A massive stone head of a monstrous bull greeted me as I reached the main entrance to the Labyrinth. Its lifelike features were carved with eerie precision, every groove and contour etched in terror. It perfectly captured the essence of the beast it represented, the Minotaur.

  “Which psychopath thought this was a good idea?” I muttered, gasping for breath as I leaned against the cold stone wall.

  Reaching this place had nearly killed me. I had climbed hundreds of stone steps from the lower courtyards, each one burning my legs more than the last.

  This was the Palace of Minos, a vast structure built in the style of ancient Minoan architecture. Towering limestone walls loomed overhead, overgrown with creeping vines and patches of moss, as if nature itself had tried and failed to reclaim it.

  The palace itself was the labyrinth.

  A sprawling maze of corridors and chambers designed to confuse, isolate, and kill. Hidden paths. Dead ends. Traps waiting for a single careless step. Deception and death woven into stone.

  As I steadied my breathing, I checked my pouch for the umpteenth time. The small potion was still there.

  Brewed from Swift Lotus Seeds, Blue Glass Snails, and Gnoll Tail, it was something I had prepared specifically for this moment.

  If anyone saw me standing here alone, they would probably think I’d lost my mind. No sane adventurer entered the Labyrinth solo, especially not a newborn druid.

  What made the Palace of Minos truly deadly wasn’t the maze.

  It was the monster that ruled it.

  Minos the Minotaur.

  A terrifying beast with the body of a man and the head of a bull, standing over five meters tall. Its massive iron club could shatter stone with a single swing, and that was only the obvious threat.

  Despite its size, the Minotaur was terrifyingly fast. Against it, escape was almost impossible.

  In Dreadspire, defeating Minos required at least a dozen elite adventurers ranked Fifth Floor or higher. Even then, victory was never guaranteed. I still remembered my own attempts back in the game, dozens of failures before I finally brought it down.

  Just thinking about those fights sent a chill down my spine.

  And yet…

  The Palace of Minos was infamous for one other reason.

  Legendary relics. Artifacts powerful enough to redefine entire builds. Items people would gladly throw their lives away for.

  Names surfaced in my mind, and with them, a ghost of a warmth I hadn’t meant to feel again.

  I slammed my fist against the wall, the vibration rattling my knuckles.

  “Scrolls of the Sea King? I’ve never even heard of an item like that,” he had said, his voice laced with doubt. “You’re not lying to me, right?”

  “Why would I lie?” I’d replied, my chest puffed out with the arrogance of a man who knew the game’s secrets. “With that, you’ll be way stronger. Orin will definitely lose her mind over you.”

  “What? Stop saying stupid things like that.” He’d turned away, though I could see the edge of a smile he was trying to hide.

  “Fine, fine. Then we’ll skip it. You can just wait outside while I take all the glory.”

  “Th-that’s not what I meant! Okay, I believe you. But it should be impossible for us to come out of there alive.”

  “Were you listening this whole time?” I’d laughed, tapping my temple. “I already explained it. That’s why we need the Gnoll Tail. With that and your Tether, we can get it.”

  “Hehehe… sorry.”

  The memory flickered and died, leaving me in the suffocating silence of the Labyrinth. The "Hehehe" echoed in my ears until it turned into the sound of the wind whistling through the corridors.

  Back then, we had been so confident. We were going to conquer the impossible together.

  Now, I was the only one left to play the game.

  Obtaining the Scrolls of the Sea King was impossible.

  That left me with only one treasure.

  A crucial piece of my core build. The real reason I had gambled everything. From grinding rare materials to deliberately crippling myself into a trash-tier character, every painful decision had led here.

  “Time to play tag,” I muttered.

  I stepped into the labyrinth.

  The moment I crossed the threshold, an unnatural sensation washed over me.

  At first it was subtle, barely noticeable. Then, within seconds, it spread through my body like a creeping chill. My skin prickled, hypersensitive to every shift in the air. My limbs grew heavier, weaker, as if my vitality were being siphoned away.

  And yet, amidst the discomfort, my Mana felt… amplified.

  So this is what it feels like.

  [Field Effect Activated – Daedalus’ Curse. Cooldowns reduced by 50%. Incoming damage increased to 300%]

  With quiet, measured steps, I moved deeper into the labyrinth.

  From the darkness ahead came deep, ragged breathing. A low growl followed, accompanied by the rhythmic tremors of heavy footsteps. Each thud sent vibrations through the floor, growing stronger.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Closer.

  A massive figure emerged from the shadows.

  [Fleeting Potion used]

  Instead of a liquid, it felt like swallowing something between fluid and mist, like drinking a cloud. My body tingled as Mana surged through my veins, flowing faster, sharper.

  With the potion active, the 50% cooldown reduction was pushed even further, by another 15%.

  For most wizards, whose high-powered spells suffered from excruciatingly long cooldowns, this was a godsend.

  But for a druid, whose spells already had naturally short cooldowns, it was an exploit.

  [Windstride cast]

  The spell boosted movement speed by 50% for a brief duration. Normally, there would be a delay before I could use it again.

  [Windstride cast]

  But now, with Daedalus’ Curse and Fleeting Potion in effect, Windstride could be cast almost without interruption.

  [Windstride cast]

  I surged forward with a speed that defied belief. The Minotaur’s heavy steps thundered behind me, but I was already pulling away, vanishing into the twisting corridors.

  [Windstride cast]

  Left. Right. Second intersection, then left again. Press the hidden section of the wall.

