episode_0199

Swamp Area, 12th Floor.

In front of the Transfer Stone.

Mic and Pete, the brothers, paced back and forth with heavy expressions.

They couldn’t seem to bring themselves to leave, unable to even think about moving.

The cat beastman, Lumi, looked just as somber. Still, she had to say something.

“Get a grip. How long are you going to stay like this?”

“…”

Lumi’s words echoed through the swamp, and Mic’s party fell silent.

“You searched the 11th floor thoroughly, just as you wanted. You searched the 12th floor too. And you sent someone to inform Karin about Ska’s disappearance, right? What more do you want me to do here?”

Lumi, a Huntsman Clan executive, had done everything she could to find Ska’s whereabouts.

But that was only for a day or two. A week had already passed.

Sadly, there was no chance Ska was alive. Even if he were alive, there was even less chance he would be sane.

They couldn’t spend any more time looking for Ska.

Their food and arrow reserves were running low.

“Why are you being so soft? You need to toughen up.”

Lumi hid her uneasy feelings and spoke sternly. She didn’t want to show weakness and demoralize the clan members.

Mic nodded and signed.

‘Understood.’

Pete and Meat, the brothers, sighed bitterly.

They hadn’t known him long, but Ska had gotten along well with them.

They had grown fond of him, and now he had disappeared like this.

Their hearts were heavy.

“The bracelet of binding must have had a problem. Once this hunt is over, I need to go to the Explorer’s Guild and give them a piece of my mind.”

Lumi muttered to herself and placed her hand on the Transfer Stone.

Whoosh.

As soon as the red portal appeared, she stepped into it. The other explorers followed Lumi, stepping into the portal one by one.

The remaining Mic party stood at the Transfer Stone.

‘Ska is a Barbaro. He won’t die or go crazy easily.’

Mic signed, and Pete and Meat nodded and gestured.

‘I don’t know where he fell, but it’s definitely in the swamp area. He’ll definitely be on the next floor.’

‘Brother is right. He might have fallen into a shelter. It’s too early to be sure he’s dead.’

The Mic party stepped into the red portal with a sliver of hope.

* * *

At the same time.

Explorers gathered at Ash Village’s tavern on the 10th floor of the Labyrinth, chatting amongst themselves.

Most of it was lewd talk.

“How great are lizard beastmen? They’re so cool, perfect for cuddling.”

“Nonsense! Elves are the best. Soft, smooth skin and a sweet voice. Huh? Ah! Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.”

One of the explorers smacked his lips.

“Still, they’re nothing compared to that party that just passed by.”

As if he weren’t wrong, the surrounding explorers nodded.

“I know the red wolf beastman is Karin, but I don’t know who the priestess next to her is. Her chest was huge, though. Hoo.”

Another explorer lowered his voice.

“Watch your mouth. Priestess Myone is a high-ranking priestess of the Earth Mother Temple. Her brother, Cain, is the commander of the knight order in the labyrinth city. You’ll be killed without anyone knowing.”

“Huh?! Why is she here? Didn’t she retire?”

“I don’t know. They seemed to be moving urgently. It’s probably not our business.”

“Is it because of a man? Is her lover in danger or something?”

“Don’t speak sacrilegiously.”

“…”

The explorers fell silent for a moment.

In fact, the tavern explorers had similar thoughts.

Two women of overwhelming beauty had crossed the village busily without resting.

The party leader sighed and got up from his seat.

“They’re out of our league. Let’s drink moderately and go to sleep. We have a long way to go.”

* * *

“Johnson, is this the right way?”

You-Shin Jung chewed on a grass root and tapped Johnson on the shoulder.

The ghoul glared at You-Shin Jung and struggled.

“Keup!”

“Got it.”

You-Shin Jung looked into Johnson’s eyes, then turned his head to face forward.

‘Easy to understand.’

His new friend Johnson’s eyes were honest. His emotions were revealed as is, making them easy to read.

When there were fellow ghouls nearby, Johnson’s eyes became triumphant.

When there were stronger monsters roaming around, he was paralyzed with fear and wouldn’t try to move forward.

