"Rotmiller, is anyone nearby?"
Could he have had similar suspicions? Brown closed his eyes and then opened them without saying a word. He looked around, his pupils constricted.
[Brown Rotmiller has launched Thermal Search].
Thermal Scan was a Lizard Scout's ability. Its effects were similar to those of a modern thermal imaging camera. It was also a very useful ability in the game. Whether the enemy used Concealment or anything else, this ability could reveal everything.
"There's no one around." Brown deactivated the ability and gave a brief response. "But judging by the smell, it seems someone was here not too long ago."
Since it was the judgment of someone with two scents that aligned with the olfactory statistics, the possibility of him being wrong was low. I asked him a few more questions. "How long do you think?"
"It's not exact, but that much of a smell means no more than two minutes have passed."
"That means they would have left after seeing us hunt, right?"
"That's right." Rotmiller nodded with a bitter expression.
Hikurod, who had been listening to the conversation silently, interrupted, startled. "Wait, so someone was pointing a gun at us on purpose?"
"Probably not us, exactly. They would have been waiting for anyone to pass by." Brown didn't deny it. He also explained that luring the monsters in front of the portal was a common technique used by looters, a low-risk method among those people.
They are certainly good at acrobatics.
A monster ambush was also aimed at the moment when the explorers, who had just crossed the portal, were most vulnerable. Complete annihilation would be the best outcome; one or two wounded was quite good, and if they happened to escape unharmed, the ambush predators only had to withdraw and wait for their next prey.
"Rotmiller! Shouldn't we find them and finish them off? Killing looters brings in money!" Missha shouted.
"Even if we did that, it will be difficult to find them. It's not like we can just wait here... Besides, there's no proof. We can't rule out the possibility that they're setting a trap for us in return."
"Eeek, the dead don't talk!" Having heard the whole story, Missha snorted angrily, but the dwarf made a cool-headed decision as the boss.
"In the name of a good conscience, let's go back to the second floor to leave a warning sign against looters in front of the entrance before we leave."
I agreed. "It's a wise decision."
After that, we fulfilled the minimum duty of an explorer and left the portal behind. Along the way, we continued talking about the looters. However, the more I listened, the stranger it all seemed.
"Brown is great. Until now, I didn't even know that technique existed."
«I had only heard of her before», Hikurod nodded. «It's the first time I've been subjected to this trick».
«True, it's not every day you meet a looter!»
What the hell are you talking about?
I felt oblivious to the other explorers' talk and found it difficult to empathize with her, so I asked more about it. Then I realized something shocking.
«I? I've met about eight in the last five years. Once, he was my own teammate, and the rest were all useless!».
«Only eight times in five years? Shit, isn't encountering predators an everyday occurrence for explorers?»
«Certainly... I heard it was like this about 150 years ago!»
Missha said that after the death of the first king, known as the Immortal King, the number of looters was greatly reduced due to various policies. However, he could not accept this explanation. There had to be a mistake. Otherwise, I couldn't explain it.
Once in the Crystal Cave, once in the Goblin Forest, twice in the Land of the Dead...
Including today, I had encountered five looters in the last three months.
So what am I?
When I told this story to get their opinion, everyone, including Brown, looked at me with strange eyes.
«How many sins did Bjorrrn commit in his past life?».
«Hahaha! Maybe it's because you're here that today we met the looter».
I really had nothing to say. What kind of life had he been living?
As he walked silently, having no energy to refute them, Brown sighed and opened his mouth. «Everyone, stop making fun. Everyone knows that Miss Karlstein is one of the lucky ones, right?».
«Ah! That's tr-!»
«I also usually see looters about once every three months. So don't worry too much».
Ah, uh, um... Thanks for the comforting words, but it's not five in three months.
***
[You have killed a Stone Worm. EXP +2]
[You have killed an Iron Falcon. EXP +2]
[You have killed a Guardian Soldier of Iron Rock Hill. EXP +2]
Third floor, Pilgrim's Path. Whether you passed through the Land of the Dead, the Goblin Forest, or the Lair of Beasts, it was a stratum you ended up reaching. The starting point was different for each route, so in reality, to meet explorers who came from a different path, you had to follow the path to the fourth portal, in the center of the map.
It takes an average of three to four days to get to the center...
For reference, this was the time purely required to travel. In that sense, the third floor had a scale incomparable to the other floors. Apart from the name of the stratum, Senda del Peregrino, here the places were known by the name of the monster that inhabited them. I was currently on Iron Rock Hill.
«Then we will camp here today, and tomorrow we will move on to the next area».
