How a Black-Haired Barbarian Survived the Labyrinth in Another World-Chapter 96: Not a person

Joo Hyuk let out a deep sigh.

“Phew. Mas, we don’t have time for nonsense. We need to move. Don’t joke around, hop on.”

“Alright... alright.”

Joo Hyuk grabbed Mas's arm and slung him over his shoulder. Mas trembled like a sapling.

“U...uh. Why is this happening?”

“It’s all because of the possession. It’ll get better with time. Right, Kubo?”

“Right... right.”

Kubo, meeting Joo Hyuk’s gaze, nodded while turning his head in agreement.

Joo Hyuk put the backpack on his front, secured Mas to his back with a rope, and then moved forward.

He kicked the shield that had fallen into the bushes and picked up the broken arming sword.

“Phew.”

Seeing the sword broken in half, he couldn’t help but sigh.

It had less rust and was lighter, so he had been using it without issue.

He had bought it cheaply and had been with it for a long time, but for it to break here...

It was unfortunate.

Should he say that he had grown attached to it after all the hardships?

Clink.

He put the broken sword back into its scabbard. For now, he decided to take it with him. He had faith that Boron would somehow fix it.

The blue longsword on his back had shifted to his waist because of Mas.

Kubo looked at him with a perplexed expression.

“Isn’t it heavy?”

It hadn’t been long since the fight, yet seeing Joo Hyuk carrying the injured party member made Kubo feel a bit awe-struck.

“It’s manageable. This much is nothing.”

“If it gets too tough, tell me. I’ll carry it for you.”

The Iron Mask approached and spoke.

Joo Hyuk shook his head.

“I’m fine.”

Joo Hyuk and the party continued down the forest path.

The pace of the party was slow.

It was because Mas, the guide, was unable to put any strength into his body.

The detoxification and treatment were finished, but it seemed his body had suffered a tremendous overload.

‘Well, considering the amount of power he exerted, it would be strange if he could still move.’

The fact that Mas had been pushed when possessed was a bitter realization.

‘Should I seriously ask Boron to make some weight training equipment?’

He briefly entertained the thought of asking Boron to make some weights.

‘Stop.’

Thud!

He raised his fist and struck his helmet.

He had been thinking such trivial things during the labyrinth exploration. No matter how much the Venom Protection engraving was there, it was never good to be careless.

“Hah... Hah!!!”

Mas, carried on his back, trembled violently.

“What’s wrong, Mas?”

“Why... why does my head... ugh, when I look at your fist?!”

“...Let’s take a short break. Mas is in a bad condition.”

At Joo Hyuk’s suggestion, the entire party stopped by the side of the road.

Joo Hyuk leaned against a tree stump, watching Mas groan while looking at the map.

Twenty minutes later.

“...It looks like we’ve gone further out.”

Mas furrowed his brow and concluded.

“I see. Good job. Mas, is there a shelter nearby?”

At the Iron Mask’s question, Mas scratched his head.

“There is a camping spot nearby.”

“Let’s head that way. How long will it take?”

“It’ll take about two more hours. But...”

“But?”

Mas hesitated, prompting Joo Hyuk to urge him.

“The map is old, so there’s a high chance the shelter’s been abandoned. It might have turned into a monster den instead.”

“Where did you buy this map?”

Joo Hyuk asked again.

“There’s a guide association. They provide training for labyrinth exploration and sell items. I bought the map there with money.”

I see.

Well, if there’s a swordsmanship association, a guide association wouldn’t be strange. It wasn’t that unusual.

Joo Hyuk slung Mas onto his back again and resumed walking.

The more they walked, the denser the forest became, obscuring the smog-covered sky.

The forest path grew dark, like night had fallen.

As Mas had said, after walking for about two hours, a building shrouded in darkness appeared through the trees.

It was a small clearing, densely overgrown with weeds and plants.

There was an old stone wall there.

Vines twisted up through the cracks in the stone, and moss and mushrooms filled the gaps.

The party members quietly looked at each other, then nodded.

Joo Hyuk put down Mas and the luggage and stepped forward.

“I’ll go check it out.”

“Be careful.”

“Don’t worry.”

Hisssss.

