Chapter 302
Chapter 302
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 302
Chapter Title: Lingering Fragrance of the Flower
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Finally, just before sunset, we managed to scrape together a decent hideout. Being jungle terrain, there were plenty of spots to conceal ourselves.
Of course, that also meant plenty of stealthy ambushers lurking about... I shoved those uneasy thoughts aside and reinforced the shelter with leaves, branches, bushes, and vines.
Spring materials were abundant, so it came together better than expected.
"Watch shifts? Half and half?"
"Sounds good. Want me to take first?"
"Yeah. Sleep well."
The jungle as darkness descended.
The instant Kobson crawled into the burrow, it felt like I was the only soul left in the world. We hadn't even risked a fire to stay hidden.
Fortunately, the warm weather and muggy air kept the chill at bay.
"..."
I settled into position, peering into the gloom through a narrow slit.
—Grrrrroooo...!!!
—Urururuk...!!!
—Krrk krrk.
Nothing visible in the world veiled by night, just the doleful howls and death rattles of unknown beasts echoing through.
"Fuck."
A sinister wingbeat whirled from somewhere, and the rotting vines piled on the roof seemed to sway in a ghostly dance.
I tamped down the terror clutching my heart.
The moment fear devours you is the moment the jungle does.
Keep my head straight, and escape was possible.
We hadn't ventured that far in to begin with.
Isvant was right there ahead.
"..."
Spending the night alone in the dark was downright terrifying.
The hideout was airtight, so I wasn't exposed, but my scent? No masking that.
Suffocating time dragged on, sleep the furthest thing from my mind.
I counted seconds in my head like a chant. No moon visible inside, and even outside, the canopy would block it.
Only way to time the shift.
"Hey, fuck, wake up. Your turn."
"Ugh... mmph."
About four and a half hours in my mental clock, I shook Kobson awake.
He wormed out like an earthworm. We swapped wordlessly, and I curled up in the burrow.
Tight fit.
Hasty dig left the floor lumpy and uneven.
—Felt like being buried alive.
Like the end for kids snatched by the Sack Man grandpa.
Dunno about elsewhere, but back in my rural hometown, the Sack Man was pure nightmare fuel for kids—a monster incarnate.
That brutal old codger's house bristled with tiny holes, each just kid-sized, hundreds, thousands packed tight. Legend said he'd stuff abducted kids inside one by one and slam the lids shut.
No one knew what lurked within or where they led.
Only certainty: heavy lids sealed them tight, never to reopen.
Kids dreaded him always.
Like a beehive... that house. Maybe he was the queen bee, mad larvae writhing in the holes, devouring helpless kids into eternity.
"Ugh... no...!"
In the nightmare, I was trapped in one of those holes. Too narrow for a twitch, a horrific jar of isolation.
—Swarming Sack Man larvae.
Skeletal kids convinced devouring their new pal's flesh meant reunion with family.
Closing in every second...!
Could I survive that fray...?
"Barbarian. Up you get. Dawn's done."
"...What? Already?"
Ah, fuck.
A nasty dream after ages.
Nightmare made sleep feel fleeting. Kobson's voice yanked me back to reality.
Prying open heavy lids, the world gleamed bright.
"Then let's hunt that escape route today."
We crawled out cautiously side by side.
"Ugh, fuck, neck's killing me."
"Mine too... Dark dig wrecked my bones."
Every inch throbbed.
Head a matted mess, reeking musty. Shitty mess. Could we claw out alive today?
We picked a bearing, notched trees, crept along slow.
"Hey, stay sharp. Burn the path in your brain. Slack off, we're lost again."
"Got it locked. Eyes peeled, scenery memorized."
Petty monster ambushes cropped up, but against our chops? Bug fodder.
Butchered quick, marks precise.
Mid-march, choking down rations, jerky, gulps of water.
"Barbarian."
Kobson piped up sudden.
"What."
"Check this."
Tree pointed.
"Huh?"
"...Beats me."
A mark carved there.
What?
Why?
We just passed here?
"Barbarian. Fuck, we looped back?"
"No, no... Straight shot!"
"Then what the hell! Heart pounding, legs jelly—scary shit!"
Options aplenty...
