CLWU 05

Chapter 5

Exactly three days after I beat Lee Jeong-ho to a pulp, Jeric stood me and Kirk in front of him and spoke.

“If you handle scouting and the rear while Kirk handles the front, you should have no trouble reaching at least the tenth floor.”

“Yes, yes. I’ve heard it several times already.”

“I’m going to say it several more times. Etch it into your soul.”

“…Yes.”

“Don’t get carried away just because you dealt with one dropout. What’s the biggest threat in the lower-level labyrinth?”

“Sudden traps and stealth attacks.”

“Right. What happens if you ignore the goblins, which are the most common monsters on the first floor?”

“You could end up with paralysis needles stuck all over your body and have your flesh stripped off while you’re still alive.”

“Right. If you’re a man, you’ll at least just become food. But if you’re a woman…”

“Enough! There aren’t any women among us, so let’s just move on. That story makes me want to puke.”

“…Fine.”

Jeric continued his endless warnings over and over.

In the end, everything he said could be condensed into one sentence.

—The labyrinth is hell.

I know. I’ll remember.

Listening to Jeric’s nagging, Kirk and I headed toward the entrance to the labyrinth in the center of the city.

After passing through the outermost Ninth District where we lived, the road leading through “Labyrinth Avenue” toward the inner parts of the enormous city of Vartus had eight more walls.

The Eighth District, where adventurers from floors 11 to 20 could obtain residential rights.

The Seventh District, where adventurers from floors 21 to 30 could obtain residential rights.

And so on.

The inner districts were expensive places where a penniless guy like me could pass through but could never dream of actually living.

The farther inward we went, the more splendid the streets became, while their overall size gradually decreased.

What a strange city.

When we finally reached the innermost area and the end of Labyrinth Avenue, I saw Royal Palace knights waiting in front of a huge, magnificent gate, clad in gleaming full-body armor.

“Stop. What is your business?”

“Entering the labyrinth.”

“Status window.”

“You don’t need to show us everything. Just show us your name.”

Following Jeric’s instructions, I showed only the name on my status window to the labyrinth guards.

“Go. Cheol. Woo?”

“Everyone calls me Char.”

“…I’ll record it as Char, then. But this man is already an adventurer from the fifties?”

The knight tilted his head as he looked at Jeric.

“If a higher-class adventurer accompanies them, they’ll take all the contribution, and the novice adventurers won’t be able to grow. Higher-class adventurers also have one Ability Stone sealed per section. It’ll probably be rather unpleasant for you…”

“I know. I’m only guiding them to the monument.”

“Hmm. If that’s the case…”

After we passed the identity check, I saw a massive monument engraved with strange glowing patterns standing directly in front of the actual wall blocking off the Royal Palace farther inside.

“That’s the Labyrinth Monument.”

Even without Jeric telling me, I would have known immediately.

I had heard about it countless times, but this was my first time seeing it in person.

“It looks like a rough stone monument, but no matter which direction you look at it from, you see the same pattern. And you can see circles of light and darkness. It really is a mystery.”

The enormous monument, almost the size of a two-story building, emitted a pitch-black circular aura that seemed to absorb the surrounding light.

It looked strangely similar to something I had only ever seen in images back on Earth.

A black hole?

I was frozen by the overwhelming sense of pressure that made the space around the monument look completely alien when Jeric tapped me on the back.

“Armor.”

Only then did I snap back to reality and tap the metal plates.

Clang. Clang.

“Nothing wrong.”

“Spear.”

Clang.

“Nothing wrong.”

We checked our equipment several times as Jeric called out each item.

Kirk, who was taking the front, had prepared half-plate armor befitting his large frame.

As for me, I had prepared mercenary-style leather armor with some metal plates attached here and there.

…The truth was, I simply didn’t have enough money.

I spent too much of the budget on magic stones. Damn it.

Because I was worried about what Old Man Johnson had said, I hadn’t even been able to sell the magic stones whose quality I had raised through synthesis.

Still, I was fine.

[Name: Go Cheol-woo]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 1]

[Stats]

Strength: 14 (+0.03)

Vitality: 15 (+0.03)

Agility: 9 (+0.03)

Mana: 11

Physical Resistance: 3

Magic Resistance: 4

[Mana Skills]

Thrust (Ordinary—Lv.3), Vartus Body-Strengthening Technique (Ordinary—Lv.3), Advance-Retreat Step (Ordinary—Lv.2)

[Ability Slot (Full)]

Multiple Spirit Taming.

[Trait]

-Check Additional Information.

Just looking at my status window made me feel reassured.

This was more than enough.

I’ve raised my skill levels quite a bit through training, too.

So there was no choice but to feel confident.

“I don’t think you’ll encounter any danger at the Novice rank. But never let your guard down. Since this is your first time, just clear the first floor and come back out.”

“Yes.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Especially you, Char. Save those level-up points. Summoners especially shouldn’t raise skills carelessly. With talent like yours…”

“Yes, yes. I know.”

