TM-TW-Chapter 11

The Strongest Exit Boss

“Take a look at this.”

In front of the exit room lay a single corpse.

A young male wizard with well-maintained, glossy skin and hair.

It was a familiar face.

“It’s Abisson.”

The face was identical to the one on the identification card in the wallet I had returned to the dwarf.

Thanks to soul preservation, despite being a dead body, it strangely gave off an eerie feeling as if he were ‘sleeping.’

“Is that why he looks so neat even in this state, like a rich young master?”

Yernil said.

“Probably right.”

“Right?”

“Yes. Because he received the soul preservation magic service.”

That magic was incredibly expensive in the game, and it would be the same here.

If it were cheap, they would have cast soul preservation on all the slaves, then collected the corpses a few days later for recycling.

Using that expensive magic scroll(?) on the 1st floor? Abisson must be a beloved son of a wealthy family, a novice who just started dungeon adventures, and someone who joined an experienced party like Virtanen with his parents’ backing.

“Ah…”

Yernil nodded.

“If we retrieve his corpse and take it out, that family will probably give us some reward. We could hope for that. But more than that…”

I pointed to the damaged part of Abisson’s corpse. He was missing one leg.

“Do you hear anything like insects chewing meat nearby?”

“…Ugh.”

Yernil’s expression turned pale as she realized what I was looking for.

Virtanen had said Abisson was taken by a Black Hornet. A giant wasp-type monster.

“I hear it.”

“Do you also hear insects flapping their wings?”

“No.”

“You don’t hear it?”

“No.”

“…That’s strange.”

Black Hornets don’t hunt additionally when they have prey, and they don’t leave their position to move far away.

“Then let’s head toward where we hear the meat-chewing sound.”

“No need to go anywhere. It’s right over there…”

Yernil pointed to a corner a few meters away. I had been on guard against wasps until now and hadn’t noticed, but now I could see there was a giant white egg sac there.

“It’s a Black Hornet egg.”

The egg sac, about the size of a human torso, had its top torn off, and inside was a fat, giant larva wriggling around.

While chewing on a piece of Abisson’s thigh.

The Black Hornet probably cut Abisson’s leg into pieces—ankle, knee, thigh—in that order, feeding them one piece at a time through the torn hole at the top of the egg sac.

“This is even stranger.”

I fell into tremendous confusion.

Where did the Black Hornet that was feeding it go?

Larvae have almost no survival ability until they become adults, so the Black Hornet needs to continuously supply food from the side. Obviously, if there’s food, it won’t leave its position to protect the egg sac.

“But where did it go?”

If other adventurers had eliminated the Black Hornet, there would be battle traces, and they would have cleaned up the larva too.

So the Black Hornet abandoned its own egg and left on its own—but why?

Among the field monsters on 1st floor of the labyrinth, the Black Hornet is the strongest, so it didn’t flee due to conflict with other field monsters.

Then it must be the exit room?

No matter how I think about it, that’s the only thing that comes to mind.

The Black Hornet sensed the scent of the boss inside the exit room and fled.

But for that to happen, the Black Hornet must have encountered that exit boss before—does that make sense? How could a field mob Black Hornet meet a boss mob that only exists in exit rooms?

“Ah.”

It can meet it.

I remembered.

Fuck.

There’s exactly one scenario that makes this impossible situation possible.

“Yernil. We’re screwed.”

The worst possible draw for an exit boss had occurred.

I was confident I could defeat any exit boss on the 1st floor with poison arrows, but this one is the exception.

“Ah, we’re really fucked.”

When I played the game, out of countless playthroughs, there was only one case where this appeared as an exit boss on the 1st floor.

Getting caught in those astronomical odds?

Is it because of Developer difficulty?

No wonder I had such good luck finding the exit room.

***

‘Possessed Adventurer.’

Even when playing the game, these were the opponents I least wanted to face as exit bosses in the early stages.

Meeting them meant game over nine times out of ten.

The concept is that an adventurer active in the dungeon had their soul captured by the dungeon master and became their servant.

They have an unremovable ‘madness’ status ailment by default, making conversation impossible, yet they can use all the skills and magic from their adventurer days.

And they’re incredibly strong.

Originally, they were adventurers who were considered almost the best on their respective floors, but one day, they suddenly went missing.

In town, NPCs would gossip about ‘Hong Gil-dong went missing on the nth floor of the labyrinth!’ and then within a few days, they’d pop up as the exit boss of the nth floor of the labyrinth.

In other words, some famous adventurer who recently went missing on the 1st floor of the labyrinth, who had a history of happily beating up Black Hornets, became the dungeon master’s slave and appeared here as an exit boss, and the Black Hornet that caught that scent fled in terror.

