"By the way…" Max said after a moment of silence. "I don't think I ever properly introduced myself."
Mira tilted her head slightly, sitting on a rock while idly tapping the ground with the tip of her boot.
"My name is Max."
"Max…" she repeated with a smile. "It sounds simple. I like it."
He scratched the back of his neck.
"Do you live here?"
Mira shook her head gently.
"No. I work here."
"You… work at the bottom of a dungeon?"
"Of course," she replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "I'm a deep delver. While people like you enter the upper floors to hunt monsters and become famous…" she waved her hand vaguely, "…we dig."
"Dig… what exactly?"
Mira raised one finger.
"Rare minerals. In my case, I'm looking for adenite."
"Adenite…?"
Her lips curved into a proud smile.
"It's a luminous stone made of pure energy. That's why it shines even in complete darkness."
She gave an awkward little tap to her temple, her eyes still closed.
"I haven't found any in days," she added. "It happens sometimes."
Max blinked.
The glow.
The rocks lighting the bottom of the cliff. The cave where he had first woken up.
…I think I've already seen it, he thought.
But he decided to change the subject.
"Mira… what floor are we on, exactly?"
"Floor thirty-two."
"Thirty-two?!"
Max froze.
"That's impossible…" he murmured. "My party barely reached floor ten… and even that was hell for them."
Mira tilted her head.
"Ten?" she said. "That one isn't too hard."
"It isn't…?"
"You should see—well, feel—floor eleven," she added with a mischievous smile.
Max let out a small laugh.
"What do you mean?"
"The most dangerous floors are always the odd-numbered ones," she explained. "No one knows why. They just… are."
"That sounds arbitrary."
"It is," she admitted. "But it works."
Max watched her closely.
"And it doesn't affect you, being down here?"
"Not much," she replied. "People like me are adapted to these environments. Besides… I'm not the only one."
"There are more like you?"
"Lots of us," she said casually. "Though I suppose you humans call us monsters."
Max frowned.
"Monsters? But you look… normal."
Mira smiled.
"Oh? Do I?"
Then, right in front of him, her body began to grow.
The transformation was fast and brutal. In seconds, the girl vanished, replaced by the enormous giant mole—claws capable of shattering stone, a body that looked like a living extension of the earth itself.
"That's what humans call us," the deep voice said. "Monsters."
A knot formed in Max's throat.
Without thinking, he dropped to his knees.
"I-I'm sorry," he said with his head lowered. "Truly. You've been kind to me from the start, and still—"
"Hey, hey!" Mira interrupted.
In the blink of an eye, she returned to her human form and hurried over, crouching in front of him.
"Don't worry about that," she said. "I really don't care what we're called."
"But—"
"Seriously," she smiled. "Get up."
Max obeyed, feeling embarrassed.
"As compensation," she said, "I'll take you somewhere I think you'll find interesting."
"Huh?"
"I think I found the adenite you're looking for."
Mira's closed eyes widened in surprise… even though they remained shut.
"Really?"
"I think so."
Days later, Max guided her through the tunnels to a cave he knew all too well.
The entrance was partially destroyed. Blackened remains and broken bones still littered the ground.
Mira stopped abruptly.
"…This is…"
"The cave where I survived," Max said.
She looked at the remains.
"Did you kill a Vorak here?"
"Well… more or less," he replied.
"How did you survive something like that?" she asked, clearly impressed.
Max scratched his cheek.
"I thought it was weak."
"Weak?"
"My system told me it was extremely dangerous and that I should run."
Mira burst out laughing.
"Then for your current condition… it probably was weak."
She looked at him with interest.
"You've become very strong."
Max smiled wryly.
"I wish my party thought the same."
"Your party?"
Max hesitated, then finally spoke.
He told her everything.
About Kael. Ryn. The others.
About the defective system.
About how they always told him he was useless.
About how, no matter how much the system claimed he was growing stronger, he remained weak.
"Luna…" he murmured.
Mira tilted her head.
"Who is she?"
Max blushed.
"She's… beautiful. Long silver hair. Gray eyes, very deep. Slender figure…"
He stopped and coughed.
"But she's also brave. She doesn't talk much, but she always fights with everything she has. She's probably the strongest in the group."
Mira smiled widely.
"Oh my~," she said. "It's obvious you like her."
"I joined the party because of her," Max admitted. "And I feel like I failed her."
They reached the deepest part of the cave.
The crystals shone like stars trapped inside the stone.
"Adenite!" Mira exclaimed. "And there's so much of it."
"Is that… valuable?"
She picked up a few crystals.
"Extremely. A single one is worth ten thousand gold coins."
Max's eyes widened.
"Ten thousand…?"
"This is enough for now," she said, storing them away. "I'll come back for more when I run out of money."
Then she handed several crystals to Max.
"Here."
"Me?"
"With your current level, this will be enough to impress your party," she smiled. "And especially… Luna."
Max held the crystal.
It shone with a steady, honest light.
He fell silent.
For the first time…
The idea didn't feel like a lie.