After listening to Jeric’s final lecture—

We placed our hands on the enormous monument, the entrance to the labyrinth.

Flash!

Along with a burst of light, we fell into an unknown space.

Flash!

Bright white light repeatedly flashed before my eyes.

When it finally faded, I saw a pitch-black cave.

There were faintly glowing sections of the walls that provided some visibility, but overall, it was a dark and gloomy cave.

This is… the labyrinth.

Just as I swallowed nervously—

[You have entered Labyrinth Floor 1.]

[Floor 1 Quest]

[Kill 100 lowest-grade monsters & find the exit.]

A system window appeared before my eyes.

“Oh!”

I couldn’t help being impressed by the phenomenon, exactly as I had heard about.

“Hyung.”

“Ah. Right.”

At Kirk’s words, I immediately summoned the fire spirit.

Fwoosh.

My surroundings became much brighter.

But all I could see was a cave that looked like a maze, splitting off in numerous directions.

“Can you figure out where we are?”

“No. Not at all.”

His bitter smile was understandable.

We had entered while holding onto each other, so we had landed in the same place, but the first floor was originally a place where adventurers were randomly dropped into a vast underground cave world.

Despite countless adventurers drawing maps over the years, there were still more unexplored areas than known ones.

Unfortunately, it seemed we had been dropped somewhere far from the several landmarks we had memorized as reference points.

“You got the quest too, right?”

“Yes. Kill 100 monsters and find the exit.”

“Let’s find the exit first.”

“Yes.”

The food and water we had brought were enough for two days at most.

We had planned to clear only the first floor and leave anyway.

“I’ll scout.”

“Yes.”

I summoned the other spirits as well, sending three spirits down separate paths while leaving the fire spirit with us.

As I did so, I remembered something I had been imagining for a while.

I should try this, too.

With a little nervousness, I placed my hand against the cave wall.

[Cave Wall of Labyrinth Floor 1]

As I concentrated and recognized the system’s description—

Check Additional Information.

Vrrr.

[Cave Wall.]

[A wall in the entrance region to the Demon Realm, where groups of lowest-grade monsters inhabit.]

Hmm.

The mention of the Demon Realm was unexpected, but the information was less useful than I had hoped.

Honestly, it was completely useless.

“Hmm.”

“Why?”

“I was wondering if I was trying to get something for free too easily.”

I had gotten my hopes up for nothing.

Just because I had come to the labyrinth didn’t mean my Trait would suddenly turn into a treasure detector.

“What?”

“Nothing. Forget it.”

There was no need to explain all this to the overly straightforward and frustrating Kirk.

The view from the wind spirit entered my mind.

“The path on the right is the longest.”

“Then let’s go that way first.”

“Yeah.”

I stood up.

Then I tried to swipe away the information window blocking my view.

[Cave Wall.]

It disappeared.

The original quest window that had been hidden behind it appeared again.

[Floor 1 Quest]

[Kill 100 lowest-grade monsters & find the exit.]

“…”

I stared at it absentmindedly.

Then—

Come to think of it.

A strange thought suddenly occurred to me.

The quest window displayed by the system itself, rather than information discovered through my Trait—

In a sense, it was a new target I had never examined before.

Could it be…?

I had no real expectations.

I was simply trying it.

Just like I had with the cave wall.

I focused on the quest window.

Check Additional Information.

At that moment—

Vrrr.

[Perfect Clear Conditions.]

[Kill 1,000 lowest-grade monsters & discover 10 exits on the first attempt.]

“What!?”

My voice rose involuntarily.

Additional information I had never expected.

“Why? What came up?”

“Wait.”

I raised a hand to stop Kirk.

My heart suddenly began beating rapidly.

Perfect Clear?

I had never heard of such a thing.

Not from Jeric.

Not from Old Man Johnson.

Not from anyone.

Yet the system was showing it directly.

Above the normal clear condition—

There was something else.

I looked at the quest window again.

[Kill 100 lowest-grade monsters & find the exit.]

And underneath it—

[Perfect Clear Conditions.]

[Kill 1,000 lowest-grade monsters on the first attempt.]

[Discover 10 exits.]

[Kill 1,000 lowest-grade monsters & discover 10 exits on the first attempt.]

First attempt.

My eyes stopped on those words.

It meant that once I left and entered again, it would be over.

I would never get another chance.

“Hyung?”

Kirk called me again.

I looked at him.

Level 10.

Jeric’s direct disciple.

He had already grown to the limits of an ordinary native Novice before even entering the labyrinth.

Summoners couldn’t level up without killing monsters, but natives had completely different starting conditions.

Of course, natives couldn’t level up through hunting.

Still, with a party member like this, our starting conditions were more than sufficient.

A smile suddenly spread across my face.

“Kirk.”

“Yes.”

“We originally planned to clear only the first floor and leave, right?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s keep doing that.”

“…?”

Kirk tilted his head.

I looked at the quest window again.

“But instead…”

[Kill 1,000 monsters.]

“Let’s do it…”

[Discover 10 exits.]

“…properly before we leave.”

