Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 133

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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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133. Conquering the 6th Layer of Heuji’s Labyrinth (1)

The party members who had experienced the corrupted water reservoir first quickly pulled up the Princess who had courageously jumped in.

“Ugh!”

The pendant around her neck blazed with light.

The contamination was so severe that half the mana contained in the magic stone was consumed.

“Urgh!”

Serena shuddered as she cast purification magic repeatedly.

First she used purification magic on herself, then tried to purify the party members who had jumped into the corrupted water reservoir first, but they all declined.

“We need to help Ying when she comes out.”

As soon as Ralph finished speaking, the archer dove into the reservoir along with the mysteriously colored waterfall.

The waterfall was quite high, but she positioned herself properly and fell cleanly without making a big splash.

It was like watching a diving athlete on TV.

Ying dove underwater, then raised her head above the surface and frowned.

She seemed unable to bear the sensation of the corrupted water touching her skin and the rising stench.

“Ugh.”

“Come up quickly. I’ll purify you.”

The dirtiest party in the world had gathered together.

The Princess, who alone had become clean, hurriedly cast purification magic.

As a result of focusing only on purification without sparing any mana, the dirty party became an ordinary party.

Having put out the urgent fire, Serena calmly examined the 22nd Floor of Heuji’s Labyrinth 6th Layer.

The overall atmosphere was the same as the 21st Floor.

It was a little dirtier and a little darker than the 21st Floor.

Sewers connected to the water reservoir spread out left and right, and unknown insects crawled across the floor, gnawing at the sediment and rotting matter on the ground.

‘Usually five floors make one layer. Do I have to go down like this three more times?’

If she had her way, she wanted to go down as quickly as possible, open only the teleportation room.

‘And never come back.’

But she didn’t have enough mana for that.

Serena openly grimaced.

“I have about half my mana left.”

“The pendant’s magic stone has also consumed more than half its mana. We’ll need to make spare pendants too.”

“If it’s like this every time we go down a floor, the consumption is too great.”

Was there no choice but to endure the filth and proceed?

Olive, who had coiled up the rope with Ying to retrieve it, shrugged her shoulders.

“Labyrinth conquest is always like this. It’s relatively easy thanks to the Princess.”

“We need to find the way up first.”

“Did you hear Zero? I found something first.”

Olive, who had arrived on the 22nd Floor first, pointed to the wall next to the reservoir.

“This wall here. Doesn’t it look different from the other walls?”

The Guide posed a quiz to the party as if asking them to guess the answer.

Even though the only prize for getting it right would be the Guide’s kiss or praise, the party members earnestly observed the wall.

This was all labyrinth knowledge that would become flesh and blood.

Serena opened her one eye wide to observe the wall and figured out the answer.

“Only this wall is slightly clean.”

“Princess, correct! As a prize, Olive will give you a passionate kiss.”

“I decline. I’ll yield to someone who wants it.”

“I was going to, but since everyone’s dirty, I’ll substitute with a wink!”

Even though it wasn’t clearly visible due to the safety goggles, the Guide exaggeratedly winked.

Olive pressed the slightly clean wall. Then the wall moved and a hidden passage appeared.

Inside the passage was a long handle attached to the wall.

Olive made the party step back, checked for traps, and bravely pulled the handle down.

Rumble.

A vibration that shook the entire sewer was felt.

“Look over there!”

Ralph pointed to the waterfall. The stream of the waterfall, which had quite a lot of water, gradually weakened and then stopped completely.

It wasn’t just the waterfall that dried up. The direction of the sewage flowing to the water reservoir had reversed.

The water that had gathered in the water reservoir flowed out through the sewers. The water level in the reservoir dropped rapidly at a visible speed.

“There’s a door over there?”

There was a door in the wall that had been hidden by the waterfall.

Having opportunities or hidden doors behind waterfalls is a beautiful tradition.

The Knight was delighted and Serena felt at ease.

Olive crossed the drained reservoir and opened the door.

“It’s stairs!”

Behind the waterfall were the stairs back to the 21st Floor that the party had been looking for.

A notification window appeared in the world of the left eye that only the Princess could see.

[You have discovered stairs to the next floor. Shop 1 coins will be awarded.]

‘Finally.’

The notification that hadn’t come when they discovered the waterfall had arrived.

Serena smiled with satisfaction as she headed toward the stairs.

The party climbed the stairs and arrived at the 21st Floor. An empty room without doors appeared.

Serena hurriedly spread out her magic map to check their current location, and the Guide examined the walls looking for breakable walls or hidden doors.

“Judging by the direction, there should be something in this wall.”

“Found it!”

The Princess pointing to a wall where something might be with her map and Olive finding a breakable wall happened almost simultaneously.

“Go, Sir Knight! Body slam!”

“Yes! Hiyaaah!”

Ralph let out a resounding battle cry without going ‘Ralph Ralph’ and slammed his shoulder into the wall.

The stone wall crumbled helplessly, connecting the sewer and the stair room.

“Good, good! I love stairs!”

The party smiled brightly, forgetting their suffering from falling into the corrupted water.

“Can everyone still move? Is it okay to go to the 22nd Floor a bit more?”

Calculating the time by the distance the party had traveled, not even half a day had passed yet.

The party went back down the stairs they had climbed and stopped at the crossroads that branched left and right.

“Which way should we go~”

If water flowed in one direction, they would go that way, but unfortunately, the water was divided and flowed in both directions.

“Does anyone remember which direction the water was flowing before pulling the lever?”

“It flowed evenly from both sides into this room.”

“Hmm.”

The Guide usually went the shorter route in times like this.

