Episode 115 Reunion (3)
Afternoon of the 9th day.
“You have entered the 3rd floor pilgrim’s path.”
After searching the northernmost part of the Land of the Dead for over a day, we found the portal and reached the third floor.
‘… … From now on, I should definitely not come in without a searcher.’
I figured that if we took the Land of the Dead route, the two of us could get to the third floor… … .
Still, the absence of explorers had a big impact.
If I hadn’t secretly followed a group of explorers who happened to be passing by, I would still be wandering around there.
“Ugh, this place always feels bad no matter when I come here.”
Anyway, after all that hardship, we arrived at the pitch-black river mouth.
This is the starting point for the Land of the Dead route, a field characterized by shallow ditches flowing in dozens of directions.
Oh, and by the way, the smell of the sewer is a bonus.
“Then go.”
As there were no explorers, we continued to move in the ‘Northeast’ direction, checking the compass.
As I was doing that, I quickly reached a dead end.
That means now I have to step into that black river and cross it.
“…Can’t you carry me?”
Tsk, where are you going to go just to relax?
“… This is the only time.”
“Wow! Really? Thank you!”
He carries Misha on his shoulders and crosses the river.
The width is about 5m, and the water depth is slightly below the knees.
We crossed the river carefully so as not to fall. The damp ground continued forward like a road again.
However, just as I was about to move forward.
[Geruk! Geruk!] [Gelgelgel-!]
As if it had heard the sound of the river passing by, the monster slowly crawled out.
“Bjorn, there’s the Frogman.”
Frogman.
A level 8 monster that looks exactly like a frog and walks on two legs.
By the way, something like a harpoon is used as a weapon.
Although it may look funny because of its small size, it is a creature with a high agility value, so many explorers who let their guard down end up in a pit in an instant.
The skills are also a bit annoying.
‘…plaguy.’
These guys don’t get along well with me.
My mace is powerful enough to blow off Deathfiend’s head with one blow… … .
If you don’t get it right, then it’s meaningless, right?
Advertisements
Phew-!
Frogman easily dodges my mace by stepping on the air and jumping once more.
I tried dashing in and hitting him with my shield immediately, but it didn’t really help.
“The attack was deflected by [Rotten Mucus].”
The shield made contact with the bastard’s body, but instead of making a dull sound, Frogman slid down as if sliding.
[Gel gel!]
Is it fun?
Nemiral.
These guys were a tough enemy for me regardless of their rank, as they had absolute evasion bonuses limited to blunt weapons.
Well, there was no problem since Misha was there.
“Nyahat! Get out of the way!”
Misha, who had been laughing while watching the day being played around by the Frogman, took out her sword and started dancing with the sword.
[Geruk-!]
He was a progman with considerable evasion corrections even when he was on the move… … .
Our test is a freezing test, you know.
[What?!]
Not only was my thigh cut, but my lower body was also completely frozen.
dump.
A baby frog that had been jumping around without being able to tell the difference between heaven and earth fell to the ground.
“Misha, wait a minute!”
“huh?”
“I will do it.”
Phew-!
Phew, I feel like my stress has been relieved a bit.
Originally, it was a monster that was supposed to be caught with magic, but because the level difference was so great, the battle wasn’t that difficult.
[Gel-gel!] [Geruruk! Geruruk!]
How much time has passed since we started moving around catching those programmers?
[22:57]
After checking the time, I slowly started looking for a place to camp. I was tired, but this was a place where I had to take a break at set times.
“Bjorn, the water is rising?”
“I’m already looking for you, so don’t complain.”
After exploring the area for about 30 minutes, a resting point appeared. Unlike the dark estuary, it was a reddish, not muddy, but rather a soft mound.
About thirty people had already taken up positions at the point, indicating that all the nearby explorers had gathered there.
‘We came late and all the good spots inside were taken.’
I had no choice but to settle down near the water, where the stench of the sewer was overwhelming. The soil wasn’t damp, so the water wouldn’t reach here.
Before laying down the blanket, I was drying my wet legs first, and the river level began to rise rapidly.
[00: 00]
Okay, it’s midnight now, so it won’t get any hotter. It’ll probably be like this for another six hours, so let’s put Misha to bed first.
There were many teams that rested without setting up guard duty because there were many people around… … .
I wonder if it’s something I don’t know.
‘We met Hans a few days ago, so let’s be careful.’
Advertisements
I was rummaging through my backpack, intending to fill my stomach with a snack.
“Hahaha! Hey, cheer up! Is there a tree that doesn’t fall after ten blows?”
“But… as you know, she—”
“Hey, everyone’s sleeping, can you be quiet?”
“Ahaha! Sorry! Be careful next time!”
A familiar voice was heard from afar.
And was it before you fell asleep yet?
