Survive the labyrinth with EX-grade traits

I slashed and smashed everything that blocked my path.

Bang! Bang!

When trees stood in my way, I simply charged through them with my head and shoulders, clearing the path.

“Get out of my way!”

If a group of goblins tried to surround me, thinking I was an easy target alone…

Whoosh. Swish!

“Cough, keaak!”

“Ah!”

I swung my greatsword like a windmill, then switched to my longsword, piercing through the goblins in my path like skewering meat on a spit.

‘I can’t believe I feel so relaxed after obtaining the Golden Crown.’

Until now, even when I was fully armored, I had to be cautious and protect my eyes with my arms, but now that the crown protected my head, I could fight more recklessly without worrying about my head.

If I became accustomed to not feeling pain when my head was hit and lost my aversion, I might even intentionally use my head to block attacks or headbutt enemies in one-on-one battles.

Paang!

As I ran, I focused on telepathy, asking Yeriel if anyone was injured and if they had encountered any strange incidents while I was away.

I also bombarded them with questions, asking if they were safe near the village entrance and if they had enough food.

-We’re a bit weak from lack of food, but we’re fine. Aren’t you, Ahren?

‘Yeah. I have a lot to tell you. I’ve experienced unimaginable things while searching for you. By the way, how’s El? Is she still asleep?’

-El is still sleeping soundly, and Lumia suffers from pain once a day due to the sphere she got on the third floor… but she’s fine after receiving healing! Don’t worry!

I remember her saying that she feels random pain once a day, but is it severe?

Anyway, it’s a relief that I was the one who was alone.

‘If it had been one of the three of them wandering alone… it would have been terrible.’

I shook off the thought that I couldn’t even bring myself to say and sent a telepathic message.

‘I’m almost there. Just wait for me there!’

-Yes! Come quickly!

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The three of them looked much better than I expected.

‘They don’t seem injured, and their appearance isn’t haggard, so they must have quite a bit of magic power left.’

Seeing my companions safe with my own eyes, the tension in my legs that had been running non-stop finally eased.

“Whew.”

I quickly caught myself and avoided an embarrassing fall.

“Ahren!”

Yeriel ran towards me, and Lumia, who was behind her, jumped and hugged me.

Lumia’s breath, which was buried in my neck, became rough.

“Huff. Huff. Huff. Haa…”

‘Why is she acting like this? Has she been having a hard time while I was away, suffering from pain once a day?’

This wasn’t a withdrawal symptom, but ever since the trial of lust, Lumia seemed to be more daring in her actions towards me.

“Yikes, that’s not nice… I mean, that’s not it.”

Yeriel pulled Lumia away and said, “What are you doing to Ahren, who just ran here all day? Don’t tire him out, and come out quickly! Get off him!”

“I’m sorry. I got too excited.”

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“Have you all calmed down? I understand you’re happy to be reunited, but this is the 5th floor of the dungeon, not a city. Let’s stay alert until we reach a place to rest on the 5th floor.”

Veronica’s low voice calmed the situation.

Not only Yeriel and Lumia but also I reconsidered after hearing her words.

‘Veronica is right. I was planning to tell them everything as soon as we met, but it’s better to go to the 5th floor first, where there’s a safe area.’

“Veronica, you two stay here. Lumia, guide the way. Yeriel, cast your buffs. I’ll lead the way, so follow me closely.”

Why are you suddenly so confident?

Seeing them looking at me with puzzled expressions, wondering what I had eaten, I just smiled.

Kwaang!!!

The mutated goblins in the village were no match for me, no, for our party.

We reached the blue portal leading to the next floor.

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Finally, we escaped the dreaded 4th floor and arrived at the 5th floor, known as the turning point for low-level adventurers.

“…This is the 5th floor.”

The scene before us was completely different from the goblin forest on the 4th floor.

Wow. The sunny forest had instantly transformed into a gray sky, reminding us that we were indeed inside a dungeon.

This was the central area of the 5th floor, the Ashen City of Rabita.

[Ashen City of Rabita]

In the distant past, Rabita was a small town known as the city of faith and abundance.

During the war among the gods, when they divided and fought each other, wreaking havoc on the continent, Rabita, filled with worshippers of various gods, was unable to resist the power of the gods and was destroyed in an instant.

‘It’s almost like a comedy. How devastating it must have been for the city, destroyed by the very gods they worshipped.’

As the continent became increasingly chaotic, the gods finally joined forces to restore order, but some areas, including Rabita, which had already been reduced to ruins, could not be restored even with the manipulation of time and space.

‘It turns out that wasn’t all there’s more to the story.’

Later, when the dimensional distortion caused a rift leading to the central continent’s Great Dungeon,

For some reason, the city of abundance, Rabita, was covered in ash and remained as an unchanging fixed zone on the 5th floor of the Great Dungeon, serving as a resting place for low-level adventurers.

