-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Hwaji's Labyrinth 1st Floor (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"There's a door!"
"Ain't that just a rock? Why make a door outta stone too?"
At the end of the path stood a stone door. It was crude, but adorned with some carved engravings.
Hanson stepped forward and pushed, wary it might just be a wall disguised as a door. With all his might, the door began to move. Serena quickly stopped him.
"Stop! I think the floor boss is inside."
"You're right, Princess! They say floor bosses are usually in special places like this."
Inside this door, the floor boss of Hwaji's Labyrinth's first floor surely awaited the party. Serena's lips twitched as she gazed up at the massive stone door.
Fuuuuck.
The curse slipped out on its own.
I should've just gone left like in the game. What a waste of time!
If she'd followed her past life's game playthrough and taken the left path first, she'd have reached this door straight away. The injustice made her blood boil.
No, Serena. Think positive. If we'd found it right off, we might've mistaken this labyrinth for the royal mausoleum and barged in unprepared. We could've gotten hurt fighting the boss without any prep. Think positive.
You always save before a boss fight in games, but this was reality—no saves. At least they could do some maintenance.
"Let's rest a bit, get ready, then go in. We don't know what monster's waiting, so steel your minds."
"Then I'll save some rat meat. Nah, let's just eat a proper meal."
"Eating a full meal before intense action might make you puke."
"Hmm..."
Fighting on an empty stomach sapped energy and focus. And didn't the human brain run on sugar? Their breakfast had been skimpy already—skipping lunch entirely wasn't ideal.
That said, Hanson had a point. He recounted how he'd seen comrades sprint to the training grounds right after eating, only to vomit or collapse clutching their sides.
Serena compromised between the two views.
"We'll eat, but just enough to stave off hunger. A real meal can wait until after the fight."
"Got it."
"Princess is right!"
The lobby was close, so the party decided to eat there and prepare for the floor boss.
The sun hadn't set yet, leaving the lobby bright as midday. Chrome decided on rat meat porridge for lunch, just like yesterday.
The party had hunted seven labyrinth rats total. Chrome chopped up two and tossed them in the pot; the rest she cleaned and packed into a bucket.
The rats were so huge that even after cleaning, they overflowed when crammed in tight.
"Freeze this for me, will ya?"
Serena adjusted her mana to chill the ice cooler than for drinking water. Chrome draped a blanket over the bucket of frozen rat meat.
Chrome's doing all the work again.
Just like yesterday, only Chrome was moving. Her hands flew, juggling tasks effortlessly—it was satisfying to watch, but sitting idle felt awkward.
Philia didn't seem to mind, but Lavenda and Hanson felt the same as Serena and tried to help—only to get an earful.
"Yer in the way! Sittin' still is helpin'—ya don't know that?"
Smack!
Chrome swatted Hanson, claiming his bulk made him even more underfoot. He rubbed the spot after getting smacked for peeking too close while "helping."
"Chrome! That's for external use only—not edible!"
"I'd have pulled out the no-eats first."
When Chrome started slicing the herbs she'd gathered for the porridge, Lavenda jumped in. It was a valid point, so she escaped Hanson's fate—no smack.
"Dig in."
The vegetable-laced rat porridge looked more appetizing than yesterday. It even had a nice, savory aroma wafting up.
"Oats and barley are done with this. If we had more salt or firewood, we could smoke it or make jerky... but we're short on both."
Unless you're a labyrinth adventurer or swamp explorer, folks don't haul that much food. With five people, the supplies on Chrome's cart had run out after three meals.
"We'll be out soon enough."
"Hope so."
Chrome served Serena's bowl first again. Everyone chewed thoroughly to avoid upsetting their stomachs.
It was amateur hour to move right after eating. The party stretched or did light exercises to loosen up their muscles.
My toes hurt a little. Wait—no, my whole feet ache.
As she stretched, pain she'd ignored in the tension welled up from her soles. Serena kicked off her shoes.
Knew it.
The princess's shoes and feet were caked in blood and pus. Blisters on her heels had burst, oozing and crusting over; her big toenail had cracked and dug into the flesh, drawing blood.
The other foot was just as bad, blisters burst even where the nail was intact.
Shouldn't have danced.
Who could've guessed that dancing till blisters formed would lead not to a potion foot soak, but labyrinth crawling?
Can't let the wounds get infected. Any useful herbs from that can earlier?
First, wash at the fountain, then ask Lavenda. As the thought crossed her mind, a silver fairy flitted over.
"Lady Serena! Your feet are covered in blood!"
Philia zoomed in like an arrow, grabbing Serena's feet and making a miserable face.
"Oh no! The toenail's broken too! What do we do? Skin's peeling—right, we found potions earlier. Use one quick."
"Save the potions for emergencies. No—take off your shoes too, Philia. Yours must be just as bad. We'll mash some herbs and apply. Lavenda, any good ones?"
