Chapter 257: Where am I?

Nathan stared at the King Slime.

It wobbled in place, a giant blub of translucent blue gelatin, its core pulsing faintly at the center. A boss monster. The final challenge of an F-Rank dungeon.

He laughed.

It wasn’t a loud laugh. Just a quiet, disbelieving chuckle that escaped his lips before he could stop it. After everything he had faced, he was standing in front of a slime. A level 12 slime.

"This is..." Nathan shook his head. "This is almost insulting."

But something nagged at him. He glanced at the system notification again.

[Dungeon Boss: King Slime, Level 12]

Dungeon. Not Tower.

He had never seen that terminology before. In his world, monsters came from Towers—the Babel Towers that had reshaped civilization two hundred years ago. Climbers climbed Towers. They cleared floors. They fought Tower bosses.

Dungeon was a different word entirely. It implied something smaller. Contained. Like a training ground or a controlled environment.

"Where the hell am I?" Nathan muttered.

Behind him, the voices continued.

"H-Hey! The door isn’t opening!"

"Huh? What the hell? Did someone go into the dungeon before us?"

"Impossible! We reserved this slot weeks ago!"

Nathan turned toward the massive iron door. It was still closed, but he could hear the teens on the other side, their voices muffled but clear. They were confused. Frustrated. Arguing about whose fault it was.

He should probably deal with that.

But first...

The King Slime wobbled violently. Its gelatinous body rippled, and Nathan saw the core pulse faster. It was preparing to attack.

Nathan didn’t move.

He activated [Death’s Homing Compass] . A silver sigil appeared over the slime’s core, visible only to him. Then he drew Moonlight’s string back, not even bothering to charge the shot, and fired a basic [Mana Arrow] .

The arrow streaked across the chamber. It punched through the slime’s outer membrane, through the acidic interior, and struck the core dead center.

The King Slime shuddered once.

Then it collapsed, dissolving into a puddle of harmless goo.

[Ding! Boss Monster Defeated!]

[Ding! Dungeon is resetting!]

Nathan blinked. "Resetting?"

The world around him dissolved.

---

He landed on his feet this time. Solid ground. Grass beneath his boots. The smell of pine and damp earth.

Nathan looked around. He was standing in a forest clearing, surrounded by tall trees with thick canopies that blocked most of the sunlight. A dirt path wound through the underbrush, leading toward what looked like a distant road.

Behind him, the cave entrance was gone.

Where the dark opening had been, there was now only a smooth boulder. No door. No tunnel. Just rock. As if the dungeon had never existed at all.

"What the hell?" Nathan muttered.

He stepped closer to the boulder, running his hand along its surface. It was solid. Real. No hidden mechanism. No secret passage. The dungeon had simply... vanished.

’Master?’ Mirko’s voice came through the link, uncertain. ’Where are we now?’

"I don’t know," Nathan admitted. "But I don’t think we’re in the void anymore."

’That is evident,’ Kuro said dryly. ’The question is where we are instead.’

’The Young Lord should be cautious,’ Shiro added. ’This place is unfamiliar.’

’I sense... trees,’ Ororo said softly. ’And grass. And something else. People. Young people.’

Nathan turned.

Three teenagers were standing at the edge of the clearing, staring at him with wide eyes.

They looked young. Fourteen, maybe fifteen. Dressed in medieval-style adventurer gear—leather armor, cloth tunics, practical boots. The girl held a wooden staff with a faintly glowing crystal at its tip. One boy had two daggers strapped to his belt. The other carried a short sword and a small round shield.

They looked like beginner adventurers. Fresh-faced. Nervous. Completely out of their depth.

And they were staring at Nathan like he had just grown a second head.

"What the hell!" the dagger boy shouted. He was the youngest of the three, maybe fourteen, with messy brown hair and a perpetually angry expression. "Are you the one that stole our kill?!"

Nathan blinked. "Stole your... kill?"

"The boss! The King Slime!" The boy jabbed a finger at Nathan. "We spent three hours clearing that dungeon! We were about to fight the boss, and then the door wouldn’t open! And now you’re standing here like you own the place!"

"Uh..." Nathan held up his hands. "I think there’s been a misunderstanding."

"S-Stop yelling at him!" The shield boy stepped forward, his voice nervous but firm. He was taller than the dagger boy, with sandy hair and a round, earnest face. "He’s older than us! We should show respect!"

"He’s a kill-stealer!"

"We don’t know that!"

"He’s standing right there!"

The girl sighed. She was the oldest of the three, maybe sixteen, with dark hair tied back in a practical braid. She wore a plain blue robe over her leather armor, and her staff glowed faintly in the dim forest light. "Both of you, shut up."

The boys went quiet.

The girl stepped forward, studying Nathan with sharp, appraising eyes. She took in his gear—the silver bow, the dark cloak, the wristband, the ring. Her expression shifted from irritation to something more cautious.

"Sorry about them," she said. "They’re idiots."

"I heard that!" the dagger boy protested.

"You were meant to."

Nathan almost smiled. The dynamic reminded him of his own party—the bickering, the banter, the underlying fondness. These kids seemed like fresh climbers just starting out. They had no idea what kind of world was waiting for them.

"It’s fine," he said. "But I think I’m... lost. Could you tell me where we are?"

The dagger boy stared at him. "You don’t know where you are?"

"No."

"You’re in the middle of a forest and you don’t know where you are?"

"I was... traveling. Got turned around."

The boy opened his mouth to argue, but the shield boy cut him off. "S-Stop abusing your elders! Sorry, sir." He bowed awkwardly. "We... we are in the Marred Forest, outside the City of Marriet."

Nathan searched his memory. Marred Forest. City of Marriet. Neither of those names meant anything to him. He knew the geography of his world...the Central Federation, the outer regions, the Tower locations. None of it matched.

"Marriet," he repeated slowly. "And what nation is that in?"

The girl tilted her head. "The great United Kingdom of Albion."

Nathan’s blood ran cold.

Albion. He had never heard of a nation called Albion. Not in his world. Not in any of the Tower Worlds he had explored. Not in the Shepherd’s memories.

He was somewhere else. Completely, utterly elsewhere.

"Albion," he said, keeping his voice steady. "Right. And... what continent is that on?"

The three teens exchanged confused glances.

"Continent?" the shield boy asked. "Uh... we’re on the continent of Aethelgard?"

Nathan had never heard of that either.

He took a breath. Stay calm. Gather information. Figure out where you are. Figure out how to get back.