“GRAAAAAWRRRRR!!”

“Ooh! Ooh, ooh! Ooh!”

The growling came from the magical beast, while the oohing belonged to Ziel.

It had been three months since he’d been knocked down into the abyss.
He had gone feral.

“Grr, GRRRR…”
“Ooh ooh!”

Every movement was optimized to the extreme.
The magical beast, which appeared to be wolf-like based on its silhouette, made Ziel forego even drawing his sword. Instead, he slipped swiftly behind the beast, locked its neck in a chokehold, and didn’t let go. No matter how violently it thrashed and strained its neck, Ziel’s grip held firm. The beast’s gums eventually split, dark froth bubbling up from its mouth. A sharp crack echoed.

A spray of mist erupted with a sound like bshuuu.

Victory.

“WOOOAAAAARR!!”

Without hesitation, Ziel roared triumphantly. He beat his now thinning chest two or three times—an unintended consequence of his meager diet—and bellowed again with an ooh ooh.

Then, suddenly—
“Hah!”
He snapped back to his senses.

“…Heh, heh.”
A motion intended to adjust his glasses—except he wasn’t wearing any. His finger awkwardly jabbed at his forehead instead.

“Do not underestimate me… I am human. A cousin of gorillas if you look at the big picture. Like hell I’m going to lose a territorial fight to some mangy dog!”

Summoning every ounce of reason he had left, Ziel declared his victory with as much intellect as he could muster.

He knew this wasn’t sustainable.

Three months—almost a hundred days—had passed.

He had survived all that time without proper survival gear. Even setting aside his exceptional combat abilities, his survival instincts were astonishing.

But even the best of civilization's remnants had their limits.

It was becoming unbearable.

“Damn it… That mutt ruined the fish I worked so hard to catch…”
Crawling on the ground, Ziel gathered the remains of a fish-like magical beast the canine had snatched. Searching for any part still intact, he touched, brought pieces close to his face, and sniffed them for confirmation.

Ziel had chosen to make his home by the water.
There were two reasons for this decision.

The first was to replicate the circumstances in which he had killed the giant crab earlier. It was a battlefield that gave him an advantage. The open space allowed him to notice approaching magical beasts easily, giving him confidence that his life wouldn’t be taken so easily here.

The second, and most important reason, was to secure food and water.

Surprisingly, the water in the labyrinth was drinkable.
When he confirmed this, Ziel had felt immense relief. If it hadn’t been drinkable, he’d have had no choice but to resort to the bodily fluids of magical beasts. He’d had to drink from a camel-like magical beast in a desert once, and it had been the most disgusting experience of his life. He never wanted to go through that again.

The water also contained fish-like magical beasts.

Generally speaking, magical beasts were “edible.” While normal animals were far superior in terms of cost and taste, magical beasts weren’t entirely composed of metal, so they could at least stave off starvation.

And so Ziel had decided to live by the water.
Drink the water. Catch and eat the fish.

It was a crude and primitive existence, but it worked—for now.

It was miserable.

“What is this fish? It smells revolting…”
The fish tasted terrible.

“The water stinks too… It’s like straight mud…”
The water was filthy.

“And I stink too…”
He was unclean.

“Why am I even talking to myself out loud like this…?”
His mental state was deteriorating.

In short, Ziel was barely hanging on.

He knew this couldn’t continue.

“…Maybe it’s time to move on.”
He stood, sword in hand. After eating raw fish that tasted vile and drinking water of dubious quality, he wasn’t even sure anymore whether he was a human or a gorilla.

“Today, I’ll break through!”

As soon as he started moving, magical beasts sensed his presence and attacked. Ziel unsheathed his sword and cut them down effortlessly, advancing without breaking a sweat. He had even grown accustomed to life without his glasses. Though he couldn’t discern his surroundings clearly, he had honed the ability to strike at moving targets through repeated practice of catching fish.

These smaller magical beasts were no match for him.

But beyond the door ahead—

“ROAAAAARR!!”

A deafening roar echoed.

It was a sound Ziel had grown familiar with.

The mighty magical beast that had blocked his path countless times before.

Ziel took a deep breath, then flung open the door with a battle cry.

“OHHHHHHH!!!”

He couldn’t see it.

He had no idea what this beast truly was. From the sound of its footsteps, it was quadrupedal. Its silhouette suggested a size that rivaled a dragon. That much, he could deduce.

But the truth lay before him.

“Wha—?!”
“ROOOOOOARRR!!”

His sword strike was deflected with a clang.

It wasn’t parried.

The timing hadn’t been read, and it wasn’t a counter.

The beast’s body simply repelled the blade.

Its hide was harder than metal.

“Not again—damn it!”
Ziel dodged the beast’s attack with a swift motion. Its speed wasn’t overwhelming. Even without relying on sight, the wind pressure from its massive body was enough for Ziel to evade.

He didn’t try a second strike.

Turning his back on the beast, he sprinted out from under it.

“ROOOOOAAAARR!!”
The door slammed shut behind him, and the beast did not pursue.

This told Ziel one thing.

That beast was the floor boss.
The ruler of this level. The strongest, most anomalous magical beast here.

“I’m not good enough yet…!”

With a heavy sigh, Ziel leaned against the wall. Even as smaller magical beasts tried to attack him, he dispatched them effortlessly with one hand.

Despite his incredible skill, he couldn’t overcome it. He couldn’t cut it.

And yet, over the past several weeks, Ziel had come to a realization.

To advance beyond this floor and return to the surface, he had to defeat that floor boss.

If only he had his glasses… But wishing for the impossible wouldn’t change anything.

So, he resolved to blame himself instead.

“…Back to practicing my swings!”

With that, Ziel headed back to his riverside dwelling.

All the while wondering if he was truly destined to join the ranks of gorillas.

He was stuck fifty floors down from where he had initially awakened.

For reference, the largest labyrinths currently known were said to span around one hundred floors in total.

Incidentally, Ziel still believed he was heading straight toward the exit.