Chapter 96 Not Human
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Translator: JayM
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Not Human
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Jeong Yoo-shin sighed deeply.
“Sigh. Mars, there’s no time for nonsense. We need to move. Stop joking around and get on my back.”
“A-Alright.”
As Jeong Yoo-shin grabbed Mars’ arm and hoisted him onto his shoulder, Mars trembled like a leaf.
“Uh… uh. What’s happening?”
“It’s all because of the possession. It’ll get better with time. Right, Kubo?”
“R-Right.”
Kubo, catching Jeong Yoo-shin’s gaze, turned his head and agreed.
Jeong Yoo-shin slung his backpack around his front, hoisted Mars onto his back, and secured him with some rope.
He picked up his shield, which had fallen into the bushes, and retrieved his broken arming sword.
“Sigh.”
Looking at the broken sword made him sigh.
It had been low in weight and was quite light, making it easy to use.
He had bought it for cheap and used it for quite a while, so it was a shame that it broke here.
He felt a pang of regret.
Perhaps he had grown attached to it after all their struggles together.
Click.
He sheathed the broken sword. He decided to keep it for now. He had faith that Boron could do something about it.
He moved the blue longsword, which he usually carried on his back, to his waist because of Mars.
Kubo looked at him incredulously.
“Isn’t that heavy?”
He was almost in awe, seeing Jeong Yoo-shin carrying an injured party member so soon after a battle.
“It’s manageable. This much is nothing.”
“If it gets too hard, tell me. I’ll carry him for you.”
Iron Mask approached him and offered.
Jeong Yoo-shin shook his head.
“It’s fine.”
Jeong Yoo-shin and party continued down the forest path.
The party's progress was slow.
This was because Mars, their guide, had no strength in his body.
Although he had been detoxified and healed, his body seemed to have been incredibly overdrawn.
‘Well, it would be strange if he could move normally after exerting that much strength.’
The fact that he had been pushed back by Mars’ strength during the possession stung his pride.
‘Should I seriously start weight training?’
He considered asking Boron to make some weight training equipment.
‘Enough.’
Thump!
He punched his helmet.
He was having frivolous thoughts in the middle of a labyrinth exploration. Even with the Venom Protection imprint, complacency was dangerous.
“G-Gah!!!”
Mars, who was on his back, shuddered.
“What’s wrong, Mars?”
“Wh-Why… Why does my head hurt when I look at your fists…? Ugh!”
“…Let’s take a break. Mars isn’t doing well.”
At Jeong Yoo-shin’s suggestion, the entire party stopped by the side of the path.
Jeong Yoo-shin leaned against a tree trunk and watched Mars struggle with the map.
20 minutes later…
“…I think we’ve moved further out.”
Mars concluded while frowning.
“I see. Good work, Mars. Is there a resting place nearby?”
Mars scratched his head at Iron Mask’s question.
“There’s a place where we can camp.”
“Let’s head there. How long will it take?”
“About two more hours. But…”
“But?”
Jeong Yoo-shin pressed when Mars hesitated.
“This map is old, so there’s a high chance that the resting place is gone. Or it might be already abandoned and infested with monsters.”
“Where did you buy that map?”
Jeong Yoo-shin asked again.
“There’s a Guide’s Guild. They provide various training for new guides and sell items necessary for labyrinth exploration. I bought this map there.”
He then understood.
Of course, if there was a Swordsman’s Guild, then there would be a Guide's Guild as well. It wasn’t strange.
Jeong Yoo-shin hoisted Mars back onto his back and they again set off.
The deeper they went, the denser the forest became, obscuring the smog-filled sky.
A night-like darkness enveloped the forest path.
Just as Mars had said, after about two hours of walking, a dark building appeared through the trees.
It was a small clearing overgrown with weeds and vegetation.
There was an old wall there.
Vines climbed the cracked stone wall, and moss and mushrooms filled the crevices.
The party members exchanged silent glances and nodded.
Jeong Yoo-shin put Mars and his luggage down and stepped forward.
“I’ll go take a look.”
“Be careful.”
“Don’t worry.”
Rustle.
He carefully pushed through the bushes and scouted the area around the ruins.
‘No monsters. No strange objects. Confirmed.’
Since the building had mostly collapsed, there wasn’t much for him to check.
After looking around, he returned to his party members.
