Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Another World Hunting Pub Experience (2)
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Hunting pub.
I'd never been to one myself—zero interest—but I knew the basic setup.
Drink up, spot someone, join their table, head to round two... and if you're lucky, spend the night.
Given how the devs had transplanted the gritty dawn vibes of Korea's freelance labor market into this game, this place was probably just like a real-world hunting pub.
Affinity's gonna be key here.
The ability to chat up total strangers without a hint of awkwardness.
The knack for cracking jokes to lighten the mood and blend right in.
Not bad at all.
And luckily, I had confidence in my people skills.
Hell, I'm a travel vlogger. If I couldn't talk my way out of a paper bag, I'd have shut down my channel ages ago.
Alright, let's do this.
Time to find a solid (disposable) travel buddy to check out some great sights with.
With that resolve, I headed toward the hunting pub tucked into the basement of a building.
"Oh my, look at that fair-skinned cutie. Here alone?"
"Newbie? Wanna join the big sisters?"
"Heard of nutria jerky? The meat's to die for. Sis'll catch you some. Wanna head out?"
A barrage of pickup lines from women calling themselves "sisters" came flying my way.
Wait, wasn't this a gender-reversed world?
"God, those South American bitches... hope a pack of Black Dogs mauls the lot of 'em..."
The young waiter at the hunting pub where Will had entered grumbled about the stench of desperation hanging in the air, same as always.
Women well past their prime caking on makeup to snag young guys—it never got easier to stomach, no matter how used to it he tried to get.
He'd once asked his uncle, the shop owner, why things were like this.
—What else? The men drop like flies, that's why.
His uncle had said that, holding up his severed arm.
The underground world of reversed genders stemmed from the high female ratio among low-rank explorers.
—The shittier the expedition party, the more they stick women in the rear guard by tradition. Which jacks up the death rate for the guys up front.
So what happens when you end up with a bunch of low-rank women who've racked up experience but no real skill?
They miss the marriage boat, get stuck here taking low-level gigs, and turn into spinsters scraping by.
And the spot where those spinsters gathered to "hunt" rookies under the guise of partying was—
—right here.
The origins were different, but it had circled back to serving the same purpose as Korea's hunting pubs.
—Poor rookies.
Fresh-faced explorers who fell for the women's charms rarely met good ends.
Getting off with just an STD after a hookup was lucky by comparison.
Some croaked from diseases picked up on expeditions; others got dragged into crimes and harvested for organs in dark alleys.
Once the "hunting crowd" became a social issue in the Threshold, even the guild—usually hands-off—started sending inspectors around.
—Ding.
Right then, the bell at the entrance chimed.
A voluptuous woman in a hood slipped inside.
The boy's face twisted the moment he spotted her.
Today's off to a shitty start.
If there was a queen bitch, this was her—perched at the top of the pyramid.
Her name was Asbal or something. Some guild leader.
She threw around cash so freely even his uncle couldn't touch her, but the rumors were vile.
Guys who joined her guild never came back.
"Back again, lady? What'd you do with the last guy you dragged off?"
"Wanna know?"
Rude as it was, Asbal just grinned back.
She put up with a bit of lip from any decent-looking guy.
That smile says she wrecked another one.
Disgust spread across the boy's face.
"Don't look at me like that~ Without me, half this place's sales vanish. Your one-armed uncle'd be out on the street."
Grind.
True enough to piss him off even more.
These loose women explorers propped up the bar's revenue with their booze tabs.
"...If you know that, pay up big."
"Gotcha~ I'll hook you up today too, so chill."
Asbal ordered a drink, turned her head, and—
"Found him."
—flashed a satisfied smile, like she'd spotted her prey.
A young man sat where her gaze landed.
Innocent looks. Sloppy overall, but cleaned up, he might pass for handsome.
Hit all of Great Bitch Asbal's tastes, in other words.
That guy's today's sacrifice.
Some bad luck there.
The boy silently wished the man peace in the afterlife.
"Hey, kid? Get that guy a dri—"
—Flick.
Asbal was about to make her move when the basement's mana lamps flickered off, then on.
