I wake up the next morning not feeling very rested. On one hand, physical exhaustion helped me fall asleep early but, on the other, I’ve had nightmares about that Marco guy saying he’s my fiancé.

  Also, yesterday I made sure to prepare for the beginner dungeon based on my experience in the otome. But of course, in games, your clothes or armor just lose durability during combat. That is, if a corrosive slime jumps on you, it doesn’t make a hole. I never thought that in a world as real as mine, that could actually happen. It would’ve been nice to have a change of clothes so I wouldn’t run into Marco in such an inappropriate—if not indecent—state.

  Anyway, I didn’t play much of the game, but I do remember that Bianca wasn’t engaged to anyone. Which means that engagement gets broken before my academy entrance exam in just over a month.

  Great.

  When I get back home, I’ll feel out the counts, see if they can annul it. It’s not that the guy was ugly, but this body is barely eighteen, come on! I wasn’t engaged in my twenties, I’m not planning to be at eighteen. I bet if I get married I’ll end up doing boring noble tasks like managing house servants. I refuse. I want to level up and learn magic.

  Speaking of magic...

  I open my status sheet, which hasn’t changed at all despite leveling up twice. Makes sense—the otome was stingy. It seemed like character progression was tied to romantic interests. Thinking about it, I feel a little guilty, remembering Marco’s face when I spoke to him as if I couldn’t care less, with brutal lack of delicacy because he caught me at a bad moment. He might even run off to the county to cancel the engagement. That would be wonderful.

  (It’s just... I don’t like being cruel to anyone. I just wasn’t expecting a complete stranger to claim he was my fiancé.)

  Back to what matters: I only have two points to assign and I don’t see anywhere the possibility of learning more spells. In the game, at the academy you’d ask the magic professor to teach you the one you wanted, then you had to study and practice it. Maybe that’s it.

  I manipulate the translucent window in front of me, trying to access new areas, but there’s nothing. It’s a copy of what the status slab shows children when they put their hand on it.

  Disappointed, I choose not to spend my two free points yet. It would be stupid to put them in intelligence without knowing if I’ll be able to learn an offensive spell. Same goes for spending them on strength or agility, because while I wouldn’t mind learning to use a sword properly, it would suck if I later needed them to make my magic do more damage.

  To achieve my goal, I should enter the other dungeon, but common sense—earned from too many hours dying in games because of greed—holds me back.

  I don’t know its difficulty, and I’m so bad that if it weren’t for the newbie one being full of slimes that are easily beaten with a torch, I wouldn’t have been able to clear it. Best thing is to take advantage of the fact that no one knows it exists and clear it several more times. I just hope Marco doesn’t know where it is. I let my tongue slip and said too much.

  A dungeon isn’t owned by the noble who owns those lands, but by the king, who usually delegates its management to army treasurers. This way, soldiers themselves train in dungeons, and if anyone else wants to use them, they have to pay an entrance fee. The only exception is for whoever discovers it as they’re given a monetary reward that depends on the dungeon’s level and they’re allowed to enter without paying. Well, I don’t think they need to find out if I take a few days to make my discovery official.

  I call my maid to help me dress and do my hair—no choice—and I prepare to leave again after breakfast. I won’t be able to gain much more experience with level 1 and 2 creatures and a level 2 boss. In fact, it takes three more times, three days, to reach level 4. On the fourth day I realize that not even the slime boss gives me experience anymore. Then, I play innocent, like I stumbled upon it by chance, and report it. I don’t hide that I’ve cleared it, so they know the first-time bonus has already been claimed.

  My father’s steward at the country house is stunned hearing me. I hear a noise behind me and see that one of the maids has nearly fainted from shock. Berta? Nope, she just looks at me, intrigued. Well, it is what it is. Let them notify whoever they need to and come manage it.

  I have one more point to spend and I’m saving it for later. I think the game’s NPCs couldn’t choose where to put those points, that they were distributed based on what they’d used most to gain that level. Good thing that’s not my case.

  Of course, my plans for today are to go to the other dungeon. I know it’s risky, but the newbie one doesn’t give me experience anymore.

  The sensible thing would be to wait for the academy and learn some spells there; but precisely to get in, I need to be able to pass the practical with good grades, and I’m not going to achieve that by sitting cross-armed in the library pretending to study.

