Level-up Maniac, Level up in Modern Dungeons - Episode 32

 

　He unleashed a slash at the commander from the air, bringing him down.

 

　I fall into a parabolic arc.

 

　He landed on the outside of the goblin encirclement.

 

“―ー！？”

 

　The goblins are shaken by the death of their commander. They turn towards me in a panic, but unlike their previous coordinated movements, they are now all separate. What’s more, their movements are a little slower.

 

　With the death of the Commander, the effect of the skill «Command», one of which was a 10% increase in all stats, disappeared, causing the stats to drop.

 

“It’s empty again!?”

 

　I swung my sword quickly and in succession.

 

　Each time a cutting line was drawn in the air, crescent-shaped slashes flew out in rapid succession.

 

　By landing outside the encirclement, the warriors’ positions changed relatively, moving to the rear of the pack. In other words, the archers and mages who had been hiding behind the warriors came forward.

 

“Grrr?!”

 

　The warriors frantically try to come forward, but it’s too late.

 

　In the meantime, I took out as many Archers, Mages, and Swordsmen as I could. There are still Archers and Mages left, but unfortunately, the rest are out of reach from here.

 

　However, if I can reduce their numbers this much, my victory is assured.

 

　Besides, my HP was already below half due to the consumption of 6 HP every 10 seconds from 《Fighting Spirit》 and 《Sword Spirit》, plus 1 HP for each slash, which meant that the effect of 《Bl00d Vengeance》 had been activated, increasing all of my stats except for HP and MP by 10%.

 

　In addition to this, I also activated 《Madness》 as a final blow.

 

————————————————–

 

《HP》36/81

 

《MP》18/18

 

Strength 106 (+60)

 

Sturdy 74 (+39)

 

Intelligence 5 (-1)

 

《Mind》13 (+1)

 

《Agility》84 (+44)

 

Dexterity 44 (+4)

 

————————————————–

 

　Sprint.

 

　As he sprinted, he shouted at one of the warriors who had finally come to the front, activating Taunt.

 

“Ola! If you don’t defend yourself properly, I’ll kill you in an instant!?”

 

“–!?”

 

　The Warrior must have realized that I was aiming at him, because he stood his ground and raised his shield in front of him.

 

　I didn’t kick the shield like I usually do – but instead, I closed the distance until I could reach the shield, grabbed the edge of it with my left hand, and flicked it away as if to push something out of the way.

 

“Gugh!?”

 

　The blow knocked away his left arm, which was holding the shield, throwing the warrior off balance and leaving his torso wide open.

 

　If our Strength and Agility were similar, he would have been able to counterattack with the sword in his right hand before I could move my shield away.

 

　However, the difference in Strength and Agility was no longer just two times. The Warrior was too weak and too slow for me now.

 

“-Shh!!”

 

　He swung his sword down across the bare torso.

 

　In an instant, the warrior’s HP was completely depleted, and the sword cut his body in half, no longer offering any resistance.

 

　At that moment, a fireball from the last remaining mage came flying towards me.

 

　I easily avoided that.

 

　Why is that?

 

Even though the first stage effect of “Bl00d Vengeance” is activated, the “Agility” value only differs by “4”. Even so, the enemy’s movements seem slower than usual. The enemy’s movements are easy to see.

 

　Is it because I’m high?

 

　–It doesn’t matter.

 

　There were only four Goblins left: two Warriors, one Archer, and one Mage.

 

　There’s no way I’m going to lose this.

 

　A few seconds later, I quickly dispatched the four goblins, and the battle was over.

 

 

　●◯●

 

 

“Hinata-san, it’s finished.”

 

“…Ah, yes.”

 

　When the battle ended and I returned to Hinata-san, for some reason, she gave me a dull response.

 

“You did defeat him… all by yourself.”

 

“That’s why I told you it was okay.”

 

　Even though I’ve told her many times, Hinata-san doesn’t believe me.

 

　Well, before the fight started, I was a bit worried too, but although I did lose a fair amount of HP, I managed to win without a single injury.

 

『No no no no no!?』

 

“Whaaaaaaaaaaat?!?”

 

『Wait, seriously?! You seriously won all by yourself, Junkie-niki!!』

 

　And it seems that the viewers of Hinata’s channel didn’t believe it either.

 

　The noisy comments are read out one after the other.

 

『But, excluding the warrior who defended with a shield, what do you mean by one-hit kills all the goblins!?』

 

“It was a one-hit kill even when it was strengthened by the Commander, right?!”

 

『Eh? Seriously, what’s with Junkie-Niki’s attack power? He hasn’t even reached level 20 yet!?』

 

“Junkie-Niki seemed strangely confident, so I knew he’d win, but I didn’t expect it to be such a crushing victory!”

 

“I thought it would be a much closer fight, what’s this!?”

 

“You’ve got to be kidding me…!! That’s not the behavior of someone who’s only been an explorer for 10 days or so…!!”

 

“Far from being scared of that many, he massacred the goblins one-sidedly with a crazed smile on his face, is that true?”

 

“I witnessed such a shocking video that I’m a bit confused right now.”

 

“But when it comes to fighting, Junkie-niki’s personality changes.”

 

“He’s a junkie, but he’s a battle junkie.”

 

“Seriously, those aren’t the movements of an explorer wandering the 4th floor…!!”

