Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Insane Rewards

“Hey, sausage! To your side!”

“Which side, left or right-du?!”

“Four o’clock!”

“I do not know how to read a clock-du!”

“You insane empty-headed seal! That way!”

Poporu, who had been running hard, turned his head.

A flying-type Monster was rushing in with fierce momentum.

He could deal with it calmly, but his liege-du’s life was hanging by a thread.

He could not slow down.

Swish.

Aris-du had neatly equipped the child-sized bulletproof helmet all by herself, as if only she needed to survive.

How insolent.

Grab!

After grabbing the back of the helmet.

‘Kung-du Style Secret Technique.’

“Eh? You are going to carry me and run again? I am fine with tha……”

He threw her at the approaching Monster.

‘Aris Missile-du!!!’

“Gyaaaaaaaah!!!”

SMACK!

The effect was excellent.

With the Monster’s own flying speed added in, it toppled straight over.

As for Steamed Bun Aris-du?

He did not know.

With her peculiar survival ability, she would surely survive somehow.

Holding Tsumugi’s hand, he kicked off the ground with all his might.

And arrived.

At the end of the shrine.

Ding!

[Tsumugi has reached the end of the Forgotten Shrine!]

[Her memories awaken, and the power sealed within the shrine is released!]

WHOOOOOOOSH!!

White energy leaking from the entire shrine poured into Tsumugi.

[The severed bond is reconnected, and Tsumugi regains the power of a guardian deity!]

“Du!?”

Poporu’s eyes widened.

Tsumugi floated gently into the air, wrapped in white energy.

When she lightly waved her hand, the Monsters flying toward her were crushed.

‘She is strong-du……!’

He admired her for a moment.

Then Poporu whipped his head around and began running again.

‘My liege-du……! Your loyal retainer Poporu is coming now-du!!’

His heart was urgent.

The Skeleton Warrior who had blocked their path at the last moment.

That thing was an absurdly powerful being.

It was an existence neither the current Poporu nor his liege could defeat.

To make matters worse, his liege had even used his trump card, Weapon Draw, to deal with the surging Monsters.

This was truly dangerous.

SCREEEECH!!

Poporu, who had been running for quite some time, slammed on the brakes.

Someone was walking out from the darkness beyond.

He bit his lip hard and clenched his plump fists.

That aura was no ordinary……

It was the Skeleton Warrior’s…… Du!?

Poporu’s eyes widened as if they might pop out.

He had instinctively thought it was the Skeleton Warrior, but it was not.

“My liege-duuuuuuu!!”

He pattered over and flew toward his liege.

Ryu Jin skillfully caught Poporu and tucked him under his side.

It was a relief he had caught him in time.

He had almost been helplessly drenched by those streaming tears and snot.

“My liege-du!? Where is that skeleton bastard-du?! This humble Poporu has arrived, so let us begin our pincer attack-du!”

“I cut him in half.”

“Du!?”

I gave a smile to the startled Poporu.

I acted cool and pretended it was nothing, but in truth, my legs were still trembling.

That was how damn terrifying it had been.

It might have been the greatest crisis I had faced since I began Labyrinth cash farming.

“Good work, Poporu. You brought Tsumugi there safely.”

I looked at the messages being listed before me.

[You have cleared the Hidden Quest “Tsumugi’s Revival” on Basement Floor 41 of the Labyrinth!]

[You have obtained the treasure stored in the shrine, “Nameless Warrior’s Secret Technique”!]

[You have destroyed Basement Floor 41 of the Labyrinth at Maximum Difficulty! Additional rewards will be given during settlement!]

[The Labyrinth activated an exception clause, and a nightmare-level enemy appeared!]

[Player Ryu Jin shattered the manifested nightmare and finished off the floor!]

[The things the Labyrinth staked as the price of the exception clause will be given as rewards!]

[Basement Floor 11 of the Labyrinth has been destroyed!]

[Basement Floor 12 of the Labyrinth has been destroyed!]

[Basement Floor 13 of the Labyrinth has been destroyed!]

[Basement Floor 14 of the Labyrinth has been destroyed!]

.

.

.

[Basement Floor 40 of the Labyrinth has been destroyed!]

[Additional rewards from the nightmare manifestation beyond destruction will be revealed during settlement!]

[Settlement will begin after entering the Personal Lobby!]

“Kuhuuuuuk……!!”

In cartoons or anime, an expression often appeared where someone was so surprised their jaw nearly dropped.

Each time I saw it, I clicked my tongue.

No matter how surprised a person was, how could their jaw actually drop? It was too exaggerated.

But now I knew that was not true.

It was real.

When a person was shocked to death, their mouth opened so wide that their jaw did not merely ache, it hurt.

Just like mine right now.

Destruction messages did not merely fill my vision; they even created a scroll.

Even while looking at them, I could not believe it.

How many were there?

“My liege-du! Are you all right-du? Cold sweat is pouring down your face-du!”

“I am fine, Poporu. This is cold sweat of joy.”

“Du?!”

I stuck out my thumb and wiped the sweat from my forehead.

My body was already heating up, and my nostrils flared.

I wanted to receive the settlement quickly.

[The 41st floor leaves the Labyrinth’s domain! From now on, the Forgotten Shrine will exist as a unique and independent floor!]

[Player Ryu Jin obtains Ownership of the Forgotten Shrine!]

[Only the player who possesses Ownership may enter the Forgotten Shrine!]

Beep!

[Some Ownership functions are not working!]

[These functions have not yet been unlocked! They can be used once unlocked!]

I swept my hair back.

After being shocked over and over again, my head was throbbing.

They said the Labyrinth was originally that kind of place, but seriously, it had all sorts of bizarre things.

