Flesh Golem of the Labyrinth City

"Um... are you really okay...?"

"I really am."

As I was chewing on the alpha's corpse, the female explorer patted my shoulder and asked.

"Hey... instead of that, would you like to eat this...? It's jerky...."

"No. I need to eat this. I'm not eating it because I like it."

"Then...?"

"It's because of my skill. Just try to understand."

"Ah... should we wait then?"

Is there any need to wait? It's already over anyway.

"Thank you. But I'm really fine. Go about your business."

"W-we came to hunt the alpha dire wolf... so our business is done too...."

"Then shouldn't you return?"

"But your condition...."

"No, I'm telling you I'm fine."

Condition? I'm in an amazing state unlike ever before. I easily tore through the alpha’s hide as if it were paper.

'The injured muscles have been healed by what I ate.'

The increase in strength is greater than before - I can definitely feel the alpha's muscles incorporated into my body.

"Should we go then?"

"Yes. You can go."

"Uhh...."

"Ah, if you have time, could you look for my pouch around here?"

"Hmm? Ah, okay!"

Strength surged through my body. I was in near perfect condition. Though I already ate plenty of the wolf, I was hungry as if the food in my stomach disappeared.

Still, I'm a bit sick of it though. I've gotten used to the smell of blood, but that doesn't mean raw meat tastes good. With no fat, it's dry and really clogs up my throat.

"Here, this is your pouch, right?"

"Thank you."

"Are you... going to eat more of that?"

"I'm about to get up. It doesn't taste good."

"Of course it wouldn't taste good...."

Raw beef tartare is delicious though, what's the difference? Is raw beef just naturally tasty?

"Are you returning now?"

"Yeah. But I can’t go with you, otherwise I can't get lead rank."

"Ah... I think you've already surpassed brass rank just by killing the alpha dire wolf...."

"Hmm."

Is that so? Could be.

Anyway, I'm done with the alpha feast. I'm not hungry anymore and my body condition couldn't be better.

I tried touching my left eye just in case, but there's no particular difference. By the feel of it, it's still the regular wolf's eye I was using, not the alpha's.

It's still 8 at night which means the day hasn't changed. Still, the sun has set so those exceptionally keen senses have returned. No, they seem even sharper than before.

"Are you all returning?"

"Yes. Other explorers have already gone to report the alpha's subjugation. We stayed here for your protection."

"Ah, so that's what it was."

That's nice of them to say.

"I'm planning to return before the day changes too. How long does it take to get to the portal from here?"

"About 3 hours. Since it's night, we should take it slow...."

"Would it be okay if I go ahead then?"

"A-ahead?"

I bounced lightly in place. I only meant to bounce very lightly, but I floated up almost a meter into the air. It felt like I'd entered a zero-gravity state.

With leg muscles like these... I can cut that 3 hours down significantly.

"Sorry. I agreed to come back quickly. Take your time coming back. Be careful."

"Huh? W-wait!"

Before her outstretched arm could reach me, my body shot forward at an incredible speed.

'This is fucking fast..! Insane speed!'

The sensation of cutting through the wind is on a different dimension from before. Almost comparable to Rubika. Maybe not quite? Still, it's an amazing speed.

"Huff! Huff!"

But there were side effects.

'My lungs can't keep up.'

The muscles tire even more instantly than before. The reason the muscles can't exert force is probably... an oxygen supply problem.

With that alpha's specs, it would have used these muscles much better. What's the difference? If it's oxygen supply then...

"The lungs and... ah, the heart."

Right. Trying to use muscles on par with an alpha dire wolf with human lungs and heart means I can't meet the oxygen demand.

I'm out of breath after running for just 3 minutes. At this rate, it's actually a penalty.

In the end, I slightly reduced my speed to a running pace toward the portal. Even so, the speed was far faster than when I used to sprint at full power in my normal state, letting me clearly feel the power of the mana-infused alpha.

This must be around 40km per hour.

"This is it..!"

Running at this tremendous speed toward the portal, the base came into view relatively quickly. Even though I took short breaks to catch my breath along the way, to cut down the time this much... I definitely need training to properly use the alpha's muscles.

As I approached the front of the base, the guard on duty waved his torch and called out to me.

"Stop. Hey, are you alright?"

My whole body is stained with blood right now. The gambeson is in tatters, and my pants are full of holes and soaked in blood, so to others I must look like a half-corpse walking around on the verge of death.

