Chapter 34: I want to go to the second floor (6)

Chapter 34: I want to go to
the second floor (6)

On
the far end cave on the third floor of the anthill, I cautiously
followed the hobgoblin to a small storage room.

I
poked my head in and peered around. There were no swords, spears, or
other weapons, but an assortment of armor, precious metals, and even
copper and silver coins.

‘Found
it.’

And
then I saw a shining helmet in the corner.

Good,
it’s Zirnier’s helmet.

Next
to it lay my axe, worth 17 silver coins, and my breastplate, worth 40
silver coins.

The
only hobgoblins in the storeroom were the two who had just entered.

I
cautiously crouched down in the hallway by the cave entrance.

‘Hit
them as soon as they come out.’

I
planned to rush in to strangle their necks after they dropped the
items they were carrying as they leave.

Luckily,
there were no hobgoblins running up and down the corridor. They were
all busy f**king.

The
cacophony of men’s moans and hobgoblin calls echoed frantically
through the caverns.

‘Here
we go.’

Thirty
seconds later, I heard the hobgoblin emerge from the storage cave,
and I saw a shadow. It was so close now.

Just
as I was about to pounce, the shadows shifted in a strange way.

The
hobgoblin had stepped out of the cave, right in front of me, and
started swinging her arms out to the side like a baseball batter.

‘Shit.
I’ve been spotted.’

The
judgment was swift. It turned out the hobgoblin had been blindly
wandering around, rummaging through things all this time.

There
was no way she would suddenly act like that. Did she know I was
following her, to catch me off guard and ambush me in reverse?

‘As
expected, there’s a world of difference between a first-floor goblin
and a seasoned one.’

Sure
enough, a blade appeared from within the cave, following the
trajectory of his swing. It was a pole with a sharp blade on the end.

Ka-ang-!

The
blade struck the wall of the cave, and the sound of iron and stone
clashing echoed through the cave.

The
hobgoblin who had struck the cave wall with her club shuddered from
the vibrations that traveled through the polearm. I lunged at her,
not missing a beat.

“Ker-!”

It
wasn’t just one hobgoblin; the hobgoblin standing next to me was
about to swing her axe at me. It was a close call.

I
dodged the axe with a swift Agility 17 move and punched her in the
temple.

-Pfft!

Her
increased height and weight didn’t send her flying like the goblins
on the first floor but it did enough damage, as the creature
staggered for a moment and lost her grip on the axe.

I
reached out, caught the falling axe, and swung it at the hobgoblin.

-Zzzzzzzzzz!

A
steaming axe mark was left on the nape of the hobgoblin’s neck.

‘Tough
skin.’

I
swung with full intent, but fell just short.

Still,
the hobgoblin didn’t scream and fell to the ground, still clutching
the spear.

“Ke-
Keruk⋯”

The
Hobgoblin shuddered, having just lost a compatriot, and I was about
to take care of it.

“Keruk?!
Kekekeke!”

“Kerrrrrrrrr!!!”

I
could hear the shouting from outside.

The
mating sounds had stopped, and the panicked hobgoblins had come out
of their cave.

‘It’s
because she hit the wall with the spear, damn it.’

It
was a little loud.

That’s
fucked up, by the way. I’ve seen dozens of caves on the way here.

If
that many hobgoblins came this way, I’d be done for.

The
noise from the battle would be uncontrollable, and the hobgoblins on
the first and second floors would come running. Then there’s really
no answer.

“Ke,
ker-“

Suddenly,
I saw the hobgoblin beneath me.

At
the same time, a brilliant idea flashed through my brain.

It
was a good, if slightly embarrassing, idea.

For
a goblin with nothing but men, d*cks, and sex on her mind, this would
work.

Ka-ang!

I
brought the axe down right next to the hobgoblin’s face.

“Feels
good! Yuck!”

I
shouted as loud as I could. Loud enough to echo throughout the cave!

Fuck.
I’m so fucking ashamed, is this how I’m supposed to live.

Ka-ang!

“Ack,
it feels good!”

Of
course not, I have to live before I can do anything.

The
hobgoblin on the ground below looked dumbfounded.

It’s
hard to read her expression when she’s a monster. But what if I
brought the axe to her throat?

“Kerrrrr!
Kekekekekekek!!!”

The
hobgoblin was quite perceptive. It seemed to know what kind of
reaction I wanted.

“Kekekekekek!
Kerrrrrrrr!”

“That
feels so good!”

Ka-ang!
Ka-ang!

The
man’s loud voice echoed loudly over the hobgoblins’ chanting and axe
strikes on the floor.

The
cries of alarm from outside faded away.

“Kerrrrrrrrrrr!”

It
was like, “Oh, they’re just having sex? They’re playing in the
other room. We can’t lose either⋯”

“Kerukkeruk!”

As
if on cue, the next cave next door began to emit a tremendous chorus
of chirping. Apparently, it was quite stimulating.

Once
it got louder, it started to spread throughout the three floors of
the anthill. It was a battle of the sexes.

