episode_0062

There was a boy.

Born as the third son of an ordinary farmer in a small village, he lived an ordinary life.

His specialties were tag and climbing trees.

Like any young boy living on the continent, the boy’s dream was to be a knight.

With high hopes, the boy came up to the Labyrinth City with his neighborhood friends and older brothers.

He bought light equipment with the little money given by his parents and older brother.

They slept squeezed together in the explorers’ house provided cheaply by the guild.

He heard various stories from the knowledge given by the guild and from explorers he became close with.

After completing all necessary preparations, they all entered the labyrinth together.

Up until then, he thought everything would go as he wished.

Goblins were more manageable than expected, and Scavengers were scary, but still fightable.

But reality was crueler than expected, and the difference in talent and luck was even greater than imagined.

The first card obtained after catching a goblin.

Save money and use the card.

That’s where the difference begins to widen.

Strengthened friends and older brothers went up.

Immediately to the 2nd floor, the 3rd floor.

Luck was with them, skill was with them, and they were well-liked.

They continued to head upwards.

In the world, people even gave them the name Supernova.

But even then, the boy was still on the 1st floor.

Friends he thought would always be together started to leave one by one.

Some obtained good cards or improved their skills and climbed to higher positions.

Some realized reality, left the labyrinth, and quit being explorers.

The boy lacked skill and luck to go to a high position.

His ideals were too high to settle for reality.

But he didn’t give up.

The boy, who trained and worked hard, continued to climb with friends in similar situations.

After a long time, he finally reached the 3rd floor.

And there, he lost all his friends.

It was a moment.

Only the boy, who was slightly sturdier, survived alone.

It was two years after he entered the Labyrinth City.

Nevertheless, the boy did not give up.

He tried to keep climbing higher to keep the promise to his dead companions and friends.

But the walls of the 3rd and 4th floors were too high.

The boy wandered like a drifter, belonging nowhere.

He caused all sorts of trouble and couldn’t last long even when joining a party.

Meanwhile, the older brother from next door who came with him achieved his dream.

He became a knight.

He heard he became a high-floor explorer at some point, and he finally pulled it off.

The boy met him after a long time.

He thought maybe he had changed, become as ugly as himself.

But he was the same.

He was just as he was seen back home.

He was still a knight.

He handed the boy a gift.

A sky-blue card.

It was a gift enough that if he obtained it, the boy could also go higher.

For a moment, he dreamed again.

But luck bypassed the boy.

Because the labyrinth’s curse was blocking his path.

The curse was powerful.

It instantly raised his skill by several levels.

In return, it stole his dream.

Two-handed sword.

A knight’s weapon using aura.

It was exactly a curse that prevented him from using just that.

The boy resented the world.

But he couldn’t give up the power.

Because it was too powerful.

Saying he would achieve the dream of being a knight, yet using the curse that blocks it.

After realizing that contradiction.

The boy couldn’t understand his own heart.

A time of confusion.

Then, a portal seen as soon as he entered the labyrinth to earn rent money.

The boy entered as if possessed.

Inside, he met a wizard captured by a knight.

*

Faint light begins to enter through the gap in the helmet.

Intense light felt beyond the two eyes held tightly shut.

The polar night is receding, and the light is returning.

Even a country bumpkin warrior could know what that meant.

I succeeded.

I did it.

A strong sense of achievement courses through his body.

The corners of his mouth move on their own, forming a smile.

No matter how he thinks about it, this battle was truly amazing.

Enough to play at a funeral, as the wizard said.

…Not sure if it’s the right comparison.

While the bastard was hitting the wizard’s body, while his gaze was diverted, he subtly embedded chains into the놈’s body.

Normally, it would have been absolutely impossible, but it was possible thanks to the wizard.

These chains might just be a regular middle-floor explorer’s card.

But at least they don’t seem to break.

Thank goodness.

If these had broken, the wizard would have died, followed by everyone.

Thud!!! Boom!!!!

His vision shakes wildly.

Among the many sounds heard through his muffled ears, he heard the voice of the man in front of him.

“Why won’t you fall, you bastard?!!”

Intense attacks mangle his body.

Simultaneously, a warm energy is healing his body.

But that balance was broken a long time ago.

Nowhere in his body moves properly.

