The Second Time I Opened My Eyes
Irene regained her senses far more quickly this time when she opened her eyes a second time.
Confirming that she had properly dressed, she swiftly slipped out of Michael’s embrace.
Luckily, this time he did not try to keep her there.
It seemed he had realized that trying to cling to her again was simply too much.
Yet he did not hide the disappointment in his expression. Irene firmly resolved that she would not fall for his face this time.
While she was washing her face by the lakeside, Michael rose and quickly pulled on his shirt.
Just before he buttoned it, Irene noticed the deep red scratch marks left above the wound on his chest.
They looked painful, yet Michael noticed her gaze and slowly stroked the marks as if daring her to look.
In his touch there lingered the same carnal hunger that had consumed her body the night before.
Feeling dizzy, Irene turned her head.
It made no sense.
She who had never trembled even while purifying, now behaved like the most debauched woman in the fortress—nothing short of that.
Could the corruption spread this fast?
While Irene pondered this, he approached and helped her to her feet.
“Can you walk?”
“…Yes.”
Her legs were numb, but she could move.
Irene looked around at the place where they had spent the night.
She had never felt awe at the scenery while exploring dungeons before.
But here, it was more mysterious than any place she had ever seen in her life.
Beneath the lake, plants with phosphorescent properties glowed softly, their beauty almost ethereal.
Nearby, soft grass unlike anything found outside the dungeon—blending shades of blue and green—grew in abundance.
After gazing at the scene around the lake for a long while, Irene’s stomach growled.
“If I only had something to eat, it would be perfect.”
She had packed enough rations for days in her bag, but the princess’s group had emptied it all and left everything behind in their frantic escape.
“Could we go back to where we fled from? There should still be food left. We could take some.”
“There is no need to eat such things.”
Michael said this and took all of Irene’s belongings, then held her hand and led her on.
“Where are we going? Or rather… will it be all right to move like this?”
A wave of fear she had momentarily forgotten crashed over her.
Around the lakeside was surely a place monsters could not approach, like the reward chamber.
How, then, could they have wandered an entire day inside this dungeon without seeing even one?
It was unbelievable that they had been so recklessly intimate, leaving everything behind in such a dangerous place.
No matter how strong Michael was or how sensitive his instincts were, he could not defeat the monsters that had slaughtered countless people.
And if multiple tentacle monsters rushed at them from behind, how would they even fight those?
While Irene was lost in thought, Michael glanced back at her.
She knew exactly what he was thinking.
He was worried they should be more careful from now on in this place.
It was pointless worry.
Most monsters submitted to him.
But there was one exception.
The one that had replicated his appearance yesterday.
“I just have to be careful with that.”
Yet it had already followed him here.
Thinking they needed to be more cautious, Michael guided Irene deeper into the dungeon.
***
The place Michael led them to was not far from the lakeside.
The moment they arrived, Irene forgot her own situation and looked around in genuine admiration.
“Trees…? Even fruits?”
The small forest inside the dungeon where Michael had brought them was filled with leaves and fruits of shapes and colors she had never seen before.
Plants growing in a dense cluster like this had never been recorded inside a distortion dungeon.
Of course, it was a dangerous place, so people probably had not ventured deep enough to notice it.
That did not make it strange if they had missed it before.
But the sheer size of the cluster was astonishing.
“All of these are safe to eat.”
“How do you know?”
“I have eaten them many times in places not recorded in any books.”
Michael said this and plucked the ripest fruit, peeled its shell with his fingers, and handed it to Irene.
Inside was a vibrant red pulp with black seeds embedded thickly.
Her doubt that it was even edible grew stronger at the unfamiliar shape and color.
Seeing her hesitation, Michael smiled as if he had known she would ask.
Her face flushed at his smile.
She wondered when Michael had started smiling so easily.
Until just a few weeks ago, he had been almost the same as in her previous life…
But the man before her now was so different that she doubted he was the same Michael she knew.
He peeled another fruit and bit into it with a crisp sound, the sweet and refreshing aroma filling the air.
Irene finally gathered courage and took a bite from the fruit he offered.
It was unfamiliar.
A deep sweetness that made her jaw ache slightly.
A taste she had never experienced before.
In the end, she ate until her belly was full, everything he gave her.
Now the dungeon food was no longer strange to her.
From a distance, a tentacle that had peeked out for a while began shaking its body in apparent delight at the sight of the two of them.
As if it wished they would be even more satisfied here.
***
Days passed after that.
During those days, Irene and Michael’s life flowed monotonously.
They woke, bathed in the lake, ate the fruits, then talked.
Before long, their lips would meet again.
Soon she found herself wishing they never had to put on clothes again.
After all, they would have to take them off anyway.
Because they were in a place without monsters, completely isolated from the world, only the two of them remained inside.
That realization slowly made Irene bolder.
“Aah, hah, u, uuh!”
At first she had desperately bitten her lips to swallow every moan.
But now, whenever her body trembled, she let out every feeling without holding back.
Michael was the same.
“This time, would you please lift your hips?”
His once proper words now requested things of which he had no shame.
“You do not have to hold back.
I have never failed to satisfy you.”
“No, it is not that! Slow, slow down! Ah, there! Stop!”
“You keep saying stop while tightening so much… I do not know what I should do.”
“Liar…! Then, continue! Pierce, ah! Ah!”
“Even after all day pounding, you still struggle… How much longer do I have to keep my own?”
His carefree lewd talk no longer surprised her in the least.
The two repeated the same cycle of eating, sleeping, and making love—exactly like the primordial humans mentioned in the scriptures.
Leaving aside the fact that it was inside a dungeon, this place felt like their own private world.
While Irene lay beneath him, arms wrapped around his body, she thought.
Would it be all right to stay here forever?
To continue like this… to make this place our home like the monsters… to become one of them…
The moment the thought reached that far, Irene snapped back to her senses.
What am I even thinking right now?