Chapter 15

Chapter 15

I Cannot Miss It

A high-rise apartment in Hannam-dong where the Han River could be seen at a glance.

A woman in a tracksuit sat down on the sofa.

As soon as she turned on the TV, her own face appeared.

It was news related to Basement Floor 96 of the Labyrinth, which she had cleared last night.

Player Yoo Si-yeon! Please answer a few questions!

Global Ranking No. 4, Yoo Si-yeon.

She was the first person Kronos recruited immediately after the Regression, and she was a superstar with a massive fandom around the world.

Your pace is several times faster than before the Regression! Could you share your thoughts?

I will continue to devote myself even further.

Ron Cayley, Lando Mitchell, and Player Kim Guk-hyeon, who cleared it with you, praised Player Yoo Si-yeon as the best Damage Dealer! What do you think the secret is?

It is thanks to the help of my excellent teammates.

Lastly, what do you think of the Labyrinth Destroyer, who has become a hot topic these days? Could they become a threat to Kronos?

I’m not sure. I have heard of them, but I do not pay attention to them. I need to focus on my own Labyrinth exploration.

Yoo Si-yeon turned off the TV and leaned her head back against the sofa.

Labyrinth destruction, was it?

It was an incident that had not existed before the Regression, so it did interest her.

But just as she had said on the broadcast a moment ago, this was not the time to pay attention to something like that.

‘Six left.’

Si-yeon’s eyes turned toward the Labyrinth Map placed in front of the living room.

More precisely, they shifted to Floor 100, which was called the starting point of the Deep Floors.

That place was the reason.

The reason she had accepted Kronos’s offer after the Regression, even though she had been unaffiliated before it.

Before the Regression, Si-yeon had possessed the nickname World’s Greatest Sword.

What had allowed her to earn that nickname was the Hidden Item concealed on Floor 100.

It was an item she absolutely needed, which was why she had pushed herself this far, even going so far as to join Kronos, despite how little she liked them.

Nibble.

Si-yeon, who had been biting her fingernail, shook her head.

‘Do not grow impatient.’

Before the Regression, Si-yeon had not told anyone about that item.

It was not because she had known she would regress and deliberately hidden it.

It was simply because, by nature, she did not like mingling with people or speaking carelessly.

Now that she had suddenly regressed, that truly was an immense relief.

‘In any case, only I know.’

The item was not hidden in an ordinary place.

It was in a location no one would ever go to during normal exploration.

Even when Si-yeon had discovered that item back then, it had only been possible because heavenly luck and a fateful opportunity had followed her.

Ring, ring, ring.

Her brow furrowed at the name that appeared.

It was Kim Guk-hyeon, another Ranker currently exploring the Labyrinth in the same party.

She sighed quietly and answered the phone.

“Yes, senior.”

What are you doing, Si-yeon?

“I finished my basic physical conditioning and was resting for a moment.”

I told you not to overdo it! It’s your day off. Don’t do that. Come out instead. I reserved a really delicious place.

The words telling him to eat alone rose all the way to her throat.

But she endured them.

Kim Guk-hyeon was a person who could not separate public and private matters more than anyone else.

She did not want the party to fall apart at such an important time.

Especially because he was someone who had wielded tremendous influence within Kronos even before the Regression.

“Yes. My younger sibling is with me too. May I bring them along?”

Uh... The reservation is only for two seats.

“Would it be difficult to add one more?”

Difficult? Come on, Si-yeon. This is your senior, Kim Guk-hyeon. Bring them. Let’s eat together.

“Thank you. Yes. Yes. I’ll go there.”

Yoo Si-yeon hung up and let out a deep sigh.

Then she looked at the live blade placed in the corner.

To think she had to go out when she had not even completed half of today’s practice quota.

‘...Only until Floor 100.’

She repeated it once more and rose.

There was only a little further to go. Truly, only a little.

So she would endure just a little longer.

---

“Boss! I have a question!”

“Ask.”

“Are we going there to die?”

It was immediately after I finished briefing them about Floor 100 on the old whiteboard.

It was a perfectly reasonable question.

“Aris, du! Watch your words, du! When did my lord say we were going, du?! He merely explained that it was that sort of place, du! My lord is not such a reckless person that he would throw his life away, du!”

