Jeong Yusin looked up at the black-haired man.
Barbaroy.
He was certain he had spotted this guy from afar during Karin’s last party.
‘This isn’t the guy I saw before.’
However, the man standing right before him was even worse than the one from before.
An overwhelming pressure. It was hard to even breathe.
Why was he here?
He had heard that the Eastern Sector’s red-light district had sealed him away.
“Shit.”
The black-haired man didn’t take his eyes off Jeong Yusin. Instead, he narrowed them and scrutinized him closely.
“…After hearing that a new recruit had come after three or four years, I thought I’d check out the face. Is this sympathy? Did you really receive proper upbringing?”
“Is there a problem?”
“A big one. Do you happen to have an issue with your manhood?”
“No.”
“Then why don’t you seek a bride?”
“That’s my business. Don’t meddle.”
“Are you insane? I don’t want to talk to you anymore. Leave a message for the Guild Master. Think carefully about our ‘proposal.'”
The black-haired man walked past Jeong Yusin.
The smell of semen strongly wafted from the woman hanging off the man’s shoulder.
‘Who is this woman?!’
Wasn’t she the glasses-wearing receptionist he had met during Kael’s first party?
Her whole body, not just her hair, was drenched in semen; he almost didn’t recognize her.
Her glasses were nowhere to be found. Her tongue was bitten, her eyes rolled back, and she was mumbling incoherently.
The black-haired man entered the Explorer’s Guild and left.
Bang.
The sound of the door closing. The atmosphere around was still heavy with silence.
Jeong Yusin sighed deeply.
“Hmm.”
“Scath.”
Iron Mask called out Jeong Yusin’s name.
Jeong Yusin nodded and turned his body.
“I must go.”
He couldn’t just stand by and watch.
“Let’s go together.”
“No. This is something I must handle. You there, can I borrow your sword?”
“Yes… Yes Yes!!!”
In an instant, those who had been mocking and picking fights with him earlier responded with utmost deference.
He received a long sword from a human man of similar height.
There was no need to hesitate.
Pushing open the guild’s door, he stepped out.
The black-haired man was just a few steps away, looking around as if searching for another hole.
“Kuaaaah!!! He’s here!!!”
“Guards!!! Guards!!!”
“Huhuuuuuk!!! Divine Spirits of Eternity, shower us with your light…!”
The streets were plunged into chaos.
Some sought a deity.
Others loudly called for guards.
Still others burst into tears.
In short, it was a swirling scene of panic and pandemonium.
“Barbaroy!!!”
Jeong Yusin, with sword in hand, cried out.
Barbaroy, carrying the woman on his shoulder, stopped in his tracks.
“Is there anything else you want to say?”
“Leave the woman behind.”
“Is she your mate?”
“No.”
“Then why tell me to leave her?”
“Crazy guy. Aside from whether she’s a mate or not, who in their right mind attacks people in broad daylight?!”
“I’ve done nothing wrong. This woman shook her hips and tried to seduce me.”
“I can’t listen to this anymore.”
Ziiiiing.
Jeong Yusin drew his sword.
It didn’t matter how strong this guy was.
Honestly, he didn’t give a damn about that woman.
How much discrimination and disdain had he endured because of these kinds of people?
Just thinking about it made his indignation rise.
“Die.”
Jeong Yusin charged forward.
The strength gained from leveling up shone through.
Boooom!!!
With all his might, he pushed off against the ground, cracking the street’s brick surface.
An uppercut slash.
Ziiiish!!!
The sword gleamed as it split the air. The target was Barbaroy’s head.
Right before Jeong Yusin’s sword was about to split Barbaroy’s face,
The man simply bent his index finger and
flicked it.
Tiiiing!!!
The sword broke into two, and Jeong Yusin’s hands shot up to the sky.
‘Mad…!’
An incredible repelling force.
His hands convulsed as if struck by lightning. The grip on his sword was shredded, and blood dripped out.
“Hooh.”
