Chapter 2
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Awakening (2)
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"Grrk...! Uuugh..."
"Cain!! Are you coming to?"
"Caaaain!!!"
Ahh, fuck, this is annoyingly loud. Who the hell are these people?
"Over here!! Priest!! Cain's come to!!!"
"Hweeeeng!!!"
This is fucked. It's getting even louder. Look at these people, zero manners in what feels like the ICU.
"Brother Claude, please calm down... First, let me check on Brother Cain."
"Yes! Please do!"
"Hic... sob!!"
Anyway, it's suffocating in here. Where's the cast? Why am I wrapped head to toe like a mummy...
"Well now... Brother Cain, do you recognize me?"
Blink-
"It seems like you can hear me, but do you know who I am?"
"H... hello?"
What the fuck? This foreigner speaks Korean fluently. Naturalized or something?
"Hello? What does that mean?"
"...."
Something's off.
I clearly remember getting hit by a truck, but even though I can't turn my head because of the stiff bandages wrapping it, the ceiling in my view looks like it's from a wooden building, and there's no smell of disinfectants typical of an ER or hospital.
My whole body feels stiff not from injuries, but because it's wrapped like a mummy.
No beeping from an EKG machine either.
The foreigner talking to me now isn't even in a doctor's coat—he's wearing something like priestly robes.
And.
"You little shit, is your mind going now too? Cain!!"
"Hweeeeng!!!"
The guy and girl who had been noisily sobbing on either side suddenly shoved their faces toward me and started talking.
The guy looked huge and muscular, wearing... armor?
"Uh...?"
"Don't fuck around for real!!"
A blond, blue-eyed Westerner with sharp, manly features and smooth, tanned bronze skin stared at me with teary eyes.
"Golden Sun...?"
"What the hell are you saying, man!!! Sob..."
He gaped blankly at my response like he didn't understand, then started crying. I barely managed to look down at the girl pressed heavily against my chest.
"Cain... hweeeeng!!!"
A pink-haired bob-cut girl came into view.
Her puppy-like innocent eyes brimmed with tears as she looked at me and wailed sadly... Oh.
'Fuck... those tits are huge and heavy...'
Squish!!!
"Cough!"
As I rolled my eyes to carefully check out the girl's body clinging to mine, despite her small frame, the massive, heavy milk bags on my stomach made me nosebleed and pass out while she cried.
"Cain!!!!"
"So, Priest, what do you think of that guy's condition right now?"
"Hm... Well... It's not the mania or corrosion symptoms you see in explorers delving the mid-layers of the Labyrinth or deeper, but it looks kind of like a mental delusion..."
"Not a curse, but he leveled up and got a blessing—could that cause this?"
"Hm..."
When I regained consciousness, I heard the priest and Claude seriously discussing things by my bedside.
Squish!
"Snooore..."
And Sia was still on my stomach, her huge breasts pillowed under her head as she drooled in sleep.
In truth, I'd snapped out of it right after the nosebleed faint, but the memories flooding my mind left me rattled, so I'd pretended to pass out again.
'Not possession—reincarnation...'
My last memory was the dump truck from the opposite lane on my way home from work crashing into me. Feeling pain all over when I woke up, I figured it was the ICU or ER—who'd think I'd recall my past life's memories?
Cain, 21, had come to the Labyrinth city two years ago with childhood friends Claude and Sia to live as an explorer.
And other memories of Cain's birth and life slowly surfacing... Not quite possession, more like awakening to reincarnation?
'But why me? I didn't do anything special.'
I just had a modest hobby of reading webnovels before bed. Never did anything to deserve soul-possession bullshit.
Honestly, as a gluttonous reader who devoured everything, I'd only ever left admiring comments, never hate ones.
Not complete, but piecing together Cain's fragmentary memories with Claude and the priest's chatter, it seemed like a Labyrinth world... I'd recently enjoyed a few Labyrinth stories, but the vibe felt a bit different.
Trying to recall Cain's memories in detail gave me a splitting headache, so I'd sleep it off and think later.
"Then, once Cain's stable, you should head to the Explorer Guild first and update your card..."
"...Yeah, got it. Thanks, Priest."
Claude finished talking with the priest, sighed deeply, and plopped into the chair opposite where Sia sat.
Soon after, nervous leg-shaking from his chair and an anxious voice leaked out.
"Ah... Newface today was killer..."
To me, with Cain's recent memories crystal clear, Claude's mutter was ridiculous.
You little shit?
Then I felt Claude stand, grab Sia's shoulder, and shake it.
