Flesh Golem of the Labyrinth City

"Lis. I'm an Iron rank explorer, and my highest reached floor is 8. As you can see, I'm an archer. I mainly use crossbows."

"I'm Garond. Also Iron rank, and I've been to the 10th floor. Just to avoid misunderstanding, I'm not someone amazing enough to have survived seeing the 10th-floor boss. I came back up without even getting a glimpse. I take the role of the front tank."

"I'm Isolde. I have a hearing skill, so I mainly perform as a ranger, but that doesn't mean I can't fight. I've been to the 10th floor and have experience participating in boss subjugation. Though I was in the scouting team."

"I'm Yoo Eon. I'm Iron rank. I've been to the 5th floor. I mainly do close combat."

One front tank, one rear damage dealer, and one ranger for scouting and reconnaissance. And me... what am I exactly?

As the brief self-introductions ended, attention turned to me.

"5th floor... that might be a bit difficult."

"We're aiming for the 8th floor, and I'm worried. You've only reached the 5th floor, so how did you become Iron rank?"

"I went to the 5th floor and solo subjugated a Dire Wolf pack leader. They suddenly promoted me to Iron."

"Solo? Really?"

"Yes."

Garond, carrying a huge tower shield almost his size and a mace, stroked his chin beard and gave an interested hum.

"You must have a good skill, I suppose?"

"I'm not sure yet. When I first got it, it wasn't very good."

"Well, that doesn't matter. For now... let's disclose if you have any curse-type skills that might harm the party exploration."

This is the moment many explorers find most difficult. The time to form a party and share your negative skills.

This isn't even a party yet. It's more like a meeting. If a curse skill seems too much of an obstacle, you get ruthlessly kicked out.

"I don't have much. I do have a sleep-talking skill, but I tend to mumble quietly, so it shouldn't be a big problem."

The female archer Lis says she has a sleep-talking skill. There's a skill like that? Is that even a skill? It seems more like a habit to me, but she calls it a skill herself.

"I don't have any curse skills. However, my equipment is heavy and mostly metal, so stealth will be difficult, just so you know. Additionally, my exploration pace might be a bit slower."

Well, that's the fate of those who wear chunks of metal. It can't be helped. Still, judging by his size, he seems like a reliable frontline, so that much can be taken into account.

"I-I..."

Isolde hesitated momentarily, then slightly moved her chair to the right and whispered something quietly into Lis's ear next to her.

And after hearing that whisper, Lis suddenly blushed and pushed away Isolde's face that had come close.

"W-what?!"

"What conversation did you have to react like that?"

"No, she just..."

"N-no way!"

At Isolde's protest, Lis stopped talking and stared blankly at me and Garond in turn. Then, with a deep sigh, Lis clutched her head and said:

"Oh well, I understand. I can handle Isolde's curse skill. Since she doesn't want to tell you, don't ask any further."

"Are you sure? Checking curse skills is the most important process for party cooperation."

"I said I'm sure. Don't ask too deeply."

"I-I'm sorry! But it's really not a problematic curse skill...!"

"Well, let's go with that then. It's not like we're going somewhere extremely deep anyway."

Overall, it's an excellent party without serious curse skills. Except for me, everyone has been to the 8th floor, which is our target, and the role distribution isn't bad either.

"Your name is... Yoo Eon? Well, probably an alias. Don't you have any curse skills?"

"No, I don't. Actually, I only have one skill."

"Really? What's your experience like?"

"8 times. The first and second were with a party, but since then, I've always been solo."

"Solo to the 5th floor. That makes sense then."

I don't really have anything like a curse skill. Oh, but maybe I should ask that.

"By the way, how is the distribution of monster corpses handled when we subjugate a strong monster?"

"Corpse distribution...? If we catch something like a Wild Boar on the 8th floor, we drag it back to sell it and then distribute the remaining money. It would differ according to contribution, of course."

Lis stared at me with a face that seemed to say, 'What a stupid question.'

"Then could I receive part of the corpse before it's distributed as money?"

"The corpse... why?"

"Because I need to eat it."

"Hmm..."

"Don't misunderstand. It's because of my skill. I need to eat raw meat, but I don't enjoy it."

"That's... wait, isn't that a curse-type skill? Having to eat raw meat."

Shit, is it? Eating raw stuff is a bit disgusting, but the return is definite.

"I see. We'll deduct a portion of the corpse depending on the situation."

And so, we formed a party without much issue. The departure time was decided to be tomorrow at around 10 AM, meeting at the guild.

It's still about 8:30 PM, so I should go to the market for maintenance. I originally planned to buy equipment tomorrow morning, but we decided to depart earlier than I expected.

Before it gets too late, I should replenish supplies first and also stop by the appraisal shop.

* * * * *

"Don't get too cocky. You're going to the 8th floor, right? You can't block a Wild Boar's charge with just gauntlets."

"Yes, I'm not expecting such amazing performance."

"Well, look at this fellow's attitude? My gauntlets can easily block even a Wild Boar!"

"What are you trying to do?"

I bought metal gauntlets from a mentally split dwarf with two personalities. Additionally, I threw away my tattered boots and bought sturdy leather boots at a good price from a merchant tanner, along with metal greaves to reinforce the toe and shin areas.

