Chapter 147. Beauty Ticket
The hell of the Ancient Labyrinth.
We kept moving forward, guided by the voice prompts.
Along the way, we encountered several demon monsters, but there wasn’t a single instance of trouble.
It was all thanks to Infernos, who I tamed as soon as we crossed into hell.
［Infernos, long time no see.］
［Nice to see you.］
［Infernos, who are those strong-looking guys?］
［Can’t you tell just by looking? They’re explorers.］
［Where are you going, Dumbnos?］
［Just taking a stroll with my new friends.］
Infernos greeted every monster we passed.
Thanks to him, none of the monsters showed any hostility toward us.
【Yumi】─ Seems like Infernos is surprisingly sociable.
【Pururu】─ Hell’s social butterfly, it seems.
【Mysticism】─ An insider! 😮
【Bubble Bubble】─ I thought he was too dumb to have many friends, but guess not.
【Luna-chan】─ But hell monsters seem to be pretty nice. They don’t even try to chase us out even though we’re outsiders. +_+
【Rizenova】─ Completely different from the Celestial Realm. Celestial monsters attacked us immediately.
【Mir-Stin】─ Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? This is strange. Why are the hell monsters nicer?
I listened carefully.
Apparently, hell was being strictly managed by a single monster.
Not just the monsters already living here, but even the newly born ones as well.
And monsters that disturbed the order were executed or exiled from hell.
It seemed like the stone-maker creatures we encountered earlier were exiles.
If a monster had that much influence, it was likely an SSS-class threat.
I wondered what kind of monster was managing hell.
Just as I was about to ask for more details—
「You have arrived at your destination. Guidance is now complete.」
The voice prompt ended.
In my line of sight appeared a square object.
It was a vending machine with a familiar appearance.
【Mir-Stin】─ Oh! Found a vending machine!
【Pururu】─ Finally, we’re here.
【Yumi】─ It wasn’t as far as I thought it would be.
I decided to ask about the monster managing hell later and quickly approached the vending machine.
The time left until it disappeared was around 20 minutes.
If we had delayed any longer, it would’ve been a disaster.
★━━━ 【Vending Machine for The Assisted One Only】 ━━━★
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 『Purchase Tickets』 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
➤ Lower Invitation Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 100 coins
◇ Available tickets: 10
※ A ticket that allows you to request lower-tier assistance. Requests are sent to random potential assistants. The request message cannot be edited.
➤ Evolution Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 19,800 coins
◇ Available tickets: 1
※ Evolves a tamed monster into a higher-tier entity.
➤ Brilliant Evolution Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 9,594,500 coins
◇ Available tickets: 1
※ Evolves a tamed monster into a higher-tier entity.
➤ Designated Dispatch Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 410 coins
◇ Available tickets: 25
※ Dispatch one tamed monster to another dimension for 24 hours. You can specify a dimension connected to the explorer.
➤ Transferable Return Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 130 coins
◇ Available tickets: 40
※ A return ticket that can be transferred to a drifter.
➤ Reverse Support Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 150 coins
◇ Available tickets: 90
※ Allows the explorer to send an item to an assistant. Only assistants of GOLD rank or higher can receive reverse support.
➤ Beauty Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 9,990 coins
◇ Available tickets: 1
※ Permanently increases the explorer’s charm slightly.
║ ⚠ Please check your coin balance before purchase ⚠ ║
⏳ Time until vending machine disappears: 00:20:25
·
·
·
·
·
·
I finished checking the list of available tickets.
There was one ticket I hadn’t seen before.
The beauty ticket was a new addition.
I explained the tickets on sale to the assistants, since only I could see the vending machine’s inventory.
After confirming the items, I began checking the prices slowly.
“…Huh?”
The price of the evolution ticket was outrageous.
“Why is the price of the evolution ticket in this vending machine so high?”
【Pururu】─ How much is it?
【Mir-Stin】─ How much, sir?
“Regular evolution tickets are about 20,000 coins, and the brilliant evolution ticket is around 10 million coins.”
【Mir-Stin】─ What?!
【Pururu】─ ㅇ???
【Luna-chan】─ Hoeeeek?
【Mysticism】─ 😱
【Yumi】─ 10 million coins? That’s like 1 trillion won?!
【Pururu】─ Ticket prices are getting ridiculously high. How can anyone afford them?
【Rizenova】─ We should find a vending machine with cheaper tickets.
【Bubble Bubble】─ Isn’t that still pretty cheap?
【Luna-chan】─ True, the previous tickets were too cheap. We should be grateful that we can even buy evolution tickets at all. o_O
Of course, I couldn’t afford the brilliant evolution ticket.
However, I had enough coins on hand to buy the regular evolution ticket.
Although the price was brutal compared to the tickets I had purchased before…
‘…It’s an SS-rank evolution ticket, so it’s still cheap.’
It was only expensive compared to the past.
If I thought about it logically, Elise and the Sage were right — it was still a bargain.
