NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 12 - Abdul and Hassan
‘Now all that’s left is a sword….’
Excluding one silver coin for the cost of meat soup for lunch, the usable amount was around 20 silver coins.
‘Where should I go?’
While looking around, a signboard caught Siwon’s eye.
[Used Swords for Sale]
“…They just wrote it outright there.”
Still, it was nice to see such honesty.
Siwon immediately entered the shop selling used swords.
“Oh my.”
A man in samurai attire that looked like it came straight out of a Japanese animation greeted Siwon.
Judging by his black hair and slightly yellow-tinged skin, he was certainly a foreigner too.
“It’s been a while since a customer came?”
“I’d like to buy a sword.”
“How much money do you have?”
“About 20 silver.”
At Siwon’s answer, the sword merchant’s mouth opened.
His brow furrowed in contrast.
It seems it was an unexpected amount.
“…20 silver?”
“Yeah.”
“…With just that?”
“What do you mean ‘just that’? 20 silver is enough for twenty bowls of meat soup.”
“That’s true, but… Isn’t it far too little to bring out a decent sword?”
“…Just show me whatever you have.”
“Whatever?”
“Yeah.”
“In that case….”
The weapon merchant went into the warehouse and came out holding a sword.
“Here. Take this. It’s a good sword.”
Siwon’s gaze was drawn to the sword the merchant handed over.
Shing.
The purple blade that emerged from the scabbard shone as if to devour Siwon’s gaze.
“…Fuck.”
“?”
This was something he couldn’t help but swear at.
“Even if I have little money, this is too much. Are you crazy?”
“No, why are you suddenly cursing….”
“Why, you ask. You say it’s a good sword and then pull out a yoto, isn’t it strange if I don’t swear?”
“…Tsk.”
He’s going “tsk” now.
Is he crazy, playing with people’s lives like this?
Even when getting rid of stock, you should be careful.
“Don’t you have anything else? My trust in you is rapidly declining. If it drops completely, I might just leave.”
“Wait, if that’s the case….”
Then the weapon merchant went back into the warehouse and brought out another sword.
“How about this?”
“….”
What the merchant handed over was just an ordinary longsword.
It’s not unusable, but a plain-designed longsword with rust in several places.
“Don’t you have anything else besides this?”
“What do you expect to buy with just 20 silver….”
“20 silver is enough for twenty bowls of meat soup….”
“Enough, stop saying that.”
“….”
The weapon merchant sighed deeply as if disgusted and said,
“Why don’t you try the yoto? The yoto isn’t bad either. If you handle it well, it might be fine to try….”
“Unless my hair turns green from the labyrinth’s curse, that won’t happen. You’d sell this to me when you should be paying me to take it?”
“…Then I can give you about 5 silver. Will you take it if I give you that much?”
“You’re asking if I’ll take it?”
“No, why. 5 silver is enough for five bowls of meat soup that you mentioned….”
Hearing it reversed made Siwon’s head spin.
“…Enough. Stop mentioning meat soup. It’s making me hungry.”
Siwon wasn’t an INT 4 character who would risk an arm to test his luck on a yoto.
Intelligence is the most important thing for a guide.
Just in case I need to add this, but.
There is no blessing or curse in the Argantolla Labyrinth that turns your hair green.
In other words, he’s saying he wouldn’t use it even if he died.
“Besides that yoto and this sword from earlier, our shop doesn’t have anything else worth selling for 20 silver. Try somewhere else.”
“…Perhaps, could I pay later?”
“How can I let you pay later when I don’t know when you’ll die? I don’t even do that for regulars.”
“…I guess that’s true.”
‘Should I spend more money on a sword?’
The remaining money in hand was 61 silver.
Considering 1 silver for meat soup and 40 silver as emergency funds.
20 silver was the maximum amount he could spend on a sword.
Does this mean he has to break into his emergency funds after all?
As he naturally turned his head.
A sight inside the warehouse that wasn’t visible in the game entered Siwon’s view.
“…Wait a minute, what’s that?”
A sword with a broken blade caught Siwon’s eye.
“That? Ah… I haven’t thrown it away yet. Come to think of it.”
“You’re throwing it away?”
“Yeah.”
“…Can I take a look at it?”
‘Surely not, right?’
Siwon asked out of a faint hope.
It’s probably unlikely.
“No, I said I’m going to throw that away.”
“That’s why I’m saying, if you’re going to throw it away, let me see it just once.”
“…Well. Showing it isn’t difficult.”
The weapon merchant followed Siwon’s words and took out the sword that had been sleeping in the warehouse and handed it to Siwon.
“….”
