* * *
The dry, hard floor. The sound of embers crackling as they chewed through the firewood…
As sensation returned to my body piece by piece, my mind slowly awakened.
I opened my eyes to find my surroundings quite dark.
‘Had I been unconscious until nightfall?’
I pieced together the last memory I had before losing consciousness and pushed myself up.
At the same time, I recalled what I had to do once I got home and absentmindedly looked around—but something was off.
“Where is this?”
No matter how I looked at it, this wasn’t the neighborhood where my studio apartment was.
I was standing inside an unfamiliar space.
From floor to ceiling, gray stone walls connected without a single gap, suffocatingly oppressive. It felt strangely like being inside an empty barrel.
Then, suddenly, the memory surfaced and I snapped to attention.
A hole had appeared in midair, my resume had been sucked into it, and I had fallen into a pit that opened beneath my feet.
And then I had plummeted into some unknown place. What on earth was going on?
“You’re awake?”
The strange voice that had come from beyond the hole now came from behind me.
With a trembling heart, I slowly turned around.
“Eek…!”
A colossal being sat in a chair as massive as itself, looking down at me.
It was draped from head to toe in something like a veil, making it impossible to see its form clearly.
But within the veil, in what I assumed were eyes, two pale yellow lights flickered.
“Congratulations on your new employment at the Hermit’s Dungeon, new employee Chihuahua—.”
“…What?”
My fear of the bizarre being lasted only a moment before such an ordinary word came out that I felt a brief sense of cognitive dissonance.
I wondered if I had heard correctly, or if I had been so terrified that I was hallucinating.
Chihuahua. Why, of all things, the nickname I hated most?
“From today onward, you shall become the chief administrator who operates this dungeon.”
“Is this a dream…?”
I made a reasonable deduction to understand this absurd situation.
Surely, waking up was an illusion, and I was clearly still wandering through a dream.
In reality, I had probably fallen into an open manhole or a sinkhole while chasing after my resume.
I might have lost consciousness from the impact of the fall and simply hadn’t woken up yet.
But the resonating voice sternly denied my words.
“This is no dream. I wish to finalize the contract with you quickly and fall into a long sleep, so refrain from unnecessary remarks.”
“A contract?”
Just then, something suddenly surged up from the ground and blocked my vision.
“Ho there! Did His Majesty the Demon King not say to refrain from unnecessary remarks!”
It was a life form like a doll molded from dirt, about the size of a fist.
Compared to its body, its head was round and large, and its stubby torso barely had short limbs attached.
Like a potato sprite freshly dug from the earth, perhaps.
“What is this now…?”
“Hurry and sign the contract. Quickly. Please.”
The little doll flew around my head, urging me in a frantic voice.
It was a voice exactly like a fly buzzing.
As I thought…….
“This is definitely a dream.”
A dream about being kidnapped and hired by a monster. My desire to change jobs must have been far too strong.
I nodded lightly and politely bowed my waist to the being—whether ghost or demon king, I didn’t know.
“I’m sorry, but I believe I’ve come to the wrong interview location. Apologies for the disturbance. Well then.”
If I refused the job offer, wouldn’t I wake up?
The moment I turned around with that thought, a single sheet of paper suddenly slid into view before my eyes.
“You hoped to apply for employment here.”
“Uh, why is this here…….”
It was the resume I had written by hand. The one where I had mistakenly written my name as ‘Chihuahua’!
The fact that something that should be in reality was now in my hand sent a sudden chill down my spine. The texture was far too realistic.
At the same time, the colossal being began to radiate an overwhelming pressure.
“You submitted an application yourself, and now you go back on your word.”
My spine went rigid.
I hadn’t completely abandoned the suspicion that this was still a dream, but even in a dream, I felt I shouldn’t provoke the being before me.
I stammered out my words.
“I’m truly sorry, but I don’t even know what kind of company… this place is. The resume I intended to submit was originally meant for a different company that matches my abilities….”
