Midnight in Greenleaf Town was as quiet as ever—
Except for one small thing.
A ten-year-old girl, wrapped in a blanket like a traveling dumpling, with a half-melted cream stick in her mouth, quietly pushed open a small window of the inn and slipped out barefoot.
Ashu floated above her head, wearing the expression of someone who'd already given up on logic.
"…You're sleepwalking again, aren't you? Did you forget the last time you climbed a tree in your sleep and accidentally purged its entire bloodline?"
That tree was now the Divine Tree.
The largest sacred tree in the Fairy Forest.
Ira hummed a tune softly, dream-mumbling,
"Gotta find… the glowing kitty…"
—
To the south of town lay an abandoned district.
Long ago, during the Age of the Ancient Kings, it had been a magical military stronghold—until a mana explosion sealed it off.
Now, it was overgrown with weeds and plastered with "DANGER" and "DO NOT ENTER" signs.
Ira stepped on one and broke it.
She happily skipped forward, mumbling,
"This dream feels super detailed~"
After a few steps, she bumped headfirst into a mossy stone wall.
Wall: "…knock."
Ashu's eyes shot wide open.
"Did you just open a preset Master Access channel?"
The wall split open.
A staircase spiraled downward, and glowing glyphs floated in the air:
[Command User: Verification in Progress… Verified. Ira Mills. Dominion Reboot Initiated.]
Still chewing her cream stick, Ira mumbled,
"Yeah~ I dreamed of you before~ You turned into a squid and tried to catch me…"
Ashu inhaled sharply.
"You opened—
THE LEGENDARY DUNGEON 'LUMIA: OBELISK ABYSS'?!
This thing wiped out half an empire!!"
—
Entering the dungeon?
Ridiculously casual.
She took a step—
all the traps deactivated themselves.
She touched a rock—
the walls bloomed with activated glyphs like flower petals.
She saw a fire-headed statue guard and handed it a candy.
"There there, don't cry. Have a sweet."
The statue collapsed to its knees, its flames instantly extinguished, clutching the candy and whispering:
"The Mother-Goddess has returned…!"
Ashu:
"…What bloodline system even are you people?"
—
The whole dungeon seemed to be enacting some kind of delirious ritual of voluntary surrender.
Doors flung themselves open.
The mana core retuned itself to her voice frequency.
The main engine switched from dormant to glowing gold-white output.
Even the carpet changed color—to cream yellow.
Ira sat in the control chamber and yawned.
Dungeon Core:
"…Would you like to record your voice as the Master Activation Password?"
Still half-asleep, Ira mumbled,
"Don't wake me up in the middle of the night, okay…"
[Voice Registered. System Master Key Updated.]
Ashu:
"??????????"
—
She wandered around the room, picked up a few glowing stones, lined the wall ornaments into the shape of cats, and tapped a couple of wall engravings just because they looked kind of lonely.
Then she yawned.
"There's no kitty here…"
Just as Ira turned to leave the control chamber, a faint glow rose from the far corner of the room.
A silver-blue bracelet floated gently off a hovering stone pedestal and began to drift toward her.
Ira reached out on instinct—
and the moment her fingertips brushed the bracelet, a cold, piercing sensation shot through her hand.
Then—
A flood of memories surged into her mind like a tidal wave.
[Memory Fragment – Activating]
A battlefield of shadow and fire.
Shattered walls.
A sky burning with falling embers and screams.
A white-haired woman in a war cloak, wearing that same silver-blue bracelet on her chest, stood alone at the heart of the dungeon.
Her name was Lumia—once the kingdom's highest commander of the mage legions.
To protect the Northern lands, she sacrificed herself, sealing both her own body and the fortress to contain a collapsing mana core that threatened the entire continent.
Her will, her emotions, her memories—
She left them all behind in this dungeon, waiting for someone who could understand her.
Her final thought echoed in Ira's heart:
"If someone finds this place in the future… tell me—does the world I protected still exist?"
The memory faded.
Ira opened her eyes, damp at the corners.
She looked down at the bracelet in her hand and gently stroked it, like petting a cold, injured kitten.
"You… waited a really long time, huh?"
So cold… but kinda refreshing.
She slipped the bracelet onto her wrist.
The moment she did—
The entire dungeon began to tremble.
The central core exploded in radiant light, the chamber shifting like it had just been reborn.
[SYSTEM ALERT!!!]
Emotional Resonance Achieved: Verified User – Ira Mills Dungeon Upgrade: Lumia – Obelisk Abyss → Eternal Radiant Circuit: Lumia's Covenant Ring Mana Saturation Level Raised to: Military Grade Ω Unlocked Features: Global Tactical Simulation Training / Infinite Combat Loop Mode / Autonomous Power Calibration Logging
Ashu leapt into the air in panic.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!"
