episode_0064

A touch-and-go situation.

Whoo-oong.

The party members emerged from the red portal.

They were bewildered at suddenly encountering people, but soon grasped the unusual atmosphere and wordlessly gripped their weapons.

“…”

The party of the eyepatch man and Jung Yoo-shin’s party faced off in silence.

Jung Yoo-shin frowned.

He knew these guys were no ordinary bunch.

So, he had been hunting monsters while ascending the levels as slowly as possible.

They seemed like high-level guys, so he figured they would quickly clear the levels.

He thought that if he stalled for time, they wouldn’t run into each other.

That was a miscalculation.

To make matters worse, the old woman’s party members were all collapsed.

And these guys were grabbing the old woman’s hair roughly.

Anyone could tell that the eyepatch man’s party wasn’t a good bunch.

Moreover.

To run into them in this vast fourth level as soon as he came out of the portal.

Wasn’t this just like the sky pushing him off a cliff?

Jung Yoo-shin was seething inside, feeling so wronged by this ridiculous situation.

‘Shit.’

No. He calmed himself down.

Even if the sky falls, there’s always a way out.

Jung Yoo-shin calmly opened his mouth.

“Sirs, could you just pretend you didn’t see us and move on?”

The eyepatch man chuckled.

“In all my life, I’ve never been called ‘sir’ before. Young friend, I’m sorry, but…”

“Where do you think you’re going?! Who the hell are you people? Why are you oppressing a frail woman? Leave her and get lost!”

Suddenly, the elf cleric Pirion shouted. His eyes gleamed with fury.

‘That crazy old-lady lover!’

Jung Yoo-shin gaped.

He was so dumbfounded that words wouldn’t come out.

“The cleric’s words are just. Why are you attacking another party and oppressing the weak? We should be working together in the Great Labyrinth.”

Solline stepped forward to support the elf cleric Pirion.

Her gaze lingered briefly on the collapsed members of the old woman’s party.

‘Oh, for fuck’s sake. Solline, not you too.’

A paladin and cleric combination.

They’re good people, but seeing them not knowing when to butt in and when not to, made his blood boil.

“Gallerheim! Say something too!”

The paladin Solline urged the foreign-looking gnome Gallerheim.

“I… I.”

Gallerheim hemmed and hawed.

“Hurry!”

Solline growled, urging him.

“I, I think grabbing the old, old woman’s hair is wrong.”

‘I can see his nose growing.’

Even just hearing his voice, he felt like Gallerheim’s nose must have gotten longer.

Jung Yoo-shin bit his lip.

Either way, he had bought some time. He was relieved that he hadn’t been hit by a bolt and died a screaming death as soon as he came out of the portal.

But that was it.

Jung Yoo-shin glanced at the fallen explorers.

He didn’t know if they were dead or alive, but they were at least mid-level.

It was safe to assume that the guys aiming crossbows at him now were just as strong.

A clear difference in power.

The eyepatch man’s party, who seemed relaxed.

His companions who couldn’t stand injustice.

A complete dilemma.

His head was spinning.

“Ah, come on. This isn’t fair.”

Jung Yoo-shin blurted out.

Everyone, friend and foe alike, wore dumbfounded expressions at the sudden curse.

“…”

The cave fell silent.

It wasn’t just a simple curse. It was a soul’s cry that rose from the depths of his heart.

“Damn it!!! Why can’t I ever be happy!!!”

The cave was swept by a shout filled with rage.

Jung Yoo-shin, who had been panting, changed his expression completely and opened his mouth.

“Prepare for battle.”

A low, cold voice settled in.

Everyone in the cave was taken aback by the sudden change in emotion, but Jung Yoo-shin’s party reacted first.

Solline stepped forward, and Gallerheim and Pirion retreated.

There was no avoiding it.

Perhaps.

He thought that someone among his party members might die.

He slung his sword over his shoulder and assumed a stance.

“Ah, ah. Wait. Wait.”

Then, suddenly, Oswald intervened.

“This is no fun. Shall I tell you something fun?”

“Don’t bullshit me and get lost.”

Jung Yoo-shin growled.

He felt uneasy about the guy who seemed the most dangerous here acting up.

“Hoo, scary. Scary. That old woman.”

Oswald pointed to the old woman held by the eyepatch man.

