As soon as I entered the labyrinth, darkness fell.

Quickly pulling out a torch to illuminate the surroundings, I placed my hand on the tombstone in front of me.

Wow, how long has it been since then?

*Woooo!*

The five-colored shine emanating from the tombstone, which no one has ever touched, and the stabbing sensation in the heart are a unique feeling that arises when moving freely through life.

[Portal opened for the first time. Experience +2]

Watching the flickering halo of light that had already taken shape, Mike muttered:

"What?" Did you just open a portal?

Probably, she did not know about the existence of such a bug. I repeated what Einar had said then.

— The phenomenon of measurement instability? Can you use it like this?!

Unlike Einar, who gave up trying to understand, Misha struggled to figure it out. Of course, it didn't work out very well. The principle of operation was difficult to explain even to me. I was just manipulating a phenomenon that I somehow encountered.

— ... I feel sorry for Rothmiller.

"Hm?

"If he had known that such a thing was possible... He would have been dumbfounded. Just like I did when I made a contract with a Spirit Creature with that ring.

Oh, that's what she meant.

I suddenly wondered what she was talking about. Rothmiller would definitely have experienced a strong sense of deprivation if he had known about this bug.

"Even if not now, if I work hard, the day will come when I will open the portal with my own hands. This is my dream as an intelligence officer."

He carefully revealed his aspirations to us in the tavern; He took his job as an intelligence officer very seriously. It was not even such a pipe dream. In fact, his pathfinding abilities were quite decent. I didn't know how things were on the other floors, but at least on the 1st floor, where he worked tirelessly, he belonged to the category of highly qualified researchers. If he could reduce the time by another 2 hours, this dream could come true. Although it would not be easy.

"Then let's go up."

In general, enough talking.

I entered the portal with Misha.

[You entered the Rocky Desert on the 2nd floor].

The sand crumbled under my feet. Hot air rose from below.

Shadows of stone debris followed the flickering torch as it moved through the pitch darkness.

"It's a rocky desert.

Of all the places, I had to get here...

I took Misha to the 1st floor again. Then, following the compass, we headed east.

Since we landed on the opposite side, it will probably take 2 days to get there.

If we had entered the maze in the usual way, it would have taken us only 1 day to reach any place. Well, you gain something, you lose something. In addition, the Experience gained for opening the portal may have been only 2 points, but it was constantly accumulating. If I could earn it just by walking an extra day, then it was definitely a profit.

"Phew, now I definitely feel the absence of Rothmiller.

After about 3 hours, we got out of the outermost part of the dark zone. Even if we followed the compass, we still came to a dead end from time to time.

"And yet, isn't it nice that we are walking together?"

"What are you talking about?"

"It's just... It's nice when five people make noise, but it's not so bad either.

At first, I wondered what she meant, but as I listened to this, I think I understood what she meant.

Hikurod and Dvalki talked too much. To be honest, I can't say that sometimes they didn't make me laugh, but most of the time I was exhausted just listening to them.

"Gigeek!"

After getting out of the dark zone, we were walking through the slightly lit Crystal Cave when we were attacked by monsters. The monsters appearing in this western area were Dwarves. As rank 9 monsters, they were killed with a single shot.

"Geek...?!"

They were like clay dolls that had turned into mush with a single blow of a mace and disappeared. Killing them wasn't a problem, but it was annoying. The Dwarf's active skill was [Integration]. Since it was a stealth skill, you had to be within a radius of 3 meters to see it.

If Rothmiller had been here, we could have killed every single one of them when he saw them.

Perhaps it was because the five of us had worked until now. Maybe I didn't miss the dwarf, but I kind of missed the other guy. He was a jack of all trades who always quietly did his job behind the scenes. Oh, and Dvalki. If he were here, we wouldn't have to collect mana stones ourselves.

"Bjorn, there's someone coming!"

While I was immersed in my thoughts, Misha poked me in the side and quietly called. As a beastman with very developed senses, she felt their presence before me.

"What are you going to do?"

And what else was left to do? They must have felt our presence long ago.

*Kling, Kling*

Soon, a team of 5 people appeared ahead, an official team with a mage and a priest. As expected from a group of explorers who had come this far in just 3 hours, the quality of their equipment was quite good.

... They must be at least from the 6th floor.

I didn't know what essences they had, but the 3rd and 4th class equipment that covered them from head to toe confirmed their level. The researcher's equipment was akin to his identity card.

However, it seems that the same was the case with them.

"Hmm...

Their eyes, as they passed us, were suspicious and wary.

Think so. They wouldn't have thought of meeting a barbarian and a beastman dressed only in 2nd class materials, here at this time.

Please just walk by.

Fortunately, they passed us by without speaking to us.

Most likely, it wasn't the result of my desperate desires, but they just didn't have the time.

"Mr. Levron, let's speed up a little.

"Good.

It was fortunate that they had accelerated. They might not have known how we got here, but they probably assumed that the other participants could have progressed even faster.

You guys are already the fastest.

As we were moving back from the portal, I knew that these guys were on the very front line. Well, even if they were there, all they would see would be a portal already open.

