Chapter 2: The Labyrinth City

While killing the first goblin, because the underground passage and the presence of goblins were too common, it caused Qu Shaoyun to fail to immediately determine their location.

The scene of the second goblin appearing from within the stone wall immediately brought to his mind the name of an anime.

"Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?"

Monsters respawning within the walls, dropping purple crystals upon being killed.

Just these two settings completely matched the premise of "Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?"

And after killing the monsters, their bodies disappeared on their own, which is a characteristic of the anime. In the original novel, in order to obtain the purple crystals, one must collect them from the monster corpses themselves.

"So this thing is a magic crystal."

Narrowing his eyes, Qu Shaoyun once again examined the purple crystal in his hand. He equated it to gold coins in the city above his head, where such items could be exchanged for guild currency.

"I wonder if these two magic crystals can be exchanged for a meal and a night's accommodation."

Using his left thumb, he flicked the magic crystal, the size of a candy, into the air. Qu Shaoyun opened the pocket of his shirt with his fingers, and the magic crystal in the air fell accurately into it.

Upon learning that this underground dungeon was filled with monsters, Qu Shaoyun was determined to leave as soon as possible and make his way to the city above ground.

This decision remained firm even with the appearance of the cheat system and the knowledge that killing monsters could increase his level.

The danger level was unknown, and he was unfamiliar with the environment.

Choosing to stay behind to level up while heading to the labyrinthine city of Orario was not a prudent choice.

There was no need to mention anything else.

Just getting lost in here could potentially trap him and lead to his demise. After all, the term "labyrinth" was not just an empty name.

Qu Shaoyun pulled out the arrow embedded in the stone wall and picked up the arrow that had fallen from the goblin's body. With the bow on his back and an arrow in hand, he continued on his way.

This time, he continued to mark the walls as he walked, but his pace quickened. The dungeon's architectural design, like its monsters, would restore itself after a certain period of time.

...

An hour later.

At the exit of the underground labyrinth beneath the Babel Tower in Orario, a slightly disheveled young man emerged, struggling with each step.

Qu Shaoyun stood at the stone gate, ignoring the people passing by, and lifted his head, closing his eyes to feel the last warm rays of the setting sun.

"This young man, would you like a bottle of restorative potion?" A clear and melodious female voice interrupted Qu Shaoyun's reverie. As he opened his eyes, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of the horizon, and below that were rows of stone and wooden buildings.

Directly in front of him was a plaza filled with scattered adventurers wearing armor and carrying weapons.

Following the source of the voice, Qu Shaoyun saw a woman dressed in a distinctly otherworldly style, smiling at him. Hanging from her chest was a wooden box containing various glass bottles, resembling a girl selling cigarettes on the streets in a 90s Hong Kong film.

"All the potions I have here are special. They come at an affordable price. Would you like a bottle?" The woman asked again, her face still adorned with a bright smile.

Upon hearing her words...

Qu Shaoyun looked at his tattered shirt, the dried blood stains, and his body with over ten wounds. After some consideration, he reached into the pocket of his shirt and took out two magic crystals. He offered them to the woman with what he thought was a friendly smile and spoke in a kind tone, "Can these buy me a bottle of restorative potion?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the woman looked at him expressionlessly, then turned and walked away with her box of potions.

"Is it... because it's too little?" Qu Shaoyun muttered to himself as he watched the woman's retreating figure.

He lowered his head and looked at the two magic crystals in his hand, ultimately deciding to put them back into his shirt pocket.

In his pocket, Qu Shaoyun actually had over ten of such magic crystals. However, he couldn't possibly use all of them to buy restorative potions, or else he would have to spend the night on the streets.

"I heard those two adventurers mention that the Adventurers Guild should be on the main road leading to the exit of the dungeon."

He lifted his gaze, looking beyond the square and towards the direction of the street.

The labyrinthine city of Orlary was divided into eight major districts, resembling a giant "pizza." And it was the eight main roads that divided these districts.

If the sun in this world also rose in the east and set in the west, then the Adventurers Guild should be located on the western main road.

Dragging his injured body, Qu Shaoyun walked towards the western main road.

As for whether the Adventurers Guild was in that direction, he hadn't really considered it, nor was there any need to consider it.

The fact that he was able to walk out of the dungeon already indicated that the adventurers who told him about the guild's location didn't intend to deceive him.

As he made his way out of the square in front of the tower, Qu Shaoyun noticed that many adventurers or volunteers were giving him strange looks.

He knew the reason behind it very well.

It was not surprising to see people coming out of the dungeon with various degrees of injuries, and there were even adventurers who carried corpses on their backs

"It's rare to see an adventurer without any armor or equipment," whispered one person.

"Which clan is he from? How can he be so poor that he can't even afford armor?" another person speculated.

"Well... maybe he lost it while escaping," someone suggested.

"Keep your voice down! Don't let him hear us!" another person cautioned.

In the face of such comments, Qu Shaoyun didn't feel uncomfortable at all. Instead, he found it fascinating and had a sense of "This is what it's like in another world, huh?"

As the setting sun was about to disappear completely on the horizon, Qu Shaoyun quickened his pace.

Putting aside the fact that the Adventurer's Guild likely followed typical office hours, and that he would need to find a place to rest for the night, the latter was his priority task for the day.

Running all the way for a glimpse of the mountain.

Although he could see the city wall at the end of the western main road in just one night, it still took Qu Shaoyun twenty minutes to locate the Adventurer's Guild situated in the center of the main road.

Standing before the grand building made of white limestone, Qu Shaoyun instinctively brushed off the dust from his body before stepping into the lobby of the Adventurer's Guild.

With it being the peak hour for settling magic crystals, almost every counter in the lobby had queues of around ten people.

Standing at a height of 175 centimeters, Qu Shaoyun stood on his tiptoes, scanning the fronts of the various queues. However, to his disappointment, he did not find the half-elf lady named Eina Tulle, who in the original work had led the protagonist, Bell, to join a familia.

If possible, Qu Shaoyun would have preferred her assistance in exchanging the magic crystals. With a slightly disappointed expression, he decided to simply stand at the back of the nearest queue.

His gaze unintentionally caught sight of a bulky adventurer wearing heavy armor, with a bulging bag hanging from his waist. Qu Shaoyun instinctively looked down at the magic crystals in his shirt pocket, feeling somewhat hesitant.

After waiting in the queue for another ten minutes, it was finally Qu Shaoyun's turn.

"Hello, do you need to exchange magic crystals?" asked Mishka Vlot out of courtesy, even though most people at this hour were there for that purpose.

"Yes, please help me exchange these for valis," Qu Shaoyun replied. As he answered, he took out fifteen magic crystals from his shirt pocket, all obtained from slaying goblins.

Mishka Vlot took all the magic crystals on a metal tray, her expression slightly frozen for a moment. The number of low-level magic crystals, just over a dozen, was so small that it surprised her