I evaded them by switching from a forward dash to a slide jump to the left front. I moved quickly about fifteen feet to the left, and, without losing momentum, I performed a strafe jump to the right front while turning backwards. I landed behind the two rabbits and took them out with burst shots.
“Phew!” I exhaled deeply.
The defeated horned rabbits were enveloped in black mist and sank into the labyrinth. I collected their magic stones before scoping out the room. It was just an empty space surrounded by earthen walls. It was a low probability that it would have any magical tools. This was true for most labyrinth rooms, and it seemed true of the first level. I left the small room and continued mapping the first basement level.
My exploration went like this: when I sensed an approaching enemy in the corridor, I ambushed them. If they noticed me and attacked, I evaded with high-speed maneuvers and defeated them. For groups resting in small or large rooms, I experimented with the effectiveness of the M84 flashbangs, the M67 fragmentation grenades, and the TH3 incendiary grenades.
Once I’d fully mapped the first basement level, I descended to the second level. It was identical to the first; even its underground passage width remained the same. The day before taking the D-rank promotion exam, I had consulted the TSS to memorize the map images I researched at the guild’s library. I recalled where the general path to the third basement level was and entered some side paths off the main route to complete the map.
It was said that the labyrinth changed its interior appearance approximately every five layers. This was because the number of layers increased by about five when the labyrinth accumulated power and expands. During this interval between expansions, it also populated its new layers with monsters manifested from those that had been lured into the maze’s previous passages. In the Wolf Fang Labyrinth, up to five layers contained goblins, glass wolves, and horned rabbits that came from the eastern forest—as well as a bear-like beast, the red bear, which I hadn’t encountered yet.
To complete the map of the second basement level, I deviated far from the main route. Gradually, the amount of white light grass became visibly less frequent. I reached into a small cloth bag tied to my magazine belt, took out some seeds, and tossed them into the darkened areas.
This was another important role for the explorer. By planting white light grass that grew from magic essence, you ensured there were light sources within the labyrinth. This reduced the maze’s danger. It also could indicate whether the current path was the correct one. The lack of light sources indicated that the path had not been well-traveled by previous explorers.
As soon as the seeds touched ground, they sprouted small green shoots. The shoots grew into stems, buds formed at the tips, and, within minutes, white flowers bloomed and softly illuminated the surroundings.
“Amazing how it sprouts and blooms so quickly.”
The rapid growth, akin to a time-lapsed video recording flower growth, elicited my involuntary comment. However, I couldn’t afford to be captivated by the awe-inspiring brilliance of life. From the path ahead, I heard heavy footsteps and rough breathing sounds. These were not from the goblins or glass wolves I had defeated before.
Do those footsteps belong to a red bear?
Indeed, they did. From the slightly darkened path ahead, a bear-like beast with a large body about six feet in length, red eyes, brown fur, and red fur resembling flames approached. It was a red bear. It wasn’t in a combat stance yet, but it appeared to have noticed my presence. It emitted a low growl to intimidate me, but the visible distance was already within my engagement range.
I needed to act now while it still stood there. I knelt down, aimed through the sights, lined up the crosshair on its head, and fired with precise trigger pulls. The red bear noticed my aim and instantly tilted its head to the right. It wasn’t enough to dodge all the bullets, and one hit the left side of its head, blowing away flesh and blood. His left eye had been crushed.
The red bear let out a bizarre scream. It was a low, resounding roar like a furious bellow. Heedless of the blood staining half its head, it charged me. It was fast—but it was just a reckless charge.
“Too easy!” I shouted.
The charging speed was faster than I had anticipated. I started running towards the right wall of the tunnel to evade it. My aim was to use a technique called Wall Run, which was designed to forcibly pass through enemy defense lines in enclosed spaces like this tunnel, as practiced in VMB.
“Snaaaaaaaaaaaaaarl!” the red bear roared.
It aimed to tackle me with the momentum of its charge. However, using the powered suit’s leg strength, I ran up the tunnel wall, traversed near the ceiling, which was about fifteen feet high, and leapt down behind the red bear as it crashed into the wall. The red bear crashed into the wall and became motionless. I got behind it to shoot through the area near its knee joints, where it was crouched from the impact of the collision. That immobilized its legs. As the red bear let out a painful groan from the gunshot, I rushed it, climbed onto its back, pressed the muzzle of my gun against its skull, and pulled the FN P90’s trigger.
“Although I often did this in VMB, I hadn’t tried using wall run as an evasive maneuver yet... If I keep doing things I think I can do on the fly, one day it might not work in another world and could lead to a fatal injury,” I muttered to myself.
I picked up the red bear’s magic stone and replaced the P90 magazine. As I did so, I heard more footsteps coming from the path where the red bear had emerged. It was a trap.
I didn’t want to be caught by the approaching red bear, so I retreated backward while activating the TSS. From the inventory, I selected a new magazine and one M18 Claymore mine. The summoned supply box shimmered with its particles of light, and I immediately opened it. I gathered the magazine into my belt and began setting up the M18 Claymore mine in the center of the underground passage.
The M18 Claymore mine is a directional anti-personnel mine used by the U.S. military. It’s characterized by a curved box shape with a width of just under eight inches. Upon detonation, it releases approximately seven hundred steel balls in a fan-shaped pattern. The actual maximum effective range of the M18 Claymore mine is said to reach up to two hundred and seventy-three yards. The mine does not achieve such distances in VMB, but in an underground passage like this, it should undoubtedly destroy my opponent’s legs.
In VMB, the M18 Claymore mine could only be detonated remotely, despite having both wire trap and remote detonation options in reality. This limitation was due to game balance considerations. Even if wire traps were available, they could potentially be triggered by non-targets such as beasts or non-human races, making them impractical to use.
“Preparation is complete.”
After setting up the mine, I laid down further back to set up camp and wait. The mine was surprisingly dangerous to stand directly behind as it produced more noise and blast than expected. Additionally, the explosion would alert other players, making it a double-edged tool.
The red bears’ heavy footsteps started moving faster. They had detected me. Was it my scent? The sound indicated that they were definitely rushing towards me.
They’re coming, they’re coming. Here they come!