Ch.44. Life is Too Easy

It was actually quite difficult to tell the truth, but I felt like I had to be honest here.

“I’m sorry for deceiving you.”

I ended up confessing everything to her.

Why I had hidden it, and what the actual situation was.

After she learned the whole truth, I bowed my head to her.

“…I’m actually glad you have it. That’s better than losing it.”

She stared into my eyes for a while before finally speaking as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“Like I said before, you should keep the Source.”

I put up a firm resistance to her repeated insistence.

“No, I think it would be better to split it in half. I would have died if it weren’t for you, Shiro.”

If she just takes it saying it’s a great deal, I’d feel too embarrassed.

Others might curse me for throwing away a chance to get free money, but why should I care?

‘I’m going to live by my principles at the very least.’

There are things more important to humans than mere survival.

Besides, pursuing extreme efficiency would eventually come back to bite you.

And right now, I needed to share the Source to save this person.

‘She keeps trying to hunt alone.’

As a human being, one shouldn’t take this without feeling some guilt.

“I think you’re misunderstanding something. I don’t hunt because I particularly need money.”

“…What?”

Suddenly the elf says something like this.

Judging by her eyes, she doesn’t seem to be lying.

Why would she go to such lengths to give up the Source in the first place?

Thinking back on our conversations and the situation, she really seemed like someone who didn’t care about the Source at all.

‘Ah.’

Realizing this made me understand how pointless my actions had been.

“So you don’t need to worry about it. You’ve done much more for me than I did for you.”

I think I misunderstood a lot because of her sharp appearance.

This person definitely has a good character.

“I understand.”

But it would make me uncomfortable to just leave things like this.

“It’s quite humble compared to the Source, but could I join you on hunts instead? Even as just a porter, two people would be much better than one.”

“…”

She seemed not to have expected me to say this, as her eyes widened slightly.

“Sure. Not a bad idea.”

***

And so, two weeks passed without incident, just hunting.

‘Actually, incidents happening is the unusual thing.’

While I consider everyone in the Labyrinth as potential criminals, most explorers actually live conscientiously.

Logically speaking, how many psychopaths who kill people could there be?

Anyway, on the day the Labyrinth exploration ends, you can observe all kinds of people.

In the plaza during daylight.

“Whew! Finally over!”

While some older men part ways with their companions refreshingly under the warm sunlight,

“Damn it, damn it… It wasn’t my fault…!”

You occasionally see people crouched on the ground, wallowing in regret.

“…”

Seeing such people makes me uncomfortable, but I don’t have such outstanding character that I deeply empathize with strangers whose faces I don’t even know.

‘I want to rest in bed.’

I’m just tired and want to return to the inn as soon as possible.

Of course, since I killed three people during this Labyrinth exploration, I had something to do first.

“Where are you heading, Shiro? I was planning to stop by the Association first.”

“I’m going home.”

We hadn’t really talked since leaving the second floor base camp, so things were a bit awkward.

“Then I’ll give you half of the mana stones now.”

“Yeah. Do that.”

Our meeting ended with me handing her the mana stones.

Seeing how her tone had become cold again, it felt like our relationship had reset to the beginning, and we probably wouldn’t see each other again.

“…”

Watching her walk away without looking back, I felt somewhat empty.

‘Maybe I’ll sleep before going to the Association.’

I felt dejected and didn’t want to do anything.

I returned to the inn, and only headed to the Explorer’s Association when the sun was setting.

The Association building was quiet.

If it had been daytime, the counters would have been bustling with explorers coming to exchange mana stones, but by evening, everyone had left for the taverns.

Thanks to that, I could choose a counter with a familiar face among the many available.

“Hello, Sherry.”

I sat down in front of a woman with short pink hair.

“Oh, Adel! I was worried when you didn’t come until evening. Was everything alright in the Labyrinth?”

By the way, this person is my creditor.

That means she’s the person who values my life second only to myself.

“Nothing special happened. I just formed a hastily assembled party, and then three criminals suddenly attacked…”

I reported everything that had happened in the Labyrinth.

Even though people died, you don’t necessarily have to report it, but this case was a bit different.

Because I personally killed three people.

In cases of homicide, reporting to the Association puts my mind at ease. It could prevent trouble later.

That’s why I told her, but—

“…Was that you, Adel?”

Sherry showed an unexpected reaction.

She seemed to already know about it.

“Did you know?”

While I was wondering if Shiro had come to report first, Sherry nodded and answered.

