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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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Jeong Yoo-shin looked around at the horrified explorers.
Wasn’t this a familiar phenomenon?
Monsters gathering together.
It was exactly what happened before an Eldritch Wave.
He was a bit annoyed at seeing them frozen in fear, as if they had already given up.
“Who are you?”
Huris, the dark elf, asked Jeong Yoo-shin.
But someone else answered. Matt, the human who had been fighting alongside Jeong Yoo-shin, spoke up.
“This is the guy they call the virgin barbarian of Labyrinth City.”
The dark elf scratched his chin.
“I think I’ve heard of him before. Are you sure?”
“At least, that’s how he fought.”
Since the dark elf still looked suspicious, Jeong Yoo-shin took off his helmet.
His sweat-soaked black hair tumbled down.
“He really is a barbarian. Small for one, though. A half-blood?”
“That’s not important. I think this is what happens right before an Eldritch Wave.”
The dark elf frowned at Jeong Yoo-shin’s assertion.
“What’s your basis? I heard you were a novice explorer. Don’t act like you know everything and just be quiet. This isn’t a place for a newbie.”
‘What the fuck?’
Jeong Yoo-shin turned to look at Iron Mask.
What he was about to say was related to the party’s request. If he spoke without the leader’s permission, it would reflect poorly on Iron Mask.
He couldn’t do that.
Iron Mask, understanding the meaning of Jeong Yoo-shin’s gaze, gave a small nod.
As a former crown prince, he was incredibly perceptive.
Jeong Yoo-shin ran a hand through his hair and spoke.
“We received a request.”
The dark elf, the dwarf, and the human’s attention focused on Jeong Yoo-shin.
Jeong Yoo-shin explained quickly, as there was no time to waste.
“…To bury holy relics in specific locations on the 7th floor and disperse the abyssal mana accumulated in the floor. If you connect this request to the current situation, it’s a reasonable deduction.”
The other explorers, having recovered the remains of their party members, had gathered around.
They started murmuring amongst themselves.
“Holy shit.”
“What should we do?”
“We have to rescue the captured party members.”
“How? If they’ve been captured, they’re already dead. And 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 want to leave!”
Some grabbed each other by the collars and started fighting.
Others stared blankly at the ground.
The female dwarf turned to look at the male elf mage standing behind her.
The elf’s robe was stained with blood from recovering their companion’s body.
“Karis, what should we do? You’re from the Magic Tower, so you must know something. Wasn’t the Magic Tower the first to name this phenomenon?”
Karis, the male elf, rubbed his forehead.
“It’s a possibility. There’s no way the Magic Tower and the temple would issue such a request for no reason. Of course, they probably didn’t anticipate this phenomenon.”
The elf sighed and shook his head.
“Sigh. If a black portal had appeared at the 6th-floor teleportation stone, I could be more certain, but there’s no way to know for now.”
Matt stroked his chin.
“Let’s assume for now that it’s a precursor to an Eldritch Wave. There must be a reason why they gave out this request.”
Jeong Yoo-shin crossed his arms and looked around. He didn’t know when they had arrived, but everyone was now gathered and were staring at him.
“Help us bury the holy relics.”
“I thought you’d say that. But where should we bury them? We don’t know the locations.”
“Mars.”
Mars stumbled forward and unfolded his map.
The 7th floor was roughly outlined on the old paper.
Mars pointed at the three locations marked with stars.
“There’s one nearby, to the south. One to the northwest. And the last one is further north, past the Central area.”
Huris, the dark elf, looked at the map and clicked his tongue.
“Tsk. That’s too far. Wouldn’t it be faster to just escape the labyrinth? And is there any guarantee that burying the holy relics will disperse the mana? No, why would we even bury valuable holy relics in the labyrinth in the first place?”
“It’s a request from the Temple of the Wind God. It’s experimental, but I don’t think it’s something we can ignore.”
“I understand you blindly trusting the temple as a novice explorer, but you’re too naive.”
‘This bastard.’
