episode_0018
by fnovelpia“So, what are you going to do?”
The group fell silent at Jeong Yu-shin’s question.
Regardless of the goblin leader or learning theories, what mattered in the end was the plan going forward.
“Short-term battles are manageable.”
“Even though I’m in this state because of the negative imprint, I used to be a mid-level explorer. If I chicken out on just the second floor, I’ll be a laughingstock.”
Dell and Ditto raised their voices. In contrast, the mage and the dwarf remained silent.
“Einhofer, what are you going to do? You bum.”
“I’ll keep going. I’m fine.”
“Let’s at least pick up some goblin ears. Gotta make money.”
Ditto said as he got up from his seat.
The party diligently cut off hobgoblin ears, amidst the smell of blood and burning flesh.
There wasn’t much to salvage from the spot where the fireball had exploded, with only fragmented chunks of flesh remaining. Still, there were quite a few ears near the rear, where Dell and Ditto had been.
“Ugh. This guy’s still alive?”
Ditto recoiled in disgust upon seeing a twitching goblin.
“It’s true. It’s still alive even with its mouth ripped wide open.”
Dell said, slowly narrowing the distance with a dagger in hand.
“Look at this. Barbaroi, this is your handiwork.”
As Dell called, Jeong Yu-shin approached.
The hobgoblin was panting and making strange groans.
Jeong Yu-shin looked down for a moment before crushing its neck bones with his walker.
Crackle.
Dell wore a dubious expression at Jeong Yu-shin’s unhesitating action.
“Tell me honestly. You’re not a newbie, are you? Were you an adventurer?”
“What is an adventurer? Is it different from an explorer?”
“There are guys like that. Unlucky bastards.”
“He’s a Barbaroi. Where would his fighting skills go?”
Ditto cut in, scolding him, and Dell shrugged once, saying,
“Yeah. What does it matter if she’s a virgin or not? It’s all good as long as she does well.”
“This Barbaroi is a virgin. Just so you know.”
Ditto’s serious declaration made Jeong Yu-shin’s face slightly red.
“Let’s just cut off the ears.”
“What? Your face is red? Are you embarrassed?”
Dell chuckled.
“There were ears here too.”
Dell recoiled in horror at Jeong Yu-shin’s rough gesture.
The three of them bickered and gathered ears together.
After scraping together all the goblins except the ones fragmented by the fireball, they managed to get 30 pairs of ears in total.
“If we go just a little further from here, there’s a shelter, so let’s camp there.”
Ditto took the lead with a torch in hand.
Jeong Yu-shin sheathed his arming sword, and walked with his club in hand. He had wiped off the grease stuck to the sword, but he picked up and carried the club as a secondary weapon, just in case.
As the fight continues, the stance becomes disorganized and the sharpness of the weapon decreases. He thought it would be helpful to have a club that he could swing around freely. Plus, it was free.
They passed through the darkness and found a small cave.
There was no sign of people.
Ditto peeked inside and gave a signal that it was okay.
The party went inside, unpacked their luggage, lit a fire with firewood, and hung a screen at the entrance to prevent light from leaking out.
They gathered around the bonfire and ate food.
The menu remained the same. Jerky and biscuits.
He broke the hard biscuit in half, put it in his mouth, and rolled it around. It was okay to eat after softening it a bit with saliva.
“How do we decide on the watch?”
“Carlton will use alarm magic. Sleep well.”
Dell said, crunching on nuts.
That night, they were able to sleep for a long time, though lightly.
* * *
They woke up after sleeping for about 8 hours and packed their luggage.
They put out the bonfire that had been burning slowly all night and held up torches.
His whole body was stiff, but it was bearable.
Ditto took the lead with a torch in hand.
The party traveled for several hours, navigating through the darkness. But they couldn’t find any hobgoblins.
All they saw were a few crude traps.
“That’s strange.”
Ditto muttered.
“Where did all those goblins go?”
“Should we rest for a bit? Aren’t there any shelters around?”
Dell glanced at Einhofer before speaking. The dwarf was breathing heavily.
It was not surprising that he was exhausted and panting, as he had a stamina degradation imprint, as well as wearing heavy armor and carrying a heavy weapon.
Ditto scratched his chin and pondered for a moment.
“Um…it’s just a little further from here. About 10 minutes?”
“Okay. Einhofer, let’s hang in there a little longer.”
Dell encouraged him.
“Hoo, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t mention it.”
At that moment.
Ditto’s pointy ears perked up.
“Wait a minute! Be quiet.”
Ditto lay down on the floor and put his ear to the ground. The party quietly watched Ditto’s actions.
