IDRNG 02

Chapter 2 

I grabbed the chubby cat and ran toward a corner of the garden where no one seemed to be around.

After frantically searching for a deserted spot, I ended up crashing straight into someone who suddenly appeared from behind a large tree.

“Ugh!”

“Meow—!”

From the impact, the cat I dropped flailed its short limbs in midair, and I nearly toppled backward myself.

Even in that split second, I was debating whether I should roll with the fall or just collapse when I felt a firm hand supporting my back.

“Are you all right, my lady?”

Then, a pleasant voice tickled my ear.

When I opened my eyes as if enchanted, a stunning man who perfectly matched my taste was looking down at me.

Jet-black hair, long dark eyebrows, and crimson eyes that looked like flickering flames. A high nose bridge and a sharp jawline.

A flawless face that had everything.

What is this person? Why is his face glowing?

The man who had caught me before I fell helped me up and apologized in a low voice as sweet as his appearance.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. Are you hurt?”

“I-I’m fine.”

I answered blankly, staring at him, and he gently set me upright before smiling faintly.

His somewhat sharp impression softened instantly, turning into a fresh, boyish smile.

A dangerously sinful smile.

I almost lost my mind to that smile that felt like committing a great crime against my heart, but I barely managed to stay grounded.

Unfortunately, this was not the time to be enchanted by a handsome man committing crimes with his face.

I had to stop that nightmare of a cat before it started spouting nonsense again.

Looking around for the chubby cat I had dropped, the sweet handsome man spoke kindly.

“Did you lose something?”

“Oh, no. A cat…”

“A cat? Then it just went that way… hm?”

Just as the sweet, kind man turned to point out where the chubby cat had gone, he made a strange sound.

Instead of pointing toward the bushes, his hand was aimed at the sky.

Following his finger, I looked up—and my heart dropped.

In the clear blue sky, something ominous was clearly there.

A huge, black-and-red swirling mass like a small black hole—exactly what I had seen countless times before right before death.

“Why is that there?”

It was a Gate.

The entrance to a dungeon swarming with monsters.

And it was in a state right before a dungeon break.

Two hours? No—maybe not even one.

If no one killed the dungeon boss soon, every monster inside would pour out.

Wait, seriously.

Why is a Gate here?

Not only had I met a talking cat, but now there was a Gate in a clear sky.

I had no idea what was going on anymore.

Just as I stared blankly at the Gate in shock, an energy reversal signaling the start of a dungeon break occurred.

And my body was sucked into the Gate.

“W-wait a second—!”

I expected to slam onto a hard floor, but I landed surprisingly gently.

More precisely, I wasn’t the one who landed—blondie had caught me and set me down smoothly.

The beautiful garden bathed in spring sunlight was gone. Now it was a dim forest under a gloomy sky.

He looked up at the sky with neither sun nor moon nor stars and murmured in disbelief.

“…Where is this?”

I covered my face with both hands and buried my head in “Honey Handsome’s” chest.

So it really was a dungeon.

This is insane. A real dungeon?

I had suspected something was wrong when the talking cat appeared, but a dungeon? Seriously?

I had thought maybe I could enjoy a sweet romance fantasy reincarnation, but what kind of cursed life is this?

Furious at this unbelievable reality, I trembled all over, and Honey Handsome spoke gently.

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

Even in this situation, this man’s personality is sweet as honey too.

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

I quietly looked at his sweet smile before slowly stepping away from his arms.

Everything about him was touching, but Honey Handsome couldn’t protect me.

No matter how sweet his looks and personality were, a normal person couldn’t fight monsters.

Even a professional fighter’s punches or modern weapons meant nothing in a dungeon.

One day, when the Earth was on the verge of collapse due to resource depletion and climate crisis, Gates began appearing around the world.

Monsters called “demons” poured out from dungeons beyond the Gates, and at the moment humanity was about to collapse, people began to awaken “skills.”

I was one of those “Awakened.”

I looked into the air and silently muttered “status window.”

Immediately, a personal status screen appeared before my eyes—visible only to Awakened.

The very thing I had seen countless times before my death.

《Irbet Titaoia》

[Status]

Lanier’s Garden D 99%

□□■■□■□ □■

[Skills]

Strength Enhancement C – Passive
Defense Enhancement C – Passive
Physical Ability Enhancement B – Passive
Swordsmanship A – Passive
“I Will Block Everything” A – Active
Mutual Destruction S – Active

Only the name of this world had changed—my skills were the same as before reincarnation.

I had six skills in total, including the S-rank skill [Mutual Destruction (同歸於盡)].

I was one of only twelve S-rank Awakened in my country.

At first, I was happy. S-rank Awakened received treatment and salary equivalent to high-ranking civil servants.

But if I had known the other name for S-rank Awakened was “S-rank dungeon slave,” I would have hidden my powers and lived normally.

What good is money?

After clearing dungeons, I would collapse on the street because I had no strength to even go home, only to be urgently summoned again.

Money I had no time to spend was just meaningless numbers in a banking app.

My only hobby was reading web novels, but I was so busy I could barely finish any.

Even my favorite novel, Secret Meeting in the Butterfly Garden, I only managed to finish right before entering my last dungeon.

I had thought maybe I reincarnated here because I read it right before dying.

But now it’s a dungeon again.

Maybe this life is ruined too. Should I just die now?

“Oh, that sounds like a good idea.”

As I muttered this dark thought with a crooked smile, Honey Handsome looked worried.

“My lady, are you all right?”

He was the one who should be more unstable in this situation, yet his eyes were full of concern for me.

He really was as sweet as his face.

Should I die later… after saving this kind man first?

With a strange sense of responsibility, I pulled myself together and asked him.

“Yes, I’m fine. And you are…?”

“Please call me Linus.”

I had assumed someone with that face would be a major character, but I had never heard the name before.

How could someone with that face be a background character? Was the world’s beauty balance okay?

A small desire to live a little longer and investigate this world began to grow.

I lifted my skirt slightly and greeted him as I had practiced over the past week.

“I am Irbet Titaoia. Please call me Irbet.”

“It is an honor, Irbet.”

Linus—Honey Handsome—returned a smile like fresh whipped cream.

If not for the barren forest and blood-colored sky behind him, I would’ve been thrilled at how sweet he was.

While I sighed over my ruined reincarnated life, Linus looked around and asked,

“By the way… where are we?”

“Well…”

I tried to ignore the words “Lanier’s Garden D” floating in my status window and trailed off awkwardly.

Linus frowned at the sky and tilted his head again.

“I’m new to the capital. Does this kind of thing often happen in Arendel?”

He must have been a noble from the countryside.

He probably came to the capital by chance, attended the party for the engagement announcement between the crown prince and Lariénne, and then got caught in this dungeon break.

For someone so perfect in both looks and personality, the only thing he lacked… was luck.