Chapter 5
Chapter 5
"What is this."
A single Gold Coin inside a Treasure Chest that wouldn't have been strange if it were packed full. As I stared at it blankly, Hera poked her head in from the side.
"What is it?"
"I don't know."
Still just one Gold Coin. No matter how many times I looked, it was still just one Gold Coin.
Of course, it couldn't possibly be just an ordinary Gold Coin.
The grade of a chest indicates the limit of the items that can come out of it, but it also indicates the minimum threshold. For example, you wouldn't get an item better than rare from a Rare Chest, but conversely, you wouldn't get trash items that only come out of normal chests either.
Therefore, this Gold Coin must surely be worth something that would come out of a Legendary Chest.
The problem is what its purpose is and whether I can actually utilize it. A single Gold Coin with the value of something that would come out of a Legendary Chest, what on earth could it be...
'Is this, by any chance, that?'
"If you're going to give me money, just give it properly, what's with just one? Is this a prank?"
"I don't think so."
There was something I had been searching for for quite a long time.
An item that is rumored to be able to undo wrong choices, but one that I had never actually seen. I had searched for it quite seriously in the past, but I gave up on finding it after hearing that there was no way to know exactly where it dropped.
Could it be that, really?
I opened the gap in my breastplate slightly and tucked the coin into my chest pocket. If that was what it was, I absolutely could not lose it.
"Tell me later, okay~?"
After saying that, Hera started opening the chests. One contained Gold Coins and jewels, and another contained some pair of shoes. The last remaining Rare Chest contained a rare Rune, but it looked useless at a glance.
"Four Gnolls, so I was expecting something good. Nothing decent came out of this~"
Hera grumbled and dumped the contents of the chests into her bag. I could feel the recruited Explorers looking on with envious eyes, but I ignored them. It's a shame they couldn't take their share, but honestly, I did everything. If they had tried a little harder, they could have kept their share.
In the midst of that, Hera saw the corpse I had brought. Her expression was truly, exactly the same as before, nothing changed.
"What, did he die?"
"I saw he was dead earlier."
"Hmm. Well, seeing how he acted earlier, he looked like he was going to die. Are you taking him to the lobby?"
"Yeah."
"Anyway, you do so much useless work that doesn't make any money. You're so kind, so kind."
Ignoring her playful sarcasm, I held out my hand. Hera handed me the bag she had swept the loot into.
A corpse in one hand, a bag in the other. Even though the corpse was heavier than the bag, it felt strangely light.
* * *
There are many exits to the Labyrinth, but there is also one in the Treasure Room. People said the reason was the Labyrinth's mercy to prevent dangers that might occur on the way to the exit after clearing the Treasure Room, but I thought a little differently.
'Usually, in game systems, it's the golden rule to have stairs there after clearing a floor.'
Anyway, in this world, whenever something is hard to understand, people just brush it off as God's punishment or mercy. While thinking about such trivial things, I waited for the gate to open, and when I came outside, the scene I had experienced earlier unfolded. The Explorers who were waiting in chairs stared at me awkwardly.
Unless it's a party clearing the Treasure Room that day, using the central entrance 3 is basically a declaration that you're a Rookie.
"What are you looking at."
When Hera, who knew that fact well, said that, the party leader hurriedly turned his gaze away from us. Their equipment was poor, and their composition was even worse. I thought there might be more people who would die than live.
As I walked past them, I came to the hallway I had passed earlier.
Before entering the gate, the bloodstains left by the party that was calling for a healer were still dried and remaining on the floor.
Of course, the traces would be wiped away tomorrow.
After walking a bit, it was the lobby where I had processed the paperwork earlier. As I walked to the far left, The Priest was writing something and looked up at me.
"What... Ah. Are you here to register a corpse?"
"I don't know who he is, but he died after entering with us."
"I see. Thank you for your mercy. This person will be able to rest in peace."
Hmm. I do wonder if he'll really be able to rest in peace.
There are many gods in this world, and souls exist too. When you die, you return to the god you believed in, are reincarnated, and are born as a human again, but in the case of a non-believer, it is said that there is no one to pull their soul out of the limbo where it wanders, so they become a ghost that wanders the world forever. It seemed that those who died in the Labyrinth ended up similarly. Something about their souls being trapped in the Labyrinth and unable to return.
'But since this is a world inside a game, is reincarnation and all that actually real?'
