The next day.
We've made it to the front of the labyrinth, but...People who look like challengers are coming and going around in large numbers.
For so reason, there are even stalls and weapon shops.
From the outside, it looks like just a cave, but it seems to be the entrance.
It is completely green, covered with moss and ivy.
It seems that the place was originally surrounded by trees, but they were cut down and stripped bare for reasons such as transportation.
Looking near the entrance, I saw quite a few adventurers gathered there having so kind of eting.
Ah, those were the sa people who were calling out to us yesterday.
"Thank you for coming! Today we are going to make history!"
"We will traverse this labyrinth and beco heroes!"
"We will beco Heroes~"
Oh. You've collected quite a few. I don't care what you say, that woman is really low-key.
I'd say 30 in total. It looks like they're all blue and yellow, no red.
I wonder how many of them will make it back alive. I think the survival rate is 10%, right?
Heidi was thinking the sa thing, and gave them a complicated look.
"I wonder how many of them will co back."
"I don't know. But I can tell that they are not being forced to go."
I don't know what kind of sweet talk they were given by the people who were recruiting them, but as long as they go of their own free will, it will be their responsibility to die.
But...you know what? I'm actually tempted to go in when I see it in front of .
I'll take a peek when I'm alone.
I spent a day looking around the whole city, but I didn't find anything interesting.
It's a city that seems completely maintained by the labyrinth.
However, because of its location, there are an unusually large number of stores selling weapons and armor. Probably the most stores I've ever seen.
When we had seen what we wanted to see and were about to return to the inn, Heidi opened her mouth.
"Hey...can I talk to you for a minute?"
"What is it?"
"Actually, I'm running a little low on cash..."
What is it? You want to lend you so money?
Maybe she saw the look in my eyes, but she waved her hand hurriedly.
"No, no! I'm not asking for money!"
Well, then, just say so.
Heidi coughs lightly.
"Well, let's see... I'm thinking of taking on a quest for the guild. But there is only room for one more person. So..."
Oh, I see.
"I see. When do you start?"
"We'll start preparations tomorrow and leave the day after tomorrow. I'll be back in four or five days."
That's a long ti.
But it's good for , too.
"I'm sorry. That's why I'd like you to stay in town for a while."
"Oh, I understand. Good luck."
Heidi smiled and nodded again and again, saying, "I'll do my best."
Seeing this, I chuckled inwardly, thinking that she really is like a child.
Nothing much happened after that, and Heidi left early the next morning.
Well, now that I'm feeling lighter, I guess I'll be going too.
I'm stepping into the dangerous labyrinth. Let's make sure to prepare carefully.
Specifically, eat more food and nourish my energy.
Once that is decided, let's head to the restaurant first.
As I was leaving the inn, I suddenly noticed sothing. What kind of quest did that Heidi fellow accept?
Co to think of it, I hadn't heard.
What kind of work ...... would take a few days?
It doesn't co up. Well, that's okay.
I'll ask her when she gets back.
Once again I'm at the entrance to the dungeon, and it's not that different from yesterday.
There were a few people hanging around the entrance, either trying to challenge or just watching.
As I was about to enter, I was stopped by a knight standing guard at the entrance.
"Hey! What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to get in."
"......, are you alone?"
"By myself.""
The knight exclaid, then let out a loud sigh.
"You're an adventurer from sowhere else, aren't you? I know you're just curious to get in, but don't. This is not a place that a novice like you can conquer! Don't waste your life!"
For so reason, he got angry.
After that, the knight began to talk at length about the dangers of the dungeon.
He told gratuitous stories about preparation and that if you don't have a friend with you, you will die.
He was talking seriously, so I listened to him for a few dozen seconds, but I got bored and cut him off in the middle.
"I understand. Let through."
"........., you were listening to ?"
"Of course I did."
"Do what you want."
The knight slumped his shoulders and gave way.
I silently step aside from the knight and step inside.
I thought it would be cold inside, but it's rather hot.
A strange heat caressed my cheeks. I could feel the softness of the moss under my feet.
Well, first of all, let's search for the enemy. I activated [Search land].
Well, with this, I can see where things are, and I can proceed with a certain degree of safety.
If it were a roguelike ga, I could see the enemy's position and proceed with ease....
"......... is for real?"
There was no response.
The response was definitely there.
I could read the bio-signs, but the crazy thing is that they were coming from all over the dungeon, so I couldn't tell where anything was.
I switched to [Heat Search] as a test, but the results were the sa here.
The dungeon itself was radiating heat, so I couldn't get a reading.
After walking for a while, the light from the entrance does not reach and it becos pitch black, but I do not care about the darkness, so I continue walking.
I was alert to my surroundings as I went along, but I saw no signs of a struggle or bodies.
A few minutes of boredom passed without anything happening, but there was movent in my field of vision.
I slow down my walk.
...There's sothing out there.
I see sothing moving. More than one. Adventurers? I thought it might be adventurers, but imdiately denied it.
There was no way they could be in a place like this without a light.
As I got a little closer, I could see what they were.
"Wow..."
He must have been an adventurer. His body was covered in scars and ivy was coming out from where his ears and eyes used to be.
