Flesh Golem of the Labyrinth City

TN: sexual nsfw(?) after * * * * *. Again, no complaints that I didn't warn ya.

"This is..."

"First time seeing jerky? If you stand there gawking, flies will land on it."

"Oh my goodness. Ma'am, do you know how much I truly respect you?"

"Enough, boy. I was about to throw the leftovers in the pit but felt it would be a waste."

The lady is saying things she doesn't mean again. This is jerky made from some of the meat we bought yesterday, thinly sliced, salted, and slow-roasted over a wood fire.

A guy who's been chewing grain cubes every day getting such luxury—I really chose a good inn. Well, technically I was the one who was picked up. Even a stray cat choosing its owner takes skill.

She must have roasted the jerky all night, as she looks unusually tired. I didn't expect her to go this far for me.

"Are you leaving now?"

"Yes. It might take a while."

Sarah looks at me with worried eyes. Inn work must be tough, but what can I do? I'd like to come back quickly and help, but it might take longer this time.

Instead, I should earn a lot. Enough for the inn to take a day or two off.

"Well, I'm off now. Get some rest, Sarah, too."

"Ah, yes! I'll see you to the front."

Sarah got up from her seat and waved as I walked away through the door. Being sent off by a beautiful woman for my labyrinth journey—what a luxury.

My preparations are perfect. I removed the grain cubes from my pouch and filled it with 20 pieces of jerky, making me feel well-prepared.

"That's a nice sword."

Perhaps because I spent a lot of money at the blacksmith at once, the dwarf gave me a bottle of oil for metal equipment maintenance. Not just regular oil, but a maintenance oil that's a mixture of wax and oil.

It's high-quality stuff made of beeswax mixed with linseed oil that lasts a very long time with just one application.

The guild interior is bustling with people as always. It's especially crowded in the morning, filled with people like me waiting for party members or looking at requests.

"You're early, Isolde."

"Ah, yes. I had something to prepare."

"Prepare? Here in the guild building?"

Rangers like Isolde, who serve as guides in parties, update their information about the labyrinth's interior before the party enters.

They hear information about where irregular specimens, including pack leaders, are located on which floors and then combine location and movement direction data to draw this on maps provided by the guild to prepare for any situation.

The guide profession receives this kind of support because few want to pursue it.

The fact that guides aren't very important below the 10th floor contributes to this. There are no completely blocked paths, just mountainous terrain that's annoying to cross at worst.

Anyone can know the direction by infusing magic power into their explorer badge. Of course, from the 11th floor onward, the paths become complex mazes, so the importance and demand for guides increases dramatically.

"Did anything come up?"

"Ah... yes, there's good news. A Platinum rank adventurer subjugated the goblin colony on the 8th floor."

Isolde drew a large circle in the southeastern direction of the 8th-floor map and wrote small letters on the map with something like a special pen.

'Goblin colony disbanded. High risk of scattered troops.'

Does she note every detail like this? She's an extremely meticulous person.

"You... your name is..."

"Yoo Eon."

"... Wouldn't it be better to use a more plausible alias?"

"Is that so?"

I just go with it now. From a Korean perspective, "Yoo Eon" would be understood as surname "Yoo" and given name "Eon," which is slightly unusual but acceptable.

But in this world, that naming style doesn't exist. So "Yoo Eon" is just a really strange name.

"A plausible alias, what would be good?"

"If I suggest one, would you use it?"

"Sure, why not."

Isolde glanced at me, then shook her head and sighed.

"Ask someone closer to you than me."

"Alright."

After a bit more time passed, Garond appeared inside the guild building right on time. Lis was only a few minutes late, so it didn't matter much.

"Well, how's everyone's condition?"

"I'm good. In peak physical condition."

"I'm fine too. Except for a slightly stiff shoulder. I must have slept on it wrong last night."

"I have no issues as well."

A stiff shoulder doesn't matter much. The archer won't have much opportunity to shoot arrows until we descend below the 5th floor anyway.

An archer's attacks are consumables. For enemies that can be handled with swords or maces, those are sufficient.

"Four Iron rank members. Target floor is 8, and we're a hunting party."

"Confirmed. Have a safe exploration."

Because the hulking Garond went ahead to check in, I couldn't properly see Ms. Dahlia's face. But I suppose it doesn't matter.

"This beat is 1 minute and 30 seconds. Please enter."

Portal beat, or pulsation.

The portal that leads into the labyrinth changes the transfer location of those who enter randomly, called a beat.

They say it got its name because the portal ripples and hums like a heartbeat whenever the transfer location changes.

Typically, beats occur with intervals ranging from as short as 30 seconds to as long as 8 minutes. It's like a calendar, and I heard that the brilliant scholars from the Academy have already calculated beats for up to 80 years in the future.

Beats don't progress while people or other objects are entering the portal. This means if you hold hands while entering, you won't end up in different places.

"Haaaah! The air is fresh!"

As we landed on the 1st floor plains, Lis stretched widely and took a deep breath of air.

