Sacred and Natural Dungeons

Gods. People say that they are incredibly powerful, divine beings who watch over the world, punishing evildoers, blessing the righteous, and maintaining the balance of the world. I wasn't much of a believer in those things, but even I imagined them as imposing figures with authority over everything.

But here I am, sitting in front of Terra, the supposed goddess. And what is she doing? Fidgeting like a guilty schoolgirl, desperately trying to hide an adult manga behind her back.

Yep, that's right. The great Terra, the guardian of the world, is reading smut.

Was she always like this? Did she send that annoying cat with me just so she could binge-read these books in peace? A million questions buzzed in my head, but honestly, none of them seemed to matter anymore.

'Well, it's her time,' I thought, shrugging mentally. 'She can spend it however she wants. Who am I to judge?'

Pushing those odd thoughts aside, I focused on what I came here for. I recounted my recent adventure in the dungeon—the mutated monsters, the near-death experiences, the giant Chunky Rattus that nearly made me rat food. By the time I finished my tale, Terra was completely engrossed, listening like it was some epic fairytale.

When I finally wrapped up my story, she let out a sigh and spoke, "That was a good story. I'd rate it a 7/10, but did you two really do all those things?"

I didn't want to believe it myself, but it was all true. We were incredibly reckless, charging into a dungeon without any preparation, but somehow, we managed. I could only nod in response.

"Going into a dungeon in the middle of the night, without making any preparations, was incredibly stupid but also brave," she said with a tiny smile on her face. "I know I shouldn't be saying this, but be a little more careful next time. You got a rare chance to be reborn in a fantasy world with your memory intact; don't waste it by getting yourself killed."

I nodded again, agreeing wholeheartedly. I had no interest in becoming monster food. The next time I go on one of these adventures, I'm not going in without a foolproof plan.

"Anyway, is Systie doing alright? Is she having nightmares?" Terra asked, looking genuinely worried.

"When I woke her up, she screamed at me, saying I ruined her 'nice dream,' so no, I don't think she's having nightmares. Although, she looked pretty scared when we were in the dungeon. The furball spent the entire time tucked in my shirt."

Terra nodded, seeming relieved. "Well, at least you both are getting along well, that's good."

I couldn't help but let out a dry laugh. "Getting along" would be pushing it. If bickering and scolding each other all day counts as getting along, then yeah, we're best buds. But somehow, despite the constant arguing, it felt... nice. Almost like having a sibling around. A very annoying, furry sibling.

Terra didn't seem to notice—or maybe she just ignored—my awkwardness and continued, "Say, do you have any samples of the liquid they were using to store the rats?"

I blinked. Samples? I didn't even think about collecting any. But then, something clicked. I rummaged through my pocket and pulled out the broken kitchen knife I used to poison the rats. The blade still had some of that green goo from the lab clinging to it. "This knife came into contact with that green liquid when I was poisoning the rats. Does this help?"

Her eyes lit up, and she gave me a smile that could rival the sun. "That's more than enough!" she said, waving her hand over the knife. In an instant, it vanished, probably sent to wherever gods store weird, potentially dangerous substances.

"Now then," she said, her tone shifting to something more official, "since you did collect some information about the mutated monsters, I'll grant you a small wish. What do you want?"

I didn't even need to think. "Money. I want money. It's been a month since I came to this world, and I've been busting my butt every day just to scrape by. That won't do. I want luxury."

Terra raised an eyebrow but shook her head. "You'll get plenty of money from the guild as a reward for the dungeon exploration. Ask for something else."

I frowned, racking my brain for something else. But honestly, I didn't know what to ask. Would a flashy power or legendary weapon be useful to me? 

"Can I get some OP skill?" I asked the goddess, but she just scratched her chin with an awkward chuckle. "I can only give you a gift that's proportional to the information you provide. So fancy strong skills or legendary weapons are out of the question for now."

Well, that sucks. So what else do I want? As I was thinking about it, my eyes drifted toward Systie.

She's a brat. Annoying, loud-mouthed, and always ready to insult me. But somehow, she felt like... family. I never had one back in my old life, and having someone to argue with, to share my day with—even if it's just a black furball—felt pretty damn nice.

"I want to know more about her," I blurted out, pointing at the sleeping cat. "Was she always a cat? Why is she so scared of rats? What happened in the past to make her like this?"

Terra's expression softened, and a smile bloomed on her face. "Systie is my proud creation. She is an AI that I created to maintain the system of the world. She's like an administrator of the world. I created her as a cat-girl, but after an unfortunate incident, she developed a hatred for humans and completely ditched her human appearance, opting to be a cat instead."

While saying that, the goddess pulled out a map labeled **WORLD MAP** from seemingly nowhere.

The map unfurled in front of me, revealing a detailed layout of the world. 

It showed three continents:

- The Central Dark Continent

- The Eastern Evergreen Continent

- The Western Volcanic Continent

Terra folded the map with a flick of her wrist, then closed her eyes. The map disappeared from her hands and reappeared in mine, just like magic. Well, it was magic, so that tracks.

"This map is a WORLD MAP. It's a magical map—you can zoom in and find all the locations in the world. Use it to go to the three Sacred Dungeons and the nine Natural Dungeons of the world," she explained. "You can get more information about Systie from those dungeons. Take good care of her, and contact me again if you find any more information about the underground organization."

With that, she gave me one last smile and vanished. As she disappeared, the black cat's eyes stopped glowing, and she came back to her senses.

"Human, what did Terra-sama say? Was the information we found useful? Did you tell everything properly?" 

I quickly placed a finger on her mouth to stop her from any more questions, and she immediately chomped on my finger.

"Hey, stop that! It hurts, you damn cat!" I screamed, pulling my hand out of her mouth.

I was already regretting wasting my wish by asking about this stupid cat.

"You put your hand near my mouth, so it's your fault. Now tell me what happened," the cat ordered with a huff, making me want to punch her.

"I told everything properly, and it was useful. Terra-sama praised me a lot and even gave me this WORLD MAP as a gift," I said with a grin, and now it was the cat's turn to get mad.

We both quarreled a bit more before finally getting down to studying the map.

The map showed three continents: Central, Eastern, and Western. We were living in the Central Continent, while elves lived in the Eastern Continent and dwarfs in the Western Continent.

The Central Continent had a large, towering mountain at its center, and three large rivers emerged from that mountain. The rivers were named according to the direction of their flow:

- The West Flow River

- The Northeast Flow River

- The Southeast Flow River

The rivers divided the Central Continent into three large countries, and we lived in the southern country of the continent called Aldoria. The country was bordered by the central mountain to the north, the West Flow River to the west, the Southeast Flow River to the east, and a giant forest called the Southern Ghat to the south.

Systie and I stared at the map for hours, searching for the nearest Sacred and Natural Dungeon, and in the end, concluded that the nearest Natural Dungeon was in the capital of Aldoria.

"Human, are we going to that dungeon?" the cat asked, holding the map in her paws like it was an invaluable treasure.

"No idea. I'll collect a bit more info about the capital before making any decisions. By the way, are you going to keep holding the map even while sleeping?"

The cat's ears immediately perked up, and she bobbed her head. "Of course! This is a gift from Terra-sama. I will treasure it dearly."

I wanted to say that it was my gift, but looking at the happy cat, I just kept my mouth shut and went back to rest.