Chapter 790
Chapter 790: Red Ocean (2)
Basement Floor One. A hidden field that can be accessed by placing three ‘Unnamed Fragments’ obtained from the Sculpture Temple, one of the fields on the third floor, onto a certain portal stone on the first floor. Only a very small number of people have explored this place so far, which is why all sorts of rumors have been spreading about it.
Single-digit numbered items, new essences, undiscovered monsters, etc.
Just from listening to the stories, it sounds like Basement Floor One is some kind of place where hitting the jackpot is guaranteed as soon as you enter?
‘Well, looking at the rewards I gained, I can’t say that’s wrong……’
From my experience, it’s high risk and high reward. Even I thought we might never escape from there. Many people died during the escape process as well.
“These people are truly insane… wanting to crawl in there of their own accord. Even though the royal family has officially designated it as a restricted area.”
Raven clicked her tongue in disbelief, but I could somewhat understand their actions. The desires of explorers are similar to an abyss. No matter how deep they go, there’s no end.
‘…It was the same when we first entered Basement Floor One.’
At that time, explorers swarmed around the portal stone. Everyone was smiling, without exception. Even with the Lord of the Abyss, Berzak, roaming the floor, they couldn’t abandon their desires, thinking that the Floor Lord appearing might be a condition to open the portal.
[Surely you know it too, Baron Yandel…… Isn’t this what being an explorer is all about?!]
It was then that I truly realized how crazy explorers can be. It was like I had taken a glimpse at true madness……
“Anyway, if their goal is Basement Floor One, that makes sense. I was wondering what kind of people could clear through the labyrinth so quickly. Apparently, they were just incredibly desperate.”
I nodded in agreement with Raven’s muttering.
The greatest enemy when attempting to enter Basement Floor One is ‘time.’ You have until the first floor closes. In other words, to meet the conditions to open the portal, within seven days you must climb to the third floor, collect the three Unnamed Fragments, and then descend back down to the first floor to finally enter Basement Floor One.
“So what are you planning to do?”
Kaislan’s question made me pause to think. To be honest, whether they went to Basement Floor One or Floor Two wasn’t really my concern. They’re more likely not to return anyway. Well, I am curious about the faces of people who devised such a reckless plan……
“Let’s keep moving.”
I concluded that it wasn’t worth wasting precious time over mere curiosity, so I resumed our journey and considered the matter settled. Afterwards, focusing solely on progressing to the next floor, we reached the entrance to the fourth floor, Tower in the Sky, passing through the Witch’s Forest on the morning of the 6th day. However, the problem was……
“There are quite a lot.”
At the heart of the Witch’s Forest, near the entrance to the fourth floor, dozens of explorer teams were waiting. Of course, this wasn’t unusual. Most explorers who speedrun don’t have much of a time difference in their records. Naturally, since they reach the fourth floor around the same time, situations where they have to wait are inevitable…
‘Even with this pace, there’s a queue… Everyone must be taking this expedition seriously.’
I looked around to see if Team 2 had also arrived, but there was no sign of them. Well, they had either arrived ahead of us or hadn’t made it here yet. As I led my team to line up as well, I could soon feel people’s gazes subtly shifting toward us.
“…It’s Viscount Yandel.”
“Only arriving now? Not as impressive as expected.”
“I’ve said it before. Apart from his reputation, he’s just an ordinary explorer.”
But maybe it’s because only high-ranking explorers are gathered? I could distinctly feel their inexplicable hostility toward me. It seems they view me as a competitor rather than someone to look up to.
“There aren’t many teams are wearing the royal family’s emblem here, are there?”
“That’s because, given the nature of the military, they prioritize combat strength over mobility.”
“Ah, that makes sense……”
Even as I had this brief conversation with Raven, the line was quickly shrinking. In this kind of situation, there was no need to wait five minutes for the portal’s color to change. Since it was considered full as soon as six people enter, the portal’s color would change soon after and the next team could enter almost immediately, so one team could enter every minute—.
