"Damn it! Cover him!!!"
Shwaaak!
Darkness suddenly engulfed my vision.
The prickly bitch—one of the plain-faced bitch's companions—had completely smothered my face with a blanket.
"You're not going anywhere anyway! I tied those ropes so damn tight! Just hold it down and suffocate the bastard!"
My reaction came a step too late. Just as she said, my arms and legs were bound tight.
Crunch!
I felt the pressure of two hands around my neck, along with brutal strength.
"Guh, ack!"
The force combined with her body weight made it pretty burdensome.
I had no choice but to let her throttle me without moving a muscle.
Her voice filtered through the dark blanket.
"Hah... You should've just passed out nice and quiet like a good boy. Why'd you have to resist and make things annoying?"
"Kuh... grrrk."
"Just think you were shit out of luck and black out peacefully. Then at least you could live as a slave with all your limbs intact!"
Crunch crunch!
The pressure on my neck intensified.
This wasn't the strength of an average woman. It rivaled a trained adult man—or maybe surpassed it.
When we first met, the prickly bitch had been holding a bow. Archers generally needed exceptional muscle power to draw back a bowstring with that much tension.
And now she was choking me with all her might.
It was an effective method that would knock out any normal person in seconds.
But...
"Is... this... all you've got?"
"...What?"
It was nothing.
She really thought this piddly strength would knock me out?
Crack.
"...Wait. What the hell."
I heard the plain-faced woman's panicked voice. She'd figured out what I was about to do.
"Wh-what are you?! How are you breaking free of the mana ropes with brute force...!"
"Grrk... hek."
"Densi! What are you doing?! Choke him properly! Why the hell isn't this guy out yet?!"
"I'm trying! But he's holding out! Wh-what man's neck is this damn tough...!"
"Khehek. Kehehek."
I laughed like a goblin, even with my neck crushed.
My whole body tingled with electricity.
How to describe it? My flesh felt utterly transformed from before.
This wasn't just peak condition.
It was like my body had broken through human limits, evolving at a fundamental level.
I didn't know why I felt this way now, but for the moment, I wanted to bask in this inexplicable sense of omnipotence.
Crack, snap!
Every time I flexed, the ropes binding me snapped one by one.
My forearms and thighs felt like they might burst. Good sign.
Yeah. Imagine my body exploding outright.
More, more! Picture all that power in my body detonating!
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Snap snap snap snap!
I snapped the ropes around my wrists and ankles through sheer force, reclaiming my freedom.
"Wh-what...! Eek!"
I tore off the blanket blocking my view with my newly freed hands. There was the prickly bitch—Densi—still squeezing my neck for all she was worth.
Her small chest and soft belly came into view. Where to hit for maximum gossip value?
"W-wait—"
Splat!
"Guhk."
A short scream.
My fist sank deep into the sweet spot between her chest and belly—right in the solar plexus. Her body crumpled in an instant.
"D-Densi... in one hit...?"
I turned toward the trembling voice.
The plain-faced woman stood there, holding a sleep toxin vial in one hand and a dagger in the other.
She must've planned to dose me with more toxin once Densi knocked me out.
Clang!
She silently dropped the vial and gripped her dagger tighter. No words needed. That brief motion sealed our fates.
Flash!
She charged at me in a blink—fast and nimble. Way better than any goblin!
'But...'
Whoosh!
I barely dodged her swinging dagger. A few strands of my bangs got sliced off—razor close.
"I can see all your attacks, bitch."
"Wha...!"
The plain-faced woman let out a startled groan.
I'd twisted toward her side to evade.
Attack range secured.
And she'd just swung her dagger, leaving her wide open.
My target: her undefended left oblique.
"Tighten up those abs."
Splaaat!
"Grhek—!"
My fist plunged into her gut like a spear.
Crunch!
The impact caved in her belly for a split second before she rocketed backward, smashing into the goblin wall.
The wall collapsed, burying her alive under the goblins.
"Haha, ha..."
I caught my breath and scanned the surroundings.
"Kruk, kruk...!"
The goblins poking at the collapsed wall cried out in confusion at their grotesque faces.
"What're you staring at? Show's over?"
Axe. Where's my axe.
Crack! Craaack!
I retrieved my axe and butchered the two goblins that had been gawking, then nicely decorated one corner of the goblin wall with their corpses.
"Hoo. Hiss, hoo..."
My heart burned hot, pounding too fast. Felt like a hundred beats a second. The heat and thrill of battle wouldn't fade.
Calming my breathing took longer than killing the goblins.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
One thing nagging me.
