After we both fell asleep next to one another for quite awhile, I woke up to the warm feeling of my whole body being wrapped by something very comforting and warm.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on my left side for some reason. Aoi was right by my side, and she seemed to have wrapped her arms around my chest, and my left leg was resting between her thighs.

“.....”

It was a comforting feeling, which surprised me a little, as I never knew that I would feel this warm just from having someone hug me like this.

Her hot breath was crushing on my chest, and I could almost feel her heartbeat transferring to me as if both of our hearts were one.

As I felt myself slightly flinch from the sudden surprise of being held like this, I felt that she was also about to wake up.

“.....”

“....Nn…..”

And in the next moment, she slowly opened her eyes before looking at me with her half-sleepy eyes. But right as she understood that the first thing she saw was me, her eyes widened in surprise as her cheeks reddened.

“....huh?”

I could understand that she would be confused by this, but I am pretty sure she was the one who came to me during our sleep.

“....”

Expecting her to push me away, I continued looking directly at her beautiful blue eyes as some of her hair fell over her face and over my own head.

“Good morning,” I said, breaking the silence. “Did you sleep well?”

She looked on her side for a bit as she tried to avoid seeing her embarrassed expression.

“.....yes….” She softly spoke in a weak voice.

“I'm glad.” I responded with a smile on my face as I got to see her bashful side first thing in the morning.

Her eyes widened for a moment as she looked at me. 

She seemed to be thinking about something, and after a split second, she rested her head on my chest while trying to hide her face from me.

I could feel the warmth of her chest a lot more, and I could feel that her heartbeats were also getting much faster. 

I couldn't help but feel excited about this, as my heart was beating at a faster rate.

I wonder if she can also hear my heart beat.

“....I can hear….”

“What?”

“I can hear your heartbeats….” she softly spoke.

I was a bit surprised that she was also conscious of my heartbeat.

“Is that so?” I responded back, “I can also hear yours.”

“.....”

She remained silent as we both remained in that position for quite awhile.

I wanted to wait and see how long she was going to stay in my arms like that. But from what I could see, she didn't let go of me for quite awhile.

We remained like that, embracing one another for, I would say, around an hour before deciding to take a bath.

Somehow, she didn't feel as distant as before, and I could feel her giving me glances with red cheeks on her face.

And right as she entered the bath to take a shower, she gave me one final glance before offering to take one before me.

In the meantime, I cleaned up my room and put on new sheets.

Somehow, Aoi’s face kept coming back to my mind, and I couldn't help but think about her and her body.

It was as if I had nothing else but her to think about the whole time….

After awhile, once I was done cleaning up, I decided to head to the bath to take a shower as well.

And right as I was about to enter, Aoi walked out with a new pair of shorts, a shirt, and a towel on her head, drying her hair.

She looked at me with a slight surprise before looking at her side once again with a slight embarrassment.

“....You can e-enter now.” 

“...Thanks” I responded back, as she said that with a soft yet pleasant voice.

Usually, she would ignore me or simply run away. But right now, she seemed much different than usual….

After taking a long and nice shower, I went to the kitchen to grab something to eat.

Surprisingly, though, when I arrived there, I saw that she was there as well, and she seemed to be preparing something.

“What are you doing?” 

“Huh?.... Ah, y-you’re back.”

The moment I tried asking what was going on, she flinched for a moment before looking at me.

“...I thought that y-you were hungry….that's why…”

“You made me breakfast?”

I looked rather surprised as I quickly connected the dots about why she was cooking in the kitchen.

I walked towards the dining table and sat down, where she had quickly prepared a sheet over it, some toasted slices of bread that were covered in a bit of oil, and what would seem to be a slat.

Then, after a couple of more seconds, she put in front of me a plate of fried eggs with bacon, slices of avocado, and some green peppers on the side.

I’ve had many types of eggs before. Even this kind before, however, the smell that this one gave me was rather surprising. Not in a bad way, though.

“....”

As she also prepared her own plate, she kept giving me glances with a slight sense of embarrassment and curiosity.

I was speechless, as after a long time, I felt rather hungry looking at this plate.

“...if you d-don’t like it….t-then…”

“Time to dig in!”

I saw that she was flinching constantly as I was looking at the food prepared in front of me. That's why I didn't want to make her wait or make her think that I didn't like the food before grabbing a piece of toasted bread and a piece of everything that was on the plate.

