So, was it really okay for me to play with Son Narin even though she was on a different team?
Our teams were competing to collect funds, after all. Was it truly permissible for teams to cooperate like this?
"Oh, that’s fine. Recently, Cerberus and Behemoth teamed up for Dungeon Seeker too," Mero explained.
Come to think of it, while the Fantasy League was a competition held in Labyrinthos, it also served as a social event for various VTubers to interact.
Perhaps encouraging camaraderie between VTubers from different teams was closer to the intent behind the Fantasy League's design.
As long as the division of rewards was clearly established, it seemed perfectly fine to collaborate in Dungeon Seeker. That was what Mero and the viewers had agreed on.
"We’re two people, and Narin’s alone. Splitting it two to one seems fair, right?"
"Yes! That’s fine!"
Son Narin nodded firmly.
And so, Mero, Son Narin, and I began our Dungeon Seeker stream together late into the night.
As stated in the email sent by Deadraus, Dungeon Seeker was a side story to Labyrinthos, developed to enhance the game's narrative.
The previously hidden stories of characters from Labyrinthos were now being revealed through Dungeon Seeker.
The Academy’s Occult Research Club explored the tales of the Paladin, Gunner, and Saint.
The Adventurer’s Guild focused on the Assassin, while the Magic Tower delved into the Mage’s story.
As for our team, Leviathan, which represented the Holy Church:
【So it was the work of a witch after all.
Hear this, White Crows. Numerous signs indicate that the shrine maiden who received the Dragon's Oracle fought a decisive battle against the witch.
You must dispel the shadows of heresy and track the whereabouts of the shrine maiden. - A letter from the Pope】
"A shrine maiden? Was there such a character in Labyrinthos?"
"Oh my, Mero. You didn’t know?"
What mattered wasn’t the shrine maiden part but rather the phrase "received the Dragon's Oracle."
In Labyrinthos, there was only one profession associated with dragons.
"Wow! Dragon Knight!"
Son Narin exclaimed excitedly.
The Dragon Knight was her main character, after all.
For Son Narin, this story might hold a special significance.
***
The Heresy Pursuit Unit, 《White Crows》.
According to the lore, it was a pursuit squad composed of ‘Holy Rogues.’
And what exactly was a Holy Rogue? Something halfway between a thief and a priest.
Its background was quite intricate, but explaining it all would take too long, so let’s skip the details for now.
What’s important is that within the Church, there was someone of equal rank to the Saint, known as the "Shrine Maiden."
The shrine maiden, chosen by the dragon (a.k.a. Dragon Knight), was originally a very high-ranking individual, but she had an extremely strong wandering spirit.
She was a righteous figure who couldn’t tolerate injustice.
Thus, she would travel around solving dungeons or gates, destroying bandit groups stationed deep in the mountains by herself, or saving villages attacked by monsters.
She was nothing short of a hero, but from the Church's perspective, she was a headache.
It was like the president's daughter running onto battlefields, entering burning buildings, or dismantling mafia groups while rescuing people. That was how Son Narin saw it.
Naturally, the Church couldn’t leave her unchecked, so they dispatched Holy Rogues after her.
While tracking the Dragon Knight’s traces, the Holy Rogues got caught up in a dungeon and began exploring it under the pretense of searching for her. That was the story for the Holy Church faction.
"Hey, rookie! Are you sharing your map or not~?"
"…I appreciate you sharing the map info, but please use my name."
"But your name’s hard to pronounce."
Despite grumbling, Mero shared her mapping information.
Son Narin’s name was a bit tricky for Japanese speakers. After all, they rarely used the 'ㅁ' final consonant in their language.
So among her teammates, she was often called things like ‘Narin’ or ‘Narimu.’ And viewers teased her by calling her ‘Sonna,’ as in "Sonna baka na."
In any case, the difficulty of pronouncing her name led to situations like:
"Hey, Ms. Son! Why aren’t you moving forward faster?! Our lady here is waiting, you know!"
She was addressed like a construction worker.
‘…Why was she acting so high and mighty when we’d just met today?’
But from Son Narin’s perspective, there was nothing she could say.
Kaga Mero might’ve seemed light as a feather, but she was a senior who debuted back in 2019.
Her unusual career path made her quite memorable. She had started as an indie VTuber but was scouted when Blizzard Spot launched their agency.
It wasn’t unheard of for corporations to recruit indie VTubers.
Though it required navigating issues like copyright for avatars, which was a hassle, most companies now had enough experience to establish manuals for recruiting indie VTubers.
Mero, however, had been active even before those manuals existed.
In short, she was a veteran VTuber who had seen it all.
‘…It’s weird that Laura treats someone like her as a servant.’
Come to think of it, she was on par with Hanabane Rui, who debuted in 2018, and even with Rinco, EYEAI’s most senior member.
The only VTuber Aurora addressed with an honorific was Kaiser, and that was just her teasingly calling him "big bro." To think she’d debuted less than half a year ago—it was hard to believe.
Anyway, unable to resist Mero’s persistence, Son Narin took the lead.
