episode_0106
by fnovelpiaStraight ahead precisely in the direction set from the northern lake.
That was the answer the conspiracy theorists found.
Here, conspiracy theorists refer to those who believe that a place called Yeti land exists. They are primarily composed of Grace and a Dwarf, along with 2 male and female explorers.
The claim they put forward is as follows.
Sometimes strange finger shapes appear on the bones on the lake, and if you go straight in the direction they point and reach the 5th-floor outer edge, a hidden area, Yeti land, will appear.
I felt a throbbing in my head, but since the four of them were asserting it so strongly, there was no real reason to refuse either.
Originally, the best way to truly educate such conspiracy theorists is to show them reality.
And if it actually exists, isn’t it rather a gain?
After all, explorers are beings who explore the unknown.
Anyway, with that logic, the three parties merged and traversed the 5th floor.
However, a slightly difficult situation appeared within less than an hour.
“We have to climb this cliff.”
A massive ice cliff was blocking the way.
Normally, we would avoid it by climbing around or going around, but.
“What if we lose direction?!”
“Exactly. After one person climbs up first and fixes the direction….”
The conspiracy theorists, making strange plans.
After sighing, I threw a card.
[Terrain Manipulation]
Immediately the ground rose, creating stairs.
“Oh, oh! As expected of a mage!”
“It makes me want to invite a mage into our party too!!”
The explorers climbing the stairs with a fuss.
I also quietly followed behind.
After that, the hardships continued.
As if this wasn’t a path, broken bridges and high mountain ranges blocked the way, but.
We continued to press forward.
It took longer than expected, but. Before we knew it, we reached the end of the 5th floor.
The end of each floor.
It differs from floor to floor.
Just on the 1st floor, it was surrounded by walls, and behind that, caves unfolded randomly.
The place where I was first transmigrated was also one of those places.
As for the 2nd floor, the Sea of Poison stretches endlessly, so the common thought might be that there’s no end to the floor. But the curious mages of the Magic Tower have already finished their research.
[Blocked by an unknown wall.]
That was the result of the research.
Just like open-world games create invisible walls to restrict areas, the labyrinth had a similar structure.
The 3rd floor is the same. Though if it has a bit of conscience, perhaps it should be said that it’s covered on the outer edge by a giant mountain range.
The end of the 5th floor is an endless snowfield.
As soon as we saw the snowfield stretching to the horizon, we could tell that we had reached the outer edge of the 5th floor.
However, what unfolded before our eyes was nothing but an endless snowfield.
Nothing else existed.
“They said it was Yeti land, but there’s nothing here?”
“Th- That can’t be. We definitely found markings?”
The conspiracy theorists showing disbelief.
“Since the journey has been arduous, shall we rest here for a while?”
“Th- That would be good!!!”
“It’s late now, so sleeping for a day and then going is also fine!!”
The conspiracy theorists poured out words profusely.
I generally understood what they meant.
They were words filled with the hope that it might appear if they spent time here. Well, we had indeed walked for quite a while, so we decided to rest. So, while lightly making walls with stones to create a campsite.
“……?”
Noah’s head suddenly snapped around, and a bird suddenly flew up there.
“Why?”
“It’s nothing. Did I hear it wrong?”
“Well, tell me if you feel anything stranger.”
“Okay.”
Time gradually flowed, and before we knew it, darkness had settled.
In the campsite created with Terrain Manipulation, we brewed soup again and rested.
“This campfire is really amazing, isn’t it? It doesn’t need firewood supplied. Why don’t they sell something like this?”
“They said it was a test product, I think. I heard it’s still difficult to sell commercially.”
As we talked about this and that, before we knew it, one by one began to fall asleep.
Of course, that doesn’t mean there aren’t watch duties.
We started standing watch in the set order.
Of course, it’s not just one person standing watch.
Although we’ve gotten somewhat close, perfect trust cannot exist among explorers in a labyrinth where plunderers exist.
Therefore, one person from each party, a total of 3, stand watch.
Someone might call it an unnecessary waste of manpower, but isn’t it much better than getting all your belongings stolen and dying because of it?
As always, I was on the first watch.
It was a consideration I received inevitably because I was the clan leader and the party’s only mage.
Thus, everyone fell asleep, and I was standing watch with another person.
As it happened, the guide from the Dwarf party was also on the first watch with me.
…He definitely said he was a 6th-floor explorer.
“By any chance, what is the 6th floor like?”
“Ah, the 6th floor?”
At his surprised reaction, I thought perhaps it was something that couldn’t be revealed casually.
“Ah, that doesn’t matter. While it’s true that we try to hide information within the labyrinth as much as possible, I’ll tell you at least, Mr. Evan.”
“Thank you.”
“Ahaha, actually my younger sibling returned safely from the 11th sector this time, and naturally Mr. Evan’s help must have been significant.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that sooner….”
