Survive the labyrinth with EX-grade traits

I opened my eyes.

“Phew.”

I seemed to have almost gotten used to the nausea from the escape portal.

“Wow, I can feel the traits I gained all over my body! This is why we explore the dungeon!”

“Those damn hunter bastards. How much did we waste on scrolls and potions to get away from them?”

“Damn… The high-rank monster appeared at the worst time. We almost died. Dumunus, is your arm okay now? Since you used an item, you shouldn’t have phantom pain, right?”

“Mu, Muton. I’m sorry. It was just a simple mistake! Please don’t expel me!”

Various adventurers were still gathered near the portal, some crying, some laughing, and some shouting.

According to what I’ve learned, today is probably the fifth day since the dungeon closed for the month.

Although there is still no clear understanding of the flow of space-time and the second dimension, several laws have been widely spread by many people.

One of them is the law of return.

[Law of Return]

The goddess said that the great dungeon was created due to a distortion in space-time.

Just as she said, since the inside and outside of the dungeon are different dimensions, there is no difference in time for the first 30 days after entering the dungeon…

After 30 days, when the portal to enter the dungeon for the next month opens, the time axis suddenly becomes distorted.

No matter how many additional days you spend inside the dungeon after 30 days, when you return to the city, you will always return to the fifth day when the portal closed.

In other words, if you spend more than a month in the dungeon, you will always return to the city on the 35th day after your first day in the dungeon.

Anyway, where are the other three?

-‘Yeriel, where are you now?’

-‘Ah! Finally, a connection! I waited and waited, but I couldn’t see you, and you didn’t respond to my telepathic attempts… You don’t know how worried we were.’

-‘I’m sorry. I sent you guys out first for safety because we didn’t completely clear the village, and then a stupid goblin used stealth to attack me when I was alone.’

-‘Huh. You’re not hurt, are you? No, forget that. I’m coming now. Ahren is wearing rare white gloves, so just wave your arm so I can see you!’

-‘If you just tell me you’re near the checkpoint, I’ll come to you.’

I raised my right arm and waved.

“I’m over here!”

Yeriel’s voice could be heard from the side, piercing through the voices of the adventurers.

Pook.

Yeriel ran over and jumped into my arms.

“Ahren… I was so worried.”

“Haha, can you stand up straight and talk? I can’t understand you with your pronunciation like that.”

“Uung.”

“Yes. Don’t act like a child and talk from a little further away.”

Lumia and Jacob followed behind, and Lumia pulled Yeriel away from behind.

“Hehe, sorry. I was a little childish, wasn’t I?”

It’s okay, you’re cute.

“No, but weren’t you waiting for a long time?”

“Actually, we didn’t wait that long, but since only the three of us were here and the party leader, Ahren, was nowhere to be seen, we were a little worried. Are you hurt?”

“No! Now, dealing with those unusual goblins is nothing.”

I made eye contact with Yeriel, Lumia, and Jacob, who was watching us from a distance.

“Well, shall we head to the guild to settle the earnings and then take a rest?”

“Yes, I suddenly feel tired now that we’re out of the dungeon. I want to go and rest as soon as possible.”

Lumia, unlike her usual self, complained about her fatigue.

Hearing her words, I suddenly felt tired as well.

“Let’s go. Ah, Jacob. Do you have somewhere urgent to go or someone to meet?”

“No. I just need to go to the inn and renew my stay for a month. Why do you ask?”

“Since we’ve safely returned, shouldn’t we have a meal together? You know the saying, ‘When you return from the great dungeon, drink the return wine’?”

“Hehe, of course!”

Jacob smiled and gave me a thumbs up.

I smiled slightly and was about to move when Yeriel exclaimed.

“Ah! That’s right. Ahren, don’t be surprised. All three of us got traits, right? You felt that tremble earlier, didn’t you?”

What?

It should be something to be happy about, but why me again?

I congratulated her without showing my disappointment.

“Not just one of the three, but all three of you? Wow, this is amazing!”

“Hehe, yes. Can you tell us what traits you got?”

Of course, I can.

───

[Yeriel]

[Strength: E] [Agility: E+] [Endurance: E+] [Stamina: D-] [Mana: D] [Luck: C-]

[Acquired Traits] (Collapse)

Basics of Holy Arts

Innate Luck

Devotion

Overcoming Weakness

Light’s Touch

Holy Cross Combat Art

Increased Stomach

───

Ah…

Of course, it’s a good thing that her luck and stamina increased by one level each, giving her C-rank capabilities.

But as soon as I saw the name of the new trait, I couldn’t help but sigh.

───

[Increased Stomach (E)] [P]

Your stomach expands, allowing you to consume more food.

Be careful, as you’ll get hungry if you don’t fill it up.