He doesn’t know how he’s standing.

But nevertheless, he stands.

Because if he falls now, everyone will die.

His mind is hazy, and he wants to give up right now because of the pain.

But he cannot.

He cannot do that this time.

“Die!!!”

An enormous amount of something white forms in the hand of the man in front.

Getting hit by that means instant death.

But he doesn’t worry.

Thud-

The light gathered in the man’s hand disappeared.

It’s really amazing.

He’s never heard of anyone fighting in such a way.

As expected, a hero who saves the world is different.

“If I could just use my strength, trash like you…!!”

The Apostate continuously provoking him.

He must have been confident when killing people as one of the 7 Prisoners, but now his ugly side is visible.

He knows.

At least in this moment, he can reach him.

Of course, it would be impossible without everyone’s help.

To protect everyone, he firmly plants his legs deep into the ground again, fixing his body as much as possible.

Boom!!! Thud!!!

A strong impact shakes his insides.

He feels the sensation of something involuntarily bursting out of his mouth.

Is it fortunate that the only thing he’s eaten recently is water?

“Why won’t you fall!!!”

Seemingly annoyed, he grits his teeth and swings his fists wildly, then extracts strange souls to attack his body.

Explorers’ attacks fly to stop that.

All of those attacks caused no damage to the man in front.

But they still bought a moment to breathe.

Whoosh.

Haaah.

The speed at which wounds accumulate is starting to exceed the healing speed.

The sensation in his right arm has completely vanished.

Snap!

Similar to Luca, he lost an arm.

Dangerous. I suppose I’ll die?

What is the reason I can endure without despairing even in the face of certain death?

Is it perhaps because I think I defeated this guy in front?

Doesn’t seem like it.

Thud!!!

His upper body recoils significantly backward.

But his left arm, connected to the firmly planted shield, didn’t allow him to fall over.

“This, this…!!”

놈 didn’t make a rational judgment.

If he had attacked the wizard or others with what he used to attack me until now, the result might have been different.

…It’s already in the past, though.

Heh.

A laugh escaped him involuntarily.

“…Laughing?”

The Apostate speaks, as if bewildered.

He tried to provoke him and hold him in place.

But his voice wouldn’t come out.

Sound is muffled.

His shallow vision blurs.

His body is starting not to obey.

Collapsing.

Broken bones.

Melted and blown away flesh.

He cannot see it, but he feels it.

Pain has likely crossed a certain threshold, he feels nothing.

Normally, he would never be able to stand in this situation.

Yet, he is still standing here.

Leaning on the shield firmly planted on the ground, somehow enduring.

If he can just do that….

“…Hans.”

He heard his brother’s voice through his muffled ears.

Seen even through his blurry vision, a reliable knight was beside him.

Is it finally over?

“You worked hard… Knight Hans.”

“……”

To him, a knight was a being who protected someone.

Unfortunately, in reality, they are just soldiers protecting the imperial family.

The knights he saw in books always fought to protect everyone.

His next-door brother whom he saw after a long time, Othlus, was the same.

Wandering the 5th floor to protect everyone.

Adjusting conflicts and stepping forward to protect many explorers.

He succeeded in protecting today.

Unlike last time. This time, he succeeded.

“…I.”

One phrase left in his heart.

Sometimes he resented.

Sometimes he hated out of envy.

But at least at the end, isn’t it okay to be greedy?

“…I, can die, as a kni, ght….”

“Yes. Sir Hans.”

As soon as he heard that voice, he felt as if everything was repaid.

Perhaps deep down, a sense of debt remained towards the brother who gave him everything.

Even the desire to be acknowledged by his brother.

“”Hans!!””

He hears his companions’ voices.

Images flashed through his mind instantly.

These short few months.

So many things happened.

It wasn’t ordinary from the start.

From the Forest Witch on the 2nd floor, never before seen in labyrinth history.

The Treasure Mole on the 3rd floor.

Getting lost and almost freezing to death on the 4th floor.

Even met someone called the Apostle of an Evil God.

It was a short but impactful journey.

Ivan Arcana.

It was difficult because he got on the path of a hero, but he spent reasonably enjoyable and meaningful days.

Sound gradually blurs.

Vision blurs.

“Stay, foc…!!”

