Survive the labyrinth with EX-grade traits

The place where I regained consciousness was near the northern edge.

‘Since the connection of the earring is not working, it’s best to exclude this side for now.’

If they fell in the center and then chose the north by bad luck, it’s unlikely that they would be heading towards the village near me.

It was best to give up on the idea of meeting them by chance.

Assuming that the others are heading towards the village near me…

I needed to move at least four to five times faster than them and check the villages in each direction first.

‘I can’t search the entire 4th floor. That would take at least a week.’

In the end, I had to come up with the best route based on the elements I possessed.

East, west, south, and north.

Instead of overthinking, I decided to start running and sweep the area in a rectangular shape, starting from the north to the east, then south, and finally west.

In that order: north, east, south, and west.

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1st Day.

I constantly infused mana into my legs and feet, which seemed to have an endless supply of mana.

Bang!

The invisible mana spread beneath my feet, increasing the speed of my running.

Strength enhancement, fatigue reduction, and propulsion correction.

While others had to use their traits, techniques, magic, or equipment when needed, I had an unlimited supply of mana that I could use without restriction.

‘If using mana didn’t require any special operation or concentration, I would have been flying around instead of running like this.’

Damn. I wished I had a movement skill like Isaac’s Zephyr.

Whether I complained or not, the fact that I was running didn’t change.

The surrounding scenery passed by in an instant.

[Chaos is worried that running like this might cause loss of stamina even faster.]

‘I’ll do it carefully, so don’t worry.’

There was only one problem: the noise that echoed with each step.

As I infused mana into my feet and took strong steps, noise was inevitably created.

Since it was in a quiet forest, the noise seemed particularly loud, naturally attracting the attention of everything around.

“Kishaat!!”

A group of goblins blocked my path as I was running.

‘Of course. Why haven’t I encountered any monsters while running straight through the forest?’

I didn’t even have time to say a word or swing my sword.

“Kerak!”

A hobgoblin warrior, with darker skin and a larger body than the others, took the lead and swung his sword.

Pffft!!!

“Huh.”

I deflected the sword by presenting my shoulder pad and then charged forward.

Perhaps because I had been running non-stop, the hobgoblin was thrown like a truck-hit deer when it collided with my shoulder tackle.

The hobgoblin, foaming at the mouth after hitting a tree, was dead.

“Kyaaaah!”

Mistaking the sacrifice of the leader for a successful stop, several variant goblins charged at me with a ripping scream.

Their attacks were so obvious that I didn’t even need to rely on Chaos’ eye.

Whoosh. Huh.

I switched to a greatsword and spun my body like a windmill.

Puhwaak!!!

I just paid attention to the attacks aimed at my face and pushed forward.

‘How have I lived so far? If it weren’t for trials or high-level monsters, I would have graduated from the 4th floor long ago.’

Efugio. Grillops. Full Serpent.

If it weren’t for them, I would have graduated from the 4th floor long ago.

Peeing─ Ting!

“Kie?”

A goblin archer in the back of the group looked startled.

The arrow aimed precisely at my heart, but… well.

A short goblin, not even a hobgoblin, couldn’t possibly scratch my armor.

After slaughtering the dozen or so goblins that charged at me, only two archers and a particularly small individual remained.

⋯Wait a minute.

A variant with a head-sized difference?

It’s a suicide bomber!

As the variant’s eyes flashed, I hit it with my sword like a baseball bat.

In the blink of an eye, the red-faced goblin exploded, colliding with the remaining two archers.

Baaang!!!

The explosion and scattering flesh.

The crazy variant’s suicide bombing instantly turned its companions into bone fragments.

‘So that’s the suicide bomber. It’s a bit creepy to see it in person.’

A goblin suicide bomber, which explodes a few seconds after receiving a strong attack or being in danger, causing widespread explosion damage.

Its power was so terrifying that it was no wonder the goblin-type monsters were marked with a warning sign.

“Hoo.”

Ignorance is dangerous.

I once again remembered the phrase from the book after this battle.

