Chapter 105 – 102 the Labyrinth Where Light Cannot Reach
[3rd floor map]
Hwanin, who came down to the third floor, took out a map book and marked the stairs he came down as 2 in red and the stairs to go down to the 4th floor as 4.
Then take a long breath and move forward.
The feeling of tension created by the atmosphere piercing the skin. It reminds me of the atmosphere of the forest-type labyrinth that I first fell into this world.
Hwanin looked around.
In the gray field of vision, I could see an irregular cavity-shaped cave with a ceiling raised to 4m in height and passages pierced here and there.
This species is not visible. If you listen closely, you can only hear faint, small sounds.
Lessim, White Ryogang, and Isilite could only see black darkness.
As a test, when I closed the spirit vision, I couldn’t really see anything beyond the light source of the torch.
After coming down to the third floor, Reshim opened her mouth with a faint moan.
=It really is a labyrinth worthy of its name.=
=I never thought that being blind would give me so much tension.=
Bai Lijiang felt that the resounding voice was louder than she thought, and squeezed her staff with both hands.
This must have been the reason why Leshim flinched at the entrance stairs earlier. Baek Ryogang laughed inwardly, then realized that she was more nervous than she thought when she saw herself being appreciative of trivial things.
And Isilite, who was calm as usual, was amazing. Do you have many experiences like this? So she asked if she was okay.
=It’s a bit like that because I can’t see well, but I trust the owner.=
Trusting their master, they can remain calm in these situations. In response, Baek Ryeo-gang looked at the back of Hwan-in, who was walking in the lead, with new eyes.
How can you buy so much faith in one person? That’s to the point of rehabilitating a girl from a former thief who doesn’t know manners…….
Baek Ryogang felt his curiosity and interest in Hwanin grow in his heart, but flinched as if his inner feelings were heard by the voice that came from her side.
= Hwanin. I want the light bar to turn on.=
“It will be fine.”
With her Hwanin’s permission, Reshim put her hand into the pocket of her waist and took out a wooden stick about her arm’s length.
The light rod, classified as a magic tool for the labyrinth, has curly letters engraved on a small gray wooden stick, and when you turn the handle, it creates light like a fluorescent stick.
The range of the light source is about 4 times that of a torch. The price is two rows of silver coins per one, has an on/off function, can be used for up to 20 hours, and is a magic tool that costs 1 silver coin to charge.
As Reshim turned her handle, a gray light spread out at the tip of the stick and began to illuminate a distance of 40 m.
=It’s bright.=
=It’s bright.=
Even if you look directly at the light at the end of the light bar, your eyes won’t hurt. I couldn’t even feel the heat, so while I thought it was a magic tool that could be useful in many places, a sound was picked up by Hwanin’s sensitive ears.
Seruk… That buck……
“…….”
The direction from which the sound came from was the direction of the only passage here.
Hwanin said to the two people who looked curiously at the cave, which was now clearly visible through the light source of the light stick.
“From now on, consider all approaching parties to be enemies.”
=…… Yes?=
She looked at Lessim, who was dumbfounded, with her cold eyes.
“I repeat. From now on, all parties approaching are enemies.”
=This, from now on, all parties approaching are enemies.=
“Why doesn’t Mr. Baek Ryogang follow suit?”
= Yes, yes? Ah… From now on, all approaching parties are enemies.=
Hwanin suddenly opened his mouth in a low voice without accent to the two children who did not understand why they were doing this.
“You must remember what the soldier said at the entrance.”
– The problem that occurred in the labyrinth is basically the person concerned. The responsibility for failing to manage the party lies with the leader…….
Baek Ryeo-gang and Leshim belatedly noticed what Hwan-in was trying to say and hardened their expressions.
“In my homeland, this idiom comes down. Good people do not come, and those who come are not good.”
= But…… Isn’t there a law saying that only bad people will come?=
Baek Ryeo-gang asked if it was difficult to understand with his head but accept it with his heart, but Isilite, who stood behind him, answered instead.
=This labyrinth is a place where workers are active. That means it’s an easy labyrinth. Anyone who gets into trouble on a lower floor like this won’t come in in the first place. So, it’s better to think that the people who come to see the light are a group of murderers targeting the rich who use expensive magic tools recklessly on these lower floors.=
=…….=
When Isilite, a former thief, speaks, her persuasiveness is extraordinary. And at Hwanin’s story that continued, Baek Ryogang had no choice but to nod his head.
