Chapter 158. You Can Have It
Safe Zone.
A special isolated space in the labyrinth where Trinity-level assistants can visit.
I was currently in the Safe Zone with a few monsters, standing across from Hwang Mir, who had crossed over from Earth.
“······.”
“······.”
It was awkward.
This was my first time meeting Hwang Mir in person.
We had no prior connection, after all.
As the uncomfortable silence continued.
“Uh, um… hi.”
I broke the ice by greeting Hwang Mir first.
Hwang Mir coughed and responded.
“Ahem…! Yeah, hi.”
【Pururu】─Why are both of you acting shy? Damn.
【Yumi】─Seriously, are you two on a blind date? Ugh.
【Bubble Bubble】─What’s going on here?
【Mysticism】─Why are they like this. 😠
【Luna-chan】─LOL, with both of you standing there so big, it looks like a couple. You two look good together~ >.<
【Bubble Bubble】─Cut the nonsense.
【Mysticism】─😡
After exchanging greetings.
Hwang Mir started greeting the monsters who had come with me one by one.
［Doomba! Nice to meet you! I’m the stylish Hedgehog!］
“Nice to meet you, Hedgehog. You’re even smaller and cuter in person.”
The Hedgehog wiggled its hips in excitement as it greeted her.
Next to it.
Kinogine Arachne, who had been scanning the area, looking for Pururu, politely bowed her head toward Hwang Mir.
［Hello. I’m Kinogine Arachne.］
“Yeah, I know. Your chest is even bigger in person, Kinogine.”
［Thanks for the compliment. By the way, is Pururu still unable to come here?］
“Pururu can’t come because her assistant rank is too low.”
［I really wanted to meet her in person… what a shame.］
【Pururu】─Wha-wha-what?!
【Pururu】─My little cutie! You remembered me!!!
【Mysticism】─🤭
【Yumi】─She’s still carefully keeping the drawing you gave her.
Next.
［Pii! Hello, bouncy chest sister!］
“Hello, squishy princess.”
Hwang Mir greeted the Blood Jellyfish Princess.
［Jafaan! Pretty sister, hi-hi!］
“Hi, Jafan. You’re surprisingly cute in person.”
“Hello, nyang! I’m Merino Ula, responsible for everyone’s meals, nyang!”
“Nice to meet you too, Merino. The food you sent last time was delicious.”
Hwang Mir greeted Jafan and Merino as well.
I hadn’t brought along the other monsters from the base.
The Safe Zone charged coins proportional to the number of people staying there.
Anyway.
After the greetings were over, Hwang Mir began slowly looking around the Safe Zone, muttering to herself.
“I’ve finally made it here. It feels smaller than it looked on screen… Oh, was this round table something Rize brought? The material’s pretty good.”
Inside the Safe Zone, there was not only the round table but also a variety of other items and food.
All of it had been brought from the world of Lumina by Rize.
【Pururu】─LOL, Rize really decked out the Safe Zone.
【Bubble Bubble】─He sure brought a lot of stuff.
【Yumi】─I can’t wait to visit now.
【Mysticism】─😃
While Hwang Mir wandered around the Safe Zone, exploring.
Flash!
A portal formed in one corner of the Safe Zone.
From beyond the portal, Rizenova appeared.
“Oh. Gauntlet, you’re here.”
“Mir was checking out the Safe Zone, so I stopped by to say hi.”
“Hmm? The second assistant to reach Trinity rank, Mir, is here as well?”
Rize’s head split slightly, revealing two small, sharp eyes.
He turned to look in Hwang Mir’s direction.
At the same time, Hwang Mir, hearing Rize’s voice, turned to face him.
Their eyes met.
“Huh? Rize?”
“Nice to meet you. Welcome to my Safe Zone, Mir, the second assistant to achieve Trinity rank.”
Rize walked over and extended his hand to Hwang Mir.
Hwang Mir, staring at Rize in fascination, shook his hand.
“It’s not your Safe Zone, it’s everyone’s. Anyway, nice to meet you. You look even scarier in person.”
“Haha. Please mind your words, second assistant to reach Trinity rank.”
“Oh, whoops, sorry.”
【Pururu】─Whoops, LOL.
【Yumi】─Why do they seem like they’re sparring?
【Luna-chan】─It looks like Rize started it. o_O
【Bubble Bubble】─He’s surprisingly petty.
【Mysticism】─🤭
The atmosphere wasn’t hostile.
It was more playful.
Seeing them joke around like this on their first meeting, it seemed like they’d become friends quickly.
***
【Bubble Bubble】─Wait a second.
【Bubble Bubble】─Isn’t this the first time Mir’s seeing Rize in person?
【Pururu】─Yeah, that’s right.
【Mysticism】─🤔
【Bubble Bubble】─Then why are they acting so familiar?
【Pururu】─Hwang Mir doesn’t get shy around people. She’s really sociable.
【Bubble Bubble】─But she was shy when she first met Gauntlet.
【Bubble Bubble】─This is suspicious.
【Bubble Bubble】─Don’t tell me Mir has a thing for Gauntlet?
【Pururu】─LOL, don’t worry. Hwang Mir’s not into guys. Even her parents gave up on setting her up with dates.
【Mysticism】─😨 Is Mir into women then?
【Pururu】─Nope. If that were the case, I would’ve half-killed her by now.
【Mysticism】─🧐 So, is she just too focused on work to care about guys?
