## Chapter 301 – The Lingering Scent of Flowers
It was just before sunset when we finally managed to create a suitable hiding place. Since the terrain was jungle, there were plenty of places to conceal ourselves.
Of course, that also meant there were plenty of stealthy attackers… I pushed the uneasy thoughts aside and reinforced the hideout with leaves, branches, bushes, and vines.
Perhaps because there were so many spring materials, I was able to make it more useful than I expected.
“What about watch duty? Split it?”
“That sounds good. Shall I take the first watch?”
“Sure. Sleep well.”
Darkness descended on the jungle.
As soon as Copson crawled into the burrow, I began to feel like I was the only one left in the world. We hadn’t even lit a fire to hide ourselves.
Fortunately, the weather was warm and humid, so it wasn’t too cold.
“…”
I sat down and peered into the darkness through a small gap.
ㅡGooooooo…!!!
ㅡRumble…!!!
ㅡGurgle, gurgle.
Nothing was visible in the world shrouded by the night’s curtain, only the mournful cries and death throes of unknown monsters.
“Shit.”
The eerie flapping of wings echoed from somewhere, and the rotting vines piled on the roof seemed to dance faintly.
I calmed the fear that filled my heart.
The moment you’re consumed by fear is the moment you’re consumed by the jungle.
If I just keep my wits about me, I can definitely escape.
It’s not like we came that far in the first place.
Ispuant is right around the corner.
“…”
Being alone in the darkness at night was quite frightening.
Of course, I had made the hideout perfectly, so I wasn’t exposed, but I figured I wouldn’t be able to get rid of the scent.
A suffocating amount of time passed, and I didn’t even feel sleepy.
I counted the time in my mind as if chanting an incantation. I couldn’t see the moon from inside the hideout, and even if I went outside, it would be obscured by the dense jungle canopy.
This was the only way to keep track of my watch time.
“Hey, wake up, you bastard. It’s your turn.”
“Ugh… ugh.”
After counting for about four and a half hours in my head, I woke Copson up.
He wriggled like an earthworm and crawled out of the dugout. Without a word, I relieved him and went into the dugout to lie down.
It’s cramped.
The floor of the hastily made dugout is also uneven.
ㅡIt felt like being buried alive.
It was like the final resting place of children kidnapped by the Bogeyman.
I don’t know about other regions, but in the countryside where I lived, the Bogeyman was a terrifying figure, a nightmare for children.
The cruel old man’s house had hundreds, thousands of tiny holes, just big enough for a kid to fit into. He would put each kidnapped child into one of those cramped holes and close the lid.
No one knows what’s inside the holes, or if they lead somewhere.
All that’s known is that the hole the child goes into is immediately sealed with a heavy lid and never opened again.
So the children were always afraid of the Bogeyman.
Like a beehive… the Bogeyman’s house. Maybe he’s like a queen bee, and the holes are filled with larvae of unreal madness, and the children are eaten alive by them in a place where they can’t even move, disappearing forever. I often had such thoughts.
“Ugh… no…!”
In my nightmare, I was trapped in one of the Bogeyman’s holes. The place was so cramped that it was hard to move a finger, a terrible space like a jar of solitude.
ㅡThe Bogeyman’s larvae swarming.
And the skeletal children, firmly believing that they can return to their beloved families if they tear off the flesh of a new friend.
They’re coming closer every moment…!
Will I be able to survive that struggle…?
“Barbarian. Wake up. Dawn is over.”
“…What? Already?”
Ah, shit.
I had a nasty dream for the first time in a while.
Maybe it was because I had a nightmare, but it felt like I hadn’t slept very long. Copson’s voice pulled me out of the nightmare and back to reality.
When I opened my eyes, the world felt quite bright.
“Then let’s look for an escape route again today.”
Copson and I cautiously crawled out of the hideout.
“Ugh, my neck is killing me.”
“Mine too… Not being able to dig the hole properly in the dark is hurting my bones.”
My whole body ached.
My hair was greasy, and I felt like I even smelled musty. This is a real pain in the ass. Will I be able to get out of the jungle alive today?
