Having cleared the fourth floor, Chika began her journey toward the fifth and final floor.

"Okay, we’ve arrived..."

Upon arriving on the fifth floor, a circular plaza stretched out before her.

Unlike the previous floors, there was no furniture along the walls—no showerheads, no beds.

Nothing but a single corridor extending from the elevator. The rest of the space was bleak and desolate.

"Um... let’s go over there for now..."

After stepping off the elevator, Chika looked around. There was no other way forward but the corridor ahead. She pressed her large breasts together with both hands and began to move.

She hadn’t gone far when a massive door appeared before her.

"This is... this is..."

The door was so large and sturdy that she had to crane her neck to see the top.

She suspected that beyond it lay the device capable of disabling the labyrinth’s functions.

And set into that door were four keyholes.

"Th-that can’t be..."

Numbers were engraved above each of the four keyholes: "1", "2", "3", and "4".

The moment she saw them, Chika immediately understood where she had to get the keys for these locks... and she sank to her knees.

"Well, I guess I need them all after all... What should I do... I only have key number ’4’..."

The three keys she had obtained and lost until now—all of them were necessary. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Faced with having to do it all over again and collect them once more, Chika lost heart. Tears welled in her eyes.

"Ugh... That’s enough... Let’s call it a day... I’ll think about it again tomorrow..."

Heartbroken, Chika logged out.

The next day.

To recover from her broken heart, and with her spirit renewed, Chika researched the sandbox quest "Investigation of Ruins" online. Then she returned from the top floor to the first floor.

By starting over from scratch, she recollected the lost keys "1," "2," and "3," then returned to the fifth floor.

Using the four keys, she opened the door and destroyed the machine beyond.

She completed the sandbox quest, "Investigation of the Ruins."

"...Oh, so that’s what happened."

By the way, you said you’d lose the key if you fainted,

So when you tried again, you made sure not to faint even once?

Just as Chika finished telling Shiori over the phone about the miniature garden quest that had nearly discouraged her completely, Shiori asked.

"Well, big sis...!"

"I only found out after I looked it up, but if you store the key in the safe on the floor where the elevator is, you won’t lose it no matter how many times you faint!"

"There’s no way you’d know that on your first try! Seriously! It’s awful!"

"I see... I suppose the safe does seem out of place... but there’s no way to know that..."

In response to Shiori’s question, Chika’s voice grew excited over the phone.

Shiori nodded sympathetically, then asked another question.

"But... despite everything, it felt good, didn’t it...? Chika?"

"...Well, that’s... yeah...♡"

"Collecting them all again almost broke my spirit at first, but I got more and more excited as I went... and when I started over, I got to experience new things... so, all things considered, it was pretty good...♡"

Chika’s complaining stopped abruptly at Shiori’s question, and she answered in a slightly dreamy voice.

Hearing that, Shiori gave a small nod, a smile playing on her lips.

"Well, that’s good then... See you next weekend."

"Yes...! I’ll come over to your house again, so let’s play together! Thanks for listening to me today!"

"See you later, big sis!"

Nodding in agreement with Chika’s words, Shiori replied. Chika answered excitedly from the other end of the line, then hung up.

"Phew... Well then. Let’s play again today."

Setting her smartphone on the table, Shiori lay down on the bed and logged into the world of Fantasia World.

"Phew... Well then, what shall we do today?"

Inside Fantasia World, Shiori landed in Middle City and began looking around, considering her strategy for the day’s gameplay.

She had been exploring the eastern area primarily, but lately Shiori had been feeling like visiting a different area for a change of pace.

"Hmm..."

"If I’m going to a different area anyway, I’d like to go somewhere I haven’t been to much."

"Thinking about it that way, the west is out—I’ve heard a lot about it from Chika."

"I went north with Chika the other day, and we plan to go there again during our next session together, so that’s out too."

"Hmm... Okay, let’s head south for a bit."

With that decided, she set off to explore the remaining southern area.

Her location changed, and she was now at "Southern Riverbank."

"Kapaaaa...!"

"Hmm... I could probably have some fun around here, but since I’ve come this far, maybe I should go to a new town and explore there."

As Shiori walked across the field, she voiced her thoughts aloud and cut down a lone kappa monster with a single blow.

A few minutes later...

Shiori arrived at a new town... ’The Seaside Town’.

"This is ’Seaside Town’..."

Upon entering the town gate, the first thing that caught her eye was the grand avenue, paved with white stones.

Following the main street led to a plaza, surrounded by buildings like the guild and the inn.

Side streets branched off the main road, and beyond them hung a rather suspicious atmosphere.

From the plaza, the main street continued to the right and slightly ahead, with a sandy beach visible in the distance... but there was also a narrow road to the left and slightly ahead, and another sandy beach was visible beyond that as well.

"There are two paths. Let’s see..."

According to a sign placed nearby, the sandy beach past the main street was a public beach.

It said, "If you want to go to a new field or dungeon, go this way."

On the other hand, the description stated that the sandy beach at the end of the narrow road was a deserted private beach—a place where no events ever take place.

"I see... Well then, let’s try going left for now..."

After reading it, Shiori decided to head to the sandy beach with no events and made her way there.

"Wow... what a beautiful ocean..."

A beach without a single piece of trash.

The seawater was so clear she could see all the way to the bottom.

Shiori gasped in admiration at the beautiful sea that reminded her of a tropical paradise.

"It’s so beautiful... Maybe I should invite Chika to come along next time we play together."

Since it was a private beach, the sandy area wasn’t very wide, but even so, it was more than spacious enough for players to enjoy on their own.

Because there was a risk of being approached by strangers or encountering dangerous people, she didn’t usually go to the beach in real life.

As Shiori considered inviting Chika to play here with her, she slowly opened the menu.

"Well... since we’ve come all the way to the sea, why don’t we try making some new equipment that’s suitable for the beach?"

Saying that, Shiori purchased one set each of ’Base Wear’ and ’Base Weapon’ from the paid menu and immediately began to customize them.