STGB Episode 511

Grave(3)

Logically, it doesn’t make sense.

How could information about a name that was just given less than a day ago already be contained within this book?

“…How is that possible? We just arrived here.”

“The details written here are accurate too. Jandel, do you know anything about this?”

“Well……”

Even though I spoke ambiguously, deep inside I felt that this was expected.\\

It was a subconscious feeling.

I can’t quite explain it in words, but intuitively I felt I understood what this phenomenon was about.

‘The Record Stone…’

That thing which is said to contain all of history from the beginning to the end.

This phenomenon is clearly connected to it in some way.

Isn’t the name of this floor also ‘The Record Repository’?

‘The more I investigate, the more confusing it all gets…’

This is something I can think about later. No need to dwell on them now.

“This must be one of the labyrinth’s mysteries. Everyone, stop worrying about this. Let’s focus on what we need to do first.”

“That’s right! Researching and investigating are things for mages! All we need to do is explore!”

It’s rare for Aynar to say something so sensible.

I chuckled softly and carefully reread the part I had skipped earlier.

The origin of the name was somewhat shocking, but the book itself was very helpful to me.

Unlike the books in the city library, this book had precise statistics.

[Agility +8, Lightning Resistance +15, Leap +30, Soul Power +20]

Basic stats written in numbers, not in vague terms like low, medium, or high.

Also, I was curious about the colors and effects of each essence.

Green Essence is [Iron Feather].

Yellow Essence is [Thunder Thorn].

Blue Essence is [Bubble].

Honestly, with details this thorough, I wasn’t sure if the Mage Tower would even need further research. But they’d probably still pay a fortune to publish papers and boost their reputations.

Even if this information gets out, it’s sure to sell for a high price.

“Alright! Let’s get back to it!”

After figuring out everything I needed, I used the book to summon the monster.

「Nightflar has been defeated.」

「MacFrog has been defeated.」

The battles ended almost instantly.

Just like before, the stone gate closed, and a staircase leading to the third floor of the bookshelf appeared.

So, I continued by pulling out books from the shelves, checking their contents, and whenever I found a summoning book, I tossed it to the first-floor combat team to quickly dispatch the monsters.

「Frost Wolf has been defeated.」

「Ice Golem has been defeated.」

「Death Knight has been defeated.」

「Vaikundus has been defeated.」

「Minotaur has been defeated…….」

「…….」

As expected, the higher I climbed, the larger and stronger the monsters became, gradually raising the difficulty level.

Actually, this was not a bad hunting ground at all.

‘No new species of monsters are appearing…’

Unfortunately, I still couldn’t find any books depicting the new species of monsters I was hoping for.

‘…Do I have to defeat one first for it to appear?’

That’s a possibility, but there’s not enough data to confirm it yet. There’s still a long way to go before reaching the top.

One day, two days, three days…

Time continued to pass, and we hunted almost nonstop, taking breaks only to sleep and eat. Thanks to this, we managed to climb many floors in a short time and collect enough samples.

And based on the statistics I gathered, here’s what I concluded.

1.New species of monsters do not appear in the books.

I am not sure if there are no new species of monsters left, or if only ‘discovered’ individuals appear in the books.

2. This library is not a good hunting ground.

It’s a very, very, very good hunting ground.

If you’re after mana stones and essences, it’s more efficient than any other field.

Monsters always come through the Stone Gate.

It’s easy to form a large team and engage in group battles.

You have time to prepare before summoning.

You can cast spells and skills in advance.

From the mid-levels onwards, each book contained over 100 monsters.

There’s no need for further explanation.

It’s a field already specialized for mass hunting, and you don’t even need to wait for respawns after finishing a hunt.

Once you’re done, you can just summon again.

In fact, in just three days, I earned nearly 10 million stones from mana stones alone, and I obtained seven essence drops.

Well, six of the essences were level 6 or lower, so I discarded them and kept only one level 5 essence in a test tube.

‘It’s definitely not bad if you’re just hunting…’

Despite the success, none of us were fully satisfied.

After all, hunting isn’t our main goal. We’re the first people to set foot here, so discovering something unknown might be more valuable than piles of loot.

