I nodded at Erme’s words and stepped away to set up traps.

“…?”

—Why do you do this, you?

Ignoring Lisiel’s question, I focused.

‘Something feels off.’

A strange sense of dissonance.

I moved closer to the wall.

The unease grew stronger.

A familiar sensation—where had I felt this before?

‘Where was it…’

Hanul’s Nail.

The hidden room in the labyrinth that Erme had told me about.

And when we uncovered the truth about the entity possessing Glasses.

I trusted my instincts when it came to things like this.

But—

‘Some of these hidden rooms abduct people without warning, so it’s best to be careful.’

I should go back and tell the others.

First, setting up traps nearby would be wise.

‘Not that they’re anything fancy.’

Just sharp wires I’d received from the dwarf, Duran.

I’d divided them into trap-use and combat-use, so I set up the trap wires along the path. They’d at least stop a charging enemy once.

I returned to the group and told them about the sensation I’d felt.

“…Traps don’t appear on this floor yet, so it’s probably a hidden room.”

Erme interpreted my feeling that way.

A hidden room.

Hidden rooms were divided into half-floors (referred to as 0.5 floors) and true hidden rooms.

The so-called 0.5 floors were infamous for their extreme difficulty.

They supposedly spawned enemies stronger than the next floor’s boss.

Hidden rooms, on the other hand, could spawn similar entities or randomly generate trial chambers.

We might encounter a Hobgoblin Champion like the one we’d faced on the 1st floor, or a room requiring specific knowledge to clear.

“What should we do?”

Erme asked for our opinions.

“If we’re talking about taking down a boss, our current strength isn’t bad.” “Yeah, our firepower’s solid.”

Glasses and Teresa looked at me as they spoke.

I had to agree.

The Whirling Lightning I used was often compared to that of a dedicated elemental mage.

—In your case, it wouldn’t be strange if your magic was a full level above a specialized elemental mage’s.

That’s what Vulcan had said when I fired an arrow once.

With that level of firepower, it shouldn’t be a problem.

‘And if you think about it…’

Between Erme, Teresa (a heavily armored warrior), and Rosenta (who could heal and act as a monk if needed), whether it was a boss room or a room swarming with enemies, it shouldn’t be too much trouble.

At any rate, that’s how strong our party was.

Glasses had also leveled up recently and learned some decent skills.

“I’ll show you the power of a support mage.”

He’d even said that while adjusting his glasses.

Probably something to boost my firepower temporarily or restrict enemy movements.

Erme wore a slightly conflicted expression.

Her hesitation suggested this wasn’t a place they’d discovered before.

“So, what’ll it be?” “Huh? Me…? Oh, then let’s just take a peek.”

If we can take it down, we should—what’s this “just a peek” nonsense?

Baffled, I nodded anyway.

‘Whatever. If the party leader says go, we go.’

I led the group to where I’d sensed the strange presence.

“Is this the place? Doesn’t look unusual.” “That’s why Yuseong’s amazing.”

Erme puffed out her chest as she spoke.

I didn’t think it was that impressive.

Looking at the wall, one brick seemed off.

I gave it a slight push.

‘No reaction.’

Then maybe the opposite?

I pulled it.

And then—

Rumble…!

The entire wall slid aside, revealing a staircase leading downward.

“Not a moving hidden room, at least. Those are really dangerous.” “Oh?” “They can transport you to other floors. The 3rd floor is fine for us, but if we got sent to the 5th, someone in the party could die.” “Most likely me. In that case, I’d have refused.” “Then let’s head in first.”

Once our entire party entered, the door behind us rumbled shut.

“Glasses, light.”

At my words, Glasses snapped his fingers, conjuring a flame.

“Wait, Yuseong. Did you just call me Glasses—?!” “Marcel, let’s move forward.” “Ugh…”

We descended the stairs.

This time, a door awaited us—no lock in sight.

“There’s no lock.”

Erme muttered gravely.

What role did the lock play?

“In hidden rooms, locks serve a purpose. Whether there’s a lock or not changes what’s inside.” “If there’s a lock?” “Think of it as a seal. A powerful entity is sealed inside, and the lock is part of that containment. No one knows how it works, but it’s semi-official theory in academic circles.”

So that’s a thing.

“Ah, so this hidden room probably won’t spawn something as vicious as the Hobgoblin Champion from last time.” “If anything, that might be the problem.”

Erme hummed thoughtfully at Glasses’ words.

After a brief pause—

“Let’s really just take a peek. If it’s dangerous, we run immediately.” “Can we even escape?” “We can break the walls if needed. Fighting a single monster would be manageable, but some labyrinth mechanisms are designed to kill. Those are dangerous even for us.”

We carefully proceeded inward.

The deeper we went, the heavier the air felt.

Not poison—just oppressive.

—An aura thick enough to choke on.

Lisiel grimaced as she spoke.

“Whether in a good or bad way, we’ve hit the jackpot.” “Probably a 0.5-floor.”

Something akin to a boss room.

The further we descended, the closer the sounds grew.

Squelch. Squelch.

In the darkness below—

Countless red eyes.

And one massive pair among them.

I’d said it didn’t matter whether it was a boss room or a mob-filled room, but—

‘Having both is just bad manners.’

With a tired expression, I turned to Erme.

“…Wanna run?” “Stop joking around! Yuseong, get ready! Teresa, block the front!”

Ignoring my desire to flee, Erme barked orders.

I sighed internally and nocked an arrow, taking aim.