Why'd they suddenly try to sell me as a slave?
Especially after approaching me first and acting all helpful.
I used the plain-faced woman's mana ropes to bind Densi—the prickly bitch—tight and began the interrogation.
"F-first time we met, I was just horny... N-no... I wanted to help..."
"Tell the truth. Or follow your friend."
"B-body! At first, your body was the goal! H-honestly, any woman with a womb and ovaries would think the same, right?! How do you hold back from a guy walking around shirtless like a perv?! It's unavoidable lust—grhek—!"
I slammed my fist into her solar plexus for being too honest.
Her words made my head spin for a second.
Average-plus looks aside, she was objectively attractive.
Yet the filth pouring from her mouth was next-level.
Made me wonder if that was even Korean.
"Urk, cough, cough!"
I set aside the unsolvable mystery and questioned her again as she clutched her chest, hacking away.
"So you're saying... you helped me... because you wanted to fuck me?"
"Y-yes!"
"Why nod like it's something to brag about?"
Thwack!
"Kwek...! S-sorry..."
Yeah, people need a good hit to come to their senses. Her tone switched to polite speech.
Still, something felt off. I wasn't exactly in high demand as a guy.
—Oppa. You didn't come from work in that outfit, did you? Even if, what the hell, running shirt?! People are stealing glances at your muscles! Wear that only at home from now on.
My kind-hearted little sister once said that, but sadly, after that day, other women ignored me like I was invisible.
'Felt like a ghost for a while.'
Only guys asked about my workout routine.
When I said it was just from manual labor, they all looked relatively deprived somehow.
"Fine, first you helped for that reason. But why slip sleep toxin in the soup midway?"
"Originally, I planned to just taste and done... But when I saw your face, I thought, this guy's gotta sell for top dollar. Buff male slaves are expensive as is, but handsome and buff? Insanely so. ...Horny was a bonus. B-but I didn't know that nympho Rubin knew how to counter sleep toxin..."
So, to sum up.
She helped initially to get my body.
Saw my unmasked face, got horny again, planned to rape me on the spot? Plus, figured she could sell me high as a slave?
What kind of monkey-brained, lust-driven logic was this?
'Does that even make sense? What woman...'
—Put on... some clothes... please...
—It's even hotter now...
—Total stud-muffin.
—Looks delicious.
Suddenly, the armored knight and the beastkin party's comments flashed back.
I'd chalked the knight up to fatigue, the beastkin to cannibal tastes.
But hearing this bitch's nuance now... it wasn't that.
'That was their real reaction?'
They genuinely thought I was hot, a stud-muffin, delicious!
—You. Keep the helmet on at all times. Always.
The armored knight's advice resurfaced too. Now I vaguely got why.
From everyone's reactions so far—especially this near-rape by the plain-faced and prickly bitch duo—I set my course.
'No taking off the helmet from now on.'
I needed to avoid unmasking in front of people, especially women.
If I did, only around someone trustworthy who wouldn't just rape me on sight.
'Not going through this again.'
Especially not this powerless rape threat against my will. Infuriating.
I decide my virginity's fate.
Screw the opposite—virgins have their own romance.
'Are the women here just brutally honest about lust? Or is the gender worldview different from Earth...'
Worth investigating, but not key to escaping the labyrinth right now. Table it for later.
What mattered immediately...
"Sorry! Please forgive me now... I told you everything truthfully..."
Kakchi knelt, rubbing her hands together desperately.
Her eyes flicked to the plain-faced woman, displayed neatly beside goblin corpses.
Terror flooded Kakchi's face each time.
"W-we misjudged you. Please forgive us..."
"Why cry and beg all sudden? Makes me look like the bad guy."
They backstabbed me first, now playing victim with tears.
Ridiculous.
"You tried to enslave and sell me first. Without my consent. Didn't care if it ruined my life—as long as you got your money and a night's fuck, right? You selfish bitches. Why should I forgive you?"
"J-just spare me...! I'll do anything if you let me live! I-I've got connections with the western outlaws. Low-level, but... it could help somehow."
Western outlaws or whatever—couldn't care less.
One thing was clear.
"Anything?"
She'd said it herself: anything.
"Y-yes! Anything! I'll do whatever! So please just—"
"Then you're fine being the slave?"
"...Yes?"
I looped the mana rope around Kakchi's—no, Kakchi's neck as I spoke.
"Why panic? Just think you were shit out of luck and accept it. Then you won't die at least, and can slave away. Your words, right?"
Her face paled more with every word.
No clue how useful she'd be.
"Right, Kakchi?"
But I needed a handy tool right now.