--------- Another planet, a different era ---------

She realized she made a mistake. Everyone said that she should stay in her cabin in the middle of the village, but did she listen? No. She had to bring the cured meat and dried herbs to the hermit on the mountain. He was getting older, everyone knew that. What if he wasn't strong enough to go hunting anymore, and didn't have enough supplies for the month? She had already made the trek once and been fine.

The weather being colder than it was last month, and the snowflakes being bigger, and the snow being harder, and everything being pure white, and it snowing sideways... she should have at least brought an animal with her to help carry things, or at least wait for the weather to calm down a bit so she could see something.

As it was, she could only see a few feet in front of her, and only for a moment before she had to close her eyes again to keep from snowflakes scratching her eyes. She couldn't even tell the difference between the sky, the snowbanks, or anything else. Everything was white. Everything was the same.

But she had to keep going. Even if she tried to give up and go back, she couldn't abandon someone that might be in need. She couldn't tell where she was, either. If she tried to scream for help, no one was out here. The wind was too loud and strong for her voice to carry anywhere. She couldn't even hear herself. Even if someone somehow was out there, and could hear her if she did start yelling, the weather was so horrible that nothing could be seen. She'd never be found unless she made it. She knew that.

She took another step forward, and felt herself sink. As she felt herself start to descend through the snow, she could tell that it wasn't just a pile of built-up snow on the side of the road she lost track of hours ago. She had stepped on a patch of snow that built up over the edge of a cliff, but the closest one was a half mile away, in the wrong direction!

--------- The same snowy mountain cliff, during another white-out blizzard, three hundred years later ---------

She woke up, but she wasn't laying on the ground nor was she wasn't laying in bed. She had been dead for a long time, only waking up to find herself standing in place, or walking a little bit. She spent most of her time sleeping in death, waking up only because she didn't want anyone else to make the same mistake she did, getting lost in the snow and going over the side of a cliff.

Vehicles like she had been seeing the few times she became aware of her surroundings looked differently than they did before, and sometimes moved much faster, but that also meant that she had to appear further from the cliff so she could give adequate warning. When she would appear like that, she could feel the fear and confusion in the drivers and their passengers if they had any, but what mattered is they LIVED. They could live, where she could not. But she could still help. That's all she ever wanted to do- give other people the chance to be saved in the way she never got.

The uncommon times that someone was driving alone and slowly approached the cliff unawares, she could appear as more than a face or vague humanoid shape in the snow. She'd draw the attention of the driver, confusing them as to how or why someone was all alone and just as lost, out in such weather. They'd offer her a ride, and she could talk to them a little and guide them more effectively since she could give specific directions. But after the driver was safe, she would go back to sleep, waiting for the next lost soul to save.

A strong blizzard just like the others continued to drown the land and sky into an impossible blank canvas, but luckily she could see in it. And she could even make sure that others could see her, even if they couldn't see anything else. The cold wasn't something that bothered her anymore; her body was broken and forgotten long ago, and she knew it. That didn't mean that when she would awaken she'd be in front of a vehicle with passengers right away. She'd be directly in front of the vehicle she woke to save, sure, but that was because she was trying to get the living to swerve away from the cliffside and back to the right path.

This time, she didn't see a car or truck, wondering why she was awake. She would have rather continued in her sleep of death than being out in the snow, no longer lost, but still alone. That loneliness was starting to get to her, however.

She heard a voice behind her, not drowned out or even buffeted by the howling frozen winds. "You've been here for a long time", the voice said in a masculine but soothing voice.

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She turned around, and saw a man standing there. He was wearing a smart-looking jacket, though not one suited for the cold at all. The man wasn't skinny nor fat, with relatively attractive muscling, but not too sinewy, and his beard didn't look like one a mountain man would sport. She continued staring at him, confused.

The man smiled slightly. "I can hear you, if you talk. Is there something you'd like to ask me?"

She hadn't spoken in a long time. She was aware that she wasn't present for most of it, and she had gotten used to it. But now someone could speak to her? Hear her?

She tested her voice, sounding wispy even to herself. "How is this happening?"

