Starting from Floor 11 of the Shinjuku Dungeon, traps that aren't even listed on the Modern Dungeon Strategy Wiki maps begin to appear in force.
While the general route to the stairs leading to Floor 12 is known, the specific locations of traps along that path have not been cataloged.
So few explorers have actually conquered the dungeon from Floor 11 onward that the information simply hasn't been compiled yet. Depending on the type of trap, it’s quite common for one person to pass through a path without issue while another steps on a trigger right behind them. Even if the route is known, there is no guarantee it is safe.
Consequently, as we made our way toward Floor 12, we had no choice but to advance slowly and maintain a constant vigil for traps.
—I see. So this is why it takes so long to clear Floor 11 and up. This must be the reason Mayurin-san and her group are still stuck wandering around Floor 12.
The most effective way to avoid traps is to have the Trap Detection skill. However, we didn't have any spare skill points to waste on acquiring and leveling something like that.
So, what were we supposed to do?
In our case, we had to rely on "Danger Sense Sensei."
By that, I mean that if I raised the skill level of Danger Sense Sensei, I should be able to discover traps before stepping on them... or so I hoped.
To be more specific, I should probably explain how Danger Sense Sensei actually works.
At levels 1 and 2, the effect is: "When being attacked, if you are in the path of the strike, a chill occurs at the point of impact."
For example, if you step on a trap that fires an arrow at your position, you would notice it the instant you triggered the switch.
The problem is that this doesn't allow for prior detection. Many of these traps use floor tiles as switches. While I might be lucky enough not to step on one, Hinata-san, who follows behind me, might be less fortunate. In such a scenario, I wouldn't even know the trap existed until Hinata-san was already in danger.
However, once Danger Sense reaches level 3, the effect changes slightly.
The description becomes: "When being attacked, you feel the trajectory of the attack as a premonition; if you are in the path of the strike, a chill occurs at the point of impact."
Essentially, the range and timing of the warning are slightly expanded.
However—
Clunk.
Thwip!
"—Whoa, close one!"
The moment a paving stone beneath my feet sank slightly, several arrows shot out from the corridor wall. Following Danger Sense Sensei's warning, I hurriedly dodged them.
We were proceeding with extreme caution, but one of the floor tiles had been a trap trigger. The second I stepped on it without realizing, arrows had burst from holes camouflaged by patterns and decorations on the wall.
By the way—some people might think an explorer’s HP Barrier could simply deflect a few arrows. It’s true that for an explorer over level 50, even without defensive skills, an arrow or even a handgun bullet wouldn't necessarily be fatal.
The Headshot Yakuza taught me all about that when he took me to Point Nemo via teleportation for training.
But dungeon traps aren't ordinary bows and arrows.
These arrows are infused with a property that allows them to penetrate HP Barriers. On top of that, most are coated in poison, so no matter how high your level is, you really don't want to get hit.
"Are you okay, Takeo-kun?"
'Traps on unknown floors really are a pain.'
'Even Leveling Junkie Bro can't see them coming until he triggers them.'
'Isn't this getting a bit dangerous?'
Hinata-san’s worried voice sounded right in my ear. The viewers also seemed to have a renewed appreciation for the danger traps posed.
Truth be told, we had already triggered three traps before this one.
With my current level of Danger Sense Sensei, I can't detect the location of a trap before it's triggered.
And as I mentioned, that means Hinata-san could step on something I missed. To prevent that, I was currently carrying Hinata-san on my back as we moved. That was why her voice was right by my ear.
This setup prevents Hinata-san from stepping on something I didn't notice, but it means she has to hop down every time we fight. Plus, we have another companion with us now.
"Yeah, I'm fine, but..."
I looked over my shoulder.
There was Gobu-taro, following us silently without complaint. However, there was a hole in his left flank large enough to pierce through his armor.
Gobu-taro had stepped on a trap and taken an arrow to the side. The strike had punched right through his protection; while it wasn't a killing blow, he had taken damage and been poisoned.
Hinata-san had fixed him up with Heal and Cure, so it wasn't a lasting problem, but poison arrows aren't the only things down here. There are pitfalls with spears that ignore HP Barriers, spiked ceilings that drop through barriers, statues that breathe fire, and explosive traps.
