Shiiba Chigiri, 21 years old.
A mid-tier B-rank explorer, she possessed an enhanced unique skill—proof of the training she’d steadily piled up.
She took the Explorer license exam five years ago.
What set it all in motion was an explorer’s stream.
That explorer wasn’t some handsome heartthrob, nor were they particularly talkative.
They tackled high-difficulty dungeons in rugged silence, mowing down the vicious monsters that appeared one after another with nothing but their fists.
Their name was Kamijiki Genbu.
An S-rank explorer—the very top of the top.
Even at 80 years old, still the unshakable No. 1 of the Ten Greats (the country’s top 10 explorers).
A man hailed as a hero, even a living legend.
(TL Note: holy fuckin chad bro. ngl, I feel like this is the grandpa that taught abyss-chan)
Chigiri fell for him.
It was admiration, yearning, and just a little bit of love for Kamijiki Genbu.
(I want to be cool like that, too.
And if it’s only a little, I want to get closer to Genbu-sama.
And while I’m at it, I want to marry him.)
Those feelings hit their peak, and she immediately got her Explorer license.
Her talent as an explorer was staggering—she rose to B-rank in just a few months.
She even acquired a unique skill.
Her meteoric rise drew public attention, and people whispered that, despite being a rookie, she was on the verge of becoming a ranked explorer (top 100 domestically).
But then, something happened that nobody had expected.
—A sudden retirement announcement from Kamijiki Genbu.
Shock rippled across the entire world.
The reason remains hidden in darkness even now.
Online, countless theories still fly around.
The announcement hit like a bolt from the blue, plunging many into grief and despair.
His overwhelming strength and the kind of person he seemed to be—he was an object of longing, a hero, for so many.
And among them was Shiiba Chigiri.
She had lost her goal as an explorer.
Then, where did that initial momentum go?
Nothing held her heart anymore—exploring, streaming, everything became hollow routine.
She never advanced beyond B-rank, and now she mostly did relaxed streams in beginner dungeons.
Time passed.
Five years had gone by since she became an explorer.
Even after Kamijiki Genbu retired, she never found a new goal to replace him.
(—This isn’t fun anymore. Maybe I should quit… being an explorer.)
Thinking that, she set off on a solo trip to Hakone Town.
§
Chigiri was fighting in a beginner dungeon’s boss room, locked in combat with a Tera Slime.
It was a special-grade monster.
It wasn’t in the same league as the Mega Slimes along the way.
Its body, made of dissolving fluid, wouldn’t accept weapon attacks at all; when she slashed with a sword and dagger, the tips simply melted away.
Next she countered with a magic skill that produced fire, but ordinary firepower didn’t even scratch it.
She was forced into a one-sided defensive battle as the Tera Slime pressed in.
〝Chigirin, run!〟
〝This is seriously bad.〟
〝At this rate you’re going to die.〟
The comments urged her to evacuate.
But Chigiri kept fighting as she retreated.
It was obviously an opponent she couldn’t beat.
So why didn’t she run?
It was to keep beginner explorers from being put in danger—and to hold the Tera Slime here until help arrived.
Normally, a boss monster won’t leave the boss room.
However, if it was something that was never meant to be in that dungeon to begin with—an invasive-species monster—that rule didn’t necessarily apply.
It could break through the boss room and, in the worst case, spill out of the dungeon altogether.
That was what made 『Connection』 dungeons and invasive-species dungeon phenomena truly terrifying.
Her sense of justice and duty—of course, that was part of it.
But what lay at her core was this:
“…It’s fine. Today’s the end. Just for the last time, I’m going to look cool and prove I can be useful to someone. That’s why I became an explorer in the first place.”
Like a murmur at the edge of death, her true feelings slipped out.
〝Huh?〟
〝The end?〟
〝Chigirin…?〟
—BAAANG!
At that moment, a huge sound thundered through the boss room.
The iron door had suddenly been thrown open with tremendous force.
At the same time, a single girl burst in as if tumbling down an avalanche.
A T-shirt, cropped pants, and a massive backpack slung over her shoulders.
It was such a casual outfit you’d never mistake her for an explorer.
Like she was wearing pure free-to-play gear.
Realizing she was obviously a beginner, Chigiri shouted to the girl who’d barged in.
“Y-You! Get back—it’s dangerous!”
But the free-to-play girl didn’t even glance aside. She charged straight at the Tera Slime that was pursuing Chigiri.
