Conquering the Labyrinth with a Trash-Tier Trait - Chapter 67

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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 67
When I first obtained Kyle’s Belt, I was amazed to realize that set items existed in this place too.
I’d forgotten about that, but now these shoes I’ve gotten from defeating an enemy are one of those set items.
This is definitely a jackpot.
But then.
“Sir, will you be able to wear these? They look too small even for my feet.”
“Yeah, this is troublesome…….”
They’re like ancient artifacts without an auto-fit function.
Since the shoes are smaller than the average adult male size, I have considerable difficulty wearing them with my larger feet.
‘No, honestly, it’s impossible.’
But since they’re just ‘small’ and worn leather shoes, the problem would disappear if I threw them into the Goblin Basket with my boots for synthesis.
When items are of the same type, the basic format follows the size of the larger one.
However.
“Set items…….”
“Sir?”
“No, never mind.”
If they’re set items, that won’t work.
The moment I do that, Kyle’s Leather Shoes would vanish.
“Still, since it’s Super Rare, you’d get decent money if you sold it, wouldn’t you?”
“Could we even sell it?”
“Sir?”
“Someone probably knows this bald bastard had it.”
“Ah……!”
“Don’t tell me we’re going to brag about killing him.”
“……Absolutely not. We absolutely can’t.”
“Right.”
So we can’t sell it either.
Not that I was planning to.
‘What do I do?’
[You have gathered 2 pieces of the Kyle Series. (2/5)]
This weighs on me too much.
Though there seems to be no special effect from having two pieces, it certainly feels like completing the set would grant something significant.
‘Should I just keep it in storage?’
But.
‘Can I even collect them all?’
I honestly didn’t know there would be five pieces.
And I have no hint of what the next part is or where it might be.
Most importantly.
‘Even if I collected them all, even if it had an incredible effect, could I actually run in these shoes?’
Though I already knew, I found myself trying them on once more.
And.
“Ugh.”
I had my confirmation.
‘This won’t work.’
Even walking is difficult.
“They’re useless. These…….”
“Mmph.”
Max was right—they’re useless. A set item I can neither use nor sell.
But.
“Well, can’t be helped.”
That’s when my resolve solidified.
‘I’ll just synthesize them.’
An unusable set item?
Better to synthesize it immediately and keep only the Super Rare effect.
The moment I made that decision.
“So this one can’t be sold either?”
Max pulled out Kendrick’s Sword with a miserable expression.
“It’s an advanced sword made by a Royal Palace master craftsman—wouldn’t that be the case?”
“Whimper…….”
A strange one, this fellow.
“Why don’t you just use it yourself?”
“……I’m hopeless with swordsmanship, really.”
“What?”
This kid had all the hallmarks of a prodigy—his combat sense and learning speed were exceptional.
“You?”
“Yes. It took me a year just to attempt Basic Swordsmanship, and I still couldn’t master it.”
“What?”
Now that I thought about it, his father had mentioned something like that before—that he couldn’t handle a blade properly.
But still.
“With any weapon, it seems my body just can’t remember the motions, no matter how many times I try.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I know it doesn’t. But……”
At my earnest, baffled question, Max’s face fell.
“……I’m serious.”
Hmm.
Well, there’d be no reason to lie about something like this.
If that was the case.
“……That blade’s a bit too thick for a longsword, isn’t it?”
“……?”
“It’d work fine as a butcher’s knife or a kitchen blade.”
“……Really?”
Max’s expression crumpled further, but this wasn’t something I could help him with.
If it got any longer than a greatsword, it wouldn’t fit in the Goblin Basket anyway.
“Since it has good Mana efficiency, wouldn’t Mana Cooking become more effective too?”
It was just idle speculation on my part, but saying it aloud made it sound plausible.
“……Is that, so?”
“Wouldn’t it be?”
“Hmm?”
Watching his expression turn serious again, I dropped back down onto my haunches.
Thump.
“Let’s rest for a bit.”
“Huh? Here?”
“Just need to recover some Mana first.”