“If anyone really needs help, you can tell by looking at them. Like seriously hurt or messed up.”
Hwanin beckoned to Isilite and handed over the torch that had not yet been extinguished. And she flung the torch at the other passageway where the light didn’t reach.
The torch flies round and round like a boomerang, then hits the wall and bounces, rolling into the aisle.
And the flames spreading on the walls and the shadows of four or five people swaying.
Seeing her hiding without turning on the light, Reshim hardened her complexion and drew her sword, and Isilite also drew and gripped her huge two-handed sword.
=The one hiding there! Come out!=
At Reshim’s shout, a anthropomorphic worker walks out of the aisle, kicking a torch.
Behind the thread splitter, four workers with the same aura came out fully armed. All four of them are holding bows and have acquired a job on the shooter side, clearly showing the appearance of human hunters.
However, instead of pulling out her spear, Hwanin drew four daggers from Isilite’s waist.
Hehe. That’s pretty quick. Blame that quick glance. Because thanks to you, I will die very painfully.=
I threw a dagger at the smirking kin in front.
A dagger that flew silently, hiding in the shadow of Hwanin, pierced the neck of a humanoid professional.
= ぅ!? I’m sorry…….=
A man from a dog breed grabbing his leash and kneeling down, spewing bloody foam.
After a short silence, the remaining four quickly shoot arrows at Hwanin, then shoot arrows from the quiver on his back.
10 arrows flew in an instant, but Hwanin did not dodge, but roughly knocked the flying arrows off with a stone axe.
T-di-di-di-di- The human hunters widened their eyes at the sight of all the arrows bouncing off the stone axe.
How can you accurately hit an arrow that flies in such a dark place?!
= Rain, damn it. You’re not an ordinary jobless bastard…… ! Oops?=
The cat-eared woman, who had been screaming while carrying arrows again, grabbed her neck and fell behind her with a puck.
Reshim and Baek Ryeo-gang, who were about to take action against the opponent’s hostility, widened their eyes.
A state in which cognitive ability is unable to keep up with the situation that is happening now.
In the meantime, Isilite secretly blocks the Baeknyeo River and prepares for the arrow that may fly again by erecting a huge saddle iron greatsword.
“Are you not shooting anymore?”
As Hwanin approached while speaking quietly, the remaining three felt fear as if their hair stood on end.
The horror of standing in front of an overwhelming predator.
The fear that gripped my heart when I first encountered a level 3 monster.
=Damn it!=
=Hit!=
Two of them rushed at Hwanin at the same time, and one stayed behind to reattach the bow.
Reshim also reflexively tried to run away, but was choked by Isilite pulling the cloak from behind, and had no choice but to stop with a choking sound.
= What are you doing?! I…… !=
=Mr. Lesim, just watch.=
= Yes? But !=
Le Sim, who was about to protest why he had to stay still when the fight was going on, soon opened his mouth.
Puck! =Keck!=
Pak, Sugak- =Kkeok!=
He threw his dagger like a flowing wave and pierced the bowman’s neck, then swung his stone ax gracefully and slashed the longsword of the pig-headed man who approached first by the wrist, then slit his leash.
In the time of one breath, two people died and collapsed.
The dog-eared woman, who was about to pounce on her with her dagger in both hands, doesn’t even try her pincers, and her comrade covers her with blood from her gaping throat, and she staggers back.
What, what this guy…… Are you a person?
Hwanin kicked the woman in the belly as she hesitated and withdrew while holding a dagger in both hands.
Puck!
=No!=
She is a rabid woman who flings several meters behind her and rolls around, missing her dagger from the strong impact.
The pain of her stomach ripping is also painful, but the woman is terrified by the eyes of her ghostly counterpart.
It is a monster that took 4 people by the throat without blinking an eye. When he attacks, it feels as if that black stone ax will cut his head. When her back is turned, a dagger will come flying and pierce her throat.
The woman who couldn’t do this or that soon lost her fighting spirit and knelt down and begged with her servile face.
=Sah, please save me. Then I’ll do anything.=
What’s this. She thought it was a windfall because the leader was unemployed, took a small animal, and even used expensive magic tools.
Was the windfall over there? Did we get scammed?
The woman’s thoughts did not follow.
Puck
=…… !=
=…….=
The woman with the dagger stuck in her face struggled with her arms for a moment, and at the sight of her collapsing, Baekryeogang and Leshim swallowed her moans.
Even those who begged for her life were so merciless…….
