Under Ritsuka's stunned gaze, the wall opposite her suddenly cracked open, and a scarlet eye stared straight at her through the gap.
A chill crawled up her spine.
It was an irrational killing intent, stranger than any beast, as though it would attack anything that moved. It felt like some magical beast-like monster was crawling out of the wall.
It was not much of a threat, at least. When the monster first emerged, it had not given Ritsuka any sense of impending death, but...
"What's with this number?!"
The walls trembled. Ritsuka sprang up from the ground, a flash of lightning appearing in her hand as she gripped the projected Demonic Blade, Muramasa.
Monsters crawled out of the walls one after another. In this corridor alone, there were conservatively at least twenty of them, and the cave suddenly became crowded.
Roars erupted in rapid succession as Ritsuka solemnly changed outfits.
The future Heroic Spirit armament formed by the Holy Shroud should be able to reduce some damage, right? It should, right?
Looking at the huge clubs in the monsters' hands, Ritsuka swallowed with difficulty.
"These things look way more disgusting than those puppets."
Enzō felt offended.
Accompanied by earthquake-like footsteps trampling across the barren ground, a huge pack of Ox-headed Monsters charged at Ritsuka.
Two hard horns grew from their heads. Their ugly faces resembled stretched donkey faces, their tough hides were bronze-red, and the steam blasting from their nostrils rose in unison. Every last one of them was hideous beyond belief.
Their scarlet eyes stirred restlessly as they stared at Ritsuka like prey, their target looking tiny compared to the Minotaurs.
Bodies no less massive than Avenger Alcides launched their attack, their thick arms holding blunt weapons raised high above their heads.
"..."
Ritsuka silently raised the long blade in her hand.
Hundred-Beast Slayer!
Using a Noble Phantasm to test the monsters' strength, Ritsuka gave these fierce-looking creatures all the respect they deserved. Her nimble figure flashed through the gaps between them as sharp swordlight swept through the cave.
In a blur, Ritsuka unleashed Divine Speed's nine consecutive strikes.
The slashes passed through the monster horde. The swordlight slowly dispersed, and the threatening shrieks abruptly ceased.
The next moment, the monsters exploded violently, turning into gray smoke that drifted away as countless small items fell to the ground.
"This feels familiar. An RPG adventure game?"
Monsters dropped items when killed. Looking at the crystals and materials scattered across the ground, Ritsuka fell into slight silence.
The group of at least twenty monsters had been wiped out. Only a few remained scattered in the corners, silent as chickens with their throats gripped.
After a second of silence, Ritsuka, preparing to continue the fight, discovered in surprise that the Ox-headed Monsters had all fled in a panic.
In the blink of an eye, Ritsuka was the only one left in the cave, along with the materials and crystals covering the ground.
"..."
What a waste of expression.
Feeling the mana consumed within her body, Ritsuka suddenly felt that using a Noble Phantasm had been somewhat wasteful, even if Hundred-Beast Slayer did not consume much.
But she did not have unlimited mana either.
The Demonic Blade in her hand shattered, turning into mana and returning to her body. Ritsuka began gathering the items on the ground.
In the more common RPG games, these things could all be exchanged for money. They were monster drops, after all, so taking them would not be a loss no matter what. And among the dozen or so crystals on the ground—
There was an astonishing amount of energy contained within them.
Ritsuka clenched a crystal dropped by a monster and studied the patterns on its surface for a while before crushing it outright.
"My mana recovered. Interesting."
The amount was not much, but these crystals did indeed contain a certain amount of energy.
Quite fascinating.
With nothing weighing her down, Ritsuka lightly tapped the Crystal Dice and glanced at Alcides' panel. As expected, the immortality he had possessed until it was transferred to Prometheus had vanished.
That section had turned gray.
The scalp-numbing pain inside her body was gone, but Ritsuka's eyes were still somewhat vacant.
Because all of a sudden, she did not know what she should do.
Should she continue hunting Ox-headed Monsters like she was playing a game, or seek out a human settlement and peacefully spend the time ahead...
She had spent all her time either attending school or staying with Miyu and Sakura. Now that there was suddenly no one beside her, an enormous emptiness swept over her and completely filled her heart.
That frightening numbness had unknowingly eroded her soul.
Chapter 50: A Strange New World
In a cave that might have been underground—or somewhere else entirely—Ritsuka began searching for a way out. The caves here were far too winding.
The walls also blocked perception. If there was a nearly one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn, then even if a Minotaur stood on the other side of the wall, she would not sense it until she reached the corner.
This cave was far too strange.
After wandering around in this place for a long time, Ritsuka finally found a staircase leading upward.
She did not recklessly head up from there. After all, she had no idea what the situation above was like. If she rashly left this floor, she might encounter monsters she could not handle.
If they were only ordinary Minotaurs, one or two slashes would be enough to deal with each one.
"Hey, hey, did you hear?"
Suddenly, just as Ritsuka cleaved a Minotaur to the ground and prepared to pick up the crystal it had dropped, a voice appeared behind her.
Ritsuka's eyes sharpened. She immediately kicked off the wall, leapt upward, and hooked her hand onto the surface above.
She hung in a blind spot...
"What are you muttering about?"
"The Loki Familia. Apparently, they're starting an expedition, and this time their target is the Deep Floors."
Two men and a woman passed beneath her, intensely discussing something.
Compared to the cheerful, outgoing men, the girl carrying a pack with the group noticed the material dropped by the Minotaur Ritsuka had defeated: a hard horn.
Without hesitation, the girl picked it up and murmured, "This is a Minotaur horn. Did someone forget to collect it after killing the monster?"
