30. An Explorer's Fate
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Translator: JayM
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: An Explorer's Fate
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The first level of the Great Labyrinth.
Whoosh.
A torch flared to life in the darkness.
Karin held the torch and looked around.
The other party members drew their weapons as they scanned their surroundings.
“We’ve been transported far from the entrance of the second level. Let’s go.”
“Understood. Let’s move.”
The paladin took the lead, followed by Karin and Lionel. Ahiman and Jeong Yoo-shin brought up the rear.
They walked through the dark cave at a brisk pace as if they had done this many times before.
They walked quickly for about two hours.
“Enemies. Five goblins.”
“Kreeek.”
“Kee keh keh.”
Karin’s warning and the sinister laughter of the goblins echoed throughout the cave.
“Understood.”
The paladin gripped his zweihander with both hands and charged forward.
Karin followed close behind while Lionel nocked an arrow on his longbow.
The paladin swung his great sword horizontally.
Whoosh!
“Keeek!!”
The great sword sliced through three goblins.
Splatter.
Blood splattered on his helmet, but the paladin didn’t flinch.
Karin dashed forward, her daggers flashing.
With a flick of her wrist, a goblin’s head flew through the air.
The last goblin turned to flee, but it was too late. Lionel’s arrow pierced its back.
Jeong Yoo-shin nodded impassively.
‘That’s what an intermediate-rank explorer should be like.’
“Let’s move.”
The paladin, without even bothering to wipe the blood off his armor, continued on his way.
They walked again.
About four hours passed.
Sweat trickled down Jeong Yoo-shin’s forehead.
‘Wow. This is… intense.’
He felt like he was carrying four backpacks at once. Oh wait…
He lifted his head, which kept drooping from exhaustion.
He gritted his teeth and continued walking.
He had received one gold coin and fifty silver coins as payment.
He couldn’t complain.
Perhaps it was due to the week-long labyrinth closure, there were many goblins.
The brief battles were the only times he could stop and rest.
Slash!
The paladin’s great sword sliced through a goblin, splattering blood on the cavern wall.
A sword strike imbued with law and order.
Jeong Yoo-shin watched the paladin’s movements intently even while resting.
The short battle ended, and they continued on their way, past the goblin corpses.
They didn’t collect the ears.
He glanced back at the corpses longingly, but the party didn’t stop.
They reached the center of the first level without any rest.
He saw the large stone monument in the middle of the chamber.
“Phew.”
He was drenched in sweat, his legs trembled, and his mouth was dry.
He could barely stand.
But he didn’t collapse.
He wouldn’t have lasted this long without the physical enhancements from his level up.
“Let’s rest here for a moment.”
Gillian, the paladin, said.
‘He’s a true paladin.’
Jeong Yoo-shin glanced at Gillian.
Karin crossed her arms.
“Rest on the first level? Are you already tired? Are you out of shape after being away from the labyrinth for so long?”
“…”
Karin chuckled and turned to Jeong Yoo-shin.
“Skar, do you want to rest?”
Her sharp gaze pierced him.
‘I have to earn my keep.’
“I can keep going.”
He replied calmly.
“He says he’s fine. Do you think I hired a porter because I have money to burn?”
Gillian then silently approached the monument and placed his hand on it.
Whoosh.
The red and blue portals appeared.
Karin entered first, followed by Gillian, Lionel, and Ahiman. Jeong Yoo-shin adjusted the packs on his back and stepped into the portal.
They arrived at the second level.
Nothing had changed.
They continued walking, encountering goblins and black slimes along the way.
Gillian, Karin, and Lionel took care of the monsters.
Ahiman and Jeong Yoo-shin remained in the back, observing.
They pressed onward.
It felt like they had been walking for half a day without rest.
Just as Jeong Yoo-shin was about to collapse, they found a rest area.
“Let’s stay here for the night.”
Karin said.
A small chamber hidden behind a gap in the cavern wall.
They entered the chamber.
Jeong Yoo-shin took off the packs and distributed them among the party members.
Then, with aching muscles, he spread out some blankets to cover the entrance of the rest area and stuck a torch in the middle of the chamber.
Gillian removed their helmet.
Jeong Yoo-shin’s eyes widened.
It was a beast-person with silver fur.
Judging by their delicate features, she was a female.