 

『There may be a fair level difference, but winning against 16 goblins without a scratch is…』

 

“Rather than flinching against an overwhelming number of opponents, he won overwhelmingly without a scratch. Aren’t you just too used to fighting, Junkie-niki? You’re no longer a legitimate fighter…”

 

　With the comments from the viewers playing in the background, Hinata and I picked up the magic stones scattered around the room.

 

　The drop wasn’t just magic stones; luckily, a beginner-level heal potion also dropped.

 

　There were also a series of goblin weapons and armor dropped, but as I had already discussed with Hinata, I decided not to pick them up as they would get in the way.

 

　Anyway, I gathered up the magic stones and put them in my backpack, then I had Hinata use heal to restore my HP.

 

　By the way, when the battle ended, my HP had dropped to 28.

 

　Hinata-san’s level had increased by one in the morning, and perhaps because her 《Intelligence》 had been strengthened, her HP recovery had increased from 32 in one go to 35 now.

 

　However, one use of heal will not be enough to fully heal the patient, so you will need to use heal twice.

 

　By the way, the MP consumed for healing is “5”. Hinata’s MP is over 60, so the MP that naturally recovers in an hour is just over 30.

 

　In other words, we can reliably repeat this battle three times an hour.

 

　…No, I still had plenty of HP left, so next time I might only need to heal once.

 

　Now that I know how to fight and maneuver in this monster room, I should be able to reduce the amount of HP I consume next time.

 

　That means, although it depends on my stamina, I can complete at least six laps in an hour.

 

　I calculated it in my head, nodded, and called out to Hinata.

 

“Hinata-san, shall we go outside?”

 

“I agree.”

 

　And then, as if finally recovering from the shock, Hinata nodded as usual.

 

　With the battle over, we opened the door that had reappeared and went outside together.

 

　Then I turned around and put my hand on the door I had just closed.

 

“–picture?”

 

『Eh?』 『Eh?』 『Eh?』

 

『Junkie-niki? That’s a lie, right…?』

 

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

 

　For some reason, Hinata and the other viewers asked questions, so she turned around with just her head and tilted her head.

 

　Hinata-san looked in my direction as if she saw something unbelievable.

 

“Um… what are you doing?”

 

“…Huh? Didn’t I tell you?”

 

　Come to think of it, I may not have explained anything to Hinata.

 

　However, if she had even the slightest experience playing games, she should have been able to figure out what I was going to do… but Hinata is a woman, and she seems like a young lady, so she might not be familiar with RPGs and similar games.

 

　If that’s the case, he may not even know about the characteristics of the Monster Room.

 

　Once I was satisfied with the situation, I explained it to Hinata-san.

 

“Ah, Hinata-san, perhaps you don’t know? If you leave the monster room and then re-enter it, you can fight the same monster again, right?”

 

　That’s right. Monster rooms in modern dungeons can be used as infinite spawn points!

 

　For some reason, viewers seem to be wondering about this, but it’s a well-known story. My favorite DanTuber, “Headshot Yakuza Nikki,” and other explorers whose names always come up in discussions about the strongest explorers in Japan all use this “Monster Room Circulation Method,” which is a very popular leveling method.

 

　So what is there to be so surprised about?

 

“Um… so?”

 

“Okay. So, from now on, we’ll be fighting in this room over and over again. It’ll be very efficient because we won’t have to walk around looking for monsters every single time, you know?”

 

“…………”

 

　Hinata took a deep breath and then,

 

“-Nooooooo!!”

 

　He yelled as if throwing a tantrum.

 

　I sighed in exasperation.

 

“Again, Hinata-san?”

 

“Not again! We just finished fighting a while ago! Aren’t you tired, Takeo-kun?!”

 

“Thank you for your concern. But I’m fine!”

 

“It’s not okay! It’s not okay at all, mainly Takeo’s brain! Reality is not a game, you know!? You have to distinguish between games and reality!? Right!?”

 

“Hahaha! That’s obvious, isn’t it? I’m not stupid enough to mistake reality for a game.”

 

　I grabbed the reluctant Hinata’s arm and tried not to let her escape. You see, it’s dangerous to wander around the fourth floor alone, you know?

 

“Ha, let go!!”

 

“It’s okay, it’s okay, Hinata! You’ll get used to it in no time!”

 

“You’ll never get used to it! Takeo-kun, your HP was below half in the previous battle, right?! That means if I get hit even once, I’ll be in the danger zone!! I might die!! If Takeo-kun dies, then I’ll die too!! Let’s fight with a bigger safety margin!? Right!?”

 

　Hinata-san is reluctant. However, I already know that she is weak under pressure.

 

“It’s okay, Hinata-san! Just trust me here!! If you just leave yourself to me, I’ll make you feel good (by leveling up) as many times as you want!! Trust my (combat) techniques!! I’ll show you a new world, Hinata-san!!”

 

“N-nooo…!!”

 

　Look, the resistance is starting to weaken!!

 

“I absolutely won’t let you get even a scratch on Hinata-san!! I’ll risk my life to protect you, Hinata-san!! And this time, I’ll do it better than last time!! So it’s okay, right!? Right!? Right!?”

 

“~~~~!!”

 

　Well, to sum up.

 

　The argument with Hinata continued several more times, but I managed to push through.

 

　And after that, we were nuts. Orbit