“....”

She nervously looked at me as I was eating the first bites of the food she had prepared.

I knew that she wanted me to say something about this before swallowing the first bites.

“...its…..”

“....”

She looked at me nervously, as her eyes seemed restless about what I was going to say.

But I, on the other hand, was confused about a few things.

This whole time, I was used to the very best kinds of foods that this house made for me automatically, so I never had any trouble making food of my own.

But when I took the first bites of the breakfast that Aoi had prepared for me, something different came into my mouth.

A different kind of taste that I had never tasted before.

It wasn’t the usual perfection meals I'm used to, which is why I couldn't help but wonder why…..

“It's so delicious…..”

As she heard what I thought about the food she had prepared for me, her eyes widened for a slight moment before she looked to her side with an embarrassed look.

“...I’m glad…” She said under her breath.

…

After that unexpected breakfast, my relationship with Aoi continued to get closer.

She seemed more open with me, and she always took her chances on starting a topic with me. Even during the night, she would usually sneak onto my bed to either sleep with me or give me a teasing on my dick.

I never complained, but I did wonder if she simply wanted to have sex with me. I wouldn't mind if she asked for it.

Our communication when one another wanted sex would be mostly physical, and somehow we both knew that we wanted to do it.

And this would continue for quite a while.

We would do it in different places, like the couch, living room, or bedroom. 

And despite being embarrassed by it, she was becoming more and more bold with her teasing.

One thing that I found about her was the fact that she was as sex-driven as me, which is why we both would be in sync when we felt horny and wanted to do it. 

We were basically like rabbits in heat.

One time, right as we were done doing it in the living room, Aoi walked to the kitchen area to prepare something to eat in order to restore our strength and fluids from doing it for quite awhile.

However, right as I was trying to relax for a bit, I heard Aoi scream coming from the back of the kitchen.

I wasn't sure what had happened, which is why I quickly rushed towards the kitchen area and found Aoi lying on the ground. Her eyes widened in terror as she was trying to defend herself from a slime that was some meters away from her.

“N-no! G-get away from me!” She screamed as she tried getting away from the slime.

However, slimes don't really listen or react to her screams, which is why, without caring about her state, the slime jumped and prepared to crash on Aoi’s head.

But I wasn't going to let that damn thing do to Aoi, which is why I quickly charged myself towards the slime, and while it was in midair, I shoved my hand inside the slime and ripped its core outside with brute force, causing the slime jelly to fall apart.

After throwing the core to the side, I rushed towards Aoi and tried to see if she was injured.

“Aoi, are you okay?!” She slowly opened her eyes in worry and looked at me.

The moment she quickly glanced around at what had happened and that I had killed the slime, she jumped on my arms and tightly hugged me.

“..I-I….I was so scared!!”

Sniffling sounds from her nose could be heard as she hugged me for comfort.

“Thank goodness you're not hurt….” I said under my breath as I returned the hug to Aoi.

We remained like that before I closed the dungeon door once again. 

Then, to discuss what had happened, we sat on the couch next to one another for comfort in the living room.

“This is definitely weird…” I said in confusion, “A monster entering the house on its own has never happened before.”

“I n-never opened the door or went around it.”

“I know.”

I smiled as I saw the concerned look on her face. 

She looked at me with slightly red cheeks before looking to the side again while she was resting next to me.

“Something must’ve happened to cause the same monsters to enter inside her.” I tried guessing.

“I don't know much about this dungeon, but usually, when my friend talks about games, the boss of the dungeon must be defeated in order to clear the level.” Aoi tried giving her thoughts, slightly fluttering in nervousness.

“That's indeed true, even in this dungeon as well. However, I’ve cleared many dungeons before, and there was never a case where a monster would cross the line between the door and the dungeon.” I explained to her, “I even tried baiting the weakest monsters to enter here. But they simply couldn't pass through, as if there was an invincible force preventing them from entering our mansion.”

After a moment of silence, Aoi looked back at me. “Maybe that rule changed when I came in here.”

My eyes widened for a slight moment as I quickly connected the dots of what she was trying to say.

“You mentioned that after I came in here, new clothes, objects, and stuff appeared in the mansion.” She assumed, “So perhaps the same thing happened to the dungeon as well.”

