Surviving in the Labyrinth City of the Reverse World

3 – Party Formation #2

The explorer guilds in the labyrinth city of Labyrinth were packed like convenience stores in South Korea, with a little exaggeration.

As an explorer, it made me feel like saying, “Should I also try starting a guild?” and founding a guild?

“Our guild is just as strong as any other. We can work hard in the labyrinth.”

“Choose me. Take me with you. I’ll dedicate my life to protect you…!”

Thanks to that, we had to visit many guilds.

There was only one objective. Party formation. To find a female explorer to go to the labyrinth with me.

“This way.”

Yoo-ri took the lead. Some guilds had their offices in narrow back alleys.

Smelly and filthy, with trash rolling on the street.

“Ah…”

The boys frowned as they walked towards the guild. A bad first impression. This won’t end well.

The boys had hopes too. Since things turned out this way, they wanted to be part of a good guild.

Clank, clank…

The door here is a mess, half broken. If we hadn’t rung the bell, we wouldn’t have known we were inside.

“Oh my, are you knights?”

A middle-aged female adventurer greeted us through the glass. Behind her, young women stood in a line.

Adventurers without a party. They had gathered, dressed up, hoping to be chosen by boys much younger than themselves.

“…It feels like we’re making a choice.”

Haven’t we seen scenes like this in dramas or movies? Choosing among the girls in a karaoke room.

We could experience it indirectly.

The female adventurers each showcased their own charm. Appearance was one of the available weapons.

In reality, the women of the “Dictator’s Sword” guild were wearing revealing equipment. It was excessive, with a lot of bare skin showing.

“From their equipment, are they thieves?”

In modern society, the soul of social class had talent.

At that moment, the timid Brown raised his hand.

“Me, me…!”

A sudden surprise choice. The boy’s finger pointed at a female adventurer.

He was the one who always hid in the back, waiting for his turn to never come. It seemed like he really liked the other person.

“Me? Oh, thank you.”

The chosen female explorer approached Brown with a smile on her face.

With each step, her large heels clunked and clacked, and the sound of her high heels tapping on the floor was strangely alluring.

She was an explorer with a difficult-to-handle, eye-catching style.

The children murmured in amazement.

“Brown chose her first? No way!”

“That’s unbelievable.”

“Brown… has such mature taste.”

This time, I played the role of an extra, amazed and speechless. I never dreamed that Brown would steal the spotlight from me.

“Then me too!”

“I want to team up with her!”

The atmosphere took an odd turn. The boys, stimulated by Brown’s sudden move, started pointing at the female explorer.

“Really? Wow, thank you.”

“What’s your name? I’ll work hard!”

The “Lone Sword” guild we visited just accepted the choice with a blank expression.

“Let’s do well together, Brown.”

The proactive older sister approached Brown, who had chosen her, and hugged him tightly. Watching the affectionate expression of the pretty older sister, I felt a strange sense of unease.

My thighs trembled.

“I, I also…!”

Let’s choose first and then think. Let’s accept one s*xy older sister as a party member in the “Lone Sword” guild.

At that moment, Yoori grabbed my shoulder. She squeezed with such force as if to say, “Don’t do it.”

“Why?”

In a world where men cannot defeat women, a world of gender reversal.

Yoori’s strength was not for the sake of a single boy. With a strength that showed no consideration, I couldn’t help but grimace and complain, unable to act like a man.

“Stop here.”

The young man who chose the party members numbered six. Two of us, including me, were unable to form a party.

“For now, take responsibility for the children at the ‘Dictator Sword’ guild and form a party.”

“Yes, understood. Thank you, sir.”

A middle-aged woman. The woman, who seemed to be the guild master, chuckled.

Yoori handed over the children and left the “Dictator Sword” guild. I had no choice but to follow Yoori.

We emerged from a damp alley and joined the crowd on the main road.

The shouts of the fruit vendor, girls of the same age performing tricks as street performers, adventurers wearing splendid equipment…

“Ray, does it bother you that I interfered with your choice?”

Yoori asked me without looking back as she walked ahead.

“…There must have been a reason, I suppose.”

I had no choice but to believe that. It didn’t seem like she prevented the formation of the party for no reason at all.