This is the only scenario that explains the current bizarre phenomenon.

When I asked Yernil, she told me about rumors she’d heard in Plandor City.

“I wasn’t an adventurer, so I don’t know the details. But I heard at a tavern that a rogue called Mister Backstab went missing on the 1st floor of the labyrinth.”

“Mister Backstab?”

“Yes. He single-handedly defeated a Black Hornet that appeared when his entire party was down? That’s how he became famous.”

Shit, that’s the bastard.

I’m certain.

And it just had to be a rogue class?

The worst matchup for a wizard.

Moreover, if he could defeat a Black Hornet alone, his level must be high too. At least level 7 or higher?

No, it could be even higher.

The adventurers the dungeon master recruits as exit bosses are the strongest on their respective floors, and such people can usually play on the next floor too.

An adventurer who was exploring the 2nd floor of the labyrinth returned to the 1st floor, acted as a leader here, and got recruited by the Dungeon Master.

Thinking that way, in the worst case, he could be up to level 10.

***

“Puhahahaha!“

The bartender at the tavern ‘Mice of the Beer Barrel’ burst into laughter at the story the dwarf brought.

“Come on, friend. You need to say something that makes sense.”

“But it’s really true!”

“Chantless and Ultra-high-speed casting? Even having just one of those would make someone a genius that appears once in a hundred years.”

“Damn it, if you don’t want to believe it, don’t!”

“Wait a minute, Virtanen.”

The bartender suddenly brought out whiskey and poured a glass.

“What are you doing? I didn’t order this.”

“Wasn’t that a chantless order?”

“Ugh…”

The bartender who got one over on Virtanen pushed the glass toward him.

“Drink it ultra-fast! It’s a penalty drink for spouting nonsense!”

Other adventurers nearby giggled. Virtanen downed the drink gulp and wiped his beard.

“Keu. Emma went to the temple, and Zikal doesn’t drink. It’s lonely having no one to testify with me.”

Emma had requested additional resurrection scrolls. It would take at least two days for her to return with the scrolls.

“So. How was Zikal?”

The bartender asked.

“Well, not bad? He lacks dungeon experience, but his skills are decent.”

“Of course. All the people I introduce do more than their share. That guy will probably follow in Mister Backstab’s footsteps once he gains some dungeon experience.”

“Khahaha!“

Virtanen snorted.

“Backstab was practically a legend among 1st floor adventurers. He was someone who did more than his share even when he joined a 2nd floor party.”

“Was he?”

“Yes.”

“…”

“…”

“It’s really unfortunate that such a person got captured by the dungeon master.”

The bartender said while pouring whiskey.

“There’s someone even more unfortunate.”

“Who?”

“The adventurer who meets Backstab as an exit boss.”

“That’s true, too.”

“Most 1st floor adventurers don’t have the ability to figure out the exit boss in advance. They get excited thinking it’s an exit room, and bang! open the door, and right at that moment, heads start flying off one by one.”

Bang!

The tavern door burst open.

“Now it’s time for my head to fly off.”

Virtanen smiled bitterly.

A pale-faced middle-aged noblewoman rushed breathlessly into the tavern entrance.

Abisson’s mother, Noblewoman Marisa.

Behind her, a young male mage also rushed in. Abisson’s older brother, Wizard Clarence.

“Virtanen! Where is the dwarf warrior Virtanen!”

Noblewoman Marisa shouted.

“Right here.”

When the dwarf raised his hand, Marisa rushed to him in one breath.

“Abisson… Is it true that Abisson is dead?”

“Yes. He died and was resurrected once, and while looking for the exit room to escape, he was taken by a Black Hornet.”

“Ah…”

Marisa grabbed the back of her neck and swayed. Her eldest son, Clarence, quickly supported her.

Virtanen nodded to Clarence in greeting.

“You’re Abisson’s brother?”

“That’s right. Haa. That kid insisted on dungeon exploration and finally…”

“Virtanen!”

Marisa shouted tearfully.

“Didn’t I ask you to take good care of him! You’re a 2nd floor party, but I hired you with extra money to handle the 1st floor—what was the reason for that?”

“Madam. The situation is pitiful, but Abisson’s death isn’t our responsibility. We were Abisson’s comrades, not bodyguards or trainers. And we did our best to protect our comrade.”

“…”

Marisa looked at her eldest son while sobbing.

“Mother. Soul preservation should still be active. Stay calm and listen to Virtanen’s story.”

Clarence calmed Marisa down.

“Ahem.”

Virtanen downed his drink gulp and explained the situation.

“Considering the soul preservation period and the corpse’s decay rate, if we go back within a week and retrieve the body, we can resurrect him.”

