“Is it okay to do something like this? Wouldn’t it be dangerous if we get attacked by villains? Hmm, it says there’s someone accompanying me. Then maybe it’ll be fine…”
A sweet gig, huh.
I don’t even know if this can be called a sweet gig.
Isn’t this the kind of job where your life is on the line if you’re just an ordinary person?
But for a capable hero, there’s no doubt it’s a sweet deal.
What caught my attention was that the job could be done in just two hours.
And of course, the ridiculously high pay—enough to match what you’d earn working at a bakery for half a year.
For a moment, I was reminded of what Teresa always said about choosing missions carefully, but the reward was too great to pass up.
More than anything, I was curious about what kind of place a potion factory really was.
“If I make connections, maybe I can get potions at a discount…”
It seemed dangerous, but it was a mission too tempting to pass up.
After some thought, Iris applied for the job as a potion transport truck driver.
Just as she was about to turn off her phone after selecting the mission, she got a message from Laika’s manager.
It was a request to act as Laika’s road manager for an upcoming photoshoot in two days.
She was already scheduled to meet Laika next weekend, but meeting for work beforehand wasn’t a problem.
Iris replied with a yes, and her face gradually turned red.
She was reminded of the intimate things they had done together in the hospital room.
“The skill only activates through sex, right? For the photoshoot… I’m just going to see his face… There’s no way I could do that at a crowded photoshoot… Oh god, what am I even thinking? I’m going there to work, to work. And maybe I can gather some villain intel while I’m at it…”
Fanning her flushed cheeks with her hand, Iris placed her phone on the side table and pulled the blanket over her head.
She wanted to clear her head and get a good night’s sleep.
The next day, while checking her outfit for the mission, Iris decided to wear a pair of underpants she usually didn’t.
Her transformation outfit as “Chastity Belt Girl” was a skirt, but because the chastity belt always managed to cleverly sneak out and activate her skill, she hadn’t had the embarrassing experience of having her underwear exposed.
However, since the belt kept poking out from between her thighs at random, she felt the need to reinforce her defenses below.
“Whew, let’s go visit the Spider Tunnel.”
Fully prepared, Iris set out with determined steps.
At that point, she had no idea she would later be grateful for having worn those underpants.
The beat-up car rattled its way safely to the entrance of the Spider Tunnel.
It seemed to be a popular spot among heroes.
That was obvious from the graffiti scribbled on the bulletin board at the entrance—things like “Hero passed through here” or “This marks my 55th mission.”
“How strange. I didn’t know heroes left marks like this. Also, does this place regenerate monsters? Why would that be?”
After reading the explanation on the notice board, she understood why.
The Spider Tunnel is a mysterious place where a magic stone embedded deep in the cave turns normal animals into monsters.
Scholars disagree on when monsters first started appearing in the cave.
People who tried to take the magic stone outside died from mysterious illnesses, so in ancient times, the cave was called the “Demon’s Lair.”
Although a safe mining method has since been developed, the moment the stone is taken outside, its power disappears, so no one tries anymore.
After people with powers appeared in the world, this place became known as the Spider Tunnel because spider-type monsters mainly show up here.
“Hoooh…”
Before awakening her ability, Iris had never paid attention to this place.
It wasn’t open to the general public either.
You’d think someone would’ve mentioned it, since YouTube exists—but perhaps it was because all the ordinary YouTubers who tried to explore it ended up dying.
“No awakened person would become a YouTuber. Why would someone with powers waste time on that when they can make good money through the Hero app? And if they want to make even more, they’d probably become villains…”
There’s a saying in Gyodam City: Curious people don’t live long.
Gyodam City Survival Handbook, Chapter 6:
“Curiosity doesn’t just kill cats—it kills Gyodam City citizens too.”
To survive long, avoid things you don’t understand.
Stay away from suspicious people.
Throw suspicious objects into the trash.
Don’t go near suspicious places.
Professor Richard of Gyodam City University’s Psychology Department studied personality assessments of citizens and was shocked.
Curiosity was common among people in their 20s but declined sharply in the 30s, and by the 80s, it nearly vanished.
The implication is clear: survivors of Gyodam City are not curious and seek a peaceful life.
Iris nodded to herself, recalling this handbook she had personally written based on her school experiences.
The more she lived, the more she realized every line in it was pure gold.
“I’m actually pretty curious by nature. I used to poke cats and stray dogs and collect antiques… If I hadn’t awakened my powers, I might’ve died before hitting 30.”
The more you learn, the scarier the world becomes.
She could’ve poked a monster in disguise and gotten bitten to death, or gotten cursed from her antiques.
“A curse? Yeah right,” she might’ve scoffed—but with all the weird things that happen around here, you couldn’t really laugh it off.
She’d thought she was cautious, but looking back, she’d actually been pretty reckless.
In a way, it was a miracle she made it through without trouble.
“Whew, there’s a guest book, but no one’s here… Huh? Someone is here.”
A lit candle on a tray and a meal set out next to it.
Under the plate was a slip of paper that read: “May you safely defeat the monsters.”
Apparently, the hero who entered first believed in some kind of folk religion.
“Well, I get it. Every time I go to defeat monsters, I get nervous something might go wrong.”
Anyway, the mission was to defeat 30 monsters.
The Hero app had posted for more participants, which meant there were likely over 60 monsters in the cave.
Or maybe there were more participants?
If so, the actual number of monsters could be much higher.
Since the magic stone kept spawning them, and based on the cave layout on the notice board, the cave seemed deep enough to support that.
Should she greet any other heroes she met?
Or just pretend not to know them?
Iris pondered this while completing her transformation, then cautiously entered the cave.
Not knowing when a monster might jump out, she summoned her whip—but was surprised that the usual movement between her legs didn’t happen.
Instead, her bracelet extended, and the whip emerged from it.
Grabbing it quickly, Iris grinned wide, baring her teeth.
“Whew, this makes me happy. Right—I transferred the whip skill to my bracelet, didn’t I? Now I get what a small joy truly feels like.”
Ever since awakening as Chastity Belt Girl, Iris had questioned everything.
Bowls were for food, chairs for sitting, and desks for putting things on—but since her belt could generate all kinds of bizarre items, she had suffered something like a gestalt collapse.
“What if I sat on the table and put food on the chair? Could I slice food with a bowl?”
She had gone through a crisis of meaning.
But now that her whip extended normally from her bracelet, that chaos was cleared.
One abnormal thing had finally returned to normal.
“I’m happy.”
With a soft smile, Iris set off into the cave.
Apparently, she’d been more stressed than she realized because of her chastity belt.
After walking for a while, a creepy crawling sound echoed through the silence.
Iris frowned in disgust.
A swarm of small spider-type monsters was rushing toward her.
They were only a bit bigger than ants, and every time their eyes blinked, a red glow would flash and disappear.
She was about to swing her whip down casually but then paused, a faint smile forming.
“Wait… that’s gotta be over a hundred of them. If I take them all out, doesn’t that finish the mission?”
But then—she remembered.
The mission post had said that monsters smaller than a fist had to be defeated 50 times to count as a single monster.
That line must’ve referred to these little guys.
What a petty rule.
“Ugh, they’re so tiny but so annoying. Whatever—let’s go!”
Iris swung her whip at the swarm.
But contrary to her expectations, the tiny spiders scattered and dodged her attack.
Disaster.
Unlike bigger monsters, these were small and nimble—dodging was easy for them.
[Footnote 1]:
In gaming, “regen” refers to monsters respawning a set time after being killed.