Chapter 128

There are a total of six “Labyrinth” that exist in the city of Ulysses.

Each of these labyrinths has five underground levels, and each level often has five different kinds of demons. This is also the case for the first underground level of “Beginner I”.

There’s a large rabbit-like demon called ‘Piti’, a dizzying venomous ‘Shimmering Snake’. a nasty ‘Vampire Bat’ that can be troublesome if they gain altitude, and a ‘Dog Mushroom’ that has an obvious weakness but should be killed without attacking.

Sayuri and the others had encountered only four kinds of demons so far. It had already been an hour since they entered the labyrinth, but they hadn’t been able to find the one remaining demon.

(I want to introduce all of the demons on the first basement floor in tonight’s [Broadcast]…)

With this in mind, Sayuri asked Arcana to take over the role of leading the party for a little while.

Since all the monsters in this “Labyrinth” are Yuri’s messengers, Sayuri can always see which ones are where.

Therefore, if Sayuri leads the way, it will be easy for her to head to the side where the demons she hasn’t encountered yet are located in the shortest distance.

“Sayuri. In this “Labyrinth Dungeon”, we can’t die・・・・can we?”

“Hmm? Yes, we do. In this labyrinth, or rather―――the entire city of Ulysses itself is covered by a【Life-Saving Ward】. If you lose your life within these wards, you will be forcibly ‘Saved’ and transferred to a designated location. So, to be more precise, it’s not so much that you can’t die as that you can’t ・・・・ die.”

Sayuri answered Lydina’s question.

This is one of the things that is always explained at the registration desk of the Explorers Guild. This fact should be known to all explorers.

“… Are people who have reached the end of their natural lives also ‘Saved’?”

“Good question, Arcana. If you operate a【Life-Saving Ward】in the normal way, that’s exactly what you’ll get. However, there are exceptions to the application of these wards, so that they do not apply to those who have died in their lifetime.”

A person who has been ‘Saved’ will be cured of his injuries and his vitality will be restored. However, a person who dies in his or her lifetime is destined to die again within the same day, even if you save him or her.

It is possible to help those who are dying by the end of their lives if you serve them the secret medicine of rejuvenation, [Ochimizu]. Even though we have a sufficient stockpile, it’s not enough to serve the general public.

Therefore, people who die in their lifetimes are set as ‘Exceptions’ to the warding effect and are allowed to pass away naturally.

“The beasts that Sayuri has placed in this labyrinth are also ‘Saved’ due to the effects of the warding, so even if they are defeated, they can be resurrected again and again?”

“Ah―――that’s not true. Since the beast is also registered as an exception to the【Life-Saving Ward】, it will not be ‘Saved’ like a person who has reached the end of his or her life.

It may be a little cruel for me to say this―――but the defeated beast needs to die. Otherwise, we won’t be able to get the materials.”

“… That’s true, if you ask me. You can only get materials by dismantling the remains of demons.”

It seems a little unfair that the lives of the explorers are protected while only the beasts are killed in battle. This is something that can’t be helped since “Labyrinth” is a ‘material production area’.

“By the way, the defeated demons are automatically resurrected about five minutes later by the effect of 【Symbolic Totems】in the hidden rooms of this labyrinth.

It’s not practical for me to go around summoning the defeated beasts.”

A【Symbolic Totem】is an installation that is handled by <Necromancer> class, and can have a variety of effects within a certain range around the point of installation.

The one installed in this labyrinth is the【Monster Totem】which has the effect of ‘Resurrecting Monster Defeated in the Vicinity’, at the point where it was installed.

This is why all the beasts that have been defeated in the labyrinth are resurrected in the hidden room. After that, they move through the hidden passageways for demons that are stretched out like wind conduit ducts behind the ceilings of each floor, and reappear and respawn in places where there seem to be no explorers in the vicinity.

“You’re creating a “Labyrinth” with all sorts of structures…”

“My『Wife』is excellent.”

Although she had some input into the structure of the labyrinth, the children of <Kikyou> were basically in charge of the design and construction of the labyrinth.

Sayuri didn’t feel bad about the fact that her beloved children were being praised.

“―――Hmm, there are four in front.”

“All right. Thank you, Arcana.”

Of course, Sayuri knew what kind of demon was at the end of the passageway. Pretending to be ignorant, she and Lydina peeked at the end of the passage.

There were four frogs, nearly 50~60 centimeters in size, with a slightly dark green body color, standing still, blocking the passage.

“That’s a demon called a ‘Toad’. It has a heavy body and high jumping power, so be careful if you attack it from above.

Also, its skin is quite hard and slimy, so if you try to slash or hit, it will often slip on its skin and you won’t be able to do any effective damage.”

“Mm, that’s tricky… Is there any way to deal with it?”

“It’s easier to pierce the skin with a point-blank weapon. So let Arcana’s bow and my spear do the attacking, and Lydina take care of the two and concentrate on defense.”

“I see, I understand.”

If you use a metal shield to block the enemy’s thrust, it will hurt the enemy.

So, rather than having her aim for an attack, it would be better to have her focus on defense, so that she can do some solid damage.

“Sayuri Sister. I’ve acquired <Sorcerer> class, but I’ve hardly used any offensive magic today. Is there any effective magic?”

“Well, fire and lightning are the most effective attributes.”

