Chapter 1
Chapter 1
As soon as I opened my eyes, I knew it was a dream.
Because the neat, white ceiling wallpaper greeted me.
Ah, the good old days.
I get up from the bed.
There's nothing wrong with my body.
What caught my eye was an unremarkable studio apartment.
It's the house I used to live in.
Alone, peacefully, without anyone's interference.
I go into the bathroom.
I turned on the faucet, and the water pressure was strong.
I washed my hair with fragrant shampoo and scrubbed my body with body wash while enjoying the water hitting my skin at just the right temperature.
I felt refreshed after drying myself off completely with a dry towel.
After that, I get dressed.
Business casual clothes I bought from a decent SPA brand.
They aren't expensive, but they're neat and feel good.
I took a soft-boiled egg out of the fridge, ate it, and checked my phone.
The perfect time to leave.
I open the door, go out, and press the elevator button.
When I get off on the first floor, there are cars parked outside the front door.
I look at one of them.
It's my car, which has a bit of dust on it since I haven't driven it lately.
I take a quick look to see if any cats scratched it, then walk for about 5 minutes and get on the bus.
The passengers on the bus were all familiar faces.
I looked at my phone for about 15 minutes and arrived at the office.
"Hello, good morning."
"Good morning."
"Hello~"
"Oh, right. Did you watch the LoL match yesterday?"
Casual small talk.
Coffee after the chat.
It's just regular instant coffee, but it's sweet enough to start the morning.
I sit at my desk, stretch, and it's 9 o'clock.
Time to start work.
"... Assistant Manager, what happened with that? You know, the thing I mentioned before."
"Ah, I finished it this morning. Should I give you the data?"
"Really? Then please do. Organize it so I can report it."
I do my work.
"What does everyone want for lunch?"
"Stir-fried pork."
"... Does the Assistant Manager only eat stir-fried pork every day?? Don't you eat anything else?"
"Then kimchi stew..."
"Let's eat something other than stir-fried pork and kimchi stew!!"
I eat lunch.
"Good work today~"
"Good work. See you tomorrow!"
I leave work.
On the way home, I sometimes stop by a convenience store.
I buy beer or something for dinner.
When I get home, there's nothing I have to do.
I watch some LoL matches or play a few games.
If I feel like it, I drink alone or make plans with friends.
Sometimes I spend hours reading things like Namuwiki, and sometimes I kill time on forums or the internet.
I even engage in the useless activity of internet arguments.
It's the same daily routine as always, but I was happy.
Even though it's all just a dream.
...
Ha.
As soon as I opened my eyes, I knew it was reality.
A plaster ceiling that was sloppily finished despite the effort put into it.
Exposed beams here and there, slight traces of cracks.
A wooden floor that creaks just from me moving a little.
Ah, fuck this.
Looks like I dozed off while sitting in the chair for a moment.
I shake my head to clear my mind, and in front of my eyes is a table made of just a few pieces of wood picked up at random... not even plywood, just really flimsy.
On it was the diary I had put there to write in earlier.
———
『... I don't know if people who enjoy Japanese creative works a bit would know, but in Japan, there is a genre called 'Labyrinth stories'. It's a genre where there is a Labyrinth in the world view, and it tells the story of what happens when the protagonist sets out to explore that Labyrinth.
While playing these Labyrinth games, I thought to myself.
'Seriously, did they smear honey on the Labyrinth or something? Why the hell do they keep going in there?'
Don't you think?
I understand the protagonist who has to enter the Labyrinth.
Whether it's the author or the developer, the protagonist has a reason and a purpose for entering the dungeon/Labyrinth.
'The country is falling, but they say there's something in the dungeon that can save it!', 'To protect the village, I need something that's in that Labyrinth...', 'I have to enter this Labyrinth to break the curse on me!'
They enter for these various reasons.
These are reasonable reasons.
But why on earth are the other guys coming?
If the Labyrinth were a place where you could easily make money, like buying Samsung Electronics stock in 2025 and printing money, I'd understand.
But in these creative works, the Labyrinths are all places where people dying from the 1st or 2nd floor is taken for granted, so beginners get killed in an instant after challenging it.
But why the hell do they come? ...』
———
A long-winded rant continues below that.
Even when I read it, it's absurd content.
Who would be curious about this? Things like the definition of a Labyrinth or why people enter them.
