Chapter 15
The park was exactly halfway between the temple and the inn.
On his way back to the inn, Jeong Yushin stopped by the park.
He sat on a bench, propped his chin on his hand, and took in the view.
Beautiful flower beds and trees covered in pink petals.
There was a marble statue in the center of the park, with a fountain arranged around it as though embracing it.
Perhaps the water spirit was just playing around; the fountain’s water soared into the air, tracing beautiful and bizarre shapes.
Children were running and playing around it.
A boy waved a tree branch and shouted,
“Hiyah! I’m the sage Ezdras! Take that, bad guys!”
Another child shouted at the top of their lungs,
“This time, I’m playing Ezdras! Why do you always get to play the good role?!”
Jeong Yushin sat on the bench watching the children bicker, then lowered his head.
His worries deepened.
He had paid for the chance to learn how to read and write, but where could he cheaply learn how to handle weapons?
The Swordsmanship Association’s tuition was 30 silver coins.
That was an amount he would have to earn by working at the monster disassembly facility for three months without taking a break.
Jeong Yushin grabbed his hair and let out a deep sigh.
There were fixed expenses, too.
The monthly rent he paid Darmong was one silver coin and 50 copper coins.
That was the amount that left his pocket even if he merely sat still and breathed.
Having just paid his tuition, he had only four silver coins and a few copper coins left.
If he planned to enter the labyrinth again, he had to start saving money now. He needed to have at least enough to buy supplies.
He could eat breakfast for free at the inn, and the temple provided lunch, which was fortunate, but he would have no choice but to go without dinner.
That was his current situation.
‘Fucking tight.’
He wanted to cling to Darmong’s trouser leg, but he didn’t want to burden someone already worrying about Yushin’s circumstances with an even bigger problem.
‘Who’d want to stay at an inn where a potential sex offender was lodging?’
If he had been the inn’s owner, he would have kicked him out immediately, so he respected Darmong for agonizing over the problem.
He sorted out his thoughts.
In the end, he had two choices left.
The first was to work at the monster disassembly facility.
He could earn money, but it wouldn’t help him get ahead.
He would have to spend three months grinding away day and night, with no time to enter the labyrinth or even learn to read and write.
Then he would have to hand over everything he earned in those three months to the Swordsmanship Association, study for one month, and return to the disassembly facility for another three months.
No matter how he looked at it, it was inefficient.
The second was to enter the labyrinth again.
As long as he didn’t suffer severe injuries or acquire some strange engraving, he could avoid a serious deficit, so it was worth trying.
Come to think of it, he wouldn’t be earning all that little money. He had earned three silver coins on his first expedition, which wasn’t a bad return for a week’s work. Of course, he had risked his life, eaten and slept poorly, and spent more on preparations than he had earned, leaving him in the red.
But so what? If he found a good party and explored the labyrinth with them, working hard all the while, his skills would improve, and once they did, he would have plenty of opportunities to earn more.
He made his decision.
Jeong Yushin stood up from the bench.
Now that he had a plan, all that remained was to act.
* * *
“No.”
“Why?”
The man sitting across from Jeong Yushin shook his head and said,
“Because you’re a Barbaroi. My party doesn’t accept female hunters.”
Jeong Yushin frowned.
“At least call me a bride hunter. Damn it.”
“It’s the same thing.”
This was his fourth rejection.
After preparing supplies and spending a day at the inn, he had come to the Explorer’s Guild with his hopes high, only to be rejected in every party interview because he was a Barbaroi.
The man sighed.
“Go to some party other than a normal one like ours.”
The gaze of the party member sitting beside the man stabbed coldly into Yushin’s chest.
“Are there even abnormal parties?”
“Don’t look at the recruitment notices posted on the guild board. Ask a receptionist. Tell them you want to join a ‘bottom-tier’ party.”
“What’s a bottom-tier party? Do you mean a party of new explorers?”
“No. Forget it. Ask the receptionist. Get lost.”
The man waved his hand curtly, as if he didn’t want to explain any further.
