## Chapter 154 – Kobolds and the Underground Labyrinth
The kobold horde, reminiscent of the Chinese army, launched a literal human-wave attack, surging towards us like a tide.
Judging from the way they were diverting troops even from the battlefield we’d just left, it seemed the kobolds were far more numerous than we’d imagined.
—Kyuuuuurururssaaaak!!
Led by roaring kobold warriors, they scurried and writhed like rabid rats. Seeing these insect-like bastards swarming towards us brought back a terrible memory from my childhood.
Back then, as a boy, I, Kim Geuntae, was a pure country kid known as the “Bug Boy” because I loved insects so much.
After giving up baseball, insects were all I had left. Naturally, my interest shifted from baseball to insects, and I confidently declared that I wanted to become an entomologist when asked about my future aspirations.
Anyway, this is a story from that time.
Like all boys back then, I was obsessed with a certain kind of sorcery, a wicked secret art of creating a terrifying poison called “Gujung” (蠱毒).
Looking back, it seems like it was a pretty problematic trend socially, but since kids in those days had no cell phones or anything, antisocial behavior like that was all we could do. I remember that every popular kid had a Gujung jar.
But I digress. Gujung was a classic sorcery that involved throwing all sorts of insects, bugs, and small animals into a container, making them fight to the death, and then taking the sole survivor to create poison.
More than anything, it was a sorcery that involved the insects I loved. It was an irresistible temptation. I immediately decided to start making Gujung to follow the trend.
But with my limited knowledge at the time, I thought that Gujung was simply putting bugs into a container and letting them fight. So I found a container and started collecting insects.
That’s right.
It wasn’t Gujung at all.
It was just simple bug collecting.
The word “Gujung” was just a pure exaggeration unique to children. Anyway, I remember running around the mountains with my friends, filling a large container with all sorts of bugs. It was quite fun at the time…
“Oh… no! Noooo!!!”
I clutched my head.
The energy of boys with overflowing energy was beyond imagination, and soon the large container was more than half-filled with all sorts of insects. It was only natural, since we’d been tearing through the mountains all day until sunset. It was almost time to go back.
When it was time to part ways with my friends as the sun went down, we argued over who would get to keep the container, as if our friendship until then had been a lie.
We had collected so many insects.
It was sure to become the ultimate Gujung.
It was a container that stimulated the boys’ desire to be superior to their peers… We sized up each other’s strength with sharp eyes, and launched surprise attacks at the optimal moment. Only one could be the victor. Like the battle for Gujung, you had to devour all your friends to take the container.
“It shouldn’t have… happened like that!”
The fight, accompanied by violence, naturally ended in my victory (thanks to my baseball skills), and I beat up all the friends I had enjoyed collecting insects with all day. I happily carried the container home.
I couldn’t wait to show this trophy to my father. He was more disgusted by insects than necessary.
He was a bizarre man who couldn’t distinguish between a stag beetle and a cockroach.
When I got home and opened the lid, the wriggling insects in a hellish pandemonium were quite impressive. As I said, I loved insects. I felt nothing but joy at the sight, far from being shocked. A boy’s innocence was cruel. Especially when it came to beating up friends.
Well, I had to wash up now that I was home.
As I admired the insects, I was possessed and went to the bathroom to wash. My mother was almost a clean freak, so she wouldn’t leave me alone covered in dirt. I could admire the insects leisurely after washing up.
“Stop it… stop it now!”
…It was literally like the curse of Gujung.
After washing up, I realized that I hadn’t closed the lid. The box, which had been full, was now empty except for a few corpses, and I wasn’t so young that I didn’t know what this meant.
“Get out of my house… get out of my house!!! Aaaaaaa!!!”
Half-crazed, I swung my sword at the kobold warrior charging at the front. The sword, honed to the extreme over the past few days, drew a clear arc and cut through his carotid artery.
—Kyururut?!
Blood foam spewed from the warrior’s neck.
