It didn't take Nate long for him to reach a clearing where he could clearly see a wooden palisade in the distance. Even if he walked in a relaxed and unhurried manner, he would easily reach it in about a minute or two.

'Finally. Civilization...' Nate thought, relieved. Even if he didn't really need to eat, drink, sleep or crap, being surrounded by forestry all the damn time had worn on his mind. He was glad that he could finally find a place where he could just sit down, and enjoy the joys of civilized life, even if it wouldn't be as convenient as he was used to.

Nate walked forward with a bit of pep in his step. He was in a very good mood.

*****

Miyu Segawa's Perspective

"Haaah." Miyu sighed, as she finished wiping herself off with a damp cloth. It's been 4 days since she found herself in this strange forest. Luckily, she was able to reunite with people she knew, and they'd been working and traveling together from the start. They luckily found this abandoned village, which offered quite a lot of convenience including food and water in exchange for points, but there were quite a few problems with remaining here. One of them being the absence of a place to bathe. "Geez, why isn't there a single bathroom in the entire village? Where do they even do their business...?"

Miyu had been forced to relieve herself of her body's waste in the bushes while being guarded by one of her female friends of course. Miyu would naturally do so for her friend if she had to go as well.

'We're going to run out of points soon...' She worriedly thought. Every time they had to go to the bathroom, they would have to use the mineral water that they bought with their precious points. There wasn't a problem if they were just peeing, but the problem came when they had to do the other thing. 'Do we really have to go out and fight wolves for more...?'

She was very worried. Because one of her older brothers had an interest in Martial Arts and Kenjutsu, she had been pulled into learning it too. He had said something about it being for self-defense when she grew up, and she did indeed enjoy moving her body around, so she was enthusiastic about learning it. Although she had never joined any competitions for it, her brother had said that she was good, so that was enough for her.

The problem came with her other friends. They were just ordinary people, so they had absolutely no experience in combat. Miyu wasn't even sure that she would do well against wolves, so she was anxious about how well the others would do. If she suggested going out to hunt wolves and one of her friends died as a result, she wouldn't be able to take it.

'What do we do...' As Miyu was ruminating, she finished putting on her clothes and fixing herself up as best as she could. She left the room she wiped herself off in and was greeted by the quiet interior of one of the houses in the village. She didn't think this was strange though, since the friends she was staying in the house with had gone out to search for edible berries and fruits. They also hoped to stumble upon an alternative water source, since they couldn't just keep using up their points on drinking water, only to use it for things such as wiping their bodies or cleaning their butt after they poop.

Miyu made her way out of the house, intending to go out and search as well. She took with her a Katana, the weapon she chose in the white room, and attached it to her waist with the belt it came with.

As she made her way to the village's gate, she smiled and nodded to the people who greeted her. There were plenty of people who had formed groups of their own, then picked a house to stay in. Some had grouped up with people they knew, some with people they'd met along the way to get here, and some with people that they'd met and got along with after arriving in the village.

An unspoken rule had been created in their little makeshift community. It was to not fight, or draw their weapons in the village. There were still plenty of houses with nobody staying in them, so there weren't any fights for spots either. A strange peace was henceforth established in the village, where everyone would just mind their own business, and stay out of each other's way.

"...huh?" Miyu tilted her head as she spotted a person she didn't recognize entering the village through the gate. It was a man who had auburn hair that was a bit messy, most likely due to the whole being-stuck-in-a-weird-forest thing that everybody else was also embroiled in. The man also had bright blue eyes, that shined in the light of the afternoon sun. She could spot it even when he was a few dozen meters away. His build looked similar to a lot of the people who practiced martial arts with her brother, except that he didn't seem to have muscles in the exact same areas. And as the distance between them shrunk, Miyu could make out the man's incredibly handsome features, albeit that he was currently wearing a rather intimidating expression.

But those weren't even the parts that she found the most strange. The man's clothes looked as if they'd seen much better days, as they were caked in dirt, and parts of it had become crusty because of the blood that had dried. Parts of his torso and legs could be seen from the various holes that could be found on his shirt and pants, but the healthy white skin that was revealed underneath told you that he wasn't actually injured and that the blood was from something else. Wolves, perhaps? As he walked forward in steady steps, he didn't seem tired at all, and he didn't have the limp that many others got from those rabbit holes that plagued the forest. And his weapons.

