“Kiyeeek!”
The goblins stormed in.
Erme swung her sword, killing two of them, while Rozanté crushed a goblin’s head with her fist.
Then, Theresa.
Boom!
She charged straight in, trusting her armor.
“Whew.”
I whistled quietly.
Their skill at dealing with goblins was so smooth.
I kicked a goblin approaching me in the stomach, knocking it off balance, and then cleaved it with my sword.
“You’ve gotten a lot cleaner with your moves.”
“Really?”
Glasses nodded, his face showing admiration for my posture.
What’s there to admire about this?
We quickly moved forward.
‘We should be reaching the boss room soon.’
Though the positions in the Labyrinth change every time we move, the boss room usually stays in the same spot.
“We’ve come pretty fast, huh?”
“We got lucky.”
It was true—where we ended up was close to the boss room.
I looked at the boss room with eager eyes, hoping we could possibly defeat the boss.
“Well, should we head up quickly then? Since we’re lucky enough to be right near the boss room.”
Erme said with a bright smile.
The further we go down to lower floors, the better it would be.
Our plan was based on a worst-case scenario, after all.
“By the way, we’re really lucky. As soon as Yuseong joined, this happened.”
“Yuseong, the luck totem. With Yuseong around, things just seem to go smoothly.”
Theresa spoke up.
Erme also nodded vigorously.
Had something happened while I wasn’t around?
I didn’t particularly want to ask.
We quickly moved forward, and soon we arrived at the boss room.
“The door’s open?”
The door was indeed open.
But inside, there was nothing.
It meant someone had already defeated the boss and gone down.
“Well, it can’t be helped. In places like this, the early bird gets the worm.”
Erme, who had said that, added,
“Even though we came quickly, we’re just about to step into the third layer, so there’s nothing we can do. If we had been this fast right after the Green Bone Horse incident, maybe we would have caught it.”
At that time, we wouldn’t have been able to move this quickly, so it couldn’t be helped.
I thought, watching Erme speak with a bit of regret.
‘The Labyrinth is not so easy.’
Strong people monopolize these things.
Of course, being strong isn’t enough—you also need to find the right path quickly.
With that thought, I looked for the way down to the next layer.
“How far do those guys usually go down?”
“To the 15th floor.”
Erme answered my question.
“To get below the 15th floor, it’s normal to prepare food and supplies for at least a month. It’s disappointing for us, but for them, it’s common to defeat the boss for minimal gain.”
“The 15th floor…”
“After that, there are people who stay in the Labyrinth for weeks, or even months. So, when they go down, they usually need to rest for at least a few weeks to a month before going further.”
“That sounds terrifying.”
I agreed with Glasses’ words.
Descending below the 15th floor, we’d still only have experienced a single day outside, wouldn’t we?
The integration of time and space boundaries was truly a terrifying thing.
‘Isn’t that why strong individuals are so rare in the Labyrinth?’
There was a famous story of an adventurer’s party who, after a failed ambush on a single adventurer, spent dozens of days hunting, leveling up, and then retaliating.
“That story is well-known, but it’s better not to use it unless necessary.”
“Why?”
“You could be swallowed by the darkness of the Labyrinth.”
“The darkness of the Labyrinth?”
It was an odd statement, but I didn’t question it further.
The one who had said it was none other than Erme.
Given her experience, it was better to heed her warnings.
We then descended to the second layer.
The second layer was the Hop Goblin territory.
This area sometimes housed Hop Goblins who raised Arachne from the third layer.
The Hop Goblins themselves weren’t too problematic, but those raised Arachne were.
We carefully made our way down.
As soon as we entered the new layer, the darkness felt even thicker, and there was a strange smell in the air.
“Let’s proceed cautiously.”
We moved forward for a while.
“…”
Not long after entering the second layer, we came across countless corpses.
The bodies of Hop Goblins.
It wasn’t unusual to see them, but the fact that they hadn’t resisted and had all been slaughtered was strange.
“Let’s stay still for now.”
At Erme’s words, all the party members nodded.
“A stronger party must have gone ahead. We’ll stay here for a bit, just in case anything unexpected happens.”
“It’s better to be cautious.”
The potential danger was that the ones who caused this may turn hostile towards us.
It might seem overly cautious, but in the Labyrinth, common sense doesn’t always apply.
You can’t always find bodies, and unexpected situations can arise at any time.
So, everyone agreed with Erme’s suggestion.
I decided to set some traps as a precaution.
“You know how to set traps too?”
“I’ve known how to do it. Just refined it a little more.”
“You’re really versatile.”
Isn’t that what a thief is supposed to be?
I nodded in response to Erme and walked a little further out to set the traps.
“…?”
“What’s going on, Yuseong?”
Ignoring Rishiel’s question, I focused.
‘Something feels off.’
There was a sense of unease.
I moved closer to the wall, and the feeling of discomfort grew stronger.
It was a strange sense of déjà vu.
‘Where have I felt this before?’
Han Ul’s spikes.
The hidden rooms in the Labyrinth that Erme had taught me about.
The time I uncovered the identity of the one who had taken over Glasses’ body.
I trusted my instincts when it came to this sort of feeling.
But…
‘Some of these hidden rooms are known for kidnapping people without permission, so it’s better to be cautious.’
I decided to head back and inform my party.
For now, I should set traps near the area.
