Conquering the Labyrinth with a Trash-Tier Trait - Chapter 63

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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 63
“…Uh, brother.”
“Hmm?”
“I didn’t do anything wrong to you, did I?”
“…No, you didn’t. But why are you asking?”
“Oh. No, it’s nothing. Just. Ha. Ha ha.”
He laughed awkwardly.
I must have looked pretty rough when I was smashing those thugs earlier.
“Max.”
“Yes? Why the serious expression all of a sudden…?”
“I’ve picked up a thing or two living this hard life, getting knocked around and grinding my way through.
“…?”
“People who aren’t people—if you treat them like people, they actually start believing they’re real people.”
“What are you talking about…?”
“Scumbags need to be treated like scumbags. That’s when they start thinking, ‘If I mess with this bastard, I’m finished.’ You follow?”
“…I see.”
Of course, back on Earth, there’d be plenty of conditions attached before you ended up “finished.”
But this world has no such luxuries.
“Unless they’re overwhelmingly strong—which they’re not—you have to break those kinds of people down hard, or they’ll just keep crawling back.”
“…Yes.”
I hoped my hard-won lessons from six months of living rough would sink in for Max.
I patted his shoulder and headed into the kimchi stew shop.
“By the way, that guy earlier kept going on about his older brother being something or other. Isn’t that a problem?”
“A thug’s older brother is just another thug.”
If someone were truly formidable, they wouldn’t have such pathetic relatives.
‘Especially if he’s a Summoner of the same cohort as me.’
I brushed off Max’s needless worry.
“Max! You little bastard!”
Max’s father, Daniel, gave him an enthusiastic greeting.
He rushed at his son as if he might throw him any second.
“Whoa—c-customer!?”
He caught sight of me and hit the brakes hard.
The moment he did, Max poked his head out from behind my back and started talking rapidly.
“Oh, Father! This brother helped me clear that quest. I can go to the 12th floor right now. I just have to go to where that portal opened…”
His last words were barely a whisper, but his father seemed to catch the gist of it.
“You cleared the quest?”
“Yes! And I gained three whole Levels during it!”
I had definitely noticed Max’s movements improve sharply at one point during the battle.
The natives didn’t have experience or points from leveling up—instead, I’d just watched firsthand as his “Level” rose for some concrete reason.
“Really…?”
“He’s been training consistently. It seems that experience came alive in actual combat.”
“You hear that?”
“Ha…”
Daniel looked back and forth between his son and me, his expression complicated.
“This kid can’t even swing a sword properly, can he?”
“He seems to have learned the Shield Technique well.”
“Well, that’s his grandfather’s Shield Technique, after all…”
“My Shield Technique is just fine! And I can even do both!”
“Is this kid really pulling his own weight? He can’t attack…”
“I can do the attacking. Besides, seeing his Shield Technique, I don’t think Max will be in real danger.”
“Huh…”
He looked back and forth between Max and me for a moment, his face growing more complex, before suddenly pulling his son into a tight embrace with a melancholy expression.
“You little bastard!”
“Oh, Father?”
“You little bastard. At last. At last! You’ve found your path. I’m proud of you! So proud!”
Thump-thump.
After holding Max tight and patting his back for a while, Daniel finally released his son with reluctant eyes when Max let out a yelp.
“So. Did you come to say goodbye before heading to the 12th floor? Don’t plan on coming back after you go up?”
“What? Father. What are you talking about? This place is my home.”
Seeing Daniel’s melancholy expression suddenly brighten at those words, I let out a hollow laugh.
“Then what?”
“This senior of mine mentioned there’s something he wants to look into. He said there’s a monster he wants to catch…….”
That’s what Max had told me on the way over.
“A monster he wants to catch? Why go out of his way?”
When Daniel turned around with an expression that suggested he’d heard something peculiar, I got to the point.
“Do you know anything about the Jungle Swamp Horned Centipede King?”
“……What?”
“The Jungle Swamp Horned Centipede King. I heard that you’ve been living here for three generations and know monsters inside and out.”
I hadn’t gone straight to City Hall because Max said his father would know better.
Fortunately.
“……I do know of it, but why would you want to catch that monstrosity……?”
The answer came back affirmative.
“There’s a massive swamp at the heart of the deep jungle to the south. From what I understand, it emerges when large prey thrashes about at night—it needs to be at least the size of a cow.”
“Huh!?”
“……The thing is, it’s a Boss Monster with strength that surpasses tier levels. Rumor has it that it’s undergone a second Evolution, and even if that’s not true, its enormous size and poison are enough that ordinary Knights can’t handle it. There are actually records of Knights dispatched here as administrators who died to it.”
“You know quite a bit of detail.”
“Years ago, several Knights pooled their strength and caught its mother—or so they say—but it yielded no useful byproducts and caused so much damage that nobody touches it anymore. So why would you go out of your way to catch it?”
No useful byproducts?
Hmm.
“I have my reasons. Are there any particular precautions I should be aware of?”
“Apparently it tends to either flee into the swamp or drag its opponent down into it, which caused considerable damage. But if someone too strong approaches, it won’t come out from inside the swamp for some reason.”
“A swamp…….”
The words made me frown slightly, but thinking of the Deep-Sea Coordinator put my mind somewhat at ease.
‘Even if I get dragged into the swamp, it won’t kill me outright. Besides, I have bait anyway.’
I didn’t think I’d have trouble dealing with a mere eleventh-floor monster.
Just knowing its location was reason enough to come back.
“All right. Max, let’s leave tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow!? That soon?”
“Don’t you want to? You were saying you wanted to head to the upper floors right away.”
“No, well, that’s—we could’ve gone earlier…… Yes, I understand.”
I stared at him grumbling until he finally relented.
‘The boy’s adorable.’
So it was decided—we would set out tomorrow to catch the Jungle Swamp Horned Centipede King.
The next day.
‘Okay. Success!’
[Virulent Spore]
-Strength +11, Vitality +13, Agility +12, Mana +13, Physical Resistance +19, Magic Resistance +19
-Releases Virulent Spore across the entire body (Poison Damage +20).
-The smaller the enemy, the stronger the spore effect becomes (per half of size reduction, Damage +20).
-Enemies killed by spore poisoning explode, scattering the same spore in all directions. Poison effects stack and strengthen (3 times, +20 Damage per occurrence).
* The user is also poisoned.
The poison spore diffusion and Weak-Slayer Ability Stone had been reborn as a single Ability Stone.
‘Succeeded on the second try. Lucky.’
The first attempt last night had failed.
Before bed, I’d slotted in the second Weak-Slayer Ability Stone and prayed—fortunately the options I wanted came through.
Now I only had one Weak-Slayer Ability Stone left.
‘Actually, less than one.’
Moreover, the third option came with something far superior to what I’d anticipated.
Which is why an absurd, ridiculous penalty was attached, but it didn’t interfere with my plan.
‘Good. All those fly bastards are dead.’
Not only that—it looked like it would become a useful weapon for easily disposing of small, annoying enemies too weak to be worth Butchering that I’d encounter going forward.
‘The skill to use this well would be…….’
Whoosh.
Just as I was about to leave the room with a sense of confidence after slotting the Ability Stone into the Water Spirit.
Ding.
That hateful voice came from the Earring again.
-Water, bring water!
-Ugh. Did I drink too much yesterday?
-Water, bring it now!?
‘The Earring…… I should’ve just left it off.’
He’d been partying since last night, and now he was sleeping in and throwing tantrums at the servants.
‘Pathetic bastard.’
Then, for the first time in these past two days, words came that couldn’t be ignored.

