Ancient Minotaur Habitat (2)

The cutscene ended with the kiss at the wedding ceremony.

Regardless of the sweet love story, the dungeon conquest must continue.

But the sweet scent didn’t disappear in an instant, so while I was disarming traps, the party members chatted.

“Uncle Dulgul, you’re married, right? How did you propose?”

“Ah… I reserved a restaurant. Timed with my wife’s birthday.”

“Tell us in detail!”

It seems Elderin quite liked Nianbakh’s proposal.

She made a big fuss over the married Dulgul’s story.

To me, it sounded like a story of far-off social butterflies, so I had no chance to chime in.

However, as is often the case with others’ love stories, it was fun to listen to.

At least until the sparks flew to me.

“Come to think of it, Da-eun, how much dating experience do you have?”

“Uh… Urgh?”

“I mean boyfriends. Didn’t you have any lovers?”

A question that came out of nowhere.

I thought it wouldn’t happen, but it finally became reality.

Moreover, boyfriends?

No matter how open-minded the world is these days, I was clearly heterosexual.

At least, as long as I was born a man, with another man… Wait?

Come to think of it, which side should I date?

If I date a woman now, is it homosexual? Or heterosexual?

Then, if I date a man? Wait?

Suddenly, my head started spinning.

It was a topic I had never seriously thought about before.

Once I started thinking about it, my thoughts were endlessly sucked in.

No. I’ve delayed the answer too much.

At this rate, it’ll look like I’m trying to dodge the question.

As I hurriedly opened my mouth, I started to stutter.

“I, I didn’t have anything like that.”

“Come on, that’s a lie. There’s no way men would have left you alone.”

“It’s true. I never had any.”

“Did you perhaps go to all-girls middle school, high school, and university?”

“Uh, well. I suppose so.”

Is this okay? It’s not completely wrong.

I did have almost no contact with the opposite sex while going through boys’ middle school, boys’ high school, and physical education university.

It’s not a lie in context. And it’s true that I didn’t have any lovers.

In the past, my head was so full of kendo that I had no room to think about women.

Wasn’t it quite common to hear stories of athletes whose skills declined after starting to date?

Some might say it’s an excuse. That there are people who can do everything while dating, but well.

At least I’m not that type.

Once I start something, I have to throw my entire being into it.

If I had started dating during my athlete days, I wouldn’t have been able to focus properly on kendo.

That’s why I didn’t do it.

Not that I couldn’t.

…Really.

“Were all the men around Da-eun blind?”

“Maybe you just didn’t notice? Did you really never receive a confession?”

“I’m telling you, nothing like that happened! Anyway, let’s keep going.”

“Strange. I thought you might have even received confessions from women.”

“……”

I gritted my teeth and ignored the flood of questions.

Dating, huh. I thought about it a bit seriously, but still couldn’t come to a conclusion.

It felt too vague.

Can I really do something like love?

It feels like I might fall too easily, or maybe never be able to do it at all.

I should be able to give as much as I receive.

Right now, my heart only craves for others’ things, but I’m not prepared at all to give myself.

I don’t want to show my ugly inner self to others.

I need to be careful, very careful not to let the dirty, rotten pus leak out.

Fortunately, something came up that could cut off my thoughts.

“Ahead. Two axes and two spears. Four in total. Should I dribble about two of them?”

“Will you be okay?”

“Yeah. I’m confident I won’t die.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

By the way, I wonder if the boss of this dungeon is also biological.

I really hate it. Large mobs bleed a lot, you know.

* * *

After defeating several groups of Minotaurs, we faced the dungeon’s mid-boss.

It was a Chimera with a grotesque appearance.

[You have defeated the Epic monster ‘Chimera A-327’.]

[Check your rewards.]

It was a tough opponent.

The overwhelming hardness gained at the cost of instability and bizarre patterns unique to synthetic beings.

We struggled with the strategy because blades wouldn’t sink in except for weak points.

Well, it’s not like we had any casualties among party members.

Fortunately, we managed to defeat the boss without anyone dying.

If the mid-boss is this tough, it’s a given that we’ll struggle much more with the final boss.

It’s worrying, but for now, we can be purely happy, right?

Above all, there’s one thing we must do after defeating a boss.

“Rewards! Shall we check the rewards?”

Elderin shouted energetically.

Her voice even had a nasal tone from how happy she was.