  I’m finishing packing a backpack with food, a spare set of clothes, ropes, torches and a sheet I’ve cut into strips to make improvised bandages, when my maid knocks on the door. The other four times I cleared the boss room, the chests either didn’t give me any potions or I’ve already used them up.

  “Miss, your friend Caroline Marrow has come to see you. She’s waiting in the sitting room.”

  “Tell her I’ll be right down.”

  I quickly check myself in my bedroom mirror: I look presentable.

  A blue dress with neither too much flow nor too much cleavage, and braided hair. This morning, the maid complained about me wanting to wear my plainest clothes and such an unelaborate hairstyle. I didn’t tell her I was planning to go dungeon diving—just that I preferred to be comfortable for studying.

  She frowned, and I could almost see what she was thinking: that I had changed, that I used to be the kind of person who would rather die than live simply. I didn’t care. I preferred them thinking that hit to the head had made me half-crazy than trying to pretend to be Bianca. And now that a supposed friend was coming to see me, well... what I was wearing would have to do.

  I leave my room and go downstairs. The sitting room is a first-floor room furnished with cushioned seats and several tables, suitable for receiving guests over tea and biscuits. I’m more of a coffee person, but in this world they don’t seem to know what that is. A young woman, sitting in one of the armchairs, stands when she sees me. She’s definitely dressed up, wearing a dress more suited for a gala ball, but anyway...

  “Bianca, how are you, dear?” She comes toward me and gives me a hug.

  They must have been close. She’s another of the game’s three yes-women. It’s not like I’ve got a photographic memory or anything, but I still remember her name.

  “Fine, fine, and you?”

  “Same as always, studying and helping mother run the house. I heard you weren’t feeling well.” She looks at me with concern as we sit and the maid enters with a tray of, sure enough, tea and biscuits. “I’m worried.”

  “How kind. It’s nothing, I’m fine.”

  “Are you sure?” She looks dubiously at my clothes and hairstyle.

  “Never been better,” I affirm while taking a sip of tea.

  It tastes good. I think they blended it with flowers and little berries.

  “Then wait for us to get to the academy. It’s going to be amazing! My father managed to get us placed in the same dorm room like we wanted, so now all that’s left is the easy part: passing.”

  Easy to pass? Maybe for her, who must have been studying her whole life like Bianca.

  “Sure.” I nod, trying to appear confident.

  “Hey, did your fiancé come to see you? My brother ran into him a few days ago and told me he was heading this way.”

  “Marco? Yeah, he came.”

  “He’s so handsome!” she sighs. “You’re so lucky. My parents could have arranged a marriage like that for me too.”

  “Handsome?” slips out.

  Because I didn’t even think of him that way—I saw him as an annoyance since I didn’t know Bianca was engaged.

  “Yes. Did he come to set the wedding date?”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Actually, I don’t know why he came. He left quickly. I guess just a courtesy visit.” I shrug.

  Caroline looks at me with some envy and I quickly change the subject. We move on to talk about nonsense like the designs of the latest dressmaker who’s become famous in the capital, where the queen resides. After an hour that feels endless, she leaves, claiming she can’t take more time away from her studies. She hugs me again and says we’ll see each other at the academy.

  I watch the blonde girl as she leaves the room. She lacks the elegance proper to a villainess. Maybe that’s why she’s one of the three anonymous nobles who at the academy laugh at Sol’s jokes.

  Sol is Faith’s sister. Both are daughters of the kingdom’s most powerful duke and villainesses of the otome game. They’re brunettes with eyes of a rare shade of pink—pure elegance. They have something, a kind of high school cheerleader queen spirit that, along with their intricate knowledge of court intrigue and their position as daughters of the highest-ranking nobility, makes them stand out and shine. No wonder Bianca and Caroline idolized them.

  Well, I eat the biscuits left on the plate and return to my room to complete making the bandages and get my backpack. I’m wearing riding boots instead of court shoes, but it’s not noticeable thanks to the dress’s skirts.

  I only wore my older brother’s clothes on the first day, since I ruined them and had to get rid of them discreetly. It’s one thing for him to come back and find a pair of pants and a shirt missing, and a very different thing if his entire wardrobe were gone. That’s why, on the following days, I’ve been wearing my own dresses—the simplest ones. Since this one is a bit nicer, I just hope I don’t ruin it too. I’ve run out of excuses to give the maid.

  In any case, I finish getting ready and leave. It’s still before lunchtime, though later than I intended.

