Beginner Dungeon (5)
What is it?
That was the first thought that came to my mind.
The surroundings were just pure white.
A sight that seems to be far from reality somewhere.
However, as if it were not a dream, his consciousness and thoughts were clear.
Until now, he must have been exploring the hidden passage in the beginner dungeon.
And holding the door with Rize… … .
“That’s right, Rize!”
What is it, do you have a voice?
What are you really doing here?
Even with such doubts, I was able to find Rize and shake my head around, and soon found him in a place not too far away.
“dad!”
Just as Rize found me, I started running, and right in the middle, we hugged each other.
It would have been fine if I was with Rize in a place like this.
We haven’t seen each other for a while, but we enjoyed a long meeting as if we had been separated for a long time.
However, there was no change in this space.
I barely let go of my body and looked at Rize’s body for a while before asking.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Yeah, when I woke up, I was here. Dad, do you know where this is?”
“Well, Dad doesn’t know either.”
He wanted to be a father who knew everything in front of Rize, but this place was impossible.
It was a space covered in white all around as if there was a fog containing light, and it was a space where we didn’t even know if there was even a floor we were standing on.
I can say that I have never been to a place like this in my entire life.
Is that the other world?
The thought came to me, but I immediately shook my head.
My goal was to die, but I couldn’t let Rize die already. Who do you want to take?
If this really was the other world, I was prepared to do anything to bring Rize back to life.
However, there was no sign of death around him.
In other words, is it a place where God resides? Things like the energy of life were filling the surroundings.
Still, I couldn’t figure out what I was doing.
“Lizeya, how does this place smell?”
“smell? Umm… … .”
Just in case, I asked Rize such a question.
It suddenly came to my mind that I had said earlier that the smell in the dungeon and the secret passage were different.
Rize sniffed with her eyes slightly closed, then tilted her head.
“Does it smell similar to that from before? Um, exactly the same.”
“Then we open the door… … You mean you came into the room?”
No one would have thought that the inside of the room would have such a structure.
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No, maybe it wasn’t a real room. Considering the light that poured in when the door was opened, it would be more convincing that only the two of us had moved to different places.
In addition, this type of room structure was absurd to call it a normal dungeon.
“Hmm, I don’t know.”
“Yeah, I don’t know.”
The father and daughter tilted their heads in the same way and thought about it, but as expected, no answer came out.
In the end, nothing would be solved by staying like this.
I held out my hand to Rize and opened my mouth again.
“Come on, let’s hold hands. From now on, can you never separate from your father?”
“Yes, Dad! I’ll stick with you! Can’t you let go of my hand too?”
I gave a little more strength to the hand that was holding it with a smile.
As I moved my steps while shaking my hands back and forth, it seemed as if I had come for an outing.
All I could see around me was white mist.
I had no idea where to go, so I just kept going.
“Dad, aren’t we on the verge of a great discovery?”
“A big discovery? What are you talking about?”
“To get through the maze of fog, find the exit, and give mountains of treasure to the mercenaries who reveal the secret. Isn’t it really piled up like a forehead?”
“okay? So is it right to go this way? Can you feel the treasure?”
“Um, no. Let’s go this way!”
Leaving Rize, who is full of the will to find the treasure, to guide me, I calmly stepped in.
Apparently, it was Rize who found the secret passage, so he had high expectations that he might be able to find the exit as well.
But even after walking like that, the white fog still didn’t disappear at all.
No, rather, it felt like my vision was narrower than before.
It felt as if fog was sweeping over her body, which made her feel a little uncomfortable, but Rize didn’t seem to mind.
Rize continued to bring up trivial stories so as not to become anxious or bored, while on the other hand, she was wary of her surroundings.
And finally, a change has occurred.
“Rize, wait a minute.”
“huh? Ah, the color of the fog changes.”
The white mist that covered the surroundings was slowly turning blue.
Was it a structure that only changed over time?
I drew Rize a little closer to me and drew out my sword, positioning myself so that I could wield it at any time.
It didn’t feel harmful, but it was the first time I’d experienced it, so I raised my alertness to the highest level.
Right after that, a strong wind hit all directions.
The wind that pushed the mist back and forth, which had turned completely blue, seemed to be creating something out of it.
And soon after, the fog took shape little by little as a huge structure surrounding us.
“Wow… … .”
A mysterious sight that Rize would inadvertently admire.
The building, which was completed in an instant with the floor, the pillars rising, and the roof on top, was now looking far from the ground.
A blue mist fell like a waterfall between the pillars, and soon steps began to rise one by one from the front, a little farther away from us.
What the hell are you doing to make it so grandiose?
I don’t know what kind of space this is, but I felt sure that I put a lot of effort into it.
While Rize was still stomping her feet in excitement, I calmly glared at the ever-rising stairs.
If I think of the many things I’ve been through, usually the one who was hiding something until the end was the culprit.
So it was almost certain that something would show up once they climbed those stairs.
Wow… … !
And with a heavy ringing sound, the rising stairs finally stopped.
Height maybe… … Is it about the 5th floor?
