How a Black-Haired Barbarian Survived the Labyrinth in Another World - Chapter 10

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As Jeong Yoo-shin passed through the red portal, a sensation of weightlessness washed over him.

Thud.

He landed on the ground and quickly scanned his surroundings. It was still dark.

The cave was narrow, just like on the first floor.

“Here we go!”

A flash of red light appeared, and Carl landed on the ground, sword still in hand.

The rest of the party soon followed.

Carl smiled widely.

“Let’s go. We’ve got a long way ahead of us.”

The formation had changed slightly.

Jeong Yoo-shin was now at the front, leading the way. And Carl followed closely behind.

“This time, we’re lucky. We got transferred to the central zone.”

Dean said brightly as he checked the map.

“Let’s just get this over with. I haven’t been able to wash or sleep properly.”

“Just a little more, hang in there.”

Then, a creepy noise echoed from up ahead.

“Kekeke!”

“Kiikiki!”

The chilling sound came from the front, but visibility was poor.

“Enemies ahead!”

Jeong Yoo-shin instinctively raised his shield.

Ssshhh!

It wasn’t arrows—it was spears.

There was no way to dodge. If he moved, the people behind him would get hit.

Bracing himself, he gripped the shield tightly.

Thud!

The impact was strong, and Jeong Yoo-shin stumbled back a few steps, but his shield held on.

Unfortunately, the force caused him to drop his torch.

At that moment, Carl darted forward, picking up the fallen torch.

“Marie!”

[Light]

The cave lit up instantly, revealing three hobgoblins who were turning to flee.

“As expected, they run when they’re outnumbered!”

Carl dashed forward and sliced one of the hobgoblins’ backs.

“Kieeeek!”

The goblin let out a sorrowful cry and collapsed.

“Chase them!”

Carl pursued the remaining hobgoblins.

“Carl!”

Anne called out urgently, but Carl seemed too focused on the chase to hear her.

There was no time to recover from the shock still throbbing in Jeong Yoo-shin’s hand. He hurriedly followed Carl.

Carl ran beyond the reach of the light spell.

The tunnel curved to the right, and soon, only the faint glow of the torch was visible ahead.

Then…

“Aaaargh!”

Carl’s scream filled the cave.

“Damn it.”

Jeong Yoo-shin ran as fast as he could, turning into the right-hand passage.

He arrived to see Carl wildly swinging his sword at five hobgoblins.

Carl was limping.

‘A trap!’

Carl was like a cornered beast. He was swinging his sword in a rage, but the hobgoblins simply laughed eerily, poking at him with spears and daggers.

They weren’t attacking directly—they were trying to wear him down.

It was a textbook strategy for hunting a wounded beast.

The fallen torch flickered on the ground, casting dancing shadows on the cave walls. The goblins’ shadows moved in sync, like they were part of a sinister dance.

Jeong Yoo-shin sprinted toward them, but it was already too late.

Thunk.

A hobgoblin’s spear pierced Carl’s abdomen.

“Gah!”

Carl gasped. It wasn’t a fatal wound, but it was enough to paralyze him with pain.

Another goblin rushed in and swung a wooden club.

Crack!

Blood splattered from Carl’s head. His body swayed, on the verge of collapsing.

Thud!

Crack!

Each hit from the club crushed Carl’s head further. His skull was caving in, his once defiant eyes now bulging grotesquely from the impacts.

The confident boy was gone.

What remained was a broken, trembling figure, waiting helplessly for death.

It all happened so fast that Jeong Yoo-shin had no time to intervene.

But he still ran toward Carl.

He drove his sword into the neck of the goblin about to finish Carl off.

“Krrr!”

With a final scream, the goblin collapsed, clutching its neck.

Two more hobgoblins lunged at Jeong Yoo-shin’s shield, weighing it down. He couldn’t move it.

Jeong Yoo-shin was taken by surprise by their tactics and lost focus.

“Damn it.”

That’s when he saw it.

A goblin leaped over his shield, swinging a club toward his head.

Clang!

The club struck Jeong Yoo-shin’s helmet. The impact rattled his vision.

Instinctively, he thrust his sword, impaling the goblin’s stomach.

Had he stabbed too deeply?

His sword was stuck, and he couldn’t pull it out.

Jeong Yoo-shin dropped his shield, causing the two goblins to tumble to the ground. A spear thrust forward, but he had neither a shield nor a sword to block it.

“Hoo.”

He took a deep breath, and with perfect timing, he grabbed the spear.

“Kieek?”

As he yanked the spear toward him, the goblin came stumbling along with it.

Jeong Yoo-shin slammed his fist into the goblin’s jaw.

Bam!

A clean straight punch.

The goblin didn’t even have time to scream before passing out. Jeong Yoo-shin snatched the spear and stomped on the unconscious goblin’s neck.

Crack.

The iron-capped soles of his boots crushed the goblin’s spine.

He threw the spear, killing another goblin that was still on the ground.

Now, only one goblin remained.