“She’s the fifth prince’s nanny.”

“…”

A chilly silence settled over the cave.

Even the enemies and allies alike opened their mouths at Oswald’s declaration and couldn’t speak.

“You…!”

The eyepatch man glared at Oswald.

Oswald shrugged his shoulders.

“I found the nanny, so the request is complete. I got rid of the riffraff too. I’ve done my part.”

“···Do the Labyrinth City guys just blab about the request details as they please?”

The eyepatch man said as if spitting out the words.

Oswald chuckled.

“You’re going to kill everyone who saw it anyway, right? It’s better to be sure.”

‘What the hell is going on?’

Were the eyepatch man and his crew not from the underworld?

Jung Yoo-shin’s mind raced.

The fifth prince had disappeared. The fifth prince’s nanny came to the Labyrinth City. Naturally, they had no choice but to believe that the fifth prince was in the Labyrinth City.

To be precise, it was because of the actions taken by the fifth prince’s nanny.

Despite her old age, she had dragged her elderly body all the way into the labyrinth, which she couldn’t have done without considerable certainty.

Since the eyepatch man hadn’t killed the nanny yet.

Could it be that the whereabouts of the fifth prince hadn’t been revealed yet?

He didn’t know.

There wasn’t enough evidence. He refrained from making inferences since this was an area of prediction.

What was certain.

Was that the eyepatch man wasn’t from the underworld and was hostile to the fifth prince.

At that moment.

The eyepatch man let out a deep sigh and opened his mouth.

“Fire.”

‘Shit.’

Thung! Tootootoong!! Thung!

The strings of the crossbows rang out simultaneously.

Gallerheim and Pirion panicked.

Shwaeeeeeeeeeek!!!

Shwaeeeeeeeeeek!!!

Jung Yoo-shin quickly stepped forward and raised his shield.

Protecting the rear guard was the priority.

Whack!! Kwakwak!! Whack!!

Bolts pierced the wooden shield. He had added iron plates to his wrists, so the bolts didn’t pierce his wrists.

“Crap!”

Jung Yoo-shin cursed.

A burning sensation on his thigh.

His brain seethed with sudden pain.

[Revenger]

Engraving activated.

Tattatat!!!

The sound of running.

‘Come!’

He gripped the arming sword tightly in one hand.

But the enemies didn’t charge.

He raised his head over the shield and looked straight ahead.

The eyepatch man and his subordinates were running into the darkness. The old woman was being dragged along as well.

“Hahaha! It’s hunting time! Entertain me!”

Oswald shouted as he followed the eyepatch man.

‘Those nasty bastards.’

He had mistaken them for explorers. These guys weren’t explorers. They were hunters.

He didn’t know how they had captured the mid-level explorers, but it was clear that it wasn’t by conventional means.

“Shit!”

Jung Yoo-shin slumped to the ground.

His brain felt like it was burning because of the bolt that had dug deep into his thigh.

They had shot most of the bolts at his upper body, and then accurately aimed at the gap between the iron plates on his thigh.

These guys were not easy.

Moreover, now it would be a chase in the dark, and he had injured his leg.

Solline approached and examined Jung Yoo-shin’s wound.

“The bolt is lodged deep.”

Jung Yoo-shin pulled out a dagger.

“Solline, keep watch. Don’t look at me.”

“A…alright.”

Jung Yoo-shin gasped for breath and sterilized the dagger with the torch.

He felt like he was going crazy at having to go through this goddamn thing again.

“Hooo-eup.”

He held his breath and stabbed his thigh with the dagger.

Crack. Sluuurp.

The dagger, which had gone in deep, scraped against the bone and tore the muscle.

The veins in Jung Yoo-shin’s eyes stood out.

Saliva dribbled from his tightly closed mouth.

He rummaged around the inside of his thigh with the dagger to find the bolt head.

He tore the flesh and muscle. He needed space for the bolt head to come out.

“Eudeudeudeuk!!!”

His teeth ground.

He grabbed the bolt with his trembling hands and pulled.

The bolt head got caught on a tendon in the middle and wouldn’t come out. He put it back in and repeated the process of pulling it out.

Unspeakable agony.

Sparks flashed in his brain.

Blood gushed from his thigh.

