episode_0125

In the blink of an eye, 15 days passed.

During that time, it was just eat hunt eat hunt eat hunt infinite repetition.

There was also a labyrinth reset in the middle. As expected, this place was not affected.

It feels like a kind of safe zone.

We also wandered around the 6th floor for a few days, but.

Beyond imagination, various monsters existed on the 6th floor.

From volcanic moles existing in the 6th floor underground zone, to strange frogs that rain poison-like rain. To hot spring monkeys that come out of hot springs.

So on the first day, it was not easy.

If Noah hadn’t been there, we might have given up in the middle.

Still, we did some card farming during the first day.

As we adapted to the monsters.

From the next day, it became quite manageable.

However.

[Then I’ll send twice the amount!!]

[We should do this much, right?]

Due to the sudden monster double event by the twin black mages saying that, we almost had a difficult outcome.

To the point where even Noah was worn out by the time night fell.

But thanks to that, it seems like our teamwork got better and better.

The next day, we could finish more smoothly than the day before.

However, there was a brief commotion in the middle when Luca, who lost focus, was seriously injured.

From that day until now, the 15th day.

We consistently fought monsters for 16 hours a day.

No matter how much humans get stronger by engraving cards.

As we fought like this, we naturally couldn’t help but get stronger little by little.

And we could gain many things, not just combat experience.

First of all, although I strengthened all 3 of my decks.

Because we hunted monsters almost without rest, we could obtain magic stones, cards, and even rare artifacts.

“Wow- we earned this much? Seeing this makes the hard work feel a little better.”

Grace drooled as she looked at the magic stones piled up to my waist height and the brilliantly shining cards.

“With this much, we could just quit being explorers and live off the money we split from this for the rest of our lives, couldn’t we?”

“That’s why there are actually very few explorers who go up to the high floors.”

“Indeed, they say even earning normally on the 3rd floor is enough until old age.”

“It’s not for nothing that talented people from the continent gather in the labyrinth city to become explorers.”

“If I wasn’t something like a main god’s apostle, I’d just push hard for a month and live pompously in a comfortably relaxed place.”

“I suppose so.”

“…Speaking of which.”

I looked at Grace, who was beside me, and said.

“Are you going to go further up?”

“I also actually want to finish my life earning a decent amount on the 5th-6th floors. Well, I’ll just follow wherever Mr. Ivan goes. After all, we’re partners now, aren’t we?”

It felt like Grace valued our connection more.

By the way, I suddenly became curious.

Although we initially gathered only people with the will to go higher.

If one can earn this much money, wouldn’t it be better to just push hard and then retire?

First, Noah naturally can’t retire because an evil god is chasing her.

As for Kailek.

“Naturally, I must aim for the strongest. As long as I was born, I must see the end.”

A barbarian-like reaction.

As expected, I knew Kailek wouldn’t be broken at all.

Next is Luca.

“Beast-kin who have gained wildness must become strong even for their own kind. …Although it is difficult.”

Although he seemed a bit tired, he will naturally be with us.

Lastly, there’s Adele.

When she first joined the clan, she was full of enthusiasm and said she was aiming for the high floors.

Perhaps in a situation like this, one’s heart can waver.

I approached Adele, who was resting in the corner.

“Ah, Ivan.”

Adele, who still felt a bit awkward although we had started speaking informally.

Because Grace, Noah, and Luca were always around me.

And it felt like I had rarely talked to her one-on-one like this.

“…Honestly, I don’t really know. I feel like just quitting everything. Unlike the clan leader with a story and the others. I just thought I’d become a high-floor explorer and get rich.”

“Is that so.”

“But thinking about it, instead of using high-grade cards on myself to go to the high floors, it might not be bad to just sell them and retire. It also seems like it might be better to just stay on the 5th or 6th floor and become a veteran explorer. I’m having all sorts of thoughts.”

Her expression wasn’t good ever since she was badly beaten by the Gem Soldier.

Did she feel a wall?

“You have plenty of time, so think about it. Staying in the clan and exploring the middle floors with the younger members is also an option.”