“Oh,
help! Help! Help! Heh-“

“Pow
pow pow, more pow pow pow, more pow pow pow!”

The
men who bowed down to the pink drug also reacted violently.

“I’m
sorry. I’m too busy to save you right now, but if I think of you,
I’ll come and get you.”

I
delivered an apology and disposed of the hobgoblin below.

Well
done, my voice partner. I sent her on his way in one fell swoop,
painlessly.

I
then searched the warehouse. No t-shirts or pants in sight, but
plenty of armor, which was the most important thing.

I
grabbed Zirnier’s helm and donned my breastplate. I also grabbed my
battle axe, Grumpy’s dagger, gaiters, and backpack.

Once
I had my things, I noticed the other equipment lying around.

‘It
probably belongs to the captured men.’

I
don’t know when they were captured, but I could put it to good use.

Very
little of the armor was my size, but I managed to grab a pair of
tight-fitting arm guards.

I
also got a rolling round shield for my left hand. It’s made of wood,
but it’s a hundred times better than nothing.

After
I finished looting, I searched the backpacks.

Hard
stone bread⋯
moldy bread⋯just
in case, and a map? Not an artifact,
but it’s a map of the fifth floor.

What
I needed most right now was food. I hadn’t brought enough food
because I was aiming for the second floor in the first place.

Even
if I made it through the fifth floor, it would take me two weeks to
get to the first floor, even with the bare minimum.

I
definitely needed food to last that long. Hunger and fatigue were the
two biggest dangers in the Labyrinth.

Still,
I searched through all of the other packs and found a week’s worth of
food and water. Even if I ate as frugally as I could, it seemed
unlikely that I would last more than two weeks.

‘⋯I’ll
just have to survive.’

I
thought to myself, happy to have this much for now, and opened the
map.

It
wasn’t as good as the armored knight’s artifact map, but it was of
decent quality.

The
map was showing the approximate locations of the fifth floor.

I
checked my location first. I wasn’t sure exactly where, but there was
an area circled and marked with a star.

[Where
we need to go! Target: Shaman Hobgoblin’s staff!]

With
the words Hobgoblin Village written below it.

Leaving
the plaza on the first floor of the anthill, there was a series of
cave passageways that led to a straight line that would take me out
of the Hobgoblin Village.

‘The
problem is, the Hobgoblin Village doesn’t end there.’

The
fifth floor was spacious. It was large enough to feel strange and
bizarre.

On
the map alone, there were five monster villages, including the
Hobgoblin Village, the Kobold Village, the Mud Golem Village, and
more.

‘Four
more villages this size?’

This
was terrible news, but the good news was that the Hobgoblin Village
was the closest to the end of the fifth floor.

And
at the end of the fifth floor, there was a picture of a fountain.

[Healing
Well!]

Drawn
like a hospital or a hill sign, with a green cross on it.

–
To the fountain on the fifth floor!

Suddenly,
I remembered Derucio’s words.

‘⋯What
the hell is a fountain?’

A
water fountain. A sculpture usually placed in a park or something. A
fountain in a labyrinth? That’s too out of place.

What
the hell is a fountain, and why did the asshole decide to go there
while the party was half-destroyed?

The
fountain. Derucio. Injuries. A party member on the verge of death. A
note that says Healing. Back to the fountain⋯

‘Is
there something in the fountain, a means of restoring party members?’

Even
if it does, there’s one more thing that doesn’t make sense.

‘You
can’t specify where you want to fall from a transition trap.’

If
you take the fifth floor transition trap, it will drop you on the
fifth floor, but the location is completely random, just like a
portal.

You
could fall into a Hobgoblin village, you could fall into a Kobold
village, or you could get lucky and fall into the fountain.

But
it’s 100% luck. There’s no way that asshole would put her future in
the hands of a fountain.

The
sneer in her eyes as he glared at me was not the sneer of a loser
running for her life.

It
was the face of a hound looking to strike back.

‘But
the party was only half full.’

If
Derucio’s party had been at full strength, it would have been
understandable if they’d fallen through the transition trap. They’re
fifth-level explorers, so they must have gotten through the layers
somehow and reached the edge.

But
I sent two lackeys to the edge of the Jordan River, and Derucio
herself was half-cut to pieces.

How
could they make the decision to go all the way through the fifth
floor, where there are five monster villages, and head to the
fountain at the edge in such a situation?

‘Did
they have something, a means to get to the fountain in one fell
swoop?’

If
she didn’t think so, then it doesn’t make sense that she would make
the decision to go to the fifth floor in that situation.

I
put all my theories together.

‘If
Derucio’s party had the means to travel to the fountain on the fifth
floor in one step, and if the fountain is supposed to heal injuries⋯’

I
shake my head slightly, but my guess is vaguely correct.

It’s
an uncertain guess with a hole in it, but it’s the best I can do with
the little information I have.

It’s
a bit of a tense feeling and questions hung in the air.

