Remy quickly found out just how far they were from the seaside. The dungeon, roughly a quarter of the distance to the beach, was already far from Purwa. They were in an incline as well, albeit not much. For a moment, Remy thought about returning. Considering how long they took to travel to the place, leveling up in other areas might be more respectful of their time. He glanced at his wife, but she continued striding forward, not a hint of tiredness on her face. Not wanting to lose, Remy followed after her.

“Aww…” Atilia let out her voice after a while. A little rabbit hopped on the road, looked toward her, before hopping away.

“She’s scared of you,” Remy joked.

“I’m not scary.”

As they continued their walk, they saw some animals on the plains beside the road. These look like sheep, but with thorns on their heads and bodies, appearing between their fur. Some of them turned their heads toward the two, watching as they passed. Atilia pulled out the guidebook.

“Moskria highland sheep.”

Remy took a quick look at the description. These sheep were hostile only to those who got too close. Once a person or an animal passed their comfort zone, they would use the thorns on their body to either send that animal away or kill it, humans included.

“We should be fine as long as we stay at a distance,” Remy murmured, but Atilia shook her head.

“Want to try killing them?”

“... What happened to staying away?”

“I never say I agreed.”

“Alright.” Remy pulled out his sniper rifle, all charged up and ready to go.

Unlike the cows from before, the guidebook described these animals as hostile. They would charge if attacked. Thus, Atilia readied her magic. Remy got down to his knees, aiming toward one of the sheep that was also staring back at him.

The sheep growled, letting out a fierce-sounding mbaa that wasn’t similar to the sheep back on Earth. Remy rested his finger on the trigger. But, to his surprise, the sheep was the one that charged first. It stepped forward, leaping above the grass straight at him. He pulled the trigger. A bolt pierced right into the sheep’s head, and the animal fell to a halt, tumbling above the dirt. The rest of the flock looked toward them and began their charge.

“Create, Ice Wind!” Sharp shards of ice formed in front of Atilia’s hands. Using the wind, she launched them at the charging sheeps. The ice shard smashed through their heads, blood trailing out from their wounds. Remy cocked his sniper, firing as fast as he could. He managed to down three more sheep, with one of his shots missed. He tried to charge the rifle on his own but ended up shocking himself by accident. The shock caught him off guard, throwing him down to the road.

“Remy!” Atilia called in a panic. She finished off the rest of the sheep before coming to his side. “You alright?”

“I’m fine.” Remy sat upright.

“You’re hurt?” Atilia took a close examination of him.

“I’m fine, I think. Just a little shock, sorry.”

“It’s alright.” After making sure that her husband was alright, she pulled him up. Using the piece of magic paper, Atilia contacted the guild. She wrote a quick message describing how they managed to take out a group of sheep. The guild replied with a quick confirmation, saying that they would send someone over. Atilia and Remy told them that they would leave the area, and after a second confirmation, continued on their journey north.

It took a few more minutes before they finally reached the dungeon. The two stared at the entrance. It looked no different from an ordinary cave. Truly unremarkable, just as Cathirina described it.

“Should we enter?” Remy asked to make sure.

“We’ve walked this far. Might as well go in.” Atilia took the first step, entering the dark cave.

“Generate, Light!” Atilia’s hand glowed a bright white.

“You’re so impressive,” Remy murmured, following after her.

“Thanks, but this isn’t much. The people of this world can use hundreds if not thousands of spells.”

“And I can’t even use one.”

“I would blame that on the fact that you chose me.” Atilia shrugged. “And, to be fair, you’re technically using me as your cheat now.”

“Sorry about that.”

“No, it’s alright. It’s the least I can do.” Atilia lightly elbowed her husband. They went deeper, with Atilia leading the way. Remy’s sniper couldn’t do much in such close quarters, thus he stood in the back. He readied his weapon regardless. Atilia had already charged it, making sure that it was ready to go at any moment.

The two watched their surroundings, proceeding very carefully. They arrived at the first junction, where the path split into three. Atilia stepped back, pointing her free left hand toward the wall.

“Form, Rock!” Using the beginner spell, she created three pieces of sharp rocks. She placed them down on the floor and pointed their sharp points toward the exit. She then created more rock, using it to weigh down the sharp ones onto the floor.

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“Alright. So, left, right, or center?”

Remy thought about it. It should be the same regardless of where they go. But, thanks to the amount of time they spent on the road so far, they couldn’t spend much time there. He thought about the one most likely to get him the best reward. He approached the three paths, examining them one by one. They all looked quite different. The one in the center had a higher ceiling, followed by the one on the left. The one on the right was the smallest, both in width and height.

