We soon arrived at Level 93, the food street. We stopped in front of a bubble tea shop.
"Grace, want to try bubble tea?"
"Is that the drink you said you'd make? I want it!"
After getting her answer, I ordered five cups of the most basic bubble tea—three of them to take back for the others outside.
While they prepared the drinks, Grace stared in amazement at the automation inside the shop. Before long, five cups of bubble tea along with five straws were delivered to us.
I picked up one straw, pierced the plastic seal on top with force, and pushed it all the way to the bottom. Then I handed it to Grace.
"Here."
After she took it, I stored three cups and three straws into my storage space and started enjoying my own drink.
At that moment, Grace lifted her cup high, staring at the black pearls that filled nearly a quarter of it.
"These black balls are the pearls, right? But Karen, how do I drink this?"
Ah—I forgot. This world doesn't have the habit of using straws. Only my household does.
I inserted my straw and demonstrated.
"Put the straw in your mouth and suck the drink up. Like this."
I took a sip. The milk tea and pearls rushed into my mouth—so satisfying. As I chewed, I noticed Grace about to try it, and quickly reached out to stop her.
"Mm—wait."
I hadn't finished chewing, so my attempt to say "wait" came out muffled.
"What happen?"
I quickly swallowed and explained.
"I forgot to mention—don't suck too hard. Just gently, or the pearls might come up too fast and choke you."
That kind of thing had happened before.
And since this is her first time using a straw—and with something chewable inside—it was better to be careful.
"Okay, I'll be careful."
After responding, Grace cautiously took a sip and slowly chewed. Her expression changed rapidly—surprise, delight, pure enjoyment. She clearly loved it.
Once she swallowed everything, she excitedly said,
"It's so good! Chewing the pearls feels addictive! I want Father and Mother to try this!"
Hearing that, I confidently replied,
"That's the charm of bubble tea. But it's high in sugar—drink too much and you'll gain weight."
"I see… …so good."
She gave a half-hearted response to my warning, then took another sip and smiled blissfully.
Next, we arrived at Level 94, a park. It was 9:48 AM. After walking for hours, we sat on a bench to rest.
I brought Grace to try a spiral tunnel slide. After getting carried away and going down several times, we reluctantly headed toward the next level. Suddenly, Grace said with determination,
"I'm going to build one for my little brother."
"Oh, you have a younger brother?"
"Yes, he's ten this year."
Ten—still an age for play. Though the age gap seemed quite big.
"Do you have any other siblings?"
"No, just him. What about you, Mr. Karen?"
In my previous life, I had a younger sister, four years younger than me. We were close—always teasing each other. She was a bit airheaded, though. Cheerful, carefree.
But in this life, I'm not Goo Xingyu—I'm Karen. An only child.
So I shook my head.
"No."
We reached Level 95, the highway. I showed Grace what a car was—comfortable seats, cool air conditioning, and pleasant music.
She didn't fall asleep. Instead, she watched the dull scenery outside and occasionally chatted with me, even mentioning some complaints the crown prince and princess had made about me.
Nothing worth getting upset over. Just nitpicking.
Soon, we arrived at the next level—the main highlight: Level 96, the commercial district.
The moment Grace saw the colorful lights, dazzling buildings, and massive advertisement screens, she froze in awe, her mouth slightly open.
"Wow… Mr. Karen, is this another world?"
"Yeah."
I answered casually. In a sense, it was an unknown world. But Grace turned to me, shocked.
"Really!?"
"Just kidding. But if the world keeps progressing, one day it'll look like this."
Earth's civilization started from nothing too. So I don't see this as another world—just the future of this one.
"Really!? When?!"
She looked excited, but in this era, it would take a long time—and a lot of resources.
"A very, very long time."
"Aww… no exact time?"
She sounded disappointed, asking a question only a god could answer. I shrugged.
"How would I know? Maybe a hundred years. Maybe a thousand. But first, you need electricity. Without it, this is all just a dream."
"Electricity sounds really important."
"It is. It's a great source of energy. Things like the rice cooker, washing machine, and ventilation fan in the travel house—they all need electricity. Without it, they're just useless junk."
"That's a harsh way to put it… But why does the dungeon have such an advanced world?"
"Only the Goddess of Fate who created the dungeon would know."
And the mysteries surrounding me—only she could answer those too. What a headache.
After that, I brought Grace into a mall to gather what we needed. First, materials and tools for bubble tea. Then paint for the phone cases I promised to make. And a book titled Understanding Cars from Zero.
Finally, we went to the plush toy shop Grace had been looking forward to.
There were all kinds of dog breeds—so many that they filled entire shelves. Grace's eyes sparkled with excitement like a child.
"Golden retriever! Shiba Inu! Husky! So many cute dogs! Mr. Karen, can I take all of them home?!"
"Are you trying to turn your room into a dog house? Control yourself! Pick three!"
Her ridiculous idea made me snap.
She pouted.
"Mm… that's too few. At least ten… Oh! That one is huge! And so soft—it'd be perfect as a pillow!"
She got distracted halfway through her complaint. Talking to her was exhausting.
"...Whatever. I'm not dealing with this."
I decided to stop dealing with Grace, who was completely absorbed in dogs. I found the counter and planned to borrow the tabletop to work on the phone cases. Then I chose the colors based on our hair—black or white.