With this, I've greatly increased the protection for my arms and legs. In the past, I might have been hesitant due to the weight, but after wearing the gauntlets and greaves and transforming them with the Dire Wolf leader's muscles, I could walk and run without any problems.

Since my strength hasn't increased within normal parameters. I can easily do a three-meter sergeant jump, even wearing these heavy pieces.

And as for the sword...

"No matter how much your strength has increased, if you're not used to gauntlets and change your sword all at once, you might die because you can't get a feel for it."

"I'll try it first. Give me a good longsword."

"A guy who only held a one-handed sword suddenly wants a longsword? Want to die in style?"

"Huh? Isn't a longsword a one-handed sword?"

Contrary to what I knew, a longsword was a two-handed sword. It seems that the one-handed sword I had been using is classified as an arming sword, and a longsword is a type of two-handed sword.

"Strong guys can handle it with one hand, too, but try holding this one here."

"Whoa."

It looks much longer than the one I used before. The blade length alone seems to exceed 1m. Unlike my previous sword, where the tip didn't touch the ground when holding the handle, this one's blade tip touches the ground even when I'm holding the handle.

"Give it a swing."

"Sure, why not."

It's a weight I can swing without much difficulty, even without transforming my entire forearm. Of course, fatigue might build up if I swing it for a long time, but during combat, I'll transform my entire forearm into Dire Wolf muscle, so...

"Hm."

I concentrated and transformed my entire right forearm, which was holding the sword, into the pack leader's muscle. The strength in my grip is on a different level now.

Creak

"This is quite light, too, no?"

"You'll end up swinging it at least 100 times without rest in the labyrinth. Anything feels light if you don't consider that."

The dwarf is right. If you do 10 sets of 10 reps with a pink dumbbell, the weight of your arm itself will make even a pink dumbbell feel heavy. But now, my strength is on a different level.

"No, even considering that, it's light."

"Come on, kid. Did you acquire some kind of superhuman strength skill?"

"Something similar. This is nice."

"Hmm..."

I spent 70 silver from the money I had. 20 silver for the gauntlets, 10 silver for the greaves, and 40 silver for the longsword. It's not a regrettable expense at all. This level of armament should make me look appropriately like an Iron rank.

"Oh, mister, could you take a look at this?"

"What is it?"

I took off the ring I was wearing on my left hand and showed it to the dwarf.

"Hmm, a magical item? An artifact. You should go to a magic item shop to get a proper appraisal. I can't appraise that kind of thing."

"Then please look at this."

I put the ring back on my hand, infused it with magical power, and summoned a shield.

"It's a shield. Decently made, no particular flaws."

"Hmm. I see. I'll remember that. I'll come again next time."

"Sure, just go ahead and die. A person who dies holding that fine sword isn't worth living!"

Can someone who's dead have worth or not? They simply can't live anymore. Dwarves have such confidence in their weapons. Anyway... it's definitely a good-quality sword at a glance.

I didn't sell my previous sword, just in case.

Maybe because I have two swords on my left side, my left pouch belt keeps sliding below my waist. I should do something about that, too. Should I go back to the tanner?

"Want me to make a harness?"

"Let's have a look."

When the pouch belt gets heavy, it sags downward and can even break in severe cases. To prevent this, we removed the leather loops from the belt and replaced them with metal hooks.

Leather loops are consumables by nature. If used for a long time, the outer part cracks turns to powder and falls off. If I think of it as an investment for the future, it's not a waste.

And by adding two belts to be worn over the shoulders, we completed the fixation so that it wouldn't slide down below the waist.

"Five silver coins."

"Mister, after checking out other places, yours seems quite cheap."

"You only realized that now? You're quite oblivious."

The best satisfaction I can get for five silver coins. The feeling of it sitting perfectly on my shoulders is excellent. It also gives a slight chest rig feeling.

The biggest problem is the gambeson...

"Let it go."

"Mister, were you that kind of person?"

"Listen, kid. If there's someone who can salvage this rag as a gambeson, they're not a weaver but a magician."

Without asking or arguing, the master stuck my former gambeson, now a rag, onto a densely needle-covered board and tore it apart.

"Ah, fine. I understand. Give me a new one, please."

"You brought money, right?"

"Of course."

"I'll deduct the cloth value."

"What do you use that kind of thing for?"

The master says that the gambeson he tore apart with force turns into something like lower-quality cotton, which is then used to make lower-tier gambesons or is washed clean in hot water to make bedding.

"It's thirty-two layers. It'll be much sturdier than before."

"Won't it get hot in summer?"

"You probably don't know because you've only been below the 10th floor, but from the 11th floor onward, there's no sunlight, and it's cool all year round."

"Ah, I've heard that."

I heard that from the 11th floor, it feels like some underground ruins, and true to the name "labyrinth," the terrain is maze-like.

"Sigh, my precious 30 silver. I've become a beggar again."

Despite saying that, my body feels secure. With this, I should be safe even on the 8th floor.

I was thinking of going to the appraisal shop, but it doesn't seem necessary to report every successful skill used. Let's rest well today and prepare for the labyrinth tomorrow.