Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 21

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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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21. The One in a Hundred Thousand Man (4)

Serena lay down on the blanket. She closed her eyes while listening to Lucas’s voice arranging the watch order.

She thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep due to being surprised or excited by various events, but that was only momentary. As soon as her head touched the ground, sleep poured over her as if such worries were pointless.

Everything around became quiet. Serena opened her eyes with the certainty that this place was inside a dream. A place where there was no floor but she could somehow stand. It was the lucid dream she had on the first day she fell into the Labyrinth.

Just like when she first had the dream, there was nothing in the dream world. Even when she thought the hazy mist-like thing was hiding something and moved through it, it was empty.

“Are you there?”

Serena called for the one she had met in dreams and after death. While looking around and searching for the robed figure, she found the one she was looking for.

The robed figure was standing in front of Serena as if they had been there from the beginning. As soon as Serena saw the hem of the robe, she knelt down.

“O one who transcends dreams and death. Are you perhaps.”

After being reincarnated as a princess, Serena rarely had to bow her head or bend her waist to others. The number of times she knelt could be counted on her fingers.

How many people would a princess kneel before? There was only one – the monarch of this country. However, if the other party wasn’t a living person, there were many occasions to kneel.

“Are you perhaps a god?”

The robed god nodded, affirming Serena’s question.

‘It’s real.’

Serena was amazed. She thought there were damn many gods, but she never expected the day would come when she’d actually face a real god.

‘Even the God of Magic used auto-responses.’

The only God of Magic she had contacted didn’t appear directly and only conveyed intentions like automatic responses.

“My knowledge is shallow, so I don’t know much about the great ones who reside in heaven. May I ask what domain you govern?”

“Labyrinth.”

Serena blinked. Though this was a world with so many gods that even the neighborhood back mountain and flowing streams had gods, she had never heard of a god of the Labyrinth.

She had naturally never seen a priest, and no small temple that even stream gods possessed had ever been built. She had never heard about what kind of power the Minotaur God possessed either.

“This time is short, so let’s use it a bit more efficiently.”

The Minotaur God advised Serena in a kind voice.

‘Ah, just tell me quickly.’

Serena put aside all her various thoughts and asked about what she was most curious about first.

“Did I really die and return to the past?”

“That’s right.”

“Then perhaps… if I die again, can I return?”

“Yes.”

“Is there a set number of times?”

“No. You can stop anytime you want to quit.”

The Minotaur God showed his palm. The golden path that had tempted Serena unfolded again. Serena gritted her teeth and turned her eyes away to avoid looking at the dazzling path.

“I told you I wanted to liberate the people trapped in the Labyrinth. But why did you send me back to the past?”

“If you conquer the Labyrinth, all the trapped people will be liberated. Keep up the good work.”

‘I have to conquer the Labyrinth?’

If the reincarnated genre was a labyrinth conquest story, they should have laid the groundwork in advance! Serena grumbled inwardly.

“What about the gacha? Is it correct that I drew from the gacha window and Lucas came out?”

“Yes. There was something interesting in your memory, so I applied it. I made it so you can draw those trapped in the Labyrinth. Use it well.”

‘The 100,000 people swallowed by the Labyrinth are gacha prizes?’

Serena’s mind became dizzy.

“Then are those drawn from the gacha liberated from the Labyrinth?”

“Yes. He has been liberated. If he leaves the Labyrinth without dying, he will be completely liberated. Even if he dies, he will be liberated if the Labyrinth is conquered.”

‘Then wouldn’t it be better to draw many?’

If so, the most urgent thing was securing gacha currency.

“What do you use for gacha? How can I obtain it?”

“It wouldn’t be fun if you heard that right away. You’ll find out as you conquer the Labyrinth.”

The Minotaur God smiled broadly. He was like an old man who hides pocket money all around the house and tells his grandchild to find it, but Serena just wanted to receive it directly as cash or in a bank account.

I want to know quickly.

She almost said this but kept her mouth shut, thinking she’d hear ‘Hehe, you’re quite greedy’ and wouldn’t even get her money’s worth. Whether in her previous life or this reincarnated world, humility and modesty were the greatest virtues before gods.

The mist grew thicker. It seemed like she was about to wake up from the dream.

‘Something else. Quickly something else.’

“Is my death the reason for returning?”

“Yes.”

“Is the point of return always the same?”

“I used the time when you touched my statue as the reference point.”

‘So it was then. That ugly thing was a divine statue?’

Deciding to think about it later, she immediately fired the next question.

“What are the stars floating above people’s heads?”

