GILF Hunter

Chapter 463: 463 What is This

Rin, who had been walking through the darkness, finally gave up and stopped.

This darkness, where she couldn’t see even an inch ahead, seemed endless no matter how much she walked.

’Hmm....’

After a moment of thought, Rin eventually stopped exploring the darkness and sat down.

Even sitting down or looking up at the sky, there was no change in the scenery before her eyes. Only pitch-black darkness.

She even began to doubt if she had been walking properly at all.

Perhaps she was just under the illusion of wandering, while simply floating through the void.

...Did I die after all?

Looking into the bottomless dark, such an imagination finally took hold.

Rin quietly closed her eyes. Of course, whether she closed them or opened them, there was no difference in what she saw.

If this really was the end... what kind of feeling was she supposed to have?

To be honest, she had never thought about it that seriously before.

It was the same now.

Maybe it was because it still didn’t feel real.

Even by her own estimation, hers was a simple life with nothing special about it.

No grand goals, nothing she desperately wanted to achieve in life.

Just an ordinary person without a purpose, living with thoughts like ’it would be nice to be famous’ or ’it would be nice to be rich.’

There was a time she had dreams.

They were dreams about the world rather than personal ones.

In the past, she thought this world was inside a shining story. She thought every person was a star.

That there was a heart-fluttering adventure somewhere in this world.

That everyone possessed at least one shining talent,

And that if you worked hard without giving up, you could achieve what you wanted—that kind of thought.

She realized not long after that it wasn’t the case.

Most people were mayflies fluttering into a light and burning away, under the illusion that they were birds soaring toward the sun.

...But even in such a reality.

Rather, because it was such a reality, she came to know that there are people who truly shine like stars.

The reason Rin could come this far without getting lost or falling behind to an unimaginable level was thanks to her running frantically after that star until now.

The star....

Rin felt the twinkle in the sky and lifted her head again.

At the highest point of the sky. Even in this place where there had been nothing but darkness, light was twinkling again before she knew it.

In my life, from a certain moment.

Whenever I looked up at the sky, it was always there, shining.

My star.

＊ ＊ ＊

- Potential has been reset.

The rotating die stopped and emitted a dazzling light, then soon shattered into pieces and disappeared into dust.

Tanya, who was right next to Ian, asked.

Seeing as a Fairy purposefully brought it in this situation and Ian used it immediately, it seemed like something that would be a great help... but she couldn’t tell its identity at all.

’Leader? What did you do?’

’I don’t accurately... know yet, either.’

Ian replied to Tanya’s question with a shake of his head.

It wasn’t just a figure of speech; the problem was that he really didn’t know what would happen.

Resetting all potential randomly... the first major problem was checking every single thing that had changed.

The possibility of a strange potential or something completely useless being selected was a thought for later.

Even when using it in a game, pausing and checking the changed abilities one by one was quite a hassle, let alone in a real situation like this.

In the middle of combat, it was naturally impossible to open the potential window and grasp or utilize everything that had changed.

For that reason, Ian skipped all the trivial things and checked only the most important among the changed potentials.

The very last part of the scroll. Where the Master Trait was located.

Even though it was a random reset, it tended to be substituted according to rank to some extent. An E-rank would become another E-rank trait. An A-rank would become an A-rank trait. There were slight variations, but it usually worked that way.

So, it was guaranteed that at least one Master Trait would appear.

The Master Trait was the final trait at the bottom of the potential tree. For most, just learning it allowed one to exert a decisive influence in specific situations.

’If only this comes out as something useful....’

Ian hadn’t rolled it hoping for a flood of helpful traits by pure luck.

At the very least, if this one Master Trait changed into something influential for combat... the situation could improve significantly.

The worst would be non-combat Master Traits like [Assembly] or [Inheritance]....

[Goddess of Fate] would be okay at least....

In this situation, the best would be [Hero]... or.

Ian’s gaze reached the very bottom of the potential window.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[North Star]

- [Potential: Will] Master Trait

- Player’s maximum Mental Power +100%

- Allies’ [Mental Power] does not decrease below the player’s current [Mental Power] value

- Allies resist [Erosion] in proportion to the current [Mental Power] value

- Allies are immune to mental status abnormalities

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

＊ ＊ ＊

Rin, who had been half-carried by Lia, suddenly snapped her head up.