Because it was a rare material and worth far more than the crystals Minotaurs dropped, the girl directly took it for Ritsuka and put it into the large pack on her back, completely unaware that the person who had cut down the Minotaur was right above her head.
"Hey, Reiko, hurry up and catch up. This floor is still dangerous for you."
"Okay, I'm coming."
The trio gradually moved farther away, and their chatter slowly faded, but Ritsuka had still heard quite a lot of useful information and committed it all to memory.
For example: Loki, Familia, Minotaur, Floor Master Goliath, level 3, the 18th Floor Safe Zone, and so on.
Releasing the hand that held her up, Ritsuka dropped to the ground and landed steadily. Her gaze remained fixed on the direction where the three had disappeared as her quick mind pieced together a few things.
Killing monsters to level up—this world was simply too interesting.
"The God of Trickery and Fire, Familia that are similar to organizations, mythical Minotaurs, Floor Masters like game bosses..."
"But I've killed dozens of Minotaurs already. These things look like elite monsters, so they should provide plenty of experience. But how do I level up? Where do I do that?"
Ritsuka muttered, somewhat at a loss.
She increasingly felt that this world resembled an RPG game. An adventure-and-leveling style of gameplay, perhaps even with some pay-to-win elements. After all, how could one become stronger without spending money?
It would be great if it were one of those idle games for old people. Preferably something that catered to otaku tastes. Then she would probably have more interest in continuing to play.
The only problem was that she did not know which button to press to level up...
"Below is the Safe Floor, the 18th Floor." Ritsuka glanced beneath her feet, then toward the ascending staircase at the end of the passage. "Then without a doubt, above should be the way out, right?"
If the first floor turned out to be the bottom floor instead, then forget she said anything. The game designers really must have been possessed when they made this.
In a reality-like monster-killing and leveling game, one naturally had to understand the game mechanics before starting to grind, even if Ritsuka currently had no goal she wanted to achieve and did not even know what she should do next.
After all, she had nothing now.
Aside from strength not worth mentioning, she truly had nothing at all.
"Whew, I'll take it one step at a time... Because I have nothing, I have everything."
While comforting herself, she punched an ant that had just crawled out and shoved it back into its hole. The terrifying strength of that blow left passersby staring in astonishment.
Combined with Ritsuka's attire, which was clearly different in style from everyone else's, she became especially conspicuous for a while.
As she gradually moved toward the Upper Layers, more and more people appeared in her field of vision. Their clothing also changed from all kinds of armor into outfits more like simple cloth garments. The situation had become obvious.
The stronger someone was, the better their equipment would naturally be.
As she moved upward, the people appearing in her sight seemed poorer on average. Clearly, she had reached an area suited for beginners.
Then a human settlement should be close...
Fifth floor, fourth floor, third floor, second floor, first floor.
After casting a suggestion magecraft on herself, Ritsuka stepped out of the underground cave where she might have spent half a day. A pitch-black night sky filled her vision.
What followed were lights everywhere and a city with a somewhat retro style.
The bustling streets were filled with all kinds of upright creatures. Looking around, they could be divided into two types: humans and humanoid beings.
Countless people carrying swords, spears, axes, and other weapons, dressed in leather armor or iron plate, passed by her. They looked exactly like adventurers from another world, and quite a few possessed traits unlike ordinary humans.
Things such as beast ears, fluffy and rather cute.
Walking through the plaza outside the cave, Ritsuka looked around like a country girl who had just entered the city.
Soon, the most eye-catching structure—a towering spire at the center of the city—entered her sight.
"Wow..."
Ritsuka let out an awed sound.
Even though she had never seen anything like it and had no similar memory, she could still say one thing.
"Damn..."
Very suddenly, Ritsuka felt an undisguised gaze settle upon her.
The fiery intensity of that stare made her shudder. Ritsuka, whose entire body prickled under its attention, cautiously observed her surroundings, yet failed to find the person watching her.
Then, her gaze shifted to that towering spire.
"So it isn't spying, but openly staring? I'm not exactly breathtakingly beautiful. Don't tell me some male god has taken a liking to me?"
Ritsuka touched her cheek, then turned and ran into the crowd.
Only after she had traveled some distance did that scorching gaze finally disappear. Sighing in relief, Ritsuka headed toward the edge of the city and arrived at a place that looked like a shopping district.
She quietly slipped into a clothing store. Since she had not prepared extra clothes inside the Crystal Dice, Ritsuka could only shamelessly steal an outfit.
A black-and-blue short skirt, matching shoes, leggings, and other items. Ritsuka also took several pairs of safety shorts—miraculous items that offered girls excellent protection.
When she left, she left behind two Minotaur drop crystals.
She did not really understand their exact value, but judging from that level 3 female adventurer's reaction, they should be worth quite a bit.
More than enough to trade for two sets of clothes.
After leaving the clothing store, Ritsuka found a corner, dismissed her combat outfit, and changed into clean clothes.
With the clothing issue resolved, the next matter was learning about this world.
Turning off the suggestion magecraft she had been using to interfere with other people's perceptions, Ritsuka blended into the crowd and headed toward a relatively secluded, run-down library. A place like that should contain plenty of historical records about this world.
Before that, though, she could ask the old man in the library a few basic questions.
Using suggestion magecraft, Ritsuka took out a Minotaur crystal and placed it in the old man's hand, then began asking about the basic setting of this world.
Chapter 51: Perverted goddess Freya
The towering spire Ritsuka had noticed was called the Tower of Babel.
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