Within the sprawling Underground Dungeon of the Royal Capital, Eliya.
Referred to by many as the Tutorial Dungeon, owing to its exclusive population of slimes, this subterranean labyrinth served primarily as a training ground for players to master basic controls, making defeat virtually impossible.
Yet, it was in this very locale that two fully-armored female knights and a single young girl made their unexpected appearance.
“Wh-why are you both so excessively dressed for this?”
“Lily, there’s no such concept as ‘overdressed’ when venturing into a dungeon. You never know what might happen. However.”
Lis removed her helmet, casting a sidelong glance at Princess Adelia.
To Lily’s eyes, both appeared to be clad in identical full plate armor, but Princess Adelia’s equipment was, in fact, far superior.
“Adorned in dragonscale armor, a rarity reserved for royalty, and even wielding an ancient demonic blade. Your Royal Highness Princess Adelia, are you perhaps embarking on a quest to vanquish the Demon King himself?”
“I shall return your own words to you, Lady Lis. There’s no such thing as being overprepared for a dungeon, is there?”
Neither Adelia nor Lis, of course, harbored any genuine fear of the dungeon’s resident slimes; their singular apprehension stemmed from the potential for Lily to sustain an injury.
As an undisputed ‘old hand’ (TL Note: A Korean slang term, ‘goinmul,’ referring to a highly experienced or veteran player) in the realm of RPGs, Lily had, naturally, foregone any preparations, confident that ‘Slimes? A mere wooden stick would surely suffice, wouldn’t it?’
Indeed, a simple wooden stick would have proven adequate.
Nevertheless, a faint, almost imperceptible, sense of guilt settled upon Lily for having arrived entirely unprepared.
.
The moment they stepped into the dungeon, slimes immediately swarmed them.
While one or two would have posed no challenge, the sheer number of slimes attacking en masse was taking a little time to deal with.
Lily watched with great amusement as the two worked together to dispatch the slimes.
“Could it be that Lis and the Princess are forming a yuri (TL Note: A genre focusing on romantic relationships between women) relationship? I’ve noticed their tsundere (TL Note: A Japanese term for a character who is initially cold or hostile but later reveals a warmer, more affectionate side) behavior since last time!”
More precisely, she was indulging in fantasies of Adelia and Lis’s intertwined stories and dramas, satisfying her ‘yuri desire’—one of humanity’s three great desires—after a long while.
“All polar bears are going extinct! We must produce energy until the royal capital burns!”
Just as Lis, caught off guard by a sudden attack, was about to take a hit, Lily lunged forward, blocking the slime’s body slam.
Yet, she absorbed the blow without any apparent impact, immediately dispatching the slime.
The impact force had been perfectly distributed across her entire body, thanks to the swimsuit she wore underneath.
‘Truly, the School Miz (TL Note: A type of Japanese school swimsuit), an item with 20 years of history and tradition. Suddenly… it’s just… amazing…’
“Kyaa, Lily! You were ambushed! Are you alright?”
“It wasn’t an ambush of worship, but merely a sudden witnessing of habitual worship!”
“What on earth are you talking about? I asked if you were hurt!”
“I worship it. The GOAT (TL Note: Greatest Of All Time)—no, the SWIMSUIT!”
Seemingly convinced that Lily, who was suddenly spouting incomprehensible nonsense, was fine, Lis and Adelia resumed clearing the remaining minor monsters.
.
Through her intense, private ‘communications’ with Adelia, Lily had developed a profoundly misguided understanding of how women fostered close relationships.
‘Lily, if we’re close, it’s only natural for you to sit on my lap, isn’t it? Your head is at the perfect height for a pat.’
‘Among friends, a light touch on the cheek is a perfectly normal greeting, wouldn’t you agree?’
‘Lily, starting tomorrow, let’s try to eat a little less in terms of snacks. Your tummy has gotten a bit plump.’
Lily, convinced that a Princess of all people wouldn’t lie to her, accepted these notions as entirely normal.
While she felt a slight sense of incongruity or doubt, she simply attributed it to ‘how things were among girls.’
‘Huh, wait, was the Princess always such a friendly character? No, perhaps this is normal for girls.’
This misconception arose because Adelia usually displayed impeccable conduct and elegant grace in the classroom.
Having acquired completely misguided notions through Adelia, Lily’s psychological barrier regarding physical contact had significantly lowered, especially towards Lis, whom she considered a very close friend.
“Liiiiiis! I want a ‘good job’ head pat!”
“Lily! That’s so vulgar for a girl! Where on earth did you learn such a thing?”
“Lis… do you dislike me…? *sniffle sniffle*”
“Oh dear, can’t Lady Lis even do something like that between friends? Come here, Lily.”
Lis watched, her face completely flushed, as Adelia gently stroked Lily’s head.
She exclaimed, flustered, to them.
“No, what on earth are you two doing so idly in a dungeon?”
“Ah, that’s right, Lis isn’t quite at this level of closeness with Lily yet, is she? This is a privilege only I, Lily’s owner, can enjoy.”
“Princess, I’ve told you countless times, I am not your possession!”
Though Lis knew it was clearly an inappropriate act, a subtle emotion began to simmer within her chest as she witnessed their blatant flirtation right before her eyes.
“Alright, that’s enough! Lily! Come here, as your ‘roommate,’ I should at least give you a head pat! We agreed to share fairly from the start, didn’t we?”
Gaz-ing at Lily up close, Lis couldn’t help but be reminded even more of her younger sister.
Their cute eyes and slightly upturned noses were strikingly similar.
