Chapter 21
After going through an ordeal at dawn, Jeong Yushin lay down on a bed at the relief station.
Dito’s corpse had been removed. The blood splattered across the floor had been cleaned up as well. Only the smell of blood remained.
He wanted to ask for a different room, but he gave up because he was afraid of the charge.
Jeong Yushin spent the night wide awake. When dawn broke, he went down to the first floor to check on the party members. Unfortunately, Del and Einhofer were still unconscious.
Kelton said he would stay at the relief station a little longer because he wasn’t feeling well.
Before leaving the relief station, Jeong Yushin bowed deeply to Kelton.
“I’m sorry. I must have gone a little crazy yesterday.”
The inexplicable assassination attempt and the shock of his first killing had become mixed together.
On top of that, intense fatigue and Luke’s threats had been piled on.
In short, he hadn’t been in his right mind. He had tried to kill Kelton.
It was only right to apologize.
Regardless of the reason, Kelton had been a party member who had fought alongside him.
They had shed blood and sweat together in the same place.
Kelton smiled faintly and patted Jeong Yushin on the shoulder.
“It’s all right. I’m more sorry, if anything. I should have told you beforehand. Amateur.”
For an explorer who had fallen to the bottom tier, there was one more option besides retiring or entering the labyrinth.
Illegal work.
There were all kinds of jobs, ranging from distributing prohibited goods to kidnapping, assassination, and theft.
Because it paid well, many bottom-tier explorers got involved in this illegal work.
After hearing Kelton’s explanation, Jeong Yushin nodded.
“Then Dito too?”
“That’s right. He must have received a commission somewhere. Amateur.”
His mouth tasted bitter. He wanted to ask more, but Kelton was in terrible shape. He looked like he might collapse at any moment.
“Then I’ll be going first. Let’s talk after you get some rest.”
“All right. Amateur.”
When he left the relief station, he saw a crowd bathed in the morning sunlight. The relief station was close to the Great Labyrinth’s teleportation array.
“Whew.”
Jeong Yushin sighed and walked in the opposite direction from the crowd.
He had lost all his equipment and belongings.
All he had managed to save was his life.
It seemed the expedition team had been willing to save his life, but not his belongings.
What he had gained from this trip into the labyrinth was three silver coins.
Even those were borrowed.
He trudged to the inn where Darmong was staying.
“I’m back, Darmong.”
Darmong’s face poked out from the kitchen.
“You made it back alive. Wait a moment.”
Jeong Yushin took a seat at an empty table.
A little later, Darmong emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray of food.
“Eat. Your face is half gone.”
Jeong Yushin looked down at the food on the tray.
A cream soup brimming with meat, buttered rye bread, and warm milk steaming in a wooden cup.
“I...”
“Eat first.”
At Darmong’s insistence, he began eating. It wasn’t until warm food reached his stomach that he realized it.
His body had grown cold and heavy.
He swallowed the soup and tore off pieces of bread to put in his mouth. He ate as slowly as possible, savoring the food’s warmth.
Darmong silently watched Jeong Yushin.
Finally, he drank the warm milk and finished his meal.
Jeong Yushin bowed deeply.
“Thank you for the meal, Darmong. I’m alive.”
Why had he said that he was alive?
He had blurted out words even he didn’t understand.
“Yeah.”
“Innkeeper!! Two breakfasts over here!”
Two humans sitting at another table shouted loudly.
Darmong stood and said,
“Get some sleep first. We’ll talk tonight.”
“Yes.”
Looking around, he saw that the place was fairly crowded. It was strange, but also understandable, to see explorers who had risen at dawn and were busily moving about stopping by here.
‘It was delicious. And there wasn’t any fur, either.’
Darmong’s shedding must have finished too. The number of customers would probably keep growing.
He went up to the second floor and opened the door to his room.
The room felt bleak.
He could feel keenly that he had lost both his baggage and equipment in the labyrinth.
At present, all he was wearing was a single set of tattered hard-leather armor.
All that remained were a longsword and two silver coins he had kept in reserve.
Excluding the relief station’s treatment fee, he was one silver coin in the red.
“Whatever.”
Having eaten warm food, sleep came creeping over him.
