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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: 34
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The furthest cave on the third floor of the Ant Labyrinth.
I had followed the Hobgoblins very carefully, and where they led was a small storage room.
I peeked my head in to take a look. There was no shortage of weapons —swords, spears, and more— various armors, precious metals, and even copper and silver coins.
‘Found it.’
And in a corner, I saw a shining helmet. Good. It was Zirnier Basil’s helmet.
Next to it, my 17-silver-coin axe and 40-silver-coin breastplate were neatly placed.
There were only two Hobgoblins inside the storage room, the ones who had just entered.
I cautiously crouched in the corridor next to the cave entrance.
‘The moment they come out, I’ll strike.’
My plan was to rush them the moment they came out, complacent after putting down the items they’d just carried in, and snap their necks.
Fortunately, there were no Hobgoblins coming or going in the corridor. They were all busy having sex.
The men’s moans and Hobgoblins’ mating cries echoed crazily from every open cave, so the chances of being discovered by sound were low.
‘Here they come.’
About 30 seconds later, I heard the Hobgoblins emerging from the storage cave. Their shadows appeared. They were right in front of me now.
Just as I was about to rush them, the shadows flickered strangely.
The Hobgoblin, who had just stepped out of the cave, began to swing its arm around like a baseball batter.
‘Shit. They saw me.’
My judgment was quick.
Up until now, the Hobgoblins had been mindlessly walking around, just rummaging through items.
There was no way they would suddenly act like that. Had they noticed I was following them? Were they trying to make me drop my guard and then ambush me?
‘As expected, their intelligence is different from the first-floor Goblins.’
Sure enough, a bladed weapon emerged from inside the cave, following the trajectory of the swing. It was a stick with a sharp blade attached to its end.
*Clang–!*
I immediately ducked to avoid it. The bladed weapon struck the cave wall, and the sound of metal and stone colliding echoed through the cave.
The Hobgoblin, having missed and hit the cave wall, trembled from the vibrations running through the stick. I didn't miss that timing and lunged at it.
“Keruruk–!”
There wasn’t just one Hobgoblin. The Hobgoblin standing next to it tried to swing an axe at me. That was very welcome.
With the agile movements of 17 Agility, I dodged the axe and punched the Hobgoblin in the temple.
*Thwack!*
Perhaps because my height had increased and my weight had grown, it didn’t fly back with a single punch like the first-floor Goblins.
But I inflicted enough damage. It staggered for a moment and dropped its axe.
I reached out, grabbed the falling axe, and swung it directly at the Hobgoblin with the spear.
*Slaaash!*
A deep axe mark was left on the speared Hobgoblin’s neck.
‘Its skin is tough too.’
I had swung with the intention of a clean cut, but it was just slightly insufficient.
Still, the Hobgoblin collapsed to the ground, spear still in hand, without even a scream.
“Ke— Keruk…”
The Hobgoblin, having lost its comrade in an instant, trembled. Just as I was about to finish it off.
“Keruk?! Kekeke!”
“Kerururuk!!!”
I heard a commotion outside.
The joyous mating sounds stopped, and the bewildered Hobgoblins came out of their caves.
‘It was because I hit the wall with the spear. Damn it.’
The sound had been quite loud.
Anyway, I was screwed. I had seen dozens of caves just coming this far.
If that many Hobgoblins swarmed me, it would be over.
The commotion from the fight would inevitably grow, and Hobgoblins from the first and second floors would also rush over. Then there would truly be no answer.
“Ke, Keruk–”
Suddenly, the Hobgoblin pinned beneath me caught my eye.
At the same time, a tremendous idea flashed through my mind.
It was a little humiliating, but it was a good idea.
For Goblins whose minds were filled with nothing but men, dicks, and sex, this method would definitely work.
*Clang!*
I struck the axe right next to the Hobgoblin’s face.
“Feels good! Ahh!”
And I shouted that as loudly as I could. Loud enough to echo throughout the entire cave!
Fuck. This is mortifying. Do I really have to go this far to survive?
*Clang!*
“Ahh! This feels so good!”
Of course. I had to survive to do anything at all.
The Hobgoblin beneath me seemed to have a bewildered expression.
It was hard to properly discern the monster’s expression. But what if I brought the axe to its neck?
“Keruk! Kekekekeruk!!!”
The Hobgoblin was quite perceptive. It seemed to know what kind of reaction I wanted.
“Kekekekeruk! Kerurururuk!”
“This feels so good!”
*Clang! Clang!*
The man’s loud voice, the Hobgoblin’s mating cries, and the sound of the axe hitting the floor echoed loudly.
The murmuring cries of the Hobgoblins on alert outside gradually subsided.
“Keruk? Kekkeruk!”
“Kerukkeruk~”
It was like, "Oh, so it was just sex? That room's got some kinky play going on. We can't be outdone..." That kind of reaction.
“Kekekekeruk!”
Sure enough, an enormous mating cry immediately began to echo from the adjacent cave. It seemed they had been quite stimulated.
