The method for looping the Floor 7 Monster Room was simple.
Upon entering the room and the monsters appearing, I immediately activated Taunt while simultaneously triggering all my enhancement-type skills.
Then, I would activate Sword Aura and Mighty Blade, unleashing three consecutive giant Flying Blades toward the dense army of goblins.
This was enough to blow away the majority of them, and while about ten survivors usually remained, I finished those off in close-quarters combat.
The key thing to watch out for during this process was ensuring that the giant Flying Blades definitely killed the Commander.
The Commanders on this floor possessed Leadership Level 3; if left alone, they would buff all the stats of their subordinates by thirty percent.
Since Level 20 monsters already have higher stats compared to Explorers of the same level range, a thirty percent buff was nothing to sneeze at.
That said, as long as I could get the Commander to exit the stage right at the start, there weren't any particularly troublesome factors.
The goblins in the Floor 7 Monster Room were certainly formidable, but partly because I had been strengthened by the Holy Sword dropped by the Divine Knight, I was still able to kill them in a single hit.
Once the battle was over—usually in more than twenty but less than thirty seconds—I would work with Hinata-san to collect the drop items scattered across the room.
We basically only picked up Magic Stones.
Of course, we would pick up Skill Orbs if they appeared, but as usual, we left the goblin equipment series where it lay. By the time you reached this floor, equipment that could be sold for a decent price—such as the Berserker's greatswords, the Bow Knight's bows, and the Archmage's staves—started to drop, but even the expensive ones only went for about 100,000 yen.
More than anything, they were heavy and bulky, so in terms of efficiency, Magic Stones were overwhelmingly better to carry back.
However, one minor annoyance was that Archers no longer appeared, meaning Beginner Heal Potions no longer dropped. The higher-class Bow Knights did not drop potions.
In their place, the Archmages dropped Beginner Mana Potions, so I wanted to collect those aggressively.
The drop rate was about one in twenty, meaning by my calculations, they wouldn't drop unless we did two or three loops of the Floor 7 Monster Room.
Anyway.
After spending several minutes collecting the drop items, I would have Hinata-san restore my depleted HP.
The amount of HP I consumed during a single battle was as much as 136. If things got difficult, the consumption would likely increase further.
To recover this much HP, she had to cast Heal or High Heal on me multiple times... and since we're at it, I'd like to take a moment to explain a bit about the amount of HP recovered by healing magic.
In the case of the Beginner Healing Magic, Heal, the HP recovered is calculated using the following formula:
Intelligence - (Intelligence - Dexterity) = Base Recovery Amount
Base Recovery Amount × 1.1 to 1.5 = Actual Recovery Amount (rounded to the nearest whole number)
As for the part in parentheses, if the Dexterity value is greater than the Intelligence value, it automatically becomes 0. In short, if the Intelligence value is higher, the Dexterity value becomes the Base Recovery Amount; if the Dexterity value is higher, the Intelligence value becomes the Base Recovery Amount.
The multiplier then fluctuates depending on the skill level of Beginner Healing Magic. For Level 1, it's 1.1; for Level Max or if the skill has undergone Skill Evolution to Intermediate or higher, it's 1.5 for both.
So, with Hinata-san's current stats, it looks like this:
65 - (65 - 40) = 40
40 × 1.5 = 60
Incidentally, in the case of High Heal, the following values are multiplied by the Actual Recovery Amount of Heal, depending on the skill level of Intermediate Healing Magic:
Level 1 → 1.2 Level 2 → 1.4 · · · Level 5 → 2.0
Therefore, the recovery amount for Hinata-san's High Heal was...
60 × 1.6 = 96
It worked out like that, but Heal and High Heal both have a "Recovery Cap." For Heal, it's 50, and for High Heal, only up to 150 can be recovered at once.
Any surplus value that exceeds the cap is discarded by the magic. However, if one possesses a skill that strengthens the effectiveness of healing magic, the system allows the cap to be unlocked.