──Digestion increases slightly.

──The expanded stomach allows you to eat more without feeling bloated, making it easier to consume food.

──If you don’t fill your stomach to a certain extent, you’ll get hungry even if you’re not starving.

───

“…”

This is a trap.

[Chaos says she shouldn’t have laughed, but she did.]

Augh. This is not the time to laugh.

Even though we have a space bag, the fact that we need more food and have a hunger penalty means it’s best to get rid of this trait at the cathedral before our next dungeon trip.

‘What should I say to Yeriel about this? I don’t want to disappoint her, but this is a negative trait.’

Sigh. Let’s look at Lumia’s traits too.

───

[Lumia]

[Strength: E+] [Agility: E] [Endurance: E] [Stamina: D-] [Mana: C-] [Luck: E-]

[Acquired Traits] (Collapse)

Punishment of Darkness

Black Magic Proficiency

Mask of Deprivation

Beastkin Sense

Burning Fighting Spirit

Fear Infection

───

───

[Fear Infection (D)] [P]

Unlike ordinary black magic users, she handles the energy of pure darkness.

Her attacks will gradually infect her enemies with fear.

──When an attack hits, there is a small chance of inflicting the fear status.

──When a target is killed, if it was in a state of fear, the fear status will spread and infect others nearby.

──The effect disappears if the user is in a state of fear.

───

Thankfully, Lumia gained two levels in mana and became a C-rank capability holder due to the two-level increase from the Book of Dark Arts of Desire.

And like Yeriel, her stamina increased by one level, and thankfully, she didn’t get a negative trait.

───

[Jacob]

[Strength: E] [Agility: D-] [Endurance: E] [Stamina: D-] [Mana: E] [Luck: D-]

[Acquired Traits] (Collapse)

Basic Dagger Technique

Basic Dismantling Concealment

Light Footsteps

Sprint

───

───

[Sprint (D)] [A]

Infuse your legs with mana and move quickly.

With nimble movements, this technique is useful for evading or charging at enemies.

It can be grown through consistent use.

──’Sprint’ technique can be used.

──When used, Agility increases by one level. It does not stack and is canceled when attacking.

──When used, a moderate bonus to speed is applied for a short time.

──When used, strong resistance to being pushed is applied while moving.

───

“Oh.”

Jacob was lucky to have obtained a trait suitable for a thief.

To be honest, I was a bit envious. I would have made good use of it if I had obtained it.

‘Oh well.’

Since Yeriel’s trait will be removed at the cathedral anyway, I didn’t hesitate to explain everyone’s traits.

“Kyaaak!”

Yeriel screamed as soon as she heard.

Then she rubbed her soft belly and pouted.

“No, I don’t like it. I already feel a little hungry, and I’ll become a pig at this rate!”

“Calm down! We can just go to the cathedral tomorrow and remove it. Don’t worry too much.”

“Ugh. Okay.”

After comforting Yeriel, I looked at the other two. Lumia maintained her usual expressionless face, but she seemed slightly happy, and Jacob was about to cheer but covered his mouth and slapped his thigh.

“I’m so happy. Everyone, calm down and let’s go slowly.”

With a mix of cheers and screams, we passed the checkpoint and headed towards the adventurer’s guild.

.

.

.

We arrived at the adventurer’s guild.

As always, it was bustling with adventurers.

We went to the shortest line among the multiple settlement counters and waited.

“Next, please!”

I waited for quite a while. Is it finally my turn?

“Hello, adventurer. How can I help you? Hoho, of course, it’s for settlement.”

This receptionist seemed to be quite talkative.

“Yes. I’m here for settlement. Can I give you my adventurer’s pass?”

“Yes! Please give me your pass… Oh my, are you the one from the rumors? I was curious about your appearance, and you’re more handsome than I heard!”

Rumors? I was surprised.

“Rumors, you say? What kind of rumors are there about me?”

“Yes. Didn’t you have a private meeting with the guild leader last month? The news spread among the guild receptionists for a while.”

The receptionist shrugged.

“If a low-level adventurer can go to the fifth floor, they’ll surely become a great adventurer later. There was also talk about your appearance. You are indeed outstanding!”

“Uh, thank you?”

The receptionist said that it was just her good memory and not a big deal, so I shouldn’t worry.

[Chaos is also surprised and says it’s a good thing nothing bad happened in the guild.]

I let out a small sigh of relief.

“Anyway, can I just put up the loot?”

“Yes. For non-specific parts and corpses, you need to go to the dedicated window over there, so be careful.”

I nodded and took out the classified bags one by one.

“Is this everything? Then, I’ll start the settlement.”

The receptionist took out a book-like magic tool from under the counter and quickly checked the loot in the bags.

