Side Story 10
Juhyeok and his party arrived on the 125th floor of the Labyrinth.
They were standing on a small island.
On the island was a magic circle corresponding to the entrance.
All around them lay a swamp.
Blackened grass and trees, rotting mud that gave off a sour stench, filthy puddles of stagnant water scattered everywhere.
"According to the intel, it's definitely a swamp. Mud and filthy water everywhere—movement will be inconvenient."
We knew that coming in.
"There seems to be poison in the swamp. If it seeps through the skin, it'll cause poisoning."
Oh great.
Poison too.
"This Wang Chunbok will carry you on his back if needed, Summoner, and cross the swamp."
I'll pass.
I'd rather get poisoned.
But something felt sticky.
Even worse, my body felt heavy.
Was it the poison, or the humidity?
And there was another thing—
a strange sound near my ears.
Chrrk, chrrrk, chrrrk!
It came from all directions.
"So that's what it was."
Archmage Mackenzie nodded, as if he'd figured something out.
"What is?"
"This sticky sensation. It's mana. It's spread throughout the entire labyrinth."
Ah.
"It isn't evenly distributed. Some areas are very thin, others extremely dense."
And that chrrk sound?
"It's the sound of mana crystallizing. Gas condensing into solid."
Then could it be—
"Yes. It appears mana stones are being created through crystallization. Their quality differs depending on concentration."
When mana crystallizes—
Low concentration produces ordinary mana stones.
Higher concentration yields high-grade mana stones.
And when mana is compressed to the extreme, top-grade mana stones.
I'd experienced something similar in the Black Tower before—
the mana stone mines.
In the Black Tower, mana stones were usually obtained as mission rewards.
But there were floors where direct mining was possible.
The 76th and 84th floors.
The 76th was a theme floor and could no longer be mined, but the 84th-floor mana stone cave was always harvestable.
But the Kalzenia Labyrinth seemed to be like this on every floor.
Of course, mana density would vary by depth.
And this was the 125th underground floor—
the deepest level adventurers had reached.
Naturally, the mana density was absurd, the monsters affected by it would be extremely strong, and crystallization would occur frequently.
Anyway, time to proceed properly.
Depending on the situation, we'd also look for ruins.
Ruins—
the key to a floor's first clear.
Finding one meant acquiring treasure.
That was the first-clear reward.
"Let's move."
"Yes, sir!"
"Don't forget to protect our laborers."
"We'll stick right beside them."
The environment of the 125th floor was a swamp.
Mud, stagnant water, difficult movement, poisoning risk.
How do we overcome it?
Did you think we brought Manny for nothing?
"Manny."
"Kyah?"
"Make us a path."
"Kyah-heh!"
Innocent as ever, always cheerful Manny.
At Juhyeok's request, Manny stepped straight onto the swamp without hesitation.
Tssssssss—
An intense cold radiated from Manny's body.
Tsssh! Tsssshh! Tstststst!
The swamp surface froze thick in an instant.
Mud, filthy puddles—everything.
"Let's go."
An ice sheet sturdy enough to hold several people without issue.
Just walk across.
And there was another advantage.
Labyrinth monsters also lurked beneath the swamp.
Apparently, a previous adventurer had lost an ankle when crossing a puddle.
Sure enough—
a massive creature leapt out from an unfrozen pool.
Splash!
Shoosh!
"It's a fish!"
It looked like an anglerfish—the kind used in braised monkfish dishes.
"Big as hell."
About the size of a great white shark.
Huge mouth, terrifying teeth, lumpy skin.
But—
"Kyah-heh!"
Tschk!
The instant it touched Manny, it became frozen fish.
"Kyah-dal!"
Manny dashed forward.
Tssssssss—
An ice path automatically formed beneath his feet.
This was ridiculously convenient.
Just walk across the swamp.
Should've brought skates. Or at least a sled.
The beastfolk seemed excited too.
Rolling around, then whoosh! sliding along.
And then—
"Hoaat! W-wait a moment!"
A desperate shout from Union Chairman Enix.
Why?
Did something dangerous happen?
"Over there!"
Enix pointed at a spot, as if he'd caught a scent.
"Is it a ruin?"
"N-no, not that smell."
"Let's check it out."
Manny changed direction.
Juhyeok's group followed.
"Here."
There was nothing there.
