Chapter 133 - Team Play (3)

The fourth floor, the Sky Tower, is structured in stages. Complete a trial, and a door opens; then you choose one of three stairways to reach the next stage.

There are four types of stairs in total: Courage, Wisdom, Patience, and Fate.

So far, we had never chosen the Stairs of Fate. For one thing, they appeared less than five percent as often as the other stairs... and they involved far too many variables. There was no need to choose them.

Until all three doors offered Fate.

“Hmm, can't we just pick any of them, nyah? Nothing happened when I tried before, nyah. Monsters showed up like usual, and that was it, nyah.”

Of course, Fate wasn't necessarily dangerous. As Misha had just said, most of the time, choosing Fate still led to a trial of Courage, Wisdom, or Patience.

However...

“I think you were simply lucky, Miss Misha. From what I read, the trial you receive is random.”

The problem was the twenty-percent chance of encountering a trial unlike those offered by the other three stairways. In the game, there were thirty-two types: being sent back to the first story, encountering a rank-five monster, suddenly getting locked inside a sealed room, and so on.

'They were hard as hell, the rewards were stingy, and plenty of them just outright screwed you over.'

So unless you were after certain special rewards, Fate was a trial you always skipped when you were here to hunt.

Well, the circumstances were a little different now.

I was sorting through those thoughts when someone spoke.

“Bjorn, why aren't you saying anything?”

My teammates, who had been discussing what to do next, asked for my opinion.

“We've agreed that we might as well pick any of them. It would be a shame to waste the time we have left, wouldn't it?”

I nodded in agreement.

“That's true.”

We were in the latter part of the fourth floor. At our current hunting speed, we could earn up to three hundred thousand Stones over four days—and that was per person, not before splitting it five ways. Since we had spent most of our time in the Labyrinth traveling, every day here made a substantial difference to our total earnings.

Yes, it was only natural for them to think that way.

'They have no way of knowing what this means.'

On the fourth floor, three Stairs of Fate never appeared at once. If they did, it meant only one thing: you had reached a special stage, granting access to three types of hidden field.

'... So it's a one-in-three chance.'

I studied the three doors, wondering which to choose. Then something occurred to me, and I chuckled.

“Misha.”

“Hmm, nyah?”

“Why don't you choose which one we enter?”

If I chose, even something that should work out was bound to go wrong.

* * *

Misha looked at the other teammates as if asking their opinions. All three merely shrugged, as though to say they trusted her choice.

“Ah, I don't like this kind of pressure, nyah...”

Eventually, Misha sighed, shot me a glare, and approached one of the open doors—the one directly opposite the stairs we had climbed.

“I'm warning you now, don't blame me if some weird monster suddenly shows up, nyah.”

The dwarf snickered at her attempt to cover herself.

“Hahaha! What's this? Trying to dodge responsibility?”

“... What? You crazy dwarf!”

“H-Hikurod, stop. You're putting Miss Misha in an awkward position...”

The Outcast Team's signature bickering routine, repeated three times a day. Just as usual, I sighed, glanced sideways, met Rotmiller's eyes, and shared an awkward smile.

“All right, everyone. Why don't we leave it there and get moving?”

As Rotmiller settled things down and took the lead, everyone stopped talking and fell into formation.

BANG!

The door closed, plunging us into darkness so complete we couldn't see an inch ahead. Everyone was briefly bewildered by an opening unlike any trial of Courage, Exploration, or Patience, but Rotmiller spoke quietly, offering the most important information in an unfamiliar situation.

“No enemies in the immediate vicinity.”

Whether there were enemies.

Having informed his companions of that first, Rotmiller added a warning.

“Stay still. There may be traps.”

Whatever else might be said, he was an excellent Scout. He must have determined what he needed to do in that brief instant.

Of course, the same went for the dwarf.

“Bjorn, I'll handle the rear. You focus on the front.”

His voice was serious, stripped of every trace of humor.

As their voices rang out almost simultaneously, the darkness lifted. Straight corridors branched off in every direction like a maze, with torches mounted at regular intervals lending the place an eerie atmosphere.

I quickly surveyed our surroundings and reached a conclusion.

