Chapter 5
“Are you a Barbaroi?”
A bear beastkin sitting at the counter said.
“Do you have a room?”
Jeong Yushin asked earnestly.
“I do.”
The bear beastkin rose from his seat. He looked twice as large as the bear beastkin captain Yushin had seen in front of the city gate. His leisurely approach made him look like a gigantic ball of fur rolling toward him.
Jeong Yushin took a small step back.
“How much is it?”
“Five copper coins, including breakfast.”
Jeong Yushin took five copper coins from his bag and handed them to the bear beastkin.
“Wait.”
The bear beastkin raised an arm to stop him.
“What is it?”
I’m a good Barbaroi who doesn’t rape people—the words were about to burst out of him.
“There’s one rule you must follow at this inn.”
Jeong Yushin swallowed. The huge ball of fur spoke with such a serious expression that he grew tense for no reason.
“What is it?”
“Don’t complain if you find fur in your food or bedding.”
Indeed.
The innkeepers he had encountered so far had mostly been human. There had occasionally been dwarves, but beastkin were rare. At least, he had never seen beastkin with fur this fluffy.
“Understood. Here are five copper coins.”
Only then did the bear beastkin accept the coins and hand him a key.
“Second floor, third room on the right.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
He found himself thanking the innkeeper, feeling as though he had found light in the darkness.
He went up to the second floor and opened the door to his room.
There was nothing but a bed, a desk, and a chair. The room was dark, apparently without any separate light fixtures.
Jeong Yushin unpacked and removed his leather armor. The long journey had left him soaked in sweat, and the stench poured off him.
“Phew.”
He took out his canteen, poured water onto a towel, wiped himself down, and lay on the bed.
“Ah, finally.”
So this was where it began.
Tomorrow, he would go to the Explorer’s Guild, obtain an explorer’s license, prepare his equipment, and enter the labyrinth.
His heart pounded.
He had heard that entering the labyrinth and coming back out could grant someone an ‘imprint,’ albeit with a low probability, so if he was lucky, he could grow stronger quickly.
His desire to become stronger had been growing ever since he arrived in this other world.
It was probably because he had been buffeted this way and that in this other world. On top of that, he had sensed it instinctively. If he continued limping along like this, he would struggle within an ever-narrowing range of choices and eventually die far from home.
Jeong Yushin fell asleep with equal parts anticipation and resolve.
* * *
“It’s really huge.”
Jeong Yushin marveled at the imposing sight of the enormous building.
The Explorer’s Guild.
The building, constructed from white marble, looked more like a temple.
He was glad he had left the inn early that morning. He had not needed to ask for directions. It was obvious where the enormous number of people carrying packs were headed.
When he entered the building, dozens of counters and dozens of Guild members were moving about in perfect order.
Jeong Yushin stood at the end of a long line. The line was shrinking quickly, perhaps because the Guild members were working hard.
“How may I help you?”
It was Jeong Yushin’s turn. The woman at the Guild counter was smiling despite not even having time to wipe away her sweat.
“I’m here to obtain an explorer’s license.”
“Is this your first time?”
“Yes.”
The woman raised a hand and pointed to the left.
“Go to the far-left counter. New explorers are served there. Also, this counter is for intermediate explorers only, so please be careful in the future. Have a nice day.”
“Yes.”
Jeong Yushin went to the relatively quiet far-left counter and stood in line.
“How may I help you?”
At last, it was his turn.
“I’m here to obtain an explorer’s license.”
“Yes. Understood. It’s ten silver coins.”
“Here you are.”
Jeong Yushin handed over the silver coins.
“Received. Can you read?”
“No.”
“Please tell me your basic personal details verbally. I’ll write them down for you.”
The moment had arrived.
If he honestly said he had suddenly fallen into another world, would they believe him?
Or would they take him for a lunatic and report him to the city guards?
He did not want to test his luck. Even if they believed he was from another world, that would still be a problem.
Was it unreasonable to assume that explorers who delved into mysteries in the depths of the labyrinth would casually dissect the body of someone from another world?