On the contrary, Isilite was relieved, sweeping her breasts inside her. If she had done anything wrong that day, she would have become that way herself.
When she gets back, she should say thank you to Susa and Brillit. With that promise, she spoke to Hwanin.
=You worked hard, Master.=
“Don’t search for the corpse, just retrieve her dagger.”
= Yep. I will only retrieve the dagger.=
She slightly raised her head as a thief and thought it was a waste, but Isilite retrieved the daggers stuck in the necks and faces of the human hunters and wiped the blood from the blades.
Then, from beyond the passageway where the human hunters had come out, a clattering sound was heard.
Hearing the sound of footsteps carrying something heavy on their backs, Hwanin and Isilite turned their gaze toward the aisle.
But nothing came out of the aisle.
The porter must be running away, considering the sound of it gradually receding.
In order to go down to the next floor, you had to pass through the passage where the human hunters came out. Judging from that fact…….
‘Human crumbs who usually hunt heterogeneous species, but when they find newcomers to the labyrinth, they hunt people.’
The fact that some of the equipment the five were wearing apparently did not fit supports this speculation.
It was Hwanin who committed murder for the first time, but he felt nothing, let alone guilt.
Rather, it feels like the short gestures and struggles he showed when he was dying are sprouting small sprouts in his heart.
The sinister seed of a pleasure-killer.
“You! You killed me!」
“To die like this…… I hate…….」
“Mom! Mom!! Aagh!」
“I didn’t mean to kill you! I didn’t mean to kill you!!”
After a while, the spirits that escaped from the corpse struggled as if they could not accept this reality.
Actions were divided into two categories. The type that shows resentment towards Hwanin and the type that uses evil because they can’t believe that they are dead.
“I will resent you! I will hate you!! I will chase after you for the rest of my life and curse you!!”
A cat-eared female spirit who goes on a rampage while trying to kill him first.
While standing her untrimmed bobbed hair upside down on her naked body, she spewed out resentment, but Hwanin didn’t blink an eyebrow and glared at the woman’s soul, saying inwardly,
‘It seems that even the soul wants to be destroyed.’
“…… !?”
“Hee, hee! What! How do you…… ?!”
“No way. Are you a spirit master? You were a spirit master?!」
“No! I hate going to hell!”
The battle between the souls unfolds as they realize that the being they tried to kill, the being that killed them, is the soul corpse.
The soul of the cat-eared woman who used to write evil also trembles as if frozen.
“Eh, run away!”
「Aaaaa…… !”
In the end, before the souls who chose to escape disappeared from sight, Hwanin gave an order containing force.
I thought I’d use this opportunity to check a few things.
‘Come.’
「I hate it…….」
“Mom, ah…….」
「Kuaaaaa…….」
The souls of the five men and women are sucked into Hwanin’s left arm and turned into soul beads.
The color and size were different from heteromorphic species, beasts, and spirits that were turned into marbles with their cooperation. The size is about twice as large, and the color is not bright gray, but red.
‘Coercive force is exerted.’
There was a time when I tried to turn Lua’s soul into beads. It didn’t become a soul orb back then, but why does it now?
Lua, because she was reaching Buddhahood at that time? Or is it because her own soul powers have grown?
Previously, to test the difference between the souls of monsters or beasts and those of humans, some human spirits were asked to test their skills.
At that time, it did not yield significant results. If there was a problem with the soul, it was difficult for each other, so Hwanin did it in moderation.
‘If it’s the souls of these people, it won’t be a problem.’
= Master. I got everything.=
In the meantime, Isilite, who had retrieved her dagger and torch, nodded her head and said as she headed down the aisle.
“I will pass.”
The shadows of dead people stretched out in the gray light of the light rod that was filled with desire.
Even on the third floor, there were hardly any heterogeneous species to be seen, but the glow of torches could be seen through the rare passageways, indicating that there were no people at all.
=From the 3rd floor, they settled down and hunted. That’s why it looks like that…….=
As Lesim muttered in a subdued voice, the third floor had many winding tunnels and corners.
People were only making their presence known by lighting torches inside such a corner, and the reason for this was related to the ecosystem of the labyrinth.
=For what reason?=
Isilite, who had learned what kind of labyrinth was like at the training center, but had not learned such a sense of realism, asked.
