Manuke FPS Chapter 178

Published at 6th of February 2022 10:10:53 AM

Kay: :3

_
 

It was now evening of my first day exploring the Snakehead Labyrinth. Having just left the spring on the 4th level, I finally arrived at a small dead-end room. Instead of lurking monsters within, I only saw clusters of crystals. 

I activated FLIR mode and I saw all the crystals had heat signatures. Five of them… Not only were they on the floor, but there were some on the roof as well. They did not react to my presence upon entering. Did they undo their camo and attack if someone entered a certain range? 

Now that I thought about it, those adventurers used a 3 meter long stick to lure the spiders out. Did that mean the detection range was around that far? If the spiders only reacted upon entering that distance, or when they’re attacked, then it’d probably be possible to deal with them one by one using ranged attacks. 

The spiders were quickly eliminated and I secured the room. 

I activated the TSS. For tonight’s camp, I first summoned the AEC Armored Command Vehicle, Dorchester. Next up, I opened my inventory to take out some special equipment. Three M18 claymore mines and four C4 charges. Sooner or later, monsters would spawn near the middle of the room after all. The mines would secure the ground level while the C4 would be used on the ceiling. A lot of those spiders I encountered so far hid themselves as clusters on the ceiling. Those charges were for them. 

A SUPPLY BOX  appeared. I opened it and took out a surveillance camera – a spy camera. It was a portable surveillance camera, similar to the box-shaped cameras found in parking lots and retail stores. The only difference being a single telescopic arm beneath it. The bar could be attached and fixed anywhere on a floor or wall. It would then open a mini-screen next to the map in the HUD with a real-time feed. 

The max amount you could use at once was two. It was the same as AN/GSR V 1 T-UGS. But the camera was more suitable for monitoring the corridor. I stuck the camera in a dark place in the corridor and adjusted the direction of the camera so I could monitor the room and then turned it on. 

With the spy camera fixed, the feed appeared in my HUD. Then I tried switching back and forth to the night vision mode and FLIR Mode to see if the function worked as intended.  Preparations were completed. Even if it was found by someone in this world, it’d be impossible to be connected to me. Best of all, they would not even understand what a ‘machine’ was, not to mention its function. 

I returned to the Dorchester, summoned a GIFT BOX, took out the black valve and bedding. Then I sat in the provided chair in the living space to rest.

After I finished a meal, I drew the layout I’d already mapped on a blank map sheet. I didn’t plan to sell it yet, but if I could draw it little by little, I’d have more time in the future. While I made these for my own satisfaction, It would also be a cover for Schwartz. The act of solo diving was extremely dangerous. One mistake may cause you to become prey for the labyrinth’s inhabitants.  

Still, I had map-making as my reason to go solo. I reckoned no one else would be able to create such a precise and accurate labyrinth map while exploring. Since I’d been given the nickname ‘Map Seller Schwartz’. Might as well make it useful for me. 

While I was drawing a map up to the 4th floor, then looked at the state of the small room through the video feed. There, I saw a black mist rising from the center of the room. It’s time for the monster to respawn. There were four mists, which formed themselves into shapes of quartz spiders. 

Here I thought they could respawn on the ceiling? Once the mist solidified in the shape of a spider, it cleared up the there it was. I held the claymore remote in my hand but didn’t pull it yet. I observed the movements of the spiders that had just spawned. I had experienced it many times before in the Wolf Fang Labyrinth. Even in this place, the monsters did not move immediately after spawning. 

They seemed not to be weary of the Dorchester, which was parked in the room. This meant that they did not know I was inside as well. Once I confirmed this, I pulled the trigger. The claymores roared in three consecutive blasts, and a total of 210 iron balls shattered the crystal spiders that had begun to move. 

The next morning, when I woke up because of my alarm, I checked the placement of the monsters, then detonated the claymores and C4 charges to finish cleaning the interior of the small room. The spy camera continued to record even in the early morning, and broadcasted into my HUD. There was no shadow of an approaching adventurer and it seemed that the camera hadn’t been destroyed as well. 

I made preparations to begin my exploration. If I were to go down to the 5th level, I should start encountering the Naga. It was a monster with the appearance of a snake with a human torso, and cobra head. Unlike the other monsters, which had one gender, these were separated into males and females. The males were warriors and handled a variety of weapons, and the females were mages. 

It was great that I could reach the spring on the first day without an issue. With consideration to the next part of my journey, it would be a problem to reach the next spring on the 11th floor. 

The labyrinth’s cavern zone stopped at the 6th level. From there, it became field zones. The hexagonal crystals requested were also available starting from this level.  

I ran through the 4th floor without a problem before I arrived on the 5th. From there, I prepared a ballistic shield as a counter to Naga magic. 

(Kay~: Ballistic shields range in designs and build, and since it’s a VMB shield, I have no link for it. Do with that as you will…) 

With this, I proceeded through the corridor, passing through a small room while eliminating quartz snakes and spiders along the way until I saw a large room ahead. I had not encountered a single Naga so far. Rather, there seemed to be an adventurer party ahead of me with a few monsters surrounding them.

I was not the only one exploring. If there were other people around, we’d eventually run into each other. If this was the popular Beast King Labyrinth, how many people would be lurking about at the same time? If there was already another party hunting ahead, should I just take a detour and look for another room?