【Pururu】─She’s the type that’s not interested in real people.
【Yumi】─?
【Bubble Bubble】─Really?
【Bubble Bubble】─I’ll keep an eye on it for now.
【Yumi】─Oh, that’s right. Didn’t Mir mention she likes fictional characters? Comic characters?
【Luna-chan】─Yeah. Our Mir-chan is an otaku.
【Mysticism】─You watch tons of magical girl anime yourself. 🤭
【Luna-chan】─I only watched it because Mir-chan forced me. ಠ‸ಠ
【Mysticism】─🤥 Liar.
【Pururu】─For the record, Hwang Mir isn’t into anime characters. She claims there isn’t a voice actor capable of satisfying her.
【Yumi】─I didn’t ask for that much detail.
【Pururu】─Oh.
【Luna-chan】─And Mir-chan especially likes muscular male characters.
【Yumi】─Still not something I wanted to know.
【Luna-chan】─ಠ𐩅ಠ
【Bubble Bubble】─She likes muscular types?
【Bubble Bubble】─Hmm…
【Bubble Bubble】─I’ll keep a close watch then.
***
The Safe Zone wasn’t exactly a small space.
From my perspective, it was quite large.
However.
It didn’t meet the standards of our wealthy benefactor, the third-generation chaebol.
After looking around, Hwang Mir complained that the space felt cramped and that there wasn’t enough personal space since it was filled with Rize’s stuff.
So, I immediately invested coins to expand the Safe Zone.
The coins didn’t feel like a waste at all.
After all, I used the coins that Hwang Mir had supported us with.
【Pururu】─It kinda feels like Geon is nervous around Mir, or is that just me?
【Yumi】─He has to be. Do you know how many coins Mir has invested?
【Mysticism】─🤔 It wasn’t a donation, but an investment?
【Luna-chan】─It’s both a donation and an investment.
【Bubble Bubble】─Unlike us, who supported coins with no strings attached, Mir had clear goals.
【Pururu】─Bubble, weren’t your coin donations filled with ulterior motives as well? LOL
【Yumi】─Gasp. Are you after Geon’s body…!
【Bubble Bubble】─No, I helped out with a pure heart.
【Pururu】─?? That was just a joke, but you’re denying it too seriously. Your reaction makes me think you really had ulterior motives.
【Yumi】─Exactly. Normally, people would just ignore Pururu’s nonsense, thinking, ‘There goes Pururu spouting off again.’ But you actually denied it. Suspicious, very suspicious.
【Mysticism】─🤭
Seeing the space double in size, Hwang Mir smiled in satisfaction.
Then, saying to wait a moment, she used her portal to return to Earth. Not long after, she reappeared, driving a truck.
The truck’s cargo bed was loaded with a mountain of gold bars.
“Why’d you bring all this gold out of nowhere?”
“I’m going to store what I had at home here. I only brought a little for now.”
“A little…?”
I glanced back at the cargo bed.
…Is that really “a little”?
“Compared to the gold at my parents’ house, this is a little.”
After saying that.
Hwang Mir
began unloading the gold while explaining her plan.
She planned to store the gold in the Safe Zone.
Then, after migrating to Elemencia, she would return to the Safe Zone to retrieve it.
For reference.
From what I had previously confirmed, items brought into the Safe Zone could only return to their original world.
In other words, only the owner could take the items out again.
Just as the owner couldn’t travel to another dimension from this place, neither could the items. Dimensional travel for objects wasn’t possible either.
Of course.
That didn’t mean Hwang Mir’s plan was entirely impossible.
It wasn’t yet clear whether the items were bound to the world or the owner.
If it was the former.
Then the gold would only be able to return to Earth.
But if it was the latter, it would be a different story.
If the items weren’t bound to their original world but to the person who brought them, Hwang Mir would be able to retrieve the gold even after moving to Elemencia.
By traveling between dimensions outside of the Safe Zone.
The items bound to the owner in the Safe Zone could potentially travel with them across dimensions.
It seemed Hwang Mir was thinking along similar lines, as she kindly explained this to the assistants in chat.
【Pururu】─Hmm. It could be possible.
【Mysticism】─🧐
【Mysticism】─So, if Mir crosses over to Elemencia, will the items in the Safe Zone be able to go to Elemencia and Earth?
【Mir-Stin】─That won’t happen. Unless I return to Earth, the items I store in the Safe Zone won’t be able to go back to Earth. Since they’re bound to me.
【Mysticism】─😮
I wasn’t too fond of this plan.
Was there really a need to take such a gamble?
Honestly, it seemed like a pointless risk.
As I was thinking that.
Hwang Mir continued unloading the gold and spoke up.
“I’ll be the first to move to Elemencia, so I’ll test whether I can retrieve the gold as soon as I get there.”
“And if you can’t? Are you going to return to Earth, remove the gold from the Safe Zone, and move it through a dimensional portal?”
“No. If I can’t, I’ll just melt it all down and make a few decorative gold statues. For the Safe Zone.”
“······.”
I stared at Hwang Mir in disbelief.
Seeing my reaction, Hwang Mir smirked and said.
“Kidding.”
She reached out and touched one of the gold bars.
As soon as her hand touched it, the gold bar vanished into thin air.
“If I can’t retrieve it, I’ll convert it all into coins and give it to you.”
『TRINITY-tier Assistant ‘Mir-Stin’ has donated 8,500 coins!』