  I’m deep in the forest, almost at the dungeon, when I hear it: growls. They’re like dog growls. Well, considering my Earth experience, all growls sound to me like either dogs or lions, the latter only because of the scare one gave me at the zoo.

  I carefully step off the path and find myself in a small clearing where three wolves with white or light gray fur are about to attack a puppy. It’s a wolf pup, but black as the darkest night.

  They haven’t seen me. I could go back the way I came. In fact, it would be the wise thing to do. But that poor puppy can’t be even a month old and looks fearfully at the other wolves. It looks so helpless...

  Honestly, sometimes I could punch myself. Like now, when I draw my sword—the one I don’t know how to use—and place myself between the little one and its attackers.

  I could have at least slashed one from behind before they saw me...

  The three wolves bare their fangs at me and growl more viciously. I know they’re about to attack.

  Common sense finally floods in and I crouch down, grab the pup and start running toward the dungeon. In my right hand I’m still gripping the sword’s hilt.

  I immediately hear the wolves start chasing after me. I run as fast as I can, bracing for the claws I’m sure will tear into my back any second now, throw me to the ground—and even those will be nothing compared to their teeth at my throat. And I’ll die, with the puppy in my arms, powerless to save it.

  Damn it!

  How can I be so stupid and impulsive? Killing slimes has gone to my head. I don’t have a single freaking combat skill.

  That said, I can sprint like crazy, with all my adrenaline pumping full blast, and miraculously I reach the dungeon entrance. I dive in, no hesitation. The wolves stay on the other side of what to them is just a stone wall, not understanding where their prey went.

  Then three things happen. Or rather, three popup windows appear:

  Congratulations, you have saved the seed of darkness.

  Congratulations, you have entered a dungeon for travelers from other worlds. Your skills and spells have been unlocked.

  Bianca L’Crom

  Race: Human

  Age: 18

  Level: 4

  Constitution: 6

  Strength: 2

  Intelligence: 3

  Agility: 2

  Wisdom: 6

  HP: 6

  MP: 6

  Magic Affinities: Reevaluation needed after demonstrating personality change through actions and thoughts.

  Skills: None. Available to learn.

  Spells: Minor Earth Control. Available to learn.

  I let out a little shriek that I try to contain so as not to attract every living creature in the dungeon, while doing some excited jumps. I don’t think this is very fitting with a noble’s image but... my magic affinities are being reevaluated!

  That means I can have more interesting schools than earth. Which, okay, it’s not that earth is bad (defensive walls, spiked pits at enemies’ feet, golems...) but I’m more into other magics. So that’s the first thing I point my finger at in that translucent window.

  Reevaluating.

  Reevaluating.

  Reevaluating.

  It stays like that for over a minute, which feels eternal. When the screen finally changes, my mouth goes dry and my heart seems to stop.

  Elemental Affinities: Air, Fire, Water, Earth.

  Non-elemental Affinity: Light.

  Four elemental affinities requirement unlocked.

  Recalculating.

  Elemental Affinities: Air, Fire, Water, Earth, Spirit.

  Non-elemental Affinity: Light.

  I have affinity for all four elements plus one I’ve never heard about in the game?

  This is without doubt the most insane and powerful thing I could have imagined.

  My heart’s racing and I’m on cloud nine, trying to process it. Elemental affinities are typical—80% of nobles have at least one. For light and darkness, a noble child reading the stone slab has a 10% chance of getting them. Having four... even the most broken characters in the game didn’t have more than two. Three was already legendary stuff.

  And spirit...

  I smile broadly.

  Looks like passing the exam is going to be easier than I thought. Whoever brought me here hasn’t left me defenseless, quite the opposite.

  I select my available spells. Apparently, I get one per affinity. For earth, since I already know earth control, they don’t give me any extra.

  These are my options:

  Light: Minor Light Orb, Minor Healing.

  Air: Minor Breath Control, Minor Light Feet.

  Fire: Minor Fire Bolt, Minor Heat Resistance.

  Water: Minor Splash, Minor Water Breathing.

  Spirit: Minor Channeling.

  I read through the information for each option.

  The light orb is exactly what its name suggests: a light that follows you and illuminates in darkness. It neither blinds nor damages enemies, at least not at this level. Minor healing only heals a single HP.