I decided that. 

I changed course to aim for a large, dead-end room. After a short while, my sound sensors picked up the noise of a fierce battle. Apparently, there was another party there too – despite me aiming for an out of the way room. But apparently from the sounds, screams, angry voices, and yelling, it did not sound too good…

Should I rush in? 

As a matter of fact, I didn’t know who was fighting there. But dying in the labyrinth was an important thing to avoid as an adventurer. Their souls would become food for the labyrinth and was a factor in which causes monsters to overflow into the outside world. In this world, if you lived as an adventurer of this country, you had to save the lives you could save. 

It was about 400 meters till the room. I ran through the corridor and focused on the noises until I grasped the situation correctly. 

There was about four people, and about five strange ones which could be the monsters. From the voices, I realized one was either dead or incapacitated… Was I late…? 

Room appeared on my map, showing nine dots. Five of the light dots floated around while the four were cornered by a wall. I stacked up next to the entrance to the room and peaked in — at the same time, I switched the P90 to full auto. 

As expected, the monsters were Naga…

The strange appearance of the half-human half-snake from the back, and their tails made them look quite tall. With a height of more than two meters, the Nagas shook their purple-skinned upper bodies in a dance-like motion. I looked to the four adventurers – their appearances briefly seen between the gaps of the monsters. They were blood-stained and struggled to delay their deaths as much as possible. 

Although the Nagas’ exact genders couldn’t be determined from the rear, at least the three of the four held spears and a spiked mace. The remaining two wielded something akin to a vajra. A quick deduction said I needed to eliminate the two who held vajras, as they were the female mages. 

I aimed down sight while I leaned. As the nagas yelled and moved closer to their targets, I fixed my crosshairs on their head. I didn’t know if this round would work against them given that they resembled a King Cobra. At worst, they’d just be redirected their attention to me. If it didn’t work, I could just hide and take out the SCARH. 

Deciding on the plan, I predicted their movements and pulled the trigger twice for two short bursts; moving to the next target without checking the results, and shot at the other. 

“Gyaa!”

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“Gya!”

Short, strange voices called out as the two mages fell as blood squirted from their heads. It’s working — Hearing the death throes of their comrades behind them, the three weapon-bearing monsters turned and saw me. 

I heard snakes had poor eyesight, but had good tracking with an infrared sensing organ called a pit-organ that allowed them to ‘see’ temperature. Maybe they had the same organs… There was a moment they just glared at each other and –

“Kaa!”

“Kaa!” 

One threw its sasumatshaped spear. 

That’s bad!

I leaned back behind the wall. Shortly after, the spear crashed into the wall with an echo. I lifted the ballistic shield against my feet, used it to hid my body, and stood at the entrance of the large room. The male nagas raged due to the killing of their females. In anger, they left the other four adventurers alone and charged me at a high-speed pace. 

They’re fast – but!

I placed the P90 atop the shield, aimed for their upper bodies that moved more vigorously than before they moved in. I changed where I aimed, briefly examined them and noticed that the midsection between human and tail moved the least. The way it acted was as if it were the **fulcrum of their movement. 

(Kay~: **the point on which a lever rests or is supported and on which it pivots.)

The muzzle jumped as I opened fired, and with some control, managed to land every bullet on that area. Then, I slide jump to the front left immediately. The naga’s body split over as if it had folded . I strafe jumped in order to make the remaining two intersect, then turned 180 and landed in front of the adventurers, who were still unable to grasp their current situation with my sudden intrusion. 

“Hey… You are…”

“Please tell me the situation before you ask anymore. Are the injured okay?”

As I listened, I fished out two fragmentation grenades and threw them at the nagas after pulling the pins. 

“Ah… One of us was killed. But the body hasn’t been absorbed yet, so we’ve been protecting it. As for the injured…”

“— They’re alive. I heal her now.” 

The labyrinth preyed upon human life, and their souls used to nourish it. The act was, however, divided into two stages. Firstly, of course, to kill. Second was to wrap the body in the black mist and absorb it. In other words, the moment you died, you were quite literally devoured. There was no magic or potion capable of reviving the dead. 

But, as long as the body was not absorbed into the labyrinth, the soul was safe. This party had resisted it till the end despite the crisis. 

“Good job – leave the rest to me.” 

[T/L Note: He says ‘Good Job’ in english.]

“Eh? What?”

Involuntarily remembering the old days… I said the phrase I usually used to commend another player. But I wondered if people in this world understood it? 

The frags exploded, covering the questioning voice of the adventurer. The sound reverberated and distracted the adventurers, and the nagas screamed. Shrapnell splintered their bodies, but tried to crawl towards us even with parts of them blown off. 

A look at their damaged bodies, it seemed their lower bodies had a high level of defense. However, their humanoid parts took the brunt of it. I already knew a headshot could kill them so there wasn’t anything to worry about with this. 

I reloaded, put up the shield upfront and aimed the P90. I lined the crosshairs up with the closest one’s upper body- – their heart in particular. I opened fire and finished them off. With this, I confirmed their weak points were similar to that of normal humans. I finished the last one with a headshot. 

Chapter end