The Repeating Peaceful Daily Life (1)

Ultimately, that space had indeed been a dream world. When I completely lost consciousness there and opened my eyes again, what greeted me was none other than the familiar ceiling. A pure white light and a cleanly designed ceiling. In my dazed mind, I unconsciously reached one hand upward. As my blurry vision focused, a small, delicate, and dainty white hand came into view. My own hand, now somewhat familiar. At that moment, all the memories flooded back at once, and my eyes naturally widened. Half-asleep, I bolted upright, and my gaze met that of the staff member who happened to be cleaning the room. A woman who spoke to me with a gentle smile, subtly remarking that I had quite a restless sleep. Judging from her uniform and the name tag pinned above her left chest, she appeared to be an employee working here. Only then did I fully shake off my hazy state and face reality.

Though I had suspected as much, the conversation with Ulthar in that space, along with conquering the dungeon as part of the special training, had all been a dream. Yet to simply call it a dream felt inadequate—the memories lingering in my head were indistinguishable from reality. The sensation of wearing the outfit he had suggested, the feeling of swallowing and absorbing those monsters. Especially the despair and resignation I had felt when facing the outfits he presented… they remained vivid. The sensations etched into my brain were so lifelike that I could almost convince myself they had truly happened.

Recalling the black skirt frills that had kept brushing against my thighs, I blushed and quickly shook my head. Even if it had been the least objectionable among the ones he suggested, that outfit was still not something I could wear with a straight face. The girl in the gothic lolita dress I had seen in the mirror had indeed been truly beautiful. But that was beside the point—the biggest problem was that I was the one wearing it.

‘Still… it was nice to have black hair again after so long, at least.’

As I briefly touched the clearly grayish strands falling over my ears, I let out a small sigh. I had never been particularly fixated on hair color, but for someone who had never dyed their hair in their life, this shade stood out far too much.

“Breakfast will be a little later—I’ll bring it for you. In the meantime, why don’t you freshen up with a quick wash? After all, you’re the only one using this room right now, so feel free to treat it like your own home and rest comfortably.”

The woman, who had been watching me with a warm gaze, said this before promptly leaving the room. Come to think of it, she had mentioned I had a restless sleep… The cause was probably from thrashing around during the dream. To her eyes, the sleeping girl must have been tossing and turning while muttering something, so it was understandable she would think that. Imagining my own appearance just now, I felt my face burn with embarrassment. This was all that damned cat’s fault.

And as if summoned by the thought, the very culprit appeared not long after she left. [Good morning!… Or not, I suppose. And since we’re underground, there’s not a single ray of sunlight.]

The black cat revealed itself without warning beneath the bed where I sat. It had started to speak energetically, but changed its tone upon meeting my eyes. Well, having just woken up with bloodshot eyes and a fierce expression, my face probably looked quite menacing. Of course, I always felt irritated whenever I faced it, but right now that feeling was even stronger. Hearing its nonchalant voice immediately brought back the situation right before my consciousness cut off in the dream. Of all times, my magic power had to run out at that exact moment. I had been far too careless when using an unfamiliar power like magic in the first ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠place. Focusing only on raw power and firing it off indiscriminately had led to this. If I had at least been able to properly hear Butterfly’s warning, things might not have turned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out this way—but I had been too focused on the boss right in front of me to pay any attention. The deafening noise from the falling lightning strikes had also contributed to the disaster. In the end, my own inexperience in assessing the situation had been the biggest factor in my failure.

The cat before me had merely watched me fail the conquest and offered a brief comment. Objectively speaking, there was nothing for me to be angry at Ulthar about… but something about its voice always managed to grate on my nerves.

[Ah, and the outfit you chose in the dream has been added to your transformation list! You can wear it anytime you want now, so feel free to use it whenever. ]

At its suspiciously amused tone, I immediately opened the stored transformation list. The things I had absorbed so far appeared in order, and in the very last slot sat a familiar outfit.

Even the detailed description only made it more unsettling. I didn’t need to think hard to guess who had written those lines that practically reeked of madness. And calling it dragon scales was nonsense—aside from the butterfly installed in the mask, it was just an ordinary outfit. Yet they had slapped on such cringeworthy lore. The moment I saw those lengthy, over-the-top phrases that made my hands and feet curl just from reading them, I immediately closed the list.

“…You disgusting pervert cat. You really never change, do you?”

[Hehe, thank you. I’ll take that as a compliment!]

Despite my icy remark, Ulthar responded with its usual sly attitude. The fact that it could keep acting this way even after being insulted made me seriously wonder if it had some strange fetish ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in that regard. Still, while browsing the list had shown me something I wished I hadn’t seen, it wasn’t entirely without results. The previously full list now had many empty slots. All the various usable weapons and armor I had collected while roaming the dream dungeon had vanished. I immediately called up the status window and scanned my detailed stats, my mouth falling open slightly in dismay. The clear number displayed before my eyes: 19. All the other stats I had steadily built up had also decreased. Naturally, the newly acquired skills had disappeared as well. To be precise, everything had been reset exactly to the point when I had just entered the castle—as if time had been rewound.

Ulthar stared at me, unable to hide my disappointment, and spoke with an ambiguous expression. […You didn’t actually think the growth from the dream would carry over to reality, did you? The system you used there was all a well-crafted illusion. After all, the real you was just lying comfortably asleep. If your level had gone up from that, that would be far stranger!]