“Merman’s fin… Acid Slime’s core… Cave Goblin’s ear… Giant Centipede’s poison leg… What?”

The receptionist opened her mouth in surprise.

“You defeated a high-rank species, the Full Serpent. It’s a rare monster, and it would have been very difficult for a low-level adventurer to deal with. You’re amazing.”

“Yes, it was a bit difficult.”

“The loot from this rare monster is quite valuable, and there are quite a few places that need it. Just a moment!”

The receptionist took out another magic tool and waved it around, examining it. I wondered if there was another problem.

“Hmm, there’s no personal request for the Full Serpent’s horn, so I’ll process it at the normal price. Next is… This is a golem’s core, right? It’s earth-based, hmm.”

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

“You can choose between selling it to the guild or accepting a personal request from a client and delivering it to them for a reward.”

Indeed, I remembered seeing various requests on the bulletin board.

‘Someone is looking for a golem’s core.’

“Please tell me about the client and the offered reward.”

“Yes. The public information is that the client is a magician from the magic tower’s earth school, Haynes. The reward will be decided after meeting in person.”

?

The name Haynes came up here?

It’s definitely the same Haynes who helped me defeat Ephusio.

“By the way, the normal price at the guild is… considering the damage to the golem, it’s about this much.”

“I’ll take the request first. Please settle the rest as usual.”

I decided to accept the request and meet Haynes. If his conditions weren’t to my liking, I could always sell it to the guild.

I wanted to meet him and visit the magic tower, so I accepted the request.

“Okay. The total is 7 gold coins, 23 silver coins, and 40 copper coins.”

“7 gold coins? How much is the Full Serpent’s horn worth?”

“Considering the faded light and slightly altered nature, the normal price is 3 gold coins each, so 6 gold coins in total.”

I smiled at the receptionist’s smile, and only then did I feel the reality of the situation.

Me, no, we hit the jackpot.

I felt the rewards of our hard work, and my lips kept curling up.

“Huhu. You’re cute. Here’s your settlement money. Do you have any other business?”

“No. I’ll be on my way.”

“Take care. Next, please!”

With a thrilling feeling, I headed towards the dedicated window to dispose of the separated parts of Grilops and the golem’s corpse.

But…

“What? Can you say that again?”

“Due to the influence of some external factor, it has become a different variant, so it’s a bit tricky to handle for now.”

“Ah… I see.”

“Please come back in a few days, and I’ll take care of it then.”

Is it a problem because the golem was forced to die and come back to life?

Well, the first time I met it, it was a goblin body with a spider’s lower half, so I understand.

I agreed and headed towards the table where the other three were waiting.

‘Here we go again.’

Our table was the only one empty in the bustling guild, so I assumed they were whispering about Lumia’s curse again.

“Sir! Are you done with the settlement?”

‘It seems like no one directly approached you to cause trouble, which is good.’

I sat down at the table and told them about the settlement, then took out the bags I had already divided.

After hearing my explanation, Jacob spoke up.

“I’ll settle now. It doesn’t make sense for me to claim a share of the monster’s corpse just because I threw a bead.”

“Really? Then, here. Jacob, this is your share. I put in a little more.”

The settlement for this dungeon trip, excluding the monster’s corpse, was 7 gold coins, 23 silver coins, and 40 copper coins.

However, since most of the loot came from monsters we caught before Jacob joined us, we couldn’t divide it equally.

Since the Full Serpent’s horn was worth 6 gold coins, there was nothing we could do.

I took out 40 silver coins from Jacob’s share and put 2 gold coins and 27 silver coins each in the three bags.

“Huh, sir. I think you put in too much. I’ve only been with you for less than two weeks!”

“No. This is right, so just say thank you and take it.”

“Oh, yes. Thank you.”

Jacob hesitantly put the bag in his arms, and I handed the bags to Yeriel and Lumia as well.

“Hup!”

Teop!

Yeriel opened her bag and was surprised.

She almost dropped it, but Lumia quickly caught it.

“Be careful. If you had spilled it, it would have been a disaster. Here.”

“Ugh… I’m sorry. But isn’t this too much?”

Yeriel asked in surprise, and I explained that it was mostly due to the Full Serpent’s horn.

“Yes, considering its former might, it’s worth the price.”

“Right? Now, the settlement is done. Let’s go since there’s no point in staying here. Let’s go to the carriage station.”

“Yes! I’ve been hungry since earlier.”

The effect of the Increased Stomach trait was already showing.

‘No matter what, she need to go to the cathedral tomorrow.’

With that, we finished the long settlement for this dungeon trip and left the guild, heading towards the carriage station.

.

.

.

Jacob let out a faint sigh.

“To be blunt, I have to decline your invitation to join the party.”