episode_0009

“It must be morning by now.”

Jeong Yu-sin mumbled, yawning.

He spent the time repeating shallow sleep.

It was difficult to fall into a deep sleep because the narrow entrance to the shared space was covered with only a single blanket.

The damp and cold floor was also one of the reasons for his insomnia.

The chill from the floor crawled up his bones and pricked his heart.

Kaal’s group also seemed unable to sleep properly, tossing and turning several times.

Especially when he was on watch.

Well, it was understandable that they would be anxious since an outsider suddenly joined a party of people from the same village.

“Today, Mr. Sca will take the lead.”

That’s what Kaal said as they were about to finish their meal, pack their things, and leave the shared space. The dark circles under his eyes made him look tired.

“Alright.”

Jeong Yu-sin took the torch and led the way at the front. Dean stood right behind him, telling him where to go.

“Go to the right.”

“Okay.”

Everyone who was going down seemed to have left, as there wasn’t a single sign of life. Yesterday, they encountered other parties several times, but today they hadn’t seen anyone.

Thud, thud.

Only the sound of the party’s footsteps echoed through the long, narrow passage.

Walking with the torch, he could clearly tell.

The light is weak.

The distance that the light should reach was being swallowed by a strange darkness.

So, even a faint silhouette was not visible from a slight distance.

He walked as if possessed, staring into the darkness.

“Squeak squeak!”

“Kekeke!!”

Jeong Yu-sin’s shoulders stiffened.

Hobgoblins.

“Prepare for battle!”

He shouted quickly and drew his longsword.

Swoosh!!

A sound tearing through the air.

Jeong Yu-sin instinctively raised his shield.

Clang!

An arrow flying from the darkness struck the shield.

Swooosh!!

Several similar sounds overlapped.

Clang!! Clatter!!

He barely blocked them. The force hitting the shield was considerable.

It meant that the arrows were being fired from closer than he thought.

At that moment, Kaal, who was behind him, rushed out.

He was taken aback by the sight of him suddenly charging into the darkness.

“Mari!”

Kaal shouted.

“Light!”

A holy radiance pushed back the darkness and filled the cave.

Everything is visible.

Five hobgoblins.

The hobgoblins screamed, covering their eyes from the sudden light.

Kaal ran at an incredible speed and swung his sword.

Swish!!

A goblin’s head flew off, and blood splattered on the cave wall.

‘I need to stick close to Kaal.’

He couldn’t let him be surrounded alone.

Jeong Yu-sin also ran quickly.

Thwack!

An arrow grazed his left shoulder and pierced a goblin’s chest. He turned around and saw Ann holding a bow.

When he arrived, Kaal was swinging his sword and cutting off another hobgoblin’s head.

Two left.

The hobgoblins regained their senses and charged at him simultaneously, wielding their daggers.

Their target was obvious. Kaal’s defenseless flank.

Clang! Clang!

Shield block.

He deflected all the daggers swung by the hobgoblins.

Stab.

Jeong Yu-sin stabbed his longsword into the chest of a goblin whose stance had collapsed. The blade pierced the sternum, the part right below the hard part of the chest, the solar plexus.

“Ugh!”

The goblin collapsed backward. Immediately, he slapped the goblin standing right next to him by the pommel, right on the cheek.

“Kkeaack!”

The hobgoblin’s teeth shattered, and one side of his face was crushed.

Just as Jeong Yu-sin was about to finish it off, Kaal rushed in and cut off the goblin’s head.

Blood gushing from the neck splattered on Jeong Yu-sin’s face and body.

“Phew. Mr. Sca, we work well together, don’t we?”

Kaal said with a smile. His eyes sparkled a bit, perhaps due to the excitement of the battle.

“Yes.”

He answered, wiping the blood from his face.

He was taken aback when Kaal suddenly rushed into the darkness.

He thought he was crazy.

‘You had a plan.’

“Ew! Disgusting.”

Mari, who had come closer, grimaced. The holy light gradually lost its power and soon disappeared.

