Manuke FPS Chapter 179

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

-I had caught the noise of a fierce battle coming from the large room on the 5th level of the Snakehead Labyrinth off the main corridor. It turned out that a group of adventurers were caught in a bad situation and so, I headed there to back them up. I wiped out the nagas that had cornered them, five in total. Once I took some time to look around, I saw more corpses wrapped in black mist. 

Four of them. This meant that there’d been nine nagas at the start. The damage to the adventuring party was one dead, though, they managed to prevent the labyrinth from taking their soul. 

“W-We’re saved…” 

When they saw that the nagas were dealt with, I heard a voice of relief and the sound of someone sitting down behind me. 

“Ththanks for saving us…” 

“No, it’s not a big deal. As a fellow adventurer, I also don’t want to die in the labyrinth.” 

No more light dots were visible on the radar. I checked the crystal clusters with FLIR and found nothing. After I confirmed my surroundings, I looked back at the adventurers and reconfirmed the situation there. The surviving adventurers were two men and two women. The female was being carried on the back of one of the males. I couldn’t see her expression, but the other female adventurer was crying as the other male comforted her. 

“Can you go back to the surface?” 

“… We can still move, but the one who fell was the scout… The naga’s fire magic burned his lower body, so…”

The man who seemed to be the leader spoke before trailing off. The other adventurers began to heal their wounds, despite grieving over the loss of their companions. Although their numbers were down, it was only just the 5th floor, just below the 4th. If they managed to avoid the fat scorpion, it wouldn’t be difficult to return to the surface. So, what was the problem?

“Well…”

“We don’t have a map of the labyrinth, so we don’t know how to get back.” 

Perhaps concerned about their hesitant leader, another of their group replied. Apparently, the party left the map to the scout. Taking another look at the woman being carried, her lower half was wrapped in clothes. Burned – along with their map. 

“Then you can use my map.”

“Wait! But what about you?!”

“I remember the route to get here. So, don’t worry about it.” 

That was a lie, of course.

Well, I have screenshots of the drawn maps stored in the TSS, so there was no way I’d get lost. I went to pick up the bad I had left at the entrance and presented them with the unfinished map I’d started. 

“It’s an unfinished map, but if you’re just heading to the surface, there should be no problem.”

“Are you sure? And this map… I’ve never seen such an exquisitely drawn map…” 

“If it’s this amazing, I bet you have the [Survey] skill? I could tell from a glance. But can we really receive such an amazing map?”

“… Who said I’d give it up for free? I did help you earlier out of necessity, but this and that are different matters.”

“Well, that’s right… We’re still grateful either way. How much is it?”

“Right… All the non-attribute mana stones you’ve gotten during your search.” 

“Non-attribute you say… No, never mind. Hey, collect the non-attribute mana stones.”

“Okay, wait a minute.”

Actually, it was okay if it was free of charge. It was natural for adventurers to save each other when in distress. Even if we were competing with each other, this was still a labyrinth. In the face of our common goal of subjugating the labyrinth, combat assistance and reinforcement was not an action to shy away from. There was no need for great rewards or grand words. 

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However, the human mind will always doubt any help given freely and tends to avoid it. Even if there was only a small amount of compensation, there was still a sense of security. Despite this, I was still happy to gain the stones. 

One of the male adventures returned with a small pouch filled with non-attribute stones. I gave them a brief check and thus, the transaction was completed. 

“Then, I’ll go on ahead. Please be careful and return safely.”

“Yeah. You really saved us there. If we can meet again outside, please let me treat you to a drink.” 

“Sounds good. I’ll look forward to it.”

Given that this was the labyrinth, even if one secured their safety for the short term, no one would waste their time with introductions or look back on their previous fight to go over what was seen nor heard. Well.. I may do so after I left the labyrinth. 

I left the adventures and moved from the room. When I left, the tension broke and I could hear the crying voice of a female. It seems that it was a tight-knit party. Because they trusted her, they probably left the map to her. And in this situation, it was not possible for them to just leave their fallen comrade and withdraw. 

Companions, huh…

I felt a little lonely when I thought about it as I proceeded through the labyrinth – alone. 

But it couldn’t be helped. It was not easy to find someone who could walk side by side with me after learning and understanding me, as a Manuke and a Trespasser… I walked faster so by the time my focus came back, I could no longer hear them and moved to the 6th floor. 

Three days had passed since I started the exploration. I reached the 10th floor. In front of me was the Gate. It was carved with the same sculptures I’d seen so far. A sculpture of a monster that guarded ahead, and then a multi-headed snake-hydra on the throne, as if watching them from above. For a short time, I gazed at the Labyrinth Master before I proceeded to face the gatekeeper. 

This search will only go this far. I had also collected the requested crystals from the 6th level. Smashing the base of a 1-meter tall crystal cluster with the hammer and collecting it within a GIFT BOX. It was said that there were only a few crystals on one level, but it was also not possible to get so much. Adventurers could not bring the crystals back unless they crushed them down into a manageable size. It made for great souvenirs. 

The larger the crystal block, the higher its price. In the meantime, I had collected over a total of 18 hexagonal crystals. It was up to Maltsan on how he’d sell it in the end, but I won’t have to worry if it was him. 

The gatekeeper area was silent. Many years ago, the gatekeepers of this level were subjugated. When I looked around, I saw the transfer circle near the center of the room. This was today’s goal.

Originally, I, who was magicless, could not use the transfer circle that required magic to use. However, after subjugating the Wolf Fang Labyrinth, I was able to use it with the help of a mysterious magical tag given by the mysterious sender. 

I stood in the center of the transfer circle, pulled out my knife, and knocked one of my fingertips. A drop of blood dropped onto the circle. It registered my information, and we were ready to go…

“Teleport.” 

When I chanted the keyword that activated the transfer magic circle, it lit up, and all the patterns lit up. As it became a curtain of light and ran through my vision. The labyrinth disappeared and turned to wilderness. 

Chapter end