Welcome to the Museum (3)

“……”

The message surfaced naturally, as if it had been waiting for the moment we crossed the threshold.

So this was the quest you got the instant you entered. I supposed “museum tour” was just the dungeon’s way of saying clear the place.

After skimming the notification, I looked around. What met my eyes was a rather splendid stone chamber.

Unlike the outer wall, which had been enclosed by bare rock, the inside had an entirely different atmosphere.

Interesting.

What interested me most of all was the being standing before us.

The boy, who looked rather cute in his own way, bowed politely as if he had known from the start that we would come.

So that’s what it is.

I couldn’t see the status window or information window of the yellow-haired boy. All I could see was a description of the dummy itself.

Mind's Eye really is convenient.

Someone with enough skill might have been able to tell at a glance that this wasn’t the real body, but ordinary people like me would have had no way of knowing. Without Mind's Eye, I probably wouldn’t have suspected a thing.

His appearance had a slightly object-like feel to it. There was no emotion in his eyes, and his formal posture somehow gave off an alien sense of wrongness.

He was handsome, technically speaking, but in all honesty he looked almost cute.

A homunculus?

Probably not.

I had no idea how much power the Rift Guardians possessed, but Manager Max wasn’t a homunculus.

Creating a perfect life-form was already the kind of thing you’d only call divine.

Of course, even creating a being like this without it being a living creature was no easy feat, and my curiosity about the Rift Guardians began to bubble up.

What the hell are they?

Before I could even sort out my thoughts, a voice rang out.

Only then did it truly sink in that we had entered the Museum of Rifts.

“Welcome to the Museum of Rifts, explorers of the museum.”

“……”

The one surprised by our calm nods was, if anything, him.

“You’re not aggressive. Usually the people who come in here start preparing for battle the moment they step inside, but….”

If we hadn’t had any information about this place either, we would have reacted the same way.

There was no way to tell whether the being in front of us was a manager or a named monster.

Apparently the silence had become awkward, because Park Yeonju slowly opened her mouth.

We’d already read the report beforehand, so it was much easier to respond.

At the very least, I already knew that nothing would begin attacking the instant we entered.

The first order of business was to casually sightsee around the museum. The second was to pry loose whatever information we could before this thing realized what we were doing.

“I’ve heard enough from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the most recent explorer to tour this museum. I also know you’re the manager of this place.”

“I thought you might. I did send someone out a few weeks ago. So you’re the people they sent.”

“Yes. To be precise, the people currently isolated in the museum are under my command. Are they…?”

“If you’re asking whether they’re alive… yes. They are still alive.”

Park Yeonju looked visibly relieved at Max’s words. She had said she’d come as quickly as possible, but enough time had still passed to make her anxious.

“Thank goodness. Is there any way to rescue them again?”

“Of course. It is only proper compensation to give exhibited goods to those who complete the museum tour. Besides, they are not yet people who have been exhibited here.”

“……”

“In truth, this is my first time having a specimen summoned from another dimension, so I considered whether I should exhibit them. However, I felt that would lower the museum’s dignity, so I couldn’t help hesitating a little.”

“……”

“Still, seeing the guests who have visited today makes me feel very relieved that I did not put them on display in the empty spaces.”

“What…?”

“I never imagined that a soul twisted by causality would come here.”

He was clearly looking at Kim Hyunsung.

Thankfully he didn’t babble anything about regression, but it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seemed Kim Hyunsung looked different to him than everyone else did.

Does he even have Mind's Eye?

The odds of that were slim.

More likely, he simply had a keen eye for objects that could be exhibited as a museum manager.

He had merely said that causality was twisted; he didn’t seem to know Hyunsung was a regressor.

Kim Hyunsung didn’t look especially flustered. He just stared at the mass of mana in front of him.

“And then there’s a dragon, which is supposed to be hard to come by these days.”

His gaze shifted next to Dialugia.

“How many thousands of years have you lived?”

“Am I obligated to answer?”

“If that was an impertinent question, I apologize. I was merely pleased to see you. There used to be so many dragons, if memory serves… Of course, given dragon biology, it wouldn’t be strange if their line were to die out at any time, but—ah! That was careless of me. I’m sorry.”

Perhaps he had gotten a little excited, because he was talking far more than before.

So he’s not a machine.

Unlike what I’d assumed at first, he seemed to have feelings too.

He wasn’t a flawless human being.

That was information I could definitely use later.

I casually shifted my gaze to Dialugia.

She was still in a foul mood, unable to shake off the sorrow of being separated from her little Dumdum.

No wonder she looked annoyed after being hit with such an impolite remark right out of the gate.

Still, she didn’t lash out. Instead, she merely nodded calmly.

