Chapter 24: Inside the Labyrinth (2)
Silence blanketed the Labyrinth, so deep it seemed the world itself had stopped breathing.
“Haa… u-ugh…!”
A man, drenched in sweat, stood alone, frantically scanning his surroundings.
His crouched frame, disproportionate to his own body size; his erratic breathing; the sickly pale hue of his face—
All signs of someone consumed by fear.
“C-Calm down… I’m fine. I’m safe…”
He whispered as if trying to reassure himself, desperate to cling to the illusion of safety.
Then, a droplet of water from a stalactite above plopped onto the bridge of his nose.
Plip!
“GYAAAGH!”
The tiniest touch sent him reeling in terror, stumbling backward and landing hard on his rear.
That… was a fatal mistake.
“Ah, no…”
Before he could scramble to his feet—
A thing appeared behind him, its maw opening impossibly wide.
It was grotesque.
Its entire body was translucent and pale, a sickly bluish tint resembling a corpse’s skin.
It had no legs to walk with, no eyes or nose—
But perhaps to compensate, it had six arms—and an enormous, gaping mouth.
The monster licked its lips hungrily, looming over the fallen man.
“AAAAAAAHH!”
He knew—if he stayed, he would die. Driven by instinct, the man drew his weapon.
With a shout to summon what little courage he had, he slashed.
“A… huh?”
Swoosh.
His blade passed straight through the monster.
Clatter.
As the blade dropped from his limp fingers, the man crumpled, legs giving out beneath him.
“P-Please, don’t—!”
As his scream rang out, the monster let out a sound that resembled laughter.
Not quite a cry, not quite a growl… no, it was a gleeful roar.
<Bon appétit~>
CHOMP!
With one bite, the man’s upper half disappeared.
Another, and his lower body was gone.
Crunch, crunch. Like chewing through crispy crackers—the sound echoed gruesomely.
<Delicious.>
With its meal complete, the monster slithered away without a sound.
It was a Monster—a creature that had supposedly gone extinct thousands of years ago.
Not far from that grisly scene, hidden in the shadows, were Gale and two others.
“Haa… scared me half to death. That thing… it’s really gone, right?”
“By the gods of Kutchalnu… Timur, I’ve never seen such a bizarre creature in my life!”
“That was a monster, all right. It’s clear now. After all, monsters emerged before the monstrous beasts wiped them out, so… it makes sense there’d be some similarities.”
The youngest participant, Abito Yully.
And Timur the Crusher.
Both were known as top Hunter candidates.
“This is bad… those things have taken over the lake.”
“Hm.”
“We’ll need to come up with a way to drive them out.”
Their encounter had happened not long before—
Right after Gale had landed in the Labyrinth and heard the proctor’s broadcast:
[Ah, I almost forgot to mention—an item will be delivered to each of you shortly.]
[Be ready to catch it!]
FWOOOSH!
Right then, something materialized in front of Gale.
“…A gun?”
Well, something like a gun. It looked clunky—like a toy or water pistol.
[The theme may be survival, but this is still a combat assessment. You’ll be ranked based on performance.]
[That item I gave you will serve as the core tool for measuring it.]
Whoosh…
The glowing object floated straight into Gale’s hand.
“Whoa.”
Instead of bullets, the chamber was filled with a swirling yellow liquid.
[It’s simple. Subdue your opponent, then shoot them with the gun. That’s it.]
[The special magic-infused liquid inside will transmit battle data to the proctors on the surface.]
[Your rankings will be determined from this data. The more you fight and win, the better your score!]
“So that’s how it is…”
Gale stared at the gun in his hand, expression unreadable.
So it wasn’t just survival—competition between examinees mattered too.
[Well, I think that’s all the announcements. Once again—good luck out there, everyone!]
Once the proctor’s voice vanished, Gale moved immediately.
Thanks to the glowing Sky-Glow Fish following him, the area around him was lit like daytime.
“Three days—72 hours to survive. Which means…”
A mercenary’s instinct kicked in instantly.
“First thing I need… is water.”
You could go without food for three days, but not without water.
He checked the leather pouch tied to his belt.
“Lucky I wear this out of habit.”
Inside was a handful of grain and some dried jerky.
