Chapter 48
I was in the middle of conquering the Wolf Fang Labyrinth, and currently in the 3rd level’s Spring . From this point on, I would stop strafe jumping and continued more cautiously . I was considering between completing the map and heading for the lower levels, but I decided to go down to the lower level first . Since I would be mapping on the way, it would take quite a lot of time, and reaching 18th level as I had targeted was unlikely .
Once I crossed the Spring, stronger monsters would appear . According to what I had learned from the General Guild’s Archive, stronger goblins would show up more frequently from now on .
While I was eating the bento I had received from the inn, I worked on the TSS; adding some grenades and getting the Scar-H ready . When my lunch break ended, and I resumed my labyrinth conquest .
The next Spring was on the 8th level . If I ran through each level in one hour, it would take me five hours to get there . I headed to the 4th level stairs while comparing the guild’s 3rd level map with my own .
[E/N: Stops strafe jumping to be more cautious – Checks maps while walking through a dungeon in said area he was going to be more cautious . I don’t think that word means what you think it does . ]
My headphones picked up several footsteps in the direction I was going . I had heard these footsteps before in the Emerald Demon Labyrinth – They were three goblins . Plenty of light grass was properly planted in straight rows in this labyrinth so it was quite bright . If they kept on like this, it would be a long-distance battle and the P90’s effective range was 200 meters .
[E/N: P90’s stated effective range is 200 meters (219 yd) and a maximum range of 1,800 m (1,969 yd) for the 5 . 7×28mm cartridge when fired from the P90 . Calibers maximum range can vary depending on the barrel length of the firearm . ]
I crouched down while I aimed down the crosshairs a couple meters ahead . Most long-range magic couldn’t reach out past 100 meters, however, the types of magic that could materialize objects and hurl them was not affected by this limit . Firing crossbows and bows up at a high-angle, you could reach out to several hundred meters . Without a scope though, the effective range to reliably land a hit was less than 100 meters .
Firearms had an immeasurable advantage in long-distance battles . In a labyrinth’s underground passages, it wasn’t likely to reach past the hundreds-of-meters range, but to stage an ambush where as soon as the enemy showed their face… I squeezed the P90’s trigger and opened a hole in the head of the goblin that just appeared in the passage ahead . The next ones… Were they goblin mages? All three were mages . I squeezed the trigger without letting myself get distracted .
I advanced without dropping my guard, confirmed they had sunk into the labyrinth, and picked up their mana stones .
From then on, the enemies became more varied such as high-ranked goblins grouped with other monsters . But they were all were incapacitated by the M84 and P90 . The M84 was especially effective, even with the large beasts like red bears, so I only had to shoot their heads . I couldn’t use it in every battle, but considering the CP* consumption, it was actually cost-effective and started to become an indispensable weapon during my labyrinth exploration .
Sponsored Content
[* T/N: Crystal points in case you forgot . ]
I cleared out the large room on the 3rd level and descended to the 4th .
The number of red bears on the 4th level was unusually high, so I changed my main weapon from the P90 to the Scar-H . The shots were loud and could attract the other monsters, but from my experience in the Emerald Demon Labyrinth, there was no need to worry so much . If I was with a beastman like Mitche-san or in a party, I would need to be careful about the gunshots though . In the guard mission with the Marida Company, I planned to use a weapon that was allowed to be equipped with a silencer instead of this rifle .
[T/N: Reminder that Scar-H was not allowed to have silencer as a restriction in VMB system . ]
[E/N: How do you know it’s unusually high? Is there a stat? are you omnipotent? Tell me your secrets o’ all knowing conch . ]
Nevertheless, I used the Scar-H this time . How much destructive power did the 7 . 62×51mm NATO have against large beasts? They could blow hobgoblins’ heads up, but what about those damn bears?
They could as well .
The heads were blown off with one shot and if I aimed at the hearts, they blew big holes in their chests . Just as expected of these bullets . If they had such offensive power, then I probably could manage with just the P90 and the Scar-H as my main weapons for now .
[E/N . . . . No . ]
My speed rapidly increased after switching to the Scar . I moved through the unexplored areas at the same speed as the higher levels and reached the 5th level in no time . However, a magazine that could only carry twenty rounds was indeed worrisome, so I summoned the supply box and switched to a bigger magazine .
Sponsored Content
The 5th level had the same underground atmosphere as the other levels up until now . What I learned from the archives was that the atmosphere would change from now on . Instead of regular horned rabbits, there would be higher ranked ones instead .
I moved forward with caution and heard a footstep that I had never heard before . There were two others that, based on the heaviness, seemed to be from red bears .
