The Earth-san Has Leveled Up!

1-6. Loli Labyrinth

“Ha-wah!?”

BANG! The treasure chest lid burst open.

At the same time, Meiko appeared.

A loli popped out of the treasure chest, and surprisingly, there was no trick or gimmick involved.

“Whoa… Sleeping in a dungeon? You’re gonna get yourself killed.”

Meiko shuddered at her own recklessness.

She checked her phone to see how long she’d slept, but it wouldn’t turn on.

Ah, that’s right—the battery had died.

With a sigh, Meiko began her second day.

“If I don’t die, I should be able to get out today,” she thought grimly, starting her breakfast.

She generated water with her grimoire, washed her face, and drank the water directly.

Delicious!

She poured some into the remnants of a bottle of tea, creating a weak tea mix.

Her anxiety about running out of water on the second floor eased.

Now, she could drink as much as she wanted, though she couldn’t be sure the water was actually safe. But Meiko wasn’t one to worry about the details.

Her meal consisted of candy synthesized from labyrinth weeds.

Since entering the dungeon, Meiko hadn’t felt extreme hunger.

At the end of the first floor, she’d only felt a mild desire for food.

That had disappeared once she synthesized the weeds into candy on the second floor.

The 8/25 candy proved highly effective in alleviating hunger.

Learning that synthesis level correlated directly with hunger relief, Meiko was now licking a 14/25 candy, synthesized by combining weeds twice.

It was supposed to provide significant nutritional support.

Though, truthfully, she had no idea if it actually increased nutrition.

And so, her second day in the dungeon began.

With a considerable boost in strength, Meiko faced off against Fusapoyo.

Fusapoyo, standing motionless in a bush-like guise at the same spot as yesterday, was full of openings no matter how generously you looked.

Since grimoire spells took about five seconds to activate, Fusapoyo’s stillness was very convenient.

Meiko cast spells from two grimoires with a time delay, firing them one by one.

BOOM! The sound was much heavier than you’d expect from a water ball hitting.

The first hit sent Fusapoyo flying. It started bouncing around frantically at the landing point.

The impact was unclear, but the die had been cast.

Closing the distance, Meiko fired the second water shot, which had finished forming during the delay.

This one only grazed Fusapoyo.

She wasn’t yet skilled enough to hit such a bouncy, erratic target consistently.

Still, the high-power attack, even as a graze, sent Fusapoyo spiraling into the wall in a corkscrew motion.

Fusapoyo stopped bouncing.

It worked.

Certain of her advantage, Meiko drew her sword.

Since snakes inhabited this floor, she whacked the ground with her grimoire as she approached Fusapoyo.

It was nearly dead, only rustling its fur weakly.

Meiko thrust her sword forward.

The thrust was clumsy, to say the least.

But in her mind, it was as sharp as if she’d channeled a falcon’s spirit.

The sword pierced Fusapoyo’s body, the sensation like stabbing a rubber tire.

Unlike previous enemies, this one felt oddly fleshy, making Meiko bite her lip nervously.

With that single blow, Fusapoyo perished, dissolving into particles of light.

Left behind were a large lump of moss and a magic stone.

“You’ve become part of me—body and soul. I won’t ask for forgiveness. Just… sorry.”

Female swordsman Hitsujiya Meiko spoke her cool line, flicked her blade clean, and fumbled to sheathe it.

The awkward sheathing technique aside, the line itself was questionable.

Had Fusapoyo been alive, it probably would have felt provoked.

After this battle, snakes remained the only real threats on the second floor.

Their stealth and potential venom were intimidating.

Avoiding them would likely require a skill to detect their presence.

Even so, progressing while whacking the ground with her two grimoires allowed her to handle them reasonably well.

Although she’d been ambushed from above a few times, the snakes’ poor skill at drop attacks had kept her from being bitten so far. The scares, though, were significant.

The snakes’ dropped skins were used to upgrade her equipment aggressively.

She also defeated Root Veggie Man and Fusapoyo, synthesizing their drops—roots and moss—into candies or water. This maxed out their enhancement levels, further reducing her hunger.

As she continued exploring the dungeon, the inevitable happened.

A snake dropped onto her arm and bit her.

“Nyah!?”

Panicking, Meiko flailed her arm wildly, trying to shake the snake off.

The snake clung on, dangling stubbornly.

Determining she couldn’t shake it loose, Meiko moved to her next tactic.

She drew her sword, swiftly aimed for the neck, and sliced.

A clean cut.

It was surprisingly easy when she calmed down.

The snake dissolved into particles of light, leaving behind its skin.

But this wasn’t the time for that.

Meiko rolled up her hoodie sleeve and inspected the bite area.

There was nothing.

Still, she couldn’t shake her anxiety and examined her hoodie sleeve meticulously.

Not only was there no hole, but the fabric was pristine—no frays, no tears.

Her hoodie was currently at 77/100 enhancement.

“That’s… pretty strong,” Meiko thought, starting to believe in its durability.

Just in case, she checked her title, [First-Floor Solo Clearer], which granted immunity to one fatal attack.

No changes.

It probably hadn’t activated.

“Am I… okay?”

It was poison, after all. Worry gnawed at her, but there was nothing she could do.

Nervous, Meiko forced herself to refocus on exploring.

Her second-floor progress was painfully slow compared to the first.