In the end, only mine was white. The other four had lighter hair colors, so black cases suited them better.
I took out a container of liquid rubber and placed it onto the design draft.
"Create"
A flash of black light passed, and the amount of rubber visibly decreased. Most importantly, the white phone case was completed.
I picked it up and tested it. It was soft, yet durable—exactly what I wanted.
Then I slipped my phone into it. It fit perfectly, without even the slightest gap. The rubber surface also had great traction, so it wouldn't slip from my hand.
As for the most important part—the visibility of the text—I couldn't really confirm it, since mine had always been easy to read anyway.
After that, I took out black paint and made phone cases for the others.
Once done, I returned to Grace.
She was staring at two plushies, struggling to choose.
"Mr. Karen, do you think I should pick the cute Shiba Inu or the cool husky?"
"Take both."
I answered casually.
"But you said only three…"
"...Then what are the other two?"
"A big golden retriever and a small golden retriever."
"That's the same thing."
"They're not! The big one is for sleeping, the small one is for hugging while reading!"
"Then what's this one for—eating or bathing?"
"Karen! No matter how much I like dogs, I wouldn't bring them into the dining room or bathroom! Wait—no! I'm choosing for my little brother!"
Ah, there it was.
She really was a good sister.
I patted the husky plush.
"Then go with the husky. It's the safer choice."
"That makes sense. Boys usually like cool things. Thank you, Mr. Karen."
After that, I handed her a phone case, and we moved on to a camera shop.
I picked up a simple digital camera, turned it on, and pointed it at her.
"Grace, make a peace sign and smile."
"Huh…?"
She awkwardly followed. Click.
The photo was taken.
Looking at it, I couldn't help laughing.
"Grace, I said smile—not grin like an silly, haha…"
"W-what do you mean?!"
She rushed over and stared at the photo.
"...Is this really me?"
After I finished laughing, I respond to Grace and explained.
"Yeah, that's you. It's called a camera. It captures the people and moments you want to preserve."
"Capture…?"
Grace asked as she mimed a grabbing motion with her hands. I smiled and shook my hand to correct her.
"Not physically capturing. What I just did is called taking a photo. The principle is complicated, but you can think of it as your appearance being drawn instantly."
Wealthy people often hire artists to paint portraits, but that requires the model to hold the same pose for a long time, which can be exhausting.
That's where cameras shine—they save people a lot of time. Of course, we shouldn't overlook the skill of painters either. They can often make their subjects look even more beautiful.
"I see, that's really convenient. So can only view this "painting" through the camera?"
"No, you can print it out. And it's not called a painting—it's called a photo. Do you want to retake it, or print this one?"
If that silly, grinning photo of Grace got printed, it would probably become her personal black history. She clearly realized that too and immediately said in a flustered voice—
"I want to retake it!"
After that, Grace noticed a mirror in the shop and went over to fix her appearance. Once she was ready, I found a good angle and snapped a picture of her smiling.
Then I went behind the counter, turned on the computer, and connected the camera and the photo printer with a cable. It was my first time using this setup, so I didn't really understand the process. I was worried about pressing the wrong button and felt a bit lost.
Frowning, I carefully read the instructions, clicking cautiously and hesitantly. At that moment, Grace spoke up with concern.
"Mr. Karen, what's wrong? Your expression looks strange."
I took a breath before answering her.
"I've never used this before. I need to figure out how it works."
"So there are things even you don't know, Mr. Karen."
"I'm not all-powerful. Don't distract me—go wait over there."
"Okay~"
I waved her off, and she went to look at other types of cameras and video recorders. After some trial and error—and a fair bit of hesitation—I finally got the hang of it. At last, a photo the size of an envelope was printed.
"Grace, your photo's ready!"
The moment she heard that, Grace rushed over and snatched the photo from my hand, staring at it curiously.
"Wow… it looks just like the real thing. That's amazing."
Then, as she studied the photo, she suddenly seemed to think of something and pointed at the camera.
"Mr. Karen, can I take a camera outside?"
"Who do you want to photograph?"
"I want to record every moment of our journey for my family."
"...Alright. But keep it a secret."
"Yes."
If too many people found out about this, it would definitely cause trouble—artists might feel like their work was being taken away, scientists might grow overly curious, or even some unknown organization might start taking interest.
After all, anything new tends to attract attention. But something rare attracts greed. The rarer something is, the more valuable—and mysterious—it becomes, to the point where people start thinking that whoever possesses it can control everything.
Well, those are just my wild thoughts—overthinking things, really. Pay them no mind. Still, getting dragged into trouble is a real possibility.
After that, I taught Grace how to use the camera. I also grabbed spare batteries and memory cards, and explained the relationship between cameras, video recorders, and televisions before we left.
Still, I couldn't help but think that newspapers ought to evolve as well. Reading nothing but text is dull. I even started wondering if I should create cameras, video recorders, and projectors—innovations like these could open up entirely new professions and give people more job opportunities.
Maybe I should just integrate all those functions into the communication magic core system… that actually sounds pretty good.
Well, I'll think about it more carefully later.
We passed through Level 97 and Level 98 quickly.
At Level 99, the tourist area, Grace excitedly took photos of everything.
And finally, at 2:19 PM, we arrived at Level 100—the temple.
What kind of power would the Brave gain here…?