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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Material Desire Sensor (1)
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In fact, she'd acquired the gacha coin right after dying and regressing to Lucas.
'A death coin, huh.'
The way to obtain gacha currency wasn't through conquering the Labyrinth—it was Serena's death.
'Doesn't that mean the more I die, the better off I am?'
Every time Serena died, she got a gacha coin. If she died 100,000 times, collected 100,000 coins, and pulled 100,000 times, couldn't she save all the citizens of Hwajichen swallowed by the Labyrinth?
How to conquer the Labyrinth?
With 100,000 people, surely they'd manage somehow. Human wave tactics existed for a reason.
'Should I really try dying 100,000 times?'
Serena was tempted by the devil for a brief moment. Fortunately, she shook it off by recalling the hellish subway and buses from her previous life.
'If I did that, I'd just end up torn apart and everyone would die.'
Serena decided to hold onto the gacha coin she'd earned from dying. The odds of pulling someone strong enough to beat Lucas were slim, and adding more people might just complicate things further.
'Luckily, it worked out.'
When the ice arrow spell missed Lucas's face, she'd braced herself for a few more tries, but by some miracle, it succeeded on the first go.
With Lucas taken care of, should she hit the gacha button right away? No, she shouldn't.
'Wrong place.'
To draw a fresh 1-in-100,000 shot—and one capable of fighting at that—she needed some luck. But look at the spot Serena had chosen. Three corpses already.
And the quality of those fallen bodies was downright trash. Cow monster corpse, subhuman corpse, drug dealer corpse. Perfect bad luck magnets.
'Let's head back to the lobby first.'
Ralph clumsily donned Lucas's plate armor. Their heights were similar, but their builds weren't, so it didn't fit well. Still, with the sword and shield equipped, he looked like a perfect three-star knight.
'If this guy had proper gear, I wouldn't have gone through all this trouble.'
Serena's gaze toward Ralph sharpened a bit.
"What about the bodies...?"
"Let's head back to the lobby and discuss it with everyone first."
"Yes, that sounds best."
The princess and the knight climbed the steep stairs back to the lobby, where the masseuse and handmaiden waited.
Four had gone, but only two returned—and one was wearing the gear of someone who hadn't.
Lavenda and Philia had been ready to greet the party with smiles, but those smiles vanished.
"What happened, Lady Serena? Are you all right?"
"What happened to Sir Lucas and Miss Chrome?"
Serena explained what had gone down on the second floor. When she revealed that Lucas had used Chrome as bait and tried to kill her too, both Philia and Lavenda were outraged.
"Heavens! How dare he target you, Lady Serena! That bastard deserves to be torn apart!"
"I knew it—that personality-bankrupt pervert! He should be dipped in sewage!"
Philia had suspected as much, but Lavenda's cursing stood out. The reason soon came to light.
"He groped my butt while everyone was asleep!"
Lavenda revealed the incident she'd been stewing over alone. Serena felt sympathy for the masseuse.
"Oh no. You should have said something right away."
"I thought it wouldn't do any good... Sir Lucas is a knight of the royal family, and this is the Labyrinth..."
A high-ranking noble-born royal knight versus a foreign commoner masseuse. The status gap was immense. Even if she'd reported it outside, Lucas would've gotten off with a mere scolding like "Maintain a knight's dignity."
Besides, this was the Labyrinth. What could anyone do if a knight essential for survival groped a masseuse who knew nothing but massages?
Better to endure than stir up trouble. That's what Lavenda had endured.
Serena understood Lavenda's feelings.
'I put up with it too.'
Outside the Labyrinth, she'd have banished the arrogant knight for a dirty look. But here, she'd swallowed her pride.
If Lucas hadn't tried to kill her first, she probably would've tried to persuade and use him somehow.
"I can't stand that kind of thing. From now on, tell me right away if anything happens."
"Yes..."
"Tell me too! I'll make him pay!"
Now that he was Sir Ralph Hanson, he wouldn't back down from other knights either! At Ralph's words, Lavenda's sullen expression broke into a broad smile.
"Anyway, about their bodies."
"Leave Lucas for the monsters—perfect monster chow!"
"If he turns undead, it'll be a headache, so should we chop him up and scatter him?"
Lavenda's eyes gleamed as she suggested dismembering him, clearly thrilled with pent-up grudge. Serena let her be.
"Fine, Lucas Biron as monster food. But what about Chrome?"
"Ah..."
Lavenda's excited face sobered. Ralph looked sad too, but Philia piped up brightly.
"We can't just... treat the old lady the same. Hmm. No, we can't."
Philia's second condition for becoming Serena's handmaiden: If the mistress glares, say the opposite.
Ralph didn't seem like he'd start a red revolution, but he'd swing the sword of justice. Serena patted Philia approvingly.
"We can't just leave her, so let's bring Chrome's body to the first floor for now."
"But where do we put her? No good spot to bury, and no firewood for cremation."
"Leaving her here... would be hard to look at."
Everyone agreed they couldn't abandon Chrome's body, but disposal was the issue.
"Hmm."
Serena eyed the statue, then shook her head. Regressing after death might revive Chrome, but she couldn't keep dying every time someone perished.
