I delivered a finishing blow to the Commander while still in mid-air.
Tracing a parabolic arc, I dropped back toward the ground. I landed well outside the goblins’ encirclement.
“——!?”
The goblins wavered, visibly shaken by the death of their Commander. They spun around to face me in a frantic scramble, but their movements lacked the coordination they’d shown just moments ago. Each acted on its own. To make matters worse, they were noticeably slower.
With the Commander dead, the 10% boost to all stats provided by his Leadership skill had vanished. Their power had plummeted. And what’s more—
“You’re wide open again!”
I stood my ground and unleashed a rapid-fire sequence of sword swings.
Every time my blade sliced through the void, a crescent-shaped slash took flight in its wake. By landing outside the circle, I had effectively shifted the position of the Warriors to the rear of the pack relative to me. This meant the Archers and Mages, who had been hiding behind the front line, were now completely exposed.
“Gugya!?”
The Warriors tried to rush back to the front, but they were too slow.
In that opening, I cut down as many Archers, Mages, and Swordmen as possible. A few Archers and Mages managed to survive, but they were unfortunately positioned where my projectiles couldn't reach them.
Even so, having thinned their ranks this much, my victory was as good as settled.
Furthermore, between Fighting Spirit and Sword Aura consuming 6 HP every ten seconds, plus another 1 HP for every projectile I fired, my health had already dipped below the halfway mark. That triggered Blood Vengeance, boosting all my stats except HP and MP by 10%.
As a final finishing touch, I triggered Berserk.
———————————————— HP: 36/81 MP: 18/18 Strength: 106 (+60) Constitution: 74 (+39) Intelligence: 5 (–1) Spirit: 13 (+1) Agility: 84 (+44) Dexterity: 44 (+4) ————————————————
I broke into a sprint.
As I dashed, I activated Taunt and roared at one of the Warriors that had finally reached the front.
“Hey! Guard properly, or you’re gonna die in a heartbeat!”
“——!?”
The monster clearly realized it was being targeted. The Warrior planted its feet and braced its shield in front of its body.
I didn't kick the shield like I usually did. Instead, I closed the distance until I was chest-to-chest with the thing, grabbed the edge of the shield with my left hand, and flicked it aside like I was swatting away a nuisance.
“Gugya!?”
The force sent its entire left arm flying back. The Warrior’s balance broke, leaving its torso wide open.
I wouldn't have been able to pull this off a little while ago. If our Strength and Agility had been anywhere near each other, the goblin would have counterattacked with its right-hand sword before I could move the shield.
Now, however, the gap in our Strength and Agility was more than double. To my current self, the Warrior was far too weak and far too slow.
“—Hah!!”
I brought my sword down in a diagonal slash across its exposed chest.
The Warrior’s HP vanished instantly. My blade cleaved right through its unresisting flesh.
At that exact moment, a Fireball from the last remaining Mage streaked toward me.
I dodged it with effortless grace.
I wondered why. Even with the first stage of Blood Vengeance active, my Agility had only increased by four points. Despite that, the enemies’ movements felt slower than ever. I could see everything they were doing with perfect clarity.
Was it because I was high on the adrenaline?
—Well, whatever.
There were only four goblins left. Two Warriors, one Archer, and one Mage.
There was no way I could lose this.
A few seconds later, I made short work of the remaining four, and the battle came to an end.
●◯●
“Hinata-san, we’re done.”
“…Ah, right.”
When the combat ended and I returned to Hinata-san’s side, she gave me a strangely vacant response.
“You really… defeated them all… by yourself.”
“I told you it would be fine, didn't I?”
I’d told her over and over, but she just wouldn't take my word for it.
Admittedly, I’d thought things might get a little dicey before we started, but while my HP had taken a hit, I’d managed to secure a victory without a single scratch.
『No way, no way, no way, no way!?』 『Whaaaaaat!!?』 『Wait, for real!? Junkie Bro actually won that solo!!』
It seemed the viewers on Hinata-san’s channel were equally incredulous. A deluge of rowdy comments began scrolling past.
『Setting aside the Warrior that blocked with its shield, how is he one-shotting every single goblin!?』 『He was one-shotting them even when the Commander was buffing them, right!?』 『Seriously, what is Junkie Bro’s attack power? He’s not even Level 20 yet!』 『Junkie Bro was acting so cocky that I thought he might win, but I didn't expect a complete blowout like this!』 『I thought this was going to be a nail-biter, what the hell is this!?』 『No way, man… those aren't the movements of someone who’s only been an Explorer for ten days!』 『Is it true he slaughtered the Goblin-sans with a crazed smile on his face instead of being scared?』 『I’m actually a little traumatized by what I just saw.』 『His personality totally flips when he’s fighting.』 『He’s not just a leveling junkie, he’s a total battle junkie.』 『Those are not Floor 4 movements…!』 『Even with a level gap, winning against sixteen goblins without taking a hit is insane.』 『He’s way too used to combat. This guy is definitely not just some civilian…』
To the background music of the viewers' comments, Hinata-san and I gathered the Magic Stones scattered across the room.