The body of the guy whose vitals had been severed collapsed. I remember my father yelling when he came home from work and opened the door… Please, please! Stop hitting me! Father! I didn’t make that Gujung to curse you!!! “So you were planning to curse me with this Gujung!” my father shouted. It was no use denying it. He had noticed that I was making Gujung just by looking at it for a moment!
“Die! Die! Die! You bastardsaaaa!!!”
This wasn’t a kobold’s den, but an artificially created underground facility… Like that ominous container from back then… Such an artificial space… No, the container had already lost its function. The moment the lid was opened! Our house itself had become the Gujung container!
“Sis! The darkie’s acting up again!”
“It’s okay. He’s still fighting well.”
Of course, since the ceiling was high, the kobolds’ tactic of crawling on the walls and ceiling to attack couldn’t be used.
I stepped forward and skillfully marked the kobold warriors.
In fact, without these brave warriors, the workers weren’t much of a threat. I wasn’t the same as I used to be. I trusted the thick armor that covered my body. I bravely pushed my foot in and stabbed my sword in.
—Kyuuuuussaak!!!!
The kobolds, who were only wearing their own leather, couldn’t withstand my metal weapon accompanied by my strength.
I stabbed, pulled out, and then twisted my wrist, swirling the sword. Then the blade scattered reflected light, and hot blood poured out. The flame of life went out. The kobolds died in order before me.
“Sungdo-nim! I will cast a holy blessing on you!”
“Oh! Good!”
Elise, who had just crushed a kobold’s head, chanted a spell. Patssut, and then a holy light burst from the blade. It was Holy Enchant. At the same time, Winia created a fire arrow and shot it.
—Puh-wong!
—Gyusaaaaaaak!!!
The arrow that flew exploded. The soaring flames were reminiscent of hell in Buddhism. The kobold engulfed in flames screamed like a eternally tortured sinner and clung to his comrades in agony. A chain of splash damage followed, and the screams became contagious.
Just like me back then!!!
A centipede crawling out from my bedside even at dawn!!!!
In that tremendous confusion, I, at my most excited, swung my sword!
“Myungdo Janwolpaaaa!!!!”
Light burst from the sword, so my tension couldn’t help but rise to the maximum. Somehow, I felt like the destructive power was also enhanced. I cut, kicked away the guy who was cut, and then cut and stabbed again, slaughtering the kobolds.
—Kyurussak!
A fiercely roaring warrior swung his hand. I immediately raised my hand and blocked the attack with my gauntlet. It didn’t hurt much. I stabbed the sword into his neck as it was, and that was the end.
Honestly, even if dozens of them swarmed in like this, they were no match for me because their basic physical abilities were lacking. After taking the necks of the few kobold warriors, the enemies’ strength rapidly decreased in an instant.
On the left, Claudia was protecting Winia while piling up corpses, and on the right, Elise was smashing the kobolds’ heads with her flail. It was truly a terrible sight.
It was amazing that I could maintain my sanity even after seeing such a sight. The battle lasted about 30 minutes. When I knocked down the last guy, the sight of dozens of kobolds all lying dead came into view.
None of them ran away.
The kobolds in the cave fought to the death.
“Easier than I thought.”
I sat down appropriately and caught my breath.
“Darkie, do you have a knife or something?”
“Um? I do, why?”
“Then take it out quickly.”
I took out a dagger from my pouch. Was there something to do with this? When I was about to hand it over to Winia, who had spoken, she frowned and said again.
“Use that to pull out the kobold warriors’ fangs and claws. Those are worth more than you think. They’re often used as magical ingredients.”
“Oh, really?”
I had only thought of kobolds as useless monsters, so I had never heard of what she just said. I immediately got up, grabbed the warrior’s foot, and cut off the claws that were like birds of prey… no, just the fingers themselves.
And I opened his mouth and somehow carved out his fangs as well. While I was doing that, Elise also carried out her personal task. It was a ritual of cutting off the body parts of monsters that I had seen several times.
“…But we can’t let our guard down.”
