Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 38

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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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38. Heuji’s Labyrinth 2nd Stratum (2)

The 4th floor of Heuji’s Labyrinth had the same atmosphere as the previous floors. The same stratum continued.

‘It’s natural since we haven’t defeated the stratum boss.’

Following the 2nd floor, the 3rd floor also had no floor boss. When they discovered the stairs, they received shop coins, but Serena became a bit anxious.

‘It’s going to appear stronger by the number of floors it didn’t show up on.’

“Hmm, let’s go this way! Yo.”

Unlike the 3rd floor where all of Olive’s chosen paths were correct, the first path they took on the 4th floor was wrong. They encountered a few spiders and reached a dead end with no treasure chests.

The party returned to the central circular space to try a different passage.

“Let’s have some snacks around here!”

Originally, this central space would have had formidable enemies lurking around, requiring them to sneak past carefully. Thanks to Serena and Ralph’s hard work and Krom’s sacrifice, it became a comfortable resting space without spiders.

“Kya, the Princess’s foresight! I’m truly amazed! Yo!”

“Stop teasing. We really had a hard time.”

“If it weren’t for Grandmother Krom, we would all be dead…”

Ralph held a moment of silence over his beef sandwich. After honoring the deceased for about 3 seconds, he devoured the sandwich in two bites. It was the appetite befitting a growing young boy.

They rested briefly since moving immediately after eating could cause side aches or indigestion. Olive deduced which passages might have stairs, while Ying sat cross-legged in meditation.

“This is different from the labyrinth exploration I imagined.”

Ralph, who was getting drowsy from sitting still after eating, spoke up to chase away sleep. Olive quickly responded.

“You imagined fighting monsters and searching for treasure, right? Yo?”

“Yes, something like that.”

“Normally that would be correct, but we’re not looking for treasure right now, we’re looking for an exit. Usually exit magic circles or escape magical tools appear well when you defeat floor bosses or stratum bosses. Yo. But this is only the 4th floor. We need to go down quickly. Yo. It starts from the 10th floor.”

According to labyrinth explorer Olive, for a labyrinth estimated to be at least 5th grade, the 4th floor meant they hadn’t even started yet.

“Is that so…”

“Speaking of which, both the 2nd and 3rd floors had no floor bosses, didn’t they.”

“Floor bosses don’t necessarily exist on every floor. Yo.”

“I know that too. Among the stories I’ve heard, they say that when floor bosses don’t appear like this and then finally show up, monsters as strong as the number of floors they skipped appear. Is that true?”

Level 10 monsters should appear on the 3rd floor and level 12 monsters on the 4th floor, but if they don’t appear throughout and suddenly a level 20 monster appears on the 5th floor, that would be very troublesome.

‘Especially when we don’t even level up.’

“What the Princess heard is correct, but don’t worry too much. Yo. This labyrinth is a bit strange, but if it’s within 20 floors, we’re sufficient. Yo.”

Unlike Serena’s concerns, Olive was carefree. She didn’t seem to think their forces were insufficient.

‘We had such a hard time with the Minotaur because the sword wasn’t embedded, yet how can she be so carefree. Ah.’

The Minotaur was a monster they avoided rather than fought. Recalling it again left a bitter taste in her mouth.

“Still, if our forces could be reinforced, what kind of person would be good? Does everyone have someone they want?”

Serena had a 1-death coin, meaning a gacha coin that could summon one person.

There was no guarantee that the desired person would appear, but since it reflected the desire sensor, there was a chance someone from a similar profession would appear.

Looking at the gacha window, Serena had been constantly pondering what kind of person to summon. She finally decided to hear the opinion of an expert who knew well about labyrinths.

“A person who would be good to have in the party?”

“Right. Someone who can fill the parts we feel are lacking.”

“Honestly, Zero and I are sufficient, so people aren’t really… equipment is what’s lacking… Ah! A porter! A porter to carry my bag! Or an inn employee who bravely retrieved the safe in the room for guests when an earthquake hit!”

The former never existed in the first place, and if the latter existed, their intentions for retrieving the safe would be more suspicious than brave.

“Not such unrealistic things, think realistically.”

“Well then. How about a legendary sword master? Someone who could cut through the labyrinth with sword energy that can cut anything and let us get out! Yo!”

‘She’s just joking around.’

Olive seemed to perceive this as a casual chat topic and kept making jokes. Ralph was influenced by the sword master idea and babbled, ‘I’d like a sword master too!’

“Ying, what kind of person would you prefer?”

The taciturn and serious Ying would surely give a properly considered answer without joining in the jokes. Indeed, Ying met Serena’s expectations.

“Priest.”

‘A healer. That is essential.’

The more candidates, the better. Serena asked if there were others.

“Are there no other professions?”

“Blacksmith. Bowyer. Weapon merchant.”

The taciturn Ying mentioned as many as three different profession types. She stroked her empty quiver with her bandaged left hand. Her expression remained unchanged, but perhaps it was just imagination that her eyes looked slightly sad.

‘An archer would naturally be sad with an empty quiver.’

Next time they found a treasure chest, she should pray for a bundle of arrows to appear. Serena made a deep resolution.

‘A priest… I don’t know any priests. A blacksmith wouldn’t be able to do anything without a forge even if summoned. A weapon merchant would be useless unless they fell into the labyrinth with their shop goods.’

Would it be better to summon when needed rather than preparing in advance? That way, the desire might be stronger and the desire sensor might apply better.

