"You reached the 45th floor today? That's great, Mister Roost!"
I scratched my cheek to hide my embarrassment after the Dungeon Receptionist Lady praised me.
"Ahaha, it's not that great," I said, "Most people my age could easily reach that floor if they just gave it a try."
But she shook her head, clearly disagreeing with me.
"That's because they use Gemguns, not traditional weapons like yours," the receptionist added with a sigh.
I glanced at the sleek, crystal-embedded firearms holstered by other divers nearby. They were powerful, flashy, and—more importantly—expensive enough to buy a small house.
For a guy like me, sticking to my trusty spear wasn't just about style; it was about not going bankrupt before the world actually ended.
"Well, I prefer my spear much more."
The lady receptionist showed a resigned face when I smiled toward the spear I had beside me.
She placed her hands on her waist and narrowed her eyes.
"You have the money to buy one after you reach the 20th floor and start harvesting more and more gems, right? Why not buy one? Who knows when it might save you while you're deep inside the Dungeon..."
"Ahahaha..."
I couldn't argue with that, Lady.
'But even If I have the money, I wouldn't buy any Gemgun soon now that I had just find other way to spend my savings.'
...
Sixteen years ago, I was born into this world as a newborn baby.
My name is Theo Roost.
I was born as the son of a fallen aristocrat who specialized in culinary arts.
After my father was accused of poisoning the King's breakfast and executed, my young mother fled the Capital and worked hard alone in this Dungeon City to feed me.
And yes, I was reincarnated into this world.
At first, I thought this world was just a simple, random world with a fantasy setting, similar to the backgrounds used in games and stories set in a medieval, magical era. But then I looked up and saw a literal floating steel island hovering above the city.
Then I realized.
This world was familiar to me.
I knew about this world.
Because I used to play inside it as a player until now.
Gem of Ahlia.
An RPG fantasy romance game with favorability-based mechanics where you were also given great freedom to explore the world beyond the Academy, which served as the main backdrop for the game's stories. The incredible combat effects and experiences offered by this game were always its strongest attraction points.
In the game, the player acted as Ahlia, a commoner who rose from the lowest status to be welcomed as a student of the Academy, the most prominent educational institution in this world.
All because she possessed a special magic, which was then called Gem Resonance, which allowed her to interact with elemental gems in the purest form of communication to unleash their full potential.
For this world, which is still in the early stages of discovering the value of the elemental gems dropped by monsters in Dungeons, her ability is seen as a doorway to open new potential and paths that humanity should explore. She was so important that she instantly became the main focus of the world.
Naturally, to gain more favors and benefits from this little girl with great power, the rulers swarmed her with calculating smiles and shady motives.
Some would try to kidnap her, while others would send their sons to befriend her, seduce her, or even scam her.
The gameplay was to protect her while developing her power and relationship with the target interests.
Yes, it was an otome game.
I am a man, but I played it, also yes. But it couldn't be helped. The game was just too good to reject. And I am not the only man playing it.
But here lay a problem.
The Dungeons were actually dormant higher creatures that landed on this world after being attacked by stronger beings. They fell asleep in hopes of replenishing their life force by absorbing this world's mana. The monsters they created were merely tools for this purpose.
However, humans had been continuously slaying these "tools" for years and decades, non-stop.
At first, these creatures did not see humans as significant at all. They ignored the humans who harvested small amounts of mana when they killed their monsters and the condensed life force that would drop every time they killed their monsters, as humans seemed as insignificant as bacteria to them.
But over time, they began to grow irritated by humanity's continuous "plundering" behavior.
In the future, they will rise from the mountains, the seas, the meadows, the sands, and the earths where they had been sleeping until now. All for one and only purpose: The elimination of Humanity.
In the game, there was Ahlia, or the Player, who could communicate with the condensed Life Force of those creatures. This ability would also allow her to engage in conversations with those entities.
This opened the possibility for both parties to reach a peace agreement, enabling them to coexist peacefully until the time came when those beings left this world to continue their eternal journey.
Even if coexistence wasn't attainable, Ahlia's unique ability would have allowed humanity to learnt more about Life Force and develop a weapon capable of destroying or completely eradicating a Dungeon.
But this world is not a game.
Here, there is neither Ahlia nor the Player.
So… yeah....
...
Anyway, leaving that obvious matter aside for now.
At first, I was despairing of my grim fate, wondering what I could do to prevent the impending doom.
I was wondering why I couldn't find her anywhere in the Dungeon City. Did something happen to her, or was she never even born in this world?
Ultimately, though, I am not Ahlia or Player, so my options were limited. After attempting to think of alternatives for Ahlia's existence in this world, I gave up and instead focused on enjoying my second life in this place filled with magic and wonder.