Just then.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Marie’s scream echoed from behind him.

“Marie! No! Dean, come back!!” Anne’s frantic shout followed.

What the hell was happening?

“Kikikikik.”

The last goblin in front of Jeong Yoo-shin laughed ominously.

Swish!

Thwip!

Arrows flew out of the darkness. He tried to dodge, but they struck him in the shoulder and thigh.

“Damn it!”

The burning pain caused him to freeze momentarily.

There were more goblins.

The noise must have attracted them.

From behind, Marie’s screams and Anne’s shout rang out, while in front, the goblins laughed as reinforcements arrived.

In an instant, the situation had spiraled out of control.

Though his mind was clouded, Jeong Yoo-shin’s body moved instinctively for survival. He grabbed the nearest goblin by the neck and used its body as a shield against the incoming arrows.

Thud!

Thwack!

Arrows embedded themselves into the goblin’s body.

He couldn’t block them all though—one pierced his arm, but at least he avoided a critical hit.

He wouldn’t die, not yet. The heat of adrenaline surged through his veins.

He tossed the arrow-riddled goblin aside, limping as he hurried to retrieve his shield and wrench his sword free from the fallen goblin’s body.

He needed to retreat.

He had to see what was happening at the back of the group.

Blocking more arrows with his shield, Jeong Yoo-shin retreated down the bent passageway.

The scene he found just before the Light spell extinguished was horrifying.

Marie’s clothes were torn, and a goblin was dragging her by the hair into the darkness.

Dean was nowhere to be seen.

Anne was pinned beneath a group of goblins, struggling and screaming.

“No! Don’t do this! Stop!!”

The goblins laughed gleefully, seemingly amused by her desperate cries.

And so—

They didn’t notice Jeong Yoo-shin creeping up behind them.

His sword pierced through the neck of one of the three hobgoblins on top of Anne.

“Kghhh!”

One of the hobgoblins slumped over, dead.

“Kieek!”

The remaining goblins were startled.

Jeong Yoo-shin pulled his sword from the fallen goblin and slashed another’s throat. He then swung his shield, smashing it into the last goblin’s neck.

Crack.

The goblin’s neck snapped at an unnatural angle as it fell to the ground.

“Hnnngh! Ughhh…”

The last goblin was down, but Anne was still panicking and flailed wildly.

The light disappeared, and darkness enveloped the cave once again.

They were in a dire situation.

There was no telling when more goblins might arrive, especially from the direction where Carl had gone.

Jeong Yoo-shin quickly lit the last torch, which dimly illuminated the cave.

“Anne, get a grip.”

Jeong Yoo-shin grabbed Anne by the shoulders and shook her a few times, but she still wasn’t snapping out of it.

So he slapped her hard across the face, and only then did some light return to her eyes—though whether she was fully in her right mind was uncertain.

“Marie! We have to save Marie! And what about Carl? Dean?!”

“Carl’s head was crushed, and I don’t know where Dean is. Marie was being dragged away by her hair.”

“We have to save her!”

Anne tried to stand, but clutched her stomach and collapsed back down.

She had been stabbed several times by poisoned daggers, and dark red blood was seeping from her wounds.

Jeong Yoo-shin pulled out two antidote vials from his bag. He had learned in the course that goblins used poison, and though he had packed the antidote just in case, he hadn’t expected to need it so soon.

“Not right now.”

He handed her the antidote and spoke calmly.

They had to move quickly. They had already stayed too long, and there was no telling when the goblins might return.

First, they needed to find a safe place. Then, they could deal with the arrows embedded in his shoulder and leg. The wounds were starting to turn black.

“Don’t give me that! We have to save them! Please help me!” Anne pleaded, practically bowing before him.

He understood.

They were from the same village, and the years they had spent together must have been long. Their friendship had likely grown even deeper over time.

Just as Carl had said, they had overcome every hardship together, and they must have believed that, with teamwork, they could conquer the labyrinth as well.

It made sense why they took the risk, but this time, luck wasn’t on their side.

Jeong Yoo-shin understood.

“Alright. But first, let’s get you treated in a safe place. Then we’ll search for them.”

It was a lie.

He had no intention of looking for them.

Anne was just bait. When the hobgoblins inevitably swarmed them, she would be a perfect distraction, buying him enough time to escape.

“We… We have to go now.”

“You’ll die first. Even if we find them, you’re in no condition to fight. Or are you planning to leave everything to me?”

Anne bit her lip, tears forming in her eyes.

“Fine.”

Jeong Yoo-shin helped her up and they started moving.

Strangely, no goblins chased after them.

If he were a goblin, would he let prey that had been hit by three arrows escape?

Were they afraid?

Unsure of whether they were being followed, Jeong Yoo-shin took the remaining torches, lit them, and threw them into the various paths at forks in the tunnel.

He hoped to use the hobgoblins’ tendency to chase light to his advantage, at least for a short while.

And yet…

It felt like he was going to collapse.

