episode_0062

A fleeting sense of buoyancy.

Pitch-black darkness.

A hard floor.

And the dampness unique to caves touched the skin.

Thud!

The moment I landed on the floor and quickly tried to take out the flint.

“Kieek?”

Something made a sound right in front of me.

“Hobgoblin!”

Gallerhaim let out a short scream.

“Is it human?”

Jeong Yushin asked. Gallerhaim confirmed its identity, but he asked once just in case.

“Kieeeeek!!!”

The hobgoblin screamed.

No.

Jeong Yushin immediately drew his arming sword and swung it towards the sound.

Slash!!!

“Kkeuek!!!”

Blood splattered on the helmet first, followed by a scream.

Jeong Yushin immediately took out the flint from his pocket and lit it.

Whoosh.

The torch illuminated the dark labyrinth.

Blood gurgled from the neck of the fallen hobgoblin, soaking the cave floor.

Jeong Yushin, holding the torch, looked back at his party members. Each of them was gripping their weapons.

“To meet a hobgoblin right at the place of transfer, the luck is not good.”

Gallerhaim muttered with a pale face.

Is it some kind of explorer’s superstition?

It’s not a very believable story. I’ve been through enough hardship to not need to look at this kind of thing.

“Don’t talk nonsense as soon as we transfer.”

Jeong Yushin took out a dagger from his chest and cut off the hobgoblin’s ear.

He took out a leather pouch from the backpack tied behind his waist and put the hobgoblin’s ear in it.

“You’re so fast. It’s not like you’ve only done this once or twice?”

The elf priest Pyrion exclaimed.

“You flatter me.”

Jeong Yushin got up and continued.

“So, where are we?”

“Just wait a moment.”

The big-nosed gnome, Gallerhaim, took out a map from his chest and looked at it.

Karin figured out where she was transferred to right away after looking around once, but Gallerhaim was a bit clumsy.

Gallerhaim scratched his head and opened his mouth.

“It’s completely on the outskirts. Far from the central area. It will take quite a while to get to the next level.”

“I understand.”

Not bad. We have to go around a bit anyway to complete the request. I decided to think positively.

Jeong Yushin swung his sword to shake off the blood and slung it over his shoulder.

“Let’s go.”

Gallerhaim took the lead. Jeong Yushin walked behind Gallerhaim. Behind Jeong Yushin was the elf priest Pyrion, and lastly, the paladin Soline guarded the rear.

Gallerhaim. Jeong Yushin. Pyrion. Soline.

Maintaining a consistent formation, they walked through the dark cave.

The party members were silent, as if nervous.

They walked for about 2 hours.

“Heut!”

Suddenly, Gallerhaim raised his crossbow. He looked quite surprised.

“What’s wrong?”

“Enemies in the back!”

At the same time as Gallerhaim’s shout, Soline immediately turned around and took a stance.

Jeong Yushin also grabbed the shield strap and stepped forward.

They waited, maintaining their formation, for a moment.

Thud. Thud.

Footsteps were heard.

It’s not the sound of monsters.

Jeong Yushin grabbed Gallerhaim’s shoulder.

“Gallerhaim, please lower your crossbow for a moment.”

Jeong Yushin put the elf priest and gnome behind him and raised the torch high.

After waiting for a while, the sound of footsteps subsided.

“Don’t shoot.”

A voice was heard from the darkness.

A human voice.

Jeong Yushin didn’t let go of his tension.

A middle-aged human man slowly approached, holding a torch.

“Barbaroi?”

“That’s right.”

“I see. Judging by your attire, you seem to be lower-ranked explorers who have shed their newbie image.”

“…”

Jeong Yushin silently met the human man’s eyes.

The man was wearing heavy armor and had a kite shield slung on his back.

“Don’t glare like that. We’re just here to ask for your understanding as we pass by.”

The man said.

“I understand. Go ahead.”

After finishing his words, Jeong Yushin met eyes with his party members.

The party members silently nodded in agreement.

The man’s party members approached from the darkness.

Judging by the gleam of their equipment, they seemed to be at least middle-ranked.

“Heok!”

Suddenly, the elf priest let out a short scream.

The elf’s eyes were bulging out. His gaze was directed at one of the middle-aged man’s party members.

Jeong Yushin gripped his sword.

What is it?

He quickly scanned the middle-aged man’s party members.

A lizardman holding a spear.

A deer beastman with a longbow slung on his back.

A bald human with a longsword on his shoulder.

And.

There was an elderly human woman.

Her long white hair was tied back, and her whole body was wrapped in a robe.