That is indeed true. 

A lot of stuff changed or appeared in this mansion the moment Aoi appeared. So the same case must’ve happened to the dungeon as well. Meaning that now there is also another chance that we could both escape this land for good!

“Aoi!” I suddenly called out to her.

“E-eh? Yes?” She looked up at me with her adorable blue eyes.

“You are the smartest girl!” I smiled as I praised her.

“Eh? I am?” She looked rather confused as her cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

“Yes, you know what this means.”

“.....”

“If the dungeon and the whole land have changed at your arrival…”

“....then….” She tried guessing what I was trying to say, “The chances of finding a way back home….. Changed as well.”

Both of us looked at one another before smiling in excitement.

After we both came to the same conclusion, we now had to think of the next part of our move.

Since now we have to constantly enter the dungeon, Aoi has no choice but to come with me as well in case we find ourselves outside of this cursed land.

“....B-but, I’ve never fought in my whole life….”

That's what Aoi said at the thought of going to the dungeon.

And that was true because even if she simply wanted to be by my side, she must at least know a few moves to defend herself in case of danger. And of course, I wasn't planning on letting her come with no fighting experience whatsoever.

That's why, for the following week, I took her to the gym area and gave her a few different exercises on how she could defend herself.

She wasn't that good at shooting with a gun, as her whole body would tremble each time the impact of shooting would leave a trail. Even with a sword, her movements were rather awkward, and she had a hard time moving around.

“...Maybe, I'm not meant to fight at all….” She said to me as she looked defeated at her struggle to handle a one sided katana.

“You don't need to feel down with yourself,” I tried making her feel better, “When I first tried touching the sword, I couldn't even lift it from the ground.”

Aoi looked at me with surprise before giggling at what I was saying.

“Besides, if you don't like any of this, then you can choose and test any kind of weapon you want.” I tried reassuring her, “We have different weapons with different ways of handling them. So you don't need to feel that you need to only use one of them.”

“....T-thank you….”

I needed to prepare Aoi as soon as possible before any more monsters crossed the door again.

I still am not sure how the door opened on its own, even though I made sure to block it off with some random boxes or furniture. That's why this matter had to be solved as quickly as possible.

After I figured that Aoi would need a lot of time to get the hang of the katana with a one-sided blade, I thought that it would be faster if she chose another sort of weapon that she would be able to pick up much quicker.

And that's why we went back to the weapons room, where both me and Aoi were free to choose all sorts of weapons with unlimited munitions and all sorts of gear that would protect us.

Aoi was quite surprised that this mansion had a room that was filled with different sorts of weapons hanging from the walls, wardrobes, and common digital wardrobes where you could choose more specific weapons.

After looking around for quite awhile, Aoi seemed to be thinking to herself as she kept looking around for something that would suit her.

And from what I could see, nothing seemed to have caught her mind.

That was until she caught a glimpse of a certain sword that was displayed in full view at the side of the room.

“What is that?” Aoi asked as she pointed towards the sword that was inside a glass-like box.

I looked at where she was pointing before opening the glass-like box so she would be able to take a closer view.

What Aoi had taken an interest in was a different kind of sword that I rarely used.

The whip sword.

The whip sword is a unique and versatile weapon that combines the characteristics of a sword and a whip. With a flick of the wrist, the blade extends and transforms into a flexible, whip-like form. This sword offers the advantage of both close-quarter combat and long-range attacks. The whip sword's flexibility allows for striking from a distance, while its whip-like nature enables entangling or restraining opponents. 

However, while it's in sword mode, it's very delicate and can't handle hard blows.

After explaining to Aoi about this sword, we went back to the training area and gave her a few more lessons on how she can use it without having to get close to her targets.

And to my surprise, she was actually pretty good at using it, despite this being her first time handling it.

At a distance of more than four meters, Aoi was able to cut in half almost all of the targets that I had made in the training area with a swoop of her arm.

“I…I-I did it!” Her eyes widened in awe as she saw all of the targets get perfectly cut by her.

“It seems like we found the perfect match for you.” I said back to her.

After that, we continued our training for a few more days before we were finally ready to enter the door once again.

Right now, I was wearing basic bulletproof clothes, dark gloves, hard boots, a normal katana, and a glock with around nineteen mags that I was carrying.

