April 3rd.
Just like any other day, I arrived at the Shinjuku Dungeon as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
However—
"Ugh... I can't believe I actually skipped a day of leveling... Argh!!"
As soon as I stepped onto Floor 1, I started clawing at my head in frustration.
The reason was yesterday. For the first time since becoming an Explorer, I had actually taken a day off from the dungeon.
Kanzaki and his group had attacked me in the Monster Room back on April 1st.
After having my bones shattered and my internal organs turned into a bloody mess, I finally woke up at the Headshot Yakuza's house on the morning of April 2nd.
After taking my leave from his residence, I headed home. Since it was still barely morning at that point, I had naturally intended to dive back into the dungeon in the afternoon.
But my mother was home, and she gave me such a scolding that it became impossible.
After all, I had stayed out without permission and hadn't answered my phone.
Well, to be precise, Mito-san had answered the call from my mother while I was asleep and offered a brief explanation—while carefully hiding the truth, of course. She told my mother that I had hit it off with my senior Explorer, the Headshot Yakuza, and ended up staying the night. Mito-san introduced herself as the Headshot Yakuza's partner and said she was answering on my behalf because I had fallen asleep and forgotten to call.
So, when I finally walked through the door, my mother interrogated me relentlessly.
"You weren't out drinking, were you!?" and "You aren't doing anything dangerous, are you!?" and so on.
By the time the lecture was finally over, it was nearly dinner time, so I didn't manage to dive that day.
To be honest, my mother's scolding was more mentally draining than leveling in the dungeon.
Of course, as far as I'm concerned, I haven't been doing anything dangerous, so I don't feel the least bit guilty.
Hmm?
The Monster Room? No, that isn't particularly dangerous.
Being attacked by Kanzaki's group? No, I ended up defeating them without a scratch.
What about nearly dying because of my Title and being beaten to a pulp by the Headshot Yakuza?
No, no, I'm fine now, and the Headshot Yakuza was ultimately just helping me out.
Still, even if it couldn't be helped, the fact that I couldn't level up yesterday is a real shock. It’s like when you can’t log in to a mobile game you’re addicted to for a day, and your stamina just overflows and goes to waste.
It’s exactly like that.
—Anyway.
My days of leveling start again today. I need to get my head back in the game.
By the way, I'm going solo today. In fact, I'll be solo for a while.
The truth is, Hinata-san won't be able to dive for the next few days. She has to spend time persuading her parents and handling the paperwork to withdraw from her university.
Besides, she told me that even once she starts working as an Explorer full-time, it would probably be impossible for her to dive every single day like I do.
Well, I never had any intention of forcing her to explore without rest, so that's fine.
From my perspective, I'll just alternate between exploring with Hinata-san and exploring solo. Though, strictly from a leveling standpoint, I’d be happy if Hinata-san could accompany me as much as possible.
Now, regarding my future leveling strategy... before I explain that, let's take a look at my Status.
――――――――――――――――
【Name】 Takeo Samejima
【Level】 『20』
Experience Points to next level: 『213480』
《HP》 101/101 (10 up!)
《MP》 24/24 (6 up!)
《Strength》 56 (5 up!)
《Constitution》 45 (5 up!)
《Intelligence》 6
《Spirit》 18 (6 up!)
《Agility》 51 (6 up!)
《Dexterity》 51 (6 up!)
【STP】 『0』
【SP】 『4』
【Skill】 《Increased Damage with Bladed Weapons Lv.Max》《Berserk Lv.1》《Goblin Slayer Lv.1》《Fighting Spirit Lv.Max》《Blood Vengeance Lv.1》《Sword Aura Lv.1》《Taunt Lv.1》《■■■■■■■ Lv.1》
【Title】 《Battle Junkie》《Goblin Slayer》《■■■■■》
――――――――――――――――
There's something a bit strange here—did you notice?
Yes, the increase in my stats doesn't actually match the math.
When I reached Level 20, I had 25 Status Points left unallocated. However, the total increase across all my stats adds up to 28.
Actually, when I checked this morning after waking up, my Strength, Agility, and Dexterity had each increased by 1.
I know why, though.
This wasn't because I spent Status Points; it’s because my raw base stats—the ones independent of Status Points—have increased.
I've been fighting and running every single day since I became an Explorer. It’s only natural that my physical capabilities would improve a bit on their own.
However, they say the limit for natural human stats is somewhere around 20, so there's a cap on how much I can train them manually. It's also incredibly inefficient compared to leveling up, so I should just view it as a lucky bonus whenever they happen to go up.
Oh, and the reason I boosted my Spirit is that I'll need MP for the battles from Floor 5 onwards. It's not like I'm aiming for 200 Spirit just because the Headshot Yakuza suggested it.
Anyway, enough about stats... the real issue is the Skill Points I still have available.
There is one Skill I plan to acquire later, so I have to keep at least 1 point in reserve.
That said, I haven't decided what to do with the other points yet.
My original plan was to take Seeker, level it up, and then grab its derivative skills. But now I've ended up with several skills I never expected to have before I became an Explorer.
In particular, I feel a lot of potential in the Goblin Slayer skill...!!
If you compare the descriptions for Goblin Slayer and the Lust Murder skill I saw before it was sealed, you'll see why.
――――――――――――――――
【Skill】
《Goblin Slayer Lv.1》— Damage dealt to the Goblin Race is increased by 2.4x. Additionally, during combat with the Goblin Race, all stats except HP and MP are increased by 10%.
《Lust Murder Lv.1》— Damage dealt to the Human Race is increased by 4.0x. During combat with the Human Race, all stats except HP and MP are increased by 100%. Additionally, Experience Points obtained from the Human Race are increased by 2.4x.
――――――――――――――――
...They’re quite similar.
The effects are incredibly similar.
Maybe it's just a hunch, but I wonder if Goblin Slayer has a higher-tier version? Perhaps if I keep raising the Skill Level, it will eventually turn into something like Lust Murder?
If that happens, I'm curious if the "side effect" or "price" would be the same. But even if it were, it wouldn't be a problem. My heart would probably just be filled with murderous intent toward Goblin-san.
That’s pretty much how I feel whenever I’m in the dungeon anyway.
So, honestly, I'm quite tempted to invest in it.
The only catch is that it only works on Goblins. There are plenty of other skills I want to spend points on.
............
Well, I'll just mull it over for now.
Leveling should solve everything in the end.
With that, I began my move.
I sprinted from Floor 1 through Floor 4, taking the shortest possible route to the Monster Room at the back of the fourth floor.
I ignored every monster along the way.
Maybe it was because my stats had increased, or because I wasn't carrying Hinata-san on my back today—or perhaps a combination of both.
I managed to cut my travel time down to just two hours.
I don't have Hinata-san here to heal me, but I'm going to hit those Monster Room loops with everything I've got today!