episode_0197

A swampy area thickly covered with blood-red fog.

The Swamp Ghouls were simply smiling with their mouths wide open, not moving.

Jeong Yu-shin, noticing the strangeness, took a stance and glanced around.

There are three characteristics of Swamp Ghouls that inhabit the swampy area.

First.

They carry a potent paralyzing toxin in their nails and teeth.

Second.

They mimic the words of the people they devour.

And third.

They don’t travel alone.

A murmuring conversation could be heard from nearby.

“Mom.”

“It’s on the left.”

“Sorry.”

“Abandon it.”

“Are you betraying me?”

Within the thick blood-red fog.

Dozens of Ghouls were crossing the swamp, approaching.

The direction was precisely where he was.

Jeong Yu-shin put away his longsword and drew his bastard sword. In his other hand, he held a loaded crossbow.

The Ghouls bent and stretched their bodies as they rushed towards Jeong Yu-shin.

“Save…save me. Keeeeeek!!!”

Jeong Yu-shin took a stance and swung his bastard sword.

Swoosh!!!

The sword cut through the blood-red fog, slicing halfway through a Ghoul’s waist.

Tsuaaaaak!!!

Red blood and entrails flowed out from between the Ghoul’s torn belly skin.

Splash!!!

The Ghoul passed Jeong Yu-shin and fell into the swamp. The creature struggled for a moment before sinking beneath the water.

‘Next one.’

Jeong Yu-shin quickly turned around, but it wasn’t easy to move as he was standing in the swampy area where the water had risen to his calves.

The movements of the slowly approaching Ghouls suddenly quickened.

“Keeeeeeek!!!”

Jeong Yu-shin aimed his crossbow at the Ghoul leaping from the very front.

Thung!!!

As he pulled the trigger, the bolt flew and lodged itself in the Ghoul’s forehead.

Bang!!!

With the sound of bones breaking, the Ghoul’s forehead bent upwards.

Instant death.

There was no need to see more.

Jeong Yu-shin struggled to twist his body, dodging the Ghoul flying towards him, dead.

Splash!!!

The sound of water behind him.

Jeong Yu-shin calmly reloaded his crossbow, firing bolts one by one.

Click.

Thung!!!

Click.

Thung!!!

The charging Ghouls collapsed one after another, burying their faces in the swamp.

But he couldn’t stop all dozens of them with just a crossbow.

Soon, the Ghoul horde drew near.

Just as Jeong Yu-shin was about to pull out the bastard sword he had stuck into the swamp floor and swing it.

Something grabbed his ankle from beneath the water.

“Shit!!!”

Jeong Yu-shin lost his balance and stumbled, colliding with a Ghoul that had charged at him, causing him to fall.

Plop!!!!!!

The rotten water of the swamp flowed into his helmet with a gurgling sound.

Jeong Yu-shin desperately pushed away the Ghouls covering him from above, gulping down the rotten water.

Kagagagagak!!!

Nails full of poison scratched and tore at his armor.

Fortunately, the chainmail held.

Jeong Yu-shin wrestled with the Ghouls in the sticky mud.

As space was barely created, he immediately threw a punch.

Bang!!!

A powerful punch shattered the Ghoul’s sharp teeth.

“Kkigigik!!!”

The Ghoul screamed and covered its face.

Jeong Yu-shin staggered to his feet and chanted an engraving spell.

[Sacred Weapon]

He gripped the shining dagger in reverse grip and stabbed the Ghoul’s crown.

Kwaddeudeuk!!!

The dagger went deep into the Ghoul’s skull, tearing apart the brain.

The Ghoul trembled and collapsed, burying its head in the mud.

Whitish brain matter flowed from the crown of its head, mixing with the swamp.

A Ghoul charged from behind.

“Keuk!!!”

Jeong Yu-shin, losing his balance again, staggered and fell onto the swamp floor.

Plop!!!

Jeong Yu-shin was once again entangled with the Ghouls.

Screams and curses echoed in the swampy area, and water droplets scattered into the air.

Jeong Yu-shin struggled, repeatedly getting up and falling down. Then, he barely regained his balance, stood up, and created some distance once again.

[Sacred Weapon]

[Multi Casting]

A dwarven single-edged axe appeared in each of Bara’s hands.

He struck the head of the Ghoul clinging from the front with the axe.

Kwajik!!!

The sacred golden axe blade crushed the Ghoul’s head in one blow.

“Kieok?!”

The Ghoul, its head split in half, knelt like a doll with its strings cut. He immediately twisted the axe to pull it out and threw it at the Ghoul charging from the side.

Thud!!!

The flying axe shattered the charging Ghoul’s ribs and lodged itself in its heart.

