Chapter 18
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 18
Void-treading Step (Neunggongheodo). A Lightness Art where one's martial power dominates the sky, free from the restriction of having a place to step.
Here, a merchant is floating in the air without a single foothold.
Judging by her expression, her face is dyed in distress, and she seems to be in great pain unable to breathe well.
Is it because powerful martial arts come with strong risks? No way.
The merchant floating in the air does not possess such high martial arts.
The factor making Sa Mayeon cough kek kek in the air lies externally.
The external factor, who lifted a healthy adult woman into the air with Void Grasp (Heogongseopmul), looked at Sa Mayeon with indifferent eyes.
“There are two people who did not keep their promise to me.”
“Kek! S... Save...”
“One is right in front of This Seat's eyes, and one died after leaving an unforgettable burn on This Seat.”
Cheon Hwaryeong, smiling bitterly, poured alcohol into the glass Ryuo left behind.
—Glug glug glug
The small glass was full before she knew it, spilling the expensive liquor worth a gold coin per bottle.
Looking at the glass that wasn't filled even though it was filled, Cheon Hwaryeong laughed as if amused.
“Will you try speaking?”
When Cheon Hwaryeong withdrew her power, Sa Mayeon fell to her knees and inhaled the sweet air.
Her brain, which used to find a way out keenly, didn't work well this time.
“Kuhueup! Cough! Cough! Haa... Haa... W, Wh... Cough! What... should I report...”
“Is this glass filled?”
Even in Sa Mayeon's eyes blurred with tears, the glass was overflowing beyond being filled.
Of course, she had no choice but to know that an intuitive answer wasn't what was wanted.
From now on, the moment she utters a wrong answer or breath, Sa Mayeon will likely die while displaying Void-treading Step.
The answer to the first question is...
“It is empty...”
Cheon Hwaryeong looked at the crown of the prostrating Sa Mayeon's head and said.
Sa Mayeon, whose crown tingled at Cheon Hwaryeong's gaze, closed her eyes tight and prayed it was the correct answer.
“Right.”
To Sa Mayeon who guessed the correct answer by praying, the second question flew.
“Then if a glass is empty in a brothel, what should be done?”
“… Naturally, it is proper to fill it.”
Contrary to Cheon Hwaryeong's indifferent eyes, the corners of her mouth went up crookedly.
“You know well. You must know the next answer too... Seat that guy next to me. This time I must hold him in my hand so he can't go anywhere.”
“T... That is...”
Cheon Hwaryeong tilted the bottle over the overflowing glass.
Following the principles of the world, the alcohol that should flow down became smoke and warmed the room.
—Bubble bubble
Is Cheon Hwaryeong's inside boiling like this? The scent of alcohol and hot air strangled Sa Mayeon's breath.
Just then, the door opened and clear air flowed into the hot room.
—Rattle! Thud!
“If that guy is the child named Jang Ryuo...”
Arin, who opened the door, sat facing Cheon Hwaryeong who was emitting a ferocious aura.
“You b*tch die today.”
Inside the room, clear energy and sticky energy collided.
—Rumble rumble
A brutal sound unbelievable to have come from the collision of two energies.
Just one person is already enough to make her life like a fly, but there are two...
Sa Mayeon just felt her breath passing over kkoltak kkoltak.
“Hieeeeeek!”
Cheon Hwaryeong smirked and greeted gladly.
“Old monster b*tch, looks like life is good. Your face bloomed brightly in that time. Do you like the young guy that much?”
—Rumble rumble rumble!!
Arin also greeted the acquaintance she hadn't seen in a long time gladly.
“If you don't shut that mouth, I will send you to the Right Guardian's side.”
—Rumble rumble rumble rumble!!!
Cheon Hwaryeong felt an unidentified filthy emotion rise towards the stiff-necked Arin.
“Ideally, his taste was quite good... Calling me Noona, how diligently he shook his waist... Kukuku... Perhaps because he's young, he was vigorous...”
In an instant, one side of Chwihyangru's wall exploded.
—BOOM!!!!
“I will kill you.”
“I will take that guy.”
This is a story from shortly after Ryuo arrived at the labyrinth.