—Snap!
When the lights blazed back—
"Huh?"
The man was gone.
"Where'd he go? Ugh, fix the damn lights!"
Asbal waddled off through the crowd, hunting for him, her massive hips swaying.
Mister, stay safe out there.
The boy sighed, trudging to the storeroom to check the lights.
"..."
He missed the tiny figure slipping into the pub.
These lights suck.
I grimaced at the constant flickering.
Sigh, not this place after all.
The guy who tipped me off had warned me, but I didn't expect it to be crawling with thirsty cougars.
Would've at least tagged along for the clown show if the spot was decent...
But most of these folks seemed more into the bait than the sightseeing, so I had to pass on invites.
There were a few okay prospects, but the vibe made it tough to butt in.
Timing... need the right moment.
As I nursed my drink, dodging another "sis" offering to buy me one—
"N-no, stop!"
"C'mon, why play hard to get? Just have a drink~?"
"Heh, acting all shy."
Two guys were hassling a woman.
One blond with sun-baked dark skin. The other balding, swarthy.
...I know it's rude, but the first looked like Golden Sun mixed with some backwoods breeder uncle.
"I-I have... other plans... Eek!"
The woman, meanwhile, was fragile as glass—noble vibes, like some sheltered lady.
Leather tunic screamed explorer, but near-new condition pegged her as greener than me.
Those guys...
One of the folks I'd scoped while circling the pub.
Looks like Golden Sun was trying to hit on her.
Not going well, judging by their getups.
"C'mon~ Just drinks? We can talk, that's all~!"
"Kyaa!"
Golden Sun grabbed her wrist, hyped up.
This is getting dicey.
Seemed chill enough to hold off, but not anymore.
Situation's bad.
Guess I gotta step in.
Deep breath. I strode up to the guys.
"That's enough."
"Huh? Who're you?"
"Hey, this is a hunting pub! Nothing weird here~!"
The two protested my sudden intrusion.
"..."
The woman eyed me, expectant.
"Got a proposal."
All six eyes locked on me.
I mustered my courage.
"Travel. Instead of her, how about with me?"
"..."
"..."
Silence.
Golden Sun and Breeder Uncle blinked at each other.
"Eh?"
The woman looked baffled.
...Totally expected.
"...Thinking I'm some gay dude right now? Misunderstanding. Let me explain."
I cleared the air.
"You two were planning to tour Broken Spear Old Castle up north but needed someone to cover costs, right?"
"Wha— H-how?!"
"Overheard you."
Yeah.
They were prime "candidates" I'd marked while mingling.
Touring buddies.
Chatting among themselves, iffy impressions held me back, but travel goals beat out the booze hags chasing one-nighters.
And now this lady's stealing them?
If she shot them down, fine. But if Golden Sun's charm won her over, they'd ghost me for sure.
No way that's happening.
Strike out again and tourism's dead for real.
"Hey, you nuts?! Why the hell would I travel with a dude?!"
Golden Sun yelled.
Fair point.
Normally, yeah.
But—
"Even so, ditching your childhood sweetheart—who you've promised marriage to—for some incompatible hunting 'cause a friend dared you? That's not cool, right?"
"...! How'd you—?!"
Golden Sun yelped in shock.
"Heard you griping in the bathroom."
Couldn't miss it while he groveled to his girl on the pot.
"So that's it?! No wonder a shy farmboy like you—face blackened from fieldwork—is so gung-ho on hunting...!"
Breeder Uncle jabbed at Golden Sun.
"You said it, asshole! 'No one-nights by my age, off with your dick!' S-so...!"
"That was a joke! I've never done it either! Honestly, I just wanted to see if you'd score, then tourist."
"...What?"
Classic bro stuff.
Lie to save face, other guy buys it and lies bigger.
Ends with both doing shit they hate.
"...Damn, thought you wanted girls."
"As if. Got a girlfriend I'm serious about marrying."
Their misunderstanding cleared up quick.
Weird they pulled off pure love with those mugs, but I'm no Fey—don't judge books by covers. Cheered their bromance purely.