Six hours in, and she’d only mapped 30% of the floor.

Estimating the total area was guesswork, of course.

She used enemy drops as synthesis materials immediately after defeating them.

Her starting clothes were fully maxed out, so she began enhancing her fingerless gloves.

These were much harder to upgrade—13 snake skins had only brought them to 52/125.

By comparison, her hoodie would’ve maxed out twice over.

She used moss and roots from defeated enemies on her grimoires, not wanting to waste anything, even if the compatibility was poor.

While managing to make do like that, she finally found a blue vortex and a red vortex.

“Oh wow, lucky me!”

The map for the first floor had been more complete, but progress on the second floor, as mentioned earlier, had been painfully slow.

Thus, finding the vortex so soon was a stroke of fortune.

“Phew, what a long journey it’s been.”

With hands on her hips, Meiko gazed at the dungeon’s three passages stretching out from the floor.

The eerily silent space, so quiet she could almost hear her own heartbeat, was terrifying.

And yet, it was an adventurous playground, brimming with the thrill of filling a blank canvas.

“O dungeon, I shall return to you again someday. Farewell for now. Bye-bye!”

Bidding a heartfelt farewell, Meiko stepped into the red vortex.

A pillar of red light rose from the vortex’s rim, enveloping Meiko in its glow.

When the light subsided, the scene she faced was absolute chaos.

Yellow “Do Not Enter” tape and barricades were set up, and people who seemed to be from the Self-Defense Forces stood guard at the entrance.

Beyond them were crowds of onlookers and journalists filming with their cameras.

About two meters from where Meiko had appeared, a cream-colored vortex spun. She recognized this place—it was exactly where she had been standing yesterday, listening to Earth’s voice.

The Self-Defense Forces, the journalists, the onlookers—

every single person there had their eyes on Meiko.

Though she didn’t realize it, when Meiko emerged, a pillar of red light had risen about three meters into the sky.

It was impossible not to notice.

“Look! The missing girl has appeared from the pillar of light!”

The excited voice of a reporter reached Meiko’s ears.

Cameras from the journalists turned toward her, as did the smartphones of the crowd.

Wow, amazing!

Meiko, now the center of attention, blushed in embarrassment.

I’m going to be all over social media! Meiko thought, still not entirely familiar with modern slang after only a few days of smartphone use.

Well then, in that case, I’d better make a cool impression.

She unsheathed her sword and raised it high toward the heavens.

Imagining herself as a valkyrie wielding a sacred blade, Meiko declared boldly:

“Apprentice Grimoire User Hitsujiya Meiko! After countless fierce battles with monsters, I have returned from the dungeon!”

Meiko was only 15 years old.

She wasn’t particularly shy or secretive.

She didn’t yearn for a slow life, nor was she so burdened by hardships that she wouldn’t dream of becoming an idol if the chance arose.

She was just an ordinary girl.

Well, except for being a bit of a chuunibyou. Because, come on, she was 15.

After finishing her proclamation, she made the two magic books orbit around her and the sword she held aloft. Presentation mattered.

For the record, Meiko was still a Apprentice Grimoire User. She fudged the title a bit.

Dressed in a white hoodie, denim shorts, mismatched striped knee-high socks, and fingerless gloves,

with a fantasy-esque sword and floating books,

Meiko’s ensemble screamed fantasy. A cute, black-haired girl in a bold, dramatic pose—perfect for social media, GIF-worthy even.

Her image spread across the world in an instant.

That day, Meiko became famous.

Thus, the dungeon, later fondly known as Loli Dungeon, was born.

Although “later” was actually not very far off.

Stunned by the development, the Self-Defense Forces reluctantly allowed Meiko’s antics to slide for the moment.

But they soon hurried to hide her from public view.

For now, they escorted her to a nearby tent. Please, put away the sword!

Inside the tent, Meiko’s family, looking utterly drained, sat waiting on folding chairs.

“Me-Meiko!”

“Onee-chan! Waaah!”

Her parents and little sister clung to Meiko, sobbing in relief at her safety.

Realizing how worried they had been, Meiko felt guilty.

Seeing her family cry made her own tears start to flow.

“Waaaah!”

She wasn’t sure why, but she joined in.

After all, a girl’s tears are 30% inexplicable, or so they say (our estimate).

After that, Meiko was taken to a hospital.

Though she felt perfectly fine, it wouldn’t be right for a civilized nation to leave someone who emerged from a mysterious vortex unattended.

There was always the chance she carried bacteria capable of causing a pandemic, so this was a natural precaution.

Meanwhile, an accompanying SDF officer explained the situation.

Apparently, after Earth’s announcement, dungeons had appeared worldwide.

Meiko, unfortunately, had been seen getting swallowed by one of these dungeons.

The incident was captured by security cameras and civilians’ smartphones, allowing authorities to identify her and notify her family.

The officer added:

“You’re the first person in the world to return from a dungeon. I’m sure someone will want to hear your story later.”

Indeed, Hitsujiya Meiko was humanity’s first dungeon returnee.

“I stayed overnight in the dungeon, and I’m the first?”

She tilted her head in confusion.

Did everyone else miss the 50/50 chance between the blue and red vortices?

The officer gave her a serious look.

“To uncover that mystery, your story will be essential. Please cooperate with us.”

It wasn’t something she needed to keep secret, so Meiko gladly nodded.