He swung the golden single-edged axe in his remaining hand, striking down the heads of the Ghouls rushing in, one by one.

Bang!!!

Bang!!!

Bang!!!

The Ghouls with their heads split open buried their heads in the mud one by one.

The Ghouls hesitated at Jeong Yu-shin’s demonic appearance.

But only for a moment.

The Ghouls all screamed at once and charged towards Jeong Yu-shin.

“Kieeeeeeeek!!!!!”

Jeong Yu-shin took a stance in the mud that had risen to his knees.

[Sacred Weapon]

Attribute Enchant.

Gale Sword.

The golden single-edged sword was enveloped in blood-red fog.

Jeong Yu-shin bent his body once.

“Huuuueup.”

He inhaled and lunged forward, swinging the sword.

Swishhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Jeong Yu-shin sliced through the mud, advancing like lightning.

Fuhahhhhhhhak!!!!!!

In an instant.

The bodies of the Ghouls in Jeong Yu-shin’s path were chopped into pieces and flew high into the air.

Whirrrrrrrrr!!!

Blood, entrails, arms, and legs flying through the sky fell into the swamp like rain with a plop plop sound.

Jeong Yu-shin cut through the swamp with tremendous speed, crashing into a tree on a dry hill.

The rotten tree snapped with a crack, and he rolled down the ground.

Jeong Yu-shin jumped up, put down his backpack, and drew the longsword from behind.

Shwing.

“Kieeeeeeeek!!!”

The Ghouls, who had been standing blankly in the swamp, regained their senses and screamed madly as they charged towards Jeong Yu-shin.

It’s dry land. He wouldn’t be caught off guard so helplessly like before.

He immediately took a stance and swung his sword horizontally at the charging Ghouls.

Swishhhhhhhhhh!!!

The sharp blade imbued with keen energy sliced through the Ghoul’s neck, bone and all.

The Ghoul without a neck staggered.

Another Ghoul charged from the side.

Jeong Yu-shin spun around like a top, swinging his sword to cut the Ghoul’s thigh and sever its arm.

The Ghoul, its arm and leg cut off, fell to the ground.

Jeong Yu-shin lifted his walker and stomped on the neck bones of the Ghoul, which was breathing raggedly.

Crackle!!!

The walker reinforced with steel plates crushed the Ghoul’s neck bones.

There was no time to rest.

This time, five Ghouls charged at him at once.

He immediately assumed a half-swording stance and collided with the charging creatures.

Crash!!!

Jeong Yu-shin staggered back due to the Ghouls’ heavy weight.

“Heup!!!”

Jeong Yu-shin gritted his teeth and exerted strength to avoid being pushed back.

Kwagagagagak!!!

Footprints stretched out long in the moisture-laden ground.

The Ghouls’ sharp claws scratched Jeong Yu-shin’s head and body over the sword, but they were blocked by his armor. However, the Ghouls’ strength was not something to be taken lightly.

Jeong Yu-shin’s body repeatedly bruised and disappeared.

The blue demonic fire emanating from Jeong Yu-shin’s eyes intensified even further.

Had he ever struggled this much against monsters recently? His insides were boiling.

‘These bastards don’t know fair play?!’

“Huaaaaaaahp!!!”

Jeong Yu-shin maintained his half-swording stance and pushed the Ghouls back.

The Ghouls widened their eyes and retreated. A human, normally struggling against just three of them. This prey was different.

Jeong Yu-shin did not miss the opening and swung his longsword.

Once again.

Horizontal slash.

Swissshhhhhhk!!!

The blue blade instantly sliced off the necks of four Ghouls and lodged itself in the neck of the fifth.

“Keeeak!!!”

The Ghoul screamed, waving its claws.

Jeong Yu-shin dropped the sword, stepped back to avoid the Ghoul’s claws, and charged in, swinging his fist.

Bang!!!

A powerful left hook landed squarely on the Ghoul’s face. Completely shattering and crushing its cheekbone.

The Ghoul, with one side of its face caved in, staggered backward.

Jeong Yu-shin took another step forward and grabbed the Ghoul’s head. Its eyes were rolling, as if it couldn’t come to its senses.

Jeong Yu-shin raised his hand and grabbed the Ghoul’s long tongue.

“Gueeeeeek!!! Gueeek!!!”

The Ghoul waved its hands around.

Jeong Yu-shin used force to pull out the Ghoul’s tongue.

Tteudeudeudeuk!!!

With a grotesque sound, the tentacle-like tongue was torn out.

Blood gushed from the Ghoul’s mouth like a fountain.

Jeong Yu-shin did not stop there, but grabbed the Ghoul’s head and slammed it into a nearby rotten tree stump.