As the rest of the party joined them, Kaal opened his mouth.

“I said we should cut off their ears as proof of hobgoblin subjugation. Dean and Mr. Sca, will you help?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes.”

Dean and Jeong Yu-sin helped Kaal cut off the hobgoblins’ ears. Dean’s face looked pale from the side. He was trying his best to cut off the ears with his trembling hands.

In contrast, Jeong Yu-sin cut them off quickly and efficiently. It was the result of working at the monster dismantling center every single day without fail. He also felt no guilt for taking a life. It just felt like an extension of his monster dismantling work.

Thanks to Jeong Yu-sin’s efforts, they quickly collected the ears. There were five hobgoblins, so they collected a total of ten ears.

“Here, Mr. Sca, please hold on to this.”

Kaal handed him the bag containing the goblin ears.

“Can you really give this to me?”

He asked, looking at the bag that smelled of mustiness and blood.

“I trust that Mr. Sca will manage it well.”

It was a bit absurd.

‘Is this really the friend who couldn’t sleep when I was on watch?’

He couldn’t resist. At least not now.

Kaal was the leader of the party, and the party members were their longtime friends.

Besides, his swordsmanship was extraordinary.

A single strike that cut off the neck in one swing.

It was something that couldn’t be done without innate strength and skill.

“Yes.”

He took the bag and put it in his backpack.

The group walked again. Jeong Yu-sin was still in the lead.

Following Dean’s guidance, they left the central area.

They encountered a monster once again.

“It’s a black slime!”

Three slimes were stuck to the cave wall, wriggling.

“I’ll do it.”

Red-haired Ann stepped forward with her bow.

Thwack!

An arrow flew quickly and pierced the slime’s core in one go.

The slime with the damaged core trembled and fell off the wall.

‘Wow.’

This friend was also excellent at archery.

Ann shot another arrow and pierced the cores of the remaining slimes.

When he went closer, the squishy parts were spilling onto the floor like liquid. There was also a stone, different from the core, that was glittering.

“Wow, it’s a magic stone. It looks pretty.”

Mari approached and crouched down in front of it. Kaal picked up the magic stone and put it in his pouch.

“I’ll take this. I can’t leave everything to Mr. Sca.”

“Kaal is so kind, isn’t he?”

At Mari’s words, Kaal smiled and stroked Mari’s head.

‘What’s with the sudden lovey-dovey stuff.’

Jeong Yu-sin, a forever-alone virgin, felt his insides twist.

That day, Jeong Yu-sin and his party camped in a nearby shelter.

Jeong Yu-sin’s watch order was the same as the day before, and there were no attacks.

‘I’m so tired.’

He rubbed his heavy eyes and raised his torch.

“Mr. Sca, we’re almost there.”

“Yes.”

Jeong Yu-sin replied casually to Dean’s encouragement as he walked. Of the torches that Jeong Yu-sin had brought, only one remained. Except for the one torch that Kaal had used, the other party members’ torches were still intact.

They walked for a few more hours.

They encountered five black slimes. As before, Ann stepped forward and took care of them with her bow.

Hobgoblin subjugation 5/10

Magic stone collection 8/10

The quest was almost complete.

As he was walking with those thoughts, he saw the end of the cave.

At the end of the cave was a large clearing, and in the center was a huge monument.

As he got closer to the monument, a blue portal and a red portal opened.

He had learned about it in the new explorer class.

To go outside the maze, you have to enter the blue portal, and to go to the next floor, you have to take the red portal.

“Let’s go to the next floor.”

Kaal took the lead.

“Wait a minute.”

Jeong Yu-sin stepped forward.

He couldn’t stand this.

Wasn’t this out of the plan?

It was clearly a first-floor exploration party. That’s how the receptionist introduced it in the first place, and that’s what Kaal said too.

“What’s wrong?”

“Isn’t that different from what you said? I clearly heard that it was a first-floor exploration party?”

“Ha!”

Kaal’s lips twisted.