Yet the beastfolk looked oddly excited.
"Hua!"
"Huk!"
"Huk!"
"Hok!"
They each raised their golden pickaxes.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
They broke the ice and started digging.
Moments later—
Clink!
A transparent stone popped out—
a mana stone.
"Wow. So 'dig and money comes out' wasn't a lie."
Clink!
Ordinary mana stone.
Clink!
High-grade mana stone.
Clink!
Even a small amount of top-grade mana stone.
"A-amazing!!! Dig the ground and money comes out? Yes, it does! That's why we dig hard!"
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Not as fast as Rajiks, but still incredibly quick.
This was why laborers were indispensable.
But then—
Flap, flap, flap.
A monster flew in from the swamp sky.
A bird-type monster?
A wyvern? Gargoyle?
No.
"They're snakes. Big ones."
Dozens of winged snake monsters circled in the air, flapping sinuously as they looked for an opening.
Snakes, huh—
"The beastfolk will be scared."
And they were.
The beastfolk stopped swinging their pickaxes.
Dilated pupils, gaping mouths, fur bristling like hedgehogs, bodies stiff and frozen.
Some even toppled backward while standing.
Thud! Roll.
"Hmm."
Not exactly the same, but our dimensional laborer once got eaten by Apophis.
"Compared to Apophis?"
"A bit smaller than that."
"But that was just one. These winged snake mini-Apophis monsters look like there are at least a hundred."
"And they can fly."
Just hold on a bit, beastfolk.
Chunbok will handle it.
SSR courier Wang Chunbok.
The weakest among combat-type blood-summoned.
We didn't bring him for nothing.
Could he handle the monsters of the 125th floor alone?
Wang Chunbok would become the benchmark for this floor.
I believed he'd do well.
The Mad Demon had evaluated him as someone with perseverance, charm, affinity, and the makings of a late bloomer.
Juhyeok had supported him wholeheartedly.
He bought Grand Rejuvenation Pills, Supreme Purity Pills, and all kinds of elixirs from the dimensional auction and fed them to him.
The result: two-rank jump from R to SSR.
He even bought martial manuals.
The 1,000,000 top-grade mana stone Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Yes.
That Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
The martial world was also part of the multiverse, so who knew which parallel martial world's Heavenly Demon had put it up for auction—but it was that art.
Still a beginner, though.
Perfection was at twelve stars; he was only at three stars.
If he'd reached six stars, he'd already be at Rsssal-level.
"Chunbok."
"Yes? You called, sir? Hehe."
Chunbok bowed deeply as he answered.
"Can you handle those harmful winged snake monsters by yourself?"
"Come on—who do you think I am? I'm Wang Chunbok, one of the White Tower's Three Demons. You know that too, Summoner Bong."
Huh?
Three Demons?
That was news to me.
"Mad Demon, Sword Demon, Heavenly Demon Chunbok! Hahahaha!"
Kosak leaned over and whispered to Juhyeok.
"Looks like Chunbok's gone off the deep end from qi deviation. Comparing himself to Old Man Mad Demon. He's lost it. Can't tell shit from soybean paste anymore."
That couldn't be right.
"Isn't Heavenly Demon Divine Art a demonic art? He must've gone crazy practicing it."
At that moment—
"Greeeek!"
One of the winged snakes, watching from above, dove straight toward the ground at terrifying speed.
"It's coming!"
Wang Chunbok's grin vanished.
The aura of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art began to seep out.
Shrrng.
He drew his blade from his waist—
the Great Luo Thunder Dew Saber.
That, too, was bought from the dimensional auction.
Chunbok crouched low—
then sprang upward like a coiled spring.
Flash!
Slice!
Boom!
One strike.
The winged snake split in half and fell.
"Ooh!"
"Nice!"
"Kyah?"
I acknowledge it.
White Tower Heavenly Demon confirmed.
But as if that was the signal—
They all launched into a simultaneous aerial assault.
"Kyah!"
"Kraak!"
"Keck!"
Juhyeok and the other blood-summoned had already pulled far back.
"Chunbok, fighting!"
"I, Kosak, believe in Heavenly Demon Wang Chunbok!"
"Cut them down in one stroke!"
Chunbok fought alone.
"I am the Heavenly Demon Chunboooook!!!"
Flash! Flash-flash! Flash-flrrrt!
