Dungeon Hallow

Trying to be a Hero

“Help… help me…” The woman’s voice was so soft and piercing to the ear.

In a quiet and dark night, her voice sounded terrifying. Erix curled up in the corner of the room, scared.

“Help meeee…” The voice came again, it was so close that it seemed to seep directly into his brain. Quickly, the young man covered himself with a blanket.

Erix didn’t care what the owner of the voice was asking for; he would fulfill it. But he hoped that she wouldn’t ask for help with a voice like that in the middle of the night.

“Help me…”

“I also need help here! Please don’t disturb me…” Erix whimpered and trembled.

“Help me…”

“Help me too…”

*****

Erix and Lucius hurried to catch up with the girl, running through the dense trees. They stepped as quickly as they could, leaping over roots that protruded from the ground. But between the two of them, Erix was the faster runner. He wanted to see the girl again as soon as possible, which stirred up Lucius’s mischief.

“Master, she’s pretty, isn’t she?” Lucius said from behind.

Hearing Lucius’s words, Erix’s concentration was instantly disrupted. He stumbled over a root and fell to the ground.

“Owww…” he groaned, then stood up again. “Lucius, what are you talking about?!”

Lucius didn’t answer; he was trying to hold back his laughter. His face looked odd. This was the first time he’d seen Erix’s behavior related to women.

They both ran again, passing through the path that the girl was likely to have taken. Their steps were faster than before, jumping over big rocks that blocked their way. Lucius’s mischievous thoughts came to mind again.

“Master, do you like the girl from earlier?” He asked, holding back his devilish grin.

“WHAT!?” Erix immediately turned to face him, his face slightly reddening.

Erix didn’t realize that he was running, but his eyes weren’t looking ahead. And of course, he ran into a tree branch in front of him. This time, Lucius’ laughter exploded.

“Gahahahahaa… Master… You really like her,” He laughed while holding his stomach.

Erix was silent, annoyed with Lucius’ joke just now. He just looked at his servant’s behavior, shaking his head.

Seeing that Erix didn’t like his joke, Lucius immediately stopped laughing. “Ahem… It’s okay to like any woman, but don’t let your feelings play with your life.”

“I’m not sure about these feelings yet. Seeing her face just now made my heart feel like it’s about to explode. A strange and unpleasant feeling, like being tickled,” Erix explained while holding his chest.

“This is the result of being constantly faced with business matters,” He muttered, letting out a sigh. “Come on, Master, let’s go after her!”

While running, Erix told Lucius something interesting. “Lucius, I think I recognize the crying voice of that girl.”

“Excuse me? Master, this is a foreign place that we’ve never been to before. I don’t even know which side of the Earth this is. We haven’t met the girl before. Could it be that the cold lake water has slightly affected your brain nerves?”

“Stop joking!” said Erix annoyed, “What I mean is, do you remember when I told you that I heard crying in my room a few days ago? The crying voice is exactly the same as the girl’s voice just now.”

Lucius took a moment to digest what his master was saying. Although he’s deep in thought, he never stumbled on any roots or stones on the ground.

“Master, perhaps it’s just your imagination.” Of course, he would say that. What his master was trying to convey was something highly unlikely. It could be possible if one of them had telepathic abilities. But in the 21st century, that’s just impossible. Even if it were, to him, it would all be fiction and nonsense.

A few moments later, they found the girl they had been looking for. However, instead of approaching her, they hid and followed her from behind. They sneaked through the bushes and trees. The girl was oblivious to their presence. Eventually, they arrived at a large city gate with the word “Hardov” written on it, which was probably the name of the city. The girl entered the city, while Erix and Lucius continued to follow her from behind.

The architecture and arrangement of buildings in the city were similar to those of medieval Europe, but with some differences. There were no motorized vehicles here; they used horse-drawn carriages, and most people walked. Some were armored with swords at their hips, while others were complete with a wizard’s wand, cloak, and hat. What surprised them the most was a tiger standing and walking like a regular person. It was wearing a brown leather outfit that looked like armor. Its sharp claws penetrated the ground, and a large machete was attached to its back.

“Lucius! THAT… TIGER… TIGER….” Erix pointed to the tiger, sounding very excited.

“That… HA! Master, it’s just a costume. Just a costume. Maybe they’re having a cosplay event in this city now,” He assured him.

“Lucius! THAT TIGER… THAT TIGER IS TALKING!” Erix shouted again.