’...Lia? Where are we?’

’Rin? Seeing as you’re talking nonsense, I guess you’re fine.’

Lia, who had been supporting the unconscious Rin, confirmed Rin had come to and let go of her arm.

Rin, who fell with a small cry, staggered and barely pulled herself up again.

Before she had time to complain, Rin recalled what happened before she lost consciousness and shouted. They were definitely in the middle of a fight.

’We were in the middle of a fight! We almost won... where did that thing go?’

’It suddenly sprayed this mist-like stuff and stopped still. We’re wandering inside it now.’

’Ah... I finally got out, but it’s like this again.’

Inside the pitch-black darkness where directions couldn’t be distinguished. Honestly, it didn’t look much different from where she had been just a moment ago.

Could this even be called an escape?

But at least, since Lia was beside her, it was better than before. Rin nodded.

’Don’t do anything useless and look for which way to get out. If we can’t regroup, they might eventually retreat and leave us behind....’

Lia stopped mid-sentence. It was because she felt a strange, unidentifiable sensation.

Suddenly... what is this?

Lia felt as if the air had changed.

Her body was light, and her mind was surprisingly clear. It was clearer than at any time since entering the Labyrinth. It felt as if all the influence of the darkness that had been gnawing at her mind had vanished.

...At first, a chilling hypothesis occurred to her that she was simply energized by seeing Rin wake up safely, but this was an effect too distinct to be a mere trick of the mind.

Rin must have felt it too, as she spoke to the puzzled Lia.

’This is probably the Leader....’

Before hearing all of Rin’s story, Lia felt something and lifted her head.

She thought she saw something twinkling in the darkness.

...And the fallen knights also lifted their heads one by one.

These were knights whose mental power had been completely exhausted, essentially putting them in a state of combat inability.

In the darkness where nothing could be distinguished. The knights regained their senses at the voice calling them, followed the dazzling light, and walked out of the darkness.

The place where they opened their eyes felt like a foreign location.

Inside the Labyrinth.

Just how long had they been in that pitch-black darkness....

This place where they were fighting just a moment ago felt like a space from a very distant memory.

’This is....’

However, the knights who regained their senses realized that the place was completely different from the one in their memories. There was nothing left to fear.

There was no more darkness, no cold, and no fear.

Light....

It was simply filled with dazzling light.

The veil that had stretched out as if it were endless. The shadows that had poured out monsters without stop. The cold darkness that had slowly shaved away their minds—it had all vanished.

It was as if a sun had risen inside the Labyrinth.

The knights who rose to their feet staggering could soon confirm the reason for themselves.

Frenda, who had been kneeling and quietly preparing her final magic while near her limit, slowly lifted her head.

It was a strange sensation.

Dazzling light.

Warmth.

Relief.

Everything felt right now was heterogeneous, far too unfitting for a Labyrinth.

Perhaps this was the spiritual experience people say they feel before death.

Yet Frenda’s mind was clearer, sharper, and more rational than ever. She wasn’t in a state to be mumbling while seeing hallucinations right before dying.

The source of that massive light was reflected in Frenda’s eyes as she lifted her head.

Light.

A radiance in human form.

All the knights were bowing their heads toward that form of light.

’Lea... Leader. You’re glowing? Is this okay?’

’What?’

Tanya whispered secretly to Ian in a small voice. Ian also realized that strange phenomenon late.

It was because while the surroundings were full of light, he didn’t feel it was dazzling at all.

It was a light that seemed like it would blind someone, yet even looking at it directly, there was no hindrance to seeing what was ahead.

It was as if only the darkness had been accurately erased from this place.

Among the numerous traits that had newly appeared in the potential window, Ian, discovering the trait that would be the biggest problem late, muttered.

’Oh no....’

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[Halo]

- [Potential: Courage] Trait

- Judges the player as a light source in the dark

: Brightness intensity and range increase in proportion to possessed achievement points

- Allies do not receive [Stress] caused by darkness

- When the player is a [Hero], allies within the range of this light are immune to erosion

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -