Chapter 63

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Soren’s Labyrinth Association.

An unprecedented situation had occurred.

On the 3rd floor, two wandering bosses appeared and roamed the field, and a Monster Wave broke out.

And very surprisingly, the local 3rd floor party resolved it all by themselves.

Before a Monster Wave rescue team could even be properly assembled.

Usually, to resolve a Monster Wave, you need a party at least 2 levels higher than that floor.

For a 3rd floor Wave, at minimum a 5th floor party would need to go in.

But a 3rd floor party resolved it themselves?

They even activated the Monument that no one had been able to solve for all that time.

And going one step further…

“We’re alive!”

“Priest! Priest!”

“Help us!”

Four adventurers whose lives were hanging by a thread burst out from the 3rd floor exit gate.

Those people who looked like they could barely walk, let alone defeat an exit boss, said they had bought the exit gate.

From Caleb’s party.

“That party found Gildal’s exit room and knew its location.”

That exit room without an exit boss already had its gate open, and the four patients paid money to be escorted to that point and escaped.

It’s a common occurrence in labyrinths.

Taking money from combat-incapable adventurers to clear exit rooms for them instead.

However, compared to normal times, there were tremendously many such customers today.

Because of the Monster Wave.

“We’re alive!”

The 3rd floor exit gates opened continuously without rest.

Some crazy party was repeatedly clearing exit rooms.

“30,000 gold per person. It’s not a small amount, but thinking of it as the price of life, it’s cheap.”

People who weren’t confident they could clear exit rooms even if they went to the 2nd floor due to injuries, or people who found it difficult to even go to the 2nd floor itself, used that broker party.

And the testimonies they gave after coming outside were all nothing but insane stories.

“They killed the Lich, they say. That’s how the Wave ended.”

“Caleb activated the Monument without even touching it, they say.”

“Backstab alone killed a rag zombie reassembled from 4th floor adventurers, they say.”

“Does that even make sense?”

“He caused an avalanche in the snowy mountains, they say.”

“He broke through the Monster Wave-occupied area with just his body, they say.”

Some of the content was slightly exaggerated.

Not only that…

“Gildal!”

When that Goblin came out with his party members, almost everyone in the Labyrinth Association nearly fainted.

Gildal could have escaped first with the other injured, but he stayed with Hijikata’s party.

Although he couldn’t fight, with Goblin-like vitality he accompanied them until the escape.

“Hijikata! You really succeeded!”

The Association’s reception staff congratulated them, thinking that the famous swordsman party from the 3rd floor had finally done it, but.

“Caleb’s party helped us greatly.”

Once again, those brokers’ names were mentioned.

Not a single moment where they’re left out.

‘No way, Caleb!’

Meldini was so excited she felt like she could do aerial somersaults.

‘What on earth are you doing in there!’

***

When we exited the exit room, it was late dawn.

Only night-shift staff remained in the Labyrinth Association, so it was quiet.

“Caleb! You finally came out!”

After roughly talking with the clerk, it seemed the parties we had charged money to help escape had talked about us quite a bit.

“There was a Monster Wave but you resolved it? What happened inside needs to be reported. Caleb.”

“Can’t we do it tomorrow?”

“Of course you can. You must be very tired, so please go in and rest first. Please visit the Association tomorrow for the incident report.”

“Understood.”

We exited the Labyrinth Association building.

“Caleb…”

Yernil, with dark circles extending down, leaned her forehead on my shoulder.

“I feel like I’m going to faint from exhaustion.”

“I really feel like I’m going to die, hyung-nim.”

“I feel sorry that the kids probably waited a long time.”

Everyone was in an exhausted state.

That’s understandable.

After all that suffering, we cleared several exit rooms in succession.

But thanks to that, we made tremendous profits this time. Probably 1st place in the entire history of the Association’s 3rd floor.

“Let’s settle profits starting tomorrow, and disband quickly. Everyone go home and rest. Thank you for your hard work.”

I disbanded the party at this point.

“Caleb, thank you for your hard work too. Let’s meet at the Labyrinth Association tomorrow.”

Aimus left the party first and returned home.

“Then I’ll go to the inn and sleep, hyung-nim.”

Backstab had now completed resurrection processing at city hall and even had his account restored, so he became independent from the dormitory.

“Rest well.”

“You too, hyung-nim.”

Backstab waved at me, then after walking a few steps, looked back again.

Seeing me and Yernil standing side by side, he shrugged his shoulders.

“But hey, elf.”

“Huh?”

“Are you going to keep freeloading at hyung-nim’s dormitory?”

