Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: A Lingering Feeling
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“You're finally back. And as a magician, no less...”
Regardless of Rei looking at him with a gaze that revealed her complex emotions, Lee Si-woo checked the number of survivors.
Seeing only four survivors, including Rei and Ewin, Lee Si-woo asked in a cold voice.
“Is this everyone?”
“...Yes. There was an... incident.”
“An incident?”
“We were sent in to clear out a monster tribe to secure food.”
“Used as arrow fodder?”
“You could... see it that way, yes? Well, thanks to that, we had some openings... and after the cleanup was done, they lynched Ewin...”
Lee Si-woo, guessing what had transpired while he and Jin were in the labyrinth's heart, spoke with a blank expression.
“You've been through a lot.”
At his dry encouragement, Rei let out a faint sigh and said.
“More importantly... Ewin's not doing well. Can you take a look at him?”
Lee Si-woo silently approached Ewin.
Ewin, whose leg bones were shattered and whose organs were pierced by broken ribs, was coughing up blood.
“Cough, you're here.”
“Jin, can you heal him?”
Jin examined Ewin with the detached gaze of someone looking at an ant with its legs torn off, then shook his head.
“It's no use, brother. The injuries are too severe. It's impossible to treat him in a place with such poor medical facilities.”
How could he not know the state of his own body?
Ewin, already sensing his fate, let out a rattling laugh.
“Heh heh... What a relief.”
Lee Si-woo asked before he could stop himself.
“What's a relief? You're dying.”
“Cough, I'm an orphan... so there's no one to be sad for me.”
“...”
Rei shut her eyes tightly and muttered.
“That idiot...”
Ewin lay sprawled on the floor, gazing at the labyrinth's ceiling.
The ceiling, studded with glowing stones like stars, seemed particularly poignant today.
Ewin continued to cough up blood as he mumbled.
“Cough... I wanted to travel. The White Night Continent, where night is as bright as day, the Empire of the orcs, the Demon Country where the strong devour the weak, and the Golden Continent, where all the world's treasures are said to be... I wanted to see them all...”
Strangely, his voice grew clearer as he neared death.
Sensing the end was near, Lee Si-woo suddenly asked.
“Do you have any last words?”
Ewin looked at Lee Si-woo with hazy eyes and said.
“I don't... want to die...”
His words faded.
Watching Ewin's head fall, his eyes still open, Rei tilted her head back as if to swallow her tears.
“Sons of bitches...”
Rei, who continued to mutter a stream of curses too vile to repeat, looked at Lee Si-woo with reddened eyes.
“I know this is a shameless request. But still... I have to beg you. Revenge. Can you do it? You're a magician now... you could...”
Lee Si-woo swept his palm over Ewin's eyes, closing them.
Looking at Ewin, who seemed to have passed away peacefully in his sleep save for the bloodstains around his mouth, Lee Si-woo replied bluntly.
“I'm sorry. I wasn't close enough to Ewin to get revenge for him.”
His reply was so cold that Rei seemed to forget her disappointment, her voice hollow.
“...I suppose so. We weren't friends or comrades. Yes, just... acquaintances. But still... that's a bit... heartless.”
Lee Si-woo stood up and said.
“We're not close enough for you to feel I'm being heartless.”
Rei let out a hollow laugh and shook her head.
His callous attitude made her reconsider her choice to side with him over Martin.
As if guessing her inner thoughts, Lee Si-woo asked as he walked past her.
“Why did you side with me instead of Martin? He was your colleague for a long time, while I was just a newcomer you'd never met before.”
Rei scoffed as if it didn't matter and replied dismissively.
“Who knows. Why did I? I must have been crazy.”
“Rei. Don't let unnecessary emotions sway you and miss a good opportunity. Please, answer wisely. I am no longer the incompetent newcomer I once was.”
Lee Si-woo's calm voice brought her back to reality, and Rei bit her lower lip.
He was a cold and heartless man.
And she was in a position where she had to cling to him, begging, just to survive.
“Would you believe me if I said it was purely out of goodwill?”
“The Pit is not a place where one can survive on goodwill alone.”
Rei's eyes twitched at Lee Si-woo's question, which seemed to dig deep into her heart.
From the moment she first saw him, she had thought he was no ordinary newcomer.
But now, she realized that assessment had been a gross understatement.
This man was strange.
Everyone has a first time, so it was natural for most newcomers to be incompetent or helpless.
Especially for an outworlder, not of this world.
‘But... this one is different.’
Even in desperate and wretched situations, he never gave up. In the end, he managed to survive against Martin and Kyle, the harvest season, the monster—all those terrible conditions.
Faced with such a bizarre, almost grotesque outcome, a strange thought occurred to her.
‘It's as if... he was prepared for this very day, isn't it?’
Rei quickly shook her head, trying to banish the foolish thought, and said with a deep sigh.
“...I have a younger brother.”
“A younger brother...”
“He's the reason I have to make it back alive. And I simply made what I thought was a wise choice. Look at how the beastmen and elves treat us... Heh, if I had sided with them like Martin... I would have ended up dead like Ewin. So I bet on you. I thought it was the more promising option.”
Rei looked at Lee Si-woo with a sorrowful expression.
“So? Are you satisfied now?”
Lee Si-woo smiled faintly.