And judging by her drooping ears, she was a dog beast-person.
‘But her voice was so deep.’
He noticed a scar on Gillian’s neck.
‘I see.’
He nodded in understanding and looked away.
He was too exhausted to be curious.
He untied his work boots.
His feet throbbed. He probably had blisters on his feet.
He massaged his legs and stretched.
He drank some water and chewed on some jerky.
Seeing him eat, the others also took out their food and began to eat.
After a quiet meal, it was time to decide on the watch order.
“I’ll cast an alarm spell, so there’s no need for a watch.”
Ahiman said.
Gillian frowned.
“I think it’s better to have someone on watch.”
“Do it yourselves then. I need to sleep.”
Ahiman replied.
“Don’t fight. Gillian, are you going to do this every time? Just accept it.”
Gillian fell silent at Karin’s rebuke.
Ahiman closed his eyes and began to mutter.
Jeong Yoo-shin’s eyes lit up.
A mystic spell?
What kind of magic was it?
Curiosity got the better of him, so he listened intently to Ahiman’s chant.
“Oh great 𐒗𐒚𐒥𐒚𐒠𐒏 who wanders the stars and the cosmos, your faithful servant desires to dwell within the sanctuary of 𐒥𐩓𐨩𐨀𐆉𐅗𐆃. So watch over this place beneath the 𐆅𐆉𐅯 and the 𐠱𐠫𐠖.”
The torchlight flickered and dimmed.
A strange quiet darkness descended upon the rest area.
‘What’s happening?’
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
A strange shadow flickered in his peripheral vision.
And then…
He felt it.
From a distant place…
From the graveyard of the cosmos, beyond the universe…
The gaze of something that wandered among dead stars.
His body trembled uncontrollably, and his teeth chattered.
Beyond the faint torchlight…
Strange, blasphemous shapes danced in the shadows on the walls of the rest area.
He knew instinctively that he had to look at something human to maintain his sanity.
He had to avert his gaze from the incomprehensible and focus on something smaller, something familiar.
He forced himself to look around.
Gillian was gripping her sword hilt while glaring at Ahiman.
Karin and Lionel, seemingly accustomed to this, had their eyes closed.
[Abyss Realm]
As Ahiman finished his chant, his presence vanished.
No.
It still lingered faintly. Right here.
Jeong Yoo-shin’s hand trembled.
He could hear a scratching sound in his head.
What just happened?
He thought it was a mere alarm spell.
Had he been mistaken?
‘A dark mage?’
Ahiman opened his eyes.
His pupils were completely black.
“Barbarian.”
Ahiman grinned at Jeong Yoo-shin.
“What?”
“Just saying hi.”
‘This bastard is creepy.’
His fingers twitched.
He felt a surge of killing intent after witnessing that incomprehensible magic.
He took off his helmet and ran a hand through his black hair.
Gillian, on the other hand, pulled their helmet lower and said,
“Barbarian, it’s just Ahiman’s prank. Don’t mind him.”
Karin smiled.
“Gillian had the same expression as you the first time.”
Lionel added with a faint smile,
“That’s impressive, barbarian. Gillian drew their sword and threatened to kill him the first time.”
Ahiman chuckled.
Only Jeong Yoo-shin remained unamused.
‘What’s with the sudden camaraderie?’
Exhausted, he leaned against the wall.
“Yeah, well, I’m going to sleep.”
He wrapped his robe around himself and closed his eyes.
He could hear the others murmuring, but he tuned them out.
He was too tired.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Skar, wake up.”
Someone was shaking his shoulder.
He opened his eyes and saw Karin standing a short distance away.
“Ah, did I sleep long?”
“Yes. You were sleeping like the dead. Can you put your sword away?”
He looked down at his hand.
He was holding his sword.
He didn’t remember drawing it.
He vaguely recalled gripping it before falling asleep.
The others were awake and eating breakfast.
He got up, tidied up his bedroll, and stretched.
His legs and thighs felt stiff as if filled with lead.
His feet were swollen, and his back and shoulders were aching.
But he didn’t complain.
After stretching, he drank some water and ate the remaining jerky.
He took the party’s packs and slung them over his back.
They felt lighter than usual, or perhaps it was just his imagination.
They replaced their torches and finished their preparations.
Karin, holding a torch, said,
“Let’s go.”
They continued their journey through the darkness.
