Thirsty...
Lu Cang leaned on a wooden staff, looking up at the seemingly endless rock walls around him.
'Where... is this place?'
His last memory was of an airport terminal. He thought he'd heard a sudden, deafening explosion and seen a brilliant flash of fire.
When he opened his eyes again...
...he was here.
His body felt so weak. His vision was turning black, and he felt like he could pass out at any moment.
"Ah!"
"Looks like someone's on their last legs!"
'What is that gibberish...?'
The voice was pleasant, but it was speaking a language he couldn't understand.
'Wait.'
'I can understand it!'
'I can understand what she's saying!'
At the edge of his vision, a woman with long, green hair was rushing toward him!
SHHFF!
An emerald-green light flared up.
It enveloped Lu Cang's body.
His body, which had been on the verge of collapse, miraculously began to recover at a rapid pace.
"How could a human be here, in such a dangerous Dungeon?"
The green-haired woman's tone was clearly worried.
WHOOSH!
Behind the woman, flames coalesced into a human form.
It was a man who, at a glance, looked like he was cosplaying as a Mage.
Then, a cheerful voice rang out, "Kumironi, you said there was a human here?"
"We should have already cleared out all the Demons in this Dungeon."
The one called Kumironi was clearly the woman currently healing him.
Her ears were long and pointed.
'Is she an Elf?'
'This is a Dungeon?'
'And this incredible power... could it be Magic?'
'Even if it isn't Magic, it must be a power that transcends humanity...'
Lu Cang couldn't help but think.
"That's right..." Kumironi said. "We didn't see him when we came through."
"Did some unlucky Teleportation Array randomly send him to us?"
"Or maybe he's just an ordinary lost child."
"Hmm... Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that it's a Demon disguised as a human, trying to trick us." As he said this, a solid Fireball suddenly appeared in the Mage's hand.
Lu Cang hurriedly spoke up, "No, that's not it! I'm human!"
'I have a feeling if I don't clear up this misunderstanding right now, that Fireball is going to end up smashing into my head!'
WHOOSH!
The flames dissipated.
The Mage grinned. "Just kidding."
"I can tell whether you're a Demon or not with just one look."
"Besides, it wouldn't matter even if you were a Demon. We're very strong."
Kumironi chided reproachfully, "Iz, he just recovered. You shouldn't make jokes like that."
The Mage called Iz gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry. It's just, seeing a kid here is so interesting, I couldn't resist teasing him a little."
"I don't see any signs of a Profession on you."
"You must be a newcomer who hasn't completed their first class change yet."
Lu Cang didn't know exactly what he was talking about.
But he had just been transported here.
It was normal to be clueless, so he nodded anyway.
Iz scratched his head. "Well, we can't just leave you here. We just finished clearing this Dungeon and were about to head back anyway. Why don't we take you home on our way?"
"Where's your home?"
At that question...
...the faces of his parents flashed through Lu Cang's mind.
Home...
He was taking a plane back home.
His parents were waiting for him at home.
But...
But.
It seemed he could never go back now.
He didn't know if it was because his new body was still unfamiliar, but tears started inexplicably streaming from the corners of his eyes, and he couldn't stop them.
Lu Cang used his sleeve to wipe away the tears, but they only flowed faster.
"Iz..."
Kumironi shot Iz a reproachful look.
"You made him cry. He's just a little kid."
'Damn it...'
'I don't want to cry.'
'Thinking about my parents is sad, but bursting into tears in front of strangers isn't something an adult should do.'
'Besides, I'm in an unfamiliar Otherworld. I have to stay rational.'
'Wait.'
'A little kid?'
As Lu Cang wiped his tears, he looked down at himself.
He was so close to the ground.
He looked at his hands.
They were so small.
'Uh... Looks like I really have been reborn as a child.'
With his attention shifted, his sad feelings gradually subsided.
'So it's true that kids can't stop their tears. Just thinking of something a little sad makes my nose tingle. What an annoying body.'
'If I accidentally burst out crying in front of people again in the future, it'll be so embarrassing.'
'But luckily, it seems easy enough to stop by just distracting myself.'
"Home... I don't know," Lu Cang answered in a childish voice.
Now that he was speaking again...
...Lu Cang realized just how young his voice sounded.
'Just how old am I?'
'Ten?'
'Or even younger?'
Iz looked a bit helpless, but he still walked over to Lu Cang. "It's going to be tricky if you don't know where your home is."
"We can't just dump you in some random town."
"Could it be... that your home has already..."
A trace of pity flashed across Iz's face.
In this era ravaged by Demons, disasters where Demons wiped out entire villages were all too common. In those situations, some Mages in the village with meager power would use Random Teleportation Magic to send the children away.
If they were lucky...
...those children might survive.
But in reality, random teleportation could send them to any corner of the world.
And in this world, safe places made up less than 1% of the total area.
Never mind the Death Forbidden Zones that even Level 8 Adventurers dared not enter, but even the vast oceans, boiling magma, or eternally frozen glaciers...
...were no places for a child to survive.
The lands of civilization and enlightenment were a tiny minority on this continent.
'This child cries whenever his home is mentioned.'
'It seems... he already knows what happened to his village, he just doesn't have the courage to face it yet.'
Iz smiled. "I've decided. You're coming with us. You'll go wherever we go."
"Is that okay?" Lu Cang asked.
'I just got transported to this world, but they seem like Adventurers who explore Dungeons for a living.'
'Casually bringing along a defenseless kid...'
'No matter how you look at it, it feels like they're raising a death flag.'
"Don't worry, we're very strong," said Iz.
"Let me introduce you. This is our team's Healer, a Level 5 Healing Mage, Kumironi."
"I'm the Spellcaster, a Level 5 Mage, Izparut. People usually just call me Iz."
"Besides the two of us, there's also a Level 5 Defender, Obades, and a Level 5 Warrior, Chi Cheng."
"But they're both deep inside the Dungeon collecting loot right now. You'll meet them when we regroup later."
'Mage, Warrior, Defender, Healing Mage.'
'Sounds like the real deal.'
'But Level 5... isn't that a little low?'
'It sounds about the same as a rookie.'
'Your claim of being "very strong" might be a bit of an exaggeration, Izparut, don't you think?'