She had just started exploring the ’Western Desert’.

A building resembling an ancient ruin came into Chika’s view.

"Ah... I’ve found a dungeon... Um... Yes! This is one I’ve never found before."

This building was a dungeon, "Ancient Ruins 04".

The reason they were represented by numbers rather than proper names was that all the dungeons in this "Western Desert" were ancient ruins, so instead of giving each one a name, they were managed by assigning numbers.

This was because of the game’s in-game setting.

"I wonder what kind of monsters are in here. Let’s go and see!"

Since the dungeon she had found this time was unlike any she had ever seen before, Chika entered it with great excitement.

"...I wonder what kind of monsters appear in this dungeon."

The structure of all ancient ruin dungeons was the same: they were all five stories high.

The system was designed so that the boss room was located on the top floor, the fifth floor.

Therefore, as Chika began to walk towards the second floor, a monster suddenly appeared before her.

"Ugh, oooooh!"

"Whoa!? ’Fireball’!"

What appeared was ’Soilbone Lv18’.

In terms of appearance, it was a monster resembling a human skeleton holding a sword, made up of solidified earth.

As the monster suddenly appeared from within the wall, Chika, though surprised, braced herself and unleashed her magic.

"Whoa!? Oh, ohhh..."

Melee weapons allowed you to attack physically even without skills, but those who used magic could only attack with magic.

However, since there was a cooldown period after each shot, the power ranged from minimum to high.

Furthermore, each of Chika’s magic spells was unleashed at the maximum power possible for the level of that weapon, and on top of that, she was also using "Magic Enhancement" from her armor and other equipment.

Therefore, even if the opponent’s level was slightly higher, it was tantamount to overkill, and ’Soilbone’ was easily reduced to ashes.

"That was a surprise... Well, let’s move on."

After gazing for a while at the spot where ’Soilbone’ had been, a room came into Chika’s view.

When she peeked inside, she saw a treasure chest.

"Oh, a treasure chest... Yes! It’s an item that can be sold for money."

Inside was an ancient copper coin.

It was an item that could be sold for around 100E at a shop, and was meant to be sold for cash.

Basically, the ancient ruins dungeons in the "Western Desert" often yielded items that could be sold for money, making them a good source of income for Chika, who often ended up penniless after handing over money when she was assaulted.

...Incidentally, the town also had a banking system.

She had a certain amount of money stored there, so she was prepared for when she suddenly needed it for a serious reason.

"I’m not that interested in anyone other than the boss, so let’s just keep going and look for treasure chests."

After putting away the ancient copper coins, Chika resumed her search.

And a little while after the exploration began...

Chika had reached the staircase leading to the boss room on the fifth floor.

"Four ancient copper coins and two silver coins. And I got a lot of materials from monsters...Yeah, I think I made a decent amount of money."

She smiled as she checked the spoils of war she had acquired up to this point, and Chika turned her gaze towards the stairs.

"I wonder what kind of monster the boss here is... Let’s go and see."

Taking a deep breath, Chika slowly climbed the stairs.

At the top of the climb was a narrow, long corridor.

Continuing further, she came to a space about the size of a school classroom.

There were door-like structures on the left and right walls, but there were no doorknobs, and it was unclear how to open them.

And then... at the very back, there was a coffin.

"...Is that it...!"

As Chika looked at the coffin, her guard raised, and she proceeded through the space.

The lid of the coffin began to slide open with a slithering sound, and at the same time, the door to the corridor Chika had entered through closed, trapping her inside.

Therefore, Chika quickly assumed a stance, ready to cast a spell at any moment.

"...Uh, uhhh..."

"..."

As Chika braced herself, the lid opened completely, and the coffin fell with a thud.

Then, as if following suit, a rotting hand wrapped in bandages emerged from the coffin and grabbed onto its edge.

"Uh, ah, aaah..."

Next, a rotting body wrapped in bandages, followed by a head, emerged...

"Fireball!"

"Wow!?"

...Having confirmed that much, Chika cast a spell without checking the name or level of the target.

Because it was a complete surprise attack, the monster, which was trying to crawl out, took the full force of the magic and was reduced to ashes in a single hit.

"Yes, clear."

It seemed that was the boss monster, as a "Cleared" message appeared in Chika’s field of vision.

At the same time, the left door, which had been closed, opened.

Looking further inside, she saw three treasure chests, which seemed to contain a reward for clearing the area.

"Phew, now let’s collect them... Oh, gold coins. Yay... Okay, then let’s continue and experience the defeat version... ♡"

After collecting the treasure chest, Chika left the boss room, manipulated the menu to enable a rematch, and then re-entered.

"...Uh, uhhh..."

And the coffin lid began to move again.

Chika stared intently at the boss monster as it tried to crawl out from inside, this time without attacking.

"Uh, ahh... ah, ahhhh...!"

While Chika watched.

Finally, the boss monster crawled completely out of the coffin and let out a roar.

At the same time, the message "Ancient One Komou Lv10" appeared above the boss monster’s head.

"Ahhh... Ah, ahhh..."

"Ah...hehe...♡ Now...I wonder what they’ll do..."

Komou let out a roar, and upon noticing Chika, began to stare at her intently.

The eyes visible through the gaps in the wrapped bandages were rotting and had fallen out.

It wasn’t clear where he was looking, but nevertheless, she seemed to sense something close to lust, and Chika trembled as she waited for Komou to make a move.

"Ahhh...ahhh!"

"Uh... Ah, ugh...!?"

And then... just as she thought Komou was reaching out, a bandage shot out and wrapped around Chika’s neck.

Chika was surprised by the sudden turn of events, but instinctively tried to cast a spell, but...

"Hmm, ugh...!? Ah, ugh... it’s, it’s, it’s...!?"

Because the bandage wrapped around her neck began to rapidly drain strength from her body, Chika was unable to cast a spell.

"Ahh, ah...ahh"

"Uh, uh...! Ah, uh... ah, uh...! W-what is this...?!"

Her strength was being gradually drained through the bandages.

The force of the impact caused Chika to fall to her knees... and then end up on all fours.

"Uh, uh... if it stays like this...♡"

Chika, on all fours, reached for the bandage wrapped around her neck with one hand and struggled to somehow untie it.

However, with her strength being drained, she was unable to break free.

All she did was suffer, and have her strength drained from her body.

"Ah, ahh... ah... fu, fufu, fufu..."

"Uh, uh... I... can’t... do it anymore..."

Before she knew it, Komou was standing in front of Chika.

And his eyes, which should have been rotten, were shining brightly as he looked down at Chika, who was on all fours.

Chika looked up at the gaze from above, but perhaps she had finally reached her limit, as she fainted on the spot.

"...Heh heh, heh heh heh..."

"Ah, uh... uh..." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Seeing Chika collapse, Komou paused from sucking the energy out of her and gently picked her up.

Then, after gazing at Chika’s face and body as if licking her with its eyes, Komou opened the closed right door and proceeded further inside.