“Because it’s a bit burdensome?”
“…I see.”
He was a person more considerate than I thought.
“I will tell you as much as I know.”
“Then….”
Immediately I took out a booklet containing information about the 6th floor from my bag.
And then I talked with him for a while.
Spending time chatting for a long while like that, I momentarily let my guard down.
Ding!
『Ambushed! Combat begins, draw 4 cards.』
『Energy 5/5』
『Joker Card – Draw 1 designated card additionally on the first turn.』
[Rupture(4)] [Fireball(1)] [Rain(0)] [Wind Blade(0)] + [Terrain Manipulation(3)]
Oh dear, I hadn’t set the Joker card beforehand, so it was set to the Terrain Manipulation I had used before.
Putting aside the regret, I immediately activated my senses.
Then the guide, seeing my stiffened expression, sniffed.
“Something suddenly appeared?”
Seeing the form of the monster read by my expanded senses, I quickly made a judgment.
“…It’s a Yeti.”
“I’ll wake everyone up!!”
Immediately the guide ran towards the sleeping party members.
The swordsman dozing beside me drew his sword.
First, I threw a card.
[Terrain Manipulation]
The power of the enhanced Terrain Manipulation permeated my body, and I quickly summoned a Defense Golem from the sub-space.
“Light.”
The Defense Golem emitting blue light in response to my command.
Then the forms of the Yetis surrounding the campsite began to be seen.
Fortunately, they seemed to be grasping the situation as well and weren’t charging yet, but.
How did they approach this close without being noticed? Did they really sprout from the ground? They were so close that such thoughts came to mind.
Guoooo!!!
The Yetis making strange noises and lifting their thick arms.
Immediately I raised the terrain, blocking the attack.
As the terrain, hardened by the cold, rose and collided with the Yeti’s arm, the Yeti’s body fell back heavily. Seeing that, it seemed not bad, at least for the 5th floor.
I kept moving the terrain.
While pushing back the approaching Yetis, I struck them with the hardened snowfield ground, causing several Yetis to collapse.
Of course, they didn’t die. But at least a little damage needed to be dealt, rather than inflicting no harm at all, so that the Yetis wouldn’t attack carelessly.
And my thinking was exactly correct.
Seeing their fallen comrades, the Yetis were tilting their heads and couldn’t easily approach.
“They’ve arrived!!”
There was enough time for all allies to wake up and arrive.
Immediately I threw a card.
[Fireball]
The flames swirling near my body gathered into a single point.
But then I divided that gathered flame into many branches and shot it towards the sky.
Thus, the fireball split into countless pieces and floated in the sky like will-o’-the-wisps.
Those flames began to illuminate everything around.
Everything shone brightly.
Now that vision was secured.
From now on, it was the warriors’ time.
Luca, Grace, Adel, and other explorers ran forward, showcasing their respective prowess.
When I faced the Black Yeti on the 5th floor last time, it was more manageable than I thought. We succeeded in defeating it without much difficulty.
However, there was something strange….
“Nothing came out?”
Leaving aside magic stones from the Yetis, not even cards came out.
Normally, it’s a given that monsters drop something unless it’s a special situation.
Because of that, everyone’s expressions began to stiffen.
Thinking that something strange was happening.
However.
“We’ve finally arrived at Yeti land!!”
The Dwarf shouted.
Simultaneously, the conspiracy theorists agreed and all began to spin their wheels of hope.
I turned off the reward window for now, and then set the Joker card anew.
And immediately I drew a card from the top of the deck.
[Ifrit]
Immediately the spirit of flame that formed around my body.
I poured a lot of mana into it.
“Let’s check it out first.”
Just like that, Ifrit launched a flaming fist towards the endless snowfield.
And the appearance of the snowfield illuminated by that flame was utterly different from what we thought.
The snowfield was teeming with Yetis.
Of course, compared to the situation that occurred on the 5th floor, it was just a drop in the bucket.
A truly large number of Yetis compared to the density of typical monsters.
“Could it be…, that was real?”
Furthermore, the flame continued forward until it hit something at one point.
There was a small fortress made of snow there.
Seeing that fortress, the faces of the conspiracy theorists brightened, and they finally realized that the information they had gathered was not false.
Because Yeti land was truly unfolding before their eyes.
“Let’s go quickly!”
“There are lots of monsters in front of us, so it’s odd to just sleep. Shall we fight for now?”
While everyone was confidently preparing for battle.
Noah approached beside me.
“…Something is strange.”
“What is?”
“Actually, I wasn’t sleeping. But suddenly monsters were summoned. So when I got up, there were this many monsters.”
“Well, monsters being summoned is… isn’t that just a regular occurrence in the labyrinth?”
“Even so….”
Although Noah felt something strange, until we went there, we couldn’t know what happened, so.
“Prepare for battle!!”
For now, everyone prepared their weapons for the conquest of Yeti land.
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