Labyrinth Day 51.
I’ve paused the current exploration and assembled a new exploration team.
Until now, we’ve been haphazardly exploring various places to understand the terrain and the monsters residing here.
But this time, it’s different.
There’s a clear destination.
“Neo Hyeong-seok. You know the way there for sure, right?”
[Of course. I’ve read Min Hyeong-seok’s memories countless times.]
The destination is the Machine Factory in the Ancient Labyrinth.
A place inhabited by machine-type monsters with Body Modification abilities.
Boglebogle — The monster we’re trying to tame this time has Body Modification abilities, right?
Rize Nova — That’s right.
Boglebogle — I wonder what it’s like to have Body Modification at S-Class.
Pururu — Azelas is grinning at the thought of having a mechanical arm soon.
Mysticism — 😀
Yumi — They also said they’d make legs for Mr. Japaan.
By the way, the name “Machine Factory” was a name that Min Hyeong-seok threw onto it without any basis.
It’s not an actual factory; it was named that because machine-type monsters mainly reside there.
Anyway.
Naturally, I’m not planning to go there myself.
As always, I intended to attach Iris to the exploration team and conduct remote exploration.
And the list of this exploration team was as follows:
SS-Class, Kinogine Aracne.
SS-Class, Blood Jellyfish Princess.
SS-Class, Bastet Daong.
S-Class, Iris (three of them).
SS-Class, Necro Puppetmaster.
Along with that,
SS-Class, Jellyfish Queen.
S-Class, Curse Devil Gentleman.
S-Class, Neo Hyeong-seok.
S-Class, Ignis.
S-Class, Lilith.
Including five puppets of the Puppetmaster.
Another puppet, Niarah Nepensys, did not join this exploration team.
[Mom can’t leave my son’s side.]
“…Stay a bit further away.”
[I’ll protect my son. Hehe.]
She doesn’t want to be apart from me for even a moment.
Boglebogle — Well, as long as it’s not viewed rationally, it’s safe.
Pururu — But isn’t he not calling himself “the great one” anymore?
Mysticism — 😶
Well, I didn’t mind.
The more SS-Class protecting me, the better.
It’s a bit bothersome and burdensome that they stick around so much, but at least I can trust their abilities.
Besides Niarah, the others like Black Magma Slime, Anubis Dragon, Azelas, etc., all planned to stay in the hideout to assist me, occasionally doing short explorations in nearby areas.
[I want to be by Dad’s side too…]
[I don’t want to be apart from Dad either.]
Aracne and the Princess.
The monsters selected for the exploration team hovered around me, glancing at the other monsters with envious eyes.
It’s probably because this time isn’t a short-term exploration but a long-term one.
I heard that the Machine Factory is quite far from our hideout.
It shouldn’t take months, but the round-trip time could take a few days at best, or weeks at worst.
Pururu — I don’t want to part from my little buddy either. 😭
Mysticism — 🤔
Yumi — Is Aracne still your favorite monster, Pururu?
Pururu — Of course. I’m loyal.
Pururu — What about you guys? No favorites?
Rize Nova — Favorite means the one you like the most, right? Then my favorite monster is the Puppetmaster Master.
Yumi — I like them all! But if I had to choose, Melody Fox!
Mysticism — I’m a Hedgehog Summoner! A traitor, but he saved me! 😃
Boglebogle — I’m Gauntlet.
Yumi — Gaunt is not a monster.
The exploration team monsters began preparing with slightly gloomy faces.
They packed a few severed arms.
They also packed paper to record maps.
“I made a lot for you! Eat it if you’re hungry on the way!”
Merino had prepared meals with great effort from the morning.
They packed various other items as well.
And the Blood Jellyfish Princess was currently gathering blood.
To be precise.
She was gulping down the blood being spewed out by the vending machine monster, Japaan.
[Japaaaaaan! Eat up, sister!]
[Bloooood! Tastes good!]
The reason Japaan could spew out blood was simple.
It can replicate liquids it has consumed. And infinitely.
As a side note, the blood flowing from Japaan right now was the blood of the Pig King.
[I’m getting stronger! Blooooood!!!]
So the Jellyfish supplemented her blood supply.
The exploration team monsters were fully prepared to depart.
“Kids, be careful and come back safe.”
Since I would communicate continuously through Iris anyway, I passed a farewell similar to that since I’d be away for a long time.
[Don’t worry about it, Explorer. This Centauress will use her whole body to diligently assist you. Hehehe.]
[Sure.]
The monsters excluded from this long-term exploration also saw off the exploration team.
