Why Are You Coming Out of There?

The moment the Minotaur collapsed in defeat, a staircase leading straight to the surface opened before us.

Naturally, Yeong So-so began sauntering toward it without a single thought in her head. I lunged forward, grabbed her firmly by the shoulder, and laid out the situation.

If we walked out into broad daylight right now, the guild would officially log that two F-rank adventurers had conquered the dungeon. That would draw an unbearable mountain of public attention, and an endless swarm of troublesome pests would buzz around us like flies.

"Hmm. Concealing our deed is indeed the wiser path, then."

"Right? See, I told you."

No sooner had the words left her mouth than she drew her sword.

"Wait, whoa—whoa—?! What are you—?!"

"Step aside."

KABOOOM—!

She merely gave her blade a casual horizontal sweep, yet the entire fifth and fourth floors were instantly scorched to cinders. With that single stroke, every last trace of our battle was eradicated.

With the skill humming, I grabbed hold of her, and both our presences vanished completely into thin air. We then retrieved Colton's body, which we had stashed away beforehand, ascended to the surface, and gave our report to the guild administrator.

"Art thou truly in earnest about this?"

"O-Of course. It's not like you're going to kill me, right?"

"......"

"Actually, on second thought, please pull your punch a bit..."

Thanks to a solid blow straight to the solar plexus from So-so, my pathetic display was utterly authentic.

"Cough... cough...!"

"Adventurer?! Adventurer, what on earth happened down there?!"

"A-Assailants... Unknown assailants broke into the dungeon...!"

"Assailants?!"

The couple who had been in our party were probably piles of ash by now, but I borrowed their likenesses to spin the tale.

"The two of them possessed staggering prowess. They slaughtered Colton, a C-rank adventurer, in the blink of an eye, then charged down to the fifth floor without hesitation. They must have cleared the dungeon on their own..."

"You've been through so much...! It is tragic to lose a comrade, but seeing you two make it back alive, he must be smiling down upon you from the heavens!"

Well, he might actually have passed on in peace. The perpetrators who murdered him were crushed to death and then cremated to ashes, after all.

In any case, the administrator accepted Colton's body and settled the accounts for the monster drops we had gathered. Our earnings over that week came out to a whopping 300,000 gold. It was worth roughly three million won in Korean currency. So-so didn't have an Inventory, so she wouldn't have earned much on her own.

Even if she was my master, we were around the same age, so I figured I should share the spoils.

"Here. A hundred thousand gold."

"What is this? Why bestow such a fortune upon me so suddenly?"

"I'm your disciple, shouldn't I be paying tuition? That's how it always goes in wuxia novels."

"That only applies to martial academies, thou addlepated fool of a disciple...!"

Oh, is that how it works? Then again, what sane master extorts money from their disciple? Still, I shoved the coin pouch into her pocket. Leaving her looking secretly pleased behind me, time flowed on, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and another week passed.

Since Labyrinthos was cleared, we spent that week in the nearby forest repeating the routine: Hunt Monsters → Train → Eat → Sleep. Finally, I had acquired a satisfactory sum of money.

I had also managed to get a grasp on my current combat level. To borrow So-so's estimation, if I were to fight the 'me' from before being summoned here, I could take on hundreds of them at once. Even so, against the characters I had raised, I would be cut down in a second—no, 0.0001 seconds. That was why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my plan was to build up as much power as humanly possible before forming a new guild.

Avalon was, of course, the pinnacle of perfection into which I had poured my entire life. If an impurity like me were to taint it... it would be like dumping soy sauce into clear bean sprout soup. Yeah, exactly like that. Besides, all the world-ending threats had been quelled; there was no reason they would ever need me.

Pocketing 200,000 gold without hesitation, I dropped by a weapon shop.

"Welcome~! Oh, aren't you... the lad who bought that iron sword and leather armor back then?"

"You remember me?"

"How should I put it... You had the face of a man about to kick the bucket, so you left an impression! Well, you're alive, and that's what counts!"

Patting me on the back, he showed off his wares. The sword I had used before wasn't bad for a beginner, but it was ill-suited for Eastern swordsmanship. The weapon I needed now was an authentic martial arts blade.

"Mister, do you happen to have any swords from the East?"

"Those kinds of blades... you'd probably only find them in specialty shops..."

"I see... Thanks anyway."

Just as I turned to leave—

"Ah, wait, hold on a second—!"

He called me back and began rummaging through a junk basket in the corner before pulling out a heavily rusted sword.

"I stumbled upon this thing ages ago. When I had it appraised, it turned out to be a measly F-rank, so I was about to scrap it. If you want it, take it! It's on the house!"

"Really?"

"Bah, a merchant never goes back on his word. Just take it before I change my mind!"

"Thank you so much—!"

Strapping the blade to my waist, I set off with a light step toward my true destination.

The Magic Tower.

Established across the world solely for the study and practice of magic, it was also a place where commoners and adventurers could commission spells—provided they had enough coin. I had only one objective in coming here.

"My face. I have to change my appearance, no matter what."

How the people of Avalon had acquired my portrait remained a mystery, but judging by how they hadn't located me for an entire week, Stealth was definitely keeping my location hidden. And if I altered my face on top of that? Any lingering trace they could use to deduce my identity would be utterly blocked off.

Coin pouch jingling comfortably, I stepped inside the Magic Tower.

What greeted me within was a spectacle of pure fantasy, unlike anything I had ever seen. Mages levitating through the air. Pillars of fire surging here and there. And to top it all off... a swordsman and a mage locked in combat.

