episode_0085

Fin.

A rising star among rising stars, he reached Level 3 in his first year in the labyrinth.

Currently, [The Cradle] is in an era called the “Age of Silence”—a time when monsters that once caused accidents centuries ago roamed.

Had the talent pool not been as abundant as it was in that era,

Fin would have received love calls from many clans.

‘What the hell?’

But now, The Cradle’s attention was entirely focused elsewhere.

The Starlight Spiral Clan.

A clan so infamous that the moment its name was mentioned, the guild master and Vulcan’s eyes reportedly glazed over in shock.

The Golden Witch—the clan’s de facto leader.

She had scouted him.

To be honest, he was happy.

It felt like his worth had been recognized.

But.

‘……Han Yuseong.’

Though he had only been in The Cradle for a few months,

rumors were already spreading that he had reached Level 4.

But Fin didn’t believe it.

That distant eastern continent was called the [World Where the Labyrinth Unraveled].

He must have learned some special secret arts there and hidden his true identity.

Being in the same clan, Fin had many doubts about who he really was.

So, in this expedition, he’d uncover the truth.

That’s what he thought.

—

“This way.” “That’s a trap.” “Why’s there suddenly a lock?”

Without a hint of hesitation, he strode forward.

As if walking through his own backyard, he broke through the first floor of the labyrinth.

‘……Something’s off.’

Too fast.

He wondered if he was misremembering the path, but the others showed no signs of doubt.

“Now that I think about it, we were so panicked during the escape back then, but he still found the way perfectly.” “Yuseong, you’re really good at navigating.”

At Viola’s words, Teresa nodded in agreement.

Han Yuseong had never actually gotten lost.

In fact, if there was a hidden room, he’d find it.

The party members who had traveled with him before trusted him no matter where he went.

But for Fin—

‘The labyrinth moves forward this quickly?’

They barely encountered any monsters along the way.

Even when they did, it was only one or two.

It felt like piercing straight through the labyrinth, descending effortlessly.

Fin had never experienced anything like this.

As if he were an adventurer who had explored this place for decades.

He navigated the path with unnerving ease.

“We’re here.”

By the time they reached the boss room,

Fin had no choice but to admit it.

‘His pathfinding skills are top-tier.’

He almost felt bad comparing him to Uncle Hansen.

—

After waiting for 30 minutes, they spotted Erme’s party approaching from afar.

“Wow, you’re still late.” “Hmph! This guy’s pretty fast. He must’ve had a good starting point!” “Yuseong, actually, he started from the farthest one.” “……What?” “Enough pointless arguing. Let’s head down.”

Leaving a stunned Hansen behind, Erme descended.

Hansen had originally served as both a guide and a long-range dealer, which made his services highly valued.

‘……Maybe I should lower his price a bit.’

Before coming here, Erme had made a request.

To show just a little bit of his ability to Hansen. It might be a bit sad for Uncle Hansen, but—

‘It’s Erme’s request.’

He had no choice but to oblige.

And in the beginning, a battle of pride was inevitable.

“You scout this floor.” “We’re taking turns scouting?” “First, we need to determine whose skills are superior.”

That was Hansen’s suggestion.

I liked this kind of competition.

It was straightforward.

Do what I’m good at and surpass the opponent.

That much was easy.

“Five enemies ahead.” “Wha—? You detected enemies already? They’re not even in my range—”

Mid-sentence, Hansen’s expression twisted.

He was looking at me like I was some kind of monster.

“At this speed… you detected them from at least 300 meters away?” “The cave’s acoustics probably widened the detection range.”

Ignoring Hansen’s shocked muttering, I drew my bow.

Squeak.

The string pulled taut. A crackling purple lightning began gathering at the arrowhead.

Then, a thought struck me.

When I mixed sword aura into my sword energy, it strengthened.

What if I did the same with an arrow?

Crackle, crackle.

Black energy coiled around the purple lightning, forming a dark-purple storm that dominated the surroundings.

The moment I released the string—

KRRRRRRRRRR—!!!

A thunderous roar tore through the air.

The dark-purple lightning devoured everything in its path.

What remained was a section of the labyrinth, utterly shredded.

“……”

Everyone stared blankly at the devastation I had wrought.

“……”

I, too, stared at the devastation I had wrought.

‘Wait, why—’

-……Usually, people feel proud after creating a scene like this, no?

The Holy Sword spoke to me.

But I was overcome with a faint sense of despair. Covering my face with my hands, I thought:

‘Even the magic stones got destroyed.’

-……

The Holy Sword seemed at a loss for words.

—

The battle for leadership afterward was easy.

After witnessing my detection skills and my… snipe (if it could even be called that), Hansen declared he’d leave the next floor to me.

Behind me, Erme gave me a thumbs-up.

‘I might’ve gone a little too hard.’

Hansen, on the other hand, looked thoroughly dejected.

But it wasn’t all bad.

Fin, who had been giving off the vibe of a street thug’s lackey,

now looked at me with completely different eyes.