I even enrolled in The Academy, the same Academy often mentioned in the game.
Two years ago, I received their invitation after I cleared the 25th floor of that dungeon I used to dive in.
Now, I am not just a random NPC but rather a student A at the Academy.
I was born with a magic called Levitation. With my mana, I could levitate things and people for a designated duration. Since then, I have trained my magic at the Academy, using their vast records about magic as references for how to apply my abilities in battle and daily life.
Without Ahlia, I thought this world would become a quiet and peaceful place, waiting for its doom, but I was wrong.
I stopped before the door of my house. From outside, I could already hear vague murmurs of conversation.
It is my mother's voice. However, the younger one, the more restrained one, is someone whom I never thought would be this close to me until yesterday.
With a sigh, I pushed the door.
Noticing me, two pairs of eyes shifted toward me. My mother sent her usual gentle smile.
"You finally come back," My mother complained, "Why did it take so long? It's late already!"
I leaned my spear against the wall before approaching them.
"Buying a property takes time," I replied, "It wouldn't be good if I bought the wrong building. We can't just sell it away, you know?"
I sat across from them, my fingers reaching toward a cup of water. I sipped it to rehydrate myself before I leaned my back against the chair to relax.
Then my gaze met hers—those scarlet eyes.
She started fidgeting with her skirt. From the way she was clutching her own arm, she must be nervous.
To ease her nervousness, I smiled toward her.
"I just bought it. What do you think? It was right beside the main road, so I think it was good enough..."
I put the building blueprint I talked about before on the table. She and my mother immediately leaned their bodies toward it to check it.
My mother looked content with it.
"That's good enough. Not bad, Theo."
But she was different from us. Although my mother and I were also of noble family before, it was already the past. I have my memories from Earth, so noble things never connected with my way of thinking. And after years of living in this city as a commoner, my mother had become accustomed to the commoner's way of thinking.
Tizmilly Fallburn.
That was her name, before she was reduced to just Tizmilly after being discarded by her family following the cancellation of her engagement to the crown prince of the Empire.
"I think... We still have to renovate some places. The entrance is no good. We need it to be bigger. We also need more windows."
Looking at her serious face, devoid of her previous nervousness, even though she was still hesitating around us, I couldn't help but recall how we met each other.
...
Yesterday, at the Graduation Ceremony for our seniors.
I was spectating the ceremony from the side like a common student at that time.
The professors were alternately congratulating our graduating seniors at the podium, when a man with short blue hair suddenly raised his arm to attract attention toward himself.
The ceremony was paused. They couldn't just ignore him. Because he was the Crown Prince of the Fazaar Empire himself, the future emperor of the strongest country in the world.
The Academy was not weak, but they still had to give him some face and at least hear what he wanted to say.
And what he said at that moment was something I never expected after I confirmed that there was no Ahlia in this world.
"Tizmilly Fallburn!"
With a shrill voice, he called his fiancee who was standing among her own followers at that time.
"Today, I, Agraviel Fin Fazaar, state! Today, at this very moment, I'll announce the cancellation of our engagement!"
With a disgusted expression on his face, he pointed his finger toward the beauty in a black-red dress.
"I've grown tired of your vile behavior!"
He then started to list every 'sin' Tizmilly had committed until now. He said it all like a detective who finally cornered a suspect.
However, there was an unknown short pink-haired girl standing beside him while he was speaking to the crowd. The implication was crystal clear.
The detail was slightly different from what I once saw in the game, but the result was the same.
Tizmilly lost her identity as the Crown Prince of the Empire's fiancée, and her family also abandoned her, erasing her name from their family lineage.
Her fall came so unexpectedly that I was shocked the entire time the event unfolded. When I came back to reality, Tizmilly had already lost everything except the dress she was wearing at that moment, since the Academy wouldn't allow them to go that far.
Her empty eyes when she saw her family, friends, and followers left her reminded me of myself in my past life.
I knew the truth. Tizmilly never did everything they accused her of. It was all her followers' initiatives. She never ordered them.
I remember that I was irritated at that time.
To the Crown Prince, to Tizmilly's family, and those who used to using Tizmilly's name to bully others but fled the moment they realized that the ship was falling.
Even to the world.
I mean, what do you mean the protagonist of this world is non-existent? Without the Hero, wasn't the world doomed?
Out of spite, I approached her.
An idea formed by my past self's failure and my current self's identity appeared in my head.
In front of her, who was staring at the empty hall with her lifeless eyes, I bowed and extended my palm.
"My lady, instead of mourning that useless man, how about we open a restaurant together?"