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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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Jeong Yoo-shin immediately grabbed his long sword from his bedside and drew it.
He jumped out of his bed and stood on the floor.
“Who’s there?”
Silence from under the bed.
“Come out before I split this bed in half. Last warning.”
Rustle.
Another sound from under the bed.
He tightened his grip on his sword.
Something poked its head out from under the bed.
His eyes widened as he saw what it was.
“A rat?”
He blurted out, his voice filled with disbelief.
“Squeak.”
A plump white rat crawled out from under the bed.
“It’s just a rat. I was worried about nothing.”
He sheathed his sword and chuckled, but then his expression hardened.
“You’re a person, aren’t you?”
“Squeak?”
The rat tilted its head.
“You understand me?”
He quickly grabbed the rat.
“Squeak!!”
The rat struggled in his grasp.
“Stay still!”
He held the rat with one hand and rummaged through his belongings with the other, finding a rope. He tied the rat securely.
“Who sent you? Those underworld bastards?”
He lowered his voice.
“Squeak!”
The rat struggled, its tiny hands flailing.
“I asked you a question!”
Bang!!
“Innkeeper! Let us sleep!”
A guest in the next room banged on the wall and yelled.
“I apologize.”
He apologized and glared at the rat.
“I’ll interrogate you tomorrow. Make another sound, and you’re dead.”
He hung the rat from the ceiling, glared at it for a while, then closed his eyes.
The next morning…
He called Anne and Tarman and sat down at a table with them.
“S-So you’re saying this rat is a person?”
“Yes. Don’t you think it’s acting strangely?”
Tarman scratched his head.
“I don’t see it.”
“It is kind of cute.”
Anne said, resting her chin on her hands as she observed the rat.
Jeong Yoo-shin crossed his arms and glared at the rat, which was tied up and sitting on the table.
He should take it to the temple to confirm if it was a person with a rat imprint or an actual rat.
But…
It would cost one silver coin.
He didn’t want to waste money, considering the inn’s financial difficulties.
“Just put it in a jar or a pot and keep an eye on it.”
“There’s a small cage in the storage room.”
Anne said.
A cage for small animals.
Not bad.
“Put it in the cage. Watch it closely. And tell me immediately if it does anything… human-like.”
“Yes, I understand.”
He stood up. He had a lot to do, regardless of the rat situation.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Two weeks passed.
The early summer heat intensified.
His daily routine remained unchanged.
Morning training, followed by literacy lessons at the orphanage.
Then grueling training at the Swordsman’s Guild until he collapsed from exhaustion in the evening.
He expected this morning to be the same.
He was eating breakfast when he turned his head.
Someone was standing at the entrance of the inn.
“Silva!”
He jumped to his feet.
Silva looked haggard.
He approached Silva.
“How are you feeling?”
Silva smiled weakly.
“The poison was rough, but I’m much better now. Thanks to Aldein-nim, I’m no longer affected by it.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Skar-nim.”
Silva’s expression turned serious.
“Yes?”
He replied.
“I’m going to see Karin-nim.”
“Right now? Why don’t you rest for a while?”
Silva glanced at Anne and Tarman, then looked back at him.
“You’re managing the inn well, so I’m not needed here anymore. And one of my duties is to inform Karin-nim if anything happens to you.”
“You can just send a letter.”
“I’m a messenger.”
The white wolf beast-person smiled.
Jeong Yoo-shin saw that he had already decided.
“Alright. I won’t stop you, but be careful.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you later.”
Silva bowed his head and left the inn.
He watched Silva leave.
Karin’s tribe was about two months away from the city, so it would take Silva about four months to get there and come back.
He would wait for him patiently.
He didn’t know any other locations besides the villages along the Pilgrim’s Road and the Labyrinth City. There was nothing he could do outside the city anyway.
He returned to the table and sat down.
A small cage sat on the table.
A white rat was curled up inside.
Anne placed small pieces of vegetables in the cage, and the rat picked them up with its tiny hands and ate them methodically.
“So, has it been acting like a human?”
“…It seems intelligent, but not human.”
Anne replied.
He glared at the rat, which continued to eat while ignoring him.
