Ervena Fornassi di Tercia was currently in the Witchwood with her older sister Daria.

"Phew... I'm so dizzy...

"Once you get used to it, everything will be fine. So focus on the sound.

She was hunting with her sister on the 3rd floor, and the reason why they ended up in the Witchwood was simple.

Recently, Ervena has been training as a scout.

Taking advantage of the last day before the maze closed, they entered the Witchwood.

"Even if you don't become a professional scout, you should know how to find your way to the 4th floor.

"Phew...

Her older sister was an experienced explorer, so she had already inherited the knowledge and know-how to find her way around the lower floors alone. However, the Witchwood was completely different, it was a special area where you could navigate, relying only on your senses.

"So, do you think you can hear him?"

Ervena followed her sister's instructions and focused on the sounds she could hear. Other races had to specialize in one ability, whether it was smell or sight, so as not to get lost in the Witchwood.

*Tum!*

However, elves with a natural sense of hearing did not need to do this. According to her sister, it is not easy to pass through this place, but anyone who is able to feel the portal to the 4th floor can do it.

*Tum!*

As soon as she closed her eyes and listened, she recognized small sounds that she hadn't noticed before: a wind like a blade, the rustle of spreading branches, the howling of monsters, the friction of sharp weapons, and so on. Looking at them one by one, she was able to find an obviously alien sound.

*Tum!*

A heavy sound, similar to a heartbeat. It must have been the sound wave of mana that her sister was talking about.

"Over there...

When she pointed in the direction of the sound, Daria smiled proudly.

"Good job. Well, shall we go?"

Ervena continued to focus on the sound and found her way. There were times when she didn't feel the monster approaching because she was too focused on her hearing, but each time her sister helped her, so there was no problem. After a long time, the sound wave of mana became louder.

*Tum!*

It was loud enough now to roar in her ears, even if she wasn't specifically focusing on it.

[You did well, Rothmiller].

Ervena frowned at the unexpected voice. She didn't know who Rothmiller was, but...

"Hm?"

"What's wrong?"

That voice was familiar to her. It was a harsh but warm voice, like the one she missed.

Could it be...?

Though she thought it couldn't be, Ervena's legs were already moving in the direction the voice came from.

"Ervena?" Where to... Pull over...! Daria called her from behind, but she continued to run forward as if possessed.

About a minute passed. A wide open space appeared, in which a huge tower was visible, hidden in the forest. In front was a group of explorers: one dwarf, two people, one beastman... and one barbarian.

Of course, he did not look at all like the one who was in her memory. As an experienced explorer, he was dressed in shiny armor, and his shield was much larger and more luxurious. Since he was wearing a helmet, his face was not visible.

"D-uncle?!"

But Ervena instinctively sensed it. It was the same man.

"Uncle!" She belatedly shouted so that the whole forest responded, but the barbarian did not look back. When she found him, his body was half inside the portal, and now he was completely gone. Then Ervena ran, as if she was going to follow him and immediately enter the portal.

"Ervena!"

She ran incomparably faster than she moved on the 1st floor, but soon she was stopped by her sister.

"Let me go!" I've got to go...

"Calm down!"

"This barbarian...

"Don't be so stubborn. You didn't even see his face properly.

Ervena was speechless. She belatedly realized what she must have looked like.

"I... I know. It's him...

"And if it's not?" The 4th floor is dangerous for two people. And you don't even know what kind of people they are.

"This...

It was a question she hadn't considered, because Ervena was already sure. However, she didn't have the confidence to explain this obvious resonance in her heart to her eldest sister. She was about to recklessly let go of Daria's grip when the color of the portal changed to red.

"N-no...!"

Now, even if she entered the portal, she wouldn't be able to go where those people went.

"Why!" Why did you stop me?!

"Because I had to!" Didn't I tell you that you might be treated like a looter if you followed someone to the 4th floor?

"But... it was Uncle...!

Ervena pursed her lips. A flash of anger burst from the depths of her heart, but she took a deep breath and came to her senses.

Yes, everything is fine. At least I know he's alive...

For now, she decided to settle for it. If she hadn't made a mistake today, and if he was really alive...

… We'll meet soon.

***

[You entered the Sky Tower on the 4th floor].

***

What was that? That voice? It seemed that he was calling me... Maybe it's Ervena?

I shuddered. The only person who could call me "uncle" was her.

However, this was a bit counterintuitive.

Could there be such a coincidence?

In the midst of reuniting with my teammates in this huge labyrinth, it was hard to imagine that such a coincidence could also happen. It must have been a conversation between other researchers. In any case, there was no need to worry about that now.

"Bjorn, what are you doing?!" Come on, move!

The Sky Tower was a stone chamber with an area of more than 40 square meters, with a tightly closed door on each wall. This was the first test that had to be faced immediately upon entering. In other words, monsters poured into the room.

