episode_0012

Ann’s expression hardened.

“But, didn’t Mr. Scar say he would help us find them together?”

“We found all the scattered comrades, didn’t we? Are you perhaps trying to recover even the corpses?”

Jung Yushin’s head throbbed.

When he saved Ann and decided to accompany her, he shouldn’t have mentioned finding her comrades.

It wasn’t in the plan, but they found two people by chance. He could call it good luck.

Jung Yushin felt that way, but Ann may have felt differently.

That it wasn’t a coincidence, but some inevitability due to fate.

‘She’s overworking her hope circuits so much that she’s got a lot of evil spirits stuck to her.’

Late regret surged.

After coming to a family-like small business as an outsourcer and questioning the work different from the contract, he was subjected to all sorts of abuse from the young CEO.

One mistake ruined the family-like party.

Somehow, he found a way to survive with good luck.

He found people with even more luck.

Now she wants to find the dead CEO too.

It was really unpleasant, but with the last remaining conscience of a modern person, he said to Ann.

“Ann, I’ll say this with my conscience on the line. Karl is dead.”

“The situation was urgent, so you might have seen it wrong.”

‘This is fucked.’

It’s a breakdown.

I can’t take it anymore.

“Let’s stop. I’m going alone. You guys do whatever you want. Find him or don’t.”

Ann said urgently.

“Mr. Scar! Do you think you can go alone?”

“It’s better than dying while looking for a dead bastard.”

He packed his bags and got up from his seat.

“Scar!”

Ann’s desperate voice echoed in the dark cavern.

‘She’s completely crazy.’

Jung Yushin gritted his teeth and turned his back.

Just as he was about to leave the cavern, something fell out of the hard leather armor. It was soaked in goblin blood, but he could definitely recognize it.

A clump of brown fur.

It was Darmon’s.

Jung Yushin stared blankly at the clump of fur on the floor.

“Why is this here?”

A listless sound leaked from Jung Yushin’s mouth.

The beastman who accepted him when he had nowhere to go.

The beastman who generously helped him when he aimed to be an explorer.

If it hadn’t been for Darmon’s help and advice, he might still be wandering the streets, let alone being an explorer. Although he did receive lodging fees.

He picked up the clump of fur and fiddled with it.

Jung Yushin, who had been standing like that for a while, barely opened his mouth.

“Ann, let’s go to the central area. There are many explorers passing through that area, so we can get some help and advice. If we meet a good explorer, we can find our comrade much more easily. This is my last concession.”

Ann, who had been silent, opened her mouth.

“I understand.”

‘I should separate from them there.’

Jung Yushin put the blood-soaked clump of fur in his pants.

Jung Yushin and his party packed their bags and left the outer shelter.

Marie, like Dean, tied a rope around her waist and dragged it along.

In the long silence, they each held their own thoughts and struggled through the darkness.

Several more hours passed. Or was it minutes?

It felt like they had been walking and walking all night. Or maybe they crawled.

There was no hobgoblin attack.

Is it because they were covered in goblin blood and filth?

I don’t know.

Just as the sensation in the soles of his feet disappeared, he arrived at the boundary between the central and outer areas.

And.

He found Karl.

Only a crushed and half-eaten head remained.

Arms and legs that looked like humans and beastmen were piled up in strange shapes, and heads were decorated on top of them like Christmas trees.

Karl’s head was there.

The disgusting-looking structure was a totem erected on the border separating the outer and central areas, and it was a hobgoblin’s territory marker.

“There he is.”

Jung Yushin pointed to Karl’s head.

Ann’s body stiffened like a stone statue.

It was the expression of someone who had witnessed something that could not exist.

Ann staggered and approached.

“Ah… ah…”

She stared blankly up at it, then knelt down and vomited on the floor.

“Uwaaeeeeck!”

Jung Yushin approached the totem, carefully grabbed Karl’s head, and brought it over.

“Marie, it’s Karl.”

“Karl? Karl. Karl. Karl.”

Marie hugged Karl’s head that Jung Yushin handed her tightly.

Jung Yushin patted Ann, who was vomiting and crying, on the back and said.

“Look at those friends. Dean and Marie. If it’s not you, they can’t survive here. Are you going to keep kneeling here and being sad?”

Ann looked at Jung Yushin with tired eyes.

“Don’t look at me, look at those friends. Your village friends.”

He grabbed Ann’s chin, turned it, and made her look at Marie and Dean.

One was grinning, and the other was fondly stroking Karl’s head.

