(Summoned as a hero, turned into a dungeon monster... and lolified on top of that...)

Mimissa was still hugging me; I couldn't see anything because she had closed her eyes, but I could feel her body - and her lips - on my own. Things started feeling off somehow. This moment... my moment of unexpected happiness felt spoiled.

I broke the kiss. I could feel that Mimissa didn't want to stop just yet, but the more time went by, the more my mind cleared up. It had fogged up, somehow, and that concerned me.

"...Mimissa?"

"Mmm? What is it?"

"Why are we doing this...?"

She looked at me, her glowing eyes the only thing faintly visible in the otherwise perfect darkness inside her chest.

"...Aren't we friends...?" Her tone of voice told me she was sad and lonely, and I shouldn't bother with useless questions. In other words, she was a needy girl. But I had to.

"Not girlfriends, no. Please let me out, or at least open the lid."

She hesitated for a moment, but before I thought I'd have to repeat myself - and wouldn't that be ruining things entirely? - she popped the lid open. I didn't leave the chest just yet because the warm chocolate felt and smelled like a lovely bath; something about it was energising.

"Are you alright, Constanze?"

At least she was... seemed genuinely concerned for my well-being, so that was nice. Could I trust her though? I had a suspicion on why I willingly - literally - 'stepped into the box' with another girl not an hour after meeting her.

"I'm fine now, but I have to ask: what are your abilities? Aside from controlling chocolate. Oh, and would you mind calling me 'Czara' please?"

"Czara, got it. And hm, I have some skill named [𝟱𝟮𝟲₣𝟳𝟵𝟲𝟭𝟲₵𝟮𝟬𝟰𝟰𝟲𝟱𝟲𝟯𝟳𝟮𝟲𝟱𝟲𝟱] which I got from eating those old people, but since the name is unreadable and it has no description, I've got no idea what it's even for. It's also grey on my stats sheet, so I can't use anyway."

I grimaced. A broken skill sounded like trouble, but if it's greyed out it probably just wouldn't do anything. I wondered if maybe it was incompatible? Like say a [Poison Stinger] skill being unusable by someone without an actual stinger.

"Anything else? Maybe passive skills?"

"Only the usual mimic perks: [Slug Movement], [Minor Transformation], [Fluid Control], [Allure Charm], [Acidity]..."

I perked up, that had to be it!

"What was the last one?"

"[Acidity]. It's how I turn-"

"No, sorry, the one before. A [Charm]?"

She nodded.

"[Allure Charm]. 'Perk. Makes user alluring to targets within radius of 3×(user level)×(perk rank) metres. Affected targets have lowered inhibitions and impulse control, and heightened drive to fulfil a basic desire or need such as food, sleep, greed, or love.' Is that bad...?"

It certainly explained why I'd been so careless. I mean, obviously! Mimics prey on greedy adventurers, who go to dungeons for the sake of treasure hunting. My needs meanwhile were food and sleep, and maybe also love. A triple-whammy of unfulfilled desires and needs that hit me so fast and hard, I barely even noticed what was happening until I'd already been taken in. Didn't help that I was also feeling cold. Heck, actually that's four needs at once! Scary!

"No, it's fine, it's not your fault."

She looked at me, not understanding what I was talking about.

"I was affected by your charm perk, hard."

"Ohhh! Oh dear, I'm so sorry! I can't shut perks off and... and and... I'm really-"

I put my pointer finger on her lips.

"Shhh. I said it's not your fault, I was just too weak to resist."

She gave my finger a lick. Right, it was covered in chocolate.

(I wonder what happens if I sleep in this stuff...)

"But now you're fine...?"

"Yeah, probably because I'm now a dungeon monster just like you. Actually... [Stats: Czara]."

The stat screen confirmed my suspicions. It was a maroon red with vine-like snaking silver ornaments repeated in each corner, and one bright silver orb held in each ornament. The fact it worked with my nickname as well was not too surprising.

Name: Constanze Czarina

Species: Aesir, Monster, ???

Class: NULL

Affiliation: Dungeon 'NULL'

Health Points: 19/25

Mana Points: 5/5

More...

Skills: Spear Proficiency 1, Charm Tolerance 3*, ???

Status Effects: NULL

More...

"Interesting, my total HP rose by 5. I also got Mana, and it shows skills and affiliation. 'NULL' must mean 'no data' or 'not applicable'. What's with the star after [Charm Tolerance 3]?"

"A star? Not a rhombus? I heard a rhombus shows a skill cannot be removed or copied, but a star I don't know."

*Ding* [Constanze has been affected by Sleep Deprivation.]

I suddenly felt sleepy, but shook my head and thought a little. Mimissa's side info that skills could be copied or even removed (and stolen?) was concerning and something I'd have to remember for later. Then it clicked.