After all, this was a ticket that could evolve an S-rank into an SS-rank monster.
Honestly, even if the regular evolution ticket cost 1 million coins or the brilliant one cost 100 million coins, I would understand and accept it.
The very fact that these tickets could be bought with money was unbelievable.
“I’ll just buy everything except the brilliant evolution ticket. I can’t waste time; the vending machine will disappear.”
【Pururu】─ Are you going to buy the beauty ticket too?
【Mysticism】─ 🤔
“Of course. It says my charm will increase.”
【Yumi】─ Mr. Geon, you’re already charming enough. Do you really need the beauty ticket?
【Bubble Bubble】─ Yeah, if your charm increases any more, it might become dangerous.
【Mir-Stin】─ What would be dangerous, sir?
【Luna-chan】─ I think it’s worth buying. There’s no harm in increasing your charm. o_O
【Rizenova】─ I agree with Luna.
【Pururu】─ How much is the beauty ticket?
“It’s pretty expensive. 10,000 coins.”
【Pururu】─ ???
【Mysticism】─ 😱
【Pururu】─ 10,000 coins is too much.
【Mysticism】─ Ridiculous! 😠
【Yumi】─ A ticket that only slightly increases your charm for 10 million won? That seems like a waste…
【Bubble Bubble】─ Just don’t buy the beauty ticket. It’s a waste of coins.
Despite the assistants’ objections.
I didn’t waver and bought the beauty ticket.
It wasn’t because I was vain about my appearance.
The beauty ticket.
I judged that it wasn’t just a simple ticket to upgrade my looks.
Charm is the power to captivate and attract.
If my charm increased through the beauty ticket…
I thought it might make the monsters in the labyrinth more inclined to like me.
Maybe even the SSS-class monsters.
If it was an ability that reduced hostility and increased favorability among wild monsters, it would be a great help for my future labyrinth life.
Of course.
One ticket wouldn’t produce a significant effect.
The description did say it would only slightly increase charm.
It was clear that for now, there wouldn’t be much difference.
In other words, it was an investment for the future.
This level of investment was worth it.
In addition to the coins I received from the assistants, I could now also acquire coins through the Dimensional Altar.
After finishing the ticket purchases.
I used the beauty ticket right away.
And just in case, I asked the assistants.
“Hey, do I look any different?”
【Mysticism】─ 🤔
【Pururu】─ No, not really.
【Rizenova】─ You look the same as before.
【Yumi】─ Did you use the beauty ticket? Maybe it’s hard to tell through the screen, but I don’t see any difference.
【Mir-Stin】─ Even after rubbing my eyes, I don’t see any changes, sir.
【Mir-Stin】─ I think it might have been a waste of coins, sir. ㅠ
【Bubble Bubble】─ Hmm. I can’t really tell just by looking. Maybe you need to strip down to see the difference?
【Mysticism】─ 😮 Good idea.
【Luna-chan】─ Elise, stop it.
【Pururu】─ Pervert.
【Yumi】─ Bubble, please refrain from sexual harassment. ㅡㅡ
【Mysticism】─ 🙂
【Mysticism】─ Elise is gross. 😠
“As expected, there’s no effect yet.”
Just as I thought.
As I mulled this over, I turned to look at the monsters.
Their reactions seemed a bit unusual.
They looked at me with slightly more affectionate eyes.
［Father, you suddenly look more handsome. Not that you weren’t already, of course.］
［You look even more dashing today, son.］
［Daddy, you look even more delicious… I mean, handsome!］
Kinogine Arachne, Nyara Nepenthis, and the Blood Jellyfish Princess.
［Beep-boop…］
［Charm increase confirmed.］
The Medical Mushroom and Iris.
Every monster was telling me that my charm had increased.
【Pururu】─ What the…?
【Mysticism】─ 🧐
【Rizenova】─ I still don’t know what’s changed… but judging by the monsters’ reactions, it’s clear that Gauntlet’s charm has increased.
【Luna-chan】─ It seems like your charm has only risen for monsters!
It seemed that the increase in my charm only affected creatures within the labyrinth.
This included summoned creatures and puppets as well.
‘The affection of tamed monsters was already at its peak, so their love wouldn’t grow any more… I guess it’s literally my biological charm that’s increased. But only for labyrinth monsters.’
That alone was enough for me to be satisfied.
Raising my charm to gain favor with the labyrinth monsters — that was exactly what I’d hoped for from the beginning.
‘Buying the beauty ticket was a good decision.’
I resolved to keep purchasing beauty tickets from now on.
***
After moving to Infernos’ residence.
I set up the warp device I received from Omega.
Then I returned to the hideout.
［Beeeeep…］
Without hesitation, I used the evolution ticket on the Medical Mushroom.
A pink light softly wrapped around the Medical Mushroom, enveloping it, and it quickly transformed into a softly glowing pink egg.
『Time left until evolution: 24:00:00』