「Your character has entered Larukaz' Maze.」

Larukaz' Maze. One of the Sky Tower's three hidden fields. One of its defining features was that even a Guide couldn't use their abilities here.

And...

「Field Effect - Guardian of Balance has been applied.」

「Entrants' stats will be adjusted evenly.」

The characters' combined stats were redistributed according to the number of people.

“Wh-what? What is this, nyah! Did I pick the wrong one, nyah? Rotmiller!”

Misha surveyed our surroundings and turned an anxious gaze on Rotmiller. But there was no way he could give her an answer.

“Sorry. I have no information on this phenomenon either.”

“N-Neither do I. I've never heard of a trial of Fate bringing explorers to a place like this.”

“Ahh, it isn't dangerous, is it, nyah...?”

Everyone fell silent at Misha's question. It was only natural. Ironic as it was, the unknown was what explorers feared most.

“...”

A chilling silence settled over us, but it didn't last long. They soon began talking urgently, as though that earlier hush had never happened.

“... Why don't we just stay here? There are only four days left. We can wait it out.”

“We still know nothing about this place. If it works like a rupture...”

“Then in four days, we'll be trapped here forever, nyah!!”

All kinds of speculation and anxiety poured out. Fair enough. On the fifth floor, where people barely shared any information, perhaps they could have expected it—but how could they have known they'd wind up somewhere like this on the fourth?

“Why don't we check our condition first?”

“Huh?”

“Misha, do you feel any different?”

Feigning ignorance, I steered them toward checking their condition first.

“Ah, now that you mention it... I do feel strangely lighter, maybe, nyah?”

Misha sounded uncertain.

“Hmm, I can't really tell. Are you imagining it?”

Perhaps his stats were right at the party's average, because the dwarf felt no change—unlike Rotmiller and Dwalki.

“It can't be your imagination. There's no mistaking this much energy coursing through my body.”

“I-I feel it too. My mana has increased considerably. I think I could even manage rank-six spells like this. What on earth is happening...?”

What did he mean, what was happening? It had all been drained out of my muscles. I might have only three Essences, but every one of them had ridiculously high raw stats.

Fucking communism.

'Just how much muscle have I lost...?'

I rested my suddenly much heavier mace on the floor to take some of its weight off me. Misha was the first to notice.

“Bjorn? Are you sick, nyah?”

“My body feels strange. I can't seem to muster any strength.”

“What?”

As Misha approached me with concern, Rotmiller offered a theory.

“There must be some condition. This isn't simply a place where everyone becomes stronger.”

“A condition? What condition makes me weaker and you stronger? This isn't fair!”

I slipped in a subtle hint under the guise of questioning him. As expected, Rotmiller came up with a fairly plausible hypothesis.

Actually, was it even fair to call it a hypothesis at this point?

“Perhaps our stats have been mixed together...”

“Huh? What do you mean, nyah?”

“I'm not certain yet. I'll explain once I've sorted it out.”

Well, it seemed he would explain the situation to the others without me needing to step in. I moved on to the next matter. We didn't have time to keep standing around chatting.

“Then what do we do now?”

“What do you think, Bjorn?”

“I think we should explore this place and find a way out.”

“Why?”

I answered without a moment's hesitation.

“If no one knows about this place, doesn't that mean the rewards will be that much greater?”

“A thoroughly explorer-like perspective.”

I squared my shoulders proudly at Rotmiller's remark. Dress it up however you liked, wasn't an explorer's ultimate goal money?

And it had certainly motivated them.

“True, we might be trapped here in four days, so just sitting around isn't much of an option, nyah...?”

“Hahaha! We're explorers, aren't we? We should explore our surroundings, even if we take it slowly.”

A small spark of enthusiasm lit the eyes of the three who had been so anxious and uneasy. Of course, Dwalki's words were the deciding factor.

“Ah, ah! I just had a thought. Perhaps this is something the last Great Sage arranged for us!”

“What? You mean an arrangement left by Gabrilius, nyah?”

“Indeed... that does seem possible. Three Stairs of Fate appeared at once, and then there's this bizarre phenomenon.”

An arrangement left by Gabrilius. Simply put, it was what the people here called what I referred to as a “hidden piece.”

The dwarf cried out, brimming with ambition.

