Chapter 1: The Child

Thirsty...

Lu Cang leaned against a wooden pole, looking up at the seemingly endless rock walls surrounding him.

Where is this place?

His last memory was in the airport terminal; he seemed to suddenly hear a deafening explosion and saw a violent flash of fire.

Then he opened his eyes.

And arrived in this place.

His body felt so weak, his vision was darkening, and he felt as though he could lose consciousness at any moment.

"Ah!"

"It looks like someone is about to pass out!"

What are they jabbering about...

The voice sounded very pleasant, but it was speaking a language he couldn't understand.

No.

He could understand it!

He could understand what she was saying!

He saw a woman with long green hair rapidly approaching at the edge of his vision!

*Swish!*

A bright green light lit up.

It enveloped Lu Cang’s body.

His body, which had been incredibly weak, miraculously began to recover rapidly.

"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 condensed into the shape of a human.

It was a man who looked like he was cosplaying as a mage at first glance.

However, a hearty voice rang out: "Kuminoni, you said there’s a human here?"

"We should have already cleared out all the monsters in this dungeon."

The one called Kuminoni was clearly the woman currently healing him.

Her ears were long and pointed.

Is she an elf?

Is this a dungeon?

And this magical power... could it be magic?

Even if it wasn't magic, it had to be a power beyond that of a human...

Lu Cang couldn't help but think this to himself.

Kuminoni: "Yes... even though we didn't see him when we came through."

"Was he randomly teleported here by some unlucky teleportation array?"

"Or perhaps just a lost child."

"Hmm... of course, we can't rule out the possibility that it's a monster disguised as a human to lure us in." As he said this, a solid fireball suddenly appeared in the mage's hand.

Lu Cang quickly spoke up: "No, that's not it, I'm a human!"

He had a feeling that if he didn't explain this misunderstanding immediately, that fireball would end up on his head!

*Whoosh!*

The flames dissipated.

The mage grinned: "Just kidding."

"I can tell at a glance whether you're a monster or not."

"And even if you were a monster, it wouldn't matter; we're very strong."

Kuminoni complained: "Iz, he just recovered, don't play jokes like that."

The mage called Iz gave an apologetic smile: "Sorry, it's just that seeing a child here, I felt it was quite interesting and couldn't help but want to tease him."

"I see you don't have any job characteristics on you."

"You must be a newcomer who hasn't completed their first class advancement yet."

Lu Cang didn't know exactly what he meant.

But having just transmigrated here.

It was only natural that he didn't know, so he nodded anyway.

Iz scratched his head and said: "Leaving you here isn't a solution either. Since we've just finished clearing this dungeon and are heading back, why don't we just take you home on the way?"

"Where is your home?"

Asked this...

His parents' faces flashed through Lu Cang's mind.

Home...

He was taking a plane to go home.

His parents were waiting for him at home.

But...

But.

It seemed he couldn't go back anymore.

Perhaps because his body wasn't adjusted, tears inexplicably flowed from the corners of his eyes, streaming down uncontrollably.

Lu Cang used his sleeve to wipe the tears away, but they only flowed more.

"Iz..."

Kuminoni looked at Iz with a reproachful gaze.

"You made him cry, he's just a little kid."

Damn...

I didn't want to cry.

The sudden thought of his parents made him feel very sad, but crying in front of strangers so easily was not the mindset of an adult.

Besides, he was in an unknown otherworld; he had 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.

His hands were so small.

Uh... it seems I really transmigrated into a child.

Once his attention shifted, the sad emotions gradually calmed down.

So it’s true that a child’s tears are unstoppable; as long as he thought of something sad, his nose would sting. What an annoying body.

If he accidentally cried in front of others again in the future, it would be truly embarrassing.

But fortunately, it seemed easy to stop once he shifted his focus.

"Home... I don't know." Lu Cang replied in a childish voice.

Only now, as he spoke, did Lu Cang realize how young his voice sounded.

How old was he exactly?

Ten?

Or even younger?

Iz looked a bit helpless, but he still came to stand in front of Lu Cang: "It's going to be difficult 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 crossed Iz's expression.

In this era where monsters ran rampant, disasters where monsters leveled villages often occurred. In such situations, some mages in the village with weak abilities 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 accounted for less than 1% of the globe.

Not to mention the death zones that even level 8 adventurers wouldn't dare enter, even the vast oceans, boiling magma, and glaciers frozen year-round...

None of these were places where a child could survive.

Land with civilization and cultivation accounted for only a tiny fraction of this world.

This child cried when his home was mentioned.

It seems... he already knew what happened to his village, he just didn't have the courage to face it yet.

Iz smiled: "It's decided, you'll come with us. Wherever we go, you go."

Lu Cang: "Is that okay?"

Although he had just transmigrated to this world, they looked like adventurers who explored dungeons everywhere.

Taking a child with no combat ability along.

No matter how you looked at it, it felt like a death flag.

Iz: "It's fine, we're very strong."

"Let me introduce you. This is our team's healer, a level 5 Healer, Kuminoni."

"I am a spellcaster, a level 5 Mage, Izparut. Everyone usually calls me Iz."

"Besides the two of us, there is also a level 5 Defender, Obadus, and a level 5 Warrior, Chicheng."

"But they are currently in the depths of the dungeon collecting loot. You'll see them when we regroup later."

Mage, Warrior, Defender, Healer.

It really sounded like the real deal.

But level 5, isn't that a bit low?

It sounds about the same as a newcomer.

Your "very strong" might be a bit of an exaggeration, Izparut.