“I’m still convinced it’s a person.”
“If you’re that concerned, you should take it to the temple and have it checked.”
Tarman looked at him with concern.
He seemed worried that Yoo-shin’s obsession with the rat was a sign of his madness resurfacing.
“I should. I feel like I’m going crazy.”
He had been talking to the rat every morning for two weeks. It was driving him insane.
He had been putting up with it because of the cost, but he couldn’t sacrifice his mental health for a silver coin.
He finished his breakfast, took the cage, left the inn, and headed towards the Earth Mother Goddess’ temple.
He showed the cage to the receptionist.
“I want to confirm if this rat is a person.”
“I see.”
The receptionist looked at him with pity.
“The imprint confirmation fee is one silver coin.”
“Here you go.”
He paid the fee and was immediately escorted to a small room with a male cleric.
The cleric chanted a spell in front of the cage, but he didn’t seem to hear it.
‘Is it a person or a rat? A rat or a person?’
He stared intently at the rat.
A faint light emanated from the cleric’s hand and enveloped the rat.
A moment later…
The cleric tilted his head.
“…I can’t detect any imprint. It seems to be just a rat.”
He stumbled at the unexpected words.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. You must have been mistaken.”
He stumbled out of the room, his mind reeling.
He sat down outside the temple, still holding the cage, and looked at the rat.
Perhaps he had overreacted due to his stress.
The inn’s financial difficulties and the increasing presence of the barbarians had made him on edge.
He closed his eyes and meditated for a moment, then he slapped his cheeks.
Creak.
He opened the cage.
“Go.”
The rat crawled out of the cage.
Its butt was plump as it had been well-fed for the past two weeks.
The rat looked him up and down, and then scurried into the bushes.
“What am I even doing?”
He ran a hand through his hair, looked up at the sky, and then entered the orphanage.
Diego was teaching the class today.
He hadn’t seen Mion in two weeks.
He felt a pang of guilt. Had he gone too far with her?
“Sigh.”
After the class, he ate lunch at the temple dining hall, and then he approached the receptionist.
“Mr. Skar, how can I help you? If you need counseling, I can call someone for you.”
The receptionist said.
Her tone was different, perhaps because of the incident with the rat that morning.
“I wrote a letter to Priestess Mion. Could you please deliver it to her?”
He had written the letter with his limited vocabulary and clumsy handwriting.
He hoped she would accept his apology.
“Certainly. We’re all worried about her as she hasn’t been feeling well lately. Thank you for this.”
The receptionist smiled.
“Yes. Then…”
He left the temple and ran to the Swordsman’s Guild.
“Your face is full of lust.”
Ashur said with a grin.
He felt a pang of guilt. The long-lived Sword Master was perceptive.
“What do you mean?”
He asked while trying to look nonchalant.
“Don’t bother pretending. I can see right through you. Focus on your training.”
‘Is he psychic?’
He frowned.
“Here, wear another sandbag.”
He shuffled over and attached the sandbags to his ankles.
“Run.”
“Yes, sir.”
He ran under the scorching sun.
His body, strengthened by his third labyrinth expedition, was adapting to the increasingly difficult training.
Clang!!!
Their swords clashed.
Screech!!!
A test of strength and skill.
Sparks flew from their training swords.
Ashur looked into his eyes.
Clang!!!
Ashur then disarmed him.
Thud.
His chest was completely exposed.
Ashur’s shoulder slammed into his solar plexus.
“Ugh.”
He stumbled backward.
“Good.”
Ashur said as he looked down at him.
“Can I enter the labyrinth now?”
He asked while wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Not yet. Besides, why are you so eager to enter the labyrinth? Is there honey in there?”
“I came to the Labyrinth City to explore the labyrinth. And I need money.”
He replied casually, dismissing Ashur’s question.
“Is that so? Then go to the Explorers Guild and find a job. There are other things to do here besides exploring the labyrinth.”
“I want to explore the labyrinth.”
“It’s something you’ll have to do eventually anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sigh. Do I have to explain everything to you?”
Ashur ran a hand through his hair.