“…I’m thinking about that too.”

Adele rested her chin on the hilt of the greatsword stuck in the ground and gazed blankly into the distance.

“I thought I was one of those great people who appear in books, but it seems I’m not.”

“…….”

There wasn’t much to say.

Either she overcomes this hardship herself, or she runs away.

Ultimately, she must choose herself.

Just then, Cain slowly walked over.

“Did you say you needed this?”

In his hand was a subspace bag.

Because if we want to take out all these rewards, we need that.

Of course, we could put it in our own bags, but it’s better to have a bag specifically for rewards.

Right away, Noah trotted over.

She approached and received the subspace bag.

And then everyone together packed the rewards from 15 days of hardship tightly into that bag.

“Wow, we earned more than we’ve earned in the labyrinth until now?”

“Even if we didn’t get any sky-blue cards, we did pick up quite a few gold cards.”

“That’s incredibly good luck. I roughly calculated it. The number of monsters we caught in 15 days is about the amount you would have to stay on the 6th floor for 3 months and hunt every day to catch.”

“…That much?”

“Of course, if you caught all the monsters on the 6th floor when they were mass spawning, it might be similar. But is that possible? It’s going to rain in between.”

The truth is, the reason we could catch so many monsters like this.

Was naturally because of the great help from those black mages.

During the 15 days of hunting now, although monsters kept coming, multiple ones didn’t attack from all sides at once.

Furthermore, since they could even nullify the rain, which is the most difficult factor on the 6th floor, even more so.

Thanks to them, we could hunt efficiently.

“But we can’t stay for a few more days before leaving, can we?”

“…There’s an event at the magic tower, so I must attend.”

“That’s a shame.”

“Besides, it’s okay to get stronger by buying cards with the money earned on the 6th floor, right?”

“I was already planning to replace the cards I got from the lower floors anyway at this opportunity.”

As we packed while talking about this and that, we managed to fit everything into one subspace bag.

Now it’s time to leave.

Before we knew it, Ririn was behind Cain.

Ririn, hiding behind Cain and glancing at us.

Noah, who looked at Ririn once, soon approached Cain and offered a handshake.

“Thank you. For being so good to us.”

Cain immediately accepted the handshake.

“Well, we are being good to you because there is value in using you. To drive out the evil god and become the mainstream of black mages, someone with legitimacy like an apostle is needed.”

Cain claimed this with an evil laugh, but that didn’t explain why they saved Noah’s sister, Ririn, who was completely useless for that purpose.

In the first place, hearing what they said, it seemed they were the ones who helped Noah escape as well.

‘What kind of people are they, really?’

Firstly, they were indeed black mages both in appearance and ideology.

One might say they were, literally, not extreme but moderate.

They are better than those black mage kids who kill and slaughter tons of people every day.

“You managed to survive and are going back?”

“Will you become strong enough to defy us next time?”

The twin black mages who appeared smoothly before we knew it.

Perhaps because I heard such a way of speaking all day long to the point where a callus formed on my ears, I was now even starting to feel some affection where there was none.

Lastly, Ririn, who was hiding behind Cain, waved her hand.

“…Goodbye, Sis.”

Noah received the greeting with a slightly wry smile.

“See you again for sure.”

As soon as the greetings ended, Cain moved his hand.

Then the space surrounding us shattered, and before we knew it, we had arrived at the garden of this secret space.

“As soon as you go up the stairs, a portal to exit will appear right in front. Then, I’ll leave our Apostle to you.”

I nodded and proceeded through the garden.

Thus, another long labyrinth exploration came to an end.

*

The labyrinth city, returned to after a long time.

We immediately parted ways and left for our respective lodging places.

After shaking off the fatigue that had accumulated over the past days.

I immediately looked for the clan members, but.

They were not in the labyrinth city.

However, there was a letter addressed to me, and upon reading it.

It said that the 2nd and 3rd squads, who are active on the 3rd floor, left for their second exploration a few days ago.

Furthermore, it said that a part of the money they earned was deposited into the clan account.

