The Earth-san Has Leveled Up!

1-3. Surprisingly Enjoying the Dungeon

Meiko’s dungeon adventure continues.

Right after defeating one magic book, she encountered another.

This one was defeated with ease.

It hadn’t noticed Meiko and was standing right near a corner.

A quick dash, a smack, a slash-slash, and it was over.

The second magic book dropped a scrap of paper and a magic stone.

Compared to the first magic book, its rank was clearly lower.

Was this a normal drop? If so, the first magic book’s drop must have been rare.

The paper scrap didn’t seem useful, so Meiko decided to synthesize it.

The magic book became 3/125.

The magic book’s synthesis limit is higher than the mini scissors’.

She was surprised to learn that even a paper scrap could enhance it significantly.

Dungeon-made items seem to be vastly superior to surface-made ones, so she made a mental note not to discard these “junk” items.

“Still, so far, magic stones have always dropped, haven’t they? Is it guaranteed?”

It might not even be a magic stone, but red stones kept appearing.

For now, she was putting them all in her pouch.

Shortly after, she encountered another spring balloon.

During this fight, she learned why the previous spring balloon hadn’t noticed her.

Spring balloons have a front and a back.

The front of the balloon had a face drawn on it.

It had a cartoonishly scary yet cute angry expression, while the back was blank.

This time, the spring balloon definitely noticed Meiko.

In the last encounter, Meiko didn’t take any real attacks.

The round hands at the end of the spring wobbled and lightly hit her leg, which was enough to bring her to tears.

If she got hit full force… wouldn’t her organs burst?

Not to brag, but Meiko is as delicate as she looks.

Her punches might make boys swoon, but they wouldn’t cause any actual damage.

With punches like hers, it’s no surprise her abs were weak as well.

She could already imagine herself being punched in the stomach or face, collapsing, and getting pummeled until she cried out, “Hiii!”

Although getting the upper hand could avoid serious attacks, it wouldn’t be easy.

Fortunately, the spring balloon was slow.

It would’ve been easy to escape.

But Meiko chose to fight.

One reason was the magic book.

It was, after all, dungeon-grade equipment.

While it primarily enhanced magic, its structure made it a decent weapon.

Within a 2-meter range, it could move through the air quickly.

Considering its speed and weight, it would deal more damage than Meiko’s punches.

Another reason was the dungeon’s monster density.

She’d only walked a little and already encountered her fourth enemy.

If this one kept chasing her, she could get cornered and killed.

Thus, she concluded it was better to fight when alone.

When the spring balloon came into range, Meiko launched the magic book at top speed from above.

Thwack!

The spring balloon, struck hard on the head, took much more damage than Meiko expected and rolled dramatically across the floor.

As it rolled toward her, she panicked and ran, launching another magic book attack.

By the third hit, the spring balloon was defeated. A perfect victory.

“The magic book is so strong!”

Meiko celebrated her incredible new equipment.

This spring balloon dropped spring and balloon remnants, as well as another magic stone.

“Hmmm…”

She synthesized the spring with the mini scissors, but the balloon remnants posed a dilemma.

After some thought, she synthesized them with her hoodie.

―――

Mini Scissors 40/100

White Hoodie 3/100

―――

The mini scissors had increased to 25/100 with the previous spring synthesis.

The rise was smaller this time, likely due to diminishing returns as the number increased.

The hoodie, on the other hand, didn’t seem to match the materials as well and showed less improvement.

It still looked the same, and though the enhancement values increased, the performance remained unclear.

Even though the mini scissors had defeated the magic tomes, both were taken down when they were at 25/100, so it was hard to tell if they’d gotten stronger.

Testing them against the spring balloon might reveal the difference, but with the magic book’s strength, she didn’t intend to engage in close combat.

With her magic book-powered advantage, Meiko’s dungeon progress sped up.

Spring balloons were now trivial foes.

Any that came within her 2-meter range were met with a powerful magic book attack.

The first hit downed them, and two more finished the job.

Magic tomes were trickier but not particularly smart.

When they noticed Meiko, they started preparing magic, but if she lured them around a corner, they’d approach without casting spells.

Realizing this, she baited them into coming around corners and easily defeated them.

The first level of the unknown dungeon had become the hunting ground of a wild little girl.

Before she knew it, her pouch was overflowing with magic stones, and she’d leveled up to 3.

But leveling up was puzzling.

Raising her level didn’t seem to make her noticeably stronger.

Only her maximum magic power had increased slightly.

Still, Meiko had a theory.

After leveling up to 2, she spent two hours walking through the dungeon.

She used her legs to walk, swung her scissors to strike magic tomes, moved the magic book smoothly, and even ran at times.

By doing so, she felt her abilities had improved more than when she first leveled up.

She suspected that leveling wasn’t about immediate gains but about enhancing her physical limits and training efficiency.

Of course, she wasn’t certain.

Perhaps leveling worked slowly to help the body adjust without shocking it.

Either way, such matters were for smarter people to ponder.

She just kept it in the back of her mind.

Aside from reaching level 3, other changes occurred.

A magic book dropped a second magic book.

She tried equipping it but couldn’t.

Though she considered synthesizing it with the first magic book, she decided to keep it as a spare in her pouch.

Also, the mini scissors reached their maximum level.

Their attack power had clearly increased, and she could now defeat magic tomes almost instantly.

The mini scissors were no longer a weak weapon—though they weren’t really weapons to begin with.

Her equipment now looked like this:

―――

Magic Book A 11/125

Magic Book B 0/125 (spare)

Mini Scissors 100/100

White Hoodie 10/100”

Denim Pants 5/100

High Socks 5/100

Sneakers 3/100

―――

Her other equipment didn’t match any materials she’d found, so she had to make do with scraps like paper or balloon remnants.

Her white hoodie, for example, no longer improved with just one balloon remnant. The mismatch and low-grade material likely made it ineffective.

After three hours in the dungeon, her map was steadily filling out.

By now, she’d grown confident enough in battle to start taking pictures of monsters with her smartphone.

She wasn’t being careless—she ensured it was safe before snapping photos.

Still, she hadn’t found an exit.

Instead, she came across a treasure chest.

“Fwoooooh!”

At a dead end, a treasure chest appeared.

Not a grand gold-and-red chest but a simple wooden box.

Naturally, she photographed it.

Her excitement soared, but she also hesitated, wondering if it was okay to take it.

In real life, she’d never seen a treasure chest, and as someone who always turned in lost wallets to the police, she felt conflicted about the chest’s ownership.

Nevertheless, not taking it wasn’t an option.

She’d been collecting all the enemy drops, so this was no different.

She opened the chest.

Partway through, she realized it might be trapped, but nothing happened, so all was well.

She made a note to be more cautious in the future.

Inside was a thimble glove.

“This… this is…!”

Her excitement peaked.

She quickly glanced around to ensure no one was watching before slipping the glove on.

Though slightly large at first, it adjusted to fit her hand perfectly.

“Fwoooooh!”

She dramatically spread her fingers in front of her face.

She wished she had a mirror. Then she remembered her smartphone.

The thimble glove was an instant favorite.

Its effects, however, remained a mystery!