MTC 02

Chapter : 02

A dry, hard floor. The crackling sound of embers chewing through firewood…

As the sensations in my body gradually returned one by one, my consciousness slowly awakened.

When I opened my eyes, the surroundings were quite dark.

‘Was I unconscious until nightfall?’

I recalled my last memory before losing consciousness and slowly got up.

At the same time, I casually looked around, thinking about the things I needed to do once I got home. But something felt strange.

“Where am I?”

No matter how I looked at it, this wasn’t the neighborhood where my studio apartment was located.

I was standing in an unfamiliar place.

Gray stone walls stretched seamlessly from the floor to the ceiling, making the space feel suffocatingly cramped. I had the bizarre sensation of being inside an empty container.

Then, a sudden memory flashed through my mind, jolting me fully awake.

A hole had appeared out of nowhere in midair, sucked in my résumé, and I had fallen into a pit that opened beneath my feet.

And then I had ended up in some unknown place. What on earth was going on?

“Are you awake?”

The strange voice I had heard from beyond the hole was now coming from behind me.

With my heart trembling, I slowly turned around.

“Eek…!”

A gigantic being sat on a chair as enormous as its own body, looking down at me.

It was covered from head to toe in something resembling a veil, making it impossible to see its appearance clearly.

However, inside the veil, two bright yellow lights flickered where its eyes should have been.

“Congratulations on your new employment at the Hermit’s Dungeon, rookie employee Chihuahua.”

“…Pardon?”

My fear of the bizarre being lasted only a moment before the appearance of such an ordinary word caused something resembling cognitive dissonance.

I wondered whether I had heard correctly or whether my terror had made me hallucinate.

Chihuahua? Why did it have to be the nickname I hated the most?

“Starting today, you shall become the person in charge of managing this dungeon.”

“Is this a dream…?”

I came up with a reasonable explanation to make sense of this bizarre situation.

Apparently, my belief that I had regained consciousness was an illusion, and I was still wandering around in a dream.

In reality, I must have fallen into an open manhole or a sinkhole while trying to retrieve my résumé.

Perhaps the impact of the fall had knocked me unconscious, and I still hadn’t woken up.

However, the deep, rumbling voice sternly rejected my words.

“This is not a dream. I wish to finish our contract quickly and return to my long slumber, so refrain from unnecessary words and actions.”

“A contract?”

Just then, something suddenly shot up from beneath the ground and blocked my view.

“Ahem! Did the Demon King not tell you to refrain from unnecessary words and actions?”

It was a tiny, fist-sized creature resembling a doll molded out of dirt.

Its head was round and oversized compared to its body, while its short torso barely supported its stubby arms and legs.

It looked like a potato fairy that had just been dug out of the ground.

“What is this thing now…?”

“Hurry up and sign the contract. Quickly. Please.”

The little doll flew around my head, urging me on in an anxious voice.

Its voice sounded just like a fly buzzing around.

As I thought…

“I think this really is a dream.”

A dream in which I was kidnapped and hired by monsters. I must have been so desperate to change jobs that my subconscious had gone overboard.

After nodding lightly, I politely bowed to the being that might have been a ghost or a Demon King.

“Excuse me, but I think I’ve come to the wrong interview location. I apologize for disturbing you. I’ll be leaving now.”

Wouldn’t I wake up if I simply refused the job?

That was what I thought as I turned around. At that very moment, a sheet of paper slowly materialized in front of my eyes.

“You expressed your desire to apply for a position here.”

“Huh? Why is this here…?”

It was the résumé I had written with my own hands. The one on which I had mistakenly written my real name as ‘Chihuahua’!

The moment I touched an object that should have existed only in reality, a chill ran down my spine. It felt far too real.

At the same time, the gigantic being began radiating an overwhelming sense of intimidation.

“You personally submitted your application, and now you are changing your mind?”

My spine stiffened.

I still couldn’t completely shake off the suspicion that this was a dream. Nevertheless, I had a feeling that even in a dream, antagonizing the being in front of me was a terrible idea.

I stammered.

