## Chapter 298 – Lingering Scent of Flowers
Even the depths of the gloomy jungle held an air of mystery.
Towering trees and vines obscured more than half the sky, while sunlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves added to the bizarre atmosphere.
It was truly a cursed, forbidden realm that one should never enter.
Together with Copson, I embraced my adventurous spirit and slowly ventured deeper. Come to think of it, it had been years since I’d worked alone with that guy.
Still, he was trustworthy enough to have my back.
“It’s fucking huge.”
“You can say that again.”
“Just like Bavaria’s hometown. Weren’t the Bavarians from the jungle?”
What the fuck are you talking about?
Korea being a jungle is just wrong.
“They’re a nomadic people, what nonsense are you spouting?”
“Nomadic or jungle people, isn’t it all the same? Hurry up and guide the way. No, what’s the name of that mysterious tree?”
“Shut your trap, you moron.”
“Hehehe.”
The muddy ground made it difficult to move. I shifted to a slightly drier spot and surveyed the surroundings.
Giant vines and thickets rose high, as if concealing the depths of the jungle. They seemed to be growing at an alarming rate, like bamboo shoots.
We needed to be careful of such things while searching for a path.
With the scenery all looking the same, it was easy to get lost. If we lost our way in a place like this, we might become cruel monsters forever searching for an exit.
This was an ominous legend passed down among a certain savage tribe in the South American wilderness: children who got lost in the jungle and lost their lives would have their corpses completely rot away, then be resurrected as monsters with four arms, six legs, and bodies covered in black fur, wandering the jungle until the end of the world, soothing their sorrow by hunting and devouring humans.
The academic consensus was that it was a legend created to scare tribal children from wandering carelessly in terrain where it was easy to get lost, but, well, you never know the truth.
Somehow, I had a strong feeling.
ㅡGooooooo.
The cry of a beast echoing from the distance might be the wail of a child turned monster.
“Copson. Can you remember the way?”
I asked him as he raised his sword and cautiously took a step.
“I don’t think I can remember it in detail. But we’re not going too far in, so it should be fine. We can go a reasonable distance and then return to the starting point. Then, from the starting point, we can search the opposite direction.”
“Sounds reasonable. Let’s do that.”
“By the way… Barbarian. Do you smell money?”
“Hehehe, I’ve been smelling it since long ago.”
In a jungle like this, we could easily find valuable herbs, magical plants, or poisonous mushrooms.
“Truly a barbarian’s sense of smell… Hehehe.”
Having received knowledge of mountain plants from Winia in the past, I had sufficiently developed the ability to distinguish things that could make money.
We watched out for monster attacks while examining the bases of trees, rocks, and strangely shaped vines.
“Hmm, this is.”
Copson, who had found something, lowered his stance.
When I got closer, I saw an unrealistically shaped mushroom growing there. The mushroom, with a design that seemed to have sprung from a madman’s nightmare, was enough to shock anyone who saw it.
The mushroom was called a Mirimul Mushroom, and Winia said it was poisonous and could be sold for about 2 coppers each.
“It’s a poisonous mushroom. Let’s take it.”
“Do you know about it?”
“Of course.”
I cut off the hard base with a knife, picked up a fallen leaf to wrap it, and carefully put it in my pouch. “Good luck,” Copson said, and began to look around again.
ㅡBooooom.
At that moment, an unpleasant sound began to be heard.
Immediately, Copson and I stood back-to-back and pointed our swords.
“Hey, Copson.”
“…It’s appeared. The monster of the jungle.”
ㅡBooooom.
What descended was a monster that looked like a giant hornet. Seeing an insect the size of a small dog flying around made me think of the Jar of Loneliness.
I’d never seen this monster before… Could it be!
“Abyssal Poison Insect!”
“Is that the name of that disgusting bug?”
“No.”
I was familiar with monsters like Giant Spiders and Giant Bats, but not with this hornet with monstrous tentacles dangling from its mouth.
No, was it even a hornet in the first place?
Since the Wind Hole was sealed, let’s settle this with swordsmanship.
“Let’s each take one.”