‘Good, I’ll hold off for now.’

Serena dismissed the gacha window and glared at the shop window. If she collected just two more shop coins, she could purchase the eternal campfire.

‘Campfire! You’re mine!’

To do that, she needed to either defeat the 4th floor’s floor boss or find stairs going down.

Serena squeezed her calf muscles that had hardened and swollen from days of overwork. Despite writhing in pain, the Princess’s perseverance in not stopping her hands earned applause from Olive.

***

“This is my level.”

Stairs appeared immediately in the next passage they tried. Olive puffed out her chest and boasted in front of the stairs leading down to the 5th floor.

“What should we do? Zero and I can keep going, and the knight seems energetic too.”

Olive pretended to ask everyone’s opinion while actually asking Serena, who had the least stamina in the party. Go down? Or not?

They had gone to the secret room early in the morning, eaten an early lunch, and come down looking for stairs on the 3rd and 4th floors. Since they hadn’t wandered much, it probably wasn’t even evening yet. If they returned to the 1st floor lobby, the day would likely be ending.

‘It’s awkward to go back.’

Even though Olive had considerately rested to accommodate Serena’s insufficient stamina, there was still an awkward amount of time left.

‘If I collect just one more coin, I can buy the eternal campfire.’

With a campfire that burns eternally without firewood, she could boil water for washing and sleep a bit warmer while warming herself by the fire.

She could also put more effort into cooking and make drying bread and meat easier.

Serena steeled herself with the resolve to suffer from full-body muscle pain tomorrow.

“Let’s go down.”

“Great, Princess! You know what’s up!”

Her thighs trembled with each step down the stairs, but ultimately, deciding to go down was a good choice. The 5th floor had a different atmosphere from before. Not that the stratum had changed.

From the 2nd to 4th floors, the structure was similar as Olive had said when giving directions. There was a circular plaza with an elevator in the center of each floor, with winding, complex paths extending in all directions.

Small spiders would stop the party with webs, and large spiders would chirp cutely like birds while attacking the party.

The 5th floor of Heuji’s Labyrinth was completely covered in spider webs from where the stairs ended. Spider webs densely covered everything as if they were flooring, wallpaper, and ceiling decorations.

“This place… has a very different atmosphere from the upper floors.”

“Shh, knight. Don’t make loud noises.”

Olive covered Ralph’s mouth and quickly moved her eyes to survey the 5th floor. Ying did the same.

“That’s enough for today. Let’s go back.”

Having just come down, she now suggested going back up. Serena didn’t complain about the guide’s sudden change of heart and climbed the stairs. Her thighs and calves felt like they would burst, and her feet were heavy as lead.

After climbing the stairs back to the 4th floor, Ralph asked Olive.

“Was there a floor boss on that floor just now?”

“Right. It probably doubles as a stratum boss too. The atmosphere was exactly like that. Yo.”

“Agreed.”

“What should we do?”

“Hmm~ I want to go back and catch it tomorrow. What do you think, Princess? Yo?”

Olive, Ying, and Ralph still had stamina left. They had enough energy to fight a floor boss. Yet the reason they suggested going back was.

‘Because of me?’

Let’s think from Olive’s perspective. Here’s a food-supply Princess who doesn’t help in combat, needs protection, but would be troublesome if she died.

They need to fight a boss, but they can’t leave her in the boss chamber where combat will occur, and leaving her on the previous 4th floor would be problematic if she got attacked by spiders and died.

In this situation, the best choice would be to leave the Princess in the 1st floor lobby and take only those who can fight to the 5th floor to battle the floor boss.

‘I am indeed dead weight. But I need to participate in combat.’

What if only Olive, Ying, and Ralph fought the floor boss and were wiped out or some suffered serious injuries? The loss of forces would be severe, so Serena would have to die and turn back time.

‘If I’m going to die anyway, dying to a monster would be more comfortable than suicide.’

How could she convince Olive? Serena nodded while racking her unused brain.

“Right. Let’s go back to the 1st floor.”

She tried to think about how to persuade her on the way back, but couldn’t. Her stamina, which had been depleted going down from the 1st floor all the way to the 5th floor, reached its limit while climbing back up to the 1st floor.

“Ugh, ughhh.”

“That’s right! Keep it up, Princess! Keep going!”

“Huff huff hufffffff.”

“Breathe! In and out. That’s right!”

Each floor of the labyrinth’s stairs was similar to the stairs leading up to the 5th floor of the villa Serena lived in during her previous life. Memories vividly came back of climbing those 5th floor stairs with heavy sighs after work or grocery shopping.

Why didn’t she take the elevator?

‘Because there wasn’t one! The places that had them were expensive!’

When signing the contract, she was happy to get a cheap place with two rooms. Living there, she realized how precious elevators were.

When she faced the risk of losing her jeonse deposit, she cried bitterly, thinking she should have found a place with an elevator since she wouldn’t get that money back anyway.

‘I want to! I want to use an elevator too!’

Actually, the 5th floor was an exaggeration – it seemed to be somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd floors. Still, trying to keep up with the group’s pace meant she couldn’t rest.

No matter how much she stared at the elevator the Minotaur had comfortably ridden, it wouldn’t move.

‘Will I be able to move tomorrow?’

She’d need to be able to move to even suggest following along. The princess climbed the final stairs to Heuji’s Labyrinth 1st Floor, sweating profusely.

It was a human victory.

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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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