The moment the middle-aged man pointed his right hand toward me, a chill ran through my entire body.
It wasn't a chill born of fear or a sense of crisis, but a premonition granted by my 《Danger Sense》 skill. My first instinct was to dodge, as I usually did, but I immediately realized that was impossible.
The sheer intensity of the sensation told me the attack's area of effect was massive. If I moved with everything I had, I might save myself, but Hinata-san and the other explorers nearby would be caught in the blast.
Dodge was off the table.
Proof arrived an instant later as a wall of fire erupted from the man's palm, surging forward like a massive tsunami.
"Tch!!"
"Takeo-kun!?"
I clicked my tongue and stepped forward. I raised my sword high above my head and simultaneously activated 《Fighting Spirit》, 《Berserk》, and 《Mighty Blade》. Then, I swung the blade down toward the approaching inferno.
"—Ooooooooooooooooooooh!!!"
The result was a Great Flying Blade.
Because the 《Goblin Genocider》 title wasn't active, it lacked its usual punch, but it still carried a damage multiplier of 24x. The massive arc of energy collided head-on with the fire tsunami, cleaving the inferno in two.
"—Wha?"
KABOOM!!
It was like watching Moses part the sea; the flames split wide, and the blade continued forward without losing an ounce of momentum. It whistled past the man's side and slammed into the wall behind him. The basement shuddered with a roar like an explosion, leaving a deep, jagged fissure in the concrete.
"..."
Everyone, including the middle-aged man, stared dumbfoundedly at the crack. I was doing the same. Because the fire tsunami had been split vertically, it had struck completely irrelevant locations, but cold sweat still poured down my back.
I'm glad we’re technically still underground.
If we were in the dungeon, the walls would have held, but on the surface, that blast would have leveled a building and killed dozens of bystanders. But since we're in the basement foyer... it's fine! Totally fine!
"...Hey, now, I didn't hear about this. Wasn't Shinjuku Dungeon supposed to be devoid of top-tier explorers...!?"
The man snapped back to his senses and turned toward me, his face twitching. Meanwhile, the desperation vanished from the explorers surrounding him, their faces lighting up as if they had seen a ray of hope.
"I wondered who it was—it's Leveling Junkie Bro!!"
"A-As expected of Leveling Junkie Bro!!"
"I can't believe Leveling Junkie Bro actually showed up!"
"We can actually win this!!"
"Leveling Junkie Bro!! Please, help us out!!"
"Understood!" I nodded and readjusted my stance. Then, I addressed the middle-aged man. "You there, old man! The Constitution states that terrorists are sentenced to death in Japan! If you stop resisting and behave yourself, I won't take your life here and now!"
"Don't speak such nonsense!! There's no such law!!" the man shouted back.
Kuh, is he trying to unsettle me with lies? I won't fall for that trick!
"Well, whatever! Either way, I'm going to have us lynch you in self-defense!"
"!? What kind of person are you...!? Or has the intelligence of today's youth simply declined this far!?"
How rude. I’m a high school graduate, thank you very much.
"It’s all because of the magic-comm waves! Why can't you realize that these waves are destroying human brain cells and lowering intelligence!? I am a Warrior of Justice who has stood up to save humanity from the infestation of the dungeon and an alien civilization!! Do not interfere with my sublime mission, you wretched evil explorers!!"
I felt like I’d heard a story like this somewhere recently. I looked closely at the man's face and felt a pang of recognition, but I couldn't quite place him. Just as I was about to dismiss his identity as irrelevant, Hinata-san let out a cry.
"Takeo-kun! That's the man who was giving a street speech in front of the station the other day!"
"The other day?"
"You know, the day we went to Dungeon Life together!"
"...Oh!"
Now that she mentioned it, I did remember something like that! It felt good to have the mystery solved. That said, it didn't change what I had to do. My priority was to cooperate with the other explorers and neutralize him.
I called out to the explorers surrounding the man. "Everyone! I'm diving in first! Please provide backup!!"
"Got it!"
"Right! Leave the backup to us!"
"Kuh!? You capitalists who don't understand justice...!! It's because of people like you that war never vanishes from this world!! Fine, then!! I have no mercy to spare for the likes of you!! I'll kill every last one of you right here!!"
"—!?"
The man screamed and threw something from his pocket. We all instinctively followed the object's parabolic arc with our eyes. Since our status benefits were active, I could clearly see what it was.
(—A magic stone?)
It was a transparent sphere about the size of a thumb tip—a standard magic stone. I froze for a moment, wondering why he would throw it, but the man didn't wait.