It wasn't because she was a drug dealer. They'd grown fond, but ultimately, Chrome was a stranger met just days ago.
Chrome had been a vile drug dealer, but she'd sacrificed herself for the young ones and died honorably. Was there really need to undo that, even with suicide?
'No.'
"What if we chop her up small and burn bits at a time? Use that as firewood."
Philia suggested dismembering Chrome's body again. Different intent this time, so Serena didn't stop her.
"Well, even for cremation, that feels like desecrating the dead..."
"She's a drug dealer! This is more than she deserves!"
Philia, who despised drug users and dealers because of Serena, raised her voice.
Serena rummaged through Chrome's cart for anything useful. Kids' toys and carvings came out. Nothing special.
'The floor height feels off.'
Serena noticed the cart's interior floor seemed higher than the exterior. Tapping confirmed it—a secret compartment in the base.
The cart was useful, so she carefully sought a way to open it without damaging the bottom. Luckily, easier than the traps in Hwaji's Royal Mausoleum.
Click. Twisting and pressing the cart's handle opened the floor. Inside: a wallet and more toys and carvings, like the cart itself.
Seemed innocuous, but Serena wasn't fooled.
'If asked why the secret space, she'd claim it was for valuables.'
Serena examined a toy. Looked like a plain wooden doll, but twisting its neck...
'Bingo.'
Inside the disassembled toy—drugs wrapped in oiled paper.
'Ugh.'
Serena recalled the child running with the toy on his head, and the father following with other kids. The especially ragged father's face zoomed in.
'Hiding it in kids' toys to sell without getting caught? And you buy it? Are you even human?'
Rage boiled from deep within. Serena regulated her breathing to suppress it.
'Did Lucas know Chrome was a dealer and use her as bait? No, probably not. He'd have told me.'
A royal knight would know Serena hated dealers. With Lucas's personality, he'd have mocked her when revealing the old woman's criminal past.
The handmaiden, well aware her mistress despised drugs, shouted.
"Burn her with the drugs!"
"No... we might use them as poison like before, so I'll keep them for now."
Serena repackaged the drugs in the wooden doll and returned it to the cart's secret space.
"Anyone who touches these for their original purpose gets their wrist chopped off."
"Of course!"
"I won't touch them!"
Nothing else noteworthy.
"Too small a shovel for burying in the herb garden, and the toilet spot feels wrong."
"What do we do?"
Just as all eyes had turned to Ralph when first scouting the Royal Mausoleum, now they turned to Serena.
Their thoughts were obvious.
'Her Highness is chosen by the Labyrinth god—she'll figure it out.'
'She made a breadfruit tree, so she can make a grave too.'
'Lady Serena will make it work.'
Ignoring their expectations would be cruel. Serena pretended to ponder while blinking her left eye.
'Anything?'
Among decorations was a grave. Description: a real one, holds up to ten bodies.
Cheap at 1 coin, but Serena's shop coins were still zero.
'Weird. We beat the Minotaur. Is it still alive?'
As Serena panicked to check the second floor, she spotted an unread notification.
Limited Shop. The name alone screamed limited coins. Serena opened it immediately.
'A shop, huh.'
A round roulette wheel awaited in the Limited Shop window.
'Gambling.'
Miss took up half the wheel. Serena nearly closed it in disbelief, then paused at the notification.
The miss half vanished, widening the win sections. Serena scrutinized the prizes.
Elixir of immortality, panacea, legendary magic sword, rainbow shield, love potion, etc. Items anyone would dream of. Odds? Assume zero.
Serena eyed more realistic prizes.
'Highest win rate is coins.'
Gacha coins—call them death coins. A single gacha coin had the best odds. 10 or 100 had lower rates as numbers rose.
Shop coins for the regular store had high odds too, slightly below death coins since dying was easier(?) than conquering.
'Should I spin?'
No misses, so maybe.
'Ha, this is rich.'
Dad the junkie, mom the maniac, grandpa the living corpse, affection-starved brother the gambling addict.
Because her barely-adult brother was hooked on gambling, Serena had sworn off it.
'And now this.'
It was just the Labyrinth god's limited shop window, not real gambling, but spinning something roulette-like felt off.
'No bad luck thoughts. Spin!'
Serena used a stratum coin to spin the wheel. It turned plainly—no sparkles or music—slowing gradually.
'Come on, something good! Something good!'
The wheel slowed... and stopped.
Grants 2 confirmed 5-star gacha tickets.
'5-star?'
The magic shield had helped, but Lucas—who'd clashed head-on with the Minotaur and survived—was three-star. A guaranteed five-star? Sunshine breaking through for her Labyrinth conquest.
'No, too soon to relax. What if it's a jerk?'
She'd barely beaten a three-star Lucas. A nasty five-star might be too strong to handle.
As Serena fretted, a notification passed.
In her previous life, there was a term "material desire sensor." In gacha games, the stronger your desire for something, the lower the odds of getting it—like the game sensed it.
This tip claimed the opposite: desire boosted odds.
'But I pulled Lucas, so...'
Serena had never wanted that personality-wrecked pervert trash.
'I pulled without thinking.'
So maybe closest available—Lucas—popped out.
'Someone we need right now...'
Putting the drug dealer funeral on hold, Serena seriously pondered the current situation.