Level-up Maniac, Level up in Modern Dungeons - Episode 55

I heard some screams and cries for help, so I quickly ran in the direction of the sound.

 

　Luckily, it didn’t seem like they were too far away, and I arrived at the scene shortly after starting to run.

 

　Thereーー,

 

“What did you say…?!”

 

　I was shocked by the sight that met my eyes.

 

　About five explorers were facing one large monster.

 

　One of the explorers was sitting on the ground, apparently seriously injured. The other four stood between him and the monster, looking terrified and hesitant.

 

　That’s to be expected.

 

　The monsters they faced were no match for the explorers operating on the fourth floor.

 

　A huge wolf with its head around my solar plexus – and riding on top of it was a well-built goblin wearing light armor and holding a spear. The goblin’s head was two heads higher than mine, and just its appearance was quite intimidating.

 

　-Goblin Wolf Rider.

 

　In the Shinjuku dungeon, this monster first appears on the 7th floor, and the minimum level for its appearance is 17.

 

　A monster that should never have been here.

 

“This isn’t in my data!”

 

　”What the hell am I doing here!?” I thought, and just as I was about to blurt out the words that sounded familiar to me, I suddenly came to my senses and said, “No, but now that I think of it…”

 

　Speaking of which, I encountered a Goblin Knight on the third floor a while ago, and recently, there’s been a bit of a buzz about monsters that have started appearing on various floors of various dungeons and moving between floors.

 

　So, my guess is… this means a major update has arrived.

 

　It’s the kind of thing you see in online games and social games. This real-life dungeon also has a game-like system called status, so it wouldn’t be strange if modern dungeons were updated. Probably, though.

 

　–But that doesn’t matter.

 

“Ah!? Ah, uh, um, please help meeeeee!!!”

 

　Standing on the opposite side of the Goblin Wolf Rider – commonly known as “Rider”, one of the explorers, a man in his mid-twenties, shouted with tears in his eyes.

 

　That’s right. We have to help these people first.

 

“Okay! I’ll help you!”

 

　I shouted as I pulled out my sword, then I activated my skill towards Rider.

 

　He raised the middle finger on his left hand and shouted.

 

“Hey, you disgusting chimera! Tell me if you’re a goblin or a wolf!”

 

　Of course, it’s the skill 《Provoke》.

 

　Since I was behind them and the older guys hadn’t done much damage, even a level 1 Provoke was enough to earn them hate.

 

　Rider turned towards me and glared at me with both the goblin and wolf eyes.

 

　By the way, if you observe his appearance, you’ll clearly understand why I called Rider a “chimera bastard.”

 

　It’s a goblin that looks like he’s riding a wolf… but actually, he’s not riding. He’s not mounted.

 

　What this means is that the goblin’s lower body is literally “fused” to the wolf’s back.

 

　But the name is Wolf Rider.

 

　It’s not at the level of man and horse being one.

 

　This monster is often the subject of debate as to whether it is a goblin, a wolf, or a chimera… but the moment I faced it, my Goblin Slayer skill went into effect, so it seems there’s no mistake in categorizing it as a goblin.

 

　Next time I have the opportunity, I’ll try presenting it at a conference.

 

“Won!!”

 

　While I was thinking about this, Rider took off.

 

　Its speed is, without exaggeration, as fast as an arrow.

 

　Riders are monsters with a high Agility ability score, and even at the lowest level of 17, that value reaches 70.

 

　And the range of levels at which they appear is wide, so at the highest level, their agility value seems to be around 120… but judging from their body size and speed of movement, they’re probably 7th-floor riders.

 

　Without panicking, I remained calm and waited for him to step within range.

 

　Currently, my HP is still below half, and Goblin Slayer and Bl00d Vengeance are activated. I thought about activating Fighting Spirit just to be sure, but since I have Danger Sense, it doesn’t seem like there’s any need to activate it.

 

　So, here are the ability values ​​after enhancement.

 

————————————————–

 

Strength 112 (+42)

 

Sturdy 104 (+39)

 

Intelligence 10 (+4)

 

《Spirit》48 (+18)

 

《Agility》104 (+39)

 

Dexterity 106 (+40)

 

————————————————–

 

　The rider thrusts his spear forward with the same momentum as his charge.

 

　The target was my heart. Even if I avoided the spear, I would be blown away by the wolf part. So, based on the attack range that 《Danger Sense》 had shown me, I dodged with minimal movement–,

 

“Owwwww!!”

 

　At the moment when the rider passed by at high speed, he raised his sword from below and sliced ​​off the goblin’s head.

 

　Then he spun around and faced backwards.

 

　Then, the rider who had passed behind me turned around as if it hadn’t mattered that his head had been blown off, and started charging towards me again at high speed.

 

　When I saw that, I was delighted and thought, “Ah! This is where I studied the strategy wiki!”

 

　Yes, the Goblin Wolfrider has two heads, one for the goblin and one for the wolf, so if you want to kill him by decapitation, you need to cut off both heads.

 

　No, it’s not a rider, it’s more like a chimera.

 

　If you think you’ve defeated him and then let your guard down, you’ll be attacked. I studied the strategy wiki beforehand, so I didn’t get caught off guard.

 

　The rider… no, it had now become a wolf, and leapt into the air with the same momentum as before, leaping towards me.

 

　The attack appears to be aimed at biting after striking with the claws of the right front paw.

 

　I avoided the sharp claw by jumping lightly to the side, away from the space it was about to pass through, and towards the outside of the wolf’s right front paw.

 

　The wolf’s legs get in the way, so he can’t bite.