The loot wasn't just limited to stones; we were lucky enough to find one Beginner Heal Potion. Several pieces of goblin equipment had also dropped, but we’d already agreed to leave those behind since they were just dead weight.
Once we’d tucked the Magic Stones into the backpack, I had Hinata-san use Heal to top off my HP. For the record, my health had dropped to 28 by the end of the fight.
Hinata-san had leveled up earlier in the morning and seemingly put points into Intelligence. Her Heal, which used to restore 32 HP, had improved to 35. One cast wasn't enough to bring me back to full, so I had her use it twice.
Heal costs 5 MP. Since Hinata-san’s MP was over 60, she naturally recovered about 30 MP per hour. This meant we could safely repeat that last battle three times an hour.
…Actually, I had plenty of health left over. Maybe one Heal per fight would be enough. Now that I had a feel for the rhythm of this Monster Room, I should be able to take even less damage next time.
In that case, depending on my own stamina, we could probably loop this at least six times an hour.
I nodded to myself after finishing the mental math and spoke to Hinata-san.
“Hinata-san, let's head out of the room for a second.”
“Right,” she replied, finally seeming to snap out of her shock.
We stepped through the door that had reappeared once the battle ended. Once we were out, I spun around and placed my hand on the door we’d just closed.
“—Eh?”
『Eh?』『Eh?』『Eh?』 『Junkie Bro? You’re kidding, right…?』
“Hmm? What’s the matter?”
Hinata-san and the viewers were all making confused noises, so I glanced back over my shoulder. Hinata-san was looking at me as if I’d lost my mind.
“Um… what are you doing?”
“…Oh? Did I not tell you?”
Come to think of it, I might have skipped the explanation. Still, if you’ve ever played a game, it should be obvious what comes next… though Hinata-san is a lady, and she seems like a high-class girl at that. She probably isn't familiar with RPGs. She likely didn't know the specific mechanics of a Monster Room.
Coming to that conclusion, I offered an explanation.
“Ah, Hinata-san, maybe you didn't know? If you re-enter a Monster Room after leaving, the same monsters spawn all over again.”
Exactly. In a Modern Dungeon, a Monster Room can be used as an infinite spawn point!
The viewers seemed just as baffled, but this was common knowledge. My favorite DungeonTuber, Headshot Yakuza Bro, as well as all the other top-tier Explorers who always come up in the "Japan's Strongest" debates—they all do this. The Monster Room Loop Method is an incredibly popular leveling tactic.
So, why were they so surprised?
“Um… and?”
“And so, we’re going to spend the rest of the day in this room, fighting over and over. It’s way more efficient than wandering around looking for monsters, right?”
“…………”
Hinata-san took a massive, shuddering breath.
“—Nooooooooooooooo!” she screamed, throwing a literal tantrum.
I let out an exasperated sigh. “Not this again, Hinata-san.”
“It’s not ‘again’! We literally just finished! Aren't you tired, Takeo-kun!?”
“I appreciate the concern, but I'm fine!”
“You’re not fine! You’re especially not fine in the head! Reality isn't a game! Please, let's draw a line between games and reality, okay!?”
“Ahaha! Of course. I'm not stupid enough to confuse reality with a game.”
I grabbed Hinata-san's arm to make sure she didn't bolt. I couldn't have her wandering Floor 4 alone; it was dangerous.
“L-Let go of me!!”
“It’s okay, it’s okay, Hinata-san! You’ll get used to it in no time!”
“I won't! Takeo-kun, your HP was below half! That means one mistake and you’re dead! You could die! And if you die, I’m definitely going to die too! Let's play it safe, please!?”
She kept protesting, but I already knew she was a pushover.
“It’ll be fine, Hinata-san! Just trust me! If you leave everything to me, I’ll make you feel so good with those level-ups over and over again! Just trust my technique! I’m going to show you a whole new world!”
“N-No…!”
There we go. Her resistance was already crumbling!
“I won't let a single scratch touch you! I’ll protect you with my life! Besides, I’ll do it even better this time! So it’s okay, right? Right? Right!?”
“~~~~!!”
In the end, the back-and-forth lasted a bit longer, but I successfully wore her down.
After that, we stayed in that room and went at it hard.