The labyrinth - Part 3

"Emily, do you anyone who is joining today's delve?" I ask Emily as we finally see the guard at the metro station. This is a pretty unusual sight to see on a normal day. But the fact that the guard is standing here might mean the portal appeared in quite a bad place inside the metro station. Before Emily can answer the guard asks if we are delvers. Like a form of habit, I grab my badge to show that I am allowed to go inside here. Emily seems to be doing the same thing. We both seemed to have easily formed this habit over the years.

We are finally let through, yet Emily still doesn't answer my question. The portal didn't appear at the bottom of the stairs which is at least a good thing. Because that could've been dangerous. Because people have a tendency to be curious about things like portals. So even if people didn't know how dangerous it is even if it was an F ranked portal. Even then accidents can happen before the area is set off. The pain of going through a portal is already bad for someone like me. Someone who is supposed to go through these portals. But that doesn't mean that regular people can't go through them either. The pain they feel when they go through a portal is excruciating though. From what I hear from people who went through there when they didn't get their power activated, you are pretty stunned once you come out. Apparently, it gives you not to urge to immediately run back in to get back. And considering the portal will be a labyrinth this time. It makes it quite bad for rescue missions. What this delve will be from the location of the portal.

"Well, I don't know anyone who is joining. Except you of course since we have done quite a few raids now together. But yeah the Association put me in charge of this delve. A decision I wasn't allowed to say no to. Honestly, this whole thing makes me more than a bit nervous." Emily explains to me her words dripping with uncertainty and insecurity. Well, I understand that she is probably worried since it sounds like her first time leading a delve. But I have a feeling she will do just fine. She has been on a lot of raids with Drake who has been leading every single one of them. And I am sure even without her realising it she has picked things up about it. But it is also pretty understandable if you think about it. This is probably her first time leading which can be intimidating. But I know she is more than capable of it.

"Hey, I am sure you will do just fine. I am sure that you picked up some of Drake's techniques without you even noticing it. I have to say though, the location of the portal is what is worrying me. We are here on one side of the portal, yet the others could be on the other side of the portal. Which means we might be separated from the get-go." I explain the troubles I do have with the location of the portal to her. Because it is conveniently located right after the hallway ends and where people go to get out of the metro station. It also takes in the entire hallway so no way people could've walked past it. Neither could any portal delver nor association observer. Emily seems worried about that fact too as she walks back to the staircase to seemingly check something on her phone. I assume to send a message to the observer.

"They can't be serious. Okay, Azure some bad news. The meeting spot for the delve is inside the portal." She says as she walks back towards the portal. However, the look on her face is the same as how I am feeling right now. Which are you kidding? This is definitely not how normal procedure is supposed to go. This is actually the complete opposite of how normal procedure is supposed to go. We might be lucky with it being an F ranked portal but the meeting place being inside the portal could cause a giant mess. Some delvers who were more than enthusiastic might have entered the portal already. "There is also one more thing. But that will actually be in everyone's favour for once. A higher ranking delver has volunteered to join this delve. Apparently, because he finds the location of the portal annoying. But I will still have to lead." Emily explains to me there is still a slight look of shock inside her eyes. This a pretty shocking revelation for me too. F ranked portals are apparently pretty boring for even D ranked delvers. But by the way, Emily said it then he must be higher ranking than her too.

"Why would anyone above D rank even want to do an F ranked delve? On top of that for free, like you said the person volunteered too?" I ask Emily as she seems to be looking at the green portal. Seemingly ready to go inside already. I however am not ready to go in yet. I can't help but smell the portal already. The smell is however sort of stuck down in the hallways of this metro station. Which somehow makes the smell a bit stronger than usual. What I hate even more is that I get in the portal even earlier. I am not mentally prepared to go inside that yet. I wish I had some more time to actually prepare mentally to get inside instead of having to go in now.

"Well, I am going in already. Are you coming inside too? I know you tend to need some more time before walking inside so." Emily says as she already walks inside the portal. I don't know how she does it, but I can't. I need some more mental preparation before I walk in. I can't help but feel nervous about this delve even though it is only an F ranked delve. But there is one thing I am certain of and that is by standing still here I won't do my nerves any good at the moment. Because I keep on smelling it and it just won't go away. Even though I don't want to take a deep breath in here I do it. As I need to get through the portal to have that smell be less noticeable for me. It again feels like my entire body is getting ripped to shreds. The thing I can't help but notice though is the fact that my body seems to hurt less than two days ago. I heard that some F ranked portals might just hurt less but could it be related to my stats increase. I did increase both strength and stamina. But that doesn't change the fact that I hate going through the portals.

As I finally get through the portal I see no sunlight. It is actually quite dark inside here which is just great, I forgot to bring a flashlight in here of course. Which means I will probably get one of those light sticks with me. Which do light up the way a tad bit but not nearly enough to avoid traps and such. My eyes quickly adjust to the darkness however as human forms seem to be visible in the darkness. Some people also seem to have some light sources. But another thing I notice is the torches that are lighting up the labyrinth. The portal appeared in the starter room of the labyrinth. The darkness indicated one good thing too though. And so is the fact that there seems to be no fresh air around here. This means that this is a closed-off labyrinth which helps if there are civilians inside there. They can't climb over the walls and are thus trapped in here. Which is better than having people climb over walls or bushes to get away from the portal. Normal people have strange reactions when getting outside portals. I have to say that there are not a lot of people on this side of the portal. I do spot one of the suits and Emily. But there seem to only be two other delvers there and the higher-ranked guy. I think the observer is already handing out the ropes that I need for navigation. But the high-ranked guy does look more than interesting. He must be B+ if not A- ranked delver. He looks more than powerful, which means this will be more than boring to him. And like clockwork, the mission popped up.

