Survive the labyrinth with EX-grade traits

I closed my eyes.

‘Are you all holding on tightly?’

At this moment, we were being transferred somewhere by an unprecedented force.

It was as if we were being sucked into a giant vacuum cleaner, helplessly.

No matter how hard I tried to struggle, my body wouldn’t listen.

All I could do was close my eyes and review in my mind what I should do when this moment was over.

‘Will we be sent back to where the barrier was? Or will we be randomly teleported somewhere else?’

Ah⋯ My consciousness is getting dimmer.

Others don’t seem to feel anything special, whether it’s a portal or magic, after the first few times.

I don’t know why I keep feeling something strange.

It’s as if my body is being stretched, or I’m being carried away somewhere like a waterslide.

It feels like a giant has picked me up and thrown me.

Now, I’m being sucked in like dust?

‘Is it simply because I’m from Earth? I don’t know.’

In fact, I may have a talent for space, so I might be feeling it more subtly than others.

Haha. Thinking of it this way makes me feel a bit more comfortable.

-Whoosh

.

.

.

“Uck!”

I suddenly came to my senses.

Usually, I would wake up lying down and open my eyes wide.

This time was different. Why was I standing?

‘First, my body is fine. My equipment and backpack are also intact. What about the others?’

I looked around to find my companions.

“Kie?”

“⋯?”

The three of them were nowhere to be seen, but there was a goblin right next to me.

Moreover, this guy had two daggers.

One in each hand. Just like a goblin assassin.

‘Like a goblin assassin… That’s not right. Anyone can see that’s what it is, right?’

With twin daggers and a nimble body, as well as eyes filled with malice. That’s right.

“Keruk.”

Clang!

As the stealth was completely released, I easily blocked the dagger that was aiming for my back.

“Ke, Keh!”

The goblin assassin was startled by the failed attack and hesitated.

No. It wasn’t hesitation, but rather a feint to prepare for the next attack.

A simple trick.

The flashing dagger tried to attack from below, aiming for the blind spot.

Unfortunately for him, everything was visible to my eyes.

-Swoosh!

I slightly turned my waist and easily avoided the attack.

As the follow-up attack failed, the goblin turned its back and tried to escape.

“Kek, Ker.”

Crunch.

The pure white blade easily sliced through the goblin’s flesh and even its spine, splitting it like tofu.

The sharpness of the blade is so good? It’s different from other weapons.

Clap, clap!

I unsummoned the sword and slapped both cheeks.

‘Now my body feels like mine. It’s not like waking up from a dream, but why do I feel so groggy?’

[Chaos asks if you’re finally coming to your senses.]

Since I didn’t feel any presence around me, I just mumbled to myself so that Chaos could hear me.

“Chaos, you must have noticed it too, right? I felt like I just woke up, and my head felt strange for a moment.”

[Chaos adds that your eyes were also half-closed.]

“Oh, come on. What is this situation?”

[Chaos apologizes for not knowing why you were the only one who fell, even though it’s understandable that you fell to a different place when the space involving multiple transcendents collapsed.]

Even so, the next layer…

4th Floor.

This is the layer where various variant goblins appear, and where our party’s previous journey ended.

Compared to the previous layer, variant goblins like goblin assassins, goblin gladiators, and goblin suicide bombers appear additionally.

Thanks to this difference, I could immediately recognize that it was the next layer when I saw the goblin assassin I just caught.

By the way, in the book, warriors and archers are in English, and gladiators and suicide bombers are in Chinese.

In other departments, there are sometimes words with nuances like Latin or German, but I don’t know why.

‘⋯I think it’s just that one language is translating the language of this world as it pleases.’

Anyway, magic and trait names are all different. It’s just tiring to dig deeper.

Anyway, what’s important now is not the names of the monsters, but the fact that I’m on the 4th floor of the Great Labyrinth and…

I looked around, but my companions were nowhere to be seen.

After recovering the ears and crude daggers from the goblin assassin’s corpse, I decided to move since it had been quite some time and they still hadn’t appeared.

‘Yeriel, can you hear me? Please answer if you can!’

⋯Ftzz.

It seems that in-ear communication is impossible because the distance is too far.

Sizzle.

Similarly, talking to Adelai was meaningless.

‘Maybe they fell at different times, so I should wait a little longer.’

I sat down in a flat area.

30 minutes passed, and then an hour.

“⋯.”

I checked my wristwatch and confirmed that exactly three hours had passed, and I judged that waiting any longer was meaningless.

I stood up and stretched.

[Chaos asks if you’re going to move now.]

“Yes, I have to. I can’t stay here any longer.”

There was one thing I was worried about, the worst-case scenario.

‘What if I was the only one who fell to the 4th floor because something went wrong? What if my companions are looking for me on the 3rd floor?’

“Phew…”

Anyway, once you go up a layer, there’s no way to go back. If there is, I don’t know how to find it right now.

I just have to believe that we all fell together.

I slowly climbed up a tall tree that stretched out in front of me.

All around me were mountains, grass, and trees.

“Shit.”

And right next to it was a large village.

Damn it. If we had all fallen together, we could have gone straight to the 5th floor, right?

‘Damn it, Labyrinth. Please stop fucking with me. Please!’

I was so frustrated that I thought I might have missed the bad luck activation message.

I stabilized my body on a thick branch, then took out a compass and map from my backpack.