Jeong Yushin stood up.
At this point, perhaps it had been lucky that he had joined Kaal’s clueless party.
Avoiding the sharp-looking human female receptionist, he went to another receptionist.
“Hello, Explorer. How may I help you?”
It was the cute rabbit beastkin he had seen earlier.
“What is a bottom-tier party?”
“Ah! It’s a party formed by people with negative engravings. Are you thinking of joining one?”
“Yes. Since no one else will accept me, that’s my only option.”
“There’s a party made up of new explorers. How about joining them?”
“Is it perhaps a party formed by young people who came up from the countryside?”
“Yes. For your information, they haven’t taken the new explorer course. They said it was too expensive, even though the tuition was heavily discounted this time.”
This was absolutely...
too ominous.
“Are you all right? Your hands are shaking.”
The receptionist asked with a worried expression.
“A bottom-tier party, please.”
“All right. There’s one negative-engraving party looking for a vanguard. Please go to table 21.”
“Thank you.”
Jeong Yushin turned and went to table 21.
‘They look normal.’
There were four people sitting at table 21.
An elderly human mage.
A middle-aged gnome.
A dwarf with a bushy beard.
And.
A goblin.
Jeong Yushin’s mouth fell open.
‘What’s a goblin doing here?’
The goblin spoke.
“What are you looking at? Never seen a goblin before?”
“I’ve never seen a goblin that could talk before.”
“Are you a novice explorer?”
“Yes.”
“You’re lucky you didn’t draw your sword. When novice friends see me, they always swing first and think later.”
“I’m Ska. Do I get in?”
“Yeah. Honestly, we’re not in a position to be picky. I’m Del. I was an elf, but a goblin engraving turned me into this. I’m an elf. Remember that.”
‘He’s really emphasizing it.’
Del looked around and said,
“Why don’t we introduce ourselves?”
The elderly human mage opened his mouth.
“I’m Kelton, a mage. You pathetic amateur.”
“....”
‘A pathetic amateur?’
Jeong Yushin stared blankly at the elderly mage who had launched straight into a personal attack.
“I have a bratty-girl engraving. I don’t want to say anything more, so my introduction ends here, amateur.”
“Yes, yes.”
The old man frowned and folded his arms.
Next came the dwarf.
“Einhofer. I have a hand-tremor engraving and a reduced-stamina engraving.”
Jeong Yushin looked at the enormous single-bladed axe standing behind the dwarf.
“Sometimes my hand slips. Be careful.”
He swallowed dryly.
Perhaps because the dwarf took weapons so seriously, the axe blade gleamed sharply.
Finally, the middle-aged gnome spoke.
“I’m Dito. By the way, Barbaroi, you’re a virgin, aren’t you?”
‘What kind of engraving does he have?’
Noticing the unease in Jeong Yushin’s eyes, Dito grinned.
“It’s an engraving that makes the number of times you’ve had sex visible. It appears as a red number above your head.”
“Wow, a virgin Barbaroi. Now that’s a rare sight.”
The goblin cut in.
“But isn’t that insufficient to call it a negative engraving? It doesn’t interfere with combat.”
Jeong Yushin voiced his doubt.
“Female explorers hate it, for one. If their private lives were exposed in such detail, they’d naturally feel embarrassed and humiliated.”
“What about male explorers?”
Dito chuckled.
“If a male explorer is seen with me, they’re finished. Rumors will spread, and they won’t be able to form a party with anyone else. They’ll be branded as some creepy person who goes around trying to find out how many times people have had sex, and their life will be ruined.”
‘Fucking terrifying.’
Come to think of it, he could feel cold stares coming from the other tables. Most of the explorers were women, though there were occasional looks from men as well.
He realized what it meant for a gnome whose number of sexual encounters was visible to be with a Barbaroi notorious as a female hunter.
From now on, it would be difficult to find a party under ordinary circumstances.
“Let’s get along, Barbaroi!”
Jeong Yushin stared blankly at the hand Dito extended.
