Chapter 374: Chapter 374: Treasure Hunter (2)

Thirteen hours after entering the labyrinth.

We were still in the Crystal Cave on the 1st floor.

There was one reason why we were still here, even though we had cleared the 1st floor in a few hours with just the three of us last time.

The beginning of our exploration plan was here.

“Hmm, I didn’t know you could open a rift like this.”

“Hehe, you really know everything, mister!”

There were four types of rifts on the 1st floor: the Crimson Fortress, the Glacier Cave, and so on. And these rifts could be intentionally opened by players.

The reason it took us so long was because we had to go to the 2nd floor and kill an 8th-grade monster to obtain the necessary item.

‘Everyone who’s going to go up should be gone by now…’

I took out the 8th-grade magic stone from my subspace pocket and looked around.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve been here.’

An empty space with a single tombstone, about 30 meters in radius.

This was where the remaining explorers had gathered after the army and the large clans escaped through the dimensional gate.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Well, it was much larger back then because the mages had expanded it.

“Is everyone ready?”

The two of them nodded, and I placed the magic stone in front of the tombstone, like an offering.

And at that moment…

Rumble!

The entire 1st floor shook, the tombstone at its epicenter.

A green portal opened.

「Character has entered a 1st-floor rift.」

Let’s go.

____________________

Swaaaaaaaaaa!

A cave appeared, illuminated by the light of the portal.

There were railroad tracks on the ground, and wooden debris was scattered everywhere.

It was a bit creepier than in the game.

[Green Mine]

One of the four types of rifts on the 1st floor.

The progression was simple.

You started at a point where the ceiling had collapsed, followed the railroad tracks, wandered through the mine, and killed the Guardian at the end.

“What are you guys waiting for? Let’s go.”

I hurriedly led the two of them deeper into the mine.

More people would be coming soon.

It was best to avoid them.

Amelia and I weren’t that famous, but Erwen was a celebrity in this city. Even low-level explorers might recognize her.

Tadat.

We left the area illuminated by the portal, and Erwen summoned the darkness spirit to hide us. And then, as expected, more people entered the rift.

“Whoa!”

The first one was a man with low-level equipment.

“What, what the…? Am I the first one?”

He looked around, bewildered, and then a smile spread across his face as he realized that he had entered a rift.

And then…

“Whoa!”

…the second person stumbled out of the portal and fell to the ground.

He was also a man.

“Hehe, nice to meet you!”

Okay, they’re both men, so nothing should happen.

I turned around, dismissing my worries, and…

“They won’t be able to hear us from here. Let’s run.”

“Okay!”

…we started our exploration, running through the mine.

The first monster we encountered was, as expected, a goblin.

But it was different from the ones we had seen on the 1st and 2nd floors.

[Growl!]

Its height was similar to ordinary goblins, but its build was different.

It had a broad back and well-defined muscles.

And it was wearing a miner’s helmet and carrying a pickaxe.

“Goblin Miner.”

It was 8th-grade.

A monster that only gave experience points in 1st-floor rifts.

[Kyaaa!]

The macho goblin charged towards us, swinging its pickaxe, as if it didn’t even care that it was outnumbered.

It was a powerful attack, much stronger than an ordinary goblin’s.

But…

“That’s disgusting…”

…would that work?

Any one of us could easily clear a 1st-floor rift.

Thud!

Erwen didn’t even bother with an arrow. She used the wind spirit to pierce its forehead.

「Goblin Miner defeated. EXP +2」

One shot, one kill.

It was a natural result for explorers of our level… but I was impressed by the way she summoned the wind spirit and shot it with a flick of her finger.

‘Is that… finger flicking?’

I used to be obsessed with martial arts novels.

Damn, why don’t I have a cool ability like that?

“Schuitz, is there a problem?”

“Yes, you’re staring at me…”

“It’s nothing. Let’s go.”

I dismissed my thoughts and moved on.

Hmm, if I were to compare my current state to martial arts, I would be like a master of external martial arts who had reached the state of invulnerability.

Tadat, tadat.

Anyway, I took the lead and navigated. Well, it was just a straight path for now…

“Why did you stop?”

“The tracks are broken here. This must be it.”

I was observing the ground as I walked, and I stopped as soon as I saw a damaged section of the railroad.

And…

Kwaaang!

…I smashed the surrounding walls with my hammer.

Amelia was startled, thinking I was trying to bury us alive, but it was a pointless worry.

Rift fields don’t break that easily.

And if they did, there was usually something hidden there.

Like this.

Crack!