“That's right! We entered from the fourth floor, after all. It won't throw some absurd monster at us!”

With four days remaining until the Labyrinth closed, the Outcast Team's final exploration began.

* * *

Larukaz' Maze. It wasn't the hidden field I'd most wanted when I entrusted the choice to Misha. Sure, it offered the best final reward of the three, but...

'Clearing it in four days would still be difficult.'

Being a maze, the field took a long time to navigate. Finding the boss was one thing, but defeating it with our strength required extensive groundwork.

So I decided not to push it. Contrary to their fears, this wasn't like a rupture, where failing to clear it in time left you trapped... and even without clearing it, there were some pretty enticing rewards scattered throughout the maze.

“Let's get going, then.”

We assumed our predetermined formation and ventured into the maze in earnest.

“Looks like we can keep moving.”

I took the lead, with Rotmiller following close behind and checking for traps. Oh, and the dwarf brought up the rear. Monsters didn't only come from the front here.

“Don't worry, Miss Misha. I'll stay beside you and keep you safe.”

“What are you talking about, nyah? I'm the one who needs to protect you, nyah.”

“Hehe, then let's protect each other.”

“... What are you even saying, nyah?”

Anyway, given the nature of this place, our team's two main damage dealers stayed in the middle. Not only was it the safest position, it also let them support either the front or rear as needed.

[BLEAT, BLEAAAT, BLEAT!]

Had it been about three minutes since we started exploring in earnest? A monster appeared from a branching passage.

It was Larukaz' Maze's first reward.

“I've never seen that monster before. Be careful, Bjorn.”

A monster we had never encountered before. That alone made it as welcome as rain. In [Dungeon and Stone], even killing every type of monster on the fourth floor and below left you just short of level five.

Wasn't that a contradiction? You needed five rank-six or rank-seven Essences to hunt safely on the fifth floor, but you couldn't reach level five without going there.

'This is why the game never gets any newbies.'

Oh, did anyone who reached the fifth floor even count as a newbie?

Dismissing the pointless question, I gripped my shield with both hands. It felt strange not having my mace, but with my current Strength, it was too heavy to swing one-handed, so I'd put it in my backpack. I'd decided it was better to leave the damage to the damage dealers.

[BLEAAAT!!!]

The monster, which had been hesitating after spotting us from a distance, let out a hideous cry and charged me. At the same time, Dwalki shouted.

“Ah, I read about it in a book! It's a Vykundurth!”

The rank-six monster Vykundurth. Picture a mountain goat walking on two legs, and you've more or less got it. Including its impressive horns, it stood about two and a half meters tall. Its weapon, incidentally, was an enormous halberd clutched in both hands.

CRASH!

The halberd slammed down on my shield, sending its tremendous weight through my entire body. My first thought was that I'd been right to give up the mace. In my current state, I doubted I could have withstood that with one hand.

'Fuck.'

Was it because I'd shared my precious Physical stats with my companions? It felt like I was fighting a rank-five monster rather than a rank-six one.

Not that the fight itself was difficult.

「Leor Wuerv Dwalki has cast the rank-eight support spell [Freeze Intensify].」

「Leor Wuerv Dwalki has cast the rank-eight attack spell [Ice Spear].」

While I blocked the goat-head's attacks, Dwalki finished casting a spell specialized for single-target damage.

“Bjorn!”

He called my name, and I immediately dodged sideways, following our practiced coordination.

Up to that point, it was business as usual.

But what the hell was this?

WHOOSH!

Even the size of the Ice Spear rushing past me was different. The wind it whipped up chilled my skin. Naturally, the result was different from usual too.

BOOOOM!!

The impact sounded more like a Fireball striking home than an Ice Spear.

“Huh?”

Misha, who had been waiting for her opening to follow up, let out a deflated sound.

Understandably so. The Vykundurth, a bona fide rank-six monster, was already turning into light and disappearing.

「You have defeated Vykundurth. EXP +4」

Well, no wonder my Physical stats had dropped so strangely far. They'd all been converted into his mana.

“That was my spell...?”

Watching Dwalki murmur to himself, I realized something. Here, he was no longer a weak link.

Which meant...

'Now that changes things.'

It might not be a bad idea to aim for a full clear.