episode_0160

160. 2nd layer (6)

The next morning, Julie wakes up and looks at Lauren with a mischievous expression teasing her.

“Huh? Lauren doesn’t look that tired, does she?”

“Hmm..?”

“You didn’t exercise last night, did you?”

“Mi…You have to control your condition well in the labyrinth.”

“Really? You look so sad?”

“Who…Who!!”

Since Julie is also an elf, she must have heard Lauren’s voice while she was whining and sleeping last night.

Lauren’s face turns red as soon as she realizes the truth.

“I received a picture book, but I’m embarrassed.”

“That…that and this are…different..!!”

Even though Lauren was a bit bright, she seemed to enjoy bickering with Julie more, so I thought they might be childhood friends for nothing.

I nodded to Julie and started preparing the meal.

“I don’t know if it will suit your taste.”

“In the labyrinth, you eat to survive, but what does it taste like? ”

Julie’s eyes widened as she took a spoonful of the stew I gave her.

“Wow. You’re pretty good at cooking too?”

“I’m a little.”

Julie laughs, tapping my arm in a slightly rough manner.

It’s gotten a little easier dealing with her, but it still feels like I’m walking on thin ice.

After finishing our meal and preparations for battle, we moved to the area near the open space.

*

*

*

*

“Take a break.”

“Yeah.”

Chook-!

At my words, Julie shook her hands and wiped the body fluids that had spewed out from their bodies.

I saw Julie fighting from the side, and she was tearing the guys apart with a faint red glow all the way to her wrists.

Why did you find out that the nickname of the Red Hand Jury is Lee Min-ho?

I don’t know what kind of protection it is because it doesn’t have any special or amazing effects, but the rumor that Juri hides her ability and cheats on people seems to be false.

I think that’s only effective when fighting with bare hands.

“Claude, are you injured?”

“Just a quick brush with your hair? Can you please give me some Shia Gaho?”

“Yeah! Recover!!”

Phew-

Sia grants healing protection to Claude and Lauren.

We stood with our backs to the passage, formed a formation, and fought the things the fountain spit out for four hours.

Now that they are no longer spawning, we have stopped fighting and started maintenance.

“I’ve never seen these guys before, so I don’t have the courage to go and collect materials.”

“That’s right.”

The corpses of commonly known monsters have endless uses.

But it is difficult to figure out what to do with the corpses of people you see for the first time.

Since we don’t know which parts are useful, we can’t just drag the corpse away.

Even for a 30-year-old city worker like me, these are the first things I’ve seen. I guess I’ll have to give up on byproducts.

“But it doesn’t come out indefinitely.”

At Julie’s words, I looked at the fountain in front of me.

After fighting for about four hours, the water stream coming out of the fountain had dried up.

“It won’t come out indefinitely, so should I just leave it for now?”

“Um… Just in case, let’s take a look around the fountain.”

“Yep.”

Julie and I, who were relatively uninjured, approached the fountain.

“Wow.. What is this text? Does Cain know anything?”

“Well…Juri doesn’t know either.”

“Yes.”

I couldn’t see it until I got closer, but there was an unknown letter written on the fountain….

No, shit. That’s English.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that it was written in cursive, but it was in English.

Ouch!

“What, do you remember anything?’

“Um… no.”

It was written sparsely so I noticed it a little late, but I could make out the last part of the text in the center of the fountain.

‘……..In commemoration of the establishment of the research institute.’

Research Institute? A monument that seemed completely out of place popped out, unlike the gloomy background of the labyrinth.

Stay still.

‘Status window’

Name: Cain (Kim Seong-hu)

Level: 3 (91.23%)

Status

Strength: 4.08 -> 4.11

Agility: 6.25 -> 6.31

Stamina: 7.32 -> 7.34

Horsepower: 3.01 -> 3.21

Special Status

Technique: 15 -> 15.02

Guardian: NTL(EX), Hitomi, Awakening

Quirk

– Theft

List of robberies

[Swordsmanship (100%)]

I checked the details of the protection once again.

NTL(EX)

– Bonuses apply the more you steal something the target cherishes.

Hitomi

– Understand the relationship.

consciousness-

– Become aware of your past life.

Yeah, past life.

I was so distracted by the names of the guardians, NTL and Hitomi, that I roughly skipped over the explanation of the awakening.

Now that I think about it, if I had really been reincarnated into another world, the words NTL and Hitomi wouldn’t even exist.

There are similar concepts, but the names are different.

I thought the status window that usually appears in creative works was just there to make people laugh, so I just ignored it.

And it’s funny that my past life’s name is even displayed in the status window.

Research Institute…. What kind of research do they do at a research institute to turn the Earth into a fantasy world like this?

Even if you look at the map of the continents now, there is no trace of the Earth at all.

