Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 137

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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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137. Heuji’s Labyrinth 6th Floor Strategy (4)

 

The corpse that newly appeared before the Princess and her party was more intact and fresh than the corpse that had only a skull remaining.

 

Its limbs and head were attached to the body, skin and flesh clung to the bones, and though dirty and torn, it was even wearing clothes.

 

Most of all, it was so fresh that flesh-eating maggots were crawling all over it.

 

Serena saw palm-sized maggots wriggling and devouring the corpse, and momentarily staggered.

 

‘I almost fainted! Aaah! My eyes! Even a goblin’s butt would be better!’

 

Serena, who had reincarnated from a modern person to a princess, was vulnerable to such sights.

 

Surprisingly composed, Count Randy supported the staggering Princess.

 

“Lady Serena, are you alright? It’s unsightly, so please don’t look.”

 

“No, I’m fine.”

 

Serena gathered her composure and widened her one eye.

 

The Princess steeled her resolve and stared at the corpse.

 

‘If it’s not a decoration, I’m sorry I can’t bury you! I’m trying to help souls escape the labyrinth, so please understand!’

 

Just as she was apologizing to the deceased in her heart.

 

“Stand back.”

 

Ying, who hadn’t even batted an eye at the corpse, shot a bolt at the corpse—or more precisely, at the maggots devouring the corpse.

 

Thwip! Thwip! Thwook!

 

The archer killed the white, plump, taut maggots with perfect accuracy.

 

The maggot pierced by the bolt writhed all over, gradually grew larger, then burst with a pop.

 

The body fluid of the maggot, which had been plump with flesh packed tight under its white skin, splattered in all directions.

 

“Hiiiiek!”

 

Even Ralph, who had been fine with corpses and maggots since it was a ‘human’ corpse that surprised him, couldn’t endure this horrific sight and let out a weak scream.

 

“Labyrinth fly maggots burst like that when they die. Never approach them.”

 

After Olive shared labyrinth knowledge that was increasingly helpful for survival, she approached the corpse that had been fragmented along with the burst maggot.

 

“And this is definitely 100% a decoration, so don’t be too sad.”

 

“Decoration.”

 

Serena and Ralph were once again surprised by the archer’s calm tone and calmed their frightened and sad hearts.

 

“Both when we found the skull and now, you speak quite confidently. Is there a way to distinguish them?”

 

Count Randy wanted to know how labyrinth explorers could tell the difference when there was no apparent difference from real corpses.

 

Olive bent down to search the fragmented corpse while answering.

 

“Hmm~ Well? This is really about experience~ Should I say you just know after going through it enough?”

 

“Experience.”

 

Once again, the archer agreed, vouching for the guide’s words.

 

The news that both the previous skull and the corpse before their eyes were definitely decorations was welcome.

 

Serena was still filling and emptying her lungs with the dirty air of the sewers, trying to slow her rapid breathing and heartbeat.

 

As if the corpse scattered with flesh from being devoured by maggots wasn’t even horrific.

 

Olive silently searched the corpse, then straightened her back as if she had found something.

 

“When you find an intact corpse like this, you search to see if there’s anything useful~”

 

The guide showed what she had found to the party.

 

It was a very old and rusted key.

 

It had an appearance that would really only come out in a game.

 

‘Horror game.’

 

“When weird things like this come out, it’s a decoration. No one in the world carries around a key like this, right?”

 

Such experiences accumulated, allowing one to tell just by looking at a corpse whether it was a decoration or a real human corpse.

 

In any case, as Olive said, it was a peculiar key that ordinary people would never have occasion to possess.

 

After confirming the evidence, Serena and Ralph’s hearts regained peace, but then.

 

Eeeeeng-.

 

Hearing the sound of an insect flying rapidly, their hearts began racing again.

 

“Bees? Are they bees?”

 

Because of the memory of being chased by labyrinth bee swarms on the 5th floor, Ralph shouted about bees even though the sound was slightly different.

 

Serena was more familiar with it than bees, but was startled by the unbelievably loud sound and turned around.

 

Behind the party appeared a dark red fly the size of a pigeon.

 

Serena made eye contact with the giant fly that was too clearly visible even without magnification.

 

The Princess trembled from the chills rising from her toes.

 

The labyrinth fly attacked the party, twitching its proboscis-like snout that sucked blood.

 

“It’s a labyrinth fly! This one also bursts when it dies, so don’t get close and leave it to Zero!”