'W-why does he have so many...?' Miyu thought, a bit alarmed. A cursory glance told her that he had 4 weapons equipped. The spear on his right hand, what looked like a slingshot, and a sword on his hip and back. He also had a few weapons bundled together, tied with a belt. Miyu, and all the others, only got one weapon from the white room. So the fact that the man had so many on his person meant one thing.

He had taken them from someone else.

'He doesn't look injured at all, so he got all of those without getting wounded...?' The thought terrified Miyu. Even if she had training in Swordsmanship and Martial arts, even she wasn't confident she could beat so many people without getting a single injury. Her hand unconsciously went to her Katana, as she watched the man come closer. He had made eye contact with her and seemed intent to go over to where she was. 'Wh-what does he want...?'

The man seemed to have noticed that she was guarded against him, and he stopped just short of a few meters from her. He smiled, doing his best to appear amiable as he asked Miyu, "Excuse me, Miss. I just arrived here today, and heard that there was some sort of special stone slab in the village? I was wondering if you could tell me where it is. Just point me in a direction, I'll somehow get there on my own."

"Oh..." Miyu was a bit dazed by the man's words. 'He heard? From who? From the people he killed...?'

"?" The man blinked widely in confusion since Miyu hadn't answered and had just started staring at him. "Miss? The directions, if you would be so kind...?"

"Ah! Oh, yes..." Miyu snapped out of her thoughts. She unconsciously raised her hand and pointed towards where the stone slab was. It was in the middle of the village's equivalent of a plaza. The man would have reached it eventually even if he had just kept walking forward. "I-It's that way..."

"That way, is it...?" The man looked in the direction Miyu pointed at, then turned back towards her and smiled. "Thanks. Oh, by the way, I'm Nathaniel Spencer, but everybody just calls me Nate. Nice to meet you."

"Oh, ah, yes... I'm Sega-- I mean, Miyu Segawa. It's nice to meet you too." Miyu introduced herself without really thinking about it, then bowed a bit as she usually would.

"Oh? You're Japanese? You spoke English so well, and you don't even look Japanese. Are you maybe a halfy?" The man, Nate, asked casually.

"Eh?" Miyu tilted her head in confusion. But then she realized that if Nate had traveled alone, he probably hadn't noticed a bunch of things. Miyu was always the type that liked to help others out when she could, so she helpfully explained, "Uhm. Everybody's faces changed when they got here in the forest. Its kind of like all of our nationalities was changed into the same one."

"Whu-- Huh?" Nate was shocked and speechless. "Seriously...?"

"Mm." Miyu nodded understandingly. She had also been surprised when all of her friends' faces had changed and when they told her that her face had also changed. Miyu continued to explain, "Everybody still retains a few... qualities, though. Uhm, how do I say this... Attractive people are still attractive even with their faces changed and those who aren't very attractive are still..."

"They're still ugly, huh?" Nate chuckled.

"W-well, that's one way to put it..." Miyu smiled wryly at the blunt way Nate had said that. "Despite our faces changing though, for some reason, people will still recognize their acquaintances. So, if you go around, you might see someone you know..."

"Oh." Nate frowned. "That's not good..."

"Huh?" Miyu tilted her head in wonder. 'Isn't it a good thing if you find someone you know?'

"Oh, it's nothing." Nate didn't seem to want to talk about it. He smiled, then bowed a little as he said, "Thank you for being so helpful. I'll go over to the stone slab, now. I'll see you later, I guess?"

"Oh, yes. It was nothing..." Miyu said as she bowed back. She then watched as the man went off in the direction she pointed him to, as she thought, 'Huh. He doesn't seem like a bad person? Then why does he have so many weapons...? Did he just happen to find them?'

While Miyu was standing there in a daze, her shoulders were suddenly grabbed from behind.

"Boo!" A slightly high-pitched voice squeaked from behind her.