Questions
I’d felt as soon as I woke up on the fifth floor, but hadn’t been
able to resolve.

‘What
about me, why was I unconscious?’

I’d
always felt a strange sense of floatiness and unfamiliarity whenever
I crossed the portal, but it hadn’t been enough to cause me to pass
out.

Was
it simply a transition trap? No, I doubt it. Grumpy said she fell
into a transition trap on the third floor, but she didn’t say she
lost consciousness.

So,
was it just the fifth floor? That’s a bit ambiguous, too. Isn’t it
just one of the labyrinth floors? What’s so special about the fifth
floor?

⋯ Now
that I think about it, based on the information on the map, the fifth
floor is unusually large, has monster villages, and has a fountain,
which is an unusual gimmick. It’s definitely not your typical
labyrinth floor.

‘Something⋯
something I don’t know, something I’m missing.’

I
wonder why I fainted on the fifth floor.

Do
other explorers faint, or just me, and if so, why?

[◆
Blessing of ???]

A
blessing full of question marks caught my eye. A blessing that gives
me strange thoughts and a creepy feeling every time I look at it.

And
maybe, just maybe, a blessing I’ve had since I was on Earth.

But
no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t put it together.

‘⋯I
don’t know. For now, let’s focus on survival.’

I
tamped down the endless speculation and doubt.

‘How
do I get down to the ground floor, through the passage, and out of
the village?’

***

No
hobgoblins have come to the warehouse. Except for the two I killed,
not a single one has ever come here.

So
I stayed in the warehouse for a day or so.

I
slept in the darkest corner I could find in case I was spotted, and
ate small portions of bread to keep me going.

Occasionally,
I poked my head out of the cave to observe the goblins, and I learned
a few things about the Hobgoblin Village.

‘There
are no traps inside the village.’

The
hobgoblins were carelessly running, walking, bumping into walls,
falling, and otherwise doing whatever they wanted in the village.

But
the traps didn’t even show any signs of being triggered.

Outside
of the village, who knows, but at least it was assumed that there
were no traps inside the village.

‘Hobgoblins
sleep in the morning.’

The
sounds of mating continued throughout the night.

I
checked Diana’s watch and realized they’d been f*cking until
roughly 5 a.m., then fallen asleep and woken up around 12 noon to
start the day again…which meant they’d f*ck again.

‘They
take turns staying guard.’

At
the end of the plaza on the first floor, in front of the long walkway
leading to the outside of the village, a hobgoblin stood guard.

On
average, they take turns every three hours.

‘Each
shift takes about five minutes, so if I want to escape, I should aim
for that.’

According
to my accumulated maps, the passage was about two kilometers long.

No
matter how fast I was, I was bound to get caught trying to escape but
as with all things in life, there are only a few places where you can
react immediately to an incident.

It’s
four in the morning. I could still hear the goblins fucking. But they
would soon be asleep.

‘Escape
time is 8 a.m, when the guards change.’

That’s
when the troops will be in their deepest sleep, and when their guard
will be at its weakest.

If
I could strike then, I might have a slight chance of escaping.

I
killed time, waiting for the right moment. My backpack was packed, my
gear was on, and I was ready.

At
6:35, I was just about ready to descend to the second floor of the
anthill.

“Kererererererererererererer!!!”

What
the fuck.

I
snapped out of my reverie at the loud yelling.

“Hey
you fucking guard hobgoblin, shut the fuck up!”

“You’re
really fucking with the men. I envy you, goblin. Goblins don’t get
punished for raping men, do they?”

“Get
a grip, do you think you’re an outlaw or something?”

“Gregor,
you’re an explorer of the third floor. Watch closely and learn. See
how the top party on the seventh floor hunts.”

“Yes!”

Five
women were caught in my perception.

The
town’s ruler, the Shaman Hobgoblin, immediately appeared at the
sudden abnormality.

“Hmph.
That looks like an expensive staff.”

“The
5th floor shaman hobgoblins carry a special staff that magically
embodies the mating pheromones of monster males. Asking for something
like that to be retrieved, the client sure has questionable tastes.”

Judging
from the conversation, the explorer was after the Shaman Hobgoblin’s
staff.

There
are many ways to make money in the Labyrinth. Killing monsters,
fulfilling quests, and farming items like artifacts.

‘But
why now?’

“Kerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!”

The
Hobgoblin Shaman shouted and then the third floor—no the entire
Hobgoblin village began to shake with a tremendous vibration.

The
hobgoblins stretched out in the cave, jumped up and ran to answer the
shaman hobgoblin’s call.

“Krek,
Krek!!!”

The
hobgoblins began to move in unison, like an army in a midnight raid.

They
started running to grab their weapons, just as a soldier would grab
his gun in an emergency, somewhere, obviously, where the weapons were
stored.

I
looked around.

‘This
is the weapons room.’

“Krelek!
Krek!”

“Krelek!”

Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo.

Footsteps,
tons of them, were rushing toward the warehouse where I was hiding.