Conquering the Labyrinth with a Trash-Tier Trait - Chapter 36

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 36
Flare.
“Oh…!”
As light erupted from the spear, the wooden shaft began to transform.
The dull, darkened wood flushed with vibrant, warm brown, and tiny leaves sprouted across its surface in every crevice.
The leaves clustered around the hand gripping the shaft, holding it firm and secure.
The light that had reshaped the wood then gathered toward the spearhead, condensing at its tip.
Flare.
A faint silvery shimmer solidified near the blade’s edge.
I looked over the options with eager eyes, and a smile spread across my face.
[World Tree Wooden Spear That Overcame Corruption (Super Rare)]
-Attack Power +40
-Holy Spore (Super Rare)
-Forest Protection (Rare)
-Leaf Blade (Rare)
-Self-Restoration

-Within a forest where at least one hundred trees stand, all physical attributes increase.
(All Physical Attributes +30)

-Upon activation, the leaves sprouted on the shaft are launched to shred enemies (Leaf Attack Power 30, Cooldown 8 hours).
Forest Protection has locational constraints, but the moment those conditions are met, the buff is exceptional.
And Leaf Blade serves well enough as a hidden offensive option.
But the most important option—the Super Rare grade one—was in a league of its own.

-When an enemy is wounded, Holy Spore seeps into the wound, hindering the enemy’s recovery and siphoning their Life Force and Mana.
-Once the spore has drained the enemy’s Life Force and Mana to a certain level, it detonates, dealing damage to the enemy. The spore generated by this explosion then restores the spear’s wielder’s Life Force and Mana.
(Explosion Damage 30, Life Force Recovery 15, Mana Recovery 15)
“Wow!”
An option that debuffs and damages the enemy while restoring me as well.
It was power befitting a Super Rare grade—something that Thunder Spear didn’t even have.
“Good. This is enough.”
With specs like these, how could I possibly struggle on Floor 10?
The thought brought another smile to my face.
“Fed it 1,200 low-grade Spirit Stones to push it to Super Rare evolution? Huh….”
Though technically it was three high-grade Spirit Stones.
“If people realized you could leverage your characteristics this way, no one would ever call you a dead-end class. You can actually use this, right? Your Mana?”
Adventurers face grade restrictions based on Mana capacity, not just equipment slots.
Common items can be used without any Mana at all, but advanced items require at least a trace of it.
Top-tier items demand 10 or higher.
And to wield a Super Rare grade item, you need at least 30 Mana.
“Yes. Exactly 30. After that, it doesn’t seem to increase much, though.”
Jerik let out a dry laugh at that.
“That’s privileged talk. A high-grade Mana Cultivation Method raising it to 30 in the first place shouldn’t even be possible. The ceiling should be 20….”
Then, seeing no one around us, he leaned close and spoke in a whisper.
“That cultivation method itself transcends grade limitations. So don’t go bragging about it anywhere. Ever.”
“Of course not.”
I gave him a look that said he should know better, and he seemed embarrassed enough to change the subject quickly.
“Still, don’t get complacent just because your specs are overtuned.”
“I won’t….”
“There’s a promising recruit out there who wrapped up ten Super Rare grade pieces of equipment and still only got a Common Class.”
“…What?!”
There was actually someone that stupid?
“Apparently they got careless, took a beating from a boss monster, and passed out. So never let your guard down. Ever.”
I also suspected the person’s mistake was trying to prove something by tackling Floor 10 alone without testing the earlier floors, but I simply nodded.
Jerik’s nagging is usually right, but even the truest advice wears thin when repeated endlessly.
“You’re still set on going in alone, then?”
“Yes.”
“Even knowing that Floor 10 is typically cleared by massive boss monster raids?”
“That’s not always the case either. And if it were that kind of quest, wouldn’t succeeding alone be even more impressive?”
“… How long has our Char been throwing his weight around like this?”
“Since last week, I’d say?”
“Hah. I shouldn’t have dragged him to that Labyrinth Auction.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as Jerik sighed in exasperation.
Armor and a spear, along with a short sword for mid-range combat and a Deep Sea Harmonizer Necklace to boot.
My equipment specs had swelled impressively, and I’d pushed my main combat skills—Spear Arts and Movement Technique—to their highest tiers.
