The Story of How I Ended Up Becoming a Hero Without Realizing It While Training in the Infinite Labyrinth - Chapter 3

The two goblins weren’t eating; they were beating each other with clubs.

“Fight or training, doesn’t matter. I’ll wait until one of them is exhausted.”

From the first fight, I realized something.

In a straight-up battle, I can’t even beat a goblin right now.

That time, I only won because it was off-guard; the moment it noticed me, it tried to counterattack.

Victory came from the surprise attack.

So for this second encounter, I chose to ambush again instead of fighting head-on.

“…Alright, now’s the time.”

The two goblins had been trading blows, but one took a solid hit and collapsed, ending the fight.

Both were already worn out. The remaining one sat down and started munching grass.

Keeping it in the corner of my eye, I circled behind and decided to take out the grass-eater first.

“Gugya!?”

“Gya! Gya!”

I stabbed its throat from behind and severed its head.

The collapsed goblin was startled by its companion’s death and scrambled for its club.

But I threw the stone I’d been holding in my left hand straight at its grip.

By luck, it hit the hand; the goblin couldn’t pick up the club.

“Die!”

“Gugya!”

I closed in on the goblin, clutching its han,d and swung the sword down at its head.

It fell, the corpse vanished, and only a magic stone remained.

“Phew… Still far from good.”

The instant the goblin tried to counter, its pressure almost overwhelmed me.

I barely held on and brought the sword down—if I’d let my guard slip even slightly, I’d have died there.

“Hm? What’s that…”

I went to check the first goblin’s drop spot. Besides the magic stone, something else lay there.

Just a plain necklace, but if a monster dropped it, it might have some effect.

“Wish I could appraise it, but that’s a rare skill…”

Appraisal-type abilities let you make a living even without combat power.

“Well, I’ll just store it in Inventory for now.”

Anything I get is safest inside Inventory.

After that, I resumed moving through the forest and found a staircase.

There are two ways to clear 【Infinite Labyrinth】: descend stairs to the next floor, or defeat a boss to proceed.

Floor 1 uses stairs, not a boss.

“I could move on, but I’m still not used to combat. Better fight more on Floor 1.”

Deciding to stay, I left the stairs and resumed exploring the floor.

About an hour later, I had fought goblins several times.

I was getting used to battle, but fatigue was building up.

“Time for a break. Let’s check if my status changed.”

I moved to a safe-looking spot, sat on the ground, and opened my status.

✤

Name: Tōjō Hajime

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Level: 5

Stamina: 33

Magic: 20

Strength: 36

Intelligence: 29

Agility: 37

Dexterity: 32

Talents

【Swordsmanship: 1】【Physical Enhancement: 1】

Unique Skill

【Infinite Labyrinth】

Blessings

✤

“Probably because it’s the hardest difficulty—levels are rising fast.”

Normally, going from Level 1 to 5 takes about a month.

Newly awakened lack combat experience, and low levels limit accessible labyrinths.

For me, the ability to enter a labyrinth is part of it, but the biggest factor is the reassurance of “no death.”

I still take precautions, but somewhere in my mind, there’s peace.

There’s no guarantee I truly won’t die, but I’ve never heard of a skill description lying.

If I die anyway, then that’s that.

“I can’t exactly test dying. If I really died, I’d be beyond dead…”

If I’m going to die, I’d rather go down fighting a strong enemy.

That’s my thinking, so I’m not about to experiment.

After resting a while and planning ahead, I decided to reach Level 10 on Floor 1 before moving on, and resumed exploration.

“—! What is this presence…”

Hours later, now able to fight goblins one-on-one head-on, I sensed a powerful aura.

I had just hit Level 10 and was considering the next floor.

Then, from straight ahead, an intense presence rushed toward me at incredible speed.

I was a few seconds late realizing I should hide—it appeared before me.

A 3-meter giant body, wielding a club to match.

If my memory is correct, that’s a High Goblin—an upper species of goblin.