"Dude, thanks."
"Yeah, you'd have saved me pointless guilt."
Golden Sun and Breeder Uncle finally relaxed, thanking me.
"And miss, sorry for being rough. Heard going strong on girls is popular here... My bad. Drinks on me as apology."
"...O-okay."
Even apologized to the woman they'd hassled.
Gentler than expected.
"Great. So, shall we chat about tomorrow's castle tour?"
"Heehee, sounds good!"
"Looking forward to it, bro!"
Yes! This is it.
Not that Fey or Regen bugged me, but guy trips have a unique bro-bond joy girls can't match.
My top vlog vids were with a random Black bro in Detroit, not chicks.
"So, where's this castle?"
Spot set, crew locked. Good vibes.
This trip's gonna rock!
"Heh heh, that Will guy's a riot, huh?"
"Kek, yeah. Talks so funny... Tomorrow'll be fun."
Golden Sun and Breeder Man traded Will praise post-split, heading to their inn.
"Huh? That lady over..."
Then Golden Sun stopped.
His gaze fixed on the alley's end.
"You're that girl from the pub..."
Definitely the one he'd grabbed.
Frail build, timid face.
But—
"Oh, hi."
Same girl, totally different aura.
Those terror-filled blue eyes now gleamed with mockery.
Most terrifying—
"L-look! A b-body...!"
"Gah!"
The middle-aged woman's corpse at her feet.
Death was grotesque: she'd stabbed her own pointed wand into her ear.
No sane person suicides like that.
"Don't fret. This trash wasn't worth keeping alive."
—Wipe wipe.
She rubbed blood off her shoe on the corpse's clothes.
"Asbal, right? Trash of trash doing human experiments on boys. Too much hassle to feed to Number Three, so I just took care of it."
Cleaned up, she approached the pair.
Rings on her fingers sparkled.
"This got messy, huh? I was supposed to eat a punch from that guy and bail. Heh, solving it like that."
"Th-that guy? Will?"
"Yep. Teased your desires a bit for it. Didn't the urge to hit 'Madman's Castle' hit outta nowhere?"
"...!"
Cold sweat down their backs.
Didn't get every detail, but one thing clear:
Everything at that pub was in her palm.
"Here's a proposal."
She smirked at them.
"What?"
"That bro you made plans with. Mind if I borrow him?"
"Borrow how—"
"Simple. I'll take his spot tomorrow. You two just bow out."
"And if we refuse?"
"Ask her how that goes."
"C'mon, dead girls can't talk."
"Can't take a joke? No wonder you're unpopular."
"Don't need it. A man's good with one girl liking him."
Golden Sun's tongue trembled.
He eyed the corpse's empty sockets, then his shaking buddy.
Then—
—Sching.
"Heh... Offer declined."
Drew his blade on her.
Her eyes lit up.
"...Why?"
"If you're after Will, you won't leave witnesses alive. Gotta fight then."
"Not after harm?"
"Kek, then you'd spare us easy. Odds say fighting breaks even."
"...Brains and balls. Guild scout material."
She kissed her ring.
"Wha— That guy's doing someth—!"
Breeder Man spotted it, but—
—Strangle until unconscious.
Her whisper hit first.
"Wha— Hands moving on their own!"
"Gack— Throat... Urk...!"
They clawed their own necks.
—Thud! Thud!
Moans cut short.
—Click.
Heels echoed; night silence returned.
One corpse, two knockouts.
A black card on the fallen men gleamed gold-embossed: Broken Spear Guild.
Next day, Golden Sun and Breeder Man were no-shows.
Buddy gacha bombed this time.
Lightning meetups are risky.
No trust.
Probably passed out drunk. Did all the pre-scouting last night for nothing...
Standard when linking with randos.
Hype the plans, then ghost day-of.
Damn it.
Always the only one serious.
Phrenology's real science.
Then—
"Um, excuse me... You're that guy from yesterday, right...?"
A vaguely familiar woman approached hesitantly.
If memory served, the lady Golden Sun's crew hassled.
What's she doing here?