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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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The ground rumbled loudly.
What kind of madman would put a boss at the dungeon entrance?
When he first saw the Minotaur’s location on the map, he couldn’t help but curse.
“Everyone, hurry this way!”
Moooo-
Moreover, there wasn’t just one Minotaur.
They appeared according to the number of party members. Currently, there were two Minotaurs in the dungeon.
“Kerry, what’s that sound?”
“I don’t know for sure. But it doesn’t sound good. It might be an enemy too powerful for us to handle in our current state.”
It was just a guess, but the Minotaurs probably weren’t meant to be fought and defeated.
And they could be ignored. There was only one way to conquer the Labyrinth anyway. The solution was simply to reach the altar that stood tall in the center.
That was the Labyrinth’s exit and the location of the Doll Ginseng.
Thump- Thump- Thump-
He glanced back to see a bull-headed monster chasing them.
Its eyes were bloodshot, as if it had mad cow disease.
“That’s the dungeon boss.”
“Should we fight, Husband?”
“No, it’s impossible in our current state. Just follow me.”
He had already planned how to evade the Minotaurs at the entrance.
If the party trusted and followed him, everything would be fine.
Kerry said as he ran with the group,
“There seems to be an arrow trap just ahead. They’ll shoot from the walls, so watch out as you pass.”
“Huh? Arrow traps? How does Husband know that…?”
“This isn’t the time to ask questions, Natasha. Just do as Kerry says.”
The party focused their attention on the walls, as Kerry instructed.
“I’ll go first.”
Lina ran ahead.
Even with equal stats, accumulated experience and skill weren’t the same.
As soon as Lina dashed forward, holes began to open rapidly in the walls.
The arrow traps Kerry had mentioned.
Arrows shot out from both walls.
One aimed at her torso from the left wall. Another aimed at her legs from the right wall.
Lina moved and dodged without even looking at the arrows.
He didn’t know how she dodged them. She simply flowed past the arrows like water.
He now had a general idea of how the arrow trap worked.
‘But damn… how am I supposed to do that?’
He wasn’t a Master like Lina.
As if sensing his hesitation before the arrow trap, Lina called out,
“The trick is the sound, Kerry. You’ll hear a clicking sound right before the arrows are fired. Focus on that sound, and you’ll be able to dodge them.”
Even with friendly instructions, he couldn’t do it! What he couldn’t do, he couldn’t do. Not everyone was a Master like Lina.
“Kerry, it’s alright. Come to my side. Let’s go together.”
Victoria approached him.
Seeing her large shield made him feel a little relieved.
“Please take care of Husband!”
“Don’t worry, and go ahead.”
Natasha ran through the arrow trap corridor.
Like Lina, she nimbly dodged all the arrows.
No… it didn’t seem like it should be that easy to dodge.
It was hard to believe that Natasha and Lina both had the same stats of 10.
Natasha performed several back handsprings and reached Lina.
Only Victoria and Kerry remained.
“I’ll leave it to you, Victoria.”
“There’s nothing to worry about.”
Dependable. As expected of the party’s tank!
Victoria and Kerry passed through the arrow trap together. They lacked the flashy movements of Lina and Natasha.
But Victoria expertly blocked the arrows with her shield.
Sparks flew from the shield with each clang as an arrow struck. Scary.
Victoria deflected every single arrow fired from both sides. Reassuring.
“It’s over. That trap was rather disappointing.”
Disappointing? To Kerry, the Hero’s party seemed like monsters.
“Let’s run again. The Minotaurs are getting closer.”
“Yes, Lina.”
The pursuing Minotaurs roared.
The party ran ahead.
Kerry glanced back, curious to see how the Minotaurs would handle the trap.
As soon as the Minotaurs reached the arrow trap, arrows rained down.
Moooooooo!
“…”
The Minotaurs simply charged through, taking the arrows head-on.
Blood flowed from the areas where they were hit, indicating they weren’t immune to damage.
He had a rough idea of how to deal with them.
He felt like he could handle the Minotaurs using the traps set within the Labyrinth.
There was no need to fight those hulking creatures with all stats at 10.
Recalling the map, Kerry shouted,
“There’s another trap ahead!”
“Husband! How do you know these things?”
“I’ll tell you later, Natasha. Just follow my instructions for now!”
“What kind of trap is it, Kerry?”
“It seems to be a pitfall trap. Let’s jump across the statues on either side to avoid stepping on the floor.”
The party followed Kerry’s instructions.
They crossed the pitfall trap by stepping on small Minotaur statues.
Normally, falling into that trap would cause all sorts of problems, but thanks to Kerry, that wouldn’t happen.
Moooo!
Just as Kerry cleared the trap, the Minotaurs charged. Why were those damn cows so fast? Wasn’t this unbalanced?
But there was no need to worry now.
The Minotaurs recklessly charged forward. The moment they stepped on the floor, it opened up.
The Minotaurs fell into the pit with a roar.
Mooooooooo!
“Did we get it?”
“No, Victoria. That line is dangerous…”
“What’s wrong with ‘did we get it?’”
“…”
Just then, a Minotaur’s hand suddenly emerged from the pit.
“See! This is because of Victoria.”
“No, why is it my fault?”
Even if he explained, Victoria wouldn’t understand.
It didn’t matter. The objective of the dungeon wasn’t to defeat the Minotaurs, but to reach the center of the Labyrinth.
