The Shut-in Vampire Does Business in the Labyrinth - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Sortie to Labyrinth Layer 2

TL: DDTL

My farming method was close to perfect, at least within Layer 1.

I didn’t even have to go myself. The goblins farmed in droves and brought everything back. Could there be a better system than this?

The problem was that this method really was limited to Layer 1.

Layer 1 of the labyrinth, where only I and goblins existed.

Starting from Layer 2, I’d be running into every awakener in South Korea.

And to them, what were goblins?

Monsters.

Monsters you kill on sight.

This left me with two choices.

Settle for Layer 1 and live off four ether per month for the rest of my life.

Or brave the danger and push into Layer 2.

Of course, the goblins would be the ones braving the danger.

I’d just keep giving orders from my room, same as always.

Fwip.

Just then, a tiny ball of fur appeared before my eyes.

“I’m back!!”

“Oh, hey. Did the talk go well?”

“It did not go well!”

“…Really?”

Figures. No way it’d be that easy.

Mongmo had gone to the Association in human form.

He’d had two objectives.

Sell the ether, and secure the Association’s cooperation.

In the end, Mongmo came back with exactly the result I’d expected.

Ether sold. Negotiations fell through.

“I mean, fair enough. Who’s going to listen if the Association suddenly tells people not to kill monsters?”

“Nobody would follow such a notice, they said, so they refused!”

“Okay, good work. What about the ether payment?”

“It should have been deposited into Master’s bank account!”

“…Huh?”

“Check your account!”

I frantically opened my phone and pulled up my banking app.

“…130 billion won. It’s there.”

“I completed the assigned task with precision!”

“But Mongmo.”

“What is it, Master!”

“Doesn’t this defeat the whole purpose of sending you?”

“Hm?”

“They’d have figured out exactly who I am from the bank account, wouldn’t they?”

“…Would they?”

“Don’t give me ‘would they,’ you idiot!!!”

***

Kim Min-woo furrowed his brow as he stared at the ether contained in a small vial.

The sudden appearance of the being called Mongmo.

And “ShutInVampLord”.

Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

An Association employee entered the chairman’s office, handed over a file, and quietly left.

Kim Min-woo opened the file and read through it.

Park Hyun-gi. Male, age 28.

Freelance web designer.

Notable traits: rarely leaves the house.

“…Just an introvert?”

When the deposit was made, they’d traced the account holder, and it turned out to be a man living in Seoul.

The being known as “ShutInVampLord” had appeared like a comet one day and turned all common sense on its head.

Not only had he farmed four ether immediately upon awakening, he’d even summoned an unknown entity called Mongmo into the real world.

According to Mongmo, his ability was monster taming.

“Then it all adds up. If he’s using monsters to comb through the labyrinth…”

That must have been how he’d managed to farm four ether per month.

Sourcing four ether exclusively from Layer 1 without even entering Layer 2 was an extraordinary feat.

The problem was.

“No matter how much authority the Association has, how are we supposed to tell people not to kill monsters?”

If they told awakeners to stop hunting monsters, the Association would get torn apart by public outrage.

Of course he wanted to support the guy.

“But his ability is the real deal. S-grade at minimum, or… maybe even SS from the very start.”

Kim Min-woo reached a conclusion in his head.

Park Hyun-gi was a gem.

A diamond in the rough, so painfully shy he’d buried himself under layers of stone.

They absolutely had to cultivate him.

If they could develop Park Hyun-gi properly, they’d never have to cower before the National Assembly again!

Beep.

He pressed the button on his desk, and his secretary, Kim Hyun-ah, entered.

Kim Min-woo held up the file.

“Make sure everyone connected to this keeps their mouths shut. And as of today, this is Grade 0 Classified.”

“Yes, understood.”

Grade 0 Classified.

The Association’s highest secrecy level, not disclosed even to the government.

“And Hyun-ah. I’m going to need you to handle something.”

***

I grabbed Mongmo by both cheeks and stretched them mercilessly.

“Hwaaaah! I did what I was told…!”

“You moron! You said you’d handle it yourself! How is that any different from walking up and announcing ‘ShutInVampLord is Park Hyun-gi’?!”

“Earth’s transaction systems expose too much personal information!”

“That’s exactly what you said you’d handle!!”

I vented my fury by pulling at his cheeks, which stretched like taffy, but what was done was done.

