May 1st.
Today was the day I was going on an overnight dungeon exploration trip with Hinata-san.
After meeting up at Shinjuku Station in the morning, we headed into the Shinjuku Dungeon together. We took the teleportation circle from Floor 1 straight to Floor 8, then made our way to the Monster Room at the far end of the level. Once we arrived before the massive, heavy stone doors, we came to a halt and started the stream.
“Good morning, everyone.”
“Good morning!”
“We’re going to start the stream now. Today, we plan to spend the whole time grinding the Floor 8 Monster Room. We’d be happy if you’d stick around to watch.”
“I’ll do my best!”
『It’s here!』『Let’s goooo!』『Hinata-chan is cute as always!』『I’ve been waiting for this!』『Leveling Junkie Bro is way too hyped lol』『The "huff-huffing" in the background is so loud lol』『Wait, they’re already at the Monster Room?』『Hinata-chan acts like looping a Monster Room is totally normal now lol』『Nah, saying you’re gonna grind a Monster Room "the whole time" is pure madness www』『Hinata-chan’s been tainted lol』
“———— (Huff, huff! Huff, huff!)”
“Um... well then, let’s get right to it and challenge the Floor 8 Monster Room!”
“Let’s go!!”
『www』 『How excited can one guy get? lol』 『Leveling Junkie Bro, calm down lol』 『Stop rushing Hinata-chan』 『Hinata-chan looks like a dog owner giving in to a pet that can’t wait for its walk lol』 『Is he a large breed?』 『I’m seeing a vision of a husky right now lol』
Amidst the banter, it was finally time to tackle the Floor 8 Monster Room.
After Hinata-san cast "Bless" on me, I placed my hands on the stone doors. I squeezed through the gap as they groaned open and stepped inside. I immediately slipped off my backpack, tossed it toward the wall, and drew my sword. Ready for battle!
I held my sword at the ready and fixed my gaze on the center of the vast chamber.
A massive magic circle pulsed with light on the floor, and the stone doors behind me slammed shut with a heavy thud. Shortly after, the magic circle emitted a brilliant flash, as if signaling that its preparations were complete.
A legion of sixty-four goblins was summoned instantly.
『They’re here!』 『Whoa, is this for real?!』 『The visual is insanely violent even through a screen』 『Every single one of them is huge!!』 『Are sixty-four really this many?!』 『And all of them are Level 24...』 『Lmao they’re higher level than most explorers』 『You really can’t call these guys "trash mobs" anymore...』 『Can he actually win against this???』 『There’s something super dangerous-looking in the back...』
The comment section trembled at the sheer intimidation of the goblin army on screen.
Let me break down the goblins that appear in the Floor 8 Monster Room.
The composition is as follows: Six parties of five: Wolf Rider, Berserker, Archmage, Bow Knight, and Guarder. Six parties of five: Wolf Rider, Berserker, Archmage, Bow Knight, and Shadow. And one final party of four: three Guarders and one Knight Leader. That’s sixty-four monsters in total, all at Level 24.
There’s no need to explain the Guarders and Shadows; they’re new monsters that start appearing on Floor 8. But there was one more new monster in the mix.
——The Goblin Knight Leader.
It was a goblin clad in the same silver full-body armor as the Guarders, but it was a full head taller. Its equipment consisted of a sword and shield, but the designs were more intricate and decorative than the standard Guarder gear—it looked downright regal.
You can probably guess its deal just from its appearance, but this guy has the "Reduced Damage with Shield" skill. Furthermore, since its stats are higher than a Guarder of the same level, it’s incredibly "sturdy." The only saving grace was that because it had "Leadership Lv. 4," its skill points were tied up there instead of in "Iron Wall."
Yes, this guy is a commander-type.