Slice! Slice-slice! Slice-slice-slice!
But there were too many.
His blade slowed.
Eventually—
"Pant, pant! P-please help!"
"That's not very Heavenly Demon of you. Isn't it 'Heavenly Demon Reigns, Ten Thousand Demons Bow'?"
"…I'm just Chunbok."
Even then, he cut down a few more—
"Ghhk, c-cough! Ngh—"
And finally, his inner energy ran dry.
"Premature inner energy."
"Definitely premature inner energy."
"…Premature inner energy?"
"Kyah-roo?"
Was an SSR alone still too much of a stretch?
Looks like I'd have to support him.
No need to even say it out loud.
At some point, Grand Master Kosak had vanished.
Spot! Spapapap!
Using Shadow Step, he appeared right in front of Wang Chunbok.
Slash-slash-slash-slash!
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Heads of winged snake monsters fell in a line.
Kosak's beheading skills were truly exquisite.
As the terrifying mini–Apophis-class snake monsters were wiped out in an instant, the beastfolk's eyes changed too.
They poked the monster corpses a few times with their pickaxes.
"Hok!"
"Hok!"
"Huk!"
"Hok!"
"Huk! Skin them."
Skinning work.
Perfect.
Work to your hearts' content.
Today's haul was solid, right?
Mana stones and snake hides.
Should I make bags out of snake leather?
Anyway, we'd explored the labyrinth properly and gathered resources.
"How about we look for the ruins right away?"
Sounds good.
We'd entered the labyrinth rather late, since we brought in beastfolk who hadn't been party-matched.
It'd get dark soon.
And the beastfolk had a strict no–overtime policy.
Let's achieve the objective quickly and head out.
Manny, run!
"Kyah-dal!"
Same method as before.
Manny brimmed with cold and fluttered around.
Tssssss!
An ice path formed.
Dada-dada-dak!
Juhyeok and the blood-summoned ran.
Rooool!
The laborers rolled.
They moved at lightning speed.
No—if it was this easy, why did people keep failing here?
This was easier than the latter half of the Black Tower.
Then, after running for a while—
Stop! Stop! Stop…
All five beastfolk laborers stopped rolling at the same time.
And all turned in the same direction.
"Huk! Huk! Huk! Huk! Huk!"
Different from their mana-stone-sniffing reaction.
Could it be the scent of ruins?
If so—straight ahead.
Tssssss!
Dada-dada-dak!
Rooool!
Soon, a scene came into view.
A lush green forest.
Completely out of place compared to the swamp of dead trees.
Is that the ruins?
And in the center of the forest stood a small fountain.
Splash, splash, splash!
Clean, crystal-clear water bubbled up.
That didn't fit either.
The swamp had nothing but filthy stagnant pools.
"That fountain seems to be the ruins."
"The water's clean."
"…Should Heavenly Demon Chunbok try drinking it?"
That was when—
Grrrrrrk!
Something massive rose up from the swamp in front of the ruins.
"Huh?"
"Hua?"
"Ueh…"
The beastfolk quickly hid themselves.
"Of course. The boss has to show up. It'd be disappointing otherwise."
"It's the ruins guardian."
"Heh. Those eyes look just like Kosak's when he wakes up."
"Kyah-eyes?"
Kuuuuuuuh…
A form like a fusion of fish and sea anemone.
The head was a giant anglerfish.
A long body sprouted with sharp tentacles.
It slithered forward using those tentacles.
"This mage shall—"
"Old man Mackenzie, please stay put."
"Huh?"
Kosak drew his twin blades, steeling himself.
"This is the first labyrinth boss clear. A trophy and an achievement. This honor is reserved only for Summoner Bong's right-hand man, his closest aide—the number-two blood-summoned. No one may steal my glory."
Spapapap!
Kosak charged.
Dense, chilling blade aura crashed into the ruins guardian.
Clang! Clang-clang! Clang-clang-clang!
Metallic screeches as tentacles were severed.
"Kyahaha! I am Grand Master Kosak!"
But—
Squirm, squirm, squirm…
The severed tentacles reattached.
Regeneration authority?
"Huh?"
Worse still—whip!
Hundreds of blade-sharp tentacles lashed out like whips.
Clang! Chang! Chang! Chang!
Kosak blocked them with his swords.
Blade against tentacle—and it rang like steel.
