Chapter 38 - Insider Conflict

18 October 2023

40th Floor Labyrinth

The 40th Floor Labyrinth was known to have sent middle-levelled players back due to its ominous atmosphere and the high-levelled (and sadistic) chain-wielding monsters that lurk within. It is essentially a giant maze of prison cells, so to speak.

No one dared to visit the Labyrinth alone. If the hunting fields and field dungeons on the 40th Floor were already that difficult to survive in, then the Labyrinth would bring that difficulty to the highest level.

The clients who had asked me to party up with them knew those dangers. Of course, I was skeptical. I'd never been to that Labyrinth before, and didn't know anything about the enemy mobs that roam in there. So for me to join them while being expected to carry the party was an unimaginable thing to do.

Yet, I wanted to visit that very same Labyrinth. At least, before the Assault Team defeats the 40th Floor boss today. I thought about how to reassure them that they could explore the Labyrinth safely, and finally arrived at a solution that--call me crazy--wasn't smart at all.

"Are you sure about this? I'm starting to regret it..."

Irokei's voice went quivering as she looked up at the towering jail cell walls. The entrance path of the Labyrinth welcomed us eerily.

"You agreed to being my assistant, didn't you, Iro? And they needed another player to join their party anyway, else they themselves wouldn't have been here." I responded while looking at the other 5 players that we had partied with. They were users of different weapon types, and they were clearly well-prepared with their potions and crystals.

I didn't think that I had as much of those stuff as them, and neither did Irokei, who was still slightly shaking in her knees as she took every step. No one would like to walk through a place where jail cells would stare at you in either side of the path, even if it is in a museum.

The thing that differed the Labyrinth from a museum were the free-roaming enemy mobs that each required a specific strategy to defeat. But no matter the strategy, it would always involve the whole party rather than just one player. The fact really when without saying as we slowly progressed through the most important dungeon of the 40th Floor.

The party soon stopped in front of a pair of medium-sized doors, with jail cell walls lining up beside them. Some commotion can be seen through the cell bars, with the view of players fighting on the other side.

"Is that the Floor boss room?" One of the party members, who wielded a mace asked.

I'd never been to the boss room in this Labyrinth before, so I couldn't give an answer. Even if I knew, the doors leading inside were locked tight anyway.

"No." Another party member who wielded a two-handed sword replied. "It's probably a field boss."

I turned back to the player who said those words. He seemed confident that it wasn't the Floor boss room.

"How do you know this, Hallow?" I asked the guy.

"Well..." The player with the sword that seemed heavier than his back could take holding it walked until he was beside me, and pointed at the cell bars.

"The Floor boss room wouldn't reveal the Floor boss that easily. I mean, you can watch the whole boss fight in there right now, though those cell bars. The Floor boss room in the lower Floors were all enclosed rooms, so it's safe to say that the Floor boss room on this Floor would do the same tooooo...."

The voice of the two-handed sword user, Hallow, trailed off in a sluggish tone. He took a glance at me with the corner of his eye before going to the cell bars to take a look.

"I agree..." Irokei called out. "If this was the Floor boss room, we would have met the Assault Team already."

True. The Assault Team was planning its boss raid on the 40th Floor boss today. We would've seen them if the doors in front of us led to the Floor boss room.

"We won't find the Floor boss room though." Hallow shrugged. "Not until we go through this field boss, probably..."

Wanting to take a clearer look at the battle as well, I walked over to the cell bars as well. The player called Hallow noticed me approach, and decided to walk back to where the party was resting. As we crossed past each other, I sensed a tinge of familiarity in the guy. He stared back at me, with eyes that didn't sit well with my inner feelings.

Where had I seen this guy before...?

I grabbed on the cell bars as I watched the battle on its other side. The field boss was no surprise, never looking any different from the enemy mobs we met in this Labyrinth, but of course, was stronger and larger. From this distance, the players over there looked as if they were scrambling around the boss, probably struggling to rearrange their battle formation. I wasn't sure if they could take the field boss down any time soon.

And then I spotted her. That girl from yesterday.

Her white outfit stood out, despite the consistent chaos in the battle. She was wielding a one-handed weapon, probably a rapier or a sword, as she ran and dodged along with her party mates in the battlefield.

"That's...!" My mouth started to open in a mumble of surprise.

A shrill scream from behind made me jump as I turned around almost immediately in reflex.

The scene before me couldn't register fast enough in my eyes. Shocked players.....blue fragments.....brandished weapons.....my body automatically burst in speed as soon as that sight became clear to me.

But also halted in its tracks at the very same sight that threatened any thoughts of further movements.

The player called Hallow was smiling in the centre of it all, the blade of the his broadsword at the neck of Irokei, as she stood frozen at an unusual angle, trying to move her neck away from the blade. The other party members were aiming their weapons at him with shaken faces. The only other player who wasn't shocked was an axe user, standing just behind Hallow with his axe resting on his shoulders.

A player had died just now. I was sure of it, having heard that goddamn sound quite a number of times. How could I forget that shattering occurrence?

"Not another step from you, Drifter." Hallow locked his eyes with me as he spoke.

"...!"

My eyes checked the top right corner of my vision frantically. 2 of the HP gauges under mine were gone. Another one of them turned dull and empty, showing a red overlay with the word "Dead" on it. My mouth stayed open in shock, as my eyes turned back to the scene in disbelief.

I couldn't bring myself to call out to Irokei even if I wanted to. My right hand was halfway at grabbing my spear from my back, but had paused in the predicament. As I continued to stare at Hallow with gritted teeth, I had finally remembered the last time I had seen that player.

"You're.....the guy that attacked me in the 25th Floor Labyrinth!" I shouted, still shaken of the situation I had gotten myself---and especially Irokei---in.

Hallow's eyes widened a little.

"Ah, you.....huh? Never expected that we would meet again." He casually said with a smile. "I didn't even know your name."

I could feel my eyes widen little by little, and my hands trembling. Irokei was on the brink of tears as she helpless looked at me, her face screaming terror at me. It might probably be her first time to witness someone die in front of her eyes. She didn't want to be the second victim, and neither did I want that to happen.

I took a few huge breaths as I tried to recover from the shock, hoping things won't escalate as I took several cautious steps towards Hallow, whose green-turned-orange player marker already told me everything that happened when my back was turned at them.

Moving close enough to the tense situation, I locked my eyes backed with Hallow again, and spoke with firm but mentally shaken words.

"...Duel me. Right here, right now."

============================================================