“Aren’t you feeling sorry for those friends? It’s all because of you. If you had stopped going to the second floor in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Th…that’s, Karl…”

“He’s dead. Are you going to blame the dead? Wouldn’t Karl be sad? Do you really think you have no responsibility?”

“…”

“You found Karl’s head, so do you want to find his body too? Then, let’s break up here. I’ll go first. You bring your friends and come slowly.”

He took his hand off Ann’s chin and got up from his seat.

Whack!

Ann grabbed Jung Yushin’s arm. The strength that came from somewhere was incredibly painful.

“Let’s go. I’m going. You fucking bastard. You have no blood or tears!”

Jung Yushin said calmly.

“Ann, I can’t go with you if you talk like that. I’m not your friend or subordinate. Do you understand?”

Ann suddenly giggled.

‘It’s scary.’

The laughter stopped abruptly. Ann staggered and got up from her seat.

“Let’s go, Mr. Scar.”

“Do you have the strength to shoot a bow?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll shoot even if I die.”

[The key to motivation is responsibility.]

He tried to instill a sense of responsibility in Ann as he saw on YouTube.

‘The result is successful.’

Her rolling eyes are a bit scary, though.

‘With this level, am I not a top motivational speaker?’

“Alright, alright. Let’s go.”

He clapped his hands to change the mood.

Jung Yushin dragged Dean, and Ann dragged Marie and walked.

* * *

“Finally.”

Jung Yushin, who was covered in wounds and exhausted, muttered in a trembling voice.

There were many twists and turns, but they arrived.

A tombstone was visible in the huge cavern.

He was heading to the transfer area, expecting to encounter other explorers, but he didn’t meet any.

Food was a problem, but a bigger problem was that they had used up all the torches. There were candles provided by the church, but he diligently walked, reducing sleep and rest, feeling a sense of crisis that it would be over if even these ran out.

Dean and Marie were okay, but Ann’s condition was serious.

Pale face and parched lips.

The bandage wrapped around her stomach was already stained with blood and reeked of rot.

Her gait was staggering, and it wouldn’t have been strange if she had collapsed.

So, just before reaching the tombstone, when the hobgoblins attacked, he thought it would end like this.

However, Ann, despite her worst physical condition, killed four of them with near-divine archery skills. Jung Yushin took care of the remaining five.

In the midst of that fierce battle, Dean was grinning, and Marie was hugging Karl’s head and wetting her pants.

‘Well, I guess it’s a relief we made it.’

He turned his head and looked back.

Ann was almost a walking corpse, and Dean and Marie were also exhausted from the forced march and battle, so they were sitting on the floor.

When he touched the tombstone, two portals opened.

A red portal going down.

A blue portal going out.

“Let’s go.”

Dean kept trying to enter the red portal, so he put him in the blue portal first. Then Marie. Then Ann.

Finally, Jung Yushin.

As he was enveloped in blue light, he felt a sense of floating.

And a clear sky.

The group was standing in a huge magic circle that seemed to be the exit of the Great Labyrinth.

A strange sense of liberation wrapped around his whole body.

“Hahahaha. I fucking survived!”

Jung Yushin shouted loudly and collapsed as is. People wearing clergy clothes were rushing over from the surroundings, but his vision was blurry and flickering, so he couldn’t see them until the end.

“I survived. Guehk.”

He muttered one more word and passed out.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, it was an unfamiliar ceiling.

“You’re awake. This is a shelter next to the exit of the Great Labyrinth.”

A white-haired elderly clergyman said.

“How long have I been lying down?”

“About 5 hours.”

He got up and looked around the room, and it was similar to a hospital room. Several beds were placed in the large ward. There weren’t many people occupying the beds.

“It’ll be full soon. It’s evening now.”

“I don’t know how to repay this favor. Thank you.”

He was touched that there was such a good organization in this other world too.

He was moved.

“It’s 1 silver coin.”

Jung Yushin suddenly felt like he had been hit in the head with a hammer at the enormous amount that came in.

“Pardon?”

“You weren’t badly hurt, so I only used simple recovery magic. So it’s 1 silver coin. If it’s difficult to repay, I’ll put it as debt. You can slowly repay it through the association.”

‘Why is it so expensive? Is this right?’

Was his dissatisfaction revealed in his expression? The old man smiled.

“It’s cheaper than your life.”

‘That’s right.’

Without saying a word, Jung Yushin paid 1 silver coin at the old man’s words.

All that was left was 1 silver coin and a few copper coins.

His mouth was bitter at his empty pocket. Still, it was fortunate that he had collected the hobgoblin ears.

“Ah! And your companions.”

“Yes. How are they?”