But sentences I can't help but write are floating around in my brain.
I added a sentence below it.
———
『... If one day I suddenly fell into a game with some suspicious Labyrinth.
I imagined that I would just run away without looking back, Labyrinth or whatever, and go live somewhere quiet farming.
Of course, farming isn't easy.
But is the Labyrinth easy?
With farming, you might be hungry, but you can survive.
But in the Labyrinth, you just get beaten to death by monsters.
If it were someone living in a barbaric fusion-fantasy medieval era, they might counter with something like "Can't you just not die?", but a civilized person like me who came from a civilized era can only scream "Agh, fuck, call the police!" and run away.
So I thought I would never, ever do anything like going to a Labyrinth.
But that's how things in the world go.
The world is such that if you say you'll never do something, you end up doing it. It's just that the world doesn't go the way you want ...』
———
Knock, knock, the sound of the door being knocked.
I lift my eyes and look out the window. Is it already this time?
I haven't even finished writing today's portion yet.
"Lian, time's up. We need to leave."
"Just a moment."
I scribbled a few more words, made a note, and closed the diary.
The diary carried the weight of the days I've spent in this world.
The door was knocked on once more. This time a bit harder, bang, bang, bang.
A voice was heard from outside.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you coming out?"
"I said I'm going. Let me put on some clothes for a second."
"You weren't even dressed?"
I put on the shirt and underpants hanging on the wall.
I put on leather pants over them and tied my hair back.
Only then did I open the door, which had been annoyingly tapped on, tap-tap-tap-tap.
A black-haired beauty with a sharp impression greeted me.
"What were you doing?"
Saying that, she slightly lifted her feet and looked into the room over my shoulder.
I blocked her gaze with my hand and said.
"A diary."
"A diary?? Were you writing that again? Jeez, you're not even a noble, why did you learn to write?"
"... Don't you think learning to read and write is something you should naturally do?"
"Why learn that? You can just ask someone else to read it for you."
How truly confident.
Typical native of this crazy medieval land.
I didn't know, but in this world, there's a perception that writing is something huge, like the exclusive property of the intellectual class.
I mean, isn't it inconvenient if you can't read?
Well, I guess it's not inconvenient. Like her, you can just ask someone else to read it, so what's the problem?
"Who are we scheduled to go with today?"
"Roark."
"Ugh, that bastard... I fucking hate that guy. Why is it them again?"
"There's no one else running day-parties. Who else is there besides Roark's group? Misha's group quit because they said they earned enough money."
"Ah, fuck, seriously."
"That's why I'm saying, let's stop doing day trips and go for a few days. We don't even make money going on day trips, so why do you keep doing that?"
"I'm not going, not for a few days."
"You crazy bitch. It's because of washing, right? Hey. Where is there anyone who washes as much as you do every day? Water costs are a waste, and the money for whatever you put on after washing is..."
"Hera, don't you think it's a bit strange to sweat and never wash? What's wrong with your sense of hygiene?"
"Ugh."
I'm the one who wants to sigh.
What on earth is wrong with this world.
As I came down the stairs with the clanking sound of Hera's armor, a boy in the lobby came running over, pushing a cart in a hurry.
Inside it was my equipment.
"You didn't skim anything off the top again, right?"
"No, Noona. No way~ What would I do that for."
"You're too suspicious. What would he skim?"
"What do you mean. Even if he uses slightly, just a tiny bit cheaper oil, he'd have a few coppers left over. That goes right into his pocket."
The freckled boy looks guilty.
I flicked a couple of coins at him, and he bowed his head, saying, "Hehe, thank you."
Ignoring the people looking at us due to the slightly noisy atmosphere, I put on my armor.
Hera and the boy helped me put it on from behind.
"Ha..."
"Why. Don't want to go today?"
"No, I have to go. To make money."
Yeah, I have to go. Today too.
As I put on the helmet, my field of vision narrowed slightly.
After adjusting it here and there, I picked up the last remaining axe and strapped the shield to my left hand.
I have to go. I have to go make money today too.
Go to make money, and make money.
After I've earned all the money, I'll get my equipment set up.
After breaking through this fucking Labyrinth.
I will make the three wishes that can be granted upon reaching the end of the Labyrinth.
The first wish is to be made rich.
The second wish is to be sent back to my original world.
And the last, third wish is...
To be turned back into a man.