We set our direction and moved slowly, marking the trees as we went.
“Hey, don’t lose your mind and remember the way. The moment you let your guard down, you’ll get lost again.”
“I’m already keeping that in mind. I’m memorizing the scenery with my eyes wide open.”
There were occasional attacks from small monsters, but frankly, they were nothing compared to our skills.
We easily slaughtered them and walked on, carefully marking the trees.
We were eating jerky and dried meat and drinking water as we moved when suddenly,
“Barbarian.”
Copson said.
“What.”
“Look at this.”
He was pointing at a tree.
“What is it?”
“…I don’t know.”
When I checked, there was a mark on the tree.
What?
Why?
We just came this way?
“Barbarian. Shit, haven’t we come back to the starting point?”
“W-what? No way… we only went straight!”
“Then what is this! I’m so scared that my chest and legs are trembling!”
There are many things to consider.
We might have taken the wrong path and returned to the starting point, or we might have gotten lost again. Or maybe it’s a mark left by another adventurer.
“Hey. Wait a minute. Calm down. Have we ever been to a place like this before?”
“All the scenery around here is the same, so I don’t know! Damn it! I’m so scared! I never really miss my hometown, but I miss it so much today!”
Copson, tearing at his hair, glared at the mark on the tree, gesticulated wildly, and spoke fiercely. I couldn’t make a decision. Surely we haven’t gone around in a circle… or have we?
It’s highly likely that it’s a mark left by other adventurers.
If so, there’s nothing to worry about… right?
When I told him my opinion, Copson regained his composure.
“We should change the mark. If we make a special mark that only we can recognize, we won’t get confused with the marks of other adventurers.”
“I should have done that sooner… I’m unnecessarily confused and anxious.”
ㅡRustle, rustle.
I immediately carved a star-shaped mark above the existing mark.
With such a special shape, there’s no way it will overlap.
“Let’s go.”
“…Okay.”
We changed the mark and went back the way we came to check the path.
But I was faced with a situation that made me want to swear again.
“The mark… is gone?”
“What the hell…!”
We couldn’t find any of the marks we had frantically carved anywhere! Is the bark’s recovery rate really that fast?
That can’t be it!
“We’ve gotten lost again!”
“Damn it!”
We got lost again in that short amount of time, damn it!
The Labyrinth of Crete isn’t even this bad, you bastards!
Copson and I denied reality for a long time, looking around here and there, but we couldn’t find anything that even resembled a mark.
ㅡPoof!
Copson suddenly jumped up, spun around three times, punched the air hysterically, and said, panting,
“Haa… haa… wait a minute. Something’s wrong, Barbarian.”
Unlike the craziness he showed just now, his face looked quite serious.
Nothing is stranger than you right now.
“This is clearly strange. I was definitely careful and diligently left marks as I moved. But the fact that we keep getting lost like this… doesn’t that mean there’s another reason?”
“Another… reason?”
Another reason?
He looked around for a moment, then approached me as if he was about to tell a very mysterious and secret story, paused for a moment, and said,
“…An ominous magic in this jungle has captured us! A curse of the jungle that we can’t escape unless we die! We’re trapped in some kind of barrier!”
ㅡThwack!
Copson’s words were as shocking as a lightning strike!
“D-don’t say that, you bastard!! You’re scaring me!!!”
“I’m more scared!!! I feel like I’m going to piss myself!! But Barbarian! This is reality! We’ve been caught in the curse of the jungle!”
“Damn it!!!! A curse!!! That’s!!!”
It made sense!
It’s not just that our senses have been confused since we entered the jungle, but some kind of ominous magic might have captured us. That’s why we keep getting lost and heading towards the center of the jungle…!
Like the Bogeyman!
The jungle is kidnapping us!
And it will trap us in a small hole!
Unlike Earth, this is a world where the strange powers of mana and magic actually exist! It wouldn’t be strange if the jungle, like the legends of the remote regions of South America, had a will and cursed us!
“Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!”
“Zwaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!”
