The 26th Floor, Labyrinth Zone, Crystal Grand Palace.
With its glass-like ceilings, floors, and complex branching crossroads, this Labyrinth Zone possessed a style all its own. Unlike the familiar outdoor areas built around all kinds of terrain and landscapes, this place instead resembled an indoor maze, more like the caverns and tunnels of a dungeon.
A light source of unknown origin shone through the crystal surfaces, spreading a warm radiance from every direction. Whether it was day or night, visibility was never affected.
However, because the space was somewhat narrow, combat here was heavily restricted. Perhaps because of the environment, the monsters encountered here were all demi-human MOBs appearing in groups of no more than two. Compared to other floors, battles here felt less like field combat and more like duels inside a sealed arena.
Most notable of all, hidden doors with trigger mechanisms lined both sides of the seemingly endless mirror-like corridors. Entering them could lead to excellent hunting grounds, treasure chests, and other rewards.
Rather than broad open maps, this floor emphasized the tangled complexity between one door and another. The maze map of the Crystal Grand Palace was not a single flat layout, but a richly layered structure formed by many tightly connected smaller maps.
Because it was so unique and restrictive, this was also the slowest floor for the clearing group to fully open. It took nearly a month and a half to uncover the entire corridor network and all of its hidden doors, and rumor had it there were still some yet undiscovered.
The sound of battle often carried a great distance through this space. Back when most of the clearing group hunted here, the sounds of their Sword Skills echoed together like a chaotic medley. But after the first-line players broke through, the place gradually quieted down. Those still training here now were, without question, only mid-to-lower-tier teams.
Satoru walked alone through the silent crystal corridor. He glanced at the path ahead, or rather, at the mirror-like floor where faint tracking footprints left by his Search skill stretched onward.
Just like usual.
That was what he thought.
At that moment, the light of a monster spawn bloomed beside him. Having fought it long ago, Satoru knew without even looking that it was one of those lizardman creatures wielding curved blades. Back then, dealing with them had truly been troublesome.
But now.
A flash of steel swept through the air.
The lizardman, not yet fully spawned, vanished back into the system together with the digital particles of its birth.
Now level 51, while standing in the Labyrinth Zone of the 26th Floor, even if every monster in the entire maze swarmed him at once, they still would not be able to kill him. And if he chose to attack, one slash was enough. Of course, the rewards were pitifully small.
Satoru ignored the few dozen points of experience and the nearly worthless materials gained from that tiny interruption. Instead, he looked once more at the pale green tracking footprints on the floor, then sheathed the softly glowing green curved sword in his hand.
Kur Statue Relic Blade.
A rare weapon dropped by Tal Giant Statue of the 34th Floor. Aside from the unique boss sword-class weapons dropped by floor bosses, it was likely one of the strongest weapons available.
Yet in his inventory, he possessed several weapons of that level, including curved swords, straight swords, rapiers, scimitars, and daggers. He even had spare copies.
The Vice Commander, who had been secretly amassing wealth behind the scenes, remained stronger than anyone expected, even after being absent from the front lines for quite some time.
In online games, using money to gain several times the results others earned through time was common sense. His current growth rate likely even surpassed the bitter days when he fought endlessly day and night.
He looked down the seemingly endless corridor, paused for a moment, then took out a gray cloak that enhanced concealment. After activating Hiding, the color of his entire body faded until he nearly blended into the surroundings.
Only then did he continue forward slowly.
...
The sounds of battle grew closer and clearer.
Satoru, whose body seemed fused with the crystal wall itself, finally stopped at a corner and cast a discreet glance ahead.
A five-person party.
But its composition had obvious flaws.
The only one capable of acting as a frontliner was the warhammer user, whose sub-weapon was a shield. The rest were a staff user, a spear user, and even a rare dagger user. At first glance, they looked like a classic adventure party, but in reality, the warhammer user did not even have anyone available to Switch with.
Forced to remain at the front and absorb damage the whole time, the team could only retreat while fighting.
A party built purely for damage output always carried risks. If they were strong enough to offset incoming damage through skill, it would not matter.
But clearly, this plain-looking group lacked that kind of ability, and their equipment and other hard requirements were insufficient as well.
Standard mid-to-lower-tier players.
Satoru calmly hid where they could not detect him and silently watched their somewhat clumsy battle.
Powerful shouts rang out alongside their skills. It was obvious that every member was fully focused on the two curved-blade lizardmen.
Ironically, the trash mobs Satoru had casually one-shot along the way had become dangerous threats the moment the opponents were changed to this squad.
The warhammer user's HP and the two lizardmen's HP steadily decreased.
The leader also called out several mostly unnecessary commands.
Though troublesome, they should still be able to deal with it properly.
That judgment was not based on this single battle alone, but on conclusions drawn from observing them over the past few days.
The now famous Vice Commander of the Divine Dragon Alliance, secretly hiding in the lower floors to spy on lower-tier players.