—Ding!
A miracle triggered so absurdly, goblins clearly visible for some unknown reason.
“Kerek? Kerek!!!”
Perhaps excited to have sent the prey in one shot, the goblins raised their clubs high and started dancing grotesquely.
Rolling my eyes to look around, 4 goblins were approaching me from front and back.
I don't know how I'm seeing from under the ground, but I clenched strength into the hand holding the sword and prepared to run out.
Praying for my head to come out of the ground...
One goblin tried to grab the hem of my pants and pull it down, so I crushed its face with my foot.
—Crunch!
“Kerek!!”
A headless corpse kicking; the goblins were visibly flustered.
Extending my arm to stab the neck of the goblin in front to kill it, I put the opposite hand on the ground and pulled my head out.
—Puk!
“Kek!?!”
—Ssuk
“Puha!”
It wasn't that I couldn't breathe particularly, but I feel like I can breathe freely now.
With the goblin stuck on the sword, I slashed the remaining goblin diagonally.
—Crunch!
The goblin pierced by the sword died with its neck tattered, the goblin in front died with its heart shattered from the shoulder.
The last guy behind is...
“Keeeeek!”
I calmly glared at the guy rushing at me with a club.
The goblin's clumsy movement was clearly visible. The goblin swinging its arm raised high diagonally slowly.
Swinging the flat of the blade, my sword clashed with the club.
Feeling the sensation of my wrist dislocating, I applied force as if returning the wrist to its original position.
Wrist trembling, a thrilling vibration ran down my spine riding the elbow and shoulder.
Arm swung at tremendous speed and...
—Swish-sh-sh!
—Ding!
A cheerful sound rang in my head.
—Splash!
The rushing goblin couldn't even scream a death cry, became meat chunks, and collapsed as is.
“Phew...”
Should I call it swordsmanship... I decided to just call this method ‘Bug Sword’.
Shaking off blood and picking up the torch, I checked the surroundings.
Seems there are no more enemies coming.
For some reason, the labyrinth seen standing up was less visible than the labyrinth seen from under the ground.
‘? What was that really.’
I decided to move spots to verify for now.
I cut off the goblins' ears and put them in subspace.
Shame about the guy who became meat chunks, but tsk...
Avoiding goblins who would come hearing the commotion, I walked towards the blue dot.
And from now on, what I'm going to do, I want to do it in a relatively clean spot so...
Walking for about 10 minutes like that, I found a relatively wide space.
After checking the surroundings again, I knelt down.
What I'm going to do from now on... might look a little stupid.
Inhaling breath and squeezing my eyes shut, I thrust my face into the dark and uneven floor.
“Huuuup!”
—Puk!
… It happened absurdly. My neck pierced the floor.
Unfortunately, the title didn't activate.
My vain delusion of inflating stats by banging my face tens of thousands of times flew away.
It seems once activated, it doesn't give next time.
Anyway! Even turning my neck, it moved well, and rolling my eyes didn't grind them in soil.
Now I should really just accept it...
I tried to look around, but sticking it forward, vision didn't rotate smoothly.
After pulling my neck out again...
—Ssuk!
“Ah... Really hate this.”
Still, since no one is watching around, I held it in, placed both hands on my chest...
“Hup!”
In a suplex posture without an opponent, I slammed my neck into the ground.
—Puk!
Fortunately, it doesn't activate if done in reverse, so my head didn't break.
The visible view was surprising.
Things like tiger stripes must be labyrinth walls... To see the direction of the blue dot I memorized, I moved my feet like crab legs.
It's damn pathetic, but isn't this a profitable business for using map hack at this level?
‘From here right, right, lef...’
Since the angle is the angle, it wasn't clearly visible but...
Below the floor was pitch black, very scary to look into.
What happens if the body gets stuck in the floor completely... It was a bit too scary to experiment right now.
Pulling the neck out again.
—Ssuk!
This time I approached the wall and examined the surroundings again.
Checking there were no monsters, I banged my face hard into the wall.
—Puk!
Done! It worked but... it just looked black and nothing much.
It seems vision through wall and floor is different.
