Floor 1 of the Great Labyrinth.
Fwoosh.
Amidst the darkness, a torch flared to life.
Karin, holding the torch, surveyed her surroundings. The party members had their weapons at the ready, guarding against any threats.
Karin spoke. “We’ve been teleported far from the second floor. Let’s go.”
“Understood. Let’s move out.”
The Holy Knight took the lead, followed by Karin and Loenel. Bringing up the rear were Ahiman and Jeong Yusin.
The group moved briskly and fearlessly through the dark cave, as though accustomed to it.
About two hours of fast travel passed.
“Enemy sighted. Five hobgoblins.”
“Kreeek.”
“Kikikeke.”
The eerie sounds of the goblins mixed with Karin’s warning, echoing through the cave.
“Understood.”
The Holy Knight gripped the Zweihänder slung over his shoulder with both hands and charged forward.
Whooosh!
“GEEEK!!”
The massive sword’s horizontal swipe split three hobgoblins in one clean motion.
Phthak.
Blood splattered onto the Holy Knight’s helmet, but he paid it no mind.
Karin leapt forward, flicking her daggers.
With but a light swing, a hobgoblin’s head went flying through the air.
The last remaining hobgoblin turned to flee, but it was too late. An arrow fired by Loenel pierced the creature’s back.
Jeong Yusin silently nodded.
‘This is the bare minimum required to be considered a mid-tier explorer.’
“Let’s move.”
The Holy Knight departed without even wiping the blood off his sword.
They continued onward.
About four hours had passed when sweat began to bead down Jeong Yusin’s forehead.
“Wow, this is brutal.”
It felt as though he were carrying four fully packed military rucksacks all at once. He kept lifting his drooping head.
Clenching his teeth, he moved forward.
He had been hired for one gold coin and fifty silver pieces.
He couldn’t show any signs of fatigue.
Was it due to the week-long Labyrinth lockdown that the party had faced such a high volume of hobgoblin assaults?
The battles were the only time Jeong Yusin got to take a break from walking.
Whoosh!
The Holy Knight’s massive sword cleaved through a hobgoblin, splashing its blood across the cave wall.
Justice and order were etched into the blade’s strikes.
Even while resting, Jeong Yusin watched with keen eyes as the Holy Knight fought, soaking in every detail.
After the brief battle, the party stepped over the fallen hobgoblin corpses and moved on.
They didn’t collect ears.
Jeong Yusin glanced back at the corpses several times, feeling a sense of loss, but the party didn’t stop.
Karin’s group pressed forward without rest, reaching the edge of the first floor.
A large monument stood at the center of an open chamber.
“Hmph.”
Jeong Yusin’s body was drenched in sweat, his legs wobbling, and his breath sour. He was barely keeping his feet on the floor.
But he hadn’t fallen.
Had it not been for the level-up-induced enhancement of his body, he wouldn’t have lasted.
“We’ll rest here for a moment.”
The Holy Knight, Gilsian, stated.
‘Truly a Holy Knight.’
Jeong Yusin glanced at Gilsian.
Karin crossed her arms and scoffed, “Taking a break on the first floor? Are you already worn out? You haven’t been adapting well since we haven’t been going into the labyrinth for a while, have you?”
“…”
Karin smirked, turning to look at Jeong Yusin.
“Scath, do you want to rest?”
Karin’s sharp gaze pierced Jeong Yusin.
‘I’ve been paid; I have to pull my weight.’
“I can continue.”
Jeong Yusin answered calmly.
“Do you really think so? Do you think I hired a porter because I have money to spare?”
Gilsian silently approached the monument and placed a hand on it.
Swoosh.
A red portal and a blue portal appeared before the monument.
Karin stepped through first, followed by Gilsian, then the Elf, Loenel. Next was the mysterious sorcerer, Ahiman, and finally Jeong Yusin, who readjusted his load and stepped into the portal.
They arrived at the second floor.
Nothing had changed.
The group continued forward, and hobgoblins and Black Slimes attacked. Gilsian, Karin, and Loenel led the charge against the demons while Ahiman and Jeong Yusin stayed back and observed.
The group kept advancing without rest.
They had been walking for about half a day in their perception without stopping.
Just as Jeong Yusin’s mouth began to foam, they found a resting spot.
“We’ll rest here for today.”
Karin announced.
A small cavern nestled between the cracks of the cave walls.
The group entered.
Jeong Yusin unloaded the gear strapped to his back and distributed them to the party members. His creaking body groaned as he spread out a blanket to block the entrance and fixed the torch in the center.
Gilsian removed his helmet.
Jeong Yusin’s eyes widened.
It was a female Silver-furred Simian.
Judging by her slender face, she was female.
Her floppy, sweat-drenched ears suggested she belonged to the Canine sub-species.
