Depths of the Otherworldly Labyrinth (WN)

I couldn’t organize my 'Item List' without stopping, but I could try other things while I walked. I was calm for some reason, so as I walked down the dark corridor, I muttered all the words that I could think of.

"—Status, Level, Map, Save, Log, Chat, Logout, Login, Skills…"

I recalled some basic words at random, hoping to see a new 'Display' pop up.

There was no response to the keyword ‘Help’, which was what I actually wanted the most. There was also no response to the words ‘Log’ and ‘Chat’ that you would find in online games. The only words that created a response were ‘Map’ and ‘Skills’.

The 'Map' was a simple one made of a square display. However, it seemed to only show the areas I had already passed. While it was great that it meant I wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost, it didn’t help the situation at the moment.

On the other hand, it seemed like I could get quite a lot of perks out of the 'Skills' menu.

【Skills】

Innate Skills:

• Swordsmanship: 1.01

• Freezing Magic: 2.00

Acquired Skills: 

• Dimensional Magic: 5.00

???: 

• ???

???:

• ???

Two entries displayed '???'.

At that point, the guy who created this system (I have no idea if they were a man or a god or what, but I’ll tentatively call them the 'guy') seemed too reluctant to give me the full information. Or perhaps, they had other intentions.

Also, there was 'Magic'.

Apparently, I had become a magician before I knew it. Obviously, what I did next was joyfully speak the words 'Magic' and 'Spells' and such to make a related 'Display' pop up. 

【Magic】

Freezing Magic:

• Freeze: 1.00

• Ice: 1.00

Dimensional Magic: 

• Dimension: 1.00

I had been prepared for nothing.

But when I saw that there were three magics listed on the 'display', I felt like jumping in joy. 

I didn’t know why I could use magic at all, but I’d use whatever I could.

In terms of video games, there is nothing wrong with having a few initial skills.

In terms of video games, that is…

I decided I should give it a try and choose «Ice».

"Errm, come forth! ‘Freezing Magic’, «Ice»!"

I shouted and held up my hand.

I was expecting the sight of a block of ice shooting out from my hand. 

After vocalizing the magic, I felt that something was slipping out of my hand. Then, the palm of my hand became colder as something seemed to gather there. Well, ice did gather, but…it was too damn slow.

What gathered were some small shards of ice.

I guessed that meant that the water molecules in the air were gathering in my hand and that their molecular motion was suppressed, causing them to freeze. The «Ice» magic that took ten whole seconds to finish only produced a palm-sized piece of ice.

By the way, it didn’t fly away from my hand. No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t offensive magic.

"…"

Just, what is magic…?

Grrrr…

Should I call this rumble in my stomach ‘life magic’, too?

I had been expecting some kind of flashy attack to repel monsters, seeing how convenient the system had been, but it was a real disappointment. 

However, since I’d already made ice anyway, I took out a bundle of cloth that I had looted from my 'Item List' box and cut out only the clean parts to make a simple ice pack. Well, I did make it, but when I pressed the ice pack on my burns, it caused a dull ache, so I immediately threw it away. 

Next, I tried using «Freeze».

"Magic, «Freeze» !"

The result was the same as before, though.

All I could feel was the temperature around me dropping ever so slowly. 

The last magic, «Dimension», gave me quite a headache. 

The word «Dimension» should mean something like plane or proportion. 

Based on the ‘Freezing Magic’ that I had attempted beforehand, I predicted that ‘Dimension Magic’ should bring about an effect related to the meaning of that word.

I thought that maybe, using it, I could call forth some kind of Warp Zone and escape from the Labyrinth, but I doubted there would be any magic that lets you get away scot-free from a situation like that. As long as I couldn’t fully picture what the magic might encompass, I refrained from using it. To put it bluntly, I was afraid that a black hole or something might appear if I wasn't careful. 

However, that wasn’t the end of my magic trial-and-error. 

Since I was doing it anyway, I figured that I might as well imagine using different kinds of magic. 

"——Err, ‘Recovery Magic’, ‘White Magic’, ‘Magic Acquisition’, ‘New’, ‘New Magic’, ‘First Aid’, ‘Burn’, ‘Heal’…"

I threw all kinds of words, and none of it stuck.

I really wished I had some kind of recovery-type of magic… It seemed like I had nothing of such convenience arranged for me. On the other hand, though, an interesting 'Display' appeared. 

【Point Allocation】

• Swordsmanship: 1.01

• Freezing Magic: 2.00

Your current skill point count is: 0.

Zero, eh.

