Lumi welcomed Aurora and the others into her home. Lumi gestured for Aurora and her companions to follow her deeper into the building. The interior was even more dilapidated than the exterior, with cracked walls and creaky floorboards that threatened to give way under their weight. Aurora couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for Lumi as she led them into what seemed to be the only room in the entire home that was somewhat intact.

The room was sparsely furnished, with only a few chairs and small table at the middle. They then sat on the beaten-up chair. Sitting on it felt like it was not going to hold Aurora's weight and would break any second. But as she sat down, she was surprised to find that it was sturdier than it looked.

Aurora looked at the red-haired dwarf. "Let me clarify first," Aurora said. "Are you Lumi? Lumi Melody?"

"Yes, that's my name," the dwarf replied. "Do you need something from me?"

Aurora glanced at Ruby. Their eyes met. Aurora tried to give her a message with a simple gesture of her head movement. Ruby nodded as if she got it.

"Rita," Ruby said. "Can you guard outside? Don't let anyone get close to here."

"I get it, miss," Rita said as she walked out of the room.

Aurora felt bad excluding that knight after this far, but she didn't tell Rita about the transmigrator yet. Letting her listen to what they were going to talk about might just create unnecessary problems.

"Alright," Aurora said. "I will just ask this straight. Are you a transmigrator? Someone from another world?"

Lumi's eyes widened in disbelief. "Wha--How...? Don't tell me..."

Aurora nodded. "I'm a transmigrator too."

Lumi leaned back in her chair, still trying to process what she had just heard.

Aurora watched as Lumi's expression slowly changed from shock to curiosity. She could see the dwarf's mind racing with questions and possibilities.

Aurora then began a brief explanation of her side of the story. She told Lumi about the game "The Wicked Villainess of Ruin," about the other transmigrators she had met, and about other games.

Still in disbelief, Lumi said, "I know that I can't be the only one, but other games? I never expected that."

Aurora smiled. "Yes, quite confusing, huh?"

Lumi sat back in her chair and sighed. "It's hard to believe, but I guess anything is possible in this world."

"That's for sure," Aurora said. "But we're not alone in this. We have each other now."

Lumi nodded. "You're right. It'll be great if we can help each other."

"So can you tell me what happened to you?" Aurora asked. "I mean, sorry if I offend you, but you didn't look like you were doing great here." Aurora looked around the house.

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Lumi laughed in embarrassment. "No, don't worry. I know I'm not doing well."

Aurora nodded. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"It's not my fault," Lumi said, sighing. "It's just... I hate puzzle games."

Aurora blinked in confusion.

"Hate?" she said. "Did I hear it wrong?"

"That might be confusing, huh?" Lumi said, smiling bitterly. "Because you usually experience something like transmigration to a game you love. But that's not how it was with me. I hate puzzle games. I can't deal with them."

"Then how...?" Aurora asked.

Based on her conversation with Serena, Lumi should have been transmigrated to the last game she played. If she hated it, why did she play "Puzzle Empress" in the first place?

"I have a friend who liked puzzle games a lot, you see," Lumi said. "Then one day, she got hooked on this game called 'Puzzle Empress.' It's a game where you play as a dwarf empress who loves to make puzzles. You know Mario Maker? It's kind of like that but for a puzzle game."

"Well, I do play it a little," Aurora said. And from her experience playing it, Lumi was supposed to be the bad guy of that game. You could say she was the Bowser of the game.

"My friend was so proud of her creation that she often forced me to play it, even though she knew I sucked at puzzle games," Lumi said, sighing. "And that night, she sent me her new puzzle. Honestly, I didn't feel like playing it, but she mocked me, saying that even I could solve this one, or else she might think too highly of my intelligence. That made me play it all night until I fell asleep without realizing it. I shouldn't have gotten worked up over that. If I had just ignored it..."

Aurora listened intently, her heart going out to Lumi. She knew how it felt to be forced into something you didn't enjoy, just to please someone else.

"I'm sorry," Aurora said softly. "That must have been tough."

Lumi nodded. "It was. And then when I woke up, I was here, in this game."

Aurora noticed that the same had happened to Lumi too. Lumi had gotten transmigrated after she fell asleep, just like Aurora and Serena. Did this mean that sleeping was the key? Aurora needed to look more closely into that later.

"Well, I think you can guess what happened next," Lumi said. "Living in this kingdom where puzzle solving was your way of life was a hell for me. In the end, I was forced to live in this area where dwarfs who couldn't solve puzzles lived."

Aurora remembered thinking that Serena was a bit incompetent when she met her for the first time. But after she met the other transmigrator, she realized she might have been a little harsh to the elf princess. Hina, the meek harpy, had become a follower of Uta. Princess Catherina turned out to be evil. And now, Lumi was basically useless in this setting.

Aurora glanced at Ruby, wondering if Ruby could follow their conversation at all. Aurora had told her about being from another world and stuff, but that didn't mean Ruby would get what they were talking about right then. Yet, Ruby just smiled when she noticed Aurora glance at her.

Lumi then continued her story. At first, she had tried to fit in. She had thrown herself into solving puzzles, spending hours working on puzzles around the town in the hope that she would be able to do it too. But no matter how hard she tried, she could never seem to solve them.

In the end, she had been forced to give up and accept her fate. She had been relegated to the fringes of society, living in a small area on the outskirts of the kingdom where other "useless" dwarfs like her resided.

"I couldn't even get food," Lumi said, frustrated.

"But then how did you survive?" Aurora asked.

"Ah, fortunately, I gained this ability." She picked up an iron ore from the shelf. "Everyday, I can copy things I touch three times. Thanks to that, I can at least trade stuff for food and keep surviving."

She then demonstrated it by holding the ore on her right hand, and then her left hand started to shine, slowly forming another ore with the same shape.

Aurora blinked in awe. "That works on everything?" she asked.

"Not exactly," Lumi said, putting both of the ores on the table. "Only things that are small enough that I can hold them in my hand."

Aurora gulped. That could solve the lack of materials problem that she and Serena had faced. After all, if they couldn't buy materials from this place, no matter how much Aurora filled Serena's bag right now, they would still have the same problem if they needed more.

"Hey, please join us," Aurora said, holding Lumi's hand. "If you hated it here, you didn't need to stay in this kingdom anymore. I can promise you that you won't have to worry about something like money, food, and stuff like that again."

"Really?" Lumi asked, she looked hopeful yet worried.

Ruby pinched Aurora's arm and looked annoyed. Aurora immediately released her grip from Lumi's hand.

"Like you said before," Aurora said as if she hadn't been interrupted at all. "Let's help each other. We each have problems, but if we work together, we'll be able to solve them."

"Really...?" Lumi said still can't believe it. "For a while now, I had been feeling hopeless. I thought there was no way out of this situation..."

"I was happy to give you this opportunity then," Aurora said, a smile on her lips. "So how was it? Will you follow me?"

Lumi fell into silence. She couldn't believe that this was really happening.

"What else did you need to think about?" Ruby asked. "Just accept it already."

Lumi knew that Ruby was right. This might have been her only opportunity to get out of this situation, but she couldn't help feeling nervous. They had been strangers just a few minutes ago, so she couldn't trust them completely yet. However, they had come specifically for her, and the fact that Aurora was like her, a transmigrator too, made her want to believe.

"Sorry, this feels too good to be true," Lumi finally said, her voice shaking. "But if you really meant it, then please..."

***