"Yes, yes. I'm surprised..." Miyu said, a bit exasperated. She looked behind her to see her best friend. "Ayumi, did you find anything?"

Ayumi was disappointed that she failed to get a rise out of her friend, but then shook her head in a different kind of disappointment. "We found some berries that looked edible, but no signs of a water source. I was really hoping we could finally find some today since I've wanted to take a bath for so long. Wiping yourself down with a cloth just won't cut it!"

"Mm mm." Miyu nodded twice in agreement. She then looked at Ayumi's hands, which were empty-handed except for the bow she was holding. "Where are the berries?"

"I had the others take them. I can't use my bow if I'm carrying something. I have to remain battle-ready! Especially since we met a pack of wolves but they backed off when they saw that there were four of us." Ayumi reported, frowning from the memory of the encounter.

"I see..." Miyu stroked her friend's head, consoling her. Ayumi closed her eyes and purred like a cat, making Miyu giggle.

"By the way, Miyu-chan... Who was that guy?" Ayumi pointed towards the direction where Nate had disappeared into. "He had so many weapons!"

"Mm. Apparently, his name is Nathaniel." Miyu said. "I also wonder where he got them all from, but I don't think he's a bad person or anything..."

"Really?" Ayumi seemed surprised by Miyu's impression of Nate, but then she nodded sagely. "He's hot after all."

"It's not because of that!" Miyu retorted.

"Ahahaha." Ayumi laughed. She wiped away the tears forming in the corners of her eyes and said, "Well, if you say he's not a bad person, then he probably isn't. You're never wrong about these things after all."

"Haah." Miyu sighed in exasperation.

"Let's go follow him!" Ayumi suddenly said.

"Huh?" Miyu was bewildered. "Why should we?"

"I mean, that guy is going to attract a lot of attention. He's hot, sure. But he also has way too many weapons, so people will naturally think that he took them off of people he killed. Plus, his clothes are super bloody, despite him having no injuries, which only reinforces the idea that he killed to get those." Ayumi explained, but then she grinned mischievously. "And, it'll be interesting!!"

"That's the main reason, isn't it?" Miyu sighed for the umpteenth time. They had been like this since their time on earth. Ayumi would get up to some mischief, pull Miyu into it, then Miyu would pull Ayumi back before she went too far. Currently, it seemed that they were in the second step. Ayumi was trying to pull Miyu into whatever interested her. That said, Miyu was a bit worried that Nate would suffer from unwarranted scrutiny from the others, so she agreed to follow him for now. "Fine."

"Yey! Miyu-chan, I love you! Let's go!!" Ayumi ran off towards the plaza, pulling Miyu along with her.

It didn't long for them to reach their destination.

The Plaza didn't really have much in it. It was just a wide-open space in the middle of the village. The only thing special in it was the large stone slab that glowed dully, smack dab in the middle of it all.

As Miyu expected, a crowd had formed around Nate. His appearance was incredibly eye-catching after all. The people had formed groups, huddling together and whispering about Nate, but he paid them no mind. He just blankly stared at the stone slab for a bit, then walked towards it. He casually dropped the bundle of weapons on his left hand to the ground and propped the spear up against the stone slab. He then put both of his touched the stone slab.

The moment he did so, his eyes widened. He stared at the space in front of him blankly.

'Oh. He's probably surprised about all the things that you can exchange for points.' Miyu nodded knowingly. Aside from food and drinking water, there were actually a whole lot of other things that you could get from the slab by exchanging your points. One could also get medicine, a change of clothes, weapons, and armor. Of course, they would be extremely expensive. The points needed to buy a new set of clothes could feed you for a week. The points for weapons and armor? She didn't even bother looking at it closely. There were too many zeroes.

Soon enough, a dull light flashed, and a transparent plastic bag with clothes in them popped out of the stone slab, together with a pair of black bracers with strips of iron on it and an iron chest plate. Nate quickly put the chest plate and the bracers on, not minding the shocked looks the others were giving him. He seemed to have some trouble fastening the chest plate's straps, but after a minute, he finally managed. Nate gave the chest plate a few tugs, to make sure that it was nice and secure.