Misha, who had been rolling up her blanket, suddenly got up.
“Is this Hikuro’s voice…?”
I guess I didn’t mishear, since I had the same thought…
Huh, how come all these coincidences happen?
***
It’s not common to run into someone you know in a labyrinth.
First of all, each floor is incredibly wide, and because of the darkness inside the labyrinth, even if you turn on the light, visibility is less than a 10m radius.
Well, it’s a ‘clan’ where you split into several parties and meet up on a certain floor and at a certain time, and then go up the floors…
‘I really thought they were these guys.’
Surprisingly, the owner of the voice I heard was a dwarf.
Next to him were Dwalki and Rotmiller.
“Hikurod? Are you Hikurod?”
“… Misha? Bjorn? What! Why are you here!”
“Wow, it seems like our team was definitely connected by fate!”
What are the chances that you will go in without any plans and meet again by chance?
“What about the request? Didn’t you say you were going to make a request? How do you do that?”
While they were both amazed at the incredible coincidence, the dwarf expressed his doubts.
Well, it must have felt a bit strange.
We came into the labyrinth separately to ask for an escort.
I spoke as I had planned in advance.
“Oh, then that’s already over.”
“Are you done?”
“I had business on the first floor. As the labyrinth closed, the client returned to the city first.”
“Oh, really? That’s it?”
The dwarf nodded without much doubt, perhaps because it was a convincing reason.
Now it was our turn to ask questions.
“Then why are you here? Didn’t you say you’d stay on the second floor?”
As far as I know, these three were supposed to be doing some simple collecting in the Rock Desert.
Advertisements
But why am I on the third floor, right at the mouth of the pitch-black river that is strangely connected to the Land of the Dead?
“Oh, that’s because the Stone Golem’s inner core came out earlier than expected. I came here to take on another request just in case.”
But, if you had planned on going up to the third floor from the beginning, shouldn’t you have told me in advance? … .
“Hahaha! If that were the case, wouldn’t I have stopped you from doing it!”
Well, that’s true.
Tank 1, Mage 1, and Explorer 1 combination is a bit unstable. It’s not something we should say since we came to the 3rd floor with 1 tank and 1 melee attacker.
“… So what is the request?”
“This is another collection request. I just need to get the two eyeballs of the Frogman sorcerer. Since we’ve met here, would you like to join us?”
“How much is the completion fee?”
“It’s two million stones. Of course, if you guys join, the completion money will be divided into five equal parts.”
At 400,000 stones per person, that’s not bad.
If you sell other by-products besides eyeballs, your income will increase even more.
Of course, he is not a normal programmer, but a sorcerer, so there is a question as to whether he can break the request… … .
Well, that depends on luck.
“summer solstice.”
I agreed because I was already feeling uneasy about going out with Hans after meeting him. If we did it together, wouldn’t all we’d do was hunt the Frogmen?
If the request ends early, I could suggest that we all go to the 4th floor together.
“Haha, then get up. If you keep talking here, I think I’ll get stabbed.”
As the other teams were taking a deep breath and glares continued, Sooda stopped talking and went to take a break.
‘Thanks to you, I’ll get five hours of sleep.’
This is an advantage when there are a large number of people.
The night shift is shorter and you get more time to sleep.
[06: 00]
As time passed and the morning of the 10th day dawned, the water level in the river went down and we also left the rest point.
And he wandered around, absorbed in hunting.
‘After all, there has to be at least one explorer.’
I feel this once again, but the explorer position is one that improves the quality of life in the labyrinth.
“If you go that way, you’ll come across a river. Come here.”
Rotmiller guides you along the optimal route as if he has memorized the entire terrain.
In all the years I’ve been wandering around, I’ve only passed the water mark three times.
“Hmm, another dud… … .”
We were hungry after killing another sorcerer in less than four hours.
A corpse that disappears without leaving behind anything.
This is the downside of collection requests.
If you use the ‘Distortion’ magic on a monster, there is an extremely low chance that you will obtain the monster’s corpse intact… … .
Because essence and magic stones do not drop.
Advertisements
‘Phew, thinking about how I’ll have to work harder later on makes me feel daunted.’
As the game progresses, there are more and more instances where you will need monster byproducts, such as making equipment or consumables.
For example, just look at the soul imprint.
Up to stage 6, you can solve it with money, but after that, you have to collect the materials yourself.
‘… Let’s think about that later. If you have the money, you can just hand it over to an exchange or take on a commission and get it.’
Anyway, as movement has become more convenient, combat has also become easier.
Rotmiller’s arrow, Dwalki’s magic.
And then there’s Misha’s ice knife.
“… … This is something I’ve been wanting to ask for a while now, but what on earth is going on?”