I live in this world, but it's inevitable to have such thoughts. Just looking at the loot reward system or the resetting Labyrinth, you can't tell what kind of principle it is or how it happens, can you?
Well, thinking about it more just makes it complicated.
"You say thank you, but you don't give anything."
"In my opinion, it's right not to give anything. If they gave money, there would be people who would gather Rookies on the 1st floor to 'copy money,' kill them all, and then make money by returning the corpses."
"Hey, there's no way someone would do that."
"Don't think there isn't. There are all kinds of people in the world."
I heard that in Korea a long time ago, there was something called 'Kaparazzi'.
It was a system introduced to encourage reporting of illegal parking, but I heard the reason it disappeared was that people were farming for cash so much with Kaparazzi that later, they even started fabricating things that weren't even targets to make them look like targets and get money.
The case is a bit different, but this world is probably the same. I'm certain that if they gave money like that, there would be tons of people killing others to make money. They're already throwing surplus manpower into the Labyrinth to consume them, so wouldn't they do that? It would be fortunate if it wasn't state-led.
Anyway, when I came out of the Labyrinth, the sun was already setting outside.
The checkpoint outside recorded something on their own as soon as we left.
"Dispose of that and come to the lodging. I need to go find out what that Gold Coin from earlier is."
"The Pantheon?"
"Yeah."
"Got it~"
Hera's reply.
I didn't check what it was, but things that come out of Labyrinth 1st floor Elite or Rare Chests, even if they are Treasure Room rewards, aren't of much use to me. That would be the same for Hera, so it's better to just sell them.
More than that, what I was curious about was the use of the coin.
Usually, when appraising items in this Labyrinth City, you go to places like pawn shops or pay more to go to an appraiser, but in this case, it was clearly an item that neither of those two places could handle.
I turned my steps and headed to the Pantheon.
* * *
There are many gods in this world.
There was a story before that there are about 8 million gods in Japan, and while this world isn't to that extent, it seemed like there were roughly tens of thousands.
I don't know why it became like that.
If you approach it simply, the guy who made the game probably set it up that way. Anyway, there was a god attached to almost every 'concept' people could think of, and the Pantheon was a place where such gods were worshipped.
Of course, rather than the image you think of when you hear 'temple,' it was a place where if the favorite of a desert god came, they would make a whip out of rope, flip tables, and yell, "Is this a fucking robber's den or a temple?"
"Who are you looking for?"
Even though I've seen him several times and should be familiar, the temple keeper diligently came to me and asked for my business. There might be kindness, but it's an action aimed at the custom of rewarding that kindness with a coin, saying, "Well, I came to the temple anyway."
I am not a hairy Jew, so I had no intention of criticizing the Pantheon for making it a robber's den. Instead, I slipped a coin into the temple keeper's hand.
"I have come to see the great blacksmith."
"I see. Please wait a moment..."
The temple keeper guided me to the waiting room. There were many miscellaneous people sitting there. A person who looked like a mercenary. A slender elf. A big orc. A beggar grandma. And so on. After waiting a little longer, the temple keeper came and said.
"There are many people who have come to see the great blacksmith, so it seems you will have to wait for a while. It might be a long wait."
"Is that so."
Give me a fucking break.
"I'm in a bit of a rush. I have things to do later."
As I said that and secretly handed him a copper coin, the temple keeper acted as if he hadn't received anything and said, "Please wait just a little longer," and left. It wasn't long before he returned.
"You may go now."
There's a reason why 'The Nazareth Monkey Wrench' didn't just flip the temple back in the day for no reason.
I came to the temple to pray, but they're taking express fees and commission fees, so even I, a non-believer (nominally I had a god I believed in), was getting pissed off. How must that guy have felt? I felt like I had to acknowledge that righteous violence.
The place I was guided to by the temple keeper was deeper inside the Pantheon.
It was a place where gods who had entered the domain of the main gods with many believers were, and Brokan, the god of blacksmithing, crafting, artisans, and whatever else, and appraisal, was in a minor position among them. Unlike the entrances to the prayer rooms of other gods that were decorated magnificently and solemnly, Brokan's prayer room looked frugal.
Of course, it was still on a different level from the place outside.
"You may enter."
The inside was cozy.
A red carpet, a table that looked like it cost quite a bit, a candlestick, etc. On it was a blacksmith's hammer, the symbol of the god.
I rummaged through my bag and took out something to offer as a tribute.