“Tch… But you’re always doing things that defy common sense. Couldn’t you have made it work somehow?”

[What are you even saying! I’m not some blue cat with a bottomless pocket. And if I could have done that, I wouldn’t have bothered with this troublesome special training in the first place.]

Though I understood, the lingering disappointment made me poke at it anyway, and Ulthar reacted strongly. With such a direct denial, there was no point in pressing further. Of course, even I knew it had been an unreasonable demand, but did it really have to say it like that? The thought filled my mind, and a sulky expression naturally surfaced on my face. Narrowed eyes and slightly protruding lips—exactly the image of a moody girl. But it had been an almost unconscious reaction, so I didn’t notice it myself.

Just as a deep silence settled between us, a forgotten question suddenly surfaced in my mind—one that had been bothering me throughout the entire special training. “Ah, come to think of it, I forgot to ask. You said the system used in the dream was completely identical to reality, right? Then according to you, the timing for acquiring new skills should be the same in both the dream and reality, shouldn’t it?”

The level range where still-locked skills would be released. That was what I was pointing out. From what I had heard here and there, that range differed from person to person. In other words, some people obtained new skills at a very early level, while others had to raise their level significantly before they could acquire one. With recent active research on the system, many questions had been answered, but the matter of skill acquisition ranges still remained a mystery. And during the dream training, I had discovered the exact range where I would obtain a new skill. That meant the one who had recreated the dream world knew when my skills would unlock.

[Uh… Now that you mention it? Maybe… it is? Ha. Ha. Ha.]

After a long silence, rolling its eyes this way and that, the answer Ulthar finally gave was just that. It was trying to dodge with a vague reply, but I could tell exactly what it meant without needing to think about it. Amused by the sight of Ulthar breaking into a cold sweat, I put on a sly smile like I usually did and spoke again. “Huh? I didn’t catch that. Can you say it clearly? Yes or no. Give me a definite answer.”

[Ugh…! Aah, I don’t know. I don’t know anything! I know nothing at all, meow!]

Ulthar shook its head even more vigorously in resistance. It was unusually flustered compared to its usual self, which made me suspect it had something to do with the ‘restrictions’ it had vaguely mentioned before. The cat never brought it up on its own, and no matter how much I asked, it stayed silent, so I couldn’t know the details—but the circumstances certainly pointed that way. Of course, I could have kept teasing it. But if I pushed too far, it might just run away on the spot. Since I still had a few more questions to ask, I didn’t want that to happen, so I simply fell silent. Sensing my intent, Ulthar quickly changed the subject.

[Well… Ah! Right, it’s a shame to lose all those hard-earned levels, but more importantly, you gained valuable experience, didn’t you? The difference between having real combat experience and not having it is huge. You’ll soon be able to feel your skills improving yourself!]

After a moment of thought, the topic it hurriedly brought up was exactly that. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Come to think of it, even though I had only challenged the dungeon once, I somehow felt like I could do better if I tried again. …Maybe this was what growth felt like. Clearly, Ulthar’s dream training plan had been the optimal method for gaining real combat experience, both in terms of space and time. Even now, thinking about that first attempt I had failed so narrowly made my stomach churn—I wanted to dive back into the dream right away. When I asked about it right after, Ulthar kindly continued explaining the training.

[This time we spent too much time on other things, so you only got one attempt, but normally you can try twice per sleep! Any more than that could strain your consciousness due to mental fatigue and other reasons. And it’s impossible with light naps. As long as you keep that in mind, there shouldn’t be anything else you need to watch out for.]

‘Two attempts per sleep… Yeah, sustaining that long conquest more than twice would definitely be mentally exhausting.’

Listening to the explanation, I nodded obediently. As it said, anything in excess was never good. Even if there were no physical limits in the dream space, my consciousness had remained fully intact. Just as I was organizing my thoughts, I turned my head at a faint sound coming from outside the door. The soft rolling of cart wheels. It was still some distance away, so the noise was very quiet, but this body’s sensitive hearing picked it up clearly. The staff member from earlier was probably bringing breakfast. And it seemed Ulthar had noticed too—it rose from where it had been sitting.

[For now, let’s decide on our future course of action: stay here and continue the training. It doesn’t look like they’re planning to use you for any strange experiments, but they don’t seem inclined to let you leave right away either. At least focus on the training while you’re here!]

“…What if I conquer that dungeon before leaving this place?”

[Oho… Quite the confidence. But it won’t be easy, you know? Of course, it’s true you’ve exceeded my expectations, but it’d be better not to let your guard down too much. Well then, see you later!]

With a small, unreadable smile, Ulthar completely vanished from the room. Left alone, I slowly rose from the bed. Just as the staff member had suggested before leaving, I planned to wash my face lightly to fully wake up. At the same time, I thought to myself: I would definitely clear the special training perfectly within a few days and flatten that cat’s nose. Having achieved that much on my first attempt, I had plenty of confidence. If I just adjusted my stat distribution a little, I would definitely take down that hateful boss next time. Filled with self-assurance, I headed toward the bathroom inside the room. But at that moment, I still didn’t know. That things in this world… never go exactly as one wishes.