Rotmiller looked at the frozen Frogman with some doubt, but this was not a problem either.
[Cold Condensation] and [Ice Crushing] aren’t skills that stand out that much.
“Oh, that? This time, the soul beast has evolved!”
Misha answers naturally as she was told beforehand.
“Hot, is that true? At this level, I could probably get promoted to Grade 6?”
“Hey, Misha! Congratulations!”
Since it was a well-known fact that Misha had made a contract with a cold-type soul beast, no one suspected anything.
No, it would be natural since they wouldn’t even think that we would lie in the first place.
‘Every time I do this, my conscience pricks me.’
But what can I do?
You have to accept it.
If this is the fate of those who live as evil spirits.
“Rotmiller, the water seems to be rising… Are you okay?”
“Don’t worry, the safe zone is right next door.”
Before we knew it, the 10th day was almost over and the water was starting to rise, but thanks to Rotmiller, who had memorized all the terrain in the area, we filled our time and hunted until the end before moving on to camp.
“uh…….”
“Is this it? Is it done now?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
As soon as we resumed our exploration, we were startled as we hunted down the shaman we encountered.
A corpse that clearly remained without disappearing even though it was pierced by an arrow through the neck and fell down.
“Hey, I guess we’ll have good luck on our trip because Miss Misha is here!”
“Haha, this guy is a bean sprout. In my opinion, it’s not Misha’s fault, but Bjorn’s fault. I told you that guy has good luck.”
Anyway, that’s the plan of Dwalki and the dwarf.
In just two days, the corpse of the sorcerer was obtained.
Well, is it still a bit early to say that you’ve obtained it?
“Umm, but what should I do with this?”
Advertisements
“Hey, just wait. I’ll use magic first.”
First, Dwalki used ‘preservation’ magic to prevent the corpse from decaying.
But that was the end of it.
Wouldn’t it be impossible to put a whole corpse into a bag?
“Misha, you use a knife, so you’re good at this too, right?”
“T-what are you talking about, dwarf! I, I’ve never done anything like this before! You guys should be doing it instead? I heard you even commissioned a stone golem?”
“That, that… It seems like the Stone Golem was something that could be taken out by just taking out its core… … .”
Even if we discard all other by-products and only dig out the eyeballs, dismantling is still necessary.
And none of them had any experience with this kind of thing.
Except for the all-rounder Rotmiller.
“Get out of the way. I’ll do it.”
Soon, Rotmiller let out a sigh and skillfully dismembered the sorcerer’s corpse with something like a carving knife.
Didn’t you do this a lot when you were in the ‘Collection Team’?
“As expected, Rotmiller, you are the best!”
“Oh, I agree… … Ugh, I’ll look away for a moment… … .”
Has it been 30 minutes?
Under Rotmiller’s skilled hands, the sorcerer’s body was torn apart into muscles, veins, bones, and internal organs and placed into a box.
“So what do we do now?”
The 3rd floor pilgrim’s path will be closed after the 15th day. That means there are still three days left.
I spoke as if I had been waiting.
“The request is now finished. How about going to the 4th floor?”
“Hmm, definitely… The whole team is gathered here for the first time, so it’s a shame to end it only on the third floor… … .”
“Rotmiller, what do you think? Do you think we can get to the fourth floor within a certain period of time?”
Rotmiller closed his eyes as if he needed time.
Well, it would take a lot of thought to go through several regions and reach the portal in the center of the Witch’s Forest within three days.
“It’s tight, but I think it might be possible.”
It was a little strange.
Originally, I was planning to just break the crack, hunt some monsters, and then return to the city.
‘As expected, things never go as planned.’
Somehow I ended up going to the 4th floor.
***
The three-day journey that followed was more arduous than expected.
First of all, my sleeping time was drastically reduced, and I invested all my remaining time into moving around.
Even the movement was at an alert level… … .
As the days passed, a deep fatigue began to build up on my colleagues’ faces.
Advertisements
But still, the goal was achieved.
“The character has entered a special area.”
“Field Effect – Witch’s Forest is granted.”
I’ve already passed through the Witch’s Forest three times.
When I first came here, Misha and I got lost and had a hard time… … .
There was nothing to fear as long as Rotmiller was there.
“Everyone, follow me.”
As something like that happened last time, they quickly run through the Witch’s Forest, their bodies tied together with rope.
And how much time has passed?
[20:31]
With just over three hours left until the third floor closes.
“Thank you for your hard work, Rotmiller.”
We stood before a huge tower in the center of the Witch’s Forest. A colorful portal was placed in front of a huge door that looked like the entrance to the tower.
“Now is the time, let’s go in!”
It was the moment when I waited for the color to change in preparation for an accident, and entered at the same time.
“Oh, sir?!”
A faintly familiar voice was heard from afar.
