Chapter 185 – The Space-Warping Labyrinth
I realized the moment the tenth reinforcement failed. I’m not lucky. The girl’s luck may be good, but the rest of her luck is the worst.
“Rumiiiiit.”
[Sorry. My prayer power was not enough. If you give me another chance, I will pray with all my heart.]
Rumi’s voice naturally became polite, probably sensing that my atmosphere was unusual. There is no use trying to change your attitude now! This gambling addicted spellbook bitch. When I get home, I’ll catch silverfish and release them on the body of the book.
“Ah, aaaaagh.”
I wasted 10 silver in just one hour. In another world, 10 silver is equivalent to a thousand rye bread. A thousand loaves of bread that might have gone into my mouth have now evaporated.
[Do you want to give up?]
Rumi asked me carefully.
However, there is no giving up in my dictionary. If you return with only 10 silver and the reinforcement failed, you will have a tantrum and your daily life will be impossible.
The sunk costs are too great to be undone. Isn’t it better to charge 20 silver than 10 silver without charge?
“Wendy Ceeeee! Bring me some more magic stones! I’ll order 80 more magic stones. I need them right now.”
“You’re not giving up! You’re like the adventurer I raised. The mindset of making money out of odds is great.”
Wendy just brought a new bag of magic stones from the guild storage. Cheers rang out from the rooftop the moment I traded Wendy and her magic stones for 10 silver.
It is the cheers of the spectators watching the quarter staff reinforcement show.
“Please stick with me this time! Dreamy youth!”
“You can’t jump off the roof!”
Dozens of onlookers surrounded me and chatted loudly. Some people even took out copper coins and threw them to me as if they seemed sympathetic to me. Before I tried strengthening, I took care of the copper coins that had fallen on the floor.
“Raido!”
Pop!
“Raido…”
Perong.
I closed my eyes and activated the reinforcement ceremony. Now, every time I hear the popping sound, I feel like I’m going to cry tears.
It’s the first time I’ve tasted Ganghwa in another world, but it’s too spicy. He said he blew away all the money he received as an advance payment from the exploration quest.
“Raido! Raido! Raido!”
How many times have you shouted the starter word? At some point, I could no longer hear the distinctive explosion sound heard when reinforcement failed. The rooftop was just unstoppable.
But not particularly happy. It wasn’t that the reinforcement was successful, but the spell itself didn’t activate because all the magic stones were consumed. The moment I opened my eyes, I realized that the newly introduced 80 magic stones had evaporated.
“Huhhhhh.”
“Nonsense! They all failed. I tried 20 times and never succeeded. Is this really a 10% chance?”
“Mr. Wendy. Heugh. Can I cry a little?
All the magic stones I bought for 20 silver disappeared. Now, all I have left on my pocketbook is a bunch of copper coins. If you want to try more reinforcements, you must go home and bring extra money.
Dump! I knelt on the dusty rooftop floor. I had to go home, but I didn’t even have the energy to move.
This is why gambling is scary. This must be the feeling of opening the entrance to hell and peering into the abyss.
My wallet was light. That much made my heart empty.
“The roof floor is dirty, Mr. Luke. Wake up.”
“Yes…”
It was the moment when he managed to stand up with Wendy’s help. The door on the roof, which had been closed tightly, opened, and a familiar woman’s voice rang out.
“What are you all doing here? It’s time to get off work. I don’t pay you overtime even if you have more time today.”
It was Bella’s voice. Her office is on the top floor, so it’s very close to the roof. She must have heard the onlookers talking and went up on the roof. When she saw the crowd of people gathered on the roof, Bella put on a puzzled expression.
“Why is Mr. Luke here? Why is he helpless like a man who has burned everything to white?”
“Bugilma-sama! That horned adventurer is using silver coins to strengthen his staff. It’s a probabilistic gamble, so it’s fun to watch. If the reinforcement fails, it explodes spectacularly.”
One of the receptionists explained her situation to Bella. After she heard the story, she came up to me with a bewildered look on her face.
“I tried strengthening 20 times, but all of them failed? How lucky are you, Mr. Luke?”
“Bella Nunnaa… I’m unlucky with everything except my luck with girls. Maybe I’ve spent all my life’s luck on meeting girls. I need a little more money to break the 10% chance. I’ll bring some money from home.”
“You failed like that, so are you going to try strengthening again? Mr. Luke, you look a little dangerous right now. My eyes are open.”
“Huh.”
I tried to leave the rooftop with a silly laugh.
But Bella grabbed my wrist and I couldn’t get out.
“Try it one more time before you go home. If it’s about 8 magic stones, I’ll borrow them. It’s a bit like the flow is cut off here for no reason. I’m also curious about how the reinforcement is done.”
“That’s good. Just give me a magic stone and I’ll show you as much as you like.”
It is said that Bella will lend you the magic stone. I would have to pay back later, but it was an offer I couldn’t refuse.
“You mean you consumed 20 silver in an hour? From the point of view of running a guild, it’s very interesting. Our guild also had a plan to introduce a probabilistic gambling system. Exactly what kind of business is the pot…”
“If you introduce a gambling system, you will leave that guild. Don’t do it.”
“No, I was kidding. It’s not interesting at all. I had a plan, but it just seemed like it was all blank.”
Bella tried to talk about the gambling system, but she looked at me and shut her mouth.
