Wall Slam and a Party
Orario.
City of dungeon or the city above the dungeon.
And its center stood Babel. A mystery any architect from my world would kill to find how they pull it off. It's like a lid that acted as the entrance and the cover to the only dungeon in the entire world.
The structure is so massive that looking up without hurting your neck is impossible. That's why I gave up on that in the end.
Its height reached above the clouds. Living on top of the floor may feel like living in heaven. Probably?
I was at my usual routine. To the dungeon 4th floor, gather herbs, fight whatever on the spot and sell magic stones and herbs then come back to eat and sleep. No risk. Just survival.
I managed to not die after coming to Orario in an unusual isekai method. Damn that plane kun!
No matter. Cuz I started to like living here.
That's what I thought until a few seconds ago.
*Ding…*
Inside Babel. Dungeon entrance. The marble floor cool beneath my boots. Morning light slanted through the high windows, cutting sharp angles across the polished stone. The air smelled like cold rock and metal—clean, empty.
A grey blur caught my hand.
Slammed me against the wall—*BAM*—her right hand just over my shoulder. Stone pressed cold and hard against my spine, the impact rattling through my ribs.
A wall slam???!!!
Wait. WAIT.
This is—
This is the kabedon! The legendary wall slam! The move that only appears in romance manga when the confession scene hits!
My brain short-circuited.
Hey! I'm not a girl and don't sneak up on me like that!
But she didn't move.
That same smug face from Daedalus Street. Mischief painted across every feature like she'd been planning this. Just watching. Her face too close. Amber eyes locked on mine—predatory, amused, something else I couldn't read.
Her breath warm against my skin. Grey fur caught the morning light, practically glowing.
A few passing adventurers glanced over.
One dwarf smirked and nudged his companion. Two humans quickly looked away like they'd witnessed something scandalous. A cat person's ears flicked toward us, froze, then snapped back like they'd been burned.
Oh no.
Oh NO.
They think—
My heart hammered. This position. This angle. Her face. My face. The wall. The IMPLICATIONS.
*Is this it? Is she going to—*
My mind raced through every romance trope I'd ever seen. The confession. The dramatic pause. The close-up on trembling lips. The—
"Join my party!"
...
What?
"Ammm… what?"
Her grin widened. "You heard me. Join. My. Party."
That's it?!
THAT'S IT?!
You wall-slammed me—in PUBLIC—for a PARTY INVITE?!
"You—" I started.
"Yep!" She leaned in closer. Entirely too close. "Floor 14. Material gathering. Phantom Vine. You, me, and one more. Easy job. Good pay. What do you say?"
My brain struggled to process.
Floor 14.
Floor. Fourteen.
I'm a Level 1 herb gatherer who plays it safe on Floor 4.
She wants me to jump TEN FLOORS.
"I—uh—"
"Great! Knew you'd say yes!" She released me, stepping back with that same infuriating grin. "Meet at the dungeon entrance. Tomorrow. Dawn. Don't be late, goblin guy!"
She turned.
Just. Turned.
And walked away.
Like she hadn't just committed social terrorism in the middle of Babel's main hall.
I stood there. Back still pressed against the wall. Heart still racing for entirely the wrong reasons.
The dwarf walked past, chuckling. "Lucky bastard."
Lucky?! LUCKY?!
I wasn't lucky! I was TRAPPED!
And that's how I ended up joining a party of two women.
One: a grey-furred brute who could crush my skull like a grape and thought wall-slamming was appropriate recruitment strategy.
The other: a grey-haired mysterious beauty who looked at me like I was a math problem she couldn't quite solve. The kind of woman who existed in a completely different atmosphere. Untouchable. Unreadable. The "in your dreams, boy" level of impossible.
Grey fur versus grey hair.
Brute force versus elegant distance.
Both terrifying in completely opposite ways.
On top of that? Floor 14.
TEN. FLOOR. LEAP.
Say no?
Can't even think about that.
One will crush me for sure—physically, immediately, probably while grinning.
The other? I may never get a chance at even approaching her orbit again. She's the type you see once and regret forever if you let the opportunity slip.
Really...
Fate didn't just play me.
Fate wall-slammed me into submission and called it recruitment.
I'm so screwed.
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