“Mr. Sca, shouldn’t we complete the quest?”

“We can do things here too. There’s no need to go down.”

“It’s because you can’t see monsters on the first floor, right? Senior explorers have said it, and I know it because I’ve experienced it myself, but the second floor is no different from here. Is there any need to wander around spending time and resources looking for monsters that you can’t even see?”

“The iron rule that the new explorer class emphasized…”

“Ha, fuck.”

Kaal spat out a curse.

“Mr. Sca, no, Sca. Did you eat your age for nothing? I told you, learn living knowledge. Go outside, talk to people, and interact. Explorer class? Iron rule? You naive bastard. Will you die if they tell you to die?”

“….”

“Just say you’re scared. It’ll make you look less like an idiot.”

‘What’s with the sudden outburst?’

He seemed to have touched a sore spot.

“Since we have different opinions, let’s split up here. I’m going back.”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Kaal drew his sword and blocked the way.

“You’re crossing the line.”

Jeong Yu-sin also drew his sword. The cold blade of the longsword flickered like a snake in the torchlight.

“Get out of the way.”

“Compensate me. How much time and money did we waste because of you without even completing the quest? And you’re just going to run away?”

“What a load of crap.”

He raised his shield and took a stance.

“Mr. Sca, calm down.”

He glanced and saw Ann standing with her bow aimed.

Dean was holding a dagger, and Mari was muttering something, chanting a spell.

‘This is fucked up.’

“How much do you want?”

Jeong Yu-sin was so dumbfounded by Kaal’s answer that he laughed.

It was the amount of money he could earn after working non-stop at the monster dismantling center for two months.

“I don’t have that much money.”

He said truthfully. He had spent most of the money he had earned on weapons, armor, exploration supplies, and tuition, even after excluding the cost of staying at the inn.

All that was left was 2 silver coins and a few copper coins.

“We’ll find out when we search you.”

Damn it.

‘About being extorted by kids younger than me in another world.’

“Kaal, shut your mouth.”

Ann glared coldly, and Kaal became speechless.

“Mr. Sca, let me be honest. We really need to complete this quest. We need treatment for a friend who’s injured.”

“You can do it here, right?”

“At the lowest cost possible. We came up from the countryside penniless, so we’re a bit strapped for cash.”

“Why are you so sure? You might not encounter any monsters on the second floor either, and you might get lost?”

“A senior explorer at the bar told us. He said monsters are a bit more noticeable from the second floor. If we complete the quest by exceeding the set number of subjugated monsters, we’ll also get paid extra, so it’s okay even if we get a little lost.”

“Still, isn’t that deviating from the plan?”

He asked, half giving up.

“The explorer association is aware that plans often change. I heard that in this case, it’s decided by majority vote.”

Decided by majority vote?

It was obvious that everyone except him would say they would go to the second floor.

He decided not to ask any more questions.

The association was not lenient with people who ignored the majority vote and left the party without permission. They would definitely impose penalties. It was stipulated in the regulations.

What would happen if the advice that a ‘specific’ someone gave during the association’s class conflicted with the association’s official regulations?

Does the advice override the regulations?

He didn’t know.

“What if I still don’t want to?”

“Your sword looks pretty good.”

“Isn’t that robbery?”

“It wouldn’t be bad to have it transferred through the association. Mr. Sca would lose his sword and get a penalty as a bonus.”

A perfect checkmate.

This sucks.

He sighed deeply.

“I understand.”

‘What big deal could happen? It’s just the second floor.’

He also had a naive thought. Even though Kaal’s group seemed a bit awkward, they seemed skilled. Besides, he didn’t have any money.

Kaal came over and patted Jeong Yu-sin on the shoulder.

“Then it’s settled, right? Let’s do well again. Sorry for speaking informally. It just looked idiotic that you were crying and singing about not going, so the words just slipped out.”

“….”

“Go in first.”

Kaal pointed to the red portal with his sword.

Jeong Yu-sin entered the red portal.