Chapter 2

I picked up the chubby cat and sprinted toward a secluded corner of the garden where no one would be around.

I ran blindly in search of a deserted place, and then I collided head-on with someone who suddenly appeared from behind a large tree.

“Ugh!”

“Fnyang!”

The cat slipped from my arms and flailed its short limbs in the air, and I nearly fell flat on my back.

In that short moment, I was torn between rolling safely or just going limp, when I felt a firm hand supporting my back.

“Are you alright, my lady?”

A pleasant voice followed, brushing warmly against my ear.

Dazed, I opened my eyes, and a stunningly handsome man who fit my tastes perfectly was looking down at me.

Glossy black hair, long dark lashes, and eyes burning red like flames beneath them. A high nose bridge, a sharp jawline.

A flawless face with everything in the right place.

Who is he? And why is his face glowing?

Still holding me upright, he helped me stand and apologized in a deep, sweet voice that matched his looks.

“My apologies. I wasn’t watching where I was going. Are you hurt?”

“I… I’m fine.”

When I replied, staring at him blankly, he set me straight on my feet and smiled.

The sharp impression he gave at first softened instantly, turning him into a boyish, refreshing beauty.

A sinful smile.

I nearly lost myself to that smile, one that committed crimes against my heart, but I barely held on to my senses.

Unfortunately, this was not the time to fall for a sinful beauty.

I had to stop that nightmare of a cat from spouting nonsense.

As I looked around in search of the chubby cat I had dropped, the honey-sweet man spoke to me gently.

“Did you lose something?”

“Oh, no. A cat…”

“Ah, if it was a cat, it just went over that… hm?”

The kind-hearted beauty began to turn to point out the direction where the chubby cat had gone, but he made a strange sound.

His fingertip wasn’t pointing toward the bushes, it was pointing upward at the sky.

The moment I followed his gaze, I felt my heart drop.

In the sky that had been perfectly clear and blue, something massive and unmistakably ominous had appeared.

Black and red light twisted together like a small black hole, something I had seen so many times I was sick of it before I died.

“Why… is that there?”

It was a gate.

The entrance to a dungeon filled with monsters.

And it was on the verge of a dungeon break.

Two hours? No, maybe an hour at best.

If someone didn’t find and eliminate the dungeon’s boss, every monster inside would spill out.

But seriously.

Why is a gate appearing here?

It was bad enough to meet a talking cat, but now a gate had appeared out of nowhere in a clear sky.

I had no idea what was happening anymore.

Frozen in shock, I stared at the gate, and then the energy backlash that signaled the start of a dungeon break erupted.

And my body was sucked straight into the gate.

“Wait, no, hold ooooon!”

* * *

I thought I would crash onto a hard floor, but instead I landed surprisingly safely.

To be precise, it wasn’t me landing; Honey Handsome landed lightly on the ground while holding me in his arms.

The beautiful garden bathed in spring sunlight had vanished, replaced by a dim forest under a dusky sky.

He looked up at the gloomy heavens, where there was neither sun nor moon nor stars, and murmured under his breath as if sighing.

“Where… is this place?”

I brought both hands to my face and buried my head into Honey Handsome’s chest.

I kept thinking surely not, surely not, but it really was the inside of a dungeon.

How does this make any sense? A real dungeon?

I knew something was wrong the moment that talking cat appeared, but a dungeon? Isn’t that going too far?

I possessed a romance fantasy novel expecting to soak in honey, and instead I get slapped with this dog-like, messed-up life?

My body trembled from the frustration of having to accept a reality I absolutely refused to believe, and Honey Handsome spoke gently to me.

“My lady, do not be afraid. I will protect you.”

Even now, this man’s personality was as sweet as honey.

When I lifted my head and our eyes met, he even smiled as if to reassure me.

I stared blankly at his sweet smile, then slowly stepped out of his arms.

Everything about him was touching, but Honey Handsome could not protect me.