Aoi, on the other hand, was wearing lighter clothes, which would allow her to move around more swiftly with her sword whip. She was also wearing similar boots that were suitable for any sort of environment. She had light, solid armor on her forearms and on her legs in case a monster would aim for her. And the most important thing, which was a basic helmet.

The gear might’ve been a bit too much for just some slimes, but since this was Aoi’s first fight, I didn't want to allow any casualties.

As we entered the dungeon, we began walking down the same long hallway where Aoi had wandered off for the first time.

When I looked on my side to check on her, I noticed that rather than being scared of what was coming, she was more nervous.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Aoi looked at me as we continued walking. 

“As you might’ve noticed before, slimes are the weakest monsters that only use their weight to knock their target down and drown them with their jelly form. Other than that, those slimes are basically harmless and pretty much an easy defeat,” I continued explaining to her. “Since this is your first time going against slimes, all you need to consider is to keep your distance and aim for their core.”

After the brief explanation, we continued walking for a few more minutes until I came to a halt.

“Aoi,” 

I called out her name as we both looked into the darker parts of the straight hallway until two slimes began bouncing towards us.

Aoi swallowed her saliva once before pulling out the sword from her waist and nodding her head at me.

I believe that she is going to do just fine, as these are weak slimes. 

“If this is too much, I can take out one of them so you can do a warm-up.” I suggested it to her.

“N-no,” she refused, her eyes sternly looking towards the bouncing slimes, “I can do this.”

She was determined to do this on her own, and that's why I couldn't help but respect her courage.

As the slimes grew within the ten-meter distance, Aoi extended her arm forward and let out a small sigh, letting out all of the pressure she had been feeling the whole time.

“.....”

And as the slimes reached within a distance of five meters from us, Aoi hardened her eyes, then, with a flick of her wrist, she swung her sword until it extended into a whip-like rope filled with sharp blades that could cut anything perfectly. 

And in the next moment, the blades extended into a long bendable blade and cut both of the slimes exactly in half together with their own cores, which also caused the jelly inside the slime to break apart.

After confirming the successful attack, Aoi moved her thumb over the handle of her sword, causing the whole whip sword to change back into the shape of a normal sword.

“....I….I did it….. I defeated the slimes….” She said to herself, her eyes open in disbelief at what she had managed to do.

Amazed by her first achievements of defeating her first monsters lurking in this dungeon, I wanted to praise her for the effort that she had put in for the past couple of weeks. 

However, I had to put aside the small achievement as, from afar, I sensed several more slimes coming our way here.

“Keep your guard up,” I said to her. “More slimes are coming our way.”

“O-okay!”

And just like that, Aoi gripped her own sword as she waited for the slimes to get within her killing range.

From what I could see, the number of slimes had quadrupled, and they were all coming in groups.

Their jumping patterns were all the same. But one single mistake from Aoi could cost her life. That's why I was highly guarded as my eyes went back and forth between the girl and the upcoming slimes.

As the slimes grew closer, Aoi remained in the same position until she swung her whip-like sword and managed to slice the first slime in half. 

But due to wasting her first attack solely on one slime, seven of the other slimes managed to get much closer. And right now, Aoi had to prepare something with her whip sword since it had already lost its momentum from going into whip mode.

“......”

As she noticed that she needed to change her sword back into its original shape, she looked at her own hand as it tried to make use of this situation.

But before she could get the upper hand with her distance, the slimes were already within two meters and ready to crush on Aoi’s head.

Aoi flicked her wrist and quickly managed to turn the whip back to its sword mode. However, the moment she looked back up, she noticed that the slimes had already jumped and were about to crush her whole body.

“.....ah….” Her eyes widened to their full extent as it seemed like her whole life flashed in that split second.

But I wasn't simply going to stand by, that's why I quickly pulled out my glock and shot the rest of the slimes, leaving Aoi with a rather anxious expression.

“When fighting against a great number of enemies, the best thing you can do is not let them get the upper hand by approaching you.” I tried explaining to her and suggesting what she could do about her mistakes. 

However, I knew that this was still her first time going against slimes, which is why I walked towards her.

“Since this is your first time going against slimes, we can call this a day.” I tried calming her down. “You already managed to get the experience of going against slimes. And besides, we don't really have to rush.”

Looking up at me with her slightly worried eyes, she looked back down as she glanced at her own sword.

