Normalizing the Labyrinth City in the Game

“What? What’s sunglasses?”

“No, it’s nothing….”
It seemed better not to explain what sunglasses were.
After all, what Rabbit Gondu said wasn’t entirely wrong.
‘…Then this must be nothing special either. Room of Wishes my ass.’
Fiddling with the orb hidden in his bosom, Siwon thought to himself.

“…You, do you know what this is by any chance?”
Rabbit Gondu’s question.

“No, I don’t know.”
Siwon naturally lied.

“What? Didn’t you know?”
“I think I just confused it with another magical item.”

“…How boring.”
It didn’t matter what Rabbit Gondu thought about the sunglasses.
What he was supposed to receive from her was already decided.
Siwon extended his hand to her.
“…?”
“There’s still something left that you promised to give.”
“…That’s right. Now that I think about it.”

Siwon recalled in his mind the various items he was supposed to receive from Rabbit Gondu.

“Do you remember what they were? If you don’t remember….”

“No, just wait 2 seconds.”
“…?”

Rabbit Gondu’s hand lost its form and then reappeared with a white, rabbit-shaped fur bag.
It took closer to 10 seconds rather than 2, but Siwon was a man who could coolly overlook that much time difference.

“What’s that?”

“An inventory larger than any inventory you know.”
An inventory is one of the magical items commonly used in the labyrinth.
To put it simply, it means a bag enchanted with magic.

“…Is that so?”

Siwon’s heart swelled with expectation.

“Yeah, watch closely….”

Then Rabbit Gondu opened the inventory.

“Boing!”
“Boiyoing!”

Two rabbit beastkin about the size of Siwon’s knee jumped out of the inventory with their unique cries.

Not humanoid beastkin like Rabbit Gondu, but cute-faced beastkin closer to the appearance of rabbits.

Their appearance made one want to hug them and rub against them immediately.

One, seemingly male, was wearing a black suit with a fedora, while the other, seemingly female, was wearing a form-fitting black dress with a ribbon in her hair.

“…Huh?”

While their appearance was certainly cute, it was different from what Siwon had expected.

‘No, she definitely said it was the largest inventory….’

Among the NPCs’ inventories Siwon had seen in the game, there were many with unbelievably large capacities.

At the very least, several months’ worth of food would come out.

In some cases, even a four-person carriage and horses to pull it would come out.

…There were even cases where a dragon as big as a high-rise apartment would pop out.

But just two rabbits….

As Siwon’s gaze turned towards the two rabbit beastkin, they immediately looked at Siwon and said,

“Boing! Welcome to Rabbit’s World!”

“…Huh?”

Siwon was momentarily at a loss for words at the unexpected words from the beastkin.

Despite playing LAOA for a long time, he had never heard of Rabbit’s World.

“Boing! I’m Hom, the rabbit who guides the journey to Rabbit’s World! Boing!”

“Boing! I’m Lis! Boing!”

The two beastkin introduced their affiliations with their unique rhythmic movements.

The one with brown fur wearing a black suit was Hom.

The one with white fur wearing a black dress was Lis.

“Homeless?”

When Siwon pointed at the two and called their names to confirm, Hom showed displeasure.

“…Boing! Could you please not say our names together? Boing?”

“….”

Siwon’s head naturally turned towards Rabbit Gondu.

A look that said, “What on earth are these guys doing?”

“What.”

Rabbit Gondu just lifted her head as if to say, “Why are you looking at me?”

“…These two, what exactly are they… no, what animals are they?”

“Boiyoing! Animals?! We’re beastkin, beastkin! We’re neither animals nor humans! Boing!”
Hom responded with an angry-sounding voice to Siwon’s question.

“Ah, right… sorry. What do these two beastkin do?”

“Boiyoing! Hom already told you! We’re Hom & Lis, the rabbits who guide the journey to Rabbit’s World! Boing!”
This time Lis chimed in.

Siwon let out a deep sigh and asked Hom.

