WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈

Chapter 13: Thorough Preview and Review

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“Newcomers?”

“Heh, at least one of them made it here alive.”

The countless people gathered at the Labyrinth entrance murmured at the grim sight.

Some clicked their tongues as if they were used to it, while others watched with sneers.

Their indifference showed just how close the people of this city lived to death.

“Damn. He looks awful.”

Elena shook her head as she looked at the messy-haired man.

“See? That’s what happens when you underestimate the Labyrinth.”

“Yeah. We definitely need to attend that training.”

“Mm-hm...”

I parted ways with the others.

Elena and Dize went to haul stone for city wall repairs, while Daisy went to work as a restaurant server.

“Good morning.”

“Yeah, morning.”

As for me, I worked as a copyist for a merchant company.

The pay was low, but it was better than hauling stone for the wall, and most importantly, it was less exhausting.

Knowledge was power anywhere.

Unlike the villages, Labyrinth had plenty of people who could read and write. Still, the city was huge, and there was demand for scribes.

‘My arm’s killing me.’

Dipping a quill in ink and scribbling over paper and parchment made me appreciate twenty-first-century paper, pens, computers, and keyboards all over again.

If I tore a sheet, my hourly pay would disappear along with it, so I had to be even more careful.

‘Primitive. So primitive.’

Ugh.

After working myself to the bone all morning, it was already late lunchtime when I finally finished.

Today was the day of the Expedition Party Guild’s rookie training.

When I arrived in front of the guild, Dize and Elena were bickering.

“Ugh, I’m dying... Seriously... I can’t get used to this no matter how often I do it...”

“What kind of man whines over that? Are you going to have any strength left for tonight?”

“I think I get why Ian always says that about you...”

“What?”

“N-nothing!”

“Hey.”

I walked over to them.

“You’re late, bastard.”

“My work ended late. What do you want me to do?”

Daisy arrived soon after.

“Sorry! I’m a little late, right?”

“Yeah, Daisy, you’re late as f... Oh?”

Elena, the elf with a terrible personality, had been about to scold Daisy when her eyes widened.

Daisy was carrying several loaves of bread.

“I was late because I had to bring these!”

“Perfect. I was getting hungry.”

“Ooh, thanks to Daisy, we saved on food costs.”

“Hehe.”

Each of us held a piece of bread in our mouths as we entered the guild.

It wasn’t soft wheat bread, but hard multigrain bread. Still, when I slowly softened it with saliva, it had a nutty, faintly sweet taste.

Mm, damn good.

After telling the receptionist we had come for training, we were directed to a warehouse-like building next to the guild.

The yard behind it had target dummies and various swords and weapons on display.

There were already quite a few people inside.

The first person who caught my eye was a male elf holding a staff.

‘A mage.’

As expected of an elf, he was ridiculously handsome, and Daisy whispered to Elena.

“Look over there. He’s an elf like you, Elena. Wow...”

“He looks like he’d ruin my appetite. Not interested.”

Unlike when she joked that she would keep me around because I was handsome, Elena only snorted.

“...”

Had he heard her?

The elf’s ears twitched, and he gave us a brief glare.

There were plenty of other unusual people too. A dwarf with a braided beard, a halfling with furry soles who wore no shoes.

Still, the one who drew my attention most was a human.

A handsome blue-haired youth in an embroidered shirt and a thick fur coat.

Even his clothes were on another level.

More importantly, he had guards beside him.

‘A noble.’

It wasn’t only commoners from villages and territories across the continent who were sent to become Expedition Party members.

Nobles were also sent into the Labyrinth, either to raise their family’s prestige or for political reasons.

Most of them were third or fourth sons who would never inherit their territory.

‘Still, he has guards. That’s basically a golden-spoon start!’

‘Though the Labyrinth isn’t something you can survive with that alone.’

As we sat and waited, the instructor soon entered.

He wore practical plate armor, and his bald head and scar running across one eye made a strong impression.

“Nice to meet you, hatchlings. I’m Max, a former rank 6 Expedition Party member, and I’ll be handling this class.”

A rank 6 member had operated at least as far as the third floor.

The fact that he had retired with all four limbs intact and could still speak clearly showed how capable he was.

Max looked over all of us and smiled as though he found something amusing.

“Oh, we’ve got a young noble and some mages. This batch is looking pretty good...”

Max’s interested gaze settled on me.

“You lot are the newcomers who gave Lingxiang’s group a hard time this time, huh?”

That was a misunderstanding.

Our idiot elf had only eaten twenty people’s worth of food.

Despite his vicious appearance, Max’s lesson was organized and surprisingly kind.

“I hope none of you idiots came here with thoughts of bringing light back to the world or any other crap like that.”

What about me?

I had to clear this fucked-up game to get home.

“Whether you have dreams like that or you’re here for money, throw them away. Let me tell you the first duty of an Expedition Party member.”