She seemed to have aged gracefully and had a gentle impression.

Judging by the subtle dignity in her posture, she didn’t seem to be of ordinary status.

She looked completely out of place in this dark labyrinth.

The elderly-woman-loving elf, completely dazed, approached the elderly woman.

“Uh… excuse me.”

“Don’t come closer.”

The middle-aged man, who seemed to be the leader, stood in front of the elderly woman.

Jeong Yushin held the elf’s body tightly.

“I’m sorry. My companion likes elderly people.”

The man tilted his head for a moment and opened his mouth.

“There are people like that. I understand, but don’t come closer.”

“I understand. I’ll hold onto this elf, so please pass quickly.”

Jeong Yushin cleared the way for the people to pass.

He didn’t forget to firmly hold onto the elf who had gone crazy for the elderly woman’s charm.

The man nodded once and looked back at his party members, saying.

“Let’s go.”

The man’s party moved on into the darkness of the cave at a brisk pace.

The elderly woman followed closely behind the party as well.

It was hard to tell whether she was spry for her age or if she was light on her feet because she had no luggage.

What are they in such a hurry for?

I was curious, but there was something I had to do first.

Jeong Yushin looked at the people disappearing into the darkness and turned his head.

“Pyrion.”

“…I’m sorry. I must have gone crazy for a moment.”

‘You can pursue grandmothers in the labyrinth.’

I understand, but approaching someone without asking for their permission is wrong.

“It’s okay as long as you understand.”

I decided not to press further, given the elf’s sincere remorse.

“Hoo, this kind of thing has happened a few times, but it really makes me nervous every time.”

The gnome muttered, sighing in relief.

“Let’s go.”

Jeong Yushin led the party and walked through the darkness of the cave.

How many hours had passed?

The party’s breathing began to get rough.

“Shall we rest for a bit?”

Jeong Yushin asked.

“If we go a little further from here, there’s a resting place.”

Gallerhaim answered, wiping the sweat flowing down his forehead.

“I understand.”

They walked for another hour and arrived at the resting place.

They entered a hollow in one of the cave walls and took their places.

They took out blankets to cover the walls and unpacked their backpacks.

They stuck the torch in the center and sat down.

“Barbaroi, your stamina is amazing.”

The paladin Soline said, looking at Jeong Yushin.

Jeong Yushin took off his helmet and swept back his sweat-soaked hair.

“It’s not that amazing. It’s just that I’ve been doing it for a while, so it turned out this way.”

“It was the same when we encountered the other party. You didn’t panic and acted calmly. Actually, everyone except you was flustered.”

Jeong Yushin tilted his head at Soline’s words.

Hmm. Is that so?

I’ve been in and out of the labyrinth four or five times, so shouldn’t it be natural to act this way?

After thinking for a bit, I came to a conclusion.

It can be different for each person.

“Since my shoulders are heavy, my actions must be heavy as well.”

Jeong Yushin chuckled and replied.

Soline shrugged her shoulders and laughed.

“It’s just as Senior Gilshion said. I’m glad that we got a good leader.”

Is that so.

Jeong Yushin nodded and put his mouth to the water pouch and drank.

* * *

After resting for about an hour, they left the resting place and continued through the darkness.

After walking for several hours, they encountered a group of hobgoblin corpses.

Jeong Yushin approached and examined the hobgoblin corpses.

Neat scars as if measured with a ruler.

A single strike that cut off only the vitals without any unnecessary movements.

It seems that the party that went ahead had taken care of them.

They didn’t take the ears.

I don’t know if they didn’t need the small change or if they were in a hurry to get where they were going.

Since we could get ears for free without fighting, it could be seen as good luck.

The party members seemed to think the same, as they took out daggers from their chests.

‘Free corpse looting. Is the sky pushing me?’

Jeong Yushin grinned and took out his dagger.

Scritch. Scritch.

They sat together and cut off the hobgoblin ears.

Sitting like this, I unconsciously smiled because I thought of the trash party.

“Barbaroi, why are you smiling?”

Gallerhaim’s complexion was a little pale.

He had no idea where the humor was coming from.

“I was smiling because I was thinking of old friends.”

Only then did Gallerhaim’s face brighten.

“Is that so. Are they all doing well?”

Jeong Yushin gave a bitter smile at Gallerhaim’s question.

‘They all went their own way. One of them died by my hand.’

He repeated the truth only in his mind.

“Yes.”

Jeong Yushin answered briefly and continued cutting off the ears.

He opened his pouch and put all the hobgoblin ears in it.

