Level-up Maniac, Level up in Modern Dungeons - Episode 17

　March 26th.

　Swallowing my anger at being used as a toy by the internet, I came to Shinjuku Dungeon again today.

　During breaks between hunts to recover my HP, I bought manga and light novels on e-book format and passed the time by reading them.

　Until yesterday, I would have just been watching videos casually, but today I wasn’t in the mood.

　However, around six in the afternoon, my level had risen again from yesterday and reached level 12, so I didn’t feel bad when I got home.

　●◯●

　March 27th.

　Of course, I came to Shinjuku Dungeon.

　When I left the house, my mother asked me, “Why don’t you take a break sometimes?” but leveling up is what gives me a reason to live. There’s no way I’m going to take a break.

　And so, today I will be hunting on the third floor again.

　However, since I had only just leveled up on my way home yesterday, I was unable to level up today.

　●◯●

　March 28th.

　As the level increases, the status and skill level also increase, so the efficiency of hunting improves little by little.

　Now, I can defeat nearly 20 goblins in seven encounters per hour, and the combat doesn’t feel dangerous at all.

　On this day, we reached our target level of 13 by the morning.

————————————————–

[Name] Takeo Samejima

[Level] 『13』 Experience points to next level 『13960』

《HP》24/61 (11up!)

《MP》18/18

Strength: 35 (5 up!)

Sturdy 26 (6 up!)

Intelligence: 6

《Mind》12

《Agility》40 (10up!)

Dexterity: 30 (9 up!)

[STP] 『0』

[SP] 『0』

[Skills] 《Damage Increase Lv. Max, when equipped with swords》 《Madness Lv. 1》 《Goblin Killer Lv. Max》 《Fighting Spirit Lv. 4》

[Title] 《Madman》 《Goblin Killer》

[Goblin Killer Lv. Max] – Damage dealt to Goblins is doubled.

《Fighting Spirit Lv.4》– 《Sturdy》 and 《Agility》 increase by 80%. Consumes 4 HP every 10 seconds.Activated muscle strength

————————————————–

　To be honest, the attack power is almost excessive thanks to the damage-increasing skills. After all, with “Damage Increase When Equipped with Swords” and “Goblin Killer”, if you’re fighting a goblin-type enemy, you’re automatically dealing 4x damage.

　Also, since 《Fighting Spirit》 increases stats, I didn’t put many points into strength.

　However, since Fighting Spirit has reached level 4 and the amount of HP consumed has increased, from now on, it will be necessary to increase HP by allocating points to Strength or Endurance.

It may be best to hold off on allocating skill points to 《Fighting Spirit》 for a while.

　…But I wonder? If I don’t raise my 《Fighting Spirit》 to the maximum level, I won’t be able to acquire that skill… Well, I’ll just have to figure it out.

“Hmm, if I use my fighting spirit, my agility value will exceed 70…”

　Looking at the status, I was convinced that I could do it after all.

　Goblins that appear on the 4th floor of the Shinjuku Dungeon will be level 6 to 8, and new types such as Goblin Archers and Goblin Mages have been added.

　These guys are troublesome monsters that use long-distance attacks, but Goblin Archers rarely drop beginner heal potions, and Goblin Mages, although very rarely, drop a certain “Skill Orb” that all explorers covet.

　That’s right – Skill Orb.

　Skill orbs are special items that allow players to learn various skills when used.

　Each skill that can be acquired is called a “skill orb of ~”.

　Well, some skill orbs don’t just teach skills, but also have more special effects… but I’ll explain that when you’re lucky enough to get one.

　Anyway.

　The skill orbs dropped by goblin mages are essential for a solo explorer like me with no magical skills to progress, so I had to get them.

　Therefore, I will probably be leveling up on the 4th floor for a while. The EXP efficient hunting grounds I was aiming for are also on the 4th floor, so it’s perfect.

　I should be able to reach level 19 here… if a skill orb drops by then, that is.

“Okay, let’s recover our HP and then go down to the fourth floor.”

　I went back to the stairs, took a lunch break, and then headed for the stairs leading to the fourth floor with my smartphone in hand.

　●◯●

While looking at the map on the “Modern Dungeon Strategy Wiki,” I head towards the stairs on the fourth floor in the shortest distance possible.

　Along the way, he encountered goblins several times, but won without difficulty. However, he prioritized moving forward over fighting, so he moved forward without fighting the four groups of goblins that he couldn’t annihilate within 10 seconds.

　We continued like this for an hour.

“–Hmm?”

　Just as I reached the stairs, I heard something from the end of the dimly lit hallway. It was an echo, so I couldn’t make out exactly what it was, but it sounded like a scream.

　I couldn’t help but stop and listen.

“…A scream, I see.”

　There was no doubt about it. The screams seemed to come from multiple people.

　What is going on? If something troublesome is happening, I’d like to ignore it, but…

“…No, that won’t work.”

　Reject your ideas.

　If someone were to ask for help, the situation would be different on the surface than in a dungeon. On the surface, even if I thought someone other than me would help, there was a good chance that would happen. But in a dungeon, there was a good chance that no one would notice.

　In these situations, it’s important to help each other, and fellow explorers should have a strong sense of camaraderie even if they’re not at a party.

　So, since I heard the screams, I should be the one to go.

　After answering that, he ran off in the direction from which the scream had come.

　Even now, the screams and sounds of metal slamming together could be heard, but soon after, the metallic sounds stopped, and only the screams were heard.

　If we don’t hurry, things might get bad.

　As I rounded the corner of the passage and hurried further, I noticed a figure running towards me.

　There were two men. They noticed us, but they kept running towards us without slowing down.

“Get in the way!”

“Get away!!”

　The two men were in their twenties with a frivolous air about them, but now they were running with desperate looks on their faces.

　I immediately did as I was told and moved to the side of the aisle. The two men passed by me without even a word of thanks.

　Were they the ones screaming now?

　If that’s the case, it would be best for me to run away as well, but–

“-Nooooooooo!!”

　A high-pitched woman’s scream rang out from the end of the corridor, in the direction the men had fled.

　There are still people there.

　I hurried forward and soon found myself in a hall in front of the stairs leading to the fourth floor.

　There were three figures there.

　One of them was a woman carrying a walking stick who appeared to have injured her leg. She was sitting down as if her back had been broken, and a large amount of bl00d was flowing from her thigh.

　The other person was a man lying face down on the ground. He seemed to be bleeding profusely, just like the woman, but I had a vague feeling that he might not be saved, or that he might even be dead.

　And the last one――――or rather, the last one,

“You’ve got to be kidding me…! That’s not in my data!”

　It was something that definitely shouldn’t have been in this place, on the third floor of the Shinjuku Dungeon.

　The being was completely covered in dull-colored full-body armor, with no gaps in his body, and in his left hand he held a kite shield, and in his right hand he held a bl00d-stained long sword. He was probably around 170 cm tall. He was a little shorter than I, but we were almost the same height.

　The helmet completely covered the armor, so I couldn’t see what was inside, but having gathered information from sources like the Modern Dungeon Strategy Wiki and DunTube, I was able to figure out its true identity.

　–Goblin Knight.

　This monster first appears on the fifth floor of the Shinjuku dungeon.

　Also, for a warrior-type explorer with no magic skills like me, he is an extremely bad matchup.

　–And then the Goblin Knight made his move.

　From the male investigator lying on the ground, towards the woman who was sitting on her bottom.

“Damn it!!”

　Why was the Goblin Knight here? I didn’t have time to think about that.

　I activated my fighting spirit, drew my sword, and took off running, getting in between the Goblin Knight and the woman.