Though my face is full of vitality.

"Yes. I'm extremely alright."

"What do you mean 'extremely' alright...."

This is crazy. My body was overflowing with vitality. I covered the distance they said would take 3 hours in just 30 minutes. Even after that, I still have strength to spare - feels like I could run that distance one more time.

"Going to the surface?"

"Yes, that's right."

The return stone can send you either one floor up from your current position, or to a base that exists every 5 floors.

So since this is the 4th floor, I can go straight to the 5th floor or the surface.

If I were to use a return stone from beyond the 5th floor, like the 6th or 7th floor, I couldn't go straight to the surface - I'd have to come back to the 5th floor first, then go to the surface.

"Alright, done."

"Yes. Thank you for your work."

A portal opened with a slightly more whitish color than the ones used to descend the labyrinth. I closed my eyes tight as I stepped inside.

* * * * *

"Hey, you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. This isn't my blood."

"I see... no, but your clothes are all torn up."

"It's fine."

At 9 PM there were hardly any people trying to enter the portal, but the guild's first floor was bustling with explorers drinking mead and beer while boasting about their exploits.

"Oh my...."

"Hello."

Dalia, who was sitting at the guild desk with her chin propped up, opened her eyes wide in surprise when she saw me. Yeah, I guess I do look like someone who's hurt, even to myself.

"A-ahem! One bronze rank explorer. You've returned?"

"Yes."

I wrote '5' as the maximum floor reached on the right side of the paper she handed me, then gave it back. Seeing that, her eyes went wide like a rabbit's again. Then with a bright smile, she took the paper from my hand and said:

"Good work. You reached the 5th floor alone."

"Yes. That I did."

"I was worried since it's a dangerous time, how are your injuries?"

"No injuries. This isn't my blood."

"Then...?"

"It's probably the alpha dire wolf's blood."

At those words, Dalia looked up, then briefly to the side. She looked me up and down, then closed her eyes.

"Wait a minute. Could it be...."

"Could it be what? Did something happen?"

"Well... we received news that an alpha dire wolf on the 5th floor was subjugated solo. They said it was an explorer with black hair, identity unknown...."

"That was probably me."

"L-lying is bad. Those people arrived just 10 minutes ago after traveling for 3 hours."

Dalia turned her head to the side with a pouty expression. But really, I'm the one who subjugated it.

Yeah, I guess it is an unbelievable story even to me. How could someone who struggled on the 3rd floor up until their 6th labyrinth run reach the 5th floor and solo subjugate an alpha on their 7th run?

As I was wondering how to explain this to Dalia, a loud voice came from the side.

"Ah-ahh!! It's that corpse guy!"

"What?"

A male explorer wearing rough armor pointed at me and spoke. Hearing those words, Dalia looked at me in surprise once again.

"Mr. Gelden? Really?"

"Yeah! This guy's the corpse that was lying next to that dire wolf boss!"

"I'm quite alive though."

"That's mighty surprising!"

It's rare to see Dalia's face so extremely flustered. If before she just looked surprised, now she wore an expression of disbelief. This is quite precious.

"R-really...? I told you to stay strong but to think...."

"Yeah. Your encouragement was really effective."

The guild also closely monitors and manages alpha specimens. Since they're too powerful to appear in lower floors, lower-ranked explorers die helplessly to these creatures that show up once or twice a month.

To protect beginners, they identify the alpha's location and activity range, then either guide it away from portals or subjugate it if it gets too close.

Just like how you shouldn't run into a raid boss while walking down the street in a game, since the labyrinth doesn't have such systems, higher-ranked explorers take on that role instead.

"That's amazing? This hasn't happened in 4 years."

A senior female guild employee came over while munching on pie, rested her arm on sitting Dalia's crown, and spoke.

"What do you mean?"

"A bronze rank solo subjugating an alpha specimen."

"Did something like that happen 4 years ago too?"

"Yes. It did. You're quite something."

Of course, cross-verification hasn't been done yet. They say rank promotion will happen after coordinating information with the other explorers who were protecting me and confirming the fact that I solo subjugated the alpha specimen.

"I'll come back tomorrow. I need to go now."

I should quickly go back to the inn to say hello, then visit the Appraisal Office before 10 o'clock. I need to confirm my body's condition for sure.