‘I’ll just sleep. Honestly, the relief station was too cold.’
He took off his armor and changed clothes.
Jeong Yushin threw himself onto the bed, rubbed his body against the soft, fluffy bedding, and fell asleep.
* * *
When he awoke in the dawn air, an asphalt road came into view.
“...Where am I?”
A familiar place.
When he turned around, the neon sign of a convenience store was shining in the distance.
It was the place where he had been just before being transported to another world.
Had he returned?
“Ahaha.”
The abrupt return was so absurd that he was dumbfounded.
What meaning had all his suffering held?
Overcome by emptiness, he sank to the ground.
Had he merely dreamed an entire nightmare?
He raised his head again and looked at the convenience store.
This wouldn’t do. He should run to the convenience store, buy a mountain of snacks, and go home.
He shook off the unpleasant feeling and rose to his feet.
He wanted to buy a whole bottle of cola and drink it all at once. He missed the refreshing fizz in his throat and the sweet taste of sugar.
And what about ramen’s spicy, piping-hot broth?
His mouth watered.
“I’m going to stuff myself with every kind of potato chip. Just you wait.”
He walked toward the convenience store.
On the way, Jeong Yushin spotted a manhole. Its cover was nowhere to be seen.
He approached it as if bewitched.
When he looked down, he couldn’t see anything. That was only natural—the sewer had always been dark, and now it was nighttime.
“Arise.”
A voice rose from beneath the sewer.
“What!”
Jeong Yushin recoiled in shock. A strange sensation seized his body. A twisting that began deep in his abdomen spread throughout his entire body.
“Arise.”
Black mist began to seep up from the sewer.
He immediately turned around and ran toward the convenience store.
But the black mist was faster. The mist caught Jeong Yushin.
“Let go!! I said let go!!”
He thrashed with all his strength, but the mist slowly tightened around his body.
It twisted and crushed his entire body.
He screamed from the pain and agony.
“Aaaaaaaaagh!!!”
Jeong Yushin’s eyes snapped open as he writhed in pain. A familiar ceiling came into view.
“Am I home?”
No.
It was Darmong’s inn.
BANG!!
The door burst open with a loud bang, and Darmong entered.
“Ska! What happened?”
“A... nightmare.”
At Jeong Yushin’s halting answer, Darmong folded his arms.
“Hmm. Come downstairs for now. A guest has come to see you.”
Darmong left the room.
‘A guest?’
Was there anyone who might come to see him?
When he got out of bed and looked down at his body, he saw that he was drenched in cold sweat from head to toe.
In contrast, a strange vitality overflowed within his body.
His body had changed. He could sense it instinctively.
‘It could be a new Engraving. But I didn’t feel any sense of release. Is that because I was unconscious?’
He had questions, but there was something he had to do first.
He wiped his body with a towel and left the room.
When he went down to the first floor, there were people he had never seen before.
A tall, handsome human man with blond hair.
A beautiful female elf with an air of mystery.
A female beastkin with pointed ears and sharp features.
Finally, a young girl priestess dressed in white.
A textbook harem party.
The people in the inn couldn’t tear their eyes away from the women’s beauty and simply stared at them blankly.
The harem party and Darmong were seated at the same table.
The blond man saw Jeong Yushin and waved.
“Over here! Barbaroi!”
Jeong Yushin brushed back his sweat-damp hair and took a seat at the table. The blond man gave him a beaming smile.
“Are you all right? I heard screaming from upstairs.”
At the friendly tone, Jeong Yushin scratched his head.
He had no idea who the man was or why he was acting so familiar.
“I had a nightmare. I’m fine now.”
“Ah! Do you know what that is?!”
“What do you mean by ‘that’?”
“Level up! You killed so many goblins, so it’s no wonder you leveled up.”
Darmong cut in.
“Explorers call it leveling up, but its original name is mana adaptation. When you kill a monster, the unique mana particles within it accumulate in your body, transforming it. Your strength, dynamic vision, reflexes, mana sensitivity, and various other abilities increase.”
Jeong Yushin felt dazed.
His mind went blank at the new terminology he had never learned from the explorers’ guild.
“What? Even a Barbaroi should know this much, shouldn’t they? It isn’t even a phenomenon confined to the labyrinth. How strange.”