Perhaps I can accumulate more points as my level increases…

Level…?

【Level Up Menu】

805/100

You’ve met the requirements

I remembered that when I was looking at my ‘Status Display', there was a column for EXP and the numerator exceeded the denominator. Sure enough, it was possible for me to level up. 

However, the line, "You’ve met the requirements," gave me a bad vibe.

There was a high possibility that it wasn’t an automatic level up system but rather a voluntary one.

Furthermore, who’s to say that the level up method wasn’t severe. 

I made it my goal to find a way to level up for the time being.

"If possible, can you level me u—! Ouch!!"

Suddenly, my right arm felt hot.

When I looked, I saw that my upper arm had been cut open and was bleeding. 

"——?!"

Immediately I checked my surroundings.

I caught something moving in the corner of my eye.

It was a 'distortion'.

A 'distortion' the size of a human head was floating in the sky, swaying around with the sound of small wings flapping.

Upon taking a closer look, the silhouette of that 'distortion' was similar to that of an insect. 

"Monster?!"

Instantly, I shifted gear in my mind.

I could shift it because reality was not normal, and I was starting to lose myself.

A shift from living a normal daily life to seeing reality like I was playing a game. My almost-numb brain had grown accustomed to seeing everything through game-tinted glasses.

"Damn you…!"

Out of reflex, I slashed up with the sword in my hand.

However, it was dodged right before it hit the 'distortion'.

After seeing my attack was evaded, I immediately broke into a run. 

I distanced myself from the 'distortion' as though I was going back the way I came. 

If my first attack was evaded or my enemy could just tank it—don’t ever challenge it myself. —That’s what I had decided beforehand. 

I had taken that path before; I was going back to where I had come from.

I heard the sound of wings flapping and chasing me from behind, so I calmly measured the distance between us. 

It was natural for an enemy to chase after me, but its position was right behind me. 

Which meant… it was all about timing.

With the resources I had in hand, I could fight back. 

I started to formulate a counterattack in my mind.

Perhaps it all would turn moot since reality was a game, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t worth the try.

As my enemy approached, I quickly took out the water canteen from my 'Item List' and poured its entire contents behind me. 

What came next was the sound of wings ruffling and a shrilling cry. 

I judged that any winged living creatures would likely be vulnerable to water.

And, apparently, it didn’t fail, despite the fact that it was an insect in a game. The 'distortion' began to unveil. Furthermore, the insect’s movements were clearly beginning to slow down. 

After confirming such, I activated my magic under my breath.

"—«Freeze»."

It was just a magic that would lower the temperature, but… at that moment, my enemy should be vulnerable to temperature differences as well.

I decided that the safest thing to do was to use my magic and finish them off at a distance. 

"I wouldn’t hope for it to be completely frozen, just for it to fall to the ground…"

The 'distortion' flew towards me in what seemed to be a vain attempt. 

Its movement was feeble, though, and it never did reach me in the end. To make sure I didn’t miss out on anything, I put my 'focus' on it. 

* * *

* * *

【Monster】

Darkling Fly

Rank 2 

Then, a ‘Display’ appeared.

The ‘Display’ referred to the distortion and presented me with its information. 

…Awful.

Frankly speaking, it was awful.

I could bet that the Darkling Fly was a type of monster that used its concealment as its weapon. And yet, the ‘Display’ continued to point to the location of the monster, without reservation, showing me where the monster was.

Suddenly it didn’t have much in the way of concealment.

I used my sword to strike down the distortion that was getting slower as time went on, swinging it to hit places I thought vital. 

The fallen distortion vanished with a burst of light, leaving behind a dull, transparent stone.

By the way, the ‘Display’ showed that the stone was a 10th-grade magic stone. I also checked the increase in my EXP and judged that Darkling Fly was a lower-ranked monster overall. 

"Hm, hmm… Was that a waste of resources and MP to spend on a rank 2 monster…?"

My remaining MP was at 68.

I still had plenty left, but I had no idea what would happen if I wasted it.

I retraced my steps and continued down the unmapped corridor. 

On the way, I resumed my investigation into leveling up.

However, after a few minutes of poking around—conclusively speaking, I couldn’t level up.

It seemed like I needed to meet some kind of special condition in order to level up.

It was vexing since I had accumulated an excessive amount of EXP and yet had nowhere for it to go. 

Finished with the investigation, I thought back to the battle.

It was a surprise attack by a monster that was hard to perceive. Had it been a much more vicious monster instead of a rank 2 monster, I would have lost my life. 

Testing things out with the ‘Display’ is best done after I’m sure I’m safe.