"Yes, this one's perfect mashed up. I'll do it now."
Lavenda mashed the herbs and applied them to Serena and Philia's wounds. Bandages would've been ideal, but they had none. Only three handkerchiefs, too few to tear up.
Usually they'd rip a skirt hem in stories like this.
She eyed the skirt hems of her and Philia's dresses—the largest fabric swaths they had.
Smooth and soft was good, but embroidered with gold and silver thread, studded with gems—ripping them would be a crime.
"Use mine."
Lavenda tried tearing her own handkerchief. Serena stopped her; Hanson offered his.
"Use this!"
It was a clean white cotton cloth, perfect texture for bandages. She took it gladly. Unexpectedly, it carried a sweet scent.
A slightly milky, nutty, sugary smell—the one she'd smelled since her baby brother was born this life.
"Baby smell?"
"Got a nephew at home still nursin'. Not even a hundred days old yet. Hundred-day party next week."
Thinking of his nephew brought a grin; Hanson flashed his teeth wide.
Serena smiled back.
Imagining the swaddled, wriggling baby warmed her heart—until she recalled the quake, and her mouth went dry.
Are Hanson's nephews okay?
The massive earthquake just before the fall. She prayed it only hit her area—a miracle odds, though. Infant survivors in the capital's great quake?
No point worrying when we can't even get out. Think after we escape.
She cleared her mind of the outside world. Right now, escaping the labyrinth was all that mattered.
Serena wrapped her feet in the baby-scented handkerchief, then tied back her greasy, sweaty, dust-matted hair tight.
"Opening it."
Hanson shoved the stone door with all his strength. True to its size and material, it groaned open slowly with hefty weight.
"Hup!"
Once fully open, Hanson took the spear from Serena and assumed a fighting stance. The party came face-to-face with what awaited inside: a massive labyrinth rat. Bigger than any before—and this one truly enormous.
Whoa, it's huge.
If the rats they'd fought so far were the size of Malteses or small poodles, this floor boss labyrinth rat in the boss room was jindo dog-sized.
Its eyes burned with murderous intent; its grotesque front teeth sharp enough to sever arteries in one bite, utterly menacing.
Its fur looked coarse and thick. Half-hearted strikes wouldn't faze it.
Squeak.
As the door opened and the party crept in cautiously, the boss rat sprang up. Standing, it loomed even more threateningly, but the party rejoiced.
"Only one!"
"Big or not, it's still a rat pup."
Five against one. Hanson and Chrome, holding the numerical edge, approached the boss rat joyfully yet cautiously.
"In Vieta, they say kids caught 'em with just daggers. We got this."
"Yep!"
As they closed in, the boss rat hesitated, backing up to keep distance. Watching from behind, Serena sensed something off.
Something's different.
A wound marred the boss rat's flank—missed from the front view.
Not like it ate its own flesh from hunger. What's that wound? Looks old...
"Die!"
Hanson thrust his spear vigorously at the boss rat. It stood dazed; the spear plunged straight into its belly.
"Nailed it!"
"Poke it more!"
Serena sidled over crab-like to check the flank wound and shouted.
"Be careful!"
"We are!"
"It's undead! It's not alive!"
Hanson yanked the spear free. A living foe would've gushed blood or guts, but from the spear hole oozed thick, clotted black rot.
"Undead?"
Squeeeeak—!
As if congratulating her correct guess, the boss rat let out a mighty cry.
Then, a dragging sound from behind Serena—the stone door slammed shut, faster than Hanson had opened it.
"The door!"
That wasn't all. Rats burst from the room's empty corners. Common sewer rat size, but all undead like the boss.
Squeak-squeak-squeak-squeak.
These weren't one or two conjured from nothing. As Serena stared in shock, their numbers swelled.
"Argh! No holes anywhere, but rats keep spawning!"
The labyrinth: a mysterious space defying common sense. Anything could happen; nothing should surprise you—an unknown realm.
Events no outsider could imagine from tales alone.
Lavenda's words flashed through Serena's mind.
Even so...
"No one said the boss summons minions!"
Was the mystery so profound it created from nothing?! Was she really reincarnated into a game?! This was straight reincarnation, right?!
Serena screamed words she'd blurted at mouth-open shock, protagonist syndrome, and never since: the forbidden call.
"Status window! Where is it?! Status window! Gimme the damn status screen!"
System! Status! Stats! Settings! Level up! Skill tree! Stop! Freeze! I only played turn-based, not real-time action—fair?! My turn! Ore no turn! Login! Logout! Shut down! I'm going to Mars!
She yelled every term she knew, every hunch—but nothing. No transparent pane, no blue glow. Just the boss summoning more fodder before her eyes.
As the party fell into chaos, the swollen horde of undead labyrinth rats swarmed.