Wrong turn circled us, lost anew. Or some other adventurer's notch.
"Yo. Chill. We been here?"
"All blends same! Damn it! Terrifying! Never homesick, but today? Kill for home."
Kobson clawed hair, jabbed the mark snarling. Tough call. Not a full loop, probably.
Other party's mark likeliest.
Laid it out; he eased up.
"Swap the mark. Unique one, ours only—no mix-ups."
"Shoulda from jump... Needless jitters."
—Slash slash.
Star etched above.
Fancy shape, no dups.
"Move."
"...Right."
Mark freshened, backtracked to scout trail.
But fuck—same bullshit hit.
"Mark... vanished?"
"What the...!"
Our mad notches? Gone everywhere! Bark regen that fast?
Bullshit!
"Lost again!"
"Fucked!"
Pathless in minutes!
Not even Crete's maze, assholes!
Scoured denying it with Kobson—zero traces.
—Pop!
Kobson leaped, spun thrice, air-punched hysterical, gasped.
"Haa... haa... Hold up. Off, Barbarian."
Face grave now, not freakout.
You're the off one.
"Straight weird. Super careful, marks galore. Yet lost nonstop? Other cause, right?"
"Other... cause?"
Other?
Side-glanced, sidled close mysterious, paused dramatic.
"...Jungle's foul magic snared us! Inescapable forest curse! Barrier trap!"
—Boom!
Lightning-strike shock!
"F-Fuck! Scary!!! "
"Scarier for me!!! Piss-pants!! Reality, though! Forest curse got us!"
"Fuck!!!! Curse!!! Bull!!!"
Held water!
Not mere disorientation—sinister force dragging us deeper, looping paths!
Sack Man redux!
Jungle kidnapping!
Tiny holes await!
Earth no mana-magic weirdness; here? Real! Willful jungle curse like Amazon lore? Plausible!
"Kieeeek!!!!"
"Zwaaaah!!!"
We erupted—screams, bounces, frenzy. Mutual mind-melt via delusions.
Panic dash imminent.
—Corpse.
Vine-leaf shroud, tree-propped stiff.
"Damn."
...Another body.
Flowers budding on raw meat again.
"Lose your shit, end up like this."
"...Yeah. Cool it."
Corpse snapped sobriety. We hack types need one to reset.
Cold scans, body check. No standout gear.
Ditched for cash?
Shabby kit, skipped rummage. Clean rags—dead under day.
"Dryad turf maybe. Bounce."
"That babe?"
"Fuck off. No babe."
"Heh. No jokes?"
Leeway back, dumb banter fleeing. Marks? Never skipped.
Inward or circles? Unknown. Straight? Opposite edge someday.
Then.
"...Huh? Snake?"
Snake-thing spotted, halt to Kobson.
—Ssslither.
Green, whip-thin but endless, inching slow.
Hack or skirt?—
—Pop!
Strike!
"Fuck you! What!"
"Uwaaah!!! The hell!!! "
—Slash!
Reflex whack: no snake!
Live vine... spells!
"Man-eating plant!!!"
"Man-eater!!!!!!!!"
Bushes parted—full horror!
Trap-mouth behemoth gaping, vine-tentacles lashing!!
—Whirrrrrl!!!!
"F-Fuck! Too wide! Barbarian! Line up!"
"Gotcha!"
Formation locked, slashed whip-vines!
—Slash!
Net-spread assault. Peak focus—Longsword Style killers carved incoming, shield held!
—Whish whish!!
Vine-capture maw-stuff style! Damn! Tentacle flora sans waifus!!!!!!
—Splat!
Thick vine low-rush! Hit? Fatal!
"Yo fuck! Pattern! Jump!!!"
"J-Jump!"
—Whoosh!
Aerial, swept floor. Land-slash next wave; Kobson saber-bisected another.
—Whirl!!
"Uh...!"
Then!
Blindside shoot—dodge—
"—U, uwaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!"
Kobson wailed!
"N-No! Kobson!!!!!"
"Save meeeeee Barrrrrbarian!!!!!!!!"
Tentacle-hoisted slow! Bound limbs, garb askew—not tame tentacles!
"Uwaaaaa!!!! Reject this tentacle trash!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I launched berserk at him.