When his eyes darted around, it meant he was looking for a chance to run away.

Johnson had another trait. He didn’t like vegetables or jerky, but he went crazy for rotten meat.

Johnson always went to places with a lot of corpses.

Even with the red fog limiting visibility, Johnson was amazing at finding corpses.

Of course, it took a lot of effort to get Johnson to be obedient. Even now.

You-Shin Jung placed his hand on Johnson’s head, who was hesitating and not moving forward.

“Tsk tsk. Johnson, I can hear your eyes rolling. Is there a devil in your heart?”

“Keup!!! Keup!!!”

The ‘education’ seemed to have worked, as Johnson reacted violently to the word ‘devil’ and trembled.

“Let’s go.”

Squish. Squish.

You-Shin Jung and Johnson fearlessly moved forward again, cutting through the shallow waters of the swamp.

‘How convenient.’

Thanks to learning various knowledge from the Labyrinth Naturalist Finn, he was passing through the swamp easily.

Still, it was difficult to get enough sleep. Johnson was a capable monster friend, but not a trustworthy one.

After resting with his eyes half-open for a long time, his mind was getting a little hazy.

‘I need to rest well when I get back.’

He felt it instinctively. The end of the exploration was getting closer.

The more he advanced through the swamp, the more corpses of explorers there were.

Half-eaten explorers floated on the swamp.

Unidentifiable creatures, whether maggots or snakes, were busily going in and out of the explorers’ holes.

You-Shin Jung looked down at the explorers’ corpses with an indifferent gaze.

The first time he saw them, he felt nauseous because of their gruesome appearance. Not anymore.

Squish. Squish.

The more he advanced, the more corpses there were that were nothing but bones.

He had never seen so many corpses.

Judging by their equipment, they were clearly mid-level explorers, but dozens of them had been wiped out so futilely.

He didn’t know anything else, but he knew that his opponent wasn’t going to be easy.

He shook his head to clear his useless thoughts and moved forward.

If Finn was right, this should be the center of the 13th floor.

If he went a little further, there would be a place with nothing but swamp stretching out without any trees.

After walking a little further, he saw a dry hill and a wooden box. There were corpses of explorers around. The Swamp Ghouls had licked them clean, leaving nothing but bones.

You-Shin Jung slowly approached the box and looked inside.

“There’s nothing here.”

You-Shin Jung tapped Johnson.

“Let’s go.”

But Johnson stood still without reacting, looking to one side.

You-Shin Jung also turned his head.

A green light sparkled in the gaps between the corpses.

You-Shin Jung slowly approached the light.

He was able to immediately identify the source of the light.

A half-broken Zweihander.

A greatsword called a two-handed sword.

You-Shin Jung crouched down in front of the green Zweihander.

‘Is this the magic sword the explorers were talking about?’

Looking closely, it was tempting.

It was clear at a glance that it wasn’t an ordinary item.

It was beautifully decorated with antique ornaments and even emitted a cold aura.

You-Shin Jung grabbed the greatsword and lifted it.

“Crazy… what is this?”

The weight was no joke. It didn’t seem to be made of ordinary iron.

Moreover, the kind of coolness was different.

It was a different feeling from Gwyn, the ice swordsman he had sparred with before.

Gwyn’s coldness felt like pure white snow.

The coldness of this greatsword had a chilling feeling that could only be felt in underground tombs where corpses were buried.

You-Shin Jung frowned.

“Is this just a magic sword or just a demon sword?”

He couldn’t hear nonsense like ‘Heh heh, do you want power?’ in his head, so it didn’t seem like it was possessed by an evil spirit.

But that thought was only for a moment, as the sword’s magic was embedded in You-Shin Jung’s head.

“Shit!!!”

Horrified, You-Shin Jung threw the greatsword on the ground, but it was too late.

The sword’s magic and incantation method were instantly engraved in his head as if they were being hammered in.

You-Shin Jung grabbed his head and groaned, then looked up.

He looked down at the Zweihander rolling on the ground.

“Is… is this even possible?”

What the hell kind of crazy sword is this?

At that moment.

KWAHHHH!!!!!

