episode_0047

The darkness splits.

That’s what it felt like.

As if the dim labyrinth had grown slightly brighter.

At the same time, the Arachne Queen’s body was cleaved in two.

‘……Han Yuseong.’

Elme looked at Han Yuseong.

A fist-sized hole had been punched straight through his abdomen.

Yet, with trembling eyes, Elme saw the sword technique he had used.

Black Sea—a unique skill only the Orc Hero and the Beastman Hero could wield.

How in the world…?

‘……I understood up to him using Dark Moon, but…’

Risiel, an elf who would later become renowned as a swordsman on par with Vulcan.

She recalled Dark Moon, the skill he had obtained by killing her.

Elme stared at Han Yuseong with slightly darkened eyes.

In the corner of her memories, there had been one swordsman.

A monster who had unified the swordsmanship of all races and stood in their way.

‘……No way.’

She had never seen his face.

He had always worn a strange mask.

But that monster had been the one to bring about their failure.

—You think you can capture the King of the Abyss with just this much? Pathetic fools who’d fold to a mere subordinate of the Demon King, yet you talk so big.

Could Han Yuseong be the same as that man?

‘No.’

That existence and Han Yuseong were similar, yet different.

That being had been the Sword Hero.

But what about Han Yuseong now?

Whether it was swords, bows, or anything else, he was flawless in every aspect.

That man had crushed all his enemies with swordsmanship alone.

Han Yuseong, if necessary, could start by sneaking, disrupt enemies, act as a sniper, and even wield a sword.

‘In pure swordsmanship, that bastard might be superior.’

But the current Han Yuseong felt different from him.

That savage who had abandoned everything—

Han Yuseong, who moved forward with his party, was nothing like him.

‘How foolish of me.’

Elme chastised herself.

To even compare that damned bastard to someone like Han Yuseong.

Seeing Rosenta quickly rushing to heal Han Yuseong, she flicked her sword.

It was covered in Poison Arachne blood.

Their blood carried slight toxicity, which wasn’t good for the blade. A champion’s sword wouldn’t corrode from just a little poison, but—

‘Still, better safe than sorry.’

Elme dashed toward where the Poison Arachne had gathered.

Rosenta had rushed over in a hurry, leaving a small gap.

To close it, she had to move even faster.

—You think you’ll save the world? Don’t make me laugh.

His sword swung toward the party of heroes.

—So die here.

His blade pierced through the heroes’ throats.

Elme forcibly erased the memory.

Right now, saving Han Yuseong was more urgent.

—

“…….”

I woke up abruptly.

Was it the low temperature? The inn had always been kept warm thanks to magic.

Why had I passed out here?

As the thought crossed my mind, I jolted up in alarm.

‘……The Arachne Queen.’

Dead.

I saw it split in half.

But what about my wound? The threads it spat had pierced clean through my torso.

A hole the size of a fist had gone straight through me.

‘……Huh?’

It didn’t hurt.

I looked down at my body—it was smooth, almost as if new flesh had grown.

‘Not much time seems to have passed.’

The analog watch Elme had given me to track labyrinth time.

Checking it, not much time had gone by.

I glanced around.

Everyone else was fast asleep. No signs of movement, the usual telltale signs of someone waking up.

Glasses was sleeping with his glasses on.

‘Does he love glasses that much?’

It was a little absurd.

After getting up, I reviewed the battle.

Up to the middle, it hadn’t gone badly.

But the problem was the Poison Arachne Queen.

‘……Honestly.’

I had let my guard down a little.

Things had been going well lately, so I’d started taking this place lightly.

I didn’t need to push myself, yet I tried to handle the Arachne Queen alone.

Glasses was nearby, so I wanted to finish it quickly.

I could’ve been a little more cautious.

If I’d fought alongside Elme, I wouldn’t have gotten hurt.

‘Did I rely too much on Rosenta?’

Trusting in her divine power, I had thrown myself into danger a little recklessly.

Bit by bit.

The result of pushing myself harder than I’d realized.

It had led to a less-than-ideal situation.

I had suffered a life-threatening injury.

And as a result, Rosenta might’ve used up a lot of her divine power.

‘……Mana.’

My mana was decently replenished. Since it recovered about 50% a day, it felt around 60% now.

—……You’re awake.

Risiel stood beside me.

—Judging by your expression, I don’t need to lecture you.

‘……Well, even if I went back, I’d probably make the same choice.’

Since that thing had come from the rear, I had to protect Glasses.

I owed him.

Maybe “owed” wasn’t the right word, but when the Bone Ghoul targeted me, he had tried to save me.

‘Could I have survived?’

Looking at its attacks and speed…

It probably had a few tricks hidden. Considering that, the odds of me escaping were slim.

As I was lost in thought, Glasses opened his eyes. Then, he trudged over.

“You’re awake?”

“Yeah. Why are you up?”

“Well, usually, I’d be completely drained of mana and pass out. This time, I survived thanks to you.”

“Consider this partial payback for last time.”

“……You remembered that?”

“My life’s worth a lot.”

I truly meant it.

I was grateful to Glasses for saving my life once.

I closed my eyes calmly.

I thought I was fine, but drowsiness crept in.

‘Has my stamina gotten worse?’

Just because I was Level 3 didn’t mean I’d reached superhuman levels.

Well, compared to an average person, I was superhuman.

‘But something still feels lacking.’

