April 26th.
Hinata-san and I had finally arrived at the Shinjuku Dungeon, now that its lockdown had been lifted.
It was 9:00 AM. Usually, even for Shinjuku, this was a fairly busy hour. But today, perhaps because of the recent incident, the number of Explorers inside the Association seemed strangely small.
Feeling a lingering sense of melancholy, we changed in our respective locker rooms and met up at the newly installed dungeon gate before heading inside.
"Hah... hah... hah...!!"
"Just a little longer, Takeo-kun! We’re almost there!"
"Fshhh...!! I-I'm fine, Hinata-san. I know...!"
Hinata and I descended the stairs to Floor 1, while I struggled to keep my heart and body from seething as I sensed the XP drawing near.
After touching the black obelisk to form a party, we decided to try the teleportation circle instead of heading deeper on foot like we usually did. The reason being—
"Whoa...! Hinata-san, look! We really can teleport to the lower floors now!"
"Oh, you’re right...!"
When we stepped onto the teleportation circle, the numbers 2 through 7 appeared in my mind. Anyone who had used a teleportation circle even once would recognize those as the floors available for teleportation.
"That Dungeon Master really was the real deal...!"
"Yeah, it’s actually pretty amazing..."
While we both marveled at the dungeon’s new functionality, we teleported to Floor 7.
After a momentary sense of weightlessness, the scenery shifted to Floor 7.
"Alright, I'm going to set up the stream, so just give me a second, okay?"
"Understood. I'll keep watch over the perimeter."
As Hinata-san began her preparations, I stood guard, waiting—until...
"——! XP!!"
My sharpened senses picked up the scent of incoming experience points.
"Huh? Takeo-kun!?"
"Hinata-san! Get ready! XP is coming!!"
A pack of Goblins appeared from the passage leading further into the floor.
It was a group of five, all the muscular variety found on Floor 7. Catching sight of us, they let out low, thundering roars and charged.
Was this because the dungeon had been sealed off for so long? Usually, monsters didn't wander into the staircase plaza where the teleportation circle sat. Perhaps some of the monsters that had continued to pop without being culled had migrated this far out.
Well, the reason didn't matter.
I drew my longsword and shouted as I activated Taunt.
"Hyah!! I can't take it anymore!! Give me those experience points!!"
Keeping Hinata-san behind me, I engaged the Goblins as they reached the staircase plaza.
The Goblins' hostility locked onto me, and Goblin Genocider triggered. Every one of my stats doubled, and my body suddenly felt light as a feather.
I kicked off the ground, surrendering to the thrill in my heart.
A full sprint.
As I ran, I activated my Fire Magic Sword, shrouding the blade in a crimson glow.
The enemies consisted of a Goblin Knight, a Berserker, a Bow Knight, an Archmage, and an Assassin.
While we were still too far apart for a melee, high-speed arrows whistled through the air and explosive fireballs came screaming toward us. Hinata-san wasn't in the line of fire for the arrows, so there was no need to deflect them. Guided by Danger Sense, I wove through the arrows and swung my sword, intercepting the explosive fireballs with flying arcs of flame.
A roar. An impact.
A wall of fire erupted between the Goblins and me, obscuring my vision. But I waited with absolute certainty.
I could feel it. The aura of XP....There. Two of them.
The Knight and the Berserker burst through the wall of flames.
Roaring as it shrouded itself in Fighting Spirit, the Berserker brought down its massive greatsword. Since I hadn't been caught off guard, evading was simple. I twisted my body, letting the howling Mighty Blade slash through empty air. By the time the greatsword struck the floor, I had already closed the distance.
"Hyah!! Hand over your XP!!"
Slipping inside the Berserker’s reach, I thrust my sword into its exposed chest. I pierced through the sternum and heart in one go, and the Magic Sword's effect sent flames geysering out from the wound.
One Berserker, down. I leaped backward as I yanked my blade free—just as the Knight's longsword swept through the space I had occupied a fraction of a second earlier.
Having put everything into a swing that hit nothing but air, the Knight's posture faltered. It couldn't recover its stance in the heat of such high-speed combat. A glaring opening. It would have been easy to exploit, but—
"You think I'd fall for such bait!?"
As I turned, I swung my sword in a wide horizontal arc.
The head of the Assassin, who had circled behind me to strike with a poisoned knife, went flying.