No matter how sweet his face and personality were, a civilian could not fight monsters.

A dungeon was a place where even a martial arts champion’s fists and the latest weapons meant nothing.

One day, when it seemed the Earth might collapse from resource depletion and climate disaster, gates appeared all over the world.

From the dungeons beyond the gates, monsters no one had ever seen before poured out, and the world nearly ended.

But at the same time, some people awakened abilities called skills.

I was one of those awakened ones.

I looked into empty air and silently muttered, “Status window.”

Soon, a personal status window visible only to awakened people appeared in the air.

It was the same thing I’d seen so many times before dying that I was sick of it.

《Ayrbet Titanoa》

[Status]
Laneier’s Garden D 99%
□□■■□■□ □■

[Skills]
Strength Enhancement C – Passive
Defense Enhancement C – Passive
Physical Ability Enhancement B – Passive
Swordsmanship A – Passive
I’ll Block Everything A – Active
Mutual Destruction S – Active

Only the name had changed to match this world; the skills were the same as before I possessed this body.

I had awakened a total of six skills, including the S-rank skill Mutual Destruction.

I was one of only twelve S-rank awakened individuals in the entire country.

At first, it was great. S-rank awakened people received the treatment and salary equivalent to top-tier government officials.

But if I had known that the other name for an S-rank awakened person was S-rank Dungeon Slave, I would have hidden my awakening and lived a normal life.

What was the point of getting paid well?

I was so exhausted after clearing dungeons that I often collapsed on the street and slept because I couldn’t even make it home, only to be called on another emergency dispatch.

Money you can’t spend was nothing more than meaningless numbers on a banking app.

My only hobby was reading web novels, and I was so busy I could count on one hand the novels I had managed to finish.

Even my favorite novel, The Butterfly Garden’s Secret Affair, I barely managed to read the final chapter before entering my last dungeon.

I was happy because I thought maybe I possessed this world since it was the novel I read right before dying, but now there’s another dungeon.

This life seems ruined too. Should I just die now?

“Oh, that’s not a bad idea.”

When I muttered that with a crooked smile, Honey Handsome seemed worried.

He spoke to me with his honey-dripping face.

“My lady, are you alright?”

He knew nothing about the situation, yet he was probably the one who should feel the most anxious. Still, all I saw in his eyes was concern for me.

Honey Handsome’s personality was as sweet as his face.

If I am going to die anyway, should I at least save this gentle, handsome man before I go?

Clinging to a strange sense of duty, I pulled myself together and asked him,

“Yes, I’m fine. Um… may I ask your name…?”

“Please call me Linus.”

Given his leading-role-worthy face, I assumed he must be one of the main characters, but it was a name I had never heard before.

A background character with a face like this? Was the beauty balance of this world okay?

The slightest desire to live longer and explore this world began to sprout inside me.

Following what I had practiced diligently over the past week, I lifted my skirt slightly and greeted him.

“I am Ayrbet Titanoa. Please call me Ayrbet as well.”

“It is an honor, Ayrbet.”

Honey Handsome… no, Linus… answered with a smile soft as whipped cream.

If the scenery behind him were not a desolate forest and a sky the color of red bean paste, I would have rejoiced thinking, What’s with this world giving me another honey-sweet man?

I sighed at the twisted direction of my possession-life and looked at the sky, while Linus glanced around and asked,

“By the way, where do you think this is?”

“Well…”

I awkwardly trailed off, pretending not to see the words Laneier’s Garden D floating on my status window.

Linus stared up at the sky with a serious expression, then tilted his head slightly and asked again,

“This is my first time in the capital. Is something like this common in Arendel?”

Linus must have been a noble from the provinces.

He probably happened to visit Arendel, heard the news of the Crown Prince and Larienne’s engagement announcement, and attended the party.

Then he got dragged into a dungeon break. It seemed the only thing lacking in this perfectly handsome and sweet man’s life was luck.