"Welcome, Young Lady Sorin."
The doorman standing by the entrance of the hotel immediately recognized her and respectfully greeted her.
"Stop right there."
However, the very same doorman blocked Aslan when he tried to enter.
"Let him go. He's with me," Sorin said.
"A-Are you sure…?" The doorman looked at Aslan, inspecting him from head to toe.
The first words that came to mind were dirty and unpleasant. His white T-shirt was torn, stained with blood and grime, and his jeans were just as filthy, looking like a beggar.
"I will not tolerate any disrespect toward him, my friend!" she spoke in a firm tone.
"My apologies, Young Lady." The doorman hastily apologized to her before doing the same to Aslan, "I'm sorry, young man."
"It's fine. You're just doing your job." Aslan wasn't offended in the slightest since he would've done the same if he were in the doorman's shoes.
They entered the hotel the next moment and walked straight to the receptionist.
"..."
The receptionist did his best to mask his reaction upon seeing Aslan, but a faint expression of disgust still slipped through.
"W-Welcome, Young Lady. Is he with you…?"
"Yes, he's my friend," she said firmly. "He doesn't have a place to stay right now, so I want you to prepare a room for him."
"That's…"
Despite Sorin's clear command, the receptionist hesitated, his eyes flicking back to Aslan with suspicion. He couldn't shake the worry that she might have been deceived. After all, Sorin was still an inexperienced young woman who had only recently stepped into society on her own for the first time.
"Stop staring at my friend like he's some kind of criminal!" Sorin suddenly slammed the desk, startling the receptionist and the other guests in the lobby.
"I-I'm sorry! I'll prepare a room for your friend right away!"
The receptionist hastily went to work.
Some time later, the receptionist handed Aslan an electronic key and said, "You can use room 513 for now."
Once Sorin and Aslan left to check his new room, the receptionist picked up the phone and dialed a certain number before revealing the situation to the person on the other side.
"I understand. Thank you for notifying us. I'll investigate this person immediately."
While a background check was being run on Aslan, he explored his new room with quiet excitement.
"Are you sure I can live here?" he asked.
"Of course. I cannot allow my teammate to continue sleeping at parks, after all. We'll need to be in our best shape for the dungeons."
Aslan nodded and said, "I won't accept this for free either. Once I have the capability, I'll definitely repay you."
"I won't stop you if that's what you want to. By the way, are those the only clothes you have?"
"Yes… I received them from the hospital."
"You should buy some new clothes. I'll lend you some money if you need it."
"No, I have enough money to buy clothes."
Sorin then said, "You know, I thought you were loaded with money until only recently."
Aslan raised his eyebrows and asked, "What gave you that impression?"
He couldn't fathom how he could've given the impression that he was rich.
"Well, you left the park without picking up any monster cores, even for the monsters you defeated."
"Monster cores…?" Aslan asked, a puzzled look on his face. "What are those?"
Sorin's jaw dropped slightly in surprise before she responded, "When a monster is defeated, it can leave behind a small crystal called a monster core. These cores are used in all kinds of things for our daily lives—from producing electricity to alchemy to crafting treasures—you name it. That's why they're always in high demand on the market. Awakeners sell them to make a living, so when you ignored them, I thought you were simply that rich."
Aslan's jaw dropped upon hearing this, and his mind flashed back to the crystals he'd seen near the monsters he had defeated. He had assumed they were nothing important and had simply ignored them.
"Damn it! If I had known that, I wouldn't have ignored them!"
Aslan fell to his knees with a loud thud.
"D-Don't beat yourself up that much. You would've only gotten a few hundred dollars at most with that amount, anyway." Sorin tried to comfort him, but that only made him feel worse.
"So I could've doubled my money?!"
Now that he was aware of monster cores and their value, Aslan swore to himself that he'd never ignore one again.
Once Aslan calmed down, Sorin said, "Will you be fine by yourself for the next two days?"
"Yes, I'll be fine."
"Then I'll meet you at the hotel's lobby in two days."
"Okay. Thank you for everything so far, Miss Sorin."
"Just call me Sorin. We're party members, so cut the formality."
"I understand. Sorin."
Sorin left the hotel shortly after, and Aslan went to take a shower before taking a nap on the soft bed.
A few hours later, after enjoying the best sleep he'd had in years, he left the hotel to buy new clothes.
At first, he wandered around the area near the hotel, but it didn't take long for him to realize he was in a luxury district, where everything was high-end and painfully expensive.
"Ten thousand dollars for a blue T-shirt?! That's robbery!"
Traumatized by the experience, he quickly fled the district, nearly breaking into a run to escape the world of outrageous price tags.
Eventually, he found a thrift store and entered it.
Once inside, Aslan was surprised not only by the shop's affordable prices but also by its wide variety of goods. They didn't just sell clothes. There were even treasures on display.
However, Aslan didn't get ahead of himself and focused on buying clothes for now.
Some time later, he approached the register with three black T-shirts and two pairs of black jeans—practical choices, since they were much better at hiding dirt.
The total came to less than twenty dollars. Since he had spent far less than expected, Aslan decided to browse the treasure section just out of curiosity, with no intention of buying anything.
At the treasure aisle, Aslan's eyes landed on the first item he came across. It was an ordinary-looking steel spear, and when he focused on it, the system appraised it for him.
After looking at the stats, Aslan turned his attention to its price tag.
"A thousand dollars?" he swallowed nervously, but not because it was more expensive than expected.
The Steel Spear's stats were considerably worse than his Nameless Sword, something he acquired for free. This made him wonder about the value of his sword, something he hadn't even bothered considering until this moment.
Aslan continued to look at the other treasures shortly after.
Eventually, he came across a pair of worn-out leather boots.
"Two hundred dollars…"
Aslan felt tempted to purchase the item, but held himself back.
Some time later, Aslan left the store and returned to the hotel.
Inside his room, he contemplated how he should spend the next two days.
"I should probably prepare for the dungeon, but how?"
He recalled his recent fights and pondered how they could've been improved.
Some time later, he retrieved the Nameless Sword from his inventory and began swinging it in the middle of the room.
Though his swordsmanship was good enough to receive even a God's praise, he lacked the stamina to utilize it and would quickly find himself worn out.
Thus, to combat this, he decided to focus on improving his stamina and endurance by swinging the sword until his arms were sore.
[Your Endurance and Strength have improved slightly from training]
Once his arms were too sore to move, he'd go outside and run around the street to build his endurance even further.
[Your Endurance and Agility have improved slightly from training.]
Time flew by as Aslan immersed himself in training, and before he knew it, it was time to enter the dungeon.