Level-up Maniac, Level up in Modern Dungeons - Episode 38

　I prepared myself and activated my 《Fighting Spirit》 and 《Madness》 at the same time.

 

　Immediately afterwards, he sprinted towards the men blocking the entrance to the monster room.

 

　As he sprinted, he pulled his long sword from its sheath, then activated his 《Sword Spirit》 to coat the blade in a pale blue aura.

 

　By this time, the men had noticed my movement and had hastily drawn their weapons and tried to turn towards me.

 

“What?! You bastard?!”

 

“-Too slow!!”

 

　Before my enemy could fully prepare, I swung my sword just outside of its reach.

 

　The pale blue sword energy transformed into a blade and flew off.

 

　The man at the front of the group countered the attack that shot through the air faster than an arrow. He also wrapped his sword in 《Sword Spirit》 and used the blade to block the oncoming attack.

 

“Don’t underestimate me, brat!!”

 

“-You!!”

 

　The aura slash was shattered into pieces by the man’s sword.

 

　However, the impact certainly shook the man’s body, rendering him motionless for just a moment.

 

　That alone was enough of an opening.

 

「――――!?」

 

　The man’s eyes widen in shock.

 

　By that time, I had already slipped into the man’s arms.

 

　Without the slightest hesitation, he thrust out his sword, wrapped in 《Sword Spirit》, as if to charge at it with his entire body.

 

　A moment later, a slight resistance was felt on the surface of the man’s body, and then the sword was firmly buried in the center of the man’s chest. Deep, deep.

 

“–Ah…!!”

 

　Fresh bl00d overflows from the man’s mouth.

 

　I don’t know how much HP this guy had. But considering that he had the 《Sword Spirit》 skill, his level probably wasn’t that different from mine. So, even if I attacked him in a defenseless place, it was unclear whether I could kill him in one hit.

 

　However, the invisible barrier created by HP has a certain weakness.

 

　It’s a continuous attack on a single point.

 

　The HP barrier only reduces the damage from enemy attacks, it does not nullify them. Even if you have HP remaining, the barrier only works for an instant.

 

　In other words, it is weak against thrusts.

 

　As expected, my sword pierced the man’s heart right after his HP barrier appeared and disappeared.

 

　He jumps back and pulls the sword out of the man’s chest.

 

　Losing his support, the man’s body collapsed helplessly to the floor of the monster room, bleeding profusely.

 

“”””””

 

　Perhaps their thoughts were paralyzed by the fact that their comrades, who had overwhelming superiority, had been killed, and for a moment, silence descended.

 

　Everyone’s eyes widened, and they stared at their dead comrade, and then at me a moment later.

 

　There is anger and hatred in his eyes.

 

　But I’m not so naive that I would overlook the men’s foolish carelessness.

 

　While the men were frozen in shock at the sudden turn of events, he had already readjusted his sword and was ready to unleash a second flying slash.

 

　The next few seconds are crucial.

 

　Kill as many of the men as you can before they get back on their feet.

 

　If there was any chance of winning, it was there.

 

　Without a moment’s hesitation, I prepared to swing my sword.

 

　But.

 

　The pursuit was unsuccessful.

 

　It was a surprise attack.

 

 

　–Your level has increased.

 

 

　teeth?

 

　The information echoed in my head, and my thoughts suddenly stopped.

 

　why?

 

　Just now, when I defeated the goblins in the monster room, the experience points I needed to level up should have been 3680.

 

　I checked it after the battle was over, so there’s no doubt about it.

 

　Did you mean the man you just killed had that much experience?

 

　Well, actually, to begin with.

 

　Do you get experience points when you kill humans?

 

　Many questions arise in her mind, but now is not the time to dwell on them.

 

　bad.

 

　Pretty bad.

 

　After all, leveling up means–

 

 

“— THIS IS SO GOOD!!!!!!”

 

 

　I screamed.

 

　Unable to resist the overwhelming pleasure, she screamed out loud while doing a spectacular Ina Bauer on the spot.

 

　He screamed, his eyes rolling back and his body trembling in convulsions.

 

　Even as I screamed, alarm bells were ringing incessantly in my head. My willpower tried to resist the pleasure as quickly as possible, to suppress this physiological phenomenon.

 

　Of course.

 

　If it were me, I would never miss such a big gap.

 

　I was the most anxious I’ve ever been in my life.

 

　It wouldn’t be surprising if the men were to launch their attacks at me, defenseless, at any moment.

