Jeong Yusin clutched his head and stood up.
His head throbbed with a hangover. It was only natural after trading drinks with high-proof dwarven whiskey, back and forth, with just the two of them taking sips.
He endured the queasiness in his stomach and changed clothes. He put on the linen shirt and pants he bought at the market and slipped into the boots he had received as a gift the day before.
As he descended to the first floor, Darmong was there.
“Looking as leisurely as a sleepy bear this morning.”
“It’s my first relaxed morning in three months.”
Darmong brought out the food.
A sandwich stuffed with meat and a potato soup.
The taste was incredibly delicious. Despite some bear fur mixed into the soup, he treated it as if it were willow leaves floating in cold water. He thought of it as Darmong’s consideration, worried that scarfing it down too quickly might cause indigestion.
Jeong Yusin rose, pulling bear fur stuck in his teeth.
“I’m off.”
“Go well.”
He stepped out and walked along the street.
The inn where Jeong Yusin stayed was in the southern district of the city. Not a slum, but not affluent either — a district for commoners.
It was the area where those making a living in Labyrinth City had settled.
After about thirty minutes of walking, he saw a fairly large wooden building.
The Explorer’s Guild Branch.
He had seen it many times on his way home from work, though he had never gone in.
Therefore, it felt both familiar and strange.
Pushing the wooden revolving door, he stepped inside.
The interior of the building was fairly quiet. It seemed those who were leaving had already gone.
As he approached the counter, a female receptionist was there.
“May I help you?”
“I’ve heard there’s a class for new explorers. Can I enroll?”
The woman smiled brightly. She was a dogfolk with elongated ears, and her smile was endearing.
“Of course! May I see your ID, please?”
“Here it is.”
“Yes, Mr. Scath. I’ve confirmed. The tuition fee is five silver coins.”
He took out the silver coins and handed them over.
‘So cute.’
The receptionist explained the class time and content in a gentle tone. Midway through, he felt the sharp gaze of a human woman from the adjacent counter, but he ignored it.
The first errand was done, so it was time for the second.
He immediately left the guild branch and headed to the western blacksmith district. After quite a bit of wandering, showing the note given to him by Malon to others and asking around, he finally found it.
“A longsword will cost you ten silver coins.”
Malon’s cousin, Boron, said this.
“Excuse me?!”
His hands trembled. Ten silver coins was nearly his entire month’s salary.
“But I’ve heard it was cheap.”
“It’s cheap. Originally, it costs fifteen silver coins.”
There wasn’t much to say after that. Besides, Boron’s expression was severely scowled, and he felt like he might get kicked out if things went wrong.
“How about this shield?”
“That’s five silver coins.”
“In that case, I’ll take both—the sword and the shield.”
“What about the helmet?”
“Pardon?”
“The helmet is most important. This costs five silver coins.”
The dwarf brought out an iron helmet. It had T-shaped holes and was quite narrow, resembling a barbute helmet.
Their eyes met briefly.
Boron sighed deeply.
“Listen carefully. If you weren’t introduced by my cousin, I would’ve already kicked your butt out. Don’t try to haggle or look for bargains in front of a dwarf blacksmith. It’s offensive.”
So that was why he was annoyed.
“I’m sorry.”
Jeong Yusin apologized sincerely. The dwarf seemed somewhat appeased and muttered while speaking.
“One of the reasons for the high mortality rate among new explorers is the lack of proper armor. Especially for head protection. It’s inconvenient, hard to see through, and the sound echoes, causing confusion. Because it’s cumbersome and expensive, many don’t use it. And then they die after taking a single hit to the head. A truly pathetic way to go.”
“Thank you for the advice.”
“Good that you understand. Any other armor?”
“I’ve got hard leather armor and gauntlets.”
“Good. Here, the sheath and whetstone are complimentary.”
Jeong Yusin collected the equipment handed to him by the dwarf. He sheathed the longsword on his side, held the shield with his left hand, and put on the helmet. His vision immediately narrowed. It was certainly as the dwarf had said.
“I’ll visit again later.”
“Don’t.”
With that farewell from the dwarf, Jeong Yusin left the blacksmith shop.
Walking back to the inn with the helmet on was quite a chore. Due to the narrowed field of vision, he almost bumped into people several times but kept it on. He needed to get used to it.
“I’m back.”
Darmong, who was sitting at the counter, came into view.
“Welcome back. So, you’ve already acquired your gear?”
“Yes.”
“You can buy the rest after class. Still, you made a good purchase with the helmet.”
“The classes start tomorrow.”
He managed to leave the monster dissection job right on time, neither too early nor too late. Was it good fortune? Or part of Darmong’s plan?
Or was there, perhaps, a detailed training plan written in Darmong’s room?
The thought gave him chills.
Surely, there couldn’t be something like that, right?
Still, curiosity got the better of him, and he asked frankly.
Darmong looked at him with disdain.
“Excessive self-awareness.”
“Ah, understood.”
*
The following morning, he went early to the Explorer’s Guild building.
The building was bustling with people.
The request bulletin board was crowded, and all the tables tucked in the corners were fully occupied.
Unlike yesterday, the counters were not empty, so he had to wait in line.
Bang!!
Someone slammed the registration desk. It was a young boy standing right in front of Jeong Yusin.
“Are you kidding me? Why are you forcing this class on me every time!”
“It’s for the new explorers. It’s important for survival and exploration…”
It was the human woman who had glared at him yesterday. Though her tone remained calm, her eyes were cold behind her round spectacles.
The boy interrupted the woman.
