[It's possible they've split into two by now.
If you see a Barbarian using a one-handed hammer and a shield, do not approach rashly and wait for support.]
The description of my appearance was spreading.
It wasn't detailed, but it didn't really matter.
I doubted there were any other Barbarians who used a shield besides me.
“Old Man…”
Erwen looked up at me with anxious eyes.
It was so obvious what she was thinking that I let out a chuckle.
“Don't worry. I’m not going to abandon you.”
I had already decided to help Erwen.
The reason was simple.
I’ve always liked helping people in trouble.
Especially if it benefits me.
“As I said before, from now on, I will take nine-tenths of the spoils, and you will take one. Understood?”
“Of course. I will surely repay your kindness.”
Kindness…
“Yes, make sure you do.”
There was no reason to refuse if she was insisting on giving it.
I wouldn't get my hopes up, though.
“Yes, I definitely will…”
Watching Erwen clench her fists with determined eyes, I tightened the laces of my boots and finished preparing to move.
“So, what will you do now?”
“First, we'll move through the outermost area. Summon your spirit again. We’ll talk about the rest as we go.”
“Okay.”
Using the fist-sized flame as a lantern, I walked through the darkness and confirmed a few more things.
“Exactly how long can you keep the spirit summoned?”
“If it's just for lighting the way, it can last for ten hours, easily.”
“And the recovery time?”
“About two hours of rest should be enough.”
“I see.”
The situation was much better than I thought.
If everything went according to plan, we would escape their pursuit without much danger.
Then I would see a return on my investment, one proportional to the risk I'd taken.
“Old Man.”
Erwen spoke while I was organizing my thoughts.
“May I ask where we are heading now?”
Ah, I hadn't told her that.
“The Second Floor.”
“What…?”
Don’t give me that look.
You heard me right.
“We’re going to the Second Floor.”
“Just the two of us? You and me?”
“Yes, you and me.”
It wasn't that I had no other choice; it was something I had been considering for a while.
On the First Floor, moving as a pair would only reduce our gains…
But it would be a different story on the Second Floor.
“Um… O-Old Man? The Second Floor is completely different from the First Floor. You do know that, right…?”
“I know.”
Where monsters appeared in groups of three or four on the First Floor, they'd come in groups of ten or more on the second.
On top of that, there were Mutants, and even higher-rank monsters.
“But, it should be fine if we stick to the entrance area. You and I have pretty good synergy.”
“M-Me? With you?”
I don’t know why she was so surprised, but a melee tank and a ranged damage dealer make a good combination.
That was the reason I had considered going to the upper floor with Erwen early on.
There, our income would increase significantly even if we split the Magic Stones fifty-fifty.
However, since there was no way to get through the darkness, I had discarded the idea.
“N-No matter how I think about it, it feels like we’re escaping the Goblins only to walk into an Orc den…”
Well, seeing her reaction, she would have rejected the proposal flat out even if I had suggested it knowing this.
But the situation was completely different now.
“Do you have another way then? As you know, the First Floor is crawling with those guys.”
Erwen now had a reason to go to the Second Floor, and I could use this opportunity to raise my share to 9:1.
Of course, that wasn't to say there were no emotional factors in this decision at all.
[To the one who captures the fairy wench, I’ll add a reward of 10,000 Stone and the chance to have her first.]
I hate guys like this.
No, it's beyond dislike; it's closer to disgust.
But to be able to screw over guys like this, get a reward greater than the risk, and even get the self-satisfaction of having done a good deed for someone?
Isn't this the pinnacle of efficiency?
“I’ll give you a choice. What will it be?”
“I’ll go…”
Erwen nodded her head with a look of someone forced to swallow mustard.
It seemed the message from the Message Stone just now was the deciding factor…
Nice timing.
“Then let’s keep moving.”
“…But do you know the way to the Second Floor?”
“Not exactly.”
“What?”
“But don't worry. If we keep heading north, we’ll find it eventually.”
This wasn’t wishful thinking; it was a fact.
If you just follow the darkness in one direction, a portal will eventually appear.
This darkness itself is like a route pointing to the upper floor.
We might get lost since it has a maze-like structure, though.
This much is worth enduring.
“It’s a Goblin Trap!”
As we were walking, a trap came into view.
It was much later than I had expected.
It should have appeared much earlier.
…Could it be that there are fewer Goblins where there is no light? Just like in the game?
If so, my chest felt tight for some reason.
Just how unlucky was I to have fallen into the darkness from the very beginning and immediately encountered Goblins?
“I’ll handle it! You can rest, Old Man!”
Thinking it was a chance to prove her worth, Erwen stepped in front of me.
“Just in case, don’t use the spirit.”
“…O-Of course!”
Despite saying of course, Erwen approached the trap with a very flustered look.
And…
“Gurgle!”
The moment the Goblin jumped out, she shot an arrow she had already nocked at point-blank range.
Thwack!
Oh, she looks like Legolas doing that.
She was much more skilled than I expected.
Her movements were also very agile.
“How was that?”
After dispatching the Goblin, Erwen looked at me with a triumphant face.
“You would have normally used the spirit, wouldn't you?”
“Yes…”
“Well done. Seeing you shoot a bow, you must be a Fairy after all.”
Erwen looked shy but pleased.
Does she like being acknowledged that much? To be honest, I was also making a bit of a dig at her.
Not about her skills, but her personality.
“But from now on, I’ll do the fighting. It’s better to save your arrows as much as possible.”
“Ah, I can just pick them up and use them again. I don’t even need to pull them out.”
Erwen bent down and came back with the Magic Stone and the arrow.
The arrow was perfectly fine, with no visible damage.