When I looked at the body, I saw that the surface of the skin peeking out from the torn clothes had a lot of veins and ivy was growing out of the wounds.
"Uu...go...a...a..."
His mouth is moving like he is trying to say sothing, but unfortunately I have no idea what he is saying.
The point is, if you die here, you beco one of them.
They noticed and staggered toward , weapons in hand.
At first, I hit them with [Explosion II].
The explosion engulfed the enemy. It looks almost like a plant, so there should be enough leeway if I attacked with fire.
But they were still coming toward with energetic steps.
Moreover, they started running halfway through.
When they got in close, they would slash at with a rough but fast slash.
I observed as I dodged. Why doesn't it work?
When I looked closely, I saw that his whole body was charred here and there. It seems that it is not at all ineffective.
Then why did it survive the explosion?
A lot of mysterious liquid is flowing from the ivy. In short, it seems that it did not burn because it was wet all over.
However, this does not an that they are completely protected, and so degree of damage is inflicted by the impact and the explosion fla.
As evidence of this, so of them stopped twitching for a mont in the middle of their movents, and others fell over and struggled on the ground.
I see. It's tough if there are a lot of them.
Flas are inefficient. Let's change the thod.
I aid at the neck with the Wind Blade II. It cuts, but I can't sever it. Really?
I aid at the sa place while keeping my distance, and after the second and third shots, the head finally flew off.
Did I do it? I thought so, but it had no effect. It just kept coming at .
I dropped its arms and legs just to make sure, but it was still moving around.
Then, to my annoyance, reinforcents appeared from the back.
Ugh.... Not good.
I thought for a mont and decided to move from destroying them to restraining them.
I invoked magic [Earth Rise II]. It's a magic that makes the ground rise up like a stake and pierces the opponent.
I don't think this will buy any ti.
The magic went off and caught so of them, but the stakes didn't stick and just blew them away.
I can't pierce them!
This ti I tried to crush them by making a rock mass with [Earth II], but I stopped.
If I do it badly, the way will be blocked.
Let's change the cut.
If I freeze it with an ice system...impossible. Because of the temperature here, it lts quickly and cos back to life.
In such a case, there is usually a weak point sowhere, and if I destroy it, I can kill it instantly...
It would be troubleso to try this on this many creatures. I wonder if there is any effective attack....
By the way, I tried hitting it with my club, but it was strangely soft and unresponsive.
I guess I'll just have to eat it now....
I grab the face of the guy who cut at with the broken sword and send a "root" into him.
"...!?"
I quickly cut myself off from the "root" and let go. It almost grabs in reverse, but I kick it and blow it away.
I look at my hand. The "root" that ca out from the palm of my hand is missing like it was eaten by insects.
I tried to eat it, but it ate back.
Seriously.... Does that ivy have similar properties to my "root"?
To be honest, I was just thinking that I could just prey on it if I got in trouble, so I'm shocked.
I wonder how I should attack it.... I think about it while dodging attacks.
I tried all kinds of attacks: blows, slashes, fire, and ice, but none of them had much effect.
It's not that they are ineffective, it's just that I don't like the way they work.
I'm running out of ideas...no, there's sothing I haven't tried yet.
Invite the nearest guy to attack and get in his pocket.
I'm going to hit him with a palm strike to the torso and activate [death]. If this doesn't work, consider running away.
If it goes in perfectly, the middle of the torso will beco sand and a big hole will open up.
...Did it go through?
The corpse, windpunched in the torso, walked unsteadily and collapsed.
I observe it while fighting off attacks from others. There is no sign of movent.
It doesn't move. It seems to have been killed.
It seems to have so kind of weakness in its torso.
Once I found the strategy, the rest was easy.
I killed the attackers by turning them into sand from one side to the other, and wiped them out in about a few minutes.
I inspected the motionless corpse.
I lightly poked him with a club to check his reaction, but there was none.
Now, can I pick up mories? I examine the corpse with the "root."
...mory...seems to be impossible. Maybe because too much ti has passed.
I could eat, but I couldn't find the mory.
Well, that's okay. At any rate, there seems to be no problem to proceed.
I have ti, so let's dive a little deeper.
After that, I was attacked several tis by corpses controlled by plants, but I got rid of them by turning them into sand.
Most of them were dead adventurers, but there were so who crawled on the ground and attacked with only their arms and legs, so it seems that they were simply moving the corpses rather than manipulating them like I was.
So it doesn't matter if they only have arms and legs.
As for the process of being able to move corpses, it is unknown at this point, but even if I wanted to check, there is no way to find out because they have been completely turned into sand to stop them from moving.
A closer look at the surroundings while walking reveals traces of the battle, such as partially charred ivy and damaged equipnt scattered about.
Co to think of it, there was a group of visitors here yesterday.
I wonder what happened to them? Maybe they were mixed in with the corpses I just got rid of?
No, those bodies were in a lot of damage. There were so new ones, but not many.
I think it's safe to say that they went to the back.
I'd be curious to know how they got rid of those zombie-looking bastards.
If they were alive, would I be able to see them? Thinking about this, I proceeded deeper inside.
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