I said, carefully cutting off the fingers.
“It’s wide here, but if we meet them in a narrow place while isolated, it’ll be a real problem. If they come at us crawling on the walls and ceiling, there’s no way to deal with them.”
“I guess so. But I feel like we can somehow manage if that happens.”
“Well, our party should be enough.”
In the first place, everyone was too high level.
When I counted the spoils I had collected, there was a pile of cut-off teeth and fingers. When I asked Winia about the price, she told me not to worry if she could sell them. Certainly, there was nothing better than her, a mage, selling them directly.
“Let’s go somewhere else soon.”
When I tried to move while kicking the corpses away, Elise hesitated. She kept glancing at the monument, as if she really regretted leaving it behind.
“Why, Elise? Do you want to break it?”
“I’m going crazy… I guess it’s impossible to break it now. But I want to at least damage that evil pattern.”
The top of the monument, which was about 2.5 meters high, had an evil pattern drawn on it. Even if we couldn’t break it, wouldn’t it be possible to damage it? Even if I overlooked her strange obsession with destruction, it seemed like we could do it enough.
“Then… I’ll help you!”
“Are you offering help?”
“Yeah! Here! Get on my shoulders quickly!”
Elise was short, so she couldn’t reach up there. So I decided to give her a piggyback ride. Have you ever heard of sightseeing in Seoul?
“Hurry!”
I knelt on one knee, took the most suitable posture for giving a piggyback ride, and said to Elise. If she got on top of me, she would be able to reach it enough. And if she kept hitting it with her flail, she would be able to damage the pattern to some extent.
“Darkie, what are you doing?”
Winia narrowed her eyes.
“As you can see, I’m thinking of giving Elise a piggyback ride.”
“…Something I haven’t even done?”
“I’ll let you ride next time if you want. More than that, Elise. Get on quickly.”
“I understand. Then I will accept your help without hesitation.”
Elise, who came walking over, got on my neck. I will omit the description of the process of lifting her skirt. Anyway, I stood in front of the monument like that.
“…Then I’ll start.”
I heard a chanting sound from above my head. This time, Elise, who had buffed her flail, struck the monument with all her might.
—Kwang!
But the monument didn’t budge.
“How is it? Do you think it’ll work?”
“I’ll try a little more.”
—Kwang!
—Kwang!
The morning star, filled with holy light, continuously struck the pattern on the monument. It would have been nice if we had a hammer or chisel. Elise, who had been doing that for a while, stopped her actions.
“Did you make any progress?”
“…There are a few scratches. I don’t think it’s possible. Can you let me down now?”
“That’s too bad.”
I let Elise down from the piggyback ride. Claudia, who had been watching us, came over and said.
“Katt. Couldn’t you just pile up the corpses to make stairs?”
“Ah, is that so.”
“Darkie’s an idiot.”
It was an appropriate point. Well, it doesn’t seem to be working anyway. I’m just satisfied that I could feel the sensation of Elise’s thighs with my ears. Now that it’s over, shall we move on to the next room?
“There was such a method. I’ll try it.”
…She hasn’t given up yet.
I helped Elise move the corpses. Winia squatted down, put her chin in her hands, and looked at us with a bored expression, and Claudia played by kicking the kobolds’ heads.
As we moved the corpses, thick blood flowed down. Then we piled up the corpses in front of the monument. When we piled them up, the blood that flowed down was enough to form a puddle.
Finally, the stairs made of corpses were completed.
It’s kind of macabre.
“Then I’ll go up.”
Elise, who said that with a very excited expression, as if she was very nervous, stepped on the stairs of corpses and went up. And —Hwaeack! She swung her arm with all her might and slammed her flail into the pattern.
—Kwang!
Then.
—Kururururu!!
“O-oh?!”
At that moment, I felt a tremendous vibration, and light began to emanate from the pattern!
“Uwaaaaaaack!”
With an amazing sense of floating, I realized that my body was falling.
The floor had collapsed.