Dddddddd-!
At that moment, the ground shook, as if there was an earthquake. However, befitting their status as high-ranking explorers, no one was surprised by this. Everyone immediately understood what this phenomenon meant.
“…A rift has opened.”
A rift had appeared on the third floor. The reactions among the explorers were divided into three distinct groups.
“So that rumor was true. In a labyrinth that hasn’t opened for a while—”
“Shh, keep quiet.”
“In any case, this means we can look forward to the fourth and fifth floors too, right?”
Those that dismissed the third-floor rift entirely, instead focusing their hopes on what lay ahead.
“Briam! Where’s the rift’s location?”
“Not too far from here. If we travel at full speed, we can reach it within an hour.”
“An hour…… That’s tricky. It wouldn’t be a loss if we managed to enter it, but……”
Those who were weighing the pros and cons upon learning the rift’s location.
And……
“This way!”
“Move!”
“Captain, what should we do? They’re already moving!”
“…Shit! We’re going too!”
And finally, those who immediately made a decision and started running. By the way, our reaction aligned with the first group. We had no particular need for anything from the White Temple, and the Guild Master, whose goal was making ‘achievements,’ didn’t raise any objections. What kind of achievement would clearing a third floor rift be anyway? Ah, still, a rift opening was somewhat fortunate.
“Oh, looks like it’s our turn to enter now.”
The line shortened significantly thanks to the explorers rushing toward the rift.
***
[You have entered the Tower in the Sky on the fourth floor.]
***
Unsurprisingly, nothing particularly eventful happened within the Tower in the Sky. At best, a rift opened on day 10? We rushed to locate it as soon as it appeared, but sadly, we couldn’t enter.
“What a shame… It probably wasn’t the Golden Ruins, right? They say that place is a literal gold mine.”
“…It must have been the Doppelganger Forest.”
Though missing the rift was disappointing, like mentally healthy explorers, we consoled ourselves with this rationalization and continued climbing the tower. Unlike the previous floors where we could skip all battles, combat was unavoidable on the fourth floor and during these encounters, I carefully observed the combat performance of the new members.
‘They’re surprisingly capable.’
Beleg Shucia di Tersia. A hero of the elves, formerly known by the nickname ‘The Pursuer’ during their days as an explorer. I heard he originally had a different alias, but after the elven holy land was devastated by the Dragon Slayer over a decade ago, this nickname was given to him for constantly hunting that person ever since.
Ah, true to their title, their specialties are tracking and detection.
‘Combat ability seems to be between rank 2 and 3……’
One peculiar thing is that despite being in an archer position, they don’t use a bow. Their combat style works like this.
Whooosh-!
Summon an army-sized number of spirits called ‘familiars.’
[Beleg Shucia di Tersia has cast Skill Transference.]
Through the essence ability [Skill Transference], he shares the abilities of various bow-related essences he possess with the familiars.
And……
[Beleg Shucia di Tersia is not equipped with a weapon.]
With the [Virtuous Ruler] effect, all the familiars’ attack power is multiplied several times over—.
[Beleg Shucia di Tersia has cast Soul Trumpet. When summons attack the same target, additional damage is inflicted.]
Their firepower was dramatically increased through several support skills. However, looking at this setup, he seems more like a summoner or sorcerer than an archer……
‘Well, who cares as long as they fight well.’
Beleg’s build was more polished than I expected. As expected from a player, I guess?
‘Well, they’re much better than the Guild Master at least.’
For reference, the Guild Master’s abilities fell far short of my expectations. Sure, he has some rare essences, and objectively speaking, his combat power was in the upper ranks, but……
‘That’s all there is to it.’
Should I say it feels like they went all-in to reach their current level? At this point, it’s too late to completely change his build, and without doing so, there’s practically no potential left to grow further.
[You have entered the Great Demon Realm on the fifth floor.]