'The first thing he buys is armor, not water or food...? Or rather, he has enough points to buy armor!?' Miyu trembled in shock. Killing wolves was the most surefire way to get a bunch of points, everybody knew that, but they also noticed that they would get points from time to time even when they didn't kill anything. They just didn't know why. But it seemed that Nate knew, seeing as he had enough points to buy such good armor, with seemingly no worries about what he was going to eat.

After Nate finished putting on his equipment, he looked around at his surroundings and nodded as if he was satisfied. "It's good that a whole bunch of people gathered. Excuse me! Can I have your attention please!"

Nate began clapping his hands loudly, gathering the attention of the crowd. Although, since this crowd had formed because of him, he didn't really have to do much to accomplish this.

"Are you all listening? Good. First, let me introduce myself." Nate put his hand to his chest and then bowed theatrically while smirking. "My name is Nathaniel Spencer, but since everybody but my mom calls me Nate, just go ahead and call me that instead. Anyways, you may be wondering where I got all these weapons, yeah? In fact, some of you might know people, who had the same weapons. I can explain."

The crowd waited with bated breath for Nate to continue. There were a few other things they were curious about, but most of the people there were definitely most curious about where he got all of the weapons from.

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"First of all, I got these swords from the white room." Nate pointed to the sword on his hip and the sword on his back. "I had originally chosen the falchion, but as the weapons sunk into the floor, I dived towards the closest weapon, and pulled it out. Hence, I came out of the white room with two weapons."

'You can do that!?' Miyu thought in shock, her mouth gaping. Everybody else had similar reactions.

"Th-then, what about the others...?" One bystander couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, yes. I was just getting to that." Nate said patiently, as if he was talking to a child. "While I was trying to go to the center of the forest, I kept running into obstacles that I couldn't bypass, so I kept making detours. Eventually, that led me close to this village, where I happened upon a man with a slingshot and two young men. The young men both had swords equipped, in addition to the spear and bow that they had, for a total of four weapons. At first, I thought that they were people with similar thinking to me, and they had just gotten two weapons each in the white room, but I was wrong."

"..." The crowd hung onto Nate's every word. Some even gulped unknowingly. There was something about the way Nate spoke that just made you want to listen to him, and it helped that he made gestures as he told his tale.

'It's probably also because of how bored everybody's been...' Miyu mused. They naturally had no way to entertain themselves in this forest, except by talking to each other. A strange newcomer with a story was the most interesting thing that's happened to them in a while. Miyu was also engrossed in Nate's words.

"The two young men began attacking the old man. An arrow quickly pierced the slingshot man in the shoulder. The two young men, just like a villain from a novel, told the slingshot man about how they were going to kill him to get his points, as well as how they had killed two sleeping men for their swords." Nate said grimly, making some people with light hearts gasp in horror. "I was a bit scared, but seeing that the slingshot man was still alive, I couldn't just leave him be. So, I charged out of my hiding place, quickly stabbing the man with the spear in the stomach. Then I ran at the other man with the bow. Luckily, he was terrible at using it, so it missed me by a mile. He dropped his bow and pulled out his sword, but I got the jump on him. I stabbed him in the leg, and then managed to take his weapon from him."

"Woah!" The crowd cheered.

"Awesome!" Ayumi, who was standing next to Miyu, also exclaimed in admiration, as her eyes seemingly glittered.

"But!" Nate interjected, making the people who were joyfully whispering amongst themselves shut their mouths, giving him their full attention once again. "Who would have thought, that the man with the spear was such a spiteful bastard? He picked up his fallen spear, and stabbed the slingshot man in the stomach!"

"Wha!" The crowd gasped in horror once again.

"As I had just finished incapacitating the man with the bow, I didn't make it in time. I quickly made my way over, and stabbed the spearman again, making sure that he was dead..." Nate sadly recounted. The crowd also remained somber for a bit, not saying a word, as if paying respects to the slingshot man. After a few more moments of this, Nate continued, "Although I was unable to stop his death, I was able to hear the man's last words. He said that he wanted me to have his slingshot, and that he wanted me to use it to kill the other man. Even though I had just killed the spearman, I did it in the name of self-defense. The man with the bow was already incapacitated, and I had already taken all of his weapons, so he was no longer a threat. Despite that, I made a promise to the slingshot guy as he died, so, with a heavy heart, I used his weapon to kill the bowman."