Olive tapped the walls and flicked her fingers to calculate the distance in each direction, then clicked her tongue.

“Both are similar.”

Eventually, the Guide asked for the opinion of the Princess, who was the party leader.

“Which way do you prefer, Princess?”

Usually in times like this, Serena from her previous life always went left first.

Though she shouldn’t put games and reality on the same level.

‘I struggled needlessly by going the middle path first on the 1st Floor.’

Having already had her left eye plucked out by a god, what was there to be modest about? Serena answered decisively.

“Left.”

“Then let’s go left!”

The Princess and the assault team set off vigorously.

***

Splash splash. Squelch squelch. Step step.

Making different sounds depending on the floor’s moisture, the party walked through the dark and filthy sewers.

The guide always took the lead. Behind her followed the knight, alchemist, princess and archer in that order.

Sometimes the alchemist and princess switched positions, but it wasn’t important.

Step step.

As Serena walked through the sewers while watching for ambushes from labyrinth alligators, she heard footstep sounds.

The sound came from behind.

Since the archer was behind Serena, it was natural.

But she kept feeling strange, so Serena frowned.

Olive at the front passed over a flooded floor. Splash splash.

Since the guide was a bit further ahead, Ralph and Count Randy were walking on dry ground. Step step.

The floor Serena and Ying walked on was also dry, but sediment was laid down instead. Squelch squelch.

Step step.

Footsteps from someone other than Ying could be heard behind the princess.

Serena’s spine went cold. The hair all over her body stood on end and her breath caught.

The princess maintained her walking pace while pretending to check on her companions as she looked back.

There was no one behind the archer.

“Ying.”

The archer reacted immediately. Serena asked in a trembling voice.

“Don’t you sense a presence behind you?”

Ying lightly shook her head.

Serena glared at the area behind Ying. There was no one in the dark sewers.

“Lady Serena, what’s wrong?”

“I thought I heard footsteps from behind.”

Rather than doubt the princess’s words, Count Randy looked at the guide and archer.

The two people with keener senses than the princess shook their heads, saying they heard nothing.

“It’s an enclosed space, so sounds can echo and make you feel that way.”

Serena agreed with the count’s opinion and took a sip of water.

They fought two labyrinth alligators, took only the magic stones, and dismembered the corpses.

Ralph, who was throwing alligator legs into the water, was startled.

“Over there!”

“What’s wrong, Sir Knight?”

“There was a person there just now!”

“What?”

“They were watching us with only their head sticking out of the water!”

Ralph entered the water to confirm what he had seen.

The young knight, who was splashing through the dirty water, looked bewildered.

“This is strange. I definitely saw a person.”

“Didn’t you mistake bubbles and trash mixed together? Yo?”

“It wasn’t like that…”

The young knight made a tearful expression while reluctantly searching the surroundings more.

But all he could catch were pieces of the alligator the knight had just thrown away.

“Give up and come out quickly, ack!”

Olive, who was telling the knight to come out of the water, was startled and screamed.

“What’s wrong!”

“I just heard breathing by my ear! Human breathing!”

Olive widened her eyes and looked around.

“Who is it! If someone’s there, come out quickly!”

But only silence continued.

Olive personally entered the water, dragged the knight out, then looked around with anxious eyes.

“Is it an evil spirit?”

Evil spirit. In this world where undead grow stronger the closer they are to death, they’re the strongest in the undead monster category.

Olive wrapped her small body with her arms and muttered.

“I’ve heard about it. There are evil spirits in sewers. Many vagrants, homeless people, and poor folks live in tents in big city sewers, you know? But sometimes there are kids who see and hear things that aren’t there. They see and hear strange things alone, then are found dead without anyone knowing. Yo. Those who died like that have no wounds on their bodies, so everyone says evil spirits did it-.”

“Ghosts? Do ghosts appear in labyrinths too?”

“Labyrinths are worse! They say ghosts are crawling all over the place!”

Evil spirits. Ghost stories made everyone’s spines go cold.

Only the archer quietly denied the guide’s words.

“Not evil spirit.”

“Whether it’s an evil spirit or not, we can’t continue like this. Let’s go back. Yo.”

“Wait a moment.”

The alchemist stopped the guide who was urging them to return.

“I agree with going back, but there’s something bothering me. It would be better to check that before we go.”

“What is it? Hurry up. Yo.”

Count Randy took out flint, tinder, and firewood from his bag. He lightly lit the firewood and waved it in the air.

“What are you doing?”

“Whatever it is, finish it quickly. Yo.”

The guide and knight were holding each other’s hands tightly, but finding it insufficient, they clung to the princess and trembled.

The fire on the firewood couldn’t maintain itself and flickered unsteadily before going out shortly after.

Count Randy nodded.

“I know the reason.”

“Can we go now? Yo?”

“It’s not an evil spirit, but oxygen deficiency.”

Count Randy led the party toward the water reservoir while explaining.

“I initially thought it was a monster’s doing, but after hearing Olive’s story, I thought of another possibility. People can suffer from auditory and visual hallucinations even from oxygen deficiency. And sewers like this are environments where toxic gases can accumulate or oxygen can easily become insufficient.”

After saying this, Count Randy blamed himself.

“Come to think of it, lighting the fire was dangerous too. It would have been dangerous if there were flammable gases. I must have been oxygen deficient too.”

Indeed, their hearts that had been beating anxiously without clear reason regained stability as they got closer to the water reservoir.

Life returned to the party’s faces and the footsteps that had made Serena anxious disappeared.

Olive, perhaps embarrassed about making a fuss about evil spirits in the sewers, whistled unnecessarily before pointing to the right path.

“Should we check out the right path before we go? Yo?”

No one objected.

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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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