Survive the labyrinth with EX-grade traits

I won the lottery. Third place? Or second place?

No, it was the grand prize. After taxes, I received about 2 billion won.

I half-listened to the employee’s suggestions about investment products and savings accounts, and then walked out of the lottery office.

“Huh, huh, huh,” I muttered as I looked at the newly opened account with the prize money.

I felt dizzy, wondering if this was a dream or reality. I pinched my cheek hard, and the pain confirmed that this was real.

“Ouch! It’s not a dream. It’s really true.”

I felt like I was going to fly away with the excitement coursing through my body and my heart pounding wildly.

“Let’s go. I’ll think about it once I get home.”

I walked out of the building and onto the main road, but I felt like everyone was staring at me.

“This is crazy! No one around here knows I won the lottery. I need to act natural and walk casually.”

I had read online that no one would be targeting me after I received the prize, but still, I felt intimidated.

I couldn’t understand why I felt so self-conscious.

I quickly hailed a taxi because I felt like I would lose my mind if I walked any further or took the crowded subway.

“Thank you,” I said as I got out near my one-room apartment building and quickly made my way home.

As soon as I opened the door, I felt a surge of dopamine and clenched my fists, letting out a silent scream.

“Yes! On a day like this, I should crack open some canned beer and sleep like a king! Let’s go to the convenience store quickly.”

I put the account book in a deep drawer and headed to the nearby convenience store.

As I walked, I thought about what I should do with the money and how I should live from now on.

First, I should quit my job. I should hand in my resignation tomorrow.

I was tired of being subtly bullied and ignored at work because I was an orphan. I should just tell the small company to go to hell.

I wanted to move out of my tiny one-room apartment and into an apartment.

As for a car, I needed to think about it some more…

“If I spend this 2 billion won recklessly, I’ll go bankrupt quickly. I should visit the orphanage I grew up in, meet the director I occasionally kept in touch with, and start donating. I should live a good life from now on.”

Thud! Crash!

As I walked and thought about my future, I turned the corner and collided with a shabbily dressed man who was running towards me.

“Oof, sorry. What’s the point of this game… I was running in a hurry and didn’t see you. Are you okay?”

I wondered what he was thinking, playing a mobile game while running. But his polite apology calmed me down, and I took his outstretched hand to help him up.

“Yes, I’m fine. But next time, be more careful…”

That’s when something strange started happening around us.

Brrrr.

[Rift cleared!]

[Please be careful of the transfer.]

His smartphone vibrated, and a hologram appeared between us.

Zzzz!

A strange inscription made up of letters and shapes, like a magic circle from a novel or webtoon, appeared under our feet and began to glow.

“What is this? A transfer? Is it possible to enter a game world?!”

He raised his voice in surprise and excitement at the hologram in front of him, but I was just confused.

“Damn it! Why can’t I let go of his hand? I don’t care about the transfer, just let go!”

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t let go of the hand that had helped me up.

“Hey! Let go of my hand! What is this?”

“Hahaha, let’s go to another world! Let’s go to the land of beautiful girls and sex!”

“You bastard, let go of my hand and get lost!”

This was bad. It seemed like he had lost his mind and couldn’t hear me.

To make matters worse, his body was slowly turning into particles, starting from his feet.

Was this really a transfer? What about me?

“If I can’t separate myself from him, I’ll definitely be dragged along. I have to get away!”

Was I supposed to leave Earth and go to another world without even spending a penny of my 2 billion won?

Was I supposed to leave behind my home, car, and future, and have my money reduced to a worthless piece of paper?

“Noooo! Ugh, nooo! Nooooo!”

I squeezed my hand so hard that blood vessels burst, and tears of blood fell from my eyes. I finally started to feel my fingertips again.

Zap!

Thud!

I was finally able to let go of his hand when only his arm was left.

I fell backward quickly because I had let go so forcefully, but I didn’t care because I felt relieved.

“Even if I hit my head, I won’t die, right? My money! Thank goodness, I’m so relieved.”

I should be feeling pain from hitting the ground soon…?

“You dare to interfere with the summoning of your own will? You, a mere human?”

A sticky, creepy voice pierced my mind.

“It’s been a while since a human with such strong willpower has appeared. I wonder what kind of variable you will be to them?”

“What?”

As soon as the voice stopped, I felt a sense of suffocation, as if I had fallen into the deep sea, instead of the pain of hitting my head.

“What is this…?”

My body felt heavy, and I needed to regain consciousness…

I couldn’t resist the sleepiness that was overwhelming me, and I passed out.

.

.

.

“Haaak!”

At some point, my eyes suddenly snapped open.

“What happened? Did I pass out? Where am I?”

I held my dazed head and tried to remember what had happened. I remembered everything from the moment the damn guy started shouting about another world to the moment I heard the eerie voice.

Then, the five stages of grief began.

Denial.

“No, this can’t be true. Did I really get transferred to another world? Please, someone, anyone, tell me this is just a dream!”

Anger.

“What? Strong willpower? Damn it, who wouldn’t be unable to let go of someone’s hand when they’re about to lose 2 billion won? Why me? Why me!”

Bargaining.

“I don’t know who you are, but please send me back! I’ve had a hard life as an orphan, and I was finally starting to live a better life. Why are you doing this to me? I’ll be a better person from now on, please!”

Depression.

“A being that can casually bring people to another world probably won’t listen to the words of a mere human like me… Sigh.”

Acceptance.

“Fine. Rather than just moping around and dying, I might as well live here. Who knows? Maybe I’ll find some mysterious power and be able to return, or maybe I’ll just live a fantasy-like life.”

My emotions had changed so quickly in such a short time, and I even started rationalizing…

I felt like I had gone crazy.

