Chapter:7

"So Chad is Russian right?"

Han Ji said asked and turned to Chad

who was walking behind the group?

"Yes," Leo replied

"And Bella is Italian?" He asked turning towards the girl walking on his right side.

Who turned towards him and bluntly said, "Half, half-Italian, half-Spanish."

DRC looked at his watch.

"We're almost there."

Han Ji's ears perked up when he heard those words.

He was finally about to reach the place he has been looking for, for hours.

His brain was running wild with imagination.

As a lot of different possibilities crossed his mind.

'I wonder what it might look like, maybe an open area with fencing everywhere a few people with shotguns, hunting, rifles and crossbows, with people residing in tents... or a fortified building with blocked gates?'

***

"Eh?" He exclaimed in surprise.

Unlike how he expected, it too looks as if it was just another room but pretty big as a multi-national, company's warehouse.

The light wasn't flickering here, Even though it was faint he was able to hear the sound of a generator roaring.

The entrance was pretty huge.

But what drew his attention the most were the guards, three guards were standing there, they all had armoured hazmat suits on, with helmets hanging on their hips and pistol holsters and assault rifles in their hands, which he remembers as M16s.

It looked like they were deployed from orders of government.

"Welcome to base Alpha!" Leo said and motioned him.

"By the way, You got any weapons?" Bella asked.

"Huh?" he exclaimed at the sudden question.

"Weapons? guns? knives? anything like that?" She asked again with her hands on her hips.

"Oh yeah.." he said starting to fiddle with his pockets and he pulled out his gun and swiss army knife.

"It's empty but I got ammo." He said and showed her the revolver.

He showed her the revolver.

"Hmm... A revolver and knife are pretty good for the beginning." She commented.

"For real! All I found, in the beginning, was a baseball bat." DRC commented.

"I'll take you later for the assignment of your, L.A.B-ID."

"My what?"

"L.A.B-ID; it's a document that recognises you, as a citizen of Labyrinth, and L.A.B will take responsibility for protecting you, in return, you have to follow, the laws and civil duties," DRC added.

When he heard the term 'civil duties' only one thing came to his mind, a thing that he didn't like even in his world.

"Um...Do those duties include taxes?" he said with a hopeless face.

Leo cocked his brows and DRC pursed his lips slightly.

"... Precisely.." he said with a slight nod.

"Hah..." he sighed in disappointment and his head dropped.

'What a pain..! Pay taxes in the normal world, pay taxes here... seems like God created us for just sole purpose of paying taxes.'

"Pffft!Copain, your reactions are worth a million dollars! Haha!" Leo laughed.

"Hehe, Don't worry bro, they only apply for items you'll buy, electricity, Almond water and residence is free," DRC said while patting Han Ji's shoulder.

"Hey! Hey! Can we just continue this conversation while eating 'cause I am starving here!" Bella yelled at them while her arms were crossed.

Three of them, Hanji, DRC and Leo cringed.

"Ahh! Yes! Yes! Madamoiselle!" He said with a slight salute.

"Geez...she might be hot but she's scary.." he muttered underneath his breath softly.

That was what he thought, but he ended up saying it out louder than he wanted to.

"You said something, Asian boy?" She almost commanded

"No..." he said turning his head away.

He might have replied to it but, she wasn't buying it at all.

Bella glared at him and started to approach him and her gaze and walk only said one thing.

Menacing.

'Sh*t...I am dead' He started to sweat drop in fear.

Leo already knew what might be coming at Han Ji.

So as a man he has to follow the 'Bro Code', and according to it, he has to help a bro to the extent of his powers.

He jumped between both of them and held both of their arms.

"Anyways, guys! Let's go!"

"Huh?" she exclaimed at the sudden contact.

He started to drag them.

Leo and Han Ji exchanged glances.

There is a certain ability that allows the users to communicate with each other without even saying a single word.

This ability is called Telepathy, It is said it requires high focus and control over mental energy but one can also unlock it by knowing their friend.

Right now just through a single glance, they were able to know what the other person was thinking.

'You saved my a*s man...'

Leo winked, 'Any time, Copain.'

Both of them smirked as Chad and DRC followed them.

***

They walked to a nearby room and this time Han Ji was even more surprised.

He saw an endless hallway with storage units lined up on the walls almost every single of them was opened with a signboard on top, which made them look like stores.