Poporu, who had been beside me, shouted.

I stared at him for a moment, then opened my mouth.

“We are going.”

“See, du! He said he is not g... Ddu?”

Poporu’s eyes shook violently.

Seeing him fidget with his innocent ear, he seemed to think he had misheard.

“I absolutely cannot play bait there! The moment I’m detected, I’ll be reverse-summoned into Subspace!”

“I won’t make you. It isn’t a floor where something like that would work in the first place.”

I had checked every piece of information about Floor 100 through the Great Labyrinth Library.

As a result, one thing became clear.

That place was not somewhere a mere Level 30 could clear.

Could it be possible because the Goddess of Luck was on my side?

It was not a gap in combat power that could be overcome with something like that.

The same went for Draws.

Even if I drew a weapon and took care of a few monsters, not long after that, I would disappear before I could even react.

Ah, since I was lucky, maybe Last Breath would block it once or so?

“Then why are you trying to force yourself to go there!?”

“Because there is a Hidden Item.”

“You can take it later!”

I shook my head.

If that were possible, I would not be getting greedy either, and I would have leveled up steadily first.

But I could not do that.

The Great Labyrinth Library also contained information on whether it had been acquired before the Regression, and that information had pointed to the answer.

Before the Regression, it was an item that had already been collected by someone.

With my arms crossed, I turned my eyes toward the TV.

The news was reporting on Basement Floor 93, which had been cleared yesterday.

The clearing party was First Pass, which was exploring at a frightening pace with Kronos’s full support.

‘A monster party made up of Global Rankings 1, 2, 3, and 4.’

Would that person be among them?

The one who had taken the Hidden Item from Floor 100 before the Regression.

If I looked at it conservatively, it was right to assume they were.

‘They will reach Floor 100 quickly.’

The difficulty would rise dramatically from the Deep Floors onward, so it would be difficult after that, but until then, they were highly likely to maintain this speed.

That was how strong the party First Pass was.

“I know your greed is incredible, Boss, but there’s no need to throw away your life too!”

“How wise.”

“Hehe!”

She was right.

That was why, when I first saw the number Floor 100, I had tried to give up.

But after coming outside and examining the details carefully, I ended up discovering it.

The single possibility that existed.

Basement Floor 100 was a floor where one had to pass through various zones and climb up to the height of the 40th floor of an apartment building.

Why did one climb up when the Labyrinth stretched downward?

I did not know the details, but the setting was that only Floor 100 had been inverted by some kind of force.

“Do you see this?”

I brought my hand to the whiteboard.

“Isn’t that a precipice?”

“That’s right.”

The place I pointed at was not originally a path. More precisely, it was a location where no path existed.

It was a cliff that could practically be called a straight line.

“This place has no path, but it has no monsters either. The Labyrinth judged from the beginning that it was somewhere players could not go. The Hidden Item is around here.”

“B-Boss, surely?”

I nodded with a smile.

“We will climb the cliff.”

“What if we fall?!”

“I’ll buy a parachute.”

“What is that?!”

“Something that keeps you from dying even if you fall.”

“I see.”

Aris nodded, then turned around.

“Then I wish you fortune in battle! Boss!”

I swiftly grabbed her head.

“Ow, ow!”

“We share life and death together. Understood?”

“What is with that tone all of a sudden! I can’t go—Gueok!”

With a barked rebuke, Poporu struck Aris in the abdomen.

Poporu wore an expression of solemn resolve.

“The road my lord takes to die, du! I shall follow, du!”

“As expected of you, Poporu! But we are not going there to die, so do not say unlucky things.”

After patting Aris and Poporu on the shoulders, I put on my shoes.

“I’m going to the bank and buying some necessary things, so watch the house.”

“Even if we’re going to die, buy us a last supper before we go!”

She had a point.

I ordered two chickens through the delivery app.

“I told them to leave it in front of the door, so bring it in and eat.”

“Understood, du! Leave it to us, du!”

I waved my hand and left the house.

The Hidden Item on Floor 100.

Since it was in the Deep Floors, it would certainly not be ordinary.

