Chapter 318 It Smells, It Smells
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Translator: JayM
Chapter: 318
Chapter Title: It Smells, It Smells
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'You want me to eat this?'
Jeong Yoo-shin sent a hand signal.
The wolf beast-person answered.
'It's edible.'
Jeong Yoo-shin looked down at the fish-man.
It was a corpse whose neck he had snapped and killed using telekinesis.
Its goggle-like eyes were looking straight at him.
Putting aside its appearance, the smell was foul.
While exploring the labyrinth floors for a month, he had caught and cooked various monsters.
Roasted mushroom-men from the forest area.
Giant spider legs boiled with herbs.
Fried grubs and boiled frog hind legs from the swamp area.
He had somehow managed to eat even ogre breast steak in the mountain area, but…
'This is a bit...'
The expression of Dietrich, who had taken off his helmet, was also not very good.
Dietrich sent a hand signal.
'I think it's okay to take off the earplugs for now.'
The three of them took off their earplugs and stood in front of a fish-man corpse.
"Wolf-ssi, you're going to eat this?"
"It's not to the point where you can't eat it."
"Why in the world...?"
"There are individuals among the fish-men who use a spell that forcibly opens the ears. It’s a case where earplugs are useless."
"...!"
"If you eat a fish-man, you gain resistance to the curse of the fish-man shaman that’ll appear on the next floor. If a song rings out in the middle of a battle, you can avoid a difficult situation."
Dietrich’s eyes narrowed.
"That's strange. I may not look like it, but I'm a high-rank explorer, yet I didn't know such information at all."
"Most people don't. Because they have no intention of eating one in the first place."
The wolf Skar took out a dagger, cut a handful of the fish-man's hind leg meat, and wrapped it in a cloth.
"And youngest, it's fine for now, but you have to stop brawling when a bigger one appears later."
Jeong Yoo-shin nodded.
"I know. Was it that guy called Boomer? The one that explodes when you get close?"
The wolf Skar grinned.
"Right. And one more thing. I hate doing this because it sounds like I'm nagging, but please listen. You know the monster that comes out beyond the 25th floor of the underwater cave, right?"
Jeong Yoo-shin nodded.
He couldn't not know.
Before entering the labyrinth, the wolf guy had told him about the monsters to be wary of among those that appear in the underwater cave.
Among them, the most fucking bullshit guy was…
Deep Eye.
A monster resembling an octopus.
A terrifying guy that was transparent and flew quietly in the air.
It shot poisonous needles attached to the ends of its tentacles, or stuck to the face and tore off eyeballs and skin together.
If you wore earplugs because of the song that echoed in the cave, you couldn't properly hear the sound of monsters approaching you.
A guy that quietly floated in the air was even harder to detect even when not in battle.
The Deep Eye was a monster that aimed for that weakness and launched a surprise attack.
The countermeasure?
Of course, Jeong Yoo-shin had no choice but to rely on his other senses.
One could detect it with a beast-person's sense of smell.
Or they could maintain a constant Protection magic.
But since he didn’t have those, Jeong Yoo-shin had no choice but to sharpen his sixth sense through mana adaptation and detect it that way.
"Actually, if you just watch out for that transparent octopus, you can easily pass the later floors. It's easy for us who are high-level, but it might be difficult for you."
"Ah! You mean that octopus monster guy? I know him well."
Dietrich also smiled and interjected.
"Before entering that floor in the past, I stopped by the library, read books, and heard the vivid testimonies of explorers, but when I met it in person, it was a monster more terrible than I imagined. I almost died back then."
"Ah. Right. I heard it was like that."
The wolf Skar stopped replying and closed his mouth.
"..."
A strange silence lingered between the men.
Dietrich’s eyes narrowed once more.
"Wolf-ssi, I’m telling you this story for the first time today, though."
The wolf Skar turned his gaze away.
"Not you. The testimony of another explorer was like that."
"...Is that so? Since you brought it up, I’ll ask later. Have we by any chance met outside the city?"
The wolf Skar avoided the other’s gaze.
"Well. If you eat a fish-man deliciously while it's alive, I might be willing to answer you."
Dietrich made a bitter smile.
"That would be a bit difficult. Still, the giant spider legs were good. They were surprisingly chewy and had plenty of flavor."
"Right? It's a delicacy that only those in the know know."
The three men walked through the cave while chatting about food.
The cave wasn’t dark.
Because a blue light coming from the surrounding puddles was illuminating their view.
The wolf guy occasionally went near the rocks or puddles and picked up seaweed or crustaceans.
Every time, Dietrich's face turned pale.
"W-Wolf-ssi, can you really eat that?"
Dietrich, unable to bear it any longer, pointed at the seaweed in the wolf beast-person's hand and asked.
"It's edible. It's not for today's meal, so calm down."