 

The labyrinth fly flew toward the party, showing off flight skills as excellent as bees.

 

Thwip!

 

The labyrinth fly actually evaded the bolt Ying shot in mid-air. It was amazing flying skill.

 

But the archer was ten steps above the fly.

 

Ying anticipated the fly would evade, quickly reloaded a bolt, then shot at the predicted evasion point.

 

The bolt hit the labyrinth fly’s head.

 

The fly lost strength and crashed, crawling noisily on the ground before dying.

 

‘Didn’t they say it would burst?’

 

After waiting a moment, as if launching a delayed attack, the fly’s corpse burst.

 

The explosion was larger than when the maggot burst.

 

Olive picked up the labyrinth fly’s head that had rolled in front of her and pulled out the bolt.

 

“This is surprisingly expensive~”

 

“The God of Magic tends to prefer unusual offerings. Though it has a hole, it’s rare for the head to come off this cleanly, so it would be good to keep it.”

 

“Then I’ll keep it for now!”

 

Seeing a human skull with only the head remaining, seeing a corpse being eaten by maggots, maggots bursting, corpses being fragmented, and giant flies bursting again.

 

Ralph looked distressed, as if the sights he had witnessed in such a short time were burdensome.

 

Unable to make crying sounds, his appearance of clenching his teeth looked pitiful to Serena.

 

“The difficult sights are the same for me, Sir Ralph. Still, isn’t it fortunate they’re decorations.”

 

“Yes, I think so too.”

 

Even when the Princess offered words of comfort, the young knight’s distressed expression showed no signs of clearing.

 

“Come on! Flies are annoying when they come, so let’s move quickly! Knight, cheer up too!”

 

Olive slapped Ralph’s leather armor.

 

“No one’s hurt or dead! That’s what matters!”

 

“Yes, I’m sorry! I was just a bit startled! I’ll do better!”

 

Fortunately, the guide’s encouragement worked well.

 

Serena decided to at least pat his shoulder next time she encouraged Ralph.

 

Labyrinth flies and maggots continued to appear intermittently afterward.

 

The labyrinth didn’t only place human corpses as decorations.

 

Labyrinth Alligator and sewer lizardman corpses were also placed as decorations, becoming food for maggots or adding to the sewers’ stench with their rotting smell.

 

The guide, who always walked ten or more steps ahead of the party, would hurry back to the Princess when she couldn’t bear the stench and cling to her staff to breathe fresh air.

 

“Huff, whew. Huff whew. Phew, I can live.”

 

Iron bars blocked the party as they waded through not just sewage but rotting corpse water.

 

Water flowed freely beyond the bars, but the party couldn’t do the same since they were solid.

 

Behind the bars, a magic-grade treasure chest showed off its beautiful form.

 

‘This floor is generous with magic chests.’

 

Whether the concept was that treasure was hidden in sewers, or that they should endure the dirty and disgusting sights for the sake of treasure chests.

 

Heuji’s Labyrinth 6th floor generally had good treasure chest spawns with high grades.

 

“Waaah, a brilliant treasure chest!”

 

Olive stretched her arms between the bars and squeezed her small body to somehow get beyond the bars, but it was useless.

 

When the guide tried to deliberately dislocate bones to slip through the bars, an invisible wall blocked her.

 

“Tch.”

 

Olive lightly popped her bones back in place and pouted her lips.

 

“There’s a keyhole on the other side, you know? It’s possible to put your hand between the bars and insert a key, but they blocked that too. The labyrinth is always like this~ dirty and petty~”

 

It was a very common arrangement in games. Serena shrugged her shoulders.

 

“Well. If they’re really being nasty, that treasure chest would be a Labyrinth Mimic.”

 

“Kyahaha! That’s true too, isn’t it?”

 

The party entered the nearest wall hole and crawled through the passage.

 

Since Count Randy’s mana had run low, Serena sprinkled water.

 

She had meditated briefly while staying at the spring, and since it was a place clean enough for fairies to dwell with high mana concentration, quite a bit of mana had recovered so it was fine.

 

“Yes! Here it is!”

 

Fortunately, the hole led to the inside of the bars.

 

However, the end of the hole was also blocked by bars.

 

Since there was a keyhole, Olive inserted the rusty key found on the corpse into the keyhole.

 

It didn’t fit.

 

The guide put the key that had come from a treasure chest before into the hole.