"I think I get it. I got [Spear Proficiency], and that's one heck of a misnomer, from using the spear I was given. Not sure why it didn't show before, but oh well. The [Charm Tolerance] is probably a borrowed skill I got since I'm a dungeon monster now. And... *Yawn* Wow, I'm really sleepy... That status is no joke."

Mimissa suddenly hugged me, lifted me up, and put me on top of her. I didn't really want her to do that at first, considering what happened not even ten minutes before, but she set herself down and put my head on her chest like it was a pillow.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

It was so very comfortable hearing her heartbeat, though I also noticed just before dozing off that she didn't breathe... probably because otherwise she might drown herself by accident.

And yes, she grabbed my butt same as I had grabbed hers before. I felt too comfy to mind though. The lid closed with a soft thud, and I was out like a light.

~~~~~

As it turned out, sleeping while covered in warm, nice-smelling liquid was rather pleasant. Doubly so when you're in the arms of a cute girl. I couldn't remember what I'd dreamed, if I even dreamed anything, but waking up made me oddly sad like I'd lost something, yet at the time couldn't quite figure out what.

Anyway, as much as I wanted to spend more time lazing around, I wanted to explore. My HP had capped off at 25, my status was [Well Rested] which gave me a supposed +25% bonus to stats which I hadn't seen yet, and generally I felt pretty good.

Mimissa looked a little sad when I left her embrace - she really had fallen for me hard, huh? - but she accepted that I needed to actually walk to stay in shape and sane.

Which brought us to one of my original problems.

"Brrr... it's still cold in here..."

I had remembered that all I was wearing was literally three band-aids worth of white sticky cloth, the 'Pasties Bikini of the Succubus' (Cursed™). While it technically protected my modesty, it made me look like a total slut more than anything.

*Ding* [Equipment 'Pasties Bikini of the Succubus' is cursed. Cursed equipment cannot be removed.]

Yep, just as unremovable as before. The biggest irony was that since it covered my crotch - if one were to really bend the definition of 'covering' - I couldn't even properly mast- do things that are necessary once in a while.

Now you might be wondering: was I still covered in warm, liquid chocolate? And the answer's that I wasn't. Mimissa's control over it as well as her ability to make it acidic actually turned out to be a fantastic method to get clean. She covered her whole body in chocolate daily, which removed any dust and the like, and then used the acidity to melt it into nothing. It worked just as well on myself. The fact that chocolate's normally rather sticky didn't seem to matter whatsoever.

Still, I was feeling cold. But I also didn't want to just go straight back into Mimissa's treasure chest since it felt like admitting defeat to the environment. I did some warm-up exercises instead.

"What're you doing?"

"Warm-ups. They're necessary before doing sports or battles to ensure the body's ready. Do you want to try?"

Her face made a complicated expression, as if she wanted to but couldn't. I took her hand that was resting on the edge of the chest and tried to pull her up, but...

"AHHH! NOOOOOOO!!!"

Her unexpectedly strong reaction made my hand slip out of hers and I fell over backwards. At least I managed to fall in a non-harmful way and didn't hurt myself.

"Czara!"

Concerned, Mimissa's chest slid over with a screech. That was roughly when I realised that she probably could, in fact, not leave the chest.

"I-I'm fine... sorry, I should've figured you can't get out of that thing."

"It's really scary to think about getting out. I envy people like you who can just walk around..."

I got up and put my hand on her shoulder.

"It's fine, really."

She calmed down, and there was no harm done. In any case though, I did want to explore, so we headed out. To help Mimissa be a little faster, I heaved the chest alongside her controlled chocolate to ease the weight up a little. She got some of that under it, and suddenly the entire chest rested on around 1cm of chocolate. Compared to my walking speed, she was still slow, but it was a consistent movement instead of screeching, small bursts.

The corridors looked all the same. The same stonework, the same eerie, blue-burning torches. We went the way I hadn't gone before, carefully checking around every corner and intersection.

There were lots of traps. Sometimes the floor was rigged to open up and make you fall into a hole filled with sharp spikes or suspicious liquid, probably acid. Other times small holes in the walls shot out barrages of arrows or maybe crossbow bolts. But none of those were of concern to us. Why? Because we were dungeon monsters and as such got a free pass. We instinctively knew what and where all the traps were and how to not trigger any of them. It was like some sort of new sense, a [Sense Trap] skill, if you will.

Just as I thought that, I got a notification. *Ding* [Perk [Sense Trap] was uncovered.]

('Uncovered'? Not learned? Now that's peculiar.)