“When will the resurrection scroll be available?”

“In two or three days.”

“Two or three days.”

Clarence calculated the dates.

“The entrance gate opens in four days.”

“Right.”

“Time will be tight once we enter, but will you be able to find Abisson right away?”

“This.”

Virtanen showed Abisson’s identification card.

“I’ll use lost item tracking magic to trace it back.”

“How did you manage to get the identification card?”

“Some genius wizard found it.”

“Genius wizard?”

Then the bartender interrupted with an answer.

“A talent freak who does Chantless and Ultra-high-speed casting.”

“How could such a wizard exist? Even having just one of those is top-tier talent…”

Clarence, being a wizard himself, found it even harder to believe than the bartender.

“Clarence! Could, could that wizard retrieve Abisson’s body?”

Marisa activated her hope circuit.

“It’s possible.”

Virtanen said.

“That party has two members.”

To retrieve a corpse, there needs to be a party with vacancies in the first place. If a party member died while fighting the exit boss, they would push that party member’s corpse into the gate instead of Abisson’s.

“They could give one of the two remaining empty spots to Abisson’s corpse.”

“…!”

“But clearing the exit room with just two people won’t be easy.”

Clarence said.

“That’s true. Moreover, they’re a Magic University slave team.”

“A slave team!?”

Clarence was shocked.

“Then there’s almost no possibility? They wouldn’t even have proper equipment, would they?”

“Right.”

Virtanen nodded.

“But that wizard is really an incredible talent bundle and very sharp-minded too. I have no evidence, but somehow I have faith in him. Maybe they really will clear the exit room and come out with just the two of them.”

“Hmm.”

“Unless they encounter someone like Backstab as the exit boss.”

“…”

A moment of silence flowed.

“W-we can’t just sit here doing nothing. Clarence.”

Noblewoman Marisa, who suddenly came to her senses, made a fuss again.

“I need to put a bounty on retrieving Abisson’s body. I need to commission the adventurer guild. I don’t care how much it costs.”

Then the adventurers in the tavern suddenly began to gleam with interest.

“How much will you pay?”

The first to ask was a swordsman from the far east.

The leader of a trio that uses the 3rd floor as their main stage and has been rising in the adventurer guild lately, ‘Swordsman Hijikata’.

“Do you need a rate worthy of coming down from the 3rd floor? Hire us.”

‘Lil Dragon Aaron’, a wizard warrior as famous as Virtanen on the 2nd floor, entered the service bidding.

“We’re not as sloppy as Virtanen…”

“Everyone.”

Clarence looked over all the adventurers once.

“Please lose interest.”

“…”

Then everyone became quiet as if by magic.

“I’ll go in with Virtanen and bring my brother back myself.”

“A 5th floor wizard will go with us?”

Virtanen asked with delight.

“Yes. He’s my brother, so I need to bring him back personally. And…”

Clarence said.

“I’m also interested in that genius wizard.”

***

Virtanen seat.

Emma. And Zikal.

I miss you…

‘They’re going to resurrect Abisson’s corpse?’

They’ll probably come in with a replacement wizard, resurrect Abisson, and throw him through the exit gate along with three magic stones.

Then they’ll find a new exit room and leave.

It would be great if they put us in those three magic stone spots too, but…

“The strategy of waiting for Virtanen won’t work.”

In my view, it’s hopeless.

“Why?”

“Because of this larva.”

The Black Hornet is a monster that acts as a boss in the 1st floor field, and the scent it emits is like a wide-area monster repelling ward.

Thanks to that, there are no monsters around here right now.

“But this thing will die before the dwarf party arrives, and monsters that smell it will swarm in on a large scale.”

“Then… Then what do we do? Should we give up this exit room and wait for the next one?”

“No. If what’s inside is a possessed adventurer, none of the parties currently on the 1st floor can defeat it anyway. Waiting for another exit room is hopeless.”

And there’s no guarantee that when we meet another party, negotiations will go as well as with Virtanen.

Rather, it might be like the baldie party that poses a threat to us.

The best option is for Yernil and me to defeat Backstab and get out.

“Can we… Defeat Backstab?”

Yernil’s eyes became filled with anxiety like a rain-soaked puppy.

Well.

Even in the game, meeting a possessed adventurer as an exit boss early on meant game over nine times out of ten.

But in the game, there was no ability for a wizard to fire four Fireballs in one turn.

It was also rare to farm Venomic Spider poison arrows while playing as a 1st floor slave party.

Looking at firepower alone, it’s not insufficient.

“Yernil.”

“Yes.”

“Can you trust me and follow?”

“…! Yes!”

“Can you do as I say?”

“Yes!”

Good.

Then I’ll have to use a slightly rough strategy.