Dietrich turned his head and looked at Jeong Yoo-shin.
"What do you think, Skar-ssi?"
Jeong Yoo-shin shrugged his shoulders.
"It's fine?"
Since he ate seaweed and laver, he had no particular aversion to it.
But when the wolf guy picked up a starfish, Jeong Yoo-shin's complexion also turned pale.
"Third Brother, can you eat that?"
The wolf beast-person guy grinned and threw the starfish.
"It's a joke. You can't eat something like this."
'This guy…'
He also had a playful side.
‘You scared me.’
After that, the wolf beast-person caught not only small shrimp and clams, but also crayfish.
"We're lucky."
The wolf Skar said while holding out a struggling purple crayfish.
It looked completely different from the crayfish they had seen until now.
'Four legs?'
Its eyes were also comically large.
How should Jeong Yoo-shin describe it?
It looked like a crayfish that had been exposed to radiation once.
"Explorers are reluctant to eat this crayfish because of its appearance, but it's surprisingly delicious. And it has no poison."
Dietrich quickly interjected.
"Wolf-ssi, let's not eat the eyes."
"The eyes are the most delicious part, though."
"..."
"It's a joke."
Jeong Yoo-shin's group reached the 23rd floor after passing the 21st and 22nd floors while listening to a story that they couldn't tell whether it was a joke or not.
The wolf guy looked around and then pointed in one direction.
"We fell in a place far from the transfer stone. We'll have to find a shelter and camp for today."
The group walked for a while and found a small shelter.
It was a small cavity on one side of the cave wall.
Jeong Yoo-shin went inside the shelter and looked around.
'Sssss.'
The inside was built with bricks, unlike the bumpy cave.
It wasn't cozy since it was full of salt and moisture.
Still, he could endure this much discomfort. Because you couldn't talk about an explorer's life without camping.
However…
'What’s that again?'
Surrounding the shelter space were round sculptures engraved with bizarre characters.
And in the middle was a stone statue about 2 meters long.
Fortunately or unfortunately, he didn't know, the statue was severely damaged, so it was hard to tell its original form.
'It looks something like an octopus statue.'
He didn't know in detail.
He wondered whether he had read about this kind of 'mystery' in a book.
Dietrich also stood next to Jeong Yoo-shin and looked at the statue with a blank face.
"Skar-ssi, isn't it fascinating?"
"What's so fascinating about it?"
"I mean, why do these 'mysteries' exist on the labyrinth floors. A style and characters I've never seen before. Yet they don’t have appearances that deviate excessively from human perception…"
Certainly.
The 5th floor, the forgotten city of Engrave.
The collapsed spire in the forest area.
The various antiques in the corridor area.
The 10th floor, Ash Village.
The 20th floor, Dwarven Hold.
Some were familiar architectural styles, and there were also unique ones, but…
Except for the Warpstone, there was nothing among them that was outside of common sense.
"When I looked through the literature, there was a saying like this. That each floor of the labyrinth was made by an Outer God. Isn't it fascinating? To create a world and grant it a 'law'... It's truly a wondrous authority. Look at that statue. Isn't it beautiful?"
Dietrich's eyes sparkled once again.
Jeong Yoo-shin stared blankly at the man.
'Not easy.'
What in the world did Dietrich experience in the past that he was obsessed with divinity to this extent?
At that time…
A thought flashed through his head like lightning.
"Dietrich, do you, by any chance, have a Devil Mania or Divinity Obsession imprint? You know, the kind where your cock gets hard and your hands move on their own when you see an evil altar or a suspicious antique."
"..."
Dietrich was silent for a moment and then shook his head.
"...I've heard that kind of imprint exists, but I don’t have it."
Jeong Yoo-shin's eyes narrowed.
This bastard…
'He's a bit strange.'
Why did his suspicion deepen the more he looked at the man?
'It smells. It smells like…'
…the scent of a troll that was about to take a huge shit.
It was the same in games.
If a weak guy throws, you can just roughly ask about his parents' well-being and move on.
But if a strong guy throws, the game explodes.
"Let's eat."
But before Jeong Yoo-shin could say anything else, the wolf Skar intervened and sorted out the situation.
He walked in with large strides and kicked the bizarre sculpture to the wall.
Thump!!!
The statue hit the wall, shattered into pieces, and scattered.
Dietrich's face hardened for a moment, but he soon smiled.
"Anyway, I'm looking forward to what today's meal will be."
The wolf Skar took out a pot, fixed it on the firewood, and boiled water.
A moment later.
He put the fish-man's leg meat and dwarf liquor into the bubbling water and boiled it thoroughly.
A foul smell briefly came out with the foam, but it soon disappeared.
The wolf Skar threw away the water he boiled the leg in, got new water, put in various crayfish, shrimp, and clams, and also put in potatoes, corn, and ham.