Still, it was much lower than the pillars spread out to the side.
Should I go up there?
But I immediately shook my head.
There was no need to take risks when you weren’t sure what this place was yet.
After waiting for a while, another change occurred.
A small group of lights began to gather on the platform connected to the stairs. A group of lights flowing from somewhere in all directions came together in one place and soon began to form a single shape.
“dad? Hey, are you a person?”
“Well, let’s wait a little longer.”
As Rize said, the light had a human form, but that didn’t ease his vigilance.
I’ve seen a lot of monsters in human form.
The doll made of light was shaking unsteadily as if it had not formed properly.
The doll, seemingly unable to control its body, turned its creaking head to look this way. It was unlikely that there would be any eyes, but I could definitely feel the gaze looking here.
I hid it behind my back, but the gaze that was clearly staring at Rize briefly glanced at me.
Then, he slowly raised one hand and held it forward.
It was so unstable that I couldn’t make out it properly, but… … That alone conveyed the meaning of what he wanted to say.
– It’s not yet time.
And once again, his vision went white.
* * *
What I could see in front of me was that door.
Blinking once, I looked at the door again and realized that it was firmly shut.
“Irvin? miss?”
At that moment, Irina’s voice from the side awakened a sense of reality.
Looking down, I saw Lisé, who, as expected, had a puzzled expression on her face.
Apparently it wasn’t a dream.
I don’t know how long it’s been since I tried to open the door, but it didn’t seem like much time had passed.
“Aren’t you open?”
It seemed like it was really short-lived because he seemed curious.
After meeting Rize’s gaze as she looked up at me, I tried to cheer myself up.
I pushed pretty hard, but the door wouldn’t budge, and the memory of opening it felt like a dream.
“Perhaps you can’t just open it here either. Rize, can you see anything?”
“Uh, um… … . No, nothing special.”
Responding to Douglas’ question, Rize looked at me for a moment and then looked around and said,
It wasn’t urgent enough to talk about it already.
I’ll let you know after the two of us have talked enough. There wasn’t much to talk about anyway, so it wasn’t easy to believe.
I stepped back a little and looked at the tightly closed door.
Where was it?
who the hell was that guy?
What does it mean that it’s not yet time?
Little by little such questions came to mind, but there was one more important question among them.
why the hell did you take me
It was understandable since Rizeya inherited the hero’s fate.
In fact, discovering the secret passage would have been impossible if it hadn’t been for Rize.
It was not difficult to see that the space was prepared for those who were destined to become heroes.
But why did I take him with me?
He’s not a hero, and he’s not related by blood to Rize.
It was not enough to simply say that they were trying to open the door together.
Well, as for something special, I do have one thing… … Wouldn’t it be funny to be treated like a hero by dying and returning to the past?
I don’t know if I’d rather say something cool.
“Let’s go back at once.”
Those who looked at the door as if they still had regrets about my proposal nodded and walked away.
I was also curious about the inside, but I had no choice but to give up my curiosity when he showed me that and said that it was still not possible.
After passing through the continuous passage again and returning to the room where the campsite was located, the wall that had opened its mouth began to slowly close.
“This way, you won’t have to worry about other guys stealing it first.”
“The door inside won’t open anyway. If you try to destroy it, the dungeon itself will collapse.”
“There are bound to be guys who try to break through that. Don’t worry, I’ll watch your mouth.”
Having said that, Douglas sneaked closer to me, covered his mouth with the back of his hand, and added a few words.
“If you go inside instead, let me know what was there. At my age, I can’t sleep well when I have questions.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his incongruously cautious appearance.
Douglas tapped me on the shoulder a couple of times before heading to his tent, and this time Irina approached me from behind and talked to me.
“I know what happened.”
What kind of confidence do you have?
Looking at it with those eyes, Irina continued talking while pointing at Rize, who was rekindling the bonfire.
“The young lady’s attitude was obviously strange. I may be able to fool Douglas, but I cannot.”
As for Rize, even if she was sharp, she was too sharp.
I couldn’t tell you yet, so I just shrugged my shoulders.
“You have to talk to Rize first. I’ll let you know when I get permission.”
“Hmm, are you hiding something great?”
“Should I say that it’s great… … .”
In fact, even I still had no idea what to say.
Irina looked at me with a disgusted expression, then turned around and went to Rize, and I followed her and took a seat by the campfire.
Then Rize, who saw me, put down the kindling stick, came closer to me, leaned over, and whispered in my ear.
“Dad, let’s keep it a secret.”
“huh?”
I didn’t know what he was talking about for a moment, so when he asked, Rize smiled with a mischievous face and put both hands to her mouth again and whispered.
“It happened earlier, it’s a secret between the two of us.”
It wasn’t a big deal, but it was heartbreaking.
Rize held out her hand with her little finger out, and I smiled at her cute appearance and crossed my fingers.
I feel a little sorry for Irina, but what can I do?
If you want to hear the story, it would be better to convince Rize.
Rize’s first dungeon exploration, which left a huge question mark, ended like that.
After that, time passed… … .
Rize celebrated her 11th birthday.