How a Black-Haired Barbarian Survived the Labyrinth in Another World-Chapter 120: Wooden Box

In the forgotten city of Ingrave.

"..."

An oppressive silence filled the small resting area.

All eyes in the vicinity were focused on Jeong Yusin and Mik.

At that moment, a cat beastkin, Lumi, flapped her hand lightly.

"Barbaroi, calm down."

"What? I'm already calm enough."

"Let go of the sword."

Jeong Yusin looked down at his hands. Without realizing it, he had been gripping the sword’s hilt.

‘Damn.’

His ears almost rotted off.

Mik kept watching Jeong Yusin silently.

It didn’t seem like Mik was afraid of him. There was a mix of a ‘come at me if you can’ attitude and fatigue.

“Mik received the obscene inscription. If she opens her mouth, vulgar words will spill out—whether she wants to or not.”

Jeong Yusin furrowed his brows.

“Are you not going to remove it?”

“Whether to erase it or keep it is a personal choice.”

The wolf beastkin, Heather Barkman, interjected.

“And Mik is traveling with our party to earn the money needed to remove the inscription. Don’t ask more about it.”

“I understand.”

The wolf beastkin’s words were correct.

Whether to remove the inscription or not was a personal matter, but in his irritation, Jeong Yusin had overstepped.

He gave Mik a slight nod as an apology.

“Sorry.”

Mik just nodded and looked back at the fire.

"So! What’s the request that Mas received this time?"

"Well..."

Mas mumbled while glancing at his steel mask.

The steel mask, having read Mas's mind, spoke up.

“It’s a request to bury a holy relic at a specific location.”

"Ah, that? It’s an annoying request, isn’t it?"

"Have you done it before?"

"No. We don't do things like that. It's not profitable, and we're not interested. The distance we need to walk is also considerable. There's no reason to go out of our way to struggle like that."

The cat beastkin decisively said.

"Is that so?"

He was someone who only looked out for his own interests. Well, who could blame him? There were probably other explorers who were different.

“What’s your request?”

Jeong Yusin asked directly.

“Monster hunting.”

The cat beastkin Lumi readily answered.

He thought about asking more but stopped. The holy relic request alone was enough. He didn’t want to complicate his mind by prying into others’ requests.

"Ah! I heard that high-level monsters are showing up on the 7th floor lately. Be careful."

Lumi spoke casually, as if it didn’t matter much.

‘This is some bullshit.’

This was definitely something he had to ask about.

“What kind of monster is it?”

“Forest troll.”

Jeong Yusin tilted his head in confusion.

A forest troll? That was a monster that appeared starting from the 10th floor in the forest area.

Like all trolls, it had an unusually high regenerative ability.

Its characteristic was that toxic mushrooms grew on its back.

Every time it moved, the toxic mushroom spores would scatter, entering through the respiratory system. Therefore, if you were to fight it in close quarters, you had to be cautious.

And on top of that, it wielded an overwhelming strength with its massive tree trunk.

Even a heavily armored warrior would be in trouble if they took a full swing from a tree trunk. It would be an immediate trip to the afterlife.

Bones and flesh crushed in such a way were nearly impossible to regenerate.

Everything was perfectly arranged, making it an ideal package for a direct trip to hell.

From the very beginning, the difference in size was so great that there weren't many choices for the vanguard.

Its only downside was its slow speed.

The knowledge from the book was all he had.

Suddenly, a sense of unfairness welled up inside him.

"Why the hell?!"

The cat beastkin shrugged.

“I don’t know. The forest area is wide. Don’t worry too much. You can smell the stench from far away. If you smell it, just run.”

Clack! Clack!

Suddenly, Mik, the warrior, struck his armor twice.

Everyone’s attention shifted.

Mik sent a hand signal.

‘The weakness is fire with divine power.’

"Forest troll’s?"

Mik nodded and opened his mouth.

"Watch out."

Jeong Yusin nodded.

"Thanks, watch out."

"..."

The people gathered around the fire stared at Jeong Yusin in disbelief.

"Hmm! Let’s stop talking and sleep. We’ll take the night watch."

The wolf beastkin, Heather Volkman, spoke up.