There were a few people around those shops and some customer

"This is the 'Traders Keep' it is a place where you can find everything you need for survival, weapons, food, different types of equipment, ammunition et Cetra, et Cetra, "DRC said.

'Ok...so this place has its market too?' he thought while scanning the surrounding.

"You can say it's Labyrinth's market..." Leo said and turned at Han Ji.

"..We have police departments here, hospitals, weapon dealers, even grocery stores and more." Leo completed.

Han Ji was surprised he didn't expect, that there are that many people trapped in the Labyrinth like him.

'How could there be so many people here?'

Han Ji didn't want to think about the families of the people who have been unfortunately brought into this world.

"Hey Asian boy, if you don't come we might leave you behind." He heard Bella's voice.

He snapped back to reality and saw the group standing a few meters away from him.

He already knew one thing by

'Ugh...Man are all beautiful girls born with such an attitude..' he thought as stated at her scowling face.

"I am coming!" He yelled from behind.

As they kept on walking and finally reached their supposed destination.

It was a big storage unit, bigger than any of the storage units he saw before.

The signboard on top of it said,' Tom's Diner.' with red L.E.D lights.

"We're here!" Leo exclaimed and lead everyone in.

The interior had lamps hanging on the wall, simple wooden tables and benches, the bricked walls looked nice with the theme and a few people sat there talking among their comrades and eating their respective food.

They found an empty seat and all of them sat down.

"This restaurant is run by Tom, A man who was a chef before No-Clipping here, now he works here, makes his living through serving wanderers and receives resources from the L.I.T.S., "Leo said.

"From who?"

"L.I.T.S.; Labyrinth's Independent Trading Society, first it was just a part of L.A.B but it slowly grew into a different department, Now it is a completely different organisation and partner with the L.A.B.," Leo said.

"Everything related to the trading is handled by L.I.T.S." DRC added.

'Not just one but there are multiple organisations here? How many people are here in total?'

Han Ji's curiosity was rising every second.

He thought someone disappearing from reality to appear in an alternative universe was a really rare occurrence but to find out that there were enough people to form more than one organisation here.

It seemed Han Ji's opinion was wrong.

"Hey! Leo and everyone!" He heard the voice of an elderly person.

There stood a man with a slight moustache and red apron.

"Hey! What's up Tom?" Leo asked.

"Yo!" It was DRC.

"Nothing much, What can I bring you guys today?"

The man said with a smile but then his smile was replaced with a slightly curious expression.

"Wait? Haven't seen you around here before, young man?"

"He is Han Ji," Leo said

"A new wanderer." It was Bella.

"What?! A new wanderer!? Really?!" The man Tom exclaimed.

Han Ji nodded softly.

The reactions of the man seemed to say if it was a rare occasion for a new wanderer to show up.

But still, it felt weird if it was this rare how can there be so many people here?

"My-My, Young man, I can tell that all of this will be hard for you to consume so many things, but trust me you'll get used to it."He patted Han Ji's back.

"Anyways the usuals?" he looked group and everyone nodded.

"What about you, Young Man?"

"Um..." He wanted to order some noodles but the problem was that he had no money for them.

Leo being Leo understood why was Han Jo hesitating, so he had to follow the 'Bro Code.'

"Don't worry man, It's on me!" Leo said.

He looked at Leo with a surprised expression.

"What really?" he exclaimed.

'We just barely met each other and this guy is ready to pay for my food? What is he, Gandhi?'

"Yes, Copain," He said and gave him a warm grin.

Han Ji barely had any friends and it was rare for him that someone was paying for his lunch and from a man, he barely knew giving him this treatment was almost something one might call too good to be true.

"Won't! Thank you, my guy!" he said while smiling brightly.

"Anytime Copain." He said and gave him a warm smile

He turned around back at Tom, "Um...Can I get some fried noodles?"

"Typical Asian..." Bella muttered under her breath and smirked mischievously.

"Pfft!"

"Haha!"

Both DRC and Leo cracked at her joke.

Han Ji made a blunt expression and stared right back at her.

'This woman....'

***

Soon then, their food arrived and started to eat.

"Hey, guys..can you tell me one thing?" He asked as he rolled some noodles into his fork.

Leo who was chewing his spaghetti hummed in response.

"What were you guys doing when you found me, I mean out of the Base? Just curious to know,"

"Practise," Leo replied.

"Huh?"

"Yeah practise" DRC added and took a bite from his pizza.

"For what?"

"Raid," Bella added continued devouring her pasta.

