Chapter 4
Chapter 4
The first things to appear were, as expected, Goblins.
"Kearwarueoaek!!"
A few arrows flew into the darkness, and some simple magic followed.
A few footsteps faded, but it wasn't enough to suppress them all.
Eventually, the squelching sounds reached right up to us.
"Raise your wea-pons!!"
Along with Roark's voice, the regular party raised their spears and put their shields in front.
The recruited explorers flinched, looking like they wanted to run away right now.
I raised my axe to eye level and recited a prayer.
"O Valtern. Please let your will dwell here."
A heavy power settled in.
Just before the Goblins collided with the explorers' formation, I stepped forward with my left foot and swung my axe in an underhand motion.
Kwoong-!
As if an invisible giant had swung its arm to crush the enemies, the Goblins were swept away all at once.
Their limbs were torn apart, creating a sea of blood, but before they could even hit the ground, they disintegrated into gray dust and dropped as Magic Stones.
Even so, Goblins still remained.
Quite a lot of them.
"Kieeeeek!!"
"Hold the li-ne!!"
The momentum of the charge had decreased, but their numbers were still high.
The Goblins pushed in.
While the explorers held their formation, I struck from the side, smashing the heads of the approaching Goblins one by one. While bodies piled up, turning into blood, gray dust, and Magic Stones, arrows and magic continued to fly into the darkness.
The number of rushing Goblins had also decreased to some extent.
And, when a lull in the battle arrived.
"Haa, haa..."
"Is, is it over?"
"Raise your weapons!"
Unlike the regulars who were still in a combat stance, the recruited explorers were trying to sneakily lower their weapons.
Before Roark's shout could even finish, something poured out from the darkness.
It was arrows.
"Argh!!"
"Protect your vitals!!"
Arrows were pouring down in such quantities that they would be dangerous even without arrowheads.
Since it was already something I had foreseen, I stood in front of Hera and covered her with my shield and cloak.
The regular party members habitually raised their shields to block the arrows.
However, a few guys with poor equipment got hit by arrows and screamed in pain.
What the hell are they doing.
Taking advantage of that timing, the enemies started rushing in again in waves.
This time, it wasn't just Goblins; Kobolds and other small, nameless monsters were mixed in.
"You didn't get hit, right?"
"Yeah."
"I told you to buy a helmet. How long do I have to keep doing this for you?"
"Hehe, it's ugly."
After pulling back my cloak, I grabbed my axe again and resumed the work of beating the monsters to death.
Thwack, thwack, thwack. Honestly, Kobolds are stronger than Goblins, but they're just as much of a nuisance. A single kick, shield bash, or axe swing killed them all.
However, it was a bit different on the explorers' formation side.
"Aaaargh!!"
Perhaps it was because their formation had been slightly disrupted by the pouring arrows.
One explorer screamed after being stabbed by a Kobold's bone dagger.
It looked like another one was about to latch on, so I hooked two throwing axes in my grip and tossed them; both Kobolds immediately turned to dust.
"Send him to the back!!"
At Roark's shout, the party members in the rear dragged the stabbed guy back.
In the meantime, the formation became loose, and the monsters started rushing in, aiming for that gap.
"Tsk. O Valtern..."
"You're going to use it again? We don't know what might come out. Just leave it."
It would be easier to just leave it, I guess.
Ignoring Hera's words, I loaded Valtern's Blessing and swung again.
The monsters that were rushing toward the weak side of the formation, where the recruited explorers were hesitating, were crushed and turned into gray dust.
Unlike the regular party side, the formation that was on the verge of collapsing began to reorganize in that gap.
A lull arrived once again, and I got a moment to scan the situation.
'The number of people has decreased.'
Roark's regular party members are still at the same number.
But the number of recruited explorers was low.
Just as I was about to squint to take a closer look, a shout came from the front.
It was a sound I didn't really want to hear.
——!
"Ah, shit..."
"Because of you, we've got a curse on us, you bitch. You better take responsibility for this."
Footsteps thumping and echoing along with the shouting.
I didn't think that thing would appear, so I only brought this.
And judging by the sound, there was definitely more than one.
Before they could rush from that side, I went to an explorer holding a large sword and held out my hand.
"Give me that."
"Huh?"
"I said give it to me. I need it, right now."
The explorer hesitated to hand it over.
In contrast, Roark's side quickly ran to me and handed me 3 short spears they had collected.
While Hera, who received them, stuck the short spears into the ground, Roark's shout was heard.
"You fucker, give it to him! Do you want to die?!"
"No, this is my entire fortune..."
"Did your mom fuck a street beggar to give birth to you?! What use is it for you to be holding it right now!"
"Forget it, forget it. If he doesn't want to, whatever."
"You fucking piece of shit! If even one of us dies here, it's all because your mom gave birth to you!"