“Listen closely. For rookie explorers to be promoted, they have to complete a certain number of quests within the city. I don’t remember the exact number. It’s been a while.”
“Are there other quests besides labyrinth exploration?”
“Plenty. Didn’t the Explorers Guild tell you about it?”
“No.”
“Well, I don’t know what their deal is. Go ask them then. You know the main point, right?”
“Yes. I’ll go ask them.”
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The next morning, he went to the Explorers Guild branch.
He felt awkward as he walked among the crowd.
It had been a while since he had been here due to various… incidents.
He paused in front of the guild building while catching his breath, and looked at the sign.
Nothing had changed.
He entered the building. It was crowded.
There were people carrying weapons.
There were people with backpacks standing up from tables with their party members.
And there were those who were clearly new to the Labyrinth City.
He joined the queue at the reception desk.
It was soon his turn.
“How can I help you?”
A dog beast-person asked with a smile.
He fiddled with his ring and spoke.
“I heard that there are other quests besides labyrinth exploration.”
“Ah, yes, there are.”
“I’m a rookie explorer, so I don’t know much about this. Why didn’t you tell me before?”
Another receptionist then interjected.
“Most rookie explorers prefer labyrinth exploration quests. We’ve had some… disagreements with newbie explorers regarding this matter in the past few months.”
A few months ago… That was when the influx of rookie explorers had begun.
The dog beast-person fidgeted while looking flustered.
“I see. Then can you recommend some quests to me that are within the city?”
“Certainly. Please wait a moment.”
The dog beast-person rummaged through the stack of documents on the counter.
“Found some!”
She exclaimed while holding up a few documents.
‘So cute.’
He covered his lips as he suppressed a smile.
“Ahem. There’s currently a request for labyrinth entrance guards.”
“What’s that? Doesn’t the City Guard usually handle that?”
“You know the magic circle at the labyrinth entrance? You would be guarding that. The City Guard handles the daytime shift, but they hire outside help for the night shift, from evening ‘til dawn.”
“Why?”
“…Because they’re tired?”
The dog beast-person tilted her head.
So they outsourced the night shift?
He thought for a moment.
“I’ll take it.”
“Alright.”
The dog beast-person took his explorer tag, checked his name, and wrote it down on the quest document.
“Please report to the guard post at the labyrinth entrance tomorrow evening. Do you know where it is?”
“Yes, I do.”
Of course, he did.
He had been to the guard post because of the Ditto incident.
And Luke had threatened him there too.
He had been told not to use Simus’s name again.
He still didn’t understand why Luke had been so sensitive about it.
He wanted to ask him if he had the chance.
“The reward is twenty copper coins a day since you’re a rookie explorer.”
That wasn’t much.
It was sixty silver coins a month if he worked every day.
Wouldn’t it be better to work at the monster dismantling shop?
He hesitated, then shook his head.
It was something he had to eventually do to be promoted.
Oh!
He had another question.
“What are the requirements for a rookie explorer to be promoted to intermediate-rank?”
“There are two requirements: complete ten guild quests and reach the fifth level of the labyrinth.”
“Just reach it? That’s all?”
“You have to reach it with party members of the same rank. This is to prevent people from joining high-ranking parties and easily reaching the fifth level.”
“I see.”
“Your duty starts tomorrow.”
“Yes, thank you.”
He left the Explorers Guild and headed towards the western district.
He planned to go to Boron’s blacksmith shop and buy some equipment.
And check on Einhorfer while he was there.
He felt a pang of regret at the thought of spending his hard-earned money.
Slap!
“Get a grip. Equipment is essential for survival.”
He muttered, slapping himself on the cheek.
He had been feeling stagnant lately as he was unable to enter the labyrinth.
But today, he was finally making progress.
His steps felt lighter.
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T/N – Happy New Year! 🎉 Let’s kick off 2025 with a mass release, yeah?
Well, the rat incident just felt sad for me. Seems like MC’s grip on reality is slipping. Hopefully he can fix it soon.
If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.
Oh shit!
A rat!
*starts jumping around the room*
Is the rat a familiar or something
Yeah, the rat is definitely hidding something, maybe someone has a possession imprint