As he walked while supporting Anne, whose body was riddled with arrow wounds, was pushing him to his limit.

He didn’t even know where he was going.

Dean had been carrying the map.

“Ugh.”

Anne coughed up black blood.

‘We can’t go any farther.’

They hadn’t found any shelter, or even a safe spot resembling one. Still, they had moved far enough from the ambush site, and there were no signs of pursuit.

Jeong Yoo-shin propped Anne up against the wall of the cave and gave her the antidote. He lifted her shirt to inspect the wounds on her stomach.

Multiple stab wounds dotted her abdomen. He poured some wine onto the injuries to disinfect them, then applied the antidote to the wounds.

Jeong Yoo-shin reached into his bag and pulled out a small glass bottle.

A low-grade healing potion.

The red liquid inside the bottle sloshed around, the size of a Yakult bottle.

This one vial cost three silver coins.

‘Should I just leave her?’

For a moment, he hesitated.

‘Maybe I’ll just pour a little. Just enough for her to walk. I need her to buy me time to escape.’

He carefully let a few drops of the potion fall into the gashes on her abdomen.

살에서 연기가 피어오르며 상처가 조금 아물었다.

마지막으로 붕대를 감았다.

“윽!”

앤이 신음을 내며 몸을 비틀었다.

이제 자신의 차례.

포도주를 한 모금 마셨다.

떨리는 손으로 화살대를 잡아 부러뜨렸다.

이제 살에 파묻힌 화살촉만 꺼내면 된다.

과다 출혈을 걱정할 필요는 없었다.

회복 포션이 있으니까.

단검으로 살을 이리저리 헤집었다.

“으그그극!! 야이 씨발년아!”

정유신은 엄청난 고통을 참을 수 없어 앤을 노려봤다.

타는듯한 고통이 분노를 부채질했다.

관우는 화살 맞고 수술하면서 잘만 바둑도 두던데 자신은 욕을 해야 버틸 것 같았다.

“씨발! 별 병신같은 촌놈 새끼들이 운 좋다고 꺼드럭거릴 때부터 알아봤다. 카알이 어떻게 뒤졌는지 알아? 배때기에 창 맞고 곤봉에 머리통이 찌그러져 뒤졌다. 씨발 넙죽이가 돼서 눈깔이 튀어나온 채로 뒤졌다고. 내가 가지 말자고 했잖아. 왜 꾸득꾸득 사람을 지옥으로 끌고 들어가?!”

팔에 파고든 화살촉을 뽑아냈다. 피가 퐁퐁 샘처럼 솟아났다. 해독제와 회복 포션을 뿌렸다.

‘내가 언제 파상풍 주사 맞았더라? 육군훈련소에서 맞았던가?’

몽롱한 정신을 부여잡고 온갖 쌍욕을 뱉으며 나머지 화살촉도 뽑아냈다.

응급처치를 끝내고 앤을 쳐다봤다.

흐릿한 눈에서 눈물이 흘러내리고 있었다.

정유신은 자리에서 일어났다.

“혼자 걸을 수 있지?”

“네.”

앤이 배를 부여잡고 자리에서 일어났다.

“가자.”

정유신은 대답을 듣지 않고 몸을 돌려 걸었다.

비틀거리는 발걸음 소리가 등 뒤에서 들렸다.

‘반드시 살아나간다. 이 개좆같은 미궁에서.’

이를 악물고 횃불을 들어 올렸다.

Smoke rose from Anne’s wounds as the flesh began to heal slightly. Jeong Yoo-shin finished by wrapping her in bandages.

“Ugh!” Anne groaned, twisting in pain.

Now, it was his turn.

He took a swig of wine. With shaking hands, he grabbed the arrow shafts and broke them off. Now, only the arrowheads embedded in his flesh remained to be removed.

He didn’t have to worry about excessive bleeding. He had the healing potion, after all.

With a dagger, he dug into his skin to get the arrowhead out.

“Ughhh!! Damn it, you bitch!”

The searing pain was unbearable, and Jeong Yoo-shin glared at Anne. The burning agony fueled his anger.

He remembered the stories of the legendary general Guan Yu calmly playing board games while getting an arrow removed, yet here he was, needing to curse just to cope with the pain.

“Damn it! I knew something was off when those idiot country bumpkins started bragging about their luck. Do you know how Carl died? He got skewered in the stomach and his head bashed in until his skull was flattened. His eyes were bulging out when he died! I told you we shouldn’t go. Why did you drag us all into this hell?!”

He finally yanked the arrowhead from his arm.

Blood gushed out like a fountain.

He doused the wound with the antidote and healing potion.

‘When was the last time I got a tetanus shot? Was it during basic training?’

Half-delirious, he cursed and swore as he extracted the remaining arrowhead.

Once the first aid was done, he looked at Anne.

Tears streamed from her dim eyes.

Jeong Yoo-shin stood up.

“You can walk on your own, right?”

“Yes.”

She clutched her stomach as she struggled to stand.

“Let’s go.”