It would not be entirely wrong to describe his actions that way.
However, his true target was certainly not this unremarkable group.
Even so, after wandering the lower floors for several days, this squad had happened to be the best candidates to wait for.
The five-person party had a harmonious relationship. They were genuine companions, and they had drive.
Even after defeating only a few weak enemies, they would still celebrate by high-fiving each other.
They possessed a lively spirit completely different from the numb clearing group that had grown accustomed to endless hunting.
And on top of that, they had one more characteristic.
Right now, they were very weak.
Awesome.
Even if he himself was not that kind of person, he could still sense it.
These people really were the perfect targets.
Simple, and completely unable to fight back. Was there any prey better suited to be trampled?
Satoru remained where he was like that until five or six minutes later, when they finally defeated the two lizardmen. Just as expected, the five of them were tired, yet they still smiled at one another in shared victory as the reward panels appeared.
"Alright, let's head to the next spot."
The leader encouraged them, and after the whole party had recovered their condition, they cautiously moved toward the next area.
This time, it was a place they had never stepped into during the past few days.
For them, it was the front line.
Satoru silently watched their departing backs, activated Search, and slowly followed after them.
...
Deeper inside were goblin-type monsters. Though goblins were usually treated as low-level trash mobs, the goblins in this labyrinth could not be underestimated. At the very least, they were stronger than the lizardmen from before. Against a completely different type of enemy, their previous experience would be of little use.
So it was perfectly normal for the five-person party to fall into slight confusion.
More importantly, within these narrow crystal corridors, goblin-type monsters possessed a passive skill that called their own kind. After a certain amount of time, they would let out a howl. If they were not killed before then, the party would have to face a chain pull of incoming mobs.
Of course, the entire labyrinth only contained close to a hundred monsters in total, so it was not truly endless.
However, at the current floor level, whether it was endless or merely a hundred, the result of facing them would still be death.
For Satoru, this party reaching this place was where things truly became worth watching.
Just as he expected.
Caught off guard while dealing with goblins that could summon reinforcements, the five-person party immediately fell into a desperate situation. They could not quickly kill the enemies in front of them, while monsters from nearby gradually closed in. Eventually, it would become an extremely dangerous predicament.
Even if they wanted to run, the aggro range here was much wider than normal.
The Crystal Grand Palace had always been a relatively dangerous type of zone.
The warhammer user, unable to Switch out, was losing HP surprisingly quickly. Their movements also made it obvious they were beginning to panic. The staff user who hurriedly stepped in as a substitute lacked a shield for blocking and was quickly overwhelmed as well. The five-person party began trying to retreat in frustration.
If they ran into lizardmen on the way back, then things would become truly uncertain.
Satoru watched them indifferently, especially the increasing number of goblins swinging small clubs. The look in his eyes gradually became hard to read.
He activated Search again and used Area Scan.
This was a derivative skill with a cooldown of three minutes. Like radar, it swept the nearby area with himself at the center. It was especially useful when entering labyrinth zones without confidence. Once proficiency reached a certain level, it could also detect players.
"Four people..."
Staring at the markers on the floating map, he murmured softly.
"Need me to hold them off for a bit?"
A voice suddenly rang out.
Satoru looked over in mild surprise. Beside the struggling five-person party, a one-handed straight sword user dressed entirely in black had appeared at some point.
"Thanks for your concern..." The leader glanced at him during a spare moment, then made his decision a few seconds later. "We'd appreciate it."
"Sachi, move a little farther back."
"Y-Yes..."
He spoke to the only girl in the party, and she answered timidly.
The newly arrived, good-natured one-handed straight sword user switched places with the warhammer user.
Satoru gave that direction one last glance.
"So one of them came out after all... Then that leaves three."
Maintaining Hiding, Satoru quietly slipped away unnoticed.
...
"It's normal for meddlers to show up."
One of the plainly dressed men spoke with a hint of regret.
"Seeing how he stabilized things, he can't be weak. What a shame. If it had only been those five, the monsters could have helped us a lot."
Another of the three agreed.
"It's fine. This labyrinth zone is huge. The space is cramped, the monster traits are troublesome, and the busy hours are already over. Sooner or later, there'll be something fun to do."
"Yeah. Then let's come again tomorrow."
The three of them walked down the corridor in hushed conversation, looking like office workers heading home after a tiring day.
But they would not be reaching a tavern for drinks.
They would not be arriving at a nightclub to relax.
And they certainly had no home waiting for them with bathwater already prepared.
"..."
The three suddenly stopped and looked at the figure standing not far ahead.
He did not look like someone hunting there.
Facing them directly, he stood as though he had been waiting for them.
"Just a small issue."
His low voice echoed through the corridor.
The waiting man pulled back the hood of his gray cloak, revealing an expressionless face.
"I wonder if you could spare me a little time."