Survive the labyrinth with EX-grade traits

The black crystal in Yeriel’s hand, about the size of two fingers, was a consumable item rarely dropped by undead monsters.

Its name was ‘Piece of Pitch Black’, and it was worth almost five gold coins. When five of them were combined, they could be consumed to increase stats and had a low chance of acquiring a random darkness-related trait.

Yeriel smiled brightly.

“Our luck is good from the start of the 5th floor! Here!”

I carefully placed the crystal in an empty pocket in my backpack and glanced at the other two.

They didn’t seem to have any significant gains.

“Let’s reorganize the formation and keep moving.”

Lumia, who occasionally flinched, found the path with Veronica’s guidance and moved forward without any obstacles.

After walking for two or three hours without letting down their guard, we encountered new monsters.

Veronica and Lumia, who were in the front, passed by first, and Yeriel followed without much thought.

However, as she stepped forward, the arms of Poison Ghouls with sharp claws emerged from the ground around her feet.

“Ahh! What’s this?!”

Yeriel screamed and stepped back, and I caught her in my arms. I approached the two who had turned back and shouted, “Poison Ghouls! Prepare for battle!”

I knew this would happen.

In the Resting Place, Poison Ghouls occasionally appear. They are like an upgraded version of zombies.

These monsters, despite being mindless, use tricks. Instead of jumping out when adventurers pass by tombstones and step on the ground, they intentionally emerge slightly off-beat, targeting the middle and rear of the formation.

‘That’s why I took the rear position.’

Since I could see far ahead due to Chaos’ Eye, my position in the rear was the best for quick response.

“Waaa!”

Out of the five Poison Ghouls, the closest one sprang up like a spring.

I put down Yeriel, who was in my arms, and she took her position in the rear. The Ghoul, which had jumped and was about to scratch me, had its claws precisely deflected.

Kwang!

Perhaps because it was a monster above the rank of a regular mob, it was faster than expected. If I had underestimated it, thinking it was just a slow zombie, I would have been in trouble.

Veronica, who was in the front, made a quick judgment.

Twaang!

[Veronica casts ‘Echoing Resonance’.]

[The ‘Provoking Resonance’ echoes with each strike.]

“Yeriel, focus and buff! Lumia, assist Veronica!”

“Sorry! His sword is imbued with light, and hers with wind.”

[The effect of Divine Weapon increases strength by one level for an hour.]

[The effect of Haste increases agility by one level for an hour.]

The buffs were well-timed. I ignored the two Ghouls drawn by the provocation and focused on the three charging towards me.

“Kyaaa!”

They attacked me directly, without any intelligence.

Perhaps their instinctive nature worked in their favor, as the three Ghouls’ simultaneous attack left my vision stained with red trails.

[Sword Storm]

Clang! Scrunch!

I dodged and deflected the poisoned claws and then beheaded one of them.

“Gyaaa!”

“Waaa!”

Whether it was because their companion died or because they were enraged that their attacks were ineffective, the Ghouls shone with purple light and roared.

Their bodies were purple, and their eyes shone with purple light. So, I responded in kind.

“Thunderbolt!”

Kwaang!

“Kyaaa!”

I could definitely feel that the time required to reduce the cooldown and the headache penalty from the 4th-floor battle had decreased.

Even though the explanation hadn’t changed after the skill was upgraded to B-rank, this was probably due to the different training and practical experience with each skill.

Scrunch!

I beheaded another Ghoul that had been struck by lightning.

The severed head of the Ghoul rolled on the black ground, and the other two Ghouls charged at me again without hesitation.

Their pattern was obvious, so I received their biting and clawing attacks with my armor and quickly disposed of them.

“Black Hand that Grasps the Night.”

[Rugen’s Grasp]

[Veronica casts ‘Flashing Radiance’.]

I looked over to see if I needed to help, and Lumia had immobilized them with CC, and Veronica’s sword, shining like a ray of light, sliced through the Ghouls and black magic.

‘Our teamwork is perfect.’

Veronica shook off the Ghoul’s rotten blood from her sword and said, “Sometimes, adventurers lose their companions to Ghoul ambushes, but your response was quick, Ahren.”

“Haha. It’s nothing.”