What kind of odds gambling Are you planning to extort money from poor adventurers? I alone am enough for an adventurer who is victimized by chance gambling.
“I brought the magic stone!”
Soon after, the receptionists came up to the roof with bundles of magic stones. I ordered eight magic stones, but the quantity was much larger. Anyway, if I fail this time, I’ll try again, so it’s rather good.
It is like a rain ritual held by the leaderns of the earth during a severe drought. Leaderns’ rain rituals are always successful without exception. It’s a way to keep praying for rain until it rains.
The same goes for strengthening the quarter staff. If you pour money until it sticks, you will succeed 100%. The chance of succeeding in strengthening is not 10%.
“Raido!”
I was determined to fight a long-term battle and recited the starting language. I’m thinking about investing 10 silver more here. However, the moment I made up my mind and shouted, something unexpected happened.
Dig-! More splendid light than ever burst forth from the quarterstaff. No matter how much time passed, there was no popping sound. I, who had been lethargic, was instantly filled with vitality and looked at the staff.
“Sir, no way! Success?”
[Success, Mage. That dazzling light is a phenomenon that only happens when you succeed. Finally, my prayer power worked. Hurry up and pick up the enhanced staff.]
Soon, the moment the light disappeared, he realized that the reinforcement had been perfectly successful. I don’t know why it didn’t stick even after trying 20 times. After a bit of brainstorming, I realized why and clapped my hands.
“Oh, it’s because I didn’t expect it!”
[Are you saying you never expected to succeed?]
“Yes. Because I think I will fail at all, I succeed instead. I forgot something important. I need to empty my mind.”
You can’t control expectations. The formula that everything will work out if you shake off your desires also applies in this world.
Looks like my quarter staff has a water bath sensor.
“Enhancement succeeded! Everyone, is this good? Haha!”
In the middle of the rooftop, I grabbed my reinforced staff and burst out laughing. I tried to beat it without hesitation, but no one was disgusted among the onlookers.
Maybe it’s because I’ve fully appreciated the pain I’ve been through.
The onlookers who had gathered on the rooftop dispersed in an instant.
Wendy, the receptionist, also left work, so before I knew it, only Bella and I were left on the roof.
“Thanks to the magic stone Bella noona lent me, the reinforcement was successful. Can I return the money to the guild tomorrow?”
“You don’t have to pay it back. It’s only 1 silver. Think of it as your sister giving you pocket money.”
It was beautiful to see Bella coolly giving her a silver coin as pocket money. Since she is the daughter of a noble family, her economic concept must be different from that of an adventurer like me. If you don’t have to pay back, that’s fine with me.
“So what’s different about Luke’s wand?”
“I’m not sure yet. I’ll have to go home and check. It’s certain that the output of ancient magic has increased compared to before.”
Other than that the output has gone up, I don’t know the point of change yet. If you go back home and listen to Rumi’s explanation, you’ll know exactly what has been strengthened. She please, as she paid 20 silver, I hope she pays for it properly.
The desire to return home and check the function of the wand was like a chimney. But because of Bella’s request, he couldn’t leave the guild right away.
“Luke, can you follow me into the office for a minute?”
“How can I help you?”
“Ah, that’s…”
After asking her to follow her into her office, Bella failed to make eye contact with me for a while. Is she going to make a difficult request?
She can do anything except to ask for her 1 silver as her pocket money and to vouch for it.
However, Bella’s request was surprisingly not difficult.
“I, I baked some cookies at home. I want to share them with Luke.”
“Oh-. Is it a homemade snack?”
She asked for a taste of homemade sweets, but Bella stuttered her words for some reason. Her cheeks were flushed as if she were embarrassed.
Did you put something strange in the cookie?
She thought so, and she quickly dispelled her doubts. It’s not like Bella’s shady personality playing around with food. She probably just wants to know what the cookies taste like.
“Follow me! There are many snacks in the office.”
“Nunnaaaaa snack. I’ll eat well.”
I grabbed her wand and other items and followed straight after Bella. They say they give me snacks for free, but I’m not the kind of person who will just pass by. Bella talked to me as I chased after her excitedly.
“You look very excited. Have your lovers ever made sweets for you?”
“No. Rebecca and Kate don’t like to cook. Rather, I cook for them.”
Although I have two lovers, I have never experienced the sweet event of eating a lover’s cuisine.
To put it bluntly, Rebecca is devastatingly bad at her cooking. Kate knows how to cook, but she doesn’t because she’s not motivated. Thanks to that, I was always in charge of preparing meals at fixed parties.
It means that you rarely eat food prepared by your lover.
“Well, then that means I’m better at cooking than my girlfriends.”
“Yes…?”
“Cooking is my hobby. I’m glad that it gives me some hope.”
It’s the first time I’ve heard that Bella’s hobby is cooking. She is an aristocratic lady, but unexpectedly, she is an older sister with a homely side. She makes good money, but she can cook for you, which is great.
She was so perfect that any man would want to marry her.
It was when we walked down the hallway on the top floor together and arrived at the office.
As she entered the office, Bella brought out luxuriously packaged homemade sweets. As she unwraps it, she smells sweet and her mouth is already watering.
She picked up some sweets and was about to taste them when she heard Bella’s voice.
Bella asked me with a shy expression.
“…Maybe I can feed them myself?”