I did not know when I would be able to draw a Deep Floor from the Great Labyrinth Library again, so I had to bring it back while I could.

I went down the stairs with light steps.

Wait just a little longer, Hidden Item of the Deep Floors.

I am coming.

---

In the dim light of dawn.

Inside the room, where the sound of even breathing could be heard.

FLASH!

Aris, the Demon of the Evil Eye, opened her eyes.

Aris quietly rose, erasing her presence as much as possible.

She worked hard with her short legs and approached her boss, Ryu Jin.

Then she brought her hand under his nose.

Ryu Jin had come home completely exhausted after doing who knew what.

As if that were not enough, he had even gone to Floor 4 of the Labyrinth, saying he would use up his Draw Tickets.

Perhaps because of that, he had fallen into a deep sleep.

‘Good.’

After nodding, she turned around...

?!

She raised both hands and covered her mouth.

She had almost screamed.

Why was this crazy Kung-du sitting there awake!?

“Dduru, ruru... Dduuu...”

At the regular sound of his breathing, she swept a hand over her chest.

Thank goodness. That took a thousand years off her life.

No, wait. Since she needed to wake him up in the first place, was it not a good thing?

“Hey, dugong. Wake up.”

Poporu showed no sign of waking even when she shook his body.

Smack! Smack!

“Ddururuk!”

Only after she struck his smooth head a few times did he open his eyes.

“Hey, wake up.”

“How can you tell me to wake up when I never slept, du? My master, du, once said, du. A true martial artist has no need for sleep! I have never slept since the moment I was born, du!”

‘You were sleeping your ass off until just now.’

She did not say that.

Because this pointless argument could not be allowed to drag on.

“Hey, Kung-du.”

Aris slung an arm over Poporu’s shoulder.

“Du?”

“You and I are both proud demons, are we not?”

“That is true, du.”

“But can we really live as someone’s underlings like this? Should we or should we not?”

Poporu stared at Aris, then nodded.

“That is true, du.”

The corners of Aris’s mouth rose long and high.

“Look at us even now. We are about to be dragged helplessly into the Deep Floors and die. Can we allow that, or can we not?”

“We cannot, du. Do you have some kind of plan, du?”

Aris wore a briefly blank expression.

She had not really thought that far.

“The time has not come yet. I just wanted to say that when that day arrives, you and I must join forces.”

Just when he seemed to nod, Poporu rose from his seat.

“Uh, uh.”

Aris raised her hand as Poporu approached Ryu Jin.

Was it because he was a martial artist? His decisiveness was absurd.

Was he going to ambush him while he was asleep like this!?

Poporu stood beside Ryu Jin with both plump fists clenched tightly.

Aris swallowed dryly.

Because of the subordinate relationship, he should not be able to do that, but for now, she would watch.

A moment later, Poporu, the Demon of Kung Fu, seemed to stretch out his plump fist toward Ryu Jin.

“My lord, du! It is treason, du!! You must wake up, du!”

That crazy seal!!

SCREECH!

Aris, who had been scurrying over to cover his mouth, slammed on the brakes.

Boss Ryu Jin had half-raised himself and was staring at her with fierce, wide eyes.

Ryu Jin looked back and forth between Poporu and Aris.

Well, he was not particularly surprised.

Aris had simply done what Aris did.

“My loyal retainer, Poporu.”

“Yes, my lord, du!”

“Beat her up. Make sure she never harbors treason again.”

“I accept your order, du!”

After passing down the order, Ryu Jin lay back down.

Poporu, who had tied on his headband, glared at Aris with a solemn expression.

“Uh... W-Wait.”

“Dduaaaaaagh!!”

With a thunderous shout, Poporu charged.

And so, it came to an end after approximately three minutes.

The ambitious first uprising of the Schemer Aris di Carsia, that was.

---

In the afternoon, when the sun had reached the middle of the sky.

Ryu Jin, who had filled his stomach well, rose.

After him, his loyal retainer Poporu and Aris, who had been beaten into a pulp at dawn, rose as well.

As the price of treason, Aris was given heavier and more varied luggage today.

“Suuuuup... Huuu!”

Ryu Jin took a deep breath and smiled.

The climbing preparations were fully complete.

Let us go.

To the Deep Floors.