Being at the front felt similar to playing as a scout in Labyrinthos.
Laura trailed far behind, moving slowly, while Mero stuck closely by her side to guard her. Only Son Narin remained separated from the group.
This was because Son Narin’s role was 《Explorer》.
Sticking together would only decrease efficiency.
《Explorer》 was a class specialized in deciphering the structure of a dungeon.
It could distinguish between danger zones and safe zones and uncover hidden secret passages.
Additionally, it had another ability. Sometimes, one had no choice but to enter danger zones, and 《Explorer》 had higher survival skills in such areas compared to other classes.
Its role was to venture into danger zones first and pave the way for allies to cross safely.
However, unlike 《Searcher,》 its ability to detect creatures or objects was low. So it couldn’t prevent all dangers in advance.
Still, if one planned to play solo, choosing 《Searcher,》 《Explorer,》 or 《Survivor》 was typical.
Since most people in Gryphon were busy, Son Narin often played Dungeon Seeker solo, which is why she chose 《Explorer》.
"……?"
As Son Narin walked ahead, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.
She thought she’d just heard a voice.
[Why did you stop?]
The darkness around her was so thick that nothing was visible, yet someone had noticed her pause.
Laura’s voice echoed from the walkie-talkie.
"I think I heard something. A woman’s voice…"
[Which direction?]
"It’s coming from the direction we’re heading in…"
[Ignore it.]
"Huh?"
Son Narin blinked.
[Ignore it. There’s no one here besides the three of us.]
Laura’s voice was firm and certain.
Son Narin nodded. Though Laura couldn’t see her through the walkie-talkie, she acknowledged the command.
As she continued forward, the voice grew louder.
"Is anyone there? Please help…!"
"I’m trapped here…!"
"The witch…, the witch is trying to kill me…!"
It was a woman’s voice.
It wasn’t a voice Son Narin had heard before, so it was unlikely to belong to any Fantasy League participant. Could it be that an NPC was trapped in this dungeon?
As she entertained the thought and moved forward, she saw it.
"Ugh…."
A giant spider.
It looked like a massively oversized tarantula—around five meters tall, perhaps.
And embedded in the tarantula’s back was a woman.
At first glance, it seemed like a woman was lying on the tarantula’s back.
But upon closer inspection, she realized the woman had no arms or lower body, and even the sockets where her eyes should have been were hollow.
It was as if a tarantula and a human had been forcibly welded together.
【Status Ailment: Fear Lv.1】
【You’ve encountered a shocking sight while exploring the dungeon.】
【Due to fear, your breathing becomes labored, and your vision narrows slightly.】
"What are you doing?"
As Son Narin stood frozen in shock, Laura approached her.
Son Narin pointed at the massive tarantula.
"T-That over there… There’s a person in the spider…"
"A chimera, is it?"
"A chimera…?"
"Yes."
Laura nodded.
"Many women pursued eternal youth and unyielding beauty. But no human could escape the flow of time, and even the most beautiful women eventually knelt before it."
Laura gently raised her hand to touch Son Narin’s face.
Their eyes met again.
‘Ah, her eyes were so beautiful.’
And once again, Son Narin found herself thinking that absentmindedly.
"But some women with power tried to defy time. Some attempted it with wealth, others with magic. Among them, there were those who conducted unethical human experiments."
"…What are you talking about?"
"You're talking about the witch, aren't you? It seems you've been afflicted with a status ailment."
As Laura assessed Son Narin’s condition, she placed her hand on Narin’s forehead.
A faint light emanated from Laura's palm.
It was <Mental Therapy>, one of Laura’s skills.
"The witch kidnapped young women from rural areas. She committed heinous crimes, soaking the women in poison or fusing them with monsters to create those chimeras. All of it was in her pursuit of eternal youth."
"…Then, that monster over there—is it another experiment victim of the witch?"
"Yes."
Perhaps the witch believed that by combining humans with monsters, whose lifespans had no limits, she could achieve eternal youth.
Of course, they couldn't comprehend the witch's thoughts, nor did they have any desire to.
And frankly, there was no need to try to understand such things.
"Ironically, the witch never managed to attain eternal youth even once. Instead, only her monster-creation techniques advanced."
As Laura spoke, she withdrew her hand.
At some point, the status ailment indicator had disappeared.
"This dungeon appears to have been a large-scale human experimentation site operated by the witch. However, for some reason, it seems to have turned into a dungeon itself."
"…Laura, you’re surprisingly knowledgeable about the lore."
"Lore? Ah, I see. I played the very first series of Labyrinthos, you see. That’s why I know so much."
Laura said it matter-of-factly.
‘It was a convincing reason. The first series of Labyrinthos had been an action RPG for PC, if I remembered correctly.’
Although Narin hadn’t played it, she’d heard it was a massive package game with a substantial amount of content.
Considering how well Laura knew the lore, could it be that she was a veteran player of the first series? She had heard Laura was someone who really enjoyed PC games.
‘…But the way she speaks, it’s almost like she experienced it firsthand.’