Then she kicked off the ground, sprang upward, and threw a flying kick at it.
“Wait! Don’t—!”
—SPLAAASH.
Chigiri’s cry went unanswered; the girl’s kick landed squarely.
The slime’s liquid-like body was gouged out and sprayed apart.
But the Tera Slime didn’t slow down at all.
As if nothing had happened, it continued chasing Chigiri.
Worse still, the gouged-out portion that had splattered away regenerated in an instant.
—SSSSSS.
A sizzling sound, and smoke rose from the girl’s foot.
Chigiri looked over at her.
Her shoe had melted clean through, leaving her bare foot exposed.
“Ah. Everyone, my shoe melted!”
The free-to-play girl spoke in a completely airheaded tone toward the tracking drone.
She looked surprised, yet she still calmly held her bare foot up to the camera.
Chigiri had been worried about a serious injury, but it didn’t look like she even needed to check.
“—Ow!?”
She barely had time to feel relieved before it was Chigiri who cried out in pain.
When she looked down, her right shoe had melted, and her foot was scorched a vivid red.
The Tera Slime had fired its own dissolving fluid—its body—like a water gun.
The pain made it impossible for Chigiri to keep running, and she collapsed on the spot.
Behind her, the Tera Slime closed in.
“…Tch…!”
Chigiri stabbed her sword into the floor and forced herself upright.
(—I don’t care what happens to me, but at least I have to let that backpack girl escape.)
With that single-minded resolve—
But her view was blocked in an instant.
The free-to-play girl stepped in between her and the Tera Slime.
The girl slipped her backpack off, then clapped her hands together twice like she was getting ready.
Next she spread her legs, dropped her hips, and settled into a solid stance.
Then she slammed both hands down toward the ground—thunk—driving her fists into it.
—CRACKCRACKCRACKCRACK!
She flipped up the floor itself, and—
“Ho—! Here— we— GOOOOOOOOO!”
She hurled the Tera Slime along with the chunk of ground beneath it.
〝Huh?〟
〝What?〟
〝???〟
The comment section filled with stunned voices.
Chigiri, too, could only stare in shock at the girl.
No wonder.
Even if attacks didn’t work and there was no obvious way to handle it, plunging your hands into the floor, ripping it up, and throwing it wasn’t a tactic—or a sight—anyone would consider normal.
No, even if someone thought of it, they wouldn’t do it. They couldn’t.
“…What… was that…?”
When Chigiri muttered, the free-to-play girl yelped, “Eek!” and hid behind her backpack.
Trembling in tiny shivers, she stared at Chigiri—somehow looking frightened of her.
Who in the world was this girl?
As Chigiri was thinking that, another Tera Slime was already bearing down from behind.
“H-Hey! Behind you!”
At Chigiri’s words, the free-to-play girl turned around.
“Hey, you! Forget me—just run! That thing is a special-grade monster!”
“S-S-S-Special-grade monster!? But—this is a beginner dungeon—!”
“Yes, it’s beginner, but it’s special-grade! So hurry and ru—”
Then the girl’s shoulders began to shake.
“Heh… hehheheh… special-grade monster…!”
For some reason, she was laughing—creepily.
“…W-Why are you laughing…?”
“…Because I was told special-grade monsters are fine…”
“F-Fine for what…?”
“…To go all out!”
The girl lowered her posture and clenched her fist.
Then she slowly drew her arm back in a wide arc.
In that instant, Chigiri’s eyes went wide.
A motion she’d seen thousands—tens of thousands—of times, burned into her brain, overlapped perfectly with the scene before her.
“Wait… hold on. That stance is—!”
And when the girl drove her fist forward—
—BOF!
—GAAAAAAAAAANG!
A roar thundered out—far too violent for something that was “just a punch”—and the shock rocked the entire room.
A blast of wind, like an explosion had gone off, made Chigiri avert her eyes for a moment.
She snapped her gaze back immediately—
—Fffffffshhhhh…
The Tera Slime that had been rushing toward them was gone without a trace—nothing left but the sound of something evaporating and a haze of smoke.
Tiny lights danced like fireflies.
Then those lights popped, and a massive pile of magic stones formed before the girl.
Overwhelming destructive power, ignoring tactics and countermeasures entirely.
Staring at the girl’s back, Shiiba Chigiri whispered the name of a hero.
“…Genbu…-sama…?”