“…I see.”
Way to make a guy feel awkward.
In the game, an arrow was a consumable that disappeared after being shot once.
You could carry a thousand of them in a single slot, though.
“Here you go!”
Erwen held out her small hand.
“Take it! I get one when you get nine, right? I’ll work hard from now on! Then I can earn a little something, right? I promised to buy something for my younger brother when I get back!”
Uh, ah, um…
“Right, work hard…”
What’s this? Is she making a dig at me?
While we were quickly heading north, occasionally catching Goblins in the darkness, a voice came from the previously quiet Message Stone.
[Additional message.
Hartz Young, who was attacked by the Fairy, says he's raising the reward to 20,000 Stone.
Dead or alive.]
It meant they were within a 300-meter radius.
As if by instinct, Erwen discreetly moved closer to me.
“Relax. No one’s going to go as far as using a torch to find us.”
“You think so?”
“Yes.”
In fact, I'm almost certain.
As I've been eavesdropping on their conversations via the Message Stone, I've come to realize that this group is nothing more than a gathering of street thugs.
They didn't seem that well-coordinated.
My guess is that, at best, it probably served as some sort of convenient community for themselves.
In the first place, the First Floor is a place where you can’t even have a party of more than five people.
[I’m thinking of moving to another area to hunt Blade Wolves, is there anyone who wants to come along? No need to relay.]
[I'm tired, looking for someone to rest with.
Come to the pond next to the big rock.
No need to relay.]
Indeed, as we moved this far, we heard such communications from various places.
It meant there were those who weren't that interested, whether a reward was offered or not.
However, I didn't let my guard down.
It wasn't that things were going wrong, but that they were going too smoothly, just as planned.
Damn it…
At this point in my life, something bad should have happened, but the silence is making me anxious instead.
“Old Man!”
What is it?
“Look, it's a Ghoul!”
I can't see it.
When I tilted my head, Erwen moved the flame forward.
…You have really good eyes.
Only then did the form of a Ghoul come into my view.
Rotten skin, empty eye sockets, sharp, long claws reminiscent of a certain weapon, and a human-like physique, yet moving on all fours.
It was exactly as the illustration I saw on the loading screen.
However, the problem was…
‘What, why is a Ghoul here?’
On the First Floor, the monsters that appear change based on the four cardinal directions.
And Ghouls appear in the western region.
Could it be that we've wandered all the way to the boundary?
Well, that's possible.
We were heading north, but when we hit a dead end, we had to go around in circles.
I’ll think about this later.
“…Am I fighting this one alone too?”
Erwen, who was so enthusiastic when fighting Goblins, was now showing clear signs of reluctance.
Is she scared because it's a monster she's never seen before?
She has her own peculiar side too.
“I’ll take the lead. You just focus on the one at the very back.”
“Yes!”
After briefly sharing our strategy, I slowly approached.
The three Ghouls blocking the passage were all in a dog-like sitting posture.
Thud.
I got quite close, but they didn't stir.
Hmm, in the game, they only attacked when you got within a certain range.
Is this also the same as the game?
Thud.
As I cautiously took another step, the three Ghouls charged simultaneously.
“Grrrrr!”
The sound they made was similar to a Goblin's.
Is it because they're Ninth Rank monsters? They lack personality.
“Hyaat!”
Instead of retreating, I stepped forward and smashed the head of the leading Ghoul with my hammer.
The so-called Hammer Smash.
Crack!
The moment one Ghoul's head was crushed, an arrow was shot from behind, hitting another Ghoul.
Thwack!
She really seems to like aiming for the space between the eyes.
I pushed back the next charging Ghoul with my shield once, then finished it with a Hammer Smash, ending the battle anticlimactically.
「You have defeated a Ghoul.
EXP +1」
Though the battle ended in an instant, I took a moment to review it.
In terms of combat power, Ghouls were superior to Goblins.
They were much stronger and faster.
Well, Goblins have traps, but…
Only an idiot would fall for that.
…Assuming there's light around, of course.
“Still, this is much better than Goblins.”
“Huh? Why?”
“It takes time to deal with Goblins.”
As long as we're not outmatched in a head-on fight, it seems more efficient in many ways to hunt Ghouls rather than Goblins.
At least they don't just set up a single trap and wait nearby.
The fact that they don't attack until you approach is also a huge advantage.
“Next time, it would be more efficient to start by killing one with an arrow first.”
“Yes. That would be better.”
After briefly sharing our future battle plan, I collected the Magic Stones on the ground and put them in my pouch.
“Um, Old Man…?”
“What is it?”
“Well, um, it's my turn to get one now…”
“Ah, right.”
We continued down the passage.
My prediction that we were near the boundary was correct.
For a while, Ghouls and Goblins appeared alternately, but as we continued north, only Goblins started to appear again.
How much time had passed since then?
[22:47]
The end of the third day was approaching.
After resting for about four hours in between, we continued heading north and finally found it.
A single dark red line drawn on the ground.
“Oh, is that a bloodstain? It doesn't look like a Goblin's. I wonder whose it is?”
…For some reason, I thought I knew who the owner was.
So I followed it, and found a piece of bread that had been dropped.
And more at regular intervals.
Convinced, I continued to follow the blood trail.
“Um, you seem to have been quiet for a while…”
10 minutes.
“Are you perhaps angry with me about something?”
30 minutes.
“Huh? Old Man?”
2 hours.
“……”
After walking that long distance, I finally found a pair of sandals abandoned on the ground.
A curse came out of my mouth automatically.
“Uh…”
“Fucking hell, are you kidding me?”
“I-I'm sorry! Whatever it is!”
Within a stone's throw, there was a portal.