The wall crumbled like a pile of Styrofoam boxes.

A narrow passage was revealed.

It was just wide enough for one person to pass through.

Damn, I wouldn’t have been able to enter if I hadn’t shrunk my body—

Thud.

Ugh, my shoulders are still getting stuck.

I turned sideways and crab-walked through the passage.

And…

“That’s 3 million stones right there.”

…I found a chest hidden in the small space at the end of the passage, and I took out a green jewel.

I repeated the process and returned to the main path.

“I didn’t know there was something like this in the mine.”

“But mister… can we even take it outside without a mage?”

“It’s fine. These kinds of items don’t need distortion magic.”

The 1st-floor Crimson Fortress was a good example.

Only junk items like bricks and decorations needed ‘distortion’ magic.

Valuable items like the ‘Necronomicon’ were classified as items, so you could just take them out of the portal…

Ah, she wasn’t there back then.

“Then let’s go. We got everything here.”

Anyway, that was the only hidden piece in the first chapter, so I focused on moving, and we soon reached a cliff.

A bridge, two-thirds of which had collapsed, along with the railroad tracks.

The standard strategy was to take a detour through a side passage…

‘I could have just skipped this if I had [Leap].’

It was a shame I didn’t have a movement skill anymore.

You could skip this section with any mid-level or higher movement skill.

‘There are only Goblin Miners on the other side anyway.’

We entered the side passage, even though there weren’t any hidden pieces there, and smashed all the Goblin Miners we encountered, then exited through the other side.

It took about 30 minutes.

“This is too easy for a 1st-floor rift.”

“It’s definitely different from what I expected…”

Erwen seemed dissatisfied with the lack of challenge, but it couldn’t be helped. We were 7th-floor explorers in a 1st-floor rift.

Ordinary RPG games wouldn’t even give you experience points for this.

Wait, but isn’t it even more evil to visit low-level hunting grounds for experience points…?

“Don’t be disappointed. We’ll be out of here soon.”

I sped up, sensing their boredom.

We passed through the passage beyond the bridge and killed all the monsters that appeared in the second chapter.

「Hobgoblin Miner defeated. EXP +3」

「Mineral Slime defeated. EXP +2」

「Copper Golem defeated. EXP +3」

Those were the new monsters we encountered in the second chapter.

Ah, and the mid-boss.

「Goblin Bomber defeated. EXP +4」

No essence again.

Well, we didn’t have a test tube or a mage anyway.

‘The second chapter was focused on combat, so it was over quickly.’

I briefly searched the area for hidden pieces after clearing the mid-boss in about ten minutes.

It was hidden among the minerals near the mid-boss room.

[Gob Quartz]

Oh, there were three of them.

“Let’s split these.”

I tried to give them the Gob Quartz, but Amelia and Erwen frowned.

“Eat… that?”

“It smells strange. And it feels sticky…”

“It’s a potion. It increases your Poison Resistance.”

“If you say so.”

Amelia, who must have a strong stomach from being born in Noark, swallowed the Gob Quartz first, and Erwen followed suit, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Does it really taste that bad?”

“…It doesn’t taste like anything.”

“It has a unique texture.”

“Oh, really?”

A unique texture? What’s so special about that?

I guess I don’t have to brace myself.

Crunch!

I bit down on the Gob Quartz, and it did have a strange texture.

The outside was soft, but the inside felt like I was biting on a stone.

It wasn’t that unusual for barbarians, who usually ate bones.

「Character has consumed Gob Quartz.」

「Poison Resistance permanently increased by +3.」

「This effect does not stack.」

Anyway, the rest of the rift was similar.

We smashed all the monsters we encountered and continued forward. And we only stopped to search for hidden pieces.

We descended a spiral staircase at the edge of a cliff, and the third chapter ended.

And…

“This is the last one.”

…we arrived at the deepest part of the mine and stood in front of a collapsed tunnel.

The standard strategy was to open the path using the explosives hidden throughout the mine…

But high-level players have their own tricks.

Kaboom, kaboom!

I smashed the foundation of the tunnel with my Demon Crusher, and it collapsed, creating a passage. We entered the passage.

「The Green King awakens from his slumber.」

A vast chamber, about 50 meters in radius.

Green slime was wriggling and roaring in the center.

[Squeeee!]

It was the ‘Green Mine’s’ Guardian, the King Slime.

____________________

Meanwhile, at the entrance of the rift…

Two men were trembling in the darkness, illuminated by a single torch.

“…Are you sure… we have to go alone?”

“There’s no other choice. The portal is closed.”

