After the crushing disappointment of Magic Shroud’s unexpected weakness, we moved on to Floor 9 of the Shinjuku Dungeon.
Eh? What about the Floor 8 boss room?
Oh, right. It was technically my first time there, but the lineup was no different from a standard Monster Room, and there were only sixteen of them in total.
I didn't even need to use Great Flying Blade. I just charged in, dodged their attacks normally, and took them down one by one, normally.
And so.
Having descended the stairs, we reached the Staircase Plaza near the Teleportation Circle.
There, we finally decided to start the stream.
"—Good morning, everyone. It’s been a little while, but we’re resuming our stream starting today."
"It’s been a long time!!"
Standing before the drone camera floating in the air, Hinata-san and I gave our opening greetings.
Almost immediately, the drone’s VOICEROID voice began reading out the comments flooding in.
"They’re here!" "It started!" "Morning!" "Hey" "Hi!" "Morning-hi!" "Hinata-chan, it’s been a while, you’re looking cute as always today!!" "As usual, Leveling Junkie Bro’s voice is so loud lol" "Could you keep it down lol" "You two had a rough time at the Slime Dungeon, what with the fighting and the drone getting destroyed." "Oishi and the others died, right?" "Are you guys okay, Hinata-chan? Any injuries?"
"Yes. We’re fine. As for injuries... Takeo-kun was hurt a little, but I managed to fix him up with healing magic."
"I’m full of energy!!"
"You got hurt in the Floor 10 boss fight at the Slime Dungeon?"
"I mostly get the gist of what happened from the Association’s announcement and Hinata-chan’s ZX, but did you get hurt in the Metakin fight right before the stream cut out?"
"Hasn't it been a while since Leveling Junkie Bro got hurt?"
"As expected of the Metakin! Sounds like it was quite the formidable foe."
"I think the Metakin called all the Metaslas in Floor 10 during the fight, right?"
"And that’s when it turned into a brawl and Oishi’s party got wiped out, wasn’t it?"
The viewers typed in comments one after another.
The story was slightly different from the truth, but that was the official version. There was no way we could announce that Oishi-san had turned into a Terminator and tried to murder us. Since Ikegami-san and the others had faked their reports, the Japan Explorer Association shouldn't know the truth either.
...Well, maybe the top brass knew perfectly well, though.
"As for Oishi-san and his group... it was unfortunate. May they rest in peace."
I closed my eyes and offered a silent prayer.
At the Slime Dungeon, he had taken Hinata-san hostage and nearly killed me, but I didn't hold any particular grudge against the man himself.
Though it might be rich coming from the guy who turned him into a firework display, I hoped he found peace in the afterlife.
"Oishi..."
"It really is a shame..."
"To think the Pride of the Slime Dungeon would be killed by metal slimes..."
"So we’ll never see the Oishi Fortress again... what a pity."
"We lost a fine explorer..."
A somber atmosphere settled over the viewers.
I nodded in agreement.
"You’re right. The Oishi Fortress... I really wish I could have seen it in person just once. Don't you agree, Hinata-san?"
"Oh, yeah....Sorry, what’s an Oishi Fortress?"
Apparently, Hinata-san didn't know about Oishi-san's "Oishi Fortress" nickname. She asked me with a look of genuine confusion.
"I'll tell you later," I replied. Hinata-san gave a vague "Y-Yeah" and nodded, though she didn't seem particularly interested. Even though it was such a cool title.
"—Now then!!"
Clap, clap! I struck my hands together.
"Let’s stop being gloomy! Starting today, we’re back to conquering the Shinjuku Dungeon!!"
"Oh!"
"So you were inside the Shinjuku Dungeon after all."
"Is that the Staircase Plaza on Floor 8?"
"No, this is the Staircase Plaza on Floor 9!"
"Hm?"
"Floor 9?"
"Wait, what?"
"Wait, what happened to the Floor 8 boss room!?"
"I took it down a little while ago."
"Why didn't you stream it!?"
"Why are you passing through off-camera so casually!?"
"Eh? Was a stream necessary? It was just a downgraded version of the Floor 8 Monster Room."
"Well, true, but still!!"
"Normally, people don't fight in Monster Rooms, so the boss room is supposed to be the highlight of the floor!?"
"His perception of boss rooms is completely broken."
"Wait? If this is Hinata Channel, does that mean Hinata-chan's perception is also..."
"Don't go any further than that!!"
