Level-up Maniac, Level up in Modern Dungeons - Episode 60

April 8th, around 10:30 a.m.

　As usual, I arrived at the Shinjuku Dungeon’s 4th-floor monster room and immediately began circling it.

　By the way, maybe because my status improved yesterday, I was able to shorten the travel time from the first floor to here to about one and a half.

　Well, if I were to dive with Hinata-san from the day after tomorrow onwards, I would be exploring the dungeon overnight, so there would be no need to shorten the travel time to the monster room.

　Anyway.

　It took me 45 minutes to quickly circle the monster room using the same method as yesterday.

　It was probably around 11:15 pm.

　Just as I re-entered the monster room, smoothly preparing for my 25th lap of the day, it happened.

“–yeah?”

　Usually, when you enter the monster room, the summoning magic circle in the center of the room will start to glow brightly, and an army of 16 goblins will be summoned onto the circle right away.

　But this time, something was different.

　The magic circle continued to shine the same way, but the light was twice as bright as usual, so bright that it was almost blinding if you looked directly at it.

　Next, all over the monster room… in the air, countless particles of light suddenly began to appear out of thin air.

　The particles of light shining like the stars in the night sky flowed like water from an unplugged bath, and one by one they began to be sucked into the magic circle.

　At the same time.

　Bang, bang!!

　And then, several thin streaks of lightning began to shoot out from the magic circle into the surrounding area.

“This is… no way!?”

　After observing that much, I also noticed something.

　This was a more elaborate production than the usual bland summoning. My intuition as an RPG gamer was telling me. There was no doubt about it…

“A special effect… Did I unlock a secret event or something? …Anyway, I don’t know the exact details, but it seems like I’ve set up some kind of event flag without even realizing it…!!”

　What on earth is going to happen?

　With my unsheathed long sword at a ready position, I stared intently at the magic circle enveloped in a flash of light.

　And then, soon after, the light of the magic circle disappeared, and it appeared.

“Goblin, knight…?”

　I couldn’t help but let out a disappointed voice.

　At first glance, it looked like a Goblin Knight.

　He was easily over two meters tall. His entire body was covered in metal armor, so it was impossible to tell from here whether he was a goblin underneath. However, the moment they faced each other, Goblin Genocider activated, so there was no doubt that he was a goblin.

　but.

“Huh?! No?! This guy isn’t a Goblin Knight?!”

　The moment I saw the eyes hidden under the full-face helmet turn towards me, my whole body went numb.

　He was taller than the Goblin Knight he had encountered previously on the third floor, so he had decided that he wasn’t a Goblin Knight – or at least that wasn’t the case.

　Their appearances were so similar that one might mistake them for the other at first glance, but upon closer inspection, they were different enough to be immediately recognized.

　First, the armor.

　The metal armor that covered his entire body was nothing like the dull armor of the Goblin Knight. The well-polished silver armor was beautifully decorated with gold here and there, but not too gaudy. It reminded me more of a holy knight blessed by God, like those in stories, rather than a rough and rugged knight.

　The same goes for the shield in his left hand and the unsheathed long sword in his right.

　It was made from a strange silvery-white metal that reflected light well, and was lightly decorated with gold… no, I’m not sure if it was gold, but with a gold-colored metal.

　And around his back, draped a stunningly bright scarlet cloak.

　–As I’ve explained so far, no matter how you look at them, they don’t look like goblins.

　He has a divine appearance that could be called a Holy Knight.

　This being feels almost sacred, and it makes you wonder if it is a monster.

　However, my skills told me that this person was an enemy.

「――――!!?」

　Just as I was slightly stunned, my 《Danger Sense》 sent chills down my spine as the line that would cut my neck in half appeared.

　–The slash came flying.

　Even though he was far outside the range of the sword, he didn’t move a single step, and before you knew it, he had swung his sword.

　The incoming slash was already approaching right in front of my eyes, just as I sensed a chill.

　●◯●

“–Master!!”

“What’s up?”

“The emergence of a unique individual has been confirmed!!”

“–?! That’s impossible! It’s still too early! Report the details!”

“Yes. However…”

“What?! What happened?!”

