After dying from a mysterious explosion, I found myself in a world where gender roles were reversed.
…And now I had become a mere slave, waiting to be sold to thieves.
“Well, this sucks.”
I sighed deeply, tapping on the iron bars that caged me.
Truth be told, I knew exactly why this mess had happened. I had been too arrogant and careless.
It wasn’t just any ordinary gender-swapped world; it was the very world I had envisioned, despite it being just a setting.
A labyrinth where all treasures and miracles lay dormant. Adventurers exploring it to uncover ancient mysteries and elevate their status. And the altered sense of propriety in this gender-swapped realm.
Even though I’d inhabited the body of an orphan with nothing to my name, I still held knowledge beyond what a typical orphan would know.
For example, I could recite common settings concerning the temple’s services thrice a week, feigning deep faith to snag an extra piece of bread.
Or by taking advantage of being a young boy in a gender-reversed world, I could charm tips out of drunken ladies.
…Honestly, I felt a bit ashamed. But when your stomach is growling, who cares about pride? Thinking back to what I liked in my past life, it wasn’t hard to resort to such tactics.
I remembered most of the helpful details, but the problem was they were all related to the labyrinth.
Weaknesses of specific monsters, mechanisms that reveal themselves under certain conditions, beings dwelling in the labyrinth’s deepest corners, and so on.
If I were an adventurer, I’d have a gold mine of information to work with, but here I was, just a powerless orphan.
Exploring the labyrinth myself was dangerous, and selling information was even riskier.
It turned out to be quite sorrowful not having the strength to defend oneself.
Well, more or less, that was how I was getting through each day until one day, a translucent screen appeared before me.
Ding!
[1-Year Survival Special! Free Gacha Ticket for 10 pulls!]
“I was genuinely surprised back then.”
In a moment of hope, I shouted for my status window, but nothing showed up, so I gave up…turns out it was a gacha system and not a nurturing one.
I ended up crying as I rolled the gacha, but most of what I got were underwhelming items.
Though they called them elixirs, they were closer to low-grade tonics. Likewise, the potions were just basic stock. I got a dagger and a bundle of arrows that the blacksmith would toss in if you bought in bulk…
I sold everything off and bought some winter clothes and a decent self-defense weapon. If I don’t have a home, I at least want to be warm, and if I’m powerless, I need something sharp, right?
“If I’d known this would happen, I should have consumed the elixirs instead of selling them.”
Had I done so, maybe I wouldn’t be shivering from the chill that crept up from the prison floor.
Those despicable thieves. Sure, they could take my clothes, but at least they should cover me with something!
They just tossed a rag over me and left me like this. What do they expect? To freeze to death before they can sell me off?
I clicked my tongue for a moment. After all, I was the one to blame for my predicament.
Yeah. The odds were ridiculous—out of ten pulls, I got low-grade stuff nine times, but the last one gave me a skill of three stars.
This skill wasn’t as simple as pressing a button in a game. It was more like my brain was crammed with a manual and minimal resources for practical use.
Since my world didn’t have a system, I had to figure it out myself.
If the skill I pulled had been Fireball, I’d probably have gained enough magical power to be called a mage.
Likewise, if it had been swordsmanship, my body would have become as sturdy as an adult’s, and if it had been divine magic, I’d have gained divine power.
But the skill I pulled was…
“It was pickpocketing.”
More specifically, it was called “Faster than the Eye Pickpocketing.”
How can a trick for lifting wallets be three stars? Turns out it was an extraordinary sleight of hand. I had never been caught even once!
…That was the issue.
I had knowledge but lacked the ability to use it, so receiving such an ambiguous skill led to a bit of overindulgence.
Yeah. No need to hide it. Over the past few months, I’d become a legend in the pickpocketing realm.
Snatching wallets from people struggling to get by tugged at my conscience, and surprisingly, the profits were pretty iffy. So, I ended up robbing thugs and criminal clan members, and before I knew it, I was famous.
And then, well, my long tail got caught. Of course, they had no solid evidence. The pickpocketing techniques I used were far too secretive and quick to be anything short of remarkable.
Yet, these guys didn’t need evidence.
