episode_0096

Jeong Yu-shin sighed deeply.

“Hoo. Mars, there’s no time for nonsense. We have to move. Don’t joke around and get on my back.”

“Al…Alright.”

As Jeong Yu-shin grabbed Mars’s arm and hoisted him onto his back, Mars trembled like an aspen tree.

“Uh…uh. What’s wrong?”

“It’s all because of the possession. It’ll get better with time. Right? Kubo.”

“Righ…Right.”

Kubo, receiving Jeong Yu-shin’s gaze, turned his head and agreed.

Jeong Yu-shin put his backpack in front, put Mars on his back, and tied him with a rope to secure him.

He kicked the shield that had fallen into the bushes back up and picked up the broken arming sword.

“Hoo.”

A sigh escaped as he looked at the sword that had been cut in half.

It was easy to use without burden because it had less fat and was lightweight.

He bought it at a cheap price and had been with it for quite a long time, but it broke here.

It was a pity.

Should he say he had grown fond of it while fighting through hardships together?

Click.

He put the broken sword into the scabbard. He decided to take it with him for now. He had faith that Boron could do something about it.

The blue longsword he had been carrying on his back was now on his waist because of Mars.

Kubo wore an absurd expression.

“Isn’t it heavy?”

He was in awe of the sight of him carrying an injured party member on his back, not long after fighting a battle.

“It’s manageable. It’s nothing much.”

“Tell me if it’s hard. I’ll carry it for you.”

Iron Mask approached and said.

Jeong Yu-shin shook his head.

“It’s okay.”

Jeong Yu-shin and the party members walked the forest path again.

The party’s progress was slow.

This was because Mars, the guide, had no strength in his body at all.

The detoxification and treatment were over, but it seemed that his body had undergone a tremendous overload.

‘Well, it would be strange if he could move after exerting that much power.’

The fact that he was pushed back by force when Mars was possessed hit him painfully.

‘Should I really buckle down and train seriously?’

He thought about asking blacksmith Boron to make some weight training equipment.

‘Stop it.’

Thud!

He raised his fist and hit his helmet once.

He was having trivial thoughts during a dungeon exploration. Even if he had the Venom Protection engraving, he shouldn’t be careless.

“Huh…Heeok!!!”

Mars, who was on his back, trembled.

“What’s wrong, Mars?”

“Why…why does my head hurt when I see your fist…Ugh!”

“···Let’s take a break. Mars’s condition is not very good.”

At Jeong Yu-shin’s suggestion, all the party members stopped by the roadside.

Jeong Yu-shin leaned against a tree trunk and sat down, watching Mars look at the map and groan.

20 minutes later.

“···It seems like we’ve come to the outer edge.”

Mars frowned and came to a conclusion.

“I see. Thanks for your hard work. Mars, is there a shelter nearby?”

Mars scratched his head at Iron Mask’s question.

“There is a place where you can camp.”

“Let’s go there. How long will it take?”

“It’s about 2 hours more. But…”

“But?”

Jeong Yu-shin urged as Mars hesitated.

“The map is old, so there’s a high probability that the shelter is gone. Or it may have been abandoned and become a monster’s den.”

“Where did you buy that map?”

Jeong Yu-shin asked again.

“There is a guide association. They provide various training necessary for dungeon exploration and sell things. I bought the map there for money.”

I see.

Well, if there’s a swordsmanship association, there’s bound to be a guide association. It wasn’t strange.

Jeong Yu-shin put Mars on his back again and set off.

The more they walked, the denser the forest became, covering the smoggy sky.

The forest path was covered in darkness like night.

As Mars said, after walking for about 2 hours, a building shrouded in darkness was faintly visible through the bushes.

A small open space overgrown with weeds and vegetation.

There was an old wall there.

Vines were wrapped around the cracked stone wall, and moss and mushrooms took up the gaps.

The party members quietly looked at each other and nodded.

Jeong Yu-shin put Mars and the luggage down and took the lead.

“I’ll go and see.”

“Be careful.”

“Don’t worry.”

Swish. Swish. Swish.

He carefully pushed through the bushes and scouted around the ruins.

‘No monsters. No strange objects either. Confirmed.’

Because it was an almost collapsed building, there was nothing to particularly hide.

After looking around, he returned to the party members.