“Hah… I asked the wrong question. What is this Rabbit’s World?”

“Boing! Well, let’s go in and find out! Boing!”

Hom said this and suddenly grabbed Siwon’s hand.

“No, wait a minute. What are you doing….”

“Boiyoiyoing~ The journey to Rabbit’s World, departing now boing~”

A line that theme park employees might say.

Hom, still holding Siwon’s hand, approached the rabbit-shaped bag that Rabbit Gondu was holding.

“Ah, aaaaah!”

In just a few seconds, his vision flipped.

Whether his body had shrunk or the world had grown larger.

And so, Siwon was sucked into Rabbit’s World under the guidance of Hom and Lis.

“Ugh….”

“Boing! Are you conscious? That’s a relief! Boing!”

The first thing Siwon saw when he opened his eyes was the faces of Hom and Lis.

As he got up and raised his head, sculptures reminiscent of a park and colorful buildings entered Siwon’s view.

One peculiar thing was that all these buildings had rabbit ears on their roofs.

“…Where is this?”

“Boing? We just told you earlier, didn’t we? It’s Rabbit’s World! Boing!”

“…I mean, what kind of place is it? Not the name.”

“Boing! Oh, that’s what you meant! Boing! Rabbit’s World is Rabbit Ma….”

As Hom was about to say something, Lis poked his forearm.

She then frowned, and Hom, as if realizing his mistake, corrected his words.

“It’s a subspace that stores all the items the owner possesses!”

…The unique “boing boing” speech pattern disappeared.
“…You, it seems like you were about to say something else?”
“It’s your imagination! Haha!”
“….”

It seemed pointless to ask further as they probably wouldn’t answer anyway.

‘More importantly, if this is a subspace….’

That bag Rabbit Gondu had.

“Then, is that bag some kind of warp gate?”

“Wh, how did you know?!”

“….”

As expected.

It doesn’t make sense to compress such a large space into such a small size.

It doesn’t make sense to imbue such a small bag with warp magic that includes very complex formulas either.

But compared to the former, it’s a sufficiently plausible story.

“…But, this is inside the labyrinth. What kind of trick did you use to make entering a subspace possible?”

“Boing! You’re a person with many questions, aren’t you! Boing!”

Lis, not Hom, answered.

“….”

‘Is she mocking me?’

It was a thought that crossed his mind for a moment, but looking at her innocent face, she didn’t seem like that kind of beastkin.

“I’m sorry, but it’s a secret! Please ask the owner about information regarding the owner!”
“Boing! We can only answer about items in Rabbit’s World! Boing!”

Hom and Lis answered alternately.

“…So, why did you bring me here?”

“Boing? Bring you? You came here on your own two feet, didn’t you? Boing!”
Lis answered, pointing at Siwon’s feet with her chubby fingertip.

“….”

It’s sophistry.

But arguing right and wrong with these beastkin seemed like it would be nothing more than a waste of time.

“…Alright. Then, what’s the reason for bringing me to this place?”

“Well, to give you the items that Rabbit Gondu stored in Rabbit’s World!”

This time Hom answered.

“…?”

Siwon tilted his head for a moment, but soon realized the truth.

‘She forgot, huh.’

Something had seemed off.
After all, he had requested quite a few things from Rabbit Gondu.

It seemed she meant for him to find them himself.

“So, you’re saying I should find the items I asked her for myself, right?”

“Yes! Exactly!”

“…But what if I take more than I should?”

“Huh?”
“I mean, I could take more than what I asked from Rabbit Gon… ah, I don’t know her name. Your owner.”
“Oh?! Now that I think about it, that’s true! What should we do about this…”

As Hom panicked and stamped his feet, Lis sighed deeply and gave Hom a knock on the head.

“Ow!”

“Boing! I’ll do the guiding, so you go over there! Boing!”

“Ugh….”

Hom left with a cowed appearance.

“…?”

Siwon’s gaze, watching this whole situation, was tinged with bewilderment.

But that was only for a moment.