Survival.

“Think only about staying alive. That’s the kind of place this is. From now on, I’ll teach you how.”

Max began his explanation.

“The Labyrinth has been confirmed to have ten floors. We assume there are more, but that’s as far as anyone has reached. Those with at least three years of experience who have operated up to the third floor are called veterans. Above that are mid-ranked Expedition Party members. From the sixth floor onward, they’re upper-ranked Expedition Party members, and from the eighth floor onward, deep-level Expedition Party members. If you want to get more specific, there are ranks from 9 to 1.”

He began with the basics of Expedition Party members, including their ranks.

At most five people could enter the Labyrinth at once.

The arrival point on each floor was random as well.

“Roles are usually divided into vanguards, scouts, marksmen, mages, priests, and so on. Alliances and famous teams apparently build parties with members who have all kinds of specialties and use different tactics, but this is the basic structure.”

Priests and mages were especially rare.

The roles were no different from what I knew.

“Yaaawn.”

Elena scratched her head and yawned, while Daisy and Dize listened closely, trying to remember every word.

“Newly awakened beginner mages will probably only have one or two spells. Until you learn more spells or improve your proficiency, it’s best not to enter the Labyrinth. Or join an experienced party.”

Since there were many mages among the trainees, he gave advice beyond simple information about the Labyrinth.

Unless you were a Triple Master like me, ordinary beginner mages with one or two affinities had few spells and limited uses. There was little they could do.

That was why rookie mages usually worked in the city and spent their savings on magical research to build up their spell collection.

‘At least one or two offensive spells and two support spells.’

Once they could properly fulfill the role of a mage, they entered the Labyrinth, received favorable treatment, earned more money, and developed new spells.

‘There are other paths, but that’s the usual one.’

A noble profession if they succeeded.

A street performer if they failed.

‘Being a mage isn’t easy either!’

Behind the mages I had thought were revered without effort lay all that hardship.

‘Of course, none of that applies to a genius mage like me!’

“Any questions?”

The elf mage raised his hand.

“What about the Labyrinth’s ecosystem and the types of monsters that live there?”

“I’ll tell you about the first floor. We have materials here, so write this down.”

[Ruined Prison]

[Warm Forest]

[Shallow Sewer]

Each floor of the Labyrinth had several areas, each with its own ecosystem and monsters.

The guild taught newcomers about the first floor as part of their training.

The elf mage seemed to have memorized everything after one glance and put the materials back down.

‘No different from what I know.’

The same went for me, an experienced player.

The handsome young noble looked over the material before asking the instructor a question.

“How does one obtain information beyond this?”

“Use the Information Guild, or ask Expedition Party members who know a lot about it. Of course, you won’t get anything for free.”

He went on to teach us about the essentials we had to bring into the Labyrinth, as well as traps and mechanics to watch out for.

Once the theory lesson ended, we went to the training ground behind the building and tried swinging weapons.

Max, who had been supervising us, looked at Elena and recoiled.

“Fuck, what kind of elf is this bad at using a bow?”

It was because of our Elena’s terrible archery.

“So what? Is anyone good at everything?”

Elena retorted with a sulky expression, her fingers trembling from her hand tremor.

“Humans might not be, but elves are different. Elves should be good at everything.”

“For a bald guy, you’re pretty hardcore about racism.”

“What!?”

Max couldn’t get angry.

He had witnessed the rest of our party’s abilities.

“...Good lord.”

Dize swung a sword, then staggered from its weight.

“How the hell did you cross the snowfields looking like this? Don’t enter the Labyrinth. You’ll die.”

That wasn’t said to Daisy, who was a woman.

It was said to Dize.

“Fuck.”

After class, we left the building.

There was an advanced course, but it cost extra. Besides, I had more advanced information in my head, so there was no need to take it.

‘I checked, and it’s exactly the same as what I know.’

‘At this point, I’d be better off teaching them.’

While thinking that, I asked Daisy if she planned to enter the Labyrinth.

“What are you going to do, Daisy?”

After hesitating, Daisy nodded.

“...I want to go, at least once. To the Labyrinth.”

Then it would be the same party as before, Ian, Elena, Daisy, and Dize.

I considered our party’s strength.

Daisy was just Village Girl No. 1.

Still, Daisy was trustworthy.

Hadn’t she charged bravely at the Heavily Armored Draugr instead of running away, as any ordinary person would have?

‘Most of the enemies on the first floor are similar to the Draugr farmers we fought in the snowfields.’

They were clearly weaker than a Heavily Armored Draugr too.

‘Rather than bringing in someone who’s mediocre and unreliable...’

We could manage the first floor with these members.

“Besides, Daisy’s stronger than Dize.”

“What!?”

“It’s true.”

“I mean, it is, but...”

“Let’s go buy equipment now.”

Our next destination was the blacksmith.