It was a Gold Coin. It was much more than the money usually paid to an appraiser or pawn shop, but it couldn't be helped. I'm borrowing the power of a god, so I have to spend that much money.
I placed the gold on the plate to the left of the altar and the Gold Coin I took out of my chest pocket on the right plate, then I closed my left eye and prayed.
'Oh Blacksmith, Brokan. Please pierce the truth hidden from your one eye... Is this Gold Coin the item I think it is?'
There is no answer.
Nothing changed in particular.
While I was thinking about whether I should close my left eye because there was no change, a heavy presence was suddenly felt from above.
I hurriedly bowed my head.
I couldn't see it, but I could feel it.
That 'something' had come above my head.
A sensation like all the hair on my body standing up swept through me. It felt like my blood was boiling, and my head was getting dizzy. Just when my vision was about to go dark...
I bit the inside of my mouth to draw blood.
I felt the taste of blood, and my mind cleared a little. The presence that had been lingering above me was now scanning me with its gaze. I didn't lift my head, but it was a sensation I could feel clearly.
'No, what the hell. I just came to ask what this is...'
The gaze continued, and I clenched my hands tightly.
And only when my short fingernails dug into my palms and beads of blood formed did that gaze withdraw.
The presence disappeared completely.
"Haa. Huff."
I exhaled the breath I had been holding and gasped for air.
... What is this. I came to find out what the item was and almost died. If the price doesn't match, just say it doesn't match, acting like a jerk god. Is this right?
Thinking that, I lifted my head.
I doubted my eyes.
There was nothing on the tray.
Neither the left, nor the right, all of it.
Did they take my money and run?
I searched for where the Gold Coin had gone, and I realized that the Gold Coin was in my hand.
Right there, in my right hand.
Not the left, but in my right hand.
"... Heh."
I want to scream, but it's inside a temple. Suppressing my surging emotions, I came out of the room, and the temple keeper smiled.
"Did you obtain what you wanted?"
"Yes."
Is he asking for more? But since I'm in a good mood, I don't mind giving him some. When I handed him another coin, the temple keeper beamed and guided me outside.
It was already dark outside.
I walked to the lodging and closed my left eye.
If I think about it normally, nothing should be visible, and a world visible only with my right eye should appear.
When I opened my eyes with my left eye closed, a galaxy unfolded.
'Ha... fuck, finally.'
Starting from the starting point at the very top, to the bottom. A feast of countless stars branching out into thousands and tens of thousands of branches. Among those branches, some shining faintly and some brightly, I could see a line connecting in red, unusually.
That line, those lines, were a bit messy rather than neat.
No, calling it messy was close to underestimating the state of the red line. The state of the lines was a total mess, like the studio apartment of a college girl in her 20s that no one ever visits.
And that was the reason I had been searching for this Gold Coin.
'Finally...!'
With my left eye closed, I placed the Gold Coin on my right hand. Then, the weight of the Gold Coin gradually fell away from my hand, and before long, even its existence became faint and disappeared from my hand.
Conversely, in one corner of my closed left eye, something that hadn't been visible before began to appear.
———
: 🪙X 1 :
———
I arrived at the lodging in the meantime.
Hera was sitting at a table in the bar on the 1st floor attached to the lodging, waiting for me. As soon as I sat down, Hera cut to the chase and asked a question.
"What was that?"
"What it is isn't really important."
"Huh? You said you'd tell me."
"When did I say I'd tell you? You asked me to tell you. I didn't answer."
"Hey, that means..."
Before she could say more, I held out my hand in front of Hera to stop her. Hera puffed out her cheeks with a sulky face. She must have been curious about its identity since it came out of a Legendary Chest, but...
What it was really didn't matter.
Because this Gold Coin was ultimately only useful to me.
"Finally, the time has come."
"What?"
"Let's go. To the Deep Layer."
"... You didn't misspeak, right? You're going to start the conquest?"
Hera's question, doubting her ears. Instead of answering, I slammed the table. Everyone in the bar was surprised by the loud noise and looked over here, but I didn't care.
'Finally, I can reset the skill tree I blindly dumped points into when I didn't know shit.'
"Hey... are you serious?"
"Let's go! To clear the Labyrinth!"
With Hera in front of me, wondering if she heard wrong, I declared it clearly. From now on, I'm starting the conquest. There will be no more slipping!
'Here we go!'