9. Rookie Party
-------------------------------------
Translator: JayM
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Rookie Party
-------------------------------------
“It must be morning by now.”
Jeong Yoo-shin mumbled as he stifled a yawn.
He had spent most of the rest time drifting in and out of a light sleep.
It was difficult to fall into a deep sleep with only a single blanket covering the entrance to the small chamber.
The cold, damp floor was another reason for his insomnia.
The chill seeped into his bones and gnawed at his heart.
Karl and his party members appeared to have had trouble sleeping as well, tossing and turning throughout the night.
Especially during his watch.
It was understandable that they felt uneasy with an outsider suddenly joining their close-knit party.
“Mr. Skar, why don’t you lead the way today?”
As they finished their meal, packed their belongings, and were about to leave the chamber, Karl approached him and spoke. The dark circles under his eyes made him look exhausted.
“Alright.”
Jeong Yoo-shin took the torch and led the way, with Dean right behind him giving directions.
“Take the right path.”
“Alright.”
There were no signs of other people as if everyone who was going to the lower levels had already done so. Yesterday, they encountered other parties several times, but today, they saw no one.
Trudge, trudge.
Only the sound of their footsteps echoed through the long, narrow passage.
Carrying the torch, he noticed something.
The light was weak.
The light that should be illuminating their path further away was being swallowed up by a strange darkness.
He could barely see anything even at a short distance let alone faint silhouettes.
He walked on, mesmerized by the encroaching darkness.
“Kee kee kee!”
“Keh keh keh!!”
Jeong Yoo-shin’s shoulders tensed.
Goblins.
“Prepare for battle!”
He shouted and quickly drew his long sword.
Whoosh!!
It was the sound of something ripping through the air.
Jeong Yoo-shin instinctively raised his shield.
Clang!
An arrow, shot from the darkness, struck his shield.
Whoosh!!
Similar sounds overlapped.
Clang!! Thud!!
He barely managed to block them. The force behind the arrows was considerable.
This meant that they were being shot from relatively close range.
Just then, Karl, who was behind him, dashed forward.
He was startled by Karl’s sudden charge into the darkness.
“Marie!”
Karl shouted.
“Light!”
A holy radiance pushed the darkness back and filled the cave.
He could see everything now.
There were five goblins.
The goblins shrieked and shielded their eyes from the sudden light.
Karl charged forward with incredible speed and swung his sword.
Slash!!
A goblin’s head flew off, spraying blood onto the cave wall.
‘I need to stay close to Karl.’
He couldn’t let Karl get surrounded.
Jeong Yoo-shin rushed forward.
Thwack!
An arrow grazed his left shoulder and struck a goblin in the chest. Looking back, he saw Anne holding her bow.
By the time he reached Karl, Karl had already decapitated another goblin.
Two remained.
The goblins, recovering their senses, brandished their daggers and charged simultaneously.
Their target was obvious: Karl’s exposed flank.
Clang! Clang!
He blocked them with his shield.
He deflected all the daggers the goblins swung at him.
Pierce.
Jeong Yoo-shin thrust his long sword into the chest of a goblin whose stance had crumbled. The blade pierced its solar plexus just below the hard breastbone.
“Gurk!”
The goblin collapsed backward. He immediately struck the goblin next to him in the face with the pommel of his sword.
“Keeek!”
The goblin’s teeth shattered and one side of its face caved in.
Just as Jeong Yoo-shin was about to finish it off, Karl rushed in and decapitated the goblin.
Blood spurted from its neck, splattering Jeong Yoo-shin’s face and body.
“Whew. Mr. Skar, we work well together.”
Karl said with a smile. His eyes gleamed with excitement from the battle.
“Yeah.”
He replied, wiping the blood off his face.
He had been startled when Karl suddenly charged into the darkness.
He thought Karl went crazy, but…
‘You had a plan all along.’
“Ugh! Disgusting.”
Marie approached them with a grimace. The holy light gradually faded and disappeared.
As the rest of the party members gathered, Karl spoke.
“We need to collect their ears as proof of the extermination. Dean and Mr. Skar, can you help?”
“Sure.”
“Yes.”
Dean and Jeong Yoo-shin helped Karl collect the goblin ears. Dean’s face was pale. His hands trembled as he struggled to cut off the ears.
In contrast, Jeong Yoo-shin cut them off swiftly and efficiently. It was the result of his daily work at the monster dismantling shop. He felt no guilt in taking their lives. It felt like an extension of his monster dismantling duties.
Thanks to Jeong Yoo-shin’s proficiency, they quickly collected the ears. There were five goblins, so they had ten ears in total.
“Here, Mr. Skar, please hold on to these.”
Karl handed him the pouch containing the goblin ears.
“Are you sure you want me to hold on to this?”
He asked, looking at the pouch which reeked of blood and decay.
“I trust you to take good care of them.”
He was a bit taken aback.
‘Is this the same guy who couldn’t sleep during my watch?’
He couldn’t refuse. At least not now.
Karl was the party leader, and the other members were his longtime friends.
Besides, Karl’s swordsmanship was impressive.
A single, decisive stroke to sever a head.
It was something that couldn’t be achieved without innate strength and skill.
“Alright.”
He took the pouch and put it in his backpack.
The party continued on with Jeong Yoo-shin still in the lead.
Following Dean’s directions, they left the central area.
They encountered more monsters along the way.
“Black slimes!”
Three slimes were clinging to the cavern wall, pulsating.
“I’ll take care of these.”
Anne, the red-haired woman, stepped forward with her bow.
Thwack!
The arrow flew swiftly and pierced the core of a slime.
With its core damaged, the slime shuddered and fell from the wall.
‘Wow.’
She was a skilled archer.
Anne shot another arrow, piercing the core of another slime.