“No problem. There were no traces of monsters or strange objects.”

“Okay.”

The party members went inside the ruins, put down their luggage against the stone wall, and cleaned up the surroundings. They cut down the weeds and spread out blankets.

They gathered the firewood they had brought and lit a bonfire, sitting around it.

Crackle. Crackle.

The bonfire flickered, creating shadows on the party members’ faces.

Jeong Yu-shin leaned against the wall, took off his helmet, and loosened his worker’s laces and armor laces.

He swept back his salty hair and opened his mouth.

“Let’s eat.”

“Okay.”

“Understood.”

Without anyone saying it first, they took out food and water and ate and drank.

Jeong Yu-shin took a branch, stuck jerky on it, and fixed it diagonally in the bonfire.

Seeing that, Mars and Kubo took out jerky, stuck it on branches just like Jeong Yu-shin, and brought it to the bonfire.

“…”

Jeong Yu-shin took out bear-shaped biscuits from his backpack and gave them to the party members one by one. He didn’t give one to Brin.

Mars received the bear-shaped biscuit and suddenly began to shed tears.

‘Why is he like this?’

“Mars, eat it. Don’t cry.”

“Kuh. Okay!”

The guide, a rat beastman, shoved the biscuit into his mouth and chewed it.

Kubo scratched his head.

“It’s delicious, but I don’t think it’s enough to cry.”

“Leave him alone. He’s been released from possession, so the taste must be special.”

Kubo scratched his head at Jeong Yu-shin’s reply.

“That’s true.”

Jeong Yu-shin tore off a piece of jerky and looked around at the party members.

Most of their faces were grimy from the days of exploration. Matted hair and foul-smelling sweat. It was the result of not being able to wash properly.

However, no one cared about that and was just focusing on eating.

After finishing the meal, Jeong Yu-shin looked at Brin.

“Then shall we hear the story?”

“…”

Brin, who hadn’t said a word until now.

It was time to ask.

“So, the incident happened right after entering the 6th floor forest area…”

Brin began to stumble through the story of what happened on the 6th floor.

About an hour later, Brin’s story ended.

Jeong Yu-shin took out firewood from his backpack and put it in the bonfire.

After organizing his thoughts while looking at the sparks that flew up for a moment, he opened his mouth.

“You transferred to the 6th floor and fell into a monster’s den. While Ret was fighting frantically, you were attacked from the rear and the party was scattered, is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes.”

“But how did you get out of there? It’s a bit much to say, but you don’t seem that strong?”

“I…It worked out because I worked hard.”

“…”

Brin, receiving Jeong Yu-shin’s gaze, sweated coldly and turned his head.

Is that even possible?

She says it works if you work hard. Hearing something that even a dog wouldn’t believe made his suspicion deepen.

“Iron Mask, can we trust this guy?”

“I don’t think he has any ill intentions. Calione is a family of ministers in the Lionel Kingdom. They must have one or two lifelines.”

Jeong Yu-shin’s head turned sharply. Brin was just sweating with his head turned away.

I get it now.

The reason why Iron Mask brought this woman to join them.

Since he was nominally the Crown Prince of the Lionel Kingdom, he couldn’t just leave the minister’s daughter alone.

“…”

Mars and Kubo looked at Brin with surprised eyes. But that was it. They didn’t say anything else.

“The daughter of a minister. A student who is scheduled to graduate from the Dungeon Academy, what business do you have in the dungeon?”

“Th…That’s. I’m short on graduation credits…”

“…”

He was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t speak.

“The academy is too much. To push a student into the dungeon because they don’t have enough credits.”

“No…that’s not it. My dad said he’d kick me out of the house if I couldn’t graduate this year either, so I came here. So I volunteered for dungeon exploration, which can earn a lot of extra credit at once.”

“Didn’t you study?”

“…”

Brin turned his head again.

There’s nothing to say.

“Is it normal for students to come alone like this?”

“···They come together with their friends.”

“You don’t have any friends?”

“…”

Brin lowered his head.

“Scar, why are you rubbing salt in a wound? Can’t you tell by looking at him?”

Kubo stepped forward and said.

Jeong Yu-shin scratched his head.

‘Was she a hikikomori?’

“Okay. Iron Mask accepted it in the first place, so I won’t say anything.”

