Entwined Past of Them

In a desolate and mysterious location, an unsettling silence fell like a heavy fog. The lack of light plunged the surroundings into a pit of darkness, where emptiness stretched endlessly. Yuichi awoke in this surreal place, suspended in the boundless void, with no tangible ground beneath his feet.

Momentarily, Yuichi found himself standing on a strange surface that appeared to have appeared out of nowhere. He landed with a sigh of relief, making sure both feet were firmly planted.

As he did, his surroundings begin to materialize into a strange familiar hallway that Yuichi hasn't seen before yet he thought he had seen one before. The wall was made of plain fancy wood alongside with the white stone pillar and chandeliers on the ceiling.

'Where am I? What happened?' Yuichi was in deep thought. A glimpse of memories showed in his mind and he finally understood his current situation.

'Oh, that's right, I was in that room... When I finally defeated that thing everything went black and the next thing I know, I am here...'

After some contemplation, he looked around and found a long path where its destination yet to be discovered. He was wondering why he was here, but nevertheless, he goes in and walks into the unexplored path.

As he goes to the path, step by step, he can hear faint murmurs from someone who is not there, mostly like a ghost from the past of this place. He didn't faze from this, in fact, he was intrigued. Yuichi is a type of a guy who takes any risk and regrets later if failed, but also at the same time, he's the type of a guy who has guts and determination.

After taking more steps into the depth of an unknown path, the murmurs that he was hearing all over the place were suddenly understood in human language. Yuichi was surprised by the sudden occurrence and listened as he kept going.

"There's no other way that she could live with this type of condition. She's so ill that not even the highest rank healer can heal her, sir." A voice of a man echoed on Yuichi's ear.

Following the odd murmurs reverberating, Yuichi continues to listen while walking.

"What about the Elixir? It can heal any ailment without exception."

"But sire... The Elixir you're talking about doesn't exist in reality. They're just fairy tales."

"Nonsense! The Elixir existed! You're just saying that because you can't heal her."

"T-That's not what I meant, sire! The Elixir you've been talking about has not yet been discovered by the adventurers. And even if it does exist, it's too late for her to be saved from her sickness. I'm sorry, sir, but there's nothing we can do about the situation."

The voices faded away as Yuichi progressed from walking into the path of the unknown. Then, after taking more steps forward, the place changes from a wooden fancy hallway into a royal hallway that has the view of a marvelous scene outside.

After the change of the place, Yuichi can hear once again some faint murmurs and it begins to be clear as he forwards.

"There has been a report that certain places like the old library on the City of Husterson mysteriously disappeared into thin air. Witnesses say that a strange black magic circle engulfed the library within less than 10 seconds." articulated by someone.

"Is it caused by the Demon Lord's Army or the Demon Lord itself?" said the other one.

"Unfortunately, no evidence that can lead to that judgement. We're sitting on docks with this report."

"I see. A strange phenomenon has been going on around the world after the First Hero Party... disbanded after the battle against the First Demon Lord. Just what's happening to the world after our savior Aric's eternal absence?"

There was silence for a moment, and then, they continued.

"By the way, did you know that the Captain's wife is ill from an unknown disease? I heard that even the highest rank healer cannot help her."

"Captain's wife is ill? I've never heard any of this."

"Well, you know that Captain doesn't want to spread news around. But I happened to hear it from someone when I was visiting the town of Sapp for report duty. I heard that she's not quite in a condition to live any longer."

"Isn't Captain's wife used to be an adventurer? Maybe she got cursed by something when she was still an adventurer and it just happens to affect her now."

"Don't be ridiculous! Something like that would only exist in stories. Anyway, let's not talk about this any further. You know the Captain would not like to hear us gossiping about it."

And once again, their voices fade into nothingness and the place changes again. This time, the place is now somewhere around another hallway that has a wall of stone and wooden pillar. Yuichi walks along the hallway and faint murmurs can be heard again, slowly getting more clearer as he progresses more.

"Sir, there have been some sighting reports that strange activities have been found in the outskirts of Frienden Kingdom. It says that a group of bandits has caused trouble among the citizens." articulated by a young man.

But there was no response. The young man asked the person he was talking with another topic.

"Sir, are you okay? You look troubled..."

Finally, the person replied, though it took him to reply back. "I'm fine. I just need some rest. I'm going to visit someone so if anyone is looking for me, tell them that I'm currently busy."

"O-Okay, sir. I'm sorry if I'm rude, but may I ask who's this person you are going to visit?"

"My wife. I suggest you do not ask me this type of question furthermore."

"I-I'm so sorry..."

And then, once again, the place changes and the voices are gone once more. Yuichi was in deep contemplation after witnessing what seems to be memories of someone. He doesn't really know if there's any significance about these entwined past of them, but he kept going as he walked into a long pathway.

After some time of walking, the place remains black for a moment. And then, suddenly, everything glows in white that temporarily blind Yuichi. As he opened his eyes once again, he was standing on a familiar door that had two iron lanterns on each side. Yuichi was confused about this as to why he was here, but something has been telling him that he should go inside once again.

He grabbed the door handle and opened the door wide, leisurely entering the room and closing the door. As he went inside the room, it was the same room he had entered before, a fancy wood interior lobby where the receptionist works and a quarter room on his right. It was the place he stumbled upon before he got teleported into the arena where he fought the Venomancer with his bare hands.