  Minor splash and fire bolt are offensive spells that do 0-2 points of damage, depending on whether the target is vulnerable or resistant to the element. Base damage is one point.

  Light feet gives a small speed boost for sixty seconds.

  Minor breath control doubles the time you can hold your breath and remains active for three minutes.

  Water breathing is just as its name suggests, for three minutes too.

  Minor fire resistance helps you not burn for thirty seconds.

  I guess all of this will improve as I level up. MP cost is one point per spell. Healing, however, has a drawback: it can only be used once every twenty-four hours. It doesn’t resurrect and it doesn’t regenerate lost limbs.

  Channeling costs no less than two MP points and lets me imbue an element into a part of my body or a weapon I am touching. If it is earth, it increases the weapon’s durability or that body part’s defense. If it is any of the other three elements, it applies elemental damage.

  This is something none of the otome’s warriors could do, probably because they didn’t have spirit affinity. The duration is sixty seconds. This spell, like all the others except healing, has no cooldown.

  Obviously, I learn it.

  As for the other four, I go with healing, fire bolt (I want offensive fire magic— the stronger, the better), minor breath control and minor splash. With six mana points, I can use channeling and still have four left. That seems balanced: two offensive spells, one for healing, and another that could be very useful, since there are underwater dungeons in the game.

  Both the spell that doubles my lung capacity and the one for underwater breathing are very similar, but I choose the first one. I really don’t want to come out of the water with my lungs full of liquid, have the effect wear off, and start choking.

  With five new spells, I feel capable of clearing this dungeon and facing anything that comes my way.

  Well. Let’s not get too carried away. I don’t even know if this dungeon is meant for newbies or higher-level players.

  I check out the skills:

  Available Skills: Staff Mastery. Runner. Scholar.

  The skills offered are based on your combat experience and main daily occupations.

  Scholar… like I said, Bianca was good for nothing. I take a closer look at it. It increases memorization speed and raises wisdom by one point. Huh. That is actually not bad. That would increase my mana.

  In the game, wisdom determines your mana pool and its regeneration. If you don’t reach wisdom 10, regeneration only happens every twenty-four hours and requires you to sleep at least eight hours and eat something. You wake up with full mana—and full health, if you lost HP due to minor injuries. I browse through the character sheet and confirm it’s the same here. Nothing has changed.

  The other two skills, well… here I am with a sword, hoping to learn sword mastery, and since I cleared the dungeon several times by torch-whacking slimes… yeah. Staff mastery. It raises attack and technique, and also gives one point to strength.

  Runner, I assume, comes from fleeing with the black puppy. It raises agility by one point and lets you run a bit faster than normal.

  I hesitate.

  The truth is, all three are useful. But the one that raises wisdom is scholar, and I don’t want to study. I did more than enough of that back on Earth to earn my university degree. In the game, you only get to learn a new skill every several levels, and always after training with a master, like the professors at the academy.

  Being able to choose one without that requirement is amazing, but nothing indicates I’ll get more skills than anyone else. So for now, I’m not choosing any.

  Back to spells. Channeling seems really interesting for unarmed combat or weapon-based fighting, and swords deal more damage than staves. I’ll wait to pick a mastery until I get the option for either unarmed combat mastery or sword mastery. If it doesn’t show up during the dungeon, it should be simple enough to ask a professor at the academy.

  I nod to myself and head deeper into the dungeon corridor.

  Or that’s my intention. When I checked my stats, I left the puppy on the ground, and now it’s whimpering and clinging to my leg.

  Poor thing.

  If I leave it here, I don’t think it’ll survive. But if I take it outside, those wolves—I’m almost sure they’re waiting for us—will eat it.

  “Look, I’m going to clear this dungeon and come back for you, okay?” I ask it.

  It is adorable. A complete cutie. It looks up at me with huge eyes and lets out a pitiful whimper. I don’t have the heart...

  “But if I take you with me maybe I won’t be able to protect you and they’ll kill you. You’ll be better here.”

  No use. It’s going to follow me, and I know it. I can’t bring myself to yell at it to stay alone. It’s so small...

  I pick it up and carefully place it in an outer pocket of my backpack. Not inside, I think, because that face looks capable of eating my food without remorse.

  I sigh.

  A seed of darkness.

  I am not adopting it. I’ll leave it in the forest once we’re out and it’s safe.

  I don’t even want to imagine what kind of trouble I’ve gotten myself into.