It was true, after all—when it didn’t concern Dumdum, she was perfectly rational.

“There’s no need to apologize. It’s true that more and more people are giving up their duty to bear children. I haven’t seen many of my own kind in a long time, either… traditions and obligations of the race are hardly being observed anymore. There are probably fewer than three dragons left who still have children.”

“I see. What a pity. Hmm… now that I think about it, you have produced offspring.”

“Only recently.”

“Ah… I also remember the Guardians saying that you were important beings. Dragons, like the Guardians, existed to preserve the continent’s balance and safety. If you already have descendants, I’m afraid it would be difficult to exhibit someone like you in the museum. Instead… hmm… perhaps a dragon horn would—”

“I have no intention of leaving my horn in a place like this.”

“I’m not asking for it for free, of course. Ah… yes! What about this, then? I think it would be a very good trade.”

The moment he finished speaking, a grinding sound echoed through the entire museum.

I couldn’t make out the mechanism clearly, but it felt as though something internal had begun moving.

Before long, the glass wall embedded in the museum’s entrance slid inward, and a new display case emerged.

What made it interesting was the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠object visible inside the glass.

A very large box was packed tight with all kinds of tools I had never seen before.

That…

What the hell…

I had expected them to have all sorts of bizarre exhibits, but I never would have imagined something like that would be on display.

That was exactly when Dialugia’s eyes lit up.

For a second, I worried she might actually hand over her own horn on the spot.

“Ah! This is….”

“What do you think?”

“W-Where did you get this?”

“What do you think?”

At this rate, it really looked like a deal might happen.

Needless to say, from her head to her tail, she was absolutely mine to keep.

I couldn’t let the thing I considered the most valuable of all be casually offered up to the museum.

I didn’t want to get involved, but I had no choice but to interfere.

“Dialugia, I’ll make you something similar. If Dumdum saw that his mother’s head had lost a horn, he’d be devastated.”

“B-But….”

“I’ll make you an item of the same grade. Using your scales. Even if that thing was made by a Dragon Lord, it would still mean more if your mother made it herself.”

“Ah… I suppose that’s true.”

Even while answering, she still couldn’t take her eyes off the object, so she must have been thoroughly bewitched.

She looked exactly like a housewife staring at a shopping channel.

“Dumdum would like that one more, too. And… it does look valuable, but… that’s secondhand.”

I lowered my voice a little further.

“Dialugia, if you’re satisfied, then by all means make the trade. But I really ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠don’t want to see our lovely Dumdum using something someone else already used.”

The last line was probably the killing blow.

Secondhand.

No mother would use a secondhand baby bottle for her child.

At last, her face showed that she had shaken off all lingering attachment, and I could finally relax a little.

Of course, the dungeon manager, who had lost out on a very good opportunity, was now frowning at me.

It took only a few seconds for his expression to shift into one of surprise.

“You….”

“Yes?”

“You have something astonishing as well.”

Shit…

“How can a being so lowly and insignificant possess something so precious? May I inspect your body a little more closely?”

I understood immediately what he was talking about.

Mind's Eye?

The only thing I had worth boasting about was that.

It had been rated Legendary, and even now a number of its functions were still restricted, so I knew it had plenty of value. But I never thought it would be enough to startle a museum manager who kept a Mythic-grade item in his own collection.

Could it mean… there’s still room for it to evolve further?

I had a number of thoughts, but what concerned me most in the present moment was the looks on everyone else’s faces.

If they heard that a plain-looking guy like me possessed something worth displaying in a museum, they’d naturally be curious.

I had no choice but to answer in a hurry.

“I’ll have to decline.”

“I apologize if that was sudden. However….”

He still didn’t seem to know exactly what I had.

He was muttering something, but of course I had no intention of letting him peer into my eyes.

Apparently he realized I was wary of him, because he turned away with an expression that looked a little disappointed.

“Compared to the three I mentioned earlier, you may fall a bit short in rank… but there’s also a human blessed with mana. And you as well….”

This time he was pointing at Jung Hayan and Park Yeonju.

So she must have something too.

Well, she must have hidden something, otherwise she never would have landed the position of guild master.

As far as Mind's Eye had shown me, there hadn’t been anything especially unique about her.

Come to think of it, her title had seemed a little unusual. He was probably referring to that.

“This is a very pleasant day indeed. I can’t possibly just receive guests like this without offering proper hospitality. Yes, that’s right. If you don’t mind, I’d like to guide you myself. Would that be all right?”

I wanted to ask him for it directly, frankly speaking.

I was relieved to have someone I could actually talk to.

Obviously, this was exactly the sort of invitation you accepted.

We need to squeeze out everything we can.

I had to wrack my brain to see whether there was any place I could still milk him dry.