Barbaroy looked down on Jeong Yusin as if observing a curious animal.
“You didn’t let go of the sword, did you? You don’t seem to be entirely hopeless.”
“Son… of a bitch!”
“Hybrid friend, I didn’t intend to say this, but my mind has changed. Have you looked in a mirror recently?”
What the hell was this guy babbling about?
Barbaroy continued speaking.
“Look at your expression and behavior. Your anger is bubbling over your balls. And your eyes? They’re clouded with the ‘darkness’ of the Labyrinth. You’re barely managing to hold it back.”
“So what are you trying to say?”
“Have sex.”
“…”
“Like how birds must fly and fish must live in water, you must have sex.”
“You do it.”
“Hmph. Young hybrid, listen carefully. When you’re full of anger, you make mistakes. Your sword, your tone, and your actions all point to one thing. The end is near. It’s perilously close.”
“I know how to manage myself.”
Barbaroy calmly lowered his gaze to Jeong Yusin.
“Do you really? Do you think you can endure the pressure of exploring the Labyrinth with food and alcohol?”
Jeong Yusin’s face tightened.
‘This bastard.’
He felt like this guy had been observing him for quite some time.
He recalled the tension he felt months ago when someone started lingering nearby.
Had he already figured everything out?
As always, the Labyrinth City left no room for complacency.
At that moment,
Clak!
Someone pushed through the crowd and stepped forward.
A healthy, tanned brown complexion.
Wearing a tank top on top and loose baggy pants on bottom.
A familiar face.
He had met him during the rookie Explorer training. The leader of the Southern Sector Explorer’s Guild.
Ursula.
The crowd called out.
“President Ursula has arrived!”
“Where have you been until now?!”
Ignoring the comments from the surrounding people, Ursula kept her focus on Barbaroy.
“Holy cow. Went to the headquarters and came back to find this happening? Really, there’s no time to rest.”
“Are you here?”
Barbaroy waved his hand as a greeting. Upon seeing this, Ursula frowned.
“We aren’t close enough to exchange friendly greetings. Barbaroy, leave our guild member behind.”
“…Alright, it was a good hole.”
Barbaroy surprisingly gave up without resistance. But he didn’t stop there and brought up another matter.
“Guild Master, what about the proposal we brought up last time?”
“I’m considering it.”
“Time keeps moving. Don’t do something you’ll regret. Isn’t it a good offer for both of us?”
“Did you sneak into my office to get the answer?”
Barbaroy smirked.
“Our kind is a bit shy in the bright daylight.”
“Go back to the red-light district. Are you insane?”
“Alright. Here, take her. Hybrid.”
Barbaroy threw the receptionist, drenched in semen, towards Jeong Yusin.
Jeong Yusin looked at the receptionist flying towards him and stepped aside.
Thud!
Ursula quickly jumped in and caught the receptionist instead of Jeong Yusin.
“…”
Barbaroy and Ursula silently stared at Jeong Yusin.
The people in the streets also watched Jeong Yusin’s behavior with their mouths open.
Jeong Yusin scratched his head.
“I’m sorry. We’re not that close.”
“Still, wouldn’t you catch a person, right?”
Realizing he had been a bit cold-hearted, Jeong Yusin felt a little sorry.
“Sorry. After considering, I seemed a bit heartless.”
The people in the street regained their senses and began whispering.
“That was… quite right, wasn’t it?”
“He seemed righteous, but I guess he’s not that simple.”
Jeong Yusin’s face slightly turned red.
He wasn’t the type to be overly cautious, but the receptionist’s whole body was covered with semen.
The sticky semen was still dripping from her genitals. A sane person would naturally back away first and reassess the situation.
The people seemed to think differently.
Barbaroy carefully examined Jeong Yusin and turned his body.
“Wow. The more I look at you, the stranger you seem. Ursula, let’s discuss the answer later.”
“Hurry back before the Committee reports.”
“Hmph.”
Barbaroy bent his knees and jumped upward.
Boom!!!
