"By the way, was your eye injured inside the instance? You could buy a healing potion from the merchant. It can cure your injury very quickly," Aria said out of kindness, glancing at Leona's bandaged eye.
"A merchant? A healing potion?" Leona voiced her doubts twice in a row.
Aria gave an understanding smile. "I think you need a guide."
Leona recognized Aria's goodwill, but she still gave a playful wink, resting a finger under her chin and raising her head slightly.
"Then where might I find a guide who is both cheap and affordable?"
"You're in luck. There's one right in front of you, and her price is exceptionally fair." Aria placed her hands behind her back, leaning forward with her head tilted slightly.
It seemed Aria was an interesting person as well.
And being able to maintain such an attitude in an environment like this was proof enough of her strength.
"How many Remnant Pages?"
"Just a single smile."
Leona smiled—a genuine, heartfelt smile.
"Then please follow me. I'll take you on a tour of this Prison." Aria straightened her back and waved Leona over.
"I really never expected to hear the words 'tour' and 'Prison' in the same sentence in my lifetime." Leona shrugged, just about to leave with Aria, when she was called back by the middle-aged uncle wearing the chef's hat.
"Little girl named Leona, I think I ought to remind you: it's best to handle the corpse in your room. When it rots, it won't just smell terrible—it'll also breed viruses. Besides, you wouldn't want to sleep next to a corpse at night, would you?"
Leona thought about it carefully; he had a point.
But how should she dispose of the corpse? She looked around, and in this place that lacked even a toilet, she actually managed to find an iron door.
Though she had only one usable eye, her vision was surprisingly good.
Above the iron door, someone had painted two words in blood—Tomb.
Aria noticed Leona's gaze. Having no intention of helping, she stood where she was and said,
"I'll wait for you."
Leona nodded, walked into the room, and used both hands to haul the body out like dragging a dead pig, then headed toward that room.
The moment she opened the iron door, she felt like she had fallen into a septic tank. The stench inside was more than ten times worse than in the Prison.
Below lay a massive pit. As far as her eyes could see, there were already over a hundred corpses; it was hard to imagine how many more were hidden deeper down.
At the thought that if she died, she would be thrown in there by the next invader, the hairs all over Leona's body stood on end. It wasn't out of fear of death, but simply because she preferred a more dignified way to pass away.
Using both hands, she heaved the corpse of the girl named Lina inside. Perhaps if she came back to check in a few days, she wouldn't even be able to find her anymore.
"So, scared?" Seeing that Leona was finished, Aria walked up to greet her.
The first time Aria had witnessed a scene like that, she hadn't been able to sleep for several nights in a row, yet Leona seemed different from what she had expected.
Looking at her face, it was difficult to spot any trace of fear. Even up to now, she hadn't shown any physiological reaction like nausea.
One had to know that very few newcomers here could adapt to such an environment.
"Being afraid won't solve anything," Leona said calmly.
Aria froze for a brief moment, a glint of praise flashing in her eyes. After exchanging a couple more words with Leona, she began leading her around the Prison.
After walking for a short while, the two arrived at a crossroads.
In all four directions were identical long corridors, each lined with wooden doors every five meters.
Right in the center, however, was a special spot where several people occasionally gathered and left.
Leona looked closely: there sat a small wooden hut. Inside was a man wearing a gold-rimmed monocle and a neat, dark-brown dress coat, carefully wiping a pocket watch as if passing the time.
If nothing was amiss, this was the merchant Leona had heard about.
"He's an invader too, just very lucky. The merchant class is extremely sought-after in this world," Aria said before Leona could even ask.
"Classes can bring convenience?" Leona asked in confusion.
She didn't understand the connection between the two.
"Of course. Aside from the initial abilities granted by the Main God, every character has their own class skill. For instance, a werewolf can turn into a wolf, and a hunter gets superb marksmanship even if they've never touched a gun before."
"As for the merchant, he can trade items with the Main God. However, items obtained through trade cannot be brought into instances, but he can earn a portion of Remnant Pages by selling them," Aria explained patiently.
Leona's expression turned grim. She had originally thought she was lucky to receive a blessing that granted extra abilities, but she hadn't expected characters to have class skills as well.
Yet she specifically lacked one, which effectively narrowed the gap between her and others.
This was not a good sign. Invaders couldn't attack each other in the Prison, but once inside an instance, no one would show mercy to others for the sake of survival.
She pulled out her notebook and recorded another key piece of information:
Every character has their own class skill.
"Do the protagonists of the stories have their own class skills?" Leona asked suddenly.
Because the examples Aria gave were all supporting characters, she wanted to see if other protagonists were like her and lacked class skills.
"I believe so, but they've all tacitly kept quiet about it. Since you're a protagonist too, I didn't ask about your class skill either. Does what you're saying mean..." As Aria spoke, Leona interrupted her.
"No, there indeed is one. But it's also inconvenient for me to say."
"Fair enough." Aria could understand why these so-called protagonists wouldn't reveal their trump cards in an environment like this.
She lifted her black robe, revealing the potion bottles hanging at her waist inside.
"However, I can tell you about the witch's class skill. You'd end up hearing it from someone else eventually anyway; it hasn't been a secret for a long time."
"We can craft magic potions, and a witch's potions can be brought into instances, but they cannot be sold." Aria was a bit excited at first, but grew slightly solemn toward the end.
After all, she had lost an avenue for earning Remnant Pages.
"So in terms of sales, the merchant holds a monopoly? Is there any restriction from the Main God regarding prices?" Leona asked after taking note of the witch's ability.
The primary problem in the entire Prison was food.
If food couldn't be brought out from instances, and planting was impossible in a place like this, then food was overwhelmingly likely to come from the hands of merchants.
Yet even if food existed, price became the issue. If merchants could set prices at will, then the group of people who drew this class could be said to hold absolute sway over this dungeon.
They could jack up food prices as much as they wanted, and to survive, everyone else would have no choice but to buy.
However, she hadn't seen an extremely unbalanced situation so far, so she reasonably suspected that the Main God had placed some kind of restriction on them.
Regrettably, Leona was wrong this time.
The Main God did not bother with matters between invaders.
"Leona, I know what you're worried about. A long time ago, the merchant was a despised role. Below the fourth floor, food was entirely in their hands. They inflated prices sky-high and held a long dictatorship," Aria said, as if recounting a piece of history.
It seemed that people from reality entering this world had been happening for a very long time.
"How many floors are there in total? Is food no longer a concern starting from the fourth floor?" Leona interjected.
"Yes, there are nine floors in total. The higher up you go, the better the environment is. Starting from the fourth floor, crops can be grown. However, people on the upper floors have always ignored the affairs of the lower floors.
Until a man calling himself the King appeared. He led a group of people to launch a crusade against the merchant class, slaughtering merchants in instances or Tournaments. Since a new invader comes to replace a dead one, there was no need to worry about the merchant class disappearing."
Aria spoke in a loud voice, causing the merchant wiping his pocket watch nearby to tremble involuntarily.
"So the King used force to coerce them into lowering their prices." Leona had already guessed the outcome after hearing just the outline.
"Precisely. At most, they can only raise the price by one percent over the items exchanged from the Main God; otherwise, they have to endure the King's wrath." Aria nodded.
Rate on N.U.
