Chapter 196 Swamp Area
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Translator: JayM
Chapter: 196
Chapter Title: Swamp Area
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The damp air he hadn't smelled in a long time.
Jeong Yoo-shin stood quietly while holding only a dagger.
He heard nothing except for the breathing of his party members.
After waiting for a moment, Mick lifted his torch and lit up the cave.
Fwoosh.
The party members looked at each other's faces and checked each other's complexions.
They were intermediate-rank explorers. Since their tasks were set, there was no need for words.
Pete immediately gestured with his hand.
'Let's go.'
Mick nodded and took the lead.
The party members started walking.
Only the sound of their footsteps echoed quietly in the dark cave.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
About 13 days had passed since they had entered the labyrinth.
Jeong Yoo-shin and his party members stood in front of the 9th-floor Corridor area transfer stone.
Jeong Yoo-shin sheathed the longsword he was holding and looked around at his party members.
They were grimy from not being able to wash, but they were fine.
It wasn’t a strange thing.
The brothers, Pete and Meat, were excellent rear guards and guides. Their pathfinding skills, in particular, were formidable.
As soon as they stepped into the next level through the portal, they immediately grasped their current location and mapped out a route to the next level.
Their archery skills were, needless to say, top-notch as well.
It didn't seem like they had achieved an Imprint Synergy nor did they have any cheat-like imprints.
The sight of them breaking through the levels with pure skill…
The capabilities of an intermediate-rank explorer had a way of sending a chill down one's spine.
The battles were pleasant. The blood and screams belonged only to the monsters.
The arrows shot by Pete and Meat accurately pierced the monsters' vital points.
All Jeong Yoo-shin and Mick had to do was to clean up the remaining stragglers.
There was no discord among the party members either.
Pete and Meat were cheerful brothers, even if they couldn't speak properly.
Mick also didn’t have a difficult personality, and Jeong Yoo-shin was a quiet person as long as no one bothered him.
'Skar, what's up? Let's go quickly.'
When Pete gestured, Jeong Yoo-shin placed his hand on the transfer stone.
The party members took the red portal, passed through the 9th-floor Corridor area, and reached the 10th floor.
Ash Village.
In the distance, a dreary, gray village was visible.
Jeong Yoo-shin followed his party members into the village.
It was different from last time.
Lights and torches lit up the darkness on the worn-out stone walls, and quite a number of explorers were wandering around the village. There were many monster explorers as well.
As he entered the village, he felt a strange sense of incongruity.
Suspicious explorers in robes filled the alleys.
An explorer drooling and grinning was leaning against a stone wall, and his party members, who seemed to be his comrades, were standing around the crazy explorer with hollow expressions.
There was also an explorer who had laid his dead comrade down and was just blankly smoking a cigarette next to him.
There were even explorers who were fighting loudly over the treasures they had obtained in the labyrinth.
A scene of a village overflowing with blood, death, and greed unfolded continuously from its outskirts.
Jeong Yoo-shin then realized what the strange sense of incongruity was.
This place…
Was just another Eastern District inside the labyrinth.
Pete gestured as he walked down the street.
'Let's rest here for today. We've gathered enough magic stones, so we can just restock our supplies and go again.'
Jeong Yoo-shin and his party members entered a tavern in the center of the village.
He had fought the Lich Prince here last time.
He had thought that it would be a complete mess after it was all over, but seeing so many people gathered here, he felt a new sense of emotion.
The tavern was filled with explorers weary from exhaustion.
A bald man who seemed to be the owner was standing at the counter, wiping a glass.
Pete approached the counter and held out a piece of paper.
The bald man read the paper and then glanced at Pete.
"You need a lot of things. I'll only take magic stones as payment. Are you a member of the Huntsman clan?"
Nod.
When Pete acknowledged it, the bald man crossed his arms.
"The Huntsman clan members have set up a camp north of the village. Go there."
After paying with magic stones and restocking their food and supplies, they left the village and walked north.
Since all four sides were blocked, there was no need to go far.
They walked out of the village, and they saw that a few camps had been set up outside.
Pete skillfully found the Huntsman's camp.
In the center of a few tents, a bonfire was burning.
The Huntsman clan members were sitting in a circle around the bonfire.
