Joy and Sorrow Intersect

I opened my eyes. “Phew.” I seemed to have almost adapted to the nausea of the escape portal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠by now.

“Whoa, we’re back. I can feel the trait surging through my whole body! Yeah, this is why we dive into the labyrinth!”

“Those damn clan bastards. How many scrolls and potions did I waste just getting away from them?”

“Damn it… Of all times, an upper-rank monster had to show up there. I nearly died. Domenus, how’s that arm from earlier? You used an item, so it shouldn’t leave any phantom pain, right?”

“M-Muton. I’m sorry. It was just a simple mistake! Please, anything but expulsion!”

Near the portal, adventurers were still displaying all manner of reactions—some crying, some laughing, some shouting. According to what I’d learned, today should be around the fifth day since the labyrinth closed for the month. The flow of time and space between dimensions hadn’t been fully clarified yet, but several rules had become widely accepted through collective experience. One of them was the Law of Return.

[Law of Return]

The goddess—rather, Seres—had once said the Great Labyrinth was born from dimensional distortion. Just as she described, the inside and outside of the labyrinth exist in different dimensions. For the first thirty days after entering, time flows normally with the outside world… but once those thirty days pass and the next month’s entry portal opens, the time axis shifts drastically. No matter how many extra days you spend inside after the thirty-day mark, when you return to the city, you’ll always come back on the fifth day after the portal closed. In short, if you spend more than a month inside the labyrinth, you’re guaranteed to return exactly thirty-five days after your initial entry.

That aside, where are the other three?

‘Yeriel, where are you right now?’

—Ah! The connection finally worked! I waited and waited, but you never showed up, and even when I tried sending a message, there was no response… Do you have any idea how worried we were?

‘Sorry. I hadn’t completely cleared the village, so I sent you guys ahead for safety. Just as I thought, a stupid goblin used Stealth to ambush me while I was alone.’

—Hic. You’re not hurt, are you? No, forget that—I’m coming right now. You’re wearing those rare white gloves, right? Raise your arm so I can spot you! Just tell me you’re near the checkpoint and I’ll come to you.

I raised my right arm high and waved.

“There he is!”

Yeriel’s voice cut through the adventurers’ chatter from the side. Thud. She came running and threw herself straight into my arms.

“Aren… I was so scared when I couldn’t see you.”

“Haha, how about standing properly first? Your words are all jumbled—I can barely understand you.”

“Uung.”

“Right. Stop acting like a child and step back so we can talk.”

Lumia and Jacob followed behind. Lumia pulled Yeriel off me from behind.

“Hehe, sorry. I was a bit thoughtless, wasn’t I?”

Cute, so it’s fine.

“No, more importantly, did you wait long?”

“Actually, we didn’t wait that long, but with just the three of us and Aren nowhere in sight, I guess we got a little anxious. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠You’re not hurt, right?”

“Of course! Dealing with slightly unusual goblins is nothing now.”

I met eyes with Yeriel, Lumia, and Jacob, who stood a little apart watching us.

“Well then, shall we stop by the guild to settle accounts and then head off to rest?”

“Now that we’re out of the labyrinth, fatigue is hitting me all at once. I suddenly want to go unpack and rest.”

Lumia, unusually, was the first to voice her exhaustion. Hearing her made me feel tired too.

“Let’s go quickly. Ah, Jacob. Do you have anywhere urgent to go or anyone you need to meet?”

“No. I just need to renew my month-long stay at the inn by tomorrow. Why do you ask?”

“Since we all made it back safely, shouldn’t we have a meal together? When you return alive from the Great Labyrinth, you drink a return toast! You know that, right?”

“Hehe, of course I do!”

Jacob grinned and gave a thumbs-up. I smiled faintly and was about to move when Yeriel suddenly exclaimed.

“Ah! Right. Aren, don’t be surprised. All three of us got traits? We were shaking like crazy earlier!”

What? It was obviously good news, so why did I feel left out again? I hid my disappointment and congratulated them.

“Not just one of you, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but all three? Wow, you guys hit the jackpot.”

“Hehe, right? Can you check what traits we got and tell us?”

Of course I could.

