Chapter 2
Seonghyeon woke early in the morning.
The emaciated elf girl… Suyeon had apparently woken before him, because she was no longer in his arms.
Instead, she was glaring at him from a little way off, beside the bed.
The night before, he’d been so tired he couldn’t remember what he’d done to Suyeon, but her expression was quite a sight.
If she made a face like Squirtle, the embodiment of every teenage boy’s ideal, while looking like that, his heart was going to ache…
“What? Why are you glaring at me like that?”
“Oh, you don’t remember what you did last night?”
Suyeon gave Seonghyeon a half-lidded glare.
But Seonghyeon genuinely couldn’t remember.
Last night… What happened… Ah!
“Ahahaha! So who was it that came to my bed because she couldn’t sleep alone?”
“Y-you… You…!”
Suyeon swung the pillow in her hand at Seonghyeon with all her might.
But the soft pillow didn’t make a dent in him.
“What? You wanna go?”
“Hey! Are you really going to hit such a scrawny
‘person’
with that muscular body of yours? Where am I supposed to hit you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re an ‘
elf’
after all, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, you want to hit a frail elf?”
“Sigh… Fine. I shouldn’t hit a girl.”
“…What?!”
At the word girl, Suyeon’s face flushed red. She huffed, then suddenly looked down at her own body and sighed.
Was it really that shocking?
Well, you could end up a different sex after coming to another world.
And you could become a slave, too, right?
But that seemed to have triggered the trauma of his softhearted friend.
Tears began to drip from Suyeon’s eyes.
“A-ah… Ah…”
“Hey, don’t cry. You’re not really a kid.”
“Sniff… hic… sob…”
“Hey, stop crying already, seriously. You want me to do this?”
When Seonghyeon reached for the slave mark, Suyeon’s eyes flew wide and her mouth fell open as if she’d been startled.
He’d seen that expression so many times since they were kids, and it used to seem so over-the-top. Why did it look so cute now?
At Seonghyeon’s threat, Suyeon forced herself to swallow her sobs.
The slave trader must’ve treated his friend pretty roughly.
“Let’s go downstairs. We need breakfast. And clothes. We’re going to the dungeon, too.”
“Dungeon…? You said you were going to the dungeon yesterday, too. What’s a dungeon?”
“How do you think I’ve been making money? Business? Begging? No. I’m an adventurer. And the reason you got better so quickly was my healing magic.”
“Oh… Huh? Is that so?”
“Don’t ‘Is that so?’ me. It’s true.”
Seonghyeon raised a hand and demonstrated his healing magic.
A green glow bloomed at his fingertips, then soon crumbled away.
Of course, since he’d only memorized the opening part of the spell, it wouldn’t reduce the number of times he could cast it, but its healing effect would be weaker.
“Hey, Suyeon. Do you know how much I paid for you?”
“Uh… how much was I?”
“Who knows~ Probably more than you could earn in your whole life.”
“Oh… Come on, no way. I can work hard. I’ll be a porter, too. I’m serious.”
“Suyeon, your Stamina is only 3. How are you supposed to be a porter?”
“Uh… So I can’t?”
“For every point of Stamina up to 5, you can carry 3 kilos. After that, each point adds 30 kilos. You can only carry 9 kilos. And even that’s with 2 kilos on each arm from those slave restraints, isn’t it?”
“Nine kilos? Nine kilos…? Hey, I—oh.”
“For your information, my Stamina is 8.”
“I see. So this is a world with status windows and stuff.”
Suyeon’s stomach growled, interrupting their conversation as she marveled at the status window all over again.
At the sudden rumbling, Suyeon turned her head away in embarrassment.
Her expression was the same, but her face was completely different now. Seonghyeon chuckled and stood up.
“Let’s eat.”
“Okay…”
Seonghyeon led Suyeon downstairs from their room at the inn.
They were staying on the second floor, while the first floor had a dining room and lobby.
Suyeon looked around at the inn’s facilities and seemed pretty amazed.
Maybe it was because the place was so nice it could practically pass for a hotel, not some run-down inn?
Seonghyeon had worked hard in his own way to get into this upscale inn, too.
Though that was only possible because he’d started with an overpowered class, Cleric, and absurdly strong abilities.
They’d been sharing a room meant for two from the start, but feeding two mouths by himself was tough.
But Seonghyeon couldn’t abandon Suyeon.
It wasn’t only because she was a friend from his homeland… Suyeon’s ‘Talent’ stat was a perfect 10.
Unfortunately, her Mental Fortitude was only 3, probably because of her PTSD.
She’d probably learn magic as he taught her, and be able to put it to use.
To do that, he’d have to get her things like spellbooks and raise her properly.
He hadn’t bought her just because they were friends.
If she’d been a burden… in this world where just surviving was hard, Seonghyeon might have abandoned his friend.
The two of them descended the stairs, each lost in their own thoughts, and arrived at the dining room.
As soon as Suyeon got there, she looked at Seonghyeon with an incredibly surprised expression.
Seonghyeon shrugged.