“Where are you from, boss?”

The problem was, he was being too friendly.

Suppressing a sigh, I answered.

“A village in the Western Continent.” “Which village?” “It’s been so long, I don’t remember. The village was wiped out by bandits. I only survived because I met my master.”

Of course, none of that was true.

It was part of the backstory I had crafted after gathering some information in The Cradle.

I couldn’t exactly say I had fallen into this game-like world with no ties.

‘Even if someone might believe it.’

Those kinds of people were the dangerous ones.

Anyway, we continued descending.

Before long, we reached the 4th floor—where I had once teamed up with Vulcan to beat down some elves.

THUD.

A lizardman boss tinged with gray emerged.

“Oh? A boss is here?” “Probably because the upper-ranked clans have all gone quiet due to the recent labyrinth anomalies.” “Hmph! What’s so scary about them?”

At Erme’s explanation, Veronica snorted and glanced at me.

But I was thinking something else.

‘This one’s just a normal guy.’

I remembered the Dark Knight—or whatever it was—that had possessed a lizardman last time, putting us in a tough spot.

-……Just asking, but how deeply are you actually connected to those guys? ‘No idea, but they keep showing up in front of me.’

Honestly, they were a massive nuisance.

I didn’t want to be involved.

Even if I went through hell to defeat them—

‘All they give is EXP.’

The only noteworthy thing they ever dropped was—

‘……The Dark Knight.’

And even that was only because they had killed passing adventurers and hoarded their loot like junk in a warehouse.

They were fundamentally useless to people—just decent for leveling up.

-Hah, to think you’d speak of the Eternal Legion like that. ‘Eternal Legion?’ -That’s the name of the army he created. But right now, there’s something more important. ‘What…?’

The Holy Sword’s words piqued my curiosity,

but I understood what it meant.

Because, with the most confident smile imaginable,

a woman stepped forward.

“I’ve been watching until now, but let me show you why I’m called the Church’s greatest saint.”

Veronica strode ahead with light steps.

Then, she swung her hand through the air.

FWOOSH!

Dozens of spears made of light materialized before her.

BOOOOM!

Like a bombardment, countless spears of light rained from the sky.

‘……That’s terrifying.’

Even I wouldn’t find it easy to escape that.

-Don’t worry. The Holy Sword will teach you soon enough. ‘Teach me what?’ -The Hero’s true techniques aren’t limited to swordsmanship. Hmm, it might be about time.

BOOM!

Veronica finished by slamming down a spear several meters long.

At the same time, the Holy Sword spoke to me.

-The Hero’s true footwork. In the East, they call this Step Arts.

What’s that?

Just as I was about to ask—

Veronica walked up to me, brimming with pride.

“You saw my performance, right?”

Performance? More like a masterclass in wasting energy.

Whether she noticed my expression or not, Veronica puffed out her chest and declared:

“Feed me.” “……Sure.”

Go ahead and eat well.

—

I immediately got to work preparing food.

Nightfall was approaching, and—

‘Is it because there are more people? Or because the overall level has risen?’

To think we’d already be resting on the 4th floor in less than a day.

No wonder people sought out clans.

“Here are the ingredients.” “……You really prepared a lot.”

What Erme pulled from her spatial bag was a considerable amount of cooking supplies.

It was the kind of slapdash cooking I occasionally made.

‘What’s so great about it?’

Honestly, the food here was a bit bland,

and while the dishes I made with the elves’ tea ceremony techniques were loaded with MSG-like flavors—

‘……Hmm, now that I think about it, that’s kind of insane.’

By the time I finished cooking, Erme and Veronica were already seated at the table, waiting.

“Wh-what’s this amazing smell?” “……No wonder Erme and Veronica were so obsessed. If it smells this good, I get it.” “I’m hungry.” “……”

Good thing I made extra for the others.

-You’d make a better chef than a warrior. “……”

I had no rebuttal to the Holy Sword’s remark.

—

We continued our unstoppable descent.

Breaking through the 5th floor, home to soldier ants,

we entered the next floor—a grassy plain.

“From now on, be careful.”

Erme’s warning tightened the atmosphere.

The clan members grew visibly more tense.

The 6th floor.

Every monster encountered so far, along with lower-tier demons like imps, were said to appear here.

Their numbers were terrifying—dozens of monsters swarmed with every encounter.

‘The intervals are short.’

While previous floors had battles every 30 minutes,

from the 6th floor onward, fights happened every 10 minutes.

The 7th floor.

Ape Demons—monstrous ape-like creatures—appeared.

The 8th floor.

Fire Bears—flame-wreathed bear monsters—emerged.

From the 9th floor onward, Half-Trolls appeared.

And finally, the long-awaited 10th floor.

Where we encountered another party.

“H-huh?”

A flustered-looking woman. A glance to the side revealed Veronica radiating displeasure.

Understandably so.

Because—

‘She’s called the Acting Saint, right?’

Standing before us might be the real saint—Clara.