WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈
Chapter 15: First Trip to the Labyrinth
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Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
A rainbow of colors flooded my vision, scrambling my senses.
The moment my feet hit the ground, nausea surged up from my stomach.
“Bleeghhh!”
It was a side effect of using the portal.
[Entering a portal may cause slight nausea.]
Fuck, the game text definitely said “slight.” This was way beyond slight!
After a violent bout of vomiting, we panted for breath. Elena, whose senses should have been sharper than those of other races because she was an elf...
“Ugh, you weaklings. What are you doing?”
She was completely fine?
I was genuinely impressed.
“Can individual stupidity and dullness really surpass the limits of one's race?”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Wiping my mouth, I looked around.
[Ruined Prison]
[Warm Forest]
[Shallow Sewer]
The first floor of the Labyrinth was divided into three areas.
This place was...
“It’s the forest.”
Dense shrubs and trees filled the area, while bright sunlight poured down from above.
No matter how I looked at it, this was definitely the forest region.
We got lucky.
Undead-type monsters didn't appear here, our view was clear, and we could save torches during the day.
Most importantly, there were no troublesome traps.
“Wow, is this all sunlight?”
“It’s warm... Is this what spring is like? The kind you only read about in books?”
The others, who had only ever seen snow year-round, looked around in wonder.
The warm air and scent of fresh green plants were a wonder we had never experienced back home.
But this wasn't the time to get lost in the scenery.
“Everyone, focus.”
“...”
“Did you forget we’re in the Labyrinth?”
This was the Labyrinth.
A pit of hell even more terrible than the snowfields.
‘Once they see what lives here, those feelings will disappear fast.’
Only then did everyone flinch and come to their senses.
“Elena, how’s the area?”
“I can’t hear anything in particular.”
Wearing a gambeson and gripping a cedar shield and short sword, Elena looked around.
‘She noticed wolves approaching even through a blizzard.’
‘If Elena says so, it’s more reliable than my senses, at least.’
Elves really were unfair.
At least when it came to their senses, like hearing and sight.
“According to the plan, Elena, Dize, and Daisy will handle combat first.”
Dize and Daisy would keep the monsters at bay with their spears while Elena, the most skilled among us, dealt the finishing blow.
“What about you, Ian?”
“I’m the insurance. As you all know, spells have limited uses.”
I would step in when a troublesome monster appeared, something the others couldn't handle on their own.
I checked the spell parchments within me.
[Faint Light] [2]
[Electric Spark] [2]
[Ice Spike] [3]
[Frost Burst] [1]
[Magic Missile] [1]
Since I could use three affinities, I had plenty of offensive and support spells for a mage on the first floor.
Still, I couldn't let my guard down.
A mage without spells was nothing but a wand holder.
Using spells at the right time was also an essential part of being a mage.
“Elena takes point. Dize and Daisy, don’t forget to sweep the area with your spears.”
“Okay!”
Taking our positions, we began moving through the grass.
I had specifically told the other two to swing their spear shafts through seemingly empty air.
The thick quilted armor and heat made us sweat.
It was exhausting, but the reason quickly became clear.
“Webs, Ian!”
“Just as I thought... This is giant spider territory.”
They were the monsters most commonly found in the Warm Forest.
A transparent, thread-like bundle had tangled around Daisy’s spear tip, reflecting in the sunlight.
It wasn't like the ordinary spiderwebs we had seen in the mountains.
One wrong step, and it would bind someone with the strength of a rope.
Just as expected...
‘It’s fucking tough.’
I touched the wire-like web, then took out a flint and lit my torch.
Whoosh!
The web, which had been as strong as steel, crumbled away the moment it touched the fire.
“If we’d kept going, we would’ve been caught...”
Daisy swallowed hard.
“It’s this dangerous from the start... I’m glad we took those classes...”
We knew about the monsters in the Warm Forest because we had attended lessons at the Expedition Party Guild.
That included how to deal with them.
“I’m glad we listened to Ian.”
“Yeah, really.”
Everyone was relieved that they had listened to me and paid a high price for the classes.
Not everyone thought like we did, though. Some people had not spent the time and money preparing for a future danger that hadn't come for them yet.
And the end those people met was right in front of us.
Creeeak, creeeak.
A young man and woman dangled in the air like puppets with their strings cut.
Their faces were drained of color, their eyes rolled upward in pain, and flies and maggots writhed between their eyes and skin. Beneath their torn gambesons, their entrails writhed, while spiders clung to the corpses as they sank their stingers and venomous fangs in and fed greedily.
Screeeech!
