I woke up early this morning, staring out the window as my thoughts wandered. Yesterday, I became the Brave. I needed to reach the deepest part of the dungeon as soon as possible.
Then I turned to look at Lina, still sound asleep. I couldn't let her know I had become the Hero—I had to find a way to keep her in the capital.
I leaned over and gently woke her up.
"Lina, it's morning. Wake up."
Lina rubbed her eyes, slowly sat up, pressed my towel to her face, and spoke sleepily.
"...Mm. Good morning, Karen."
"Good morning."
After greeting her, I got out of bed to prepare for the day. Lina followed a little later.
We headed to the dungeon and, after some time, reached Level 90. We had explored most of it already and could move on to Level 91.
"Lina, I think there's nothing left here. Let's go to the next level."
"Mm."
We stepped into the entrance—and the moment we came out, I froze. Endless rows of houses, asphalt roads, telephone poles… it looked exactly like the world of my previous life.
(Why…?)
Why would a place like this appear inside a dungeon? What did the Goddess of Fate see? Was this a vision of the future?
"Karen, these are all houses, right? They all look exactly the same. Why is the ground black? And what are those white lines? And those poles—are they some kind of drying rack?"
Lina asked question after question, full of curiosity. To her, everything here was unfamiliar. I should explain it to her, but I wasn't certain yet—so I held back.
"Let's look around first."
We walked through the area. There were only houses—no other buildings, no signs of life. But the place was huge; we still hadn't found the entrance deeper in.
I couldn't help wondering what was inside the houses. Would they have electric lights, fans, and televisions?
"Let's try going into one of the homes."
"Okay."
We opened the gate and walked in. A car and several motorcycles caught my eye—I hurried toward the door and opened it.
Marble tiles lined the floor. It was the kind of place where you needed to take off your shoes. I removed mine and told Lina:
"Lina, take your shoes off when you enter."
"Mm."
I stepped inside the living room first and immediately saw electric lights, a ceiling fan, and a television. There were light switches and electrical outlets on the walls.
I randomly flipped one of the switches—and the ceiling fan started spinning.
Lina yelped in surprise and hid behind me.
"Karen! Why is that thing on the ceiling spinning?! Is it a… a ghost?!"
To Lina, the fan was something suddenly moving on its own.
She thought it was ghosts because Sally had told her ghost stories before. That night Lina had been so scared she asked to hold me while sleeping. I refused at first, but her teary eyes made it impossible to say no. So I turned my back to her and let her hug me. After that, she slept better than I did.
For several days afterward, she used fear as an excuse to sleep hugging me again. At first, I thought she was still scared and gave in, but it turned out she wasn't scared—she was enjoying it.
Once I exposed her, I punished her by temporarily taking away her towel, telling her to reflect on her behavior. She clearly had promised to wait until adulthood…
Next, I flipped another switch, and the lights turned on. Now I could answer all her questions. Lina flinched again and clung to my arm.
"Why did it suddenly get bright?! Karen, is this place really haunted?!"
"Don't worry. There are no ghosts here. I'll explain everything on this level."
"Good…"
When she heard there were no ghosts, she pressed a hand to her chest, clearly relieved.
"This place is very similar to my previous world… actually, it's exactly the same."
"The world without magic?"
"That's right. All your questions will be answered."
I explained everything we had seen so far—roads, houses, fans, lights—and why they worked.
"I see…"
"There will be even more shocking things ahead. Don't be scared."
"It's not scary once I understand it."
I picked up the TV remote on the table, pressed the power button, and the TV lit up. It even made sound—and it was in Chinese.
Two women were arguing dramatically.
"How dare you seduce my husband, you shameless vixen! (Chinese)"
"It's your fault for being so boring. Don't blame others for stealing your man. (Chinese)"
"What did you say?! You think seducing a married man is justified?! (Chinese)"
"What can I say? My charm is irresistible. (Chinese)"
"You are the bitch! Go die! (Chinese)"
The wife slapped the mistress across the face. A typical melodramatic show. Lina pointed at the screen in shock.
"Why are there people inside it?! Are they fighting? I can't understand what they're saying! And why did that woman slap the other one?!"