Too early to be disappointed here. I pulled my head out, wrapped my shoulder with one arm, and charged at the wall.
—Puk!
Without breaking anything anywhere, fortunately I pierced the wall but... just the arm got stuck and I couldn't move forward.
‘Is it because strength is lacking? Resistance is...’
I thought about finding a thin wall and trying, but if I get stuck in the middle and can't budge, it's straight to starvation ending.
I took out a shovel and tried digging the ground slightly, but what came out was just soil and stone.
The floor was also damn hard so the shovel bent slightly.
Just what kind of guy am I really? Why give me such an ability...
“Mm... Distracting thoughts prohibited. For now I should be satisfied with this much.”
For now, I obtained stats and map hack for free.
‘Let's see, the path... Right, right, lef...’
Déjà vu felt in an instant. Realization flashing in my head!
“…!!!”
That's right. I had to memorize it in reverse.
“Ah... So left, left, right? Lef...”
Putting my hand on my chin and muttering, I advanced towards the next floor.
I don't know if the goblin pack I met first was bad luck, or if discovering the bug was good luck.
Goblins encountered occasionally appeared 1 by 1, occasionally about 2?
Still 3rd floor, time taken so far about 4 hours.
I remember the Guild Master's voice groaning upon entry.
[In the worst case... please retrieve even the body.]
4 hours to 3rd floor... I might be able to take out a living person, not a body.
Today's date is mid-month, a day where no variables can exist.
But, I don't know why I'm so anxious.
Thoughts seem to keep popping up walking on the 3rd floor which is relatively quiet even among cave floors.
Shaking my head and just going straight for the goal, I had arrived at the 4th floor entrance.
The moment I tried to approach the portal...
“E, Excuse me! Did... Did you come alone?”
A brown-haired woman popped out from behind a nearby rock.
“Excuse me! If... If you came alone, with me...”
I extended my sword forward and said.
“Do not come closer.”
The woman flinched and stepped back.
Frowning with an expression of dying from injustice, the woman shouted.
“I, I am not a criminal! Just... Just got separated from companions... somehow like this...”
“Then wait for your companions. I have to go so move aside.”
The woman, whose complexion became pale, knelt and started begging.
“Please I beg you! Like this... I'll beg like this! No matter how long I wait, companions don't come! F... Food ran out almost completely too! Right! Just this portal!! If we just cross this portal together and you find my companions, I will definitely rewa...”
“Haa... Understood. Come here.”
The woman's face brightened and she ran towards me chong chong.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
I handed the torch to the woman.
“Here. Hold it in the opposite hand and put your hand in the portal.”
“Yes! Of course!”
Holding the sword in my right hand, I grabbed the woman's right hand with my left hand.
The woman wiggled her hand and dipped her hand into the portal with a bright face.
Along with the sensation of instantaneous movement, the woman pulled my hand hard and raised the torch over her head.
Moment of a split second, Master's teaching coming to mind.
As the body remembered, jump by bending only the ankles, receive the pulling force and wrap the woman's waist with legs.
“!!!”
Recalling the memory of sticking my head into the ground as is, I fed a headbutt to the woman's nose.
—Crunch!
Fortunately, faces didn't merge.
“Kuh-uk...”
—Thud!
I thrust my hand into the mouth of the woman falling backward and crushed her.
“Mmph! Uweh! Ugh...”
“Shh. If you be quiet I'll let you live. Blink twice if you understand.”
The woman with a crushed nose blinked both eyes.
After pulling my hand out, I said to the woman.
“Bellatus 2nd Princess.”
The woman trembled her eyes pareureu and clenched her teeth with broken front teeth.
“Hibal (F*ck)... Are you a high-rank adventurer here to rescue?”
The moment I heard the sound of wind escaping, irritation rushed in.
“I'll let you live if you answer. By any chance did you kill everyone you met on the 3rd floor?”
I might not see people in the labyrinth, but looking towards the blue dot direction, there wasn't a single person.
The woman giggled with her eyes rolled back and said.
“Kehihihi! No? Is it Muheunhori (Traceless Fox)?”
“… Are there guys like you on the 4th floor too?”
“…”
… I caught my breath and thrust the knife into the woman's neck.