“They’re coming!”
Ditto jumped up and shouted.
His face, lit by the torch, was as white as the skin of the dead.
“At least 100 of them! They’re running this way! We have to run!”
“Where to?!”
“To the shelter, for now!”
“The shelter has only one entrance. Isn’t that just getting completely surrounded? You bum.”
“If we’re attacked from the front and back here, it’s game over! You’ll be swept away before your magic is even cast!”
“They’re coming!!”
Dell shouted.
The sound came from afar. An enormous number of footsteps and shouts, the likes of which they had never heard before, echoed through the cave.
“Run!”
Ditto screamed and ran forward. Jeong Yu-shin and the party members also ran hard. They didn’t even have time to check for traps.
They ran at full speed, enough to knock their helmets off, but the screams coming from behind did not disappear and only grew louder.
In the midst of all this, Einhofer collapsed to the ground.
“Guh… Haa… Go on ahead.”
The dwarf managed to utter those words with great difficulty, panting.
“Hey! Dwarf!”
Dell grabbed Einhofer’s arm in horror, but he didn’t budge.
“Damn it! There’s no time for this! We have to go!”
Fear filled Ditto’s face.
Jeong Yu-shin quickly approached and carried Einhofer on his back. As expected of a dwarf, he was heavy, like carrying a lump of iron.
“Let’s go. Dell, please carry the axe.”
“Okay! Thank you, Sca!”
Dell gave his thanks.
“I’m sorry.”
Einhofer muttered.
“Don’t mention it.”
He ran at full speed with Einhofer on his back.
“Hoo. Hoo.”
His breath caught in his throat. He felt like he was going to die from exhaustion rather than from goblins.
‘I can’t run anymore.’
‘No, you can. Think about when you first entered the labyrinth. This is nothing.’
‘Bullshit. I can’t run. Are you going to die helping others like a fool when you’re not even good enough yourself? Abandon him.’
‘Do you think you can survive if you abandon him? Shut up and run.’
His ego was divided into two, arguing back and forth.
Just before the internal conflict reached its peak and caused an ego split, they arrived at the entrance to the shelter.
Jeong Yu-shin was the last to enter the shelter.
He put the dwarf down and unloaded his luggage.
His whole body was drenched in sweat, but there was no time to catch his breath.
He grabbed the shield handle and held the club.
As soon as he entered, Carlton moved away and began casting.
Dell took the torch from Ditto, stuck it in the center of the shelter, and then took extra arrows out of his luggage and put them all in his quiver.
Ditto was still just trembling. He was holding a loaded crossbow, but he didn’t seem to be in his right mind.
“Ditto! Get a grip.”
Dell went close, slapped Ditto’s cheeks, and shook his shoulders.
“Huuuck!”
‘What’s wrong with him? Wasn’t he a mid-level explorer?’
He was dumbfounded to see him foaming at the mouth in terror.
“Damn it! This is a fear imprint. Damn it, he should have at least told us if he had something like this!”
“There were more negative imprints?”
“Yeah. But it’s a relief it’s only this. If you have this imprint, you lose your mind even with the slightest fear. It’s amazing that he hasn’t gone crazy and run off somewhere. Hoo.”
‘There was a reason why they were called the Trash Party.’
The sounds of hobgoblins chattering boisterously in their language, running, and all sorts of other sounds combined and came closer to the shelter.
“Kikiki.”
“Kilkilkil.”
Ominous sounds were heard from outside the cave. They could be sure. They were all waiting outside the shelter.
A hobgoblin stuck its head inside the entrance.
Swaeak!
The arrow that Dell fired struck the hobgoblin between the eyes.
Thud.
It died instantly. It fell to the floor.
Furious roars swept through from outside the shelter.
Jeong Yu-shin and Einhofer stood near the entrance. They positioned themselves slightly away from the entrance so that Dell could have a clear firing angle.
Jeong Yu-shin on the right.
Einhofer on the left.
The dwarf tensed his entire body, resting his single-edged axe on his shoulder, ready to cut down any approaching enemies in one swift motion.
Jeong Yu-shin was no different. He raised his shield and lifted his club above his head.
Blocking the entrance.
If the entrance is breached, they die.
They had to hold out somehow until Carlton’s incantation was complete.
Thwack!
A goblin sprinted and entered the shelter.
Einhofer’s axe shattered the goblin’s skull like a guillotine blade, splitting its body in half.
Tssueok!!
Blood and guts splattered.
Another goblin rushed in without a moment’s delay.
Jeong Yu-shin swung down his club.
