First Dungeon (2)
The entrance to the dungeon. I placed one hand against the massive stone slab.
“Shall we head out?”
“Yeah.”
Grasping Rydia’s hand, I prayed silently. I want to enter the dungeon.
Whoosh—
The moment I thought that, something deep inside my body—somewhere I couldn’t quite pinpoint—began to resonate. Soon after, I was engulfed in the sensation of my entire being being sucked somewhere else.
Would passing through an endlessly long tunnel in the blink of an eye feel like this? The unfamiliar stimulus made me tremble for a brief moment. Then Rydia’s voice tickled my ear.
“Yona. We’ve arrived, so open your eyes.”
“Okay.”
Had I closed my eyes without realizing it? I slowly opened them, and the scene that unfolded was completely different from Pangrave Square just moments before.
A circular meadow spread out around Rydia and me. But it was soon blocked off by a dense forest. It was an obvious boundary line, as if declaring this was the only safe place. In fact, this round meadow area was called a safe zone. It was a space monsters couldn’t enter unless under special circumstances.
Each floor of the dungeon had several such safe zones, and entering through the gate would randomly drop you into one of them. However, if you wished to move to the same floor while maintaining physical contact, you would warp to the same safe zone. That was why Rydia and I had held hands during the transfer earlier.
This too was part of the dungeon’s rules, altered by the Goddess of Love pouring her power into it… or so the setting went.
“Whoa… I knew it in my head, but experiencing it for real is something else.”
“I was the same at first.”
Rydia gave a small chuckle and nodded. Behind her stood a gray tombstone. It looked like the stone slab from Pangrave Square shrunk down to two meters tall. To leave the dungeon, you just had to touch it again and move. Safe zones weren’t just for catching your breath—they were made so people could reliably travel between the dungeon and the surface. It was only natural.
I released Rydia’s fingers, which I’d been holding tightly, and spun around the tombstone.
Let’s see… it should be around here somewhere.
“Found it!”
In a corner of the slab, between what should have been unreadable divine script, a large number was written: 23. It meant this was the 23rd safe zone on the first floor.
It had originally been a setting I added purely for my own convenience… but in this world, the official interpretation was that the goddess had shown consideration for adventurers by writing the numbers in the common tongue. Since I thought it was a pretty good explanation, I decided that would be the setting from now on.
“Case closed.”
As I was declaring my verdict out loud, Rydia poked her head out from beside the slab and spoke.
“Yona. Did you find which zone we’re in?”
“Ah, yes! Looks like we’re in zone 23, Lady Rydia!”
“Zone 23…”
Rydia muttered quietly and reached for the multi-purpose belt around her waist. Several similarly shaped pouches hung from it. She pulled a neatly folded stack of papers from one of them and held it out to me.
The words “First Floor” written at the very top caught my eye first… Was this what I thought it was?
As if to answer my unspoken question, Rydia spoke without hesitation.
“It’s a map of the first floor. Do you know how to read it?”
“I don’t. But if Lady Rydia teaches me, I’ll pick it up quickly, right?”
I laughed sheepishly. Rydia stared at my face for a moment before unfolding the map in her hands.
It was a crude oval that vaguely claimed to represent land. However, the giant tree symbol drawn in the exact center and the clearly marked circles and numbers scattered around were easy to understand.
“The positions of the safe zones and the central area never change. But everything else in the dungeon shifts in real time.”
Rydia extended a pale finger and pointed at a circle labeled with the number 23.
“This is where we are. Zone 23. We’re in the left corner. Most of the monsters around here are goblins, so we got lucky.”
“True. The closer you get to the World Tree in the center, the stronger the monsters become. So it’s best to start by dealing with goblins.”
“Right. Since Yona is weaker than a goblin.”
“…?”
Weaker than a goblin? It sounded harsh, but thinking about it, she was right. The setting was that a well-armed goblin’s combat ability was roughly equal to that of an unarmed adult man. If we fought normally, I’d obviously lose. Though if I stabbed first, the story might change.
I’d been burning with motivation when we entered, thinking I’d slice through all the weakest monsters on the first floor—goblins. But getting it confirmed like this suddenly drained all my energy.
“Kui kui…”
As I imitated the cry of a creature even more fragile than a goblin, Rydia tilted her head once before continuing her explanation.
“To avoid getting lost in the dungeon, you need a clear route.”
“So we just keep moving from one safe zone to the next, right?”
“…Did you study ahead?”
“Pretty much!”