Siwon’s expression gradually hardened as he examined the broken sword.
“What’s wrong?”
“…Ah, it’s nothing. This sword. The blade is all worn out.”
“Right? I thought it looked like something too, so I got it for free, but it’s just taking up space. I thought maybe the owner would show up someday or something….”
“….”
Siwon didn’t show any particular reaction, but.
‘What should I do? How can I get this for free?’
Inside, he was jumping for joy.
‘How is half of a holy sword in a place like this?’
Truthfully, he wants to say he wants to buy this sword right away.
But in transactions, the desperate side always becomes the weaker party.
If he reveals this desperation to the weapon merchant, who knows how much money he’ll be fleeced for.
What’s this, is this sword quite good? Forget it, I won’t sell it and just keep it.
…He might even lose the chance to purchase it.
He must prevent that worst-case scenario.
As Siwon was pondering.
“…Hey, friend.”
“Yeah?”
“Why don’t we make a deal? It might be a good offer for you too.”
“…What is it?”
Suddenly talking about a deal.
“Actually, all those swords I showed you just now, they’re all junk that’s just taking up space.”
“And you were going to sell those things?”
“…No, 20 silver doesn’t even cover the building maintenance costs. I was just thinking if some incompetent guy took it and died with it.”
“….”
Siwon felt slightly uneasy at the weapon merchant’s casual brutality, but.
“….”
He didn’t say anything.
There was no point in ruffling his feathers right now.
“Forget about the money, could you take all three of them?”
“…All of them?”
He barely managed to suppress the corners of his mouth from rising.
“Yeah. All of them. That rusty longsword, the broken sword, and the yoto too.”
“….”
The longsword and holy sword were one thing, but.
‘…I really don’t want the yoto.’
Despite this clearly being a good opportunity, when Siwon hesitated.
“Well, if you don’t want to. It’s troublesome, but I’ll have to take them to the blacksmith later to exchange for iron….”
“No, well. I’ll do that.”
Siwon answered as if it was nothing and immediately tied the longsword and yoto to his waist and put the broken holy sword in his bag.
Someday, the time to use this would come.
“…You move fast. Good.”
“Just in case, I’m asking. Do I have to keep these swords?”
Siwon wasn’t skilled enough in swordsmanship to handle three swords.
“No, do what you want. Take them to the blacksmith to exchange for iron, or throw them away on the roadside….”
The weapon merchant’s words suddenly trailed off.
“No, don’t do that. It might be used for something bad. I don’t want to be falsely accused of selling those swords if something happens.”
“Alright.”
Siwon said this and immediately turned his back.
It seemed best to leave this place as quickly as possible before he changed his mind.
“Hey.”
Just before Siwon left.
The weapon merchant called out to Siwon from behind.
“…Hmm?”
“If you happen to survive, come back. I’ll give you a better sword. By then, you’ll probably have more than 20 silver.”
“Sure.”
He said that, but.
‘You crazy bastard, why would I come here again.’
Siwon, who had unintentionally committed an act close to fraud, would never come back here.
“I wonder if the job search is over by now?”
In front of the Explorer’s Guild, at a time when the sun had reached its zenith.
Siwon, who had returned after drinking hot meat soup, licked his lips and went inside.
‘…It’s quite bustling.’
In the guild plaza, numerous explorers who should have already left for the labyrinth were engaged in heated discussions with each other.
Among them was Hegel, the gray-bearded man he had just met.
“No, I’m telling you…! I keep saying it’s dangerous! I’m saying a stirring will happen soon!”
Hegel spoke passionately to the mustached man sitting in front of him.
“A stirring will happen soon? Nonsense! Who said such a thing?”
“Well, this guy named Sean….”
“Sean? I’ve never heard that name before. You don’t believe the guild master’s words that there’s no problem with the labyrinth, but you so easily believe the words of such a guy? Come on, man!”
“Well, that is….”
‘…Could it be, they’re talking about me now?’
Siwon tried to go to the office as quickly as possible, but.
“Oh, it’s that guy!”
Siwon’s body froze for a moment at the sound of Hegel’s voice from ahead.
The gazes of all the explorers around turned to Siwon.
“Hey, you. You’re Sean, right! It’s me, Hegel!”
“…Who are you?”
He acted as naturally as possible, pretending not to know.
He didn’t forget to slightly lower his voice to make it different from before.
“No, aren’t you Sean?”
“My name is not Sean.”
It wasn’t a lie.
“You, don’t you really remember? We just met a little while ago! You definitely told me that a stirring would happen soon….”
“I’ve never met you.”
When Siwon said this much, the mustached man who had been having a heated discussion with Hegel until just now patted Hegel’s shoulder.
