Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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13. Heuji’s Dungeon 1st Floor (2)

“There’s a door!”

“That’s stone, right? What kind of door is made of stone?”

A stone door stood at the end of the path. Though crude, it was decorated with some kind of engraved relief.

Since it could be a wall that just looked like a door, Hanson stepped forward and pushed it. When he pushed with all his strength, the door moved. Serena stopped Hanson.

“Stop! I think there’s a Floor Boss inside.”

“The Princess is right! They said Floor Bosses are usually in special places.”

Inside this door, the Floor Boss of Heuji’s Dungeon 1st Floor would be waiting for the group. Serena looked up at the massive stone door, her lips twitching.

‘Daaaaaamn it.’

A curse came out naturally.

‘I should have just gone left first like I usually do in games. I just wasted time!’

If she had entered from the left path in order like she used to play games in her previous life, wouldn’t they have reached this door right away? She was furious with indignation.

‘No, Serena. Think positively. If I had found it right away, I would have thought this was a mausoleum and not known it was a labyrinth. I might have gotten hurt by entering without preparing to fight the Floor Boss. Think positively.’

Before fighting a boss, you should save, but this is reality so there’s no save function. Instead, she should at least do some maintenance.

“Let’s rest a bit and do maintenance before going in. Prepare yourselves mentally since we don’t know what kind of monster will appear.”

“Then I’ll leave some rat meat behind. No wait, should we just eat a meal?”

“If you move vigorously right after eating, you might vomit.”

“Hmm…”

Fighting on an empty stomach makes you weak and reduces concentration. Above all, doesn’t the human brain run on sugar? Their breakfast was already insufficient, so not eating at all wasn’t ideal.

But Hanson’s words weren’t wrong either. Hanson told stories of colleagues who ran to the training ground right after eating and ended up vomiting or collapsing while clutching their sides.

Serena compromised between both opinions.

“Let’s eat, but only a little to stave off hunger, and have a proper meal after the battle ends.”

“Got it.”

“The Princess is right!”

Since the distance to the lobby was short, the group decided to eat in the lobby and prepare to fight the Floor Boss.

Since it wasn’t yet time for the sun to set, the lobby was as bright as midday. Krom decided to make rat meat porridge for lunch like yesterday.

The group had hunted a total of seven Labyrinth Rats. Krom cut up only two and put them in the pot, then cleaned the rest and put them in a bucket.

The rats were so big that even after cleaning reduced their volume and packing them down tightly, they still stuck out.

“Please freeze this.”

Serena controlled her mana to lower the ice temperature more than when making drinking water. Krom covered the bucket containing the frozen rat meat with a blanket.

‘It seems like only Krom is working.’

Just like yesterday, only Krom was moving today. His hands were so quick that he finished several tasks at once with a flourish, which was refreshing to watch, but it was uncomfortable to just rest.

Philia was thoughtless as usual, and Lavenda and Hanson seemed to feel similar to Serena as they stepped forward to help Krom, but only got in the way.

“You’re getting in the way! Don’t you know that staying still is helping?”

Smack!

Krom smacked Hanson, saying his large build made him even more bothersome. Hanson, who got hit for trying to help unnecessarily, rubbed the spot where he was struck.

“Krom! That’s an external herb! You can’t eat it!”

“Separate the inedible stuff in advance.”

When Krom chopped plants he had gathered to put in the porridge, Lavenda quickly stepped forward. Judging it to be appropriate advice, she didn’t get hit like Hanson.

“Here you go.”

The rat meat porridge with vegetables looked more decent than yesterday. The wafting aroma was also good.

“This finishes the oats and barley. If we had plenty of salt or firewood, we could smoke it or make jerky, but both are lacking…”

Unless you’re a labyrinth adventurer or explorer venturing into remote areas, you don’t carry that much food around. With five people, the provisions Krom had loaded on his cart ran out in just three meals.

“We should be able to get out soon.”

“We should.”

Krom served Serena’s porridge first this time too. Everyone chewed thoroughly so their stomachs wouldn’t get upset.

Moving right after eating is amateurish. The group stretched and did exercises to loosen their muscles.

‘My toes hurt a little. No, my whole feet hurt.’

As she stretched her body, pain she hadn’t noticed due to tension rose from her feet. Serena took off her shoes.

‘I knew this would happen.’

The princess’s shoes and feet were covered in blood and fluid. Blisters on her heels had burst, fluid had flowed and dried, and her big toenail had cracked and dug into the flesh, causing bleeding.

Even the foot without a cracked toenail had burst blisters just the same.

‘I shouldn’t have danced.’

Who would have known that after dancing until blisters formed on her soles, what awaited wasn’t a potion foot bath but labyrinth exploration?

‘The wounds can’t get infected. Are there any useful herbs among the ones we picked earlier?’

First, let’s wash her feet with fountain water and ask Lavenda. The moment Serena thought that, a silver fairy flew over.

“Serena! Your feet are covered in blood!”

Philia flew over like a guardian spirit, grabbed Serena’s feet, and made a tearful face.

“Oh my! This toenail is cracked too! What should we do? The skin is peeled off too. Right, we found a potion earlier. Use it quickly.”

“We should save the potion for emergencies. Don’t do that, Philia, you take off your shoes too. Your feet probably aren’t in good condition either. Let’s apply herb juice or crush and apply herbs. Lavenda, give me appropriate herbs if you have any.”

“Yes, if you crush this it works. I’ll crush it now.”

Lavenda placed the herbs she had crushed on Serena and Philia’s wounded areas. It would be good to wrap them with bandages, but there were no bandages. They only had three handkerchiefs, so it was awkward to tear them up to make bandages.