"W-Well, since for Leveling Junkie Bro and his partner, the Monster Room is the real highlight..."
The complaining viewers seemed to give in reluctantly.
Hinata-san and I nodded, deciding it was time to move forward.
"Alright, let's conquer Floor 9! Our target is the Monster Room!"
"The way he treats the Monster Room as the natural destination is hilarious lol"
"The usual routine lol"
"Relieved to see things are the same as always lol"
"By the way, what spawns on Floor 9 again?"
"Are there new monsters?"
"There are."
"A whole lot of them."
"If I recall, there's Berserk, Swordmaster, Wizard... right?"
"Was there anything else?"
"There's also Knight Rider and General."
"Oh right! That’s it!"
"Generals start appearing from Floor 9!?"
"Even if they only show up in Monster Rooms, they’re the most troublesome enemy for Leveling Junkie Bro since he specifically seeks those out!!"
—And so, while moving through Floor 9, I chatted with the viewers about the monsters that appeared on this floor.
Since it was a good opportunity, I decided to review the information myself.
I recalled the information from the Modern Dungeon Strategy Wiki, which I had read so many times I had it memorized.
The level of monsters appearing on Floor 9 of the Shinjuku Dungeon ranged from Level 25 to 29. The roster included the goblin shadow, goblin guarder, goblin knight leader, goblin berserk, goblin swordmaster, goblin knight rider, and goblin wizard.
In addition to these, there was a monster called the goblin general that appeared only in Monster Rooms.
Incidentally, the monsters on Floor 10 were almost identical to Floor 9, with the only exception being the goblin king that appeared solely in the Floor 10 boss room.
Now, the shadow, guarder, and knight leader were monsters that also appeared on Floor 8, so those were familiar...
The new monsters starting from Floor 9 were the berserk, swordmaster, knight rider, wizard, and general.
To briefly explain each: the berserk was a higher species of the berserker. While the berserker was nearly naked, the berserk wore metal armor. In terms of skills, it used a max-level Fighting Spirit, as well as the Berserk skill—which I also have—at Level 2 or 3.
The Berserk skill not only lowered Intelligence but also had the disadvantage of increasing damage taken with every skill level. However, they compensated for that by wearing armor.
When one appeared alongside a general, its Strength, at maximum enhancement, could easily exceed 400. It went without saying that getting hit by its attacks was dangerous.
Next was the swordmaster.
This was the higher species of the swordman, which had appeared on Floor 3 but hadn't been seen for a while. However, its strength was on a different level. It also used max-level Fighting Spirit and additionally used the Sword Aura skill at Level 2 or 3. Only Level 30 individuals used Sword Aura at its maximum level, so they didn't appear on Floor 9.
Its skill set was straightforward. It focused its points into three classic skills: Increased Damage with Bladed Weapons, Fighting Spirit, and Sword Aura.
But it was strong. It used Sword Aura more skillfully than most explorers, and with direct attacks, its damage multiplier could exceed 3x. To think enemies of this level appeared on Floor 9... my confidence in reaching Floor 30 was starting to waver.
Anyway, next was the knight rider.
This monster was like a cross between the rider, who was fused with a wolf, and the bow knight, who wore full armor and used a bow and dagger.
Its lower body was a giant wolf, with parts of its body covered in armor.
The upper body was a goblin, but like the bow knight, it was covered in slender full-body armor. Unlike the bow knight, its only weapon was a bow.
It possessed four skills: Fleet-footed, Increased Damage with Bows, Fighting Spirit, and Bow Aura. Since it had four skills, its points were spread out, so the levels of Fleet-footed and Bow Aura were low, but it used Fighting Spirit at the maximum level. More than anything, it was famous for its annoying fighting style.
The rider had no means of long-range attack, but the knight rider attacked with a bow. Therefore, it was an incredibly tedious monster that would use its high Agility to run around while constantly firing arrows of aura.
Next was the wizard.
The higher species of the goblin archmage.
Its skills were Flame Magic, Mind Concentration, and Increased Magic Damage. It was essentially a straightforwardly strengthened version of the archmage, and the Increased Magic Damage skill—which unlocked if one frequently used attack magic—was terrifying.
Even without damage multiplier corrections, attack magic was generally more powerful than combat arts skills. If you added a skill that corrected the damage multiplier on top of that, the sheer power was easy to imagine.
...Eh? Silver Lightning?
What's that?