“Ugh. I was startled. It was really creepy when several arms suddenly sprang out of the ground!”

It was understandable that they were startled, as five Ghouls had tried to pull them down.

“Let’s quickly gather the byproducts and move on.”

The byproducts of the Poison Ghouls were their right index fingers.

The reason only the right index finger is targeted is that the Poison Ghouls have the ‘Poisonous Secretion’ trait, which causes a special poison to flow from their claws.

When they are defeated by adventurers, for some reason, the poison flows into the right index finger, and only that part of the body is treated as an alchemical material.

‘I wonder how many low-level adventurers have memorized such detailed information.’

Anyway, I cut off the right index fingers from the Ghoul corpses lying on the ground and put them in my pocket, then stored them in my backpack.

“Is anyone injured or poisoned? Good. Let’s keep moving.”

One hour. Two hours. Three hours.

During this time, we easily defeated another group of Skeletons and also caught a rare monster, a Tombstone, which was disguised as a tombstone.

True to its reputation as an avoided zone, we didn’t encounter any other adventurer parties while moving.

‘It’s almost time to sleep, but… Huh?’

“Ahren, we’ve arrived at the nearby safe zone marked on the map.”

Oh, this must be the Resting Place.

It was a tombstone the size of an adult man, with incomprehensible curly writing in white.

Unlike the gray or black tombstones scattered throughout the Resting Place, when magic power was infused into this tombstone, it emitted an invisible wave, creating a shelter or safe zone that prevented nearby monsters from approaching.

‘Other parties only infuse a moderate amount of magic power into the tombstone, so the duration is short, but we’re different.’

Even though there was a blocking effect, we still needed to take turns standing guard, but at least we wouldn’t have to leave early due to a lack of magic power.

“Wait. I’ll fill the tombstone as much as I can.”

“Huh? It’s better to infuse magic power into each other and fill it halfway─ Ah.”

Veronica tried to stop me but then realized what I was doing.

“I sometimes forget about this trait because it’s so absurd. There’s no limit to the amount of magic power I can use.”

I said this with a smile, knowing that she wouldn’t talk about it casually. I placed my hand on the Resting Place tombstone.

Paaat!

Magic power flowed from my heart, through my arm, and into the tombstone, causing the topmost inscription to glow.

My magic power caused the grayish inscriptions to shine one by one, and when I finished with the last line at the bottom, a subtle wave spread out, creating a small white circle on the ground.

“As long as you stay within this circle, monsters won’t be able to approach. Be careful not to step out of it, and come get your food!”

First, we needed to fill our stomachs. After that, we could discuss our plan for the next day.

We filled our stomachs with jerky, biscuits, raisins, and other preserved food, and after some discussion, we fell asleep.

.

.

.

The next morning,

After a comfortable rest, not only I but also my companions were fully prepared.

“Let’s go, everyone! Lumia, I’m counting on you today too.”

“If we can maintain this speed, I think it will take about two or three days to reach the 6th layer portal.”

We carefully walked through the faint mist, heading towards the blackened ground.

.

.

.

Two days later, we quickly arrived at the 6th floor.

‘I didn’t expect it to be this smooth. It feels even better than the 3rd and 4th floors.’

For two days, we had the Resting Place tombstones and the Space Bag on our backs, so we didn’t have any problems with food or sleep.

Maybe it was because we had been running around since entering the dungeon, but we only encountered one other party, and our battles with monster groups were limited to three or four times a day, which was almost non-existent compared to other floors.

‘Let’s keep going like this. Just like this!’

On the 6th floor, we didn’t encounter any monsters for half a day.

Lumia waved her arm to stop the party.

“Wait. Something’s wrong.”

She picked up a bone on the ground and threw it forward without hesitation.

‘Hmm? Nothing happened.’

No, Lumia, who has developed her senses, wouldn’t have stopped without reason.

“I don’t know if it’s a monster or a trap, but there’s definitely something ahead.”

It could be a monster ambush or a trap that activates when you step on it.

As soon as I heard Lumia’s confident words, I cast black magic.

“The sharp fangs of evil that pierce the heart.”

[Black Fang]

Thud!

“Ugh!”

“Aaah!”

As soon as the large black stake, which was now too big to be called a fang, hit its target, the ground began to shake violently.