“Am I stupid or something? Are you selling knowledge everyone else knows for five silver coins? You have no conscience. Even if I’m new, I’m not clueless. Stop trying to rip me off and do your job right.”
“…”
At the boy’s words, the woman receptionist’s eyes briefly turned hostile.
“I’ve confirmed your request. The extermination of ten hobgoblins and the collection of ten low-grade magic stones. Is that correct?”
“Yup.”
“The requested items may be submitted here or at the exchange counter in front of the labyrinth. Safe travels.”
“Tch.”
The boy clicked his tongue and returned to the party members waiting for him—two men and two women, all seeming like new explorers.
When the boy moved, it was Jeong Yusin’s turn to approach the counter and present his iron plate.
“I’ve come for the new explorer class. Please confirm my attendance.”
His gaze was sharp, so he quickly skipped to the topic.
“Yes, Mr. Scath. I’ve confirmed it. Please head to the basement.”
Thud!
‘This is awkward.’
The receptionist placed the iron plate on the counter. The sound was strong enough to be bothersome but not quite light enough to let it slide.
It seemed like an awkward way to vent frustration.
Sure, you can be upset, but taking it out on someone else isn’t right.
Jeong Yusin picked up the iron plate and tucked it into his bosom.
He missed the bright smile the dogfolk had displayed yesterday.
After leaving the counter, he headed downstairs.
There were three people standing there.
A molefolk.
A human male in his early twenties.
And a plump female dwarf.
“Hello.”
Jeong Yusin greeted them first. None of the three acknowledged him. They just silently stared at his face.
‘What a bunch.’
“Are you Barbaroy?”
The human male cautiously asked.
“Yes.”
“Oh! I see. It threw me off because I’ve never met someone who greeted like that. I’m Jackson.”
He was starting to dislike the sound of “Barbaroy.”
“I’m Scath.”
The other two finally introduced themselves as well.
“Tig.”
“I’m Alon.”
Tig was the molefolk, and Alon was the dwarf.
Simple and easy to remember names.
While they were chatting, a person descended from upstairs.
A silver-haired woman with brown skin.
She wore a tank top on top and loose trousers that allowed for easy movement below.
Her muscular frame and solid six-pack were clearly visible.
The woman stood in front of them.
“Is this all of you?”
With a lethargic tone and a gaze even more so, she surveyed the four of them.
No one replied.
“Am I talking to myself?”
“I’m not sure if this is everyone, but I’ve been waiting quite a while.”
“And you are?”
“I’m Scath.”
“Ursula. Branch president of the guild.”
To think that even though it was just a branch, the guild’s master would personally train rookies was shocking.
Ursula scratched her head in irritation.
“Damn. I heard that many new explorers were coming in this time around, but is this all there is?”
No one responded. Honestly, you can’t answer if you don’t know. The fact that there was a surge in new explorer recruitment was also new to them.
“Hmph. Can’t do much about it. Let’s start.”
Eight hours passed.
Despite her lax attitude, Ursula carefully conducted the class with great attention to detail. If there were questions, she allowed them to be asked freely and explained repeatedly until they understood.
“Tomorrow, we’ll cover the types of demons that appear on the shallow levels and how to deal with them. There’s no need to bring your weapons. We have them prepared in the training facility downstairs. Any questions?”
Jackson raised his hand to speak.
“Will the guild master continue teaching?”
“No. I’ll only be here until tomorrow. Someone else will take over afterward.”
“I see.”
“Don’t be disappointed. They’re just as capable as I am.”
“Understood.”
Ursula turned around and left first.
Jackson wiped his forehead with his hand.
“To be honest, I’m surprised there’s so much we need to learn.”
“Same here.”
“Still, we learned a lot. There were some surprising parts. Especially the reason why the number of people who’ve reached the deep levels of the Great Labyrinth is so few.”
At Alon’s words, Tig nodded.
“True. Party breakdown due to negative imprints? That’s quite shocking.”
Imprint.
The ability granted to those who enter the Great Labyrinth.
At first, it seemed like a good thing, but in reality, it wasn’t.
There were three kinds of imprints.
Positive imprint.
Neutral imprint.
Negative imprint.
Positive imprint, as the name suggests, was an imprint that either blossomed the bearer’s talents or granted new abilities.
Neutral imprint was one that divided opinions depending on the bearer’s needs and preferences.
For example, there was an imprint that caused excessive hair growth. It was unnecessary for beastfolk but highly sought after by bald humans or dwarves.
Finally, the negative imprint.
An imprint that had an adverse effect on either the bearer or the city.
People bearing this kind of imprint sometimes developed an uncontrollable craving for blood or mutated into demons.
Ursula didn’t explain the negative imprint in detail, only providing a few examples.
“Absolutely a gamble of pure luck, a crapshoot game.”
“Excuse me?”
At Jeong Yusin’s muttering, Alon inquired.
“No, nothing. Hard work to all of you.”
He mumbled and left the basement.
When he returned to the inn, Darmong was sitting at the counter, his chin resting on his hand.
“I’m back.”
“Welcome.”
Jeong Yusin sat opposite Darmong.
“I have a question, Darmong.”
“The reason why I look furry isn’t because of the imprint. It’s just shedding season.”
That bear-like spirit of his is spooky.
“How did you know?”
“It’s something new explorers all think about. It’s pretty much the same across the board. Just eat your meal.”
“Understood.”
After eating dinner and going to his room, he lay down on the bed.
“What if I end up getting a foolish imprint? What then?”
Saying it out loud made him sound even more foolish.
Surviving was already questionable, yet he was worried about imprints.
Might as well get some sleep.
Jeong Yusin closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