—At any rate, the last one was the general, but... I’d explain that one once we got to the Monster Room. It was a bit of a special enemy.
"—In terms of new monsters, I think that covers it. Hinata-san, did I miss anything?"
"No, I don't think so, Takeo-kun."
I checked with Hinata-san as well, and there seemed to be no missing information. What a relief.
Well, unlike schoolwork, I’d always been good at memorizing things like game mechanics and dungeon info.
"—Oh!"
At just the right time, we encountered some Floor 9 monsters.
At the end of a stone passageway that was even wider and taller than before, the flickering candlelight reflected off the armor they wore and the surfaces of their already unsheathed swords. It was a pack of goblins. Naturally, there were five of them.
"They're here!!"
"Floor 9 goblins!!"
"Wait, they're huge!!?"
"They're ridiculously big!?"
"I keep telling you, at this point they're not goblins, they're ogres!!"
The comment section started buzzing.
There was still some distance, but it seemed the viewers could clearly see the silhouettes of the goblins. Actually, the new drone camera was better than the old one, with an automatic light adjustment feature that allowed it to capture things further away even in dim dungeons!! Isn't it great!?
Thanks to that, the stream footage should be much easier to watch.
Anyway, putting that aside.
The breakdown of the goblins that appeared was: one guarder, one berserk, one swordmaster, one knight rider, and one wizard. All the new monsters except the general were gathered right from the start.
And even the wizard, who was the smallest among them, was taller than me.
As for the knight rider and berserk, they gave off an intimidating aura like a moose or an elephant. You know that feeling when you see a creature that's just too big, and you think, "It’s so big it’s gross!" or "It’s so big it’s scary!"? It was like that. The kind of feeling where you doubted if it was even a living thing.
"————"
My skin prickled, and my hair felt like it was standing on end.
Seriously, Floor 8 and Floor 9 were worlds apart. It felt like the monsters had been strengthened by jumping a whole tier.
"Wait, can humans really win against that?"
"They're way too big...!!"
"Is it true they use max-level Fighting Spirit and Sword Aura at that size?"
"Explorers who fight things like that really have given up on being human."
"...Takeo-kun, do you need support?"
"No, Hinata-san, I’m fine!"
I declined Hinata-san’s offer. She probably didn't think I actually needed it either. It was just a precaution.
After all, these were just common mobs.
For us aiming for Floor 30, we couldn't afford to struggle against common mobs on Floor 9—and above all, receiving support magic when it wasn't even a Monster Room would be incredibly inefficient.
It was fine. I casually unsheathed my sword and activated my skills.
The skills I consciously activated were only Sword Aura, Asceticism, and Blue Sky Beyond the Clouds. The others, like Increased Damage with Bladed Weapons, Goblin Genocider, and Danger Sense, would just trigger on their own.
Since I was using Asceticism, there was no need for Taunt.
"GUGAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!!!"
Driven to fury by the maximum Aggro, the goblins let out a war cry.
With that thunderous roar that shook me to my core as the signal, the battle began.
●◯●
In an instant.
Countless arrows of aura and flaming spears were unleashed, filling the hallway.
It was a barrage of aura arrows from the knight rider's Bow Aura and Flame Lances fired by the wizard as if they were simple Fire Arrows. Furthermore, both the knight rider and the wizard had unleashed their full power by activating Fighting Spirit and Mind Concentration, respectively.
As expected of this floor, it seemed that even with maximum Aggro, the backline wouldn't just charge in for a melee brawl. Disappointing.
And while the barrage filling the hallway was aimed at me—if I dodged, it might hit Hinata-san behind me. In that case... like this!!
I quickly swung my sword twice on the spot, sending out Flying Blades.
I sliced through two of the wizard's Flame Lances at different points. The sliced Flame Lances exploded spectacularly, triggering the other Flame Lances to detonate.
The wide hallway was filled with roaring flames. The blast wave swept through the corridor, the strong wind blowing my hair straight back.
However, the spectacular explosions were worth it.
The aura arrows fired by the knight rider were caught in the blasts and completely shattered.
It seemed the effects of maximum Aggro were still present. Considering they hadn't accounted for such a possibility, I could assume they weren't performing any high-level coordination.
—Then, right then.
"GUGAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!"
The berserk came lunging out through the explosive flames.
Just as expected. It moved almost exactly like a berserker. Enveloped in a red aura, it had likely activated its Berserk skill as well.
At a low estimate, its Strength must have been at least 300.