“Yes! Yes! I’ll keep watch!”
I’d meant to tell him to sit down and rest too, but the surroundings weren’t ideal for that.
Corpses aside, there was the damp jungle floor and flying insects everywhere.
Not exactly meditation-friendly conditions.
But still.
‘What does it matter.’
As long as I had the Spirit, Cleansman’s Underwear, and the Deep Sea Tuner, the filth around me was hardly a concern.
After meditating for over an hour and recovering half my Mana, we made our way back to the Battlefield.
* * *
“Do we really have to go all the way back there?”
“You saw the Ability Stone drop, didn’t you? A yellow one at that.”
“No, I mean. The corpse.”
“That’s precisely why we need to. We have to dispose of it there so there’s no trace leading back to us.”
At my words, Max frowned as he watched the Spirits carry Kendrick’s corpse.
“You’re right, I suppose.”
I’d already looted the two important items, but I left the knights’ bodies, the gold they carried, and the giant centipede’s carcass as they were.
“That way, suspicion falls away from us.”
“……Yes.”
Multiple high-ranking officials and administrators of Golden Acre all dead at once.
The Royal Palace wouldn’t let this pass quietly, so it was the least I could do.
After convincing Max of this, the moment we approached the Battlefield.
Before we even arrived, I saw something black filling the Swamp—a writhing mass of creatures.
“……Brother.”
“Yeah. I see it.”
Swarms of flesh flies, clustered in numbers that defied reason, churned across the landscape.
“Actually, this works out. I’ll just leave it and come back.”
Buzz.
At a distance, I used Spirits to move Kendrick’s corpse to the Battlefield and confirmed it was still there.
‘As expected, it hasn’t moved.’
Beneath the head of the giant poisonous centipede, where swarms of carrion flies swarmed blackly, there was a Yellow Ability Stone.
‘Clear it out.’
-Will do.
Thud.
The instant I hurled Kendrick’s corpse onto the Battlefield.
Muul Cheol-woo transformed into fog that swallowed everything at once, spraying Deadly Poison Spores in all directions.
And the moment he did.
Pop-pop-pop-pop-bang.
The blackly swarming swarms of carrion flies began bursting apart in an instant.
‘Yes. That’s it!’
The Ability Stone born from the idea I’d conceived while struggling against the fly swarms was finally showing its true effect.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-bang!
The sight of the fly swarm exploding across the entire fog-shrouded area spanning over forty meters in diameter brought nothing short of exhilaration.
Wheeeeee.
“What?”
Boom-boom-boom-boom-bang!
The carrion flies, sensing danger, fled beyond the fog’s edge and moved away, yet.
The range of the explosions continued past the fog’s boundary as well.
‘Why…?’
As I wondered, I suddenly recalled the third option of the Deadly Poison Spores Innate Ability.
Understanding came in that moment, but the problem was the fleeing fly swarm was coming this way.
“Hey, what on earth did you just do…?”
“Just run!”
Patter-patter-patter.
After we’d bolted back the way we came for quite some distance, the sound of wheezing and explosions from behind finally ceased.
Instead, the system’s voice sounded.
[Combat End]
[You have eliminated numerous carrion fly swarms. Contribution 100%]
[The enemies’ level is too low.]
[Negligible Experience gained.]
“Tsk.”
Now that I was level twenty-two, even the elite monsters here didn’t seem particularly useful anymore.
As I clicked my tongue at the thought, Max looked at me with a bewildered expression.
“What exactly did you just do?”
“Well, I tried developing a Pest Elimination Skill using Spirits, and the effect is surprisingly good.”
“…? You can do that?”
“Yeah, apparently you can.”
“……”
Max stared at me with an incredulous look, but thankfully didn’t press further.
Besides, all that running wasn’t for nothing.
“Hey, look there—Mana Stones!?”
“Oh!”
Where the massive swarms of carrion flies had been slaughtered, Orange Mana Stones lay scattered in various places.
These tiny flies dropping Mana Stones this large—it was astonishing.