“The unique individuals have only appeared in one place. No abnormalities in the magical energy concentration that could lead to the appearance of unique individuals have been detected in other places.”

“…So that means the magical energy concentration in the entire dungeon didn’t suddenly increase?”

“The concentration of magic energy within the dungeon is trending almost exactly as we predicted.”

“Fuu… you’re making me anxious… Then what is this anomalous instance? Where did it appear, and why?”

“Yes, I’m reporting. …The location appears to be Japan, Shinjuku Dungeon, 4th floor, inside the monster room. Currently, one explorer is engaged in combat with a unique individual there.”

“…The fourth floor? That’s too shallow. And the Shinjuku dungeon? Again?”

“Yes. The explorer fighting the anomaly is Takeo Samejima. He is an explorer whose title and skills were previously sealed by the master.”

“That brat Obito brought with him? Tch, what did you do this time?”

“Yes. I’m currently checking the logs. Please wait a moment. ………I have identified the cause of the unusual individuals.”

“What’s the cause?”

“Yes, it seems that the magic stone was the cause. The explorer in question, Takeo Samejima, has been using the monster room’s functions to level up recently.”

“Hmm… Well, that in itself isn’t a problem. In the first place, that’s what the monster room is for. Not many people use it though…”

“Yes, the monster room was functioning normally. However… it seems that halfway through the leveling process, Takeo Samejima stopped collecting magic stones.”

“Magic stone? Does that mean you didn’t pick up the dropped magic stone and left it in the monster room?”

“Yes”

“Apart from the dropped items, there were also magic stones… No, wait, even if it was a closed space, there’s no way that much of a peculiar individual could have appeared in the monster room on the fourth floor. They must have done something else.”

“No, that’s right, Master… It’s not just once or twice. As far as I can tell from checking the logs, Samejima Takeo has left the magic stones he obtained in the monster rooms 599 times so far. Even though they were all goblins below level 10, the total number of magic stones reabsorbed in the monster rooms is 9,584. Apart from that, the equipment series was left untouched from the beginning, and the cycle of monster rooms itself has been repeated many times in this short period…”

“…In other words, in a short period, so many dropped items were broken down into magic essence that the monster rooms could not keep up with the reabsorption?”

“Yes. Most of the recovered magic energy was returned to the circulation within the Shinjuku dungeon, or reused in the magic circle used to create goblins, but it wasn’t all recovered, and little by little, residual magic energy was generated within the monster room… Just now, the concentration of magic energy reached saturation, and the activation of the magic circle to create goblins triggered excitement. The large amount of magic energy supplied during the creation caused an overflow, activating the safety feature of the magic circle. It seems that a unique individual was created to consume the surplus magic energy.”

“That brat… what a fool… in such a shallow place…”

“Master, will you deal with the anomalous individual?”

“…What appeared?”

“Yes. I’m a level 40 Goblin Divine Knight. My combat ability exceeds that of a King.”

“A level 40 Divine Knight, huh… an explorer wandering below the 10th floor would not be able to defeat him even if a miracle were to occur.”

“Yes. I thought it would be dangerous to go outside the monster room.”

“That’s right… once the kid you’re fighting now dies, send an email to No. 30 asking Obito for help.”

“Understood. … Regarding Samejima Takeo, is it alright if we don’t rescue him? He seems to be someone Obito-sama cares about.”

“You got what you deserve. If you’re going to die, then so be it.”

“I got it.”

“Yeah… Oh, and this is a necessary measure, whether the kid wins or loses, but I want No. 30 to spread information about this incident to the Association. Tell them not to leave magic stones in the monster room. Make everyone aware of the dangers, along with information about the unique individuals.”

“…Are you sure? By letting people know, someone might try it out.”

“Hmph, you can try it out. Until the unique individual emerges, you need to turn them into magic stones and reabsorb about 10,000 of them, you know? I can’t imagine many idiots would do something so stupid.”

“…That’s certainly true.”

“…Ah, that’s right. And, if by any chance the kid survives, I want No. 30 to warn him not to leave magic stones in the monster room again.”

“Yes, I understand. I will do that.”