He did not know.
Even so, he had to imagine the worst. Until he gained enough power to protect himself, concealing his origins seemed safer. As it happened, he had a suitable identity ready.
Jeong Yushin opened his mouth.
A Barbaroi who had lived all his life in a nameless village in the north.
The receptionist nodded.
“Lastly, tell me your name. Ah! Of course, you may use an alias. That applies only to Barbaroi.”
“Why do I have to use an alias?”
Jeong Yushin was not ashamed of his three-syllable name, but he thought of several aliases because it was necessary to reduce suspicion.
But it was strange that the receptionist had recommended an alias first.
The receptionist’s face paled at Jeong Yushin’s question.
“I-I don’t know much about Barbaroi culture, but I do know a few things. I heard that Barbaroi reveal their true names to someone they intend to spend their lives with or to a close friend.”
“Ah.”
Several words surfaced in Jeong Yushin’s mind, lining up and combining with one another.
He realized what it meant.
For a Barbaroi, whose idea of amusement was to ‘hunt’ ‘females’ and make them ‘semen-soaked,’ revealing his name to a woman meant...
It was a sincere, Barbaroi-style declaration and proposal that he would turn her into a permanent semen-soaked cock sheath by any means necessary.
In short, it was a declaration of rape.
“Uh...”
His mind went blank, and his lips went dry. When he licked them, the receptionist’s face grew even paler.
“I have a boyfriend!”
He no longer wanted to argue with the receptionist, so he hurried to the main point.
“Understood. I’ll use Ska as my alias.”
“Ska. That’s a good name.”
The receptionist quickly filled out the paperwork with trembling hands.
When the registration was complete, the receptionist handed him a small iron badge. It had writing engraved on it, but he could not read it. It was probably his alias.
“You don’t have to come to the Explorer’s Guild headquarters every time. There are Explorer’s Guild branches throughout the city, so you can use one of those. The headquarters pays better, but the branches are more convenient for new explorers. The headquarters is mainly used by established or high-ranking explorer parties, so newcomers inevitably receive less attention.”
The receptionist spoke quickly.
Did she want to get rid of him as soon as possible?
“Understood.”
Jeong Yushin nodded and left the Explorer’s Guild headquarters.
It had been a misunderstanding, but he felt proud to have completed one important task.
“Now I just need to prepare equipment and supplies.”
He had only a few copper coins and about two silver coins left, but he expected that to be enough. He already had hard leather armor taken from the slave hunters, so he only needed to obtain a sword and shield. The guard captain had confiscated his shield yesterday.
His assumption was wrong.
“This costs five silver coins?”
The dwarf’s expression twisted at Jeong Yushin’s question.
“That’s right. It’s the cheapest longsword. This shield is three silver coins.”
The dwarf pointed to a round wooden shield as he spoke.
Eight silver coins. Since one silver coin was equal to one hundred copper coins, he needed a total of eight hundred copper coins.
Jeong Yushin let out a hollow laugh.
“What is it? How much money do you have that you’re laughing like that?”
“Two silver coins.”
“Get lost. Kkh, ptui!”
He visited several forges, but the prices were all similar.
Jeong Yushin trudged back to the inn.
It seemed to be around lunchtime, because the smell of delicious food filled the inn.
The bear beastkin was sitting at the counter.
“Lunch is two copper coins.”
“Do you happen to be hiring workers?”
“An inn hiring a Barbaroi? That would be like leaving a fish with a cat. You want to mate and earn money too? Have you no shame? Get lost.”
The bear beastkin replied calmly. Even so, Yushin explained his situation and asked for help: he needed to buy a sword and shield to explore the labyrinth, but they were too expensive, so he needed a job. It did not have to be here; he simply wanted to be introduced to any work.
The bear beastkin folded his arms at Jeong Yushin’s request.
“How can I trust you?”
“Here is my freshly issued explorer’s license. Could I use this as collateral?”
Jeong Yushin took the small iron badge from inside his clothes and handed it over.