“Ugh, it’s so disgusting. To think something like that is flying around…!”
Since two of them had appeared, we agreed to each take one and started fighting.
ㅡSwish!
With an extremely efficient footwork combining Taekwondo, Siljang Kwonbeop, and Chunma Shin’gong, I performed a Sergeant Jump with enhanced leg strength.
ㅡFlying Siljang Swordsmanship.
Jumping inhumanly high, I unleashed the essence of aerial combat, Flying Siljang Swordsmanship, to bring him down.
I focused my strength on my muscles.
A steel slash was something no mere insect-type monster could withstand.
“Die!!!”
ㅡSwaack!
The rapidly unleashed, chilling blade cleanly severed one of its wings. ㅡFassst. The wingless monster fell powerlessly. Approaching it like sliding, I immediately stomped on its gruesome head.
ㅡThud!
That was the end of it, and Copson had also butchered his hornet in a similar way. From the start, there was no way something like this could be our opponent.
“Hmm… I’ve certainly never seen a monster like this before.”
“Really?”
If Copson, a local of this world, said he was seeing it for the first time, then it was definitely a strange monster. Since it looked like a hornet, did it build a hive and live in groups?
“Then let’s collect the corpse.”
“No, wait.”
As much as I wanted to cut open its belly and collect the stinger or poison sac that might be inside… I had a feeling that these guys lived in groups.
I didn’t want to deal with a swarm of hornets coming to avenge their comrades just because I took something like that. They might be a species sensitive to the smell of their comrades.
“I think, since they’re traveling in pairs, they probably have comrades. If we take something and they smell it and come in groups… it wouldn’t be a pretty sight, would it?”
“Now that you mention it, it seems like that could be the case. That was close.”
And I didn’t want to get fucked up by a swarm of them just by staying here any longer. It seemed best to get out of here right away.
“Let’s get out of here for now. Let’s go back the way we came.”
“Alright. That seems like a good idea.”
“Ah, right. Just a moment before that.”
Just as we were about to turn back, I thought I should at least examine what kind of bastard this hornet was. I roughly had Copson keep watch and cut open the corpse’s belly.
As expected, I saw a stinger and a sac filled with some kind of liquid… Judging by the pungent smell, it seemed certain that taking it would lead to bloodshed.
On its head, there were eight long tentacles sprouting from the lip area, like an octopus, and inside, there was a beak-like jaw.
Overall, it was a uniquely shaped monster.
Did it appear because the terrain had changed from forest to jungle?
“Let’s get out of here!”
“Ooh!”
After finishing the investigation, we threw away the corpse and returned the way we came, as if fleeing.
ㅡThud thud thud thud.
Even as the whole world looked like the same jungle, we sprinted, finding the exact path. We would return to the starting point and start searching again.
How long had we been running?
“Haa… Let’s rest for a moment.”
“Hoo, let’s do that.”
We decided to take a short break and sat on a flat rock to drink water.
Sweat was pouring down, probably because of the high humidity. Armor would definitely save my life, but at times like this, it felt stifling.
“If we go a little further that way, we should reach the starting point.”
“Is that so? Honestly, it’s been so similar since the middle that I don’t really know, man.”
While drinking water, I also took out a few pieces of jerky to chew on. Come to think of it, it seemed like many other adventurers had come in besides us… But maybe because it was so vast, we hadn’t really run into them.
Of course, it was better not to see them.
“Hehehe, actually, I feel the same way.”
“Shit, aren’t we lost? Hehe.”
“Maybe we are.”
Copson and I chuckled, finished our simple meal, and moved again. Long thickets were rising along the outer edges. Honestly, even if we got lost, if we just found those, there would be no problem in getting back.
“Oh, Barbarian. What’s this?”
“I don’t know either.”
As we walked around looking, we could naturally find unique orchids and other things. Along with that, we picked various plants and filled our pouches.
This place was truly a treasure trove of material items. Before long, we were able to gather materials worth about 20 coppers.
“I should have brought a herb bag or something.”
“Make sure to bring one next time.”
Anyway, this was the starting point.
It seemed like we would get out soon if we went a little further…
“Oops!”