Perhaps being a swarm monster meant their Mana was categorized as one type, so it blended together.
Either way, this was excellent.
“Let’s search the surroundings too.”
“Yes!”
In the end, we found a total of twelve Orange Mana Stones across the Battlefield and its vicinity.
“Wow.”
Of course, what mattered most was the Ability Stone the giant centipede had dropped.
A Yellow Ability Stone, no less.
[Deadly Breath (Supreme Grade)]
-Strength +21, Stamina +25, Agility +24, Mana +29, Physical Resistance +22, Magic Resistance +28
-Unleashes a breath laden with deadly poison in a forward direction.
-Range expansion. Forward 30m.
-Three times per day (8-hour cooldown).
The giant centipede’s information had shown two Innate Abilities: deadly poison and water attribute.
Among them, the Deadly Poison Spores seemed to be the one.
A yellow Ability Stone with a mundane option typically fetched around three hundred gold, while a desirable one with good utility would sell for roughly ten times that.
Regrettably, while not worthless, it wasn’t an Ability Stone I’d rely on as a primary weapon.
Though as a surprise tactic—spitting it from my mouth—it might prove useful in a pinch.
‘Still, it should fetch several hundred gold at least.’
And the orange Mana Stones we’d picked up were quite respectable too.
“Wow, we’re going to be rich soon!”
I let out a soft laugh.
“I’ll take good care of you going forward. Want to keep following me around?”
“Huh? Well, I was already planning to come along with you anyway…….”
“That’s what I mean. Let’s keep traveling together.”
“……So I’m saying, I was going to do that originally.”
“What?”
It seemed we’d had some fundamental miscommunication all along.
“Never mind. Great! That’s settled then!”
This cleared things up nicely.
“Right then. I’m counting on you, cook. Seven-three split on the loot. Deal?”
“…….”
“What? You’ve got a problem with that? Were you hoping for fifty-fifty……?”
“I’m a vanguard!”
“Huh?”
“Not a cook—a vanguard!”
“Oh, right. Vanguard. What did I just call you?”
“…….”
One refrigerator-slash-Korean cuisine specialist acquired.
With this, I had taken another step closer to modern civilization in this savage world.
* * *
“Are you two all right!?”
The moment we returned to Golden Acre, Daniel rushed toward us with alarm.
“Yes. We hunted the monsters we wanted to catch, and now we’re back to complete the quest and leave.”
“B-but the knights just chased after you two!?”
“Huh? Oh, we didn’t see them. Our paths must have diverged.”
This was a story Max and I had agreed on beforehand.
But as expected.
“……You knew they’d chase you and left anyway. And now you’re saying your paths diverged?”
A reasonable person who knew the full context couldn’t possibly believe that.
Still.
“That’s what we decided to say, isn’t it, Max?”
“……Yes. Yes. Father. We’re going with that.”
At those words, Daniel looked between Max and me and let out a small sigh.
“No one else knows about this?”
“No one.”
“So if I keep quiet, that should be enough, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“If you’ve hunted the monsters you wanted……then you came back here……?”
“To say goodbye.”
“Father! I’m going to follow this guy!”
At those words, Daniel’s expression grew complicated, but soon he offered an awkward smile.
So I pressed the point once more.
“We simply went out on a Jungle quest and came back late today. That’s why we know nothing whatsoever of what happened here at Golden Acre, sir.”
While saying goodbye to Daniel, this was also about establishing an alibi.
Kendrick and the other knights had chased after us and vanished.
Rather than simply disappearing from this floor the moment they left, it was better to return, show that we knew nothing, and then depart.
I didn’t know how effective it would be, but it was better than doing nothing.
“……Y-yes.”
“And please don’t feel too badly about this. Once things settle down, Max will visit here often. I will too.”
“……I understand. But really, are you sure you’ll be all right?”
“Yes, of course.”
My answer was brief.
A world ruled by strength.
No one would believe that two mere First-Class fighters could have taken down six administrators, one of whom possessed Third-Class power.
That was simply common sense.

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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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