"..." The others continued to listen. Even though they thought killing was wrong, they couldn't help but sympathize with Nate in this situation. The first time he saw another person after waking up in this forest, he actually walked into such a violent situation. None of them could really blame him for his actions and they actually thought that he did well.

"Slingshot man also kindly told me the direction where the village was in, as well as some things about the stone slab. He also told me that behind the village was a valley leading towards the center of the forest. Aside from that though, he didn't manage to tell me more before he..." Nate trailed off sadly. Nobody was insensitive enough to tell him to continue though. After staying silent for a moment, Nate continued, "It would just be a waste to leave their weapons just lying around there, so I picked them all up, and brought them with me. That is why I have so many weapons. Majority of you are correct, I did kill to obtain most of these, but I hope you understand why I did what I did."

"..." Nobody spoke out, but the meaning hidden in the silence was conveyed. Everybody agreed that Nate wasn't at fault.

"And, now I am here." Nate finished up his story with that line. He then stood up straight, as he gave the people around him a look. "Are there any other questions?"

The crowd was a bit surprised by what Nate said. He went from telling a tale of his grueling journey to get here and the violent episode he had just before he arrived, now he was standing there, seemingly ready to answer any inquiries.

"Uhm, it's been four days since we've been here." A handsome young man with black hair stepped forward and raised his hand like a student as he spoke. Miyu recognized him as one of the leading figures in the village, Ming Wang. He was the central figure of a large group of 15 people. "I'm assuming that's the same for you?"

"You assume correctly." Nate replied matter-of-factly.

"Then what have you been doing about food and water? You look very healthy, despite being a bit dirty from your travels, so you must have eaten something and you don't look dehydrated at all. If you know of a water source close by, we would really appreciate it if you shared it with us."

"Oh, that." Nate nodded. He bowed apologetically as he said, "I am not willing to share the specifics of what I did about food and water, but I do not know of any water sources. As for the food, I assure you that I did not go around eating people."

A few people chuckled at Nate's joking tone. Ming, looked at Nate for a few more moments, scrutinizing him. Just as people were beginning to feel uneasy from the sudden stare-down, Ming smiled and stepped back as he said, "I see. That is unfortunate. I was hoping that we could finally solve our water problem, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

"My apologies." Nate offered a short apology.

Ming shook his head. "There is nothing to be done. We'll just have to continue searching."

'He's strangely secretive about this...' Miyu mused, but then she thought of something. 'Could it be that he has some kind of special ability or superpower? Just like me?'

"I see." Nate nodded, then looked around again. "Any other questions?"

"Uh, what do you intend to do with the other weapons...? You obviously can't use them all." One bystander hesitantly asked.

"Hm." Nate nodded approvingly towards the person. "That is a very good question. I do have plans for some of them. For example, I plan to keep the bow with me, since it is a very effective weapon to use against other people. It would be devastating when put in the wrong hands. I don't want to accidentally give it to someone who would use it against other people."

'He's right.' Miyu agreed. She looked beside her, at her friend who also had a bow. Ayumi was the type of person who couldn't possibly use it for the wrong reasons, but Miyu shuddered at the thought of a skilled archer being her enemy. She wasn't like those people in movies and anime, so she couldn't just swat away incoming arrows with her Katana. She would either have to dodge or use a shield. She didn't have a shield, of course, so she would have to dodge, which was something she wasn't confident she'd be able to do.

Despite the utility of the bow, not a lot of people in the village had picked it up when they were in the white room. Most had picked swords, with knives coming in at a close second.

