Chapter 350: Chapter 350: Dark Continent (1)

The probability of [Probabilistic Retaliation] activating was around 10%.

And it wouldn’t increase even with [Transcendence]. The 1.5x multiplier only applied to the reflected damage…

But even so…

「Character has been hit by [Asura’s Fury].」

…the passive only activated when I was seriously starting to wonder if I had been scammed and absorbed a fake essence.

After being hit about a hundred times.

「The Luck dwelling in the character blocks the damage.」

[Probabilistic Retaliation] activated, and a transparent barrier appeared, protecting me.

And…

「Powerful Luck.」

「Reflects 150% of the received damage to the enemy.」

…a skeleton, summoned right next to me, copied Amelia’s kick and used [Asura’s Fury] on her.

The skeleton even let out a hearty shout, even though it didn’t have vocal cords.

[Gachaat—!!]

Uh, isn’t that the sound that plays when it’s a critical hit?

Wait a minute, isn’t this dangerous?

That thought flashed through my mind, but it was too late.

Thwack!

Amelia was caught off guard and took the hit with her shoulder, unable to dodge in time.

Swaaaaaaaaaa.

The skeleton disappeared into particles of light after a single hit.

“Ugh…”

“Are you okay?!”

I rushed over to Amelia, and she pushed me away as she took her hand off her shoulder.

“…Don’t fuss over me. I’m just a bit surprised.”

Surprised, my ass.

Her shoulder was practically crushed.

“Erwen, bring me a splint and bandages.”

“Ye, yes…!”

Potions wouldn’t work on Amelia because of [Fountain of Immortality], so I set her bones, splinted her arm, and wrapped it with bandages.

“Didn’t I tell you to dodge if you can use your abilities?”

“…….”

“If you can’t dodge, at least hit me lightly.”

“…I did hit you lightly.”

Lightly, my ass.

Even a ‘critical hit’ is only 100% of the original damage.

‘Ah… 150% because of Transcendence.’

For reference, the base reflection damage was only 10%.

Even with [Transcendence], it was only 15%.

And since the skeleton copied the attacker’s movements, it was possible to dodge, so the skill wasn’t that valuable.

“Anyway, Amelia, you rest for now.”

“Okay! Then I can help you! I can dodge well! And block!”

“…Alright.”

Amelia sat down on the sofa, looking a bit dejected, as Erwen summoned another spirit.

And…

「Character received fire damage.」

「Character received fire damage.」

「Character received fire da… 」

「… 」

…the skill activated after ten tries this time.

「The Luck dwelling in the character blocks the damage.」

「Normal Luck.」

「Reflects 15% of the received damage to the enemy.」

A small and cute skeleton appeared next to me and shot a fireball.

There was no special sound effect since it wasn’t a critical hit.

But…

Boom!

…Erwen dodged the fireball, and it hit the wall, scattering flames everywhere.

And…

“Oh, fire.”

“Er, Erwen! Water spirit!!”

“Ah, okay!!”

…we almost lost the house.

_______________________

After almost setting the house on fire, we went out to the garden at night to test the skill.

And we obtained some meaningful data.

‘The probability seems to be accurate…’

Unlike the first case, where it took 100 hits to activate, the skill activated after an average of 15 hits.

But the problem was that statistics were just statistics.

It would work normally, and then suddenly stop activating. And when that happened, it took forever to activate again.

I think the highest record was 198 hits.

‘Is this even possible…?’

It was an unbelievable number, even with a 1% probability.

And it wasn’t like it always resulted in a critical hit even after all those stacks.

‘Well, it does seem to activate more often…’

Anyway, we finished testing the passive and active skills, and then we spent our days planning our exploration route.

Our primary goal was money.

We had taken out a six-month short-term loan to cover the cost of the Vol-Herchan essence. The interest rate was high, and the house would be seized by the bank if we couldn’t repay it in time.

And that’s probably why…

“Mister, it’s okay… you don’t have to push yourself…”

…Erwen seemed to have given up on getting the house back ever since we took out the loan.

She probably thought it was impossible to raise that much money in six months.

But…

“I told you, didn’t I? I’ll do what I can.”

I was a man of my word.

I had to try and keep the house since Erwen liked it.

“But if you want to get that much money in a short period of time… there’s no other option but the war.”

“Rainwales is right. No one here has a boat. So we can’t even go to the 6th floor, and we’ll have to stay on the 5th floor at most…”

“There’s no need to think that way. I think it’s better for me to join the war too. I might stand out, but no one will recognize me in my current form if I don’t use [Gigantification].”

We decided to join the war without much discussion.

After all, if we joined the royal army, we could take a large ship and go straight to the 7th floor.

‘And 7th-floor monsters aren’t a big deal for the three of us.’

And we were all strong in PvP, so we could earn a lot of bounty money by participating in the war.

Wait, was bounty money even the problem?

The enemies would all be mid-level or higher explorers, so if we stripped them of their equipment and sold it, we would make a fortune.

And not only that…

‘I might even reach level 7 by hunting 7th-floor monsters.’

I could obtain the experience points that I would have had to get from clearing 60% of the 6th floor much more easily.