Immediately, the steel mask spoke.

"Let’s stand watch together."

“If you want to, go ahead.”

The party members drew lots.

Although there was Kubo’s alarm magic, tomorrow they would be marching forward, so they wanted to conserve as much mana as possible.

Time passed, and the lottery was finally over.

Jeong Yusin’s turn was first.

And with Mik, too.

The two party members separated around the fire and lay down.

Jeong Yusin didn't take off his armor, despite how cumbersome it was.

Even if he had good-natured party members, he couldn’t fully relax and let his guard down.

Mik also had a reason for not removing his armor.

Jeong Yusin lay down and closed his eyes.

Soon, darkness enveloped him.

How much time passed?

Someone tapped on his armor.

When he opened his eyes, it was Mas standing there.

“Skye, it’s your turn.”

“No problem?”

Jeong Yusin’s voice was a bit hoarse.

"I heard someone walking back and forth outside. They disappeared quickly, though."

‘Is this place some kind of popular hotspot?’

Seeing Mas return to his spot, Jeong Yusin grabbed his longsword, moved closer to the fire, and sat down.

Facing the door, he leaned his back against the wall next to the fire.

Mik sat a little farther away.

"..."

A quiet silence lingered between the two men.

Clack!

Mik gently tapped his armor with his hand.

Jeong Yusin turned his gaze and looked at Mik.

“What is it?”

‘Sorry.’

The sudden apology left him a bit stunned.

It was clear what Mik was apologizing for.

Was it because of the vulgar words from earlier?

"Don’t worry about it."

‘Take this.’

Mik handed him a small vial from his pocket and sent another signal.

“What’s this?”

‘Pain relief cream.’

“Is this something like that? Why... Ah!”

Jeong Yusin immediately realized.

The forest layer’s law.

In the forest layer, madness comes from pain. If someone is continuously exposed to pain in that layer, they lose their sanity.

As the vanguard, he had to stand in the frontline. That meant he was the most vulnerable to injury during combat.

That also meant he’d be exposed to madness for the longest time.

Vanguards had methods like this to reduce the pain.

He felt the gap in information.

‘As expected.’

He understood now that interacting with other explorers was necessary.

Jeong Yusin fiddled with the glass vial before putting it in his pocket.

"Thanks, watch out."

Mik didn’t answer but nodded slightly and smiled.

The two men sat quietly, waiting for the fire to die down.

After a few hours, the party members were woken up. They quickly had a light meal before packing up their belongings.

“Well then, we’ll see you later.”

The wolf beastkin leader spoke in front of the resting area’s entrance.

The steel mask nodded.

“Yeah. Good work.”

Jeong Yusin and his party watched the wolf beastkin party leave.

The wolf beastkin party said they were heading to the 'corridor' area.

What kind of 'hunting' they would do, he wasn’t sure, but he wished them luck.

The party exited the alley and moved towards the main road.

After walking for a few more hours, they finally arrived at the teleportation stone at the edge of the city.

Jeong Yusin stood in front of the teleportation stone first.

“Ready?”

“No problem.”

“Let’s go.”

Jeong Yusin glanced at his party members and then placed his palm on the teleportation stone.

Whoooom.

A blue portal and a red portal appeared.

Jeong Yusin took a step forward and entered the portal.

His vision turned red, and he felt weightless.

Then, he landed in a forest with vibrant green leaves.

Thud!

He landed, quickly getting into a defensive stance and looking around.

He waited briefly, surrounded by the ominous green leaves, until his party members started coming out of the red portal one by one.

Mas, upon exiting, immediately drew his bow and listened carefully to the sounds around him.

“There are no monsters around.”

“Do you know the current teleportation area?”

“Hold on a moment.”

Mas lowered his bow, took out a map from his pouch, and studied it for a while.

“... This is the central area. We’re near the teleportation stone.”

“I see. Let’s maintain formation and head to the teleportation stone.”

The party followed Mas as he led them forward.

After walking for a while, Mas suddenly stopped and raised his hand.

“Stop.”

Mas ordered the party to halt.

“What’s going on?”

The steel mask asked from behind.

“I think there’s a monster. It’s slowly walking toward us.”