“Let’s not shake hands. I feel like it would really be the end of me.”
“Sure.”
Dito smiled broadly. It was the smile of someone who seemed to know that Yushin had already crossed the point of no return.
“So who’s the leader here?”
“Me.”
The goblin answered.
“When will we be departing?”
“Tomorrow at lunchtime.”
“Don’t people usually leave in the morning?”
The goblin drew a finger across his throat.
“I’ll die if we go in the morning.”
“All of a sudden? Is there some kind of law?”
“Think about it. If you enter the labyrinth and find a goblin standing there, a mid- or high-ranked explorer will probably just pass by because it’s too much trouble, but a novice explorer will draw their sword first. And they say the number of novice explorers has increased lately.”
“Couldn’t you just go in with them?”
“I’m the rear guard, so I stand at the back every time. When people see me, they mistake me for someone trying to ambush them from behind. Because of that, I nearly got killed by some supposedly kind high-ranked explorer.”
“Then….”
The goblin snapped irritably.
“I’ve thought and agonized over this more than you have! There’s no answer. Besides, it’s an unwritten rule for explorers who have turned into monsters to enter in the afternoon. If you don’t like it, get lost.”
‘What’s with the sudden outburst? The goblin bastard.’
“Understood. Tomorrow at lunchtime?”
“Yeah. If you’re not here by then, I’ll come looking for you.”
“You don’t have to go that far.”
“I’m going to.”
‘That goblin is pretty obsessive.’
“Yes. See you tomorrow.”
Jeong Yushin stood up from table 21 and left the guild building.
Regardless of the party’s circumstances, he had been lucky. He had secured time to go to the temple in the morning and learn to read and write.
Of course, he couldn’t go every day, but he was grateful that he now had the chance to learn, even if only little by little.
* * *
“I’m back.”
“You’re back?”
When he returned to the inn, Darmong greeted him.
“Barbaroi have trouble finding parties. Take your time looking.”
Yushin scratched his head at Darmong’s words of consolation.
“I did find a party, actually. Haa...”
“Why? What happened?”
“Do you know what a bottom-tier party is?”
“Good heavens, don’t tell me...”
“Yes. I joined a party with some rather unusual people. We’re leaving tomorrow afternoon.”
“They must be quite unusual.”
“Yes. There’s a goblin, a gnome whose number of sexual encounters is visible, and all sorts of other things.”
Jeong Yushin explained the details at greater length.
Darmong nodded.
“That sounds like a perfectly fine party. There are plenty of even stranger ones.”
.....
There were parties even stranger than this?
He didn’t want to ask. It was frightening.
Could the darkness of Labyrinth City be deeper than he had imagined?
Had that thought shown on Jeong Yushin’s face?
Darmong chuckled.
“You know that the more engravings you erase, the more the next erasure will cost, right?”
“Yes.”
“It usually happens among mid- and high-ranked explorers. If you keep erasing negative engravings and retaining positive ones, you eventually reach a certain point.”
“The cost of erasing an engraving becomes astronomical.”
“Exactly. There are cases where even selling all the explorer’s property and equipment isn’t enough to cover the erasure fee. Once they reach that point, the explorer is expelled from their party.”
“That’s cold.”
“You can’t necessarily look at it that way. Most negative engravings are overlooked, but negative engravings that seriously interfere with party operations are directly connected to the party’s safety. Neither the party members nor the person affected wants that. Besides, there are many explorers climbing up from below, so there’s no reason to take unnecessary risks.”
“I see. So are the people who get expelled finished for good?”
“It depends on the person. Some claw their way back up somehow, while others simply accept it as their fate.”
“Then what about bottom-tier parties?”
“Right. They’re the ones who claw their way back up.”
“That sounds like a more wholesome party than I expected.”
“That...”
Darmong evaded the question instead of answering.
It was strange behavior from Darmong, who always gave clear answers.
‘Still, it must be better than a party of novice explorers.’
Jeong Yushin consoled himself.
notes which is important? only 200 exact.