“Honestly, it’s a bit serious. Especially that red-haired girl.”

“Did she die?”

He asked calmly. Actually, he wasn’t curious or wanted to know.

“No. She was on the verge of death, but I saved her.”

“Yes. Well, that’s good.”

The old man’s eyebrows twitched at his nonchalant tone.

“Scar, weren’t you the party leader? Weren’t you the last one to come out of the labyrinth?”

“It wasn’t me. That friend with only a head left is the leader.”

“Then what should I do? You’re the only party member who’s mentally sound.”

“You can put it on each of their debts. But can you treat friends who are mentally ill?”

“There’s some possibility with the girl, but it’s impossible with the boy.”

Marie is possible and Dean is impossible.

“Well, they’ll do well on their own. I’ll be going.”

When he got up from the bed and was packing his bags.

The hospital room door opened roughly.

Bang!

“Ann! Dean! Karl!”

A sturdy human male came in shouting loudly.

Seeing him limping, he knew he was the injured village comrade that Karl had mentioned.

“…Marie?”

The man’s gaze, which had been looking around the hospital room, was fixed on one place. The man’s trembling voice echoed in the quiet hospital room.

Marie was sitting in a chair next to the bed where Ann was lying.

While fondly stroking Karl’s head.

Dean was squatting next to Marie, continuing to laugh.

“What is this?”

The man struggled to approach them and spoke to them.

“Marie, Dean. What happened? Tell me! And what is this head?”

Jung Yushin slung his backpack over his shoulder and approached.

“It won’t work. Marie’s mind is broken, and Dean is crazy.”

“Who are you?”

The man growled fiercely.

“The person who came in as your substitute.”

“Explain what happened!”

“You see that head Marie is holding? It’s Karl.”

“W…what?”

The man asked back as if he had heard something he couldn’t hear. But his gaze was fixed on the head that Marie was holding.

“It’s Karl. He fell into a hobgoblin trap, was stabbed by a spear, and his head was smashed by a club and died.”

Silence filled the hospital room.

The man suddenly sat down as if the strength had been drained from his legs.

“Oop…Uwaeek!”

And he started vomiting.

Then the old man approached and clicked his tongue.

“How can you vomit in a hospital room where hygiene is important?”

“I agree.”

Jung Yushin nodded.

The man, who had vomited out his insides, suddenly got up and grabbed Jung Yushin by the collar.

“You bastard! What did you do?! Why are you the only one okay!”

‘Is this bastard’s brain filter broken?’

Jung Yushin swung his fist and hit the man in the jaw.

Thud!

The man staggered and then collapsed.

“A fight in the hospital room. Tsk tsk.”

The old man clicked his tongue as if he was displeased.

Jung Yushin also clicked his tongue and said.

“I saved them all and brought them out. You should bow down to me and thank me. I’m telling you, I was hit by arrows like a hedgehog and ran around risking my life to save your comrades. Ugh! I can’t take off my clothes and show you my scars.”

He mixed in a little exaggeration.

“Hmm. It wasn’t that much.”

The old man’s interjection suddenly came in.

Jung Yushin and the man’s eyes met.

“I’m seeing this old man for the first time today. His head seems a little off. You’re Karl’s comrade, right? What’s your name?”

Ignoring the old man’s chuckle, the man opened his mouth.

“Tarman.”

“Okay, Tarman. There’s a place we have to go together. Right now.”

“Where to?”

“The explorer association.”

“Why?”

“Because I have to receive the extermination request reward money. You have to pay for your friends’ treatment, right?”

“Why do I have to go with you?”

“Because I think you’ll complain later about the reward distribution being strange. If you don’t want to, then don’t.”

“I’ll go with you.”

Tarman, who had been hesitating, soon nodded and replied.

He seemed to be at a loss for what to do due to the sudden shock of his village friend’s death, but he seemed to have quickly regained his composure.

“There’s an explorer association building right next door. It’s a branch that mainly handles extermination and collection requests. It’s not a busy time right now, so you can finish it quite quickly.”

The old man chimed in.

“The old man’s words are coherent and clear, but is he really mentally ill?”

Tarman asked, and Jung Yushin shrugged.

“Maybe it’s a one-time dementia. Do you really think that’s important? In a situation where you don’t know how much the treatment will cost?”

“That’s…right.”

“Let’s go.”

He wanted to finish the reward distribution as quickly as possible. He didn’t want to be associated with these disgusting guys anymore.

Tarman hesitated, glancing at Karl’s head, but eventually followed Jung Yushin.

Jung Yushin and Tarman left the shelter and entered the explorer association building next door.