Ah… Her Luck and Vitality each rose by one rank, giving her solid C-rank stats—that was good. But the moment I saw the name of her new trait, a sigh escaped me.

“…”

This was a trap. [Chaos says it told you not to laugh, but you laughed anyway without thinking.]

Damn it. This wasn’t the time to laugh. Even with our spatial bags, the increased food requirement and hunger penalty meant we should head to the cathedral before the next labyrinth run to get rid of it.

‘It’s not exactly a negative trait, but… sigh. Yeriel’s going to be so excited. How am I supposed to tell her?’

Well, let’s check Lumia too.

Thank goodness! Thanks to the two-rank mana increase from the coveted dark magic tome, she’d reached C-rank stats. Her Vitality had also ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠risen by one rank, and unlike Yeriel’s, her new trait wasn’t negative. It was a huge relief.

“Oh.” Jacob had luckily obtained a trait perfectly suited for a rogue. Honestly, I was a little jealous. I would’ve made great use of it myself.

‘Whatever.’ Since Yeriel’s trait was getting removed at the cathedral anyway, I explained everyone’s traits without holding back.

“Kyaaah!”

Yeriel screamed the moment she heard. She clutched her soft stomach with a tearful face.

“N-No way. No wonder I’ve been feeling a little hungry already. At this rate I’ll turn into a pig!”

“Calm down! We can just go to the cathedral tomorrow and remove it. Don’t worry too much.”

“Uuu. Okay.”

After soothing Yeriel, I looked at the other two. Lumia wore her usual blank expression, but there was a hint of joy in her eyes. Jacob looked ready to cheer but was covering his mouth and slapping his thigh instead.

“Everyone’s thrilled. Calm down and let’s get moving.”

With cheers and screams mixed together, we passed the checkpoint and headed toward the guild.

***

We arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild. As always, it was bustling with adventurers. We joined the shortest line among the several settlement counters and waited.

“Next, please come forward!”

After quite a wait, it was finally our turn.

“Hello, adventurer. How may I help you? Ho ho, of course it’s for settlement.”

This receptionist already gave off a chatty vibe.

“Yes, I’m here for settlement. Shall I hand over my adventurer badge?”

“Yes! Please give me the badge… Oh my. So you’re the one from the rumors? I was curious about the real person, and you’re even more handsome than I heard!”

Rumors? I was taken aback.

“Rumors, you say? What rumors about me?”

“Ah, you had a private meeting with the guild master last month, right? That caused a little stir among the receptionists.”

The receptionist shrugged.

“They said any low-floor adventurer who can reach the fifth floor is bound to become someone big later. There was also talk about your looks. You really are outstanding!”

“Uh… thank you?”

The receptionist said she just had a good memory and it wasn’t a big deal, so not to worry.

‘That startled me. It really wasn’t anything important.’ [Chaos says even it was surprised, wondering if something bad might happen inside the guild.]

I let out a small sigh of relief.

“Anyway, shall I put the byproducts up now?”

“Yes. Please note that corpses without specific parts need to go to the dedicated counter over there.”

I nodded and took out the sorted bags one by one.

“Is that everything? Then I’ll begin the settlement.”

The receptionist pulled out a book-shaped magical tool from under the counter and began quickly inspecting the contents of the bags.

“Merman’s fin… Acid Slime core… Cave Goblin ear… Giant Centipede poison leg… Huh?”

The receptionist’s eyes widened.

“You even hunted an upper-rank Full Serpent? It’s a rare monster, and it must’ve been incredibly difficult for a low-floor adventurer to handle. Impressive.”

“It was pretty tough, yeah.”

“Byproducts from rare monsters like this are in high demand from various places and fetch a good price. Just a moment!”

Watching her pull out another magical tool and gesture with it, I wondered if there was another problem.

“Hmm, there’s no personal request for the Full Serpent horn, so I’ll process it at market price. Next is… this is a Golem core? Earth-based type. Hmm.”

“What’s wrong? Is there an issue?”

“For Golem cores, you can either sell it directly to us or fulfill a personal request and deliver it to the client for a reward. Which would you prefer?”

Come to think of it, I did remember seeing various requests on the bulletin board.