Rub rub
Oh... fucking nice... The heavy, soft masses on my abdomen jiggled back and forth with his movements... Wow...
"Sia... Sia..."
"Mmm... Hehe, Claude..."
"Anyway, since Cain might wake up, can you stay by his side? Got it?"
"Mmm? What about Claude?"
"Me? I... gotta settle the mana stones today and handle the cleanup Cain was doing."
"Ah...!"
"So Sia, I'm counting on you alone?"
"Yeah, leave it to me!! I'll take good care of Cain."
"Good. You're the only one I can count on, Sia!"
"Hehe."
Clank!
"I'll settle the stones and drop off the gear first. You stay here with Cain even if it's uncomfortable."
"Got it!"
"Hand over the staff and gear too."
Clink! Clink!
"Here!"
"Alright, I'll be back."
"Yeah, come back safe!!"
The heavy armor sounds faded away, leaving the Aid Station in silence.
"Hehehe... Cain! Claude petted my head!"
"..."
Hearing Sia brag to me—still pretending to be out—about that made me pissed.
'Wait, was Cain a total pushover?'
Cain—no, me now—in this chaotic situation, I just tried to sleep and wait for my body to recover.
I slept deeply and woke the next morning.
Sia wasn't just awake—she'd claimed the empty bed next to me and was snoring away. Claude sat in the chair by my bed, fidgeting like a guilty puppy, staring at me anxiously.
"...."
"Cain? You... good now, right?"
"Yeah. Claude."
"Y... yeah?"
"Bring the mana stone settlement."
"Th-that..."
"Sia told me everything."
"Huh?!"
Of course, Sia had been asleep the whole time, but whatever.
"Hurry up, go get the payout for those 90 lowest-grade mana stones from yesterday?"
"It's..."
"Don't tell me your dying childhood friend was lying here puking blood on the brink of death, but you got excited thinking of swinging by Hawk's place for some newface pussy, went and had a longer night than expected into morning?"
Twitch!!!!
Having slept and recalled most of Cain's memories overnight, roasting Claude based on his actions turned his face pale as he grimaced pitifully.
"Th-that... wa-wait...!"
"Fuck your curse excuses, you little shit!!"
Pok!!!
"Argh!!! My eye!! My eye!!!"
"Quit whining, your level's high enough."
"M-my eyeballs aren't trained, you psycho!!!"
"Haa... Fine, so how much is left?"
"Ugh..."
"Don't say you blew all nine silver coins?"
Bet he used the curse excuse to boldly cover Hawk's rice cake fee too.
I hadn't expected much, but acting too out of character might make Claude or Sia suspicious, so normal for now.
"It's..."
"I told you last time—leave half the party funds, and even if you skim our shares, Sia and I don't spend except on gear or consumables."
"Right?"
"So what's left?"
"....."
"Leftover money."
Thud!
"SorryIwentforlightdrinksandrumwithHawkgoodvibesnewgirlwassoperfectwantedallnightbutHawkwantedinsoontopofthedrinks-"
Shing-
"Sorry!!!!"
I drew the dagger by my bed and glared; Claude slammed his head to the floor apologizing.
"Hoo... Whatever. Hurry and discharge me, then to the guild."
"Y-you... really?!"
"Yeah, not letting it slide—just postponing the chewing out. Don't get too happy."
"Ugh!"
I ignored Claude crumpled on the floor, changed clothes, and woke Sia.
"Sia."
"Hnnng..."
Squeeze!
"Kyaaang!"
Pinching her cheek made her wake teary-eyed.
Seeing those heavy sacks jiggle first thing in the morning eased my irritation and lifted my mood.
"Eh? Cain??"
"Heading to the dorm. Get up, Sia."
"Eh..! Claude? Eh??"
Her messy hair and drool trail on her mouth as she groggily looked around.
She alternated glances at the fine me and Claude, then patted her head and face, checking herself.
"Kyaaak!!"
Scramble!!
She bolted upright and fled outside.
"Haa... Let's go."
"Yeah..."
"Oh! Cain, you're back to yourself!"
The priest smiled, approaching us bickering.
"Yes, thank you. Julius."
"Can we pay the treatment fee after hitting the dorm and Explorer Guild?"
"No problem! Super rookies of Labyrinth City! Claude's party gets it!"
What an embarrassing nickname.
"See you this afternoon."
"May the goddess's blessing be upon you—"
"Ah!!! Ouch!! Cain, e-easy!!! Argh!!"
We left Priest Julius—who'd politely seen us off—by yanking Claude's mutton chops as we headed to the dorm.