ME c0003

Chapter 0003 Fall

Translator: Tseirp

 

“Yup, it’s more comfortable here without other parties!”

 

“The monsters were easy to fight and we found some treasures!”

 

When we reached the 4th floor, there were no longer adventurers occupying the floor, and our search began to produce results.

 

The monsters that appeared were all low rank and level, such as goblins and silver wolves, and they could be dealt with by Bayer and the others.

 

Thanks to that, we could stably explore every corner of the floor and recover some money from the treasure chests.

 

At this point, the exploration was no longer in a deficit.

 

“Hey, Lude. Please collect materials from the Silver Wolf over here as well.”

 

After the battle with the monsters was over, Rick called me to perform the miscellaneous work as a porter, collecting materials.

 

“Ah, it’s not worth selling because it’s too worn out. The magic stone inside is probably broken.”

 

A magic stone is a stone that stores magic essence, which is the source of the monster’s power.

 

Monsters always have magic stones in their bodies, and adventurers make a living by obtaining and selling those magic stones.

 

In other words, it is one of the major sources of income for adventurers.

 

However, because Sasha and Rick fought in a way that doesn’t consider the materials, the bodies of the two Silver Wolves were shredded.

 

Judging by the skin, claws and fangs, there was no reason to dismantle the corpse to search for the magic stone inside.

 

“Huh? It’s your job to do that, isn’t it? Don’t be lazy! It’s a Silver Wolf’s magic stone, isn’t it? How are you going to repay us if you missed one?”

 

That said, it takes time to find the magic stone inside because the body was shredded.

 

Rather than sticking to something with a low probability, it’s far better to go looking for the next monster.

 

However, it was Bayer’s party, and I joined it as a porter. It was not a good idea to argue over something like that.

 

Reluctantly, I used a knife to stab the severely damaged Silver Wolf with the knife and push through the meat to search for the magic stone.

 

“As expected, it’s broken.”

 

“Oh, good job.”

 

Rick said, losing interest when he found that there was no magic stone, and the female magician looked at my blood-stained hands and looked at me like she was looking at something dirty.

 

At times like that, I could only distract myself by thinking about other things.

 

…..Haa, at least if I could eat monster meat, I would be able to save money on food.

 

When I was thinking about that while wiping the blood stains on my hands with a cloth, I suddenly felt a presence that froze me.

 

“Eh…?”

 

When I turned around as I felt a tremendous wave of magic essence, a strange-looking bull was standing there.

 

Twisted horns rose above its head, brown-black hair covered bulging muscles, and thick, log-like arms held a battleaxe as tall as us.

 

— Minotaur.

 

It is a monster designated as B in the subjugation rank determined by the Adventurer’s Guild.

 

“Bumoooooooooooooo”

 

While we were stunned, the Minotaur roared.

 

Sending out waves of sound that made me think my eardrums might burst.

 

My entire body understood just by facing it. It was not an opponent I could face.

 

“Why is there a Minotaur in a place like this!? No way!?”

 

Rick let out a wild scream.

 

“Impossible…! A Minotaur on the 4th floor!? This can’t be!”

 

“W-what do we do!? It’s bad enough just looking at it, we can’t hope to win against it.”

 

At this, Bayer and Sasha’s faces turned pale and their voices trembled.

 

I thought we might encounter higher-ranking monsters by going down. However, I never thought that we would encounter a monster that was beyond two of our ranks.

 

What the heck, rank B? That’s not a monster that can be found in such a shallow floor, is it?

 

“I-I came up with a good idea! Lude, come here for a second! I want an item in your backpack!”

 

Wondering if he had a plan to escape, I approached Bayer and turned my back so that he could easily retrieve the item.

 

Then, the backpack was pulled off smoothly, and my back became hot.

 

“Guah!?”

 

It wasn’t until I fell forward that I realized I had been slashed.

 

“H-hey! You guys… no way!”

 

“Warrior’s Taunt!”

 

“Haste!”

 

While I was stunned, Rick threw a shield with a skill that draws the attention of monsters to my side, and Sasha cast magic that increased their movement speed to everyone other than me and turned around.

 

It was obvious that they were used to abandoning teammates. I was astonished.

 

“You guys! You were going to abandon me from the beginning!?”

 

“Hahahahaha! Otherwise, who would let an E-rank adventurer accompany as a porter! It’s not our fault! Anybody would make the same choice if a monster like that appeared.”

 

“Do your best to buy us time as bait so that we can escape!”

 

“That’s what it is! Good luck~!”

 

Shit, I got tricked. Is this why they called out to me in the guild?

 

I thought it was suspicious that he would go out of his way to talk to me, who has a bad reputation.

 

“Fucking shitssss…!”

 

My angry cry reverberated through the passages of the labyrinth.

 

Seeing that I was abandoned by my comrades, the Minotaur sneered.

 

It must be laughing at the repulsive fights among the weak.

 

I immediately stood up while frowning at the pain on my back.

 

I hate them so much that I want to murder them, but right now, that was not the priority.

 

In front of me is a monster called a Minotaur. Now, I have to struggle to survive.

 

Even though I was dizzy, I stood up and readied my sword.

 

“……!!”