 

This time it didn’t fit either.

 

“This is how we collect keys~”

 

Olive took out lockpicking tools and manipulated the keyhole.

 

Even though the prone position must have been uncomfortable, she opened the barred door in an instant.

 

“Sparkle sparkle sparkle sparkly chest!”

 

As the guide jumped down from the hole, Ying, who was at the rear of the party, muttered quietly.

 

“Two.”

 

‘She’s counting that.’

 

She seemed to be concerned about Olive’s words that she wouldn’t get a turn until ten magic-grade treasure chests were opened.

 

‘I should let her have a turn around the fifth one.’

 

Serena smiled softly while taking Ralph’s hand and exiting the narrow passage.

 

“Before opening the chest, let’s check the easy path first!”

 

Olive inserted the rusty key into the keyhole of the bars blocking the main road.

 

This time the key fit perfectly into the hole.

 

Perhaps because the key was rusty, it turned precariously before the key broke.

 

Fortunately, she succeeded in opening the door before the key broke.

 

“Now~ shall we open my pretty chest first!”

 

The guide rubbed her hands together like a fly while making a sly smile and walked toward the chest.

 

The magic-grade chest had a keyhole.

 

“Hehe~ For me, Olive of the Wilderness, this level of lock is. Lock is. Lock is. Lock is.”

 

The smile disappeared from the confident guide’s face and she repeated the same words like a lagging video.

 

Serena was startled and stepped back to ask.

 

“What’s wrong? Are you cursed or something?”

 

Olive looked back at the party with a face that had instantly developed dark circles under her eyes, then suddenly stood up and ran to the barred door, crouched down, and examined the keyhole.

 

“Damn! Daaaamn!”

 

“What on earth is wrong?”

 

“As I thought! This one and that one have the exact same shape! I made a mistake! Daaaamn!”

 

“So what’s the matter! Don’t keep it to yourself, tell us too!”

 

Olive tore at her black ponytail with both hands, then writhed her body in silent agony, then tore at her hair mercilessly again before finally confessing.

 

“The bars and the treasure chest have the same keyhole shape.”

 

“What? That means!”

 

“It was a gimmick where you had to choose one of the two to use the key on! Uwaaaah!”

 

Olive clutched her head and writhed in agony, shaking her body like an inflatable tube man at an event.

 

“Calm down, Olive. Can’t you just disable the treasure chest’s lock mechanism with your excellent skills?”

 

“That won’t work! That’s a sealed chest!”

 

In labyrinths, sealed doors and treasure chests sometimes appeared.

 

Sealed doors and sealed chests could only be opened with matching keys or by meeting certain conditions.

 

Even if the world’s greatest thief came, the labyrinth’s mysterious power would maintain the seal.

 

“I should have checked the chest first since the path wasn’t blocked. Making this mistake because I didn’t want to crawl around!”

 

Watching the guide regret and suffer, Ying muttered in a small voice.

 

“One.”

 

‘She’s subtracting that again.’

 

Serena hid her feeling of futility and stared at the sealed magic-grade treasure chest.

 

Magic-grade treasure chests originally sparkled so she had been missing it, but when she observed carefully, she could see it.

 

‘A subtle crimson light.’

 

Just like the sealed doors, a subtle crimson light flowed from the treasure chest.

 

‘I think I could open it.’

 

Would it be okay to show herself opening the treasure chest in front of the guide and knight who blindly believed the princess could open all sealed doors?

 

‘Olive would probably cling to me even more.’

 

Not just Olive. Grey would also become more obsessed than now.

 

‘Should I let the others try first and then open it myself if it doesn’t work?’

 

While Serena was pondering, she made eye contact with Ying.

 

Ying stared at Serena with the deepest and darkest eyes in the world, then moved her lips slightly.

 

“Two?”

 

At that sound, the guide stopped her antics and looked up at the princess.

 

“That’s right! There was the princess! The princess should be able to open sealed chests too! Right?”

 

“If it’s the princess, she’ll surely be able to open it!”

 

Following the guide, even the knight sent sparkling gazes.

 

“Stop it! It’s just been coincidences and good luck so far! There’s no guarantee that Lady Serena can open everything!”

 

Before Serena could speak, Count Randy stepped forward to calm the party.

 

The princess sighed and commanded the party.

 

“If you attempt to break the seal, I’ll do it after that.”

 

To seek out the princess first without even trying themselves. It was utterly outrageous.

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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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