“Uh… Huh?”

Flustered Yernil flailed about.

“Hyung-nim, be careful of that one. Never drink together or anything. If you’re not careful, you’ll get devoured. Really. When you come to your senses, you’ll be in the same situation as Aimus hyung-nim.”

“What are you talking about!”

“Lock your room door tight when you sleep. Sigh. I can’t even protect you.”

“Hey!”

Yernil jumped up and down.

Backstab disappeared into the back alley, giggling.

***

The third survival.

The first and second times had also exposed us to tremendous crises, but this time was really no joke.

Not just us, but the entire 3rd floor almost got completely destroyed.

Lying in the bathtub filled with hot water, I felt like my body was melting.

“Now I feel somewhat alive.”

Let me reflect on this 3rd floor adventure in my head.

The necromancer’s traces discovered from the 2nd floor.

Following those and meeting Antonelli.

He was too suspicious, so after interrogating him, I finally learned of the experiment plan.

I knocked him out with Superconductivity when he tried to escape with a stair scroll and killed him, but he revived as a Lich.

And then the Monster Wave.

The Magic Touch stair scroll that Yernil shot at me while we were fleeing in the snowy mountains.

The Monument’s cipher that I solved with Soyul’s hint.

The appearance of the rag zombie. The appearance of Gildal. The battles that got tangled up in the snowy mountains. The combination of Cumulonimbus and Sound Mapping and Magic Touch and telekinesis and blank scroll that activated the Monument with desperate effort.

Up to this point, it proceeded almost smoothly. We had a slight slip-up due to the rag zombie in the middle, but there was no part where my strategy failed.

But the end.

‘Spider Doctor.’

At that time, I really thought Soyul had become the exit boss.

At first I was half-doubtful whether that experiment would succeed, but I analyzed that there was a high probability it had succeeded based on the circumstances.

Gildal’s soul had returned, Soyul had disappeared, and the urn had appeared too.

‘But it wasn’t.’

A disgusting unpleasant feeling rises up.

Like I lost in a battle of wits with the labyrinth, an irritating sense of defeat.

No, it’s not just a feeling – it’s an objective fact.

‘What if the Spider Doctor had been an enemy?’

Then I would have been game over at that point.

The Spider Doctor had prepared a perfect counter to my tactics.

After seeing his spider body recover when the Monument activated, he would have predicted that the urn would reappear in the sanctuary. And he cast magic at exactly the timing when Soyul destroyed the Soul Binding Jar, kidnapping Soyul.

As if to make it look like Soyul had become the exit boss.

To lure me to the exit room that way.

I was beautifully played.

Of course, it’s true that the absolute amount of information itself was severely unequal.

The Spider Doctor seemed to know all my operations, but I didn’t even know of his existence.

But was that really my best at that time?

No.

I could have been more cautious.

For example, when I opened the exit room, instead of charging at Soyul, I could have cast Wizard’s Eye.

What if I had discovered in advance that there was no Labyrinth Master’s seal on Soyul’s forehead?

Then facing the Spider Doctor one-on-one wouldn’t have been a forced situation but my choice.

I might have been able to receive assistance from Hijikata, Aimus, or Backstab.

I can’t be certain I would have won even then, but.

‘Damn it.’

Let me honestly admit it.

The moment I discovered Soyul was inside there, I let my guard down.

I should have been more meticulous and more careful. I was even in the process of researching the exit boss system that I still didn’t know well!

And actually, I made mistakes much earlier than that.

When Antonelli’s Soul Binding Jar was breaking.

I shouldn’t have taken my eyes off Soyul.

‘The Spider Doctor said he hid in the trees at that time and cast soul separation magic on the Soul Binding Jar.’

Looking at how Yernil couldn’t detect it, he probably used noise suppression magic like Silent Night.

And he probably took Soyul away too with those spider webs that had swoosh swoosh pulled Aimus and Hijikata out of the exit room.

It was already long after sunset, and on the dark mountain peak, even the Torch Helmet had been taken down by Backstab, so our vision was greatly reduced.

In that darkness, the one thing that caught everyone’s attention was the fox fire breaking the Soul Binding Jar.

All our aggro was concentrated there, and we were caught off guard at that timing when everyone was just looking up at the sky.

Of course, it wasn’t something I could have predicted. It’s nonsense to assume there would be other monsters besides exit bosses after the Monument activated.

But after dying, such excuses become meaningless.

“Damn it.”

A sigh escaped through the steam rising from the bathtub.

“I’m really pissed off.”

What really pisses me off is that if that Spider Doctor bastard had been smug about it, that would have been fine, but instead he praised me.

