It Got Stiff
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Translator: JayM
Chapter: 266
Chapter Title: It Got Stiff
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The Swamp area was a place with unforgettable memories for Jeong Yoo-shin.
It was a region where he had suffered a lot.
And it was also the place where he had shared a friendship with the Swamp Ghoul, Johnson.
"Is this the Swamp area?"
Cian, who had come out of the portal, looked around as if she was fascinated.
Between the emaciated, bare trees and the lush vines…
A red fog blocked her vision.
And the ground beneath her feet was surrounded by a muddy swamp.
Sebastian frowned.
"A bog that reaches up to the calves. Damn it."
Luther narrowed his eyes and pointed to a spot.
"Look over there."
"Hah."
Gibson let out a sound of admiration.
He could see corpses covered in red moths.
The party members slowly approached and examined the corpses.
A swarm of red moths was attached to them, munching on the flesh of the corpses.
Judging by the remaining flesh and skeleton, two were male humans and two were female beast-people.
The state of the corpses was horrific.
Hundreds of red moth larvae were clustered and swarming in their mouths and noses.
And on their exposed abdomens, swamp insects were clinging to their half-rotten innards, going in and out of them. As a bonus, they also smelled foul.
A horrific and disgusting sight.
"Ugh!"
Sebastian, unable to watch any longer, covered his mouth and turned his head away.
Cian and Luther's expressions weren’t good either.
Skar and Gibson were nonchalant.
"W-What in the world are those bugs?!"
Sebastian asked while holding back his nausea.
"It's a Swamp Moth."
Skar replied.
"A Swamp Moth?"
"It's an insect monster that lives in the Swamp area. They fly around while scattering a poisonous powder, and if you're exposed to the powder, you get sleepy and your body gets paralyzed. In the end, you lie helplessly in the middle of the swamp like this in a dazed state, and then you get eaten by the Swamp Moths until you die."
"..."
At the detailed explanation, the party members closed their mouths.
"Skar, you know a lot."
Luther asked, his eyes shining with suspicion.
"Skar’s smart! If you're stupid, you die early!"
Sebastian shook his head.
"To be taken down by a poison like that? It's absurd."
"The poison powder is hard to see because of the red fog! We have to be careful."
Cian made a faint smile and nodded.
"You've all heard what Skar said, right? It would be good to be a little bit more alert here."
The party members advanced through the swamp with crumpled expressions.
Gibson often stopped and stared at the map. He was definitely slower than on the last labyrinth trip.
Jeong Yoo-shin secretly observed the ranger’s hands and eyes.
'The symptoms of alcoholism are getting worse.'
Gibson's hands were trembling to the point where anyone could see it.
Could it be that the reason he kept stopping to take out the map was also a side effect of his alcoholism?
Jeong Yoo-shin thought that it wasn't entirely wrong, since alcoholic dementia was one of the side effects of alcoholism.
He stopped paying any more attention to the ranger and watched the swarm of Swamp Moths floating in the red fog instead.
Even though no one had said anything, Gibson had an embarrassed expression and scratched his head.
"It's quite difficult to find our way around here because of the red fog. Please understand."
"Gibson."
"Yes, Hero-nim."
"Let's talk later."
"...I understand."
Luther's expression was one of roughly guessing what was about to happen.
On the other hand, doubt and anxiety rose in Sebastian's pupils.
"Skar?"
Cian turned her head.
Skar was looking at the flying swarm of Swamp Moths with his mouth slightly open.
"Skar."
Cian approached him and placed her hand on Skar's shoulder.
Only then did Skar come to his senses.
"Huk!!! What is it, Cian?!"
"Skar? Are you alright? What were you doing, just standing there blankly?"
"I was watching the Swamp Moths!"
Cian tilted her head. Why was he observing such a disgusting monster?
'Is there a special reason?'
Her curiosity was piqued.
Then a desire to see this man's eyes welled up within her. She was sure that she would know what he was thinking if she just made eye contact with him.
But there was no way that Skar would show his face right now.
The party pushed through the red fog and advanced.
A few small Swamp Ghouls appeared, but they were cut down by Cian and Skar.
Jeong Yoo-shin's head was full of one thought.
Johannes.
An executive of the underworld clan who had achieved an Imprint Synergy.
He was around the same age as him and was already an intermediate-rank high explorer.
Rex, whom he had fought and won against in the central plaza, was also an intermediate-rank high explorer, but he hadn't achieved an Imprint Synergy. Still, Jeong Yoo-shin acknowledged that the man had gotten that far with just one strong imprint.
But it seemed difficult for him to match Johannes.
How could he fight and win against such a strong person?
Was there a way?
He racked his brain and let out a deep sigh.
There was no rest, inside and outside of the labyrinth.
'Shit.'
After the Crimson Hunters clan disappeared, it seemed that other guys were constantly getting involved with him.
