Chapter 158
Safe Zone.
An isolated special space within the labyrinth that can be visited by Trinity Rank assistants.
Right now, I found myself in the Safe Zone with a few monsters, staring blankly at Hwang Mir, who had come over from Earth.
“…….”
“…….”
Awkward.
This was my first time actually meeting Hwang Mir. We were originally strangers who didn’t even know each other.
In the midst of this awkward atmosphere…
“Um, hi.”
I took the initiative to greet Hwang Mir. Hwang Mir cleared his throat and returned the greeting.
“Ahem…! Yeah, hi.”
Boglebogle—Seriously, what’s with the shyness, you two? sigh
Yumi—Seriously. Are you on a blind date or something?
Pururu—What are they doing right now?
Mysticism—Why are they acting like that?
Luna-chan—Haha, with the two big builds standing next to each other, they kinda look like a couple. They match well~ >.< Pururu—Stop talking nonsense.
Mysticism—
After exchanging some casual greetings, Hwang Mir began to interact with the monsters that had come over with me.
Doo Doom Bar!—Nice to meet you! I’m the stylish hedgehog!
“Nice to meet you, Doti! You look even smaller and cuter in person.”
The hedgehog wiggled its butt in excitement.
Next to it, the Kinogine Aracne, who was looking around to see if Pururu had arrived, politely bowed to Hwang Mir and greeted him.
“Hello! I’m Kinogine Aracne.”
“Yeah, I know. You have a really big chest in person, Kinog.”
“Thanks for the compliment! But, is Pururu unnie not here yet?”
“Pururu can’t come because her assistant rank is too low.”
“I really wanted to meet her once in reality, that’s a pity…”
Pururu—Whaaat?!
Pururu—My little one! You remembered me!!!
Mysticism—
Yumi—Pururu-san’s drawing is still being treasured, you know.
After that…
Piiy!—Hi there, bouncy princess!
“Hello, fluffy princess!”
I exchanged greetings with the Blood Jellyfish Princess.
Jafan!—Pretty unnie, nice to meet you!
“Jafan, hey! You’re surprisingly cute in person too.”
“Hello! I’m Merino Ula, responsible for everyone’s meals!”
“Nice to meet you, Merino. The food you sent last time was delicious.”
I greeted Jafan and Merino as well.
No other headquarters monsters were brought along since the Safe Zone accepts coins based on the number of people staying.
Anyway…
After the greeting time ended, Hwang Mir began to wander around the Safe Zone, muttering to himself.
“I finally made it here. It seems a bit smaller than when I saw it on the screen… Oh, was this round table brought by Rize? The material is definitely good.”
Inside the Safe Zone, alongside the round table, various items and food were set out—all brought by Rize from the Lumina world.
Pururu—Haha, Rize really decked out the Safe Zone.
Boglebogle—He brought a lot of stuff.
Yumi—I’d be tempted to visit later.
Mysticism—
While Hwang Mir was casually exploring the Safe Zone, Paaah!—a portal appeared in one corner of the Safe Zone.
Then, Rize Nova emerged from beyond the portal.
“Oh. Gauntlet, you’re here.”
“I just dropped by briefly since Mir was checking out the Safe Zone.”
“Hm? The second Trinity rank assistant, Mir, is also here?”
Rize’s head bristles parted slightly, revealing his small, clear eyes.
Rize turned to look at Hwang Mir. At that moment, Hwang Mir also heard Rize’s voice and turned.
Their eyes met.
“Uh? Rize?”
“Nice to see you. Second Trinity rank assistant, Mir, welcome to my Safe Zone.”
Rize walked over, extending his hand to Hwang Mir.
Hwang Mir looked at Rize with curiosity and shook his hand.
“This isn’t just your Safe Zone; it’s our Safe Zone. Anyway, nice to meet you. You look really intimidating in person, Rize.”
“Haha. Please refrain from making disrespectful comments, second Trinity rank assistant, Mir.”
“Oops, sorry.”
Pururu—Oops, oops, apologies!
Yumi—Why are those two having a duel of nerves?
Luna-chan—I feel like Rize started it first. o_O
Boglebogle—They’re surprisingly childish.
Mysticism—
It wasn’t a threatening atmosphere.
It felt more playful. The way they were teasing each other made it seem like they could become friends quickly.
*
Boglebogle—Wait a minute.
Boglebogle—Didn’t Mir meet Rize for the first time today?
Pururu—Yep, that’s right.
Mysticism—
Boglebogle—But why are they acting so familiar?
Pururu—Hwang Mir is generally sociable. She has good social skills.
Boglebogle—But she was shy when she first met Gauntlet.
Boglebogle—This raises suspicions.
Pururu—Haha, don’t worry. Hwang Mir has no interest in boys. Even her parents have given up trying to set her up on blind dates.
Mysticism— Is Mir a lesbian?
Pururu—Nope, if that were the case, I would’ve knocked her out.
Mysticism— So she’s just obsessed with work and uninterested in men?