The aura I sensed from the Sword King.

Or what I felt from Executioner Princess Lucia.

‘Then again, Viola was Level 3 too.’

The younger sibling from Nation, who had likely joined Rebellion.

She was more capable than expected, but only to a certain extent.

Glasses fit our party better.

If he learned one or two more elemental spells, he’d be perfect.

I stifled a yawn.

Normally, I’d take watch in places like this, but thanks to Glasses’ spells, we could sleep soundly without worry.

I crawled into my sleeping bag and fell into a deep sleep.

—

“…….”

When I woke in the morning, Terrisa’s face was right there.

Silver hair cut into a bob, blue eyes reflecting my face.

Even though she knew I was awake, Terrisa kept pinching my cheek.

“……What are you doing?”

“Pinching your cheek.”

So why are you pinching it?

I was about to say something but stopped.

When I got up, everyone was packing their sleeping bags. Terrisa had already finished.

I sluggishly crawled out of mine, only for Elme to glare at me with a pout.

Why’s she looking at me like that?

“……What?”

“Breakfast…… tastes bad.”

Well, it’s the labyrinth.

Elme gave me a sidelong glance before leaning in and whispering in my ear.

“I’ll keep it a secret from everyone else, so can we do it just for me?”

“…….”

This is ridiculous.

How does she think that won’t get noticed?

“Party leader privileges.”

“That’s not too bad, right?”

Well, true.

Elme was the frontline party leader who handled a lot of things.

She worked hard for the party’s benefit, not her own.

‘But to use party leader privileges for something like this…’

It’s just MSG-flavored food.

‘……It is tasty, though.’

But we don’t have the ingredients now.

When I said that, Elme’s expression soured.

“Then let’s go together after the labyrinth.”

“Sure.”

“Oh, right. The rewards came in this time.”

“Rewards? What kind?”

“Something good.”

Seeing Elme’s bright smile, it must’ve been really good.

‘Finally, rewards.’

I followed the group to where they led.

“This time, I hope it’s something useful for the whole party.”

“Haven’t opened it yet?”

“We agreed to open it together as a party. Once opened, it can’t be closed again. If too much time passes, the rewards inside might disappear.”

That’s an interesting system.

Why does this remind me of past life stories about chicken delivery?

When chicken gets delivered, there’s a sticker on it.

The reason? To prevent delivery workers from sneaking a piece.

Anyway, I opened the box.

There were five reward items.

Three sets of cloth armor, spider silk, and three potions.

Of the three sets of armor, two were for women. But our party had more women, so it worked out.

‘Three potions and one spider silk.’

All the potions were elixirs. From low-grade to mid-grade, all increasing stats by 3.

‘……Why is it the same as low-grade?’

Maybe it scales with level.

I’ll check later.

I examined the spider silk.

[Item] Silk Shooter ◇Thread as hard as steel. Highly elastic.

‘……This is tempting.’

I ran my fingers over it.

It was elastic, but different from wire. If wire could be used as a weapon, this could be attached to weapons or used to restrain enemies.

‘……Well, I already have [that] from the Gift selection.’

In that case, this is useful.

Glancing around, most seemed interested in the potions.

Well, elixirs boost hard-to-raise stats.

Honestly, I’m tempted too, but—

Something tells me the effect wouldn’t be dramatic for me.

Maybe because I recently drank the elixir Vulcan gave me.

‘The party’s growth is more urgent.’

And more importantly—

The weapon called Silk Shooter.

With this, I could do something fun.

And another thing I needed: armor.

Judging by the thread, it seemed as hard as steel.

I touched the cloth armor. At a glance, it was just fabric, but my Thief’s Instinct told me it was special.

Soft, yet capable of blocking most attacks.

But it was a shame they were divided by gender.

The presumed female version was frilly.

“Hmm…… A garment of such refined elegance.”

But Glasses seemed to think differently.

If I was eyeing something like a plain T-shirt,

Glasses seemed to covet the frilly one.

“Then the shirts go to Rosenta, Marse, and Yuseong.”

“Hmm, if it’s such a fine garment, I suppose it’s fine, but is it okay if Yuseong takes the plain one Rosenta would wear?”

“I like the frilly one too.”

“But Yuseong, are you sure? I can’t say much, but I can trade you this frilly one.”

“I’d really rather not.”

I made a face of genuine disgust.

This is why medieval folks were like this. What’s so great about flashy clothes?

“Well, you’d look good in anything anyway.”

Glasses looked at me with a mix of satisfaction and regret.

And so, the cloth armor became mine.

While everyone was eyeing the potions, I subtly placed a hand on the spider silk.

“Yuseong, you don’t want the elixir?”

“I don’t think it’ll affect me much.”

“Affect you? Did you drink some good elixir recently?”

I drank an amazing one.

As a gesture of concession, I held out my hand.

“Then, since Yuseong contributed the most to defeating the Poison Arachne Queen, next is……”

I blankly watched as the party distributed the rewards before turning my gaze back to the spider silk.

It was as thin as thread.

I took out the wire I’d gotten from Durin.

The trap wires were near the entrance, but I had spares.

Holding the Silk Shooter and wire in both hands, I pondered.

‘Time to try it out.’

Previously, after defeating the Bone Ghoul, I had received one random Gift and one selectable Gift.

I had chosen one of them.

‘Now’s the time to use it.’

The new Gift—[Synthesis].