It’s like a monster born from breeding a goblin knight with a goblin commander. With "Leadership Lv. 4," it increases the stats of all allied goblins by 40%, making it a nightmare to deal with. On Floor 8, the base stats of monsters are already high, so a 40% buff is a massive increase. On top of that, every Berserker in the room has "Fighting Spirit Lv. 3," which doubles their Strength, Constitution, and Agility. Their Strength easily surpasses 200.
While "Seeker" is active, I no longer have any stat advantage at all. In fact, while "Asceticism" is active, the "Frailty" effect causes my stats to drop over time. The longer the battle lasts, the more disadvantaged I become.
In other words, I can't afford to take my time.
To make matters worse, the Knight Leader has better defensive capabilities than a commander and is much harder to kill. Plus, it keeps three Guarders around it at all times, which is annoying beyond belief.
Normally, this would be a desperate struggle.
However, I didn't need to fight them normally. Not when I have god-tier skills!
I activated a cascade of skills: Seeker, Asceticism, Indomitable Spirit, Fighting Spirit, Sword Aura, and Berserk. I also triggered "Goblin Genocider."
Including the "Frailty" debuff from Asceticism, my status looked like this:
———————————————— Strength: 230 → 207 Constitution: 210 → 189 Intelligence: 102 → 92 Spirit: 140 → 126 Agility: 210 → 189 Dexterity: 138 → 124 ————————————————
The values on the right were my current stats. From here, they would drop by another 10% every minute, up to a maximum 50% reduction. Basically, they’d eventually hit half of the numbers on the left.
If I managed my HP to trigger "Blood Vengeance," I could compensate for a 20% drop, but anything more would be difficult. I had to settle this fast.
——Alright, let’s go!!
“I’m starting things off—now die!!!”
Before the goblins could let out a roar to shake one's very soul—provoked by the maximum aggro of the "Mark of Death"—I had already swung my sword.
It was a Mighty Blade Great Flying Blade.
The HP cost infused into this single strike, combined with the "Mighty Blade" skill, was a staggering 50 points. Even for me, firing this five times in a row would completely deplete my health. As I swung the sword horizontally, the thick, layered aura transformed into a sharp blade and flew through the air.
I unleashed it four times in rapid succession.
The top priority was the Knight Leader at the back of the formation. I had to kill it first to neutralize the "Leadership" buff.
The four massive slashes tore through the air and——
『Wait!』 『Wh-?!』 『Seriously?!?!?』
——they ripped through the dense army with zero resistance.
The blades bisected dozens of goblins at the waist, sending a geyser of blood into the air. In an instant, I had slaughtered well over forty goblins.
Well, obviously.
Even if the gap between my stats and the goblins' had narrowed, an attack backed by "Mighty Blade" was still pure overkill. Even if a Guarder blocked with a shield boosted by "Iron Wall," it would still be cleaved in two.
Furthermore, the Great Flying Blade had grown in size, allowing me to take out even more enemies at once. Depending on how tightly they were packed, a single slash could kill fifteen or more.
In reality, some trajectories overlapped or gaps opened up between the blades as they traveled, so a few enemies survived. Still, looking around, the goblin count had been reduced to somewhere between fifteen and twenty.
But that was the end of the long-range massacre. The survivors, undeterred by the carnage due to my maximum aggro, were closing in. If I stayed here to face them, a stray hit might reach Hinata-san.
“——High Heal!”
As I finished firing the fourth Great Flying Blade, Hinata-san’s healing magic hit me. My HP was instantly restored to full.
I offered a silent thank-you and lunged forward.
At this point, the Knight Leader was actually still alive. The three Guarders in front of him had used "Iron Wall" to shield him from the Great Flying Blades. Even though the blades had cleaved through all three Guarders, the momentum of the slashes had been slightly blunted. That split second gave the Knight Leader enough time to drop to the floor and dodge.
Thus, the remaining goblins were still buffed by 40%.
The first to make contact was a surviving Wolf Rider, its Agility pushed to nearly 170.
He was fast!
He threw his entire body into a charge. Thanks to "Sensei" and my Danger Sense, I was able to dodge by a hair’s breadth, but I had no room for a counterattack. More goblins were converging on my position. If I stood my ground, I’d be surrounded and mobbed to death.
