“Cheers!”
“Che…ers?”
“…”
Having called out to Regen, I confidently spread out a mat and successfully secured some alcohol.
My efforts performing tricks in various pubs while traveling abroad had finally paid off.
A brief introduction, a silly joke to elicit a laugh.
“Let’s drink!”
Before awkwardness could set in, I immediately poured down the alcohol.
I swallowed the drink in the disposable cup, crafted from bound lotus leaves, in one gulp.
A heavy warmth spread through my chest.
“Ha.”
As I exhaled, a refreshing aroma diffused from my throat.
It felt as if flowers bloomed in my throat.
“Whoa!”
It was superb.
Pushing my way in had definitely been a good decision.
“Gah! My nose… *cough! cough!*…”
“Fay, what are you doing, drinking it all at once?”
Meanwhile, Fay performed the feat of chugging brandy as if it were beer.
“Pfft.”
Regen burst into laughter at her antics.
‘Good.’
The initial hurdle had been overcome.
‘Now, to lighten the mood with some casual conversation…’
As the alcohol slowly began to dull my senses…
“Drink!”
I took a sip of Regen’s brandy, following her lead.
‘Truly, it’s the best.’
It tasted like something an elementary schooler might describe as ‘just ridiculously amazing liquor,’ constantly revealing new nuances with every sip.
“By the way, how did you end up here, Regen?”
With the atmosphere now sufficiently mellow, I began to inquire about Regen’s circumstances in earnest.
“There’s no special reason. It’s quite ordinary.”
“Ah…”
“When I first arrived here, there wasn’t even a concept like an ‘association’ as there is now. Back then, I…”
“Ohh…”
‘Huh?’
“I was the first elf to leave my forest and become a full-time explorer…”
*KWA-AAAAH—!*
Suddenly, a vision of a burst dam appeared before my eyes.
“This…”
Was this a narrative that wouldn’t let me go until dawn?
****
“…and that’s how I ended up doing this work.”
“I… see.”
Regen proceeded to unleash a ‘talk domain expansion’ (TL Note: A humorous reference to a domain expansion from Jujutsu Kaisen, implying an overwhelming, inescapable monologue) for approximately five hours afterward.
Despite her cool demeanor, it seemed she was quite starved for conversation.
“Sniff, sniffle…”
Beside me, Fay was sniffling.
It was understandable.
This story, after all, was of the ‘ruined’ genre.
Regen’s circumstances, as she recounted them, were as follows:
While there were many regional details I didn’t fully grasp, and Regen subtly glossed over some parts, her story could be simply summarized as:
‘She had been expelled from her guild.’
For a modern person, it was a familiar ‘banishment cliché’ often seen in web novels.
“So… after receiving that curse on the left side of your face, you could no longer use mana, and your comrades turned their backs on you?”
It was a truly regrettable tale.
Regen, who had once been a rather successful explorer, reportedly spent all the money she earned during her exploring days on trying to restore her broken mana vessel.
However, there was no improvement, and in the process, she was swindled many times.
Having lost both her fortune and her relationships, she was now undertaking requests from the bereaved, bringing back the bodies of the deceased.
Even the meager money she did earn was spent on alleviating the pain caused by her worsening curse.
Since the medicine was prohibitively expensive in other regions, she found herself unable to return home, effectively stranded here.
“I shouldn’t have said anything after all,” Regen remarked bitterly, looking at Fay.
“…Another drink?”
In times like these, alcohol was the only answer.
Regen shrugged, and I immediately refilled her cup.
“You often hear that you’re a good person, don’t you? That you live at a disadvantage.”
“I don’t know about that; I just enjoy conversation.”
Indeed, I was the type who genuinely enjoyed listening to people speak.
Perhaps that was the secret to how I could appear to be a decent traveler and earn a living, despite my less-than-fluent foreign language skills.
Responses that showed I was truly listening, appropriate interjections, and expressions of awe.
“…This alcohol, too, is actually a sign of cutting ties (TL Note: ‘Sonjeol’ refers to cutting losses, often in finance, but used here to imply ending a relationship). It was originally meant to be a time capsule, to be drunk together ten years from now. The meaning of giving it to you now is obvious.”
“I had no idea. That’s harsh.”
“No, it’s right to decisively sever a toxic relationship. She did well. Honestly, I’ve only been a nuisance for years.”
“Ah, even so…”
To react as if the other person’s words were the entire world, just for the duration of the conversation.
“You’ve truly endured a lot.”
