Chapter 77

“What the heck is this thing…?”

It happened while we were aiming for the 20th floor, just after I had strayed from the “Main Path” on the 14th floor to hunt a boss.

I detected a monster moving at high speed within my “Dimension” field.

The creature was moving with a swiftness that felt entirely out of place for the 14th floor. Suspecting a powerful foe, I used “Focus” from a distance.

Contrary to my expectations, it was an abnormally low-ranked boss monster. In the opposite sense of its speed, it felt completely out of place for the 14th floor. It looked like a tiny, glowing blue mouse.

However, that glow was anything but ordinary.

My curiosity piqued, I decided to chase it. Snow, behind me, looked like she was about to fall asleep at any moment, but I left her be and headed toward the Line Skitter.

Despite being a boss, the Line Skitter didn’t stay within a fixed area; it scurried all over the place. Approaching it was no simple task. However, as I gave chase, I slowly began to understand the patterns of its movements.

I became certain that I’d never encounter it just by walking.

Left with no choice, I had Snow wait on the “Main Path” and began acting solo. If I ran at full speed, Snow wouldn’t be able to keep up. This was just a reality of our Status traits—I was specialized in Speed (Agi), while Snow was specialized in Vitality (Vit). That was the difference between us.

After telling Snow not to fall asleep on the “Main Path,” I began pursuing the Line Skitter at full power.

Predicting the corridors it would pass through, I gradually closed the distance. A few minutes later, I successfully intercepted the Line Skitter as it tore through the wind. I immediately drew my sword from my Inventory and swung.

But the moment I struck—the Line Skitter surged with even greater speed and evaded my blade.

“Wh—!?”

That single strike was the only opening I was allowed. Having dodged the sword, the Line Skitter zipped past me and vanished into the darkness of the corridor.

I started to give chase, but I stopped, recalling the sheer speed it had shown when it evaded my sword. At its top speed, that Line Skitter was likely faster than I was.

Realizing that simply chasing it wouldn’t work, I returned the sword to my Inventory. I began searching for another method using my magic and the items I carried.

My most reliable spell, “Dimension: Winter” (Di-Winter), wouldn’t be effective. That spell was meant to intercept an oncoming enemy. Hindering the actions of an enemy that was actively running away wouldn’t have much impact.

The same went for “Dimension Overwinter.” Even though it had a deceleration effect, it would be difficult to trap the Line Skitter within that domain in the first place. I could consume more mana to expand the range, but the probability of success would still be low.

Beyond that, I had long-range attacks like “Ice: Arrow,” but I didn’t have confidence in hitting something at that velocity, even with the help of “Dimension: Gladiator.”

—Therefore, the only options left to me were trap-type spells.

I took some water out of my Inventory and created a large puddle on the path where the Line Skitter was likely to pass. I placed a single “Little Snow” (Di-Snow) on top of it. Naturally, I didn’t let it burst yet.

If the Line Skitter was running along the ground, there was a high probability it would fall for this trap. Furthermore, the fact that it was only Rank 1 suggested that even a simple trap like this might be able to capture it.

After setting up about five identical traps, I pinpointed the Line Skitter’s location.

With preparations complete, I approached the Line Skitter just as I had before. My goal was to gradually restrict its escape routes and herd it into the trap zone. I had to hurry as much as possible.

The “Little Snow” served as the trigger for the puddle traps. If another monster blundered into them and set them off, the traps would be wasted.

After chasing the Line Skitter around several times, it finally stepped into the area with the traps. I stopped the pursuit and focused all my nerves on the timing of the activation.

The moment the Line Skitter’s foot touched the water, I triggered the “Little Snow.” The cold air burst forth, and in an instant, the puddle froze solid—catching the Line Skitter’s foot along with it.

I confirmed the capture through “Dimension” and hurried to the frozen puddle. There, I found the Line Skitter squeaking as it struggled to break free from the ice. It seemed that while it had speed, it was a monster that lacked physical strength.

