Prologue (Part III)

"It might sound strange, but… do you know the way out of this place?" I asked. It wouldn't be too weird for her to know if she were from this world.

"..."

She didn't respond right away. The silence stretched for a few seconds too long.

Why wasn't she answering? Did she not know? The more I thought about it, the more out of place she seemed. Melody didn't precisely look strong enough to handle the monsters down here. Could she be a traveler like me?

"Erm…" she finally murmured, looking embarrassed.

"I touched a trap… and ended up on the lower floors."

"Ah." That explained a lot.

"Talk about unlucky."

"..." I glanced over at Melody. Her face had turned red again.

"..."

Something about the way she looked made her… oddly adorable. How she tried to hide it only made me want to tease her more just to see how she'd react.

Now that I had someone to talk to down here, I wasn't in such a rush to get out. With her around, things felt a lot less tedious.

"A trap? What kind of trap was it?"

I asked with an innocent smile, expecting a flustered or awkward response. Instead, I completely stumped Melody. But not in the way I intended.

She fell silent, eyes locking onto me only. It wasn't focused. She was lost in thought, drifting off into her little world. A dreamy, goofy smile crept onto her face.

Was she imagining something weird?

Despite carrying her on my back, my pace didn't slow. I had already figured out the general layout of the dungeon by now, knowing which side of each room led to the next floor, whether ascending or descending.

As for the monsters, even with Melody on my back, I barely had to lift a finger to take them down. Each floor made them weaker until it eventually felt like I didn't need to try.

"Hey, Melody. What perverted thing are you thinking about now?" I teased, giving my body a little shake.

That snapped her out of her daydream.

She had been getting a little too comfortable lately, occasionally letting her hands wander, gently caressing my sides as if we were already that close. She probably didn't even realize she was doing it, but still, someone had to keep her in check.

"Did you have a nice dream?" I teased, glancing over my shoulder. "Touching me all over like that is pretty bold of you. I didn't think you were that kind of person."

"That's…"

"That's…"

Melody's brain short-circuited. She repeated the same word twice, trying to process what happened, but it was too late. Her face went red, then pale, then red again. At this rate, she looked like she was about to faint from sheer embarrassment.

She fell completely silent.

Honestly, the silence was starting to get old, but considering she'd been shamelessly groping me when she was in her little dream world, Melody needed to learn her lesson.

"Hey, Melody. I've got a serious question."

"Y-Yes!?" she replied quickly, a little too jumpy from the shift in tone.

"Not to make it sound weird or anything, but what's the outside world like?"

"???"

She blinked at me in confusion, clearly not following. Her expression said it all. What do you mean by 'outside world'? She waited, silently urging me to explain.

I took a moment to study her. In the short time we'd known each other, maybe half an hour, I felt like I'd gotten a pretty good read on her. And if my instincts were right, she was someone I could trust.

"Honestly… I woke up in this dungeon, on the lowest floor. I'm not even sure if the outside world is anything I'd recognize."

"Are you a wanderer?" Melody asked, tilting her head slightly. She seemed to be piecing it together based on what I'd said.

"A wanderer? What's that?"

"They're people who come from the outside world or maybe even another one entirely. They're rare… and each one tends to have a really distinctive personality."

"I see… so that's how it is."

So I wasn't the only one. The idea that others like me existed was oddly comforting. At the very least, I wouldn't have to spin up some wild lie to explain why I didn't know anything about the outside world.

Being an otherworlder came with problems… but nothing I couldn't handle. Probably.

"Yes, I'm a wanderer." Melody stared at me, her eyes wide with amazement.

At this rate, I might just be the most interesting person she's ever met. A handsome savior and a mysterious outsider? Honestly, it's probably a crime for someone like me to exist.

"Does that mean… you don't have a place to stay?"

"..."

"No?" I was half-joking, but her reaction said otherwise. She couldn't even hide her intentions properly.

"If you don't mind…" she mumbled, her voice soft as her eyes darted around. "You can stay at my place."

There was a pause as she gathered the courage to finish the thought.

"How could I not offer hospitality to the one who saved me?" She said the last part with sudden boldness, clearly trying to justify herself, though the way her cheeks turned red again ruined her serious tone.

"Are you sure? We just met," I said, raising a brow.

"I don't mind…" Even without her finishing the sentence, I could tell what she meant. Her eyes said the rest.

Maybe I should be more concerned for myself instead of worrying about her intentions.

I wanted to shift the conversation and asked, "So… about the outside world. If you don't mind, tell me a bit about it."

"Oh, right! The world." She perked up, ready to explain. "To start with something simple, this world is called Vesta. Home to seven continents."

So, it had a different name from Earth but the same number of continents, which made it easier to digest.

~

"I get the gist of it."

"Sorry," she said with a sheepish smile. "But I think it's better if you see the world for yourself before making any judgments."

That's a fair point, even if it was a bit of a roundabout explanation.

From what I gathered, Vesta was similar to Earth in many ways, except for the existence of dungeons and people with absurd powers. Technology also seemed on par with what I was used to, so I didn't have to worry about giving up modern conveniences.

"Hey, Melody," I said as we climbed another flight of stairs. The dungeon adventure was beginning to end.

"Do you have any companions?"

"No… why do you ask?"

"I can feel a large group of people heading our way." At least twenty. Fast. They weren't subtle, either.

"Ah…" Melody let out a breath like she'd just remembered something important.

"Theo, could you let me down?"

"You're still injured. Are you sure?"

"Don't worry. I'll recover."

"..."

"???"

Without another word, Melody reached into her backpack and pulled out a small vial of glowing red liquid. She downed it in one go, and before my eyes, her wounds visibly began to heal.

Then, as if that wasn't enough surprise, she pulled a nearly invisible camera from her bag and started fiddling with it.

"..."

"You couldn't have used the potion earlier?" I asked, staring at her in disbelief.

"..."

She averted her gaze, pretending she didn't hear my question.

I thought about lightly scolding her for doing something stupid, but I let it go. The group I sensed was already close.

"MELODY!!!" A voice cried out, raw with panic and something else I couldn't quite place.

Moments later, a figure rushed past the others and pulled Melody into a tight embrace. 

The rest of the group had a more formal presence. They looked like bodyguards: trained, armed, and alert. Whether they worked for Melody or the person hugging her was still unclear.

Then, one of them stepped forward and addressed me directly.

"Theodore. May I call you that?"

I narrowed my eyes slightly. "How do you know my name?"

"Ms. Melody had recorded a live video," the bodyguard said calmly. "Everyone in the world knows about it."

"..."

For the first time since arriving in this world, even more than waking up in a dungeon or realizing I was a damn Sword Saint, my brain just crashed.

Completely blank.

I stood there, frozen, trying to process it. Everyone. In the world.

Slowly, I turned my head toward Melody.

She was already staring at me.

When our eyes met, her face turned a deep, unmistakable shade of red. She quickly looked away, cheeks puffed in embarrassment as if hoping she could disappear on the spot.

Stupid! Stupid! Lovebrain women!