“Haa, no, it’s fine. It’s fine. It’s all my fault.”
“I doubt anyone here thinks that.”
“Pfft, you rascal… your words flow like a clear stream.”
While it might seem like common flattery, it wasn’t.
Whether one was truly immersed in the other’s story or not tended to show.
Adding to that,
-*Glug, glug, glug—*
“Then let’s toast once more! To an endless tomorrow!”
“…To tomorrow.”
Even the ‘Judo (TL Note: ‘Judo’ here refers to the etiquette and customs surrounding drinking alcohol, distinct from the martial art.)’ I learned from working factory production lines after high school.
-*Clink.*
K-drinking etiquette (TL Note: ‘K-drinking etiquette’ refers to a set of unique drinking customs and traditions from Korea, often emphasizing community and respect.), having traveled from the Land of Eastern Courtesy, seemed to still be effective even in this other world.
“…Mr. Will, your social skills are truly impressive… in many ways.”
Fay, having stopped sniffling, spoke to me.
“You can say that again. Even those dwarf rascals aren’t this friendly. Especially not since I started smelling like rotten fish.”
“Oh, ‘rotten fish’? You’re being too hard on yourself. I only smell flowers.”
“…It was true when I first met you, and it’s still true now; you’re truly something else.”
“Oh, are you acknowledging it?”
“…Yes. You’re truly one of a kind.”
Regen said, taking a sip of her drink.
“Hey, Regen—no, Big Sis! What are you doing drinking alone? I’ll join you!”
“Honestly, alright. Hurry up and come.”
A faint smile played on Regen’s face as she spoke.
“More importantly, this alcohol is really delicious, isn’t it? Not to mention the aroma.”
“Well, yes. It’s brewed from the flowers of the World Tree, after all.”
“…The, the World Tree?!”
Fay, who had been awkwardly sipping her drink beside us, gasped in astonishment.
The World Tree?
Now that I thought about it, those ‘Kkanp’ (TL Note: A derogatory term for elves, likely derived from ‘깐깐한 놈들’ meaning ‘picky bastards’ or ‘stubborn guys’.) we chased out of the pub had mentioned something about the ‘Blade of the World Tree.’
“You’re… you’re joking, right? The High Elves protect the World Tree with their lives… there’s no way flowers from such a tree would just be brewed into alcohol…”
“Well, think what you want to believe. You can dismiss it as a beggar’s nonsense if you wish.”
Regen laughed it off, then looked at me and asked again.
“What do you think?”
“I believe Regen. Wouldn’t that make for a better story?”
Why bother doubting and needlessly diminishing the rarity of my experience?
Even if it wasn’t true, wouldn’t it be better to boast about having had an experience that no one else could?
“Hahaha, you truly are one of a kind.”
Regen laughed, patting me on the back.
“Oh, right. Now that I think about it… you said I was pretty last time, didn’t you?”
“Uh, I did, didn’t I?”
She then subtly brought her face closer to mine.
Perhaps it was the alcohol, but a faint mischievousness flickered in her eyes.
“So… do you still think so now?”
Then,
Regen abruptly pulled down the cloth covering her left arm.
The pink flowers adorning her left arm glowed faintly under the moonlight.
“Eek?!”
Fay recoiled in surprise.
Seeing her reaction, Regen’s expression subtly shifted.
It seemed she was both relieved and somewhat disappointed.
“Ah, sorry. It’s just that seeing you lie so boldly back then made me a little uncomfortable, so I…”
But then.
“…Right? I thought you were incredibly beautiful from the moment I first saw you.”
‘I don’t understand her intention.’
‘What is this?’
‘A display of beauty?’
‘A kind of deception? Like, ‘I’m this beautiful’?’
‘If so, Fay’s horror might be understandable.’
“……Huh?”
At my words, a look of bewilderment, for the first time, clouded Regen’s usually composed face.
“…Uh, your face is turning red. Are you drunk?”
“Ah, that… that’s… No, it’s nothing.”
*Whoosh.*
Regen pulled her face away from me and draped the cloth back over her head.
‘Is she drunk?’
She was a person with inexplicable facets.
“Ah, anyway, forget that. You two said you aspire to be explorers, didn’t you?”
The topic of conversation abruptly shifted.
“Yes, we’re taking the official explorer examination this time.”
In this world, the formal qualification to explore the ‘Nether’ is granted by the Guild Association.
Of course, one can descend without it, but in that case, they cannot utilize the various facilities the Association has established throughout the ‘Nether’ for easier exploration.