At the ambiguous border line where a region ended, we began to prepare to camp. As it was a region with overlapping monster territories, only a few monsters appeared here.
«By the way, Dwalkie, are you okay?» Hikurod asked. «You haven't looked good in a while». The dwarf extended a sleeping bag, finishing preparing to sleep.
Brown, Missha and I pretended not to be listening. We were curious why this chatty bastard seemed to have stepped in dog poop.
«... Did I look like that?»
«Maybe I was wrong, but that's how it seemed to me».
«I see...» Dwalkie smiled bitterly and nodded. Hesitating for a moment, he soon said what he thought. «I know what I'm going to sound like. He probably seems naive and immature in your eyes. But... to be honest, I was surprised».
«Surprised?»
«It would be more correct to say that I have been disappointed. I've always heard stories of explorers since I was young, but... I've never been told anything like this».
An explorer who killed another explorer; Furthermore, an explorer who talked about making money by killing such explorers. It was certainly not a reality full of dreams and innocence.
«¡Eeek, fruit una broma!» gritó Misha.
«Joke or not, if I keep working as an explorer one day I'll kill someone else, right?».
At that, everyone in the group closed their mouths. Anything we said to console him would be a lie. Hikurod, Missha, Brown and I had killed someone before. If Dwalkie continued in this career, he would inevitably experience it one day.
«So I decided. The whole time we were moving here, I couldn't stop thinking...»
Hearing his determined murmur, I asked him: «And the results? Are you determined to do it?»
«I am. But... I don't know if I can when that time comes». Dwalkie's determination was filled with confusion. He had no confidence in himself, only fear of that possible situation.
However... I thought it was actually better this way. «It's enough.» Better than those idiots who spit out promises they couldn't keep and then whimpered about not being able to do it.
Maybe he had a similar thought, because Brown, who was listening to the conversation, said: «It's important not to be overconfident in yourself». To my ears, that sounds a lot more reliable than saying 'I can do it'».
«It's true?»
Seeing Dwalkie make a shy expression, Brown gave a warm smile, as if he were looking at a young man walking his path. «You are aware that it is something you have to do, and you are even determined to do it. If so, I'm sure you'll be able to pull it off when that time comes».
«I hope it really is like that...».
«Hahaha! Cheer up, my friend!» The conversation finally ended when Hikurod patted Dwalkie on the back.
However, after deciding on night shifts and just as we were about to go to bed, Brown suddenly called the party. «Wait. Can you leave me a moment? I know that resting as much as possible is the most beneficial for us, but I have something I want to show you.»
"¿What are you?"
At my question, Brown looked at Dwalkie and said: «That there are not only difficult and terrible things in this profession».
Shortly after, Brown checked his watch and headed to the edge of the cliff near the camp. We followed him without knowing what was happening. All we saw was the usual darkness of the maze that swallowed up the light and always obstructed an explorer's vision.
«Do you have something to teach us?» Missha asked.
«Wait, it will only be a moment».
Seeing Brown's response while looking at the watch, I guessed what he was talking about, so I took mine out. It was 11:59 p.m., one minute before the start of the third day, when the monster population peaked. The second hand moved with a tick. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5...
I closed the clock and stared into the darkness of the opposite cliff. Soon, a silver sphere of light appeared in the distance. The little lights were too numerous to count. Starting from the ground, they all fluttered like dandelion seeds and flew towards the sky. The dark labyrinth gradually lit up. That's when I understood why this place was called Iron Rock Hill.
«It's a sight that only explorers who arrive here early enough can see», Brown explained to me. «Isn't it wonderful?»
Even within the labyrinth, this place was considered the highlands. It was usually dark, so it was difficult to tell, but now that numerous lights were clearing the darkness, the entire spacious third floor area could be seen at once. Mountains and fields, and a river flowing through them; a dense forest and a high spire rising to the ceiling in the center. It was a sight I would never have seen if I had lived my entire life within the walls of Rafdonia.
Dwalkie looked at him blankly and muttered: «...I think I understand now why explorers always call it a vast world».
I raised my head to look up. It was a closed roof, but at that moment it seemed to me that I was looking at the sky, and an open night sky filled with the Milky Way.
Of course, it was just a fleeting moment. It took just a minute for the spheres of light rising from the ground to reach the ceiling and disappear completely.
«No one knows why this happens only on the third floor».
There were many hypotheses about it: when the third day arrived, the manna from the labyrinth dimension became oversaturated and released, or it was a blessing from God. Everyone accepted what they wanted to believe, but Brown clarified it.