Bang!!!

Bang!!!

He repeated the process until the Ghoul’s skull was completely shattered and turned to mush.

“Huuuuuu.”

Jeong Yu-shin, regaining his senses, looked around. Dozens of corpses were floating in the swamp.

It wasn’t a complete annihilation.

Some were already running away, only their blurred silhouettes visible in the fog from afar.

Jeong Yu-shin sat down on the spot, panting.

A battle with no one to watch his back.

The fatigue he felt was on a different level.

‘I can’t rest here.’

Jeong Yu-shin barely managed to raise his tired body. He had to recover his lost equipment.

He searched the swamp for a long time and retrieved his bastard sword and crossbow.

He had regained his equipment, but one problem arose.

His backpack was torn here and there due to the Ghoul’s claws.

Jeong Yu-shin squatted down and checked the contents of his backpack.

Food supplies soaked from rolling around in the swamp.

He didn’t know where the rope and torch had gone, and only one recovery potion and one pesticide remained, the rest were all broken.

Jeong Yu-shin suppressed the urge to curse and shouldered his backpack.

The swamp area was known for being vast.

If he hesitated and was overcome by madness, it would be the end immediately.

Jeong Yu-shin started walking again.

* * *

He didn’t know how much time had passed.

Thud! Thud!

Jeong Yu-shin walked through the swamp area, his nerves on edge. There were sparsely distributed places like dry hills, but most of it was like mudflats.

Once he stepped, he sank deep, up to his calves.

It was difficult to move. Moreover, sneaky bastards were lurking beneath the water.

After walking for a long time, he felt something stinging and digging into his calf, so he hurriedly got out of the swamp and rolled up his pants.

Leech-like bugs were attached to his calf.

‘Blood Worms.’

Earthworm-shaped parasites that burrow into the flesh and lay eggs inside.

He had vaguely seen them in a book.

He had been saving the only remaining insecticide, pesticide, but they had already attached themselves.

‘What a fucking labyrinth.’

Jeong Yu-shin sat down on a dry hill.

He took out a dagger and dug out the bugs that had burrowed halfway into his calf, eating his flesh, one by one.

“Shit.”

The bugs didn’t want to come out, digging deeper into his flesh as he brought the dagger closer.

After a fierce struggle, Jeong Yu-shin pulled out all the bugs, got up, and started walking again.

How long had he walked?

His sense of time and direction were paralyzed, and his head was spinning.

A little more time passed. Something began to whisper in the blood-red fog.

“Yu-shin, stop it. You’ve done enough, you’ve worked hard enough.”

“You’re being so unfairly treated, how can you endure this? Just give up.”

“Going home? Just have sex and have kids here and live, this is home.”

Jeong Yu-shin closed his eyes for a moment and stood quietly.

The labyrinth’s madness was gradually encroaching on his mind.

“Go crazy? Me, here?”

Jeong Yu-shin ground his teeth and chuckled.

Absolutely not.

He must survive this goddamn labyrinth and return home.

Jeong Yu-shin widened his eyes and slowly opened his mouth.

Labyrinth exploration is a mental battle.

He needed to find peace of mind.

No matter where this was.

“Peace like a river for me. Peace like a river for me. Peace like an ocean for me, overflowing.”

In an instant.

The voices whispering in his ear subsided for a moment.

Jeong Yu-shin started walking again, slowly singing.

A faint figure flickered in the red fog, whispering something, but Jeong Yu-shin kept walking, looking only ahead.

He continued walking for several more hours.

Eventually, Jeong Yu-shin stopped walking.

Beyond the red fog.

He saw the widest hill he had ever seen. And a small cabin built on top of it.

Jeong Yu-shin kept singing and walked.

A resting place that existed in the swamp area layer.

Some called it the witch’s cabin.

Jeong Yu-shin stood in front of the door, stopped singing, and knocked politely.

“Knock knock. Is anyone there?”

“…No one is here.”

A lukewarm male voice was heard from behind the door.

Jeong Yu-shin chuckled and sang loudly.

“Peace like a river for me!!! Peace like a river for me!!!”

Squeak.

The door opened and a man peeked out.

His down-to-earth impression was familiar.

A wanderer of the labyrinth.

It was Finn.

Finn looked at Jeong Yu-shin as if he were looking at a madman.

“In all my life, I’ve never seen a guy singing in the middle of the labyrinth. Are you out of your mind?”

“Finn? Nice to meet you. Um…”

Jeong Yu-shin stopped speaking, knelt down, and slammed his head into the ground.

Finn looked down at the fallen Jeong Yu-shin and scratched his head.

“He knows my name? What the hell are you?”