‘It’s not anything too elaborate, but still.’
I installed the sharp wire I received from the dwarf, Durin.
I had divided it into two sections: one for traps and one for combat.
I set up the trap version along the path below.
It should be able to stop a charge from enemies at least once.
Then, I returned to my party and shared the feeling I had experienced.
“The trap doesn’t seem to be part of the current layer, so it’s probably a hidden room.”
Erme, after hearing my explanation, agreed.
A hidden room.
Hidden rooms are categorized as either half-layers or hidden rooms.
The so-called half-layer (0.5-layer) is known for its extreme difficulty.
It’s said to feature creatures stronger than the bosses of the next layer.
Hidden rooms are said to be similar in that they spawn creatures of comparable strength, or sometimes they present challenge rooms that require certain knowledge or skills to overcome.
We might face the Hop Goblin Champion we encountered earlier, or perhaps a room with some form of trial could appear.
It’s hard to know.
“What should we do?”
Erme asked, seeking our opinions.
“If we aim to take down the boss, our strength right now isn’t too bad.”
“Yeah, our firepower’s not weak.”
Glasses and Theresa spoke while looking at me.
I couldn’t deny that.
The crossbow I wielded was close to what an elemental mage would use, as Volcan had once remarked.
For someone like you, adding a level to an elemental mage’s spells wouldn’t be out of the question.
It was a hint he had dropped when I was shooting arrows.
With that level of firepower, we shouldn’t face many problems.
‘Considering that…’
With Erme, the heavily armored warrior Theresa, and Rozanté, who could act as both a healer and a monk if needed, I didn’t think we’d have any serious issues, whether it was the boss room or a room with multiple enemies.
Anyway, our party’s firepower was solid.
This time, Glasses leveled up and learned quite a good skill.
“Let me show you the power of a support mage.”
He said, adjusting his glasses and glancing at me.
He probably learned magic that could boost my firepower for a short time or restrict the movements of enemies.
Erme made a thoughtful expression for a moment.
Seeing her look slightly unsure, it seemed like such places weren’t usually found here.
“So, what should we do?”
“Well… how about just testing it out?”
“Testing it out?”
What do you mean by testing it?
If we’re going to catch it, we catch it.
I nodded, feeling a bit confused.
‘Well, whatever it is, if the party leader says we should go, we’ll go.’
I led the party to the place where I had felt that strange presence.
“Is this the place? Doesn’t seem like anything’s wrong with it.”
“That’s why Yuseong is amazing.”
Erme puffed out her chest proudly as she spoke.
It didn’t seem that impressive to me.
When I looked at the wall, I noticed one brick was out of place.
I casually pushed it.
‘No reaction.’
So, what if I tried the opposite?
I pulled the brick.
Suddenly…
Creeeak!
The wall slid to the side, revealing a staircase leading down.
“It’s not a hidden room.”
“That’s actually pretty dangerous.”
The stairs led to another layer.
We’d be fine going down to the 3rd layer, but if we go all the way to the 5th, someone from our party might die.
“Really?”
“It’s a high probability that I’ll be the one to die. In that case, I would have refused.”
“Well, let’s go inside first.”
As soon as our entire party stepped inside, the door behind us slammed shut with a loud creak.
“Glasses, light.”
At my command, Glasses snapped his fingers, and a bright light appeared.
“Wait, Yuseong. Did you just call me ‘Glasses’…?”
“Marcel, let’s move ahead.”
“Huff…”
We continued down the stairs.
This time, we came across a door.
There was no lock like the one we had seen before.
“There’s no lock.”
Erme muttered, looking serious.
What exactly did the lock do?
“In rooms like this, the lock serves a purpose. Whether there’s a lock or not changes the contents inside.”
“What happens if there’s a lock?”
“A lock is basically a seal. It’s used to keep a powerful entity sealed inside. I don’t know exactly how it’s implemented, but it’s almost an officially recognized concept within academic circles.”
That’s something I didn’t know.
“Ah, so this hidden room isn’t likely to have a vicious creature like the Hop Goblin Champion from last time.”
“Actually, that could be a problem in itself.”
At Glasses’ words, Erme made a thoughtful sound as she pondered for a moment.
After a brief hesitation, she spoke.
“Let’s just test it out. If it gets dangerous, we’ll retreat immediately.”
“Do you think we can escape?”
“If it comes down to it, we can just break through the walls. It’s better to deal with one monster and get out, but there are some traps in the Labyrinth designed to kill people, so even we’re at risk.”
We cautiously continued further inside.
The deeper we went, the heavier the air felt.
It wasn’t poison or anything like that…
‘It’s the kind of pressure that feels like it’s suffocating.’
Rishiel frowned and spoke.
“I think this is a half-layer.”
It felt like something close to a boss room.
The deeper we went, the louder the noises became.
Kreeek, kreeeek.
In the deep darkness below, I saw countless red eyes.
And a massive eye.
Whether it was a boss room or a room full of small monsters didn’t matter, but.
‘Having both appear is a bit too much.’
I spoke to Erme, my eyes fixed on the scene below.
“Should we retreat?”
“Stop with the silly jokes! Yuseong, get ready! Theresa, block the front!”
Erme didn’t seem to understand my desire to run away. She quickly gave her orders.
I sighed inwardly, drawing my bowstring and taking aim.