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Chapter 7 

—–CROW—– 

Traces of a fierce battle remained around the two corpses, which he conveniently referred to as the monster and the warrior.  Debris was scattered everywhere, and bloodstains were vividly imprinted on the walls and floor.

He started by picking up the swords scattered on the ground one by one.  Unlike the first two swords he had picked up, none of these triggered any special move commands in his mind.

‘Looking closely, a lot of them are broken.’

Some swords were snapped in two, while others had loose connections between the hilt and blade.

The monster and the warrior.

Only two corpses.

Yet, there were a strangely large number of swords.  Had the warrior used all these swords by himself?

Dismissing the distracting thought, he picked up one of the swords that seemed relatively intact and approached Sung Yoo-jin, who was standing a short distance away.

Showing her the sword he was holding and the red sword—Flying Swallow Phoenix Sword—from the two strapped to his back, he asked, “Which one do you think would suit you better?”

“Uh…can I choose?”

Sung Yoo-jin’s eyes widened. He shrugged.

“Neither of these are familiar to me. And I’ve already chosen this one.”

He held up Durandal.  Perhaps because he had actually used it in combat, it felt comfortable in his hand.

Smiling brightly and nodding, Sung Yoo-jin took each of the remaining two swords in hand.

“Oh, this is Levantine.  A flame attribute sword.  Its attack power is slightly lower than Durandal’s.”

That was the sword he had been calling Flying Swallow Phoenix Sword.  The red line engraved on the blade now looked different.

“And this is Almas.  An ice attribute sword.”

The third sword, which hadn’t shown him a special move command.

Looking at them side by side, they looked similar to Levantine.  Aside from the blue line running down the blade, they were almost identical, like twin swords.

Holding Levantine and Almas, one in each hand, Sung Yoo-jin pondered, then swung them in different directions.  She handled the swords with unusual skill, as if she had some knowledge of swordsmanship.

“I think this one would be best for me.  The weight feels right.”

Sung Yoo-jin chose Almas.

In reality, aside from their color, Levantine and Almas were almost identical. It felt like she had chosen Almas as a replacement for the Levantine he already had.

Sheathing Levantine again, he scratched his cheek, looking a little embarrassed.

“It might be inconvenient, but…for now, I think you’ll just have to carry it.”

“Okay.”

Sung Yoo-jin also gave a wry smile, as if there was nothing else they could do. Unlike him, she didn’t have anywhere to sheathe a weapon.

“Anyway, next is armor.”

As he trailed off and turned towards the corpses, Sung Yoo-jin flinched.

“You…don’t mean…?”

The only thing in the room that could be considered armor was the suit worn by the skeleton lying on top of the monster.

He shook his head.

“No, that one’s in too bad of a condition.  And the sword feels like it’s sealed or something…I don’t want to pull it out.”

The armor was practically in pieces, so they couldn’t expect much protection from it, and the sword embedded in the monster’s chest felt like it should be left undisturbed.

He pointed towards the corridor.

“We’re going to check upstairs now.”

If his assumption was correct, this was the lowest level.  They needed to go up at least to the room where Sung Yoo-jin had first encountered the monster.

Sung Yoo-jin followed his finger with her eyes.

The torches, insufficient to dispel the darkness completely. The long corridor.  The monster’s corpse lying at the end of it.

“Let’s go together.”

Her grip tightened on Almas.  Looking directly at him, she said, “I’ll be of help this time.”

It wasn’t simply because she didn’t want to be alone.  Instead of questioning her resolve, he nodded.

“Let’s go.”

The bull-headed monster’s corpse was sprawled at the bottom of the stairs, just as before.

Approaching the corpse with the torch in hand, he said, “While I examine the monster, please watch the entrance.  You don’t need to go up the stairs.”

Sung Yoo-jin, who had been about to ask if she should go up and look, closed her mouth halfway. She stood slightly diagonally to the stairs, keeping an eye on the doorway leading upwards.

“Phew.”

Taking a deep breath, he began to examine the monster’s corpse carefully.

It was a terrifying-looking monster, making him wonder how he had even fought it, but considering what lay ahead, this observation could be crucial to their survival.  He had to focus.

The head of a bull, as if it belonged in a bullfight.

Black fur with a slight reddish tinge.

A towering height of well over two meters and a massive build.

Looking closely, it wasn’t just a monster.  Its arms and legs were covered with leather protectors, and its loins were covered with a red cloth belt.  Considering that it used a large axe, it was reasonable to assume it possessed some level of intelligence.