One day. Two days. Three days.
Nothing changed. They killed monsters, and he carried their packs.
They passed through the second and third levels.
They reached the fourth level.
One more level, and they would reach the fifth.
The last of the surface levels.
Once they cleared the fifth level, he would no longer be a rookie explorer.
But he felt more anxious than excited.
Karin had said new monsters had appeared in the labyrinth. But so far, they had only encountered goblins and black slimes.
‘Are they on the lower levels?’
Karin, who was carrying the torch, stopped, which pulled him out of his rumination.
She sniffed the air and twitched her ears.
“Multiple goblins. Two Goblin Warriors. One Goblin Shaman.”
“That’s a lot.”
“Prepare for battle. Ahiman, get ready.”
“Understood.”
As they waited in formation, they heard the laughter of goblins echoing from the darkness.
“Kee keh keh.”
“Keh keh keh.”
Jeong Yoo-shin gulped. He still remembered his fight with the Goblin Warrior.
He had barely survived fighting one, but now there were two of them.
He couldn’t help but tense up.
They were here.
The swarm of goblins stepped into the light.
Something was tied to the Goblin Warrior’s shield.
Jeong Yoo-shin saw what it was and clicked his tongue.
A naked woman.
He couldn’t tell if she was alive or dead.
The goblins charged while roaring.
“Ahiman!!”
Karin shouted.
“Oh great 𐒗𐒚𐒥𐒚𐒠𐒏!!”
A giant portal opened above Ahiman’s head, and a mass of tentacles emerged.
The tentacles, radiating a sinister aura, snaked through the goblins and grabbed the Goblin Shaman.
Crack!
The shaman shrieked and struggled, caught in the tentacles’ grip.
But it couldn’t escape.
Crunch.
The tentacles tightened their grip, and the sound of bones breaking echoed through the cave.
But it didn’t end there.
The tentacles dragged the shaman towards the party.
“Gah…”
The shaman, its bones crushed, vomited blood.
Slash!
Gillian’s sword cleanly bisected the Goblin Shaman.
“Let’s go!!”
Karin shouted.
A Goblin Warrior charged in, its shield raised.
Lionel’s arrow flew with a loud crack.
Thwack!
“Gah!”
The arrow pierced through the Goblin Warrior’s head and continued its trajectory, skewering several goblins behind it before finally stopping.
Overwhelmingly powerful.
Jeong Yoo-shin’s eyes widened, and his jaw dropped.
‘This is an intermediate-rank explorer?’
The remaining Goblin Warrior hesitated, then pushed its “human” shield forward.
Gillian quickly sidestepped, moving to the goblin’s flank.
Its blind spot.
Gillian swung her great sword.
An upward slash.
Slash!!
The great sword severed the goblin Warrior’s thick arm.
“Kiiieeeek!!”
Thud!
The arm flew through the air and landed on the floor.
Blood spurted from the wound.
“Haaa!”
Karin leaped onto the Goblin Warrior’s shoulder.
Flash!
Her crossed daggers gleamed, and the Goblin Warrior’s head dropped to the ground.
Splatter!
Blood sprayed from the severed neck.
Karin jumped back down.
Not a single drop of blood stained her body.
Just like that, both Goblin Warriors were dead.
Only the weaker goblins remained.
It was a one-sided massacre.
They slashed, smashed, and killed.
The screams and groans of the goblins echoed through the cave, their blood splattering against the walls.
The battle ended quickly.
None escaped. The stragglers were all killed by Lionel’s arrows, their heads and hearts pierced.
Gillian approached the two women tied to the shields.
Jeong Yoo-shin also approached and looked at them.
He recognized one of them.
Alon.
The female dwarf from the new explorers class.
Gillian removed her gauntlet and checked Alon’s pulse.
A moment later…
Gillian shook her head.
She wasn’t breathing anymore.
‘I see.’
She was dead.
They weren’t close.
But they had spent a week together in the same class, sharing jokes and stories, so he felt a pang of sadness at her death.
“Did you know her?”
Gillian asked as she looked at him.
“Yes. We were in the same new explorers class.”
“Don’t grieve or be discouraged. This is the fate of an explorer.”
“It’s not that serious.”
He drew a line.
He just felt a bit sad.
Alon’s unseeing eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.
He reached out and closed them forever.