Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: 7th Floor. Search Party and the Giant
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Like ants lining up to follow the pheromones sprinkled by their leader, four green-skinned adult males—each shouldering a thick, crude weapon—trudged through the jungle overgrown with lush green grass.
Their footsteps brimmed with the forceful proof that they were warriors, yet the atmosphere somehow felt utterly disorganized.
Anxious steps, laced with a hint of trembling, crushed the grass beneath them.
"What the hell could have fallen to make the upper floor collapse?"
"Anyway, up there, it's nothing but grass sprouts and the corpses of those cursed traitors!"
Fear. The thick voice, scratching at his neck as if trying to act tough, was laced with dread of the unknown.
A desperate prayer that it was nothing serious.
The green-skinned leader at the front turned at the grumbling.
His thick lips quivered as if offended by the irritating remark about traitors, and he stomped toward the man at the rear who had brought it up.
The man realized his slip of the tongue too late and clutched his head against the fist that shot out like lightning.
Kwang!
"Keheok!"
"I told you not to speak carelessly!"
Snort— A high-pitched puff of air escaped his nostrils, as if he were excited.
The smallest of the green men, struck on the noggin, rolled dramatically on the ground to hide the tears welling in his eyes from the pain.
"Aigoo! Big bro, my skull feels cracked!"
The other two chuckled at the sight of him rolling, lightening the mood a bit, and even the leader seemed to lose the will to scold further as he returned to the front.
After all, their mission wasn't to chit-chat in the heart of the jungle.
It was to investigate the cause of the vibrations that had shaken the place hours earlier.
They were the search party dispatched to quell the anxiety blanketing their village.
"Be careful next time. Don't wanna run into those lizard bastards by bad luck..."
"Ugh..."
"More than that, something's off over there! Never seen a hole that big in my life around here!"
As they turned to resume their search, the second man in line pointed beyond a narrow path.
He had the sharpest eyes of the bunch.
Trusting his credibility, the other three simultaneously directed their gazes to where his finger pointed.
Naturally, with shadows from leaves and branches, and everything obscured by grass and vines, there was nothing to see.
But they gripped their weapons tightly and advanced warily in that direction anyway, toward the hole that wasn't visible yet but surely existed.
"It's huge! Doesn't look like it pierced straight through to the ground floor, does it?"
"Too dark to tell."
There truly was an enormous hole in the area—one they'd never seen before despite living nearby—so the four searchers kept alternating their stares between the pierced ceiling and the floor below while debating the cause.
A meteor crashed down. A mighty warrior was digging and it caved in. A mage botched an excavation spell while crafting a workshop...
Plausible yet utterly unrealistic theories flew back and forth.
Because they knew nothing!
They only knew the vibrations came from the ceiling collapsing and the ground giving way—what could ignorant fools like them possibly understand about the real cause?
Opinions split on what to do next.
Ask the shaman. Convince the village to relocate. Investigate below the hole. Fight the lizards!
They nearly all agreed on the last one, but since it had nothing to do with the incident, they settled on giving the smallest guy—a beating.
"Hmph. No answers here."
The biggest man crossed his thick, muscle-bulging arms and sank into thought atop a broken tree.
The others knew full well that pondering had never yielded results before, so they seized the moment to clear a flat spot and light a fire.
They'd walked for hours, exhausted and starving! Sure, they were all fine warriors, but they were young men in their prime who couldn't stomach an empty belly.
Crackle, crackle—
Gathered in a circle around the campfire, the green-skinned men warmed their packed rations while chatting.
Forgetting their roles as village-loving warriors fretting over safety, they were just lively young lads trading lighthearted banter.
"How's it going with Grasha? That guy's got you under his spell bad!"
"Just friends, I said! I've told him a million times I ain't living with some scruffy nag—my mouth's worn raw!"
"Blowing off a girl you like? You must be a eunuch! Let's check!"
"No!!! What the hell! Don't do it!"
Two lunged to verify if he could rise to the occasion by yanking his pants, while the youngest desperately fought to defend them. A brawl ensued.
Guffaws mixed with the youngest's red-faced shouts.