[Chaos praises you for growing so much compared to when you first fought naked in the labyrinth.]

“Huh. That’s true, but… I still have a long way to go.”

I didn’t even have time to collect the spoils.

Leaving behind the miserable corpses, I turned my back.

‘I’m worried about Lumia, who is in constant pain, and El, who keeps sleeping. I need to move faster.’

Bang!

I started moving forward, clearing away any trees or monsters in my path.

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“Ugh. Ahh.”

Lumia suddenly grabbed her head while walking.

“Lumia! Are you in pain? Do you need healing?”

“No. I’m fine. Don’t worry, ugh!”

Yeriel was worried, but Lumia tried to reassure her that she was fine.

However, as her headache worsened, she eventually groaned and sat down helplessly.

“Heal with light!”

A faint light enveloped her body, and Lumia finally took her hands off her head and sighed.

“I heard that in exchange for the curse being slowly purified thanks to Ahren, I would experience pain once a day, but… I didn’t expect it to be this bad.”

“Don’t worry! I’ll heal you every time you’re in pain.”

Yeriel looked at Lumia, who was adorably clenching her fists, and smiled.

“Thank you. I don’t know how long it will take for the purification to be complete, but I feel reassured.”

“Heh. We’re companions. We should help each other in times like this!”

Yeriel looked down at El, who was sleeping soundly in her arms.

“I wish he would get better with healing or purification… I don’t know what made him fall asleep like this.”

Ever since the trial was over and the path to the sanctuary opened, El had been sleeping without waking up, groaning in pain.

When Ahren stepped forward as the representative of the party and asked Adelai, the transcendent, if she knew anything, the answer was that the familiar was currently in perfect condition and would wake up when the time came.

“No matter how much I shake him, he doesn’t wake up. Based on what I heard before, it’s best to leave him alone for now since he looks like he’s sleeping soundly.”

Veronica urged the group.

“Come on, let’s move. Lumia, is there anything we should be careful of on the way to our destination?”

With the extra map and compass in her backpack, as well as her own sense of direction, finding the way and heading towards the portal was no problem.

As long as they didn’t encounter any adventurer parties trying to rob them because of their small numbers, it seemed like they could escape easily.

“Even though we still have a few days to go before we reach our destination, there’s nothing particularly concerning marked on the map.”

“Then we just need to be careful of monsters and adventurers. Let’s take a short break and then head west.”

After a short break, they resumed their journey.

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2nd Day.

Damn. The path to the eastern village was a dead end.

While running non-stop, I tried sending in-ear messages every few minutes, but there was no response from Yeriel. Only silence filled my mind.

With Solace registered, my stats had increased by one level, and my physical strength was now C+ grade.

Thanks to this, I was able to run all day long without rest, only taking short naps. However, it was all for nothing.

The distance that a typical low-level party would take several days to travel, I had covered in one day, but it was all for nothing.

‘Huff⋯ There’s a saying that you can’t fill your belly with the first bite. Don’t get discouraged, just keep running. Run.’

[Chaos clenchesher fist and encourages you to keep going.]

[Chaos jumps in place to cheer you on.]

Why jump around when you’re just cheering… It’s kind of cute.

The next destination was the southern village.

I unfolded the map and memorized the terrain and path.

Forest, plain, and giant tree.

‘Alright. Let’s run until we’re exhausted.’

I gritted my teeth and stomped on the ground.

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An hour passed.

I saw a group of E-grade adventurers fighting a group of monsters, so I didn’t hesitate and broke through their battle.

There were three hobgoblins, so the battle would take a long time.

If I went around them, I would have to modify my route, so it was better to take the risk and run through them.

Chwaak!

“Kiaak!”

The hobgoblin’s scream of pain caused the battlefield to fall silent for a moment.

“Hey! If you suddenly jump in, you could die! Didn’t you learn that in guild training?”

As expected, a black-haired warrior with two axes in his hands got angry, but I had no choice but to admit that I was in the wrong.

