At around 2:00 PM, we started the stream from inside the Monster Room.
Hinata-san spoke to the drone floating in front of us.
"Hello, everyone. We’re starting a bit late today, but let’s get this stream underway."
"Hello!" I added.
『Morning!』 『Heyo~』 『It’s starting!!』 『Hinata-chan is here!』 『Hinata-chan is cute today too!!』 『That’s a hell of an energetic greeting from the Leveling Junkie Bro lol』 『He’s got the same energy as a comedian in the middle of a bit lol』 『Wait? Is that a Monster Room?』 『Were you guys running laps this morning too?』
Hinata-san addressed the viewers’ questions.
"Yes. We were doing our usual laps, and then we spent some time doing a few verifications... that sort of thing."
『Quick verifications...?』
『I’m getting a vaguely ominous vibe from how Hinata-chan is being so vague.』
『Are you doing a lap stream in the Floor 7 Monster Room again today?』
『No, if that were the case, there’d be no point in waiting until the afternoon to start the stream, right?』
"Um, it looks like some of you have already realized, but we’re actually going to stop streaming in this Monster Room for today. We’ve decided to move on to Floor 8."
『Wha?! For real?!』
『Are you two finally moving on to Floor 8?!』
『I feel like it’s been a really long time since you updated your floor progress.』
『No, think back lol. It was actually quite recent when they reached Floor 7 lol.』
『I think it was around April 10th?』
『The reality is that not even a month has passed since then lol.』
『And the Dungeon Lockdown was in effect for a week during that time lol.』
『No, the pace they're clearing these floors at is abnormal. It’s way too fast!!』
『Usually people take much longer to raise their levels and stuff lol.』
『Wait, when you hit Level 39 the other day, you weren't saying anything about moving to Floor 8, Junkie Bro!!』
Since the question was directed at me, I answered.
"Ah, back then, I didn't have the confidence to run laps in the Floor 8 Monster Room..."
Against an army of 64 Goblins granted Maximum Aggro by Asceticism's Mark of Death, I truly hadn't been confident in my ability to kill them all before they closed the distance.
If I had tried to engage in close-quarters combat, given how much I’d struggled in the Floor 6 Monster Room, I would have undoubtedly been crushed by the sheer weight of their numbers.
However, since I finally had a plan that might work, I had decided to proceed to Floor 8.
『Come to think of it, even the Junkie Bro judged it was impossible back then.』
『So, moving on means you’ve found a way to handle it?』
『For real?』
『Are you going to brute-force it with the Sword Aura and Mighty Blade combo again?』
"Well, look forward to seeing that... I won't know if I'll use Mighty Blade until I actually fight, though."
『Well, I guess you can't say for sure until the fight starts.』
『Wait a second! Is there actually a chance you won't use Mighty Blade?!』
『How do you plan to win without using Mighty Blade...?』
『...Could it be that he got a new skill again?』
『Or maybe he leveled up during the laps before the stream.』
『That’s right, Hinata-chan said they were verifying something.』
『Were you verifying a new skill?』
Hmm. I hadn't actually acquired a new skill, so I might end up disappointing everyone's expectations. Thinking that, I spoke evasively.
"No............"
............
『It's not "No," you!』
『Say something!!』
I had no choice but to answer.
"I did level up, but I didn't acquire any new skills. I'm sorry if I didn't meet your expectations..."
『It's not a new skill?』
『Wait, you leveled up?! Going from Level 39 to 40 is supposed to be incredibly hard...』
『Seriously, stop hitting Level 40 in just a few days... (shaking voice)』
『Does that mean your stats have reached a point where you can fight well enough in the Floor 8 Monster Room?』
『If he uses Seeker, his stats return to their initial values, so does that even matter?』
『Wait, wait! There's still the possibility he got new equipment!』
『No, maybe they're going to stop using Seeker and Asceticism? If they did that, the current Junkie Bro and Hinata-chan could probably clear it normally, right?』
『Would the Junkie Bro really prioritize moving forward over experience points?』
『Hey, hey, what do you seriously plan to do?!』
Hmm. It seemed they were making various predictions, but even if I didn't announce the answer here, they would understand naturally once we moved forward. Above all, announcing it now would be a total buzzkill.
And so, having finished the opening greetings, we decided to leave the Monster Room and head toward Floor 8.
"Hinata-san, shall we get going?"
"Yeah, let's. Okay everyone, we're going to start moving now."
『Roger!』
『I guess I'll just watch quietly for now.』
With that, we left the Monster Room and proceeded through the dungeon toward the stairs leading to Floor 8.
It was a path we were taking for the first time, but as long as we moved while checking the map on the Modern Dungeon Strategy Wiki, there was no chance of getting lost.
We kicked aside the enemies along the way without issue, and in about an hour, we arrived at the deepest part of Floor 7—the boss room.
Without feeling particularly nervous, I stepped inside, put down my backpack, and prepared for battle.
