The Primal Hunter

“Oh, I recognize this one,” Casper said with a smile as he quickly deciphered the Magiscript on the wall and found the solution as he wrote it down in mid-air before absorbing what was effectively magic code. “A very novel application of the bound-zone script.”

“Glad that at least some people appreciate real art,” Minaga answered. “Speaking of art. Thoughts on the traps so far? Always open to feedback.”

Casper, knowing where to go after analyzing the clues provided, began running down one of the hallways as he kept scanning his surroundings, also making full use of all his dungeon-related skills. They provided him far more hints than if he didn’t have them, and he had almost a sixth sense as to the layout of the labyrinth as he ran through it. “Hm, they are all very standard and understandable. There really isn’t anything crazy or out of the ordinary, I mean. I assume this was a deliberate design choice?”

“Right on! Making the traps unnecessarily complicated will just lead to senseless deaths and lost attempts too fast, as people are taken by surprise. That isn’t really the purpose of the labyrinth. Hence, it’s better to stick with the classics. But, if I did want to add some more interesting traps, you got any ideas?”

“While I cannot know what you already implement later on… have you considered rolling boulders?” Casper asked curiously. Who didn’t like rolling boulders? They were as classic as could be.

“Rolling boulders?” Minaga asked, sounding genuinely confused. “Boulders dropping down from the ceiling? I think that is just a less efficient way of collapsing the ceiling or-“

“No, no, not like that. I mean that right as you enter a hallway, a massive round boulder filling the entire hallway will drop down behind you and begin rolling toward you. This will force the challenger to rush far more than normal, and the boulder itself adds a great visual element and indicator of danger. Of course, some will be able to easily avoid the boulder with their skills… maybe set the boulder on fire or something so those who can turn intangible can’t just let it pass it? You may also need to make some more alterations so people can’t just block the boulder or something, but I am sure you can find a solution,” Casper theory-crafted. If he ever made his own trap-filled dungeon, he would surely have rolling boulders, even if he did admit they weren’t the most efficient.

“That… does sound interesting. Though it does seem to still serve a very similar purpose to collapsing ceilings,” Minaga commented.

“Lasers and spikes serve the same function, too, but you have both. Spike pits and acid pits are also very much the same. However, even if they serve the same function, both are still great as they add diversity and variance to the Challenge Dungeon,”Casper kept insisting. “Also, ultimately… having a rolling boulder is just cool.”

Despite spending his time trying to convince Minaga to implement rolling boulder traps, Casper had made quite a bit of progress already in his section as he reached a trap hallway. Even if he discussed them a lot with Minaga, Casper didn’t really do the trap rooms himself. At least, he didn’t do them as intended.

Instead, he knelt right in front of the long kilometer-long hallway and placed his hands on the floor. A wave of energy went through the floor as Casper’s mana poured in, and in the very next moment, every single trap triggered at once as fire, ice, spikes, lasers, and whatnot fired, with pits and pistons slamming down activated throughout. After everything was done, Casper stood up, cracked his neck, and walked through casually.

As a dungeon architect and trap specialist, he did have certain advantages. Of course, he had a very strong feeling his advantage was far worse than someone like Jake, even if he could “cheat” a lot. In either case, Casper had confidence in reaching section one hundred at least.

Primarily because he was already on Labyrinth Section 96. It just saved a lot of time still being able to pass through the trap hallways safely. He did have a strong feeling his method of triggering the traps would stop working at some point, though. Or he would just no longer be fast enough. He wasn’t really that fast, after all, and he still took some time to properly navigate, taking quite a few wrong turns throughout.

“I will definitely take your feedback up for consideration,” Minaga answered after thinking a bit and giving Casper time to focus on clearing the trap room. “Maybe ask for some more opinions.”

Casper smiled and nodded as he picked up speed and began running down the hallway to make sure he could pass it in time. Doing at least one hundred sections was his goal, and based on what he knew, that should put him as one of the absolute top performers for this Challenge Dungeon.

Jake completely ignored the way-too-fucking-complicated huge magic script at the beginning of the section as he shot into a hallway at full speed, not stopping for a second. Arcane Awakening activated at 30%, giving him even more speed as he approached a hallway with a few traps in it. Right as the traps triggered, Jake jumped to the side as a spear shot by him, the air pressure alone leaving bloody cuts on Jake’s torso and tearing flesh off his arm despite flying by him more than three meters to the side.

Continuing forward while ignoring his wounds, he soon triggered another trap. Dozens of lasers activated, filling the entire hallway and leaving no room for a human to get through, forcing Jake to block one of them. Eternal Hunger, with its form changed to resemble a shield with sharp edges to still be considered a weapon, appeared in Jake’s hand as he blocked one of the lasers and kept running.

of the hallway, where he had to jump up to another floor. Summoning his Eternal Shadow, Jake barely managed to delay the laser for a fraction of a second, proving just long enough for Jake to get through the ceiling and into

mending itself. Considering not even the B-grade he fought could leave a single scratch on the weapon, he took that as proof Jake was somewhere he

earlier could have killed even a True Dragon in one shot. A

in Labyrinth

briefly checked out one of the gatekeeper rooms as he passed by it on the previous floor, and while he couldn’t tell the creature’s exact level, Jake was pretty sure it was around mid-tier B-grade. That was a being above level

this story has been

to use his boosting skill from the very beginning of a section to be fast enough. He had learned that when he didn’t make it through in time in section one-hundred and ninety-eight, and with that

Attempts remaining: 1

life had been lost when he learned he couldn’t do the trap hallways at all anymore, a third life was lost when Jake thought that maybe he could still do a slightly smaller

to be entirely avoided, and he also tried to stay away from teleporters whenever possible. He had encountered one in Labyrinth Section 200 that he got very bad vibes from, giving him the feeling that should he take it, Jake would get teleported right in front of

came down to was pure speed and pacing. Jake had five whole days to complete the section, and he would need every moment simply due to how massive it was. It was a true marathon where pacing and conserving resources were as important

lucky he was doing this Challenge Dungeon after the Colosseum of Mortals. During the Colosseum, Jake had improved small aspects of his boosting skill, especially the parts where he only amplified certain parts of the body, and this sure came in handy now. He didn’t really need to boost his

to relax his legs, Jake summoned his wings and began flapping while even using his

he didn’t want to risk messing up by focusing on

sure as hell needed these brief respites now, or

his entire body was sore, his legs were slightly bloody from overextension, and his resource pools were borderline empty. However, he could see the end before him

prompt popped up in front

clear

smiled to himself. He even had a bit over an hour to go, so it wasn’t even that bad of a time. He was spent, though, and he really needed a break. A twenty-four-hour nap

great…” Minaga muttered before he suddenly perked up. “But, alas, this is where the

said with a smile as the gate in front of

have entered Labyrinth Section 215 of Minaga’s

Remaining: 4

Labyrinth Section that had appeared in

no checkpoint hallway. No break or slight reprieve. It was like on the early floors where you just went from one labyrinth into another… something Jake hadn’t

next Labyrinth Section. Duh. Why complain?

is just cheap, man,” Jake said with

be right now. So stop complaining and just take

with Pulse as he relaxed a little, trying to find a suitable route. However, after about an hour, it became clear this section was about the same length as the last one. Considering his borderline non-existent resources and spent body… yeah, there was

Jake said after over an hour of

the reward can make you stop complaining… though I will warn you that you kind of run into diminishing returns when you do too well at a Challenge Dungeon. Built-in system anti-cheat, if you will. And while you may complain about that, you should be