"I don't have any plans to part with this slingshot either, seeing as it was something I inherited from the man who had helpfully told me the directions to this place and so much more, despite not even telling me his name," Nate said, a bit of sadness in his smile. He then continued, "As for the swords I already have equipped, I don't plan to part with them either, since I picked them from the white room personally. I'm a bit of a sentimental man. Now, as for these two swords... I plan to exchange this gladius or this one-handed sword for an unused knife. Are there any takers?"

There was a brief silence as everybody processed Nate's words, but then suddenly...

"Me! I have a knife!" One bystander loudly shouted as he took out his knife and showed it off. "I haven't used it yet, promise!"

"No! My knife is better, see? It's way better than that asshat's knife! Pick mine!!" Another interjected, casually insulting the first bystander.

"Mine!! Pick Mine!"

"No! Me!"

Pure chaos ensued as bystanders with knives came forward to try to exchange their weapons for a sword.

'Ahaha... Well, when he said he was exchanging a sword for a knife, I fully expected this to happen...' Miyu thought as she smiled wryly.

"Wow, look at 'em go!" Ayumi was also quite amused by the debacle before them.

"Well, it's only natural." Miyu nodded. "Knives are quite inconvenient in here. They're shorter than swords and it requires the user to use more of their strength since it's so light. They are easier to use, but it's definitely better to have a sword than a knife in this environment, where your most likely enemies are wolves."

After a few moments, the swords had found new owners, and Nate now had two new knives. Nate quickly attached one of them to the back of his hip, and the other to the outer side of his right thigh.

'Wow. Is he planning to fight an army? Why is he equipped with so much stuff?' Miyu remarked inwardly. A spear, a slingshot, two swords, and two knives. He even had a bow in reserve, although he didn't seem to have plans to use it. He had a total of 6 weapons even if one excluded the bow.

"Alright, now that that's over with, I want to announce something," Nate spoke loudly, gathering the crowd's attention to him once again. "I am determined to reach the center of the forest as fast as possible. Even if I have to go by myself, I will do it."

"..." Everybody there was shocked speechless. It was already so dangerous to go around in a group of 2 or 3, but he wanted to go by himself? Alone? Some people couldn't help but look at him as if he was a madman.

"Well, that would be one of the less desired scenarios." Nate scratched his cheek while smiling wryly. "I am aware that going alone is dangerous, that is why I would like to ask the good people here, if anyone is willing to go with me."

There were various reactions to Nate's statement. Some thought that he was still crazy just for wanting to go deeper. They had all instinctively felt that the closer they got to the center, the more dangerous it became. Some of the people who got here earlier knew this more than anyone, seeing as they were present when a group of 6 people went into the valley with none coming back, even though they only intended to take a short look. Some people nodded in understanding, while others seriously considered whether they wanted to go with him.

Miyu was among the latter.

'Should I join in too...?' Miyu ruminated. Life in this forest was quite arduous, despite them having a shelter of sorts. She didn't quite know what would happen to them at the end of six months or when someone made it to the Altar, but she was sure it would be better than their current situation. She had been thinking about trying to make for the center, but she didn't really have a reliable group of people to go with. Nate looked quite intimidating with all those weapons, and he had real combat experience, which was something even she didn't have. If they gathered a few more capable and willing people, they might actually have a chance. 'But... will we even find a few more capable people...? I don't think just us two would cut it.'

Miyu decided to just watch and wait, for now, to see if others would volunteer first when her head was suddenly wracked by a dull pain.

'Eh? I'm going to have a vision? Now!?' Miyu thought. Ever since she was around thirteen years old, she had started having weird dreams. She brushed these off at the start, but she was shocked to discover that they would always happen eventually. After she had somehow predicted what the winning lottery ticket was (She wasn't able to enter, since she was underaged. Nobody else believed her either, so she nor her family, were able to benefit from it.), she couldn't ignore it any longer. She had a superpower.

The dreams would be somewhat erratic in frequency and topic. There would be times when she dreamed of something every night for a week and then there would be entire months where she wouldn't have a single one. The common point in all of them was that she was sleeping, then would wake up with a dull headache, pass out, then have the dream.

'Am I going to pass out in front of all these people? Please, no!'

As Miyu was thinking that, her senses gradually dulled, and after a moment she couldn't see or hear anything. Everything was black.