Otherwise, I could be distracted and caught off guard again.

As I was walking along thinking about this, I heard a noise from far away. 

There was a huge insect standing at the far end of the direction I was going. 

It was the first monster I had encountered.

I focused on the giant insect that had two distinctive and oddly shaped horns. 

【Monster】

Ripper Beetle

Rank 3

I think I could determine its means of attack from its name alone, but it would be best not to make a move with any preconceived notions.

I positioned myself half-standing, ready to react in case anything did happen.

The Ripple Beetle seemed to have noticed me and was closing the distance.

It said it was a rank 3 monster, but I had no idea how much danger it had in store.

However, after seeing how disappointing a rank 2 monster had been, I speculated that monsters ranging from rank 1 to at least rank 5 should be able to be dealt with swords and muscles.

When the Ripper Beetle had closed enough distance, it suddenly lunged at me.

However, its speed was much slower when compared to the giant wolf.

As we passed each other, I swung my sword. 

"Ei!"

A high-pitched sound of steel striking steel echoed as the sword was flicked away from my hand.

It might have been a bad spot to slash. But still, I didn’t expect that such a heavy sword would be flicked away so easily. I even tried to play it cool and shouted "Ei!", but it seemed like I still couldn’t cut it—literally and figuratively.

However, in terms of the enemy’s movement, it wasn’t a problem.

It was much slower than the giant wolf and even a bit slower than the pathetic Darkling Fly.

I took another tool from my ‘Item List’ to implement a separate plan that I had formulated in the back of my mind. 

All the while, the Ripper Beetle kept rushing at me.

I evaded its advances.

Of course, I didn’t just evade it. The first time I dodged, I stole a chance to douse it with oil, and the second time, I used my lighter to set it on fire. 

I thought it would take a few tries to successfully light the oil, but luckily, I succeeded on the first try.

The Ripper Beetle caught fire and began to flail around. 

"U-uwaah…"

I watched as the Ripple Beetle lost its joints and limbs due to the high temperature.

It seemed to be an invertebrate, so it was vulnerable to high temperatures. As soon as it stopped moving, I poked it in various places with my sword before it vanished in a burst of light.

When it did, a stone fell.

Then, as I focused on the stone the monster had dropped—

【Black Insect Stone】

Unlike ordinary magic stones, this magic stone is made up of the magic power of the insect attribute.

It possesses no rank, and it can be dropped by any insect monster. 

Th-there’s some details that showed up…

This ‘Display’ also showed the details, huh.

Too convenient.

Immediately, I began to examine all the details of the items I didn’t know about.

First off, the equipment.

Articles that had long names, such as the Elven Cloak and Auria’s Greatsword, seemed to have some sort of blessings attached to them. The Elven Cloak gave protection against high and low temperatures, while Auria’s Greatsword gave you a bonus if you faced an opponent of a higher rank than yourself. 

I didn’t know how much of an impact those numbers had, but apparently, items have attack and defense values set, so I learned that looking through the details was important. 

After which, I looked at the details of the magic I had that I was most curious about.

【Dimension】

Consume 1 MP

The foundation of ‘Dimensional Magic’. Aids in perceiving the space around you.

It was just a support magic.

I kind of wished I could use some kind of Warp-like magic to return to my original world, but things just weren’t that convenient. 

"—Dimensional Magic, «Dimension»!"

For the time being, I should check out what it is—the moment I vocalized the name of the magic, all five of my senses were instantly sharpened.

In addition, something that would be apt to be called a sixth sense, or 'a sense outside of the five senses' began to pick up information about my surroundings.

I felt like I could grasp the space clearly in perhaps a radius of five meters around me.

"Th-this is good…!"

I had various advantages already, but so far, that magic was the most wonderful.

Above all else, I liked how it dramatically increased my ability to spot enemies.

I could feel the danger to my life dropping dramatically. 

I proceeded through the Labyrinth, measuring the time of the effect of «Dimension» and using its uncanny ability to spot enemies. 

Sometimes I picked things up, and sometimes I tried out new systems, all the while I continued walking.

With «Dimension» at work, I would never be caught off guard again.

After all, I couldn’t miss any critter that entered its area of effect.

By making good use of «Dimension», I got a better grasp of the ‘Map’.

It was updating that much faster.

It also made me pretty negligent, leaving me feeling as if I could not get caught off guard.

I got carried away with the overwhelming convenience of the magic.

I was overconfident that I had thought through that game-like Labyrinth and gave all I could.

It wasn’t until thirty minutes into the walk that things turned for the worst.