Anyway, as we climbed higher, conducting tests that weren’t really tests, we soon arrived at the fifth floor. From the very entrance, the fifth floor was different from how I remembered it. Usually, the entrance to the fifth floor is a safe zone where camps form, and explorers gather to set up camp, but……
“…There’s no one here?”
“That means we arrived early.”
Of course, I don’t think this place would look any different even if more time passed. If someone needed to use the safe zone to set up camp, they probably wouldn’t have gotten the chance to enter the labyrinth in the first place.
“…Judging by the lack of any markers, it seems we arrived before Team 2.”
“Unless someone cleared them away.”
We left a simple marker for Team 2 at the entrance and continued our exploration. Naturally, we chose the most challenging but shortest route, the Canyon of Ghosts.
[You have entered a special area. Field Effect—Canyon of Ghosts is granted.]
[Status abnormality Restligeist is granted. Dark resistance and physical resistance have decreased by -100.]
The ground shook periodically, like minor earthquakes. The eerie howls of ghosts reverberated like background music and I felt a peculiar, unsettling sensation as if my skin was thinning. Although this path was more unpleasant than the Frost Canyon or the Hellfire Gorge, there was no other choice for an efficiency-focused explorer.
“Why does this have to be the fastest route……”
Time in the labyrinth is literally money. In fact, as soon as we took this route, we began to see other explorers everywhere. They were all groups of explorers who were rushing up the floors like us.
‘It’s not a great field for hunting, that’s for sure.’
Hmm, if we had chosen a different route, would we have met more explorers focused on hunting? Probably, but who knows for sure. Honestly, if you could monopolize hunting on the fifth floor, it wouldn’t be too bad of a bad spot for efficiency.
“We’ll reach the sixth floor by tomorrow.”
Time flew by quickly, and it was now the 16th day since we entered the labyrinth. We were just one day away from the sixth floor.
“Arriving on the 17th day is pretty fast, isn’t it……?”
“It’s incredibly fast. During the previous war, wasn’t the participation requirement to arrive at this point by the 25th day?”
Arriving on the morning of the 17th day was undoubtedly a record. If we didn’t worry about our condition and pushed ourselves harder, we might have even been able to arrive on the 16th day through brute force.
‘Is it because the team’s overall skill level has improved?’
Anyway, nothing noteworthy happened since entering the fifth floor until now. If I had to pick one thing, it would be another rift opening……
“Rifts really are opening on every floor.”
“And even with a Guide, we couldn’t enter… how is everyone else so quick?”
Once again, we didn’t manage to enter a rift. Even though the rift portal appeared quite close to us.
‘Is our rift luck just bad this time……?’
That thought crossed my mind as we were setting up camp.
“Yandel.”
Beleg, who served as our team’s Guide, called my name in a low voice. It didn’t take long to figure out why he suddenly stopped preparing to rest and adopted a serious tone.
“…Explorers.”
“There’s quite a number of them. Well over forty.”
“Let’s wait and see. If they’ve noticed us, they should turn back.”
It felt redundant to say it again, but in the labyrinth, monsters aren’t the only thing you have to be wary of. What you really need to be more wary of people.
“……They’re not changing direction.”
The mysterious group was heading straight toward us. If someone had already set up camp, the unwritten rule of the labyrinth was to avoid a confrontation by taking a different path.
Thud, Thud.
As we all stood alert, the group of explorers finally emerged from the darkness of the labyrinth. They showed slightly surprised looks upon seeing us preparing our camp.
“……The Anabada Clan?”
Just as I could identify which clan they were from their emblem; they could do the same. Well, they probably would have recognized us even without an emblem.
“What are you staring at? Move along.”
“Ah, my apologies. I know the unwritten rules, but as the leader, I want to minimize our travel distance as much as possible.”
“Understood, Move along.”
This was already the second time saying it. But the man didn’t budge. He just casually scanned our group.
“By the way……”
That greedy gaze that could only come from weighing what could be lost against what could be gained. I realized it once again.
“…It seems you haven’t joined up with your second team yet?”
Yeah, this is a labyrinth.
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