'It's been a while since I was in a party.'

After checking that nothing was missing and roughly aligning our formation for combat, we walked comfortably toward the portal.

Ting

Is there something different about the Iron Rank Explorer badge? When infusing it with magic power, the sound is clearly distinct from the bronze rank.

Or maybe it's just my imagination.

The 1st floor is always... no, even up to the 4th floor is basically a walking path. Dire Wolves might attempt to fight if explorers are alone but with a big guy like Garond clattering around in metal equipment...

'They don't approach.'

Even though it feels like there are Dire Wolves around, they don't come any closer than a certain distance.

"As expected, Dire Wolves don't bother us when we travel in a group."

"Hmm... that shouldn't be the case. Dire Wolves aren't the type to avoid attacking just because there are several people."

"Then why aren't they coming to fight?"

Next to me, Lis agreed with Garond's statement and chimed in.

"A four-person party shouldn't scare Dire Wolves. This is a bit strange."

Luckily, we landed in the forest up to the 4th floor. Having departed at 10 AM, we hadn't engaged in any proper combat, nor had Dire Wolves come to bare their teeth and growl at us.

Moreover, it seems we spawned close to our destination, as it's only 4 PM, and the checkpoint to the 5th floor is already in sight. Even though we kept moving without a break, breaking through the 4th floor in just 6 hours seemed unusually fast.

"If we don't have to fight, that's good for us. Let's not waste energy on creatures like Dire Wolves. Our target is the Wild Boar."

Most explorers who operate on the 8th floor aim for Wild Boars.

They first appear on the 7th floor but are few in number, and while the 9th floor has more Wild Boars than the 8th, goblin villages also increase significantly there.

Decisively, the 10th floor has the boss specimen, the Orc Warrior, and orcs start appearing from the 9th floor. From what I've heard, they're rare to encounter but are extremely powerful monsters,d.

'Reminds me of that orc.'

I saw an orc once before. Of course, it was a person who had undergone racial transformation due to an orc skill.

If something with that build comes charging without communication... that would be truly terrifying.

"This is really strange. I've never reached the 5th floor this peacefully before."

"I agree. I've only reached the 5th floor once, though."

Having had a hearty meal before leaving, we're having our second meal on the 5th floor at around 4 PM.

Garond's enormous backpack was full of food, and surprisingly, it was meant to be shared with everyone.

Despite his large build and fierce appearance, he's a kind person who shares food even inside the labyrinth.

"Garond, isn't it heavy to carry so much food?"

"With all the metal I'm wearing, one pack of food doesn't make much difference."

"I see."

We landed in a forest on the 5th floor. In a clearing with scattered trees, we made a fire and placed butter that Garond had brought in a metal dish near the fire to melt it, then dipped bread in it.

It's fragrant, high-quality butter with parsley powder floating on top. It seems that forming a party with Garond was an excellent choice.

"Ah, Lis. I need to..."

"Now? Ah... alright. Garond, Yoo Eon. Wait here. I'll help Isolde handle her curse and be back."

"Do you need to go far?"

"Not really. See that thick tree over there? We just need to go that far. And just in case, don't think about following us."

"Don't worry."

Lis, relatively shorter than Isolde, grabbed Isolde's hand and dragged her behind a thick tree trunk.

They say they're resolving a curse skill, but what kind of curse skill could it be?

'At this distance, it's within my detection range.'

With all the noise and lack of danger in the guild, I had relaxed my detection, but...

In this quiet forest, with my danger detection on high alert, I can hear everything they're doing there.

* * * * *

—How much is there?

—It varies each time. It seems like there's not much now...

Amount? Amount of what? The sound of chewing bread is distracting me from hearing clearly. Maybe I should stop eating for a moment.

—Do you really have to do it directly?

—Yes, I've tested, but it didn't work.

—Is it bad for your health or anything?

—It's said to be normal.

What on earth are they talking about? I'm so curious. I can't make sense of it.

Pop

'She's... unbuttoning?'

—First time I've nursed since growing hair.

"Cough-!"

"Oh my, are you alright? Did you choke?"

"Ugh, yes. I'm fine."

What crazy thing am I hearing? Could it be that Isolde is breastfeeding Lis behind that tree?

'No fucking way. What kind of curse skill is that? A curse that requires breastfeeding? The world has gone mad.'

I got distracted for a moment because I choked. Damn, I need to focus quickly.

'I can hear it..!'

The sound of Lis pressing her lips against Isolde's magnificent feminine chest and ingesting something!

—Mmnh...

"Hack!"

"Have some water."

"Ugh... Yes, I'll drink from my own."

I waved away the water flask Garond offered and took out my own to drink. For some reason, it tastes sweet.

From Isolde's perspective, it's a curse, but what about others?

If Garond had the same curse as Isolde... that would clearly be a national disaster.

"Phew, Garond. It's a thousand blessings that you don't have a curse."

"Hahaha. That's a nice thing to say."