“Let’s eat.”
“Whoa… Are we really allowed to eat this? This place is practically E○ri-level, isn’t it?”
“You’re a slave, so I have to feed you. If you starve to death, I’m the one who loses.”
“Ah… Thank you, Master~”
When Suyeon called him Master so easily, Seonghyeon felt a strange pang of guilt.
That said, people around them didn’t think it was strange to see someone with a slave.
Slavery was simply normal in this other world.
To everyone else, he’d probably just look like a master who took good care of his slave.
Seonghyeon brought his food over on a plate, sat down first, and waited for Suyeon.
Suyeon rose onto her tiptoes and piled food onto her plate with ease.
And a whole lot of it.
Given her memories from when she was a guy, she really ought to know better than to take so much.
Maybe learning the hard way had its merits, Seonghyeon thought as he picked up his first spoonful.
**
“Ugh… I’m so full. I think I’m gonna throw up.”
“Leaving food costs 100 ducats. Can’t you see the sign in the dining room?”
“Ah, I can’t eat another bite, I swear. My stomach’s going to burst.”
“You took that much because you thought you could eat it.”
“Ah, please. I can’t.”
At this rate, it was hard to tell who was the slave and who was the master.
Suyeon’s belly had puffed out like a tadpole’s, and she leaned back in her chair, unable to move.
Seonghyeon had no choice but to finish the food Suyeon left behind.
In this other world, wasting food was considered a grave sin.
Anyway, it looked like he’d have to keep dragging this hopeless elf around from now on.
Seonghyeon sighed, set down his empty dishes, and left.
Suyeon followed behind, pouting and unable to lift her head, apparently feeling guilty, too.
“Hey, we’re going to the dungeon now.”
“Already? Can I kill monsters if I go to the dungeon, too?”
“Let’s figure out your clothes first. We’re going to the shopping district.”
“Are you sure you have enough money? You said I was expensive.”
“I don’t know. I’ll figure something out.”
From now on, Seonghyeon would have to rely on credit, since his wallet was nearly empty.
Fortunately, this was a world where your level was your credit score.
Seonghyeon was level 8, so the bank would lend him a decent amount.
Suyeon followed along behind Seonghyeon, grinning from ear to ear for some reason.
Was she living in a fantasy world, or did she actually like him that much?
Seonghyeon couldn’t quite figure out what was going on in the girl’s head, but he let her be happy if she was happy.
Maybe that was part of her PTSD, and something in her head had broken.
**
“I came to borrow some money.”
“Do you have a mercenary badge?”
“Yes, here.”
Seonghyeon handed his mercenary badge to the bank clerk.
The clerk glanced over the badge, which listed Seonghyeon’s status in abbreviated form.
“You qualify for a loan of up to 8,000 ducats.”
“Just 2,000 ducats, please.”
“Your name?”
Although his name was written on his mercenary badge, Seonghyeon knew they were asking to confirm his identity.
So he gave the bank clerk the alias he used.
“Raine.”
“Yes, that checks out. Take this. You know the interest is 5% a month, right?”
“Yes.”
Seonghyeon took the pouch of gold coins the clerk handed him and stowed it away.
After watching the whole exchange, Suyeon tilted her head and stared at Seonghyeon before asking him about it.
Now an elf, Suyeon could only speak Elvish and Korean, so she hadn’t understood the conversation between Seonghyeon and the bank clerk.
“You had a lot saved up.”
“Saved up? No, I borrowed this.”
“How much is it, anyway? It looks like a ton.”
“I only borrowed 2,000 ducats.”
“Whoa… You borrowed a lot.”
“I did it to buy you equipment and stuff.”
“Are you sure that’s okay? Aren’t you spending too much on me?”
“You’ll die in the dungeon without equipment.”
“…Thanks.”
Suyeon said she was grateful, but she still didn’t look entirely comfortable with it.
The next place the two of them went was a shop selling supplies for magic users.
Staves, robes, and spellbooks were on display, and Seonghyeon could spot the good items at a glance.
That was because Clerics had the Appraisal skill.
Seonghyeon picked out a cost-effective staff, a magic robe, and a book containing the Fireball spell, then bought them without even asking Suyeon.
Then he handed all the items to her.
“Put them on.”
“These?”
“Yeah.”
“Hey… You’re insane… How am I supposed to wear this?”
“If I tell you to put it on, then put it on.”
“Aaaah… You’re seriously crazy. There’s no way I’m wearing this. I told you to let me pick out a robe.”
“You don’t like it?”
Seonghyeon rubbed the slave mark.
He didn’t activate it, but Suyeon didn’t want to make a scene. She shivered and accepted the magical girl outfit Seonghyeon had given her.
It wasn’t particularly revealing, but the thought of a girl wearing it made him feel pretty pleased.
Suyeon glared at him with narrowed eyes, then went into the changing room with the magical outfit.
About ten minutes passed.
Suyeon appeared in front of Seonghyeon, her face red as a tomato.
She was wearing a magical girl outfit, head bowed, her expression bashful.