Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Trends

“Please be careful out there! Boss!”

Aris stood by the shoe cabinet and called out brightly.

Ryu Jin stared at her.

I was the one who had decided to leave her behind, but how should I put it? Why did she seem so happy about it?

“What is wrong?”

“Nothing. Watch the house properly. I will just sell the Magic Stones and come right back.”

“Yes! Do not worry! I will guard the house thoroughly!”

Aris clenched both fists tightly and thrust them forward.

She did not forget to make little yap-yap sounds with her mouth, either.

“I am leaving.”

Ryu Jin shrugged and left the room.

“Yes! I will sit quietly right here until you return!”

Aris sat primly, smiling broadly as she waved both arms.

And the moment the door closed.

“Tsk!”

She wiped the smile clean off her face and clicked her tongue.

“It is disgustingly hard to make a living.”

Aris hopped onto the dining chair and crossed her legs.

She swung her legs, swayed her body, acted utterly insolent, and tilted her head back.

‘How do I get out of this?’

She could not go on living like a slave forever.

However, subordination through an Oath was absolute.

It was impossible to break it through ordinary means.

SMACK!

She struck the dining table with her plump palm.

It hurt! No, that was not the point.

Rage surged within her.

She was the Demon of the Evil Eye, the one who had once made countless Constellations tremble.

Yet from their very first meeting, he had made her nose bleed, and as if that were not enough, he was ordering her around however he pleased.

This was absolutely unforgivable.

‘I will have to endure it for now.’

If there was one fortunate thing, it was that Ryu Jin had completely let his guard down.

The proof was that he fed her Magic Stones without even realizing how frightening a demon could be.

‘Once I regain my power, he will not even be worth one punch!’

She clenched her tiny Doraemon-like fist.

Then she vowed revenge.

On the day she devoured plenty of Magic Stones and fully recovered the power of the Evil Eye, she would repay every humiliation she had suffered until now!

“Prepare yourself!! Ryu……”

Beep, beep, beep.

She scurried over!!

Aris leaped down from the chair as if flying and slid in front of the shoe cabinet.

Click.

It was the house next door.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Aris cleared her throat a couple of times and stood up.

By the way, why was the floor of this room so slippery?

It even made a demon slip.

Trying hard to act calm, she moved her feet.

She would just sleep until Ryu Jin came back.

---

At that same time.

Ryu Jin looked around.

This place, Sillim, had once been an exam-student district, but now it was called a Labyrinth cash-farming district.

Perhaps that was why many general stores and equipment shops for newbie players were gathered here.

He walked downhill until he reached the area near Sillim Station.

After confirming that no one was watching, he quietly tried using the Evil Eye.

He could see information on each object, but information on other people looked hazy, as though there was noise over it.

It was not that he could not see it. It seemed that he needed a higher Evil Eye level.

Step.

A short while later, the general store “Cash Farming from Today” came into view.

It was a place he had searched up in advance, and recently, it was called a holy site in Sillim.

Even though it was an awkward time of day, quite a few people were waiting.

He quickly joined the waiting line and shoved his hands into the pockets of his padded jacket.

The air was cold, as it was early winter.

“Hyung, what floor are you running these days?”

“Me? The second floor.”

“Ugh. If those Goblins discover you there, the clear fails immediately. Is it not hard?”

“It is manageable for me. I am a Thief, so I have Stealth and Silent Movement. With two Lowest-Grade Mana Potions, I can reach the clear point.”

“Do you get thirty Lowest-Grade Magic Stones?”

“That is only for the first clear. Now, it gives somewhere between ten and fifteen.”

“Then after the potion costs and tax are deducted, does that not leave you with about 200,000 won?”

“That is about what remains.”

“Then, hyung, just come to the first floor too.”

Ryu Jin was tempted.

“Is that the place where the tax became twenty percent because something was destroyed this time?”