 

“–!?”

 

　The moment the claw attack missed, I swung my sword over my shoulder from a safe position and brought it down.

 

　The slash sliced ​​more than halfway through the wolf’s neck.

 

　The wolf landed from its jump, spilling a large amount of fresh bl00d, took a few steps following its momentum, and then collapsed with a thud.

 

　After confirming that his form had turned into particles of light and vanished, I finally relaxed my stance.

 

“Hmm… It looks like we’ll be able to fight without any problems even if we advance to the seventh floor.”

 

　Is this the level of violence?

 

　Although he wasn’t as badly matched up as the Goblin Knight, he still managed to win an overwhelming victory against the Rider, who was supposed to be stronger than the Goblin Knight.

 

 

　●◯●

 

 

“Is everyone okay?”

 

　With the battle safely over, I called out to the older brothers who were looking at me in shock.

 

　By the way, the breakdown of the brothers’ party was four men and one woman. They were all about the same age, I guess. In other words, around mid-twenties. I don’t know their exact ages.

 

“Th-Thank you…!! You saved me–, Janki Nikki?!”

 

　One guy spoke his thanks on behalf of the party, and then, for some reason, he saw me and started yelling.

 

　Well, it seemed surprising since he knew who I was, judging from the way he called me.

 

　I’ve become famous too… although I do feel like I’ve gained that fame in a way that’s rather undesirable to some.

 

　Anyway, it wasn’t just my brother and his party members who were surprised to see me.

 

『Eh?! Junky-niki?!』

 

“Here comes the seriously hot junkie bro!!”

 

“I never thought I’d encounter Junkie-Niki…!!”

 

　A Voiceroid’s voice can be heard from a drone camera floating nearby the men, seemingly reading out the comments.

 

　I mean, do these guys have drone cameras too?

 

　Even the cheapest one costs over 1 million yen.

 

　That’s bourgeois… I thought for a moment, but now that I think about it, I can afford it too. For an explorer who can make it to the 4th floor, it might not be such an expensive purchase.

 

“But hey, you didn’t use your fighting spirit just now, did you!?”

 

“Seriously?! You defeated Rider without any enhanced skills?!”

 

“You’ve got to be kidding me…!! It’s a monster from the 7th floor onwards!!”

 

“And it was just two hits?! It was a KO in just one hit?!”

 

『Eh? Wait a second, even if you can defeat him, isn’t he too strong?!』

 

“Shuban lol. There are people whose IQs are lowered by Junkie Niki’s unexpected strength lol”

 

“Shubang shubang lol But I understand how you feel lol”

 

“No, this isn’t the strength of an explorer on the fourth floor…!!”

 

　Ignoring the viewers’ comments for the time being, I approached the men.

 

　I called out to the guys again, who seemed to be panicking for some reason.

 

“Umm, is your brother okay? He looks like he’s injured.”

 

　When I turned my gaze, there was a man with a pale face holding his left arm.

 

　It wasn’t just that his forearm had an additional joint… he had a fracture that even showed the bone, and the wound was a mess. I was wondering what had happened when another man told me.

 

“Um, well… actually, Ryder… ah, well, he was bitten by a wolf.”

 

“I see”

 

　Was that caused by a wolf bite? It looks like it hurts like crazy.

 

　I looked around at the guys, then checked on them. Luckily, it seemed that only one guy had been injured, his arm was all messed up…

 

“Umm, just to be safe, anyone who can use healing magic…”

 

“No, there isn’t.”

 

　Unfortunately, it seems there isn’t.

 

　Well, that’s only natural. There are almost no explorers active around here who can use healing magic. Hinata-san is the exception among exceptions.

 

“Um, Janki-niki, I feel bad asking you to do something like this after you helped me, but if you have the potion, would you be willing to give it to me? Of course, I’ll pay you.”

 

　My brother told me with a pleading look on his face.

 

　I wanted to do something to help, but… all I could do was shake my head.

 

“I’m sorry. I used up all my potions…”

 

“I see… No, don’t worry about it. I appreciate your help. I’ll repay you later.”

 

“Oh, no, don’t worry about it.”

 

“No, that’s not possible. I can’t do much for you, but I’ll thank you, so please wait. …Everyone, let’s hurry back to the surface.”

 

　After telling me, the polite older brother turned to his party members and urged them to return to the surface. His voice was tense, and he must have realized that every minute counted.

 

　Those words made me decide.

 

　With the condition of that guy’s arm, he might have some aftereffects. If he were lucky enough to get a potion, especially a mid-level healing potion, he would be able to recover completely, but even if he had money, the chances of getting a potion were low.

 

　In that case, even if it wasn’t a complete recovery, it would be better to treat it at least a little with a basic heal potion. With two or three bottles, it should be possible to recover to the point where there would be no aftereffects.

 

　If they treat to that extent, the explorer’s self-healing powers should be able to bring them to a full recovery, although this is limited to within the dungeon.

 

　And if you’re looking for basic heal potions, you can get as many as you want on this fourth floor.

 

“Wait, brother.”

 

“Picture?”

 

“I have an idea. Let’s go get the potions now.”

 

“Eh? No… Even if I say I’m going to get some potions, I don’t know if they’ll drop anything… This guy’s HP is decreasing little by little due to bleeding, so we need to get back to the surface quickly.”

 

“It’s okay. It won’t take more than five minutes.”

 

“……picture?”

 

　It would be much quicker to go to the monster room than to go towards the teleportation circle from here.

 

　I urged my brothers on without giving them a second thought.

 

“Come on! Follow me!”