He carefully parted the underbrush and scouted around the ruins.

‘No monsters. No strange objects. All clear.’

It was almost a collapsed building, so there was nothing really to hide.

After inspecting everything, he returned to the party.

“There’s nothing wrong. No signs of monsters or weird items.”

“I see.”

The party entered the ruins, unpacked their gear by the stone wall, and tidied up the area. They cut back the weeds and spread out blankets.

They gathered firewood, lit a campfire, and sat around it.

Crackle. Crackle.

The campfire flickered, casting shadows on the party members’ faces.

Joo Hyuk leaned against the wall, took off his helmet, and loosened the straps on his boots and armor.

He brushed the salty sweat out of his hair and spoke.

“Let’s eat.”

“Okay.”

“I understand.”

Without waiting for anyone to go first, they all took out food and water, eating and drinking.

Joo Hyuk took a stick, skewered some jerky on it, and propped it up by the campfire.

Seeing this, Mas and Kubo did the same, spearing jerky on sticks and holding them over the # Nоvеlight # fire.

“...”

Joo Hyuk pulled out some bear-shaped biscuits from his bag and passed one to each of the party members. He didn’t give one to Brin.

Mas took the bear-shaped biscuit, then suddenly began to cry uncontrollably.

‘Why is he like this?’

“Mas, eat it. Don’t cry.”

“Sniff. Alright!”

The guide rat-kin stuffed the biscuit into his mouth and chewed noisily.

Kubo scratched his head.

“It’s tasty, but not something to cry about.”

“Leave him be. He was possessed, so the taste must be something special for him.”

Joo Hyuk responded, and Kubo scratched his head again.

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

Joo Hyuk tore into the jerky, looking around at the party members.

After days of exploration, most of them looked disheveled. Greasy hair, a horrible smell of sweat. It was the result of not being able to wash properly during that time.

However, no one paid attention to it and was focused only on eating.

After the meal, Joo Hyuk looked at Brin.

“Well, shall we hear your story?”

“...”

Until now, Brin hadn’t said a word.

It was time to ask.

“So, the incident started right after we entered the 6th-floor forest zone, right?”

Brin began to hesitantly recount what happened on the 6th floor.

About an hour later, Brin finished her story.

Joo Hyuk took out more firewood from his bag and threw it into the campfire.

He stared at the flickering flames for a moment to clear his mind before speaking.

“We were transferred to the 6th floor, and then fell into a monster den. While Let was fighting wildly, we were ambushed from the rear, and the party got scattered, is that right?”

“Yes.”

“So, how did you get out of there? No offense, but you don’t seem that strong.”

“I... I just kept trying, and it worked.”

“...”

Brin, under Joo Hyuk’s gaze, began to sweat coldly and turned her head away.

Was this even making sense?

Trying hard was enough to get out? He was hearing something that even a dog wouldn’t believe, and it only made him more suspicious.

“Iron Mask, is this person trustworthy?”

“I don’t think there’s any malice. Calione is from the noble family of the Prime Minister of the Lyonell Kingdom. They probably have a few lifelines.”

Joo Hyuk’s head snapped toward Brin, who was still sweating profusely, her head turned.

Now he understood.

The reason the Iron Mask insisted on bringing her along.

She was supposedly a princess from the Lyonell Kingdom, so there was no way they could just let her be.

“...”

Mas and Kubo stared at Brin with surprised looks but didn’t say anything further.

“A member of a noble family. A student soon to graduate from the labyrinth academy. What business did you have coming to the labyrinth?”

“Well... I had to make up for some missing credits...”

“...”

Joo Hyuk was stunned. He had no words to say.

“The academy is too much. They send a student into the labyrinth just because their credits are lacking?”

“No... that’s not it. My father said if I didn’t graduate this year, he would kick me out of the house, so I volunteered for the labyrinth exploration to earn lots of extra credit.”

“Did you not study?”

“...”

Brin turned her head again.

She had nothing to say.

“Is this how students usually come alone?”

“...Well, they do come with friends.”

“You don’t have any friends?”

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

“...”

Brin lowered her head.

“Sky, why rub salt into an open wound? Can’t you see?”

Kubo stepped forward and said.