“Well. Will you tell me the answer you’re thinking of?”

‘Ah, really.’

Serena grumbled inwardly and revealed what she had been guessing.

“It seems like combat power or utility rating in the Labyrinth.”

If it were rarity, Philia would have been 5-star.

‘Philia does have five stars, but only the yellow stars would count.’

Thinking that way, it fits perfectly.

Lavenda is 1-star. She’s an ordinary civilian who hasn’t received combat training. She’s good at massage, but that’s not very useful in the Labyrinth.

Krom is 2-star. Seeing a grandmother in her 50s crack a rat’s skull, it was a convincing rating.

Wouldn’t the rating have been higher if she were younger? Or maybe the various tools in the cart and survival skills for gathering herbs and handling rats were added in.

Lucas 3-star. This was also understandable.

In Serena’s previous life and here too, knights were combat specialists. Since this was a world with monsters, dungeons, and labyrinths, they would be stronger than knights from her previous world, if anything, not weaker.

‘Ralph and Philia. These two are confusing me.’

Ralph had one yellow star, so 1-star. But there were four more stars attached behind it with different colors. Two transparent stars and two gray stars.

‘What if he was originally 3-star but stars were deducted because he’s holding a spear? What if the stars are transparent because they can be changed anytime?’

What if the transparent stars light up yellow the moment Ralph picks up a sword?

It didn’t seem like an excessive delusion.

If that were the case, it would mean that active knight Lucas and Ralph, who was a squire, had the same combat rating.

Serena couldn’t tell if Lucas was a disgrace to the Royal Knights or if Ralph was a model squire, so she withheld judgment.

‘Then what are the gray stars?’

Philia 1-star. Just like Lavenda, it made sense, but what were the four gray stars attached behind?

“What do the colors of the stars mean?”

“You’ll be able to find that out as time passes too.”

‘Ah, come on.’

Would it hurt to just tell me? How convenient and nice it would be to have a tutorial or manual.

In novels I read in my previous life, it was common to provide helpers in such situations, but why am I treated so harshly? Is it because this is reality? Or am I actually the protagonist of a novel, but the author has a twisted personality?

I don’t know about the author’s personality, but the dream world was twisting. Serena sensed she would soon wake up.

“You said my memories were interesting? Are there no plans to add status windows or level-up functions? Map or compass functions would be good too! Before I died, the trend was to give out tons of stuff! Don’t you know about satisfying power trips? Readers won’t watch this! Even I wouldn’t watch it!”

If it were a novel that came out just before Serena died, instead of a 3-star like Lucas from the free gacha, a 5-star would have popped out with a bang and given Serena a ride to the deep layers of the Labyrinth.

Why aim small with 5-star? A 6-star that broke through 5-star limits, a 7-star that transcended humanity would have appeared and cleared 10 floors per day at breakneck speed. They would have received generous rewards for speed conquest achievements and been revered by everyone.

However, this wasn’t a novel but Serena’s reality.

“Are you awake?”

Lucas, whose status as either a disgrace to the knight order or average for a newcomer was unknown, greeted her.

Behind him, Ralph was grimacing as he tried to suppress a yawn. It seemed Ralph had taken the last watch.

The corner of his mouth that was hit yesterday had bruised beyond blue to purple, and the opposite side was swollen as if promising tomorrow.

‘A knight drawn with a one in a hundred thousand probability.’

Among the Royal Knights, there were many knights who got along well with Serena, so why did it have to be Lucas, whom she barely knew and who was from Duke Oren’s faction?

Setting aside whose side he was on in the current situation, wasn’t his fist rather heavy for a knight?

Serena activated positive thinking.

‘Right. Let’s think positively. At least I didn’t draw a baby.’

Number of Royal Knights vs babies and children. Which would be more numerous in Heuji City?

Serena tried to comfort herself by telling herself that Lucas was a ‘jackpot.’

***

Fortunately, Lucas, the one-in-a-hundred-thousand man, had no intention of continuing to starve his companions.

He provided breakfast to the three commoners. It was watery porridge.

Even from a distance, it was clear that the porridge for Serena, Philia, and Lucas had a different consistency.

After finishing the simple breakfast that was so thin it could be gulped down, Lucas set out to resume exploring the mausoleum.

This time too, he selected Krom and Ralph as his companions. Serena expressed her desire to go along, but.

“No.”

He flatly refused.

“You must protect the princess and the countess.”

“Yes!”

Perhaps because Serena had said she saw rats yesterday, Lucas made Lavenda hold a shovel. Not stopping there, he placed the cart in the middle of the passage to use as a barricade.

