落とし穴１６２堀：初めての夢 (Part1)
Pitfall 162: The First Dream
Happy New Year!
Well then, let’s make it another great year for the Dungeon!
The First Dream
Side: Yuki
“““Happy New Year.”””
With that greeting, we welcomed in the new year.
As is our custom, we visited Lilishe’s church to pay our respects, stopped Hairen from causing a ruckus, handed out New Year’s money to the children, and participated in the first sales of the year. It was a hectic, yet fulfilling and special time of year that we enjoyed to the fullest.
Once that busy period passed and night fell, we men gathered at the inn to chat.
“As usual, even though the turn of the year is supposed to be a holiday, it’s exhausting…”
“Are lucky bags really worth all that trouble?”
We had been drafted as foot soldiers into the battlefield known as the “First Sale,” and as a result, we were completely drained of energy.
For this day only, our wives were far too busy checking their spoils of war to pay us any mind, let alone complain about being neglected.
“Well, I suppose there is some sort of allure to them that we simply cannot fathom.”
“Indeed. Besides, I never thought I’d be dragged along to a first sale at my age.”
Incidentally, Taizo and Sota had also been drafted into the first sales, just like the rest of us.
While they looked weary, they didn’t let a single word of complaint slip, serving their wives with the grace that only comes with age.
No, in my case, I’d probably be complaining about the first sales every year no matter how old I get.
“I want to sleep already.”
“I agree.”
“Shall we head to the hot springs and then turn in?”
“Agreed. I’m truly exhausted today. The New Year’s break is still ongoing, so let’s save the rest of our talk for tomorrow.”
With that decided, we quickly headed to the hot springs to soothe our fatigue from the sales. As we were laying out our futons to sleep, I suddenly remembered something.
“Come to think of it, there’s the tradition of the ‘first dream,’ isn’t there?”
“Ah, that’s right.”
“Indeed.”
“There is.”
It just popped into my head. Well, it’s just idle chatter before going to sleep on New Year’s.
“Is it ‘First Fuji, Second Hawk, Third Eggplant’?”
“I believe that’s correct. Right, Taizo-san, Sota-san?”
“Indeed. You are not mistaken.”
“Yes, that is correct. It’s a custom that originated in the Edo period. It’s a form of Mount Fuji worship.”
“And there was also the thing about putting a picture of a treasure ship under your pillow, right?”
“Ah, I’m not familiar with that one. How about you, Taizo-san?”
“I am aware of it.”
“Yes, I’ve heard of that as well. Well, both are used to divine one’s fortune for the coming year.”
As Sota said, the “first dream” refers to the dream you have at the start of the year. Therefore, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the dream you have on the night of January 1st.
“Did you have any dreams yesterday?”
“I don’t remember.”
“I don’t recall either.”
“Well, dreams are fleeting things. Perhaps we’ll have one tonight.”
After joking around like that, we decided to print out an illustration of the Seven Lucky Gods’ treasure ship and tuck it under our pillows before going to sleep.
It feels a bit strange to rely on the gods, but since they’re always causing us trouble anyway, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to rely on them for once.
Thinking such trivial thoughts, I crawled into my futon. Perhaps because I was so tired, sleep overcame me almost instantly, and my consciousness faded away.
“Hm?”
Suddenly, I felt a light, and my consciousness sharpened.
I was certain I had turned off the lights before going to sleep.
Did someone turn them on?
No, this light was natural.
In other words, it was already morning…
“…Nn. Man, that was a good sleep.”
Usually, I’d wake up while it was still dark to prepare breakfast, but for once, I woke up after the sun had risen.
Well, since I didn’t have to prepare breakfast today, I hadn’t set an alarm.
Still, my body felt great. I must have slept soundly.
“…Wait, where am I?”
That was when I finally realized: this wasn’t a room I recognized.
Furthermore, Taiki, Taizo, and Sota, who should have been sleeping right next to me, were nowhere to be found.
“It looks like a student’s room…”
It was smaller than the large room where we had been chatting, but it was still easily eight tatami mats in size.
In the room, there was the bed I had been sleeping in, a table, a sofa, and a computer on a desk.
Yes, it looked exactly like the room of a modern Japanese student.
“To have an eight-mat room to oneself is incredibly luxurious. Well, not that it’s confirmed to be a student’s room.”
I didn’t know the situation just by standing there, so I decided to leave the room. That was when I noticed my own attire.
“…I’m still in the yukata I wore after the bath. It’s definitely problematic to wander around in this getup when I’m not at an inn.”
If I were in a hot spring town, it might be tolerated, but it’s unlikely that a student would wear a yukata as pajamas in a regular home. Especially if a stranger suddenly appeared in one.
I wanted to avoid being reported to the authorities. Or wait, would it be better to be reported?
Consulting with the public authorities might be the quickest way to resolve this.
Still, if things went poorly, I might end up arrested and detained, so that didn’t seem like a great idea.
“…It can’t be helped. Sorry to the owner of this room, but it’s clearly a man’s room. I’ll have to borrow some clothes.”
I didn’t want to be caught as a pervert.
Grasping the situation was the priority, and this was a necessary evil.
I told myself that, rummaged through the dresser, and found some clothes.
“They fit surprisingly well. The owner of this room and I must have the same build. Good.”
If they were too baggy, that would be one thing, but if they were too small, I wouldn’t even be able to put them on.
Now that I was changed, I was about to leave the room when my eyes caught the computer.
I had ended up in a space that, for some reason, had a computer just like the ones in Weed. There was a high chance I could get some information from the internet.
However, looking through someone else’s computer was a breach of etiquette.
Still, I needed information…
“Hm? There’s a note stuck to it.”
I noticed a memo attached to the computer tower.
Hoping for a hint, I read the note…
*“Yoo-hoo. You’re doing something as old-fashioned as putting a treasure ship under your pillow? Well, it is for divining your fortune for the year. I’ll be in charge of your first dream. For the details, turn on the computer.”*
“Was this your doing!?”
I shouted involuntarily.
I knew that the only acquaintance I had capable of creating such a bizarre space was that useless goddess, but my brain had been refusing to acknowledge it.
“*Sigh.* Still, knowing the reason why I’m in a place like this is a bit of a relief.”
I felt a little better. The clothes I had borrowed were provided by Luna, so I wasn’t exactly a thief.
Now, I turned on the computer to gather information.
The desktop icons were at their default settings, and there was almost nothing there except for a text file in the center titled “First Dream Guidebook.”
“Why is it a text file?”
I could sense a subtle lack of effort, but I decided to check the contents anyway.
First Dream Guidebook