Since money is earned automatically even without me, this is exactly like auto-hunting. And it is also the reason why countless explorers create or join clans.

‘Then perhaps I should think about distributing some more money to the 3rd floor clan members.’

Originally, I thought doing this clan leader work would be bothersome. But it’s more interesting than I thought.

Should I say it feels like running a simulation game?

Well, anyway.

This time, we had been in the labyrinth for almost over a month.

Normally, when we enter, we take a month’s worth of food with us.

Fortunately, we didn’t have a problem because we got food from the moderate black mages.

‘Next time we go to the 7th floor, should I pack more food?’

Of course, it would be okay to get help from the moderate black mages again, but.

By the end, they also seemed to feel burdened by the act of bringing more monsters.

Perhaps that was because of the risk of their hiding place being discovered.

Though only they would know the reason.

While giving feedback on this exploration and making plans by writing notes on how to do the next one.

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the door of my studio apartment.

As soon as I went out.

“Ah, are you feeling okay?”

Adele was there.

“What about the others?”

“Grace came and went this morning.”

“I see.”

I could feel determination in her expression.

Like someone who has made a resolution.

“You’re not leaving the clan, right?”

As I delivered the first strike, Adele avoided my gaze.

“Well. I’ll just be active on the 4th or 5th floor with the younger members. It’s still a time to earn a lot.”

“I thought so. I understand.”

“Well….”

Because it was something I had somewhat expected. Just calmly.

I listened to Adele’s story.

When Adele first joined, she was positioned as quite strong on the 5th floor.

However, compared to the rest of us who were growing as we experienced everything from the 2nd floor hidden dungeon to the Sector 11 incident, and now the 7th floor, she felt like she was stagnating too much.

“I guess I’m just too ordinary. And I like living moderately like this. No matter how hard I try, it seems difficult to defeat the Gem Soldiers.”

“How about trying to use the gold cards we got this time?”

“It’s not a matter of strength or weakness. Ivan, you’re going to advance to the 8th, 9th floors, and later even the deeper floors, aren’t you?”

“…That’s right.”

“Compared to Kailek, who is a barbarian, Luca, who is beast-kin, and Grace, who is a guide. I’m just too ordinary a human. Even if I manage to get to the 7th floor, it’s difficult to keep up with the speed beyond that, I guess.”

It was a sufficiently predictable thing to say.

Luca is an extraordinary being because he is a beast-kin who has gained wildness.

Grace is a guide, a special position.

Kailek was a supernova whose potential was different from the start.

Noah and I are even more special than that.

“Well, I like the clan. I’m just stepping down from the advance party. Well, it’s a bit regrettable, but this is as far as it goes.”

“……I understand. You can go back now.”

“Yeah. See you later then.”

Adele left.

A strange emotion surfaced, but.

I quickly shook it off soon after.

Because I must always move forward and upward.

…In order to survive.

*

The next day.

For the first time in a while, I put a lot of effort into getting dressed.

Well, even so, it was just wearing the robe my master gave me.

The point was that the clothes worn underneath were not ordinary clothes but formal attire that was uncomfortable to move in.

I immediately headed towards the magic tower.

Although it didn’t take long to get there because I had found lodging not too far away.

“Why are there so many people?”

The streets were literally teeming with people.

I heard from my master that it was a big event, but was it this much?

And as there were so many people, naturally there were also people who recognized me.

“Oh! Isn’t that the Magic Tower Lord’s disciple!!”

“Hey there!! What do you think they’ll announce this time!!”

“They say they’re building a magic city, can you possibly know what they’re planning!?”

Nobles and merchants, and even knights, flocked over and started asking.

I just smiled.

That was, of course, natural.

Since I actually didn’t know a single thing.

However, how on earth should I escape this situation?

I quickly racked my brain, but the more I did, the more humans heard the commotion and started flocking over.

‘Should I really escape with Blink?’

Just as I was having such an extreme thought.

“Stop. Move aside.”

A familiar voice was heard.

And at the same time, everyone who recognized the owner of the voice.

Immediately, a path towards me automatically opened smoothly.

At the end of it was the Crown Prince.