An overhead strike with a greatsword, delivered with incredible Strength.
I closed the distance to meet it head-on.
There was no need to evade or parry. I swung my Holy Sword upward to intercept the greatsword being brought down from on high!
CRACK!!
With a deafening sound, the berserk's greatsword was shattered into tiny pieces.
"————!?"
The berserk's expression twisted in shock.
What are you so surprised about, berserk-kun? This is only natural, isn't it?
Even if you had surpassed me in Strength, the result would have been the same. Because my direct attacks using Blue Sky Beyond the Clouds have a 64x damage multiplier!
No matter how high your Strength is, a strike without even Sword Aura active is just too weak!!
"GAAAAAAAGH!!"
Even so, as expected of its kind, the berserk immediately let go of the shattered greatsword's hilt and threw a punch.
I reversed my blade and swung my sword.
THUD!! A sound rang out—the berserk's armor was shattered, and the slash that tore through skin and meat killed the target with its sheer shockwave alone.
Since I hadn't extended the aura blade, it was far from a bisection. The blade was stopped by the thick muscles, and I doubt it even reached the internal organs. Even so, the 64x power slash used the blood as a medium to send the shockwave through the berserk's entire body, destroying its internal organs, its heart, and its blood vessels.
I leaped past the collapsing berserk and further forward.
There, two more goblins were approaching through the already thinning wall of fire.
A guarder and a swordmaster.
The guarder was in front, with the swordmaster behind. As the swordmaster sprinted, it swung its longsword even though it hadn't closed the distance yet.
What flew out was a slash of aura—a Flying Blade.
In response, I swung my sword while running, sending out a Flying Blade of my own.
The swordmaster's Flying Blade and mine collided head-on, and—
"————!!"
My Flying Blade unilaterally sliced through the swordmaster's.
Still without losing momentum, my Flying Blade proceeded forward. The guarder, holding its shield, stepped into its path. A white light shone on the shield. The skill, Iron Wall. Since the guarder's own level was higher than those on Floor 8, its defensive performance had improved.
But—
"—Gugya!?"
SPLAT!!
—Along with the shield enveloped in Iron Wall, the Flying Blade sliced through and bisected the guarder.
If you think about it, it's only natural. Even though I was weakened by the effects of Frailty, my Strength was nearly 400. On top of that, the damage multiplier effect imbued into the Flying Blade was 40x. It was no longer a level of power that could be stopped by a mere Iron Wall.
The guarder fell, split in two.
At that moment—piercing through the now-vanishing explosive flames, the knight rider's aura arrows, the wizard's Flame Lances, and the swordmaster's Flying Blades came flying in one after another.
A rapid-fire assault that didn't consider HP consumption or MP conservation.
As a result of moving further forward than before, the positional relationship between me and the goblins had changed. The goblins had naturally formed a semi-encirclement around me. Therefore, even if I dodged these attacks, their trajectories wouldn't head toward Hinata-san.
In that case, there was no longer even a need to intercept them.
Without even needing to rely on the guidance of my Danger Sense teacher, I tracked the enemy attacks with my dynamic vision and evaded them by stepping left and right.
Even while evading, I moved forward.
I approached the swordmaster, who was recklessly firing Flying Blades, and brought down my sword imbued with Sword Aura.
The swordmaster received my slash with its own longsword, also imbued with Sword Aura.
"————"
So, I simply bisected the swordmaster along with its sword.
I mean, there's no way it could block a 64x slash just because it had learned to use Sword Aura.
Anyway—that left only two.
Perhaps to prevent me from locking onto it, or to make it difficult for me to approach, the knight rider leaped up, kicking the wall of the hallway with its lower wolf body.
Its massive body, about the size of a large van, repeated its leaps from wall to wall like a bouncing ball, rising near the high ceiling of the wide hallway.
It seemed it intended to attack unilaterally with aura arrows from a height I couldn't reach.
Meanwhile, the wizard, unable to perform such acrobatic movements, began to manifest numerous fire arrows and Flame Lances around itself, as if it were about to exhaust all its MP.
In response, I swung my sword twice on the spot.
I unleashed two Flying Blades. One headed toward the wizard.
The wizard immediately chose to intercept the rapidly approaching Flying Blade. Numerous fire arrows and fire spears were launched to crush the Flying Blade, and—
"————!?"
The slash, which unilaterally sliced through all of them and flew on, bisected the wizard's body and disappeared into the depths of the hallway.
