SKREE!?
SQUELCH—!
The Vampire Bat tried to twist in midair, only to jerk to a stop as though something had grabbed it.
The incoming spearhead pierced straight through it.
THUD.
The cave floor around the fallen Vampire Bat was littered with the corpses of its kin.
“Done.”
Finding a cave where Vampire Bats lived in large numbers on the sixth day had been pure luck.
‘Doesn’t seem like there are any more.’
Even with the senses of all my spirits,
I could detect no living creatures larger than rats anywhere inside the cave.
The only thing visible was the blue portal that had appeared earlier, along with the message announcing the completion of the normal Quest when I killed my tenth bat.
And now.
[Combat Ended]
[The Perfect Clear Conditions for Labyrinth Floor 3 have been fulfilled.]
[Army Ants defeated: 1,000 (1,235/1,000).]
[Jungle Slimes defeated: 1,000 (1,056/1,000).]
[Vampire Bats defeated: 100 (123/100).]
[Thorn Vine Snakes defeated: 10 (12/10).]
[1 Level-Up Point awarded!]
[An Achievement has been created. An additional bonus will be applied when obtaining a Class.]
Another blue portal appeared.
I had somehow ended up with two exits in the same place.
“Tsk.”
Naturally,
I had no intention of leaving through either one yet.
‘......Better to process everything here, right?’
The most important job was still left.
The moment I decided that,
I touched my belt and emptied its contents.
THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD.
Corpses piled up across the cave all at once.
There were forearm-sized Army Ants and head-sized Jungle Slimes that I had killed in sickening numbers over the past ten days,
along with the corpses of twelve Thorn Vine Snakes, each five meters long.
‘I thought the Thorn Vine Snakes would be the hardest condition to complete.’
They even possessed an innate concealment ability.
But against me,
they had been easy prey that simply hid quietly until I killed them in one strike.
The Edelin Long Spear (Attack Power +9) could easily pierce through the head of an unsuspecting snake with nothing more than a simple thrust, without any preparatory motion.
The snakes being over five meters long had actually made them easier to kill.
Surprisingly,
the Army Ants had been the real problem.
To avoid repeating my mistake from Floor 1,
instead of wiping out a single ant nest,
I had gone around searching for more than twenty different nests.
That had taken the most time.
I shuddered briefly as I remembered those tedious, brutal days,
then looked back at the largest snake corpse.
‘Anyway, I’m done. Time to butcher them.’
Thorn Vine Snake hide was used for stealth equipment,
while their venomous fangs were used for neurotoxin weapons.
The hide was far more expensive.
‘All right. Let’s start.’
SLICE. SLICE.
Using the butchering knife I had prepared in advance,
I separated the hides and fangs without hesitation.
The instant I decided to butcher something and activated my Trait,
a clear guide appeared showing exactly how to separate the hide and teeth cleanly.
‘Back in Korea, I probably would’ve run away the moment I saw even a one-meter snake.’
Living in this savage world—
especially my experience at the slaughterhouse—
seemed to have made me far too accustomed to blood and corpses.
SLICE. SLICE.
RIP.
[Butchering’s Level has increased.]
After butchering all twelve Thorn Vine Snakes,
I ended up with quite a lot of hide.
‘Hmm. Looks like I stripped all of it pretty cleanly......’
For a moment,
I wondered whether there was really any need to synthesize it.
But I immediately changed my mind.
Right now,
understanding the Goblin Basket’s capabilities for certain was more important.
‘Let’s try it.’
[Thorn Vine Snake Hide (Common)]
-Used as material for Common stealth equipment.
[Thorn Vine Snake Venom Fang (Common)]
-A material containing neurotoxin. Also used as dagger material.
‘Fangs first.’
There were only twenty-four fangs,
and each was small enough that I could put all of them into the Goblin Basket at once.
‘If I put a bunch of reasonably useful items in together......?’
FLASH.
A moment later.
“......Oh!?”
The twenty-four palm-length fangs had transformed into a single fang as long as my forearm.
[Elite Thorn Vine Snake Venom Fang (High-grade)]
-A material containing powerful neurotoxin. With minor processing, it can be used as a poisoned dagger.
“Nice!”
Even at a glance,
the glossy fang looked like it ranked near the top among High-grade materials.
‘Ten seems to cause a dramatic jump in quality. Does twenty actually raise the Grade itself?’
I could have confirmed that hypothesis more cleanly by removing four before synthesizing them.
‘Whatever. The quality probably improved that much more.’
I simply had a feeling that was the case.
Even if I was wrong,
the difference would probably not be huge,
and I still had plenty of other materials to experiment with.
‘Now the hides.’
SLICE. SLICE.
Thorn Vine Snake hides were fairly large,
so I cut them down to size so they would fit inside the Goblin Basket, which was only about the size of a small watermelon.
The twelve snake hides became a little over one hundred pieces,
which I fed into the Goblin Basket one after another.
FLASH.
FLASH.