ㅡTechyaaaaaaaat!!!!
ㅡTechya!! Techyaaaa!!!
ㅡTechyaaaaaaaa!!!
As I was about to examine the base of a tree, a family of goblins suddenly poured out from inside. Lowly green monsters whose height only reached my knees!
“What the fuck, goblins?”
“Isn’t it spring? It’s the time when they lay their eggs and feel hungry.”
“These bastards are in season in spring?”
“Aren’t they like spring fairies?”
The goblins, who charged violently, swung their arms and legs while emitting bloodshot eyes.
“Copson.”
ㅡThwack!
Already, these low-level monsters were no match for us, who had experienced all kinds of hardships. I kicked the charging goblins in the torso and slashed horizontally at the jumping ones.
“Hehehe, what’s wrong?”
Copson also laughed mockingly and cut off their necks like peeling potato skins. A goblin who jumped tried to aim for my head. However.
Slow.
It was an attack that was too slow. Just a wild strike without any kind of martial art. Even the martial artists were better.
“Asura Bloodshed Fist.”
I immediately punched the guy in the face, and ㅡTechyaaaaaaaaaat!!!! He screamed terribly and flew away. In fact, these guys weren’t even worth using a weapon on.
I am a Kim Katte of Abuse.
I put my sword in its sheath and decided to fight with fist and leg techniques. ㅡTechyaat!! The ignorant bastards charged even after seeing their family members being cut down.
“Blood Sky Asura Kick.”
ㅡWhoosh!
Like kicking a soccer ball, I kicked one bastard away, and “Thunderbolt Rakshasa Palm.” I grabbed the face of the guy who rushed in next and slammed him into the ground.
After using martial arts, it was Siljang Kwonbeop and Taekwondo.
ㅡPapat!
ㅡBoongjjeut boongjjeut!
The fiercely shot out punches and kicks instantly turned the goblins into rags.
“Barbarian. What’s with those strange shouts?”
“It’s like a traditional tribal ritual.”
Copson, who was stabbing the last remaining guy in the abdomen with a knife, asked. Originally, it was the rule to shout the name of the technique when using martial arts.
“It’s over. Well, there doesn’t seem to be anything to take.”
“These fucking useless bastards.”
The goblins’ family was annihilated in an instant. All that remained on the scene was the blood and flesh that had flowed out thickly.
“Let’s go now.”
I shook off my sword and fists and moved again. Even though it was a jungle, this place was right in front of Isvant. There weren’t as many attacks from strong monsters as I thought.
That’s how we returned to the starting point.
At that time.
“I knew it, you fucking bastard.”
“Where is this?”
We had gotten lost.
“Fuck.”
“This sucks.”
We had definitely come straight in the direction we had come, but we had arrived at a place we didn’t know. Had we passed the starting point? Or did we have to go further?
I had no idea.
“B, Barbarian. What should we do! Suddenly, my body is starting to tremble!”
Copson shouted frantically and became anxious.
“Hey, hey. Calm down, it’s okay, there’s a thicket here.”
The outer edge of the jungle was surrounded by thickets like a fortress. Even though we had lost our way a little, if we just cut down this thicket, we would be able to get out.
“Hmm, now that I think about it, that’s right. No matter where we go, if we just get over this thicket, we’ll be able to get out. We didn’t even need to find the starting point.”
“It’s better to find it if possible. Because we don’t know where we’ll end up going out.”
We couldn’t find the starting point, but we would be able to get out.
“Then let’s just do this much and go back to the city.”
“Alright. Next time, I think we’ll have to bring things to make a map.”
“Maps are useless in a place like this.”
Unless we were professionally trained people, there was no way that adventurers like us, who had learned haphazardly through experience, could make a proper map in this serious jungle, and even if we did make one, reading it would be an even more serious problem.
ㅡRustle.
So, Copson and I cut down the thicket in order to get out of the jungle.
Yes, that was definitely what we were going to do.
After cutting down the thicket for about 30 minutes and going outside.
“Fuck…”
“What the hell is this…”
A jungle was spread out there too.
We’re lost, fuck.
