In that moment, Alex's body seized with fear, a reaction borne out of his reluctance to antagonize the group. His mind was acutely aware of  the potential threat posed by any sudden movement on his part. Furthermore, he found himself surrounded by a group of unkempt, primitively dressed individuals unlike anything he had imagined. In a state of confusion and anxiety, Alex uttered a hesitant greeting, his voice trembling, "Um, hello? My name is Alex."

"What are you doing here?" demanded the man holding the spear.

"Just moving this metal plate out of the basement." Alex nodded his head towards the plate.

The barbarian narrowed his eyes. "Why are you here?"

"Would you believe I am here to defeat the demon queen?" Alex tried to say something that might get a positive reaction.

"You're lying." The man’s eyebrow twitched like someone listening to a poorly timed joke.

"I guess you don't believe me. Would you believe I'm from another world?" Apparently Alex’s attempt for a positive reaction failed.

"Are you trying to pretend to be some kind of hero? Do I look stupid? What tribe sent you here?" A barbarian shouted.

"Guys guys calm down please. I really don't know anything about tribes or any of that stuff. I've only been here a couple weeks." Alex’s voice was cracking.

With blinding speed, the barbarian struck him in the face, sending him hurtling through the air. The suddenness of the blow denied him the opportunity to protect himself. He crashed to the ground, sliding several feet before coming to a stop.

"Boy, don't you lie to me! You better start talking." The man spat. “What are you going to say next?  A goddess summoned you?”

"Don't hurt Alex!" Fufi shrieked when Alex took the haymaker.

At the sight of Fufi, Alex uttered, "Stop this." He struggled to his feet, dusted himself off, and felt a slight tremor run through him. His vision was blurry and he saw stars. Even with his previous build, he wouldn't have stood a chance against this opponent. The inhabitants of this world possessed extraordinary strength beyond his capabilities.

"He's only been here a couple weeks. He doesn't understand what is going on." The flamingo said.

"Miss bird, perhaps you'll stop spouting nonsense," the man approached Fufi, who remained entangled in the net. " Who sent you here? What's the secret behind reactivating the dungeon?"

"I was sent here by goddess Luna. She is the one who recharged the dungeon. We didn't do anything to you, why did you hurt Alex?" Fufi demanded.

"He's nothing but a liar, I'm certain of it. He expects us to believe this unknown goddess came down from the heavens to visit this long-forgotten ruin? Has anyone even heard of the goddess Luna?" The man growled, his voice filled with skepticism. He glanced at his companions for confirmation, but they all shook their heads in unison, indicating their unfamiliarity with the deity in question.

"She is the goddess of cuteness. It is her duty to protect the cute things in the world." Fufi explained.

"Cuteness?" the man sneered. "There is nothing cute in this wasteland, only the destruction left after the demon queen's army ravaged this area decades ago. Now tell me, where is the slime?"

"Do you promise not to hurt her?" Fufi pleaded.  She wanted to protect Merumeru.

The man chuckled, "You are in no position to make demands. Slimes are an 'it', they don't come in boy or girl. Is it just one slime? Hey boy is that slime your tamed beast? Are you a tamer?"

Alex coughed from the earlier punch. "Please don't hurt Fufi. Merumeru is in the bathroom. Just take what you want. We don't want any trouble."

In their search for Alex, two barbarians encountered a peculiar sight. To their astonishment, the only possessions he carried were a feather duster and a playing card depicting a cart filled with stuffed animals. The barbarians' perplexity was evident in their strange looks, and they promptly tossed the two objects back at Alex.

Alex recalled his encounter in the first dungeon, where he had punched a cuddle bear and felt guilty after receiving a certain stare from the bear. Trying to replicate that same look, he stared at the barbarians, but none of them showed any effect. He wondered if he was not as adorable as the cuddle bear, which allowed it to elicit such a response.

"Bathroom? This isn't some noble man's manner boy. And I see you didn't answer all the questions. What is your class?" The man pointed the spear at Alex.

"I'm a lumberjack." Alex replied.

"A lumberjack? With those puny muscles?" The man gawked.

"Fine. My class is magical girl. I'm not a tamer. " Alex answered, sounding ashamed.

"You mean you're a magical girl? You must be joking. That would be the most ridiculous story I have ever heard. Why would a magical girl be in the middle of the wasteland? And a lumberjack too. Are you sure your class is not [fool]? You run away from home to go on some adventure?" The man laughed.

"No. No. I'm serious. I'm a magical girl. I was summoned by Luna and she told me to defeat the demon queen. I can't do it alone though. Fufi and Merumeru are my friends. Friends help one another." Alex explained.

"I can't believe this. I can't believe that some god from the heavens came to this forsaken place. I can't believe that some magical girl is even your class. For starters are you not a boy?" The man pointed his spear at Alex again.

"Yes I am." Alex answered, his voice cracking.

"Then how can you be a magical girl? You know what? Don't answer that. You are giving me a headache. You two stay here while we kill the slime and secure the dungeon." The man ordered.

"No wait. Please. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I'm really a magical girl. I was sent here by the goddess Luna. She is the goddess of cuteness. She is the one who brought the dungeon back to life. You can take the dungeon we'll leave, just don't hurt Merumeru." Alex begged.

"Shut up! I don't want to hear any more of your lies. If you don't want to die then shut up and let us deal with the slime." The man said. 

Alex and Fufi were tied up with ropes by several men, who then proceeded to the Adventurer's Guild.

Alex persisted in pleading until someone silenced him with a slap. Approximately half an hour later, the search party of barbarians returned. Alex could not comprehend their words, but the apparent leader did not appear pleased.

