Conquering the Labyrinth with a Trash-Tier Trait - Chapter 38

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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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Episode 38
Even worse.
‘Did she see me?’
Because the Dark Elf suddenly opened her eyes and looked straight at me.
And in that moment.
Whack!
“Ugh!?”
“Urgh!?”
A blow that jolted me awake came down hard on the back of my head.
I saw Bartus clutching the back of his own head in the same way, and beyond the gas mask, an orc’s eyes gleamed with mockery.
“You human males are all the same. Love elves so much. White or black…….”
“Wait, that woman just now…….”
-Shut your mouth!
Zing.
“Gasp!?”
A sharp voice suddenly echoed through my skull, and I grabbed my head, which made the orc in the gas mask tilt his head in confusion.
It was definitely not the orc’s voice.
High and thin.
My eyes were drawn naturally to the Dark Elf embedded in the wall, rooted there.
“……What is that woman?”
“……She’s beautiful.”
“Ha.”
Crack.
I took another blow to the back of my head for that answer, but I could overlook the situation.
Thanks to it, I’d learned the spec of the gas mask-wearing orc as well.
[Name: Taru]
[#!#@!@$(?Char) Lv.4?]
[Ability 2/2]
-Buto#!@. @!!#.
[!@#! #!@#!@# Butchering Skill!@.]
[!@#!@# #!!@# !@#!@#]
If that was the case, the other two orcs would be similar.
In the end.
‘Brute strength won’t work.’
Without exact information, their level was in the forties.
Whether natives or dungeon-born, level and job class scaled nearly proportionally—they’d be 4th Class Jobs.
Just like that Krang.
‘Why are 4th Class Jobs showing up in a Novice Quest!?’
Screaming silently wouldn’t get me answers, of course.
I could only confirm once more that this wasn’t a quest brute force could solve.
So then.
‘Clues. I need clues, period.’
That voice echoing through my mind just now. That woman, embedded in the wall and roots.
‘I have to use that woman.’
There was no other clue.
“Char, that woman’s eyes opened just now. She saw me.”
Bartus was channeling Spirit Magic to whisper only in my ear, and I just nodded.
Did he not hear the voice?
I wanted to ask, but there were still too many listening ears.
Unlike him, who manipulated lower-tier spirits freely, I had to conserve mana even for air purification.
Truth be told, I don’t even know how he does it.
I’m jealous. Genius.

“Hey, I’ve sorted the meat I butchered over there. That’s your quota.”
“……Yes. Understood.”
“You know how to sort meat, right?”
“I’ve worked in a butchery before.”
“Worked in a butchery?”
“Yes.”
Bartus also caught on and nodded at my side.
“……Tsk. Regardless, it’s bound to be some kind of human slaughterhouse.”
The orc Taru scoffed as he said it.
Yet the way he actually worked was not so different from a human butchery.
If anything, in that he only sorted meat from corpses already dead, it seemed less a slaughterhouse than a monster butcher shop.
‘Whatever. For now, I do as I’m told.’
I tried to methodically sort the meat as instructed, but there was a problem.
‘Damn it. All these monsters seem to be venomous.’
As the creatures were dismantled and the blood spilled through an artificial drainage system toward the massive tree’s roots nearby.
When I focused, I saw something strange: where the black blood touched the dark tips of the black roots, it seemed to evaporate and vanish.
It felt as though the roots were devouring the blood.
As a result, the tree’s roots pumped out poison all around with even greater force.
‘So that’s why……’
I’d discovered the reason for the poison growing thicker the deeper underground we went, but there was nothing I could do about it right now.
The blood was one thing; the meat itself was problematic.
Even venomous monsters usually don’t have poison in the muscle tissue itself, but there are plenty of exceptions.
Especially in a fantasy world like this.
‘Surely not……’
Prick.
“Ugh!?”
The moment my finger felt strange from touching it, I pulled it away, but my skin was already turning black.
“Damn!”
Whoosh.
Sizzle.
“Nngh.”
I seared my own skin with flame and controlled my blood flow to pull the venom out before it could spread further.
“Char!”
“It’s fine. Don’t touch that meat.”
In that brief moment, I wondered if I should be proud of myself for using an ability even then.
[Deathbane Poison Fang Beast Tail Muscle]
-Even a single drop of blood contains extreme toxin. Touching it causes instant poisoning.
I think I’d just discovered another reason why the prisoners had avoided this butchering work.
“Uh, Taru. There’s poison on the meat……”
“What!?”