Lis immediately adjusted her dress and said to Siwon,

“Boing! I apologize for causing a disturbance! Boing!”

“….”

He thought about asking what that was all about.

But he decided to think that just as there’s darkness in the labyrinth, there’s darkness in Rabbit’s World too.

“…So, what happens if I take something else?”

“Boing! To answer that… it doesn’t matter! Boing!”

“…Huh?”
“Boing! That’s because the owner only opens the door to people who are allowed to freely take items from Rabbit’s World! Boing!”

“….”

‘Did I become that close with Rabbit Gondu?’

It’s a relationship that hasn’t even been half a day in his perception.

Yet she opened the door to a subspace where he can freely take anything.
‘Then, can I just take everything?’

A bad thought momentarily crossed Siwon’s mind.
‘…Shit, I should think rationally.’

She might make some demands using the excuse that he took other items.

“…Well, I understand for now.”

Siwon decided to give up on greed.

After all, just receiving everything he requested from Rabbit Gondu is more than enough, even excessive.

“Boing! Then where shall I guide you first, boing?”

At Lis’s question, the corners of Siwon’s mouth curved upwards.

“First, to where the labyrinth-related items are.”

“Boing?! Did, did you really request all of these things boing?”

After visiting several buildings, including the black rabbit-eared building where labyrinth-related items were stored.

Various objects were in Siwon’s hands.

A long sword with a brilliant blue light shining like starlight.

A set of armor made from Blood Orc leather.

Even a set of hand crossbows made from branches of Aiora, a tree imbued with the labyrinth’s magic.

There were also other things like a White List with top-secret information about the labyrinth city written in detail, expensive magic stones of various colors, and miscellaneous tools needed for exploration, but they couldn’t compare to the first three items.

“Yeah.”

“Boing! Don’t lie! Boing!”

“…It’s true. And didn’t you say people who enter here can take anything?”

“Boing! Th-that’s true, but… these need confirmation, boing! All together, they’re worth at least a thousand gold! Boing!”

“….”

‘Maybe I should have just taken more modest items?’

Of course, Siwon only took the items he had requested from Rabbit Gondu.

Long sword, armor set made of orc leather, hand crossbow, information about the labyrinth city and magic stones needed for magic, miscellaneous tools needed for adventure, and so on.

Although he didn’t specify exactly what he wanted among these, she agreed, so isn’t it natural to take only the best quality items?
It does prick his conscience a bit to exchange these items for mere sunglasses, but well.
It’s not like conscience puts food on the table.

“How are you going to confirm?”

“Boing! Well… we need to check if you’re really close to the owner! Boing!”

“…?”
Siwon’s expression hardened for a moment.

‘I’m screwed, shit.’

All Siwon knows about Rabbit Gondu is what he saw and heard in LAOA.

Of course, he had heard quite a lot from conversations with NPCs, and Siwon had memorized all of it.

But if asked whether there’s enough information to prove his friendship with her, that was absolutely not the case.

“Boing! There will be a total of three questions! Boing!”

“…Alright.”
Gulp.
He swallowed the saliva that had built up from tension.
“Boing! First question! What is the owner’s real position, boing?”

“….”

Of course, it’s 5th-class explorer.

Most people would say this.

But this is a question testing friendship with Rabbit Gondu.

Moreover, the fact that they asked about her “real” position also bothered him.
Fortunately, Siwon understood the true intention of this question.
‘But, is it okay to say this?’
Judging by Rabbit Gondu’s normal face, this secret probably hasn’t been revealed yet.
‘Well, it’s a secret that’s almost not revealed, so they’re probably asking like this.’
Siwon decided to give the answer.

“Isn’t she a princess of the Myo clan?”

“…!”

At Siwon’s answer, Lis’s round eyes became even rounder.

“Boing?! How did you know that, boing?!”
“Well, she told me….”
Siwon naturally lied.

“What?! The owner herself told you this fact directly?”

“Yeah.”

“But the owner said she would never tell this fact to anyone except the person she would marry….”