How a Black-Haired Barbarian Survived the Labyrinth in Another World-Chapter 11: Salvation?

Several hours had passed since they had lost their way.

It was only natural, since Dean, who was supposed to lead the way, had run off.

He had the map too.

The light from the torch was growing weaker.

Only three torches remained.

Relying on the faint light from the torches, they stumbled through the labyrinthine caves, feeling more like they were walking toward their graves rather than an escape.

Especially, whenever they heard the goblins' laughter from other passages, it felt as though death was closing in even faster.

But this time, the sound was different.

"Hehehehe."

It was clearer, more youthful, almost... human-like?

"Dean?"

Anne said, her voice shaking in disbelief.

"Ska! It's Dean!"

"Calm down."

Anne had become overly excited.

How he had survived in this darkness was secondary; the voice that reached them was not normal.

Could it be a trap set by the hobgoblins?

Perhaps they had set crude spikes or were about to launch arrows or spears.

There was no choice but to investigate. ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Anne wouldn't let it go unnoticed.

If it were a trap, then they could escape, leaving Anne behind.

If it wasn’t a trap, however, the bait would increase.

Jeong Yushin made his decision in his mind and slowly approached the source of the sound.

He threw the torch toward the sound.

It was nearly burned out, useless.

A man was crouched in the corner of the tunnel, staring at the wall.

"Dean?"

Anne rushed forward and grabbed his shoulder.

There were no traps.

No trip wires aiming for the soles of their feet, no arrows flying from the darkness.

"Dean? Dean, snap out of it!"

"Hehehehe."

Anne turned Dean’s body to face her.

His pupils were dilated.

Thick saliva dripped from the corners of his mouth.

Anyone could tell.

He was insane.

He had fallen into madness, brought on by the overwhelming darkness of the labyrinth’s surface. The absolute law of the great maze—"darkness"—had claimed his sanity.

No one was immune to it.

If you stayed too long without light, it was the end.

"Hehehehe!!"

"Dean!"

Anne shook his shoulder and slapped his cheek, but he only kept smiling creepily.

‘This isn’t right.’

Jeong Yushin approached Dean and searched through his clothes.

A crumpled map appeared.

He spread it out.

While he wasn’t a professional guide, with the minimal knowledge he had picked up from the exploration class, he could at least make a rough guess about their location.

"This is insane."

A curse escaped his lips.

They were far off from the central zone, deep into the outer areas.

The area where the hobgoblins gathered.

On the edges of the map, Dean had drawn goblin faces. The cute, unnecessary drawings made Jeong Yushin feel angry.

"Damn it, why did you draw goblins on the map? Was your head in a flower garden or something?"

"Dean always liked to draw. He was scared, but his observational skills were remarkable," Anne said, her voice full of affection and sadness.

"Let’s go."

They had the map now.

Maybe they could survive.

For a moment, a glimmer of hope appeared.

"What about Marie?" Anne asked carefully.

Jeong Yushin stopped dead in his tracks.

It seemed Anne had now placed her hope elsewhere.

"We’re more dangerous than Marie right now. The torches are barely holding up. Do you really want to wander around like Dean and lose it? Even if we hurry, it’s doubtful we’ll escape."

"Marie is useful. She can use healing magic, and she must have enough supplies."

"Supplies?"

"I saw hobgoblins taking her bag as they attacked her."

That explained why one of the bags had been missing from the ambush site.

Still...

"Do you really believe Marie has the supplies with her? Honestly, that sounds like exaggeration. Stop fantasizing."

"Marie’s bag has a candle in it."

"A candle? A candle?"

"It’s a gift from the temple that worships the Earth Goddess. It’s given to apprentice priests to prepare for when the torches run out. It’s not just an ordinary item; it’s a special relic. Are you sure, Ska? Do you really think we can make it from here to the central zone and then to the next floor with just three torches?"

Anne’s words were convincing.

Except for one thing.

"How are you going to find her?"

"...."

"In this vast floor, how do you plan to find her? Answer me. If you’re going to say something like ‘if we’re lucky,’ or ‘we’ll find traces if we search,’ I’ll tear your mouth off."

At Jeong Yushin’s question, Anne fell silent.

Jeong Yushin thought for a moment.

‘Should we stop here?’

He had deceived himself with the excuse of using Anne as bait.

It was a moral compromise.

But this farce had limits.

With this level of idiocy, even Confucius, Buddha, and the Pope would step aside and tap dance, handing over the position of sainthood to him.

Just as he was about to suggest they part ways,

Anne spoke up.

"Alright. We’ll find Marie later. Thinking about it, it seems like a delusion. I’m sorry."

She had sharp instincts.

It was an uncomfortable feeling.

"Okay. Let’s go. The best option now is to ask for help from the Exploration Guild."

Jeong Yushin took out a rope from his bag and tied it around Dean’s waist.

Since he couldn’t just drag him by the hand, he planned to pull him with the rope.

When Jeong Yushin tugged the rope, Dean followed with a stream of drool hanging from his mouth.

"I’ll do it."

"No, I’ll do it. You should be using your bow."

Anne moved forward, but Jeong Yushin refused. There was a clear reason why he had set Dean behind him.

Both he and Anne knew that.

Distrust.

Anne’s bold thoughts almost seemed to touch his skin.

‘Anne, you’ve been possessed by some evil spirit.’

In his mind, the one-eyed Buddha was tap dancing.

‘Namu Amida Bu. Asura Balbalta. Please just don’t make any coughing sounds.’

