“He bought underwear?”
“Yes. Four hundred pairs, at that.”
“Four hundred!? You must be joking.”
“I am merely reporting what I was told.”
The Royal Palace knight receiving the report could not help letting out a hollow laugh.
‘It definitely looks like he has some way of making money on the lower floors, but he clearly has no common sense. Well, Summoners are all like that.’
Who knew what kind of peaceful places they had grown up in?
After being thrown into the Labyrinth a few times, more than a few of them lost their minds a little and started doing bizarre things.
‘They’re all too weak.’
Compared to that, an obsession with underwear was almost cute.
Of course, it was still pathetic.
‘If he’d invested that money in equipment, it might save his life on his next Labyrinth run.’
Ridiculous or not, the knight still had to report it.
But with his target behaving so absurdly, he could not help feeling that dealing with him would be much easier than expected.
His steps grew lighter as he turned away.
‘Attach someone he knows, uncover his secret, and depending on what we find, we can lure him back in. We can provide as much underwear as he wants.’
And if the secret was not an ability of his at all, but merely some lucky discovery,
then there would be no reason to give him even that underwear.
‘That’s probably more likely. It could just be luck.’
Sometimes, a person’s behavior made others underestimate what that person had accomplished.
Without even realizing it,
the knight was steadily lowering his estimation of Cheol-woo’s value.
***
‘Why the fuck is this bastard here......?’
The instant I saw Kim Hyeon-sik waiting in front of the martial arts hall,
my mood turned foul.
“Go Cheol. Woo? What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy to see me?”
That face,
grinning while deliberately breaking up my name.
I was imagining smashing a one-two into his face, following with an uppercut, then driving a knee into him when he spoke again with a smile.
“Well, compared to when you were working at the general store...... you look a lot more human now. Hmm. Your equipment isn’t bad for a Novice either.”
Before I could respond to the way his gaze swept me from head to toe,
Jerik stepped forward.
Perhaps he had seen my expression,
because his own had hardened.
“......So you are an uninvited guest. Are you a Summoner from the Royal Palace?”
“Yes, Master Jerik. I did explain that in advance.”
“You said you were Char’s friend, so I wondered if perhaps you were. It seems I was right to doubt it.”
“No. Personally, I think our Mr. Go Cheol. Woo and I are rather close?”
He remained reasonably polite toward Jerik,
but kept deliberately breaking up my name like that.
Anyone who was not Korean would have had trouble realizing he was openly provoking me.
I forced myself to ignore it.
“Cut the bullshit. Why are you here?”
“Ah, nothing much. It was confirmed that our Mr. Go Cheol-woo cleared Floor 4. Honestly, that’s surprising in itself, but......”
“So what?”
“You know Floor 5 is special, right? The Royal Palace has been dispatching higher-level adventurers to assist and protect Summoners attempting Floor 5. And I’ve been specially assigned to help our Mr. Go Cheol-woo.”
“Help?”
What kind of bullshit was this?
Jerik shook his head too,
as though he had never heard of such a thing.
“The Royal Palace? Does not its support normally change only after seeing how someone performs through the Novice Bracket?”
“Well, that used to be the policy, but it changed recently. The more adventurers who achieve good results on Floors 5 and 10, the stronger the Royal Palace becomes. Apparently, that is what the higher-ups decided.”
“Now? All of a sudden?”
Jerik did not seem to understand the situation either.
Neither did I.
“You threw me away when I was useless, and now you’re saying you want to protect me? What kind of insane bullshit is that?”
Kim Hyeon-sik snorted.
“Tell me about it. I don’t like it either. But what am I supposed to do? Those are my orders. And unfortunately, there aren’t many people who already know you......”
He slowly approached and tapped my shoulder,
then looked me in the eye.
“......So I got picked. I’m annoyed too, so if you understand the situation, just say okay and come to Floor 5 with me. Okay? I’ll take care of it and get it over with quickly.”
Those same unpleasant eyes.
“What if I say no?”
“......What? Hah. Hey, Go Cheol. Does this look like a suggestion to you? It’s an order. An order from above. Is your brain a reject too? You can’t even understand that?”