He could feel it—the mana in this place had just skyrocketed several times over.
Ira was still crouching, voice soft:
"She was really lonely… This bracelet was waiting for her friend to come back."
She hadn't even noticed the murals on the walls unfolding, the training sectors reconstructing themselves in real time.
In the future, this dungeon would become the single most advanced combat training zone under Ira's name.
Adventurers would call it:
"Ira's Adorable Murder Garden."
But right now, she just stretched, yawned,
and muttered:
"I touched all the things… I'm going back to bed now~"
—
[Dungeon Log Update]
Owner: Ira Mills
Classification: Ultimate Dungeon (Fully Automated)
Status: Waiting for the Master to Wake Up
Note: "Don't wake me up in the middle of the night, okay?"
As she retraced her steps, the entire dungeon began to shut down—not as in lockdown,
but into Guardian Mode.
[Dominion Confirmed]
Adjusting light, music, and temporal flow to match the Master's sleep cycles and preferences. Access is now restricted to the Master and her designated allies. Dungeon is no longer open to the public. Thank you for understanding.
—
The next morning, Ira woke up right on time, still tasting cream stick on her lips.
"Ashu, I had a dream I visited a really cozy kitty-shaped dungeon~"
She rubbed her wrist, touching the cold bracelet.
"Huh? Did you give me this as a present?"
Ashu floated over, visibly trembling.
"…Do you have any idea where you went last night?"
Ira blinked innocently.
"In my dream?"
Ashu:
"You. Claimed. A legendary-grade military dungeon. As your personal property."
Ira:
"…Should I have brought them a souvenir?"
Ashu:
"They're probably still sweeping up your cookie crumbs."
—
[System Update]
Mission Goal: Spontaneous Tactical Response – Completed (Accidentally) Dungeon Triggered: Lumia – Obelisk Abyss (Permanent Ownership Confirmed) System-wide Voice Command Authority Rewritten: Ira Mills Voice Activation Code: "Don't wake me up in the middle of the night~" Combat Rating: S → EX+ (Auto-flagged as High-Risk, Light-Element Territory)
—
[Far Away in the Divine Realm – Temple of Mills]
Mills was lounging on a cloud-shaped sofa, sipping divine coffee, flipping through her daily "Ira Digest" on a floating crystal screen.
Halfway through the summary, her eyebrows rose.
"…She conquered an ancient, high-level military dungeon in her sleep?"
A pause.
And then—
She burst out laughing so hard she clutched her stomach and flopped sideways into the sofa, nearly tumbling off the clouds.
"I can't—I can't—this girl just—non-violently 100%-cleared a mega dungeon—IN HER SLEEP—PFFFHHAAHAHA—!"
A nearby guardian spirit looked deeply concerned.
"Lady Mills… are you well?"
Mills wheezed, wiping tears from her eyes.
"She used nothing but cookies and sleep-talking."
—
[Imperial Capital – Tower Defense Command HQ]
A commander slammed the report on the table.
"Lumia Abyss has been reactivated!?"
"Status report! Casualties?! Who was the invader!?"
The intel officer swallowed hard.
"It was only open for less than ten minutes… not enough data. Current assumption: all intruders have perished."
Lumia Abyss was a legendary-grade dungeon.
Chances are, some unlucky adventurer stumbled in and got themselves instantly wiped—thus triggering the shutdown.
What a waste, though.
The relics in that place were considered priceless…
The intel officer hesitated.
While scanning the area, he'd briefly sensed a power surge stronger than the Abyss itself, one that vanished in a heartbeat.
'…Better not report uncertain data.'
He decided to swallow his words.
No one would ever guess that a legendary dungeon had just upgraded,
and would soon be used as someone's private training ground.
—
When Inord heard the news through his shadow network, he set down his teacup, inhaled deeply three times,
and then shouted to the sky:
"The sealed tower I failed to crack in forty years—
was FIXED by a SLEEPING CHILD!?
AND SHE UPGRADED IT?!"
—
Thus, once again, the world was subtly but profoundly reshaped by an Ira "accident."
Meanwhile, the girl in question was simply stretching by the window:
"Mmm~ the breeze smells delicious today… maybe I should eat another cream stick~"
Ashu muttered darkly:
"…Forget being an adventurer. You are the adventuring system."
He gave up trying to lecture her.
Instead, he quietly started packing their things.
They'd be leaving Greenleaf Town tomorrow.
There were no more quests here.
Every event Ira triggered…
was one she created herself.
At this point, Ashu felt like a walking side quest.
He was supposed to be the system—
but somehow, he wasn't even in charge of the main story anymore.