The annoyed barbarian ordered, "Take these to and dump them by the river." He then looked at Alex, "It looks like your slime ditched you. Now this is our dungeon and if I ever see you or your bird back here don't expect to get off with just a few bruises like this time."

The barbarian turned to the others, "Let's get out of here. We've got work to do."

Two stinky dirty men grabbed Alex by the arm and forced him along until they were outside the ruined town. A few minutes later they were left, still tied up, at the shore of the river. One barbarian spat in their general direction as he left him and Fufi.

After they left Alex said, "They didn't even bother to untie us or cut you out of your net Fufi. What do we do?"

"I think I have an idea." Fufi said.

Alex blinked in surprise. "What?"

"How sharp are your teeth?" Fufi asked.

"Not very. Please don't tell me your plan was to chew through the rope." Alex sighed.

"Maybe." Fufi said, sounding less confident.

"Well, I don't think that can work. If you can't bite through them with that beak of yours I don't think I can either. We can try to loosen each other's bonds though with my arms behind my back I can't get much until I get them free. Though if you can get close to my back I might be able to loosen the net you are trapped in. We have to get free so we can save Merumeru." Alex said in a worried tone.

"About that," Fufi replied, "She is probably okay."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"Well, we have contingency plans." Fufi calmly stated.

"What's that?" Alex queried.

"A contingency is something in case the main plan doesn't go right." Fufi explained matter-of-factly.

Alex rolled his eyes and said with exasperation, "I know what a contingency is. I mean what was the plan?"

"Oh, well the first contingency was my summoning magic. If you get in trouble I can just use the magic to summon you back to me. This didn't work though because I was careless and let my guard down. If I flew away then both of us could have gotten away." Fufi explained.

"Yes, I'm glad you didn't do that. It has side effects." Alex shuddered. "But what about Merumeru?"

"Well, when we were playing adventurers guild I told her that if we get split up and can't go back to the guild then we should meet up by the river and go from there." Fufi said with pride.

Alex just sighed and continued to struggle with his bonds.

***

While Fufi and Alex grappled with their predicament, a slime girl named Merumeru, known as the queen of pipes, embarked on an audacious mission. Merumeru aimed to create a water line to the Adventurer's Guild by tunneling through the ground towards the fountain. But as she worked, she felt the ominous thunder of footsteps overhead. With the cunning of a slime, Merumeru created a peephole in the floor of the guild, allowing her to spy on the intruders. Her observation revealed a large group intent on capturing the dungeon, which sparked her disapproval.

A straightforward attack was not an option, as she was not a large slime. However, she was a clever slime. After ensuring that the intruders would not harm Alex and Fufi, she put her plan into action. She would defeat them using the power of plumbing. While the barbarians were preoccupied with stealing metal plates, swords, axes, and food, Merumeru strategically created pipes. The barbarians activated the dungeon portal and were thrilled that they could use it exclusively for their tribe. They initially planned to allow everyone to use it, but they abandoned that idea when they realized that the portal's magic was finite.

Merumeru, the queen of pipes, had a plan in mind to prevent such an event from happening. By the time night descended, she had executed her plan using the power of pipes. While some of the barbarians were sleeping soundly in their homes, a handful remained vigilant, keeping watch.

"Olk, do you hear that? It sounds like running water," a barbarian said to his companion.

Olk placed his ear to the floor. "Yes, it does sound like a fountain below us, but there wasn't one in the basement before. What could be causing that splashing?"

Curious, the two barbarians descended into the basement, where they discovered water gushing from the walls. The basement was flooding.

"How do we stop this?" Olk asked his friend.

"It can't keep going for ever as soon as the water crystals run out of power the water should stop. We just have to get everyone out and wait for that." The friend replied.

"Okay. Let's go." Olk said.

"Wait. I am not a good swimmer."

"We just need to wake anyone sleeping up. Come on. We'll get everyone out of here and then we can figure out how to fix it." Olk said.

"Okay. I'm coming." Said the friend.

The two walked down to the basement and used a torch to light the place. Several people were already scrambling to gather their now sopping wet things and wade through the water to get out of there.

Olk shouted, "Everybody out we have to get away from here until the trap is spent."

One person who was making his way up the stairs said, "But two rookies already went in the rift. We can't go in after them to tell them."

"Then we have to wait for them to come out." Olk said, stepping through a portal and entering an underwater room would be a really disturbing surprise to return to.

"But I don't want to go in there again. It's too dangerous. At the rate the water is coming this whole place will be submerged in 15 minutes" The man said.

"Well, we don't have any other choice." Olk said.

"How can they get out of the basement if the portal leads to a dark flooded basement?" His friend asked.

"I guess we'll find out. Unless someone can handle this deluge they might be stuck for a while" Olk said.

"I don't want to go in there. I don't want to drown" The man said, sounding shaken.

During a long and eerie night, the people trapped in the dungeon faced a peculiar situation. The water that initially filled the dungeon unexpectedly continued to flow, transforming the front door of the adventurer's guild into a stream. As the sun rose, they managed to create a small opening by tearing down a trapdoor, which allowed a faint light to filter through the water. Utilizing this opportunity, the trapped tribesmen skillfully swam their way out, fortunately avoiding any casualties. However, the water showed no signs of subsiding as expected. Olk, an experienced member of the tribe, estimated that several hours of intense water flow would be sufficient to drain any water crystal, but the flow persisted. Consequently, scouts were sent to consult with the chief, who decided to wait out the situation. As a whole day passed, uncertainty grew regarding how much longer they would need to endure the unusual flooding.