My conscience pricked me slightly. However, repeating the mantra of “survival of the fittest” in my mind, I cut the Line Skitter down with my sword.

I used “Focus” on the dropped Magic Stone.

The description made its rarity clear, and I felt relieved that I had obtained something worth the effort.

Having achieved my goal, I returned to Snow. I reached the “Main Path” and looked for her. However, despite my repeated warnings, Snow had her eyes closed at the edge of the path. She wasn’t exactly snoring, but it was still more than I could overlook.

“Snow, I told you not to sleep…”

“…Mm. Hm, yeah? No, no. I wasn’t sleeping, I wasn’t sleeping.”

“Your reaction time just now says otherwise.”

“…Don’t worry about it. More importantly, did you kill that thing?”

Snow tried to change the subject. Her laziness was ingrained in her very soul; lecturing her further would likely be a waste of time.

“Yeah, I trapped it and took it down. It dropped this.”

“…O-Oh. This is a rare item where you don’t even know if more than one circulates through the five Allied Nations in a single year. Is it a ‘Crescent Pectrazuli’?”

“That’s the one. It was quite a struggle.”

“…Even if you kill one, it doesn’t always drop. That makes it incredibly rare. Good for you, Kanami.”

“Is that so? Then I guess I was lucky.”

It seemed luck was on my side this time. In fact, even sensing the Line Skitter with “Dimension” in the first place was close to a fluke.

“…Alright. Since we got something good, let’s keep moving, keep moving.”

Snow pretended to be motivated and tried to head deeper into the Labyrinth. It was obvious she just didn’t want me to keep nagging her for taking a nap on the “Main Path.”

“I suppose so. Let’s go.”

Normally, I would have wanted to lecture her for at least an hour.

I wanted to give her a long-winded explanation, starting from square one, about the possibility of monsters wandering onto the “Main Path,” the risk of being attacked by other explorers, and a dozen other unforeseen contingencies.

However, knowing Snow’s personality, it would likely be a complete waste of breath.

With no other choice, I continued deeper into the Labyrinth while trying to brainstorm ways to fix her attitude.

I had declared that Snow didn’t need to fight, but that promise was broken halfway through the 19th floor.

As expected, unexpected situations are a staple of the Labyrinth, and once we were surrounded by monsters, Snow had no choice but to engage.

The opponents were 19th-floor monsters: Carmine Minotaurs.

However, the battle between Snow and the Carmine Minotaurs was far more one-sided than I had anticipated.

A massive iron greataxe swung by Snow with a single hand sliced clean through a Carmine Minotaur’s right leg.

Not to be outdone, the enemy let out a scream and swung its own axe down in retaliation. But Snow caught the blow effortlessly with the greatsword she held in her other hand.

With a bone-shattering metallic clang, the Carmine Minotaur was sent flying backward.

Despite having a frame several times larger than Snow’s, the Carmine Minotaur was the one blown away.

Watching the scene, my eyes widened.

Without missing a beat, Snow stepped forward, lopped off the flying minotaur’s head, and drove her sword through its heart.

I had just finished off the monsters I was dealing with as well.

Feeling reassured by her overwhelming physical strength, I muttered to myself.

“I guess that’s the last of them.”

I collected the Magic Stones from the monsters as they dissolved into light and looked at the sword in my hand.

I tucked the blade—which was covered in blood and chipped—back into my Inventory. As I reached for a spare sword, Snow tried to hand her weapons over to me.

“…Mm.”

Apparently, she wanted me to put her weapons in my Inventory.

Snow knew about the Inventory system. It was an ability I truly didn’t want to disclose to anyone, but it had been necessary to tell her.

Part of it was because we’d be cooperating for a long time, but more importantly, the Inventory system was absolutely vital for transporting Snow’s weapons.