The dark elf was getting on his nerves.
He would tolerate it just one more time.
He made a mental note and continued.
“If you don’t believe me, let’s go bury a holy relic nearby. If it works, we can stop the Eldritch Wave. We can also prevent another large-scale monster attack.”
Everyone nodded, seemingly agreeing with Jeong Yoo-shin.
They would normally dismiss such claims, but the explorers, devastated by the loss of their companions, needed a purpose.
They stood up and packed their belongings. They couldn’t carry the bodies.
They were too heavy.
Following Mars’s lead, all the explorers headed south.
Iron Mask’s party was in the lead, followed by Matt’s party, the dwarf’s party, and finally, the dark elf’s party.
They passed through the dark, dense forest and arrived at another clearing.
Everyone felt it.
A chilling mana permeated the clearing like a wave.
Jeong Yoo-shin felt it too.
‘Is this the mana emanating from the abyss of the labyrinth?’
He had thought it was just the low temperature of the labyrinth, but perhaps it was something more.
Matt approached them.
“Do you know the exact location?”
“I heard that we can bury it anywhere nearby.”
Jeong Yoo-shin took the metal box out of his bag.
Since there was a mage from the Magic Tower nearby, he wanted to ask something.
“Can you read the characters on this box?”
The elf mage narrowed his eyes and stared at the characters for a long moment.
His eyebrows twitched slightly.
“…No. I can’t read them.”
“They said that it’s an ancient language.”
“Similar, but not quite.”
“You can’t read it?”
The elf rubbed his forehead.
“It looks like a cipher. Don’t underestimate labyrinth mages. We spend more time figuring out how to kill efficiently than reading books.”
‘Scary.’
Jeong Yoo-shin, slightly intimidated by the sharp warning, closed his mouth.
Several people took out shovels and started digging.
Since they didn’t know how deep to dig, they dug down to about thigh-depth, placed the box inside, and buried it.
They waited.
“…”
Silence.
Huris, the dark elf, couldn’t stand the silence and sighed deeply.
“Sigh. What a waste of time. Half-blood barbarian, you bastard…”
The dark elf stopped mid-sentence.
A massive surge of mana rippled through the air.
Rumble!!!
An unprecedented amount of mana swirled around the buried box like a storm and began to rise.
Whoosh!!!
The powerful flow of mana pulled at them. It was strong enough to lift them into the air.
“Stay low!”
“Hold hands!”
“Whoa!!! I’m being lifted!”
The terrified explorers clung to the ground as they struggled to stay grounded.
About three minutes passed.
The concentrated mana dispersed and slowly subsided.
The disheveled explorers slowly looked up at the sky.
It was still a dim, brownish color, but the ominous feeling had lessened slightly.
Jeong Yoo-shin stood up and glared at the dark elf.
He had missed his chance due to the mana storm, but he had to speak his mind.
“You dark-skinned elf bastard. What was that tone? You little shit, you’re practically invisible in the dark. Stop showing your true colors.”
Gnash!!!
The dark elf glared at Jeong Yoo-shin, his eyes bloodshot.
“Skar, that’s too much.”
Iron Mask intervened.
“I apologize. I lost my temper for a moment. I’m not usually the type to discriminate based on skin color. I misspoke.”
Jeong Yoo-shin apologized, his expression returning to normal.
He, a 21st-century citizen at the forefront of political correctness, had uttered unspeakable words.
‘Sigh. The darkness of the labyrinth is getting to me again.’
Jeong Yoo-shin corrected his politically incorrect thoughts.
“…It was true.”
Matt muttered with a dazed expression.
“It really was a precursor to an Eldritch Wave.”
Jeong Yoo-shin looked around at the people.
‘They’ll believe anything I say now.’
He had skillfully manipulated their grief and despair, replacing it with a single goal: survival. They were now willing to follow him anywhere.
And there was proof that his hypothesis was correct.
He realized he couldn’t stop them.
No.
There was no need to stop them. They could mourn after they escaped the labyrinth.