Tzueueueueuk.

Finally, the bolt head came out of his thigh.

“Keuheup!!!”

Jung Yoo-shin gasped for breath, looking at the bolt head that had come out. His whole body was soaked with sweat.

He steadied his dizzy mind and rummaged through his backpack, sprayed recovery potions and antidotes on the wound, applied plenty of ointment, and then wrapped it with cloth.

He wanted to use them all if he could, but he held back. He didn’t know what would happen in the future.

For the same reason, he declined Pirion’s healing magic as well.

Gallerheim approached.

“The fifth prince’s nanny’s party is all dead. I just confirmed it.”

“···How did they die?”

“I think it was poison.”

“Were there bolt marks?”

“There were. Besides that, there were also marks from being stabbed with a large awl.”

Awl marks?

Poison?

A familiar combination.

Anxiety began to creep up.

“Hoo, let’s go. We need to get out of here as soon as possible.”

“B, but that nanny.”

Pirion interjected, stammering.

“Pirion, stop while I’m still asking you nicely.”

Jung Yoo-shin glared at Pirion.

“Ska’s right. Escaping is the priority now.”

Solline interjected.

“Al…alright.”

Pirion agreed.

“Gallerheim, find the fastest way out of here.”

“Alright. But can you walk?”

Gallerheim’s voice was full of concern.

“Yes.”

Jung Yoo-shin frowned and got up from his seat. His thigh throbbed. He had taken the minimum measures, so he just had to endure it.

He looked around the party once. Most of them were fine, but Solline had one problem.

A bolt was lodged in the shoulder of her plate armor.

“Solline, are you okay?”

Jung Yoo-shin asked.

“I’m not hurt. The armor is old, so the performance isn’t very good.”

Solline replied in a bitter tone.

It was a tone filled with the struggles of a low-level paladin.

‘I guess I have to take the lead.’

Jung Yoo-shin took the torch and led the way.

The party moved through the darkness.

* * *

They walked for about 2 hours.

Shwaeeeeeeeeeek!!!

The sound of a bolt cutting through the air.

He instinctively raised his shield.

Kwaaak!!!

The bolt pierced the shield and became embedded in it. His wrist even ached from how strong the tension was.

One shot at a time, a nerve-wracking shot.

For the past 2 hours, these guys had been circling around in the distance and firing bolts.

They were persistently targeting only him.

Jung Yoo-shin gritted his teeth.

Those bastards wanted him to lose his cool and get angry.

Did they think that if the leader collapsed, the rest would be easy prey?

He would never let them.

He endured with all his might.

Ttiriring. Ttiring.

The sound of a lute and laughter occasionally echoed through the cave.

Shwaeeeeeeeeeek!!!

Another bolt cut through the darkness and flew towards Gallerheim.

“Euheoeok!!!”

Gallerheim screamed in great surprise.

Jung Yoo-shin quickly stepped in front of Gallerheim.

Kwaaaak!!!

The bolt once again pierced the shield and became embedded in it.

The wooden shield already had over 10 bolts stuck in it, turning it into a hedgehog.

His wrist throbbed from the continued impact.

Jung Yoo-shin desperately racked his brain.

‘Don’t those guys even fear the monsters coming?’

Was there a way to avoid the monsters?

How could they be fine in the dark?

Was it an engraving ability?

He couldn’t think for long.

“Kuaeeeeeeek!!!”

The roar of a hobgoblin warrior was heard in the distance.

Gallerheim’s face turned pale.

“Prepare for battle!”

Jung Yoo-shin shouted.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The sound of running footsteps.

“2 hobgoblin warriors. 1 hobgoblin shaman. 5 hobgoblins!”

Gallerheim shouted.

A total of 8.

“Target the hobgoblin shaman first!”

Jung Yoo-shin shouted.

“A, alright!”

Gallerheim hastily raised his crossbow.

He slung his arming sword over his shoulder and lowered his stance.

He had to fight the hobgoblin horde while guarding against bolts flying from the darkness.

An absurd level of difficulty.

But.

‘I will survive no matter what.’

Jung Yoo-shin’s eyes burned with determination.

“Kieeeeeeek!!!”

“Kuaeeeeeeek!!!”

The hobgoblins’ screams erupted from the darkness and echoed through the cave.