If someone overheard, they might think Laura had lived in the world of Labyrinthos herself.
Since their first meeting, Son Narin had thought Laura’s way of speaking was quite peculiar.
"Anyway, are you just going to stand here all day?"
"Oh, sorry. …But can’t we save that person?"
"We can’t save her. She’s already as good as dead."
Apparently, the cries for help weren’t coming from any lingering self-awareness but were instead an act to lure prey. …At least, that was how Laura explained it.
"The lore is pretty dark…."
"Well, that’s Labyrinthos for you."
Laura said with a faint smile.
***
Our current goal wasn’t just exploration—it was story progression.
To advance the story in Dungeon Seeker, certain conditions had to be met, such as accumulating a specific amount of gold and reaching a certain level of exploration progress.
Thanks to Mero’s tearful sacrifices, we had already achieved the gold requirement. However, our exploration progress was still a bit lacking.
We needed to find "traces of the Dragon Knight" in the dungeon’s deepest depths to unlock the next dungeon and continue the story.
The path to the dungeon's depths, however, was long and treacherous.
Fortunately, our party hadn’t encountered any monsters so far. It was remarkably smooth progress for a group without a 《Searcher》. This was largely thanks to Son Narin’s excellent performance as a 《Explorer》.
Still, our focus on safety inevitably made the exploration process slower.
【Anxiety: 45%】
【Fatigue: 50%】
【Hunger: 78%】
This game was annoyingly meticulous about managing various gauges.
The longer you stayed in a dungeon, the higher the 'Anxiety Gauge' rose.
The darker the surroundings, the faster the gauge climbed, though it could be mitigated with light sources or the warmth of a campfire.
The more you moved without resting, the higher the 'Fatigue Gauge' climbed.
Strenuous activities made it rise even faster, and you could only suppress it by taking a break.
Lastly, the 'Hunger Gauge' increased the most rapidly. However, it could also be reduced significantly by eating.
"Let’s have a meal."
I pulled out a pot as I spoke.
"Uh… Is Laura going to cook…?"
For some reason, Son Narin looked alarmed.
"Is there a problem?"
"Well, uh… It’s just that… I watched your stream with Anna recently, and your cooking was… uh, not great…."
-Huh?
-Are you dissing the lady for making those exploded kimbaps???
【10^14 Won has donated 1,000 Won.】
【The lady isn’t bad at cooking… she’s just good at 'under-cooking or burning things'…】
Despite the viewers’ valiant attempts at shielding me, I didn’t deny my lack of cooking skills. It was proof of my noble upbringing as a ducal lady.
"Don’t worry. This is a game, after all. I’ll just use my <Cooking> skill, so rest easy."
For this game, I had invested points in <Cooking> to focus on supporting the team.
Even though I had never cooked properly in my life, I had at least made efforts to avoid starving.
After all, whether noble or commoner, anyone tackling dungeons or gates would often have to camp outdoors. Having some means of addressing hunger in such situations was essential.
"First, we light a fire, then place the pot like this."
I poured all the water I had prepared into the pot.
Then I threw in all the pre-chopped vegetables I had on hand, followed by the meat…
"Oh."
Mero clapped her hands as if she had just realized something.
"Sorry, my lady. I forgot to buy the meat."
"Is that so? Go bang your head somewhere."
"Yes, ma’am!"
Mero quickly knelt and banged her head. No meat, huh.
Left with no other choice, I decided to procure ingredients locally.
Fortunately, the environment was rich in various resources.
Mutated spiders.
Mutated snakes.
Mutated rats.
"…Are we even allowed to eat this stuff?"
Of course, not in their raw state. Especially with spiders, as many of them were venomous.
"How do you think humans came to eat pufferfish?"
"Excuse me?"
"I heard that people fed it to animals first and found it safe to eat after removing the organs. That’s how pufferfish cuisine came to be."
"Why are you telling me this…?"
"It’s my way of assuring you I’ve already verified it’s safe to eat."
I said this as I severed the snake’s head with a knife.
By carefully removing the venom glands and internal organs and cooking the meat at a consistent temperature for a long time, I could make it edible.
After skinning it and deboning the flesh, I threw it into the pot.
Once it boiled, it was ready.
"Eat up."
I proudly handed the soup to Son Narin.
She took a cautious sip with a wary expression.
"…It tastes bad."
"You’re looking for flavor in a dungeon? You’re way too pampered, aren’t you?"
"That’s rich coming from you, Lady Laura… But, about what you said earlier. There’s something I didn’t catch."
"Something you didn’t catch?"
"You mentioned feeding the ingredients to an animal to verify their safety. What kind of animal?"
Ah, that part.
Wasn’t it obvious?
"Humans are animals too. Naturally, I fed it to Mero."
Mero had died a few times from consuming the innards, but wasn’t it only fair that I, possessing <Resurrection>, didn’t eat it myself?
My dear friend and trusted royal food taster, Mero.
I could always resurrect her to use her a few more times.
"I figured as much, but you two are seriously insane," Son Narin said with an eerily bright smile.