A loud noise erupted from nearby. You-Shin Jung and Johnson’s heads snapped around.

* * *

Swamp Area 13th Floor.

Central Area.

A giant fly monster, 4m tall, swung its tentacle arms.

KWAHHHHHHHH!!!!!

As the tentacles struck the swamp’s surface, water spray and mud flew into the air as if a bomb had exploded.

The frontliners were dodging here and there, not even thinking about blocking.

“Shoot!!!”

Lumi shouted, and the Huntsman Clan members busily fired arrows.

Shoooooo!!!!

But the fly-headed monster quickly hid its body beneath the surface, avoiding the arrows flying toward it.

The final target they had suddenly encountered in the middle of the floor.

A monster known as the Fly Count.

A height of 4m.

Its body was close to human form, but its arms and legs were made of tentacle bundles.

The ends of the tentacles had sharp awls.

Moreover, it occasionally shot out red light from its eyes, and if you were hit by it, your body would stiffen and you would fall down.

It didn’t fly. Instead, it moved like a ghost through the wide swamp.

Despite being over 4m tall, it would sink into the shallow swamp and then suddenly pop out somewhere else, making it seem like magic.

Lumi bit her lip tightly.

It was a much more dangerous target than she had heard. According to the Pathfinder Guild’s information, it wasn’t supposed to be this strong.

They had brought plenty of arrows with ice magic imbued in them because its weakness was coldness.

But this fly-headed bastard was cleverly moving freely through the swamp, stubbornly targeting only the ranged archers.

The situation was bleak.

They could all be wiped out if they made a mistake.

‘No. Don’t think negatively.’

In front, Mic was bravely swinging his shield, blocking the tentacle attacks one by one.

Mic’s defense skills were shining.

But the fly head didn’t seem to be affected by Mic’s taunt engraving, as it stubbornly targeted only the rear guard, moving back and forth through the swamp.

The Huntsman Clan members quickly moved and fired arrows, but their movements were bound to be slow in the swamp.

Eventually.

The fly’s tentacle struck a female explorer.

PAAAAAAAK!!!!!!

She was a young female archer, and when she was hit by the tentacle, her back was bent and she flew far away.

Splash!!!

Water splashed, and the female explorer floated on the swamp. There was no movement.

“Tia!!! Keuk!!!”

Lumi shouted and gritted her teeth.

The fly head’s red eyes gleamed.

It was as if the hunter and prey had switched places.

The demoralized frontliners retreated first.

A Huntsman Clan member grabbed one of the frontliners.

“Hey… hey!!! Where are you going?!”

The frontliner shook off the clan member’s arm.

“Are you crazy?! Catching a guy like that? Are you out of your mind?!”

“We can catch it if we work together!”

“We can’t! This isn’t going to work!”

Even amidst the division, Mic did not retreat and used his shield to block the fly head’s tentacle attacks.

Bang!!!!!

Bang!!!!!

Mic gritted his teeth.

His bones were cold every time the tentacle struck his shield. But he endured it. He had to win this fight to find his companion.

The fly head seemed to think it had completely seized victory, and it didn’t run away, swinging its tentacle bundles as much as it wanted.

Bang!!!!!!

“Keuk!!!”

Mic was pushed back. The fly head’s tentacle attack did not stop.

PAAAAAAAK!!!!!!

A tentacle that came from a blind spot struck Mic. Mic floated into the air and was thrown into the swamp.

Just as the tentacle was about to finish Mic off, flashing a sharp awl.

A green mist slowly filled the swamp lake.

A mist that emitted a cool chill.

The fly head’s body stiffened slightly.

“Need.”

Suddenly, a voice was heard from below.

The fly monster urgently tilted its head and looked down.

Not only the fly monster but also the Huntsman Clan members stopped fighting and blankly stared at one human.

It was hard to believe.

They definitely thought he was dead.

Ska.

The mixed-blood Barbaro stood next to the fly monster with a half-broken green Zweihander over his shoulder.

The shocking scene didn’t end there.

Ska was shoulder to shoulder with a ghoul.

Ska chewed on a grass root and smiled.

“Looks like you’re having a hard time. Need some help?”