Once amplified, the mating sounds began to spread throughout the entire third floor of the Ant Labyrinth. It was as if they were competing to see who could have better sex.
“H-help! Help me! Heugh–”
“My dick! My dick! More, more, my dick!”
The reactions of the men, pickled in pink drugs, also grew more intense.
‘I’m sorry. For now, my own path is too busy for me to save you, but if I ever remember, I’ll come to rescue you.’
I offered a quiet apology and dealt with the Hobgoblin pinned beneath me.
You worked hard, my sex sound partner. Still, since you worked hard, I sent you off painlessly, in one go.
Afterward, I searched the storage room. There were no T-shirts or pants, but there was plenty of crucial armor.
I grabbed Zirnier Basil’s helmet and, wearing only my underwear, put on the breastplate. I also took the battle axe, Densi’s dagger, greaves, and a backpack.
Once I had my own things, other scattered equipment caught my eye.
‘This must have been the equipment used by the captured men.’
I didn't know when they were captured, but I could put their gear to good use.
There was almost no armor that fit my size, but I managed to grab a single, tight-fitting arm guard.
I also strapped a rolling round shield to my left hand. It was made of wood, but it would be a hundred times better than nothing.
After looting, I rummaged through the backpack.
‘Hard stone bread… take it. Moldy bread… take it just in case. A map? Not an artifact, but it’s for the 5th floor, so take it.’
What I needed most right now was food. Since I had originally aimed for the second floor, I hadn't brought enough provisions.
Even if I managed to get out of the 5th floor safely, it would take at least two weeks to climb back up to the 1st floor.
I absolutely needed food to last that period. Hunger and fatigue were the most dangerous threats in the Labyrinth.
Still, after searching all the other backpacks, I found about a week's worth of food and water. Even with maximum rationing, it seemed difficult to last more than two weeks.
‘…I’ll just have to endure.’
I tried to be happy that I had at least this much, and unrolled the map.
It wasn’t as good as the Armored Knight’s artifact map, but it was a decent quality map.
A map showing the approximate locations on the 5th floor.
First, I checked my current location. I didn’t know exactly where I was, but there was an area marked with a circle and a star.
[Where we must go! Our goal is the Shaman Hobgoblin’s staff!]
Below the area with this memo, the words “Hobgoblin Village” were inscribed.
Beyond the plaza on the first floor of the Ant Labyrinth, there was a long, straight tunnel. If I went out that way, I could exit the Hobgoblin Village.
‘The problem is, the Hobgoblin Village isn’t the end.’
The 5th floor was vast. Strangely, grotesquely vast.
The map showed a total of five monster villages, including the Hobgoblin Village, Kobold Village, and Mud Golem Village.
‘There are four more villages of this scale?’
It was terrible news, but the good news was that the Hobgoblin Village was the closest to the edge of the 5th floor.
And at the edge of the 5th floor, there was a drawing of a fountain.
[Healing Healing!]
Along with a green cross memo, drawn like a hospital sign or a healing icon.
– Go to the 5th floor fountain!
Delusio’s words suddenly came to mind.
‘…What exactly is that fountain?’
A fountain. Normally, it’s an ornamental structure found in places like parks. A fountain in the Labyrinth? It was too random.
What kind of place was that fountain that he decided to go there even when his party was half-annihilated?
Fountain. Delusio. Injuries. Party members on the verge of death. A memo saying "Healing." The fountain again…
‘Does the fountain have some means to heal party members?’
Even if that were true, there was one more thing that didn’t make sense.
‘You can’t choose where you land when you use a transfer trap.’
If you use a 5th-floor transfer trap, you land on the 5th floor, but the location is completely random, like a portal.
You could land in the Hobgoblin Village, the Kobold Village, or, if you were lucky, the fountain.
But that was relying 100% on luck. There’s no way that bastard would entrust his future to the luck of landing at the fountain.
The look in his eyes as he glared and sneered at me was definitely not that of a loser ignominiously fleeing.
Unless it was the face of a hunting dog planning a counterattack.
‘But his party was half-destroyed.’
If Delusio’s party had been at full strength, it would make sense for them to have used the transfer trap. They were 5th-floor explorers, so they would have somehow pushed through the layers to reach the edge.
But I had sent two of his flunkies to the brink of the River Styx and half-mutilated Delusio himself.
In such a situation, how could he have decided to push through the 5th floor, with its five monster villages, and head to the fountain at the very edge of the layer?
‘Did he have some means to instantly move to the fountain?’
If I didn't think that, his decision to go to the 5th floor in that situation made no sense.
I combined all my conjectures so far.
‘If Delusio’s party had a way to instantly move to the 5th floor fountain, and the fountain serves to heal injuries…’
My head tilted slightly, but the conjecture roughly fit.
It was a shaky, uncertain conjecture full of holes, but with the limited information I had, this was all I could think of for now.
It was a very unsettling feeling. Questions kept piling up.
Questions I had felt as soon as I regained consciousness on the 5th floor, but had ultimately been unable to resolve.
‘Then why did I lose consciousness?’