Thus, it was common practice to complete probationary requests to gain experience, then take the examination to register as an an official explorer.
“An official examination, how nostalgic. Do they still start from Bronze these days?”
“No, the lowest rank is Iron. After that, it’s Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum… and above that is Dark Iron.”
Fay answered Regen’s question.
“Some strange things have been added. In our time, it was Gold, then immediately Dark Iron.”
“…Hasn’t this system been in place for over ten years now…?”
“Since I only deal with retrieving explorer corpses and returning them to their families, I’m completely out of touch with the world.”
-*Ah, but maybe that hasn’t changed.*
Regen suddenly seemed to recall something and spoke to us.
“…Since this is fate, shall I tell you a tip for the exam?”
“A tip?”
“Yes. The explorer examination location is confidential for now, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“But I can usually tell.”
“Really?!”
“When you’re running around selling corpses and sorting through personal effects, you tend to spot the Association staff who serve as examiners. By roughly observing their locations, you can figure out where the exam will be held.”
This was an immense advantage.
Wasn’t this like getting to see the test questions before a certification exam?
“…C-could you teach us?!”
Fay exclaimed.
Even an elite like her apparently needed to know the test questions.
“I brought it up precisely to tell you.”
“Ohh!”
But something felt a little off.
Surely, last time…
“Did something happen? Last time, you were so against us becoming explorers.”
“What do you mean, ‘something happened’?”
At my words, Regen offered a wry smile.
“They’re stubborn kids who won’t listen anyway, so I might as well give them a rice cake (TL Note: ‘Tteok’ is a traditional Korean rice cake, used idiomatically here to mean a small favor or treat.) and send them on their way.”
“Aha.”
“What, are you disappointed you’re not a ‘pretty kid’?”
“Not at all.”
I preferred rice cakes to scolding.
They were delicious, after all.
“Well, what I just said was a joke… it just made me think of the old days. I was pretty stubborn myself.”
Regen then smiled gently.
Her expression, for some reason, resembled that of an elder looking fondly upon the next generation.
“…Regen.”
“?”
However,
“If we happen to pass, would you consider coming down into the Nether with us?”
Regen wasn’t an elder merely waiting for death in a safe place, was she?
‘We need a veteran right now.’
It was fine if her combat prowess was a little diminished. What we truly needed was a seasoned expert, intimately familiar with the dungeons.
From that perspective, Regen, an explorer so veteran she knew the examination details inside out, was clearly destined to be an incredible asset to our journey.
“…You’re trying to scout me, right now?”
“That’s right.”
“Why, are you interested in this beautiful elf?”
“Hmm, I can’t say no to that.”
“…Ugh.”
Regen, who had been playfully continuing the conversation, abruptly turned her head away.
“I’d like to ask you too. Just until we get accustomed to the Nether, if nothing else. We’ll pay you sufficiently on a daily basis.”
Fay, who had been listening nearby, also stepped forward.
It seemed Fay was thinking the same thing as me.
“…You don’t seem to have as strong a stomach as that guy.”
“…It’s fine. I’ve handled worse things in the magic tower’s laboratory. If it gets too hard, I can just breathe through my mouth.”
“Hmm.”
Regen said, looking back and forth between the two of us.
And then,
“I refuse.”
“Eh?”
She rejected us outright.
“Again, another refusal? Why?”
Fay asked, flustered.
“There are several reasons… but first, lack of ability.”
“No, that’s not true! Of course, I’m the Magic Tower’s unprecedented triple-major valedictorian! But with us, Regen would be more than capable of…”
Just as Fay confidently raised her index finger towards Regen—
-*Thud!*
“Oh.”
*Crash!*
However, perhaps due to the alcohol, she swayed slightly, and her hand knocked over Regen’s luggage, which had been propped up beside her.
“Oops, I’m so sorry! I’ll pick it up again…”
Fay frantically gathered the items strewn across the cloth wrapper.
-*Stop.*
In the midst of this, Fay’s body froze in an odd posture.
“Oh, this is…”
In Fay’s hand was a black tablet-like object.
Its substantial texture suggested it was metal, and its surface was adorned with elaborate carvings.
Though there was a long crack on it, as if made by a blade.
“D-d-d-Dark Iron?!”
Fay cried out in astonishment.
Dark Iron?
The highest rank, as she had mentioned?
“…”
Regen, observing Fay’s reaction, continued to calmly sip her drink.
