episode_0005

“Are you a Barbarian?”

A bear-type beastman sitting at the counter said.

“Do you have a room?”

Jung Yoo-shin asked with earnestness.

“I do.”

The bear-type beastman got up from his seat. He seemed twice as large as the security captain bear beastman he had seen in front of the castle gate. His leisurely approach made it seem like a giant fur ball was rolling in.

Jung Yoo-shin stepped back slightly.

“How much is it?”

“Five fairy tale books. Includes breakfast.”

Jung Yoo-shin took out five fairy tale books from his bag and handed them to the bear-type beastman.

“Wait.”

The bear-type beastman raised his arm to stop him.

“What is it?”

The words, “I’m a good Barbarian who doesn’t rape,” were about to pop out.

“There is one rule you must follow in this inn.”

Jung Yoo-shin swallowed hard. He became inexplicably nervous when the large fur ball spoke with a serious expression.

“What is it?”

“Do not complain if hair comes out in the food or bedding.”

Certainly.

Until now, most of the innkeepers he had met were humans. Dwarves were sometimes present, but beastmen were rare. At least, there were no beastmen with such fluffy fur.

“I understand. Here are five fairy tale books.”

Only then did the bear-type beastman receive the fairy tale books and hand over a key.

“Second floor, third room on the right.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

He couldn’t help but express his gratitude for the feeling of finding light in the darkness.

He went up to the second floor and opened the door.

Only a bed, a desk, and a chair were placed there, and it was dark because there were no separate lighting fixtures.

Jung Yoo-shin unpacked his luggage and took off his leather armor. He was soaked in sweat from the long journey, and a foul smell naturally wafted out.

“Hoo.”

He took out his canteen, poured water on a towel, wiped his body, and lay down on the bed.

“Ha, finally.”

Is it starting now?

Tomorrow, I have to go to the Labyrinth Explorer’s Association, get a labyrinth exploration license, prepare equipment, and jump into the labyrinth.

His heart was pounding.

They said that you have a low probability of obtaining something called an “Engraving” when you go into the labyrinth and come out, so if I’m lucky, I’ll get stronger quickly.

The desire to become stronger had been growing more and more since he came to this other world.

Perhaps it was because he had been pushed around in this other world. Moreover, he intuitively felt that if he continued to be weak like this, he would struggle within the narrowed choices and eventually die a lonely death.

Jung Yoo-shin fell asleep with half anticipation and half determination.

* * *

“It’s really big.”

Jung Yoo-shin was impressed by the majestic appearance of the huge building.

The Explorer’s Association.

The building, made of white marble, was close to a temple.

He thought it was a good thing that he woke up early and left the inn. There was no need to ask for directions. It was obvious where the huge number of people carrying luggage were going.

When he entered the building, dozens of windows and dozens of association members were moving busily.

Jung Yoo-shin stood behind a long line. The line was shortening quickly, as if the association members were working hard.

“What can I help you with?”

It was Jung Yoo-shin’s turn. The woman at the association was smiling without even thinking of wiping off her sweat.

“I’ve come to get an exploration license.”

“Is this your first time?”

“Yes.”

The woman raised her hand and pointed to the left.

“You can go to the far left. New explorers receive it at that window. And this window is only for intermediate explorers, so please be careful in the future. Have a good day.”

“Yes.”

Jung Yoo-shin went to the relatively quiet far left window and stood in line.

“What can I help you with?”

Finally, it was his turn.

“I’ve come to get an exploration license.”

“Yes. I understand. That will be 10 silver coins.”

“Here you are.”

Jung Yoo-shin handed over the silver coins.

“Received. Do you perhaps know how to read?”

“I do not.”

“Please tell me the simple personal details verbally. I will write them down for you.”

Here it comes.

Would they believe me if I honestly said that I fell into this world?

Or would they think I’m crazy and report me to the security forces?

He didn’t want to test his luck. Even if they believed he was from another world, it would be a problem.

Was it a far-fetched assumption that explorers who rummage through mysteries in the depths of the labyrinth would lightly rummage through the body of a person from another world?