Thanks to the party that went ahead unintentionally clearing the way, we were able to get the ears from the hobgoblin corpses without fighting.

Still, it felt a little lacking.

‘As expected, there’s not much to get on the 1st floor.’

The black slime holding the magic stone didn’t even show its face.

He stuffed the pouch into his backpack and got up.

“How about going to the 2nd floor?”

“Let’s do that.”

Gallerhaim replied readily.

“Sounds good.”

“Good.”

The priest Pyrion and the paladin Soline also agreed.

They walked for several more hours.

Jeong Yushin turned his head to look at his party members.

They looked worn out from the long walk, covered in sweat and fatigue.

“Let’s camp on the 1st floor today.”

The party members each nodded at Jeong Yushin’s words.

‘I need to think about stamina distribution too.’

After organizing his thoughts, he asked Gallerhaim.

“Is there a place to camp nearby?”

Gallerhaim opened the map and looked at it, then said.

“If we go a little further from here, there’s a resting place.”

“Let’s go.”

They walked for about 2 more hours and found the resting place.

It was a hollow several times larger than the resting place they had rested in before.

A space that could fit at least 3 parties.

There was no one there.

It was a given, since it was an outer area far from the central area and also the 1st floor.

As before, they unpacked their luggage and finished preparing for camping.

They decided to save the dry firewood and instead stuck the torch in the center.

Jeong Yushin and the party members comfortably sat down and took out dried food and water from their backpacks to eat and drink.

The tension and awkwardness from when they first entered the labyrinth had decreased a lot.

Suddenly, a question came to mind.

Jeong Yushin swallowed the jerky and opened his mouth.

“Pyrion, there’s something I’m curious about.”

“Tell me.”

“Aren’t you an elf, Pyrion? You’re a long-lived race, so how does… your elderly-woman-loving engraving activate? From the elf’s age perspective, aren’t they all young?”

The elf priest Pyrion smiled slyly and opened his mouth.

“Why are you asking? Are you interested?”

The question that came in quickly shook Jeong Yushin’s head. Why was I curious? It’s clearly a forbidden question.

“Come to think of it, I’m not that curious. Let’s forget about it.”

“This engraving detects the other person’s aging. Is that an answer?”

Is that so.

Since I’ve already stepped into the darkness, I decided to ask just one more thing.

“It seems a little ambiguous. Does the engraving have a special standard for defining aging?”

“The more wrinkles the other person has, the more sagging the flesh, the stronger ‘that place’ of mine reacts.”

That place?

That place.

The elf nodded and pointed to his chest once, then pointed to his lower body again.

Ugh.

Jeong Yushin hurriedly covered his mouth.

The elf continued.

“I’m 300 years old, but my heart is still in my 20s. Since my heart is young, what does it matter if they’re a little younger than me? That old woman from before too. Hoo, how could such…”

“Let’s stop.”

Jeong Yushin said, glaring at the elf.

Gallerhaim interjected.

“Barbaroi, is there a need to be so exclusive? In my opinion, I think it’s a respectable taste. At least you shouldn’t stop someone from talking.”

Jeong Yushin approached Gallerhaim while sitting down and reached out his hand.

“Take off your mask.”

“H- Heok! Don’t do it!”

Gallerhaim screamed, startled and backing away.

After bickering with the party members for a while, they finished their meal and decided on the watch order.

Jeong Yushin was third in line.

He wrapped himself in a robe and leaned against the wall.

He stared at the torch burning alone in the middle of the dark and damp hollow for a while before closing his eyes.

“Barbaroi.”

Someone called his name.

When he opened his eyes, Soline was standing there.

“Barbaroi, you sleep well even in a place like this.”

Soline said with a bitter smile.

“It’s the 1st floor. Go get some sleep.”

Jeong Yushin replied and sat up straight.

His back and neck were stiff because he had been leaning against the wall while sleeping.

He watched Soline go back to her place and lie down, then stared at the torch for a while.

Beyond the burning torch, he could see the blanket set up at the entrance.

He listened to the party members tossing and turning with one ear and let it flow.

He stared at the blanket for a long time.

He felt that they were trapping themselves, even though the blanket was meant to block the light from leaking out.

At that moment.

Rustle.

The blanket shook slightly.

Jeong Yushin’s body stiffened.

His spine chilled.

There was no sound of footsteps or breathing, but the blanket fluttered slightly.

Something incomprehensible had happened. The unknown became fear and gripped Jeong Yushin’s heart.

He gripped his arming sword tightly and glared at the blanket.

“Knock, knock.”

A playful voice was heard from beyond the blanket.