Memoirs of the Returnee

Maze (3)

“……Looks like an F-rank.”

I pursed my lips.

It was easy to tell. There was only one root of the R-elix.

Just in case, I put the rooted R-elix in my inventory. I attempted appraisal using the inherent function of the [Dungeon System].

[30 EXP will be consumed to appraise the item.]

[Appraisal Complete: F-rank R-elix]

“Hmm……”

I stroked my chin and looked at the information of the 「R-elix」.

[■ R-elix: Treasure Hunter]

[■ Rank: F │ Rare]

[■ Attribute: Life]

[■ Interpretation: Upon implantation, the probability of looting after hunting increases. You can feel a special energy. You will be able to somewhat assess the value of items. You can interact with surrounding objects. Occasionally, your touch becomes delicate.]

Fortunately, it’s rare. Even if it’s F-rank, after taxes and fees, I should still have about 300,000 to 400,000 Ren left.

“……Should I implant this?”

Treasure Hunter.

I would have sold it under normal circumstances, but it was the type of R-elix I needed the most.

Moreover, this kind of ‘life’ attribute R-elix imposes the least burden on the body.

“But well.”

The implantation method is simple. R-elix is designed to attach to living beings from the start, so all you have to do is stick it to the desired area and draw it in with magic.

I chose…… my forearm.

Swish-

I called upon my magic as I placed the R-elix. It immediately stuck to my skin.

“Ah, hot.”

The R-elix briefly seared into my skin before fading away.

[Implanting the R-elix.]

[‘R-elix: Treasure Hunter’ seeps into the existence of ID 5029.]

…….

[■ R-elix: Treasure Hunter]

[■ Rank: C- │ Rare]

[■ Attribute: Life]

[■ Interpretation: Your luck greatly increases when hunting, exploring, and other search-related activities. You can sense a special energy. You can easily assess the value of items. You can actively interact with surrounding objects. Your touch becomes delicate when needed.]

“Did it……?”

I tilted my head for a moment. With a frown, I glared at the [Dungeon System] that was interpreting the R-elix.

I rubbed my eyes, thinking I had seen it wrong, and opened them again.

It was still the same.

“……What?”

I stared at the rank of the R-elix.

[■ Rank: C- │ Rare]

It’s C- rank.

Why is it C- rank?

It was definitely F before the implantation.

“……”

I thought blankly.

The [Dungeon System]’s appraisal simply interprets the R-elix through a system algorithm and conveys that information to the users. Therefore, the R-elix operates normally even outside the dungeon, and the rank judgment is purely based on the ‘performance’ of the R-elix.

In other words, it was F-rank performance before the implantation, but after the implantation, it increased to C- rank performance.

That’s what the [Dungeon System] itself is saying.

“Could it be……”

Suddenly, a certain day came to mind.

The time when I summoned the Corpse Eater to clean up after Jade.

The Corpse Eater I had summoned seemed to move much faster and consume much more than before my regression.

“It wasn’t a delusion.”

It wasn’t a delusion.

It’s certain.

The Perion stored in my 「Notepad」.

It’s seeping into my magic itself. Slowly becoming an 「Embodiment」.

In doing so, it’s upgrading ‘my entirety’.

In other words──.

Just as my body has evolved into a strong body, this R-elix has also been enhanced by my Perion.

Even the simplest Magic Formula, even the lowest-ranked R-elix, if it comes to me, its performance itself is upgraded……

I swallowed silently. My head heated up. A bit of heat rose to my face.

Is it excitement?

I’m feeling good, but there’s no time to jump around.

I made a key in front of the iron door again. Clank- I opened the exit.

Whooosh——!

The severe cold rushed in.

The snow had piled up to knee height, and Terence and the others were obviously gone.

“First…… let’s go.”

I’ve got the R-elix.

Now, the evaluation test remains.

I shook off my still dazed mind and walked into the snowstorm.

Whooosh——!

A snowstorm in the snowy plains. A refuge tower in the mountains.

Elise’s team is warming up there.

“……Ah, I almost froze to death. Hey, Asher. How cold is it outside now?”

“Between minus 30 and 40 degrees.”

“It’s like Antarctica.”