"Calm down, I'll explain."
It took me a while—mostly because I had to explain how cameras recorded images. I didn't know the technical details either, so I kept it simple.
"I see… So this is the language you used in your previous life?"
"Yes. There are subtitles on the screen—you should remember those characters."
Lina had learned Chinese characters instantly back then, which shocked me more than anything.
"I remember the characters, but reading whole sentences is harder."
Fair enough—she had only seen vocabulary, and the grammar was different. I would teach her later. Right then, my stomach growled loudly. Food first.
"I'm hungry. Can we eat something first?"
"Mm. Let's just cook here."
"Sounds good."
We went into the kitchen. I taught Lina how to use the appliances, then we took out ingredients and began preparing the meal.
Since leaving the village, we hadn't cooked in a proper kitchen for a long time. It felt nostalgic. And the equipment here was far better—almost unfairly convenient.
After that, we cooked three dishes and a soup, placed them on the table, and then went to serve the rice that had been prepared not long ago.
"The rice cooker is amazing. You don't even need to pay attention—just wait for the click. Too bad there's no electricity outside, or I'd take it with me."
"Haha, then we can come back here to eat often."
"Mm."
After eating, we sat on the living room sofa watching TV. I translated the shows for Lina, and she learned incredibly quickly—as expected of a genius.
I glanced at the clock—5:48 PM. Outside, the sky was dimming. So this place had day and night cycles. The clock was probably accurate.
But I wasn't sure whether time here matched the time outside the dungeon. Either way, we would spend the night here and head to the next level tomorrow.
Lina was completely absorbed in the TV show, so I called her name.
"Lina."
"Hmm?"
She turned toward me when she heard me, eyes still sparkling with curiosity from everything she'd seen today. I pointed at the sky outside.
"We'll sleep here tonight. Tomorrow, we'll look for the entrance to the next level."
"We're not going back to report?"
"No. We'll go straight to the bottom. And everything on this floor can't be shared with anyone else. Probably the same for the floors after this."
The environments ahead were likely to resemble more things from my previous life. I also needed to ask the Crime Goddess what was going on here… though I had a feeling it would be pointless.
"Then how do you plan to explain all of this?"
"We'll just say it's beyond our understanding. Like how you reacted the first time you saw the fan spinning."
"Just blame it on spirits?"
"Exactly. When people see things they can't understand, they tend to think it's some kind of supernatural event."
I didn't feel bad about brushing it off—there was simply no proper explanation I could give.
"Then why rush straight to the bottom level?"
"Because there's no need to explore it, and going down every time takes a lot of time. We just need to inform the guild master afterward."
"Mm."
Dex would probably be shocked—we were about to crush the existing record entirely.
After dinner, I went to shower first. Then I taught Lina how to use the water heater, shampoo, and body wash.
When I returned to the living room, I sat on the sofa to watch TV while waiting for her. Soon, Lina stepped out wearing casual clothes, using her towel to dry her damp hair. I stood up and guided her to the dressing table, using a hair dryer to dry her hair. The scent of shampoo drifted softly through the air.
(…It smells really good.)
A thought crossed my mind—maybe I should bring the shampoo and body wash back home. Then I dismissed it. That felt like stealing a full roll of hotel toilet paper.
Once Lina's hair was dry, we went back to the living room to watch more TV. It was almost nine o'clock, and she looked more tired than usual. Normally she was full of energy at this hour—today must have overwhelmed her with knowledge.
"Lina, if you're tired, go to bed."
"Mm."
I took her upstairs to one of the bedrooms and helped her lie down. After tucking her in, I went back to the living room. Eventually, the fatigue caught up with me too, so I headed for another bedroom.
Lying down on the empty bed, I wondered how many years it had been since I last slept alone. At age six, I started sharing a bed with Lina because she was afraid to sleep alone. At twelve, when we left the village, I thought I should create some distance… yet every inn we stayed in only had double beds.
(So it's been ten years since I last slept by myself.)
Maybe I had simply grown too used to sharing a bed. The emptiness felt a little cold… and lonely.
Still, sleepiness overtook me. I closed my eyes and drifted into dreams.