Chapter 24: Townsperson A Challenges the Great Orc Labyrinth

I arrived in Altomunt, the closest town to the Great Orc Labyrinth. At this point in time, however, the Great Orc Labyrinth was still technically "undiscovered." Consequently, the town was better known for its proximity to the Orc Forest—a place teeming with an absurd number of the titular creatures.

Naturally, the sheer density of Orcs was due to them spilling out of the labyrinth, but the town didn’t actually mind. As it turned out, Orcs were a primary source of meat for the region.

While Orcs are monsters that wouldn't hesitate to attack a person, the locals apparently minimized the risk by maintaining satoyama—traditional borderlands between the village and the wild—and managing the monster population with practiced skill.

My objective for this operation was, of course, to run laps through the Great Orc Labyrinth. While I was at it, I stopped by the Altomunt Guild to pick up the permanent Orc subjugation quest.

I set out for the Orc Forest immediately. The Great Orc Labyrinth was situated at the foot of a mountain further beyond the trees—a peak with a silhouette as clean and beautiful as Mount Fuji—but I didn't plan on going that far today.

First, I needed to test the effectiveness of my current firearms against Orcs. In the game, my impression of Orcs was that while they took damage more easily than Hobgoblins, they were obscenely tough. In gaming terms: high HP, low defense.

Activating my Stealth skill, I ventured into the woods. After trekking for about an hour, I spotted a lone Orc.

I decided to test the Nikov first.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

I hammered four rounds into its back, and the Orc collapsed without a fight.

Since my last outing, I’d put some thought into my loadout and swapped the Nikov’s ammunition for hollow-point bullets.

Hollow-points are designed to expand and fragment upon impact. As long as the bullet can actually penetrate the target's hide, this type offers much higher lethality. In my previous life, they were primarily used for hunting.

I figured that while the large-caliber Karashi might be needed for armored monsters, the small-caliber Nikov would benefit from the increased stopping power of specialized rounds.

To be safe, I fired one more shot into its head to finish the job before beginning the butchery.

An Orc is a massive creature, standing over two meters tall. They're far too large to carry back whole. I harvested the Magic Stone and the rare choice cuts of meat, then burned the rest—a waste, perhaps, but a necessity.

An hour later, I encountered a second Orc. This time, I pulled out the Karashi.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

I fired four shots in the same manner. At least one hit, but perhaps because of the placement, the Orc remained mobile. It roared in a rage and charged straight at me.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

I dumped more lead into the oncoming monster. One of the rounds finally caught it in the skull, and it pitched forward, its momentum sending it skidding across the dirt.

Once it stopped moving, I approached to inspect the damage. The bullet had punched a clean hole right through its head. It was exactly the result I had anticipated.

I might refine the strategy later, but for now, the balance seemed right: use the Nikov for general hunting, and save the Karashi for "hard" targets that the Nikov couldn't pierce.

I extracted the Magic Stone, gathered as much hide and edible meat as I could carry, and headed back to town.

The following day, I stood at the entrance to the Great Orc Labyrinth.

This was a massive dungeon consisting of a hundred floors. Its defining characteristic was that every single floor featured a boss room.

The only enemies that appeared within were Orcs and their evolved variants. There weren't many traps to speak of, but by the same token, there wasn't much decent treasure either.

According to my memories of the game, the loot found along the way was Uncommon-grade at best. Only by defeating the boss on the final floor could you obtain an Epic-grade item.

Even then, that Epic item was just a specialized event item—a cosmetic accessory that served no purpose other than boosting the affection of a specific capture target. I remembered ignoring the dungeon entirely once I'd collected the relevant event CGs.

With that in mind, I decided to take the shortest route possible to the bottom floor. My Stealth skill and the Nikov were the stars of the show once again. I didn't bother harvesting meat this time; I simply snatched the Magic Stones from the fallen Orcs and pressed on.

Eventually, I reached the first-floor boss room. The "boss" consisted of five Orcs. The Nikov handled them with ease.

Unlike the Goblin Labyrinth, the bosses here weren't disproportionately stronger than the standard mobs on the floor.

I collected the stones and descended.

As I moved deeper, the Orcs grew progressively stronger. The standard Orcs were replaced by High Orcs, Orc Mages, Orc Priests, and Orc Generals. Finally, waiting at the bottom, was the Orc King.

The Generals and the King were the real headaches. A General was a versatile combatant with high physical stats and the ability to use magic. The King was essentially a General on steroids, possessing high intelligence and the charisma to lead its subordinates in organized, tactical maneuvers.

I finally arrived at the final boss room where the Orc King waited. The encounter consisted of the King, two Generals, and a random assortment of ten High Orcs, Mages, and Priests.

This time, the RNG had given me four High Orcs, two Mages, and four Priests.

"GUOOOOOOH!"

The King let out a deafening war cry the moment I opened the door.

Remaining calm, I fired a burst from the Nikov toward the Priests. When the magazine ran dry, I popped a smoke screen to break line of sight. Using my usual rotation—repositioning with Stealth followed by a rapid-fire ambush—I systematically eliminated the Mages and Priests before cleaning up the High Orcs.

That left only three.

One of the Generals launched a fire arrow at me. I threw myself into a horizontal leap to dodge it, only for the second General to lead my landing with another fire arrow.

I used my Wind Magic skill to conjure a gust, blowing the projectile off course, and retaliated with the Nikov.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

I scored a hit on one General's left shoulder. It let out a pained groan, but the King immediately stepped up, touching the General to cast a healing spell.

While that was happening, the second General kept the pressure on me with more fire arrows.

Dealing with these guys is such a pain when the King is around to coordinate them.

I deployed another smoke screen and vanished with Stealth.

The King and the remaining General immediately moved back-to-back. They had realized I was trying to get behind them.

But I wasn't aiming for their backs this time. I reached into my bag and hurled a water balloon filled with capsaicin extract—the same "blinding grenade" I’d used on the Goblin Lord—directly at the King’s face.

"GUGYAAAAAA!"

As the King collapsed, clutching its eyes, the Generals wavered.

I didn't miss the opening. I unloaded the Nikov into the two Generals until the slide locked back.

They didn't get back up.

The King glared at me with pure hatred. He had already healed the damage to his eyes; he was virtually unscathed.

My Nikov rounds had been hitting him throughout the fight, but they lacked the penetration to get through his thick hide.

I swapped to the Karashi. The moment I did, the King charged. Based on the lack of damage he'd taken so far, he must have concluded that my weapons were useless against him.

Impressive intelligence for a monster.

Too bad for him, the Karashi was loaded with Full Metal Jacket bullets specialized for penetration.

I leveled the Karashi, aimed squarely at the King's forehead, and squeezed the trigger.

Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang...!

Thud.

The King became a silent corpse.

"Alright, that's a full clear."

I grabbed the Magic Stone and entered the room containing the Labyrinth Core. A treasure chest sat waiting before the pedestal.

I opened it slowly to find a single bracelet.

Name: Bracelet of Fertility Description: A bracelet imbued with prayers for the prosperity of one's descendants. A woman equipped with this bracelet will find it significantly easier to conceive children. Grade: Epic Price: 10,000,000,000 Cent

Ah, right. I remember now. This was the event item.

Drop an item like that from an Orc? I see what you did there, devs!

The memory of my previous life's outrage at the joke came flooding back.

Still, the value was absurdly high. There was no way I could liquidize this easily. I decided to keep it as a "break in case of emergency" fund.

I pocketed the Bracelet of Fertility, touched the Labyrinth Core, and teleported out of the dungeon.