“No…” She said in a low voice, “I don't want to become a burden to you just because I am incompetent.”

“But you aren't incompetent. You managed to learn a dangerous skill with the whip's sword and also had the courage to enter the dungeon this quickly,” I said with a voice filled with a mix of admiration and encouragement. “Compared to me, it took me more than several years of preparations and exercises just to enter and explore what was beyond the door.”

Aoi looked at me with her adorable, surprised eyes before they sternly looked at me.

“But even so….” She said, “I want to keep going.”

Surprised by her strong mentality, I softly smiled before we continued to head deeper into this long hallway.

My suggestion of returning for the time being was not only because I was concerned about Aoi’s mental and physical state but also because, starting from this point on, the number of monsters will continue to get bigger.

But since Aoi wanted to keep going, I also took part by killing unnecessary slimes that would outnumber her by a lot.

While I would shoot dead any slimes from a further distance, Aoi would cut several slimes that were within her range.

And when she would try to change the shape of her whip's form, she would quickly fall back and do so in order to regain not only her distance but also the upper hand.

She was learning... And fast at this rate.

As I kept glancing back and forth at her, I couldn't help but smile at her courage.

Fighting slimes for me and Aoi was going pretty well, and from what I could see, she was slowly learning to adapt her movements and speed quite well.

But as we continued going deeper and killing many more slimes, we finally reached an old-looking gate that was at the end of the tunnel, like a dungeon.

“We should return today,” I suggested.

“Eh? Why? I can still keep going.”

“I know that, but the slime behind this door is very dangerous.” I explained to her, “For today, we gathered quite a lot of experience. And I think that your adrenaline will soon wear off and tire you out. It's better to be late than sorry.”

Thinking to herself for a split second, she looked back at me and nodded.

After returning back to the mansion, we went to the living room, and the first thing that Aoi did was flop herself on the soft cushions of the couch with her face down.

I could tell that she was tired from the excessive adrenaline rushing through her body constantly for more than, I would say, four hours.

It was quite surprising for a girl like her to last this long for the first time. Maybe that would explain why she has that much stamina when we have sex…

“I’ll go and take a shower first. You can go and rest for a bit until you feel better.”

“....Nn….”

After making a small muffled noise to confirm that she had heard me, I left the room and headed to the bath in order to get rid of all the slime that had fallen on my body.

Since I didn't really move that much, I didn't sweat at all. But having this much duty and slime felt really disgusting to me.

After taking a quick sip of water that I had found in the hallway, I entered the bath, took off my clothes, and threw them in the clothe’s bin.

As I was passing by the changing area, I happened to pass by the mirror near there. 

I was already tired of seeing myself every single time. And now that someone other than me was in here, it made me remember all of the time I had spent on my own as I glanced at the reflection of myself in the mirror.

However, one thing of which I'm quite proud of myself is the fact that I'm quite ripped. 

“....Haaa….”

I miss the times when I first started the training by myself.

At that time, I couldn't shake off the excitement every time I would look at myself and see more muscles all over my body.

After having enough of staring at myself, I went to the washing area and began warming myself up with the shower head.

The relaxing feeling of having this warm, fresh sensation flow through your whole body was unmatched, even after many years of being alone in this mansion. That's why I couldn't help but remain with my head down as the warm water continued flowing through my head while thousands of memories flashed in my head.

“I'm a scum….”

I said in a low, disgusted voice, my eyes completely shut as the dripping sounds of the water tried to fog up what was going around my head.

While I was trying to remain in the same position with my head down, I suddenly heard some noises coming from the changing area.

I wasn't sure what had fallen, and I was really bothered to check. However, when I began hearing tapping noises from someone walking near me, I raised my head and turned around.

What I saw was Aoi, who seemed to be wearing only a white piece of towel around her body in order to cover up her most important parts. But even though she was only wearing that piece of cloth, I could still see her body lines, the shadow between her legs, and the bulge over her chest.

It was something completely unexpected….

“....”

“....”

As I looked at her embarrassed, flushed face, she looked to her side as she was carrying a sponge on her hand.

"Um, I-I... I thought maybe you could use some help, considering all the support you've given me. So, I wanted to repay the favor by offering to w-wash your back." Her voice trembled with a touch of nervousness as she spoke, the words tumbling out in a rush.

.

.

.