“Forget it. I’m in a hurry, so just let me pass.”

“Why are you telling me this? You are the one in the wrong, right? Why are you alone, without a party, ah.”

Jolt.

A strange dual-wielding swordsman, who seemed to be the party leader, glared at the black-haired warrior.

“⋯If you realize it, back off.”

What’s this? Normally, in this situation, wouldn’t you follow the party and curse together?

‘Did he realize the difference in strength after seeing the bisected corpse and equipment? He’s pretty calm. I wonder if he has a trait similar to carefulness.’

“I’m sorry for interrupting the battle. You can take care of the corpse. Goodbye.”

I got a feeling that I might see the other party leader again, but since I was in a hurry, I turned my back and left.

If we meet again, let’s check the status window.

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3rd Day.

The south was also a dead end.

Just like the east, there was no response to the in-ear message.

“Aaaahhhh!!!”

I couldn’t help but scream out of anger.

[Chaos comforts you and try to calm you down.]

If I had chosen the west as my destination from the beginning instead of the east…

I was so angry that I didn’t need to sleep in a tree for an hour or two each day.

The swear words that filled my mouth were about to come out, but I held them back.

‘I’m angry, but it was my decision to go east first. It was my decision, not anyone else’s.’

Self-blame and self-criticism beyond a certain point are meaningless.

It’s pointless to vent my anger on others just because I made a mistake.

“It’s fine. It’s better this way. If there’s nothing in the west, I’ll just turn back north, and if there’s nothing there, it means they’ve already escaped, so it’s even better.”

If I join the party, we’ll have enough supplies, so I can rest a little before going to the 5th floor.

If I can’t find them in the 4th layer, I’ll just return to the city, assuming they’ve already escaped.

As I slowly massaged my legs, which were aching regardless of my mana, I headed west.

About two hours had passed.

Peeing─

Once again, while running, an arrow was shot from a tree.

‘It’s an arrow. The target is not me, but the one in front.’

⋯In other words, a warning shot!

In the slowed-down world, I identified the attack and immediately stopped.

Identify!

As expected, the arrow shot from above pierced a few steps in front of me.

A man descended from the tree and landed lightly, whistling.

Hwee─

Soon, a group of adventurers, which seemed to be divided into three parties, appeared in front of me.

The strange thing was that most of them were ranged attackers with bows or crossbows. But that’s not important right now.

A middle-aged man with a feathered hat stepped forward from the group.

“This area is occupied by our Oxynos Clan.”

After firing a warning shot, he also claimed that the area was occupied by his clan. Clan?

He laughed and added.

“We’ve received information that a special species will appear soon, so we’ll be staying here for at least a week. It would be better for your safety to take a longer route.”

What the hell is this?

“I’m in a hurry and must pass through this way. Can I pay a toll to pass?”

“Haha! My friend, no one knows exactly when it will appear, whether it’s in a few days or right in front of our eyes.”

Thud.

He plucked the bowstring of the bow on his back.

“If I let you pass and something happens, all our hard work will be for nothing. There’s no way we would let you pass for a few coins. Wake up and turn back.”

If I kept lingering, he threatened to use force, so I estimated the situation in my mind.

───

[Demern Kalhof]

[Strength: C+] [Agility: C+] [Endurance: C-] [Health: C] [Mana: C] [Luck: D+]

[Possessed Traits] (Collapse)

Intermediate Archery
Steel Mountain Ranger
Hawk’s Eye
Weakness Detection
Rapid Shot
Wolf’s Time

───

⋯I could handle this guy alone, but there are about 15 clan members standing behind him.

I hid my annoyance and stepped back.

‘Damn. Should I go back and pass through the center to get to the west? No, that would make all the effort to increase my speed meaningless.’

I was about to use all the scrolls and potions I had to break through them when something happened.

Sparkle.

─Hey, handsome friend. Why don’t we join forces and drive out these arrogant guys? If you’re interested, nod your head.

A faintly shimmering blue spirit appeared in front of my eyes.