“Yes. A priest from a large guild who was at the second floor base camp came and told us. He said a silver-haired elf brought in a barbarian explorer who was half-dead after being attacked by party members…”

It seems the priest who heard the situation from Shiro came first.

“I see. Then let’s skip this since it’s not important, and move on to the most important…”

Anyway, since the report wasn’t a crucial element, I tried to quickly move on to the next topic.

“What? This isn’t important? This is the most important thing right now!”

But Sherry started making a fuss and talking on her own.

“You saved someone from raiders. While you yourself were on the brink of death!”

“Yes, and why does that matter?”

“If it were just an ordinary report, we’d let it pass, but this time a priest from a large guild is the guarantor! There will definitely be a reward!”

As Sherry’s voice grew louder in the already quiet building, the attention of everyone present naturally turned toward us.

“But the guild person only heard it from the elf who was with me. Isn’t there no definite proof that what I’m saying is true?”

I’ve survived raiders several times before, but I’ve never received a reward for reporting it.

“No. This time, the guild also reported finding those people’s bodies on the first floor, so there’s a high possibility they’ll judge that the incident you experienced is real.”

…Really?

At this point, I was starting to get curious about the reward too.

Of course, I’m just curious, not expecting much.

I’d have to have had some good luck in my life to expect anything.

“So what kind of reward are we talking about?”

I casually asked Sherry.

“You dealt with three raiders and saved a person… There will be a basic reward money, and you might even get the explorer license you’ve wanted so badly right away!”

“…What?”

Did I just hear that wrong?

“An explorer license?”

I’ve been grinding for three years just for that, and they’re really going to give it to me?

“Yes!”

Unbelievable.

“…So, I can really become a proper explorer now?”

“I think so. Even if it doesn’t work out, I’ll do whatever I can to help if it’s within my reach!”

Has my life ever gone this well before?

Never, until now.

Of course, just becoming an explorer still means my life will be in danger, and I’ll probably live a life not much different from before…

“…Sherry, actually I have one more thing to tell you.”

“Yes? What is it?”

The guild priest probably didn’t hear about this either.

“I, I obtained this…”

I took out the gray wolf’s Source from my spatial pouch and placed it on the counter.

“…What?”

As expected, she hadn’t anticipated this either.

***

After about a week, the Association reached a conclusion about this incident.

Yesterday, I received a letter with some complicated content from the Association, but the essence of it was:

[Looks like you did pretty well? I’ll give you money first. About 300,000 Ars. And it seems you wanted an explorer license, so I’ll issue it a year early.]

The actual tone showed almost noble-level politeness, but judging by the Association’s usual conduct, it would feel something like this.

‘300,000 Ars isn’t bad.’

It was exactly the amount I owed Sherry.

In Korean money, it would be about 3 million won.

Since 1-2 floor explorers earn about 2.5 million Ars a year, it feels roughly like receiving a monthly salary.

Plus they issued an explorer license? Even if it’s not a complete life reversal, I already felt my quality of life skyrocketing.

‘And there’s even more.’

When I checked this morning, there was another letter in the name of the Association.

It seems to be related to the gray wolf’s Source, but actually Sherry had already spoiled this for me.

Wasn’t it something about a noble lady from a wealthy family who was looking for a Source?

Usually, golden Sources become increasingly rare as you go up to higher floors, so when rich kids enter the Labyrinth, they typically absorb Sources from floors 1-2.

That’s usually why golden Sources are ridiculously expensive. There are quite a few nobles who explore the Labyrinth as a hobby.

‘I wonder how much it sold for.’

Gray wolf Sources usually trade between 6-7 million Ars.

So I was planning to match my overall equipment to roughly that price range…

But there was a strange number printed on the letter.

[12,000,000 Ars]

…?

12 million.

It sold for about twice the market price.

No, thinking about it carefully, the selling price isn’t just 12 million. That’s the amount after the brokerage fee was deducted, so it was bought for even more.

“Unbelievable.”

Having such a large sum of money suddenly makes my head hurt. Let me calculate precisely.

The money I got from sorting out the mana stones this time is 300,000 Ars. And another 300,000 as a reward.

Plus this enormous sum of 12 million written here,

‘12.6 million Ars?’

Even after paying off my debt, I’d have 12.3 million Ars left.

With this amount, I could prepare equipment sufficient to use even in the middle floors.

“…Is this real?”

Three years after possession.

My life was starting to go too well.