Did an accident happen while conducting an experiment at a particle research center like CERN?

Knock knock-

“Cain, what are you thinking?”

While I was thinking like that for a long time, Julie lightly tapped my shoulder.

Dark Elf… no, Tanning Elf, smiling at me with a smirk on his face, leaning on his hind legs.

There was a faint, worried look in her red eyes.

Was my expression that serious?

“No, let’s keep looking.”

I shook off my thoughts and continued my search.

“Ugh. No matter how much I love this country, this kind of sight is a bit disgusting.”

“That’s right.”

On one side of the fountain there was an arched passageway through which people could pass through. Upon entering, I found a room filled with flesh on all sides.

And in the center of it all, a huge organ, similar to a heart, with hundreds and thousands of blood vessels entangled in it, was beating vigorously.

“Cain. Cover me.”

“Yes.”

Hwaaak-

As we guard the rear and other areas, we cover Juri, and she prepares to stab with her hand raised.

Juri’s hands glowed even redder than before as she took a step forward.

Quaddukduk-

Juri’s hand, which had stepped so deeply that the floor was dented, collided with flesh.

Oh my god-!!

“Ugh!!!”

“Are you okay?”

“Oh. Wow.. It’s so hard.”

When dealing with the things spewed out by the fountain outside, it felt like she was just roughly beating them, but this time, she stretched out her hand, using as much rotational power as possible from her waist, hips, and entire body, and it bounced off in vain.

I also pulled out my dagger and thrust with all my might.

Bam-!!!

“It wiggles like a muscle or an organ, but it’s so strong. It’s incredibly tough. ”

“I think it will require firepower or a lot of strength…”

So we went back out and took Lauren and had her slapped with some flesh.

Phew!

“There are only a few scratches.”

“Wow! It’s so sturdy! It would be perfect for training?”

Lauren looked excited at the sight of the slightly scratched flesh from the shield she had swung with all her might, but Julie and I shook our heads to stop her.

“Let’s think about a way and then come back.”

“Yes, I think so.”

Unfortunately, we only found out the limits of the fountain’s summoning ability and went back into the passage.

I explained to Claude and Sia what was at the heart of the fountain.

“Lauren hit with all her might, but it only grazed her? What the heck is that?”

“Flutter flutter?”

Claude seemed surprised by the strength of the flesh, while Sia seemed intrigued by the way it wriggled and moved.

“Ugh… The wizard’s firepower is killing me.”

Claude smacked his lips as if he was sorry.

“They’re different from regular explorers.”

The magicians belonging to the Magic Tower are the only group of magicians in the Labyrinth City, no, in the entire continent.

Therefore, in order to avoid dying in vain, I try to refrain from exploring as much as possible.

It is said to be more practical than the Empire’s Tower, but if you proceed with the exploration, you should hire a party that is at least level 4 or higher and has broken through the 3rd floor with meat shields.

“Cain.”

“Yes?”

“There’s that. That.”

“What?”

Julie comes between me and Claude and taps my cheek.

“The cat gave it to me.”

“….Huh?”

There was a potion bottle that Zion gave you, right?

After hearing Julie’s words, I immediately took out the potions from my backpack.

Well done-

“Why are there so many?”

Palang~

When I turned over the leather pouch, four potions of three different colors, red, blue, and orange, rolled out.

And a piece of paper fluttering and falling.

“Is this a manual?”

When I lifted the paper, I saw that it contained instructions written in crooked letters.

[Red – Fire Potion, Blue – Ice Potion, Orange – Explosion Potion

*Caution – Use with caution as it is much more powerful than the items sold in the workshop.]

“Oh my, the cat is taking care of me with such sincerity. I’ve never seen him do this before. It was hard for me, a woman, to become close to him because he was so picky.”

Julie looks at the paper Zion wrote and smiles.

“Haha…”

“What’s the secret?”

Go to sleep.

“Cain What is that?’

“Ah, that wizard I was talking about gave it to me.”

“Oh…! The color is a bit darker than what I bought at Carmela’s store?”

“Wow!”

Sia came over to me and squatted down, rolling the potion bottle around, playing with it and saying how pretty it was, and Claude, with his own keen eye, pointed out the differences between it and other potions sold on the market.

“Ohhh…..”

“I’m not eating Lauren.”

“Ugh..! Juri, I know that recipe too.”

“I was just talking about it once.”

“This profit!”

Lauren stares at the potion bottle as if possessed, reacting violently to Julie’s teasing.

“Lauren. What’s the problem?”

“Ah… No, I thought it was a mistake.”

“What?”

“Um…..”

Everyone’s attention was focused on Lauren, whose expression suddenly became serious at my question.

“Somehow I feel like I can sense the spirit energy from the potion.”