Jeong Yoo-shin clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.
“Alright, everyone. Mars will mark the locations on your maps. Go there, dig a hole, and bury the holy relics.”
People nodded enthusiastically.
The female dwarf spoke up.
“It’s inefficient to move everyone at once. We don’t have time. It’s better to split into two parties.”
“Let’s do that.”
Matt and Huris’s parties combined to form a seven-member party.
Iron Mask and the dwarf’s party combined to form a six-member party.
Unsurprisingly, Huris, the dark elf, was the guide. Mars approached them and marked the locations on Huris’s map.
It was quite a distance to the north.
Huris knew this, but he didn’t say anything. His party was relatively intact and had one more member.
Besides, the northern location was closer to the teleportation stone. If necessary, he could use Matt’s party as a decoy and escape.
Iron Mask took a holy relic from his backpack and handed it to Matt.
“I’ll leave it to you.”
Matt carefully took the holy relic and put it in his backpack.
“Leave it to me. I’ll make sure it’s done.”
The two men exchanged glances.
‘Sigh. I want to join them.’
Heavily armored human warriors interacting.
Jeong Yoo-shin suddenly felt a strong urge to join them.
He immediately shook his head.
This wasn’t the time. It was time to prepare and move.
Huris’ party packed their belongings and quickly left the clearing.
Mars, turning his gaze away from the departing party, looked at his map.
“We landed on the southern edge. The next location is a clearing to the northwest. Fortunately, it’s relatively close.”
“Let’s go.”
Iron Mask said while shouldering his greatsword.
Mars led the way.
They continued through the forest without rest.
They walked for seven hours straight.
Yet, no one suggested taking a break.
They knew that if they rested and relaxed, they would inevitably think about the dead.
They pushed themselves while sweating profusely as if they were punishing themselves.
Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, they didn’t encounter any monsters.
Iron Mask and the dwarf’s party finally reached another clearing.
They took out the holy relic from Mars’ pack, buried it, and then took a breath.
They didn’t feel the same surge of mana as before.
“Now all that’s left is for Huris’s party to bury their holy relic.”
“Let’s head north and join them. We need to confirm whether they succeeded or failed.”
They agreed and headed north.
They walked for two days straight.
No one spoke.
If Huris’s party had succeeded, the monsters should have dispersed, but they didn’t see any monsters anywhere.
An eerie, unsettling feeling crept in, weighing down on the party members.
On the third day…
They arrived at the clearing where Huris’ party should have been.
“Why is it so quiet?”
Mars muttered, then covered his nose.
“Ugh!!! What’s that horrible smell!!!”
Jeong Yoo-shin also held his breath.
The smell of rotten eggs and fish mixed together. The stench made his stomach churn.
Could it be…?
The cat beast-person’s words flashed through his mind.
‘There’s a Forest Troll roaming around on the 7th floor.’
Shit.
Jeong Yoo-shin lowered his body and carefully peeked through the bushes.
And then he saw it.
A gigantic figure sitting with its back turned.
Jeong Yoo-shin’s eyes widened.
It was holding a human woman in its hand.
‘Who is that?’
Wasn’t she the archer from Huris’ party?
The woman’s mouth moved as if she was trying to speak, but she couldn’t move and could only tremble.
The giant lifted the woman and grabbed her by the crotch.
And then slowly spread her legs. As if it was savoring the moment.
The woman’s eyes welled up with tears, and she shook her head desperately. But no sound came out.
The troll tightened its grip.
Rip!!!
The woman was torn in half.
Splat!!!
Her entrails spilled out along with her blood, and the giant devoured them as if savoring a delicacy.
“Fuck.”
Jeong Yoo-shin cursed.
There was no mistaking it.
The massive size.
The pungent stench.
The mushrooms on its back.
It was a Forest Troll.
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T/N – Well, I expected this the moment the Forest Troll was mentioned in a previous chapter. Though that was a horrible way to go.
If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.
Ohh, Chekhov’s troll showed up pretty quickly, huh?