As they approached, they saw the gelatinous remains of the slimes spread across the floor like liquid. A stone, different from the core, shimmered within.
“Wow, a magic stone. It’s pretty.”
Marie approached and crouched down. Karl picked up the magic stone and put it in his pocket.
“I’ll hold on to this. I can’t have you carrying everything.”
“Karl, you’re so sweet.”
Karl smiled at Marie’s words and patted her head.
‘What’s with the sudden flirting?’
Jeong Yoo-shin, a virgin with zero dating experience, felt a pang of jealousy.
That day, Jeong Yoo-shin and the party camped at a nearby rest area.
Jeong Yoo-shin’s watch was the same as the previous day, and there were no monster attacks.
‘I’m so tired.’
He rubbed his gritty eyes and raised his torch.
“Mr. Skar, we’re almost there.”
“Yes.”
Jeong Yoo-shin gave Dean a perfunctory reply and continued walking. He only had one torch left. Except for the one Karl used, the other party members still had their torches unused.
They walked for several more hours.
They encountered five black slimes. As before, Anne stepped forward and dealt with them with her bow.
Goblin extermination: 5/10
Magic stone collection: 8/10
They had almost completed their quest.
As he walked while lost in thought, he saw the end of the cave.
There was a large open area there with a giant stone monument in the center.
As they approached the monument, a blue portal and a red portal appeared.
He learned about this in the new explorers class.
To leave the labyrinth, they had to enter the blue portal. To proceed to the next level, they had to take the red one.
“Let’s go to the next level.”
Karl took the lead.
“Wait a minute.”
Jeong Yoo-shin stepped forward.
He couldn’t let this slide.
This wasn’t part of the plan.
They were supposed to be a first-level exploration party. That’s what the receptionist said, and Karl agreed to it.
“What’s wrong?”
“This isn’t what we agreed on. I was told this was a first-level exploration party.”
“Ha!”
Karl’s lips curled into a sneer.
“Mr. Skar, we have to complete the quest, don’t we?”
“We can do that here. There’s no need to go down.”
“That’s because we can’t find any monsters on this level anymore. Senior explorers told me that the second level is not that different from the first. It seems to be true based on our experience. Why waste time and resources wandering around looking for monsters here when we can go to the second level?”
“The new explorers class emphasized the importance of sticking to the plan…”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”
Karl swore.
“Mr. Skar, no, Skar. Have you been living under a rock? I told you, learn from real-life experience. Go out, talk to people, interact with them. Explorers class? Sticking to the plan? You naive idiot. Are you going to die just because they tell you to?”
“…”
“Just admit that you’re scared. It’ll make you look less pathetic.”
‘What’s with the sudden outburst?’
He must have touched a nerve.
“Since we disagree, let’s part ways here. I’m going back.”
“Going where?”
Karl drew his sword and blocked his path.
“You’re crossing the line.”
Jeong Yoo-shin also drew his sword. The cold blade of the long sword flickered like a snake in the torchlight.
“Move.”
“Compensate us. How much time and money have we wasted because of you? And you think you can just walk away?”
“Bullshit.”
He raised his shield and took a defensive stance.
“Mr. Skar, calm down.”
Glancing back, he saw Anne aiming her bow at him.
Dean held a dagger, and Marie was chanting a spell.
‘I’m so fucked.’
“How much do you want?”
“Twenty silver coins.”
Karl’s answer was so absurd that he laughed.
That was the amount he would earn after two months of relentless work at the monster dismantling shop.
“I don’t have that kind of money.”
He told the truth. Even excluding his living expenses at the inn, he had spent most of his earnings on weapons, armor, exploration supplies, and the class fee.
He only had two silver coins and a few copper coins left.
“We’ll find out after we kill you.”
Shit.
‘Getting extorted by kids younger than me in another world.’
“Shut up, Karl.”
Anne’s cold rebuke silenced Karl.
“Mr. Skar, let me be frank. We need to complete this quest. We have an injured friend who needs money for treatment.”
“You can complete it here.”
“With minimal gains. We came from the countryside with nothing, so we’re barely scraping by.”
“Why are you so certain about going down? You might not encounter any monsters on the second level, or you might get lost.”
“A senior explorer at the tavern told us that monsters are more common from the second level onward. And we get a bonus if we exceed the required number of monsters for the quest, so it’s okay even if we wander around for a bit.”
“But it’s still deviating from the plan.”
He said, half-resigned.
“The Explorers Guild is aware that plans change. I heard that in such cases, the decision is made by majority vote.”
Majority vote?
It was obvious that everyone except him would vote to go to the second level.
He decided not to ask any more questions.
The guild wasn’t lenient with those who abandoned their parties without permission. There would be penalties. It was in the regulations.
What would happen if the advice given by a “certain” someone during the guild class contradicted the guild’s official regulations?
Did the advice override regulations?
He didn't know.
“What if I still refuse?”
“That’s a nice sword you have there.”
“Are you going to rob me?”
“Having it transferred through the guild isn’t a bad option either. You’ll lose your sword and get penalized as a bonus.”
A perfect checkmate.
This was fucked up.
He sighed deeply.
“Fine.”
‘What could possibly go wrong? It’s only the second level.’
He felt a bit complacent. Karl and his party might seem a bit awkward, but they were skilled. Besides, he had no money left.
Karl approached and patted him on the shoulder.
“So we’re good? Let’s try this again. Sorry for snapping at you earlier. Your whining and crying about not wanting to go down just pissed me off.”
“…”
“Go on in.”
Karl pointed his sword at the red portal.
Jeong Yoo-shin stepped into the light.
-------------------------------------
T/N - Well, that was pretty cliché. And if the author sticks to the troupe, we all know how this will end. I already had an inkling that it would end up like this as soon as the MC got assigned to this party though.
-------------------------------------