Whenever I had crossed portals before, I had felt a strange floating sensation and a subtly unfamiliar feeling, but it was never enough to make me lose consciousness.
Was it simply different because it was a transfer trap? No, that couldn't be it. Densi had said she fell to the 3rd floor via a transfer trap, but she hadn't mentioned losing consciousness.
Then, just because it’s the 5th floor? That’s also a bit ambiguous. Isn’t it just one of the Labyrinth layers? What’s so special about the 5th floor?
…Now that I think about it, judging from the map information alone, the 5th floor was strangely vast, monsters formed villages, and there was a clearly unique gimmick like the fountain. It was definitely different from a typical Labyrinth layer.
‘Something… something I don’t know, something I’m missing.’
Why did I lose consciousness specifically on the 5th floor?
Do other explorers lose consciousness too? Or just me? If so, why?
[◆ ???'s Blessing]
The mysterious Blessing, full of questions, caught my eye. A Blessing that always brought strange thoughts and an unsettling feeling whenever I saw it.
And perhaps, a Blessing I had possessed since I was on Earth.
But no matter how much I pondered, there was nothing to connect it to.
‘…I don’t know. For now, I’ll focus on surviving.’
I reined in the conjectures and doubts that threatened to spiral endlessly.
‘If I can just make it down to the 1st floor, break through the tunnel, and get out of the village…’
There was a possibility. A path to escape was slowly starting to appear.
***
No Hobgoblins came to the storage room. Aside from the two I killed, not a single one had come here until now.
So, I lived in the storage room for about a day.
To prepare for the possibility of being discovered, I slept in the darkest corner and survived by eating small portions of bread.
By occasionally peeking out of the cave and observing the Goblins, I gathered some information about the Hobgoblin Village.
‘There are no traps inside the village.’
The Hobgoblins ran, walked, bumped into walls, fell, and did all sorts of things carelessly within the village.
But there was no sign of traps activating.
It might be a different story outside the village, but at least inside, it was presumed there were no traps.
‘Hobgoblins sleep in the morning.’
The mating sounds had been ceaseless all night.
Checking Diana’s watch, they generally had sex until around 5 AM, then fell asleep, and woke up leisurely around 12 PM to start their day again.
Which meant more sex.
‘And, they stand guard in shifts.’
At the end of the first-floor plaza.
In front of the long tunnel leading out of the village, Hobgoblins were stationed like a guard post, keeping watch.
They changed shifts every three hours on average.
‘A shift change takes about 5 minutes, so I need to aim for that time to escape.’
Based on the accumulated map data, the tunnel was approximately 2 km long.
No matter how fast I was, I would definitely get caught trying to escape.
But as with all operations, few places can respond immediately when something breaks out.
It was currently 4 AM. The Goblins’ sex sounds were still audible. But they would fall asleep soon.
‘The decisive moment is 8 AM, the time of the guard change.’
The time when the forces would be in their deepest sleep, and simultaneously, when their vigilance would be weakest.
If I aimed for that time, I could increase my chances of escape, even if only slightly.
I killed time waiting for the moment. My backpack was packed, and my equipment was perfectly donned, ready.
Then, around 6:35 AM. Just as I was about to prepare to descend to the second floor of the Ant Labyrinth.
“Kererelelelelelelek!!!”
What the fuck was that?
A tremendous roar jolted me awake.
“Hey, you damn guard Hobgoblin bastard! Shut up already!”
“They’ve really ruined the men. I’m jealous of Goblins. Goblins probably don’t get punished for raping men, right?”
“Get a grip. Are you an outlaw? To even think such things?”
“Gregor. Great Warrior of the 3rd Floor. Watch carefully and learn from this. How the best party of the 7th Floor hunts.”
“Yes!”
Five women came into view.
“Kerurururuk…”
Due to the sudden unusual situation, the village master immediately appeared. It was a Shaman Hobgoblin.
“Kuh. That staff looks expensive.”
“The 5th-floor Shaman Goblin wields a special staff that magically manifests male corruption pheromones from monsters. To ask for something like that, the client has bad taste.”
Judging solely by their conversation, they were explorers who had come for the Shaman Hobgoblin’s staff.
What means of making money were there in the Labyrinth? Killing monsters, completing quests, and farming artifact-like items, probably.
‘But why now of all times?’
“Kerurukekekerelelek!”
The Shaman Hobgoblin let out a fierce roar.
Then the 3rd floor, no, the entire Hobgoblin Village began to shake with a tremendous tremor.
The Hobgoblins who had been having sex and passed out in their caves suddenly sprang up, rushing to answer the Shaman Goblin’s call.
“Krek, Krek!!”
The Hobgoblins began to move in unison, like an army ambushed in the middle of the night.
And just as soldiers would rush to grab their weapons in an emergency, they began to run somewhere to retrieve their own armaments.
That 'somewhere' was clearly where the weapons were stored.
I looked around.
‘This is the weapons storage.’
“Krererelek! Krek!”
“Krekrek!”
*Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.*
A massive number of footsteps were rushing towards the storage room where I was hiding.
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