‘But the problem is… it’s impossible for us to clear this with our current ranks.’

In terms of progress, we’ve definitely passed the mid-point and entered the early stages of the upper floors. But finishing the final floors is probably impossible for us as we are now.

‘If Level 3 monsters are appearing here, that means there are probably Level 1 monsters above.’

So, it seemed like a good idea to wrap up our exploration of the library around here…

That’s when it happened.

“Bjorn!!”

Aynar, who was on a distant bookshelf, called out to me in a loud voice.

“I’ve found a book with a new monster!!”

Wait, really?

***

At Aynar’s shout, the team members, who had been scattered to collect books, all gathered in one place.

Since it was Aynar, everyone had a mix of skepticism and anticipation in their eyes. But Aynar proudly showed the book to everyone.

Its entire body was covered in tentacle-like vines.

“It walked on four legs, with structures resembling bone wings attached to its back.”

“So? Have any of you seen a monster like this before?”

“Definitely… this is my first time seeing it.”

“Jandel, what about you?”

“It’s my first time too.”

It does seem to be a new species of monster.

But why now, of all times?

“Read it quickly! What Level is it? It looks really strong just from the description!”

Feeling an inexplicable sense of bewilderment, I read the ancient text aloud in front of everyone.

“Its name is Tentaculan. Habitat: The Sea of Records.”

“The Sea of Records? Isn’t that where he found the MacFrog?”

“Yes, but don’t interrupt.”

“Ah! Sorry.”

“It’s a Level 4 monster, classified as a Beast-type.”

“Oh! A Level 4! What about its abilities? What are its abilities?”

Hey, I said stop interrupting…

Sigh… Is there even any point in arguing with her?

“Its innate abilities include [Pacifist] from the Level 4 monster Seamarchant, [Voice of Malice] from the Gargoyle, [Curse of Stone] from the Medusa, and [Aquatic Roar] from the Liuvomibid.”

“…So there are indeed monsters with a mix of different abilities in this floor.”

Yeah, at this point, it’s pretty much a given.

This floor spawns new species of monsters with unique essence combinations.

And…

“It seems that monsters in the library only appear after they’ve been discovered at least once.” I said, pointing out our new piece of information.

“Huh? Doesn’t that mean we’re not the first to find it?” Versil asked

I nodded and read the part about the origin of its name.

“········Explorer Madderkin Rilgriams first discovered it while exploring the first underground floor, the Record Repository, and named it.”

“Madderkin Rilgriams… That’s the leader of the Silver Lion Clan who came here with us, right…?”

“They were saying they’d die without us, but it seems they’re exploring just fine on their own.”

There was a hint of annoyance in Amelia’s face, as she said this.

I think she feels like they’ve taken our share.

It’s not like they pay you for naming things here.

Ah, maybe she’s just upset that someone else’s name is in the book and not hers?

‘…I’ll have to let her name a new monster if we find one.’

We had enough information about the monster, so we quickly went downstairs and summoned it.

[Grrrrrr…….]

It was much larger than it looked in the illustration.

But there’s one question.

If you ignore the tentacles, it looks like a wolf, so why does it live in the sea?

「Tentaculan has been defeated.」

I don’t know why, but the hunt itself ended smoothly.

Since it was our first time hunting this type of monster, we refrained from using brute force and instead fought carefully and methodically. Still, it couldn’t escape the limits of a Level 4 monster.

“It’s… easier than I thought.”

Come to think of it, Misha has gotten really strong too…

To say something like that after slicing through a Level 4 monster in one strike.

“Alright, everyone gather around for a moment.”

After the hunt, I called everyone together for a vote.

There was only one agenda.

“Should we stay here, or should we explore other areas? Everyone, share your opinions.”

However, the team’s reaction wasn’t great.

“…Is there even a point? You’re just going to decide based on your own vote anyway.”

“Exactly.”

Sigh… Did I reveal my trick too early?

I should’ve saved the multi-voting technique for something more important.

“Don’t worry. I’ll abstain from voting this time.”

