An Unexpected Journey

"Ow..." Zhang Ruofeng sat up, holding his forehead. The bright sunlight stung his eyes, making them hard to open.

"Was the sun always this bright in the underworld?" Zhang Ruofeng frowned. When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a hillside. Everything around him was completely unfamiliar. As a university student from a metropolis, he couldn't even begin to describe it. Green plains stretched as far as he could see. In the distance, a great river reflected the sunlight, and beyond it stood the enormous walls of a town. The blue-gray walls stretched beyond his field of vision, and he could just make out the rooftops of buildings atop them.

"Is this where you go when you die?" Zhang Ruofeng scratched his head helplessly and reached up to feel around, but found nothing. He looked up, but didn't see anything either.

"Hahaha, what am I thinking, some Dragon Ball plot?" Zhang Ruofeng gave a wry smile and stood up. He found that his clothes were completely undamaged. He checked his pockets and found his phone, keys, and wallet, along with his cigarettes and lighter. But for some reason, his phone wouldn't turn on.

"What's going on?" Out of habit, Zhang Ruofeng opened his cigarette pack and lit one. Then he frowned. The pack had held seven cigarettes before, and it still held seven now. But the sensation of the smoke filling his lungs was definitely real. For a moment, Zhang Ruofeng didn't know what to make of it.

"This is downright spooky." Zhang Ruofeng smiled wryly, smoked as he headed toward what looked like a gate, and wondered, "Why hasn't anyone come to get me? Are there too many people dying at this time, and not enough staff to guide the souls?" He was completely at a loss about his situation. Thinking of how he'd been hit and killed like an idiot, his life cut short and brought to this inexplicable place, he could only smile bitterly. He lit another cigarette, and as soon as he took it from the pack, it was back to seven.

With his head aching, Zhang Ruofeng reached the riverbank and bent down to drink. He drank so much that he felt as if he hadn't had a drop of water in ages.

"Don't tell me I actually transmigrated..." After drinking, Zhang Ruofeng felt the thirst leave his body and sensed the droplets of water run down his face. His expression turned horrified. "What the hell? Isn't this supposed to happen to office ladies?!" he yelled. No one paid him any mind. His shout simply echoed across the plains.

Zhang Ruofeng plopped down on the ground and felt a sharp pain in his tailbone from landing too hard. Once again, it convinced him that he really had transmigrated.

With no other choice, Zhang Ruofeng got up and slowly crossed the wooden bridge to his left. On the other side, he saw a few houses, almost all of them made of wood. Their medieval style, straight out of anime and movies, convinced him that he had truly crossed into another world. All kinds of complicated feelings surged through him at once: excitement, fear, confusion, exhilaration, homesickness, and worry. It left him feeling deeply unsettled.

Just then, someone emerged from a wooden house in the distance. The person wore a large hat and held a big pot of pale blue flowers. Zhang Ruofeng hurried over. The person was a slender woman, but he was too preoccupied to care. He walked up to her and asked, "Hello?"

The woman moved the blue flowers that had been blocking her face and tilted her head at Zhang Ruofeng's words.

In that instant, Zhang Ruofeng was so astonished that he couldn't speak. Before him was a face of flawless beauty; from any angle, the woman was breathtaking. She looked to be around twenty, with pale red hair and ruby-red eyes. Her features were so perfect that her presence made Zhang Ruofeng feel the flowers in her hands were the most beautiful in the world.

Zhang Ruofeng bit the tip of his tongue hard, forcing his attention away from her face, and asked, "Hello, could you tell me where I am?" His anxiety didn't seem to get through to her. The woman tilted her head adorably again.

"!(%.&＃)" The woman said something softly, but Zhang Ruofeng couldn't understand her. Only then did he realize that they spoke completely different languages. This goddess-like beauty wasn't speaking Chinese or English.

"This is going to be a real problem." Zhang Ruofeng pulled out his lighter and cigarettes, lit one, and stared gloomily at the beautiful woman, the first person who had ever left him so entranced.

The woman looked at Zhang Ruofeng, then seemed to think of something. She set down the flowerpot and clapped her hands. Smiling, she approached him. Zhang Ruofeng warily took a step back, but the woman wasn't discouraged. She suddenly pressed a finger to his lips. A flash of white light flickered from her hand, and just as Zhang Ruofeng was thinking, What the hell?!, the woman's gentle voice rang out again, as soft as a breeze passing through a flower field. "There, now we can understand each other."

"Uh... huh?" For a moment, Zhang Ruofeng thought he was hallucinating because he was desperate to talk to someone. But the woman was still smiling at him. "Welcome to Orario, outsider from another world."

"What the—?" Zhang Ruofeng was too shocked to speak. He had been unable to understand her a moment ago, but now he could. Her mouth movements made it clear that she wasn't speaking his language, yet what he heard was Chinese. It was astonishing. "What did you do?" Zhang Ruofeng stepped back and pressed a hand to his mouth. Nothing seemed different, but he could understand her now.

"Nothing much. Something like that is a piece of cake for a god. Even though I can barely use my divine power, this is still a simple matter." The woman straightened up and smiled gently.

"A god?" Zhang Ruofeng's mind stalled again. "Wait, Orario? That name sounds familiar." Zhang Ruofeng clutched his head, and cold sweat broke out across his forehead. "Is this Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?"

"Hmm, I don't know what you mean," the goddess said with another smile. "But the way your magic flows is different from that of all the children in this world, so I recognized you right away."

"Magic? That stuff actually exists?" Zhang Ruofeng's inner commentary was going wild. Speaking of goddesses... no wonder she's so beautiful. He looked the woman up and down, thinking she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. It wasn't just her face; her proportions were perfect, too. She wore a pale blue dress with lace trim, alluring yet healthy-looking. To keep himself from getting lost in her beauty again, Zhang Ruofeng quickly turned away.

"Haha, you really are a shy one," the woman said with a happy laugh. "From what you said, you know about this world, don't you?"

"Yeah..." Zhang Ruofeng frowned. "I just don't know if it's the same world as the one in the anime I watched. The Dungeon, Familias, gods, and the power they grant..." He listed the key things he knew.

"How incredible! Your world knows so much about ours," the goddess said, clapping her hands happily. "The unknown really is the most interesting thing. I'd love to visit other worlds, too."

"But, but..." The goddess suddenly stepped right in front of Zhang Ruofeng. She was almost as tall as he was, and they were nearly pressed together. Her sweet floral scent wafted over him, and Zhang Ruofeng's heart seemed ready to stop. "Would you like to join my Familia?"