episode_0123

Jeong Yushin looked around at the people who were letting out cries of astonishment.

Isn’t this a phenomenon that you should know well enough?

Monsters are moving around in groups.

This is exactly the phenomenon before the Eldritch Wave spreads.

I felt a bit bad seeing them already doing exclusion play, as if their heads had gone stiff.

“Who are you?”

Dark Elf Hueris said, looking at Jeong Yushin.

However, the answer came from someone else. A human man named Matt, who was fighting on Jeong Yushin’s right wing, stepped forward.

“This man is the man called the Virgin Barbaroi of the Labyrinth City.”

The Dark Elf scratched his chin.

“I think I’ve heard of him. Are you sure?”

“At least that’s what it looked like when I saw him fighting.”

As the Dark Elf continued to wear a suspicious expression, Jeong Yushin took off his helmet.

Black hair, soaked with sweat, flowed down.

“It was the real Barbaroi. Judging by his small body, is he a mixed-blood?”

“That’s not important. In my opinion, this phenomenon is the situation right before the Eldritch Wave.”

The Dark Elf’s expression crumpled at Jeong Yushin’s claim.

“Based on what? I heard you’re a novice explorer. Don’t try to act smart and stay quiet. This is not a place for a rookie explorer to meddle.”

‘What the fuck?’

Jeong Yushin turned his head to look at Iron Mask.

The story I’m about to tell is related to the party’s request.

The moment I speak without the leader’s permission, Iron Mask’s position will be affected. That couldn’t happen.

Iron Mask, who understood the meaning of Jeong Yushin’s gaze, nodded slightly.

Perhaps because he was a former Crown Prince, his intuition was amazingly fast.

Jeong Yushin swept back his hair and opened his mouth.

“We have a request.”

The gazes of the Dark Elf, Dwarf, and human were focused on Jeong Yushin’s mouth.

Jeong Yushin quickly explained because there was no time.

“…Bury the holy object in a specific location on the 7th floor to scatter the mana of the abyss that has accumulated on the floor. If you connect this request to the current situation, you can infer it well enough, right?”

The explorers, who had already collected the remains of the other party members, began to gather around one by one.

They started talking among themselves.

“What the fuck.”

“What should we do?”

“We have to save the captured party members.”

“How? If they were captured, their lives are already over. Besides, how are we supposed to find them in this vast area?”

“You son of a bitch! Are you saying we should abandon our comrades who might still be alive?!”

“Go alone if you’re going!”

Some were grabbing each other by the collar and fighting.

There were also explorers who were blankly looking at the ground.

The female dwarf turned her head to look at the male elf mage standing behind her.

The elf’s robe was covered in blood because he had just collected the bodies of his comrades.

“Karis, what should we do? You’re from the Magic Tower, so you must know something, right? Isn’t the Magic Tower the first organization to name this phenomenon?”

The male elf, called Karis, rubbed his forehead.

“It’s a possible story. The Magic Tower and the Order wouldn’t issue such a request for no reason. Of course, it’s not a request that was issued in anticipation of this phenomenon.”

The elf sighed and shook his head.

“Hoo. If a black portal had been created at the 6th floor transfer stone, I could have been more certain, but there’s no way to find out.”

Matt stroked his chin.

“Let’s say it’s a sign of the Eldritch Wave. There must be a fundamental reason why you revealed the request to us, right?”

Jeong Yushin crossed his arms and looked around at the people.

I don’t know when they came, but everyone was gathered and looking at me.

“Help me bury the holy object.”

“I knew it. But where should we bury it? We don’t know the location.”

“Mas.”

Mas staggered out and unfolded a map from his chest.

The 7th floor area was roughly marked on the old paper.

Mas pointed to three places marked with stars on the paper.

“There’s one nearby to the south. There’s one to the northwest. The last place is in the central area, and you have to go all the way north.”

The Dark Elf Hueris looked at the map and clicked his tongue.

“Tsk. It’s too far. Wouldn’t it be faster to just escape the labyrinth? Besides, is there any guarantee that the mana will be scattered by burying the holy object? No. In the first place, why would you bury an expensive holy object on the floor of the labyrinth?”

“It’s a request from the Temple of the Wind. The experimental aspect is strong, but I don’t think it’s a story to be ignored.”