As soon as I said that firmly, the team members, who had been looking at me with distrust, nodded reluctantly.

“Hmm, if that’s the case…”

“It might be worth a try.”

Finally, the voting started normally, and surprisingly, the opinion was unanimous.

To end the library exploration and explore other areas.

Honestly, I had expected this result.

The team was already dissatisfied with the repetitive grind of hunting, and the Tentaculan incident just added fuel to the fire.

“This place isn’t bad, but considering the competition, it’s too much of a waste of time.”

“At this very moment, they’re probably finding new monsters and naming them.”

“If essences drop, they’ll sell them for a high price at the Mage Tower.”

Yeah, this is more like what explorers should do.

Even though the vote was decided, I still chose to stay here for another day or two.

“…We’re not leaving right away?”

“Why not? It’s unlike you to delay.”

The team members looked at me as if I was trying to be a dictator again.

Somehow, it feels unfair.

I’m just being efficient as a leader.

“We’re starting to see Level 3 monsters in the books now. If we’re going to leave, we should hunt as many as we can before we go.”

While Level 2 might be a bit too much, we can comfortably hunt Level 3 monsters with our current strength.

“Besides, Emily, you still have quite a few Level 3 monsters you haven’t defeated yet, right?”

“That’s… true.”

“Aynar, you haven’t gotten the essence I told you about before either.”

“…Ugh!”

It’s not just Aynar.

Erwin and Misha also have Level 3 essences they need to obtain.

I need to consume the ‘Bellarios’ essence myself.

“So, does everyone agree?”

“……”

They stayed silent, which basically meant yes.

 

After laying out the plan, we threw ourselves into the hunts harder then before.

[You have defeated a Mechanical Giant. +EXP 7]
[You have defeated a Phoenix. +EXP 7]

[You have defeated an Earthvin. +EXP 6]

[You have defeated a Garcian. +EXP 7]

[You have defeated an Abyss Skeleton…]

[…]

“…”

The difficulty of battles had increased several fold compared to the mid-levels, but the rewards were sweet.

“Because of the war in the Dark Continent on the 7th floor, there were quite a few 4th and 3rd level monsters that we hadn’t been able to hunt yet.This time around, we managed to defeat over half of those types.

The only disappointment was that Beginner’s Luck only triggered once.

[No.9999 Beginner’s Luck has been activated.]

It was an essence from the Sky Skeleton.

It is often treated as a low-ranking mob, but it shows up only on the 10th floor. Nobody on our team can really make use of it, but essences from the 10th floor do tend to fetch high prices, so it was still a good haul.

‘By the way, it seems like the monsters that are rare even in the labyrinth don’t appear much in the books either.’

Bellarios is a prime example.

I really wished it would appear.

But for some reason, it didn’t appear until the very end.

“That’s enough.”

It’s a shame, but I decided to wrap up the Level 3 hunts here.

After all, the difficulty has increased to the point where two Level 3 monsters are spawning at once.

Sure, if the combination was manageable, we could still handle them, but the fights wore us down to the point that the longer rest periods hurt our efficiency.

So…

“Everyone, grab some books—we’re heading out.”

We started preparing to descend.

“Grab the books?”

“Other explorers might come here too. If we take the books from the top shelves, it’ll be impossible for anyone to go further than where we’ve already cleared. Even if they try summoning with the books on the lower shelves, the stairs to the upper levels won’t appear.”

“But won’t the volume and weight of these books take up too much space in our dimensional storage during exploration?”

“If it gets full, we can just toss them into the sea.”

“What? Jandel, you’re really…”

“Really?”

“Brilliant. Especially in a place like this.”

Amelia and the rest of the team agreed that it was a good idea after hearing my plan.

Not a single person called it cowardly.

After all, everyone here was an explorer.

‘Yep, this is fair competition in this industry.’

Having rendered the field non-navigable, we returned the way we came.

Koong- Koong-

While I climbed the steps with ease, my companions followed by jumping from stair to stair. At last, when we reached the final step:

“…Hey, Baron Jandel?”

For some reason, a group of explorers was gathered at the entrance.

And they were in combat formation, weapons drawn.

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