“Come on, man. It’s not him. Why are you making a fuss over a complete stranger?”
“This is strange. I’m sure it’s him….”
“All foreigners look similar, how can you be sure?”
The mustached man’s gaze briefly turned to Siwon.
“This guy is quite handsome though.”
“…That’s why! A handsome foreigner. It’s him….”
“Come on! Are handsome foreigners that rare? Well, they are a bit scarce… But how do you know if the guy who told you that was even from the guild in the first place?”
“….”
That mustached man’s deduction wasn’t wrong either.
At the time Siwon said those words to Hegel, he wasn’t affiliated with the guild yet.
“No, wait a minute. Looking again… He does seem a bit different. His clothes are different… His voice seems a bit different too.”
“See! I told you it wasn’t me! Why are you making a fuss over a complete stranger?”
“….”
Hegel’s gaze turned to Siwon.
“…I’m sorry. I mistook you for someone else.”
For a moment, Siwon felt guilty at Hegel’s apology, but.
“…It’s alright. These things happen.”
“Hey, sorry for wasting your time. Go on now. The talk about a stirring happening was just a baseless rumor. Hmm….”
Following the mustached man’s words, Siwon immediately left the place and headed towards the office.
‘…Who are those two?’
The receptionist who had given Siwon his ID card about 3 hours ago.
In front of her stood two unknown brown-skinned explorers.
“…Is that him?”
“…He doesn’t look as stupid as we thought….”
‘No, what are they muttering about?’
He could see the two whispering ahead, but they were too far away to hear exactly what they were saying.
“Oh, Mr. Sion? You’re here!”
At that moment, the receptionist who noticed Siwon approaching from afar greeted him.
The two brown-skinned men stopped whispering and stood still, just looking Siwon up and down.
“Has a party been found?”
“Yes! These two gentlemen here said they want to take you into their party.”
“…These two?”
Siwon’s head turned towards the two brown-skinned men.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Abdul.”
“My name is Hassan. Abdul and I have been very close since childhood. We’re in a party together.”
“….”
For some reason, he had an ominous feeling.
It felt like something would happen if he went to the labyrinth with these two.
Siwon immediately approached the receptionist and whispered in her ear.
“…Wasn’t there anyone else?”
“There was no one else besides these two. And, a party that would take Mr. Siwon, who has no experience in the labyrinth….”
“No, you wrote differently on the paper. You said I was a skilled guide.”
“….”
This bitch. Don’t tell me.
“Did you write something different from what I said on that paper?”
“…I’m sorry. But, I couldn’t write information that wasn’t true, right?”
“No, usually in job postings, even if it’s your first time, you lie and say you’re experienced….”
This act commonly called “sukko”.
Just as most companies only look for experienced workers, in most games you can’t go on raids without doing this.
“…?”
The receptionist made an expression of not understanding what Siwon was saying, due to his use of modern language.
“…So what did you write?”
“Well, a 1st class guide with no exploration experience….”
“And?”
“…Pardon?”
“You didn’t just write that, did you? Should we ask those two?”
“…I also wrote that you’re a bit prone to showing off.”
“….”
Everything went dark before his eyes.
‘Why the hell did this crazy woman write such a thing….’
“I, I’m sorry! But originally, only the truth should be written in job postings….”
She still didn’t seem to show any sign of remorse.
It’s a problem that she wrote something different from what was said, but.
More than that, why doesn’t she understand that hiding this fact from the person concerned is a bigger problem?
“…Forget it. Just give me all the requests I asked for earlier.”
“…Ah, yes!”
Siwon immediately gathered the request papers.
“Let’s not see each other’s faces from now on. I’ll find someone else.”
“…I’m sorry.”
After resolving the problem in front of him in a somewhat gentlemanly manner.
“Hello?”
Siwon turned back and greeted Abdul and Hassan.
Abdul and Hassan responded by putting on artificial smiles.
‘…I have a bad feeling about this.’
A party trying to take in a guide with no experience and full of bravado.
In such cases, it’s usually one of two things.
Either they lack the ability or career to recruit decent party members.
Or….
“Yes, nice to meet you. But that conversation took quite a while.”
They’re trash who try to exploit naive explorers as much as possible and don’t even pay them.
If they’re worse, they might even kill at the end to destroy evidence.
These two seemed more like the latter.
“I’m quite talented, you see. I was late because I was getting more requests.”
He needed to confirm.
For now, he decided to act like an inexperienced guide full of bravado, as the receptionist had written.
“…Is that so? Well, that’s fortunate. To think you were such a skilled guide.”
Until Abdul and Hassan reveal their hidden true colors.