A New Kind of Adventure [LEON]

Noel finally reveals,

“Leon Actually…” Noel frowning.

Leon is anticipating the answer. He is listening with all his concentration.

Noel, “Leon, actually you vanished…”

Leon is confused, “Huh? Vanished?”

“You faded away into nothingness. You literally disappeared.”

Leon is shocked, “I vanished? I disappeared into nothingness? What?”

Leon is lost in thoughts. He is confused. He is puzzled by the phenomenon. Leon somewhat expected it to be something like this yet the reality hit harder than he anticipated.

Then, out of a sudden…

Noel’s hand suddenly wrapped around his arm.

Leon flinched at the contact, pulled from the suffocating void of his own thoughts.

He turned his head along his wide frantic eyes meeting hers.

“Leon,” she whispered, her voice laced with unwavering certainty.

"I don't really know what you are seeing or what’s happening to you, but please remember that I believe you.”

His breath hitched.

"I will be with you. I will support you. I will help you in any way possible."

Her voice trembled slightly, but her resolve did not.

She meant it.

She meant every single word.

Something inside Leon broke.

A drop of warmth slid down his cheek before he could stop it.

He hadn’t even realized how heavy his burden was until now.

Until someone finally shared it with him.

Until someone finally told him he wasn’t alone.

Noel's gaze softened as she reached up, her fingers hesitating before brushing against his cheek, catching the tear that had slipped free.

"Leon…" she whispered.

Leon’s throat tightened.

His walls crumbled.

Without thinking, without hesitation, he pulled her into an embrace.

Noel barely had time to react before his arms wrapped around her, holding her tight, as though she was the only thing keeping him grounded in this unraveling reality.

His forehead rested against her shoulder.

"T-Thank you, Noel," his voice cracked. "I never knew hearing something like this… could help clear my mind this much."

Noel stilled for a moment.

Then, ever so gently, her arms lifted and she embraced him back.

She didn't say anything.

She didn't need to.

At that moment, nothing else existed.

The only thing that existed was just this warmth.

This moment.

And the unshakable truth that, even in this world where he didn’t belong, He was not alone.

Then as usual the day passes with adventuring, sword training, and magic training.

It had already been four months since Leon first started to appear in this world.

He few some things that were clear.

He travels to this world in his dream and meets Noel. This world was the exact opposite of his own world. The red-eyed shadow would come every night to kill him. But the time is somewhat suspicious, the time it kills Leon is the exact time when he has to wake up on his own, it was like some sort of alarm. The actions and presence of red-eyed shadow was invisible to everyone except Leon. The action of the red-eyed shadow only affected Leon and nothing else. I fade into nothingness in this world and wake up on my own.

These things were clear. After all this time, Leon had become skilled in terms of powers. He had decent swordsmanship skills. He could freely use fire elements to his wish. He had become quite a proficient adventurer too so trivial quests were becoming easier and easier day by day.

One day, Noel suggested something different. “Leon, how about we venture into the ruins”

“Ruins?” Leon frowned his eyebrows.

Leon and Noel had always taken open-world quests like herb picking and monster extermination but venturing into ruins, dungeons, and labyrinths was something they hadn’t done yet.

One of the reasons was that it was not really recommended by the guild and was very dangerous. Also, Leon was not strong enough. Another reason was Noel’s interest in these things. Noel was always interested in new things and she wanted to venture into adventure so now that she had a companion with decent strength, she proposed the idea.

Noel begins explaining it to Leon,

“Ruins are the places that consist of traces of ancient civilization”

“Dungeons are monsters’ habitats that also consist of a dungeon boss and the dungeon is cleared only after you defeat the boss monster”

“Labyrinth is like a maze, it consists of several floors, it’s like a dungeon but much larger in scale”

As Leon came from a modern world where the games consist of something similar, he had a gist of it, he understood it already but that didn’t stop Noel from explaining.

He admired the enthusiasm of Noel and lets her finish it.

Leon exhaled slowly. “I suppose you’ve already decided, haven’t you?”

Noel grinned.

Leon sighed, "Fine. Let’s do it."

Noel’s eyes lit up with excitement.

"Really?!"

Leon smirked. "You already knew I was going to say yes, didn’t you?"

Noel laughed. "I had a feeling."

And just like that, their next journey had been decided.

But neither of them knew…

That is what awaited them inside the ruins…