episode_0007

Jeong Yu-shin grabbed his head and stood up.

His head throbbed from the hangover.

It was only natural, considering the two of them had taken turns sipping high-proof dwarven liquor.

Suppressing the nausea, he changed his clothes. He put on a linen shirt and pants bought at the market and the work boots he had received as a gift yesterday.

Darmon was downstairs on the first floor.

“You’re coming down like a leisurely bear.”

“It’s the first leisurely morning I’ve had in three months.”

Darmon brought out the food.

A sandwich filled with meat and potato soup.

The taste was unbelievably wonderful. There was quite a bit of bear hair in the soup, but he treated it like willow leaves floating in cold water. He thought it was Darmon’s consideration, worrying that he might get indigestion if he ate too quickly because it was so delicious.

Jeong Yu-shin picked the bear hair out of his teeth and got up from his seat.

“I’ll be back.”

“Alright.”

He went outside and walked down the street.

The inn where Jeong Yu-shin was staying was in the southern district of the city. Not a slum, but not a wealthy area either; a commoner district.

It was the district where people who had settled down in the maze city lived.

After walking for about 30 minutes, a fairly large wooden building came into view.

Maze Explorer Association Branch.

He had seen it several times on his way home from work. He had never gone inside, though.

So it was familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time.

He pushed open the wooden revolving door and went inside.

The inside of the building was quite deserted. It seemed that those who were going to leave had already left.

As he approached the counter, there was a female receptionist.

“How may I help you?”

“I heard there’s a class for new explorers. Is it possible to register?”

The woman smiled brightly. She was a dog beastkin with drooping ears, and her smiling face was cute.

“Of course! May I see your ID?”

“Here it is.”

“Yes, Mr. Ska. I’ve confirmed it. The tuition fee is 5 silver coins.”

He took out the silver coins and handed them over.

‘Cute.’

The receptionist explained the class schedule and content in a kind tone. In the middle of it, he felt the sharp gaze of a human woman from the next counter, but he ignored it.

The first task was done, so on to the second.

He immediately left the Explorer Association Branch and headed to the western blacksmith district. After showing the note Malone had given him to other people and wandering around for a long time asking for directions, he was finally able to find it.

“A longsword costs 10 silver coins.”

Malone’s cousin, Boron, said.

“Excuse me?!”

His hand trembled. It was a whole month’s salary.

“I heard you’d give me a discount.”

“I am giving you a discount. It originally costs 15 silver coins.”

He had nothing to say to that. Besides, Boron’s expression was severely distorted. He was about to be kicked out.

“How much is this shield?”

“That’s 5 silver coins.”

“Then I’ll buy the sword and shield, both of these.”

“What about a helmet?”

“Excuse me?”

“A helmet is the most important. This is 5 silver coins.”

The dwarf brought over an iron helmet. There was a T-shaped hole in it, and it was very narrow. It looked similar to Barbuta.

The two made eye contact for a moment.

Boron sighed deeply.

“Listen carefully. If it weren’t for my cousin’s introduction, I would have kicked your ass out a long time ago. Don’t haggle or look for cheap stuff in front of a dwarven blacksmith. It’s insulting.”

There was a reason why he was so grumpy.

“I’m sorry.”

Jeong Yu-shin apologized sincerely. The dwarf’s anger seemed to subside a little, and he grumbled.

“One of the reasons why the mortality rate for new explorers is high is the lack of armor. Especially the head. It’s uncomfortable, you can’t see well, and the sound echoes and makes you confused. It’s cumbersome and expensive, so they don’t use it. Then they get hit in the head and die. A very novice-like end.”

“Thank you for the advice.”

“I’m glad you understand. What about other armor?”

“I have hard leather armor and gauntlets.”

“Good. Here’s a scabbard and whetstone as a bonus.”

Jeong Yu-shin took the equipment the dwarf handed him. He hung the longsword diagonally on his waist and held the shield in his left hand. When he put on the helmet, his field of vision narrowed significantly. It was definitely as the dwarf said.

“I’ll come again later.”

“Don’t come.”

Jeong Yu-shin left the blacksmith shop, seeing off the dwarf.

Returning to the inn with the helmet on was a ordeal. He almost bumped into people several times because of the narrowed field of vision. But he kept wearing it. He needed to get used to it.

“I’m back.”

Darmon was sitting at the counter.

“You’re back? You’ve already gotten your equipment?”

“Yes.”

“Buy the rest after the class. But it’s good you bought a helmet.”

“The class starts tomorrow.”

He was able to quit the monster dismantling job at the perfect time, neither too late nor too early. Was he lucky? Or was it Darmon’s plan?

Maybe Darmon has a journal filled with his own development plans in his desk drawer?

Imagining it made him shudder a bit.

Surely there’s no such thing?

Still, he was curious, so he asked honestly.

Darmon looked at him with a pathetic expression.

“You’re too self-conscious.”

“Ah, yes.”

* * *

The next morning, he went to the Explorer Association building early.

The building was crowded with people.

The request board was bustling with people, and all the tables in the corner were full.

The counter was not as deserted as yesterday, so he waited in line.

Bang!!

Someone slammed the reception desk. It was the boy right in front of Jeong Yu-shin.

“No! Why do you keep forcing me to take the class!”

“It’s for new explorers. It’s important for survival and exploration…”

It was the human woman who had glared at him yesterday. She was speaking calmly, but the two eyes reflected in the round glasses were cold.

The boy interrupted the woman.

“Do I look like an idiot to you? Are you selling knowledge that everyone else knows for 5 silver coins? You should at least have some conscience. I may be a new explorer, but I’m not blind. Don’t try to rip me off, just do your job properly.”

