In a room with a group of goblins, the leading goblin, whose throat was torn with the halberd, was still trying to approach Walm while spewing blood. It was like a drowning man grabbing at a straw. What a futile struggle.
The remaining two also rushed into Walm. They all sure had a lot of guts. Those he met outside the labyrinth weren’t like that.
Releasing the stance, Walm swung his arms downwards and moved his upper body as he pulled his legs back. The goblin’s arms embraced the space Walm was in just a moment ago. Twisting his hips, he smashed the side of the goblin’s head with the bottom part of his halberd.
As the feeling of shattering the bones transmitted, Walm glanced at the goblin that was rolling backward and not even moving, and immediately moved his attention to the remaining two goblins.
Walm swung up the halberd from the lower left as if scooping up. One of the goblins was cut in half from its waist to its shoulders and fell helplessly to the ground.
The last goblin swung a club around, but it didn’t even graze Walm, who used the fresh corpse as a shield. He then slammed the head with his halberd, resulting in sending the head to the ground.
“To get such a welcome as soon as at the first room, you’re so enthusiastic about doing your job huh? What a troublesome fella.”
Walm descended to the fifth floor and received an enthusiastic reception in the first small room. After dancing with three goblins, he looked down the passages. There were three forks, but he didn’t know which one to take yet. It wasn’t that he lost any interest to explore. There were just too many. Too many footprints, undigested flesh, and blood. Also, voices were echoing everywhere.
“This floor, must be the low-rank hunting ground.”
Many of the commoners who dived into the labyrinth and those who were new to the dungeon were probably staying on this 5th floor to earn daily money. In that case, far from just umami, sweet, bitter, and unpleasant taste, there would be various kinds of flavors to taste starting from this floor. There was no doubt that monsters other than goblins, who were regarded as having a worse taste than vomit, would come out and perhaps even drop something useful.
For the time being, Walm tried to go to the quietest passage, but not long after, he picked up footsteps among the noise. Focusing on the further front, Walm grasped the true identity of the thing waiting in the small room and said its name.
“Orc?”
On top of having a pig’s face, it was a monster with a swollen belly, and limbs that matched the height of a human. Growling at Walm who came into the room, the orc hid its vital points with a club as moving toward him. Walm lowered his back and waited. It seemed that the orc’s aim was to strike him with a club and made use of the weight difference.
Walm, who changed his stance from a thrust to a slam, took a small step forward and slammed the halberd as soon as the orc reached the range. It was a blow without 《Strike》, but still cut off the orc’s upper arm that was raised to protect itself, and cut a part of its head. The body, which had lost control, slid in following the inertia.
Then, Walm carefully observed the corpse that sat neatly at his feet. Other than devastating hostility, they were no different from any normal orcs he saw outside. He learned from his subordinates and fellow countrymen in the past that orc meat was delicious to eat, but he never actually tried it, more so, trying to dismantle it. Never.
Roughly thinking about the procedure, it should be okay to just drain the blood and discard the internal organs. That much, should be able to let the meat be eaten.
Walm hesitated whether to dismantle it or not, but remembered that his purpose was to treat his eyes. In order to find the rumored cure, it was necessary to go deep into the depths, and even to maintain the status quo, a large amount of money was required. The slower he proceeded, the more money he would need. Also, working hard to dismantle the orcs on the lower floors, such a struggle would only slow him down. He might not make it in time.
So, Walm tried to leave the room, leaving the corpse behind. But as soon as he stepped forward, he was stopped by a voice from the back. It was a party that had come to this small room during the battle with the orc. He ignored them, thinking perhaps they were waiting until the battle was over, but he couldn’t help but react when he was stopped.
“You’re not going to dismantle it? It’ll be swallowed by the labyrinth, you know?”
Looking at the members, Walm realized that it was that party with the greenhorn adventurer. Since when he passed them? He didn’t know.
“Yeah, I don’t need it now”
“Then, can I have it?”
An adventurer holding a black bone asked Walm. What a straightforward attitude.