 

　There’s no way I’m going to die for such a stupid reason…!!

 

　I tried desperately to resist the pleasure.

 

　But, however.

 

　For some reason, and it was truly strange at the time, the men did not attack me.

 

　Eventually, I sealed the lingering pleasure deep inside my body, raised my body from the Ina Bauer position, and looked.

 

 

“”””””

 

 

　The men, and even Hinata, who was standing at a distance, were frozen in place, with looks of fear on their faces, as if they had seen something unbelievableーーno, as if they had encountered something even more blasphemous and hideous.

 

“…………”

 

　A strange silence.

 

　Nobody moves, nobody says a word.

 

　Ah, yeah…

 

　I know, I know. It’s true that if someone killed someone and screamed “– G-G-B-O-D-I-N-G-O-R-I-N-T!”, you’d probably react like this too.

 

　But that’s not it. That’s not it.

 

　I had been subjected to a ridiculous misunderstanding, and even though I was in the middle of a battle, I had no choice but to explain myself. To protect my dignity as a human being.

 

「Ah, no, that’s not it!! What I just said was that my level suddenly went up, and it felt good, not like I got pleasure from killing someone!? Even I’m not that abnormal!!」

 

“I see…! What a crazy guy he was, so upset about…!”

 

　The only one who looked not scared, but more like dread, was the man known as Kanzaki, who muttered.

 

　You don’t believe my explanation for a second!?

 

　Although it was extremely unwilling, any further protests would be pointless. If I survived, I would like to explain things clearly to Hinata-san so that she would understand.

 

　–and.

 

　That was the moment.

 

　The second surprise attack came.

 

　Thud.

 

　My heart was beating particularly loudly.

 

　At almost the same time, an enormous, powerful, and irresistible desire welled up from deep within my heart.

 

 

　-I want to kill you.

 

　–I want to kill more, more…!!

 

 

“teeth?”

 

　I honestly didn’t understand what it meant and started asking questions.

 

　It’s pure murderous desire.

 

　I like leveling up, but I don’t enjoy killing monsters. And humans, more so than I, have a very normal sensibility in that I don’t want to kill as much as possible unless I’m in a situation where I have no choice, like now.

 

　That’s supposed to be the case.

 

　But why?

 

　What is this? Something’s wrong?

 

　I instinctively realized that something strange had happened to me, and quickly checked my status, wondering if I was suffering from some sort of abnormal condition.

 

　Unfortunately, there were no abnormal conditions such as poison or confusion.

 

However, there were certainly more and more unfamiliar abnormalities in the status column.

 

　Those are titles and skills.

 

————————————————–

 

【title】

 

“Pleasure Killer” – the result of someone who has come to realize the pleasure of killing people. His mind is already abnormal, and he is an aberrant being who can turn the abnormal into the normal, which is why he displays unparalleled strength in human combat. He acquires the skill “Last Murder”.

 

【skill】

 

《Last Murder Lv.1》—Damage dealt to humans is 4.0 times higher. When fighting humans, all ability values ​​except HP and MP increase by 100%. Also, experience points gained from humans are 2.4 times higher.

 

————————————————–

 

　When I checked the details of the title and skills, I was stunned.

 

　What is this?

 

　Is it possible for a skill with such absurd capabilities to exist?

 

　No, even if a skill with such capabilities existed, could it be used without any cost?

 

　I didn’t even spend a huge amount of skill points, so how could such a skill just appear out of nowhere?

 

　The skill description doesn’t say that it requires any compensation.

 

　However―――, that was the limit of what he could think.

 

 

“–Ahh . “

 

 

　It’s fun, entertaining, interesting, and irresistible.

 

　The thought of being able to kill many people brings an unbearable pleasure to him.

 

　There are tons of delicious-looking chunks of meat here…!!

 

　How wonderful…!!

 

 

“Ahahaha, ahahahaha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!”

 

 

　I laughed.

 

　He smiled so deeply that his face was all crumpled, and looked at the men.

 

“”—!?”””

 

　The men’s faces twisted in horror, and even though they were terrified, their survival instinct drove them to ready their weapons.

 

“…Ha! So this brat was a genuine madman…!!”

 

　Although Kanzaki is still not scared, he is unsure whether he should laugh or not, and his expression looks half-hearted.

 

　It’s strange.

 

　Well, maybe it’s not strange at all anymore.

 

　I no longer feel like I’m going to be killed by these guys.

 

　Of course.

 

　Because it’s always me who kills people.