"Th-this is fun."
Kosak grinned widely.
A rare chance to loosen up.
Vzzzzing!
Flash! Flash-flash! Flash-flash-flash!
He drew up aura and went berserk with his blades.
"Kyakyakyakyak!"
Clang! Clang-clang! Clang-clang-clang!
Yet the guardian's blade-tentacles kept increasing in number.
Regenerating tentacles.
Newly sprouting tentacles.
Roughly three hundred, at a glance.
And yet Kosak blocked them all with twin blades.
Casually.
With a relaxed grin.
"Hey! You can't even kill one? Move aside."
"I'm not killing it. It's my toy. I'm playing with it."
"It's taking too long! You planning to work overtime?"
"W-wait!"
Woooooom!
Archmage Mackenzie's robe ballooned with overwhelming mana.
Two startup incantations followed.
"Flare Field."
In an instant—
Fwoooooosh!
Terrifying white flames spread across the ground and engulfed the guardian.
"Hahahaha! I'm the true number two!"
"I knew it. Shameless mob steal."
"This mage shall claim the achievement of slaying the labyrinth guardian—"
Shashashashat!
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
"…Huh?"
Swamp water surged in a vortex, wrapping around the guardian.
Sssssss!
But the white flames didn't go out.
Fwoosh! Fwoooosh!
"As expected. A little water won't extinguish an archmage's flames—"
Right then—
"Kyah-ree!!!"
Manny charged in cheerfully.
Tssssss!
In an instant, the flames went out and the guardian froze solid.
"What?! It went out."
"Is Manny challenging for number two?"
But—
"Hellfire!"
Fwoooooosh!
The ice melted into hellish flames again.
"What are you doing? Why melt it? Jealous?"
"I've got a plan."
What plan?
"Manny, freeze it again."
"Kyah-rr!"
Tssssss!
Frozen solid again.
"Fire Rain!"
Flaming rain fell and melted it.
"Kyah-rr!!!"
Freeze.
"Flame Inferno."
Melt.
Repeat.
Burning, then crack! freezing.
Burning again, freezing again.
"Ah! I get it. Making dried pollack?"
"Exactly. That way it can't regenerate. The tissues themselves turn to mush."
And indeed—
Plop, plop.
Tentacles fell to the ground.
"I'm joining!"
Flash! Flash-flash! Flash-flash-flash!
Slice! Slice-slice! Slice-slice-slice!
And soon—
Ding!
"Bong Juhyeok Party has defeated the ruins guardian of Labyrinth Floor 125."
"Entry to Labyrinth Floor 126 via magic circle is now available."
Clear complete.
"I finished it."
"Then what was I doing?"
"Kyah-play?"
Juhyeok said nothing.
To be honest, he hadn't been interested in the fight for a while.
They were going to win anyway.
The outcome was predetermined.
What caught his attention was the fountain.
More precisely—the small droplet shining brilliantly above it.
It wasn't an ordinary droplet.
It carried a very familiar aura.
As if drawn in, Juhyeok approached the fountain ruins.
A glittering droplet resting atop the spout.
He carefully placed it on his palm.
Even there, it maintained its shape, floating gently.
What is this?
Not just water.
Even now, it wasn't being absorbed into his skin.
There's writing over there.
Inscribed at the base of the fountain ruins, in the Kalzenian continental language.
He could roughly read it.
— A single drop of water moistens the world born of chaos… life sprouts from water…
The letters were worn by time, hard to make out clearly.
— Even when all is destroyed and shattered, water remains unchanged… thus the breath of the Creator…
And at the very end of the inscription—
…..
— Drop of Creation.
That seemed to be the relic's name.
"…Hmm."
But it didn't feel unfamiliar.
The Drop of Creation.
Where had he heard that before?
Wait.
He remembered.
He'd seen it in the dimensional auction house.
Divine artifacts—or sacred relics.
Instant-buy items priced at astronomical sums.
The Drop of Creation, the Primordial Flame, the Breath of Light, the Dust of Origin, the Godslayer's Spear, a World Tree Sapling, and so on.
Ridiculously expensive.
Far more expensive than the Godslayer's Spear.
Probably around five billion top-grade mana stones?
And the reason its aura felt familiar—
It felt similar.
To the fragment of divinity that the White Godback had handed over to him.