“This place is a dungeon. A place that must raise its infamy by delivering trials to adventurers who come without fear. You have enough potential to carry out that mission. That power of yours, which draws all beings regardless of what they are, is exactly what this dungeon needs.”
I was wrong. I had a premonition that no excuse I made would work in the slightest.
Demon king, dungeon—I couldn’t understand what kind of situation this was at all.
In that case.
“I… I’m sorrryyy!”
“Ah! Where are you goingggg!”
I gave up dealing with these strange beings and ran in the opposite direction with all my might.
If this really was a dream, I believed that acting however I wanted would wake me up.
But the more I ran, the stronger the ominous feeling grew that this might not be a dream.
In dreams, you usually couldn’t run this easily. Normally, you moved sluggishly as if running underwater, or your legs wouldn’t listen to you.
“Huff, huff….”
But I could feel myself short of breath, feel sweat dripping. My thigh muscles, suddenly overworked, trembled.
Still……. There was no way this wasn’t a dream, right?
I ran blindly until I could see an exit. Even though I ran desperately, it felt like I was only circling the same space… but at some point, I found a direction where bright light was leaking in.
“It’s the exit!”
My ankles throbbed, but I gritted my teeth and ran, and finally I was able to escape that strange space.
Once outside, dazzling sunlight poured down.
But…….
“Where… is this?”
Lush greenery and soft grass. The trees were thick, and the lake shimmered in the light.
No matter how I rubbed my eyes, this wasn’t the alley I had last walked through.
Looking closely, the shapes of the plants were somehow strange too. It felt like I had stepped into a fantasy illustration, slightly out of step with reality.
“Why won’t I wake up from this dream? How do I get home…….”
That was when it happened. I heard the rustle of grass being stepped on, and something pushed through the bushes and revealed itself.
The moment I saw it, I barely suppressed the scream rising in my throat by clamping my mouth shut.
“Grrrr….”
It was a giant two-legged monster that looked three times my height. Its entire body had green skin, and atop its shoulders sat a boar’s head.
Sharp fangs, saliva dripping from the corners of its mouth, hot steam rising from its nostrils… Everything was excessively vivid.
The monster approached me slowly, holding a massive club.
From the moment it spotted me, it licked its tongue and smacked its lips, exactly like a predator eyeing its prey.
“Kueeeek!”
“Ahhh!”
When the monster let out a shriek, my legs gave out and I collapsed on the spot.
I was so terrified that I didn’t even dare to think of running.
The monster raised its club above its head and charged at me.
And just as it was about to bring it down on my skull…….
“Ah, you were a dungeon employee? My apologies. I thought you were just an ordinary human who had lost their way.”
Suddenly, the monster completely withdrew its savage aura and bowed politely. And it spoke in a human voice, no less…!
“…??”
I looked up at the monster with tearful eyes. I was bewildered.
“I’ve been preparing so hard to get a job at a dungeon these days that I got too immersed and didn’t recognize you right away. Um… but were you all right earlier? At this level, even if the deeper floors are out of the question, would I be all right as an entrance guard? If you were to give me a score, about how many points…….”
“…….”
Despite its grotesque appearance, its manner of speech was excessively normal, which made it feel even more alien.
“I’ve overstepped. My apologies. Um… if by any chance a position opens up at the dungeon, please contact me anytime. I beg of you.”
The monster even rummaged through what looked like a loincloth and handed me… a business card.
I accepted the card using only my fingertips as much as possible. Honestly, I wanted to reduce even the slightest bit of contact.
But why on earth was a monster carrying around business cards?
“Well then, take care.”
With that, the monster dragged its club and disappeared beyond the bushes again.
“…….”
So this was reality.
I had completely lost the courage to run away after what had just happened.
“The outside… is dangerous.”
In the end, I had no choice but to return to that strange space—the dark cavern.