  There.

  The passage shifted, revealing a secret route. I dashed through without a second thought, my body moving on instinct, following the mental map I had memorized down to the smallest detail.

  [Windstride cast]

  The labyrinth blurred past me as I pushed myself to the limit. A quick glance over my shoulder confirmed it, the Minotaur was falling behind, its sheer bulk slowing its pursuit.

  All I needed to do was run straight ahead, leap onto the hidden platform on the right, then double back to the grand intersection.

  My breath came in ragged gasps. My lungs burned.

  [Windstride cast]

  Almost there… just a little more…

  At the final stretch, I forced my legs to move faster. The path ahead led directly into a dead end, but that was exactly where I needed to be.

  [Fleeting Potion effect has worn off]

  I arrived.

  Relief washed over me. I had made it.

  Without wasting a second, I turned toward the wall and pushed.

  Nothing.

  I pushed again, harder this time, my palms pressed against the cold stone.

  “Move. Damn it!”

  I slammed my shoulder into the stone, but it was solid. Static. My mental map was perfect, I knew it, but the stone didn't care about my memories.

  Not even a fraction.

  Behind me, the Minotaur’s heavy footsteps grew louder.

  A wave of dread crept up my spine.

  “Oh, shit.”

  ***

  Within the labyrinth, the Minotaur was nothing short of a cheat.

  Unlike ordinary creatures bound by sight and sound, it possessed an unnatural ability. It could sense the presence of any being inside the maze, pinpointing their exact location without fail.

  And instead of navigating the labyrinth’s twisting corridors like a normal pursuer, the Minotaur simply smashed through the walls, carving a straight line toward its prey.

  That was why so few adventurers dared enter the Palace of Minos, no matter how vast the treasures hidden within. No amount of preparation, no flawless strategy, could guarantee safety against a monster that could literally rewrite the dungeon around you.

  I forced myself to take a deep breath, struggling to regain my composure.

  My reckless overconfidence had brought me here. I had relied too heavily on my game knowledge, assuming that experience alone would carry me through.

  I had been arrogant.

  This world wasn’t just a game anymore. There were things I didn’t know. Things I didn’t yet understand.

  A sound that wasn't quite a roar and wasn't quite a scream tore through the corridor, vibrating the marrow in my bones.

  The Minotaur’s bellow shattered my thoughts, reverberating through the stone corridors. Judging by the intensity, I had only minutes before it reached me.

  My heart slammed against my ribs as adrenaline flooded my veins, but one truth stood out with absolute clarity.

  Panic wouldn’t save me.

  Fear wouldn’t either.

  I needed to control.

  A memory surfaced. Vallen Raenhir’s voice cut through the rising panic, steady and unyielding, the same voice that had watched me fail, again and again, and never once raised itself.

  “Calm your mind. Close your eyes. Become one with nature.”

  I shut my eyes and focused.

  The chaos of the labyrinth faded away. The distant grind of shifting stone, the thunderous footsteps, and the whisper of air trapped in narrow corridors dissolved into silence, one by one.

  Then I felt it.

  A faint but unmistakable pulse of energy, lingering beyond the wall ahead.

  I opened my eyes.

  The world snapped into sharper focus, as if a veil had been lifted from my vision. On the other side of the stone wall, a thin greenish aura flickered, beckoning me forward.

  Without hesitation, I turned and sprinted in the opposite direction, weaving through narrow corridors until I reached yet another dead end.

  This was it.

  The energy here was dense, so thick it seemed to seep through the stone itself. It vibrated beneath my skin. What I was searching for lay just beyond this wall.

  Drrrrt.

  I pushed.

  For a moment, nothing happened.

  Then the wall shifted with a deep, grating rumble, slowly giving way to reveal a narrow opening. Beyond it lay a hidden chamber, barely large enough for one person to stand inside.

  At its center stood a solitary stone pedestal.

  Something rested upon it, swallowed by shadow.

  My breath caught.

  This is it.

  “Please,” I whispered, my voice tight. “Just this once… let my luck hold out.”

  I stepped forward, reaching out with trembling hands.

  The instant my fingers brushed the artifact, a violent sensation ripped through me.

  It started in my stomach, a gut-wrenching twist, as if my insides were being churned by an unseen force. The nausea spread through my body in a dizzying wave, making my vision spin.

  It wasn’t the first time I’d felt this.

  And it never got easier.

  I clenched my teeth and shut my eyes, fighting off the vertigo threatening to overwhelm me.

  Still… I was grateful.

  Just like in the game, claiming the item triggered automatic teleportation. Space folded around me, wrenching my body away as I was thrown back to the entrance of the Palace of Minos.

  Behind me, the labyrinth sealed itself shut, inaccessible until the next Tower cycle.

  I had done it.

  The talisman I had been searching for, a druid-exclusive artifact, rested safely in my possession.

  But there was a problem.

  The talisman was random. There was no guarantee what one would receive. The best outcomes were the Arcturus Talisman or the Wildkin Talisman, either of which would have doubled, or even tripled my combat capability.

  When I finally looked down at the talisman resting in my palm, my chest tightened.

  It wasn’t what I had expected.

  It was something even stronger.

  Far more powerful than either of the talismans I had hoped for.

  Under different circumstances, I would have been ecstatic. Laughing. Celebrating my absurd luck.

  But right now…

  My fingers slowly curled around the talisman as a cold realization settled in.

  This wasn’t what I had planned.

  And it was going to change everything.

  MILESTONES

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