My Piercing Strike had naturally become Rare-grade as a bonus.
‘If I can’t solo Floor 10 with all this, that’d be the real problem, wouldn’t it?’
I couldn’t help but feel cocky—it was impossible not to.
But I was acutely aware of the dangers too.
‘There’s no way an ordinary quest will appear. I need to stay sharp.’
I recalled Bartus’s words from Floor 5 as I made my way toward the Labyrinth Stele.
Just before entering, I felt an oddly persistent sensation of being watched.
‘I can’t dismiss it as just a feeling.’
Through Lee Jin-seong, I’d learned that some prince had taken an interest in me, and through Ruda, I knew the Merchant Guild was watching too.
They purchased 1,200 units, so they would certainly figure out they were on your orders, sir.
When I mentioned they were purchased for health reasons, well… the reaction was something.
‘I have to walk this tightrope carefully. One wrong step and it’s hell.’
But for now, I needed to focus entirely on the Labyrinth.
“I’ll be going.”
“Right. I’ll wait for you at the Martial Arts Hall.”
“Yes.”
With that response, I placed my hand on the Stele.
‘Preparation is perfect.’
I carried that confidence with me.
Flash.
I passed through Floor 9 and descended directly into Floor 10.
And then came the system’s voice, exactly as I’d anticipated.
[Perfect Clear recorded on Floors 1 through 9.]
[Floor 10 quest difficulty will be adjusted accordingly.]
[Causality fluctuation. Connection established between the Adventurer and the deepest Ascender.]
[The lingering attachment of Ascender Bartus takes effect.]
‘As expected!’
At the same time, an enormous tree came into view.
A withered, ancient-looking tree stained a dingy dark color.
But its size was abnormally massive.
Even from a bird’s-eye vantage point, I couldn’t take in its full dimensions at a glance.
A colossal tree that pierced the clouds and stretched toward the heavens.
‘This is…’
I’d heard the stories—the World Tree, the sacred tree that the elves revered as both their origin and their god.
But.
‘… I’ve never heard of the World Tree radiating Death Aura like this, looking so decayed and hollow.’
The instant that thought crossed my mind, my vision—my very consciousness—was sucked downward.
For a moment I felt myself plummeting through the massive withered trunk, descending into the depths below.
Then my perspective inverted abruptly, and I found myself in a place lit only by dim torchlight.
“What…?”
The moment I realized I could make a sound, I was startled.
Whoosh.
“…Ugh?!”
Violent pain exploded across my abdomen, and my body flew through the air.
Crash.
Boom-boom-boom.
“I said… shut… your… mouth. Krang.”
A gravelly voice echoed—as if someone had a throat full of phlegm—but I couldn’t make sense of anything.
‘Ugh. What is this?’
The sharp, tingling pain spreading from my abdomen through my entire body only sharpened reality.
“Krang, why… aren’t… you… getting… up?”
Boom. Bang.
As the ground trembled and a foul stench crept closer—
“Stop!”
A man blocked my path.
“What? You lot. Have you all lost your minds? Krang.”
A guttural growl.
Bang.
Crash-crash-crash.
The blond-haired face sprawled beside me seemed familiar somehow.
Like the child’s face I’d seen on Floor 5 — if ten years had passed, it might look like this.
‘Bartus?’
Then my senses snapped back, and I scrambled to my feet.
A massive green creature filled my vision.
Its shoulders alone towered well past three meters, with a frame so wide it dwarfed any human, every inch of that bulk corded with muscle and a face twisted in malice, and the reek of it all.
I’d heard of creatures like this.
‘An ogre…?’
A giant with green skin. A monster of overwhelming strength.
But hearing about it and seeing it mere inches from my face were worlds apart.
In the moment I stood gaping at the thing.
“Eyes. Lower them. Krang.”
Another guttural sound.
It threw a punch with deceptive ease, and I crossed my arms reflexively to block it.
Clang.
‘What?’
Only then did I become aware of the thick manacles and chains clamped around my wrists.
A deeper, uglier growl.
“Ugh!?”
Smash.
Crash-crash-crash.
Even with my block, the impact sent my entire body flying—the sensation was sickening.