"—Hmph, burst!!"
Before the magic stone could hit the floor, the man used some kind of skill—almost certainly 《Flame Magic》—and detonated it. Flames and a roar filled the air as the magic stone shattered into dust.
However, none of us took any damage.
Just what was he trying to do? As we stood there puzzled, the man laughed triumphantly.
"Gwahahaha!! That magic stone was my trump card!! It was dropped by a Floor 20 boss monster!!"
I had no idea what that was supposed to mean. The guy was probably just insane. I decided to stop humoring his nonsensical babbling and just take him down.
"I'm just going to beat him up! —!?"
Just as I was about to lunge—
"—Wha?"
"Hey, what is this...!?"
"No way!? We're outside the dungeon!?"
The explorers let out panicked cries. Where they were looking, particles of light began welling up from the air, condensing into solid forms.
"Monsters...!!"
Just as Hinata-san gasped, several monsters materialized—Goblins, equipped with weapons, suggesting they were from Floor 3 or deeper.
"By now, my comrades should have finished their magic essence dispersion activity on the surface. Thanks to the increased magic essence concentration, Shinjuku Station has effectively become part of the dungeon!! You evil explorers!! This is nothing more than a prologue!! Use this opportunity to witness the true terror of the dungeon you so cherish!!"
Ignoring our shock, the man shouted, "To-yah!!" and leaped into the air. Immediately after, something incredible happened. Flames erupted from the soles of his feet like a jet engine, and his body defied gravity, soaring upward.
You're kidding. You can do that with 《Flame Magic》?
"Gwahahaha!! The odds are against me for now, so I'll be taking my leave!! You lot can stay and play with the Goblins!!"
"What!? You were just saying you'd kill us!!"
"Fool! That was a lie!"
Laughing mockingly, the Jet Old Man flew at high speed toward the stairs leading to the Association's surface floor.
Toward his back, I reflexively swung my sword. "You're not getting away!! Die!!"
The Flying Blade was small, and I hadn't applied 《Mighty Blade》. Even so, because Goblins had appeared nearby, my 《Goblin Genocider》 title had activated, doubling my status. I thought that even if I couldn't finish him off, I could at least knock him out of the air.
However—
"Nuooh!!?"
The man skillfully manipulated the jets on his feet, performing a magnificent barrel roll in mid-air to dodge my Flying Blade. The arc of energy struck the stairs instead, shattering the concrete. By the time the dust cleared, he had already disappeared onto the floor above.
His scream echoed back down into the basement. "You brat!! That was dangerous! I'm definitely going to kill you laterrrrrrrrrrrrr!!"
"Dammit!! I missed!!" I cursed under my breath.
"—Wait, what are you doing, Takeo-kun!? You can't kill him!"
"Eh?"
I tilted my head at Hinata-san's scolding.
"Look! Your title!!"
"—Ah. Aah!!"
That was close!! I'd forgotten. Right now, I was in a dangerous state where if I killed a person, I risked becoming a mindless killing machine. My body had just moved reflexively to take out a fleeing enemy. It definitely wasn't because he called me a "brat"... I'm pretty sure it's just human instinct to finish off a target. Yeah.
"L-Let's just clean up the Goblins for now!! Over here, you Goblins!!"
I shouted to cover my embarrassment and activated 《Taunt》. Nearly twenty Goblins swarmed toward me. Fortunately, they were only from Floor 3 or 4, so I was able to annihilate them in seconds.
"Y-You saved us, Leveling Junkie Bro!!"
"To handle that many so quickly...!! As expected!"
"But that old guy got away...!!"
"The Association lobby is right above us! We have to chase him!"
"You're right! Leveling Junkie Bro, sorry, but help us—wait, are you serious...!?"
"They're coming again!!"
"There's even more this time!?"
We had gathered near the shattered Dungeon Gate to discuss our next move when one of the explorers pointed at the stairs leading deeper into the dungeon and screamed.
I turned to see a swarm of Goblins surging up from the darkness. Their numbers were like a vast, thick cloud, pouring out from the stairs in an endless stream. It was abnormal enough for monsters to emerge onto the surface, but the fact that they weren't disappearing like dungeon monsters usually did was even worse.
And based on the "They're coming again" comment, this wasn't even the first wave. I remembered what the explorers on Floor 1 had said—that the Goblins had ignored them and headed straight for the surface.
Seriously, what is happening!? Abnormality after abnormality is piling up; the whole situation is a complete mess!!