Joo Hyuk scratched his head.

‘Was she a hikikomori?’

“Fine. Since the Iron Mask accepted her, I’ll keep quiet.”

Hearing Joo Hyuk’s words, Mas made a perplexed face.

“...Sky, it’s all done. Look at her face. She looks like she’s going to die any moment.”

“And by the way, if you see any of your party members, would you try to save them?”

Joo Hyuk ignored Mas’s comment and asked Brin.

“Ah... no. I wasn’t that close to them. It was gross watching them mess around. They’ll manage on their own.”

Joo Hyuk nodded.

While Brin was explaining what had happened, she kept bad-mouthing Let, so he could tell she really hated him.

Well, it wouldn’t be easy to watch a group of insiders mess around while she was there to make up for her credits.

But, wow, the Lyonell Kingdom sure was in a bad spot.

A prime minister’s daughter with no friends, a hikikomori.

“Iron Mask, thanks for your hard work.”

“...”

The Iron Mask glared at Joo Hyuk and sighed.

“Sky, stop talking nonsense and let’s set the night watch.”

“I understand.”

The party members gathered and drew lots to decide the night watch, then went to bed.

“Sky, wake up.”

“Mm.”

Someone nudged his shoulder, and he opened his eyes. The smell of medicine. It was the Iron Mask.

“How long did I sleep?”

“About eight hours.”

Joo Hyuk got up, stretched, and walked over to the campfire to sit.

He had stood the first watch last night, thanks to the party members’ consideration. It helped ease the fatigue from the battles.

He pulled a biscuit from his pouch and chewed it while looking around at the party.

Mas was chewing on jerky, staring at the map.

Kubo was sitting quietly, meditating.

Brin was leaning against the wall, nodding off.

The Iron Mask was looking over a pile of parchment with requests written on it.

Joo Hyuk chewed the jerky and stood next to the Iron Mask.

“Can we gauge how much we’ve earned?”

“...We’ve completed about three herb requests. The magic stone gathering and subjugation requests still haven’t been completed.”

“What about those mushroom guys?”

“They’re not on the request list.”

“Tch.”

Joo Hyuk clicked his tongue.

“No need to worry. We got some good herbs, so we should be able to make about three gold coins.”

“Per person?”

“No. Three gold coins split between the four of us.”

“75 coins, huh... not bad.”

“Lucky. Sky, stop staring at it. Looks like Mas has found the way.”

“I understand.”

The party members packed their things and gathered around Mas.

“As you can see, we’re on the outskirts. To get to the transfer stone to the 7th floor, we’ll need to walk at least three days straight.”

“It seems like we’re really far out.”

“Right. And about Let’s party...”

Mas hesitated for a moment.

“Why? Speak freely.”

“Looking at what happened to Let’s party, I think there’s a monster den nearby.”

Joo Hyuk nodded.

It was true.

The reason Brin, who had been with Let’s party, had stood out so quickly was clear.

“We’ll be careful passing through. And even though Let’s party was attacked, we don’t know for sure if they all died.”

“...That’s true.”

Mas glanced at Brin and answered.

“Alright. Let’s head out.”

The Iron Mask stood up and said. The party members nodded and put on their gear.

After resting for a day, Mas quickly found the way.

The party traveled for half a day along the forest path.

Mas, who had been leading, stopped and pricked his ears.

“Stop. I hear someone groaning nearby.”

“Should we intervene?”

Joo Hyuk asked.

“If we can, we should save them. Of course, only if we can. Mas, go scout ahead.”

The Iron Mask answered in place of Mas.

“I understand.”

Mas lowered his body and moved slowly.

After a short wait, Mas returned.

“U... do you remember that human swordsman party from before?”

Upon hearing Mas's question, Joo Hyuk’s expression hardened.

Could it be?

Was he talking about Let’s party?

The party members nodded, and the rat-kin hesitated before speaking.

“They’re trapped in a giant spider’s lair.”

“...”

The party members fell silent.

“Umm...”

Brin hesitated before speaking.

“Honestly, I don’t think we should save that harem party.”

Joo Hyuk froze, staring at Brin’s face.

She was refusing before even hearing the details?

‘She’s not human?’