It seemed the Knight had intentionally left itself open to draw my attack so the Assassin could ambush me from my blind spot—but such tactics were useless against Danger Sense-sensei.
Using the momentum of the swing, I spun back around to face the Knight, who was resetting its shield.
Our eyes met for only a fraction of a second. I lunged immediately. When I slammed the Magic Sword into its shield, the red light detonated. The force of the blow and the explosion blew the shield aside, breaking the Knight's guard. I followed up by burying my sword into its exposed torso, carving through the armor from the shoulder and slicing straight through its heart.
That made three. Two left.
The Bow Knight and the Archmage were keeping their distance. Another arrow from the powerful bow and a flurry of fire arrows came flying in.
I leaped to the side, dodging the barrage, and swung my sword the moment my feet touched the ground.
A blade of fire took flight.
The target was the Archmage. A back-liner who had lost its vanguard stood no chance of evading a high-speed projectile. The flaming arc cut deep into the Archmage's torso, turning it into a Goblin torch.
The last one standing was the Bow Knight.
Realizing that arrows were useless, it drew a dagger and closed the distance.
"I love the hustle! Splendid! Now, become my experience points!!"
I parried the descending dagger, sent it flying, and delivered the killing blow.
Combat over.
My first fight in ages. Sadly, I didn't hear the level-up notification.
Even so, this long-awaited taste of XP was exceptional.
"——Nnnnnnggggghhhhhhh feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeels so goooooooooooood!!!!!"
Inabauer! Twitch, twitch!!
Fresh experience points are permeating every fiber of my being!!
As I basked in the afterglow of the pleasure for a moment—
『I was about to say "Mornin'-lo" to Hinata-chan, but lol』 『The stream starts and there's a battle immediately? lol』 『Wait, stop with the extreme close-up of the pervert's ahegao right at the start lol』
Within my inverted vision as I held the Inabauer, I saw the drone camera floating in the air, pointed right at me. Apparently, the stream was already live. And it looked like the drone's AI had automatically started filming me during the fight.
Well, that was a rather unsightly display.
Feeling a slight twinge of shame, I straightened my posture and faced the camera. The VOICEROID was reading out the Viewers' comments from the drone in rapid succession.
『Holy crap lol. You can't help but laugh at this lol』 『My eardrums are gone』 『Classic Leveling Junkie Bro, I'm dying lol』 『The whole world's been in a funeral mood since the dungeon terrorism started, and I wasn't sure what face I should make while watching this... lol』 『We look like idiots for getting all worked up!』 『Of course. There's no way Leveling Junkie Bro would act all solemn over a little thing like terrorism, right!?』 『I never thought I'd find the familiar comfort of home in Leveling Junkie Bro's ahegao lol』
It seemed the opening hook was a success.
Hinata-san stepped up beside me to give the opening greeting.
"Umm, well... e-everyone, good morning. We’re going to resume our broadcasts starting today. We hope you'll join us."
"Hello!" I added energetically.
『Hinata-chan, mornin'』『'Lo~』『If even Hinata-chan looks confused, does that mean the opening ahegao was an accident?』『Never mind that, there's something else bothering me』『Hey, Leveling Junkie Bro!』
"Yes?"
『What's with those massive dark circles under your eyes!?』 『I thought you were the Dungeon Master!』 『Wait... is that a Dungeon Master cosplay?』
I wondered what they were shouting about, and it turned out to be my dark circles...
True, they're still quite prominent. It's a withdrawal symptom from being unable to ingest XP for so long; I haven't been able to sleep properly for a week.
Now that I've had some XP, the withdrawal has subsided and my head is clear, but apparently, the dark circles won't just vanish instantly.
I explained this to the Viewers.
『Withdrawal from not getting XP? I see』 『Come to think of it... the dungeons were closed, so he couldn't get any XP until now』 『In that case, I guess...』 『That makes sense... maybe』 『He was cut off for a whole week, after all』 『If it's Leveling Junkie Bro, of course he'd have withdrawal symptoms...』 『Actually, he did well to hold out for a week』 『So admirable』 『Guys, get a grip lol』 『It does NOT make sense lol』 『Since when was XP so addictive it caused withdrawal???』 『It's no use, this channel's viewers are way too well-trained...!!』
Now then.
With the Viewers' questions answered, we gathered the Goblins' magic stones and resumed our long-awaited dungeon exploration.
The destination was our usual spot: the Floor 7 monster room.
I think I'll use Asceticism-san today!!