“All clear. No signs of monsters or strange objects.”
“Alright.”
The party members entered the ruins, unloaded their luggage against the stone wall, and tidied up the area. They cut down the weeds and laid out their blankets.
They gathered the firewood they had brought, built a bonfire, and sat around it.
Crackle. Crackle.
The bonfire flickered, casting shadows on the party members' faces.
Jeong Yoo-shin leaned against the wall, took off his helmet, and loosened the straps of his walker boots and armor.
He ran his hand through his salty hair and spoke.
“Let’s eat.”
“Alright.”
“Okay.”
Without further prompting, they took out their food and water, and then they ate and drank.
Jeong Yoo-shin took a branch, skewered some dried meat onto it, and propped it up over the bonfire.
Seeing this, Mars and Kubo did the same, skewering their dried meat and holding them over the fire.
“…”
Jeong Yoo-shin took out some bear-shaped biscuits from his backpack and handed one to each of his party members. He didn't give one to Bryn.
Mars, upon receiving the bear biscuit, suddenly started to cry.
‘What’s wrong with him?’
“Mars, eat. Don’t cry.”
“Sob. Okay!”
The rat beast-person guide stuffed the biscuit into his mouth and munched on it.
Kubo scratched his head.
“It’s tasty, but I don’t think it’s worth crying over.”
“Leave him alone. The taste must be special after being freed from possession.”
Kubo scratched his head again at Jeong Yoo-shin’s reply.
“That’s true.”
Jeong Yoo-shin tore off a piece of dried meat and looked around at his party members.
Most of them looked grimy after several days of continuous exploration. Greasy hair and the pungent smell of sweat. The result of not being able to wash properly.
But no one seemed to care as they focused only on eating.
After the meal, Jeong Yoo-shin looked at Bryn.
“So, shall we hear your story?”
“…”
Bryn hadn’t spoken a word until now.
It was time to ask.
“So, it happened right after we entered the 6th floor Forest area…”
Bryn began to hesitantly recount what had happened to her party on the 6th floor.
About an hour later, Bryn finished her story.
Jeong Yoo-shin took out some firewood from his backpack and added it to the bonfire.
He stared at the rising sparks for a moment as he organized his thoughts before speaking.
“You were transported to the 6th floor and landed in a monster den. While Ret was busy fighting, you were attacked from the rear, and the party was scattered. Is that right?”
“Yes.”
“But how did you manage to escape? I don’t mean to be rude, but you don’t look that strong.”
“I-I tried my best, and it worked.”
“…”
Bryn, catching Jeong Yoo-shin’s gaze, looked away while sweating.
Did that even make sense?
Saying that she escaped by trying her best. Hearing something even a dog wouldn't believe made him increasingly suspicious.
“Iron Mask, is this girl trustworthy?”
“I don’t think she has any ill intentions. The Caliones are a ministerial family in the Lionel Kingdom. They must have some connections.”
Jeong Yoo-shin’s head snapped back around. Bryn was looking away while sweating profusely.
Now he understood.
The reason Iron Mask had insisted on bringing this woman along.
As the crown prince of the Lionel Kingdom, he couldn’t just ignore the daughter of a ministerial family.
“…”
Mars and Kubo looked at Bryn in surprise. But that was all. They didn't say anything.
“The daughter of a ministerial family. A student about to graduate from the Labyrinth Academy. What business do you have in the labyrinth?”
“W-Well… I was short on graduation credits…”
“…”
He was so dumbfounded that he couldn't speak.
“That academy is too much. Pushing a student into the labyrinth just because she’s short on credits.”
“No… that’s not it. My father said he’d kick me out of the house if I didn’t graduate this year. So I volunteered for a labyrinth exploration to earn a lot of extra credit all at once.”
“You didn’t study?”
“…”
Bryn looked away again.
Jeong Yoo-shin was speechless.
“Do students usually come here alone?”
“…Well, friends usually come together…”
“You don’t have any friends?”
“…”
Bryn lowered her head.
“Skar, why are you rubbing salt in her wound? Can’t you see?”
Kubo interjected.
Jeong Yoo-shin scratched his head.
‘So she’s a shut-in?’
“Fine. Since Iron Mask already accepted you, I won’t say anything else.”
Mars looked at Jeong Yoo-shin incredulously.