"Wow, these people really run everywhere," Mike exclaimed, delighted that it was the first time she had seen researchers running at speed. It took less than 2 seconds before they came into view and swept past us, but it looked quite impressive nonetheless.

"What are you looking at?" Someday we will have to do it too.

— ... We are? Mike tilted her head.

No matter how much I tell her now, it won't look plausible. Not long ago, the family had treated her as a loser because she couldn't even make a contract with a spirit creature.

"Sometimes, Bjorn, it seems like you have very big ambitions. Is it because you're a barbarian?

— ... Is this sarcasm?

"Idiot, I meant it's cool!"

"Hmm.

Sometimes this girl can be too direct. Does she think she's a barbarian or something?

***

"Did you see the weapon that swordsman carried?"

"You mean the orichalcum sword?"

"Yes, that! So it was orichalcum. I wonder how much it would cost to make a weapon out of it...

After that, Misha continued to talk about the team we met earlier. It seemed that she dreamed of becoming a high-ranking researcher. Well, it was a much more positive emotion than envy or arrogance, but just a desire to achieve nothing.

"Stop talking and move your legs.

"Hmph, if anyone hears you, they'll think I've stopped moving altogether."

Be that as it may, as we continued to go east, the frequency of meetings with researchers gradually increased. In the beginning, as with the previous group, most of them were high-ranking researchers. Over time, their level gradually decreased.

I took out my watch.

[18:57]

19 hours from the opening of the labyrinth. That meant we spent the whole day walking.

Thanks to this, we were already at the starting point. In other words, we had reached the center of the Crystal Cavern on the 1st floor. Therefore, there was no need to worry about arousing the suspicion of the high-ranking researchers we met.

Hah, I didn't expect this.

When we did arrive, we were still attracting attention.

"Did you just see that?" The size of this mace...

"I think the backpack is also expandable.

The researchers looked at us with envy every time we passed by.

Well, I'm sure we looked weird. Instead of hunting on a much higher floor as we seemed to be able to do, we were in the middle of the 1st floor.

"Why is such a person still here?"

It was around the time they were looking for a night companion. Every time we walked past a group of 3-4 researchers, they all made remarks. It was a little strange.

I used to be like that.

When I first entered the maze, I, like them, found a night companion and decided to take a break. The problem was that the first person I met was Hans A.

"Why are you laughing all of a sudden?"

"I'm just thinking about the past.

Remembering how I had to pretend to sleep in front of Hans A next to me, when in fact I was pretty damn tired, I laughed. Before meeting Ervena, I had really gone through all the difficulties.

I wonder how she is doing?

Since she had a rich sister, I was sure she was doing well, but I was curious. She was my first teammate in this world.

Maybe I should go look for her?

As I walked through with these thoughts, I caught sight of a man, not that he was doing anything particularly remarkable.

God, just look at his eyes.

I didn't like his look. I could feel the envy and greed sparkling in those vile eyes at me. But for some reason, it made me laugh again.

I really grew up.

In the past, I would have been nervous to assume the worst just by looking at it. But I've changed a lot since then.

Not that I'm softer, but...

I grinned.

There was no reason to be afraid of the Goblins now. It wasn't that he was a Goblin, but if you only compared the combat power, the difference wasn't much. This was said even by someone who always assumed the worst of the worst. I could not imagine myself being stabbed to death with this crude knife.

Yes... I'm sure... But why does it keep me off?

There was a reason to check it out.

"You!"

When I suddenly stopped and looked at him, the man stood up, startled, leaning against the wall from his pose. His eyes were full of wariness.

"Do you want to tell me something?"

"N-no...

"Then why are you looking at me like that?"

— ... I'm sorry.

When the man apologized, Misha hit me in the side.

"Bjorn!" What are you doing? He didn't do anything wrong.

For some reason, it seemed to me that I had already seen such a scene once. When some thug on the side of the road started fighting a passerby, his girlfriend restrained him.

I tell you, this guy's look was especially vile.

"What is your name?"

— Ханст Айван.

"Khanst?" Not Hans?

The man shuddered at my question. It must have been a shame that some savage had suddenly come up to him and teased his name, but it was really important to me.

"Is that really Hanst?" Did you mix anything up?

"I... it's really Hanst...

Hmm, was it really my mistake? As I continued to stare at him, trying to organize my thoughts, the man added nervously:

"Originally, I was Hans, but I changed the name because it was too common.

— ... A what?

Damn, no wonder it felt so disgusting.

However, he changed his name, so I decided not to say anything and continue on my way. Of course, before that, I must give him advice.

"Never go back to your original name. Continue to live as Hunst. I got it?

"Y-understood," Hunst nodded vigorously.

*Cracked!*

At this moment, the labyrinth began to shake as if an earthquake had occurred. Mike looked at me.

"Bjorn?"

Her eyes searched for an answer.

Of course, I knew the answer. There was only one thing in the labyrinth that accompanied this phenomenon.

"Let's run!"

The Chasm is about to open, right now, before Day 1 has passed.

Deuce.

Few people knew, but it usually took at least 3 days for the Rifts to arise naturally.

What kind of bastard is this?

This meant that someone had beaten us to it using the method I had planned to use.