Episode 1

After dying in an unexplained explosion, I found myself in a world where gender roles were reversed.

…And then, I was captured by thieves and now awaited my fate to be sold into slavery.

“I’m screwed.”

I sighed deeply, tapping the iron bars that confined me.

Actually, I knew best why this happened. It was because I had been too arrogant and, at the same time, careless.

That’s because this place is not just an ordinary matriarchal world. It’s a world that I had brainstormed, though it’s just the setting.

The Great Labyrinth, where all the treasures and miracles of the world lay in slumber. An adventurer who explores this and uncovers ancient mysteries, elevating their status. And the reversed sexual morals of men and women.

Although I possessed the body of a mere orphan, I had knowledge that an ordinary orphan wouldn’t have.

For example, during the thrice-weekly food distribution at the temple, I would recite common lore about the clergy and, pretending to be devout, manage to get an extra piece of bread.

Or, exploiting the fact that I’m a young boy in a world where gender roles are reversed, I would charm tipsy ladies and earn tips by acting cute with them.

…Honestly, it does make me feel a bit ashamed, but when you’re hungry, how important can pride be? After all, it wasn’t too difficult to do when I thought about what I would have liked in my previous life.

I also remembered most of the useful lore… But the problem was that it was all related to the Great Labyrinth.

Weaknesses of certain monsters. Gimmicks revealed under specific conditions. Beings that exist in the deepest parts of the labyrinth, and so on.

If I were an adventurer, this information would, of course, be very useful, but as it stands, I’m just a powerless orphan.

Exploring the Great Labyrinth myself is dangerous, and selling information is even more so.

Not having the power to protect oneself was more sorrowful than one might think.

Well, with such feelings, I was barely scraping by, day by day, when suddenly, a translucent screen appeared before my eyes.

Ding!

“That really surprised me back then.”

I tried shouting for the status window out of hope but gave up when nothing appeared… But who knew it would turn out to be a gacha system instead of a training system?

Most of the items I got from the gacha, while crying rivers, were of dubious value.

An elixir that was more like a health tonic at best. The lowest grade potion that could only be used as a regular medicine. A bundle of daggers or arrows that you’d normally get as an add-on for buying in bulk from a blacksmith, and so on…

I just sold everything and spent the money to buy winter clothes and a weapon for self-defense. If you don’t have a home, at least your clothes should be warm, and if you’re powerless, at least your weapon should be sharp, right?

“If I knew it would come down to this, I should have used the elixir instead of selling it.”

Had I done so, perhaps I wouldn’t have felt the cold seeping up from the prison floor, chilling me to the bone.

Those despicable people. It’s one thing to take my weapon, but shouldn’t they at least give me something to wear if they’re going to strip me of my clothes?

Just tossing a rag to me and leaving me like this. What are they planning to do if I freeze to death before they can sell me to a slave trader?

I clicked my tongue inwardly for a moment. After all, I had ended up in this situation because of my actions, so I wasn’t in a position to complain.

Right. Because of the odds that I suspected to be rigged against me, I received 1-star items in 9 out of the 10 rolls, but I received a 3-star skill for the last roll.

Skills were not a convenient single-button action as it would be in a game. How should I put it? It was as if the user manual and the minimum resources needed for actual use were shoved into my head.

At least, that was what I deduced from my tests, since there was no system in the setting I created.

If the skill I had drawn was Fireball, then I would have gained the minimal amount of magical power necessary to be considered a mage.

Similarly, if I had acquired a swordsmanship skill, my body would have become as strong as an adult’s, and if I had acquired divine magic, I would have gained divine power.

But the skill I drew was…

“Pickpocketing.”

More precisely, it was named ‘Pickpocketing Faster Than the Eye.’

I wondered how the seemingly trivial skill of snatching wallets could be considered 3-stars, but it turned out to be an incredible sleight of hand. I’ve never been caught, not even once.

…But that was the problem.

Having knowledge but lacking the ability to utilize it effectively, I was given a mediocre power, which I couldn’t quite control.

Yes. Why hide it? Over the past few months, I have become a legend in the pickpocketing world.

Stealing from people struggling day by day made me feel guilty, and the profits were surprisingly meager, so I started targeting thugs and crime clans. Before I knew it, I had become infamous.

Well, eventually, my notoriety caught up with me, and so here I was, caught. Of course, there was no concrete evidence. My technique was too covert and swift to be considered mere pickpocketing.

But those guys didn’t need evidence.

This was a labyrinth city, swarming with adventurers, which was considered to be a tough profession. Criminal organizations residing in such an area were bound to be that much more dangerous.