——As if I’d play their game!!
I pivoted from my forward momentum into a large side-step, evading the rider’s charge, and then kicked off the floor with all my might before the others could encircle me.
The goblins’ eyes followed me into the air. The Bow Knights and Archmages, who had been trying to engage in melee combat in their frenzy, finally remembered their roles and aimed their bows and staves at me.
First came the arrows. I stepped on thin air to dodge.
Arrows and fire magic followed in quick succession, but I moved through the empty air, creating aura footholds to evade everything. I only needed to use "Footing Creation" three times. That was enough.
While maneuvering, I closed the distance to my target. I stepped on the third foothold and accelerated as I dove toward the floor. One specific goblin was waiting below. I raised my sword mid-fall.
“——I’m feeling generous, so have a big one!!”
Activating "Mighty Blade" again and adding the momentum of the fall, I brought the sword down.
Below me was the Knight Leader, who had been slightly separated from the rest of the pack. I didn't want even a hint of a struggle, so I used the skill to be absolutely certain. He raised his shield above his head, but it didn't matter. I sliced through the shield and the goblin behind it in a single stroke.
With that, the "Leadership" buff vanished.
The remaining twenty-or-so goblins were all that stood between me and victory. Driven by maximum aggro, they rushed toward me as I landed.
“Saves me the trouble of hunting you down! Heh!!”
I spent 20 HP to construct a Great Blade, layered "Mighty Blade" on top of it, and swung. The strike swept through the charging goblins, cleaving ten of them at once.
Only a few left... one, two... seven.
There was no way I could lose now. I picked them off one by one, and in less than a minute since the start of the battle, every goblin was dead.
——Victory!!
Immediately, the comments exploded.
『Wait wait wait?! That was easy?!』 『He didn't struggle at all?!』 『Is this the same guy who was saying Floor 8 was impossible a while ago?!』 『More than half the goblins were dead in the first few seconds though?!』 『Mighty Blade is seriously too OP!!』 『Lmao the flying slashes are so big he could probably solo-clear the Floor 7 Monster Room in one shot now!!』 『He’s doing this with Seeker and Asceticism active?!』 『Too strong lol』 『Wait, was Junkie Bro just walking on air?!?!?』 『That’s totally the skill the goblin used on Floor 7 the other day!!』 『So that skill orb he dropped was actually that?!』 『Wait, air mobility is low-key broken, isn't it?!』 『Only ranged attacks can reach him, and he can use it to dodge everything. That’s a top-tier skill right there!!』 『I want that skill too!!』
As soon as the combat ended, Hinata-san hurried over.
“Good job, Takeo-kun! You seemed to have plenty of room to spare.”
“Thank you, Hinata-san. Yeah, having you here makes all the difference. Honestly, this is easier than soloing the Floor 7 Monster Room, even with Seeker active.”
Being able to spam Mighty Blade and the Great Flying Blades was the key. That was all it came down to. A little stat reduction didn't matter as long as I could keep using those skills.
“Wait, Floor 7? Takeo-kun, didn't you say you were looping Floor 6 when you were alone?”
“Oh, I started doing Floor 7 yesterday.”
I answered Hinata-san’s question while opening my status to check the XP.
The experience points earned from that battle were...
The base XP for the Floor 8 Monster Room is 177,120. Split between the two of us, that’s 88,560 XP each.
And since I have a 12.8x multiplier from Seeker and Asceticism...
Holy crap! I just earned 1,133,568 experience points in a single fight!!
That’s nearly double the Floor 7 Monster Room! My leveling was going to skyrocket!
“Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnh!!!!!!”
『Wha?! Soloing the Floor 7 Monster Room?! Wait, forget that, look at him!!』 『He’s getting high on XP again!!』 『Don’t go on a trip, answer the question!!』 『This guy is seriously unhinged every single time lol』