Kain and Asher are having a conversation, and Layla is mumbling blankly, glued to the ground.

“I’m thinking about just giving up……”

“Come on, Layla. We’re only at stage 2. There should be at least 4 to 5 stages, right?”

After the hospital, it was this snowy mountain. Forks in the road appear frequently, monsters appear in groups, and the snowstorm doesn’t stop.

It was a hellish environment for the seniors.

“Elise. Aren’t you hungry?”

Kain asked Elise by the window. Elise, who glanced at him, nudged Layla.

“Layla. How about you?”

“Hmm~? Not yet…… nothing’s coming out…… but there’s movement…… I’m constantly losing magic…… I’m tired.”

The snowstorm in this snowy mountain will probably never end. Therefore, rather than barely making it through with their bodies, they have to use Magic Spells.

“Keep at it. We have plenty of time.”

Layla and Elise are engraving Magic Spells on a cloth, and using the gray beads as mana stones to advance by invoking 「Workmanship Magic: Mole」.

Elise is commanding 13 moles, and Layla is commanding 25 moles to find the exit.

“What should we do?”

Asher and Kain are…… honestly, they’re useless in this field, so they’re just doing things like catching food.

“You guys should cook.”

“Ah, of course. We’ll make it as delicious as possible.”

Leaving the two of them, who are starting to take out pots, behind, Elise turned on the dungeon system.

[Dungeon System]

[ID: EliseEEM]

[Current EXPP: 833……]

She clicked on [Recent Party List].

[5029 ●]

Shion Ascal. His ID was still online (●), but it would be difficult to clear this snowfield without a party.

He didn’t seem to have a special talent for Magic Spell, so he was probably stuck somewhere.

“……Haa.”

Elise sighed and bit her lip hard.

‘I need to approach him first.’

The advice from [At Your Service] kept coming to mind.

You need to approach first.

Throw away your pride.

In the end, Elise turned on the [Message] system.

「What are you doing?」

The [Dungeon System] is diverse like this, and if you have a lot of dungeon experience, the maze itself will be a bit easier.

This is why college admissions consultants these days are saying that the College Board is steadily being designed to favor the upper class.

After all, the rich will have more dungeon experience.

[3 EXP will be consumed to send a message.]

To use the message feature, you have to pay EXP, or experience points. You gain them every time you kill a monster, but it’s best to save as much EXP as possible.

This one message is equivalent to one Lv.1 monster.

Elise closed her eyes tightly.

She pressed the send button in the air.

She pressed her face against the window where the blizzard was blowing. She rubbed her heated cheeks.

“Elise, what are you doing?”

“Are you hurt?”

Kain and Asher asked.

Elise looked at their reflections in the window. She tried to say something, but… she just shook her head.

I don’t know.

I don’t know either.

Shion is still the same, but I’m the one who’s changed.

Is it pity?

Or is it sympathy?

If so, isn’t it worse than simple disgust?

“If you’re hurt-”

“I’m not hurt, just go make some food.”

Elise sat back down.

Shion’s reply didn’t come for a long time.

Kain and Asher prepared a meal, sat down and ate, and when they were about to close their eyes for a moment…

[You have a message from 5029.]

The reply came.

Elise shuddered.

Her eyes widened as she looked at the reply.

…1 hour ago.

I’m walking in a blizzard. Whether it’s a blizzard or a snowstorm, it’s ready to turn me into a snowman at the slightest provocation.

Anyway, I’m back in the assessment test, and I feel a bit uneasy.

“F-grade R-elix makes the news?”

The strange feeling doesn’t go away.

This could be the intuition of a treasure hunter, or it could be paranoia from simple greed, but no matter how I think about it, F-grade R-elix isn’t newsworthy.

Even if it’s rare. F-grade R-elix is essentially for the lower class like me, so if you’re a guild member, you’ll sell it to the magic tower as soon as you get it, or grind it up for materials.

Like the old mandrake, if there’s a magic phenomenon—dispel—overlap, I don’t know, but there’s no need to advertise neighborhood loot like news.

“It smells, it smells.”

I walked, sniffing the air for no reason.

Whooooo──

I gazed in the direction from which the wind blew.

I replayed the memory of the sound they had heard before my regression.