Lucius was about to explain that the costume was a sophisticated one. However, as he carefully observed the tiger, it looked incredibly real. Its mouth moved as it spoke, its ears twitched, and its tail wagged. All of it was not being controlled by a device; it was real.

Not only the tiger, but they also saw a cheetah, rabbit, and fox mixed with knights and wizards. They both realized that they were no longer on Earth. An urban atmosphere like this no longer existed on Earth in any part of the world. Places like this only existed in games and the fantasy world.

Erix’s voice quivered with fear as he asked, “W-where are we exactly? Are we playing Virtual RPG Fantasy?”

“I don’t think so, Master. Look! If this were a virtual game, it shouldn’t leave a wound.” He showed a bump on his forehead that he got when he hit a stalactite in the cave earlier.

He was right. Erix remembered the cave’s mouth above the sky. “I think you’re right. If this is the real world, then we’re not on Earth anymore.”

“Pardon? Master, what do you mean?!” asked a startled Lucius.

“Remember the mouth of the cave in the sky earlier? I think it’s a portal to this world,” Erix explained. But then, he noticed the girl who’d been missing from his sight.

“If we’re no longer on Earth, that means we’re p-poor—” Lucius’ voice trailed off.

“Lucius, come on! We can’t lose her,” Erix urged, pulling his hand, who hadn’t finished his sentence.

They followed the girl, hiding in the crevices of the buildings to watch her movements. She approached every armed person, begging for help. She moved from one group to another, but no one was willing to help her. She even kneeled, but she was pushed to fall. The girl stood up again, then went to approach another group. They continued to follow her from behind, witnessing everything that had happened.

“Please help me find my brother in the dungeon. He’s been there for five days and hasn’t come back. I beg of you,” pleaded the unfortunate girl.

“Alright, we’ll help you on the condition that you do as we say,” said one of the men in the group with a disgusting smirk.

“I… I’ll do anything you say,” the girl replied.

“We want you to take off your clothes now!” he said, and all his friends in the group burst into laughter. Erix and Lucius were shocked and angry in their hiding place.

“A-alright, I’ll t-take off my clothes,” the girl began unbuttoning the top of her shirt, causing the leering men to widen their eyes in anticipation.

“Master, we have to help her now. If we don’t—” He trailed off, looking around for his master.

Erix caught the girl’s hand to stop her from doing what she was about to do. “Stop! You’re being played!”

“Damn, it turns out he’s already there. Typical,” grumbled Lucius as he joined his master to confront the group.

The girl was startled and stopped, “Y-you… you’re the one from the lake.”

“Hoho… the tardy hero has arrived,” said one of the men in the group.

“DON’T YOU DARE—” another man stepped forward to attack Erix, but Lucius quickly pulled out his pistol and shot the man.

The gunshot echoed through the area, startling the people around them. The hot lead pierced through the target’s thigh, causing blood to gush out from both sides. The man writhed in pain, while his friends stood frozen in shock.

“What just happened…?” another man exclaimed, his face full of fear. “What kind of weapon was that?”

“No, that’s magic. Run!” one of them shouted, urging the group to leave quickly while carrying their wounded friend. From this incident, Erix and Lucius realized that this world had not yet known firearms.

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!” Erix yelled at the girl. “WHY DID YOU GO THAT FAR?!” She fell silent for a moment and started crying.

“What else can I do? No one wants to help me,” she sobbed, sounding just like the person who’d cried in front of Erix before. Though it seemed impossible, he was sure of it.

“You’re a crybaby. Stop crying. We’ll help you,” Erix said to comfort her.

“Really…?” the girl had not fully comprehended what she’d just heard.

“Yes,” Erix answered lazily. “So stop crying.”

The girl smiled, a beautiful smile with tears in her eyes. It was a genuine smile that Erix had never seen from any woman before.

Suddenly, a strange feeling tickled Erix’s chest, and the reaction happened again after seeing the girl’s smile. His heart raced, and his body felt warmer for no reason.

“My name is Erix, Erix Arthur. And this is my friend Lucius Ventus. What’s your name?” he asked, trying to distract himself from the strange sensation.

“Murakami Haruka,” she replied.

“Meaning ‘Spring Blossom,’ a beautiful name,” Erix said, complimenting her.

Lucius had been silent the whole time, unsure of what to say. But in his heart, he’d thought about the names Murakami and Haruka. Were there Japanese people in this foreign world?