Huh? Wait. Why the hell are those two fighting?

Blood spattered the floor in too many places for this to be a friendly duel. It was a crisis, plain and simple. Yet the staff, the mages, and the onlookers alike were doing nothing but watching.

"Kyaaaah—!"

A stray spell bounced off and struck an innocent bystander. She wasn't dead, but the burn wounds looked grave.

Their levels weren't far apart. Honestly, even if there had been a gap, I probably would have reacted the same way.

Glancing at the girl who had suffered severe burns, I unsheathed my sword. Without hesitation, I dashed between the two brawlers and roared.

"You bastards look old enough to know better, so what the hell do you think you're doing here?"

"Who the hell are you—?!"

"Get lost! What's your damn problem, barging into our fight?!"

The two men snarled with fury. Truthfully, I wanted nothing more than to turn tail and run, but looking back at the girl, running wasn't an option. Which meant my job was to draw their aggro and provoke them.

Ah. The blood of a Korean keyboard warrior awakened to the situation. My mouth opened of its own accord, letting slip that sacred magic word.

"Scared?"

"......"

"......"

Veins bulged along their foreheads as both sets of eyes locked onto me.

Ah, that did it. I had thought about holding back, but it seemed I had forgotten this was a fantasy world. Besides, the timing was perfect to test my internal qi. Drawing my sword, I leveled it straight at them.

Aaargh, why the hell did I do that?! I should have just kept my damn mouth shut...!

My internal monologue screamed with regret, but the two men charged forward with murderous intent, entirely deaf to my lament.

A fireball manifested in midair and shot forward with an angry crackle, while the swordsman slashed downward in the very same instant. Yet something felt off. Wait... why are they so slow? Their techniques were bizarrely, agonizingly sluggish.

Slipping past the fireball with simple footwork, I gathered mana into the edge of my palm, parried the descending blade, and drove a fist directly into his solar plexus.

Crack—! Crunch—!

Judging by the sickening snaps, several ribs had shattered on impact. Since he wouldn't be moving anytime soon, I immediately triggered Stealth to conceal my presence.

"Damn it—! Where are you—?! Where did you go—?!"

"Right next to you, you bastard."

"Wha......?"

Releasing Stealth right beside the mage, I buried a fist straight into his solar plexus as well.

"Gah—! Cough—!"

"Oh, looks like I held back just right this time. Better luck next time, pal."

"W-What are you talking about...!"

"What do you think I'm talking about?"

I pointed toward the girl covered in severe burns. Her wounds were horrifying, near impossible to recover from under ordinary circumstances.

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. So what do you get for a burn?"

"...A-A burn...?"

"Bingo! And your prize is...!"

Channeling the sensation ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of igniting flames along a blade into my fist, I threw a punch.

Thud—! Crack—!

Flames engulfed his entire body, roasting his flesh. Just before his heart gave out entirely, I pulled my fist back and tossed his smoking form toward a nearby staff member who had been watching in terror.

"He's still breathing. Patch him up and he'll live."

"Ah... Y-Yes, sir...!"

"He's scum who deserves to die, but... try to save him if you can."

"We will do our best!"

I walked over to the swordsman, who was staring blankly from the floor, drove a fist into his face to knock him out cold, looted the purses and valuables from their pockets, and headed toward the upper floors.

Riding a contraption akin to a magical elevator, I ascended toward the upper floors. To think such technology existed without a single trace of modern science. It scratched a certain itch for pure romantic fantasy.

Hm? Wasn't the martial arts I learned from Yeong So-so romantic enough? Well, sure, but... the grass is always greener on the other side. People always crave what they don't possess.

Even so, I had no intention of actually learning magic. My Intelligence stat was lower than my other attributes to begin with, but the real issue was the mages' 'network.' If they accidentally spread word of my features... nothing good would come of it. My plan was simply to get my appearance modified and leave cleanly.

With a soft chime, the doors slid open.

Yet, the receptionists and mages who were supposed to handle spell commissions... were nowhere to be seen. The floor I stepped onto was a chamber choked with ancient books and scattered documents. Did I get off on the wrong floor? An uncomfortable prickle ran down my spine, so I stepped back into the elevator without hesitation.

"Huh? Why isn't it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠going down...?"

As if broken, the elevator refused to budge. Something was terribly wrong. No, I was certain of it. This place was dangerous, and I had to get the hell out right this second!

Just as I went to trigger Stealth—

"Thank you. For fighting off those thugs for my sake down there."

"You...?"

The girl who had been grievously burned stood right before my eyes, bearing the exact same horrific burns.

Confusion. Bewilderment. Suspicion. A kaleidoscope of emotions washed across my face. Meanwhile, the girl giggled, as if finding the entire situation delightfully amusing.

"Ah, my. I thought you would recognize me right away, but I suppose expecting that much was asking too much!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I haven't dispelled the magic yet, have I? Just a moment~!"

With a flick of her hand, her entire figure from head to toe melted away like a mirage, revealing a familiar—no, an unforgettable—countenance.

Deep violet hair.

Faintly glowing purple irises.

And that arrogant, condescending air that looked down upon all of creation.

"Allow me to introduce myself once more. I am a mage currently serving the Round Table, and the knight who inherited the seat of 'Clash'—Elena di Anteria."

"......"

"I look forward to serving you... Master?"

Two weeks into being transmigrated. I had just run headfirst into one of the Knights of the Round Table—the very last people I ever wanted to see.