“…Skar, you’ve already done enough. Look at her face. She looks like she’s about to die.”
“And just in case, if you see your party members, do you plan to save them?”
Jeong Yoo-shin ignored Mars and asked Bryn.
“Uh… no. We’re not that close. And it was disgusting for me to watch them make out. They’ll be fine on their own.”
Jeong Yoo-shin nodded.
He had wondered why Bryn kept badmouthing Ret while explaining what had happened, but she seemed to genuinely dislike him.
It must not have been easy to witness a group of popular kids making out for days while she was in the labyrinth trying to make up for her credits.
Anyway, the Lionel Kingdom seemed to be in a sorry state.
The daughter of a minister was a friendless shut-in.
“Iron Mask, you have your work cut out for you.”
“…”
Iron Mask glared at Jeong Yoo-shin and sighed.
“Skar, stop talking nonsense and let’s decide on the watch shifts.”
“Alright.”
The party members gathered around, drew lots for the watch shifts, and then went to sleep.
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“Skar, wake up.”
“Hmm.”
He opened his eyes as someone nudged his shoulder. The smell of medicine. It was Iron Mask.
“How long did I sleep?”
“About eight hours.”
Jeong Yoo-shin sat up, stretched, and moved closer to the bonfire.
Thanks to the consideration of his party members, he had taken the first watch shift last night. Because of that, he was able to recover from some of the fatigue from the battle.
He took out a biscuit from his pocket, munched on it, and looked around at his party members.
Mars was chewing on dried meat while staring intently at the map.
Kubo was sitting quietly, meditating.
Bryn was dozing against the wall.
Iron Mask was looking through a bundle of parchments with requests written on them.
Jeong Yoo-shin chewed on his dried meat and stood next to Iron Mask.
“Can you estimate how much we’ve earned?”
“…We can complete about three herb requests. We haven’t completed any magic stone gathering or subjugation requests yet.”
“What about those Mushroom Humans?”
“They’re not on the request list.”
“Tsk.”
Jeong Yoo-shin clicked his tongue.
“No need to be disappointed. We’ve collected some good herbs this time, so we should be able to earn at least three gold coins.”
“Per person?”
“No. Three gold coins to be split among the four of us.”
“75 silver coins each… Not bad.”
“We’re lucky. Skar, stop looking and get ready. Mars seems to have found the way.”
“Alright.”
The party members packed their belongings and gathered around Mars.
“As you can see, we’re on the outer edge. To get to the teleportation stone to the 7th floor, we’ll have to walk for at least three days from here.”
“Looks like we landed way out in the boonies.”
“That’s right. And about Ret’s party…”
Mars hesitated for a moment.
“What? Just spit it out.”
“Judging by what happened to Ret’s party, there’s probably a monster den nearby.”
Jeong Yoo-shin nodded.
It was true. There was a reason Bryn, who was from Ret’s party, found them so quickly.
“We just need to be careful as we pass through. And while Ret’s party was attacked, we don’t know if they’re all dead.”
“…Right.”
Mars glanced at Bryn and replied.
“Alright. Then let’s go.”
Iron Mask stood up and said. The party members nodded and shouldered their packs.
Mars, who had recovered his strength after a day of rest, quickly found the path.
The party continued along the forest path for half a day.
Mars, who was leading the way, stopped and tilted his head as he listened intently.
“Stop. I hear moaning nearby.”
“Is that our business?”
Jeong Yoo-shin asked.
“We should help if we can. Of course, only if it’s within our capabilities. Mars, please scout ahead.”
Iron Mask answered for Mars.
“Alright.”
Mars lowered his body and moved slowly.
After a short wait, Mars returned.
“Uh… remember that human swordsman party we saw before?”
Jeong Yoo-shin’s expression hardened at Mars’ question.
Could it be?
Was he talking about Ret’s party?
The rat beast-person hesitated before finally speaking after the party members nodded.
“They’re trapped in a Giant Spider habitat.”
“…”
The party members fell silent.
“Um…”
Bryn hesitated before speaking.
“H-Honestly, I don’t think we should save that harem party.”
Jeong Yoo-shin stared blankly at Bryn’s face, speechless.
Refusing even before hearing the details?
‘She’s not human.’
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T/N - Lol, that’s cold. Honestly though, I can relate to Bryn. Normies should all just explode!