Labyrinth was large enough to have several blacksmiths, but I picked one in particular.

The bald, bearded man’s blacksmith shop in the third block beside the general store.

Prices were all similar because of price fixing anyway, but this owner was at least somewhat generous.

“We’d like to look at some equipment.”

“You kids, huh? Look around.”

The owner, who had been hammering away, was a muscular bald man with a thick beard.

He wore no shirt, and the heat rising from the forge made sweat glisten across his body.

“Wow...”

“This is nothing like the village...”

Everyone in our group of village bumpkins except for me, a genius mage and refined modern man, stared wide-eyed.

It was a blacksmith that specialized in Labyrinth equipment.

There were sharp, oil-coated swords and spears, armor, and all kinds of other gear.

But it was all out of reach for us right now.

“How much is this?”

“Ten silver coins.”

““T-ten silver coins!?””

I heard the price of a decent-looking longsword, got a rough feel for local prices, and sighed.

“How much money do we have now?”

Between the money I had earned as a copyist, Elena and Dize’s wages from construction work, and Daisy’s inn job, we had fourteen silver coins.

If I had changed Daisy’s class into a Spearwoman, we could have earned much more money, but I couldn’t allow that.

Anyway, the equipment we could afford at our current level was...

‘We’ll keep using the weapons we already have.’

“Only padded armor.”

“Can’t we get leather or iron armor?”

Remembering how she had been overwhelmed in the fight against the Heavily Armored Draugr, Elena showed an interest in sturdier armor.

We had worn padded armor throughout our journey across the snowfields, and the Labyrinth wasn’t as cold, so we could wear metal armor too.

“That’s true, but then we’d have to give up helmets and shields.”

“Then give them up.”

“No. We have to buy helmets and shields.”

I shook my head at Dize’s words and answered firmly.

Leather and metal armor offered better protection than padded armor, but helmets and shields mattered more.

“Yeah, the kid knows what he’s talking about. You’re a mage, aren’t you?”

While I was explaining, the blacksmith gave a short laugh.

“You don’t need helmets in the snowfields, villages, or cities. Keeping your body temperature up matters more when you might freeze to death, and you don’t go anywhere near places where Draugr show up in the first place.”

Things were different down below.

“You can die before you know it. An arrow might put a hole through you, or a thrown stone might crack your skull. Helmets are essential.”

Once even the blacksmith said that, everyone understood.

We bought helmets made by hardening several layers of cloth with glue, padded armor, and wooden shields covered in leather.

‘They’re definitely different.’

‘The stitching is better, and they’re sturdy.’

Their quality was on a whole different level from the rough gear made in the village.

Dize took one and recoiled.

“Eek, th-there’s blood on this...”

“Of course. It’s secondhand. Who would sell new gear at that price?”

They were probably items recovered from dead Expedition Party members and repaired.

“This is suffocating. It blocks my vision too much.”

Elena complained as she wore her helmet.

Her long ears probably made it even more uncomfortable.

The same went for me.

Helmets made with primitive medieval technology were more uncomfortable than the ballistic helmets from the military, not to mention the sweat and faint smell of blood.

It felt like my concentration had taken a huge hit.

“Wear it anyway and get used to it.”

Still, we had to adapt.

It wasn’t like we had any precious artifacts.

Just as we were about to leave the blacksmith, the owner spoke.

“Here. Take this.”

“Oh?”

The blacksmith suddenly handed us a sword.

Even to someone like me, who knew nothing about swords, it looked like a well-made and fairly sharp shortsword.

“I’m lending it to you. Come pay me back later.”

That was what he said, but considering that the survival rate for newcomers entering the Labyrinth for the first time was below thirty percent, it was an act of kindness.

Arnold, the bald blacksmith.

Just as I remembered from the game, he was a generous guy.

“Thank you. It won’t take long.”

“Hmph. Don’t die. Now get the hell out of here!”

I handed the sword to Elena.

She was the best among us at close combat, after all.

“Hmm, not bad. With this, I might be able to take on that armored zombie bastard from before.”

Elena smiled as if she liked the sword, giving it a few swings.

I spoke to the others.

“Let’s enter the Labyrinth tomorrow. Quit your jobs, and rest well today.”

“Whew, this boring construction work is finally over.”

“Mm...”

“Okay. I’ll go talk to the owner.”

Daisy left.

Elena called out to me.

“Ian, where are you going now?”

I was planning to split off from the others too.

I explained why.

“I’m going to the library.”

“The library?”

“Yeah. Labyrinth has the second-largest library in the world.”

This was a fairly important hidden piece for the early game.

From the perspective of locals rather than an experienced player like me, beginners didn’t even know there was a library. Veterans and mid-ranked members preferred using the Information Guild instead.

It was far more efficient.

But we didn’t have money.

That meant we had to grind with time.

More importantly, if I went there...

‘I might be able to learn a new spell.’

Footnotes:

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