-What!? That guy came back? What about Aslan and Tar?
-What the hell are those bastards even doing?
-Who cares if some worthless Summoner got beaten!?
-……Ah! I can use that as an excuse to haul him in.
-Get involved in adventurers’ fights……? The law? Don’t make me laugh! I’m the law here! Drag him in no matter what!
‘Look at this bastard.’
The Royal Palace of Bartus doesn’t interfere with duels between adventurers.
In fact, if one of them started the quarrel, they wouldn’t bat an eye even if the other killed him outright.
‘……Looks like he’s just charging ahead thoughtlessly because of greed.’
This alone would be grounds for the Adventurer’s Guilds to rise up, but if it comes to that, I’ll be in a bind too.
The absolute worst scenario would be if we openly fought Royal Knights within Golden Acre, Bartus’s own territory.
There would be far too many witnesses.
Then……?
“Max! Let’s go!”
“Huh?”
“Hurry up!”
I didn’t know how far the Knights that Candrick sent would follow us.
‘I hope they follow all the way.’
That crowned beetle or whatever it is might be stronger than I thought.
‘The more bait, the better.’
With that in mind, I rushed out.
And I made a request.
“If the Knights come looking, don’t hide it—just tell them the truth.”
“Tell them what?”
Daniel, who yesterday evening had declared with bright eyes that he’d take me as his adopted son, looked bewildered as he paused mid-scoop of rice.
“Just tell them the facts as they are, sir!”
“No, I mean……? Hey. Char!”
Leaving the confused Daniel behind, Max and I headed back toward the jungle.
“Run!!”
“Wait, why are we going so fast? You haven’t explained anything!”
“The Knights are going to chase us. I don’t know how many.”
“Huh!? You, you don’t mean they already……?”
“No, that’s not it. They’ll just think something’s strange. But that’s reason enough for them to come after us.”
“How do you know that!?”
“There are ways to know these things. Just run for now!”
“Ugh!”
Thud-thud-thud-thud.
“Yan. Not like that—don’t run that way……!”
Watching Max tear across the ground, I offered some advice on his running form.
I couldn’t teach him the Volante Step Technique itself, but I could help refine his running technique and smooth out his rough Mana control.
But then.
“Oh? Like this?”
Tap.
Whoosh.
“…….”
His speed jumped by more than thirty percent in an instant.
His energy expenditure looked lower too.
‘This guy……? Is he really a genius?’
I’d seen him develop in real-time during combat before, but I’d attributed that to his training finally applying itself in a real fight.
“Haha! Thank you, brother!”
Whoosh.
But looking at it now, it seemed like pure raw talent.
Still.
“Right, let’s keep moving.”
Whoosh.
He couldn’t keep pace with me, the master of the Volante Step Technique—Advanced Level, Supreme Tier—and possessor of top-tier specs across the board (probably).
“Come on, let’s go together!”
“Don’t waste energy—pace yourself so you can run as long as possible. Control your breathing, manage your Mana!”
“Yes!”
I kept coaching Max on his running form while glancing back over my shoulder.
‘Surely. They don’t have mounts… right?’
If the ones chasing us were Knights, I had reason to worry.
But I shook my head.
‘They wouldn’t. Even Bartus’s advanced Knights don’t have proper mounts.’
An adventurer who wielded Mana could outrun an ordinary horse.
That’s why ordinary horses in this place were used only as pack animals by the merchant caravans, and creatures capable of bearing Mana users were almost invariably rare monsters.
It was the reason that “special training Ability Stone” had sold for such an exorbitant price last time.
There was no way the Knights exiled to Golden Acre would possess anything like that.
‘They wouldn’t have sent ordinary soldiers, and there were eight administrators left. How many will actually come?’
No.
‘Will they even chase us?’
I kept checking over my shoulder several times as we ran toward the jungle.
And as we reached the jungle’s entrance,
I saw Knights galloping across the distant horizon.

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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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