PUNISHMENT

"Hmmmm~?"

Leaning forward, Ivan wiped his eyes drowsily before a yawn followed by stretching his arms into the air.

It had been a while since he was afforded such a comfortable sleep. Extinguishing his desire to just sleep in for the day, Ivan crawled out of the transmuted bed as he listened to the cracking of his bones

Opening a canteen full of water, he washed his face clean before equipping his armor. Not forgetting to tuck in the amulet he had since carried from the beginning.

Today was potentially his last day on earth, but to him it was about the same as any other. And just like any other day either he succeeds here or dies a failure. Those were the risks he accepted when entering the dungeon. Risks he reconfirmed when facing the Behemoth.

He pulled up his gauntlets and took one last look at his room. Compared to before it was now just as barren as when he first transmutated it. Aside from the bed and a few crates there were no other traces of him ever living here.

Slinging his backpack on, Ivan sealed the entrance and made his way to the next floor. Equipped to the teeth with weapons and tools.

Motivated by rewards and the promise of returning to the surface, Ivan vowed to not turn back.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE 99TH LEVEL:

Standing right before these grand doors again, Ivan fastened his satchel out of the way so as to not restrict his motions. He made sure his helmet was properly equipped before moving forward, resting both hands on the grand doors. And with a single motion–

Ivan gently opened the doors…..

"....."

Ivan remained silent as he looked at the sight in front of him. Or precisely the lack of things to be seen.

That's right, what beheld him when he opened the doors was nothing. In fact the room he was greeted to, the legendary 100th floor, was just a simple marble room so small that it was incomparable to the other floors.

He estimated he'd only have to take only thirty steps before he reached the other side of the room. It was a realization that made his cheeks twitch.

"Phew…" But not allowing himself to be consumed by anger and disappointment, Ivan calmed himself and thought of the possibilities.

'Odds are this is like the 65th floor, as soon as I make it anywhere near the door some legendary beast will appear to block my path…. right?" Thinking of such a scene, Ivan picked up a stone near from where he was standing, and with all of his strength threw it at the door that sat at the end of the room.

Nothing happened.

It wasn't definite proof that the room wasn't some trap so with careful strides he moved forward slowly. With his hands up and knees bent, Ivan's eyes darted around the room as he was inching closer and closer to its center.

'I made it, only a few more steps to go…' The helmet did not make the situation any better as it just got in his way of wiping the sweat from his brows at this moment. But it was this uncomfortable feeling of sweat dripping that kept him cautious of his environment.

A couple of more steps and he would reach what he presumed to be the end of the dungeon.

That was enough motivation for him to take another step. His heart started beating erratically as he anticipated a magic circle to just appear in front of him and ruin his day. Having made it ¾ of the way to the door, Ivan seriously contemplated making a dash for it.

As even if something did get summoned into the room it would take some time for them to fully materialize, a slot of time he wouldn't mind taking advantage of to reach the doors.

With that in mind, Ivan crouched low to the floor, pressing his feet and angling himself forward.

DOKI DOKI DOKI

1 second has passed.... 2 seconds have passed….. 3 seconds have passed–

'Almost, just hold it in….'

4 seconds have passed.... 5 seconds have passed….. 6 seconds have passed–.

7 seconds have passed!

"Now!" Releasing himself from his position, Ivan pushed against the ground with all of his strength and made his mad dash towards the doors.

With reckless abandon, Ivan soared through the room without a halt in his steps. As he feared one little slip up would mean the end of his life.

BANG

Ivan sighed a breath of relief as he let his body collide with the door. The tension and nervousness he felt up till now dissipated.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he reached for the handles. This time he pushed open the doors with greater vigor than the last.

KACHA

The doors made a small unlocking noise before allowing themselves to be moved.

"...."

All the excitement, the joy, the emotions that had stacked upon each other since first setting sight upon the doors dissipated in an instant. Instead what filled his heart was dread.

"I-It can't be… That's right! Just down these stairs…. Just down these stairs I'm sure there'll be some grand room full to the brim with treasures and a note left behind by this labyrinth's creator congratulating me for clearing it! Hahahaha! I can't wait!"

Looking at the stairs that descended deeper into the earth, Ivan released a strain smile as his dry laughs echoed off the walls.

The confident steps turned into fearful trembling as each flight of stairs he stepped on only made his heart seek deeper into despair. Compared to the bright and holy lights that radiated from the room on the 100th floor, the staircase only became darker the farther it went.

Ivan wasn't sure if he was hallucinating, but he couldn't help feeling that breathing became increasingly difficult as he descended further in.