“So huge…”
[E/N: . . . * wink wink *]
What I saw through the crosshairs was twice as large as normal horned rabbits – about 1 meter in length . It had the same tawny fur, but the horn on its head had a spiral shape like a drill, and was much larger than the regular rabbit’s horn . I was fascinated by its unexpected size, but it had already noticed me . It roared as if that was the only thing it knew . It should have closed the distance before trying to threaten me like that .
First, I placed my crosshairs on the two red bears and aimed for their chests where they couldn’t doge . Sometimes in battle, you couldn’t get a clean hit if you aimed for the head due to the reaction to the shot . Since I had sufficient offensive power, I changed where I aimed since the head could avoid the shot with a small movement . A chest shot, if hit, meant immediate death .
I glided the crosshair and shot in the semi-auto mode at each bear . They tried to dodge in response to my shots, but they couldn’t evade my shots with such huge bodies . They sank with big holes in their chests . When the red bears were killed, the rabbit’s red eyes seemed to burst into flames . It let out a strange sound like a roar and spit out a fireball . But I had already encountered an attack like this when I fought against the higher-ranked glass wolves, the dire wolves . Of course, I remembered it and was on guard against it .
“Easy!”
I did a slide-jump forward to the left to dodge the fireball then turned and jumped more to the left side, passing the rabbit . It moved its head to follow my movements, but it couldn’t match my speed . I switched my rifle from semi to full-auto and squeezed the trigger while guiding the crosshair along the rabbit’s body .
A continuous burst of fire along with the metallic clangs of shells being discharged echoed throughout the underground passage . With bullet wounds all over its body, the long-horned rabbit exploded without leaving a trace of a rabbit behind . I landed from my jump, crouched down, and looked at the lump that used to be the rabbit through my iron sights . Did I overdo it? I didn’t think so, but I couldn’t help feeling that what I did was over-kill . However, if I made a mistake, that meant death…
From then on, whenever I came across a long-horned rabbit, I would check how many bullets were needed to kill them and what their vital points were . In the end, I was able to conclude that if I aimed for their chest and the area around the base of its horn, that would be effective enough .
Sponsored Content
“This 5th level is full of huge beasts…”
The number of red bears increased here and the long-horned rabbits would always appear in big and small rooms alike . But there hadn’t been any big trouble up until now .
I finished up the 5th level and headed down to the 6th level . I noticed that the atmosphere had changed a little . First was the smell . There was a rotten smell, like some creature was decaying . Then there was the ceiling . This was underground, but the ceiling was almost 10 meters high…
Labyrinths were underground, but they were not created by digging tunnels in the earth . They were in a different dimension and if you dug down into one level, you wouldn’t get to the next level . You could get into the next passage by destroying the wall, but the wall was said to be restored by the labyrinth’s magic .
From the information that I had gathered beforehand, levels six to ten were the undead zone . There would be zombies, skeletons, and labyrinth bats, a bat-type monster . I switched back to using my P90 as my main for now and moved on with caution . A little while later, my headphones picked up the sound of something being dragged along with moans .
“This is… zombies?”
I stopped and crouched down . I waited for it to appear in my sights and before long, a zombie came into view . Half its face had turned into sludge and its skin black . The clothing it wore had become rags and were extremely dirty . It walked very slow as well . I placed the crosshairs over its head and shot . The bullet blew its head away, but… it didn’t stop walking .
“What? The headshot didn’t kill it!”
I knew a lot of FPS games with zombies as the enemies, and most could be disabled with headshots . However, the zombies in this world were different – this one continued to move . I quickly shot at both its knees to stop the legs . The bullets didn’t just pierce the knees, they burst, and the zombie fell face down on the ground .
“What…?”
With no head and half its legs from the knees down gone, it stilled crawled forward . I then shot its shoulders and blew away its arms . Yet, it still didn’t sink and continued to wriggle forward . Was it really immortal? No, it was already dead, so it couldn’t be immortal . There must be something, a core that animated the corpse… A mana stone?
I didn’t know where a zombie’s mana stone was, so I tried for the heart . The bullet made a large cavity on the chest where its heart should have been, but it still kept moving .
Was it in the stomach?
I continued to shoot until it sank into the floor . I had finally found out that the mana stone was in its lower back .
“So the mana stone is at its waist…?”
This zombie’s stone was at the waist, but I didn’t think it was the same for all the zombies . I was a bit worried, but then I recalled the illustrated book about monsters in the Archive and searched for information about zombies in the captured files on the TSS .
[E/N: That should have been your first move bro . ]
In the end, I did confirm that the undead could be killed if I separated the mana stone from its body . The stone’s location was not fixed and I basically just destroyed it with my weapon . It seemed like adventurers usually used weapons to knock the stones from the bodies . Should I do the same? But for melee weapons, there were only batons and the like and… What about burning?
Speaking of killing zombies, it was either headshots or burning, that was it!