Chapter 5: No more ordinary days (5)

Chapter 5: No more ordinary
days (5)

“Damn
it! Cover it!!!”

Cha-ching!

In
an instant, darkness covered my vision.

The
innocent bitch’s companion, the grumpy bitch, had completely covered
my face with a blanket.

“He’ll
never be able to escape! Look how tightly I tied the rope! Just hold
him down and suffocate him!”

I
was a step too late to react, as my arms and legs were tied tightly
together.

I
felt two hands on my throat, and then a harsh squeeze.

The
combined force and weight was quite a strain.

I
could hear the bitch’s voice through the dark fur.

“Haha⋯why
bother making things difficult for me by resisting, when you should
just go to sleep and let me f**k you?”

“Grrr,
grrrr.”

“Just
chalk it up to bad luck and pass out, and you’ll be able to slave
away with all your limbs intact!”

-Kudduddud!

The
force on my neck became a little stronger.

This
is not your typical female strength. It’s as strong as, if not
stronger than, an athletic adult male.

When
I first met her, she was holding a bow. Typically, archers have great
muscular strength to pull a bowstring with considerable tension.

But
she strangled me with all her might.

It
was effective enough to knock out a normal person immediately.

“Is
this it?”

“⋯⋯what?”

It’s
the same.

She
just tried to knock me out with this much force.

-Tsk.

“⋯Wait.
What is it?”

I
could hear the panicked voice of the little bitch. She must have
realized what I was about to do.

“You,
what are you, how can you break the magic rope!”

“What
the heck!”

“What
are you doing, can’t you strangle him properly? How come he hasn’t
fainted yet?”

“I’m
trying, but he’s holding on! What kind of man’s neck is so hard?”

“Hehehehe.
Hehehehe.”

I
laughed incoherently like a goblin with my throat compressed.

My
whole body is electrified.

I
don’t know how to describe it, but my body feels different than
before.

It’s
more than just feeling good.

I
feel like I’ve broken through the limits of my physical body and
started to evolve on a fundamental level.

I
don’t know why I feel this way now, but for the moment, I want to
soak in this unknown sense of omnipotence.

-Poof,
poof!

With
each push, I could hear the ropes binding my body snap.

My
forearms and thighs feel like they’re about to explode. That’s a good
sign.

Let’s
pretend my body is going to explode.

More,
more, more, with the image of all the power in my body exploding!

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

-Thud,
thud, thud!

The
ropes binding my wrists and ankles were broken with force, and I
regained my freedom.

“What
the heck!”

With
my suddenly free hands, I untangled the hood that was blocking my
vision, revealing the sassy girl who had been strangling me.

I
could see her small breasts and plump stomach, and I knew I’d have to
punch her.

“Now,
wait-“

-Pfft!

A
simple but heavy fist drove deep into her chest, midway between her
stomach and her chest, deep into her lucidity, and in an instant, her
body collapsed.

“⋯
in⋯
one⋯
blow?”

I
turned my head in the direction of the trembling voice.

A
nun with a sleeping poison in one hand and a dagger in the other
caught my eye.

Perhaps
she was planning to knock me out and then use the sleeping poison to
put me back to sleep.

-Boom!

Without
a word, she put down the sleeping poison and sheathed her dagger.
There was no need for another conversation. In that short gesture,
her future and mine were sealed.

-Pow!

She
charged at me in a flash. She was much faster than a goblin!

‘But⋯’

Whoosh!

I
narrowly dodged the swung dagger.

“I
can see your attack. Bitch.”

“What
the hell!”

She
let out a panicked moan but as the direction I flung myself to dodge
was to her side I had range to strike and having just swung the
dagger, she had no defense left.

I
aimed for her left vastus lateralis, a defenseless spot.

“Tighten
up.”

-Pfft!

“Heh-!”

The
fist dug into her abdomen as if to pierce it.

The
impact sent her flying at high speed, crashing into the goblin wall.

The
goblin wall collapsed, burying her alive.

“Haha,
ha⋯”

I
sighed and looked around.

Grotesque
faces cried out in dismay as they examined the collapsed goblin wall.

“What
are you looking at?”

‘The
axe. Where’s the axe?’

-Tsk!
Tsk!

After
retrieving the axe, I beheaded the two goblins who were watching, and
displayed them in a corner of the goblin wall.

‘Hoooo.’

My
heart is hot, beating too fast. It feels like it’s beating a hundred
times a second. The heat and excitement of battle was overwhelming.

It
took me longer to regain my composure than it did to kill the
goblins.

***

I
have a question.

Why
did they suddenly want to sell me into slavery?

After
all, they were the first to approach me and show me kindness.

I
tied her up tightly with the same rope that the maiden had bound me
with and began to interrogate her.

“Tell
me the truth if you don’t want to follow your friend who went first.”

“Body!
It was all about the body in the beginning, honestly, any woman with
a running uterus and ovulation would think the same thing!