‘Oh. I hadn’t thought of that.’

Even if his attitude was disagreeable, he was definitely a knight. He seemed like a combat expert. He demonstrated ability in areas Serena hadn’t thought of.

Lucas gave separate warnings to Lavenda and Philia. It seemed he was roughly telling them that Serena was strange and not to let her go out.

‘This is why I cared about my reputation.’

Since her parents’ condition wasn’t good, even if Serena acted slightly eccentric, it was taken seriously. But it would be a waste to spend more time on this.

“Lucas. If you see something that shouldn’t be in the mausoleum, I hope you’ll remember what I said.”

Lucas pretended not to hear and left the lobby without answering. Serena snorted quietly and turned around. There was something in the lobby she wanted to examine.

‘This was supposed to be a statue of the god. If I touch it, the save point will update.’

It looked like someone without skill had tried to carve a person from very hard stone and given up. An ugly stone statue that couldn’t be recognized as human except for the vermillion eyes that were starting to peel.

This was the statue of the Minotaur God.

‘Oh my, there’s moss and dust on the statue.’

Serena unconsciously reached out toward the statue but barely stopped just before touching it.

‘If I touch it, the save will update.’

It would be nice to have multiple save slots, but Serena was only allowed one save slot. Just one!

There had been too many mistakes early on to change the update point. Everyone was watching Serena with suspicious eyes.

“It seems to be some god’s statue, but it’s pitiful that it’s being neglected like this. At least brush off the moss.”

“A statue?”

Lavenda pointed at the statue with her index finger. Her expression seemed to ask ‘This?’

“My goodness, Lady Serena! Does that look like a statue to you? Isn’t there something wrong with your eyes? How many of these do you see?”

Philia openly questioned her master’s mental and ocular health.

“I can see very clearly that you’re making a fist instead of spreading your fingers, so there’s nothing to worry about, Countess Randy.”

It didn’t seem like much time had passed when sounds came from the passage direction. Lucas, Ralph, and Krom, who had gone to explore the mausoleum, had returned.

While Krom moved the cart, Serena clearly saw Lucas’s face stained with confusion.

“Princess!”

Sure enough. As soon as the cart was moved, Lucas headed straight for Serena. Serena suppressed her desire to smile and put on an aloof princess expression.

“What did you see?”

“How did you know?”

“Know what?”

“That this place!”

Lucas still didn’t want to reveal the identity of where the party had fallen to others, so he dismissed people and covered his mouth.

“How did you know this place was a labyrinth?”

‘I found out by dying.’

If she told the truth, people’s gazes would become even more suspicious.

Serena racked her brain hard to come up with a suitable lie. Using her unused brain felt like it would kill her.

“Do you know that after National Foundation Day, I was planning to go sightseeing in Vieta with Count and Countess Randy?”

“I’m hearing this for the first time.”

“What’s the most famous tourist attraction in Vieta? It’s the labyrinth. I became interested and researched it, and I happened to think this place was similar to Bieta’s Labyrinth.”

“But labyrinths are very rare. The possibility was low, so how were you certain? Perhaps the royal family knew of the labyrinth’s existence?”

‘Ah, you thought that? That’s logical.’

Lucas combined the information he knew to reach a fairly logical conclusion. Unfortunately, it was missing the mystery and wonder of the labyrinth.

“The royal family didn’t know there was a labyrinth here. If we had known, we would have tried to conquer it. I’m a mage, aren’t I? The flow of mana was different from the mausoleum, so I considered other possibilities and concluded it was a labyrinth.”

It was complete nonsense. Flow of mana, my foot. Serena couldn’t even feel air currents unless wind was blowing like a circulator was on.

‘I tried putting saliva on my finger, but it didn’t work.’

“I see.”

Fortunately, Lucas accepted the princess’s nonsense as truth.

“What did you see?”

“There was a door, so thinking it was an antechamber, I entered to confirm.”

Not a treasure chest, but he had seen a floor boss. No wonder Lucas’s complexion had changed.

“And then?”

“I saw an undead rat.”

“And then?”

“Pardon? I defeated it. I came straight back.”

Lucas had defeated the Labyrinth Rat Leader that Serena and her party had struggled with in one blow. Knowing the opponent was undead, he didn’t let his guard down and chopped it to pieces until it was completely incapacitated.

‘As expected of a knight. He really is different.’

If Lucas was here, could they face the Minotaur on the 2nd floor?

Serena prayed and prayed again that the one-in-a-hundred-thousand man wouldn’t be a disgrace to the knight order.

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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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