episode_0015

The park was right in the middle of the temple and the inn.

Jeong Yu-shin stopped by the park on his way back to the inn.

He sat on a bench, propped his chin up, and admired the scenery of the park.

Beautiful flower beds and trees dyed with pink petals.

There was a marble statue in the center of the park. And a fountain was arranged to surround the statue.

As if the spirit of water was playing a prank, the water in the fountain soared into the air, creating beautiful and bizarre shapes.

Children were running around it.

A boy waved a tree branch and shouted.

“Heup! I am the sage, Ezdrass! Take this! Bad guys!”

Another child shouted at the top of his lungs.

“It’s my turn to play Ezdrass this time! Why do you always get to play the good guy?!”

Jeong Yu-shin sat on the bench, watched the children bickering, and then lowered his head.

His worries deepen.

He got the chance to learn to read by paying money, but where can he learn how to handle weapons cheaply?

The tuition fee for the swordsmanship guild is 30 silver coins.

An amount that can only be earned by working non-stop at the monster dismantling site for 3 months.

Jeong Yu-shin grabbed his hair and sighed deeply.

There were also fixed expenses.

The monthly rent paid to Darmong alone is 1 silver coin and 50 copper coins.

An amount that goes out of his pocket just by sitting still and breathing.

Now that he has paid the tuition fee, he only has 4 silver coins and a few copper coins left.

If he plans his next dungeon trip, he must save money from now on. At least he had to have money to buy supplies.

Fortunately, he can eat breakfast for free at the inn and lunch is provided by the temple, but he has to starve for dinner without exception.

This is the current situation.

‘It’s fucking tight.’

He wanted to grab Darmong’s pant leg, but he didn’t want to give more worries to someone who was already worried about Jeong Yu-shin’s treatment.

‘Who would want to go to an inn where a potential sex offender stays?’

If he were the owner of the inn, he would have kicked him out right away, but he respected Darmong for worrying about this issue.

He organized his thoughts.

In the end, there are only two options left.

The first is to work at the monster dismantling site.

He can earn money, but he can’t get any better.

He has to work day and night for 3 months without time to go to the dungeon or learn to read.

And he has to donate all the money he earned for 3 months to the swordsmanship guild, learn for a month, and then work at the dismantling site again for 3 months.

No matter how he thinks about it, it’s inefficient.

The second is to go back into the dungeon.

As long as he doesn’t get severe injuries and strange imprints, it’s worth a try since he’s avoiding a serious deficit.

When he thinks about it, he’s not earning that little money. He earned 3 silver coins on this first exploration, so it wasn’t a bad profit for a week’s work. Although he had to risk his life, didn’t eat well, didn’t sleep well, and the money spent on preparing supplies was greater, resulting in a deficit.

But so what. If he meets a good party and enthusiastically explores the dungeon, his skills will improve, and if his skills improve, there will be plenty of opportunities to earn more.

He decided.

Jeong Yu-shin got up from the bench.

Now that he has made a plan, all that’s left is to take action.

* * *

“No.”

“Why?”

The man sitting across from Jeong Yu-shin shook his head and said.

“Because you are a Barbaroi. My party doesn’t accept female hunters.”

Jeong Yu-shin frowned.

“At least call me a bride hunter. Damn it.”

“It’s the same thing.”

This is the 4th rejection.

After preparing supplies and spending a day at the inn, he came to the explorer’s guild with high hopes and had party interviews, but he repeatedly failed the interviews because he was a Barbaroi.

The man sighed.

“Go to a different party than our normal party.”

The gaze of the party member sitting next to the man pierced his chest coldly.

“Are there abnormal parties?”

“Don’t look at the recruitment notices posted on the guild bulletin board, ask the receptionist. Say you want to join a ‘defective’ party.”

“What is a defective party? Are you talking about a new explorer party?”

“No. Never mind. Ask the receptionist. Get lost.”

The man waved his hand dismissively, as if he didn’t want to explain any further.

Jeong Yu-shin got up from his seat.

Wasn’t it lucky to have joined Karl’s party without knowing anything?

He avoided the human female receptionist with a fierce impression and went to a different receptionist.

“Hello. Explorer-nim. How can I help you?”

It was the dog beastman with the cute ears he saw at the beginning.

“What is a defective party?”

“Ah! That’s a party formed by people with negative imprints. Are you perhaps going to join it?”

“Yes. No one else will accept me, so that’s the only place I can go.”

“There is a party of new explorers. How about going there?”

“Are they perhaps young people who came up from the countryside?”

“Yes. By the way, these people have not taken the new explorer class. They said it was too expensive. They drastically reduced the tuition this time, though.”

This is completely.

Too ominous.

“Are you okay? Your hands are shaking.”

The receptionist asked with a worried expression.

“Make it defective.”

“Yes. There is one negative imprint party looking for a frontliner. Go to seat 21.”

“Thank you.”

Jeong Yu-shin turned around and went to table 21.

‘They look normal.’

There are a total of 4 people sitting at table 21.

An old human mage.

A middle-aged gnome.

A dwarf with a shaggy beard.

And.

A goblin.

Jeong Yu-shin’s mouth dropped open.

‘What? A goblin?’

The goblin said.

“What are you looking at? Never seen a goblin before?”

“I’ve never seen a talking goblin before.”

“Are you a beginner explorer?”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t even draw your sword. When beginner friends see me, they always swing their swords first.”

“I am Scar. Am I accepted?”

“Yeah. To be honest, we can’t afford to be picky. I’m Dell. I was an elf, but I got a goblin imprint and turned into this shape. I’m an elf. Remember that.”

‘He’s emphasizing it a lot.’

Dell looked around and said.

“Why don’t we each introduce ourselves?”

The old human mage opened his mouth.