Find and collect: The five rings of light

2/5 rings found

I quickly walk up to the others so I can know what is going on exactly. Since for this hour, there should be more people around here already. "Uh, this can't be everyone right?" I can hear Emily ask as I catch up to the others. The supervisor immediately pushes a rope into my hand. Which I will definitely keep on my person at all times. I hear the supervisor say something about how the guard has let everyone in already. But that people do seem to be missing. Which reveals a huge problem. We have some idiots on our hands. Who decided to go inside without getting briefed or getting the rope for safety. I have no idea to what we should tie the rope to though. Like I can just imagine the rope slipping into the labyrinth as we are all walking inside it. That's also one of the reasons why a closed-off labyrinth like this is annoying as can be. You are unable to climb on the walls to see where the path leads. Which also makes it a lot harder to find everyone stuck inside. Well, let's just say every environment has its advantages and disadvantages. Let's just say that labyrinths and mazes just suck to wander through.

"Well, did people decide to go in on their own? Isn't like pretty dangerous when the environment is a labyrinth? And I assume they don't have any gear with them either because that's even more dangerous." I ask Emily as I join the others to get briefed at least. From what I can see there are at least two other F ranked delvers who didn't go inside the labyrinth. I just can't help but be worried however about people who are inside there without knowing where they actually are.

"Yeah, it seems like some people already decided on going inside. Which is quite worrying since it means we have to get more people out of there. Since I assume they haven't gotten any ropes with them either." Emily says as she takes a look at the labyrinth. I follow her gaze and indeed there are no ropes that are leading outside the labyrinth. Her voice is filled with disappointment which I completely understand. Because all of this feels like a train wreck. Well however it is still an F ranked portal and we do have someone quite a bit too strong here so. I guess everything will be alright in the end. "Also this is Changmin Jeon, he is the delver who volunteered to help us finish this. He is an A ranked delver so he has gone through way worse. He wants to help people get out of here safely." Emily explains as she gives a short introduction to this way-too-strong person. I have to respect someone who just volunteers to do a portal to get people out of there.

This guy however is pretty intimidating. He is quite tall, to say at least, he has to be at least six feet tall. He might just be taller than that too if I didn't know any better. But one thing I am glad he is not wearing is his delving clothes because this seems more like a regular outfit. Which might I add I wouldn't have expected this guy to wear like an academic style of clothing. I wouldn't have imagined this dude wearing like jock-type of clothing not studious. But I am glad he isn't in his professional clothing because he would just look more scary. I am pretty sure this guy could just punch a lot of monsters inside lower-ranking portals and they are dead. It doesn't help that his eyes seem to be dark greyish in here. The lighting isn't too great so they might just be another dark colour that I am unable to really see in here.

"Well thank you for joining us. Since we will need help getting through all of this. Considering the fact that we are already in trouble with people who went inside before getting briefed. Just wondering since I did see that there were going to be some newbies. Could it be the ones missing are newbies, because I don't see people who know what they are doing, actually doing this." I ask to no one in particular although the first part was definitely meant for the person joining us. But he is going in as blind as we are. I do however want to know what we are dealing with. Since it does change the way I would handle things personally. If are six newbies it would just be to follow the rope back and get briefed. However, I don't even know how I should deal with one who knows what they are doing. And actively chose to disregard procedure. However, as I am thinking I feel like this dude is staring at me. I am not saying what I am thinking out loud right?

"No, only two of them are new to the job. The other four have at least a dozen or more delves on their record. Which makes this even more of a problem since they will have to be reprimanded for this. Those four will have to be sent back as soon as you find them. But please don't mention the reprimand or they do not want to get back. But the other two will also have to come back to get briefed properly." The portal observer explains to the group since we all might have to send someone back. "This also goes for normal civilians who might have gotten stuck here." She continues calmly but I do sense that she is a bit nervous. Which anyone in this situation would right now.

"Anyone who doesn't belong to this group will be sent right out. But I have a rule I want to implement too. If you all find someone just send them back. You don't need to go with them they should find the way out very easily. Since there are probably some more people missing while people are collecting the rings. The rings should be collected after the entire labyrinth is searched. After that, we will reconvene and see who could get the fastest outside the labyrinth." Emily explains as she is setting the ground rules right now. The association member seems to be handing out the ropes to the people. "I would also say that we meet back every 2 hours. So keep watching the time." Emily tells all of us which seems like a reasonable time to meet up again.

"That sounds like a good plan. I would say we all move at a steady pace so this subway platform is free again. But could you hold the ends of the ropes since we wouldn't want to just be dragged inside the labyrinth?" Jeon says as he makes the exact point I was thinking about. We all quickly hand over one end back. I realise that I should say copy soon otherwise I will miss my chance.

"Okay so everything is alright with the rules? So I would say stay safe." Emily say as she tries to stay calm with the small group she has to lead. It probably doesn't help that we have this A ranker with us here. Yeah he will be a great help but he probably makes her feel even less fit to lead.

"Copy that, Emily." I say to what she is saying in a way to at least have copy in a sentence somewhere. Yeah I managed to copy, did I however say something that really fit the sentence too. Yeah, I feel embarrassed as can be as I just run inside the labyrinth

The labyrinth - Part 3

Complete

Name: Jeon Changmin

Ability: Unknown

Class: Unknown

Date of birth: 07/15/1998

Age: 27 years old

Nationality: Korean/ American

Hair style: black hair styled with an undercut

Eye colour: dark blue/ greyish

Likes: Cleanliness, comics, board games

Dislikes: Inconveniences, Stories with no good end, People fidgeting