How a Black-Haired Barbarian Survived the Labyrinth in Another World-Chapter 17: Lung party

Thud.

The last goblin fell.

Jeong Yushin pulled the sword out of the goblin’s body.

After walking for several hours, he reached the farthest point of the first floor and encountered another group of goblins.

There were seven in total. The fight ended quickly.

He cut off the ears of the dead goblins and put them in his pocket.

The current count of goblins slain was 12. Since the quest required 10, the quest completion was already guaranteed.

"Hah, it’s been a while since I’ve done this."

Ditto, who was cutting off the goblin ears, grumbled.

"I wondered when you'd say that."

Dell quickly moved his hands and retorted.

"Are you bored? How about singing a song?"

Ditto cleared his throat, preparing to sing.

"Don’t do it. Don’t act like a fool in front of the newbie."

"I don’t want to."

Dell and Ditto continued to bicker.

The rest remained silent, cutting the ears off and collecting them into their pockets.

Once they were done, Dell’s group and Jeong Yushin resumed walking.

Not long after, they arrived at the farthest end of the first floor.

A large stone monument stood in the middle of the vast cavern.

The Transference Stone.

A sense of nostalgia washed over Jeong Yushin. It was here that he had argued with the Kaal group about whether to descend or not.

"Let’s rest here for a bit."

Dell glanced at Ainhofer and spoke.

He was considering the dwarf who had the stamina reduction marking.

"Okay."

The group set up camp a little further from the Transference Stone.

They ate small amounts of food and water while chatting about various things.

Most of the conversation was about the bickering between Dell and Ditto. The dwarf and the wizard, on the other hand, remained silent.

"But are you all mid-tier explorers?" Jeong Yushin asked, breaking the silence.

The surroundings grew quiet.

"Don’t just spring that on me like that. It hurts," Ditto complained.

"We were all mid-tier explorers," Dell replied.

"Stop talking nonsense and go. Weakling."

Kelton stood up from his seat.

"Right, we need to make money."

The group packed up and gathered in front of the Transference Stone.

A red portal and a blue portal opened.

The Kaal group flashed through his mind.

"Hah."

Jeong Yushin took a deep breath and stepped into the red portal.

The second floor.

The torches lit up in the dark cave.

One by one, members of the group emerged from the red portal behind Jeong Yushin.

"Ska, are you okay? Your hands are shaking."

Dell asked.

"I’m fine. Just a little nervous."

"Yeah. Like I said earlier, we’ll be circling the outer edges of the second floor and hunting hobgoblins. Just stay calm."

"Yes."

What they needed to be careful of were ambushes and traps.

As they walked ahead, Ditto stopped in his tracks.

"It’s a trap."

Jeong Yushin carefully examined the floor.

A patch of leather, the same color as the cave floor, was covering a spot.

If stepped on, the floor would give way, and spikes beneath would impale the feet.

The torchlight allowed Jeong Yushin to spot it immediately. If it had been dark, it would have been difficult to notice.

It was a trap similar to the one Kaal had stepped on.

Ditto removed the leather covering the trap and stood up.

"If there’s a trap, there are goblins nearby. Get ready."

As Ditto had said, after walking a few more steps, he retreated and spoke.

"There are a lot of them. 20 goblins. Barbarian, focus."

Ditto’s voice was devoid of any humor.

Jeong Yushin stuck the torch into the ground.

Skrin.

He drew his sword, placed it over his shoulder, and gripped the shield handle tightly.

"Keheh."

"Kya-kya-kya."

Chilling, sharp laughter echoed in the darkness.

Dell pulled back his bowstring.

Swoosh!

Several arrows flew forward like streaks of light. There were no screams, only the sounds of goblins falling.

The enraged hobgoblins’ cries echoed through the cave.

‘They’re coming.’

The goblins broke through the darkness, charging forward with their axes raised high.

Bang!

The heavy impact on the shield made Jeong Yushin’s hand vibrate.