Well, those functions would probably unlock as I kept exploring.

But something felt missing.

What was gone?

As I looked around, Poporu opened his mouth.

“Steamed Bun-du has gone-du.”

“Where?”

Poporu squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.

“She was a pathetic honeybee-du who only gave off a sweet scent, but in her final moment, she perished heroically-du. Once we return, we should make a stone monument to commemorate Steamed Bun-du……”

“You threw me yourself, so what are you talking about, perished heroically?!”

Aris came running in a flurry and immediately landed a dropkick on Poporu.

“Duaaagh!”

Poporu, who took the hit properly, rolled far away.

I looked at Aris, who was huffing in anger.

She looked like she had definitely been through a lot.

“Aris. Both your nostrils are bleeding.”

“They really are! That crazy seal bastard!!”

Perhaps she still had not vented her anger, because she ran at the sprawled-out Poporu.

‘They say you become close by fighting.’

Leaving the two behind, I walked over to Tsumugi.

When she had been translucent, the energy visible through the Evil Eye had also been faint.

But now, it had grown beyond distinct and become enormous enough to fill the entire Forgotten Shrine and still have power left over.

Swish.

I handed Tsumugi the bracelet the Nameless Warrior had been wearing.

Tsumugi descended from the sky and accepted the bracelet.

“I owe you in many ways.”

Tsumugi smiled and continued speaking.

But for some reason, her words broke apart, and their meaning did not reach me.

Realizing this, Tsumugi shrugged.

“It seems this is something you cannot hear yet. To summarize it in one line, it means a day will come when I repay this grace. By the time that happens, you will naturally know how.”

It seemed to be related to the functions that had not yet been unlocked.

As Tsumugi said, I would find out when the time came, so there was no need to rush.

“I will look forward to it.”

“You may. It will certainly be of help.”

I leisurely looked around the shrine.

Was it because Ownership had transferred after its destruction?

The places damaged by the battle and the Area-Cleanup Sphere were rapidly being restored.

‘It is different from before.’

The dead forest had come back to life, and the stale, dry air had become clear.

Thanks to that, unlike its previous desolate and gloomy state, the place had changed into somewhere green and peaceful, perfect for enjoying tranquility.

It could be called a change brought about by the return of the forgotten guardian deity.

“I will come visit from time to time.”

I waved my hand lightly as I spoke.

It was not empty talk.

It seemed like the perfect place to bring camping gear when I needed healing.

I did not have any such gear right now, but still.

“That is something I am grateful to hear. I will probably want to chat sometimes too. See you again.”

After waving once more, I left Basement Floor 41 of the Labyrinth.

[Entering the Labyrinth’s Personal Lobby!]

---

How much time had passed since I entered the lobby?

This was another first.

The System had announced that settlement would begin, but it had remained silent ever since.

It seemed it was taking a while because there were so many floors to settle.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

I watched Poporu and Aris, who were still beating each other, for a moment before the settlement finally resumed.

[You have destroyed a total of 31 floors from Basement Floor 11 to Basement Floor 41 of the Labyrinth!]

[The 41st floor was a floor where a nightmare manifested in addition to Maximum Difficulty!]

[Player Ryu Jin leveled up!]

[Player Ryu Jin leveled up!]

[Player Ryu Jin leveled up!]

.

.

.

[Player Ryu Jin leveled up! Current level: 71 achieved!]

[Each stat rises greatly!]

[The Draw Ticket recharge time is shortened to 12 hours!]

Along with a tremendous level-up, my body became lighter all at once from the stat increases.

Unable to hold back any longer, I threw an uppercut into the air.

And a short distance away.

Poporu and Aris, standing side by side in rags, swallowed dryly.

“Aris-du. This was not the time for us to fight each other-du. My liege-du seems unwell-du.”

“Yeah. I guess the Skeleton Warrior really was strong. He is completely broken!”

“Do not say such things-du! Even if something in him has shattered and he can no longer make normal judgments or think properly, and even if we have to spoon-feed him porridge every day, he is still our liege-du!”

“You bastard, you are only pretending to be loyal, right? No matter how I look at it, he is not that bad, but you are practically praying for Boss to be broken.”

“That is a false accusation-du!”

Regardless of what the two demons were chattering about.

Ryu Jin was busy examining the rewards pouring down without pause.

[Upon reaching level 71, you acquire a new Class Unique Trait, “Trump Card”!]

[You can draw cards using the existing Unique Skill “Draw”! It uses “Labyrinth Energy” as a resource instead of a “Draw Ticket”!]

[The Labyrinth Energy consumed differs depending on the being engraved on the selected card!]

[As an additional reward for the nightmare manifestation, the Nameless Warrior of the Forgotten Shrine is engraved onto Trump Card!]

‘Damn.’

The joy of acquiring it lasted only a moment.

I was startled by Trump Card’s Labyrinth Energy cost.

It was an amount that would be more than enough to draw over twenty books from the Great Labyrinth Library.

The friend of Tsumugi and the Nameless Warrior who had borne the epithet Thousand-Blade Killer in life.

He really must have been a powerful being.

‘If he had not been in that ragged state, I really would have been killed instantly.’

I swept a hand over my chest and let out a sigh of relief.

I wondered if this, too, had been the goddess of luck’s care.

Ding!

[As an additional reward for the nightmare manifestation, you obtain 1,000 Mid-Grade Magic Stones!]

[As a reward for destroying 31 floors, you obtain 2,000 Low-Grade Magic Stones and 20,000 Lowest-Grade Magic Stones!]

I quietly clasped both hands together and closed my eyes.

‘Thank you, Goddess. I will keep living diligently from now on.’

I had no religion.

Even so, I could not help but look for the goddess.

That was how insane the rewards were.