The blond man gave him a look as though he were observing a fascinating animal. Jeong Yushin ignored the man’s words. There was still something else he wanted to know.
“Does leveling up cause nightmares?”
Darmong answered Jeong Yushin’s question.
“The phenomena that occur during leveling up are so varied that I can’t give you a definite answer. Some people do occasionally have nightmares, but it’s still rare. Usually, they simply transform and that’s it. A surge of vitality accompanied by a sense of omnipotence after the transformation is the common feature.”
‘Fuck. Leveling up is a real pain in the ass.’
Even so, he felt good. He had grown stronger. The powerful vitality he had felt in his body for some time now was coursing through him.
“But who are you?”
At Jeong Yushin’s question, the blond man looked bewildered and pointed at himself.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know me? You don’t know our party?”
“Yes.”
“Haaaaaaaa.”
The blond man placed one hand against his forehead.
‘What an exhausting guy.’
THUD!!
The blond man pulled a leather pouch from inside his clothes and set it on the table.
A dull clinking sound came from the pouch.
“To introduce ourselves! We’re the explorers’ guild’s rising star party, the ‘Golden Dawn.’ I’m Zeke Lionel, a mid-rank explorer! Remember that well.”
‘A named party. Is it an official party?’
“Yes. But what brings you here?”
“...Show a little respect. We saved your life.”
“Saved my life? Were you part of the labyrinth expedition team?”
“That’s right. This is your reward from the guild.”
Zeke pointed to the leather pouch.
Seeing the heavy pouch made his heart pound violently.
With trembling hands, he stroked the leather pouch.
“...Are these all silver coins?”
“No, not all of it.”
“Ah.”
A disappointed sigh escaped him.
He wanted to open the leather pouch and count the money immediately, but there was something he had to do first.
Jeong Yushin rose from his seat and bowed.
“Thank you. If it weren’t for the ‘Golden Dawn,’ I wouldn’t have survived.”
Zeke waved his hand.
“It was nothing.”
“Should I share some of the reward with you?”
The words came out even though he didn’t mean them.
“No. We already received ours from the guild. For your information, the other party members received rewards as well, so there’s no need to divide it.”
“But why did you give me a reward? I’m happy about it, but I don’t understand.”
“You subdued more than a hundred hobgoblins and killed a Hobgoblin Warrior, so they paid you.”
“But I didn’t have proof of the subjugation.”
“We testified.”
“I see.”
He understood. Honestly, he wasn’t interested. All he could see was the heavy leather pouch.
“Ah! I forgot to tell you the reward amount. The subjugation reward is forty silver coins and forty-eight copper coins.”
“Ngh. Thank you.”
Jeong Yushin hugged the leather pouch and rubbed his face against it. The three women beside him looked on in dismay, but he didn’t care in the slightest.
This bumpy texture!
He was so happy.
‘Fuck!! This is what life is all about.’
How desperate had he been when he was rescued from the labyrinth with only his life intact, having lost his backpack and all the equipment he owned?
The thought of having to work again to replace his equipment had made his head spin, but now he had nothing to worry about.
The young priestess rose from her seat.
“Let’s go now. It looks like we’re finished here.”
Zeke rose from his seat with a wry smile.
“Shall we? Then I’ll see you later, Darmong. And you too, Barbaroi.”
“Take care on your way.”
Zeke’s group left the inn.
Jeong Yushin didn’t leave his seat. He simply continued stroking the leather pouch. Darmong chuckled at the sight.
“Do you like it that much?”
“Yes. I thought I’d have to work for a whole year, but fortunately, that won’t be necessary. And there’s something I have to tell you.”
“Really? Then let’s talk after closing time.”
“Can I help you?”
“No. Just wait. Have a drink.”
“Hehe. All right.”
As time passed, people left one by one. Some went upstairs to the inn’s second floor, while others left the inn, apparently having come only for a meal.
Everyone had left, and the inn door closed.
Only Jeong Yushin and Darmong remained.
“All right. You said you had something to tell me?”
Darmong, seated at the table, began speaking. Jeong Yushin picked up the bottle and filled Darmong’s glass.
“Yes.”