In any case, the MP cost for Heal is 5, and High Heal is 10. In Hinata-san's current case, strictly looking at the numbers, it was more efficient to recover using Heal.
However, while Hinata-san didn't have a skill to strengthen healing magic, she did have a stat-enhancing skill.
That would be Mind Concentration Level 3.
If she activated High Heal while this was active, the recovery amount became:
104 - (104 - 64) = 64
64 × 1.5 = 96
96 × 1.6 = 153.6
In other words, when recovering the 136 HP I consumed, it was slightly more efficient to use a Mind Concentration-boosted High Heal once rather than using Heal three times.
The MP cost ended up being 13 per use (Level 3 Mind Concentration consumes 3 MP every 10 seconds).
Also, the good thing about High Heal isn't just its high recovery cap; it can also mend larger wounds all at once compared to Heal.
There's no need to chant incantations to activate magic, but it does require prior preparation, such as focusing the mind or manipulating mana, so it's not something that can be used many times in rapid succession. Thus, High Heal is often more useful even during combat.
But I digress.
Now, let's return to the matter of the loops.
The battle itself ended in less than a minute, but picking up the Magic Stones and other items afterward took time. Then Hinata-san had to restore my HP, which consumed 13 MP per use.
When we first started the loops today, Hinata-san's MP was 110.
Note that this value was the figure after she leveled up during the first loop today and allocated her Status Points.
Since Hinata-san wasn't fighting on the front lines and wasn't doing intense exercise, her MP recovered by almost half every hour.
However, since Beginner Mana Potions drop while looping the Floor 7 Monster Room, the MP recovered by these can also be incorporated into the loop cycle.
So to be honest, we didn't have to worry about running out of MP.
Consequently, the number of loops per hour became roughly ten. One loop every six minutes. Most of this time was spent picking up Magic Stones.
Of course, if we hurried like crazy, we could shorten the time spent picking up stones... but then, setting me aside, Hinata-san would get exhausted.
So we maintained a pace of six minutes per loop.
The MP Hinata-san consumed per hour was 130. On the other hand, if she drank three mana potions per hour, that would recover 90 MP, which, combined with natural recovery, totaled 145.
It was a breeze.
Thinking that, we continued the loops for three hours. It was past noon, and just as we were discussing taking a lunch break, Hinata-san spoke up.
"Takeo-kun."
"What is it, Hinata-san?"
"Um, you see... After drinking nine mana potions, my stomach is starting to feel a bit sloshy..."
I wasn't dull, so I caught on immediately.
"Ah, the bathroom? Should I step out of the room?"
'What!? Hinata-chan's bathroom break!? I-Is it okay to broadcast something like that!??'
'Woooah!!'
'Toilet time, huh. Maybe I'll go too.'
'↑ Way too much "as if they'd broadcast that" www. What are you even saying www'
'↑ You just shut up and go to the toilet w'
However, Hinata-san turned red and shook her head.
"No, that's not it! Um... I was thinking that if I keep drinking potions at this pace, I might eventually reach a point where I can't drink any more..."
"............ Ah!"
I understood.
Now that I thought about it, Hinata-san wasn't doing very intense exercise, so she probably wasn't sweating much. The reason I was able to drink fifty potions or so during loops when Hinata-san wasn't around was probably because I was sweating a lot.
Hmm... But if that's the case, it'll be a problem if the looping pace drops...
Just as I was wondering what to do, Hinata-san said hurriedly:
"Oh, but you don't have to slow down the loop pace, okay!! My level went up and my MP increased, and I just maxed out the skill level for Intermediate Healing Magic a moment ago, so I think my recovery amount has gone up to 150 even without Mind Concentration!"
When I asked for details, it turned out Hinata-san had reached Level 24 over the course of the morning. That was a jump of five levels all at once.
