The Hero’s Brother Is Bound To Be Depressed - Chapter 400
401 – How to Harness Greed
The inside of the infinite maze was truly a magical world. There were monsters that were commonly seen and monsters that were known to be extinct, and a huge number of monsters had settled down across a wall, baring their teeth to attack intruders in the maze.
The problem isn’t just monsters. There were places in the maze where the topography was unusual or the space itself was distorted, and monsters even suddenly appeared from the empty places we had just passed and targeted our backs.
The darkness and endless maze completely paralyzed the intruder’s sense of direction in a short period of time. Screams coming from everywhere and the sounds of something exploding and being torn apart echoed endlessly through the walls of the maze.
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Of course we had no problems. We rushed the guardian golem like a tank and moved endlessly, breaking through, trampling, tearing, and exploding everything that stood in our way.
Blood, flesh, and bodily fluids from all kinds of monsters splattered across the area we passed. Some quick-witted people realized that our momentum was unusual and started to blindly follow behind us, keeping a certain distance between us.
However, it wasn’t long before lava started gushing out from the floor we passed by, monsters were popping out endlessly, and it became impossible to breathe due to the blood spraying from the monsters. In the end, we realized that following us was an act of suicide, and soon we disappeared somewhere else.
Thanks to Conrad and Ellie’s magic, we were unaffected by the smell of intestines and the monster’s blood. Thanks to the magic surrounding him, he was able to breathe refreshing oxygen and ignore arrows and weak magic that came out of invisible places.
“Kaaah!”
What blocked our path with a huge roar was an ogre covered in monster skin. Even the weapon he was holding in his hand was the hard spine of a monster. The ogre, who was trying to swing it like a whip, was cut off by the fierce sword swung by the Imperial Guardian Golem, which charged forward without slowing down.
Sigh-!
The golem created a path by pushing its body, which was leaning towards the ground, with its shield, and continued running without stopping. Although it became stronger than other golems through improvement, it was able to show this level of power thanks to the magical assistance of the Golden King sitting on the golem’s shoulder.
Thanks to continuing to run the maze without slowing down, we were on the verge of meeting the first requirement of traveling 10km in one hour. 1 minute to go. If we had kept our speed and run, we could have headed straight to the second floor, but as Raelan suggested, we decided to take a break for the first time since entering the labyrinth.
The reason was that there was no reason to hastily go to the second floor. Since the golem did most of the fighting, I didn’t really need a break, but considering the second floor where endless battles awaited, it was good to take a break even just for a moment.
Everyone gathered near the adventuring bonfire except the Golden King, who couldn’t bear the boredom and fell asleep leaning on the golem’s shoulder. Ellie spread her alarm magic as far as possible, allowing everyone to relax and rest.
Raelan came next to me and asked if I was planning to check the second floor plan instead of resting.
“Is there a chance of being attacked immediately after moving to the second floor?”
“… It’s a possibility, but it won’t be a big problem. “They are mere pawns deployed for reconnaissance purposes.”
The condition for breaking through the second floor of the labyrinth was simple defense, killing endless monsters. The problem is that moving to the third floor requires that you kill 10,000 monsters.
Unlike in games, enemies killed by party members are not shared. Even if you came in together, you had to fulfill individual conditions yourself.
If someone exceeds the requirements, he or she will move to the third floor alone, and the other person will have to remain on the second floor and block enemies who come looking for the vacant seat of the person who left first to the third floor.
If you acted alone like Roel, you would just have to kill 10,000 monsters, but we all have to kill 10,000 monsters at a similar speed without much difference.
While Raelan was lost in thought for a moment after checking every little detail, Ellie came to my side and handed me a cup filled with warm coffee.
“Ross is having a hard time even during break time?”
“It’s not really a hardship. “Because I didn’t swing a spear once on the first floor.”
“… That’s what I heard. “Can you give me my coffee back?”
I slowly moved the cup filled with coffee to the other hand, which was farther away from Ellie.
Compared to Ellie and Conrad, who used various magic to help us, it wasn’t really a hardship. The Guardian Golem, assisted by the Golden King, performed so well that I just ran.
I drank coffee while feeling the shouts of adventurers coming through the walls of the maze. It’s so bitter that it wakes you up. Surprisingly, Ellie doesn’t add sugar. Like a bitter gourd, she took a sip of bitter coffee, smelling the sweet strawberry scent.
Since it was a place where there was no air flow at all, the flames of the adventure bonfire burned without wavering at all. Ellie, who was staring blankly at the fire with me, muttered as if she was sighing.