*****

When the darkness that filled her vision faded, she found herself in front of a large, white pillar of marble that towered far into the heavens. She was currently looking up, trying to see if she could see the pillar's topmost point.

'Is this the Altar in the middle of the forest...?' Miyu thought. Even though she still wanted to look at the pillar, her body moved on its own. Or rather, it moved according to the will of the dream's Miyu.

The surrounding forest was covered in a thin fog. After Miyu stopped looking at the pillar, she turned her head to look at the man beside her. It was Nate.

'Oh, is this a vision of our success? So I really should go with him then...' Miyu thought. She didn't let her visions dictate her actions, but she often used the information in them to help her decide what she did. For example, she had suggested that her brother start studying Kenjutsu and Martial arts because she had a vision of him telling her how fun it was. And even though she had a vision of herself getting a sprain and a broken arm due to practicing Martial arts, she still continued, since she found it fun. In this case, her anxiety over whether they would succeed was answered, so she would go ahead with what she wanted to do.

"Phew, we finally made it." Dream Nate said. He beamed happily at Dream Miyu, then punched her lightly in the shoulder. "It was all thanks to you, Miyu. I'm pretty sure that if you weren't here, we would've failed for sure."

Dream Miyu shook her head. "No no no. It's because you're a good leader. And you were injured multiple times, too..."

'Huh?' Miyu thought, confused. 'He looks healthy though? What do I mean that he was injured multiple times...?'

"That was nothing." Dream Nate said, shaking his head in denial. He then turned his head to look at the Altar again. "Well, it took us two months to get here, so let's get this over with. Who wants to go there and touch the thing? Volunteers? Hugo?"

"I'm good." A tall, dark-skinned man, Hugo, shook his head violently. "You know me, boss. I'd charge into a horde of monsters for you, but I can't do shit for anything I can't see. I'll take a hard pass on being the first to touch that stupidly big thing."

'Who's this...?' Miyu wondered. The man named Hugo wasn't someone in the village. 'Does he come a bit later...?'

"True." Nate smiled wryly, he then looked around for another potential sacrifice. "Ari, you?"

"Why the hell do you think I would wanna go, when this big guy here doesn't?" A short but pretty girl with light-brown hair holding a bow, most likely the person named Ari, said sardonically. She dropped her bow on the ground and grabbed onto Nate's left arm, wrapping herself around it. "Are you trying to throw me away? After what happened between us!?"

"You mean that whole lotta nothing that happened a while ago?" Nate dryly retorted.

'W-what's with this girl...? Why is she so shameless?' Miyu thought, shocked. Her other-self seemed to think similarly since Dream Miyu went forward and peeled off Ari from Nate's arm.

"Hey get off him will you?" Dream Miyu said irritably, which surprised Miyu.

'Eh...? Why does it seem like I'm actually angry?' Miyu thought in confusion.

"Tch. Fuck off..." Ari murmured in a volume that only the two Miyus could hear, but she still let go of Nate's arm.

"Haha... Thanks, Miyu." Nate chuckled wryly, then looked at a thin boy with glasses. "What about you, Brent?"

"N-no... I'm good." Brent timidly said, in a voice that could just barely be heard by the people here.

"I see." Nate didn't seem as disappointed this time, seeming to have expected the refusal. "And I suppose Ming won't want to either?"

"You know me well." Ming replied casually, then chuckled.

'Wah, Ming joined in too? And it seems that he considers Nate the leader? Ming? I didn't think he had it in him to let someone else take control...' Miyu mused. 'Or rather, is this everyone...? We made it to the center with just six people...!?'

Miyu shocked. As the Dream Miyu looked around, she finally noticed that every single one of them was wearing quite a bit of armor, and had knives or swords as sub-weapons.

'I guess we didn't get here immediately...' Miyu thought. Those armor and weapons were naturally obtained through the stone slab. They had likely grinded points for them before making the trip to the Altar.

Nate shrugged, smiling wryly. "You guys suck. You always let me handle the dangerous work. Fuck you guys."

Despite what he said, Nate still willingly walked forward, sword drawn.