=There are three ways that heterogeneous species arise in the labyrinth so far. Firstly…….=
1. To burrow into the ceiling or underground.
2. Tearing space and appearing in places such as altars or stone statues.
3. Generated heterogeneous species multiply and increase in number.
=…… However, heteromorphic species do not appear where people can see them or in the vicinity of people. Scholars claim that this is to prevent a situation where phase power is lost in vain.=
=If you are attacked while escaping from the ceiling or wall, you will die without being able to resist?=
=Yes. For that reason, hide inside the aisle, in the gap between the corners, and when you hear the sound of a heterogeneous species, go out and lure it out or kill it and retrieve the body.=
Conversing in low voices, the group walked along the winding road towards the stairs leading down to the 4th floor, the area marked as number 26 in the labyrinth atlas, and passed by at a distance, looking face-to-face with the normal party they encountered by chance. .
It is to stick to the wall opposite each other and be careful not to get close to the other person.
=…….=
As they passed by people a few times, the conversation was cut off, and the atmosphere of the party became gloomy.
To be precise, the moods of Lesim and Baek Ryeo-gang were subdued.
Baekryeogang didn’t even look around and hung his head down as if he was dead.
It’s been this way since the last fight.
Isilite, who was walking with her emergency rations in her arms, opened her mouth as she paid attention to her surroundings.
=Those who died earlier must have been labyrinth thieves.=
=…… Can you tell that?=
Baek Ryogang asked in a subdued voice, but Isilite didn’t care and continued her explanation.
=Yes. The equipment he was wearing looked like it was patched together, or he was wearing armor that didn’t fit his body. Furthermore, there is only one fact that indicates that he was hiding without lighting a torch in the only passageway.=
=Are you a beginner hunter?=
Isilite nodded her head at Resim’s answer.
=This labyrinth where light does not reach is true to its name, all floors of the labyrinth are immersed in pitch-black darkness. For that reason, it is said that murder robbery and cheating in the labyrinth occur more frequently than in other labyrinths. They settle down and hunt normally, but when they find a tasty prey, they turn into a group of bandits.=
=How do you know that?=
It was a question that would make her feel suspicious given the flow, but Issilite answered calmly, not caring.
=Maybe it’s because it’s a labyrinth belonging to Wayford, so the training center taught me in detail about the labyrinth where light doesn’t reach. In particular, since I am a professional, there is a high possibility of entering the labyrinth.=
=…… I’m sorry for taking out my anger on you. In the book, it was only described as a dangerous place, but there was no explanation that this was happening. I felt bad because I felt like I was witnessing the labyrinth’s bare face while thinking only about romance…….=
= It’s okay. And aren’t all places where people live the same? If there are good people, there are bad people.=
= Whoops……. That’s right. Compared to that, this place was rather comfortable. Compared to fighting fiercely behind the scenes without revealing it on the outside, it conveys emotions directly.=
=Ah~ By that place, you mean a prom or a social circle? After all, the lady was a person of high status. You know, they say that they curse at each other with a smile at the prom. Is that true?=
= That’s not true…….=
Thanks to Ishilite’s interest, Baek Ryogang speaks to Ishilite and her whispers in a much brighter voice.
Leshim glanced at the two, then slipped back to the back row and changed the ranks so that the two could converse comfortably.
= Hwanin. I’ll take the back row.=
“Please.”
And in the last alley of the stairs going down to the next floor, a passage barely over 3m wide, I ran into a group of people.
It was a party of 8 people, 4 aura-type workers and 4 porters.
The opponent seemed to have gone to a very deep place, and the weapons and armor were stained with blood, and the porters were also carrying a lot of luggage on their backs.
As soon as the two opponents in the front line saw Hwanin, they took their hands off the weapons on their waists and raised them as if they showed no hostility.
Hwanin raised his hand in the same way, stepped back, and moved away from the aisle.
It was a drunken action because I had heard that it was polite for the side with the fewest number to get out of the way when facing an opponent on a passage like this single wooden bridge.
Then, the other person moved along the opposite wall as well and lowered his head to Hwanin.
As they passed by and Hwanin and the others entered the passage again, Baek Ryeo-gang, who had been quietly watching all the action, murmured in a small voice.
=This is what you do when you run into a normal party…….=
= Look at it. Because they were bad guys earlier.=
= Whoops. I will. =
Thanks to Isilite’s extraordinary temper, Lesim and Baek Ryeo-gang’s expressions are relieved, and the atmosphere of the party becomes much softer.
Inwardly, Hwanin slightly raised Isilite’s evaluation and stepped onto the stairs leading to the 4th basement floor.
