The Days I've Spent In A Dungeon

A Feeling

"Wait. What do you mean by 'not from this world'?" I asked, just as anyone else would in this situation.

"You... you truly are unaware. Aren't you?" The creature started pondering. It seemed genuinely surprised that I didn't know that I was supposedly an otherworlder.

"If you don't know the fact that you're an otherworlder, then... What do you know?" It asked me.

The way it asked the question, was as if me being an otherworlder was supposedly common knowledge.

"I... don't really know anything. I can't remember anything from before waking up here."

For the first time since I first woke up in this cave, I was actually thinking seriously. I mean, to be told that you're 'not of this world' so casually like that when you really don't know anything about even yourself, I wish it wasn't as surprising as it was.

But even then, I'm still not as surprised as I should be.

*****

I started sharing my life in this cave to this creature, as if it were my most trusted companion.

I told it about the journal, about my base, about the rooms, the spells, and most importantly; how accepting and nonchalant I was about everything.

I really don't understand why I felt so comfortable around this guy, why I'm so comfortable with everything, when none of it was even supposed to be familiar to me.

It was only now that I started thinking about things like this. If I hadn't learnt that I wasn't from this world, if I hadn't met this creature; or more precisely, if the journal never told me to meet with this creature; I'd probably think that everything was normal. And that I've simply been having amnesia.

The creature told me that a lot of what I experienced was natural in this world, but most of it would only be found in works of fiction in my world.

However if it were all 'natural', I wouldn't at any point find anything weird at all. But there were multiple times I felt that things went against my logic.

When I found the forest, the flowers, the rooms, when I read the words spell and mana, even the journal felt weird when I first found it. I've been making remarks about how I would try to ignore everything! I was even aware of how nonchalant I was.

But why? Why was I so accepting, so trusting of everything?

"...maybe it has something to do with why you found yourself here." The creature spoke. It could probably tell what I was thinking about.

"Well... Why am I here?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know." It said, looking down a bit.

Oh. Way to get my hopes up.

"All we knew was that you would be here. Well, us who were told by the Dungeon Master."

...Dungeon Master?

I took out my journal, which I've now become slightly skeptical of, and flipped to the page with the task, 'Meeting'.

"Meet the master of the dungeon." I read its description. "Is the Dungeon Master who I'm supposed to meet?" I asked the creature, showing the task to it.

"Oh yes, most likely. However, it might be tough to go directly to him." It replied.

"Is this cave... the dungeon?"

"Yes, it is. Dungeons are places that have multiple levels, each more difficult to pass through than the last. Adventurers explore dungeons to get the power or treasures within. Dungeons are underground, thus the deeper you go, the harder it is to proceed, however the opposite is true for towers. Towers are far more advanced than dungeons in aspects such as their architecture and difficulty." The creature explained. "Also, the reward for reaching the top of a tower is different from that of the last floor of a dungeon. Instead of better loot or power, towers can grant any wish one asks for."