“That is right. As long as you herd the Self-Destructing Slimes properly, it is completely effortless. As long as they do not stick to you, they will not explode, so it is a sweet deal. All my peers are running only the first floor these days.”

So that was why.

He quietly opened the bag he had brought with him.

He had obtained 240 Lowest-Grade Magic Stones from clearing the sixth underground floor. He had given 50 of them to Aris, but there were still around 220 Lowest-Grade Magic Stones inside the bag.

That was thanks to the accumulated tax he had discovered and settled before leaving the Personal Lobby.

Of course, he kept that a secret from Aris.

She had eaten 110 over the past two days, so it was time for her to rest.

“Really? But do not go around telling people you are running the first floor. The guys preparing to join Kronos are making a huge fuss. They are saying that people who run the first floor have no gratitude toward Kronos for letting them run the Labyrinth so comfortably.”

“Gratitude, my foot. They wring money out of us every time they update the guides for each section. I heard it costs hundreds of millions once you get past the twentieth floor.”

“I know, but I am telling you to be careful. It is practically a religion.”

Ryu Jin nodded quietly and made a vow.

Those Kronos bastards. Later, once the function expanded, he would slap a two-hundred-percent tax on them.

In any case, the fact that the cash farmers of Sillim-dong were showing interest in the first underground floor was a very good sign.

It meant that taxes could trend upward in the long term.

“Next customer!”

There was only one person left before his turn.

He looked around the store that entered his sight.

It was small, but it was packed tightly with a variety of goods.

He leaned forward and examined the potion corner.

He wondered if he should buy some Vitality Potions, just in case.

The customer in front of him seemed to be thinking the same thing, as she pointed at the potion corner.

“Please give me ten Paralysis Removal Potions.”

“Huh? Are you the student who said you were going to the sixth underground floor two days ago? You did not clear it?”

“No! It was seriously annoying! I was unlucky, and Ariadne kept getting the answers wrong, so I used up all five potions I bought before I even made it halfway!”

“Still, you did well to turn back without getting greedy.”

“Of course I had to turn back. It would be dangerous if I got greedy for no reason and my legs ended up paralyzed. Anyway, my penalty just ended, so I am going to try again.”

“Goodness, that is how the sixth floor is. The questions keep changing, so what can you do? Oh, right. Please scan Ariadne here.”

“Why do I have to scan this?”

“Kronos sent down an order. Whether it is a tiny hole-in-the-wall shop or anywhere else, whenever someone buys Paralysis Removal Potions, they must scan it no matter what. They said if we get caught not doing it, they will make us close down.”

“They are really abusing their power properly! They should make Ariadne properly first!”

Beep!

Yoo Seon-young, Class: Priest, currently attempting the sixth underground floor, normally registered player.

“Good, good. That is enough. Then make sure you clear it today!”

“Yes. Please sell a lot too, sir.”

“Next customer!”

Ryu Jin walked to the counter.

“Hello. I would like to sell Lowest-Grade Magic Stones.”

“Good, good. How many do you have? I am buying fewer than 100 at 31,000 won each, and 100 or more at 33,000 won each.”

“I have 220.”

“Oh!?”

The store owner Kim Chun-man’s face brightened.

It had been a while since he had had a customer selling in bulk.

Kim Chun-man happily tapped away at the calculator.

“220 stones makes 7,260,000 won. Since you sold me so many, I will make it 7,300,000 won.”

“Thank you.”

“I am the one who should be thankful. The buying competition has been fierce lately. Give me your account number.”

“Could I receive it in cash?”

“Huh? You are a rare young man these days. Everyone says it is a hassle and only takes bank transfers.”

Kim Chun-man took 50,000-won bills from the cash box and counted them.

“You were looking at the potion corner earlier. Do you not need anything else?”

“No. I was just looking around. But sir, earlier, I saw you scan Ariadne when someone bought potions. Is that only for Paralysis Removal Potions?”