And…

‘I can absorb the Submerged Island essence once I reach level 7.’

And then I could decide whether to remove Gachabon’s essence and move on to Bellarios, depending on the situation.

‘I’ll remove Stormgush once I reach level 8 and absorb another essence. It’s easier to farm Floor Masters once I’m level 9.’

I felt a strange sensation as I organized my future plans.

It felt like we had already cleared the mid-game.

‘Time flies…’

That’s when, as I was lost in thought, Amelia asked Erwen,

“By the way, Tersia, are you okay? I thought you were working with the fairy tribe’s executive branch.”

“Ah, right. Are you okay?”

“It’s fine. I took a vacation.”

“Vacation?”

“Yes. I won’t be entering the labyrinth for a while, and even if I do, I’ll be moving separately. So you don’t have to worry about it.”

“…If you say so.”

I continued listening to Erwen and Amelia as they talked about the war and made plans.

And time passed…

「Entered the 1st-floor Crystal Cave.」

…and the day of the labyrinth expedition arrived.

______________________

A crystal cave bathed in a faint purple light.

Amelia took the lead and navigated as soon as I opened my eyes.

“This way.”

“Wait a minute, I’m better at—”

“Amelia is a Guide.”

“…She is?”

Erwen, who had received high-level training from her sister, didn’t argue any further after hearing that Amelia was a Guide.

She seemed a bit offended.

Honestly, I couldn’t understand her feelings.

I also had the navigation function, but I didn’t feel disappointed when I couldn’t use it.

‘It’s much more convenient to just follow her, why bother?’

Well, it was a bit fascinating.

We were a three-person team, and all three of us could navigate.

Is this what they call an elite squad?

Tadat, tadat.

Anyway, I just had to follow her, so I looked around as we ran. The atmosphere in the labyrinth was different from what I expected.

I thought I would see knights and clan explorers everywhere…

“There are a lot more low-level explorers than I expected.”

…but there were also many rookie explorers.

And they all seemed cheerful.

They were nervous, as expected of people in a labyrinth, but no one was trembling in fear.

“That’s because the royal family has implemented many policies to support low-level explorers. After all… many high-level explorers died that day…”

I heard more details, and there was a reason why there were so many people on the 1st floor compared to when I was a newbie.

The royal family’s policies were one thing, but the biggest factor was that most of the large clans had disbanded.

It was a land of opportunity, like planting a flag on unclaimed territory.

The 5th floor was a prime example.

“You’re saying no one is controlling the 5th floor…?”

“There are probably still some, but it’s not as bad as before.”

It used to be commonplace for clans to occupy and monopolize the monster spawn areas in the Great Magical Forest, but it was rare now.

They would rather participate in the war.

After all, the participation fee was generous, and the royal family even offered essences as rewards for achievements, so the trend was accelerating.

“I’m a step too late.”

Unfortunately, the 1st-floor portal was already open, even though we arrived early.

So the speedrun failed again?

「Entered the 2nd-floor Beast’s Lair.」

There was no way we could speedrun the 2nd floor when we failed on the 1st floor, so we took our time after entering the 2nd floor.

Our schedule was flexible anyway.

‘The deadline is Day 25, right?’

The way the royal family recruited soldiers was simple.

Arrive at Starting Island Laimia by Day 25.

It was a tight schedule for a team that had just reached the beginning of the 6th floor, but it was different for us, who could easily clear up to the 6th floor with just three people.

‘The pace is faster without a mage.’

We would have rested by now if we had our previous team… but no one suggested stopping.

And as a result…

‘We’re already on the 3rd floor?’

…we arrived on the 3rd floor by the end of Day 1.

Even though we hadn’t run as much as we did on the 1st floor.

“Mister, are you tired? Here, have a drink.”

Surprisingly, these two still seemed to have energy left, so it seemed like they could move even faster if they wanted to.

Well, they were agility characters.

“Erwen, didn’t I tell you not to call me ‘mister’ in the labyrinth?”

“Ah, right. I’ll be careful…”

Erwen nodded shyly, and we started preparing for camp.

We didn’t need a watch.

We were at the beginning of the 3rd floor, and besides…

“I’ll have my clone keep watch, so you can sleep peacefully.”

There was no need to waste a person thanks to Amelia’s [Self-Replication].

“Wow, Amelia. You’re really useful.”

“Don’t make a fuss. It’s nothing.”

Damn it, she’s prickly.

I was just thanking her because she was the one working hard, even if it was just a clone.

“You’re right, it’s nothing.”

“Huh?”

“I, I can do that too…?”

Erwen immediately summoned a spirit.

It wasn’t that difficult to summon spirits while sleeping, unlike before. And she said it didn’t consume that much spirit power.

“And we can use the darkness spirit to hide from monsters and other people. See? I’m much better, right? Huh?”

“Ye, yeah… you’re better.”

I nodded reluctantly, pressured by her strange gaze.

But was that the answer she wanted?

“Then… say it to me too.”

“…Huh? Say what?”

“That thing you said to her earlier…”

Erwen fidgeted.

“Th, that it’s convenient to have me… Th, that I’m the best… That, that you can’t live without me…”

Hey, I never said that.