When I woke up the next morning, I felt something tugging at my clothes. Lifting the blanket, I found Lina clutching the hem of my shirt.
(So it's Lina… but why is Lina next to me?)
I clearly remembered that we slept in different rooms last night. Did I sleepwalk? No—this room looks exactly the same as yesterday. I didn't enter the wrong room. Then why did Lina come in?
I shook her shoulder gently to wake her up.
"Lina, wake up."
"Mmm… I wanna sleep more…"
She let out an adorable, sleepy whine, but my curiosity completely overwhelmed the urge to enjoy it.
"No, I have something to ask you."
"…Me too. …You go first."
Lina also had a question? Well, since she gave me the turn, I asked mine.
"Why are you sleeping here?"
The moment I said that, she suddenly sat up straight, looking unusually upset.
"Why didn't you sleep with me?!"
…That's your question? We weren't supposed to sleep in the same bed to begin with! But I couldn't say that—it would only make her press harder. Lina was surprisingly assertive about this kind of thing, and I didn't want unnecessary trouble. So I prioritized.
"You answer mine first."
"No. You first."
She leaned closer, her face almost touching mine. There was no resisting that. I gave the simplest answer possible.
"Because I wanted to sleep alone. Your turn."
Emotions are always the most convenient excuse. As expected, Lina puffed her cheeks and turned away in frustration.
"I don't want to sleep alone. I'm not answering anymore!"
Since she refused to answer, I could only try to figure it out myself. Lina went to bed earlier than me, so she must have woken up earlier too. A guess formed in my mind, so I voiced it.
"I get it. You woke up, didn't see me, came looking for me, got sleepy again, and crawled in here. Right?"
It was only a guess, but it sounded believable.
Lina's cheeks reddened. She fidgeted with her fingers for a long moment before whispering softly:
"…Mm."
So I was right. Well, the bed was extremely soft and comfortable—tempting enough to fall asleep again. But we couldn't stay like this all morning. We needed to reach level 100 in a few days. No time to waste.
I got out of bed, stretched, and looked at Lina.
"Lina, good morning."
"Good morning, Karen."
We went to wash our faces and then headed downstairs to prepare breakfast. Halfway through eating, I remembered something Henry(Allen) had written, so I told Lina.
"Lina, I remember the next areas won't have any monsters. Wear something light and don't wear a skirt."
"Mm."
After eating, we changed into casual outfits suitable for going out. I found the motorcycle key and two helmets. I planned to ride and search for the dungeon entrance, because this place was too big to explore on foot.
Opening the door, I saw the large motorcycle I had never ridden before. It was huge, and honestly, pretty cool. Considering that I died in a motorcycle accident in my previous life, it was surprising that I felt no trauma. Maybe I had a strong mental fortitude?
Why didn't I use a car instead? Well… I did learn to drive, but I was still a beginner. I only felt comfortable on wider roads.
After putting on my shoes, I opened the gate, placed a helmet on Lina's head, and explained:
"Riding a motorcycle is dangerous. Helmet can protects your head."
I put on my own helmet, pushed the motorcycle outside, climbed onto it, inserted the key, turned it, and pressed the ignition. The familiar sound of the engine roared to life.
Lina jumped at the noise. I had explained it yesterday, so the suddenness must have startled her—but she seemed fine.
I patted the rear seat to signal her to get on, but she looked unsure of what to do. It was probably too high, and she didn't know how to mount it.
"Put your hands on my shoulders, place your left foot on the footpeg, push yourself up, then swing your right leg over."
She followed my instructions and got on successfully.
"It's so high!"
I then reached behind me, gently grabbed her hands, and pulled them forward to wrap around my waist.
"!"
"Hold tight."
"…Mm…"
Through the mirror, I saw her shy yet happy expression before she hugged me properly.
Once I confirmed she was secure, I shifted into first gear and lightly twisted the throttle. The motorcycle moved forward smoothly. Then second gear, then third, as we searched the area.
Before long, we found the entrance—but it was far from where we started. Thankfully, with the motorcycle, we saved a lot of time.
After getting off, I stored the motorcycle in the storage hole. The next level might be just as large.
Level 91's theme was a residential district. Everywhere we looked, there were only houses.
We arrived at the next level. The moment I looked around, I knew exactly what it was—a school. And we were standing right at its front gate.
"This is a school."
"A place to learn knowledge?" Lina tilted her head.
"Yeah. I'll show you around."
"Mm."
We started by exploring the outdoor facilities: the parking lot, cafeteria, gymnasium, swimming pool, various sports courts, a track field, and the storage building.
Then we entered the main academic building, checking out the classrooms, teacher offices, library, laboratories, and multimedia rooms.
Eventually, we ended up inside a classroom. I sat down at the desk in the very last row, and Lina took the seat beside mine. I turned to her.
"I like sitting in the back row. You can see everything the students in front are doing."
"What are they doing?" she asked innocently.
"Eating snacks in secret, dozing off, spacing out…"
"Aren't they here to learn?"
"That's a good question. But it's not easy to explain. Maybe they gave up because they couldn't keep up, maybe they're troubled and can't focus, or maybe they're geniuses who don't need to study. Everyone's different."
"Then, Karen… did you study properly?"
Lina smiled mischievously as she asked. Was she doubting me?! I studied very hard too!
"Of course I did! …But the things my classmates did were more interesting, so my attention wandered a bit…"
My voice grew weaker and weaker. I had just told her how often I watched my classmates instead of listening, so I suddenly felt embarrassed. Not wanting to continue the topic, I forcefully changed it.
"…Alright, let's go find the entrance."
"Mm. Hehe."
I stood up and walked toward the classroom door. Lina hopped up happily behind me, letting out a cute giggle.
We eventually found the entrance in the courtyard surrounded by the school buildings.
Level 92's theme was a school.