“Let’s run before the Minotaurs climb out.”
“Kerry, how about we finish them off here? They can’t move right now.”
“No. I doubt the dungeon is that easy.”
He couldn’t tell the party, but even if they defeated the Minotaurs, they would respawn after a certain time.
What a shitty design.
“Alright, I understand. I’ll follow your lead, Kerry. Where should we go next?”
“I’m not sure about that either…”
Actually, he knew. But if he acted like he knew too much, it would be difficult to explain later.
“Let’s go this way. I have a feeling something good will happen if we go this way.”
“…Alright.”
The party followed Kerry’s directions.
He was glad they trusted him. The Labyrinth wasn’t a pleasant place.
It was filled with the musty smell of an old basement.
But there was hope within the Labyrinth.
If they looked up, they could see the brightly lit, high altar where the light streamed down.
His Doll Ginseng was there!
The party followed Kerry through the Labyrinth.
Kerry made excuses to rest occasionally, checking the map to confirm their route.
Remembering the traps in the Labyrinth made navigating with the map easy.
They passed a few more traps and finally reached the first resting area.
“This is… quite beautiful, Kerry.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Husband, what is this fountain?”
A beautiful fountain stood before them. Clear water flowed continuously from the fountain.
“Is this a trap too, Kerry?”
“Well… I don’t know everything.”
A lie. He knew everything. This fountain was a resting place. A place to rest and quench their thirst.
Even the Minotaurs didn’t come here.
“I’m thirsty. I’ll have a drink.”
Kerry approached the fountain and scooped up some water with his hand to drink.
“!”
“H… Husband, no! Spit it out! It might be poisoned…”
Before Natasha could finish,
Kerry had already swallowed the water. He did it because, of course, it wasn’t poisoned.
“I already drank it, Natasha. I was too thirsty to resist.”
The party fussed over him, asking if he was alright.
Seeing Natasha, Victoria with a serious face, and even Lina approaching him with a surprised look made him feel a little guilty.
After a while, the party calmed down.
Then Kerry spoke.
“It seems to be alright? If it were poison, I should be experiencing something, but I feel fine.”
“…”
The party suddenly stared at him intently. Lina, with a serious expression, asked,
“Did you… test the water with your own body to see if it was safe to drink?”
What nonsense was she saying with such a serious face? Why would he do that?
“Husband… was that… really what you did?”
“Now that I think about it, Lina is right. I’ve never seen Kerry do anything so reckless. Since it would be difficult to clear the dungeon without water… he drank it first for us, right? Isn’t that right, Kerry?”
“…”
He was speechless.
This was all because of Lina. Did Lina think he was some kind of historical saint?
Testing for poison with his own body? He wasn’t that kind of noble… or rather, idiot.
“…Anyway, the water seems fine, so everyone drink freely.”
“…”
He changed the subject because he didn’t know what else to say, but it seemed to have solidified their misunderstanding.
Natasha burst into tears.
Victoria teared up as well, warning him not to do that again.
Lina did the same. He had to endure her lecture while the party quenched their thirst.
‘…I’d rather be fighting in the dungeon than this.’
As Kerry listened to Lina’s lecture, Natasha, who seemed to have calmed down after drinking the water, approached him.
“But Husband… how did you know about the traps?”
This was his chance to escape Lina’s lecture!
Kerry answered immediately.
Lina, also curious, stopped her lecture and stared at him intently.
“When I was working as an adventurer, a thief taught me some tricks. After that, I developed my own observation skills, so I can imitate thieves, even if it’s not perfect.”
Of course, it was all a lie.
Kerry never worked with thieves, or rather, rogues. Rogues were all motherless bastards he couldn’t stand.
It was common knowledge in the industry that if you included a rogue in your party, valuables were bound to disappear.
That’s why thieves were looked down upon as rogues.
“So there was some kind of trick. I couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard I looked. Anyway, that’s impressive, Kerry.”
“A trick… I’d like to learn that trick someday, Kerry.”
“…”
Lina wanted to learn the trick. That was troublesome.
“Actually, while I called it a trick… I don’t know everything about it either. Half of it is guesswork.”
He figured he’d have to pretend to be wrong when they encountered an easy trap later.
The party rested sufficiently at the fountain.
The water seemed to be special, as it revitalized them somewhat after drinking it. They were rested enough, and it was time to move.
The Doll Ginseng awaited him.
“Let’s move on.”
“Yes, Kerry.”
Somehow, Kerry had become the party leader. Since he seemed to know the dungeon best, it was only natural.
Lina gave him her signature look of trust. It suddenly felt incredibly burdensome.
Then, a noisy sound echoed from somewhere.
Moooooooooooo!
“That damn cow! Why won’t it go away?”
That was definitely Nasen’s voice.
He glanced at Natasha, who was grinding her teeth. Where was that sound coming from?
Sounds echoed strangely in the Labyrinth, making it difficult to pinpoint their source.
But it was definitely close.
Kerry pulled out his trump card.
“Kerry, that’s…”
“A magic storage orb. It contains a tracking spell. While manipulating mana here is impossible…”
“…Perhaps the mana already stored within the orb can be used. As expected of Kerry.”
Kerry nodded. He didn’t know if it would work, but there was no harm in trying.
Kerry tightly gripped the mana storage orb.
At the same time, the mana storage orb began to emit a faint light.
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