This time,
I synthesized two pieces at a time for ten rounds,
then combined the resulting hides again.
I synthesized those results together once more.
When I checked the final result—
“As expected. I was right!”
[Elite Thorn Vine Snake Hide (High-grade)]
-Used as material for High-grade stealth equipment.
Ten produced a dramatic rise in quality.
Twenty raised the Grade itself.
And it did not matter whether I synthesized them separately two at a time or gathered them all and did it at once.
The more than one hundred Thorn Vine Snake hide pieces had become five pieces of Elite Thorn Vine Snake hide.
Naturally,
the latter were worth far more.
For a moment,
I considered cutting the hides even smaller to raise their quality further.
But I stopped myself.
‘What would anyone even do with hide that tiny? I understand the basic principle now anyway.’
Experiments were important,
but I did not want to damage products that had already become quite valuable.
I also gained something unexpected from the process.
‘Does synthesis get faster the more I use it?’
It was not my imagination.
At first,
even synthesizing stones had taken around ten seconds.
Now,
with ordinary junk items,
the basket flashed almost the instant I put them inside.
‘Is the basket evolving too?’
It was a ridiculous thought.
Either way,
it was good news for me.
‘Then what’s left is......’
Around a hundred and twenty Vampire Bat corpses.
More than a thousand Army Ant corpses.
And even more Jungle Slime remains.
“Hah......”
The amount was daunting.
But the junk items dropped by Floor 3 monsters were all junk items that sold extremely well.
And with this many of them,
once I repeatedly synthesized everything—
“......Let’s make a fortune!”
I psyched myself up and threw myself into the work.
SLICE, SLICE.
RIP.
SCRAPE, SCRAPE.
[Butchering’s Level has increased.]
[Butchering’s Level has increa......]
[Butchering has surpassed its maximum Level and is evolving to High-grade.]
“Huh?”
I paused at the unexpected notification.
‘Can a Skill really evolve this easily? Even if it’s a life Skill?’
It felt slightly absurd,
but good news was good news.
After that,
my butchering speed became noticeably faster.
Before long,
the materials I had stripped out formed small piles beside me.
[Army Ant Mandible Fragment (Common) x 2,212]
-Hard and sharp. Commonly used as material for ordinary arrowheads.
[Chitinous Shell Fragment (Common) x 3,405]
-Reinforcement material attached to leather armor.
[Acid Venom Sac (Common) x 1,042]
-A basic alchemical material used to make low-grade antidotes or corrosive fluid.
[Bat Wing Membrane (Common) x 221]
-Thin and tough. Commonly used as bowstring material.
[Ultrasonic Organ Fragment (Common) x 112]
-Research material for Mages. Used as scroll material.
[Sharp Incisor (Common) x 240]
-Used as material for crafting needles.
The byproducts from the Army Ants and Vampire Bats were neatly classified one by one.
The materials recovered from the Jungle Slimes were a little different.
‘Calling this butchering feels kind of wrong.’
Rather than butchering them,
it was closer to sorting out the clumps they left behind after melting apart when killed.
[Slime Jelly (Common) x 531L]
-Used as an adhesive or as a base for low-grade potions.
[Jungle Moss Powder (Common) x 3.54kg]
-A substitute medicinal material with a hemostatic effect.
[Mana-Infused Dew (High-grade) x 32L]
-A liquid containing a faint amount of Mana. Used as material for Mana recovery reagents.
Junk items that could only be measured by volume or weight.
But that made them perfect for synthesis experiments too.
No.
Honestly,
I was even more curious about these.
‘Let’s start with these.’
I was not expecting much.
The Goblin Basket had gaps all over it,
so there was no way powder or liquid would actually stay inside—
POUR.
“......It works!?”
As though an invisible membrane covered every gap,
the Slime Jelly I poured from the large container I had prepared stayed inside the Goblin Basket instead of leaking out.
And that was not all.
FLASH. FLASH.
Every batch emitted a faint light the instant I poured it in,
showing that synthesis was taking place.
Thanks to that,
more than five hundred liters of Slime Jelly disappeared endlessly into the tiny basket.
And the result was.
[Giant Slime Jelly (Rare) x 60mL]
-An extremely rare material used as the base for Rare potions.
“Whoa! Holy shit!”
It had jumped three Grades at once.
I did not know why it refused to condense any further once it became this small.
‘Is a three-Grade upgrade the limit? Or is there a minimum liquid volume?’
There was an immediate way to test that question.
‘Mana-Infused Dew.’
POUR.
I poured the High-grade material found in small amounts inside Jungle Slimes into the Goblin Basket.
The result was even more surprising.
[Concentrated Mana Dew (Rare) x 80mL]
-A liquid in which Mana has become densely concentrated.
-Drinking it rapidly restores Mana.
“Oh!?”
What was this?
It had gone beyond being a material.
It was practically a Mana potion in its own right now.
“Whoa......”
Did items containing Mana undergo some other kind of effect?