'What’s this?'
When the seafood and vegetables were somewhat boiled…
He left only the minimum amount of water, took out various red-colored spices from his backpack, sprinkled them into the pot, and then he took out a spatula and mixed the contents of the pot.
Dietrich opened his eyes wide as his nose twitched.
"It smells good?"
Jeong Yoo-shin, who had been thinking deeply, clapped his hands.
"Ah."
He knew what it was.
Seafood boil.
It was a Western-style steamed seafood dish where seafood, corn, potatoes, and sausages were boiled together and then mixed with spicy and salty seasonings.
Originally, you would put it in a bag and mix it inside to eat, but they didn't have that much leisure.
The wolf beast-person lifted a ladle, tasted the sauce, and smiled.
"The seasoning’s right. Let's eat."
The three men sat around the pot and began to eat.
Dietrich picked up a small shrimp and ate it, then he opened his eyes wide.
"I-It's really delicious?"
Jeong Yoo-shin also grabbed a crayfish and tore it apart.
He felt a sweet taste from the plump meat, and the spicy and salty taste wrapped around his tongue.
'It's really delicious.'
It was the most delicious labyrinth food he had eaten so far.
The fish-man's leg meat was also fine.
The foul smell that made him want to vomit was gone, and it had a juicy taste with an appropriate mix of savory oil.
Should he say that it tasted like a cross between a chicken and a fish?
The three men ate the food as if they were possessed. Not only that, but they even scraped up the remaining sauce with bread and finished it.
Dietrich praised it highly.
"I've eaten many high-class dishes, but there has never been a dish as delicious as this. Thank you. It was really delicious."
"Is that so? That's a relief."
"But how did you think of such a dish…?"
Dietrich's question couldn’t continue…
Because the sound of a soft and beautiful song slowly began to echo in the cave.
Ah. Ahhh.
Jeong Yoo-shin's face went blank.
A sweet and honeyed tone.
It was closer to humming than singing.
A heavenly voice that shouldn't exist in this world passed through his ears and stuck to his mind.
'It's dangerous.'
Slaaaap!!!
Jeong Yoo-shin, who sensed the danger, slapped his own cheek once, immediately took out his earplugs, and put them on.
The wolf beast-person sent a hand signal.
'Front. Be on guard.'
Was there something there?
Jeong Yoo-shin looked at the entrance of the shelter with his greatsword slung over his shoulder.
The three men widened their formation to check each other's hand signals.
After waiting for a moment…
The cloth blocking the entrance of the shelter fluttered.
And a pink-haired human woman ran through it.
'Help me!'
The woman urgently opened and closed her mouth, perhaps not even having the mind to use hand signals.
But the faces of the three men remained indifferent.
"Please!!!"
The woman shouted at the top of her lungs, but they couldn't hear her.
'What will you do?'
Dietrich sent a hand signal to the wolf beast-person.
The wolf Skar immediately gestured to Jeong Yoo-shin.
'What will you do? Youngest, you decide.'
Jeong Yoo-shin thought for a moment and then raised his hand.
'Let's just see for now. If they're strange guys, we can just kill them.'
The faces of the wolf Skar and Dietrich changed profoundly.
Dietrich waved his hand.
'S-Skar-ssi? A-Are you suddenly going to violate them?'
'No. I said kill them.'
'Y-You're going to kill their anuses?'
This bastard…
Was he possessed by Satan or something?
While the stain of suspicion was gradually growing…
The wolf Skar stepped forward.
'Dietrich, calm down. It means he’ll subdue them if they’re strange guys.'
'Ah. I see. I was a bit surprised.'
Jeong Yoo-shin glared at Dietrich, then he turned his gaze and looked at the pink-haired woman.
Light armor attire.
Seeing her wearing a crossbow and a dagger…
She was a guide.
Jeong Yoo-shin gestured with his hand.
'Come closer for now.'
But the woman misunderstood Jeong Yoo-shin's hand signal and quickly went outside and then dragged a man in.
It was a man in his 20s wearing plate armor.
He seemed to have already lost consciousness as he had his eyes closed, but…
Seeing his nostrils flaring, it seemed like he had difficulty breathing.
Jeong Yoo-shin observed the man in plate armor and then stroked his chin.
Bizarrely pale skin.
Lumps and scales on his neck.
Moreover, a strange stench was coming from his body.
Was he human?
He looked a little closer to a fish-man in Jeong Yoo-shin’s eyes.
The latter's expression crumpled.
It smells. It smells of...
'...a foul and unfair setup.'
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T/N - Lol, those misunderstood hand signals. I think this has happened before, right? Who did the MC learn his hand signals again? 😂
Also, this smells like trouble indeed. The man seems like a lost cause. Probably didn't wear earplugs on time.