As soon as he heard the sound of a bowstring being pulled, he prepared to use Dean as a shield and draw his sword, ready to sever Anne’s neck.

Anne, as if reading his thoughts, carefully walked a little further away.

Several hours passed in a strange tension.

They had marched on without sleep or proper food.

Eventually, they found a shelter on the outskirts.

Light was seeping out from the entrance.

Someone was inside.

Creeeak.

The careful sound of a bowstring being drawn.

At the same time, Jeong Yushin’s longsword quickly slid out of its sheath.

He locked eyes with Anne.

"It’s goblins."

"How do you know?"

"Archers need to have sharp eyes and ears. If we get closer, we’ll hear them."

As Anne had said, when they got closer, they heard the goblins' laughter from inside the shelter.

It sounded like they were having some sort of joyful feast.

The sound of flesh slapping against flesh and a pungent smell filled the air.

Clink, clink.

"Hehehe!"

"Kekeke."

Jeong Yushin peered out, barely enough to see.

It was just as expected—a gruesome scene.

Around six goblins had gathered, and they were ravaging three women.

It was impossible to tell if they were alive or dead.

The goblins were being so brutal that the women, with vacant eyes, were being treated like corpses, to the goblins’ whims.

One of the women was Marie.

Her clothes were almost torn apart, but the necklace symbolizing the Spirit Church was visible. She also had brown short hair and a delicate frame.

It was Marie.

A bitter taste filled his mouth.

Eight hobgoblins.

‘Should I just ignore this?’

No matter how much of a surprise attack it was, how could two of them handle eight goblins?

Their own condition wasn’t normal. They hadn’t used their potions sufficiently, and the spots where the arrows hit were still throbbing.

Anne, without mentioning it, was still leaking blood from the bandages around her abdomen.

Anne tapped Jeong Yushin on the back.

Through her cautious touch, he felt a trace of hope rise, but a sigh escaped his chest.

They switched positions.

As soon as Anne peeked into the space, she gasped and covered her mouth with both hands.

Jeong Yushin sensed it instantly.

The fight was inevitable.

But there was one question.

Why were the goblins lighting torches?

Did they want to keep the victim’s mind intact?

He didn’t know. But it didn’t matter. He would kill them all.

He grabbed Anne’s shoulder.

He met her eyes, full of sorrow and anger.

He explained the plan using the sign language they had learned in class.

[You take care of the four far ones with your bow. I’ll handle the closer four.]

Anne looked at him with doubt in her eyes.

‘Damn.’

He had forgotten for a moment how smart Anne was. She hadn’t taken any exploration classes.

‘But she’s from a hunter family, shouldn’t she at least know sign language?’

He swallowed his doubt.

He leaned in close to Anne’s ear and whispered.

"Kill the four far ones. I’ll handle the rest."

"Yes."

The torch she had was already extinguished, and the sword was drawn.

Dean’s mouth was tightly bound with rope, so the ambush was ready.

Anne and Jeong Yushin looked at each other.

They nodded and moved in.

They lowered their bodies to avoid blocking Anne’s line of sight and ran.

"Keek?"

The closest goblin looked up.

Slash!

The sword gleamed and the goblin’s head flew through the air.

‘One down.’

At the same time, an arrow flew and pierced the chest of a distant goblin.

In the commotion, some goblins got up in confusion.

Jeong Yushin swung the edge of his shield, smashing the goblin’s neck.

Crack!

The goblin fell, its tongue lolling out, collapsing sideways.

One goblin had its head smashed with a pommel, and the last one was kicked in the stomach.

Thud!

The sound of its belly bursting made the goblin fly backward.

New novel 𝓬hapters are published on ƒreewebɳovel.com.

Meanwhile, Anne’s arrow pierced the chest of the last goblin.

"Kreek!"

Thud.

The goblin, clutching its chest, screamed and fell.

Jeong Yushin approached the goblin with a crushed abdomen.

It was still alive, spitting blood, but not dead yet.

He crushed its neck with his boot.

Crunch.

As he looked around for any goblins that might still be alive, Anne rushed over to Marie and pulled her limp body into her arms.

"Marie! Marie!"

Marie’s condition wasn’t good.

Her body was covered in semen, and one eye was swollen and mixed with broken eye fragments and blood, crusted and hardened.

First, he poured some disinfecting wine, wiped the fragments and hardened blood off, and bandaged her with clean bandages.

"What about the potions?"

"I used them all."

He shook the empty potion bottle in front of Anne’s doubtful eyes.

By now, it was terrifying.

He was certain that if they didn’t act soon, Anne would definitely shoot an arrow into the back of his head.

Anne wiped the semen off Marie’s body and held her in her arms.

Anne spoke several times, but...

"Ugh... eh... eh..."

Marie, completely broken, only sporadically made strange sounds, like a broken doll.

‘Hehehee and uheee.’

A mad friend and a broken friend.

They were alive, but their future lives looked bleak.

Of course, that was only if they survived here.

Among the hobgoblin corpses and the scattered bags around them, Jeong Yushin scavenged for supplies. Fortunately, he found Marie’s bag.

As Anne had said, there was a candle and a candlestick inside.

‘It’s huge.’

Compared to a torch, it was only slightly smaller.

"Now, if we just rescue Ka’al..."

At Anne’s mumbling, Jeong Yushin felt chills all over his body.

"Ka’al is dead. Just like this."

He held up the goblin with its head crushed by the pommel.

"He was crushed in the stomach with a spear, and his skull caved in from the club. His eyes popped out like a crab. I told you."

"..."

"Do you not believe it?"

The disaster was one step closer.