“You, as always huh…”
“Shut your mouth, can’t you? You idiot.”
It probably wasn’t the consensus of the party. The Bone Greenhorn got his shins kicked, nudged, and his feet stepped on. Truly, a wonderful collaboration. Even if they were doing it on purpose, it was much funnier than a story from a drunkard in the tavern.
Walm shook off the blood clinging to his halberd and faced them properly.
“We must’ve bothered you, right? We’re sorry.”
“Oi, you too, apologize quickly.”
“I’m sorry, I was tempted by a demon, I couldn’t control myself, please forgive me.”
Walm lifted the corners of his mouth slightly at the people who stepped back as they apologize.
“You can have it. Do whatever you want.”
Perhaps the words that Walm muttered were so surprising that they all stiffened with a look of utter amazement.
“Oh, ah, umm, thank you very much.”
An adventurer who seemed to be the leader, who returned to reality faster than others, thanked Walm.
“Sure”
After Walm left the room, the party began dismantling the orc. Glancing behind, he saw the spear bearer and sword bearer staring at each passage.
They’re good at using numbers…
Walm was convinced that it was a good move of using party members. Even though he was going to challenge the labyrinth every day from now on, he had relaxed on day one.
Not good. I must be more vigilant…
Walm thought that if he couldn’t keep as vigilant as before, he could have his flesh and soul taken away in the labyrinth. So, he raised his alertness even more and went through the passage.
After that, after crossing paths with several parties and fighting less than ten battles with monsters, Walm arrived at a strange large square. In a space where even 100 people could keep their distance, many people were sitting down and resting. It must be what they called the ’transfer room’, which was said to exist every five floors, also known as the ‘safe room’.
A similar passage extended on the opposite of the one which Walm passed.
Must be leading to the stairs to go down deeper…
Looking around the safe room, Walm found a door and there was no one coming out of it. He proceeded to open the door to confirm.
The black hole that Walm jumped into on the ground was enshrined in the center. It seemed to be the hole that would send anyone back to the surface.
In addition to the receptionist woman’s suggestion, he had finished his preliminary inspection of the labyrinth. He was reluctant to dive into the black hole again, but there was no reason to stay.
While letting out a small sigh, Walm jumped into the hole and entrusted himself to the jet-black.
Like before, the darkened field of vision cleared without long. But this time, a guard welcomed Walm. He had returned to the surface. Passing the guard, he climbed up the slope and continued down the corridor. He was then lined with several forked roads and rooms with unknown uses, but Walm kept walking straight without taking any detours.
The crowd of people gradually increased, and finally, Walm reached the waiting area. He immediately went to her receptionist who gave her advice.
“So, it seems you are able to return safely. Welcome back.”
The receptionist woman welcomed Walm with a carefree smile.
“Thanks to you. Your advice, was very helpful.”
“Thank you for being modest, but it must have sounded like an annoying nag.”
“My knowledge about labyrinths is scarce. I’m honestly grateful.”
“Fufu, to hear you say that, it makes me happy.”
After returning the tally and receiving the security deposit, Walm left the labyrinth. He had deepened his knowledge of the labyrinth and had completed his preliminary inspection. The rest was just buying supplies for the next dive.
By the time the sun sets, Walm finished buying the necessary supplies and found a cheap inn favored by novice adventurers to rest.
The room was separated by an ultra-thin partition board, and it was a room where one adult could put luggage and lie down. It was no exaggeration to say that it had only depth but not wide. The snoring of neighbors and the laughter of drunken adventurers leaked through the cracks in the partition.
Walm closed his eyelids to soothe his aching eyes. He finally got here, but hadn’t got what he wanted. This, was only the start after all. From now on, he must dive through the black hole, and go deeper and deeper. The depth where countless challengers were defeated and dreaming to reach and conquer in order to gain fame. There, might lay his aim. Both physically and mentally must be prepared, neither being weak nor being spoiled would be allowed.
Suppressing his excited self, whether his mind and body wanted it or not, Walm slowly forced his consciousness to be swallowed by the darkness.
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