'Is human trafficking such a profitable business?'
A job that never ended, no matter how many he killed.
If you looked at just the Eastern District…
These guys were no different from the monsters of the labyrinth.
Jeong Yoo-shin calmed his heart.
It wouldn't be of any help to stand on a moral high ground and curse at them.
The most important thing was strength.
The strength to overwhelm the Eastern District guys.
'I should start making a new weapon with Sacred Weapon.'
He had received the blessing of the Earth Mother Goddess and had gained the ability to bestow a 'trait' on a summoned weapon.
He wanted to make various weapons as he pleased and bestow 'traits' on them.
But it wasn't an easy task.
To be more precise…
It was close to a labor that consumed an enormous amount of mental energy.
Because it was a process of deeply understanding the characteristics of a weapon or a person, constructing it in his mind's eye, and then projecting it into the real world using his magic.
'Come to think of it, I have to level up too.'
There had been no signs of it so far because of his Mana Accumulation imprint.
The Mana Accumulation imprint was an imprint that allowed one to skip several steps at once. It was just that it was difficult to level up one step at a time.
'This is difficult. So difficult.'
How was he going to beat a guy who moved through space?
And how was he going to kill the cheat guys who would come after him next?
'There are too many guys who are better than me.'
Wasn't there anyone who could come and normalize this crazy power inflation?
Jeong Yoo-shin's eyes followed the swarm of moths again.
The sight of them fluttering over the red fog… It could be seen as beautiful at a glance, but in reality, it was horrific.
'I also survived this because I had the Venom Protection imprint.'
"Gibson, are we still far off?"
At Cian's question, Gibson answered while sweating profusely.
"P-Please wait a moment... Huk?! Enemies!"
From a distance, a swarm of Swamp Ghouls was approaching them.
They were each muttering the voices of the dead, proving how many they had eaten.
Jeong Yoo-shin raised his axe and rushed out first.
"Haaaaaaap!!!"
"Skar! Again!"
Cian's voice was heard from behind.
Sebastian and Luther's magic chants followed.
[Explosion]
Booooooooom!!!
With a loud sound, the swamp exploded, and a pillar of fire shot up over the fog.
Rotten water poured down like rain.
Jeong Yoo-shin, unconcerned, threw himself among the Swamp Ghouls.
'Experience.'
He had to kill even just a few monsters to accumulate mana particles in his body.
A large swarm of at least a hundred.
For a 4-person party with no special imprints, running away from it was the best option.
But it didn't matter to him.
Because he had fought so much in the Swamp area before.
"Mickey!!! H-Help me!!!"
"Stop!!! Stop!!!"
The Swamp Ghouls rushed in while shouting with the voices of the dead.
5 from the front.
Poisoned claws flew, aiming for his torso.
He gripped his axe and twisted his waist.
"Hup."
He planted his lower body firmly in the swamp.
And swung his axe.
Whoooooooosh!!!
The horizontally swung axe blade cut through the ghouls' bellies and severed their spines.
Splaaaaaaat!!!
Blood and chopped-up innards splattered and stuck to his body and head.
He moved quickly and snatched the upper body of a halved ghoul.
Creeeeak!!!
He grabbed its neck bone, broke it, and threw it away.
"Kueeeek!!!"
The thrown ghoul's upper body collided with the ones rushing from the front.
When the ghouls fell, a splash of water flew up again.
Jeong Yoo-shin cut through the water and took another step forward.
A downward slash.
He cut the one coming from the side in half.
Craaaaaack!!!
It was a crazy technique that could only be done with strength and a heavy axe.
But he wasn't satisfied with this.
He immediately twisted his body and swung the axe handle, striking the mouth of the one that had jumped in from the side.
Baaaaaaaaak!!!
The ghoul's jawbone broke, and its sharp teeth flew out and sank under the swamp.
Without stopping, he stuck close to the staggering ghoul and swung his fist.
Thud!!! Thud!!! Thud!!!
One in the head.
One in the ribs.
One in the liver.
Every time his thick fist struck the ghoul's body, its bones broke and shattered.
He grabbed the tattered ghoul, pulled it, and held it in his arms.
'I miss it.'
The journey with his monster friend, Johnson, suddenly came to his mind, and a laugh naturally escaped his mouth.
"Hmph."
Let's go together.
Just as he was about to push the new Johnson forward and dig into the ghoul swarm.
Cian rushed in.
"Skar!!!"
Cian grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.
Jeong Yoo-shin made a bitter smile, shook off the ghoul, and entrusted his body to Cian's hand.
"Step back!!!"
Cian pushed Jeong Yoo-shin back in the direction of their party members and held her longsword.
Woooong.
The holy power of Lux Aeterna spread from the longsword.
A bright halo of light then enveloped the longsword.
He recognized it at a glance.
'Aura Blade.'
Cian swung her longsword.
