Early in the morning the next day, we were gathered in the station, and… to be honest, I felt slightly nervous since this would be the first time we’ll enter the labyrinth….

How we’ll get there, you may ask? Well… by train? Like… that’s a thing?

Then again, this world is pretty advanced, or even more so than my own in some aspects….

Wait… is it time to fight some big bad monsters down there? Ugh… kind of?

I think there were around a hundred of us, but 20 were in the same camp as me and Isak. Basically, it’s us who want to explore the labyrinth or become fighters of sorts. Some are even in the military, and the rest will work as normal citizens.

Of course, Julia and Hilda are with us, and to be fair… I don’t really want them to, but it’s what they’ve chosen, so there’s nothing I can do about it….

We’re going to be in the same party. I do feel bad for Isak since he doesn’t really have other friends. And… well, he did have other friends, but they’re dead.

…..

…

I honestly don’t know what’s going on inside their heads, Isak, Hilda or Julia’s…. But they don’t seem emotionally unstable.

Then… what about me?

Can’t lie and say I’m not shaken. But… it may be stupid for me to want to engage in combat after all that’s happened….

However…

I do have my reason.

I don’t want to feel powerless….

When I first arrived in this world, that’s all I felt, I felt totally useless, and I was about to die at any given moment.

I felt so relieved when I encountered the girl I somewhat saved because… I wouldn’t be alone that way.

Well…

This world showed me how cruel it could be, and that’s hard to imagine now that I’ve experienced what it feels like to live inside the city. It’s safe and comfortable.

There’s nothing wrong with it… but, If I want to live in this world and have the opportunity to gain power in the form of magic. I’ll take that in a heartbeat.

This may sound strange coming from a person who’s lived peacefully all his life. But… I can’t help but think I want to become stronger….

I’ve seen what’s out there. I remember what’s inside the textbooks—it’s all fucked up….

The two-headed beast I first encountered was a mutated version of a bloodhound. And a bloodhound is considered a D-Rank danger level-2….

Like… that shit is scary. I doubt I’ll be able to kill it even now.

And apparently, as safe as the labyrinths are, until floor 15. There will be beasts around E and D roaming around with different threat levels.

What I think is peculiar about the system is that it doesn’t rate based on destruction… but on lethality alone.

The Armoured Death Blade was a good example. Its base rating is A, and then there is a scale of 1-5. Exceeding that will make it a AA, and welp… this system that ranks creatures goes up to SS. which doesn’t have a 1-5 scale because… it's hard to imagine.

Like… knowing all this…. Can anyone blame me…?

Blame me for eagerly pursuing power?

— :::: —

Today, we’re heading down the labyrinth, but… Aska doesn’t seem as excited as I’d assume he’d be. Don’t boys like these sorts of things?

…Then again, we’ve experienced hell, at least sort of….

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I can’t imagine how it could’ve been for him to wake up on ‘that’ side of the river. After all, he lived on that side alone.

And seeing him in a daze like this. I couldn’t help but worry. So… I called out to him, “Aska… are you alright?”

He seemed a little out of it, but when I asked, he smiled and said, “Oh? Did I worry you? Sorry, I was just in a daze.” While awkwardly scratching his cheek.

….It doesn’t look like it’s nothing… or am I thinking too much?

Julia, who was standing beside me, yawned. As it was still early in the morning, she didn’t seem all excited at all. But… out of all of us. She probably had the most battle experience. Considering she had been searching for him since we arrived.

She also saved me that time… so I’m grateful to her. But… I never expected she’d like her own brother in that way….

I thought she just had a strong brother complex, and… well…. It certainly is. But! I’m not losing!

“...Aska, why do you look so down?” Julia bluntly asked.

…Right… she’d become somewhat blunt again. And for a period of time, she was sort of sweet to him, so…. It sort of made me forget her headstrong personality….

Aska looked a little surprised, but shrugged it off, saying, “Do I look down? Ugh… does my tired face look that worrying to you guys?”

Isak was the first to reply while he leaned his arm on Aska’s shoulder, saying, “You sure do, mate! Juust kidding. You seem a little out of it! What? Scared now that we’re actually going down?”

…It sort of irritates me that they look like a couple… sure, Aska is a boy, but he’s mistaken as a girl nine times out of ten!

“...Hey, Mob, don’t get too close to my brother!” Julia said, splitting them apart.

To be honest…

I… I think Aska likes me, and I’m not all that worried since I don’t think he swings that way….

But it didn’t mean it was less frustrating!

“Isak… there are more femboys out there!” I said, helping Julia out with distancing the two of them.

“Again!? Why am I a femboy!?” Aska retorts.

And so… with this commotion going on, Princess Luna approached us, clearing her throat with an ‘Ahem’.

“Stop making a scene,” she coldly said.

““We’ll… do as you say, princess!”” All of us stiffly replied.

I mean… she’s pretty scary, after all…! But…! This young girl is so admirable! She’s even stronger than Mister Alum!

“Al! Why are you just sitting there while they make a scene!?” Princess Luna asked while pinching Mister Alum’s face.

“Buw… Luwa, I cast a barriwer. Unlessh yow enter, you won’t hear twem make a fush….” Mister Alum said. His words were… a little unclear, but understandable….

The princess then released him and sighed. “...Even if that’s the case, they did make a scene….”

She then turned to us….

Awawawa! She looks scary!

She was smiling, but… “You four, since you’re willing to become explorers, then I won’t hold back in training you.”

When I heard her say that, shivers were sent down my spine. And I shuddered at the thought of the things she’ll make us do!

I turned to Aska. He seemed just as timid in front of this girl as the rest of us… however… when our eyes met, he reassured me by softly smiling as he grabbed my hand.

My heart fluttered, and all my fears went away….

He’s so sweet~

“Hey, you there… taking this opportunity to flirt?” Princess Luna inquired while looking at us with a deadpan expression.

““.....””

And so did Julia… she was staring hard at me, but… unlike the princess, I was not afraid of her! So I stuck out my tongue a little, telling her I wasn’t afraid of her!

In turn, she became steamy red, and she’d begin to pinch my cheeks… out of frustration.

— ::: —

It's me, Mob character Isak. I’ve somehow gotten out of a mess. But it does pain me that I’m easily forgotten…

I stood beside Mister Alum, and he was smiling for some reason….

Honestly… unlike Aska… I wasn’t really admiring this guy. I found him to be sort of creepy when he first appeared. Of course… over time, I came to like him. But… he just didn’t feel human at first. So that’s probably why….

“You have some interesting friends,” he said while glancing at me.

I smiled as well, thinking the same. I’ve lost some of my other friends, but… I still got Aska. And to be fair, you could say Julia and Miss Hinda are my friends as well. I don’t think any of them hate me. And they know that I’m aware of their feelings for him. That’s why they’re also aware I’m just teasing them.

You know? Just some friendly banter….

“—yeah… they are….”

...and they’re also my only friends....