The recruited explorer, who had suddenly suffered a serious insult to his family lineage, seethed (the funny thing is, even after that, he didn't give me the sword).
I gripped the short spear, dropped my arm as low to the ground as possible, and took a throwing stance.
And, the footsteps that were coming from the darkness got closer.
Finally, right at the moment when the shapes were slightly visible.
"Hmph!"
I shot my arm forward, which had been pulled back to its limit, and threw the spear toward them.
Kaaaargh!
The screech told me it hadn't been a direct hit.
Just as I was quickly throwing another one, the owners of the footsteps finally appeared from the darkness of the labyrinth.
It was a 'Dungeon Troll'.
Height that looked about like Choi Hong-man's.
The build and bulk were a bit different. Twice the size of Choi Hong-man?
I don't know if they'd know who Andre the Giant is, but that was the feeling.
Including the one hit by the spear, there were four.
Pwaang-! An ear-splitting sound of air being torn came from the side.
It was the sound of Hera firing an arrow for large monsters.
The Troll on the far right was hit by Hera's arrow, its arm torn off, and it staggered back a few steps.
However, as is usually the case with Trolls, having an arm torn off wasn't much of a problem.
The Troll, which had been striding forward, picked up its severed arm and attached it to its shoulder.
"Raise your weapons—!!"
"Aaaargh!"
The regular party prepared for the impact while holding their shields and short spears.
On the other hand, the recruited explorers were in a panic, screaming or sneaking backward.
I gritted my teeth, aimed as accurately as possible, and threw the spear.
The sound of my step thundered.
The short spear shot from my hand accurately pierced the head of the leftmost Troll, right through its tiny brain.
"My god!!"
The Troll collapsed in one go.
Roark's exclamation.
Perhaps seeing that mess, the remaining two Trolls covered their heads with both arms and charged.
After roughly throwing one spear into the belly of the Troll near Roark's party, I rushed toward the last one.
That guy was already starting a fun game of 'playing hospital' with the recruited explorers.
Though it was weird that the doctor kept causing injuries.
"Aaaargh!!"
One explorer was already caught by the Troll and was on the verge of evolving into a new species without limbs.
After throwing two throwing axes to stop it from adding another person to the 'limbless' category.
I threw a Kobold that was still struggling and hadn't turned to dust yet, whole, at the Troll.
The Kobold scattered into dust and disappeared as soon as it collided with the Troll, but the impact remained, causing the Troll to stumble.
"Valtern!!"
Even though I had used it twice, a little residue remained.
The faint divine power struck the Troll, but it seemed it wasn't enough to smash its head.
I charged at the Troll with my small shield in front and collided with it; the Troll was about to fall but pushed back with its own strength.
In the meantime, I tried hacking at its belly with my axe, but it wasn't much use.
Because even if it got wounded, it recovered immediately.
"Sword!!"
There was no answer to the shout.
I turned my eyes and saw that the guy who had been holding that sword earlier wasn't nearby.
Shit.
I widened the distance and quickly scanned the surroundings.
I needed something that could reach that bastard's head, or something capable of hacking it to pieces, but I couldn't see anything.
Can't be helped. I closed my left eye.
"Over here!!"
A shout coming from behind.
I opened my left eye.
Someone other than that guy from before was running over with a sword.
Tearfully grateful.
Without looking back, I held out my hand, and the sword was placed in my grip.
It was a longsword of not-so-great quality, but I was just grateful to have even this.
"You fucker. Thought it was your world, huh?"
I dropped the shield and lowered my stance while gripping the sword with both hands.
The Troll hesitated but didn't back down.
Then, just as it was about to charge, I brushed past its side and swung the sword with my whole body.
The hilt screamed and wailed, and one of the Troll's legs was sliced off entirely.
"——————!"
"Crazy!!"
The Troll's scream and Hera's voice.
If you're free, help me out.
The Troll wobbled, clutching its leg, and hopped on one foot.
I kicked its body, and the Troll fell right over.
It wouldn't be very difficult to cut its neck from this position, so I raised the sword, but the sword was already bent as if half-twisted.
"Fucking hell."
Even in that state, the Troll tried to bite.
I dodged the teeth, smashed its head with my foot and axe, and turned my head to the side to see Roark's party still struggling.
Their shields were completely smashed, and they were just barely holding on, but when I charged from the side and slammed into the Troll, spears flew into its head all at once.
"Help me out!!"
"You seem to be doing fine, why?"
The Troll on that side, which I saw only then, looked like a porcupine.
It's in that state and still alive? Is it okay because it's a Troll?
I took the short spears and threw about three of them; that guy also fell with its mobility blocked, and its head was smashed by axe blows.
"Ugh, fuck..."
"Thank you. I never expected something like this to happen."