Pururu—She simply has no interest in the opposite sex in reality.
Yumi—?
Boglebogle—Really?
Boglebogle—For now, let’s watch.
Yumi—Oh. Speaking of which, didn’t Mir mention she likes virtual characters? Like comic characters?
Luna-chan—That’s right! Our Mir-chan is quite the geek.
Mysticism—She’s a massive fan of magical girl anime herself.
Luna-chan—I had no choice but to watch because of Mir-chan’s overwhelming pressure. ಠ‸ಠ
Mysticism— That’s a lie.
Pururu—By the way, Hwang Mir isn’t really fond of anime characters at all. She claims that there are no voice actors that can satisfy her.
Yumi—I didn’t ask about that either.
Pururu—Yeah.
Luna-chan—And Mir-chan especially loves muscular male characters.
Yumi—That wasn’t something I was curious about, either.
Luna-chan—ಠ𐩅ಠ
Boglebogle—She likes muscular guys?
Boglebogle—Hmm…
Boglebogle—I’ll have to keep an eye on this.
*
The Safe Zone wasn’t such a cramped space.
By my standards, it was actually quite spacious.
However…
It didn’t meet the standards of our big boss, the third-generation conglomerate.
After looking around the Safe Zone, Hwang Mir complained that this space felt cramped, and with Rize’s belongings all over, there wasn’t much personal space for her.
So, I quickly invested coins to expand the Safe Zone.
I didn’t feel it was a waste at all.
After all, I was using the coins provided by Hwang Mir.
Pururu—I have this feeling that Gauntlet is watching Mir’s every move. Am I just imagining things?
Yumi—She can’t help but watch. After all, how much investment is on the line?
Mysticism— So it was an investment, not a donation?
Luna-chan—It’s both a donation and an investment, right?
Boglebogle—Unlike us, who supported without any purpose, Mir has clear goals.
Pururu—Bogle, you’re supporting with shady intentions too, right? Haha.
Yumi—Gasp. Don’t tell me you’re after Gauntlet’s body…!
Boglebogle—Nah, I helped out with a pure heart!
Pururu—?? You’re adamantly refuting a joke. The fact that you’re reacting so sensitively makes me suspicious that you might have ulterior motives.
Yumi—Right? Normally, you’d think, “That silly Pururu is talking nonsense” and ignore it. It’s suspicious.
Mysticism—
Upon seeing the expanded space, which was now twice as large, Hwang Mir smiled contentedly.
Then after asking everyone to wait momentarily, she took her portal back to Earth and returned a little while later driving a truck.
The truck’s bed was piled high with numerous gold bars.
“Why did you suddenly bring gold?”
“I wanted to store what was in my home here. I just brought a little for now.”
“A little…?”
I looked back at the truck bed.
…Is that really a little?
“Compared to the gold at my parents’ house, this is a little.”
After saying that, Hwang Mir continued unloading the gold from the truck while explaining her plans.
Storing gold in the Safe Zone and moving to Elemenzia, then coming back to the Safe Zone to recover the gold was her plan.
By the way, from what I confirmed before, any items brought into the Safe Zone can only be returned to the original world.
That meant only the owner can take them out again.
And just as the owner cannot move to another dimension from here, items cannot move across dimensions either.
However, this didn’t conclusively mean that Hwang Mir’s plan was impossible.
However, whether items are tied to the world or to the person is still unclear.
If it’s the former, then those gold bars could only leave for Earth.
But if it’s the latter, that would change everything.
If the items aren’t tied to the original world but rather to the owner, then Hwang Mir could retrieve the gold even after going to Elemenzia.
By crossing a dimension, the items in the Safe Zone that belong to the owner could also get to cross dimensions.
It seems Hwang Mir was also considering this, as she explained kindly to her assistants through chat, who were puzzled by her reasoning.
Pururu—Hmm. There’s potential.
Mysticism—
Mysticism—So if Mir goes to Elemenzia, can the items from the Safe Zone go to Elemenzia and Earth as well?
Mirstyn—That’s not the case. Unless I return to Earth, the items stored in the Safe Zone can never return. Those items are tied to me.
Mysticism—
Honestly, I felt this plan was subpar.
Was there really a need to take such an adventure?
Honestly, it seemed like a pointless gamble.
As I was having such thoughts, Hwang Mir kept unloading the gold and spoke.
“First, I will move to Elemenzia and experiment if I can recover the gold right away.”
“What if you can’t recover it? Will you go back to Earth, remove the gold from the Safe Zone, and then transfer it through a dimension 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 looked at Hwang Mir with disbelief.
Seeing my reaction, Hwang Mir smirked and said,
“Just kidding.”
She placed her hand on one of the gold bars.
Then, as if the gold bar vanished, it disappeared as Hwang Mir touched it.
“If I can’t recover it, I’ll just exchange it all for coins and give them to you.”
『TRINITY rank assistant ‘Mirstyn’ has contributed 8,500 coins!』