‘Someone’s looking for a Golem core?’

“Tell me about the client and the reward.”

“Yes. The publicly available information is that the client is Heinz, a mage from the Earth School of the Magic Tower. The reward will be decided after a face-to-face negotiation.”

? Heinz’s name coming up here? It wasn’t a coincidence. If it was the earth mage Heinz, it had to be the same Heinz who helped raid Efusio.

“For reference, the market price if sold to the guild, considering it’s partially damaged, would be about this much.”

“I’ll take the request. Please settle the rest as is.”

I’d meet Heinz first, and if his offer didn’t appeal, I could always sell it to the guild. It was also a good excuse to visit the Magic Tower and see a familiar face, so I accepted the request.

“Alright. In total, that comes to 7 gold coins, 23 silver coins, and 40 copper coins.”

“W-Wait, 7 gold coins? How much did that pair of Full Serpent horns sell for?”

“Considering the slight discoloration and change in properties, the market price is 3 gold coins each, for a total of 6 gold coins.”

Seeing the receptionist’s gentle smile, it finally felt real. We… had struck gold. The corners of my mouth kept rising as the reward for our hard work sank in.

“Hehe. How cute. Here’s your payment. Is there anything else you need?”

“No, nothing. I’ll be going now.”

“Take care. Next!”

Carrying a mix of emotions, I headed toward the distant dedicated counter to dispose of the Grilops and Golem parts. But then—

“Excuse me? Could you repeat that?”

“Due to some external factor, it’s become a kind of mutant variant, so handling it right now might be tricky.”

“Ah… I see.”

“If you come back in a few days, we’ll handle it along with the Golem.”

Was the problem that it had died and come back to life? Well, even at our first meeting it had a spider’s lower body attached to a goblin’s torso with some golden thread or whatever, so I understood. I nodded and returned to the table where the other three were waiting.

‘Here we go again.’

Seeing that only our table was empty in the crowded guild, it seemed people were still whispering about Lumia’s curse. At least no one had come over to cause trouble directly.

“Hyung-nim! Did you finish settling everything?”

‘Still, the fact that no one said anything means no one came to start trouble. That’s a relief.’

I sat down and told them everything that had happened during settlement, then took out the three pouches I’d prepared earlier with the divided payment.

After hearing my explanation, Jacob spoke up.

“I’ll just take what I earned from the settlement. It doesn’t make sense for me to claim a share of that monster’s corpse just for throwing one bead.”

“Really? Then here. Jacob, this is your share. I added a bit extra.”

The total settlement from this labyrinth run, excluding the corpses, was 7 gold, 23 silver, and 40 copper. But since most of that came from monsters hunted before Jacob joined, I couldn’t split it equally four ways. The pair of horns alone was worth 6 gold, so there was no helping it. I set aside 40 silver for Jacob’s share and divided the rest into three pouches—2 gold and 27 silver each.

“H-Hyung-nim, I think you put in too much. I only joined temporarily for less than two weeks. This is way too much!”

“No, it’s correct. Just say thank you and take it.”

“Uh, um. Thank you.”

Leaving behind Jacob, who was putting the pouch away in a daze, I handed the pre-divided pouches to Yeriel and Lumia as well.

“Hup!”

Thud! Yeriel’s eyes widened the moment she opened hers and saw inside. Her hands went slack and she nearly dropped it, but Lumia quickly caught it.

“Careful. That would’ve been a disaster if you spilled it. Here.”

“Uuu… I was just so surprised. Sorry. But isn’t this too much?”

At Yeriel’s puzzled question, I roughly explained it was because of the Full Serpent horns, then opened my own pouch to put an end to the doubt.

“Considering that presence back then, it makes sense it’d be expensive.”

“Right? Well, now that settlement’s done, there’s no point staying here longer. Let’s go catch a carriage.”

“Yeah! Actually, I’ve been hungry since earlier.”

The effects of the Expanded Stomach trait were already showing.

‘No matter what, I have to stop by the cathedral tomorrow.’

With the long labyrinth settlement finally complete, we left the guild and headed for the carriage stand.

***

Jacob let out a soft sigh.

“To be direct, I think I’ll have to decline the offer to join the party.”