He didn’t know.

Still, he had to imagine the worst. At least until he had the strength to protect himself, it seemed safer to hide his origin. There was a suitable identity just in time.

Jung Yoo-shin opened his mouth.

A Barbarian who had lived his whole life in a nameless village in the north.

The receptionist nodded.

“Lastly, please tell me your name. Ah! Of course, you can use a pseudonym. This is limited to Barbarians.”

“Why do I have to use a pseudonym?”

Jung Yoo-shin was not ashamed of his name, but he thought of a few pseudonyms because it was necessary to reduce suspicion.

But it was strange that the receptionist recommended a pseudonym first.

The receptionist’s face turned pale at Jung Yoo-shin’s question.

“Well, I don’t know much about Barbarian culture, but I know a few things. I’ve heard that Barbarians reveal their true names to people they will spend their lives with or to close friends.”

“Ah.”

At the receptionist’s words, several words floated, lined up, and combined in his brain.

He realized.

The meaning of a Barbarian revealing his name to a woman who is part of a game to ‘hunt’ a ‘female’ and make her ‘covered in cum’.

A Barbarian-style declaration and proposal to make you a female dick case indefinitely with all sincerity, regardless of the means or methods.

In short, it was a declaration of rape.

“Uh…”

His mind became dizzy and his lips became parched. When he licked his lips with his tongue, the receptionist’s face turned a little paler.

“I have a boyfriend!”

He didn’t want to argue with this receptionist any longer, so he quickly got to the point.

“I understand. My pseudonym will be Scar.”

“Scar. A good name.”

The receptionist quickly filled out the documents with trembling hands.

After the application was completed, the receptionist handed over a small iron plate. There were letters engraved on it, but he couldn’t understand them. It was probably his pseudonym.

“You don’t have to come to this Explorer’s Association headquarters every time. There are Explorer’s Association branches all over the city, so you can use those. The rewards are higher at the headquarters, but the branches are more convenient for new explorers. The headquarters are mainly used by mid-level or high-level explorer parties. So they have no choice but to pay less attention to newcomers.”

The receptionist spoke quickly.

Did she want to get rid of him quickly?

“I understand.”

Jung Yoo-shin nodded and left the Explorer’s Association headquarters.

He felt proud that he had finished one important task, no matter what the misunderstanding was.

“Now I just need to prepare equipment and supplies.”

He predicted that it would be enough, even though he only had a few fairy tale books and about 2 silver coins left in his pocket. He already had hard leather armor that he had taken from a slave hunter, so he just needed to prepare a sword and a shield. The shield was confiscated by the security captain yesterday.

The prediction was a miscalculation.

“5 silver coins for one of these?”

The dwarf’s expression twisted at Jung Yoo-shin’s question.

“That’s right. It’s the cheapest longsword. This shield is 3 silver coins.”

The dwarf pointed to a round wooden shield and said.

8 silver coins. 100 fairy tale books were worth 1 silver coin, so he needed a total of 800 fairy tale books.

Jung Yoo-shin laughed in vain at the feeling of futility.

“What? Barbarian, how much is your budget that you’re laughing like that?”

“2 silver coins.”

“Get lost. Ptooey!”

He went around to several blacksmiths, but the price range was similar.

Jung Yoo-shin trudged back to the inn.

It was around lunchtime, and the inn smelled of delicious food.

The bear-type beastman was sitting at the counter.

“Lunch is 2 fairy tale books.”

“Do you perhaps need a worker?”

“A Barbarian as an inn employee. That’s like entrusting a cat with a fish. You’ll mate and make money? Don’t you have any conscience? Get lost.”

The bear-type beastman replied calmly. Nevertheless, Jung Yoo-shin calmly explained his situation and asked for help. He needed to buy a sword and shield to explore the labyrinth, but they were too expensive, so he needed a job. He asked if it was okay to introduce him to a job, even if it wasn’t here.

The bear-type beastman crossed his arms at Jung Yoo-shin’s request.

“How can I trust you?”

“Here is a warm labyrinth exploration license. Can’t I use this as collateral?”