Mars made an absurd expression at Jeong Yu-shin’s words.

“···Scar, you’ve done it all. Look at that kid’s expression. It looks like he’s about to die.”

“And just in case, if you see your party members, are you going to save them?”

Jeong Yu-shin ignored Mars’s words and asked Brin.

“Ah…No. We’re not that close. It’s disgusting to watch them three being all over each other. I’m sure they’ll do well on their own.”

Jeong Yu-shin nodded.

He kept criticizing Ret even while Brin was explaining what happened, so he thought something was up, but it seemed like he really hated him.

Well, it wouldn’t have been easy to watch the insiders being all over each other for several days when you came to the dungeon to make up for credits.

By the way, the Lionel Kingdom is really hopeless.

The minister’s daughter is a hikikomori loner with no friends.

“Iron Mask, you’ve worked hard.”

“…”

Iron Mask glared at Jeong Yu-shin and sighed.

“Scar, stop saying weird things and let’s decide on the watch.”

“Okay.”

The party members gathered, drew lots to determine the watch, and went to bed.

* * *

“Scar, wake up.”

“Hmm.”

He opened his eyes when someone touched his shoulder. The smell of medicine. It was Iron Mask.

“How long did I sleep?”

“About 8 hours.”

Jeong Yu-shin got up from his seat, stretched, and sat down closer to the bonfire.

Last night, he stood the first watch thanks to the consideration of the party members. Thanks to that, he was able to relieve some of the fatigue from the battle.

He took out a biscuit from his pocket, chewed it, and looked around at the party members.

Mars was chewing jerky and staring intently at the map.

Kubo was sitting quietly and meditating.

Brin was leaning against the wall and dozing off.

Iron Mask was looking at a pile of parchment with requests written on it.

Jeong Yu-shin chewed the jerky and stood next to Iron Mask.

“Can you estimate how much we’ve earned?”

“···We can fulfill about 3 herb requests. We haven’t fulfilled the magic stone collection and subjugation requests yet.”

“What about those mushroom human guys?”

“Those guys aren’t on the request list.”

“Tsk.”

Jeong Yu-shin clicked his tongue.

“There’s no need to be disappointed. We got good herbs this time, so we can earn at least 3 gold coins.”

“Per person?”

“No. We have to divide 3 gold coins among 4 people.”

“75 gold coins…Not bad?”

“We’re lucky. Scar, stop looking and get ready. Mars seems to have found the way.”

“Okay.”

The party members packed their bags and sat around Mars.

“As you can see, we are on the outskirts. To get to the transfer stone to the 7th floor, we have to walk straight for at least 3 days from here.”

“It looks like we fell on the very outskirts.”

“That’s right. And about Ret’s party…”

Mars hesitated for a moment.

“Why? Speak up.”

“Seeing what happened to Ret’s party, I think there’s a monster’s den nearby.”

Jeong Yu-shin nodded.

It’s true.

There was a reason why Brin, who was in Ret’s party, was spotted so quickly.

“We can just pass by carefully. And even though Ret’s party was attacked, it’s not certain that they’re all dead.”

“···That’s right.”

Mars glanced at Brin and answered.

“Good. Then let’s go.”

Iron Mask stood up and said. The party members nodded and carried their luggage.

Mars, who had regained his strength after resting for a day, quickly found the way.

The party continued along the forest path for about half a day.

Mars, who was walking ahead, stopped and pricked up his ears.

“Stop. I hear groaning nearby.”

“Is it our business to interfere?”

Jeong Yu-shin asked.

“We have to save them if we can. Of course, when our strength allows it. Mars, please scout.”

Iron Mask answered instead.

“Okay.”

Mars lowered his body and moved slowly.

After waiting for a while, Mars returned.

“Uh…Do you remember that human swordsman party we saw last time?”

Jeong Yu-shin’s expression hardened at Mars’s question.

No way.

Is he talking about Ret’s party?

When the party members nodded, the rat beastman hesitated and finally opened his mouth.

“They’re caught in a giant spider habitat.”

“…”

The party members closed their mouths.

“Um…”

Brin hesitated and spoke.

“To be honest, I don’t think we should save a harem party.”

Jeong Yu-shin forgot what to say and just stared blankly at Brin’s face.

She’s refusing before even hearing the details?

‘Isn’t she human?’