«Whatever the reason, it is clear that whoever sees this vision no longer wonders why».
«It's true! I've only heard of this, it's the first time I've seen it! Normally, I would have been very asleep in my sleeping bag!»
«Hahaha! I have a feeling my friend won't be able to sleep tonight».
After that, the lights completely disappeared, and familiar darkness once again enveloped the labyrinth. Apart from me, who was doing the first watch, everyone got into their sleeping bags and fell asleep.
Only after a long time had passed could I hear the sound of breathing coming from Dwalkie's bed.
***
It was dawn, not that the surroundings were really bright. But as for the time, it was morning, 8:10. After clearing the camp, we walked downhill for a long time and left Iron Rock Hill. We soon arrived at our first destination.
«From here is the orca colony», Brown announced.
Among the various regions on the third floor, this was the most populated by monsters. Its characteristic feature was that only monsters of rank 8 or higher appeared here.
Unless we are ready to immediately enter the fourth floor, there are no better hunting areas.
The difficulty level was the second highest among the third floor regions, but if my predictions were correct, there would be no big risks for us. With these team members, we were more than capable of being active even on the fourth floor. We had a wizard, and other than me, the rest of the team were originally active scouts on the fourth floor.
«So let's work on our combat technique here for a while and decide what to do next with that result», Brown suggested.
After reorganizing our formation, we entered the large bushes. The arrangement only consisted of sending Brown to the rear and Hikurod and me to the front.
«Hikurod, a group of orcs is coming at one o'clock».
As a popular hunting ground with a high density of monsters, although it was on the outskirts, we were able to encounter a group of orcs after just walking for a while.
«Ch-chwiik!» It was a basic group of four orc warriors, an archer and a sorcerer.
«Do what we have practiced!» Hikurod shouted.
We got into the formation we had prepared in advance: Formation A. Hikurod and I were protecting the front, and Missha, as a melee damage dealer, went back and forth freely between the shields to approach the enemies on the front first.
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has released Rank 8 Ice Spear.]
The orcs didn't necessarily need a curse-type spell, so Dwalkie focused on the attack. The same thing happened with Brown. He focused on supporting the rear using his crossbow during battle. However, he also took on another role.
[The Orc Sorcerer has released Frenzy. Orc Warriors' physical stamina increases 3 times for 10 seconds].
In case a monster ignored the shield wall and headed to the rear, it had to protect Dwalkie, the most vulnerable of all.
«It's a frenzy spell! Be careful!»
«Dwalkie! Stay behind me».
«Okay!»
One of the orc warriors who entered Frenzy state ignored us and lunged at Dwalkie, but Brown pulled out a shield to block them. Of course, as an explorer, he did not have the physical ability to defeat an orc warrior one on one.
«Ugh, it was close!»
But he just had to use his main crossbow weapon, buckler, dagger or gas pump to buy himself some time. After that, Missha could come to his aid, or Dwalkie could cast an attack spell.
[You have killed an Orc Warrior. EXP +2]
[You have killed an Orc Archer. EXP +2]
[You have killed an Orc Sorcerer. EXP +2]
Thus, the first battle with the orcs ended without problems. The total time spent was about eight minutes and there were no injuries, but the time consumed in the battle was longer than expected.
We definitely lack damage dealers.
In addition to the scout, there were two shield warriors, and the orcs were among the rank 8 monsters with quite high physical stamina. Of course, we had a mage on our team who was considered the most worthy damage dealer in this universe... But Dwalkie was not from the magic tower. The only rank 8 attack spell he knew of was an Ice Spear that could deal damage to a single monster.
Well, we brought him here for his curse spells more than his attack magic in the first place.
A mage's courage was not only in high-powered attack magic. There was something called explorer-monster compatibility. However, if there was a mage on the team, it was possible to actively fight monsters of a much more diverse nature.
It takes longer, but the stability is quite high.
He came with his disappointments, but all this made a pretty big team.
«Then let's go deeper».
Afterwards, we fought towards the center of the orc colony. The more we fought, the more orcs appeared in groups. Once, there was a powerful rank 7 orc warrior in the mix.
[You have killed a Mighty Orc Warrior. EXP +3]
We also hunted this one without difficulty. However, shit always happened when everything seemed to be going smoothly. It was when we had found our balance and were slaughtering orcs left and right.
«Ihenro Teuntine.»
Suddenly, we heard a low song coming from the distant bushes.
¡Caboom!
A burning meteorite fell and flew into the air to the horde of orcs we were hunting.
«... What the fuck?»
What the fuck situation was this now?