I tried to calm down and looked around, and a black window popped up in front of my eyes.

[Chaos ask if it is over?]

“Is that you? I barely escaped from the magic circle, and you brought me here?”

[Chaos says that it’s similar but different from the one that brought you here.]

[It says that it will attempt to connect with the master now that your mind is fully recovered.]

“Master? Okay, I understand.”

I waited for a while, and the voice I had heard before losing consciousness spoke to me.

“Can you hear me? You regained consciousness quickly.”

Even in this situation, my body reacted to the seductive voice.

“Um, can you adjust the volume a bit? I’m sorry if I sound rude.”

“Hmm… What’s this? You’re quite bold, aren’t you? You’re so unique. In any world, when a human suddenly hears the voice of a god, they usually tremble in fear or awe.”

I could vaguely hear the sound of her stifled laughter.

“Or, they deny the existence of gods and dismiss it as an impossible event or someone’s prank. But you…”

Her voice was filled with excitement and curiosity.

“You seem to think of me as… a seductive woman? That’s interesting. You’re cute. Should I appear to you as a human?”

As she finished speaking, black smoke gathered and formed a figure.

A beautiful woman with black and white hair stood before me.

“Wow.”

I couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration, forgetting the situation I was in.

I stared at her as she smiled silently, and suddenly, my mind became clear.

Damn it. I was so engrossed in the sight of the being that had brought me here that I felt ashamed of myself.

‘Am I losing my mind in this situation? I could die with just a gesture from this being. I need to be strong.’

“Good. That’s commendable. Now, let me explain the situation to you.”

She began to explain slowly, with a pleased tone.

“For some reason, this world, which was once a battlefield for the gods, became so damaged that most of the gods stopped their conflict and, after much negotiation, joined forces to restore it. The backlash from their combined power caused many of them to be forgotten or fall asleep.”

The goddess spoke with a loud voice, as if to emphasize her words.

… A battlefield for the gods?

“When their power was concentrated in one place, the continent was restored, but the distortion of dimensions became severe. A deep rift appeared in the center of the continent, leading to an endless abyss.”

I thought it was just an isekai transfer, but the scale of this is incredible!

“Humans called it the Great Labyrinth and built a fortress made up of several cities to surround it. They called it the Labyrinth City.”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“The Great Labyrinth was both a great danger and an opportunity for their survival. Even the gods who remained active changed their approach. They started bringing humans from your world who were highly compatible.”

As I listened, a question arose in my mind.

“Why did the gods, with their immense power, fight in the first place?”

She smiled as she answered.

“The reason they fought, whether they were good gods or evil gods… Well, there were many reasons, and they didn’t get along. Gods have emotions too, you know.”

Anyway, she continued, this isn’t the important part.

“So, in a game based on this world, like a smartphone game in your world, a human who clears a specific goal…”

The goddess pointed upwards with her index finger.
“…is brought here by the gods. But the cost of summoning is too high for wealthy, powerful, or famous humans, so they are not chosen. The gods prefer to summon those who are more cost-effective.”

So, the gods don’t just summon anyone who clears the game; there’s a second filter in place.

“When a human is summoned, the cost of summoning is returned to your world and converted into traits or skills that are then applied to the summoned individual. It’s not very efficient.”

So, when a person is summoned, their rank and the cost of summoning are considered, and they are granted skills, just like in a game?

“That man was also summoned because he was a hikikomori who spent his days playing games at home. He was obviously a low-cost summon.”

‘Damn it. I knew something was off when he got so excited about the isekai transfer.’

“You also have a good appearance, but your clothes are shabby, and your life seems to have been at rock bottom. You seemed like an ideal candidate for summoning… But when I brought you here, I found out that you were about to turn your life around and make a fortune.”

Was it because of the 2 billion won lottery win? Or did you plan to use that money to make more in the future?

As I pondered, her figure began to fade.

“Hmm, I’ve almost used up my power, so I won’t be able to do much more than brief communication for a while.”

Wait a moment.

“I don’t know about the 2 billion won, but the amount of karma you paid will help you grow and achieve the future you would have had.”

‘For a while? How long will I be unable to communicate?’

I urgently asked the most important question.

“Can you return the Karma you took from me and send me back to my original world?”

She whispered with a laugh.

“It’s not that simple, my dear. You should give up on returning to your world.”

Hearing her confirmation, I felt my strength drain away.

“However, I didn’t examine you thoroughly before summoning you, and I like you, so I won’t force or control you in any way.”

She raised her index finger and continued.

“Of course, if you grow on your own and manage to break through the inner depths of the Great Labyrinth, you will be rewarded. Keep in mind that there are cruel gods in this world who hold your life hostage and treat their summoners like slaves. I’m one of the few kind and gentle gods.”

She was giving me both good and bad news.

You brought someone who was going to live a good life with 2 billion won, and now you’re telling me that I have to grow stronger here instead of using that money on Earth?

I sighed deeply.

‘Damn it. Stop whining like a child. I can’t go back, so stop feeling sorry for myself. Instead, I’ll take what I can get and become stronger. Then, I’ll live a luxurious life here.’

An ocean-view apartment and a foreign car? I can buy a mansion and a carriage here.

Well, maybe there are magical tools that can replace carriages.

Anyway, at least I won’t be looked down upon for being an orphan here, unlike on Earth.

“Are you ready? It’s going to hurt a lot, so try to endure it. I hope to see you even more impressive the next time we meet. I’m rooting for you because I’ve unintentionally put everything on the line for you.”

Goodbye, my cute apostle.

She leaned in and kissed my cheek, then disappeared with a faint smile.

As I touched my cheek, the initial shock wore off, and I began to feel intense pain all over my body.

“Aaahhhh!”

[Applying Karma…]

It started with my eyes.