"I told you, it's all because this bitch brought a curse on us. Why on earth did you bring that story up."
"You believe in that kind of superstition?"
Hera, knowing she was at fault, avoided eye contact but still had a sharp tongue.
After giving her a punch to the ribs, I rubbed my temples as fatigue washed over me.
It was because I had worked too hard.
"If even one of them had been holding a weapon, a lot of people would have really died."
"Would a guy holding a weapon appear on this floor?"
"Isn't it strange that four Trolls appeared?"
No matter how much it's a Treasure Room, I'd never heard of four appearing; at most, one or two.
As proof of that, the surroundings were a complete mess.
Roark's party was all alive, but they looked ridiculous, and on the recruited explorers' side, most of them were lying on the floor groaning.
Fortunately, it didn't seem like anyone had died.
Although the number was strangely low.
"Did they run away?"
"Why?"
"The number of people is low. You take my share of the distribution."
"Got it~"
If I went through all this shit and my share was small or the reward was low, there would be nothing more fucked up than that.
Thinking that, I picked up a torch and headed toward the entrance, where two people were lying down.
One was the guy who had been holding the sword earlier; judging by the fact that he was knocked out, it seemed the person who brought me the sword had beaten this bastard up and taken it.
And the other person...
"Huh."
I let out a dry laugh.
It was the Rookie who had been with us the whole time, ever since the dungeon entrance.
Seeing the arrow stuck in his neck, it looked like he had gone down right when the Goblins fired their arrows.
"... I told you to be careful."
You have to protect your own body yourself.
Seeing me head toward the entrance, two of Roark's regulars who followed from behind each attached themselves to one person.
They dragged the guy who was knocked out and stripped the equipment off the dead guy.
"I've always wondered, what happens to the equipment when they die?"
"Uh, if they registered a death beneficiary, it goes to them minus the fee for the person who brought it back. If not, the person who returned it takes it all... By any chance, are you, Lian-nim, going to return it?"
"No, I don't need that kind of stuff."
"Yes, sir."
Words and actions both continued without interruption.
One more person came and took the stripped equipment, and the guy who was stripping the equipment dragged the Rookie's corpse.
I watched that scene quietly and said.
"Leave that."
"Huh?"
"I'll carry him."
"Ah, yes."
Thud. The Rookie's head hit the ground.
Roark's party member went back to his work, and I lifted the Rookie's corpse with one arm and tucked it under my waist.
He was light.
* * *
After roughly tossing the corpse near the gate.
I headed to the Treasure Room, where the settlement was in full swing.
Since four Dungeon Trolls had appeared, the settlement time must have been valuable too; Roark looked extremely excited.
"There are 8 treasure chests... and one of them is a chest I've never seen before!! So I waited for Lian-nim... sir."
"That bastard is starting his bullshit again now that the fight is over. Do you really want to die?"
When I showed him my fist, Roark's mouth slowly closed, perhaps remembering what had happened earlier.
But since he had to speak, he opened his mouth again.
"Anyway, that's it. This orange chest here..."
"This is Legendary grade."
Normally speaking, that's the case, and although I haven't played this game properly, it was probably that.
I had actually seen it before.
When I explained the identity of the chest, Roark looked surprised, then regained his expression.
"Then I will give this Legendary chest and two Elite chests to your party."
"Give me one more. That Rare one too."
"One more is... Ah, yes. I will give it to you."
At Hera's words, Roark hesitated for a moment before agreeing.
Normally, that would be the correct distribution ratio... no, they should have taken one Elite chest.
This time, it was too obvious that if we hadn't been there, they would have just been wiped out in an instant.
Roark gave us all the high-grade chests, leaving only one Rare one.
The remaining chests were 4.
What went to the recruited explorers was just one Normal chest.
"Why are you only giving us this?"
"What the fuck did you guys do? And do you know why this job got so twisted? It's because that bastard was late giving the sword, and before that, because of some idiot, Lian-nim had to use his blessing one more time to save you all from almost dying, that's why it's like this."
Roark threw a tantrum.
The explorers tried to protest, but they couldn't say anything more because the regular party members pointed their spears at them.
Their slumped shoulders bothered me for some reason.
"Wasn't it too much to take one more?"
"You take what you can when you can. Honestly, it's a low-floor chest, so it's the same whether you have it or not. And like he said, this whole thing got messed up because of them, right?"
"Still... yeah, whatever."
Without saying anything more, I just stood in front of the Legendary chest.
Hera gestured for me to open it, and I slowly opened the chest with the feeling of a gamer rushing over after seeing an orange star on the mini-map.
And I was flustered.
Inside the treasure chest, which looked about the size of a 25-inch suitcase...
"What is this?"
Because only a single Gold Coin, the size of a 500-won coin, was lying there.