The bear beastkin turned the iron badge over in his hands.
“Ska, do you know what it means for an explorer to hand over their identification badge?”
“I’m a new explorer, so I don’t know.”
The bear beastkin clicked his tongue and slipped the identification badge into his clothing. Seeing that, Jeong Yushin felt a chill at the back of his neck.
“Innkeeper. Now that I think about it, handing over my explorer’s badge was a bit foolish. Could you give it back?”
“I’ll look for a job for you. Eat your lunch. And my name is Darmong.”
Darmong.
It was a rather cute name for such a huge male bear beastkin with thick, fluffy fur. Completely ignoring his request to have the badge returned and only saying what he wanted to say was not cute, though.
The lunch Darmong brought was free and delicious. There was a bit too much fur in it, but Yushin ate it with the resigned feeling of picking bones from a fish.
* * *
He found a job much faster than expected. The next morning, Darmong called Jeong Yushin over.
“A monster dismantling facility?”
“That’s right.”
“Understood.”
Darmong’s eyebrow twitched once when Jeong Yushin agreed without complaint.
“It’s difficult work.”
“Don’t worry. How hard could it be?”
“I never worried. Don’t cry and whine later.”
“If I cry, can I quit?”
“No.”
At Darmong’s resolute answer, Jeong Yushin gave a hollow laugh.
A feeling that he was slowly starting to get royally fucked crawled up his spine, but he ignored it.
“Can you read?”
“No.”
Darmong marked something on a piece of paper and handed it to him.
It was a tourist map of Labyrinth City.
The circled location was at the far western end, deep in the city’s outskirts.
“I marked it here, so use this to find your way. The monster dismantling facility reeks of blood, so you won’t be able to miss it once you get close. Tell the director that I sent you, and he’ll understand.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Save your thanks for later.”
Jeong Yushin left the inn and went looking for the monster dismantling facility. As Darmong had said, he went all the way to the western outskirts, where he found a large building in an isolated location that reeked strongly of blood.
A red-brick building.
He knew immediately.
People were carrying carts loaded with carcasses of animals he had never seen before into the building.
Jeong Yushin followed them inside. The building was noisy and bustling with the sounds of people working.
“Excuse me, where can I find the director of this facility?”
He grabbed a passing dwarf and asked.
“Are you the new guy?”
“Yes.”
“The new guy’s here!! Director, the new guy is here!”
The dwarf suddenly shouted, and the room fell silent. Yushin felt countless eyes fixed on him.
“A new guy?”
“No way. He must just be here for a tour. Surely. Surely.”
Whispers spread around him, and several people began edging closer.
Jeong Yushin got a bad feeling and stepped backward.
Grab!!
When his legs refused to move, he looked down and saw that the dwarf was gripping one of them with a powerful hand.
“Director!”
“All right. I’m coming.”
Someone who had been working nearby answered and sauntered over.
A male elf wearing bloodstained work clothes.
The black eyepatch over his left eye and his languid gait gave him an unmistakably decadent air.
The elf swept his blond hair back with a bloodied hand.
“Are you the guy Darmong sent?”
“Yes.”
Jeong Yushin felt like a mouse standing before a cat.
“All right. Mallon, you handle the new guy’s training.”
“Yes! Understood.”
The dwarf gripping Jeong Yushin’s leg answered energetically.
The elf turned away and said,
“If you’re going to run away after one day, leave now.”
“Yes.”
“Ah! I was only testing you. You can’t leave.”
“Huh?”
“Darmong recommended you to me, and I accepted you because I trust him. If you run away, it will become difficult for me to maintain my faith in Darmong. Please uphold my trust, Barbaroi.”
His trust was far too heavy.
He had asked Darmong to introduce him to a job, but it felt as though Darmong had enrolled him in some martial arts sect.
“Hahaha! The director may talk like that, but he’s actually a warmhearted man. Follow me, newbie.”
‘What, it’s not like I’ll die?’
Thinking that to himself, Jeong Yushin followed the dwarf toward the changing room.