Meanwhile, the other Flying Blade went overhead.
It headed for the knight rider, which was staying at a high altitude by continuing to leap off the walls.
The HP I had imbued into this Flying Blade was only 1. However, the "length" of that slash was over two meters.
In exchange, though, the blade was considerably thinner compared to a normal Flying Blade. In short, I had controlled the shape of the slash, stretching it out thin like a razor.
With this, I could unleash a massive slash with very little HP. On the other hand, the strength of the Flying Blade was fragile, and it would be easily shattered if intercepted.
With its excellent archery skills, the knight rider intercepted the Flying Blade—which was as thin as a sheet of paper when viewed head-on—with an aura arrow. It was a staggering display of skill.
And then the knight rider—
"————!?"
—Was killed as it was split vertically, both the upper goblin body and the lower wolf body, by the Flying Blade that had sliced through its aura arrow.
The massive body, divided in two, fell from near the ceiling and struck the floor of the hallway hard.
—Battle over.
Victory!!
After a moment of silence, the viewers all started typing comments at once.
"HE WOOOOOOOOOOONNN!!!"
"I mean, I knew he would, but that was too easy a victory!!"
"Not only did he not take a single hit, but they were almost all one-shot kills!!"
"It's insane how he just casually shattered the berserk's greatsword lol"
"Wait, wasn't that Flying Blade that cut the guarder through its shield a normal one without Mighty Blade???"
"It seriously looks like a top explorer casually erasing mobs on a shallow floor lol"
"Junkie Bro's slashes have clearly increased in power compared to before, right?"
"Is it thanks to the levels he gained from the metaslas and Metakin?"
"Please don't just tear through the wizard's magical barrage like it’s paper... (shaking voice)"
"I felt like Floor 9 mobs had suddenly gotten much stronger than Floor 8, but was that just my imagination...?"
"The way all the goblins' attacks were unilaterally sliced through by Junkie Bro's slashes must be some kind of bug lol"
"This is it!! This is what we came for!! We came to see Junkie Bro's overwhelming slaughter!!"
"No matter how much 'Goblin Genocider' helps, not even using Fighting Spirit is just hilarious lol"
"Poor new goblins didn't even get to do anything lol"
"—Takeo-kun, good work. So... how was it?"
Hinata-san approached and asked for my thoughts on the fight.
I answered while comparing today's fight with yesterday's battle on Floor 8.
"Well, as I thought, it’s much easier when Hinata-san is around. In a fight where I can use Asceticism, there’s no trouble with Aggro management, and Blue Sky Beyond the Clouds increases the power of my attacks."
When I'm solo, HP and MP are rapidly consumed by "Frailty," so it's hard to use Asceticism. But with Hinata-san there, I can use it without having to worry much.
The difference was, frankly, like night and day.
Even without using Mighty Blade, if the damage multiplier reached 40x, it would be powerful enough to kill Floor 9 mobs in one hit without exception if it connected, regardless of whether they blocked or not.
Seriously, combat is way too easy when you use Asceticism!!!
—And while I was giving that kind of answer, there were callouts from the viewers.
"Wait, you were using Asceticism!?"
"Unexpected flex play lol"
"A flex play on a first run is a no-no, guys."
"Wait, wait! For Junkie Bro, using Asceticism makes him stronger, so it’s not a flex play!!"
"Getting stronger by using Asceticism, I don't even know what’s what anymore lol"
"Blue Sky Beyond the Clouds is just too strong."
"It’s strong for sure, but normally the drawbacks are bigger, you know?"
"Please don't use Asceticism as casually as a Taunt skill lol"
It seemed the viewers had come to their own understanding that it wasn't a flex play.
At any rate, having found that I could win against Floor 9 mobs without any problems, Hinata-san and I picked up the Magic Stones dropped on the floor and decided to move forward.
Oh, and by the way.
The Experience Points gained from the previous battle were 11,875 for Hinata-san, which meant it would have been 23,750 solo.
In my case, it was multiplied by 12 thanks to Goblin Genocider, Asceticism, and Awakened One, resulting in 142,500 Experience Points.
Considering it was the XP from five goblins, it was quite high. It seemed the XP had increased significantly now that we were on Floor 9.
It paled in comparison to the metal slimes, of course, but if I were to lap the Monster Room, it seemed like I could gain enough XP to aim for a level up even at my current level.
So, I’m really looking forward to the Monster Room!!