“As a recruiter, I have to exclude personal emotions. But why is it that I want to interfere with you?”

“….”

“Being an adventurer is truly dangerous. It’s not too dangerous if you’re fully prepared… But for the kids who arrive in Labyrinth City for the first time and try to form a party without proper preparation… It becomes practically dangerous.”

Most children are unable to return home after being recruited. It’s partly because their status is tied to Labyrinth City, but mostly because most of them die in the labyrinth.

There was a reason why each town didn’t want to send their sons.

“Sister, is it true that the ‘Autocracy Sword’ guild is dangerous?”

“…It’s not a good place. It’s a guild dominated by rogue-type adventurers. We have to bring mercenaries from other types of adventurers, and that compromises stability.”

But what if I’m happy? The life of a barefooted rogue and adventurer seemed like it would be a lot of fun.

“Ray, I thought you were mature. Does it make sense to follow what the kids choose just because they’re all choosing it? You’re not that kind of person. You were more careful and considered all the circumstances.”

“If even Brown, who’s usually scared of everything, chose it, I thought it would be a pretty good guild.”

“…Well, that does make some sense…”

Apart from Brown’s choice, Yoo-ri didn’t have a good impression of the ‘Autocracy Sword’ guild. Her gaze was far from friendly.

‘If Yoo-ri noona feels that way…’

It was Yoo-ri’s advice, who knew a lot about this world. It wouldn’t hurt to listen carefully.

I visited the guild with Yoo-ri. There were still many guilds left in the labyrinth city, Labyrinth.

‘Could it be here?’

After being sanctioned not once, but twice.

I lived my life paying more attention to Yoo-ri’s expression than to the other adventurers. I had hoped she would tell me about a good guild.

Yoo-ri shook her head. She rejected every place we went to, as if saying they weren’t suitable.

“Ray, see you later!”

“Are you going too, Soma? Since you made your choice, give it your all.”

“Yeah!”

Even one of my comrades had chosen their own nest. Now, I was the only one left by Yoo-ri’s side.

Yoo-ri led me around the guild. When I was exhausted from going round and round, she guided me to one guild.

“This is a really nice place.”

The guild, “The Vanguard of Miracles.” There was nothing particularly special about its appearance. It was average, if you consider that there are so many low-quality guild houses with holes in the walls and a couple of mice scurrying around. The evaluation criteria were quite strict.

I entered the guild house through the glass door. The members inside greeted me warmly as if they had been waiting.

“Yuri, you’re finally here?”

“I thought I was going to die waiting.”

The women inside the guild house seemed to be familiar with Yuri.

Yuri had been handling things in a businesslike manner up until now. But when she saw them, she couldn’t help but let out a light laugh.

“This is Rei. He’s the Guild Master of ‘The Vanguard of Miracles.'”

“…I’m Rei.”

If I were to be honest, I preferred the intimidating gaze of the ‘Dictator’s Sword’ from earlier. As I quickly scanned the women adventurers here, it didn’t seem like it would be a particularly happy adventurer’s life.

“They must be really skilled.”

Yuri recommended this guild. They must have focused on stability based on skills. I can’t ignore that sincerity.

In reality, they seemed to have incredibly high skills…

“These are the faces that you need to be good at studying.”

There are faces that look like they need to study well, as if they were a set.

Yuri finished exchanging greetings with the guild members and looked at me.

“Rei, what do you think? Is joining ‘The Vanguard of Miracles’ okay?”

“…Yes.”

It’s probably better to join a guild rather than wandering around alone. And going to see guilds with Yuri, it feels like ‘The Vanguard of Miracles’ will be the last one.

Yuri smiled brightly.

“It’s a good choice.”

If her gaze, looking down at me, felt a bit unfamiliar, was it just my imagination?

A sense of unease crept up slowly. It was a similar kind of unease that I felt when I realized I had been left behind during a trip abroad.

Yuri patted the shoulder of the Guild Master of the “Miracle Vanguard” and left the house.

“Come on, let’s talk about work.”

“Work?”

“Yeah. Before we register for the party, there’s something we need to check, right?”

The Guild Master aunty said, her lips curling.

“Can you lower your pants?”