“Yes, that is right. I do not know why, but they requested it only for Paralysis Removal Potions. They said that if someone does not have Ariadne, we should confirm their identity, record it, and report it. They do nothing for us, but they are disgustingly picky. I cannot ignore them either, in case they retaliate.”

“Do you happen to know when that started?”

“You know how there was that big uproar because the first underground floor was destroyed? The instructions came down right after that.”

As expected of Kronos.

In the media, they acted as though they did not care much about the floor that had been taken from them.

Behind the scenes, they were pulling something like this.

‘Since the Labyrinth owner’s name showed up as question marks, they must have inferred that it was a player without Ariadne. And since Paralysis Removal Potions are essential on the sixth underground floor, is that why?’

There was no need to get frightened in advance, but he would have to be cautious.

“Here, 7,300,000 won. Count it.”

He quickly counted it and pocketed the money.

“Thank you. Please sell a lot.”

“Sure! Come sell to me again!”

If he kept selling this sort of quantity, he would be suspected, so he would have to diversify his sales outlets a little.

“Tsk.”

Those Kronos bastards were making things troublesome in many ways.

However, through the trends he had just grasped, he knew one thing for certain.

Only two floors had been destroyed, but those bastards were already sweating bullets.

He raised the corners of his mouth and quickened his pace.

There was no need to hesitate.

Once he had a Draw Ticket, he would go take the second underground floor too.

---

[You have entered the Labyrinth’s second underground floor, “Altar of the Watcher”!]

A spacious altar came into view as soon as he appeared.

Pitch-black Goblins were stationed around the altar.

Aris stepped forward and examined the altar with the Evil Eye.

She snorted and then shrugged.

“It does not look like much, does it? Their field of view is completely limited. You can see it too, right, Boss?”

He realized it once again.

This eye was truly convenient.

The moment he stared at a Goblin, its field of vision was drawn out.

It looked like a fan-shaped collision box used in games.

In other words, as long as they were careful only in those areas, there was no chance of drawing aggro.

The floor that is the least impressive compared to its name.

That was the description that appeared most often when one searched for the second underground floor.

There was a reason people said that.

Players with Ariadne would probably be able to see something similar to those collision boxes too.

“This is super easy! We could clear it in one second!”

“Stop it.”

“What?”

“Stop raising flags.”

“Flag? What is that?”

Just as he was about to explain it kindly.

Ding!

[The Labyrinth has detected the Destroyer’s presence!]

[The Labyrinth’s second underground floor changes for defense!]

The message beat him to it.

“Things like this.”

“Oh……”

In any case, this was the first time he had seen such a reaction.

Naturally, it was also content that had never appeared on the Labyrinth Site.

He remembered the definition of a Labyrinth he had once seen.

The Labyrinth is a single place, but at the same time, it is also like a vast living, breathing organism.

Back then, he had wondered what nonsense that was, but now that it was reacting to him in real time, he could understand it to some extent.

He looked around.

So, what had changed, and how?

“Grrrrrr.”

The moment he began forming a question mark in his mind, a growl reached his ears.

“Huh? Those things are moving?!”

The Goblin unit slowly began patrolling the surroundings.

As they moved, the fan-shaped collision boxes also shifted here and there.

[An alert state has been added to the Goblins, increasing the difficulty!]

[If you enter a Goblin’s field of vision, the clear will fail!]

[Due to the increased difficulty, you will obtain additional rewards upon clearing!]

He had thought it had only become bothersome, but in that case, the story was different.

Unlike the capricious Labyrinth, the System felt somewhat fair and impartial.

To some extent, the balance between cost and reward had been restored.

However, if there was one problem, it was that there were too many Goblins.

They even moved while tangling together, to the point that it was hard to find ground untouched by a collision box.

He continued watching them, but there did not seem to be any clear patrol pattern.

‘It cannot be helped.’

This could be called his own sort of foresight.

He reached into his backpack and took out the equipment he had bought on the way.

This would do.