He next examined the wounds on the monster’s body.

The monster had looked quite exhausted from the beginning.

“As I thought, it was injured before I killed it.”

At his words, Sung Yoo-jin, who had been looking upwards, briefly turned her gaze towards him.

It wasn’t Sung Yoo-jin who had inflicted those wounds.

Then who had injured the monster?

He drew Durandal.  After giving a small signal to Sung Yoo-jin, who flinched and stiffened at his sudden action, he slowly began to ascend the stairs.

When he had first encountered the monster, he hadn’t been able to see the room above clearly.

Sung Yoo-jin had also been in a desperate situation, being dragged by the monster, so she wouldn’t have been able to see what was inside the room either.

What he was expecting—

“As I thought.”

Near the opposite entrance of the square room lay the corpses of a man and a woman.

* * *

“Two humans. The rest are monster corpses.”

There were quite a few corpses in the large room, which was about ten meters square.  He hadn’t noticed them when he first entered, his attention focused on Sung Yoo-jin and the monster.

Gulping, Sung Yoo-jin instinctively pressed herself against him.  Even in this situation, his instincts kicked in, and he flinched momentarily, but it was only for a brief instant.

‘Monsters later.’

He set his priorities.  Steeling himself, he walked towards the human corpses.

A man and a woman.

Both seemed to have died recently.  Although their bodies were cold, there was no noticeable smell of decay, and aside from the wounds that appeared to be the cause of death, they were largely intact.

Crouching down in front of the man’s corpse, he looked around the room again.

These two had defeated all the monsters in this room.  They were also the ones who had injured the monster he had killed.

Now that he thought about it, the room was filled with signs of battle.  From scorch marks to shattered debris, there were various traces of a struggle.

Sung Yoo-jin approached awkwardly and stood behind him, her lips moving slightly.  Looking over the man and woman’s attire, she asked, “Are they the same as us?”

“Not all game characters are flamboyant…so it’s hard to say for sure.”

The man, who appeared to be in his late thirties, was the very image of a “traditional warrior.”

He was large and wore partial plate armor protecting his torso, legs, shoulders, and arms.

The belt at his waist was adorned with numerous pouches, some of which contained potion bottles commonly seen in games.

In addition to a scabbard for a longsword and a spare sword, he had four daggers attached to his waist and thighs.

The backpack on his back wasn’t very large, but it was sturdy and looked full.  A shield and longsword lay near the corpse, presumably his.

The woman, who appeared to be in her mid to late twenties, wasn’t as heavily armed as the man, but she still seemed to have prioritized defense.

She wore light chainmail over activewear pants and a top.

Her waist was also covered in pouches, and unlike the man, she had a single bag slung across her shoulder.  Judging by the large staff lying nearby—though it might be presumptuous—she seemed to be a mage.

He closed his eyes briefly and offered a silent prayer. It was a natural course of action, considering what he was about to do.

“I’ll examine this one.”

Sung Yoo-jin flinched at his words. She understood what he meant.  After a moment of hesitation, she sat down next to him and said, “Th-Then I’ll…examine this one.”

Her voice was shaky and uneven.

But it was only for a moment.

After offering a silent prayer like him, she began to examine the woman’s corpse with a surprisingly proactive attitude.

She also knew that they needed as much information as possible to survive.

He reached for the man’s backpack.  Whether by chance or some kind of guidance, he immediately found the most important item.

A book placed at the very top of the backpack.

Flipping open the plain brown leather cover, he saw drawings and text densely filling the slightly yellowed pages.

It wasn’t Korean or English. The characters were completely unfamiliar to him.

But he could read them.

Body length.

Weakness.

Dislikes fire.

A crudely drawn, but still recognizable, illustration of a monster.

His breathing quickened involuntarily as he flipped to the first page.

-Leif Erikson

He flipped through the pages, quickly scanning for a “familiar picture.”

And he finally found it.  The illustration of the bull-headed monster he had killed.

Dungeon.

Strategy Log.

Presumably, this was the lowest level of the Labyrinth.

[Remaining Survival Time: 715 hours 42 minutes 57 seconds]

[Current Kron: 1,000 Kron]

[* You can purchase 240 hours with 1,000 Kron.]

The Remaining Survival Time was decreasing even now.

He looked up.  Instead of calling out to Sung Yoo-jin, he looked at the door leading out of the room.  He faced the darkness beyond the half-open doorway.

—–CROW—– 

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