“….”

At the boy’s words, the female receptionist’s eyes flashed with anger for a moment.

“Request reception confirmed. Subjugation of 10 hobgoblins and collection of 10 low-grade magic stones. Is that correct?”

“Yeah.”

“The requested items can be submitted here or at the association exchange office in front of the maze. Goodbye.”

“Tsk.”

The boy clicked his tongue and returned to his party members who were waiting for him. Two men and two women. All of them looked like new explorers.

After the boy left, Jeong Yu-shin went to the counter and handed over his iron badge.

“I’m here to take the new explorer class. Please check my attendance.”

Her eyes were so fierce that he quickly got to the point.

“Yes, Mr. Ska. I’ve confirmed it. You can go to the basement of the building.”

Clang!

‘This is something.’

The receptionist put the iron badge down on the desk. It was too weak to say she put it down hard. But the sound was still jarring to the nerves, even if it was too soft to describe it as slamming.

You could call it a way of venting frustration that was hard to argue with.

He understood her being angry, but he thought it was wrong to take it out on other people.

Jeong Yu-shin picked up the iron badge and put it in his pocket.

He missed the bright smile that the cute dog beastkin had given him yesterday.

He left the counter and went down to the basement.

Three people were standing there.

A mole beastkin.

A human male in his early 20s.

A chubby female dwarf.

“Hello.”

Jeong Yu-shin greeted them first. None of the three people accepted his greeting. They just stared blankly at his face.

‘This is awkward.’

“Are you perhaps Barbaroi?”

The human male asked cautiously.

“Yes.”

“Ah! I see. I was a little flustered because it’s the first time I’ve seen a Barbaroi person greet someone first. I’m Jackson.”

He was starting to dislike Barbaroi more and more.

“I’m Ska.”

The other two finally opened their mouths and introduced themselves.

“Tig.”

“I’m Allon.”

The mole was Tig. The dwarf was Allon.

They were easy to remember names.

While they were chatting, one person came down from upstairs.

A silver-haired woman with tanned skin.

She was wearing a tank top on top and loose pants on the bottom for easy movement.

Her muscular body and solid six-pack were clearly visible.

The woman stood in front of them.

“Is this all of you?”

She scanned the four of them with a languid voice and an even more languid look.

No one answered.

“Am I talking to myself?”

“I don’t know if this is all of us. We’ve been waiting for quite a while, though.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Ska.”

“Ursula. I’m the branch manager here.”

Even though it was just a branch, it was shocking that the guild master was directly teaching the new recruits.

Ursula scratched her head in annoyance.

“Damn it. I heard that a lot of new explorers came in this time, but is this all there is?”

No one answered. Honestly, they couldn’t answer if they didn’t know. It was the first time they had heard that there were a lot of new explorers coming in.

“Hmph. I can’t help it. Let’s start.”

8 hours passed.

Unlike her laid-back attitude, Ursula conducted the class with sincerity and in detail. If they didn’t know something, they could ask as many questions as they wanted, and she would explain it repeatedly until they understood.

“Tomorrow, we’ll learn about the types of monsters that appear in the shallow layers and how to deal with them. You don’t need to bring any weapons. They’re prepared in the underground training ground. Any questions?”

Jackson raised his hand and said.

“Will you continue to teach the class, Branch Manager?”

“No. I’m only doing it until tomorrow. Then another teacher will come.”

“I see.”

“Don’t be disappointed. They’re people who are as talented as I am.”

“I understand.”

Ursula turned around and went upstairs first.

Jackson wiped his forehead with his hand.

“I was honestly a little surprised that there was so much to learn.”

“I agree.”

“But I learned a lot. There were some parts that surprised me too. Especially the reason why so few people have reached the depths of the Great Maze in a thousand years.”

Tig nodded at Allon’s words.

“Right. Party collapse due to negative imprinting. It’s shocking.”

Imprinting.

An ability given to those who enter the Great Maze.

It sounded good at first, but the reality was not.

There were three types of imprints.

Positive imprint.

Neutral imprint.

Negative imprint.

A positive imprint is literally an imprint that unlocks the owner’s talent or grants them a new ability.

A neutral imprint is an imprint whose pros and cons depend on the owner’s needs and preferences.

For example, there is an imprint that makes hair grow a lot. It was an imprint that was not very necessary for beastkin, but it was necessary for bald humans or dwarves.

Finally, a negative imprint.

An imprint that negatively affects the owner or the city.

Those with this imprint may suddenly crave blood or transform into monsters.

Ursula did not explain the negative imprint in detail. She only mentioned a few representative examples.

“It was a complete luck-based, gacha-failure game.”

“Excuse me?”

Allon asked back at Jeong Yu-shin’s grumbling.

“It’s nothing. Thank you for your hard work.”

He glossed over it and left the basement.

When he returned to the inn, Darmon was sitting at the counter with his chin resting on his hand.

“I’m back.”

“Yeah.”

Jeong Yu-shin sat down across from Darmon.

“Darmon, there’s something I want to ask you.”

“The reason why I look like I have a lot of hair is not because of an imprint. It’s because it’s shedding season.”

That ghostly bear.

“How did you know?”

“That’s what new explorers are thinking. It’s bound to be the same. Eat your meal.”

“Yes, sir.”

He ate dinner and went to his room and lay down on the bed.

“What should I do if I get a terrible imprint?”

Saying his thoughts out loud made him feel even more terrible.

Staying alive comes first, but he’s thinking about imprints.

He should just go to sleep.

Jeong Yu-shin closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.