He raised a finger as though to tap my forehead,
then noticed Jerik watching him and lowered his hand with a sigh.
“Bastard. This is a pain in the ass for me too. So let’s just get it over with. What hidden ability could a reject bastard like you even have to make everyone go through this trouble......”
Hm?
At the irritated words he spat out,
Jerik and I exchanged glances.
Apparently,
I had drawn attention much sooner than expected.
But that only made this proposal(?) something I had to refuse even more firmly.
“All the more reason I can’t go with you.”
“What the hell?”
“Like you said, Floors 5 and 10 are the most important. And you expect me to go through one of those important floors with you?”
“Hah......?”
“You don’t have any special tattoo, so you’re clearly not a Special Class. You barely have any Artifact equipment either, so at best you’re probably only active around the tenth-floor range, with a Level somewhere in the low-to-mid teens.”
His expression twisted violently.
“You bastard......”
His hand immediately rose,
only to drop again when he noticed Jerik.
Then he growled.
“......And what the hell do you think you’re going to become? You’re a fucking idiot with only one Ability Slot and a reject Trait. I already looked into you. Floors 3 and 4 both took you more than ten days just to barely clear. At your level, you should be saying thank you and accepting the help. What the hell are you talking about?”
Hm?
“Special Class? Not just anyone gets that. Only a chosen few like Cha Hye-ryeon or that guy can. Fuck. You fucking moron, you got lucky and picked up a few items, and now you’re dreaming way above your station?”
That guy?
There was none of the pretended composure he had shown before.
“There’s no way you suddenly developed an ability you never had. Right? You’re a reject. You’re a fucking reject, aren’t you? If you got lucky and found some treasure, just hand it over to the Royal Palace and make some money. Stop making such a fucking mess and inconveniencing everyone.”
Kim Hyeon-sik muttered and spat out his frustration with the face of a loser.
It stung slightly because there was actually some truth mixed into his rambling.
But it was painfully obvious that even he did not believe what he was saying.
It was nothing more than the bitter grumbling of someone drowning in self-loathing.
That made me laugh.
‘I’m glad this bastard was assigned to me.’
Instead of someone difficult to deal with,
I had gotten a transparent thug.
An amateur I could more or less size up.
‘Did they seriously think he and I were close?’
I could roughly guess what had happened behind the scenes,
but I kept my expression under control.
“Then don’t bother with that annoying assignment. Worry about yourself. I’ll take care of my own path.”
“Hah. You reject bastard, are you actually brain-dead? I said it’s an order. An order. Do you not know what the word ‘order’ means?”
His irritation finally boiled over.
No longer paying attention to Jerik,
he repeatedly jabbed me in the chest.
THUD. THUD.
My steel armor dented slightly beneath his fingertip.
No matter how ridiculous he looked,
it was a vivid reminder that he was still an adventurer who had obtained a Class.
Even so.
“That’s an order given to you. I don’t belong to the Royal Palace.”
“Ah. You fucking idiot......”
“Adventurers who don’t belong to the Royal Palace have no obligation to obey the king’s orders except during wartime. As long as we obey the laws of the kingdom, we’re free. Didn’t you know?”
Because if superhuman adventurers could not do that,
they would simply leave for another country,
another Labyrinth City.
‘That’s probably why they tried sending someone they thought I knew. A complete miscalculation, though.’
“......Wow.”
At my smirk,
Kim Hyeon-sik fell speechless and repeated “wow” several times.
When thugs lost an argument,
their reactions were usually all the same.
“I was already pissed off, and now this reject bastard is really getting on my nerves.”
He looked ready to throw a punch or draw a weapon.
I tensed as well.
Then he glanced at Jerik once,
ground his teeth at me,
and stopped.
“......Fine. We’ll see. The law, huh? Hah. You fucking piece of shit......”
Apparently,
he thought I was acting brave because I had Jerik behind me.
“You......”
I was about to say something,
but Jerik grabbed my shoulder and shook his head.
“He is the one who will get in trouble if he cannot carry out the Royal Palace’s order. Do not provoke him any further.”