Mr. Kailek.

He always forced me into tough training and glared at me with a scary face.

But the contrast between his exterior and interior was quite cute.

“…Potion!!”

Ms. Grace.

The debt incurred from losing to me in the card game, I’ll consider it null and void.

“…No.”

Mr. Luca.

Although he said little, he always took care of me first, I was so grateful.

“…Just a moment more wait…!!”

Lastly, the Wizard.

My motive for applying to the party at first was just a whim.

I was surprised when I was selected.

I was also surprised seeing the level of the party members.

Do I really belong here?

I lived day by day thinking that.

I was surprised when you revealed your true feelings to us recently.

I couldn’t believe it, but to be someone walking the path of a hero.

I worried a lot whether someone like me could walk alongside.

But can I say it now?

Have I become a man who walked proudly beside that path?

The world recedes.

His consciousness sinks into the abyss, as if falling into a deep lake.

He’s not the only one falling here.

He sees 4 familiar faces.

His companions from that time everyone died and only he survived.

Now he can say it proudly.

“This time, I protected everyone.”

A smile graces the face that used to curse him in his dreams.

Now he can close his eyes peacefully.

Goodbye everyone.

It was fun.

*

『Deck has been replaced.』

『Current Deck : Paladin’s Deck』

『Time until next replacement 0:59:29』

『Time until next Draw 29』

“The potion isn’t working!!!”

“If you just wait 29 seconds…!”

Divine power and potion are poured into Hans’s armor.

But still, the wounds do not heal.

『Time until next Draw 20』

“If you wait just a little longer…”

There would have been a possibility.

Thud.

Hans’s hand dropped.

Simultaneously, the full plate armor he was wearing lost all strength, cracked, and shattered.

The front of the helmet shattered into pieces, revealing Hans’s face.

Part of his head was melted and shattered, brain fluid mixed with blood there.

Most of his body was melted, shattered, and torn, lacking proper form.

Like a slime inside sturdy armor.

But thankfully, one spot was intact.

The right side of his face.

Hans, with eyes tightly closed peacefully, was smiling.

*

The battle didn’t end even after the polar night receded.

The knight order and the Magic Tower wizards who hunted the Leviathan (returned to its original form) returned as quickly as possible.

But it still took quite some time.

10 minutes.

The time Hans held off the 7 Prisoners alone with help from other explorers.

Sometimes, he reflects.

If they had returned earlier, would the outcome have been different?

It’s already in the past, so it has no meaning.

But there was one question.

“Originally, the effect of this [1v1] card shouldn’t last this long.”

The effect of a card is absolute.

It doesn’t change based on the user.

Meaning the card’s power doesn’t change just because a deep-floor explorer uses a white card.

In fact, among explorers who heard about Hans’s performance, this story spread.

“There’s a precedent. Cards were originally power bestowed by the Chief God to oppose the labyrinth created by the Evil God. If it’s the Chief God, extending the duration is possible.”

“As expected, the Chief God helped us.”

“Right. Then is Hans an apostle of the Chief God who received the Chief God’s blessing?”

“Does that make sense?”

Originally, unexplainable miracles in the Middle Ages were attributed to God’s care.

Not sure if that is actually true.

People who were offering silent prayers nearby leave.

Only our party members remain.

Luca still had time before his arm reattached, so he didn’t necessarily need to come out, but he came out nonetheless.

The [Lake of the Chief God] in Labyrinth City Sector 0, where explorers who died within the labyrinth are jointly commemorated.

A joint funeral for explorers who died on the 5th floor was held this time.

Today is the last day.

We collected the explorer’s tag located below the photo.

Bodies that form inside the labyrinth cannot be brought outside.

Therefore, one collects the deceased’s explorer’s tag and leaves.

That is thrown into the clear [Lake of the Chief God].

It is said to be the funeral custom of Labyrinth City, washing away all worldly matters and returning to the embrace of the Chief God.

“I will throw it.”

Kailek gripped the explorer’s tag tightly with both hands.

He thought he might slip, but for some reason, he didn’t.

He throws the explorer’s tag towards the lake.

Plop.

The explorer’s tag enters the water.

Soon, the last trace of Hans’s existence in this world disappeared.

We said goodbye to Hans today.