Now, the village I’m located in is near the northern edge, and there are large villages with portals at the end of each direction.

If the three of them, who are not with me, fell somewhere on the 4th floor, what would they decide to do?

‘They would probably either look for me or try to take the escape portal.’

Veronica is an adventurer who has already been to the mid-layer, and she has a lot of experience exploring the labyrinth with a fixed party.

If she’s in charge, she can persuade them to make the right decision even if they act emotionally.

Veronica has an extra backpack, and since there’s an empty spot in the party, they’ll definitely try to return.

“Let’s go. There’s no other way but to run like crazy.”

The goal is to run as much as possible without resting, and to visit the portals in the east, west, and south in order.

While running, I’ll keep sending in-ear messages, and when they get closer, they’ll respond.

My stats, including mana, as well as strength and agility, are at least four to five levels higher than theirs.

If I run as much as possible without resting or sleeping, I can catch up with them no matter where they are.

Bang!

Holding a compass in one hand, I started running while constantly infusing mana.

.

.

.

“Ako!”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. This time, I failed to land properly. But where is this place? Is it not the place with the barrier and the stone monument?”

“Everyone, keep your voices down. Something’s strange.”

Veronica whispered, asking everyone to be quiet.

“It’s definitely different from the 3rd floor.”

“Huh?”

“From the 5th floor onwards, the area is divided again, so this is probably the 4th floor. We skipped a layer.”

Lumia added with a stiff face.

“Not only that, but I can’t see Ahren anywhere.”

“Huh? No, really? He’s not the type to wander around without saying anything.”

“Veronica. Do you know anything about this situation? Do you have any guesses?”

“I also arrived here like you guys. So, I’ll have to find out from now on.”

-Swish.

Veronica swept away the bushes around her and said.

“Except for where we landed, there’s no sign of trampled grass or trampled weeds. There are no traces of monsters or traps, so it’s likely that this is the heart of the forest.”

“Yeriel, you have that earring. Ahren and you share it, so you can communicate through it. Try it.”

“Huh, right!”

Yeriel closed her eyes and concentrated for a few seconds.

Her face turned pale, and her eyes twitched.

“Ah, it’s not working? That means the distance is very far.”

Tears began to flow from Yeriel’s eyes.

“⋯What should I do now? Huh. Huh.”

She had never felt so anxious since her first labyrinth expedition.

Even when she was separated from the others by the layer boss, she was able to wait calmly because she could hear their voices through in-ear communication.

Not to mention, she was able to get through the trial, which she was supposed to overcome on her own, with the support of Ahren, a reliable pillar.

As for the circus, well, it’s an exception since I heard about it later.

For a moment, I felt like I had lost someone’s hand and become a lost child in this dangerous labyrinth.

Not only did Ahren fall separately, but I couldn’t even locate him.

The world seemed to be shaking, and the ground beneath my feet felt like it was collapsing.

Tap.

Squeak.

Lumia pulled her cheek.

“Huh?”

“Snap out of it. If this doesn’t work, I’ll slap you next time.”

Squeak.

“Ouch! Stop stretching it!”

“Both of you, stop. I’ve finally come up with an answer, so listen carefully.”

Veronica patted Lumia’s reddened cheeks.

“Did you think of a way to find Ahren?”

“No. That’s impossible. Instead, it would be better to take the portal and escape. I’ll explain it once, so listen carefully.”

Lumia nodded her head, and Yerie, who was told to listen, listened with a sullen expression.

Priest, black mage, and sword vanguard.

The combination is fine, but the absence of an attacker is a big problem, and most of the supplies are with the other party.

I can’t locate his position, but…

At least he wouldn’t climb a layer alone, so he’ll probably try to escape after wandering around and getting tired.

You know how skilled he is. He’ll definitely reach the portal on his own.

So, let’s also move with the goal of escaping, Veronica explained, taking the time to explain.

“But, what if we miss each other? Ahren’s personality would make him search for us for days.”

“If we had enough food, we might have stayed in one place and waited for him to find us. That’s what he would do.”

Veronica pointed to Yerie’s earring.

“The earring will react when you get closer, so. Now, I only have the backpack I’m carrying, nothing else. Do you understand?”

Tap, tap.

She opened her backpack.

“Do you see? If we ration this, it won’t last four days.”

“⋯In the end, you’re saying that we should escape, abandoning Ahren.”

Lumia blurted out, and Veronica got angry.

“Do you think I’m trying to act cool or indifferent?”

“⋯.”

“I also want to search for him, even if it means eating monster meat or starving to death. But Ahren wouldn’t want that!”

“I’m sorry. I got too emotional. It was a slip of the tongue.”

“Huff⋯ I’m sorry for raising my voice too. I’ve never been like this since I got the trait.”

In addition to the extra compass and map, there was food.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a problem to find the way to the nearby village.

“So, everyone understands, right? Let’s start moving.”

Veronica spoke quietly.

“Lumia, it would be good to learn common magic for the next exploration. Like the compass of fate or party bond.”

“I’m, precisely a fundamental witch who uses unique magic, so I can’t even enter the magic tower.

“No. You can enter through my connections with Ahren. Don’t worry, and just go. Didn’t you say that your curse would be solved?”

“⋯Thank you.”

“What a strange thing to happen. We’re only on the 4th floor, and we’re already separated. What a strange labyrinth.”

Veronica sighed, and they started moving again.