“Move back!”

Whatever was happening, it didn’t seem good.

Kugung…

The ground in the distance sank, and the shaking gradually subsided, followed by silence.

Huh? Is it over?

‘What just happened?’

It had only been a short time since we arrived on the 6th floor.

No, this time, it wasn’t the situation’s fault, but rather, I had stirred up trouble myself.

To deal with any variables before moving on to the 7th floor, I needed to personally investigate what had just happened, so I told my companions to wait at a safe distance.

“Stay back. I’ll be right back.”

“But it looks dangerous. Isn’t it better to take another route?”

Yeriel asked worriedly, but I was determined.

Mutant monsters, terrain traps, or hidden traps.

If it’s a monster, I’ll defeat it. If it’s a trap, I’ll find another route.

And if it’s a hidden area that was accidentally revealed, I thought it would be best to investigate and decide whether to enter or not.

However, I soon realized that this decision was a mistake.

The distance to the source of the strange phenomenon didn’t seem that far, but for some reason, the path felt incredibly long.

It felt like several hundred meters, but it might have been due to spatial distortion.

‘I should just turn back… What the hell is this?’

As soon as I reached the source of the phenomenon, I saw a black, sinister liquid swirling in the pit where the ground had collapsed.

“Kik. Kikhik.”

As soon as I saw this, I heard the laughter of a non-human being.

[Chaos warns you to leave immediately.]

As soon as Chaos warned me, I took a step back.

At that moment, system messages flooded my vision.

[Chaos’ Eye invalidates charm.]

[Chaos’ Eye invalidates fear.]

[Chaos’ Eye invalidates despair.]
[Chaos’ Eye invalidates frenzy.]

[Chaos’ Eye invalidates…]

[⋯⋯.]

[⋯⋯.]

The entity seemed to be up to something, using the black vortex as a medium to target me, as indicated by the constant system messages. Fortunately, all the mental attacks were nullified, and the screen was filled with successful resistance notifications.

“Huh. Phew.”

After calming down and catching his breath, he turned around, fully alert.

‘Dimensional Leap.’

As far as possible!

Doo-woong—

In an instant, he felt like his body was being torn apart.

His consciousness remained intact, but he felt an ambiguous sensation as if his body was no longer his own.

He wandered through dimensions, breaking down less than a second into tiny particles, or points and lines.

Pat!

In the blink of an eye, he teleported to the maximum range of the dimensional leap.

‘Is it over? Damn. I should’ve listened and just left quietly.’

He wondered if he had been caught up in the adventurer’s most important quality—the spirit of challenge—after successfully navigating through the chaos and the constant attacks.

The party’s current goal was to break through the layers, so he decided to avoid variables as much as possible until they left the sanctuary. It was then that a strange voice, like an amalgamation of a hoarse old man, a refined woman, a seductive girl, and a playful child, pierced his ears.

“Kikik. Your mental strength is impressive! You’re an interesting person!”

‘Damn it! I can’t escape easily, can I?’

Was this a new creature, not listed in the monster compendium, sending thoughts his way? Or was it a transcendent being, a forgotten god?

Boom!

Whatever it was, he didn’t respond and ran like crazy again.

“Let’s play more! Come on? Hmm?”

The voice continued to circle around him even though nothing was following, and it seemed to provoke even more anxiety as it couldn’t be seen in the chaos.

Soon, he saw his companions.

“Let’s go back!! Run!!!”

Not only the usually calm Veronica, but also Lumia and Yeriel, who had suggested that they should just leave, started running without any questions as soon as they heard the urgent cries. Together, they turned back on the path they had come.

They had moved far enough that the place where the ground had collapsed and the ominous vortex had appeared was no longer visible, so he thought they must have left the area affected by the voice.

But it was not so simple. Once again, he heard the voice that tormented him.

“Won’t you run anymore? Is the game of tag over?”

“…”

“What a shame. If only I wasn’t bound by the rules…”

Bound by the rules, like Adelia?

“Kukuk. Anyway, it was fun for a moment. Shall we play again next time?”

With those words, the strange voice that had been circling his ears, disappeared without a trace.

[Irene overcomes all delusions and rewards the being who brought joy.]