Jung Yoo-shin took out a small iron plate from his pocket and handed it over.

The bear-type beastman fiddled with the iron plate.

“Scar, do you know the meaning of an explorer handing over his ID card?”

“I don’t know well because I’m a newbie.”

The bear-type beastman clicked his tongue once and put the ID card in his pocket. Jung Yoo-shin felt a chill down his spine for a moment when he saw that.

“Innkeeper. Now that I think about it, entrusting an explorer’s pass seems like a bit of a sucker move. Can you give it back to me?”

“I’ll look for a job. Eat your food. And my name is Darmong.”

Darmong.

It was a somewhat cute name for a male bear-type beastman with fluffy fur and a huge body. Ignoring his request for a return and only saying what he wanted to say wasn’t cute, though.

The lunch that Darmong brought was free and delicious. There was a lot of hair in it, but he ate it with the feeling of picking out fish bones.

* * *

The job was found faster than he thought. Darmong called Jung Yoo-shin the next morning.

“A monster dismantling site?”

“That’s right.”

“I understand.”

Darmong twitched his eyebrows once when Jung Yoo-shin readily agreed.

“It’s a hard job.”

“Don’t worry. How hard can it be?”

“I wasn’t worried. Don’t come crying later.”

“If I cry, can I quit?”

“No.”

Jung Yoo-shin chuckled at Darmong’s firm answer.

He started to feel like he was screwed, but he ignored it.

“Can you read?”

“I cannot.”

Darmong marked something on a piece of paper and handed it over.

It was a labyrinth city tourist map.

The place circled was at the far west end. It was the outermost part of the city.

“I marked it here, so follow this and find it well. The monster dismantling site has a strong smell of blood, so you can’t not know if you get close. If you tell the manager there that I sent you, they’ll understand.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“I’ll take your thanks later.”

Jung Yoo-shin left the inn and went to find the monster dismantling site. As Darmong said, as he went straight to the western outskirts, there was a large building with a strong smell of blood in a secluded place.

A building made of red brick.

He noticed it right away.

It was because people were loading animal carcasses that they had never seen before onto carts and taking them inside the building.

Jung Yoo-shin followed them into the building. The inside of the building was noisy and busy with the sounds of people working.

“Excuse me, where is the manager of this dismantling site?”

He grabbed a passing dwarf and asked.

“Are you a newbie?”

“Yes.”

“Newbie!! Manager, a newbie has arrived!”

Suddenly the dwarf shouted. Then the surroundings became quiet. He felt glittering gazes.

“A newbie?”

“Hey, maybe it’s a tour. Maybe. Maybe.”

The surroundings whispered. Several people slowly approached.

Jung Yoo-shin felt a chill and stepped back.

Clutch!!

He looked down because his leg didn’t move, and the dwarf was holding it with his strong hand.

“Manager!!”

“I understand. I’m going.”

Someone who was working on one side answered and walked over leisurely.

An elf man wearing bloody work clothes.

A decadent feeling wafted from his appearance with a black eyepatch on his left eye and his listless walk.

The elf swept back his blond hair with his blood-soaked hands.

“Are you the guy Darmong sent?”

“Yes.”

It felt like he was a mouse in front of a cat.

“Okay. Marlon, you do the newbie training.”

“Yes! I understand.”

The dwarf who was holding Jung Yoo-shin’s leg tightly answered vigorously.

The elf turned around and said.

“If you’re going to run away after one day, leave now.”

“Yes.”

“Ah! What I just said was just something I tried saying. You can’t go.”

“Yes?”

“Darmong recommended you to me, and I accepted you because I trust him. If you run away, it will be difficult to keep my faith in Darmong. Please protect my faith, Barbarian.”

The faith is too heavy.

He asked Darmong to introduce him to a job, but it was like he was admitted to a martial arts sect.

“Kahaha! The manager says that, but he’s actually a warm-hearted person. Follow me, newbie.”

‘What, am I going to die?’

Jung Yoo-shin thought to himself and headed to the changing room following the dwarf.