“How much?”

I grinned.

“To the point where the goblins on this floor run away just from seeing our faces.”

There was a brief silence.

Then Kirk grinned too.

“That would certainly count as doing it properly.”

“Right?”

If that was our goal, there was no need to search every corner individually.

“You know how to escape a maze?”

“What?”

“No, never mind. Just go straight to the right. Let’s go! We’ll follow the right wall and kill every monster we see. Got it?”

“Yes!”

We sent the spirits ahead to scout one passage at a time and quickly charged forward.

One thousand.

At first, the number had seemed absurd.

But strangely—

Now I wanted to try it.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

Perfect Clear.

I still didn’t know what it would give me.

But one thing was certain.

I had just discovered a path that no one else knew about.

Then I have to take it!

Just as a natural smile spread across my face—

Enemies appeared in the spirits’ field of vision.

Oh?

Lowest-grade monsters.

Each individual monster had roughly the combat strength of an ordinary adult male, even when factoring in the monsters’ bloodlust and fighting spirit.

The thing to be wary of was the tubular paralysis needles they used when ambushing or fleeing.

Without resistance to their paralytic poison, it was best to avoid goblins gathered in groups.

I pushed the information about goblins to the back of my mind and gave a hand signal.

Fifty meters ahead. Six goblins. We’ll ambush them.

Understood.

Kirk, who was blunt but perceptive, responded with hand signals rather than his voice.

We quietly closed the distance.

When we were about ten meters away, we suddenly accelerated.

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

The moment the goblins reacted to the approaching footsteps—

Flash!

BOOM!

The fire spirit burst into brilliant light right in front of them.

“Kreeeek!?”

“Kyaaak!”

“Ka-jit!?”

It had blinded them completely.

“Hah!”

Kirk charged straight into the confused monsters, his spear instantly beginning to tear through the goblins.

Stab. Stab.

Crunch.

By the time Kirk had already slaughtered five goblins in rapid succession, my spear arrived and thrust toward the remaining goblin.

Thrust!

Along with the sensation of a small amount of mana leaving my body—

My spear shot straight forward without wavering, completely unaffected by the tension of my first real battle, and buried itself in the goblin’s torso.

SHLUK!

The sensation traveling from the spearhead all the way to my hand was anything but pleasant.

The blood exploding before my eyes was hardly a pleasant sight either, and my body stiffened slightly without me realizing it.

Still, that moment didn’t last long.

“It’s over, Hyung.”

“Yeah. Good work.”

“What for? This is nothing.”

I couldn’t help chuckling at his words.

“You don’t even know what that expression means.”

“Did I use it wrong?”

“No. It fits.”

“Then it’s fine.”

Kirk’s silly remark washed away the lingering discomfort in my mind.

And then—

[Combat Ended.]

[Six goblins defeated. Contribution: 50%.]

[You have gained experience.]

The system notification appeared a moment later, and I watched as my level gauge filled by 30%.

Instead, I felt my mood rising.

[Labyrinth Floor 1 Quest]

[Lowest-grade monsters defeated: (3/100)]

[Exits discovered: (0/1)]

“Hey, did it count three kills for you?”

“Huh? Yes. It did.”

“Must feel unfair.”

“What do you mean? The light made it easy to deal with them.”

“Well, then, fine.”

Our coordination with each other was working exactly as we had practiced.

“Then let’s keep moving.”

“Yes!”

There was no reason to waste time.

We sent the spirits ahead to scout toward the right again and followed behind them.

Before long, we spotted another group of seven goblins.

More goblins. Thirty meters ahead. Seven.

I sent the same signal as before.

The exact same pattern of battle followed.

Flash.

Puh-puh-puh!

Stab!

[Combat Ended.]

[Seven goblins defeated. Contribution: 50%.]

“Nice!”

“This seems to be goblin territory, doesn’t it?”

They were the most common monsters on the first floor.

In a sense, we’d gotten lucky enough to encounter them at the highest probability.

“Yeah. We just need to be careful around their main base.”

“Even if there’s a whole nest, I think we could handle a few dozen.”

It was hard to say absolutely not when Kirk’s level was already far beyond that of an ordinary Novice.

“Still, don’t let your guard down.”

“Of course. If I got killed by goblins because I was careless, I’d be embarrassed even after I died.”

Things were going much more smoothly than expected, so a natural smile appeared on my face.

And at that moment, I remembered the Perfect Clear.

“…Since we’re already here, it might be worth trying to wipe out a whole settlement, too.”

“I wholeheartedly agree!”

The Class one could obtain depended on how one cleared each ten-floor rank section.

Even those who had obtained Special Classes didn’t know the exact conditions.

The information that was known amounted to things like making a huge contribution when defeating a boss monster.

Or accomplishing something impressive enough that anyone would be amazed.

But—

What if I fulfill all the Perfect Clear conditions from the first through the tenth floors?

What kind of Class would I obtain then?

The thought made my heart pound, and I didn’t feel tired in the slightest.

“Let’s hurry.”

“Yes!”