~Chapter 3~
I silently sent my condolences to Linus, who’d just been bullied by this brutal world, and shook my head.
“I don’t think so.”
If this really was the world of Secret Romance in the Butterfly Garden, then dungeons and gates shouldn’t exist.
Even if—just for argument’s sake—dungeons did start appearing here, it still wouldn’t be this dungeon.
Because this was the very same dungeon I cleared back in the other world.
I remembered it clearly because it was the first dungeon I ever cleared after awakening.
A D-rank dungeon called “Laneier’s Garden.”
It didn’t have any high-level monsters, but for a low-rank dungeon, it was surprisingly tricky.
And now, I was the only awakened person here—with an innocent civilian caught up in the middle of it all.
The only silver lining in this awful situation was the “99%” floating next to the dungeon named “Laneier’s Garden D.”
If the dungeon clear rate was already at 99%, then the only monster left should be the dungeon boss…
“Huh?”
I was trying to remember where I’d fought Laneier last time, staring at the status window—when the number suddenly changed from 99 to 100.
[Status]
Laneier’s Garden D – 100%
Dungeon will disappear in 23h 59m
□□■■□■□ □■
That meant the boss had been defeated and the dungeon was cleared.
How that happened—I had no idea, and honestly, I didn’t care.
All that mattered was: I didn’t have to go monster-hunting in front of Linus.
Thank goodness. I could still keep up the act of being the weak, sickly noble lady who miraculously woke up from a ten-year coma.
Now all we had to do was get out of this damn dungeon, right?
But… What were those weird broken symbols? A glitch?
I’d never heard of errors showing up in the status window before.
I squinted at it, but couldn’t make sense of anything.
Turns out it wasn’t the status window that was glitched—it was my life.
I waved the screen away and casually said to Linus,
“Should we start looking for the exit?”
“Good idea.”
Without hesitation, Linus nodded and held out his hand to me.
Even in a situation like this—dragged into who-knows-where—he was a total gentleman.
I took his arm and we started walking, and after scanning the area, he said,
“Seems like we’re in a maze garden. It’ll take a while to find our way out.”
He was right. Laneier’s Garden was built like a maze, with tall, dense trees forming the walls.
If the sky wasn’t such a creepy red color, it could’ve passed for a regular noble’s garden.
Honestly, we could just smash through the trees to find the way out faster—but we had time.
I decided to take it slow.
I didn’t want Linus to suspect I knew more than I should about this place.
“I heard you’re supposed to pick one direction and stick to it when you’re in a maze.”
I said it like I was totally clueless, and Linus looked impressed.
“Really? I’ve only heard that in theory. Never thought I’d end up in a place like this. I’d probably be completely lost on my own. I’m lucky to have you, Airevet.”
“I feel the same. I’m really glad you’re with me, Linus.”
That polite reply made him stop walking and widen his eyes.
As I looked at him, thinking his eyes sparkled like red gems, he smiled sweetly, his expression softening.
“What a blessing to take a stroll in a garden with such a beautiful lady.”
I wasn’t sure if he was just a positive guy or hopelessly optimistic.
I couldn’t exactly tell him, “Actually, we’re inside a dungeon and you’re having a seriously unlucky day.”
So I just gave him an awkward smile in return.
We kept walking for a while until we reached a part of the maze where the trees had been burned and broken.
There was a large hole in the ground, probably from a battle, and inside it lay Laneier—the dungeon boss—face-down and unmoving.
Habits are terrifying.
The moment I saw the monster’s corpse, my body moved on autopilot.
Without thinking, I crouched down, shoved my hand into the half-crushed skull, and started fishing around for the monster’s core.
“Oh, it’s still here!”
I pulled out a large, glowing blue crystal—the monster’s core.
When dungeons first started appearing on Earth, everyone thought it was the end of the world.
But in a twist of fate, monster cores from certain beasts ended up becoming humanity’s dream alternative energy source.
Naturally, dungeon clearing became the world’s most important industry.
And that meant we hunters got constantly nagged by the Dungeon Management Office to retrieve every single core.
So yeah, “dead monster = retrieve core” was basically burned into my brain.
…Could someone please explain all that to Linus for me?
Because there I was, crouched in front of a corpse, holding a glowing rock, while Linus stared at me in horror.
“Um… Airevet?”
He looked at me like he didn’t even have words.
The silence between us dragged on.
I opened and closed my mouth a few times like a fish, and then he pulled something out of his pocket and held it out to me.
A handkerchief.
“Uh… this is, I mean…”
I couldn’t even accept it, let alone explain myself.
To Linus—who had no clue what a monster core was—I probably looked like some lunatic digging around in a dead monster’s brain for fun.
Still, sweet, golden-hearted Linus gently took my hand and wiped it clean.
Then he even wiped off the core and handed it back to me.
“It must be valuable.”
“N-no, it’s not like that. This is… um…”
I tried to explain, and he waited patiently, but once again, I couldn’t come up with anything to say.
Like, how do I even begin? “So, I’m actually a dungeon raider who got reincarnated into this body…”
Even if I told him the truth, would he even believe me?
More likely, he’d think I was insane.
In all those possessed-rofan (romance-fantasy) novels I’ve read, the leads always hide their identity just fine—
So why is my life such a mess?
For a second, I honestly thought I’d rather be back in a dungeon fighting monsters than dealing with this.
As I stood there, flustered and silent, Linus suddenly held out his big hand again.
And in that same gentle voice, he said,
“Looks like the exit is that way.”
I couldn’t stay sitting there forever. So I took his hand and stood up.
When I looked in the direction he pointed, I saw a dark red light glowing in the distance—coming from the dungeon gate.
Once again, I grabbed Linus’s hand and walked alongside him, stealing glances at him the whole way.
Even his side profile was dazzling.
But he didn’t say a word. Just kept walking quietly.
Was he pretending not to notice what happened?
Or was he so freaked out he didn’t even want to talk to me?
What if he goes back and spreads rumors that I’m some crazy girl who digs around in monster brains?
If he would just ask me straight up, “Are you mentally okay?”, I could at least say “I’m not crazy!”
But the silence was driving me nuts.
While I silently spiraled, we arrived at the gate.
I couldn’t go back to the Butterfly Garden—where all the nobles of Arendel were gathered—looking like this.
When you don’t know what to do, the best move is to charge ahead.
That’s the one life lesson I learned from eight years of dungeon-grinding.
I swallowed nervously and tugged on Linus’s sleeve.
“Hey, Linus…”
“Yes, Airevet?”
“Could you, um… keep what you just saw a secret?”
“If that’s what you want, then of course.”
He answered smoothly with a soft smile.
Just as I was about to sigh in relief and bow deeply to thank him, he added,
“But I have one condition.”
“…A condition?”
I had no idea what he was about to say and just stared at him nervously.
After a pause—dragging it out like he was being shy—he smiled again, this time like a bashful boy.
“Would you take a walk with me again sometime?”
It was so unexpected I went speechless for a second.
But it wasn’t even something I needed to think about.
“Yes! Totally! I love walks!”
I nodded enthusiastically and answered with a loud voice.
As long as it’s not in a dungeon, I’ll take five walks a day if he wants.
At this moment, not even the most walk-obsessed golden retriever could’ve loved walking more than I did.