“I understand that you’re a novice explorer, so you blindly believe in the Order. But you’re too naive, aren’t you?”

‘This bastard.’

I was getting annoyed because the Dark Elf was constantly scratching my nerves.

I’ll just put up with it one more time.

I made up my mind and continued the story.

“If you don’t believe it, let’s go to a nearby place and bury the holy object. If it succeeds, we can prevent the Eldritch Wave. We can also prevent a large number of monsters from attacking.”

Everyone nodded as if agreeing with Jeong Yushin’s words.

It was a story that would have been heard and ignored under normal circumstances, but the people who were devastated by the deaths of their comrades needed a goal right in front of them.

People got up from their seats and packed their bags. The corpses had to be left there.

Because it was too heavy to carry.

Guided by Mas, all the explorers moved south.

The Iron Mask party stood at the front, followed by the Matt party, the Dwarf party, and finally the Dark Elf party.

After passing through a dense and dark forest, we arrived at another open space.

All the party members felt it.

An intensely cold mana was swirling around the open space like a wave.

Jeong Yushin also felt it.

‘Is this the mana that is spewing out from the abyss of the labyrinth?’

I simply thought that the temperature of the labyrinth was low, but I realized that might not be the case.

Matt approached.

“Is there an exact location?”

“I heard that you can bury it in the vicinity.”

Jeong Yushin took out the iron box from his bag.

Since there was a Magic Tower mage next to me, there was something I wanted to ask.

“Can you recognize the letters written on the outside of this box?”

The elf mage narrowed his eyes and stared at the letters for a while.

In an instant, the elf’s brow twitched.

“…No. I don’t know.”

“I heard it’s an ancient script?”

“It’s similar, but it’s not.”

“It’s not that you can’t read it, is it?”

The elf rubbed his forehead.

“To put it bluntly, it looks like a code. Don’t tease the labyrinth mages too much. They spend more time figuring out how to kill efficiently than sitting down and looking at books.”

‘Scary.’

Jeong Yushin, who was startled by the fierce warning, closed his mouth.

Several people picked up shovels and started digging the ground.

I didn’t know how deep to dig, so I dug just up to my thigh, put the box in, and buried it.

I waited for a while.

“…”

Silence passed for a moment.

The Dark Elf Hueris couldn’t stand it and sighed deeply.

“Hoo. What the hell is this? Mixed-blood Barbaroi, you son of a bitch. Don’t waste time too much…”

The Dark Elf stopped talking.

A huge mana pulsated once.

Krrrrrrrr!!!

An unprecedented mana swirled like a storm around the box and began to soar upwards.

Kwaaaaaaak!!!

The powerful flow of mana pulled people in. The intensity was enough to pull you up into the sky if you made a mistake.

“Stick to the ground!”

“Hold hands with each other!”

“Ugh!!! I’m going up!”

The horrified explorers immediately stuck to the ground and struggled to keep their bodies from floating in the air.

Had about 3 minutes passed?

The concentrated mana scattered and slowly subsided.

People with disheveled hair raised their heads one by one and stared blankly at the sky.

It was still dark brown, but the ominous energy seemed to have faded a little.

Jeong Yushin got up from his seat and glared at the Dark Elf.

I missed the timing because of the mana storm, but I felt like I had to say what I wanted to say to feel better.

“You dark-skinned, pointy-eared bastard. What was with your tone just now? You keep going on like that. You’re so dark I can’t even see you in the dark. Please don’t reveal your black heart on your skin.”

Grrrrr!!!

The Dark Elf glared at Jeong Yushin with bloodshot eyes.

“Scar, that’s too harsh.”

Iron Mask stepped forward.

“I’m sorry. I lost my temper for a moment. I’m not the kind of person who discriminates against people based on their skin color. I guess I misspoke.”

Jeong Yushin came back with a calm expression and apologized.

As a 21st century civilized person at the forefront of PC, I blurted out words that I couldn’t even bring myself to say.

‘Haa. The darkness of the labyrinth again.’

Jeong Yushin corrected his politically incorrect thoughts.

“…It was real.”

Matt muttered with a blank face.

“Was it really a sign of the Eldritch Wave?”

Jeong Yushin looked around at the people.

‘I think they’d believe anything I say.’

I could see that they were covering up the loss caused by the death of their comrades with the goal of surviving and following wherever I led.