"Huh?"

"Well, Han Ji, you see.." Leo said and reached into his pocket and pulled out some red tickets.

"You see these are 'Labkrones' they are the currency of the Labyrinth, the majority of transactions, in the Labyrinth take place in exchange for Labkrones."

"There are three ways to earn these first, you can simply start a business or second, you can work for L.A.B or third and last, you can work as a 'Tracer' then serve by discovering new levels, or by gaining different material and selling them here," DRC added and continued to eat.

"So... long story short, we were about to go for a raid on another level and before going there we thought, it will be nice to practise a little before jumping into some real action," Bella added and continued to eat.

Chad who sat next to her nodded while he quietly munched on his burger.

Even though they all talked casually it was too much for Han Ji.

"Cough! Cough! Choke!"

Han Ji choked on his noodles and almost spurted them out of his nose.

"Woah-Woah!" It was DRC.

"Easy-Easy, Copain!", Leo patted his back softly.

He didn't choke because he was eating too fast, but because of what they all were saying.

These guys were ready to take such risks just because they needed money, were they alright in the head, Even Han Ji who made the decision that he shall be the one to find the exit out of this d*mned place.

But he was rethinking his life choices right now, and these people here just go into those for just some money?

Or there was a deeper reason behind it?

Were they like him and wanted to escape?

Did they have a few screws loose up in their heads?

Or something else?

"Thanks..." He said and steadied himself while he took a huge sip from the glass of Almond water.

"Wait guys...so you all go out to fetch some stuff from a supposedly more dangerous level for some money?" He asked.

Leo and DRC exchanged looks while chewing and then Leo swallowed and turned at him.

"Precisely.." Leo started

"..Yes." DRC completed.

"But...guys...Isn't there a better and safer job?"

"Well...Yes and no." Leo added.

"Eh? what? "

"Look, Han Ji, there are many jobs here that we can do, and we have done too but they were not better."

"Yeah, I worked at a grocery store, I couldn't have spent eternity counting bills, Could've I?" Bella commented

Eternity?

I guess she has a sense of humour too.

"Being a tracer is the only job that might not bore you to insanity, you know?"

Leo added.

"What but now can it be better than other jobs, I mean with a stable income, you might even find pretty women and start your own family, without risking your life?"

"What?!"Bella exclaimed.

"Are you-- Oh yeah he is new I forgot."

DRC tried to say something but stopped.

"Ah..! yeah," Bella sighed.

Han Ji gave them a confused look.

Then Leo stopped eating and made a serious expression.

"The thing is Han Ji, we can't age in Labyrinth."

Han Ji's eyes shot open to the size of pool balls.

Not being able to age was the biggest surprise about the Labyrinth.

'This is unbelievable, not being able to age is like incomplete immortality, it sounds almost impossible....No wait....now everything makes sense, the reason they all are so surprised to see him is that new wanderers appearing is actually a rare thing and a high population is because the majority of people don't die..'

"Yeah, relationships, family, purpose, passion, everything that one needs in their life mean nothing in this Hallway of Hell..." Bella said crossing her arms her voice sounded dark as she was really pi*sed at her fate for throwing her here.

"Yeah, there is almost no point in even living, many people even OPT OUT of life," Leo said while pumping his finger two fingers.

"In such circumstances, one might, obviously do the same but we don't wanna do that, so to have a purpose in our lives and cope with reality for a while we do this job."

DRC said while taking the last bite of his food.

Han Ji's hand let go of the fork and he looked at them with astonishment.

To a normal person, the idea of being able to live for eternity sounded rather a good thing, an average life where you don't have to stay committed to one person and are free from the responsibilities of kids.

But we humans have weird needs,

A Russian Novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky once said.

'Shower upon him every earthly blessing, drown him in a sea of happiness so that nothing but bubbles of bliss can be seen on the surface; give him economic prosperity, such that he should have nothing else to do but sleep, eat cakes and busy himself with the continuation of his species, and even then out of sheer ingratitude, sheer spite, man would play you some nasty trick. He would even risk his cakes and would deliberately desire the most fatal rubbish, the most uneconomical absurdity, simply to introduce into all this positive good sense his fatal fantastic element.'

This is indeed true, the true nature of human

and these people were normal, unlike others, they could accept it, and now he looked even more respectively at them.

Now he no longer had to rethink to make his decision.

"Hey...guys... I know I am in no position to ask but I want to become a Tracer like you all!"