The labyrinth city was packed with shady adventurers, and criminals claiming to be organized were usually far more dangerous.
They’d abduct me on mere suspicion, evidence be damned.
‘Whether you’re the pickpocket who’s been haunting our people or not doesn’t matter. If we capture all the suspicious folks, one of them has to be guilty… Doesn’t matter if not, we’ll find use for you.’
A middle-aged woman was grinning as she fondled my face. Dressed in gaudy jewels, she was a serious nouveau riche who loudly bragged about her plans.
If I was indeed the thief, great for her; if not, she’d frame me for her organization’s deeds and sell me off as a slave.
I was young, but with this body, I could fetch enough to cover my past losses, and even if I didn’t sell, she’d keep using me until she got her money’s worth, and that smirk remained vivid in my mind.
That’s it. Before anything, this was a medieval world aside from being gender-swapped.
With just a thought, one could easily toss an innocent person into the fray. …In my case, I couldn’t call myself innocent since I was, indeed, a pickpocket.
“Ugh.”
I never thought I’d get caught, much less be taken without evidence.
My hands and feet were tightly bound, and the only hope I had—the gacha system—was out of reach, given my lack of resources.
Not that it’s surprising; I had become embroiled in pickpocketing solely for gacha tickets. Cash or monster gemstones could be exchanged for them.
The money I had pilfered had already been invested in gacha tickets, and I had to relinquish the small emergency cash I was saving for the moment I was caught.
In other words, it meant I had to go along peacefully to be sold as a slave.
“If possible, I’d like to be sold to a pretty lady…”
The chances of that happening were slim, but still.
Contextually, not wanting to starve, I stared at the bowl of water they had thoughtfully provided.
My reflection on the calm surface was quite handsome, just as the lady said.
Despite roaming outside all day without a home, my skin was pale and lovely. My features were round and cute for my age, and I would surely grow into a handsome lad.
There was an issue, though—my ridiculously bright pink hair and eyes.
A boy with pink hair? What kind of strange combination is this? But… The reason for including a character with such hair color was none other than me, so I couldn’t complain.
Looking at it from a gender-reversed perspective could make it somewhat comprehensible. After all, pink-haired heroines are always right.
I might be that vibe… or maybe not.
One thing was clear: a slave that looked this good wouldn’t be cheap.
I was certain a wealthy woman would scoop me up, and unless she was a brilliant entrepreneur or an heir, it must have taken a considerable time to build up that kind of wealth.
Chances were high that she would be over middle age. I’d better wish she aged nicely and didn’t have any peculiar tastes.
“Sigh.”
It feels rather strange waiting for the day to be disposed of in a cell.
Lying flat on the cold stone floor, I stared blankly at the ceiling. While I was counting stains to kill time…
Boom!
“Huh?”
I heard a sound echoing from afar, something breaking. Following it was the ruckus of loud yelling.
Curiosity piqued, I jumped up and strained to catch details. Eventually, I started to piece things together.
“What the hell is this woman!”
“Did you charge in here knowing this is the Twin Dagger Clan…?!”
“Boss! Where are you?! This crazy lady is no joke!”
“Huh…?”
Could it be? A rare occurrence where the adventurer guild is tackling criminals?
Those who enter the labyrinth gain strength, as long as they manage to return alive. If those acquiring power start committing crimes against people instead of monsters, ordinary guards would struggle to deal with them.
Thus, the labyrinth city routinely collaborates with the adventurer guild to cleanse the crime syndicates.
Just like today.
As soon as I grasped the situation, I began banging on the bars of my cage, shouting.
“Hello! There’s someone here! Please save me!!”
I was locked in the underground prison. If the purge team passed without knowing, I’d starve to death slowly.
This was both an escape opportunity and a desperate attempt to survive.
Was it sheer luck? Not long after, I detected someone approaching. The tightly shut door swung open with a crash.
Boom!
“Damn! Who’s this monster of a woman…?”
But the person that entered was not who I had hoped for.
The so-called Twin Dagger Clan… which was essentially a den of thieves, was under the command of that same leader who bragged about selling me at a high price.
I didn’t know his name, but he was already running back in a panic after saying no duel would end in his favor.
Well, this is bad.
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