"Ugh! Never hanging with you bros again!"
"Pouting like a girl! I didn't raise you that way! Time for some education!"
Smack!
The prompt violence—disguised as education despite his halfhearted reluctance—was deemed necessary to toughen the youngest's warrior spirit.
Amid the satisfying scene, the food they'd set over the flames roasted to a golden crisp.
A hand-sized spider, a head-sized fruit, an arm-thick fish—and the most envied packed lunch of all: a massive lizard tail.
The freshly severed lizard tail, still twitching like it might leap away, sizzled on the fire. Fat dripped and it shrank, looking utterly mouthwatering. The three non-owners gulped at the sight.
"You'll share, right?"
"No way he'd hog the whole thing!"
"Greedy or not, he wouldn't go that far!"
As they piled on, building an atmosphere of "fair shares for all," the owner clutched the roasted tail protectively, looking wronged.
"How'd I even find this? Wouldn't trade it for all your stuff combined!"
Sure, the crunchy spider, sweet-bursting fruit, and mild fish would be tasty—but could they beat a mouth-filling lizard tail roast?
But this was the jungle, ruled by violence and emotion over reason.
Three massive fists pummeled the hider mercilessly.
Having finished their perfectly harmonious, perfectly equitable meal, they all patted their bellies, feeling a twinge of emptiness.
The juicy lizard tail had been a true delicacy, but divided four ways, it vanished like flakes in a blizzard.
"By the way, where'd you even snag this? Solo trips to the lower floors are banned!"
Having robbed him of his prized grub, were they now nitpicking for an excuse to beat him? The lizard tail's owner frantically waved his hands in denial.
"Never been to the lower floors! Just stumbled on a crazy kin fighting a lizard by chance!"
"Hmm...!"
Crazy kin.
Long ago, all kin in this jungle had helped each other, getting along fine. Of course, that was way before they were born—just superficial tales from elders, like fairy stories.
Then, at some point, their own kind started slaughtering beasts and kin alike without discrimination.
Muttering terrifying words, rampaging madly—their kin built villages to defend against them. Contact with the lizards, long locked in a struggle for jungle dominance, dwindled over time.
The world outside the village was dangerous. Even for the lizards.
So squads of warriors like them patrolled near the village to avert threats.
And this lucky bastard claimed he'd merely scooped up a lizard tail severed and abandoned in flight from a crazy kin attack.
"Then that's the last of it. Tch..."
The big man smacked his lips in disappointment—perhaps hoping to pry out any hidden extras.
The owner seethed at the thuggery but held his tongue. Complaining would've made that complaint vanish under a pot-lid-sized palm!
A savage warrior society ruled by strength.
His gut boiled, but someday he'd grow stronger and pay it back tenfold—that vow drove warriors to power up.
"Hungry."
"Food's been scarce lately."
Gurgle.
Stomach clocks already rumbling? The four blankly stared at the campfire where food had just roasted moments ago.
As if more might appear.
Thud.
Suddenly, a massive hunk of meat landed right on the fire.
Fat and muscle blended perfectly, with a bone packed full of marrow—plenty of chew to it.
As it hit the flames, the sweet aroma of boiling fat wafted out, tempting their noses to sniff greedily.
"I, got delicious meat."
"Got delicious meat? Why pull it out now?"
"Rat? Never seen a rat this big!"
"Not a rat—rabbit maybe?"
"Rabbits ain't that fatty."
The four buzzed excitedly at the sudden bonus grub.
But something felt off.
No one had overlapped words—yet more than four voices had chimed in? And where'd this meat even come from?
Realizing it at once, the four whipped their heads toward the one who'd placed the meat.
"Uh, hi?"
A human man with black hair and black eyes, sporting a bizarre crooked hat and leather armor that didn't suit him one bit.
"I-it's a human!!!"
The captain yelled urgently, hoisting his club.
"Kwaaaak!!! It's a human!!!"
"Kieeeeek!!! I'm sharing meat and you're freaking out? Why the fuck are you such ungrateful shits!!!"
The dark jungle echoed with the hoarse, throat-shredding screams of five ragged men.