Normalizing the Labyrinth City in the Game

“…What did you say?”
Lis’s shocking statement.
Siwon’s black eyes were filled with bewilderment.
“…What nonsense is that?”

“Boing! Nonsense? I’m a rabbit, not a dog! Boing!”

“No, I mean, hah….”

Siwon had a lot to say but couldn’t bring himself to ask.

‘No, why ask me a question that should be asked to a fiancé….’

As if hearing the question in Siwon’s heart, Lis opened her mouth.

“Boing! You look decent for a human… I just asked on the off chance. I didn’t know you were the owner’s lover!”

‘No, I’m not her lover.’

“Boing! Should I say fiancé instead of lover, boing?”

“….”

Siwon lowered his head.
What would be the best thing to say?
After a moment’s thought, Siwon came up with a pretty good answer.

“She and I aren’t anything to each other.”

“Boiyoing?”

Lis tilted her head at Siwon’s words.

“If you’re not anything to each other, why did the owner tell you that secret? Boing?”

Siwon furrowed his brow and managed his expression as best he could.

“Well. I didn’t think she would see me that way….”

As soon as Siwon finished speaking, Lis’s round eyes grew even larger.

An expression as if she thought she had made a big mistake.

“Ah, uh, could it be… did the owner not say anything else?”

A trembling voice as if flustered.

Even the “boing” sound that seemed like it would give one neurosis disappeared.

It means the big fish has touched the bait.

“Anything else?”

“Well, that is, the reason why the owner told you that secret….”

“…She didn’t say anything special? Ah, she did say she was only telling me….”

“….”

Lis’s expression hardened to the point of rotting.

The big fish has taken the bait.

Now all that’s needed is one intense snap.

“…I guess I should ask her when I get out. Why she told me a secret she said she’d only tell her fiancé.”

“Ah, you can’t!”

As if the big fish was caught, Lis’s body landed on Siwon’s leg.

Swallowing the rising laughter again, Siwon maintained an expressionless face and said,

“…What do you mean, I can’t?”

“I, I think I made a mistake in speaking! So, that, um….”

“…Could it be that it wasn’t a secret to be revealed to a fiancé, something like that?”

“Th-that….”

At Siwon’s question, Lis looked away as if embarrassed, then continued speaking.

“Uh, well, thinking about it, I think the owner said she would tell that secret to people she trusts too….”

“…That must be it, right?”

“Y-yes….”

A cowed appearance.

“I’ll keep this conversation secret from her. You might get in trouble otherwise.”

“Boiyoing?”

Joy spread instantly across Lis’s gloomy face.
He spoke as if doing her a favor, but in fact, this was what Siwon had hoped for.
This is how negotiations are supposed to be done.

“Is, is that true, boing?”

“Yeah. It’s not a difficult thing anyway.”

“Th-thank you! Boing!”

A smile bloomed on Lis’s face.

“….”

Along with that, the “boing boing” sound started again.

Siwon felt a throbbing in his head, but.

‘Well, it can’t be helped.’
He decided to change the subject for now.

“By the way, what’s the next question?”

“Boing? You mean the next question, boing?”

“…Didn’t you say you were going to ask three questions?”

“Boing! It’s okay, boing! You can just take them!”

“…Huh?”

An unexpected answer.

“The question I asked earlier was a practice question, boing! But the fact that you got it right means you’re a very precious person to the owner, so there’s no need to check further! Boing!”

“….”

If we practice a few more times, someone might end up dead.

While Hom and Lis guided him when entering Rabbit’s World, he was alone when leaving.

“Oh, what? You’re out already? I thought it would take longer.”

Rabbit Gondu said this while looking at Siwon who popped out of Rabbit’s World with a bundle of luggage.
Despite its appearance, this too was an inventory.

“…Those friends guided me well.”

“Really? They’re not that smart though.”

“Well, that’s pretty good.”

Siwon was about to add “for beastkin” but stopped himself.

“…Is that so?”

Rabbit Gondu’s gaze turned to the bundle Siwon was holding.

“I should check what you brought, shouldn’t I?”

Siwon wordlessly handed over the bundle he was carrying.
“….”

A moment of silence followed.

Siwon swallowed the saliva that filled his mouth and waited for Rabbit Gondu’s reaction.

After a while.

“Well, it doesn’t seem like you brought anything else. Let’s depart. I’m thinking of heading back soon too.”
“…?”

An unexpected answer came out.

“No, you, why….”

“What?”