 

The next moment when I realize that my opponent had channeled a lot of strength into their legs. A giant Minotaur was right in front of me.

 

I twisted my body to avoid the attack of the brandished battleaxe.

 

The battleaxe slammed into the floor, violently scattering rocks, and the impact blew my body away easily.

 

By the time I realized I had been blown away, the Minotaur had tossed aside its battleaxe and was ready for a tackle.

 

My body was floating in the air and I couldn’t move. Even if I could move, there was a wall behind me and there would be no space to avoid.

 

Checkmate.

 

 

When my sluggish thoughts finally reached that conclusion, a violent shock ran through my body.

 

A tremendous shock that felt like my entire body might fall apart. In my slow thoughts, I heard the unpleasant sound of several bones in my body being crushed.

 

The Minotaur’s tackle blew my body away very easily, and its momentum didn’t stop and even broke through the walls of the labyrinth.

 

The last scenery I saw in my fading consciousness was the abyss.

 

It was a spectacle of me and the Minotaur falling headlong into a pitch-black hole.

 

 

“Geha, goho! … Cough!”

 

I regained consciousness with the natural action of spitting out what was stuck in my throat.

 

After coughing violently, the blood that was stuck in my throat was coughed out, but that action alone sent severe pain running through my body.

 

My body screamed every time I breathed.

 

When I turned my gaze, my body was covered in blood, and my left arm was bent in the wrong direction.

 

I immediately thought that I shouldn’t have seen it.

 

My whole body was so heavy it felt like it had been made of lead, and even moving a single finger took tremendous effort.

 

My brain moved sluggishly in a vague consciousness.

 

Strange. Why am I alive?

 

On the 4th floor, I was attacked by a Minotaur and fell into the abyss beyond the wall of the labyrinth.

 

As for the former attack, even if I miraculously survived, there was no way I would have survived a fall from that height.

 

Even though I almost immediately lost consciousness, I had a perception that I had fallen quite far.

 

That’s why, even though I was covered in wounds, it was just a wonder that I was still alive.

 

When I moved, my consciousness turned to a vague sense of fluffy body hair and a faint warmth.

 

When I turn my gaze, the Minotaur was lying under me.

 

“Ah!”

 

Recognizing its existence, the fear from earlier reappeared, but the minotaur’s eyes had lost the luster of a living creature and it was gradually becoming colder.

 

It seemed to have died from the impact of hitting the ground. I came to that understanding and was relieved.

 

Apparently, thanks to the Minotaur under me, the impact was minimized, and I somehow managed to survive.

 

However, at this rate, the light of my life will run out. Although I was conscious, my body was terribly heavy, probably due to blood loss, and moving was a chore due to the pain.

 

Bayer also took the backpack containing food and medical equipment.

 

There was not even the possibility of holding out. Even if I were able to hold out, I don’t think any adventurers would come to such an abyss. There would be no chance of rescue.

 

The thought of dying crossed my mind, but I dared not think about it.

 

Did I want to die in a place like this? I haven’t done anything yet.

 

I haven’t become the S-rank adventurer that I longed for, and I haven’t been able to satisfy my desire to eat more delicious food.

 

How could I accept such an ending?

 

However, even though I thought like that, I couldn’t move my body.

 

I spent my time lying on my back on the Minotaur.

 

The passage of time was ambiguous inside the labyrinth because there was no sunlight.

 

How long did I take to wake up after falling here from the 4th floor? Minutes, hours, days… I didn’t know.

 

I didn’t know, but I was pretty sure I was hungry.

 

I searched around my waist with my movable right arm, but there was no leather bag containing portable food.

 

It didn’t look like anything like that was lying around me either.

 

It was probably blown away when the Minotaur tackled me on the 4th floor. Without the portable food, there was no food that I could eat.

 

Alternative food… would be something like the Minotaur right under my body.

 

No. I can’t eat monsters.

 

That is because monsters contain magic essence.

 

Magic essence possesses power different from magic and is incompatible with humans who have magic in their bodies.

 

If you eat monster meat, you will experience symptoms such as vomiting, abdominal pain, fever, and numbness due to the magic essence contained in it.

 

When it becomes more severe, the body collapses without being able to endure the magic essence of a monster that is too strong, or the person loses all reason and rampages, and finally turns into a monster.

 

For that reason, using monsters as food ingredients is avoided.

 

That’s why monsters can’t be eaten.

 

But I have a sliver of hope. The 【Abnormal Status Nullification】 that I have.

 

If it’s my unique skill, it might be possible to completely nullify the monsterification if it is considered an abnormal state… I’ve thought about the same thing in the past, but the risk of failure was too high.

 

However, now, there was no choice but to cling to it. There was no food other than the Minotaur.

 

Should I starve to death out of fear of risk, or should I believe in my Unique Skill and eat the Minotaur?

 

As I hesitated from making an unprecedented decision, I heard something like a roar in the distance.

 

Apparently, there are monsters here as well.

 

It seemed that death by torment by a monster had been added to the options.

 

I’m pretty sure I’ll die if I don’t do anything.

 

It’s better to regret doing something than to regret doing nothing.

 

Deciding to eat the Minotaur, I stabbed the knife while moving slowly.

 

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