In a moment, the halo of light on the longsword lengthened and cut through the rushing swarm of ghouls.
Jeong Yoo-shin's eyes widened.
A hundred ghouls were cut in half at once.
Splaaaaaaaaat!!!
Wind filled with a thick scent of divinity pushed away the blood and innards and even blew away the red fog.
'Crazy.'
Jeong Yoo-shin glanced at the cross-section of the falling ghouls.
Even though a hundred had been cut down at once, their cross-sections were clean. It was a crazy cutting power.
And…
"Skar? Are you alright?!"
Cian's expression wasn’t tired at all. In fact, she seemed to be full of life, as if her body was just loosening up.
'She’s a monster.'
She wasn’t just a woman who didn't know what to do, with her uterus being pressed down by a cock while letting out a cute moan.
She was a terrifying holy knight who was overflowing with life even after dismembering a hundred ghouls at once.
He had heard of how strong she was, but he had never dreamed that she would be this strong.
"Skar!!!"
Cian grabbed his shoulder and shook him.
"Huh? Uh. What is it?!"
"Are you alright?"
"...I-I'm fine! By the way, what in the world was that technique just now?! Does it have a name?"
"No. Just a waist cut."
"..."
Jeong Yoo-shin was at a loss for words.
As the fight ended in an instant, the party members approached them from a distance.
"You've worked hard, Hero-nim."
Luther bowed his head with sparkling eyes. He seemed to be moved by the sight of witnessing the power of Lux Aeterna.
Gibson looked around and his eyes widened.
"I think I know where this is. There should be a red orb and a shelter nearby."
"Then we'll get rid of the red orb first. Then we'll rest a little afterwards."
Following Cian's command, the party members searched for the red orb.
Not long after, they were able to find the red orb on a dry hill.
Cian crushed it and dusted off her hands.
"Let's rest for a bit."
"Yes."
Had they walked for about 20 minutes?
The party members immediately found the shelter.
It was a small cabin in the Swamp area.
It was one of the inexplicable 'mysteries' of the labyrinth.
The party members went into the cabin, unpacked their things, ate food, and changed their clothes.
Jeong Yoo-shin came out of the cabin and stared blankly at the red fog.
His head was tingling.
The snow fluttering in Labyrinth City…
The Swamp Moths floating in the red fog…
And the sword Cian had swung.
In the quiet meditation, a single image began to form in his mind.
'Hundreds of small blades swaying in the wind, rage and cut down everything in an instant.'
His head was so hot that it felt like it was melting.
Sweat flowed down Jeong Yoo-shin's forehead.
As expected.
It wasn't easy.
But he couldn't give up now. As he was slowly refining the weapon that he would summon in his mind…
Someone interrupted him.
It was Luther, who was sitting next to him.
"Skar, what are you thinking so hard about?"
Jeong Yoo-shin smacked his lips in disappointment. His concentration had been broken because of Luther.
But it couldn't be helped.
Because Cian was changing her clothes in the cabin, all the men had to stand outside.
"I wasn't thinking about anything!"
"You had an expression as if you were in deep thought. How about you just talk it out? For example, about your past?"
Jeong Yoo-shin looked at Priest Luther.
'You bastard.'
Now he was openly trying to dig up his information.
'There's really no place to rest comfortably.'
Jeong Yoo-shin slowly opened his mouth.
"In fact, I have a worry."
"Hoh. What is it?"
Sebastian also seemed to be interested, as he was listening with sparkling eyes.
"My cock hurts."
Silence fell on the four men.
"..."
Luther had a cautious expression.
"...By any chance, did you catch a venereal disease?"
"No. My cock got stiff."
"..."
People were silent once again.
Jeong Yoo-shin inwardly tilted his head.
'What's with them?'
The atmosphere was strange.
He had prepared various dirty jokes, thinking that Luther would continue to pester him, but they seemed useless now.
Luther's face turned red.
Sebastian's face turned pale.
And Gibson began to smack his lips.
It seemed that they all had something they were pricked by or had something to think about.
Jeong Yoo-shin looked around at his party members, then he shrugged and went back into meditation.
To make a Sacred Weapon that could defeat Johannes.
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T/N - Hey guys! So it's my birthday on the May 7th. Have you prepared your gifts for me? Haha, kidding. But what I'm not kidding about is that from May 4th to May 9th, Barbarian novel's locked chapters are 50% off! So what are you guys waiting for? Go on and read! I hope you enjoy! ♥️ (5/4/26)
Lol, that’s one way to kill a conversation. But who are you fooling MC? If your dick really is stiff, it would be pretty obvious.
Also, wow, I think that was the first time Cian’s ever shown her power. Already so worried about her lover just after one night in bed? How cute. 😁
Lastly, I’m super hyped about the new weapon the MC’s making. It looks to be inspired by Cian’s Aura Blade. Can’t wait!