Copson and I exploded with stress and jumped around, screaming hysterically. We were creating a mutual destructive interference phenomenon, arbitrarily breaking each other’s mental state with our words and delusions.
Just as we were about to fall into a panic and start running aimlessly,
ㅡA corpse.
There was a corpse leaning against a tree, hidden by vines and leaves.
“Oh.”
…I found another corpse.
As expected, flowers were blooming on the exposed flesh.
“If we don’t keep our wits about us, we’ll end up like that.”
“…That’s right. Let’s calm down.”
As soon as I saw the corpse, my heart sank coldly and I regained my senses. Originally, foolish adventurers like us could only regain their senses after seeing a corpse or two.
Both Copson and I, as if the madness from just now was a lie, coldly surveyed our surroundings while guarding against danger and examined the corpse. There was nothing that could be called a weapon on the corpse.
Where did he sell it off?
His equipment also looked poor, so I didn’t bother searching him. However, his clothes were clean, so it seemed he hadn’t been dead for more than a day.
“There might be a dryad nearby. Let’s run away.”
“You mean that beauty?”
“Oh, you bastard. She’s not a beauty.”
“Hehehe. Can’t I even joke around?”
Having regained our composure, we made silly jokes and left the area as if we were running away. But we never forgot to carve a mark.
We don’t know if we’re going inside or going around in circles. However, if we’re going straight, we’ll definitely be able to get to the other end of the jungle someday.
Then.
“…What is it? A snake?”
I saw something that looked like a snake and signaled Copson to stop.
ㅡSlither.
The long, green snake was very long compared to its thin body, and it was moving very slowly.
I was wondering if I should cut it down or go around it whenㅡ
ㅡPoof!
Suddenly, the snake moved!
“You bastard! What is it!”
“Ughhhh!!! What is this!!!”
ㅡSlash!
I reflexively slashed at it and realized it wasn’t a snake!
A living vine… what that means is!
“It’s a carnivorous plant!!!”
“It’s a carnivorous plant!!!!!!!!!”
At the same time, the carnivorous plant’s full appearance was revealed from among the bushes!
A huge, monstrous carnivorous plant, similar to a sundew, was waving vine tentacles at us with its mouth wide open!!
ㅡWhirr, whirr, whirr!!!!
“D-damn it! The range is too wide! Barbarian! Form a defensive line!”
“Okay!”
Copson and I immediately formed a battle formation and cut down the vine tentacles that were flying at us like whips!
ㅡSlash!
The tentacles were spreading out over a wide area, as if a net had been deployed. I exerted my utmost concentration and immediately unleashed the murderous techniques of the Siljang Swordsmanship to defend myself, deflecting the surging tentacles!
ㅡWhirr, whirr!!
It seemed that this bastard had a habit of catching prey with its vines and putting them in its mouth! Damn it! A tentacle plant appeared when there aren’t even any female characters!!!!!!!!
ㅡWhoosh!
At that moment, a slightly thicker vine surged low! Judging by its thickness, it seemed difficult to avoid a critical hit if I just took it head-on!
“Hey, you bastard! Pattern!! Jump!!!”
“J-jump!”
ㅡSwoosh!
As soon as I jumped, the flying tentacle swept across the ground. I landed and unleashed a downward slash, cutting down the tentacle that was flying at me again, and Copson also swung the saber he had acquired yesterday to cut off the tentacle.
ㅡWhirr!!
“Oh…!”
It was that moment!
A tentacle shot out from a blind spot in my vision, and when I dodged itㅡ
“ㅡUgh, ughhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!”
Copson screamed!
“T-that can’t be! Copson!!!!!”
“Save meeeeeeeeeee Barbariannnnnnn!!!!!!!!”
Copson, caught by the tentacle, was slowly being lifted up! Seeing his limbs restrained and his clothes disheveled, it felt like this wasn’t an ordinary tentacle scene!
“Ughhhh!!!! I don’t accept this tentacle shit!!!!!!!!!!!!”
I flew towards Copson in a fit of rage.