Not much, but still helpful. The real prize was the pouch itself—
Made from elder-hide, perfect for carrying and storing water.
“This is still an exam. Even if it mimics real combat, it’s not the real thing.”
To demand survival from examinees with no prep, in a completely unfamiliar environment, would be excessive.
“They must’ve hidden food and water around the maze—or included edible plants somewhere.”
Gale began searching in earnest. He ran his hand along the walls as he walked.
All he could see were endless stretches of rock—but that might be where the clues lay.
“I am kind of a dungeon expert, after all!”
As a solo mercenary, Gale had taken many exploration commissions.
Unlike large guilds, he couldn’t afford to be picky with jobs—he had to accept everything, traps and all.
“If this labyrinth has hints, they’d likely be placed at eye level—within an average human’s line of sight.”
And he was experienced in these things.
“Whoa…”
The deeper he explored, the more impressed he became.
“Massive rock walls… under this island?”
The Labyrinth beneath Mediale was constructed from towering stone walls.
It resembled the jagged cliffs of the Caphras Mountains or the vertical drops of the Nevera Valley.
“How did an ancient civilization build something like this with primitive tools?”
The stone walls were smooth and polished, as if sculpted with immense care.
Tap tap!
He rapped it with some force—it rang like iron.
“Damn, that’s tough. You’d need monstrous strength to even scratch this.”
Gale couldn’t help but admire it.
This whole Labyrinth was carved through such stone—twisting corridors, turns, and secret paths.
“Actually… something’s weird.”
He paused.
“…Doesn’t it feel like it was built to keep something inside?”
That unsettling thought triggered a chilling realization.
“…And why didn’t the Hunter Association publicly announce the discovery of ancient ruins beneath Mediale?”
In LAMPAS, history and archaeology were more actively studied than even magic or magitech.
Because humanity had no surviving record from before the monsters emerged.
“If they’d released this info, the entire academic world would’ve exploded.”
History could be the key to understanding—and possibly ending—the era of monstrous beasts.
Researchers were desperate to fill in the blanks of the past.
“And Mediale’s already tightly controlled—letting verified scholars in wouldn’t have caused problems. So then…”
Gale’s eyes widened.
“…Was there a reason to keep it hidden? Something they didn’t want historians to know?”
And then it hit him—
The most infamous legend tied to Labyrinths in LAMPAS.
“A certain ancient civilization… used to trap monsters in mazes, right? And offered humans as sacrificial tributes.”
Wait a minute.
“…No way?”
He shivered uncontrollably at the thought.
“C-Come on. No way it’s that, right?!”
Pale as a ghost, he tried to brush off the fear, striding forward quickly—
Until he suddenly stopped.
“Ah.”
Slide.
One of the bricks he touched felt different.
“There’s a lion crest here. Doesn’t seem like a trap…”
He ran his hand across the stone—then pressed it firmly.
GRRRRRNK!
The wall pushed inward, revealing a hidden passage.
“Oh-ho?”
Gale grinned.
“Bingo.”
But the moment he stepped inside—
THUD!
The door slammed shut behind him.
“Wha—? Did I just get locked in?!”
He panicked—but, ironically, that was his lucky break.
Because Gale, unlucky in everyday life, had a strange quirk—he was often lucky in deadly situations.
Why?
<Who’s there?>
<I heard something!>
<It’s an intruder!>
The instant Gale vanished, a swarm of translucent, ghost-like monsters flooded the corridor.
They hovered where he had just stood, writhing and twitching.
“Huh. Guess the mechanism’s busted? Well, it is ancient.”
Unaware of the danger he’d narrowly avoided, Gale turned back.
“Better I take the lead before anyone else stumbles on this. Let’s move!”
He walked on, guided by the glow of his Sky-Glow Fish.
Before long, he arrived at a vast open cavern.
And just as he’d hoped—
A water source. A massive underground lake.
“Water!”
The lake had formed from countless droplets dripping from stalactites above.
Gale ran toward it, grinning—only to stop dead in his tracks.
“…Well, well. Looks like I’m not the first one here.”
His hand slipped beneath his cloak, reaching for his weapon.
A cold, solid grip met his fingers.
Clack.
“Whoever’s hiding—come out. I already know you’re there.”
His eyes glinted coldly as he stared into the shadows.