Yet, as she brought her face closer, she felt her heart flutter at the sight of Lily, who had tightly closed her eyes and puckered her lips.
‘Ugh, why is my heart pounding like this? I just need to do it like I would for my sister… Oh, whatever.’
Closing her eyes, Lis quickly gave Lily a pat on the head.
“Ahh, you’re patting too hard… My hair is getting all messy…”
Adelia watched the two of them, a faint smile playing on her lips.
****
“I’m going to the restroom for a bit!”
“Lily, will you be alright alone? Should I come with you?”
“Alone! I’m going alone!”
“Oh dear, Lady Lis, it seems you’ve been rejected. Come, my Lily. Let’s go together.”
“Alone! I’m going alone!”
“Pfft, Your Royal Highness Princess Adelia, it seems you’ve been rejected.”
Lily managed to pry Lis and Adelia away, securing a brief moment to herself.
Her reason for doing so was to secretly search for an item within the dungeon.
“I almost forgot about this!”
What could one expect to find in a tutorial dungeon?
Beginner-exclusive starter gear, of course.
For Lily, an ‘old hand’ (TL Note: A Korean slang term, ‘goinmul,’ referring to a highly experienced or veteran player) who was strong enough even without equipment, most of these items were utterly unnecessary.
However, there was one particular item among them that Lily had her eyes on.
“A Lovescope! It measures the yuri (TL Note: A genre focusing on romantic relationships between women) relationship level between yuri-yuri pairs!”
While its official in-game name was slightly different, players universally referred to it as the ‘Lovelove Scope’ or the ‘Affection Indicator.’
.
Using the Lovescope she had acquired, Lily measured the relationship between Adelia and Lis.
“…23? That means they’ve only just started to get to know each other. But it seems a little low.”
She pondered whether the device might be broken.
While such a thing wouldn’t happen in a game, this world was reality, and deterioration or damage over time was entirely possible.
“If I point it at myself and the Princess… huh, the number is strange.”
The meter, capable of displaying up to three digits, showed ‘999’.
Suspecting it might genuinely be broken, Lily decided to try it on herself and Lis one last time.
“Ah, it really is broken!”
The number displayed on the meter was 224, and according to Lily’s gaming experience, 10 signified mere acquaintances, 50 a close relationship, and a maximum of 100 meant genuinely in love.
Having played for hundreds of hours, the highest she’d ever seen was 98, so three-digit numbers appearing was, by any measure, utterly bizarre.
“Well, it’s been abandoned in a dungeon like this for so long, so it’s natural for it to be broken. I’ll just have to figure out affection levels through direct experience!”
Lily completely gave up on the Lovescope, thinking, ‘It’s a broken device anyway, I’ll just sell it to the state and make a fortune!’
****
The Royal Office of Eliya Castle.
The King and his Chancellor were engrossed in a weighty discussion concerning a peculiar artifact.
“Is this the ancient relic?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. It is the very item discovered within the royal capital’s underground dungeon by the Third Princess, the Marquise’s daughter, and a solitary student.”
“This suggests there might be ancient ruins beneath the capital. How fared the survey team?”
“They are still underway, but they are struggling to decipher the ancient language.”
“The presence of ancient ruins beneath our Kingdom of Eliya directly correlates with our national power. Therefore, deploy every available resource—both human and financial.”
To date, all ancient ruins discovered across the continent have yielded formidable weapons, vast riches, or exceptionally rare minerals.
Thus, the mere presence of ancient ruins could sway diplomatic relations in their favor and even allow them to dominate the continental economy.
“Yes, Your Majesty. What about the reward for the first discoverer of the relic?”
“Hmm. Should power coalesce around the Third Princess at this juncture, it would undoubtedly lead to significant political entanglement. Similarly, empowering the Marquisate, which already holds military authority, is a concerning prospect.”
“However, if no reward is given, it could lead to significant problems later, even if not immediately. Furthermore…”
If discoverers received no reward after finding and presenting relics to the state, what would others do?
Naturally, such artifacts would secretly vanish, all of them flowing overseas.
“Furthermore?”
“Both the Third Princess and the Marquise’s daughter have expressed their gratitude and attributed the credit to a single student, which has made things a bit troublesome. Her name is… Lily Asgard, a first-year student at the academy, admitted through a special enrollment program as a commoner.”
“A special enrollment? Could she perhaps have a deep understanding of archaeology?”
“No. Our investigation found no particular connections to the Empire or the Republic, but the peculiar thing is that she literally has no past. It’s as if she simply fell from the sky.”
“That is an utterly suspicious tale. To discover an ancient relic in a dungeon where nothing existed, and for the discoverer’s past to be completely unknown? It is far too strange.”
As if a headache had struck him, the King pressed a hand to his forehead and turned his head.
At that, the Chancellor spoke, as if he had anticipated this.
“Yes, Your Majesty. Therefore, I have a proposal for this reward.”
“What is it?”
“Lily Asgard. How about bestowing a title upon her? This would not only reward her unprecedented merit in discovering an ancient relic but also provide the kingdom with a legitimate reason to monitor her.”
“That is truly…”
The King pondered deeply, turning the idea over in his mind.
The potential benefits and drawbacks of bestowing a noble title upon Lily Asgard as an exceptional measure.
After extensive deliberation, he finally felt the scales tip in favor of the gains.
“An intriguing thought. Very well, summon her to the castle soon for her reward.”
Thus, the conferment of the Kingdom of Eliya’s first female knightly title was decided.
