Published: March 21, 2026
Because his experience doing every kind of part-time job to make ends meet paid off, Akira was able to become a yellow rank adventurer without issue.
He had already finished five odd-jobs, but he went straight to the labyrinth.
There was a reason he was in such a hurry.
He had an overwhelmingly bad feeling.
Ever since coming to this continent he’d been plagued by bad feelings, but today the alarm in his head was louder than ever.
And the closer he got to the labyrinth, the stronger it grew.
Better to get this over with quickly and get out of here.
Fortunately, Crow's house, which Amelia and Yoru visited every day, was quite far from the labyrinth.
The chances of Amelia and the others being in danger were low, but Akira still wanted Amelia off this continent.
Even he hadn’t realized it, but his danger sense skill had probably been warning him all along.
That Amelia would be forced to use revival magic again.
"...damn it."
When Akira arrived, the part of the labyrinth in Beastmen territory was already covered in a black mist.
From beyond the entrance, where the guild staff were frantically trying to seal it, came the groans and howls of beasts.
Because Beastmen are closer to animals and generally have higher danger sense, there were no ordinary Beastmen in the area. Those left were Human guild staff, migrant workers, and adventurers who had come to the labyrinth.
"Hey! Get out of here right now!!"
A Beastmen adventurer, probably much higher rank than Akira, shouted and began shepherding non-combatants to safety.
When the guild staff noticed, they fled as well, leaving the labyrinth's closure incomplete.
You couldn't blame the guild staff. Everyone values their life. Especially non-combat staff with no fighting ability.
Besides, even if the entrance had been sealed, the monsters from the depths would have smashed it open with a single strike. In that sense their choice could be called sensible.
"Hey! You too, get away from here! Can't you feel it!? There are monsters coming up that you'd need to form a raid to beat!!!"
Watching the entrance as a huge presence slowly approached, a good-natured Beastmen adventurer grabbed Akira's arm and pulled.
Most other adventurers had already evacuated; only Akira and that adventurer remained near the entrance.
The dog tag hanging at his neck was red. One rank above Akira's yellow.
"Yeah. But how are we supposed to deal with it?"
Where he pulled Akira suggested he had somewhere in mind. When Akira showed he intended to leave, the red-rank adventurer started running.
Still holding Akira's hand, Akira ran with him.
"First, we head to the guild to assess the situation. From gold to yellow rank will probably be formed into hunting parties. If you’re late you’ll get left out and die!"
He sounded oddly practiced; when Akira remarked on that, the man replied, You too.
Akira gave a wry smile. Spending long stretches in labyrinths might make you used to life-or-death situations.
A crowd of yellow-rank and higher adventurers had already gathered outside the Adventurer Guild.
Akira used telepathy to explain the situation to Yoru.
[Understood. Master, hold them off as much as you can. We'll focus on evacuating non-combatants and minimizing damage.]
"Yeah, if you die, I die too. Be careful."
[...heh. Who do you think I am?]
"Stupid question. Keep in touch. Take care of Amelia."
As soon as he ended the telepathy, guildmaster Ringa appeared a little above the crowd.
"No speeches. Pair up with someone nearby. Treat them as a partner you’d entrust your life to. If you end up with someone weak, well, that’s the end of your luck."
It sounded reckless — normally Akira would have protested that you can't entrust your life to a stranger — but this time he couldn't afford that.
As a Human, he technically had no obligation to join the hunting party, but if luck was on his side it might raise his rank, and more importantly Amelia was nearby.
Amelia was a silver rank adventurer and probably safe with Yoru, but a man wanted to protect a woman.
"Hey, want to pair up with me?"