Only I’m the solo player

Chapter 25 – Traps

—–CROW—– 

“Get down!”

As the lead explorer shouted, a massive iron lump flew from the left.

It was aimed directly at me, who was standing on the far left. I could dodge, but then someone else would get hit.

– *Clang!*

I pulled out my shield and slightly lowered my posture to block it. The iron lump was so heavy that my arm went numb even though I blocked it.

“Damn it…!”

How many times has this happened already? This dungeon was filled with traps, not monsters.

The open community said it was just a place where Lizardmen roamed, but since it was the first discovery, there were many differences.

After we clear the dungeon like this, do the Lizardmen come in and settle down later?

“Tsk, annoying.”

I shook my shoulder after deflecting the iron lump. It ached, but my HP was barely depleted.

“Are you alright? Nothing broken?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“That’s good to hear. You’re incredibly strong.”

Windsor spoke in admiration, and the other NPCs moved forward without a word to dismantle the trap.

The exploration of the ruins had been proceeding like this for a while now.

The expedition members could read the writing in the ruins and knew how to operate the various devices.

So they moved in a similar position to me, finding traps in advance and dismantling them to clear the way.

Of course, there were far more traps triggered than dismantled, so I was continuously suffering.

There were traps like the iron lump or rocks flying in, blades or arrows being launched, and even the floor collapsing.

Still, it was manageable with my strength. They were probably designed with 3rd-floor challengers in mind.

And this barrage of traps, surprisingly, it’s not bad for improving my skills.

The speed at which I react to the increasingly sudden traps is getting faster. I think I’m starting to get the timing down.

[Intuition Lv.1]

Maybe this [Intuition] skill is taking effect. If I keep dodging traps by instinct, the skill level might increase.

“Just hurry up and get going.”

Of course, that’s that, and being annoyed is still being annoyed.

Come to think of it, I’ve been speaking informally since the middle.

**

The pace of the dungeon exploration was very slow, even without the traps.

“Oh dear, this section is quite complicated. It’s already the third time.”

We had already circled the same place three times. This dungeon was not a simple maze.

It was a mobile maze where various devices operated in real-time, changing the paths.

According to Windsor’s explanation, only by moving through specific rooms in a specific order would the correct path open.

The expedition members were trying to deduce the order by reading the characters written on the wall, but even that was not going smoothly.

They had to go through several trials and errors to find the right path, and if they failed, they were met with a barrage of traps without fail.

“Are we going the right way?”

“Ahem, we’re doing our best.”

I’m also weak with mazes and puzzles, so I couldn’t do anything but complain to the expedition members.

[3rd Floor Ruins Dungeon Map (Complete)]

The completed map uploaded on the community was useless in the current dungeon, which was constantly changing.

I probably had to clear the dungeon to the end and deactivate the device that changes the terrain.

– *Whoosh, Whoosh.*

I heard the sound of two arrows being fired from somewhere. I quietly raised my shield.

My senses were so heightened from trying to react to the traps in time that I could even do this now.

– *Ting, Ting!*

The arrows bounced off, and the expedition members, who noticed it belatedly, jumped in surprise.

“Wha-what was that!”

The quietly flying arrows were so eerie that the expedition members’ faces all turned pale at once.

I was the one who almost got hit, so I don’t know why these guys were so surprised.

Besides, Windsor and the other expedition members had never been in danger from the traps.

Most of the traps were drawn to me, who was in an ambiguous position, and the big traps were easily noticed and avoided by those guys.

But they were still so startled, were they timid or something?

For people who crawled into a place teeming with Lizardmen to search for treasure, they seemed to have a lot of fear.

Of course, they were all just NPCs, so complaining like this was meaningless.

**

Several hours later, we arrived at a large open area.

It was a much wider space than any other section we had passed through so far, and the flamboyant characters and murals carved on the wall were impressive.

This place, which looked like a huge temple in its form, was a place I had seen in the guide posts on the open community.

The midpoint of the ruins dungeon, one of the few safe zones.

Due to the constantly changing nature of the dungeon, I couldn’t think of it as a midpoint, but it was probably a safe zone.

“Oh, this… it seems to be a kind of myth.”

Windsor wiped the dusty wall with his palm and read what was written there with a serious expression.

I was also interested, so I slowly examined the murals.

I couldn’t read the characters, but I could understand the general meaning from the pictures.

“Lizardmen?”

And in my opinion, most of the things depicted in these murals were Lizardmen.

If you draw bipedal lizards with weapons, it’s obviously going to be Lizardmen, right?

It wasn’t that the ruins were in Lizardman territory, but rather that these ruins themselves belonged to the Lizardmen.

Well, since they live in a society, it’s not strange for them to have a cultural heritage like this.

But if that’s the case, are we grave robbers? The treasure sleeping here must be a relic of the Lizardmen.

Although, what’s the point of me caring about that when I’m killing Lizardmen on sight?

“Hmm… I see. It seems that these ruins are a place where the Lizardmen sealed something called ‘lightning’.”

Windsor, who had read the characters, said. I also thought so after looking at the murals.

It depicted armed Lizardmen and a white Lizardman holding a strangely shaped sword in front of them.

And above the picture of the white Lizardman, there was a picture that seemed to depict lightning.

That strange sword must be the weapon that controls lightning. Did they take it from the white Lizardman and seal it here?

“Then it’s a unique weapon.”

The final reward for this quest is probably that.

I haven’t even used the weapon I got from clearing the 2nd-floor boss battle much, and I might be changing weapons again soon.

**

Windsor and the expedition members struggled with the murals for a while, and soon seemed to come to a conclusion.

“It’s late today, so how about we rest here for the day? You must be very tired, too.”

“I’m fine.”

“We figured out where the treasure is, but it will take a long time to get there. Are you sure you’re okay?”

I nodded. No matter how long it takes, I could easily climb a mountain right now.

“Hmm… to be honest, you might be fine, but we aren’t.”

Windsor said, scratching his head awkwardly. If that’s the case, I have no intention of forcing it.

Besides, if these guys aren’t here, the quest probably won’t proceed.

“You should’ve said so from the beginning.”

Soon, a simple camp was set up in the open area. They lit a campfire, set up tents, and the members even started cooking.

– *Boil, Boil.*

A large pot, which I don’t know where they got it from, was boiling a whitish meat soup. They’re making something like pork and rice soup.

I left the expedition members sitting around and sharing the meat soup, and ate the White Troll meat from my inventory alone.

“Hey, what are you doing alone? Come here and have a bowl! You used a lot of energy, you need to eat something hearty!”

“I’m good.”

“Come on, don’t be like that. How can you fill your stomach with such a small piece of bread? Don’t refuse!”

Windsor, who seemed to find my appearance hard to watch, forced a bowl of meat soup on me.

“You know that if you’re not in good shape, we’re in trouble too. I’ll keep bothering you until you finish that bowl.”

Judging from his expression, he really intended to keep offering, so I had no choice but to accept the bowl.

“Yes, good thinking! Eat it while it’s still warm. A person needs to keep their stomach and back warm, you know.”

I ignored Windsor’s chatter and slurped down the meat soup.

It looked like it, and it really did taste similar to pork and rice soup.

Since I had been eating only sweet White Troll meat for a while, the salted soup felt very stimulating.

The harmony of the savory taste of the fat melted from the small pieces of meat and the salt was amazing.

“Phew…”

I didn’t intend to eat it particularly fast, but the bowl in my hand was empty in an instant.

Huh, this is really delicious.

Have I been eating only White Troll meat for too long? I didn’t know meat soup could taste this good.

If I had eaten something like the cheese pork cutlet lunch box from the 1st floor, I would have gone crazy.

“Haha, would you like some more?”

I accepted the second bowl that Windsor offered without refusing.

**

Maybe it was because I ate warm food after a long time, but after finishing the meat soup, I felt sleepy.

“You acted like you weren’t, but you must have been very tired. We’ll take the night watch, so get some sleep.”

This time, I didn’t refuse Windsor’s offer. I took out a portable tent from my inventory, set it up, and immediately lay down.

It was just a blanket on the stone floor, but it felt more comfortable than any inn bed.

Without even having time to feel strange about that fact, I fell asleep very quickly.

– *Stab!*

And a moment later, I opened my eyes as a blade pierced my neck.

—–CROW—–