“It is fine! The Association Chairman seemed like a smart man!”

“You should’ve been the smarter one!”

“Hwaaaaaang!”

Right up until he’d left, Mongmo had puffed out his chest and told me to trust him before marching off to the Association.

I trembled with the sting of betrayal.

How could you do this to me?

I even bought peanuts as a reward.

“B-but I sold all the goods!”

“…Ugh.”

When I let go, Mongmo rubbed his cheeks furiously with his stubby little paws.

Spilled milk.

No use crying over it. I’d just have to keep one ether saved at all times as an emergency escape option.

“Alright, well then… let’s start with the move.”

130 billion won were now sitting in my account.

That was more than enough to do everything I’d planned.

I couldn’t exactly leave this to Mongmo too, so the next day I pulled a hat down low and headed outside.

But something was off.

“Oh my! There’s a great house that just came on the market in Gangnam!”

“…Gangnam? This is Sindaebang, though?”

“No, seriously, it’s listed dirt cheap over there! Practically free! It has everything you mentioned, too!”

“…I mean, it really is cheap, but.”

Before I knew what was happening, I’d been swept along, and when I came to, the deed was already stamped.

“Hey, mister. You dropped your business card.”

“Ha ha! Would you look at that, right there on the ground! Since you picked it up, why not keep it? I happen to be a labyrinth byproduct dealer…!”

“…?”

Suddenly, I had a junk item buyer.

“Oh my, they say a huge grocery warehouse is opening in our neighborhood!”

“Apparently they deliver everything right to your door, no matter how much you order?”

“They even run their own cargo trucks!”

“…?”

Suddenly, the food supply problem was solved.

“…What the hell?”

One by one, my problems were solving themselves out of nowhere.

***

“…Wow.”

“Well then, have a good day!”

“Yeah. Thanks for the hard work.”

The movers left, and I looked around the house.

A two-story detached house in Gangnam.

Complete with a yard and a parking area.

The parking area was spacious enough for a food delivery truck to pull right in.

On top of that, the walls were high enough that there was zero chance of anyone seeing inside.

“…This is really my house?”

I’d bought a place like this for a mere 50 billion won.

It was listed online for 200 billion…?

I’d been so sure it was a scam that I hired a lawyer and reviewed the documents dozens of times.

Clean as a whistle. Not a single issue.

This spacious house was now truly mine.

First things first after moving in: re-designate the outpost.

“Outpost Declaration.”

[Only one Outpost can be designated in reality.]

[Would you like to register a new Outpost?]

“Yes.”

The moment I declared the outpost, one of the doors on the first floor flashed with light.

I walked over and opened it.

“Grrk!”

“Get out, grrk! Go get drops, now, grrk!”

“Where do I put this, grrk!”

Our 550 goblins, tearing through the labyrinth without a moment’s rest like they were running a factory.

Everything was falling into place as if the universe itself was telling me to focus on conquering the labyrinth.

Still, I’d just moved, so I had to have jajangmyeon first. [TL Note: It’s a Korean tradition to eat jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) on moving day.]

“Gob, come out.”

“Grrk? Are we done, chief?”

“Yeah.”

I wouldn’t spare jajangmyeon for anyone else, but Gob was different.

I called Gob over as he emerged from the labyrinth and looked around the new house with curiosity, sat him down, and peeled the plastic wrap off a bowl of jajangmyeon for him.

“Mix it with the chopsticks and eat.”

“Grrk!”

Gob had gotten so good with chopsticks by now.

Apart from the grrk before every sentence, there were no problems communicating with him at all.

“I’m hungry too, Master!”

“Here, eat this.”

I tossed five peanuts to Mongmo, who had popped out of my pocket.

I set him down beside me as he cracked the shells with his front teeth, then picked up my own chopsticks.

The satisfying sound of noodles being mixed, the jajangmyeon coming together perfectly.

“Ahh, nothing beats jajangmyeon on moving day.”

One slurp of noodles followed by a bite of pickled radish, and it was pure bliss.

Good thing jajangmyeon doesn’t have garlic in it.

“Grrk! Delicious! Delicious, grrk!”

“Yeah, take your time. Try some of this too.”

“What is this, chief?!”

“Sweet and sour pork.”

“Sweet and sour pork! Grrrk!”

