Whorlmark Town had become unbelievably lively thanks to the influx of adventurers and everyone connected to them.
Of course, that was only true in the last few days—roll the timeline back a month, and the town had been almost deserted, with barely anyone in sight.
But that was probably the normal state of any "adventure hub": whether it was bustling or quiet depended entirely on whether it could attract enough adventurers.
On both sides of the road leading up to the labyrinth entrance, every prime spot was packed with shops.
Their clerks shouted until their throats went raw—some hawking armor and weapons, some selling ointments and potions, others pushing assorted supplies like gunpowder, lamp oil, explosives, and poisons.
Unexpectedly, the best-selling goods weren't any of those.
They were the most ordinary, most easily overlooked essentials: food and drinking water.
"Pure wheat ale! One jug for 30 copper! Clearance sale—don't miss it!"
"Black bread! Black bread!"
"Oats—lightweight and easy to carry!"
There's an old saying: you need to eat your fill before you can work.
That's true for adventurers too.
The food might be plain, but it was indispensable for almost everyone.
Because if you don't eat or drink, you die.
And the labyrinth was complicated—an accident could trap you inside, unable to get out—so stocking up on food and water was the key to long-term exploration.
Gauss and his group were no exception.
They simply didn't need to buy overpriced rations at the entrance, because they'd already purchased ample supplies before leaving.
And as for why they still bought basic dry rations and alcohol even though Serandur knew Create Food and their casters had water magic—it wasn't because they had money to burn.
Serandur's Create Food still consumed his energy, and with his current level he couldn't supply a hundred-plus people. It was an emergency option, not a daily solution.
And water created by ordinary water spells wasn't drinkable. It contained too much raw magic—most people couldn't absorb it, and if they drank too much, the accumulated abnormal magic could clog their organs and literally suffocate them from the inside.
Of course, if the drinker were Gauss, then with the Feast talent, it probably wouldn't cause any issues.
Gauss's party formed up and waited in line in front of the whirlpool-like labyrinth entrance.
Ivan and the others did a final inspection—counting people and checking supplies.
It was tedious, but absolutely necessary.
This wasn't a five-person squad. Once your numbers hit the hundreds, if one or two people went missing, you might not even notice right away.
That was also why adventurer companies split internally into divisions—and why larger divisions had smaller squads—so members could cross-check each other and keep the structure manageable.
"Captain Gauss, count complete. Personnel and supplies all match."
"Then we enter the labyrinth."
Gauss nodded.
He led from the front, and the long line behind him began descending the huge steps.
Maybe it was their disciplined formation, but lone wolves and small parties instinctively fell in behind them.
For a moment, the column under the red dragon banner looked like a marching army—hundreds deep.
——
Timber Labyrinth, Floor 1 (Underground)
After the long, deep staircase, they emerged into a vast hall.
Gauss looked around.
"It feels bigger than last time," Alia breathed, eyes like pale silver-blue stars glittering in the dimness.
Gauss turned to glance at her—and lingered on her eyes for a beat.
The hall was bigger, and it had obviously "reset." All the traces adventurers had left last time were gone; the structures and camps on the floor had been rebuilt.
The Adventurers' Guild building was still here on Floor 1.
Some low-tier adventurers crowded around it, scanning for jobs they could take.
"Scout the western passage and bring back intel."
"Kill 10 slimes and turn in their cores."
"There's a mutated python in the east—needs a party to subdue it."
"…"
Since this was still early in the second opening, there were lots of posted commissions, and adventurers happily traded tips and rumors.
That was the Guild's value: for low-tier adventurers, having it here or not having it was the difference between order and chaos.
The Guild provided basic security and structure. Under normal circumstances, even the strongest adventurers had to rein in hostility in front of Guild property.
Unless someone was confident they could wipe everyone present instantly and seal all information, any incident would bring down the harshest punishment from the most powerful human institution on the continent.
Gauss only glanced once, then looked away.
As he'd said before, he had no interest in Floor 1 commissions.
Rewards in copper or a few silvers were mosquito bites—worse than useless.
"Captain, we found the entrance down to Floor 2."
"Good work."
After only a brief pause in the hall, Gauss led his people onward under countless watching eyes.
Once they left, the crowd's voices rose again, no longer suppressed.
"Another adventurer company!"
"Not a Barry local group."
"They look strong…"
"If I were part of them, I wouldn't be stuck on Floor 1. I'd be going deeper."
"Move! Move! Slimes are falling from the ceiling!"
"Battle stations!"
With a few shouted warnings, adventurers who'd been resting snatched up weapons and snapped into formation.
That was how labyrinths were—monsters could appear at any time.
…
The entrance to Floor 2 wasn't close.
But the monsters they encountered on the way were cleared quickly, so their pace didn't slow.
Most Floor 1 creatures didn't even qualify as proper "challenge rated" foes. Even if Gauss didn't lift a finger, pulling a few people from his ranks was enough to erase them.
There wasn't much worth saying about the kills.
After an hour, they arrived.
The labyrinth had been reopened for over a week now.
While the positions of entrances constantly shifted, Floor 1 had the most foot traffic, so adventurers regularly shared updated routes down.
A crowd had formed around this entrance—people heading to Floor 2 or returning from it.