“I am Kelton, a mage. A scrub.”

“….”

‘A scrub?’

Jeong Yu-shin stared blankly at the old mage who was attacking people out of the blue.

“It’s a brat imprint. I don’t want to say more, so I’ll end my introduction here, scrub.”

“Yes, yes.”

The old man frowned and crossed his arms.

Next was the dwarf.

“Ein Hopper. I have a hand tremor imprint and a stamina reduction imprint.”

Jeong Yu-shin looked at the huge single-edged axe standing behind the dwarf.

“Sometimes my hand slips. Be careful.”

He swallowed hard.

Perhaps because he is a dwarf who is serious about weapons, the axe blade was gleaming sharply.

Lastly, the middle-aged gnome.

“I’m Ditto. By the way, Barbaroi, you’re a virgin?”

‘What is it? What kind of imprint does he have?’

Ditto smiled knowingly at Jeong Yu-shin’s uneasy eyes.

“It’s an imprint that shows the number of times you’ve had sex. It shows as a red number above your head.”

“Wow, a virgin Barbaroi. This is rare.”

The goblin chimed in.

“But isn’t that a bit lacking to be considered a negative imprint? It doesn’t interfere with combat.”

Jeong Yu-shin expressed his doubts.

“First of all, I hate female explorers. It’s embarrassing and shameful to have their private lives revealed in detail.”

“What about male explorers?”

Ditto chuckled.

“If a male explorer is seen with me, that explorer is finished. Rumors will spread and they won’t be able to form a party with anyone else. They’ll be branded as a damp guy who only tries to find out people’s sex counts, and they’ll fall into hell.”

‘That’s scary.’

Come to think of it, he feels a cold gaze from other tables. Most of them were female explorers, and there were often gazes from male explorers mixed in.

He realized.

The meaning of a gnome with the number of times he’s had sex visible and a Barbaroi famous as a female hunter being together.

From now on, it will be difficult to find a party in most cases.

“Nice to meet you. Barbaroi!”

Jeong Yu-shin stared blankly at Ditto’s outstretched hand.

“Let’s not shake hands. I think it’ll really be over.”

“Okay.”

Ditto smiled brightly. It was a smile as if he knew that Jeong Yu-shin had already crossed the point of no return.

“So who is the leader here?”

The goblin answered.

“I am.”

“When are you usually leaving?”

“Tomorrow at noon.”

“Didn’t you usually go in the morning?”

The goblin slashed his own neck.

“I die. If I go in the morning.”

“Suddenly? Is there a law or something?”

“Think about it. If there’s a goblin in the dungeon. Mid-level or high-level explorers will just go because they’re too lazy, but beginner explorers will draw their swords first. I heard that the number of beginner explorers has increased these days.”

“Can’t we be together?”

“I’m in the rear, so I’m always standing in the back, but people mistake me for a guy trying to ambush them from behind. Because of that, I almost got killed by some kind high-level explorer.”

“Then….”

The goblin snapped.

“I thought and worried more than you! There’s no answer. And it’s an unwritten rule that explorers who have turned into monsters enter in the afternoon. If you don’t like it, get lost.”

‘He’s suddenly flying off the handle. That goblin bastard.’

“Okay. Tomorrow at noon?”

“Yeah. If you don’t come by then, I’ll come find you.”

“You don’t have to go that far.”

“Yeah, I will.”

‘He’s a pretty obsessive goblin.’

“Yes. See you tomorrow.”

Jeong Yu-shin got up from table 21 and left the guild building.

Whatever the party’s situation was, he was lucky. He was able to secure time to go to the temple in the morning and learn to read.

Of course, he couldn’t go every day, but he was grateful for the fact that he had the opportunity to learn even little by little.

* * *

“I’m back.”

“You’re here?”

Darmong greeted him when he returned to the inn.

“It’s difficult for a Barbaroi to find a party. Take your time looking.”

Jeong Yu-shin scratched his head at Darmong’s words of comfort.

“I did find a party, though. Ha.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Do you know about defective parties?”

“Huh, really?”

“Yes. I formed a party with some unique people. We’re leaving tomorrow afternoon.”

“They must be pretty unique.”

“Yes. There’s a goblin and a gnome whose number of times he’s had sex is visible. It’s pretty diverse.”

Jeong Yu-shin explained it in detail.

Darmong nodded.

“That’s a pretty good party. There are many more unique parties.”

“…..”

There are more unique parties?

He doesn’t want to ask. Because it’s scary.

Is the darkness of the dungeon city unexpectedly deep?

Did that thought show on Jeong Yu-shin’s face?

Darmong chuckled.

“You know that the more you erase an imprint, the more money it costs next time, right?”

“Yes.”

“It usually happens a lot among mid-level or high-level explorers. If you repeatedly erase negative imprints and leave positive imprints, you eventually reach a point.”

“A case where the cost of deleting an imprint increases astronomically.”

“That’s right. It’s a case where even selling all of their assets and equipment doesn’t meet the deletion cost. When they get to this point, the explorer is expelled from the party they belong to.”

“That’s cold.”

“It can’t always be seen that way. They overlook most negative imprints, but negative imprints that seriously hinder party operation are directly linked to the party’s risk. The party members and the person involved don’t want it. Besides, there are many explorers climbing up from below, so there’s no need to take risks.”

“I see. Then is it the end for those who are expelled?”

“It depends on the person. There are people who somehow climb back up, and there are people who just accept it as fate.”

“Then what about defective parties?”

“That’s right. They’re the ones who climb back up.”

“So it’s a healthier party than I thought.”

“That’s…”

Darmong mumbled and didn’t answer.

Darmong, who always gives clear answers, was acting strange.

‘Still, it’s better than a beginner explorer party.’

Jeong Yu-shin comforted himself.