Besides, there was even evidence that Jeong Yushin’s hypothesis was correct.

I realized that even I couldn’t stop them.

No.

There’s no need to stop them. They can mourn after they get out of the Labyrinth City.

Jeong Yushin clapped his hands to focus the people’s attention.

“Okay, everyone. Mas will mark the locations on the map that you have. Go there, dig the ground, and bury the holy object.”

People nodded eagerly.

The female dwarf stepped forward.

“It’s inefficient to move all at once. We don’t have time either. It would be better to reorganize into two parties.”

“Let’s do that.”

The Matt and Hueris parties merged to form a 7-person party.

The Iron Mask and Dwarf parties merged to form a 6-person party.

Not surprisingly, the Dark Elf Hueris was the guide. Mas approached and marked the locations on Hueris’s map.

It was quite a distance to go north.

Hueris knew it too, but didn’t say anything. At least his party was intact and had one more person.

Besides, the north was a place close to the transfer stone. If necessary, he could use the Matt party as bait and run away.

Iron Mask took out a holy object from his backpack and handed it to Matt.

“I’m counting on you.”

Matt carefully received the holy object and put it in his backpack.

“Leave it to me. I’ll definitely succeed.”

The two men stopped talking for a moment and exchanged glances.

‘Hoo. I want to join in too.’

Human warriors wearing heavy armor are exchanging with each other.

The desire to stick my face in that place suddenly rose.

Jeong Yushin immediately shook his head.

This is not the time for this. It’s time to prepare and go.

The Hueris party packed their bags and quickly left the open space.

Mas, who took his eyes off the departing party, looked at the map.

“I fell into the southern outskirts from the beginning. The next place to bury the holy object is the open space northwest of here. Fortunately, it’s relatively close.”

“Let’s go.”

Iron Mask said, slinging his greatsword over his shoulder.

Mas led the party.

People went through the thicket without resting.

I walked for a full 7 hours.

Nevertheless, people did not try to sit down and rest.

This was because they knew that if they took a breather and their bodies became comfortable, they would naturally think of the dead.

They walked as if they were running, sweating profusely as if they were abusing themselves.

Whether it was good or bad luck, there were no monsters to be seen.

The Iron Mask and Dwarf parties continued on and arrived at another open space.

They took out the holy object from Mas’s luggage, buried it in the ground, and took a breather.

I didn’t feel the rapid flow of mana like last time.

“It seems like only the Hueris party needs to bury the holy object now.”

“Let’s move north and join them. At least we need to check if they failed or succeeded.”

People gathered their opinions and went straight north.

I walked for about 2 days.

People didn’t say anything.

If the Hueris party had succeeded, the monsters should have been scattered and we should have encountered them normally, but there were no monsters anywhere.

An eerie and uneasy feeling gradually rose and weighed down on the party members’ shoulders.

On the 3rd day.

I arrived right in front of the open space where the Hueris party should be.

“Why can’t I hear anything?”

Mas muttered and grabbed his nose.

“Kugh!!! What a terrible smell!!!”

Jeong Yushin also swallowed his breath.

The smell of rotten eggs and fish mixed together. Nausea rose from the bottom of my throat.

No way.

What the cat demi-human said flashed through my head.

‘I heard there’s a forest troll wandering around on the 7th floor.’

Fuck.

Jeong Yushin lowered his posture and carefully poked his face out through the bushes.

And the sight that unfolded.

Something giant was sitting with its back exposed.

Jeong Yushin’s eyes widened.

He was holding a human woman in his hand.

‘Is that person?’

Isn’t that the ranged archer from the Hueris party?

The woman seemed to be alive, mouthing words, but she was just trembling without being able to move her body.

The giant raised the woman high with both hands and grabbed her crotch.

And slowly spread it apart. As if enjoying it.

The woman shed tears and shook her head desperately. But no sound came out of her mouth.

As the troll put strength into its hands.

Tssssk!!!

The woman was torn in half at the crotch.

Thud!!!

As the organs in her body flowed down with blood, the giant opened its mouth and ate it deliciously as if it were eating a delicacy.

“Fuck.”

A curse word popped out of Jeong Yushin’s mouth.

There’s no denying it.

An enormous bulk.

A pungent stench.

The mushrooms on its back.

It was a forest troll.