In the center of the vast boss room, a magic circle glowed brightly—and in the next instant, a legion of 16 Goblins was summoned.
The breakdown was three groups of five, consisting of a Lancer, Berserker, Bow Knight, Archmage, and Rider. Including the one Commander, it was 16 monsters in total.
Their levels were all 20, the maximum level for Floor 7.
They were certainly strong, and their numbers made them troublesome enemies, but...
『Ah, yeah.』
『Yep.』
『After watching so many Monster Room laps, well...』
『You can't help but think, "That's so few!!"』
『No, I know my sense of perspective has gone completely haywire, okay?』
『Most parties struggle in the boss room, so they really should be strong.』
『Seeing this makes you realize the abnormality of the Monster Room all over again.』
『It's over. I'm going to take a bath.』
Compared to the Monster Room, the drop in quality was staggering.
The viewers' excitement was low, and there was no point in grinding for such a pittance of experience points here... Let's just break through this quickly.
Once I decided that, I kicked off the floor and began sprinting toward the Goblin legion. At the same time—
"Hyaaa!! Goblins! Become experience points!!"
I shouted as usual, using Taunt to gather the Goblins' aggro. In that instant, Goblin Genocider activated, doubling all my stats.
I wasn't using Seeker or Asceticism this time, so Fighting Spirit wouldn't be necessary. I increased my speed further while perfectly controlling my suddenly lighter body.
Even as I ran, I didn't neglect my combat preparations. I activated Sword Aura and, once the distance had closed sufficiently—I jumped.
My body reached the apex of its parabolic arc, likely at a height of about five meters. I hadn't even tried to jump particularly high, but inside a dungeon, I could easily perform movements like this now.
Even I think I'm starting to look less and less human.
"—Gigya!!"
The Commander pointed the tip of its sword at me as I fell through the air and screamed.
In the next instant, without a moment's delay, the Bow Knights and Archmages launched long-range attacks. Three arrows from heavy bows and three fireballs came flying with precision.
I swiftly swung my sword three times in mid-air.
I sent Flying Blades, each infused with 1 HP, toward the fireballs.
The fireballs neutralized by the Flying Blades exploded into flames, and the resulting shockwave threw off the trajectories of two of the arrows fired by the Bow Knights. Even without me doing anything further, they flew off in random directions.
However—a chill.
Through the screen of fire blocking my vision, Danger Sense detected one arrow flying along a trajectory that would pierce my flank.
Without slowing down for even a second, I pressed the flat of my blade against the side of the arrow as it pierced through the flames, parrying it and changing its course.
During that extremely brief exchange, there was naturally no follow-up attack, and I continued to fall.
I swung my sword down at the Berserker directly below me, splitting it from crown to crotch, and landed almost exactly in the center of the Goblin legion.
Good. This was exactly where I wanted to be.
After confirming that all the surrounding Goblins were within my range—I converted my HP into Sword Aura and poured it into my sword.
Immediately after, before the surrounding Goblins could all attack at once, I performed a horizontal sweep with my sword.
"Shii—!!"
I spun around once on the spot.
"————"
That was the end of it.
The Goblins that had been about to attack me froze—and in the next instant, they all tumbled to the floor like dolls with their strings cut.
A massive amount of fresh blood spilled out around them, and as it pooled, they began to decompose into particles of light.
The battle was over.
The HP consumed in that battle was 25. Well, for 16 of them, I guess that’s about right. I think I managed to win with quite a low consumption.
I sheathed my sword, turned around, and nodded to Hinata-san, who was approaching.
"Hinata-san, it's over!"
"Yeah, good work, Takeo-kun."
It was a hassle, but as the two of us were about to start picking up the Magic Stones and other items scattered on the floor—
『Wha!!?』
『Wait, what?!』
『Wait, wait, wait!! What was that just now?!』
The comment section erupted.
『Weren't those slashes he fired in mid-air incredibly fast?!』
『I thought the Junkie Bro just landed in the middle of the Goblins, then they all suddenly died! Why?!』
『Was that the Sword Aura and Mighty Blade combo again?!』
『But it didn't look like he was firing slashes?!』
『But that blue light was definitely the Sword Aura, right?!』
『I think he probably fired slashes, but...』
『I'm a veteran explorer who can use Sword Aura, but I can't do that...』
『In the first place, you're not supposed to be able to do an omnidirectional attack with flying slashes using Sword Aura, right?!』
『Is it a new skill?! Or is it the Sword Aura and Mighty Blade combo?!』
『Which is it, Junkie Bro!! Tell us!!』
As expected, the viewers were curious about what I’d just done.
But it wasn't a new skill... If I told them it was just regular Sword Aura, they’d probably be disappointed.
So, I spoke evasively.
"No............"
............
『I told you, it's not "No"!』
『Stop doing that!!』
『What's with that unnecessarily serious face!』
『Say something!!』
"No............"
For the time being, I played it off and picked up the Magic Stones, then headed toward the stairs to Floor 8 at the back of the Floor 7 boss room with Hinata-san.