Rydia’s eyes widened in surprise. I puffed out my chest and gave a proud little “ahem” in front of her. Well… I already knew about the dungeon’s safe zones and the exploration methods that used them. All of it.
I shrugged and pressed close to Rydia’s side. Close enough that my cheek brushed against her hard armor.
“…Hm?”
Maybe because the distance had suddenly closed, Rydia tried to step back in confusion. Ignoring that, I closed the gap even more and reached for the map.
Rydia fidgeted like someone caught doing something bad. I grinned at her.
“I won’t say anything to Elly, so just stay still. It’s hard to see the map like this.”
“Senior Elly is so pitiful… to end up with a guy like this…”
“Could you stop talking about me like I’m some kind of honey trap? My only goals are Elly’s body and her wealth!”
“That is a honey trap.”
“Come on, at most I’m a pet snake. Even if Elly went broke, I wouldn’t abandon her.”
Maybe it was because this was a gender-reversed world. Both Elly and Rydia seemed to assume that when I said things like this, I was only after her money. I clearly said “body and wealth.”
After all, Elly was a character I’d created with great care. She was a person now… but that only meant I was that much more attached to her. There was no way I’d ignore her just because she lost some money. That was impossible for me.
I brushed off Rydia’s subtle stare and carefully examined the map, tracing it with my finger. Starting from zone 23, I drew a winding line through zones 17, 6, and 92 before reaching zone 40.
“What do you think? I planned it aiming for wandering goblins among the rest.”
The first floor was home to not only goblins but also horned rabbits, iron wolves, giant mantises, hobgoblins, and more. A variety of monsters appeared here. But the only ones I could handle were goblins… and among them, only the weakest ones called wandering goblins. Those were individuals so weak they’d been cast out from their groups, and most of them moved alone.
Rydia stared at the path my finger had traced across the map for a moment. Then, not long after, she nodded.
“Well done. That’s half of reading a map.”
“What’s the other half?”
“Not getting lost. Striking before you’re ambushed. Avoiding traps well. Staying wary of other adventurers.”
Wasn’t that more in the realm of survival skills? While I blinked, Rydia pulled a palm-sized compass from her belt and showed it to me.
“It’s a compass that works inside the dungeon.”
“The one that points toward the center of the floor instead of north, right?”
“Yes. On the first floor, it always points toward the World Tree.”
Every floor of the dungeon contained one of the gods’ remains. Considering how the dungeon had come to be, it was only natural. And this compass was an item drawn to those remains. Thanks to that, you wouldn’t lose your way when heading to the next safe zone.
…Naturally, these strategies only worked on the upper floors where maps had already been completed. Most mid-level floors had incomplete maps, and by the time you reached the deep levels, discovering even a single new safe zone was enough for the guild to offer a massive reward. It was that unexplored.
But did I really need to go all the way to the deep levels? I could probably live comfortably just by going as far as the mid-levels…
No, it was too early to be worrying about that. I shook my head to clear the pointless thoughts and checked my equipment. I confirmed the knots on my armor, loaded a wooden bolt into the wrist crossbow on my left hand, and gripped the dagger Rydia had lent me in my right.
Rydia watched with satisfaction, then nodded while holding the compass and map.
“This is your first time in the dungeon, Yona. So I’ll handle the small stuff—finding directions, spotting traps, dealing with other adventurers.”
“If you do everything, Lady Rydia, then what am I supposed to do?”
“Kill monsters.”
Rydia continued in a serious tone.
“Monsters are living beings too. A lot of people hesitate before swinging their weapons.”
“I see?”
“…But I doubt that applies to you.”
“It’s embarrassing when you compliment me like that.”
“……”
Rydia looked me over with the same eyes she’d used when seeing a dangerous person earlier. But soon she let out a sigh and pointed toward one side of the forest.
“That way. Move according to your own judgment, but stop if I tell you to stop.”
“Okay.”
The moment I picked up my weapon, the confidence that had hit rock bottom surged back up. Sure, I’d been depressed when she said I was weaker than a goblin… but no matter how much of a baby I was, I wasn’t an ordinary one. I was the one who’d personally written the goblins’ habits and weaknesses. There was no way I couldn’t catch even the weakest wandering goblin.
Grinning, I headed in the direction Rydia had pointed.
“Little lady! Stop right there, gob!”
“Kyaaaaaaaah!!!”
“Hand over the seed, gob!”
“Don’t come at me with your tits flopping around!!”
“Since it’s your first time too, I’ll be gentle, gob!”
“I don’t need a goblin’s virginity!!”
I’m losing my mind. Why the hell are these goblins so damn horny…?