Four pairs of compound eyes stared at us.
They were Net Spiders, one of the monster species found in the Warm Forest.
Fuck, they were nothing like they looked on a monitor.
Each one was the size of a calf.
They made goblins look cute.
‘The first floor is supposed to have goblins. This game really is messed up!’
“D-Disgusting...”
“Net Spiders! Everyone, prepare for battle!”
Three giant spiders bounced on their webs before rushing at us.
One of them swelled its thick abdomen and fired webbing.
Ssssh!
I knew the theory inside out, but this was our first real battle.
It would have been a fatal strike that any rookie Expedition Party member might have panicked and let through, but not us.
“Not a chance!”
Elena calmly blocked it with her shield.
Then she rushed forward alone and repeatedly brought her sword down, crushing one monster spider’s head.
Crunch!
‘That idiot!’
Dize and Daisy thrust their spears at the other two charging spiders.
“Argh!”
“Haah!”
The spiders skittered across the ground and nimbly avoided the strikes.
One rushed Dize, while the other charged at me in the rear.
“Ugh... Ian!”
‘I never expected us to work perfectly together from the start.’
With a sigh, I aimed my staff.
[Ice Spike]
Crash!
My spell had not been very effective against the frozen corpses of the snowfield, the Draugr.
Against monster spiders, though, it showed terrifying power.
A sharp shard of ice pierced through its abdomen in an instant, sending it flying before it fell to the ground and twitched.
“Ahhh! Get it off! Get it off me!”
Crunch!
Elena had already kicked away the spider that pounced on Dize, then brought her weapon down on its head.
“Hmph. They’re weaker than I thought. Those Draugr seem stronger.”
The battle ended easily, but I called everyone over, especially Elena.
“Elena. What are you doing?”
“What?”
“I asked what you’re doing.”
“...”
“You can’t rush ahead alone. You’re the vanguard. Your job is to hold the party together and keep it safe. At the very least, protect the mage, our most important combat force. You rushed ahead and left Dize and Daisy exposed too.”
“Um...”
“You should’ve at least said something first. Your solo action created an opening, and I had to use one of my valuable spells.”
If I hadn't been a mage, one of us could have been seriously injured or killed.
The same would have happened if my spell had missed.
“If you think you know more about the Labyrinth than I do, or can do better, then make the plan yourself. If not, follow my orders. Got it?”
I spoke coldly on purpose, but Elena apologized without complaint.
“Sorry.”
Her personality was rotten, but she knew right from wrong.
“Fine. That’s enough.”
I would keep the scolding brief and hold no grudge.
She was hot-blooded and impulsive at that age, after all.
And these monsters were different from the Draugr she had fought until now.
After taking a moment to catch our breath, I burned the webs with my torch.
The bodies hanging from them fell to the ground, and the small bugs feeding on them scattered away.
“These people...”
Daisy looked at the young man and woman with pity.
“They were probably rookies like us. No information about the Labyrinth, no skill to deal with danger, and no lessons from the Guild.”
“...”
Dize’s face seemed to turn pale as he realized this could have been his future.
“Ian, Elena. I’m glad you’re here.”
Without the exceptional fighting power Elena and I brought to the party, we could have ended up just as miserably.
‘The dagger and shoes look usable.’
I felt sorry for the dead, but the living had to survive.
I searched their bodies and took anything useful.
One chipped dagger, one intact pair of shoes, and a few copper coins.
It wasn't much, but it was our first haul.
And that wasn't all.
“Is that a Mana Stone?”
Three small, glowing stones lay among the bodies of the three Net Spiders we had killed.
“Yeah.”
They were the currency of Labyrinth City and the energy resource that kept the city running.
Maybe they were humanity’s last hope of preserving civilization in this world where everything had frozen over.
Daisy stared at the beautiful, jewel-like Mana Stone and asked, “How much is one worth?”
“It’s Ninth Rank, so one Stone Bread.”
“...What?”
Daisy looked startled by my answer.
“Then...”
The value was far too low.
“Yeah. Those people came in here and died trying to earn one piece of bread.”
As I turned the beautiful Mana Stone in my hand, I told them the cruel truth.
“I told you. You can’t enter this place with half-hearted resolve. It would be better to beg outside or haul stone.”
“...”
Timid Dize, warmhearted Daisy, and even optimistic Elena fell silent for a while.
They were Expedition Party members now.
They had realized that their lives were worth less than a piece of bread.
“Everyone understands now, right? This is the Labyrinth.”
As a veteran of this rotten game, I taught the rookies the rules of this world once again.
Footnotes:
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