‘I thought her voice sounded deeper than usual.’
Upon closer inspection, Jeong Yusin noticed a knife scar on Gilsian’s neck.
‘Ah, that explains it.’
Jeong Yusin nodded in understanding and turned away.
There was no room for further curiosity—he was too exhausted.
He untied the laces of his work boots.
His feet throbbed as though the blisters had burst.
He massaged his legs to ease the tension, relaxing his muscles.
He drank water and chewed on some jerked meat.
Watching Jeong Yusin munch away, the other members started pulling food out of their backpacks.
The quiet mealtime passed, and it was time to assign night watch duties.
“We have an alarm spell, so we don’t need separate guards, do we?”
Ahiman said.
Gilsian frowned.
“It’s probably better if we still have watch shifts.”
“Fight me. I plan to sleep deeply.”
Ahiman replied.
“Don’t argue. Gilsian, do you always have to be so stubborn? Just accept it.”
Karin’s reprimand made Gilsian fall silent.
Ahiman closed his eyes and began muttering.
Jeong Yusin’s eyes lit up.
A mysterious spell. What kind of magic was this?
Curious, he leaned in to listen to Ahiman’s incantation.
“O Great ??????, who wanders the stars and the cosmos, your humble servant requests sanctuary under the holy signs of ??? and ???, and seeks your watchful gaze here.”
Instantly, the torchlight dimmed.
An eerie silence and darkness settled over the shelter.
‘What is this?’
Jeong Yusin’s neck hairs stood on end.
A strange shadow flitted past his vision.
And then…
He felt it.
From somewhere distant.
Beyond the stars, from the graves of dead universes.
The gaze of something traversing between the voids of extinguished stars.
His body lost control, shaking involuntarily, and his teeth chattered.
Beyond the flickering light of the torch…
Bizarre, blasphemous shapes danced across the shadows projected by the wall of the shelter.
Jeong Yusin realized instinctively.
To keep his sanity intact, he had to focus on something smaller, something familiar, something human.
With great effort, he turned his neck to look around.
Gilsian gripped her sword handle tightly, glaring at Ahiman.
Karin and Loenel seemed accustomed to this phenomenon; they sat with their eyes closed.
[Abyss Realm]
When Ahiman finished his chant, the presence seemed to vanish.
No.
It remained, faintly but definitely, still present.
Jeong Yusin’s hands trembled faintly.
Something in his mind buzzed softly.
What had happened?
He thought it was just an alarm spell.
Had he been mistaken?
‘Was that a dark sorcerer?’
Ahiman opened his eyes.
His irises were completely pitch black.
“Barbaroy.”
Ahiman looked at Jeong Yusin and grinned.
“What?”
“Just testing.”
‘This guy gives me the creeps.’
Jeong Yusin felt his fingers twitch. Witnessing such an otherworldly spell had awaken a bloodthirst within him.
Jeong Yusin removed his helmet and combed his black hair back.
Conversely, Gilsian put her helmet back on and said, “Barbaroy, it’s just Ahiman’s game. Ignore it.”
Karin chuckled. “Same reaction Gilsian had the first time.”
Loenel added with a faint smile, “Indeed, Barbaroy. Gilsian nearly drew her sword, furious and ready to strike.”
Ahiman giggled.
Only Jeong Yusin failed to laugh.
‘Why is the mood suddenly so friendly?’
Jeong Yusin, utterly exhausted, leaned against the wall.
“Sure, sure. I’m sleeping.”
He wrapped himself in his robe and closed his eyes.
He could hear the murmurs of the party members conversing, but they didn’t quite register.
He was too tired.
*
“Scath, wake up.”
Someone shook Jeong Yusin’s shoulder.
Jeong Yusin opened his eyes to see Karin standing a short distance away.
“Ah, did I sleep too long?”
“Yeah, you were out like a light. Can you take care of the sword?”
Jeong Yusin looked at his hands.
He was gripping a sword. He couldn’t recall when he’d picked it up, though thinking about it, he might have done so before sleeping.
The other party members were all awake, having breakfast.
Jeong Yusin stood up, tidied his spot, and stretched.
His legs and thigh muscles felt as if they had large rocks tightly packed inside, stiff and unyielding. His feet were swollen, and his back and shoulders ached.
But he showed no sign of discomfort.
Stretching thoroughly, he drank some water and chewed on the remaining jerked meat.
Jeong Yusin accepted the party’s packs, strapping them to his back.
For some reason, it felt bearable.
The torch was switched out, and preparations to depart were completed.
Karin, holding the torch, announced, “Let’s go.”
The party of Karin and her companions fearlessly pressed forward through the darkness.
Day one. Day two. Day three.
