Today is September 12th, 2018. Without realizing it, Lina and I have already spent a little over a year in the capital of Aimebisalon—Albujie.
Every day, we entered the dungeon to fulfill a request from the Adventurers' Guild Master, Dex. Our task was to explore from level 81 down to the bottom and document all plants and animals so the guild could research their usefulness.
Level 81 was the Beast Mountain Range—a place full of ferocious creatures. But since many animals here had high practical value, we visited this floor often for commissions.
Everything after that was mountain terrain. Dozens of peaks connected into one giant range, and we had to climb over ridge after ridge to find the entrance to the next level. After walking long enough, though, we found all the shortcuts.
Level 82 was the Low-Temperature Mountain Range—cold highlands, but not quite freezing. The mountain goats there tasted amazing, and since they kept challenging us, we butchered them without hesitation.
There were also fields of tea plants everywhere, so we made tea-rice for lunch.
Level 83 was the Wild Vegetable Mountain Range, overflowing with edible greens. Using my knowledge, I separated poisonous plants from safe ones, then explained to Dex how to identify and cook each type.
Level 84 was the Cliff Mountain Range—a narrow, precarious path where we had to press our backs against the wall to advance. So I followed the work of earlier explorers and built fences along the way, widening the road a little. Vultures kept swooping at me mid-construction, but Lina shot them all down without effort.
Level 85 was the Great Waterfall Mountain Range, something that could easily be considered a world natural heritage site—magnificent, but extremely dangerous. To reach the entrance, we had to cross raging torrents, so I simply built a bridge. Lina handled the animals that tried to interrupt us.
The next levels marked the start of our record-breaking dungeon progress.
Level 86 was the Extinct Animal Mountain Range. I froze in shock when I saw the creatures there—not a single one matched the knowledge from my past life. But at least I recognized the mammoth, the most iconic of them.
Since every creature was something extinct that I'd never seen, and I couldn't remember the names I once knew in my previous life, I spent a long time coming up with new names for everything.
Level 87 was the Volcano Mountain Range. Eruptions were frequent, but all the volcanoes were small, so it wasn't a big problem. What was annoying was the volcanic ash—it forced us to wrap up our heads completely.
Level 88 was the Hot Spring Starry-Sky Mountain Range—the perfect place to soak in a hot spring while admiring a sky full of stars, sometimes even meteor showers. A glowing-stone pathway connected every hot spring, so even in total darkness you'd never lose your way.
Since there were no male–female separated baths, we built a bamboo wall just in case. We warmed our bodies, watched the stars, and chatted for hours.
After a year and a bit of studying environments, defeating animals, and occasionally slacking off to have fun, we finally reached level 89.
Level 89 was the Rock Mountain Range—sheer vertical cliffs with not a hint of green. To reach the entrance, one needed the ability to fly. Since neither of us could, we built a suspension bridge instead.
But we hadn't fully explored the environment yet, so we paused our advance here.
That was everything we accomplished over the past year and some.
And today is my birthday—there's no way I'm going into the dungeon. If I did, the consequences would be disastrous.
Lina also forbade me from using "Detection." She said that since it was my birthday, I should enjoy myself and not multitask.
Even though she wouldn't notice even if I used it, I didn't want to make her angry, so I obeyed.
Lina and I went to the famous theater Onox in the capital to watch a play. The theater had many seats—probably around three hundred—and was split into upper and lower floors.
Naturally, nobles sat upstairs, and commoners like us sat below. The shows changed daily—stories about past heroes, romance plays, and so on.
Unfortunately, today's performance was the founding story of the First Ten Braves. For Lina and me, everything about the First Ten Braves was fake. Not just exaggerated—completely rewritten history. So we watched it without bothering to think.
"That's amazing."
The girl beside me let out a breath of admiration, her face glowing with excitement. For some reason, I felt oddly drawn to her. Short black hair, black eyes, a bright and sunny expression—I felt like I'd seen her somewhere before.
Then the man next to her glared at me, and I quickly looked back at the stage. He seemed to have come with her, but he didn't look like her brother.
From the brief glance I caught, he had long red hair, rimless glasses, and a sharp-looking black uniform—handsome and competent. Rather than a relative, he seemed more like a retainer. She probably wasn't a noble; maybe she was the daughter of a wealthy merchant.
I snuck another glance—but the expressions of the man and the girl were completely different. The girl was enjoying the play, but the man looked absolutely disgusted, like he wanted to kill the actors. Had they offended him somehow?
After the play, Lina and I left the theater and headed to a café for afternoon tea. By coincidence, the girl and the man also came in and sat nearby.
I still couldn't shake the feeling that I had seen the girl somewhere before, but I couldn't recall where. I figured Lina might remember, so I asked her.
"Lina, look at the black-haired girl over there. Doesn't she look familiar to you?"
Lina stole a quick glance and shook her head.
"No. Why?"
"I just feel like I've seen her somewhere… Never mind. If you haven't seen her, then I probably haven't either. Maybe she just resembles someone."
After all, Lina and I were together almost every day. Anything I encountered, she would've encountered too. It was probably just my imagination.
"Mm. Karen, ah~"
Lina poked a small piece of cake with her fork and held it up to me. Seriously… we aren't even a couple, yet she always does this. I wanted to refuse but couldn't. My feelings were so complicated—happy, embarrassed—and the stares from other customers made me even more flustered.
But there was no escaping it. Lina would wait until I opened my mouth.
"...Ah."
Then I tried to return the favor—but failed. Lina immediately opened her mouth and ate it happily, without hesitation. Well… seeing her smile mattered more than anything else.
After that, we strolled around the city and spent the rest of the day together.