“The things I brought out now, even if sold at a bargain price, would fetch at least a thousand gold….”
He was going to use this as an excuse to teach her about the harshness of the world, but her reaction was too nonchalant.
A thousand gold.
Since there’s no beef soup in this world, if we calculate in meat soup, it’s 100,000 bowls.
If calculated based on the Korean exchange rate before the war broke out, it’s an amount hovering around 1 billion won.

“I also told you the location of the Hidden Street, so that cost is cheap.”

“…?”

Was Rabbit Gondu always this insensitive about money, no, this beastkin?
1 billion isn’t just some dog’s name.
It might be unrealistic in Korea, but at least here, it’s enough to buy a house and have plenty left over.

“No, even so….”

“Those things in there, I was going to use them roughly and throw them away anyway, so it’s fine. Use them as you see fit.”

“….”

A truly stagnant explorer-like answer.

“You, even at the beginning when you said healing potions were expensive….”

“…Don’t bring up that story again. It’s embarrassing.”

“….”
It seems it was half concept after all.

A moment later.

Siwon and Rabbit Gondu traversed the traps on the first floor of the labyrinth and soon reached the final stages.

“Is this it?”

As Siwon muttered to himself, blue and red warp gates appeared before their eyes.

The blue-tinged one was a warp gate leading to West Coast, a city located in the western part of the Argan Kingdom.

The red-tinged one was a warp gate leading to the second floor of the labyrinth.

“…It appeared as soon as we spoke.”

In Siwon’s heart, a desire to traverse even to the second floor with these good items he obtained arose, but.

‘…I haven’t even registered as an explorer yet, what’s the point of going there.’

It didn’t seem necessary to do so.

“You, what’s your name?”

At that moment, Rabbit Gondu looked at Siwon and asked.

“Hm?”

“I’m asking what your name is. Do you want to keep being called ‘you’ or ‘hey’?”

“… My name?”

Suddenly introducing ourselves.

What should I say?

“Siwon.”

He decided to answer just as it is.

“…What?”

“Siwon, I said Siwon.”

“Sean? That’s an unusual name.”

“….”

He thought about correcting her pronunciation but decided against it.

“What’s your name then?”

Siwon also asked for Rabbit Gondu’s name.

He might accidentally call her Rabbit Gondu, after all.
He needed to get used to her real name.

“My name? Hmm….”

Rabbit Gondu’s gaze turned towards the western warp gate.

“I’ll tell you that when we get out.”

Rabbit Gondu said this and immediately pushed her body into the warp gate.

“Huh? Hey, wait a minute….”

Siwon immediately followed Rabbit Gondu.

“…Huh?”

A sensation similar to when entering the stone door was felt at the tip of Siwon’s feet.

“Uwaaaaah!!!”

The darkness of the labyrinth swallowed Siwon’s body.

East of West Coast, in front of the labyrinth warp gate.

Rabbit Gondu’s form gradually appeared from beyond the warp gate.

“Whew, it feels good to see sunlight after so long.”

Rabbit Gondu muttered this and looked back.

“How is it? The outside is much better than the labyrinth….”

Sean, who should have come out long ago, was not visible behind her.

“…Huh?”

“Ugh….”

It was nighttime.

Siwon’s body emerged from some unknown gate.

“What on earth happened….”

“You, who on earth are you?”

“Huh?”

In Siwon’s view, dozens of guards clad in silver metal armor were surrounding him.

‘That armor, probably….’

East Coast.

It was the armor worn by guards in the city on the eastern side of the Argan Kingdom.

‘No, I definitely came out through the western gate….’

And the time was strange too.

Originally, the labyrinth’s warp gates only open during daytime.

But the time Siwon came out was night.

“Why did you pop out of there at this time of night, that’s what I’m asking.”

“….”

‘I don’t know either, shit.’

Siwon thought this inwardly, but there was no one who could hear it.

“…More importantly, you.”

“Yes?”

“What are those things you’re carrying on your back?”

The guard’s gaze was directed at the various precious items received from Rabbit Gondu.

“These, I received them in exchange for information….”
“From whom?”
“Rabbit Gon….”
Siwon still didn’t know Rabbit Gondu’s real name.
Even in the game, there was no need to memorize her real name, so Siwon had just memorized her as Rabbit Gondu.
“….”
As Siwon maintained silence, the guard delivered a critical hit.

“…You do have an explorer’s ID, right?”

“….”

It doesn’t seem like things will be resolved easily.