The street’s bricks shattered, scattering fragments everywhere.
Barbaroy’s figure soared into the sky and lightly landed on the rooftop of a tall building.
‘What is this?!’
Jeong Yusin’s mouth dropped wide open.
Was he dreaming or awake?
How could a person reach the rooftop of such a tall building with a single jump?
A superhuman exceeding the limits of a normal person.
The people on the street also stared at his silhouette with their mouths agape.
“Damn, just quietly pass through an alleyway.”
Ursula muttered.
Barbaroy atop the rooftop looked down at Jeong Yusin and spoke.
“Your name was Scath, right? Let’s see each other again.”
At the eerie farewell from Barbaroy, Jeong Yusin’s expression stiffened.
“Let’s not.”
Jeong Yusin’s firm reply echoed through the streets.
Barbaroy snickered and said,
“No penis sight.”
???
Barbaroy, uttering some strange sexual harassment, disappeared between the rooftops.
‘What did I just hear?’
Dropping his guard and talking about private parts in front of everyone?
There’s something wrong with him. Had the madness of the Labyrinth driven him over the edge too?
A villain among villains.
Dream-inducing frightening people.
Even after Barbaroy disappeared, the people on the street were uneasy and mumbled anxiously.
“Guild Master.”
Regaining his senses, Jeong Yusin bowed deeply to Ursula.
“Were you alive all along? You’re a long-lived hybrid.”
Ursula’s cryptic words. However, Jeong Yusin instantly understood and bitterly smiled.
Long-lived.
That was true. Most of his classmates from the rookie explorer training had died during the Eldritch Wave.
“Good fortune.”
“In this field, luck is also a skill.”
“That’s true. Since you’re quite busy, I’ll take my leave now.”
“Go ahead.”
Jeong Yusin paused and glanced at the receptionist in Ursula’s arms.
“Do you recognize her?”
Ursula asked.
“I’ve seen her around. I’m indebted to her as well.”
He owed her from the Kael Party onwards, though not in a good way. He almost died several times because of her.
Despite that,
Now, it seemed a bit pitiful to see her soaked in semen in Barbaroy’s grip.
‘Nothing good, it’s karma.’
Jeong Yusin turned his head and searched for his friend standing on one side of the street. Iron Mask waved his hand, and Jeong Yusin approached him.
“Iron Mask, let’s go. It doesn’t seem like the promotion will conclude today.”
“That’s true. We’re causing unnecessary trouble. Sorry.”
Iron Mask apologized.
Jeong Yusin shrugged.
“I was planning to check out their faces anyway.”
“Still, his strength was terrifying. How did he jump so high in an instant?”
While Jeong Yusin and Iron Mask were talking and getting ready to move,
An Explorer was standing blankly in a corner of the street.
That’s right.
Almost forgotten.
Jeong Yusin walked towards the Explorer and handed him the broken sword.
“You used it well.”
“My sword…”
The Explorer looked at the sword and made a sad face.
‘You’re also due for karma.’
Jeong Yusin tapped the Explorer gently on the shoulder once and left.
On the way, he parted ways with Iron Mask and returned to the inn alone.
Creak.
Upon opening the door and entering, a fierce scene greeted his eyes.
The inn was packed with people but as silent as a graveyard. Most were armed with rugged and mismatched clothing.
Somewhere familiar.
A middle-aged man with his hair combed back saw Jeong Yusin and slowly rose from his seat.
“Are you that black-haired young man?”
Jeong Yusin stared silently at the middle-aged man for a moment and spoke.
“That’s me.”
The middle-aged man smiled and said,
“Owner, I’ve heard that we owe you.”
The moment the man spoke, the inn was filled with an oppressive silence.
A vein bulged on Jeong Yusin’s forehead.
“Damn these bastards.”
Being visited by random people kept igniting his inner rage,
Wait.
Was this cause for anger?
They could’ve come for another reason. Was he overreacting?
Suddenly, Barbaroy’s words from before flashed through his mind.
“Have sex!”