Saying he’d never seen someone try to backstab the Labyrinth Master, that the cunning and craftiness of trying to experiment indirectly using Soyul was impressive, that they are chess pieces and I’m a knight playing the grand game.

Actually, if I interpret it according to that analogy, didn’t I place the piece called Soyul in the wrong position, thus making a major blunder to the Spider Doctor?

But this bastard dares to praise me saying I played well enough?

“Just wait and see.”

Next time we meet, the atmosphere won’t be like this. Spider Doctor.

Whether he’s enemy or ally, that black-hearted guy whose true intentions are unknown – in any direction, the one who should hold the initiative must be me.

***

While lying in bed trying to sleep.

“Caleb.”

Yernil came to my room with wet hair wrapped in a towel.

“Yes?”

“I… Couldn’t talk about this properly in the labyrinth.”

She hesitated, then came over and sat next to my bed.

“I’m sorry about that time.”

“About what?”

“For shooting the stair scroll at Caleb…”

Ah.

“Actually, I came to the dormitory today to talk about this… If you tell me to leave tomorrow, I’ll leave!”

What kind of scolding did she imagine in her head that I would give her?

“I didn’t know if Caleb could chase away the wolves with Heat Wave! I’m really sorry! That situation got more complicated because of me then, right!? I was wrong! You can’t kick me out of the party…”

She had even thought about party expulsion.

Looking at Yernil’s innocent expression filled with anxiety, she suddenly contrasts with the Spider Doctor and I snort with derision.

Did the situation get complicated because of Yernil then?

Well.

It did diverge from my plan, but thanks to that, I was able to escape the battlefield and get time to think, received hints from Soyul to solve the Monument cipher, and on the way we farmed a treasure room and confirmed the exit room was open.

So the result was closer to being good, but…

“Yernil.”

Still, I need to say what needs to be said sternly.

With the most serious expression and stern eyes.

“Never do that again next time.”

“…!”

Yernil looked at my expression and fidgeted.

“…I’m… I’m sorry…”

Yernil’s eyes quickly became moist as she hung her head low.

“I won’t butt in anymore unless you tell me to, and I’ll stay quiet… Caleb. I’m really sorry…”

“Not that.”

“Yes?”

“Shooting the stair scroll at me is fine. I can handle that level of mistake. But using Guard Repositioning toward the inside of the monsters was a really big mistake.”

“…”

“You were trying to die in my place, weren’t you? Even if I got bitten by the wolves, you shouldn’t have done that.”

“Uh…”

“Don’t throw your life away so easily.”

I’m serious.

A party member dying outside the range of my calculations is fatal to my tactics.

During the snowy mountain battle too, if Yernil hadn’t been there, wouldn’t the Monument activation difficulty have become hellish?

Maybe it wouldn’t have ended with just one or two deaths.

So actually, after teleporting with the stairs, I was constantly…

“I was very worried until we met again.”

Yernil didn’t even have a Torch Helmet, so she was fully exposed to cold and confusion, and hiding on floor 3.5 was just a desperate measure. Originally, the inter-floor village itself is a dangerous place.

“When fighting, stay behind me as much as possible.”

Now that I have Superconductivity, I’m better at close-range response.

“Then I’ll protect you.”

“…”

“…”

Flustered Yernil gulp swallowed.

Silence flowed.

Wait a minute.

Suddenly her face started turning red.

Did my statement just now cause some misunderstanding?

“From now on, we’ll continue together…”

“G-good…!”

The malfunctioning Yernil cut off my words and shot up.

“Good night!”

She spat out a greeting like an incantation that seemed to have gotten twisted somewhere in her head and pitter-patter ran away to her room.

***

The next morning, the Labyrinth Association seemed busy.

For creating an incident report from the omniscient(?) Caleb’s perspective about the exceptional events that occurred on the 3rd floor.

“Hello.”

I had slept well and woken up in good condition.

And at the Association…

‘There are many onlookers.’

These aren’t low-floor parties anymore.

Veterans interested in Monster Waves and Monument magic could be seen here and there.

Even…

‘Those are professors, aren’t they?’

Three Magic University professors were here.

Isilof, Meldini, and even Dalstream.

They seemed interested because of the Monument magic.

“Caleb!”

Meldini waved happily.

I nodded back in greeting.

“Welcome, Caleb! Let’s do the interview inside.”

The clerk guided our party to a small conference room.

From the meeting with Antonelli to activating the Monument and rescuing Gildal.

I told them everything in as much detail as possible.

Except about the Spider Doctor.

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