The descent felt like a blind march into the belly of a dead beast.
This was especially true since the staircase was narrow, only able to accommodate three people side by side.
Normally, the S-Rankers would have taken the lead, including the Vanguard, who had the protection of heavy armor.
Unfortunately, he couldn't even walk properly while wearing it, so he was left barely protected in his ordinary clothes.
Moreover, after finding out that an unknown beast had been waiting right at the entrance to ambush them, the Rankers were even more cautious.
If the sniper's accidental shot hadn't killed that beast, wouldn't they have been slaughtered? Because of this, they didn't even think about taking the lead.
In fact, many of them wanted to send the weaker players ahead, Ian included. The only reason they didn't was that they had already talked big about how they were going to protect everyone.
Hence, the S-Rankers could only rely on the A-Rankers.
Those with classes suited for defense were placed in the front. There were a few complaints, but no one had time to deliberate, as they only had a few minutes left to enter.
In the end, the formation was organized with the A-Rank defenders taking the lead. They were followed by S-Rank defenders, S-Rank attackers, A-Rank attackers, B-Rankers, and so on.
For what felt like hours, but was likely only twenty minutes, the only sounds were the ragged breaths of eight hundred humans and the agonizing screech of the Vanguard dragging his four-hundred-pound greatsword down the black stone steps.
Because he had refused to put his impenetrable heavy armor back on, he simply couldn't carry the massive weapon, so he dragged it.
Every scrape against the stone sent sparks flying into the darkness, annoying everyone's already frustrated nerves.
The Paladin's faintly glowing shield offered some light in the suffocating darkness. Every time someone kicked a loose pebble, a dozen people flinched, expecting a monster to leap from the dark.
Ian walked near the back, relatively safe.
He kept his head down, doing his best to ignore the D-Rank swordsman walking a few steps ahead of him, who was still looking pale. Fortunately, he wasn't foaming at the mouth anymore.
The swordsman occasionally glared at the healer, who kept shrinking back.
Suddenly, the screech of the Vanguard's sword stopped.
"Hold!" the Vanguard's voice echoed down the line. "The stairs... they end here."
Weapons were drawn. People held their breath, bracing themselves for a bloodthirsty boss monster, a pit of spikes, or an army of undead.
Slowly, the crowd shuffled out of the narrow stairwell.
But instead of a monster's den, the staircase opened up into an impossibly massive, circular chamber. The ceiling was lost in the shadows, but the walls stretched for miles in either direction, curving gently into the distance.
Carved into those endless walls were thousands of identical stone passages, each leading to a different path. It was a literal maze of thousands of paths.
But that wasn't what made the survivors drop their jaws.
Standing perfectly centered in front of every single passage was a brightly lit vending machine, looking exactly like the cheap snack machines found in any Earth subway station.
The modern, glowing boxes completely defied the ancient aesthetic of the labyrinth.
Before anyone could comprehend the sight, several figures stepped out of the shadows. They wore heavy dark cloaks, their faces completely obscured by featureless white porcelain masks.
"Welcome to the true Labyrinth of Forgetfulness," one of the masked figures spoke. Their voices echoed from everywhere and nowhere at once.
"The path to the Safe Zone lies ahead. However, you cannot march as an army."
The Paladin frowned, resting his sword on the ground. "What do you mean?"
"These are the rules of the Labyrinth," the masked guard explained. "You may only enter these paths in groups of exactly five. No more, no less."
"If you attempt to enter a passage with six, the entrance will collapse. If you enter with four, you will die before you take ten steps."
The ones who were most frustrated by this revelation were the S-Rankers. If only five people could enter a passage, didn't that mean they couldn't use the weaker players as meat shields?
Moreover, they didn't even know which passage was the right one. If the team of S-Rankers entered the wrong path, wouldn't that mean all the S-Rankers were going to be wiped out?
As if reading their doubts, one of the masked figures answered, "That's right. Only five people can enter each passage. But you don't have to worry. Out of these thousands of paths, almost all of them have a way out."
He didn't elaborate, stopping just short of telling them that even though they all had an exit, the level of difficulty and complexity behind each path varied.
Of course, there were also a few paths that didn't have an exit at all. However, they were so few that they could be counted on a single hand. Someone would have to be incredibly unlucky to choose such a path out of thousands.
Then again, the guides knew that there were often such unlucky people. After all, this maze had been used multiple times for different planets in the tutorial, and so far, hundreds of people had fallen into those endless traps.
The masked guard pointed a gloved finger toward the glowing machines. "Before you enter, you may use the dispenser in front of your chosen path. It costs nothing. One free use per person."
"The items are entirely random. You may receive a legendary weapon, a life-saving elixir, or a simple snack to help with starvation."
"Of course, even if you don't get anything useful, it doesn't mean you can't survive. There will be plenty of places within the maze where you can forage for food or hunt monsters. Therefore, your team composition will be important. Think carefully..."
With that, the masked figures stepped back, folding their arms and watching in silence.
"Wait... Who exactly are you? This is the first time we have met someone who knows about this place. Can you tell us more about this tutorial? Why were we summoned here? What exactly is the goal?"
A player stepped forward and asked the masked guides. Unfortunately, the guides didn't say anything. They stood like statues, simply watching with cold eyes.
In the end, the players gave up, realizing that they wouldn't get any answers. Instead, they had to focus on forming a proper team to help them survive.
The elite team didn't waste a single second. They completely ignored the pleading cries of the C and D-Ranks who were begging to be carried.
The S-Ranks rushed to the largest passage in the center of the chamber and pressed the glowing buttons on the vending machine.
Of course, there were six S-Rankers, so one of them had to be left out and join a team of A-Rankers.