“I heard you’re supposed to explore rifts in a group of five… What the hell is going on…?”

The archer sighed at the axe warrior’s words.

He didn’t know either.

Why was the portal closed when only two people had entered?

Of course, he initially thought it was a temporary error.

But three hours had passed since the portal closed.

He couldn’t deny reality forever.

“Whatever, let’s just go. We have to start moving if we want to clear this rift with just the two of us.”

“…Alright.”

The axe warrior, who was timid despite his size, took the lead, and the archer followed him, providing support.

‘This damn buggy game.’

The archer considered himself lucky.

Well, he did find this game by chance and ended up here…

But other than that, his life had always been easy, even after waking up in this unfamiliar world.

His first exploration was a good example.

He was lucky enough to absorb an essence from the start, and he earned his starting capital by looting a dead explorer and a looter during his second exploration.

He was able to steadily grow thanks to that.

But…

‘I was hoping to explore a 1st-floor rift for the third time, and this happens.’

He grumbled inwardly, but he quickly focused.

He had to survive.

“…Wait.”

“…What’s wrong?”

“Something’s strange. We should be seeing Goblin Miners around here…”

“You seem to know a lot about rifts.”

“Just a little. I like to study.”

He lied.

He was an experienced player who had played the original version.

Although he couldn’t get past the early stages and quit, and then cleared it later after finding out about the cheat version…

…he was still familiar with the beginning.

After all, you had to read ‘Elfnunna’s’ guide for newbies countless times if you wanted to play the original version properly.

“…Let’s keep going. I don’t know why we haven’t seen any goblins yet.”

But he decided to move on since waiting wouldn’t change anything.

And…

“Oh, there’s a passage over there!”

He noticed a hole in the wall where the railroad tracks were broken.

“…Someone was here before us.”

“…What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

Someone had already entered the rift.

And there were three of them.

‘Then… they must have killed all the monsters.’

He felt a wave of relief, his legs almost giving out.

And then he realized it was an opportunity.

‘Judging by the lack of battle scars, they must be strong enough to just cut through everything.’

They wouldn’t be interested in the 1st-floor rift essences.

And essences only lasted for about 30 minutes after dropping.

If he followed them, he might be able to find some abandoned essences.

And maybe even some hidden pieces.

“Let’s go. Don’t worry about the monsters.”

“…What do you mean?”

“There probably aren’t any monsters ahead. I can go first if you don’t believe me.”

The archer then started running through the dark tunnel.

But…

‘They took the Gob Quartz.’

There was nothing left in the second or third chapters. The bastards who entered first were so thorough that he couldn’t even find anything they had missed.

‘I didn’t even know about that… it’s broken, so there must have been something hidden inside.’

Anyway, he finally reached the boss room after running for a while.

It took about 40 minutes.

If the Guardian essence had dropped, and they hadn’t absorbed it…

‘…it might still be here.’

He entered the boss room with the axe warrior.

And…

Swaaaaaaaaaa!

…they saw an essence floating in the air.

Greed flickered in their eyes.

But there was a difference.

“An… essence…!”

“Indeed.”

“Do, don’t tell me that’s the Guardian’s essence—”

The axe warrior, who was in the lead, seemed more surprised than greedy, but the archer behind him was the opposite.

Whoosh!

He drew an arrow and stabbed the axe warrior in the shoulder.

“Aaaaargh!”

The axe warrior screamed and collapsed to the ground.

Of course, he tried to fight back, but it was futile.

Clank.

His axe slipped from his grasp.

“It’s useless. I coated the arrowhead with paralyzing poison.”

“…Wh, why?! I, I’ll give you the essence! So please!”

The warrior begged for his life, sensing his defeat.

But the archer’s eyes were cold.

“Why are you so afraid of dying, NPC?”

“N-NPC…? What do you mean? No, wait, please spare me! I have a daughter—”

“Dragoons are Protoss.”

The archer chuckled and pulled out the arrow.

And…

“Hans Eliban.”

“……?”

“That’s my name. Ah, come to think of it, it’s not my real name either.”

“Do, don’t tell me…!”

“You finally figured it out. Sorry, I had to tell you this. Otherwise, I might hesitate.”

“N-no—!”

The warrior tried to shout, but he couldn’t finish his sentence.

The arrowhead pierced his throat.

“It’s no different from killing a goblin.”

The archer quickly got up and walked towards the essence floating in the air.

A sinister smile spread across his face.

“I’m lucky.”

He genuinely thought he was lucky.

「[Slime Essence] absorbed into character’s soul.」

…until he saw the skill he had just obtained.