Jeong Yusin stepped forward, raising his shield.

Fwoosh.

Suddenly, a monster jumped out from the bushes.

No.

It was a human.

Or more precisely, an explorer.

Wearing thin leather armor and light gloves, with no weapon in hand.

But it didn’t seem normal. The body was covered in fungus-like growths.

Green fluid was dripping from various holes in the body, and maggots and spiders were wriggling and crawling in and out.

‘Shit.’

The corpse of someone who had lost in the labyrinth.

It was even more horrifying since it was walking right in front of them.

“Hey, are you alive?”

Jeong Yusin asked the pointless question, just in case.

"Grrr."

The explorer ignored Jeong Yusin’s words, waving his hand slowly as he sluggishly ran toward them.

Jeong Yusin stepped forward and blocked the attack with his shield.

Thud!!!

The slow movement was accompanied by tremendous strength. The hit shield immediately caved in, and shards of wood flew.

‘What the hell kind /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ of strength...?!’

Jeong Yusin gritted his teeth.

Was it the power from the inscription?

What kind of inscription had this guy received?

At that moment.

Sweeek!!!

An arrow shot from Mas’s bow and lodged right between the explorer's brows.

Thud!!!

The explorer’s head jerked back, but he didn’t fall.

The steel mask rushed in and swung his greatsword.

Whoooom!!!

The greatsword cut through the explorer just before it reached him.

Thud!

The explorer was split in two.

Body fluids, baby spiders, and maggots splattered everywhere, but the steel mask paid no attention.

Jeong Yusin clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘This guy's strength is no joke either.’

Where was this courage coming from?

‘Maybe I’m just weak.’

Still, it felt reassuring.

The fluid coordination had taken down one monster. It wasn’t a bad start.

“Be alert. It’s not a monster. It’s an explorer. He must’ve come with a party, but it’s strange that he’s alone.”

‘The steel mask is right.’

The party gathered around Kubo and took their positions. Mas, drawing his bow, listened for sounds in the surroundings.

A moment later.

Mas tilted his head.

“There’s no one else?”

That’s strange.

Had the other party members separated?

Looking at the explorer now, Jeong Yusin noticed something.

‘His equipment is poor.’

Jeong Yusin stepped forward and carefully examined the body.

It was because, during the fight, he’d noticed a piece of metal hanging around the neck.

‘Found it.’

Shh.

He moved the rotting body aside, pushing maggots and baby spiders aside to grab the metal.

Mike.

The name written on the greenish sticky metal.

He wiped the metal with some nearby leaves and pocketed it.

“Was it a metal tag? A porter.”

The steel mask spoke from beside him.

“Did they leave him behind?”

“I don’t know the reason, but it looks like it. If it’s a metal tag, it’s probably a beginner or a lower-level explorer.”

“....”

While Jeong Yusin and the steel mask were quietly talking in front of the corpse, the other party members approached.

“It’s truly horrible. Is this what happens to us if we die?”

Kubo shuddered slightly as he spoke.

His eyes were especially focused on the baby spiders crawling out from the explorer’s corpse.

“If you stay alert and prepared, you’ll survive.”

The steel mask simply responded and led the party members away.

The party, having witnessed such a gruesome sight, fell silent and walked in silence.

After carefully walking through the dark forest for four more hours.

They discovered the same ruins as before.

Collapsed stone walls and a lone watchtower.

“If you sense anything strange, just leave.”

The steel mask warned Mas firmly.

“Don’t get possessed again after reading some weird inscriptions like last time.”

Kubo added.

Mas frowned.

“I got it. Stop it already. I know well enough.”

“Mas, take it easy. If you get possessed, don’t worry.”

Jeong Yusin raised his fist and continued.

“I’ll break the possession with my fist, remember?”

“Ha, don’t do that! I got it!”

Mas widened his eyes and shook in fear.

The party members sent Mas off and waited for a while.

How much time passed?

Whoosh.

From the bushes, Mas’s face popped out.

“It’s safe. There’s no monster. But...”

“But what?”

Kubo asked.

Mas hesitated, then spoke.

“There’s a wooden box in the watchtower.”

A wooden box?

A question mark appeared over the party members' heads.