Something about the one on the right invited him in. Maybe it was its size, or maybe something else. He couldn’t decide, but-

Atilia, looking tired from waiting for him, grabbed his hand and dragged him into the one on the right. Atilia’s sudden movements almost caused him to stumble, but he straightened up, following her into the cave. Deeper and deeper, they went, with Atilia’s hand acting as the sole source of light.

They hadn’t met any monsters so far, but the two remained on standby.

“Watch out,” Atilia whispered, coming to a stop. She kneeled down, Remy readied his sniper behind her.

“Did you see anything in front of us?” she asked. Remy took a look from behind her. Not seeing anything, he set the sniper down next to Atilia, looking through its scope. Something stood in the darkness. A figure, looking like a normal human. Atilia’s light wasn’t bright enough to show the figure clearly.

“It’s turning,” Remy said after seeing it move. He couldn’t tell where its face was, nor could he tell whether it was an actual human or not. He could only tell that something moved, that was all. He couldn’t even know whether that thing was facing them or not.

Atilia inched closer, and closer, tip-toeing above the rocky surface. The light surface began shining over the figure. The figure, now in the light, turned toward her.

“Whoaam… And I somehow meet you again,” the figure said. It was, of course, Mimiyat.

“What are you doing here?” Atilia asked. The two then approached her, no longer tip-toeing like before.

“Investigation-” Mimiyat then yawned, again. “Investigation… damnit,” she repeated again, as if forgetting she had just said it. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re looking for monsters to kill.”

“You outworlders do know that this isn’t a game, right? You won’t find any treasure here,” Mimiyat said coldly, looking away. She began walking forward, going deeper into the cave, with the two following her.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re following you.”

Mimiyat didn’t retort. Instead, she continued on.

“Can you walk without seeing?” Atilia asked.

“I extinguished my magic when I heard you approach. Now your light is enough for me.”

“I see…” Atilia replied, getting closer to share the light. Remy, meanwhile, walked behind the two, taking a close look at the rock structure around him. It felt realistic, mainly because he was in a new world. A real world, one as real as Earth. Had he not died, he would never have been exploring areas like this. He would spend all his free time in front of his computer, alone.

He couldn’t stop being grateful for Atilia’s existence, the girl who willingly came to this world to accompany him.

“Remy?” Atilia called out to him.

“I’m here.”

“Stay close.”

“Don’t.”

Atilia jerked her head toward Mimiyat. “What? You’re so angry with us that you’re fine with leaving us alone?”

“Correct. Besides, as I said, this is not a game. You won’t find anything here. No boss monsters, no treasures-”

“So you know about games, too?”

“... You outworlders won’t stop yapping about them,” Mimiyat snorted.

“Oh, excuse me? We literally just arrived the day you decided you didn’t want to work. How is it our fault?”

“It’s your entire people’s fault.”

“Oh, playing the blaming game, are we?”

The two began bickering, while Remy walked in silence. He knew better than to get himself involved. He found it surprising that, as someone who claimed she didn’t have a personality, Atilia was full of one. To him, she felt much more like a person than him who could only smile and nod to whatever people told him to do.

She had things she liked, things she disliked, her own stand on things, things she could tolerate. He found his wife to be a lot more charming than him himself. He didn’t feel worthy of her, but he was grateful she was willing to accept him.

“Can you please stop yawning when someone’s talking to you?” Atilia’s sudden exasperated plead returned Remy’s attention to the conversation the two girls were having. Mimiyat shook her head.

“I can’t,” she answered, but somehow, it didn’t feel like sarcasm, a joke, or a lie. “I didn’t sleep enough last night.”

“How long did you sleep?”

“Five hours.”

“That’s not enough?”

“Not… yawn… for me… Ah… damnit.”

“Then what are you even doing right now? Why not go back and sleep?”

“I told you, didn’t I? Did you already forget?”

“Yeah, I know. But is it that serious?”

“Anything regarding him is serious.”

“Him?”

Mimiyat let out another yawn, not bothering to explain what she meant by him to Atilia. Remy couldn’t help but feel worried. Mimiyat didn’t seem to be in a good enough condition to do quests or the like.

“Mimiyat, are you sure-”

“Anyway, there’s nothing for you to do here, so- ah.”

Remy froze. Atilia reached out her hand, but she touched nothing but empty air. Mimiyat stepped on something and went tumbling down. She didn’t stop on the ground, however, but instead went right through it.

“Mimiyat!” Atilia yelled, immediately jumping after her. Remy watched in shock as the two girls disappeared in front of his eyes. He looked left and right, his mind racing, trying to think of something to do, a way to help. Only one answer came to his brain. He wasn’t sure if it was the correct choice, but there seemed to be no other options. He knew he wasn’t thinking calmly, yet he stepped forward anyway, going straight into the dark hole.

“AKH! OUCH!” Remy yelled in pain as his back crashed into multiple things at once. He tumbled over and over, until finally landing on a hard surface.