How
can I put up with a guy who walks around with his upper body naked
like a pervert, that’s just plain insane!”

I
jammed my fist into the mouth of the overly-righteous woman.

At
the same time, the remark made me dizzy.

With
a moderately above-average face, aesthetically speaking, she’s a
remarkable woman.

However,
the level of words coming out of her mouth was out of control.

I
wondered if what I just heard was even in Korean.

“Ugh!”

Putting
aside the irresolvable question, I regained my composure and turned
back to the coughing, cranky woman.

“So
you’re saying⋯you
helped⋯her⋯to⋯f**k⋯me⋯?”

“Yes,
yes!”

“Nod
your head like that’s something to brag about.”

-Bam!

“Eek!
I’m sorry!”

It
takes a beating to wake a man up. The sassy girl’s tone changed to
respectful.

By
the way, something was strange. I’m not in such high demand as a man.

–
Brother. You really came to work dressed like that? It’s not like
you’re wearing a running shirt! People will stare at your muscles!
From now on, you should only wear such clothes at home.

My
kind-hearted sister told me that one day, but unfortunately, after
that day, other women strangely stopped paying attention to me.

‘For
a while, I thought I had become invisible.’

Only
men asked me about my fitness routine.

When
I told them I had a body built from playing, they all looked at me
with a sense of deprivation.

“Okay,
so you helped me in the beginning, but why did you put sleeping
poison in the soup?”

“Originally,
I was just going to help her out for one taste and be done with it⋯
but when I saw your face, I realized that you were going to sell for
a lot of money, because a male slave with a nice body is expensive,
but a male slave with a nice face and body is ridiculously
expensive⋯but
Rubin, that libido-crazed bitch, is the one who put the sleeping
poison⋯”

So,
to summarize.

First
they helped me for their own physical purposes.

Second,
they saw me naked and thought they’d rape me right away, with the
added bonus of being able to sell me as a slave?

What
a lustful monkey mind.

‘What
kind of a man is this?’

–
I wish you’d put some clothes on.

–
You’ve gotten raunchier⋯

–
Delicious.

Suddenly,
I remembered the comments of the armored knight and the beastmen
party I passed by.

I
thought the armored knight was just tired and misheard, and I thought
the beastmen were cannibals.

But
now, hearing the nuances in her voice, I realize that wasn’t the
case.

‘That
was their real reaction?’

They
actually saw me, a man, and they thought it was erotic, they thought
I was sexy and they thought I was delicious!

–
You. I want you to wear a helmet. Unconditionally.

At
the same time, I remembered the armored knight’s advice. I could
vaguely see why she had given that advice.

The
reactions of the people I met so far, and, crucially, the attempted
rape of the maiden and the sassy girl, had set the course.

‘From
now on, I’ll try to keep my helmet off as much as possible.’

I
felt the need to refrain from removing my helmet in front of people,
especially women.

If
I do take it off, I’ll do it in front of someone I trust, someone who
won’t rape me.

‘I
don’t want to go through this again.’

It
was very unpleasant to be in danger of being raped against my will,
especially this time.

I
decide where my virginity goes.

I’m
going the other way. Virginity had its own romance.

‘Is
it simply that the women here are honest about their sexuality. Or do
men and women have different values than on Earth?’

It
was a question that needed to be explored further, but it was more
important to escape the labyrinth right now so I put it off for
later.

Rather,
what was important right now was

“I’m
sorry. Now, please forgive me⋯
I told you everything⋯”

The
petulant woman said with a pleading look on her face as she knelt
down and rubbed her hands together.

Her
eyes occasionally wandered over to the maiden lying beside the goblin
corpse.

Each
time, great fear flashed across the stern woman’s face.

“We
got the wrong person. Please forgive us⋯”

“Why
are you suddenly begging for forgiveness? it makes me look like an
asshole.”

They’re
the ones who made the mistake in the first place, and now they’re
crying like victims.

This
is ridiculous.

“You
enslaved me first and tried to sell me against my will. You didn’t
care if my life was ruined or not, you just cared about the money
you’d make and the libido you’d satisfy for one night, you selfish
bastards. Why should I forgive you?”

“Spare
me⋯!
I’ll do anything for you! I have my own connections to the outlaws of
the west. It’s a tenuous connection, but…well, I’m sure I can help
you somehow.”

I
don’t know the first thing about outlaws or anything.

But
one thing’s for sure.

“Anything?”

The
bitch said she’d do anything.

“Yes,
yes! I’ll do anything! I’ll do anything! I’ll do anything! So please,
just let me live-“

“So
you’re okay with being a slave?”

“⋯Yes?”

I
said, tying the magic rope around the neck of the grumpy girl…

“Why
panic, just chalk it up to bad luck and take it in stride, you might
not be alive, but at least you’re not dead and you’ll be a slave,
which is what you said in the first place.”

The
more I spoke, the more her complexion turned pale.

I
don’t know how much use I’ll get out of this.

“Isn’t
that right?”

I
just happened to need a useful tool.