Nothing had changed. Karin’s group continued to kill monsters while Jeong Yusin kept carrying the load and moving forward.
They passed through the second floor and broke through the third floor.
On the fourth floor.
One more floor, and they would reach the fifth floor.
The final edge of the shallow layer.
Breaking through the fifth floor would allow them to shed the label of an amateur explorer.
However, Jeong Yusin felt more apprehension than anticipation.
Karin had mentioned it before.
A new monster had appeared in the labyrinth. But for the past few days, they had only encountered hobgoblins and black slimes.
‘Are there stronger ones deeper inside?’
Walking with the torch, Karin suddenly stopped. Jeong Yusin broke his musings.
Karin sniffed the air and twitched her ears.
“Many hobgoblins. Two hobgoblin warriors. One hobgoblin shaman.”
“Plenty.”
“Get ready for battle. Ahiman, prepare.”
“Understood.”
While waiting in formation, the sound of hobgoblins laughing could be heard from the darkness.
“Kikikeke.”
“Krekeke.”
Jeong Yusin swallowed dryly. The struggle with the hobgoblin warrior was still fresh in his mind.
Even facing a single one was life-threatening, fighting two would be even harder.
Despite trying not to tense up, his body tightened automatically.
They were here.
The torchlight revealed a swarm of charging hobgoblins.
The hobgoblin warriors had something tied to their shields.
Jeong Yusin inspected it and clicked his tongue.
A naked woman.
It was unclear whether she was dead or alive.
The hobgoblins let out ear-piercing screams as they charged.
“Ahiman!”
Karin called out.
“??????!”
A massive portal sprang up above Ahiman’s head, and tentacles erupted from it, exhaling a sinister aura as they plunged into the mob of hobgoblins, seizing the hobgoblin shaman.
“Kwaak!”
The captured shaman screamed and thrashed wildly.
But it was futile.
Puuhuhud.
The tentacles squeezed the shaman, and the sound of bones snapping echoed through the cave.
But it didn’t end there.
The tentacles dragged the shaman right to the party.
“Groooek.”
With every bone in his body shattered, the shaman coughed up blood.
Shwoosh!
Gilsian’s sword accurately split the hobgoblin shaman into two.
“Let’s go!”
Karin shouted.
The hobgoblin warriors charged with their shields up front.
Loenel’s arrow whistled through the air with a thunderous noise.
Piiierreee!
“Gaaaah!”
The arrow pierced through the hobgoblin warrior’s skull and kept going, skewering the hobgoblins behind it like a shish kebab before finally stopping.
An overwhelming force.
Jeong Yusin’s eyes widened, and his mouth fell open.
‘This is what an intermediate explorer looks like?’
The remaining hobgoblin warrior hesitated, offering the captured human as a shield.
Gilsian quickly sidestepped around the hobgoblin.
A blind spot of the shield.
Gilsian swung the massive sword from below.
Whoosh!
The sword cleanly sliced off the hobgoblin warrior’s thick arm.
“Keeeiiii!”
Plunk!
The severed limb flew a long way before landing on the cave floor.
Blood喷射ed out from the cut like a fountain.
“Hyaaah!”
Karin leapt high into the air, landing on the shoulder of the hobgoblin warrior.
Shiiiiik!
As the twin daggers crossed with a flash, the hobgoblin warrior’s head thudded to the ground.
Psssshhhuuw!!
Blood喷射ed out from the severed neck like a fountain.
Karin landed back on the ground with ease.
Not a single drop of blood on her body.
Both hobgoblin warriors had been defeated.
The rest were stragglers.
What followed was one-sided slaughter.
Cut, smashed, destroyed.
The hobgoblins’ screams and groans echoed, and their blood and death throes splashed against the cave walls, spreading far and wide.
The battle ended quickly.
No one escaped. All of them had been killed by Loenel’s arrows piercing their heads and hearts.
Gilsian approached the two women tied to the hobgoblin shields.
Jeong Yusin also approached to take a look.
One of the two was recognizable.
It was Alon.
The dwarf female from the new explorer training class.
Gilsian took off her gauntlet and pressed her finger against Alon’s nose.
After a moment,
Gilsian shook her head.
She wasn’t breathing.
‘So that’s how it is.’
She’s dead.
They weren’t particularly close.
But having shared lessons and jokes during the training week, Jeong Yusin felt a pang of sentimentality at Alon’s death.
“Did you know her?”
Gilsian asked Jeong Yusin.
“Yes, she was a classmate from the new explorer training.”
“Don’t be disheartened or saddened. It’s the fate of an explorer.”
“It’s not that bad.”
Jeong Yusin drew a line.
Just a bit disheartening.
Alon’s half-open eyes remained fixed in the air.
Jeong Yusin stepped closer and gently closed Alon’s eyes.