Actually, I was looking forward to it too, so I trotted up to the boss’s corpse.

The reason gamers who enjoy RPGs form parties and challenge high-difficulty dungeons is all for this moment.

Moreover, this is a story dungeon in the new continent!

Even though it’s a mid-boss, we could expect some good items to drop.

As soon as all party members gathered, Soolbbang checked the rewards.

[Emblem of the Ancient Kingdom]

[Nianbakh’s Curse: Greaves]

[Chimera Hide Gloves]

[Rabbit Ears]

[Core of Chimera A-327]

……

The drop items rose up with a brilliant pillar of light.

Deciding to distribute miscellaneous materials and gold coins later, the five most valuable-looking items were put up as candidates.

Two items seemed to have clear owners.

Only Sansae could use the Emblem of the Ancient Kingdom, and Dulgul took the greaves because of the penalty.

I had been aiming for the gloves… but when I tried them on, they were too tough for my strength.

So stiff that it was hard to make a fist. The high defense was tempting, but it’s meaningless if I can’t use my weapons properly.

In the end, I gave up the gloves to Soolbbang, leaving two items.

We don’t know its use right now, but that core is surely a rare material.

As time passes, it will form a market price in one way or another.

It wouldn’t be bad to take the gold coins this time.

So, I never once claimed ownership of the rabbit ears.

I didn’t have the slightest desire for it until I read the item description.

“Then I’ll take the core.”

“Of course Gawol will take the rabbit ears, right?”

“What?”

“Huh?”

[Rabbit Ears]

[Category: Head Ornament (Unique)]

Magical rabbit ears surrounded by fluffy fur.

When worn, it makes you feel like you’ve become a cute rabbit.

[Item Effect: When worn, hearing increases by 12%.]

[This is a decorative item that can be worn in addition to other equipment items.]

“……”

What is this?

Why does a mere cosmetic item have a unique grade?

Originally, the rarity of such items was at most rare grade.

Didn’t they usually come with useless options?

Like increasing movement speed in town by 0.5% or something.

A form I’ve never seen before.

If I posted this on the community right now, it would get quite a reaction.

After all, ‘rare cosmetic items’ in RPGs tend to have tremendous value.

Yeah. It would fetch a tidy sum if sold outside.

But for now, it was just an eyesore placed on my head.

“Cute. It’s really cute!”

“Gawol. Look here and smile once.”

“Augh……”

I’m the scout in our party.

But the assassin class isn’t designed to replace the role of a thief.

That means there are limits to the original abilities in various ways.

So I had no excuse to refuse wearing this… No.

I just couldn’t bring myself to ruin the excited expressions of the two unnis.

“V~ Come on. V~”

“V, V.”

Ah, I want to go home.

Even though I’m already home.

[You can escape the dungeon after defeating the mid-boss.]

[Do you want to continue? Y/N]

……

[As a result of party voting, you will continue the dungeon.]

[There is a story cutscene.]

* * *

Wine glasses were scattered in the splendid banquet hall.

The meat that had been giving off a delicious smell fell under the table, and broken plates were strewn about on the floor.

Splash. Splash. The sound of calm footsteps echoed.

The fallen Nianbakh barely reached out his hand.

A foot in a shoe stepped on that hand. Blood flowed due to the sharp fragments scattered around.

However, what was dyed redder than the blood was his anger.

A sound like a beast growling.

Nianbakh asked.

“Your Highness Dalnerion. Why… why did you do this?”

“I thought you were clever, but it seems you have quite a dull side too. Isn’t it obvious? At this rate, it looked like a half-breed would swallow the kingdom, so the chosen bloodline must save the country.”

“I had no interest in the throne… Cough!”

“That’s unfortunate. People raised in the royal palace tend to prefer certain paths. It will be a journey of no return, but your wife and children will soon follow. You won’t be lonely.”

The deadly poison in the wine glass began to invade the magician’s body.

A drug that turns blood into toxins. A drug that changes the nature of mana to kill magicians.

It was something synthesized solely to kill him.

A glimpse of red was seen in his eyes.

Nianbakh didn’t know if what was flowing down his cheeks now was blood or tears.

But he was honest with the cry bursting from deep inside.

“Ugh, uwaaaaah-!”

“What a useless act. If you just rest quietly… W-What!”

The magician’s anger enveloped the royal palace.