Thanks to the racial modifiers of being a Dragonnewt, Snow possessed physical strength far beyond what her Stats suggested. Because of this, she was at her strongest when fighting with heavy weaponry. However, perhaps because she relied on raw strength for her attacks, her weapons wore out incredibly fast.

To sum it up, the condition for her to perform at her peak was being able to carry a large quantity of heavy weapons. Normally, due to the nature of Labyrinth exploration, Snow would never be able to reach that peak. However, with my Inventory, we could ignore the weight limits that defined Labyrinth trekking.

With such a massive benefit dangling in front of us, I’d had no choice but to share the secret.

I looked at Snow’s weapons and questioned her intent.

“What’s wrong?”

“…Mm. These are heavy.”

“If you don’t carry those, even you won’t be able to take down Minotaurs, right?”

“…If we get surrounded, just take them out again.”

It seemed that after learning about the Inventory, Snow viewed it merely as a way to explore empty-handed. She was constantly desperate to carry as little as possible.

“Keep them on you so you can respond to sudden threats. Please.”

“…Muu.”

With a firm refusal, I made my way toward the 20th floor.

Once I made her carry her weapons, I had to make sure I never took them back. If I made her movements heavy and forced her to face the monsters, Snow would actually fight properly. If I made her too light, she’d just scurry around and try to slack off.

“Snow, I’m leaving you behind.”

“…Aaah, my arms are tired.”

Snow rested her weapons on her shoulders and followed me reluctantly.

Sensing an opportunity, I purposefully steered several monsters toward Snow to make her fight while we headed for the 20th floor.

By repeating this “experience grinding” that felt more like harassment, we finally reached the 20th floor.

At the bottom of the stairs, an empty, desolate space—much like the 10th floor—stretched out before us.

Just as I had on the 10th floor, I set up a Connection in a corner of the 20th floor. Now, we could move back and forth within the Labyrinth whenever we wanted.

“Alright, mission accomplished.”

“…Alright, let’s go back. And let’s call it a day.”

“We’re not done for the day, but going back is a good idea. Let’s have someone from Epic Seeker heal us.”

“…H-Heal? Are you still planning to work me like a slave?”

“You haven’t worked nearly as much as you’re making it sound. Just come on.”

Snow and I transported back to the office at the Epic Seeker headquarters.

Immediately, I used Dimension to search for members capable of using recovery magic. Perhaps because I had finished most of the work yesterday, it was easy to find idle members.

I called out to a member who had mastered Holy Magic and had them mend our wounds. That said, we hadn’t struggled much, so they were mostly just scratches.

The mage who healed us had an eerie smirk while closing the wounds. When I asked why, they said that healing the injuries of strong people was what they lived for. As expected of an Epic Seeker recovery specialist; they’re all a little crazy in the head.

After confirming that Snow’s and my HP were fully restored, I prepared to head back to the Labyrinth. However, Snow voiced her complaints about the back-to-back challenge.

“…R-Rest, please.”

“No. We’re in perfect physical condition. There’s no reason not to go.”

“…Going continuously like this wears down the spirit. —O-Oh, I know! Take out that ‘Crescent Pectrazuli’ from earlier.”

“What about it?”

I took the Crescent Pectrazuli out of my Inventory and showed it to her.

“…Let’s take it to our blacksmith. If it looks like it can be processed, let’s commission some new weapons. With a Magic Stone this rare, things could get interesting.”

“Oh, Epic Seeker has an exclusive blacksmith? True, that does sound interesting.”

I was all for getting new weapons.

I’d broken several swords today. I’d thought mass-produced items were fine, but in the long run, I might finally need some high-quality, custom gear.

“…Alright, let’s go. We’ll have him make all sorts of things. I’ll watch from right beside you.”

“You mean ‘sleep’ right beside me, don’t you?”

I gave a wry smile and accepted Snow’s proposal.

And so, we headed toward the workshop located at the edge of the Epic Seeker headquarters.