"Possibilities like this are part of my job."

"... your job?"

The man nodded. "I'm in the business of finding unique people and sending them to their next stage, and you are my current case file. Would you like to hear more?"

"Case?"

"Lingo you're not aware of. You'll learn a lot of new things, depending on where you want to go. I do have a suggestion, if you want to hear it. If you aren't sure yet, you can take your time since we both have all the time in the world."

She still didn't really know what was going on, but she asked anyway, to maybe clarify things, but mostly to simply have a conversation. "I'd like to hear more."

"There's a world, about this one's age, that needs a bit of vitality. In order to help it, I bring people from other worlds there, and for the most part, I ignore what happens to the people I bring after I set them up."

"Vitality? What kind of set up?"

"Different people deserve different amounts of help from me. For you, I'll help you find some things that will get you started. And don't you worry, your long service has awarded you my favor. I'll have you cash this favor in when we get started, so you can do something interesting and fun for everyone involved. As for what vitality means, that requires more explanation."

They spoke for a time.

--------- The town near the mountain cliff, the same day the Armchair God met the Vanishing Hitchhiker ---------

And here she thought that seeing her old village, frozen in time as if it was a painting was interesting. The modern day had so many sights to behold that she could look at it forever. Though, that wasn't an option she had.

"Is there anything else you'd like me to copy for you?", the ghost's savior asked.

She was naught but a transparent blur and a cold patch, but she smiled warmly anyway. "I don't like to feel greedy. Thank you, for all of this. I just want to look at one last place, and I think I'm ready."

It was interesting. She had picked out bedrolls, dried meats, an ox, a sled dog, hiking tools, and other things from inside and around the old general store from the day she had originally left on her supply run. She didn't have the animals trailing along, and neither she nor her companion were carrying anything. But she knew she had it and could make more since she had at least one of it. The new life she was being prepared for was going to be an interesting one!

In the current time, the last stop before reincarnating, or so she was told, was just as fortuitous. She didn't care for the vehicles or all the unnatural lights everywhere, but was more interested in other things like the dresses and flowers in the bridal shop. She had been interested in what women wore when they married. She had been told by married people here and there about their weddings, but she never met people that night and she was curious. Not for personal reasons, but passing interest.

The cashier and some customers were paused in time, looking to be in an argument. The flowers on the wall behind the arguing people were very beautiful, the dead girl thought. "I'd like those, too. I only know some of those flowers. I can really grow them?"

The man that could move nodded. "You will need to put some effort into it, but you can create almost anything you can imagine, given the opportunity."

It was the flimsiest thing she'd ever seen, but it looked nice. Whatever the bridal gown's veil was made of was something else she needed. And the dress, because they really did go together. "What is this?", she asked, motioning towards the bridal registration tome.

"A book for guests to sign in. I haven't seen many dungeons with a guest book, but you can try to set that up if you want to."

She did. She liked people and thought she could get to know the delvers she'd have more if she knew what their names were.

Adding the items to the collection, the two were off to what used to be a hole dug out by what was similar to rabbits, but had been emptied and expanded by the local townsfolk during a crop shortage. Instead, the hole now contained a small and cloudy-looking sphere that glowed slightly and produced a cold mist.

--------- Outside the dungeon, a year later ---------

In the middle of a temperate and grassy field, there was an abrupt and circular patch of snow a meter wide. It wasn't cold outside, nor was the season or weather dark or cold. That didn't cause the snow to warm or melt, nor did it stop the breeze coming from the hole in the ground to be any less frigid.

The inspector took in the sight, and another step forward. As he did, he heard the sound of crunching beneath his boots. He already knew that the grass had frozen, looking like morning dew had crystallized. "The grass is trapped. Take note."

His supports and blind heeded the warning and stayed near but behind him as they had been trained, as he removed what looked like a magical abacus from his backpack.

After fiddling with it for awhile, he exited the dungeon. In the rolled scrolls he had copied from the Exterminator reports were the inspector's own findings and the energies recorded would be responded to as the dungeon producing it should be.

[Death] [Ice] [Fortune]

The Ministry of Truth and the capital had one answer for such energies.