‘Come to think of it, Ability Stones took an insanely long time to synthesize even when they were lowest-grade. Ordinary materials finish almost instantly. What’s the difference? Mana definitely seems to affect synthesis somehow......’
Whatever the reason,
it seemed to work in a positive direction,
so that was good enough.
‘The final volume is about what I expected too. It just gained an additional effect.’
I still did not know the exact Grade limit of synthesis,
but for liquids,
it seemed further concentration stopped somewhere just below 100mL.
‘Probably somewhere between 50 and 100mL.’
And the next experiment with Jungle Moss Powder proved it.
FLASH. FLASH.
[Processed Jungle Moss Powder (High-grade) x 70g]
-A medicine with a reliable hemostatic effect.
‘As expected.’
For liquids and powders,
the synthesis limit seemed to settle somewhere between 50 and 100 grams.
‘The small differences are probably just differences between individual materials.’
That was enough for now.
I immediately continued synthesizing the remaining materials.
FLASH. FLASH.
[Legion Soldier Ant Mandible Fragment (Highest-grade) x 5]
-Highest-grade arrowhead material.
[Hardened Chitin Carapace (Highest-grade) x 8]
-Highest-grade armor material.
[Highest-grade Acid Venom Sac (Highest-grade) x 2]
-An alchemical material used to make Highest-grade antidotes or corrosive fluid.
[Bat Wing Membrane (High-grade) x 11]
-High-grade bowstring material.
[Ultrasonic Organ (High-grade) x 5]
-Research material for Mage scrolls. An almost completely intact ultrasonic organ extracted from a Vampire Bat.
[Sharp Incisor (High-grade) x 12]
-High-grade material for crafting needles.
“......Done!”
I had not obtained a single jackpot item like I had on Floors 1 and 2.
But I had piled up an enormous amount of junk that had been upgraded through synthesis.
I felt so satisfied that the Perfect Clear almost seemed like a bonus.
‘Let’s go!’
The instant I finished organizing the items,
I placed my hand on the newly appeared exit.
[Return]
[Floor 2]
[Floor 4]
“Return.”
FLASH.
Light burst around me,
and the System spoke.
[You have cleared Floor 3 of the Labyrinth (Novice Bracket). Vitality increased by 1.]
Proof that I had cleared the Labyrinth Quest.
‘Getting Vitality as the random Stat again is a little disappointing.’
Still,
I could not feel bad about it.
Feeling the Stat increase,
I opened my eyes with satisfaction.
The walls of Bartus,
which had started to feel almost familiar,
came into view.
‘Let’s see.’
[Name: Go Cheol-woo]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 10]
[Stats]
Strength: 14(+0.9)
Vitality: 17(+1.8)
Agility: 10(+2.7)
Mana: 15
Physical Resistance: 3
Magic Resistance: 4
[Mana Skills]
Resonance Spear (High-grade-Lv.4), Cheol-woo Mana Cultivation Method (High-grade-Lv.2), Volante Footwork Stage 2 (High-grade-Lv.1), Butchering (High-grade-Lv.1).
[Level-Up Points: 10]
[Ability Slot (Full)]
Multiple Spirit Command.
[Trait]
-Additional Information Check.
My Level and other Skills had not changed,
but Butchering had evolved.
And besides the Vitality gained from clearing the Labyrinth,
my Mana had risen by another 1 from repeatedly using Cheol-woo Mana Cultivation Method in actual combat.
Then there were all the items inside my Spatial Pouch.
‘Good. Let’s keep this going.’
I could not help smiling.
“You were on Floor 3 for...... whew, eleven days. Congratulations on your return.”
I could laugh off the brief look of pity that crossed the soldier’s face.
“You stayed on Floor 3 for more than ten days. I thought something had gone wrong, you brat.”
“I told you. I was being cautious.”
“If you are that cautious, it becomes an illness! Well, you came back safely, so I suppose that is what matters.”
Even Jerik’s worried scolding only made me smile.
But then.
“You did not take that long because you were butchering things to make money, did you?”
“......Yes. That was part of it.”
I started to show him the items as I answered,
then suddenly stopped.
I had brought back this many Highest-grade and High-grade materials from Floor 3.
There were even Rare materials mixed in.
‘Does this make any sense by normal standards?’
If it were one extraordinary item like on Floors 1 or 2,
people could dismiss it as luck.
But these were not materials a Novice could obtain on Floor 3.
Anyone could see that.
“What is it?”
“Ah, well......”
I turned the problem over in my head,
then met Jerik’s eyes.
The same warm gaze as always.
The benefactor who had pulled my life out of hell.
‘Hah......’
My conscience stung at the thought of deceiving someone like that.
But I was still completely aware of just how dangerous the Goblin Basket was.
So my reason and conscience settled on a compromise.
“......Maybe because my Butchering Level increased, I think I gained some kind of ability to randomly improve material items. I want to keep it secret and sell the things I obtained through it.”
“What!?”
Jerik seemed even more shocked than I expected.
No.
Maybe that reaction was only natural.