“… “How long will I die?”
“A lot of people will die… “Because it was the first time, there were a lot of people.”
These are people who have not experienced what a labyrinth is like. Most people participated simply with the goal of making a fortune. Such people will not survive even on the first floor, which is the easiest level of difficulty in the labyrinth.
Of the 890,000 people who entered the labyrinth, probably half will not survive today, and the number of people who can go to the second floor will be even smaller.
“But there is a chance to escape the labyrinth from the second floor. “Everyone will give up and go back.”
From the second floor of the labyrinth, there were escape locations everywhere where you could escape from the labyrinth at any time. Things like a bottomless valley, a well filled with blood instead of water, and a door in the middle of the road were places to escape.
It was an opportunity to save one’s life, and it was a curse that instilled weakness in the challenger of the labyrinth. Being able to escape from a hellish labyrinth without any conditions had the effect of shaking a person’s resolve.
“When people who have escaped the labyrinth talk about how dangerous the labyrinth is… “There won’t be a crowd of people trying to enter the labyrinth like this time.”
While Ellie was nodding slightly at my words, Raelan, who had been lost in thought, suddenly opened his mouth.
“The number of people who want to enter the labyrinth will increase.”
“yes?”
Ellie was startled and turned her head to look at Raelan. At that time, when she heard the adventurer’s scream coming from the walls of the maze, she spoke with an expression as if Ellie was serious.
“… “Knowing that so many people died in the labyrinth?”
After saying that, Ellie frowned and continued.
“Do you really think Bella would cover up people’s deaths?”
Ellie suspected that she still didn’t have a good relationship with Bella. However, it wasn’t an unreasonable suspicion, it was a reasonable suspicion that Bella seemed to have.
“No, I don’t think there is any need to hide the death.”
At Raelan’s answer, Ellie and I looked at Raelan with puzzled faces.
“Then why did you think there would be more people trying to enter the labyrinth?”
Instead of answering, Raelan turned his gaze to Lamine, who was sitting next to Conrad and drinking coffee. Lamine, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, put her glass down on the floor with an embarrassed look on her face.
“hmm… Why me?”
“You’re Bella’s closest associate. “You know why I said that, right?”
Lamine scratched his head in response to Raelan’s question. Conrad, who was next to her, also looked at Lamine with his interested eyes. Lamine thought for a moment and moaned softly.
“… “Before the labyrinth was opened, the emperor moved most of the treasures in the imperial warehouse to the labyrinth.”
“… what?”
As I listened, I could not hide my bewilderment. He realized Bella’s intention in moving the imperial treasure into the labyrinth.
“It means that not only the treasures that originally existed on the first floor of the labyrinth are scattered, but also treasures belonging to the imperial family.”
Ellie continued Conrad’s words with a puzzled look on her face.
“If you see a valuable treasure in the hands of someone who has escaped the labyrinth that will allow you to live without working for the rest of your life… “You won’t notice anyone who dies in the labyrinth.”
When I gave Raelan a look asking if he knew, he answered bluntly.
“Bella is someone who will do anything for Roel. Because Roel is more important to her than the treasures that fill the imperial warehouse. Of course she thought that if she was a smart Bella she would act like that. “Just by unlocking her gold that has been sleeping in the storehouse, she can sit on the throne and get what she wants.”
“… If I had known, I should have prevented it in advance. “A lot of people will die.”
When I said that as if blaming, Raelan burst into laughter.
“Well, the more people enter the labyrinth, the more likely it is to be helpful to our goal of reaching the 10th floor. You can use it as a helper or as bait. Are you telling us to stop the work that is helpful to us for the sake of the idiots who are blinded by greed and crawl into the labyrinth without even knowing the subject? Wouldn’t you rather force me to commit suicide?”
“… .”
As I frowned silently at the sarcastic tone, Raelan did not miss the opportunity and continued talking.
“Even the skilled people who were observing the labyrinth will be excited by the treasure in the hands of the returnee. Even the heavy lords of each magic tower will turn on their eyes and try to enter the labyrinth. In addition, there is even a chance to take home the imperial treasures scattered on the first floor… “A useful tactic is not to change a situation, but to use it.”
“… .”
“Even I am the best counselor who deserves you.”
As I saw Raelan lightly shaking the crown made of gold and jewels that I don’t know when he got it, I turned my head and looked at Ellie in silence.
“… I’m unlucky.”
I nodded in satisfaction at Ellie’s words. As expected, Ellie is quick-witted.