“Hah. Fine.”
I understood Jerik’s concern,
so I simply nodded and tried to forget about it.
But that evening.
“Sir Char. Are you here? I have come from the Merchant Guild.”
This time,
someone from somewhere else came looking for me.
“So. The reason you came here is......?”
“I would like to establish an exclusive contract. I will pay ten percent above market price for any Labyrinth goods you bring back. ‘No questions asked.’”
The merchant who claimed to be from the Merchant Guild was young—
no,
‘young’ was not quite right.
He looked more like a boy.
Luda’s eyes sparkled brightly as he spoke.
For some reason,
I suddenly felt certain.
“......You’re not actually here on behalf of the Merchant Guild, are you?”
I had only thrown the question out as a guess.
Luda grinned instead.
“No. I heard rumors circulating inside the guild and came on my own!”
What was with this kid?
“You’re pretty open about that.”
“Yes. Because I’m convinced this arrangement will benefit both you and me.”
Leaving that confidence aside.
“What rumors are you talking about?”
“A rookie who only recently began entering the Labyrinth keeps bringing back fairly valuable items. From the lower floors, at that. That sort of rumor.”
Hah.
I had expected it,
but already?
“Well, it is not a very widespread rumor yet. And if I become the exclusive handler of your goods, it is also a rumor that will not spread any further.”
Perhaps he had read my mind.
Luda grinned.
Honestly,
his offer was tempting.
“You’ll keep my secret and simply profit as a merchant?”
“Yes. Of course.”
His simple answer,
without any long-winded explanation,
somehow made him more trustworthy.
Jerik,
however,
still seemed unconvinced.
“And how are we supposed to trust you?”
“If you investigate me, you will find that I am in rather desperate circumstances myself. This will be mutually beneficial.”
“Hmm?”
Luda—
Luda Aslan—
explained his situation.
He was the legitimate heir of a fallen house that had once risen high enough as a merchant family to receive a noble title.
In other words,
Luda also desperately needed to reestablish himself as a merchant.
“I am lacking in many ways, but I did clear the Novice Bracket as an adventurer and obtain the Merchant Class. Here......”
[Name: Luda Aslan]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 10]
[Class: Merchant]
[Stats]
Strength: 11
Vitality: 12
Agility: 12
Mana: 11
Physical Resistance: 12
Magic Resistance: 13
[Mana Skill]
Precision Appraisal
[Ability Slot (Full)]
Value Appraisal, Scent of Treasure.
“Oh?”
The System window Luda willingly showed us made him somewhat more trustworthy.
“For now, how about we start with a verbal agreement?”
“Oh! I would be grateful.”
I held out my hand.
Luda took it with a bright expression.
If he was someone affected by the System—
‘Additional Information Check.’
HUMMM.
then my Trait should work on him too.
And the result was.
[Name: Luda Aslan]
[Merchant Lv.10]
[Abilities 2/2]
-Appraisal. Discovery.
[Legitimate heir of House Aslan.]
[Must succeed and revive the family.]
That made me trust him a little more.
“Then I’ll see you after I return from Floor 5. Where should I find you?”
“Ah, I am......”
After confirming the location of his shop in Area 8,
we sent him on his way.
“His eyes were not bad, but do you think you can trust him?”
“Well, in our current situation, I think we have to try.”
“Yes. I am sorry. I should have looked for a merchant sooner.”
Hm?
“You’ve already helped me more than enough.”
There was such a thing as being too kind.
“If you think so, I am grateful. In any case, be careful. If the Royal Palace has assigned someone to you, they are unlikely to give up easily.”
“......Yes. I know.”
And so,
the very next day,
I headed straight for Floor 5 of the Labyrinth.
‘Good. Very good.’
As I thoroughly enjoyed the refreshing comfort provided by my Artifact boots and briefs,
even the worries weighing on my mind seemed to fade a little.
‘Let’s go.’
The instant I touched the Labyrinth Stele and entered—
TAP.
a hand suddenly emerged from empty air and landed on my shoulder.
‘What!?’
FLASH.
‘We’ were transported into the Labyrinth at the same time.