Evidence or not, they just kidnapped me based on mere suspicion.

“It doesn’t matter if you really are the pickpocket who’s been targeting our guys lately. If we catch all the suspicious ones, one of them is bound to be the right one. …Well, even if they aren’t, there are plenty of uses for them, so don’t worry.”

The middle-aged woman smirked as she toyed with my face. Adorned with an array of jewelry that screamed nouveau riche, she proudly shared her scheme.

It would undoubtedly benefit her if I were indeed the pickpocket she suspected. And even if I weren’t, she could easily pin her organization’s crimes on me, enslave me, and sell me off.

She had remarked that despite my youth, my appearance was striking, and that I would fetch a high price, enough to recoup the losses from their recent heist. And if I didn’t sell, she planned to use me to her heart’s content.

Indeed, this place wasn’t just a world of reversed gender roles but also bore a striking resemblance to the medieval era.

It was a realm where framing the innocent was all too easy. …However, in my case, I truly am a pickpocket, so claiming innocence isn’t an option for me.

“Sigh.”

I hadn’t anticipated getting caught, and even if I did, I didn’t expect to be accused without any evidence.

My hands and feet were securely bound, and the gacha system, which was my last hope, proved useless due to my lack of currency.

Obviously, my obsession with pickpocketing was driven entirely by the gacha. I could exchange either cash or magic stones from monsters for gacha tickets.

The money I had pilfered was entirely squandered on the gacha, leading to a spectacular failure. The funds I had reserved for living expenses and emergencies were seized upon my capture.

In essence, my only remaining option was to resign myself to being sold into slavery.

“If there’s a choice, I hope at least I’m sold to a pretty woman…”

Yet, the likelihood of that was minimal.

Given everything, they probably didn’t want me to die of starvation, as I found myself quietly contemplating the bowl of water served in a dog bowl.

The reflection of myself on the calm water’s surface was indeed handsome, just as the thug boss lady had mentioned.

Despite wandering outside all day without a home, I had fair skin. My features were round and cute, appropriate for my age, but it was clear I would grow up to be handsome.

The only problem, perhaps, might be my unnecessarily bright pink hair and eyes.

Pink hair on a man. What a bizarre combination, but… I couldn’t complain since I was the one who decided to include a setting with diverse hair colors.

Besides, if you think about the inverted gender roles, it sort of made sense. A pink-haired heroine never failed, after all.

I guessed I could be considered a similar case… Or not.

Anyway, one thing was for sure: a slave with this kind of appearance would never be cheap.

It was obvious that a wealthy woman would buy me, and unless they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth or were a genius merchant, it would have taken a considerable amount of time to accumulate such wealth.

So there was a high probability that she would be middle-aged or older. Realistically, the most I could hope for was that she had aged gracefully and didn’t have any peculiar fetishes.

“Sigh.”

Another sigh escaped me. It felt odd, being trapped like this and waiting to be disposed of.

Lying sprawled on the cold stone floor, I stared blankly at the ceiling. That’s how I had been killing time, counting the stains without thinking.

Thud!

“?”

A sound of something breaking came from afar. Then, loud shouts burst out sporadically.

Curious, I quickly sat up and listened carefully, finally making out what was being said.

“What the hell is this b—h!”

“Did she even know this was the Twin Daggers Clan before barging in… huh?”

“Boss! Where did you go, boss? This crazy b—h is unbelievably strong!”

“Eh…?”

Could this be that? The occasional criminal subjugation by an adventurer’s guild.

Those who enter the labyrinth and manage to return alive gain power, big or small. If such individuals commit crimes by killing not monsters but people, ordinary guards would hardly be able to handle them.

Thus, the labyrinth cities regularly collaborated with adventurers’ guilds to eradicate criminal organizations.

Just like today.

As soon as I grasped the situation, I banged on the bars and shouted.

“Over here! There’s someone here! Please save me!!”

I was trapped in an underground dungeon. If the subjugation team accidentally passed by without noticing, I would be facing a slow death from starvation.

This was both an opportunity to escape and a desperate struggle to survive.

Maybe my desperation had reached the heavens, as soon after, I heard the sound of someone approaching. The firmly shut door opened with such force that I thought it would break.

Thud!

“Damn! Where did a monster like that come from…”

However, the person who came in through the door was not the one I had been hoping for.

The head of the Twin Daggers Clan, which was in reality closer to a den of thieves. She had also been the boss who had been boasting about the high price I could be sold for.

I didn’t know her name, but that rich-looking woman had run away in the middle of a fight like a coward and came here.

Hmm. This is bad.