"Kyaaa

Seven rank 9 minions, three rank 8 minions, and one rank 7 minions. The monsters that used to spawn on the 3rd floor were now attacking us in groups, regardless of where they lived. That's why I called this place the Training Tower. Since there were so many types of monsters here, it was easy to gain experience points, and it was possible to deal with such combinations that one had never encountered before.

Orc Sorcerer, Stone Golem, Living Armor, and Dullahan.

From the very beginning, it was a strange combination.

[Living Armor applied [Armor Enhancement]].

As if using Dullahan's body as a host, the Living Armor pounced on him.

[Orc Sorcerer casts [Fury]. Dullahan's Physical Resistance is increased by 3 times for 10 seconds].

Dullahan, who already had a damn high Physical Resistance, was practically turned to stone. The Stone Golem, meanwhile, used [Suppression] to inflict a debuff.

'Behellaaa

While Misha and Rothmiller were clearing out the 9th tier monsters, Hikuroda and I created a wall of shields to block Dullahan. It was a complicated combination, but with two tanks it was easy to pull off.

Even high Physical Resistance didn't mean much to us.

Our main killers were Dvalki and Misha. Dvalki was a mage, so it goes without saying, but Misha was now on the right path of freezing, which greatly increased her cold damage.

I was busy playing the role of a meat shield when the battle ended in an instant. The dwarf tilted his head.

"Has it always been so easy?"

– Probably, we have all become stronger!

"Haha, it was just a new spell I learned. What do you think?

Initially, no matter how strong the tank was, it was not noticeable externally. On the other hand, damage dealers boasted obvious growth. As for the intelligence officer... Well, they were seen as non-combat classes.

"Ahem.

It's safe to say that the scout did his job by simply getting us to our destination on time. On the 4th floor, not only monsters appeared.

[Challenge Completed]

Shortly after all the monsters had died, the tightly closed doors swung wide open. Each door was engraved with a unique pattern: Courage, Wisdom, Destiny and Patience. Usually, I would open the Ladder of Courage and fight a random monster.

"Since we don't have much time, it's better to quickly climb the floors.

We decided to use the Ladder of Wisdom for now. The difficulty of the Sky Tower increased with each test passed, but the Wisdom Stair was a route that could be taken to climb all floors at once. With our combat power, we needed to get to the 20th floor to get a taste of real hunting.

[You have chosen the Ladder of Wisdom].

For this reason, we walked through darkness like an abyss. The path was difficult. There were traps, occasionally monsters appeared, but there was nothing dangerous as long as we had a professional scout Rothmiller.

*Bam!*

When we reached the 6th floor about an hour later, the door we had passed through closed and we were attacked by monsters. Unlike the 1st floor, there were three rank 7s, but there were no particularly dangerous enemies. Unlike the previous one, the combination was also bad.

"Hmph, it seems that the Ladder of Wisdom isn't here this time.

After hunting, we had no choice but to go up the Ladder of Courage. "Fate" has too many variables, and "Patience"... Everyone shook their heads in unison.

It would be calmer for us to fight monsters a few more times.

In this reality, all the Trials of Patience were tests that had to be avoided. Memories of how hot, cold, sad and very bad it was came to mind.

[You have chosen the Ladder of Courage].

Anyway, we climbed the stairs and reached the 7th floor. A monster appeared, and that was the end of it. The battle ended easily, but there was no sign that the tightly closed doors had opened. This was expected. If you chose Courage, then even after killing all the monsters, you had to wait 4 hours.

"Well, let's take a break and recharge our courage again!"

Ignoring the dwarf's joke, as we were tired of running through the Witchwood, we took a break without hesitation.

There was no need for a night watch. Monsters did not respawn, and once the color of the portal changed, other explorers could not enter.

"Haha, then let's go!"

After sleeping for 4 hours, we woke up and climbed the tower again on the Ladder of Wisdom. This allowed us to get to the 12th floor.

Но какого черта?

"Gaaaa!"

We froze when we saw a lone monster sitting in the center of a stone cell.

*Blow!*

He had a huge body, more than 4 meters tall, huge tusks sticking out of his mouth, gray-white skin covering bulky muscles, and humped vertebrae with deformed wide humerus.

"T-Troll...?"

"Why is he here?"

The troll was classified as a first-class asshole among rank 5 monsters. If Death Fiend was for beginners, then this bastard played the role of keyboard destroyer among average gamers.

Why is this bastard here?

I also had a lot of memories of making shotgun sounds on my keyboard because of that bastard.

Could it be because of this memory? I could not restrain myself from cursing.

"Fuck!"

No wonder everything went so smoothly after meeting Hans.

Is it all because of this?

Damn, I didn't know it was going to be a monster this time.

In the labyrinth, it wasn't just looters to be wary of.