“This is Deathbane Poison Fang Beast meat, and if I touch it, I think I’ll die?”
At my words, Taru’s eyes widened, but then he glanced at the meat, looked back at my face, examined the meat once more, and furrowed his brow with a low “Hmm.”
The expression on his face seemed to suggest, ‘If you can’t even do this, maybe I should just let you die,’ and cold sweat began running down my back.
‘Surely not. Damn it……’
While I was tensing, suddenly there came a thunderous sound from above—from the ceiling.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
Then a monster’s corpse came tumbling down through a massive opening.
Crash, crash, crash!
It was so sudden, like bombs being dropped, that I flinched.
The enormous creature that fell in the center of the chamber showed no signs of damage.
Instead.
“Ah. Damn it! Just how many are they catching!?”
Taru let out an irritable roar.
“What the hell are they trying to kill us with!?”
“Jesus. Really……”
The other two orcs were no different.
The butchering knives that had been moving ceaselessly came to an abrupt halt.
Their expressions were hard to make out behind the gas masks, but the rage that seemed to be boiling over was unmistakable, so I sat very still.
“Hey. Human.”
“Yes?”
“From the way you spotted that Deathbane Poison Fang Beast meat, seems you know more about meat than I thought?”
“Yes. As I mentioned before……”
“Have you done butchering work?”
“……Yes.”
“Have you butchered monsters!?”
“Yes.”
Though they were small-time monsters that came into Zone 9, I had definitely done it before, so my answer came without hesitation.
“How far up have you gone?”
“Rare Grade is possible.”
Never actually done it, but my Butchering Skill is Rare Grade.
Taru’s eyes lit up at once.
“Good. What about you?”
Ah—Bartus!
My heart lurched.
“I can also handle Rare Grade!”
Bartus lied through his teeth without hesitation.
Fortunately, Taru nodded immediately.
“Fine then, humans. Forget sorting—let’s do the butchering. Char… the knives. Any knives left!?”
“Wait, you’re seriously making us work!?”
“We need every extra hand right now! They say Rare Grade is possible! Put them to it!”
“If this goes wrong, we take the fall alone!”
“If it comes to that……”
Taru’s eyes fixed on me with a murderous gleam.
“……you die. You can really do this, yes?”
How could I say no in a moment like this?
“……Yes.”
“Good. Come on, take the knives and gloves. You won’t need gas masks or work clothes, right? They’re expensive.”
Of course I’d prefer to have them, but this wasn’t a question—it was a statement.
Our answer could only be one thing.
“No, we won’t.”
[World Tree Prison Butchering Work Knife (Superior Grade)]
-Attack Power +11
-Butchering and Dressing +20
[World Tree Prison Butchering Work Gloves (Superior Grade)]
-Defense +11
-Poison Resistance +20
“Take them. You’re prisoners, so return them when work time’s over.”
I couldn’t bring myself to feel glad about the loot in these circumstances.
‘Right. Until I find a way out, I’ll just level my Butchering Skill here.’
I took the knife as a small consolation.
‘One slip and I’m dead. Stay focused.’
I braced myself with grim determination.
It wasn’t an exaggeration.
‘One drop of blood splashes wrong, and I’m finished.’
Truly finished.
That’s when Bartus’s whisper reached my ear.
“What do I do? I can’t butcher.”
I know. I’ll do both our shares. Just pretend.
Bartus nodded at my hand signal.
The orcs were clearly busy with their own work anyway, so as long as we produced the volume, we’d be fine.
Then.
-Truly fascinating. A human.
A voice sounded in my head again.
“Urgh!”
My hand slipped in that instant, but fortunately the gloves caught it.
Thank heavens it happened before the actual butchering, and the orcs were too absorbed in their own tasks to notice.
“Human, are you dead!?”
“No, sir!”
“Are you about to die!?”
“No, sir!”
“Then work!”
“Yes, sir!”
Mercifully, this grim sweatshop slaughterhouse only checked on whether we were alive or dead.
In the meantime.
“Char, are you all right?”
“Ah, yes. But…… didn’t you hear that voice?”
“Voice?”
Seeing Bartus tilt his head in confusion, it seemed the voice had only reached me.
In the end, I had no choice but to think of a way to respond.
‘Who on earth are you?’
I shouted it in my mind, but it didn’t seem like it was getting through to the other side.
“Young master.”
“Hmm?”
“Could you teach me how to carry my voice through a wind spirit?”
“……You can’t do that?”
How could I?