All around the narrow doorway were handwritten signs:
"Floor 2 entrance here!"
"Floor 2 is dangerous—stay alert!!"
"Watch out for spider monsters, lads!"
Veterans who'd survived Floor 2 left these warnings to keep reckless novices from walking in and dying.
How effective they were… was anyone's guess.
Someone determined to die wasn't going to be saved by a few scrawled sentences.
Gauss found himself remembering what he'd read in that special "Company Captain" publication about Floor 2.
It was strange.
Most labyrinths scaled neatly by floor: Floor 2 was harder than Floor 1, Floor 3 harder than Floor 2, and so on.
But in Timber, Floor 2 seemed abnormally dangerous—according to the Guild, it was even worse than Floor 3 in places, with "out-of-spec" monsters that shouldn't exist there.
From that angle, Timber wasn't beginner-friendly at all.
What kind of design throws a boss at you the moment you leave the tutorial zone?
Gauss had suffered for it firsthand.
His last run here, he'd been pushed to the brink by an adult spider-ghoul that felt like a level-4 threat. He'd nearly died.
If he remembered right, he'd killed the spider ghoul's younglings, then used a teleport scroll to escape—and later Serandur, the serpentfolk, had found him and carried him out.
Was that adult spider ghoul still alive?
Even now he could remember the fear—one second later and he'd have been cut in half by those razor legs.
And it really was absurd: Floor 1 was basically a newbie map full of trash mobs, and Floor 2 served up a monster that didn't belong there.
Link that to the arena he'd found, the sealed mysterious green pavilion, and the way Floor 2 "didn't behave like Floor 2," and it was obvious:
Floor 2 had secrets. You couldn't treat it as an ordinary second layer.
While he was thinking, nearby adventurers were forming parties.
"Floor 2 isn't worth exploring. We're taking the Guild's safe route straight to Floor 3. Anyone want in?"
"Add us!"
"Same here!"
"…"
Policy breeds counterplay.
Once adventurers understood Floor 2's danger and complexity, they adapted: if you can't beat it, skip it.
If a floor was risky, don't linger—just go to Floor 3.
Every so often, the Guild compiled a relatively safe route. Floor 2 wasn't dangerous everywhere; avoid certain zones and you could reach the next entrance.
Of course, some people did the opposite—sensing something special about Floor 2 and choosing to stay to investigate the hidden mystery.
"Want to team up?"
Someone turned toward Gauss.
But the moment he saw the red dragon banner and the company's orderly ranks, he turned awkwardly red.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to bother you."
Gauss blinked, watching the man scurry off to ask other groups.
No surprise. Gauss had no intention of joining a "rush to Floor 3" party.
Once they completed another headcount, Gauss led his people into the passage down to the "Emerald World" of Floor 2.
As they stepped through, the air rippled with a strange distortion.
Gauss felt it carefully.
It resembled the magical fluctuation of Any Door, but not quite the same.
When the ripple faded, lush green life slammed into them like a wave.
Floor 2 was all verdant vitality.
Near the exit, many tents had been pitched—adventurers using the fixed exit point as a base.
Some people looked over when a large group arrived, but the moment they spotted the red dragon flag, they quietly looked away.
Gauss wasn't surprised this became a rest point.
Entrances moved, but exits didn't. Camping here meant you'd meet the most traffic, safety in numbers—and if something went wrong, you could always retreat via the fixed route.
Gauss checked his internal map. After a "version update," the old layout was useless.
Fortunately, they'd bought new maps for Floors 1–3 before entering.
Exploration of the first three floors was relatively complete; the first-tier groups seemed to be stalling out around Floor 4.
Gauss thought of the green pavilion again. With the reset, where had it moved to?
But one thing was clear: it still hadn't been widely discovered.
If anyone had found it, they'd kept it secret—just like Gauss had.
There was no public intel for sale about it, so…
Even if Gauss didn't know where it was, he did know where it wasn't.
It wasn't likely to be in a well-mapped safe zone. Safe zones were crowded; if it were nearby, it would've been documented by now.
Same with the spider-ghoul—if it still existed, it was probably in the "danger zones."
Those danger zones were only dangerous for ordinary adventurers. For Gauss, with transcendent-tier strength, they were unlikely to pose much threat.
"Follow me."
Gauss didn't hesitate. He set off.
Don't know where the target is?
Then sweep every dangerous region until you do.
And if he happened to run into that spider-ghoul—or anything else nasty—so much the better.
A debt was a debt.
He felt there was a decent chance he'd run into it.
For one, aside from Barry's local companies that held the home-field advantage, Red Dragon Company had arrived fairly early among major forces.
And most major companies were racing deeper, competing for the next entrances and higher-value layers.
They wouldn't waste manpower lingering on Floor 2.
The logic was simple: everyone could see Floor 2 was strange, but would you really slow your descent for a mystery with uncertain payoff?
Big teams had to think in stable returns.
Deep floors were guaranteed profit. Floor 2 was speculation.
If not for his first run, Gauss would probably have pushed down too.
As for his own people, they didn't object.
That was the Proof of Leadership at work—steadily rooting obedience and trust in him across the company.
And even without it, Gauss's strength made him easy to trust.
With that, Gauss led the Red Dragon banner onward into the Emerald World.
~~~
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