PIT-PAT PIT-PAT PIT-PAT

The sound of his steps were the only thing he could hear, and for some inexplicable reason each step only made his face twitch.

He couldn't tell how long he had been walking. Has it been 10 minutes…. How about 30…. Ah, or has it been an hour.... Hell, for all he knows it could have been several hours.

Ivan stopped his steps and decided to take a seat, allowing himself to catch his breath.

For a moment he stared listlessly at the ceiling. Then without a word, he got back up and continued descending.

For now he was able to calm himself down. Distracting himself with thoughts of what he'd do when he got out of here. Or by imagining what insanely powerful tool or artifact he'd find once he reached the end of the stairs.

They were quite simple thoughts and yet ones that kept that tiny flame of determination alit.

That's right, he remembered for what reason he was here. He remembered exactly that it was he himself that elected to enter the dungeon. He himself decided to continue the plunge.

So if he was going to hate anyone, it should be himself.

With such thoughts in mind, Ivan's eyes dimmed briefly.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh….?"

Knocking his head against a solid object, Ivan looked up. His eyes met another set of double doors.

His eyes glimmered with a bit of light before he took another deep breath.

Judging by how unglamorous this inconspicuous set of double stone doors he had a feeling he shouldn't get his hopes up.

But what else was there to do but continue forward. He felt he was going to lose his mind if he decided to venture back to his base on the 85th floor. Well he mostly felt the trip back up the stairs would be what does it in for him.

He readied himself, positioning as to prepare for any dangers that lurked behind the doors. But compared to the vigor he showed when first entering the steps, his current stance was much more sloppy.

With his Hands of Mana behind him, he gently opened the doors.

CREAK

Ivan looked stupefied at the plaque that revealed itself when he opened the doors. Despite the 100 floors he descended to get here, never once did he see a single plaque like this one that told him what floor he was on.

As much as he wanted to believe it to be a lie, the scenery in front of him made him unable to make such a rebuttal.

An expanse cave was what he saw as far as the eye could see, carved with small rivers that streaked across the floor. The ceiling illuminated the ground as the bright crystals that adorned it shined bright enough that a torch or lantern wasn't needed.

Ivan turned his head back to the plaque, this time he looked at it emotionlessly as he let his hands fall to his waist. His stance relaxed as he read it over and over again, rubbing his eyes to make sure he didn't misread.

But no matter how many times he rubbed away, no matter how many times he cleaned the plaque with a rag, the words on it remained the same.

[THE GREAT ORCUS LABYRINTH: FLOOR 101]

Ivan fell powerlessly to his knees,

"Ha. Hahahah! HAHAHAH!" And without any former indications, started laughing.

"IDIOT! STUPID! IGNORANT BASTARD!" Laughter turned to rage as he clutched his head and bashed it on the ground.

Then, all of a sudden he turned quiet. Ivan lied motionlessly on the ground as he mulled over his own thoughts.

'What the hell was I thinking, that this was some game? That like a game it would have 100 floors and be done with it? Since when was it so easy to attain such power? When did I grow so arrogant that I'd think I could accomplish easily what others couldn't in the past centuries.'

Getting up from his grovel, Ivan dusted off his pants and did his best to recompose himself.

'That's right! I'm a researcher, starting over is my thing! I can do this!' Making such flimsy excuses Ivan decided that for now he'd have to make another decision.

Either he continues delving into the dungeon for another how many floors, or he returns to the surface. But with his pride as a researcher how can he give up. In the end he'd rather die here in the dungeon than live with the idea of running away.

He stuffed the frustrations in his heart, right now he just wanted to vent his something on something. On anything really.

That's right. From now on his reason for delving into the dungeon no longer relied on what he'll be gaining out of it.

From now on, the dungeon would become his punishment. A punishment for his greed and hubris.

If he died down here without anyone even knowing then so be it.

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Hmmmm.....

Honestly I'm quite unsatisfied with this chapter. It took quite a while to write and yet even I was feeling like I was starting to go insane. It's not like I was feeling a headache or anything. But for some reason staring back at the screen as I read what I wrote just really pissed me off.

I don't know it's a bit hard for me to explain.

But with this we've finally reached the True Labyrinth I read the web novel years ago so I'm gonna need to buy the light novels real soon to get a refresher. I'm sorry, my wallet!

Anyways, thanks again to all of you for reading! May you have a great day/night!

If you want to support me and read ahead 10-15 chapters, you can check out my p.a.t.r.e.o.n right here: https://bit.ly/ardoaleister

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