‘Didn’t you say that the destroyed continent was absorbed and transformed by the Great Dungeon?’

I vaguely remembered reading about it in one of the thick books in the library.

The regions destroyed by the gods had become safe zones or hidden areas due to the twisting of dimensions and space-time.

‘So, we can travel to other zones by entering the portals at each cardinal direction?’

As I looked around the city, lost in thought, Veronica tapped my arm to bring me back to reality.

Tap, tap.

“Ahren, what are you thinking about? I know the 5th floor is fascinating since it’s your first time here, but we should find a place to rest too.”

“Oh, right. Let’s look for an empty building.”

As soon as we arrived on the 5th floor through the portal, we were automatically dropped into the central area of Rabita.

Within the city, no harm could be inflicted, and breaking this ‘Safe Zone Law’ would result in a massive penalty and expulsion.

Because of this law, we didn’t have to worry about looters or human hunters, and we could simply rest in an empty building until we were ready to move on to the next zone.

However, finding a comfortable place to rest in this silent city, where everything from the sky to the ground and buildings was covered in ash, was more difficult than expected.

“We’ve already claimed this building. It would be nice if you could leave.”

“Sorry, but the inside is already occupied by three parties, and we can’t accommodate more people.”

Yeriel slumped her shoulders.

“Darn. Even the larger buildings have already been taken by other parties. Can’t we just share?”

“Well, if someone breaks the law, both sides will suffer a massive penalty and be randomly transferred to another zone, so everyone just ignores the rule.”

Veronica suggested, “There are many buildings, so let’s compromise. We can just clear out the inside and sleep in our sleeping bags.”

“I agree with Veronica. I don’t need a bed. I just need to be next to Ahren.”

“Aish, now I’m the only one complaining. Fine! I can roll around on the floor as long as I have Ahren!”

Yeriel, who was walking ahead, exhaled in frustration, and she grabbed my arm.

“Haha! Calm down. Let’s just choose a regular building.”

I looked around and entered a small house.

It was a simple building with a bed, a sofa, some tableware, and chairs, but nothing else.

To be honest, although it was called a city, Rabita was filled with empty buildings, and we could choose one and rest inside.

There was no food, and no living creatures, only furniture and tableware that resembled the past.

The bed was barely big enough for two people, so I gave it to the relatively fragile Yeriel and Lumia.

“Veronica, you sleep on the sofa.”

“I’m fine with the floor. Just let Ahren sleep comfortably. We rarely get a chance to rest comfortably inside the dungeon.”

“Sigh. As the party leader, I order you to rest. You’ve all been through a lot these past few days.”

Veronica bit her lip, which was unusual for her.

“Well, then I’ll sleep with you. Ahren can lie down first, and I’ll sleep on top of him since I’m lighter…”

An awkward silence followed her words.

“Forget what I just said. Ignore it.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Even the usually calm and collected Veronica had blurted out such words, thanks to the trial.

Anyway, the sleeping arrangements were settled, and after sitting at the table, I distributed food to the three of them.

“Okay, let’s eat, and it’s getting late, so let’s get some rest.”

“Hehe. It’s perfect timing since I was getting hungry. Thank you.”

After eating, I started briefing them for tomorrow’s journey.

“Let’s leave early tomorrow. None of us are injured, and it’s pointless to stay here longer and waste food. Right?”

“I agree. We don’t need to stay here long. Usually, parties stay here when they need to recover from injuries for a few days or weeks, or when they’re planning to escape and can afford to waste food.”

Veronica listened carefully to Lumia’s words and asked, “Then, how far do we plan to go this time? Are we still aiming for the 7th or 8th floor?”

Yes. We’ll at least go to the 7th floor.

I responded to Lumia’s question, saying that my plan hadn’t changed.

“What about you two? Are you okay with that? If it’s too difficult, we can postpone increasing the floor number. As you know, we’ve all been through a lot during this exploration.”

“I’m fine. I just wanted to confirm, not to give up.”

“Me too. It was just a matter of running out of food when we split into two parties. I’ve been to the middle floors before.”

The two of them looked at Yeriel expectantly.

“M, what! Why are you looking at me like that? I’m perfectly fine and energetic!”

[Chaos says that the priest is cute today.]

Who’s calling whom cute?

I smiled and tapped the table.

“Okay, so we’ve decided to continue to the 7th floor at least. Let’s just decide on one more thing before we sleep.”

I looked each of them in the eye and asked, “Does anyone have an opinion on which zone we should go to?”

There were four portals at the end of the city, each leading to a different zone.

Since this was our first choice of zone on the 5th floor, we had to be careful.

‘I did have an idea before entering this time…’

Now, we had to choose one of the four zones, each with its unique characteristics.