“I can use both!”

“However, attacking with fire magic will reduce the amount of material called ‘Toad’s Oil’ that can be obtained after defeating it, and attacking with lightning magic will reduce the quality of ‘Frog Meat’.”

“Uuuu…! You’re doing that again?”

If you attack with fire magic, you can burn the slime off the toad’s skin and do enough damage to make it easier to attack. On the other hand, this slimy ingredient is a material called ‘Toad Oil’, and if you burn it, the amount of money you get after defeating it will decrease dramatically.

This material is used to make medicines and has a high market value for its level, so it is not advisable to burn it.

The magic and demons in『Atros Online』often give you a huge advantage by exploiting the weaknesses of your enemies. On the other hand, as in this example, there are many cases where drop items can have a negative impact.

It was very common in the game for mage players to be annoyed by the specification that ‘Damage Efficiency is Good, but It’s Hard to Use’.

In the end, Arcana seemed to have decided to fight with only a short bow.

Sayuri also took out a short bow from the <Food Box> and placed an arrow in it.

“I think the one furthest away from us will escape, so aim for the rest of them.”

“Yes!”

This time, there were four Toad demons against Sayuri and three others.

As there was one more than the other, when the battle started, the one that was farthest away from Sayuri and the others would immediately leave the battle.

Even if you deal damage to that enemy in the beginning, it will be wasted because it will run away.

“I’m going for the one on the left.”

“Good. I’ll aim for the same target.”

“I’ll count… three, two, one―――”

As Lydina counted, both Arcana and Sayuri fired their arrows at the same time.

Toads just stand still in the corridor and don’t move a muscle. So it was easy to aim and shoot, and the two arrows successfully pierced each of Toad’s large, round eyes.

The grief-stricken moans of the frogs echoed through the narrow passageways of the labyrinth.

As soon as one of the enemies escaped, the remaining two frogs rushed towards Sayuri and the others. The frog, which had been pierced in both eyes and lost its sight, turned into light and disappeared.

“Lydina, just take care of one of them.”

“Yes.”

Leave one side to Lydina, and Sayuri will take the other side.

Toad’s low rushing attack and his high jumping attack. Both of these attacks are powerful enough, but they also have large preliminary movements that make them easy to spot.

Sayuri uses the momentum of Toad’s jumping attack to pierce from the abdomen with a short spear.

The abdomen is the most slippery part of the toad’s body. It’s not so easy to slip with a spear. As soon as the body went deeper than the tip of the spear, the toad died and turned to light.

When there was only one left, the toads were no longer an enemy.

The remaining one was also killed in less than two minutes, as Lydina and Arcana inflicted a lot of damage on it from the side where she was preventing it.

“―――Wawa!”

“Oh my.”

After Toad’s defeat was complete, a pale blue light flooded the passageway of the labyrinth. The two of them, Lydina and Arcana, each shouted in surprise.

The one that emitted the light is the [Explorers Ring] that the two were wearing. This ring is provided to those who have registered with the Explorers Guild, and by wearing it and defeating demons, the number of demons defeated is recorded in the ring.

“Congratulations, you two. You’ve just leveled up.”

“… What is that all about?”

“Yes. It’s a new feature we recently added to the explorer’s ring.”

In addition to keeping track of the number of demons you’ve defeated, the [Explorers Ring] also has a function similar to electronic money that allows you to freely use the money you’ve deposited in the explorer’s guild, as well as a function that allows you to perform appraisals on your own. Recently, in addition to these functions, a function was added that ‘Emits Light When the Wearer’s Level Has Grown.’

Sayuri thought that if the wearer could feel their growth on the spot, it would have a motivating effect on the explorer, so I added this feature. This was unexpectedly well received by the explorers.

The same kind of ‘Level-Up Effect’ as in the game is something that makes people happy to experience.

“I see that Sayuri hasn’t yet. We’re the only ones who made it to level 2 first.”

“Lydina and Arcana have been creating Avatar for longer than I have. I guess that’s the difference between experience.”

In this world, you can gain small amounts of experience in everyday life.

It’s not surprising that Sayuri, who was just created today, is a little slower to level up than the two of them.

“By the way, the [Explorer Ring] is currently equipped with a function that allows you to transfer to the entrance of the labyrinth. You have to stay still for a minute or so before you can use it, though, so you can only use it when you’re not in combat.”

“That’s very convenient… It’ll give me peace of mind if I get lost.”

“However, you’ll have to pay to use it. The number of demon materials you can receive at the counter after you return will be reduced by almost 30%, so be careful.”

“A 30% reduction… is a big one.”

Sayuri doesn’t want people to use it too conveniently because it’s a feature added as insurance.

Therefore, we dare to set the fee high. Basically, I want explorers to dive into the labyrinth while properly thinking about the way back.

After that, Sayuri and her friends defeated nine more demons on their way back to the entrance. Sayuri was able to safely grow to ‘Level 2’.

As your level grows, your status increases. The more physical abilities you have, the easier and more relaxed your daily work and life will be.

It means that even a level 1 production class can fight in the labyrinth.

It would be great if this fact would spread more widely and more people would become active as explorers, either as a side job or as a form of fun.

The higher the average level of the population, the higher the productivity per capita will be.

I am sure that this will lead to the further enrichment of the country.