Bang!
The skull shattered and brain matter splattered on his helmet.
Before he could even lift the club, another goblin came in.
Swaeeeak!
The arrow that Dell fired hit the goblin between the eyes.
Goblins trampled over the fallen corpse and rushed in one after another.
This time, Einhofer swung his axe.
Next, Jeong Yu-shin swung down his club.
Then, Dell fired an arrow.
The party’s teamwork continued endlessly like interlocking gears.
He exhaled and inhaled the breath that had reached the tip of his chin and smashed goblin heads.
‘If it keeps going like this.’
Maybe they can get through this crisis smoothly?
But the catastrophe came quickly.
The axe that Einhofer swung missed. He had reached the limit of his stamina.
Clang!
The axe blade struck the floor in vain. At the same time, a goblin threw its entire body at Einhofer. The dwarf and goblin rolled on the floor.
“Damn it! Einhofer!”
The goblin had the upper hand. It sat on top of the exhausted dwarf and struck down with a rusty iron sword. The dwarf raised the axe handle and blocked the iron sword.
Jeong Yu-shin couldn’t afford to worry about the dwarf.
Even now, goblin hordes were rushing in.
Now he has to handle it alone.
Bang!
He crushed the head of a hobgoblin that was rushing in.
“Damn it!”
The club broke.
He threw the club handle at the hobgoblin’s face. The hobgoblin grabbed its eyes and tumbled away. Stepping on the hobgoblin that was tumbling away, an even larger horde of hobgoblins rushed in.
He quickly drew his arming sword and stabbed it into the hobgoblin’s neck.
“Krrrruk!”
There’s no time to check if it’s dead or alive. He quickly pulled it out and stabbed the next one in the chest.
“Einhofer!”
Dell’s scream echoed through the shelter.
After the goblin continuously struck down with the rusty iron sword, the wooden axe handle was cut off.
Dell fired an arrow and pierced the head of the goblin that was riding on Einhofer.
It was a brief moment, but Dell’s absence was serious.
Two goblins brushed past Jeong Yu-shin.
He tried to grab them, but he couldn’t.
Three goblins clung to the shield and pulled.
One goblin was holding a rusty longsword and stabbing.
He let go of the shield and twisted his body to avoid the longsword.
He lived, but it was the worst possible outcome.
The goblins who grabbed the shield tumbled to the floor.
He struck down on the goblin’s head with his elbow and snatched the longsword.
“It’s ready! Get out of the entrance! You bum!!”
“Just a moment!”
He abandoned the arming sword and gripped the rusty longsword tightly with both hands.
A goblin rushing in with a mace.
The target is the heart.
He kicked off the ground and stabbed the longsword.
Thwoooock!!
He can feel it beyond the handle. The sensation of tearing flesh and digging through the heart.
“Kieeeok!!”
The sword pierced the goblin’s back and came out behind it.
“Huuuuh!!”
Jeong Yu-shin put his weight behind it with a shout and pushed hard. A knife and a club mace struck and tore at his body, but he didn’t care.
He pushed against the goblins that were rushing in like a tide and pushed them all the way to the entrance with his strength.
‘It’s done.’
He let go of the longsword. Goblins writhing in agony, skewered like kebabs.
He kicked the handle of the longsword, pushing it in deeper, and then stepped back.
“Shoot!”
[Fireball]
A blazing fireball fell on the horde of hobgoblins outside the shelter entrance.
Kwaaaaaang!!!
Heat and shockwaves swept through the shelter.
Jeong Yu-shin covered his face and lay flat on the floor.
Fragments of flesh and terrible screams brushed past his back.
The magic didn’t end there.
[Ice Wall]
A huge wall of ice rose up and blocked the entrance.
[Light]
A radiance that banished the madness of darkness filled the shelter.
Jeong Yu-shin staggered and got up from his seat.
He bought time.
Looking around, torn and burnt flesh was scattered everywhere.
Still, Einhofer and Dell seemed unharmed.
Dell was taking care of Einhofer, and Ditto was curled up in a corner.
He was gripping the crossbow tightly, but it wasn’t loaded.
‘At least he did shoot it.’
Jeong Yu-shin approached Carlton. Carlton had drawn his sword. Two hobgoblin corpses were lying around him.
“Thank you. You saved us.”
Carlton nodded once in response to Jeong Yu-shin’s words of gratitude.
“I bought some time, for now. I’ll rest for a bit. You bum.”
“Yes.”
And then Carlton collapsed.
Thud.
Jeong Yu-shin’s eyes widened.
A bolt was embedded in Carlton’s back.
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