The cat beast-person Lumi, who had been sitting, shot up and waved her hand.
"Yo! Why’re you so late? I thought my neck would break from waiting."
Pete and Meat gestured with their hands.
'We were a bit late because we were gathering magic stones for supplies.'
"Really?"
The other Huntsman clan members also recognized Pete and Meat and waved at them.
Pete and Meat sat down among the clan members, and Lumi cleared her throat and spoke.
"Ahem! Then shall we continue the meeting? According to the information from the Guide's Guild, that 'monster' is on the 12th floor."
Someone raised their hand.
"Lumi, the swamp area is famous for being wide. Was there no mention of exactly where the prey is?"
"They said that it's in a lake area far from the transfer stone."
Someone clicked their tongue.
"Tsk. There's more than one lake in the swamp area."
"There are a lot of lakes in the center of the level, right? At least we know where to go, so that's a gain. We can just move slowly from there and search the level."
"Is that so? But we'll have to search for quite a long time. It's going to be a tough road. Is there no other way?"
The Huntsman clan members began to talk in earnest.
Jeong Yoo-shin, having nothing to do, just stood there blankly.
Just then…
Mick tapped Jeong Yoo-shin on the shoulder and pointed at another bonfire. There, warriors in heavy armor were sitting together.
It seemed like the Huntsman clan had separated the vanguards and gathered them separately.
Jeong Yoo-shin and Mick approached the bonfire.
Over the burning bonfire, porridge in a pot was bubbling.
Mick picked up a wooden bowl and spoon from around the bonfire and scooped up some porridge from the pot.
Jeong Yoo-shin also followed Mick and scooped up some porridge from the pot into a wooden bowl.
He held the bowl and sat down wherever he could find a spot.
To be able to taste steaming hot food in the labyrinth…
'I'm moved.'
Jeong Yoo-shin took off his helmet, placed it in one spot, and greedily scooped the porridge into his mouth.
Jeong Yoo-shin closed his eyes and savored the taste.
Biscuits, jerky, and lard danced softly in his mouth.
"It's delicious."
It was a warm meal he hadn't had in a long time, so it went down smoothly.
The vanguards gathered at the bonfire glanced at Jeong Yoo-shin and Mick, then continued their conversation.
An old warrior spoke.
"Did you guys hear the news?"
"What news?"
"I heard that there's a buzz about a magic sword being found in the swamp."
"Where did you hear that?"
"At the tavern here. I heard that there was a knife fight."
A middle-aged warrior frowned.
"How good of an item was it to cause a knife fight?"
The old warrior shrugged.
"I don't know either. I heard it's a sword that emits a chill."
"A magic sword. How strange. But it probably isn't a great sword. Isn't it a magic sword with a limited number of uses?"
"Most of them are. But I'd like to try it once."
"You can just save up your money and buy one."
"Is it so easy to save money? Tsk. It's hard to even maintain my equipment. How can I burn expensive gold coins just to use magic once? I'd rather buy a scroll."
"Still, I'd like to try it just once."
A young warrior chimed in with sparkling eyes.
The vanguards crouched by the bonfire, their eyes sparkling, and chatted away.
Jeong Yoo-shin, who was eating his porridge, tilted his head.
'A magic sword.'
He was greedy. But not to the point of a knife fight.
It was because he could imbue 'properties' with Sacred Weapon.
'I can just copy a weapon, so why bother...?'
Of course, since he didn't have much mana, he couldn't just spam Sacred Weapons with imbued properties.
Jeong Yoo-shin finished his meal, dozed off, then laid down in the tent the Huntsman clan had designated for him and fell asleep.
For the first time in a long time, he was able to sleep soundly without being on edge.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After a few hours, the Huntsman clan members gathered again.
They had taken sufficient rest, and their supplies were restocked.
All that was left was to go to the 12th floor and start hunting.
The Huntsman clan members swarmed toward the transfer stone.
They gathered with their party members in front of the transfer stone.
First, Lumi's party placed their hands on the transfer stone.
Fwoooosh.
A blue portal and a red portal were created.
Lumi waved her hand and stepped into the red portal.
"Pete, come quickly this time. If you're late, there won't even be any fish bones left."
Pete and Meat had angry expressions.
After all of Lumi's party members had stepped into the portal, it closed a moment later.