But he blocked it.

With his sword in his right hand, Jeong Yushin stabbed the goblin’s neck.

The sharp tip of his armingsword pierced the weak spot in the hobgoblin’s neck, severing the carotid artery.

Puh-hahk!

The goblin collapsed, spraying blood from its neck.

"Behind you! Ainhofer!" Dell shouted.

"I’m coming!" the dwarf responded, retreating with his axe.

Now, the front line was all Jeong Yushin’s responsibility.

He could do it. No, he had to.

Jeong Yushin mentally repeated to himself as he took a stance.

Several hobgoblins charged at him in a line.

Crack!

He raised his shield horizontally, shattering the goblin’s neck with a powerful blow.

He slammed the pommel into another goblin’s head, knocking it back with a kick.

Using every part of his body, Jeong Yushin cut down the goblins charging at him and crushed them.

But he couldn’t block all the attacks.

Thud!

A chilling sensation ran through him as the goblin’s blade pierced his hard leather armor and dug into his flesh.

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The goblin collided with him and stabbed a knife into his abdomen.

The sudden pain froze Jeong Yushin’s body.

He couldn’t block the incoming mace strike.

Bang!

The mace struck Jeong Yushin’s head. The impact rattled his skull, and dizziness overwhelmed him. If he hadn’t been wearing his helmet, it would have knocked him out immediately.

Despite staggering, Jeong Yushin swung his sword, slashing at the goblin’s two eyes.

The goblin, who had just stabbed him in the stomach, lost both its eyes.

He swung the mace away with his shield and stabbed the goblin in the stomach. The goblin, drained of strength, slumped forward.

Screech.

He grabbed the goblin’s limp neck and threw it.

The goblin collided with another one charging ahead and tumbled to the ground.

"Kelton! How far are you?" Dell yelled.

"Almost done. Weakling," came Kelton’s reply.

[Fireball]

A fiery ball of flame, distorting the air, struck the group of goblins that had just fallen.

Light flooded the cave for a moment.

Boom!

Jeong Yushin instinctively ducked and raised his shield. The deafening sound and shockwave made it difficult to keep his balance.

Thud.

The explosion’s shockwave slammed goblin blood and pieces of flesh against his shield.

But the magic didn’t stop there.

[Light]

The cave was illuminated brightly. Even areas unseen by the torches were clearly visible. Most of the goblins in the front had been caught in the explosion and were dead, while the few remaining goblins hastily turned and fled.

[Ice Lance]

Five 2-meter-long ice lances materialized in the air.

With a flick of Kelton’s hand, the lances shot toward the goblins at the rear.

Swiish!

"Keek!"

The sharpened ice lances pierced the bodies of the goblins.

"Ska!" Ditto shouted.

"I'm going!" Jeong Yushin called back.

Covered in blood and gore, he sprinted toward the rear.

Dell and Ditto were fiercely battling with their daggers.

Ainhofer was sitting, panting heavily. His one-handed axe was nowhere to be seen.

‘Seven goblins left.’

Jeong Yushin grabbed any weapon lying on the ground and swung it.

He crushed a goblin’s head with a mace, then kicked it and swung his shield. If a goblin fell, he stomped on its neck, breaking it.

When he swung his sword, he blocked with his shield and kicked the goblin’s vital spot.

When he jabbed with a spear, he dodged, pulling it back.

There was no end to the goblins coming at him.

He delivered an uppercut to one, and when it couldn’t recover, he grabbed its mouth with both hands and ripped it open.

He had killed them all.

No. There was one left.

Jeong Yushin turned his head.

The foolish goblin, trembling, couldn’t even escape.

As he approached, the goblin screamed.

"I! It’s me, this bastard! Dell!"

"Dell?" Jeong Yushin asked.

"Yeah! Damn it. Stop!"

"I’m just here to check if you’re okay."

"No, you weren’t. Your eyes were full of murder!"

Jeong Yushin looked down at the gnome clinging to his leg.