Nevertheless, Yuichi walks into the quarter room without wasting any moment of time and there he finds a young lady laying on the bed with her beautiful appearance. The lady has long blonde hair and white dress along with her pale skin. She was around thirties and her eyes were green gem like texture. Anyone would fall in love with her immediately.

Yuichi stood there in the distance, staring at the lady before getting noticed by her when suddenly she smiled while looking at the window.

"I have been waiting for you for a long time." Her soothing voice gives Yuichi a somewhat calm atmosphere.

"Wait, you're talking about me?" Yuichi was dumbfounded as he asked the lady.

The lady smiled once again and glanced at Yuichi with her beautiful green eyes, her bangs partially hiding her pale face.

"Of course I am. Why would I begin to speak if someone hasn't arrived here with an apprehensive face?"

"Oh... That makes sense..."

The lady giggled a bit and looked at Yuichi with her beautiful green eyes.

"What's wrong? You seem to look frowned." She asked.

"Ah... It's just that I haven't had any conversation ever since I'm stuck in this dungeon. It's been a while now since I've gotten to talk with someone." Yuichi replied.

"Well, so am I. I don't know how many years have passed since I passed away and I've been wandering around this place alone for a while now."

Yuichi noticed something and asked the lady about something specific. "I'm sorry if this is rude but, are you the white lady I was following with?"

The lady giggled and replied, "Well, looks like you got me. Indeed I am the white lady you'd described. I was looking for something that belongs to me"

"You were looking for something? What is it?"

"A ring that my husband has given me a long time ago."

"Ring...?"

With the lady's specification, Yuichi looked down at his left hand and saw the ring on his ring finger. Yuichi realized that the lady who was looking for her ring was on his hand and he gradually took it from his finger.

"I believe I've got what you're looking for." Yuichi said and handed over the ring to the lady on the bed.

The lady was surprised but still remains to her calm composure, grabbed the ring out of Yuichi's hand and held it. At that time, memories of her past flashed on her mind and she smiled but with sadness.

"I'm going to miss being alive in this world, it was such a good memory of my life. I miss being an adventurer who travels the world without worries of my life. I'm going to miss my old friends. I'm going to miss everyone. But I will meet them any moment now, yet I still don't want to go. I wanna stay." She said with a frown to her face.

Upon hearing the lady's frown words, Yuichi felt the same thing as he also has a similar situation like her. Being alone in the dungeon, no friends to talk with, nothing but a lone warrior wandering around the dungeon slaying monsters. But upon Lumiella's arrival to Yuichi's pity life, things got a little brighter.

At that time, he thought that it doesn't matter if you're dead as long as you did well in your previous life. Making good memories with others you adorned, laughing with them, is already a sign that you already did well to your life.

"You don't have to be sad anymore. I know it's hard for us to think about it, dying is unavoidable, but if we think we have done more than better to our life then there's no other reason why we should be sad. We cherish it as long as we remember them as the greatest moments of our lives. That's why there's nothing to be sad about anymore."

"So just keep going in the afterlife."

The lady was surprised by the response from Yuichi. She was staring at him and beginning to think this boy is somewhat a charismatic person. She smiled and closed her eyes with outstanding beauty.

"You're a strange person. Although you cannot compete with my husband with that."

Yuichi was dumbfounded by the lady's response. It took a while for him to realize that he unintentionally charmed the lady and started panicking.

"I-I'm sorry! It's not like that! I just want to say about the stuff you've been through, that's all..."

The lady giggled and replied, "You don't have to be so apologetic. I know it's not intentional."

The lady continued, "But you know, it's been a while since someone has ever consulted me so I express to you my gratitude. I have no regrets. What is your name?"

"My name? Yuichi Hanateru." He said plainly.

"Yuichi... What an otherworldly name you have. Perhaps you came from a far away country, huh?" The lady giggled as she said.

Well, to be precise, Yuichi indeed came from a far away country that doesn't exist in Eldoria but rather exists in another world that is called "Earth".

The lady wore the ring momentarily and gazed upon it with her beautiful green eyes. She smiled once more before looking at Yuichi as she slowly began to crumble into beautiful pieces of white petals of flower.

"It's nice to talk with you, Yuichi. You're a strange and nice person." She said.

"It is also nice talking with you..." Yuichi replied but he doesn't know her name, making him do a long pause on his last word.

The lady giggled and said to him, "I forgot to tell you my name, didn't I? Well, my name is Seraphina."

Yuichi opens his both eyes in surprise upon hearing the lady's real name. He was talking to the right owner of the ring all along, well, obviously she was.

As the lady slowly fading away leaving beautiful white petals flying to the air, she smiled once more and looked to Yuichi with her final moment before going away completely.

"It looks like I don't have time left from this world. This is a goodbye then for us, Yuichi Hanateru. Good luck on finding your lost companion." She said before finally fading away in the bed.

Yuichi was shocked and surprised that the lady knew he had a lost companion. He didn't mention it throughout their conversation and yet she knew about it. But nevertheless, Yuichi remains vigilant as he watches the lady fade away into beautiful white petals flying into the air. He closed his both eyes and placed his both hands in a clap position to express his condolences to the lady. It's a tradition for a Japanese person.

"May you rest in peace, Seraphina-san." Yuichi said respectfully.

And then, the whole room was flashed in mysterious white. And then, before he knew it, he was standing in the hallway with a screen in front of him.

[You have successfully cleared out a D-Rank Dungeon Room!]

[You have received EXP 10,000,000]

[Level up+]

[Level up+]

[Level up+]