──According to an association official who acquired Rune Crystals, at the entrance of the maze…… Thud-

“……Wait a moment.”

There’s a jarring sentence.

At the entrance of the maze.

The entrance ‘and’?

If only one F-grade R-elix was found, wouldn’t it be ‘at’ the entrance?

「You have received a message from EliseEEM.」

It sounds like a message.

I swiftly waved my hand.

I looked around.

The smell was suspicious, but the blizzard made it hard to distinguish where I was. To begin with, I couldn’t see an inch ahead with my naked eye.

SZX-9500 is also a stretch here. How can I zoom in when the obstacle called a ‘blizzard’ is blocking the way?

“……Huh.”

But it’s not like there’s no way at all.

There is.

Perion.

If I use Perion, I can surely upgrade the R-elix momentarily.

The problem is the side effects.

If the side effects hit too hard, my exam—my grade will be ruined.

Treasure and the exam.

Both are opportunities that will never come again…… Why does the treasure have to appear during the exam, damn it.

“…….”

I closed my eyes. I placed my hand on the arm where the R-elix was implanted.

A deep breath.

Then I opened my eyes.

Perion was already applied.

The world that was black and white was completely dyed black. A faint ‘color’ was carried from somewhere. The smell mixed with the wind became clear.

I ran after it.

Surely, it’s nearby.

Something equivalent to a treasure.

Thump- Thump- Thump-

Trampling on the endlessly piled snow, I climbed the steep slope.

Thump- Thump- Thump-

As I moved forward, the smell became stronger, and the thread-like swaying color also became clearer. Then,

“……Here it is.”

I found the source.

From under the snow-covered ground, something was flowing out.

I almost dived into it. With my body buried first, I reached out.

I grabbed something.

I clenched it tightly. Just like that, I pulled it out with all my strength.

Shrrrrrr──!

Some plant was uprooted.

“Ah!”

I fell on the snow and looked at it.

The plant that sparkled like a sapphire, and the white fragment connected under its root.

In the shape of a rune.

“……It’s R-elix.”

Again, it’s R-elix.

This time, it has three roots.

Grade C.

As I took in the brilliantly glowing object, I found myself murmuring as if entranced.

“This…… will make the news.”

Starting from Grade C, it can only be sold at auction. They must have had no choice but to announce it, even if they didn’t want to.

I put the R-elix in my inventory.

My heart was pounding.

Dopamine surged in my brain.

This kind of excitement was a first. I never had any luck in my life to begin with.

“Ah, I’m going to die…….”

I smiled weakly as I lay there.

“Um…….”

But, it’s starting to get cold.

Indeed, every time the cold wind blew, I kept catching a suspicious smell. It seemed to tickle the tip of my cheek and draw me in.

Sniff- Sniff-

“Ah……”

I eventually stopped.

Perhaps it was the heat from the implanted R-elix, but my body was so hot that I didn’t care about the cold or the blizzard.

Whooooosh──

It didn’t seem like I was lying down purely out of happiness.

I tried to lift my upper body.

“……Ugh.”

My body wouldn’t move.

I couldn’t muster any strength below my waist.

It seemed like a side effect.

After all, I had explored the hospital for three hours, hunted the butcher, climbed the snow-covered mountain slope for several hours, and dug through it……

I blankly looked up at the sky. I lifted my smartwatch on my wrist.

I was about to give up when something came to mind.

「You have received a message from EliseEEM.」

Elise’s message.

I quickly breathed and turned on the dungeon system. I immediately opened the message box.

「Sender: EliseEEM」

: What are you doing?

I quickly replied to the message.

「On the brink of game over.」

Fortunately, the reply came quickly.

「Sender: EliseEEM」

: What do you mean?

I just rolled my eyes and looked at my smartwatch. My current coordinates were written there. I replied to the message with that.

I didn’t have much hope.

I just didn’t want to give up with my own hands.

After all, if I just wear the smartwatch, I’ll be automatically transported just before I die.

I sent the message as a last-ditch effort.

「You have received a message from EliseEEM.」

A reply came, but I couldn’t read it.

I was getting sleepy.

Whooooosh───

The raging blizzard.

The blanket of snow covering my body.

In the midst of that, I slowly closed my eyes.

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