I nearly bristled, but fortunately, Bartus simply taught me the technique without further comment.
Of course.
“Why isn’t this working?”
“Oh. That’s where we start?”
“Wait, so it doesn’t just… work?”
There were moments when I felt like overturning everything in frustration, but fortunately it wasn’t as difficult as I’d feared.
More precisely, it was possible because I could synchronize my consciousness with the spirit.
Since I could control the spirit’s power myself.
That made me all the more astonished by Bartus.
‘How is he managing this without even that?’
Admiring him anew, I barely managed to transmit my voice to the Dark Elf wedged against the wall.
I failed several times because she was too far away.
And so.
-What is it?
The answer to my transmitted voice came back, ringing inside my head.
-Ho-o? Not bad at all. Consciousness Synchronization with spirits, and all. Perhaps because you’re human, your Spirit Magic feels so free. I like it.
This time too I flinched, but fortunately I didn’t make a mistake.
I was beginning to understand the principle.
‘Oh?’
It felt like the spirit was conveying its intent to me directly through consciousness—a shared channel of sorts.
Was that why Bartus couldn’t hear it?
-Free? What do you mean? I can only handle the lowest-grade spirits.
-That’s unimportant. You don’t spout the idle prattle of those ancient elves about nurturing the spirit’s ego and all that nonsense. The mere fact that you attempt something practical—projecting your own self-awareness—shows you possess remarkable talent.
I couldn’t say it was because of an Ability Stone.
There was genuine goodwill in the Dark Elf’s voice.
‘I need to use this.’
Looking at how things were unfolding, if this wasn’t the key, then this quest had no hope of succeeding at all.
As I was selecting words to persuade her.
-Would you be interested in learning Spirit Magic from me?
The Dark Elf broached the subject first.
This was not a situation to refuse.
Still, it was right to be honest with someone approaching in goodwill.
-I was taught there is no kindness without a price. What must I do?
-Exactly—smart. Get me out of this place. That is the entirety of my condition.
The condition seemed far too difficult to call it the whole of it, but I saw no other path open to me anyway.
-How should I proceed?
-Synchronize your consciousness completely with the spirit and raise the output to stimulate the World Tree and make it move.
-If I may ask, isn’t Consciousness Synchronization what I’m already doing?
-Hmph. You’re being ridiculous.
-This wind spirit that conveys my intent to you is my avatar.
-Yes, an avatar. And that’s why my will doesn’t reach you directly.
-I’m sorry?
-Not an avatar—your true self must come here. As if we were speaking face to face.
Wasn’t that what this was?
I couldn’t quite say that aloud.
Fortunately, the Dark Elf continued first.
-I will teach you how to achieve perfect Consciousness Synchronization. When you do, the spirit’s rank will naturally rise.
At that moment, my heart grew heavy.
I couldn’t afford to have the power of the Ability Stone mistaken for my own talent, and imagining disappointment when the Penalty set in made complications likely enough.
But if I inserted a ‘real genius’ instead?
-I accept that condition.
If anything, it was the Dark Elf who seemed taken aback.
-……This is a matter that requires risking your life. Shouldn’t you think more carefully about it?
-I’m a prisoner in this place right now. If there’s even a glimmer of hope, shouldn’t I try?
-……Fair enough. Recklessness is certainly human. Well, this benefits me either way. The deal is struck, human.
-In exchange, please teach Spirit Magic to my friend here as well.
-Your companion? He shows promise, but reaching Consciousness Synchronization would require considerable time, I think?
In that moment, something clicked into place.
If this had happened in the original timeline too, then perhaps Bartus had connected with the Dark Elf after that considerable time had passed.
-My friend is a genius beyond even my measure. He’ll absorb everything you teach him.
Calling myself a genius pricked my conscience a little, but Bartus’s talent was genuine, so there was no reason to hold back.
-……Very well. I’ll put him to the test. But you must honor your promise absolutely.
-Of course. As I said, without your help—without my master’s help—escape would be impossible for us as well.
More than a mere contract, I conveyed its necessity.
-Master? Ha. Don’t flatter me and don’t forget the contract.
The Dark Elf wasn’t swayed by the flattery, but I couldn’t help smiling.
Because I’d found a thread of hope in this suffocating place.
“Let’s go!”
I threw out a small shout and focused on both the work and the conversation with the Dark Elf.
“Char. Why so suddenly……?”
“Just listen quietly to what I say.”
“Huh?”
And so we began practicing Spirit Magic while we worked, preparing the kills.

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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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