"Ditto, what are you doing?"

"..."

"Heal him first. Weakling."

Ditto stayed silent, while Kelton spoke indifferently.

The dwarf panted heavily, gasping for air.

"Ha."

He sat down, rummaging through his bag.

The wound was alternately cold and hot. It seemed he had applied poison to his weapon. It was so shady, just like a goblin.

After drinking the antidote, he took off his armor, sprayed some disinfecting wine, and wiped it with a clean cloth. Finally, he took out a healing salve and applied it to the wound before wrapping it with bandages.

‘Healing potions are too expensive.’

So, he had bought cheaper healing salves, and they worked quite well. The salve seemed to act as an analgesic as well, and the pain started to subside.

It wasn’t his first time, so he was able to finish it quickly.

Looking around, everyone was tending to their own wounds. Kelton was the only one standing there with his arms crossed.

"This is strange. There are way too many hobgoblins."

Dell scratched his head.

"Yeah, it’s strange. Thirty or forty charging at us all at once. That’s insane."

"Ska, do you have some kind of marking that attracts monsters? Like a marking that lures them?"

Dell asked.

"No. I do have a marking, but nothing like that."

"Be honest."

"It’s a Sacred Weapon."

"Just ordinary then?"

"Ordinary, yeah. Weakling."

"Let me see it."

"If I use it once, I’ll have to lie down. It’s exhausting."

At that moment, Ainhofer, who had been twitching on the ground, sat up.

"Ska, thanks."

"No problem. I was just doing what had to be done."

He humbly accepted the dwarf’s thanks.

"Anything else?"

"No. This is my second time in the labyrinth."

"So what’s going on in the labyrinth?"

"I heard a lot of new explorers entered this time. It might be related to that. Weakling."

"Didn’t most explorers go in and not come back?"

Dell asked.

"No, they didn’t come back. Stop playing at home and go outside," Ditto said.

"I have to risk my life to go out. The world outside is dangerous. Damn."

Dell grumbled as he continued speaking.

"But even though I know a lot of new explorers entered, what does that have to do with all these hobgoblins?"

"Maybe the explorers are grouping up and roaming around together?"

"That’s nonsense."

Dell firmly dismissed it, and Ditto shrugged his shoulders.

"Monsters also learn and adapt. It’s not such a weird idea, is it?"

At Ditto’s words, Dell looked at Kelton.

"What do you think, wizard?"

"Better than the monster learning theory. Weakling."

"Is there a monster leading them?"

Jeong Yushin’s question made Kelton look surprised.

"Right. Weakling."

Thinking back, a few things flashed through his mind.

When he had wandered the second floor with Ann, he hadn’t been ambushed that often.

Aside from rescuing Mari and the last ambush, he hadn’t seen any hobgoblins.

At the time, he thought he had evaded them well, but was that just a misconception?

Hobgoblins.

If Kelton’s words were true, and assuming the hobgoblins were being led by something...

There was no need for them to pursue recklessly. They could find plenty of prey around. If they joined the larger groups, they could hunt more easily.

By grouping together, they could get more pregnant pouch sacs and more meat.

Even if he were a goblin, he would’ve made that choice.

The conclusion was simple.

Surviving the first labyrinth run had been pure luck.

That day, there were many new explorers on the second floor, and the hobgoblins, realizing it was more efficient to group under the command of a leader, began to gather.

Perhaps they had escaped through a gap ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ created by that?

He was lucky to have survived, but what happened to the other new explorer parties?

Noticing the expression on Jeong Yushin’s face hardening, Kelton stroked his white beard.

"Sometimes, strong monsters come up from the lower levels. Weakling."

"Wizard, I’ve never heard that before. Isn’t that just a guess?" Ditto grumbled.

"Are you a 10-year explorer? I’ve been at this for 20 years. Back in my day, this kind of thing happened from time to time. Weakling."

Ditto’s expression crumpled in response to the wizard’s retort.