A warm smile, like the heat from a campfire.
But to her, who had been through so much with him, it seemed as artificial as a doll's smile.
“Yes, I am satisfied. And...”
Lee Si-woo said as he walked away.
“You'll be seeing him soon. Your brother.”
* * *
“Here. Ten branches from the World Tree.”
After confirming the ten World Tree branches Lala placed on the ground, Lee Si-woo asked.
“How did you get them?”
Lala shot him a fierce glare.
“For the one who ordered me to get the branches to ask such a question so brazenly... How rude.”
Lee Si-woo's lips twisted.
“Do you want to see what's truly rude?”
“...We drew lots to choose a sacrifice.”
“And they accepted that so easily. Ah, but of course, I assume your name wasn't in the lot. Am I wrong?”
Lala felt tears welling up at the humiliation of being treated this way by a human who, just a few days ago, was less than the dirt under her fingernails.
But she desperately held them back.
The moment she showed tears, it would feel like a true defeat to Lee Si-woo.
“Haa... Yes, it wasn't. Are you satisfied now?”
“23. It's quite a charming number.”
Realizing that number meant the surviving elves, Lala raised an eyebrow.
“What's so charming about it?”
“Nothing. More importantly, I heard some elves entered the Pit voluntarily... Why are you so desperate to leave, even at the cost of your own kind?”
“Are you serious? It's all because of you! Do you think we're idiots? So stupid we don't know what it means for you to leave before the magician arrives?”
It was obvious who the magician would take his anger out on once he found out Lee Si-woo had escaped.
Lala knew that even if they revealed everything about Lee Si-woo, they would be as good as dead.
“Is it because you're an elf? You're quite sharp. A bit different from the mutt next door.”
Speak of the devil. Jeoji, who had just arrived with two large bundles slung over his shoulders, spoke up.
“I know how little you think of me, but if you're going to insult me, do it to my face. It feels like shit to overhear it by accident.”
Lee Si-woo sneered with a smirk.
“You should really fix that habit of running your mouth without knowing your place. It would be a shame if you died because of it.”
“...Damn it, that's harsh. Can't you let a little whining slide? Do you know how much trouble I went through pulling out my subordinates' fangs and claws? I was almost eaten by them!”
“That's not my problem.”
“Hoo... Talking more will just hurt my mouth. Here, take it.”
Jeoji dropped one of the two bundles at Lee Si-woo's feet.
Opening the bundle revealed a tangled mess of fangs and claws, still stained with blood.
Beastmen fangs and claws were often used as materials for accessories, so while not expensive, they didn't sell for cheap either.
For Lee Si-woo, who was penniless, this would surely be enough for travel expenses for the time being.
Of course, the most useful material was the World Tree branches.
“This should be enough.”
“So, are we leaving now? Where are we going? The emergency exit?”
Lee Si-woo shook his head.
“Only high-level individuals like me and the labyrinth's master can use the emergency exit, so let's take the stairs. However...”
In Lee Si-woo's view, the beastmen, who had finished their preparations to leave, were striding towards them.
Seeing their poor condition, likely from having just had their fangs and claws pulled, Lee Si-woo wore a faint smile.
Lee Si-woo flicked his finger, and the golden ring on his middle finger emitted a glow.
Seeing a net of light absorb the World Tree branches and the bundle, Lala cried out in surprise.
“An inventory? Y-You. You had an artifact like that too?”
An inventory was a subspace artifact that every magician possessed, but no matter how common, it wasn't cheap enough for Lee Si-woo, who had been in this world for less than a week, to obtain.
“The labyrinth's master gave it to me, so don't be surprised.”
“...What is your relationship with the labyrinth's master?”
“We're like brothers. Well, not by choice.”
Jeoji clicked his tongue softly.
‘Owning a labyrinth in the Pit requires considerable wealth... How could a guy like him be friends with someone so rich? Hah, the more I learn, the less I understand. I can't read him at all, inside or out, so I have no idea how to handle him.’
Were they trying to deduce how Lee Si-woo became friends with the labyrinth's master?
Lee Si-woo spoke to Lala and Jeoji, who were silently pondering for a while.
“Do you know something?”
As Lala and Jeoji simultaneously lifted their heads to look at him, Lee Si-woo said in a soft tone.
“He said his dream was to travel.”
“Who? Rei? Or the labyrinth's master?”
As if communication didn't matter, Lee Si-woo continued speaking on his own.
“He said it was a relief. Because he was an orphan.”
Lala frowned at Lee Si-woo's attitude, muttering incomprehensible things out of the blue.
“Who are you talking about right now?”
“He was so talkative when we first met, and just as talkative when he left.”
Jeoji grunted and scratched the back of his head irritably.
“Enough with the chatter. Let's go. You said we're taking the stairs?”
“To be honest, we weren't even close. Not close enough that I'd even attend his funeral if I heard he died. But I don't know why he had to die right in front of me.”
Lee Si-woo pointed his index finger at Jeoji's forehead.
Seeing the translucent energy gathering at Lee Si-woo's fingertip, Jeoji tried to react in terror, but it was too late.
The Magic Arrow that had already been fired completely shattered Jeoji's head.
*SPLAT!*
Amidst the fragments of flesh and blood that exploded like a firework, Lee Si-woo muttered.
“Such a lingering feeling.”