‘Usually in situations like this, you tear the hem of your skirt.’

Looking at the dress hems of Serena and Philia, which occupied the largest area among the fabric the group currently possessed.

The smooth and soft fabric was an advantage, but it was inappropriate to tear and use since it was embroidered with gold and silver thread and even had gems embedded in it.

“Use my handkerchief.”

Lavenda tried to tear her own handkerchief. When Serena stopped her, Hanson offered his handkerchief.

“Use this!”

It was a white, clean cotton towel. It was just the right material to cut and use as bandages, so she accepted it immediately. Unexpectedly, the towel had a sweet smell.

A slightly fishy yet savory and sweet smell. The smell she had experienced in this life after her younger sibling was born.

“Baby smell?”

“At home, my nephew is still nursing. He’s not even 100 days old yet. He’ll be 100 days old next week.”

Perhaps thinking of his nephew naturally brought a smile, as Hanson showed his teeth and smiled brightly.

Serena smiled along too.

Thinking of a baby wriggling in swaddling clothes made her feel warm, but when she thought of the situation that baby was in, her mouth went dry.

‘I wonder if Hanson’s nephews are okay.’

The great earthquake experienced just before the fall. She hoped only the area near where Serena was would be within the earthquake’s range, but that would be too miraculous. Would nursing babies be safe in a great earthquake that struck the capital?

‘What’s the point of thinking about it when I can’t even get out? I’ll think about it when I get out.’

She cleared her mind of the situation outside the labyrinth. The only important thing now was escaping the labyrinth.

Serena wrapped her feet with the handkerchief that smelled like baby, then tied up her hair that had become matted from absorbing oil, sweat, and dust.

***

“I’m opening it.”

Hanson pushed the stone door with force. The door opened slowly, boasting a heavy weight befitting its size and material.

“Hup!”

Hanson, who had fully opened the door, received a spear from Serena and took a fighting stance. The group made eye contact with the giant—it had been big before, but this time truly giant—Labyrinth Rat waiting for them inside the door.

‘Wow, it’s really big.’

If the Labyrinth Rats the group had faced so far were the size of Maltese or small poodles, the Floor Boss Labyrinth Rat waiting for the group in the Leader’s Chamber was as big as a Jindo dog.

Its eyes were full of murderous intent, and its hideous front teeth were sharp and threatening enough to sever human veins and arteries in one bite.

Its fur looked rough and thick. It seemed like you couldn’t inflict damage by hitting it half-heartedly.

Creak.

When the door opened and the group cautiously entered, the Labyrinth Rat Leader stood up abruptly. Standing up made its size even more threatening, but the group was pleased.

“There’s only one!”

“No matter how big, it’s just a rat.”

5 against 1. Hanson and Krom, having the numerical advantage, approached the Labyrinth Rat Leader carefully while rejoicing.

“They said at Vieta that a kid caught one with just a dagger. We can do it.”

“Yes!”

As the two approached, the Labyrinth Rat Leader hesitated and backed away to maintain distance. Serena, watching from behind, sensed something strange.

‘Something seems different?’

A wound was visible on the Labyrinth Rat Leader’s flank. She hadn’t noticed it when looking from the front.

‘It couldn’t have eaten its own flesh from hunger. What is that wound? It looks old…’

“Die!”

Hanson thrust his spear forcefully at the Labyrinth Rat Leader. The spear pierced straight into the abdomen of the Labyrinth Rat Leader that had been standing dazed.

“Got it right in there!”

“Stab it more!”

Serena sidled over to check the wound on the leader rat’s flank and shouted.

“Be careful!”

“I am!”

“That’s undead! It’s not alive!”

Hanson pulled out his spear. If it were alive, blood and organs should have gushed out vigorously, but from the hole the spear made, black rotted blood flowed out in thick clumps.

“Undead?”

Squeeeeeak—!

As if congratulating her for getting the right answer, the Labyrinth Rat Leader cried out vigorously.

Then a dragging sound came from behind Serena as the stone door closed. It was faster than when Hanson had opened it with all his strength.

“The door!”

That wasn’t all. Rats burst out from the corners of the stone chamber that had been empty. They were similar in size to ordinary sewer rats, but like the Labyrinth Rat Leader, they were all undead.

Squeak squeak jiji chichi squeak.

The undead rats created from nothing weren’t just one or two. While Serena stared in shocked bewilderment, their numbers kept increasing.

“Aaaah! There aren’t even any rat holes but rats keep appearing!”

Labyrinth. A mysterious space beyond common sense. A place of the unknown where anything could happen, and nothing should be surprising.

A place where things occurred that those who hadn’t experienced them could never dare imagine, no matter what they saw, heard, or experienced.

Lavenda’s words flashed through Serena’s mind.

‘Even so, this is too much.’

“Nobody said the boss could summon minions!”

Were mystery and wonder at the level of creating something from nothing?! Wasn’t I really reincarnated or possessed into a game?! Is this just straight reincarnation?!

Serena shouted the forbidden words she had cried when she first started talking, when she caught protagonist syndrome, and never once since then.

“Status window! Why isn’t there one! Status window! Give me a status window!”

System, status window, status, settings, level up, skill tree! Stop! Pause! I only played turn-based games, not real-time action games, is this okay? Turn! My turn! Ore no turn! Log in! Log out! Shut down! I’m going to Mars!

She shouted every word she knew and could think of, but it was useless. Forget transparent or bluish windows, all she could see in front of her was a boss mob summoning minions.

While the party fell into chaos, the horde of undead Labyrinth Rats that had sufficiently multiplied attacked the group.

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