“I’m truly sorry, but I don’t even know what kind of company this is… The résumé I intended to submit was supposed to go to another company that better matched my abilities…”

“This is a dungeon. A place that must build its infamy by subjecting the fearless adventurers who come here to trials and tribulations. You possess more than enough potential to carry out that mission. That power of yours, which draws everyone toward you without discrimination, is exactly what this dungeon needs.”

I was doomed. I had a feeling that no matter what excuse I made, none of it would work.

A Demon King? A dungeon? What on earth was happening? I couldn’t understand any of it.

In that case…

“I-I’m sorryyyyy!”

“Ah! Where are you goingggg?!”

I gave up trying to deal with the strange beings and bolted in the opposite direction.

If this really was a dream, I believed that acting however I wanted would make me wake up.

But the farther I ran, the stronger my ominous feeling that this might not be a dream became.

In dreams, it was usually impossible to run this smoothly. Most of the time, I moved sluggishly as though I were running underwater, or my legs simply refused to obey me.

“Huff, huff…”

But I could feel myself getting out of breath and sweating. The muscles in my thighs, suddenly pushed beyond their limits, trembled uncontrollably.

Even so… there was no way this wasn’t a dream, right?

I ran blindly until I found an exit. Despite running as hard as I could, it felt as though I was circling around the same space. But at some point, I spotted a direction from which bright light was streaming in.

“The exit!”

My ankles ached, but I gritted my teeth and kept running. At last, I managed to escape the strange place.

As soon as I stepped outside, dazzling sunlight poured down on me.

But…

“Where… on earth am I?”

Lush vegetation and soft grass spread out before me. The trees were dense, and the lake shimmered as it reflected the sunlight.

No matter how carefully I looked, this wasn’t the alleyway where I had last been walking.

Upon closer inspection, even the plants looked somewhat strange. It felt as though I had stepped into a fantasy illustration, with everything just slightly out of sync with reality.

“Why won’t I wake up from this dream? How am I supposed to get home…?”

That was when it happened.

I heard the rustling sound of something stepping on the grass. Then, something emerged from the bushes, pushing its way through the foliage.

The moment I saw it, I barely managed to cover my mouth and suppress the scream that was about to burst out.

“Grrrr…”

It was a gigantic, bipedal monster that looked three times my height. Its entire body was covered in green skin, and, incredibly, a boar’s head sat atop its shoulders.

Its sharp tusks, the saliva dripping from the corners of its mouth, and the hot vapor rising from its nostrils… Everything was far too vivid.

The monster slowly approached me, holding an enormous club.

From the moment it spotted me, it had been licking its lips and smacking them together, its gaze resembling that of a predator staring at its prey.

“KUWAAAAAH!”

“Aaaah!”

When the monster let out a terrifying roar, my legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the ground.

I was so frightened that I couldn’t even bring myself to run away.

The monster raised its club high above its head and charged toward me.

And just as it was about to bring the club down on my head…

“Oh, you’re a dungeon employee? My apologies. I thought you were an ordinary human who had gotten lost.”

Suddenly, the monster completely suppressed its savage aura and bowed politely. It even spoke in a human voice…!

“…??”

I stared up at the monster with tears welling in my eyes. I was utterly confused.

“These days, I’ve been working hard to prepare for employment at a dungeon, and I got so immersed in the role that I failed to recognize you right away. Um… By the way, how was that just now? Would I be suitable for guarding the entrance, even if I’m not good enough to work in the deeper parts of the dungeon? If you were to give me a score, what would it be…?”

“……”

Despite its grotesque appearance, the monster spoke in an excessively normal manner. Somehow, that made the whole situation feel even more unsettling.

“I was getting ahead of myself. I apologize. Um… If a position ever opens up at the dungeon, please feel free to contact me anytime. I’m begging you.”

To make matters even stranger, the monster rummaged around inside its ragged underwear and handed me…

A business card.

I accepted it using only my fingertips as much as possible. Honestly, I wanted to minimize the area of contact, even if only a little.

But why on earth was a monster carrying around something like a business card?

“Then, take care.”

With that, the monster dragged its club along the ground and disappeared back into the bushes.

“……”

So this was reality.

After that encounter, I had completely lost the courage to run away.

“The outside… is dangerous.”

In the end, I had no choice but to return to the strange place I had come from—in other words, the dark, cavernous chamber.