March 29th.
Once again, I found myself heading to the Shinjuku Dungeon.
That said, I hadn't arrived first thing in the morning like I usually did. It was a little after one in the afternoon.
The reason it had gotten so late was that I'd spent the morning at a weapon shop, looking for a replacement for the sword I lost in yesterday's battle.
Yes, a weapon shop.
In the three-plus years since the Dungeons appeared, the "weapon shop" had become a legitimate business in Japan. They were retail-style vendors where you could even handle owner registration for your purchases all in one go.
Before the Dungeons appeared, such a business would have been heavily restricted by laws regarding firearms and swords, but many of those regulations have changed.
As long as you have a Dungeon Exploration License, you can buy weapons at these shops. You can even transport them outside, provided they're registered and kept in a locked container. Of course, you’ll still get arrested if you’re caught carrying a bare blade out in the open.
Anyway.
I headed to Akihabara in the morning and picked up a new longsword at a weapon shop I frequent (though I’d only been there once before).
The blade's name: the "Steel Longsword."
Yes, it was the exact same model as my previous one.
The price, by the way, was nearly one million yen.
I thought I’d been making a decent amount of money in the Dungeon lately, but this single purchase wiped out the majority of my savings.
It made me realize something.
This was exactly why rookie Explorers struggled to turn a profit. If weapons and armor were being ruined at this rate, their actual income would be negligible.
...Wait.
No, it only broke because I’d pushed myself too hard against the Goblin Knight. If I fought normally, it should have lasted much longer.
Even if weapons and armor are technically consumables, I can't afford to let them go to waste this quickly.
Oh, and as for a replacement for my broken chestpiece... I didn't buy one.
Since I don't have any defense-type skills, my gear’s durability isn't reinforced by my stats. It really was just a standard leather chestpiece. In fact, the Goblin Knight had shredded it in a single blow.
If that's the case, then it doesn't really matter whether I have it or not until I can find armor with special effects.
I'm sure I can manage with my HP Barrier! Gahaha!
With my new weapon in hand and a bowl of meat juice noodles in my stomach, I made my way to the Shinjuku Dungeon.
I jogged the shortest route from the 1st Floor to the 3rd. In about two and a half hours, I reached the stairs leading down to the 4th Floor, right where I’d fought the Goblin Knight the day before.
I’d gotten into a few fights along the way, and the new sword felt great. I should be able to handle the monsters on the 4th Floor just fine with this.
"Alright, let's do this!"
With that, I descended to the 4th Floor.
The monsters here were the same Thieves, Warriors, and Swordmen from the 3rd Floor, plus two newcomers: the Goblin Archer and the Goblin Mage.
Their levels ranged from 6 to 8, and they appeared in groups of up to five.
I figured that by utilizing my Fighting Spirit, I could pick them off one by one while dodging their attacks, just like on the 3rd Floor. According to the Modern Dungeon Strategy Wiki, the highest Agility score for a goblin here was around 35. With my Agility over 70, this should be a walk in the park.
However, unlike my previous encounters, I now had to deal with long-range attackers. I’d have to stay sharp. I particularly couldn't afford to take a magic attack from a Mage. Since I’d completely neglected my Spirit stat, my magic defense was abysmal.
One hit would probably shred my HP in an instant.
"Well, it's not a problem as long as I don't get hit."
Action is better than anxiety.
I decided to jump into a fight and see how it went.
"Hm, here they come...!"
I hadn't been walking the 4th Floor for long before I spotted a group of goblins at the end of the usual dimly lit corridor. I drew my sword.
The group consisted of four: a Thief, a Warrior, an Archer, and a Mage. Their physiques were noticeably sturdier than the goblins on the 3rd Floor.
The goblins spotted me as well. They formed a line and began to charge.
The Warrior led the way, followed closely by the Thief. The Archer and Mage brought up the rear.
I ran toward them, but long before I reached striking distance, the enemy launched a preemptive strike.
An arrow from the Archer and a Fireball from the Mage.
The arrow was surprisingly fast. However, it wasn't invisible like a bullet, and with my current Agility, dodging it was easy.
The Fireball was no different. After sidestepping the arrow, I leapt further to the side, clearing the projectile with room to spare. The fireball sailed past me and slammed into the floor, erupting into a flashy burst of flames.
...Both were easy enough to dodge with some distance between us, but if they attacked while I was in the middle of a melee, it might be difficult to evade regardless of how high my Agility was.
I needed to stick to hit-and-run tactics to ensure I didn't get surrounded.
Just then, the lead Warrior stepped into my range.
"Oraaa!!"
Before it could strike, I slammed a full-power blow into the Warrior's shield.
Just like on the 3rd Floor, the Warrior was blown backward.
But the Thief trailing behind it immediately lunged forward.
It was faster than the ones on the 3rd Floor!
Still, a twofold difference in Agility was massive.
This level of speed was still easy to intercept. I turned toward the approaching Thief and swung my sword down. I bisected its torso with a single diagonal slash.
It seemed that even on this floor, a fourfold-power strike was overkill—however...
"Whoa, close!?"
The Archer and Mage followed up with another timed attack. By the time I’d dodged by a hair’s breadth and regained my footing, the Warrior I’d sent flying had already rejoined the battle.
My gut told me I could win if I just kept fighting normally, but... the Archer and Mage were definitely pests. I wanted to take them out first if possible.
The problem was that I didn't have any long-range options.
In that case, the only way was to get behind the front line.
"Hah!"
With a sharp exhale, I suddenly accelerated into a full sprint.
The Warrior braced itself, expecting an attack—but I ignored it and leapt toward the wall of the corridor.
Just before I slammed into the surface, I kicked off the wall to launch myself again.
It was the kind of acrobatic maneuver seen in Hollywood action movies, but for an Explorer with boosted stats, it wasn't particularly difficult.
"——!?"
I sailed over the Warrior and landed right in front of the Archer and Mage.
Using the momentum from my jump, I closed the distance and drove my sword through the stunned Mage. Its HP hit zero instantly, and it slumped over, dead.
The Archer, however, reacted quickly and loosed an arrow.
At this range, I didn't have time to jump and dodge.
But I could see the timing of the draw and the trajectory of the arrow perfectly. I twisted my torso and brought up the sword I'd just swung, using the flat of the blade as a shield in front of my body.
With a crisp clink, the arrow bounced off the blade.
I closed in on the panicked Archer. A single horizontal sweep of my sword sent its head flying through the air.
"—Phew, that's that."
Without letting my guard down, I turned back toward the remaining Warrior.
The Warrior didn't charge recklessly; instead, it held its shield high and watched me cautiously.
The words I'd muttered didn't turn into a death flag, nor was there any way I’d lose to a lone Warrior.
A few moments later, I finished off the goblin and claimed victory.
The battle had lasted somewhere between ten and twenty seconds. I’d lost 8 HP, but the Experience Points I gained were a staggering 1,030. That was almost as much as I’d gotten from the Goblin Knight yesterday.
Yeah, this is the spot!