I found myself in a dark, cold cave.

What did it look like?

No idea. It was pitch black, and I couldn’t see a thing to describe it.

Wait a second. Shouldn't I have been beaten to death by that Orc by now? Why am I still alive? And in a cave, no less? What happened to that quiet forest?

Well, bad news for some of you: I’m still alive and kicking. That fat pig didn’t kill me after all. Just as its wooden club was about 10 cm away from smashing my face, Big Brother Mon teleported me to another place—this cave. So here I am, alive and without a scratch.

Now, if we're counting mental “wounds,” that’s a different story. Physically unscathed, but mentally? Yeah, I’m pretty shaken up.

Do you know how I felt at that moment? Like my soul was about to detach from my body and ascend to the heavens, ready to meet my ancestors. I was seriously scared out of my mind. My whole body trembled, and my hands reflexively flew up to cover my face—even though I knew, in my current state, that wouldn’t help at all.

Thanks to that Orc, I learned a harsh truth—a very dangerous and significant difference—between adventuring in a game and adventuring in the real world.

Do you know what it is? Life.

Of course, adventuring in another world doesn’t require a Wi-Fi connection, which saves a lot of money for someone as broke as me. I guess that’s one advantage over gaming.

But that’s not the point!

The life I’m talking about isn’t some Wi-Fi network, or 4G, or whatever. I’m talking about my life! Instead of respawning like in a game, here, when you die, it’s game over—literally and figuratively.

Oh man, why did it take me this long to realize how serious this is? I mean, apart from the adorable fire-breathing dragons, there are freaking Orcs that eat people in this world!

At first, when Mon mentioned the Orc, I was a bit intrigued. Now? Yeah, not so much. Real life is a whole different beast from games. It’s nothing like I imagined.

In a game, a few simple keyboard inputs, some skills, and with my veteran gaming experience, I could’ve chopped that Orc’s head off in five seconds flat. But in real life? Nope, no way.

Forget fighting back. I couldn’t even stand steady when I saw that thing, let alone do anything else.

Ugh!! I’m so mad at myself for being so weak.

[Scanning complete. No threats detected in the cave. The host may proceed.]

Ah, there he is—our main man finally making an appearance after disappearing for a bit!

So, Big Brother Mon wasn’t saying anything because he was busy scanning for monsters. What a responsible leader, always looking out for me.

Wait, “proceed”? Are you kidding me? Move? Move where? This cave is pitch black—I can’t even see the path in front of me! How do you expect me to move!?

I get that Big Brother Mon cares for me, but if you care, then take care of everything properly—

[Activating lights…]

[Lights activated.]

…

Huh? What just happened? Some anticlimactic plot twist or something? Big Brother Mon cut off my rant with two short messages: “activating lights” and “lights activated.” And then what? A row of rectangular objects on the ceiling began lighting up one after the other, starting from where I was standing and stretching deeper into the cave.

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How do these things work? No idea. I didn’t see any power cords. But hey, this is another world, so I bet it’s some kind of magic. In fact, anything I don’t understand in this world will just be chalked up to magic. As for who cast the magic to make them light up, it must have been Big Brother Mon—who else?

Anyway, let’s forget that bizarre scene and start my first adventure in this other world.

“Let’s go! Let’s move forward! Yeah yeah!”

“Huh?”

After walking about five steps, I stopped. In front of me were three paths. Of the three, only the left path was lit by the rectangular light sources. The other two were completely dark.

Should I take the brightly lit path? Wrong—big mistake. Haven’t you heard the phrase, “things aren’t always as they seem”? Just because it’s all bright and shiny doesn’t mean it’s not a trap. That’s why I’m going to choose one of the two dark—

[Please proceed along the path lit by the magic lights. That is where we need to go.]

…

Hmm, thinking backward for a moment, insisting that the dark paths are the safe ones also goes against the “things aren’t always as they seem” rule. So what does that mean? It means there’s risk either way—half safety, half danger.

Since all paths are equally risky, choosing the easiest one is the smartest option.

Yup, based on that reasoning, I’ll go with the left path. It’s lit up, so it’s clearly the easiest to follow. Even without Big Brother Mon saying so, I would’ve chosen this one.

“Alright. Let’s go! Move forward! Yeah yeah!”

Now that I can see better, let me describe the cave a little.

The cave is about ten meters high, and the width is probably double that. The ground is completely smooth, like it’s been paved, unlike any natural cave floor. The walls are lined with smooth stone, with patches of green moss here and there. After a while, I couldn’t tell if this was a natural cave or an intricately designed structure.

That’s the visual part. As for the sounds? As usual, nothing but dull silence. No noise except for the echo of my footsteps.

Oh, I almost forgot. I haven’t asked Big Brother Mon about those strange phrases from earlier. No, it’s not that I forgot to ask—it’s more like he forgot to explain.

First question: What is the Divine Realm?

[Answer: The Divine Realm is the domain of the gods, where the Ten Creators govern this world along with their armies. There are no precise coordinates for the Divine Realm, and no foreign creature may enter without the permission of all ten Creators.]

I see. I had a rough idea of what the Divine Realm was before asking. The only thing I guessed wrong was its location. I thought gods lived in the sky, but apparently, they keep their whereabouts hidden. Afraid of getting assassinated or something? Or maybe they’re just introverted? Who knows what those gods are thinking.

Alright, we’ll leave that question for now. Next: Where are we, Big Brother Mon?

[Answer: The host is currently in the “Ruins of the Emperor.”]

Here we go again with emperors. So, who’s this Dark Emperor? Is he cool? Is he powerful?

[Answer: The Dark Emperor is a title held by a person who died roughly eight hundred years ago.]

That’s the explanation? Duh! Everyone knows that! What, was it supposed to refer to a pig instead of a person?

And what about my other two questions, Big Brother Mon?

[Answer: No information available.]

Huh? That’s strange! So, you can’t answer everything after all. Makes sense, though. If you could, I’d probably be the ruler of the world by now, and it’s only chapter four.

How could knowing everything lead to world domination? Oh, boy, here’s another common misconception. Ever heard the phrase, “knowledge is power”?

Just imagine, knowing everything—including future events! Ha! Picture me, one day ruling a kingdom and knowing every move other nations will make. What do I do? Send my army to crush the neighboring nations, of course! Strategy? Trying to outsmart me, someone who knows everything, including their strategy? Ridiculous. Even if the sky falls, I can’t lose.

A mouse never takes cheese from a trap if it knows it’s a trap. A fish never bites the bait on a hook if it knows it’ll die. And a king never loses a war if he sees through all his enemy’s tactics.

That, in a nutshell, is the power of knowing everything.

[All knowledge becomes useless in the face of absolute power, host.]

Enough. Don’t say another word on this topic, Big Brother Mon.

Instead, let’s move on to the next question. Who’s sitting on that chair down the path!? After wandering through the cave for a while, I could make out a faint figure in the distance, seemingly sitting on a chair.

Hold on, let me get a closer look.

Oh, a skeleton?

A… SKELETON!?

Ahh!! A ghost!!

Hah, you thought I’d scream? Dream on. I’ve got nerves of steel.

[Answer: That is the remains of the Dark Emperor, which is also our destination, host.]

Ah, I see. So, Big Brother Mon wants me to light some incense for him to rest in peace, huh? Sure. My first adventure in this world involves paying respects to the Dark Emperor—an oddly boring yet memorable journey.