"Isn't this dungeon pretty deadly? We're still on the first floor, why are there so many traps?"

"Traps are cheap to make and can be recycled... I think. Monsters cost a lot of energy, the stronger the more expensive."

"What happens when someone dies from a trap? Do their corpses just rot or get eaten by wandering monsters?"

"I may be able to answer that~."

I turned around, recognising that voice. Mimissa also turned around, just a little slower.

"YOOOOOUUUU!!!"

"Me~." The succubus pointed at her face with both pointer fingers. Her smile showed she wasn't taking this at all seriously.

Now if you've ever seen art of a succubus from anime or video games, you know how they come in all sorts of sizes and colours, from adorable if cheeky lolis to cool teens to mature, voluptuous motherly types. This one was very clearly the mom type. Long shiny hair, leotard, arms and legs covered in latex or leather or something. Majestic black horns, black bat wings sprouting from her shoulder blades, and an oddly thick, scaly... tail? Uh-oh, was this woman actually a dragon!?

Since I was taking a closer look, I noticed her face actually looked slightly different. The first succubus - and I was damn sure she was definitely one - had a slightly softer face. She also had a more regular tail, leathery black and thin with a heart or spade at the end like a stinger.

"Uhm, do we know you?"

I tried playing it cool. It seemed this wasn't actually the one who cursed me to become a loli, they just had the same voice.

The dragon (?) came closer, got on one knee, and suddenly hugged me! I could feel the anger and jealousy from Mimissa trying to burn holes into the woman, to no effect of course.

"No, not yet. But I'm happy she finally decided to spawn a new monster. What's your species? Oh, and I'm Anastelle, a dracubus."

('Dracubus'? Like a mixture of dragon and succubus then? And what's that with no monsters getting spawned anymore?)

"I'm... uh... I don't actually know."

I looked at Mimissa, but she crossed her arms. 'Don't tell her!' Yeah, I figured as much.

The dracubus - Anastelle - ended the hug and rose back to full height. She was naturally far taller than me and even more than Mimissa since she was vaguely sitting on her chocolate again, legs dangling over the edge.

"[Identify: Target A], [Identify: Target B]."

A tingling sensation went through my body. Also Mimissa's, judging by her reaction.

Anastelle's expression almost instantly darkened, but then it gave way to confusion.

"...You're a contractee? Why would a heroine decide to become part of the dungeon?"

Welp, the cat was out of the bag already. I decided then and there to invest in something like [Identity Protection] ASAP.

"It just kind of happened? I didn't actually get a choice..."

"Ah. You submitted to a dungeon monster then. I assume it was Mimissa who made you submit. Good job!" She patted Mimissa's head, who didn't look very happy with that.

"That's right, Czara is now my friend, you can't have her!"

"*Chuckle* She doesn't belong to you, she belongs to... to..." Anastelle's eyes widened, then she fell deep into thought. "How weird, I seem to have forgotten her name."

Needless to say, this powerful-looking kinda dragon kinda succubus lady forgetting the name of the dungeon master or whatever didn't bode well.

"Oh well, I gotta go. It was nice to meet you, Constanze, Mimissa. But before I go... are you sure you don't want to wear at least a little more than that?"

She looked straight at my chest, which made me blush.

"That's... not by my choice, either."

"Ugh, you had a run-in with Dolores or Malfissa, didn't you? They sure love their cursed shreds of cloth. Head to the next floor by going- actually, here. [Summon Imp]."

A bright, purplish light lit up from the floor in the shape of a complicated magic circle. Anastelle summoned a small, goblin-ish creature - an imp - on the spot. It was slightly smaller than me, had grey-blue skin that was perfectly smooth and hairless, and a slightly oversized head for its body, forcing it into a bit of a hunch. Tiny grey horns, bat wings the same colour as the skin, and wearing little more than a loincloth... basically just like you'd probably imagine an imp to be. More disturbing were its neon-green irises surrounded by black sclera and its sharp, brilliant-white teeth that wouldn't be amiss on a much larger predator like a shark.

"You, slave, guide these two girls onto the next floor to treasure chest #17. Defend them with your life. After that, follow the orders of the mimic... that's the one in the chest."

(Her needing to point that out probably means it's a dumb monster.)

The apparently nameless imp turned around and saluted Anastelle, who then vanished before our eyes into shadow. Without another word, the imp started marching forward, clearly knowing the layout of the dungeon.

"Uhm... Mr. Imp?"

He turned around.

"What's your name?"

He shook his head. Apparently he really didn't have a name. He urged us on with an over-the-shoulder wink of his hand, so we followed him.

(Still though, 'slave'? And she was so casual about it too, yikes. Anastelle isn't someone to mess with!)

"Wait a moment... she didn't tell us anything!"