“You lot. Barely felt a thing. Krang.”
Thud. Crash.
Only when its guttural speech and foul stench drew near did the situation finally sink in.
“I—I’m sorry!”
I scrambled up and bowed my head.
My only thought was to get through this somehow.
“Char, don’t submit. Fight to the death instead. Now, while we still can!”
Bartus had sprung to his feet beside me, his entire body blazing with fire and wind, crackling with lightning.
Snap-snap-snap-crack.
Even just the aura emanating from him outclassed my spirits by a vast margin.
But.
“Krang. With just that?”
Boom!
The ogre threw a single punch with full force, and Bartus didn’t even have time to cry out before he flew backward.
Crash.
Thud.
Watching him collapse unconscious, every hair on my body stood on end.
I realized then that the punch it had thrown at me earlier had been a light tap.
“Krang. You too—want to try?”
“No—no, absolutely not.”
“Hmph. Pick him up. Follow me.”
I had no will to resist as the ogre pointed one of its thick fingers at the fallen Bartus.
And then.
[You have entered Floor 10 of the Labyrinth.]
[Floor 10 Quest]
[Escape the underground prison of the Fallen World Tree together with Bartus.]
‘Damn it, couldn’t you have mentioned this sooner?’
My abdomen and both arms still throbbed with pain from the blows.
What was worse: stepping onto Floor 10, all the equipment I’d been confident about had vanished, and now I wore nothing but a Gray Burlap Cloth.
Even for a Possession Quest.
‘Last time, I kept my equipment.’
I couldn’t help but feel cheated.
All that perfect preparation, wiped away in an instant.
There’s even an X Ascender out there who got a Common Class with a full setup of ten Super Rare items. Could it be that you…?”
Jerik’s words automatically replay in my head in a mocking remixed version.
‘That’s not possible. Absolutely not! This is literally the worst thing that could happen. Please, just give me a hint!’
The trait I activated in desperate hope shows:
[Perfect Clear Condition]
[Purify the Fallen World Tree.]
It only made everything more confusing.
‘What is this!?’
The normal quest is escape, but the Perfect Clear condition has nothing to do with that whatsoever.
Has there ever been a case like this before?
“Krung. Hurry!”
“Yes. Yes!”
With each step I take carrying Bartus on my back, I scan the surroundings, but all I feel is suffocation.
Flicker.
The scattered torches bring what little light they can to the pitch-black darkness.
And within that darkness, all I see are iron bars and corridors reeking of staleness.
Just a filthy prison. Nothing more.
The only thing remotely unusual is that the surrounding walls are made of wood, not stone.
‘So… this must be the inside of the dead World Tree?’
As I move through this bewildering situation, I try using my trait on everything I see.
But nothing appears that could serve as a hint.
There are only two things worth noting.
[Name: Bartus]
[Spirit Swordsman (First Grade) Lv.20]
[Abilities 2/5]
-Spirit. Swordsmanship.
[Descendant of Balgar, Heroic Bloodline. Seed of an Ascender.]
[Having struggled to rebuild his house, he was captured and dragged into the World Tree’s prison.]
[Status: Stunned]
Bartus has grown considerably since Floor 10, and his combat prowess—
[Fallen World Tree (#!@#)]
-#!@# !#!@$$!@…
This colossal prison that is the Fallen World Tree itself yields no information I can read from it.
Not even its rank.
‘Damn it. This isn’t an environment—why is information locked on the environment?’
Separate from that frustration, one fact crystallizes again.
‘…Right. The World Tree couldn’t possibly be a lower level than the World Tree Wooden Spear it created. Hell.’
When the level difference exceeds three grades, I truly cannot read the information.
Which means this place is that dangerous.
Tap.
“Krung, what?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I was just trying to keep up.”
“Annoying…”
Crack.
A single finger flicked lightly catches the side of my head, striking hard enough that apart from the pain, my mind snaps alert.
But because I braced myself for the blow, I gained one more piece of information.
[Name: Krang]
[@!# Jailer (Fourth Grade) Lv.4?]
[Abilities 2/2]
-Monster#!. @#!.
[@#$@ ^#$%^ #@ #!@ Jailer]
[&$^$ $@#$ #$## Annoying]
A single piece of hopeless information.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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