“Have a safe trip! Don’t forget about me!”
[Kyua!]
Merino also dashed over late, hugging Melody Fox tightly, seeing off the exploration team.
*
Crunch.
I popped a snack prepared by Merino in my mouth and chewed it.
Then, lying on a soft, natural heated bed, the Black Magma Slime, I watched the screen displayed by the Iris.
Pururu — Wow, Gaunt has hit the jackpot.
Yumi — It’s a leader’s privilege.
Mysticism — 🤭
About six hours after the departure.
The exploration team was currently pushing open a massive door.
— [Neo Hyeong-seok! Is the Machine Factory beyond this door?]
The Jellyfish Princess pushing the door asked.
Neo Hyeong-seok shook his head at that question.
— [No. We still have quite a way to go. As I said earlier, the Machine Factory is located quite far away.]
— [You said it would take at least a few days, so we couldn’t have possibly arrived already.]
Aracne added to Neo Hyeong-seok’s words.
— [Bloo… The distance might suddenly have shortened…].
The Princess grumbled as she completely opened the door.
The sight outside the cave displayed a small sandy beach.
Where the exploration team stood looked like an uninhabited island, with a vast sea extending endlessly all around.
Mysticism — 😮
Yumi — Wow. This time it’s the ocean. I wonder how vast and diverse this world of the Ancient Labyrinth is…
— [Flight.]
One of the three Iris flew high into the sky.
As the Iris shone down on the uninhabited island from above, the view of the isolated island came into view.
Boglebogle — It’s nice that the three Iris are showing the screen from various angles.
Rize Nova — Indeed. It’s nice to see a variety of screens.
Pururu — ??? But how is it that all around is sea? Isn’t there supposed to be a cave behind the door? There’s only one door on top of the island.
“It seems the structure of the Earth and space is different.”
Pururu — Is that even possible?
Yumi — It could be. That’s another world after all.
Another Iris pointed to the sky.
Then, a sun-like sphere floating high appeared on the screen.
Boglebogle — Is that sun up there Solorb too?
“It doesn’t seem like Solorb? That monster is A-Class. The actual danger level is S-Class.”
I casually named it Little Solorb.
I didn’t want to provoke it unnecessarily, but it wasn’t a monster I had to be cautious about, like in the plains.
Neo Hyeong-seok stepped forward and dipped his feet into the sea.
The Puppetmaster followed suit, just dipping his feet in.
— [Now we have to dive into this sea.]
— [Isn’t there another way?]
— [There could be, but the only route I know is this one. I apologize.]
— [If there’s no other way, it can’t be helped. Understood. But can’t we just fly to our destination?]
— [Ah. We can’t reach the destination by flying. The door connected to the Machine Factory is located in the deep sea.]
— [I see.]
Pururu — The Puppetmaster’s tone has become a bit solemn.
Boglebogle — Maybe it evolved.
Rize Nova — It could be because it’s in front of its subordinates. The leader has to have dignity.
The Puppetmaster turned around.
And then explained what he just heard to the other exploration teams.
After this.
Just when everyone was about to dive into the sea.
Splash!
— [Yohee!]
A monster suddenly leaped out of the water with a loud splash.
It was a shark-human with gray, muscular physique and a shark head.
I immediately pulled out my notebook and opened it.
Pururu — Yikes. What the hell!
Mysticism — What’s that shark? 😠
— [That thing is Sharkroad.]
Neo Hyeong-seok spoke as if he were familiar with it.
Before long, Bastet Daong, who had approached Neo Hyeong-seok, tilted her head in question.
— [Do you know it, meow?]
— [Min Hyeong-seok… No, the former Hyeong-seok had monsters like Sharkroad under his command. That guy is a different entity, though. Anyway, its abilities include water manipulation and summoning sharks. It’s not dangerous enough to be our opponent.]
Ah. I was about to name it.
Since I’d already heard Sharkroad’s name, I can’t help but just call it that.
— [Here, delicious-looking prey…].
Having leaped out of the water, Sharkroad shook off the water from its body.
Then, after briefly surveying the exploration team monsters,
— [……..].
Sensing something was wrong, it tightly closed its mouth and naturally turned its back.
— [Seems like this isn’t the place. I must’ve taken a wrong turn! Yohee!]
Splash!
Sharkroad dove back into the sea.
Soon, amidst the sound of slicing through the water, its form vanished into the depths of the ocean.
Pururu — ?
Yumi — ???
Mysticism — 🤔
Boglebogle — It ran away.
Rize Nova — It’s a quick-witted monster.
It was a monster with excellent survival instincts.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.