Miyu's vision started to distort, and her head started to hurt again.

'Eh, wait, I'm going to have another vision!?' Miyu thought in shock as her vision darkened again.

*****

When the darkness faded for the second time today, Miyu found herself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling.

'This... doesn't look like a ceiling from one of the houses in the village.' Miyu mused. The ceiling and the bit of the walls that she could see looked quite luxurious. There was even a chandelier. It wouldn't be strange if you found the same ceiling in some high-class hotel. 'Did we actually make it back to earth...?'

"Unnghh..." Dream Miyu groaned, and then rubbed her eyes. She then turned sideways, shocking the real Miyu out of her wits.

'Is that Nate!? And he's naked!?!? Why is Nate naked in my bed!?!?!?' Miyu panicked inwardly. She didn't have much experience with men, seeing as she attended all-girls schools from middle school to college, and having seven older brothers who doted on her was enough to scare off most pursuers. She also wasn't that interested in those kinds of things, so the fact that she was having a vision of her being with a naked man in bed was quite shocking. 'Also! Why are you just laying there, poking his nose!? Kick him off or run away!'

Dream Miyu had started poking Nate's nose playfully while she giggled, bewildering Miyu even more. Eventually, Nate groaned and then woke up.

"Good morning." Dream Miyu greeted sweetly.

'I-I can make such a voice...?' Miyu's spine tingled. She'd never heard herself use such a cutesy tone. It was enough to make her think that maybe she was watching from someone else's perspective, instead of her future self.

"Morning, Miyu." Dream Nate smiled, as he groggily replied, instantly shattering Miyu's theory.

"Hmm~" Dream Miyu then wrapped her hands around Nate and snuggled into his chest.

'Oh, God! What are you doing!? Stop!' Miyu inwardly shrieked. She finally discovered something new about her visions. 'Why can't I stop seeing this!? Or mute it! Nooo!'

"Hey, we have to go on a Dungeon Climb today. Stop trying to get me horny." Dream Nate playfully scolded.

"Just a quickie. Please?" Dream Miyu looked up and began filling Nate's neck with hickeys.

'Ahhhhhhhh!!!' Miyu continued to watch in sheer agony and embarrassment.

"Damnit..." Nate cursed lightheartedly. "... Just once alright? We can't be late."

"Yey!" Dream Miyu said happily.

'Not yey!!!' Miyu retorted inwardly.

Dream Nate smiled wryly, then said. "Since you used your mouth so much last night, I'll do something special too."

Dream Nate dived into the covers, giving Miyu a view of her body's current state.

'Oh my god! I'm naked too! Well, I kind of expected it, but I didn't want to get actual confirmation!!!' Miyu lamented.

"W-wait... It's dirty there..." Dream Miyu protested a little but made no actual effort to stop Dream Nate.

'No, If you going to say that, try to stop him for real!!' Miyu begged, to no avail.

"Ah♥" Dream Miyu let out a weird voice.

'Noooo! Let me out!! Please!!!' Miyu pleaded desperately. 'I don't want to watch this! Even though I look like I'm really happy about this whole thing and enjoying it a lot, I don't want to see or hear any of this!'

Luckily, it seemed that Miyu's pleas were heard, as her vision started to distort, signaling the end of her vision.

'Yes! It's over!' Miyu felt so relieved she could dance.

*****

Miyu's consciousness returned, and she surprisingly found that she was still standing. She hadn't passed out on the ground, embarrassing herself in front of all these people or worrying her friends.

The scene of Nate going down to do something to her was still vivid in her mind. A furious blush started to fill her face.

"Huh? Miyu-chan? What's wrong? Your face is really red!" Ayumi asked as she looked at Miyu from the side.

"N-nothing..." Miyu tried to play it off as she looked at Nate with a complicated expression.

Ayumi smirked mischievously. "What, do really you have the hots for that guy?"

"I do not!!" Miyu retorted, a bit louder than she intended.

All of the eyes in the crowd, including Nate's, turned towards Miyu at that moment.

"Uuuu." Miyu shrunk down on herself in embarrassment. She really didn't know what to do now.