Gob grabbed a piece of sweet and sour pork with his fingers and stuffed it into his mouth.

“Meat! Meat!”

“Don’t just eat it plain like that. Dip it in the sauce, like this.”

I picked up a piece, dunked it deep in the sauce, and popped it in my mouth.

Gob watched me, tilting his head.

“Grrk? It’s dipping food, grrk?”

“That’s right.”

“Then I’ll do this!!”

Gob picked up the sauce container and poured it all over the sweet and sour pork.

“Now I don’t have to dip every single piece, grrk! Gob is smart!”

“Hey!! What are you doing, dumping the whole thing on there!”

“Grrk? What’s wrong, chief?”

“Dipping is the whole point!!”

“Why go through all that trouble, grrk?”

Dinner with Gob, who’d now can talk perfectly and was full of strong opinions.

After eating alone in my room day after day, having someone to talk to over a meal left me feeling oddly… wistful.

Come to think of it, I wondered how my parents were doing.

I flicked Gob on the forehead for pouring the sauce, then picked up the phone.

Riiiiing.

─ What’s the occasion?

No hello, no how are you. Just straight to “what’s the occasion.”

Same as always.

“Just missed you, Mom. Thought I’d call.”

─ Missed me, sure. You’re just calling because you’re out of food again, aren’t you?

“No, really. I just thought of you, that’s all.”

─ …Did you get into trouble?

How exactly had I been living my life up to this point?

No, seriously, I’d been working hard.

I even sent her spending money now and then, small as it was.

“Come on, Mom! I said no!”

─ Fine. I’ll pack up some side dishes and come visit soon.

“…”

My eyes met Gob’s, and reality hit me like a bucket of cold water.

“N-no! I’ll come to you. You don’t need to come up.”

─ Huh? You, the guy who was too lazy to leave the house even for holidays?

“The house is just a little messy right now, so I’ll come down. Get some fresh air while I’m at it.”

─ Ugh. I can only imagine the state of that place. Clean up once in a while, would you?

“…Something bothering you, Madame Jang? You’re extra prickly today.”

─ What did you just call me? Is that how you talk to your mother? Anyway, let me know when you’re coming. I’ll have a big batch of pickled garlic waiting, your favorite.

Same as always, our Madame Jang. Sharp tongue, but she knew her son’s tastes inside and out.

But.

“…Mom, I can’t eat garlic anymore.”

─ What are you talking about? You wouldn’t even touch meat without garlic.

“…I developed a garlic allergy.”

─ …What? You?

She could never have imagined her son had become a vampire.

***

The universe was practically shoving me toward the labyrinth, so I decided to devote myself to it for a while.

Food, junk items, all taken care of.

And living expenses were covered, too.

I started by selecting an advance party of ten.

Ten goblins who could speak.

Their destination, out of the green, gray, and red gates: the gray gate.

Labyrinth Layer 2, the Underground Ruins.

I’d chosen the Underground Ruins because of the items found there.

[Outpost Training Ground]

-Ruin Plank (200/200)

-Ruin Scrap Iron (200/200)

-Underground Ruins Wooden Puppet (0/100)

-Underground Ruins Stone (0/100)

To unlock the Outpost Training Ground, which looked fantastic by any measure, I needed the wooden puppets and stone from the Underground Ruins.

First order of business: gather those materials and get the Training Ground up and running.

Ten Rogue Goblins stood before the gray gate, their faces grim with determination.

“Alright! So, what do you do if you run into a human?”

─ Grrk! We run away!

─ Grrrk! We hide!

─ Grrrk. We play dead!

“No playing dead. Run or hide.”

─ Grrk!

I would be commanding this advance party directly through Thrall Third-Person View.

Killing humans was not an option.

One wrong move at this stage, and I could genuinely become public enemy number one.

And since goblins could be replenished infinitely from Layer 1, I absolutely could not afford to make enemies of humans.

“What if you’re spotted by a human, and you can’t get away? Then what?”

The goblins dropped to their knees in perfect unison.

─ Please spare us!

─ We’ll give you everything we have!

─ I’ve got a wife and kids at home!

“Exactly. Beg for your lives and run. Just hand over everything you’ve got.”

─ Grrk!

With that final round of training, preparations were complete.

“Then… move out!”

The Rogue Goblins charged forward with gusto.

Toward Labyrinth Layer 2. Toward the Underground Ruins.