Next was Pete and Meat's party.
When Mick touched the transfer stone, a red portal was created.
Mick went through first, and Jeong Yoo-shin immediately stepped into the portal after him.
Vwoooom.
His vision blurred, and a ringing sound filled his ears.
Strange.
It hadn't been this bad when he took a portal before.
He was dizzier than usual. Should he say he felt like a piece of laundry that had been put in a washing machine and spun several times?
"Oh?!"
Splat!!!
As soon as he came out of the portal, Jeong Yoo-shin lost his balance and was plunged into the swamp floor.
The foul water of the swamp filled his helmet.
Jeong Yoo-shin, who had swallowed a mouthful of the rotten water, flailed and stood up.
"Ugh!!! Ptui!!! What?!"
His backpack and his whole body were wet, but he couldn't care less.
Jeong Yoo-shin regained his balance and lifted his head.
The scene of the swamp area unfolded before his eyes.
A crimson sky and withered, twisted trees.
And a thick, blood-red fog that covered the land and the forest that was obscuring the swamp.
Jeong Yoo-shin looked around.
No matter how long he waited, no one came out of the portal.
'What?'
Fwoosh.
The red portal disappeared.
Jeong Yoo-shin's expression hardened.
Fuck.
What the hell was going on?!
His panic was short-lived.
Jeong Yoo-shin calmly collected himself and organized his thoughts.
This was definitely the swamp.
For some reason, he had been separated from his party members.
Even though he had the Bond of Unity.
The Bond of Unity.
The receptionist who had given him the Bond of Unity came to his mind.
'That bastard?'
Why in the world?
An employee working at the Explorer's Guild headquarters would screw him over like this?
'No.'
He didn't know yet. There must have been a misunderstanding. It was a situation that didn't make sense.
He stopped thinking.
He didn't have time for this.
It was because of the 'law' of the swamp area.
The law of this area was 'Solitude'.
The law of the swamp was simple. If you were alone, your sanity would decrease. If you went further, you would see illusions and eventually go mad.
You could only maintain a sound mind if there was a being with 'thoughts' next to you.
In order to not be consumed by madness, he had to meet someone.
Jeong Yoo-shin quickly walked on the sticky swamp and the sparsely located dry land.
A world completely dyed crimson.
On top of that, his vision was blocked by a thick, blood-red fog, and he couldn't see an inch in front of him. Since he had no guide, it was difficult to find his direction.
Jeong Yoo-shin gritted his teeth and walked straight.
Was this the 11th floor?
Or was it the 12th floor?
He didn't know anything.
How long had he walked?
He heard the sound of someone's conversation from in front of the rotten swamp.
Fuck. He was saved.
As expected, the heavens hadn’t abandoned him.
Jeong Yoo-shin cautiously walked toward the chattering voices.
"Tir, what should we eat first when we get out?"
"I just want to sleep."
He heard the voices of a man and a woman.
Jeong Yoo-shin was inwardly relieved and cleared his throat.
"Ahem!"
"..."
A brief silence passed. But the conversation continued again.
"Tir, be careful."
"Don't worry, Selly."
"Excuse me."
Jeong Yoo-shin spoke to them.
The conversation continued again.
"Selly, run first."
"How can I leave you behind?"
As he got a little closer, he heard a munching sound.
What was he supposed to run from?
And why was the conversation so emotionless?
"P-Please save me."
He then heard a woman's voice, devoid of any emotion.
Crunch, crunch.
Munch, munch.
Jeong Yoo-shin broke through the fog and stepped into the place where the conversation was coming from. The smell of blood wafted over to him.
There…
Something naked was hunched over and munching on something.
A human?
No.
It was in the form of a human, but it wasn’t a human.
That ‘something’ turned its head.
A body with pale white skin that was completely exposed.
Abnormally large eyes.
A wide, torn mouth.
Sharp teeth and a tongue that looked like a tentacle.
The other side was a monster.
He knew it from reading a book…
It was a Swamp Ghoul.
"Fuck!"
Jeong Yoo-shin immediately drew his sword.
The Swamp Ghoul turned its head, saw Jeong Yoo-shin, and smiled brightly. A worm-like tongue was dancing in its wide-open mouth.
"P-Please save me. Kiki!!!"