“It’s fine. It’s my job,” he said, sheepishly scratching his cheek. “Real men don’t demand thanks.”
It didn’t seem as though I could stretch this conversation out any further. Maybe I’d get another chance to speak with this man who had so graciously helped me. I chose to leave before he decided something was fishy.
“See you.”
“Yep, see ya.”
I waved goodbye and headed straight for the central plaza. After walking some distance, I looked behind me and saw the full picture of the Dungeon. It was, in truth, a colossal and wondrously strange ruin. At its center stood an enormous tree that pierced the heavens, a worn down structure stuck to its base. Uncannily, the giant tree’s boughs were decorated with clouded gems, looking like a rainbow of flowers from afar. Said ornaments were so massive that they were warped in shape. Maybe those unnatural-looking decorations housed spaces inside them, and those spaces were also part of the Dungeon.
Before the sight of an entity that could only exist in flights of fancy, I stood there, overwhelmed. It felt like the gargantuan Dungeon had a mind and a will of its own, and it was peering down on me. That was how stately it felt. The pressure was intense.
At the same time, I felt a curious affinity for it. It was an odd sense of foreboding, like I’d known this Dungeon for ages and that it would obviously be part of my life going forward.
I shook my head and cleared it of that sensation. Turning my back on the ruin, I walked forward, because it felt like if I didn’t, the Dungeon would swallow me up anew. I paced quickly away, all the while relishing the joy of escaping.
I’d never seen this world before, but I didn’t get lost. The roads were surprisingly well-ordered. One would never have expected them to be so lovely and perfectly planned, given the archaic attire the people were wearing. The edges of the roads were lined with an alluring mineral that seemed to be some kind of precious gemstone. The same was true for the Pathway Proper; the gemstone lines just stretched on and on without interruption. Perhaps in this world, gems and jewels weren’t considered particularly precious or valuable.
I kept walking down that fantastical road, and eventually rows of buildings came into view. They were diverse, some made of brick, others of wood, still others of different materials. The scenery looked more or less identical to what you’d find in your traditional RPG town. The culture skewed Western, and the time period felt medieval for the most part. The people walking around town seemed lively and spirited, and they too were diverse. There were those who wore nothing but a cloth like a smock, and those who clinked and clanked down the street in heavy steel armor. Public spaces were chock-full of people of all skin colors, and I even spotted the occasional animal-person—half-human hybrids, so to speak. There were those with sharp fangs bared, those with long ears, those with fluffy tails or beautiful feathers... The city was a melting pot of fairy-tale races.
It felt like common sense and pure lunacy were being noisily ground into a pulpy melange. And I could hear the scraping sound of something important to me eroding away. There were so many people, but I felt utterly alone. There was so much space, but I was assailed by a siege mentality. The sense of isolation was crushing. The despair felt like when I had gotten lost in the department store when I was a little kid—the feeling the world was ending.
Without a doubt, this was not a world I had ever been in. The spectacle before my eyes seared that merciless truth into me. I grew dizzy, the sensation throwing off my balance. My legs gave out. Although I didn’t want to admit it, I couldn’t deny the reality in front of me. For indeed, the frightening truth was that this place was surely...
The following skill has activated: ???
Stabilizes your mental state in exchange for some of your emotion.
+1.00 to Confusion.
“Ah...”
That notification again. I watched it come and go, my state of mind calm and quiet. My symptoms were just as described: in exchange for my fretfulness and unease, I had obtained a clear head. I had my misgivings regarding the ??? skill, but I concluded it was saving my neck at the moment. Without this composure, I might be in the stomach of a giant wolf right now.
Once again, I surveyed my surroundings. There wasn’t a single person I recognized or a single building I was familiar with. This fantasy world was vivid, realistic, and far too huge. The grand vista was right out of a picture book and underscored the fact it wasn’t my world. This wasn’t some practical joke or an attraction in a foreign country or an underdeveloped area on Earth. That sort of wishful thinking was rapidly deteriorating.
Argh, but it’s no use.
What was more important to focus on now was “if that’s how it is, then what do I do?” If I just stood there stupefied, I’d gain nothing, so I assembled a short-term plan of action in my head.
“First things first: the signboard.”
I slapped my cheeks to psych myself up, then walked the streets with an expression I hoped said, “I’m supposed to be here.” Thankfully, my outfit didn’t make me stand out. There were plenty of adventurers in town sporting swords and cloaks.