As a result of allocating the Status Points and Skill Points she gained just now, it seemed her High Heal recovery amount now reached the cap even without Mind Concentration.
Additionally, her MP was at 140 at this point, and her hourly recovery amount had increased to 70.
In other words, she only needed to drink one mana potion per hour to replenish the necessary MP.
So, there was nothing to worry about!
"Oh! Well, that's a relief then!"
I sighed in relief.
'N-No... could someone please comment on the horror development where she gained five levels in just three hours...!! (shaking voice)'
'Wait??? Was Explorer leveling always this smooth???'
'The experience points needed to level up in the 20s should have been at least 300,000...!!'
'I, a veteran explorer, am completely losing confidence at this insane level-up pace...!!'
'Leveling up way too muuuuch!!'
'This...!! This right here...!! Is true power leveling!!'
'Other Explorers should learn from this www'
'AS IF THEY COULD!!'
'No, but seriously, isn't the synergy between Sword Aura and Mighty Blade just too incredible? You need a way to recover HP, so the hurdle for doing the same thing is high, but wouldn't the value of someone with Mighty Blade skyrocket?'
'↑ Mighty Blade is a super-super rare skill, it was highly rated from the start www. Besides, people with healing magic are also super-super rare www'
'This isn't something you can copy even if you wanted to...'
'I mean, in the first place, is it really okay to drink that many potions? Hinata-chan has already had nine, right? Won't she get potion addiction or something?'
"—Eh?"
"Takeo-kun?"
Just as I had relaxed and was preparing food with Hinata-san for lunch, I caught a phrase I couldn't ignore from the viewers' comments, which I had been listening to like background music. I stopped moving.
Then, I stared at the drone floating in the air and questioned the viewers on the other side of the lens.
"...What did you just say?"
'Huh?'
'Eh?'
'About what?'
"Didn't you just say it...? Something about potion addiction..."
'Oh, just that she's drinking too many potions.'
'Well, anyone would be worried after seeing her drink that many.'
"...Even though she's only had nine...?"
'Hm?'
'Hm?'
'Only... nine?'
'Oho, things are starting to take a dark turn here.'
"I-I mean... is there such a thing as potion addiction...?"
Something like that wasn't even listed on the Modern Dungeon Strategy Wiki...!!
'Well... isn't there?'
'It's a pretty common setting in fantasy and stuff.'
'For now, there shouldn't be anyone who has actually caught potion addiction, but...'
'Potions are in such low supply compared to demand in the first place that even if there was an addiction, nobody could drink enough to get addicted anyway.'
'Maybe Hinata-chan is the first person to ever drink nine in a single day?'
'What's the deal, Hinata-chan? Is anything wrong with your body?'
"Um... so far, there's nothing wrong other than my stomach feeling sloshy."
'No abnormalities. What a relief!'
'Well, the government must have asked medical institutions to check them before they were distributed to the general public. They announced there were no side effects, so there probably aren't any, right?'
'They probably tested by administering about nine bottles at once.'
'True.'
"............"
"Takeo-kun, could it be..."
'I hope it's not what I think it is...'
'Leveling Junkie Bro...'
'Don't tell me you...'
I began to tremble violently. Cold sweat wouldn't stop pouring.
This was different from the times I thought I might die in battle. In combat, I'm on a high, so it's not that scary...
Or rather, it's the difference between being prepared and being caught off guard. If someone suddenly tells you "You're going to die very soon" during an everyday scene like a casual conversation, of course you'd be terrified!!
It's like being told "You have terminal cancer. I'm sorry..." right when you thought you were healthy!!
Overcome with terror, I screamed.
"N-Nooooooo!! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!! I haven't reached the level cap yet, so I don't want to dieeeee!!!"
'What kind of reason is that www'
'Calm down www'
'It's no use, he's not listening www'
'Hinata-chan, please! Calm Leveling Junkie Bro down!'
"Y-Yes!"
I remained in a state of frantic confusion for quite some time.