Continuing with Hinata-san on my back was inefficient, and more importantly, there were traps that could kill Gobu-taro instantly.
We could have pushed forward, but I took a moment to think and made my decision.
"Hinata-san, let's head back to Floor 10 for a bit after all."
"To Floor 10?"
"Yes. Slow and steady wins the race. I think it'll actually be faster in the long run if we grind the Floor 10 monster room to raise Danger Sense's skill level by one more—ideally to the maximum level—before we keep going."
"I see... Yeah, you're right. I think that's for the best too."
If Danger Sense Sensei's level goes up, I should be able to sense the danger before I even step on the trigger. I’ve researched this by binge-watching videos of the few explorers who actually have Danger Sense, so I’m fairly certain. Probably. Most likely. Maybe.
It would mean being able to discover traps in advance.
Unfortunately, the skill didn't grow that far at level 3, but at level 4 or 5, I should be able to see right through them.
And so, we turned back toward the Floor 10 monster room.
●◯●
By the time we returned to the Floor 10 monster room, it was already quite late, so we called it a day.
After one final battle to clear the room, we spent the night inside the empty chamber as usual.
Since Gobu-taro was a monster, he shouldn't have needed sleep—no one has ever seen a monster sleep unless it was caused by a status ailment—so we could have theoretically left the watch to him. However, since we had no guarantee that Hinata-san’s Charm wouldn't break while she was asleep, we took turns keeping watch just in case.
Fortunately, Gobu-taro remained charmed even while Hinata-san slept.
The only downside was being glared at the entire time I was on watch with him. It was a bit depressing...
In any case.
The next day, May 12th.
We started the stream at 8:00 AM and began grinding the Floor 10 monster room.
I switched my weapon to the Holy Sword. I wanted to level up as fast as possible, so the Fool's Sword—which halves experience points—stayed in its sheath.
Taking a quick break for lunch, we eventually reached our 113th lap.
We were clearing the room at a pace of about twelve times per hour, and it was nearly 6:30 PM.
Normally, we would have been heading back to the surface by now, but today I decided to push through until 7:00. The reality was that my level was barely moving.
The Floor 10 monster room is the most efficient grinding spot currently available. Even so, after over a hundred laps, my level hadn't budged. This was despite the fact that I had a 32x experience multiplier from using Seeker and Asceticism.
I was currently level 54. The experience points required to reach level 55 was 1.65 billion.
No wonder it wasn't going up. Floor 10 really wasn't meant for someone in their fifties to be leveling.
Still, I had earned enough that I would almost certainly level up during our next trip. If I focused purely on grinding, I could probably manage one level every two days.
Up until level 59, I could probably make Floor 10 work if I had to.
I was thinking about these things while mechanically bombing the room when it finally happened.
At the end of the 113th lap.
"—!!?!!?!!!"
Unfortunately, it wasn't a level up.
As I checked my status after the battle, as was my habit, I found words I didn't recognize.
"Takeo-kun? Is something wrong?"
'What is it, Leveling Junkie Bro?'
'Is something wrong? Wait... this reaction! Could it be!?'
'He's not reaching ecstasy like he does for a level up... which means...'
'Did a new title sprout!?'
Noticing the change in my expression, Hinata-san and the viewers started calling out to me.
Perceptive as always, they even guessed that a new title had appeared.
It was true. A brand-new title had really sprouted.
I answered.
"I think... I think I passed the 100,000 kill mark during that last lap."
"100,000 kills...?"
Hinata-san tilted her head in confusion. On the other hand, the viewers caught on almost immediately.
'100,000 kills... you mean 100,000 goblins!?'
'Wha!?'
'Wait, how do you even know that? Oh, the title!!'
'Did Goblin Genocider evolve!?'
Part of the requirement for Goblin Killer was 100 kills. The evolution to Goblin Slayer required 1,000 kills. The evolution to Goblin Genocider required 10,000 kills.
It was only natural to assume that if Goblin Genocider were to evolve further, the requirement would be 100,000 goblin kills.
I hadn't been keeping a manual tally of every goblin I'd slain, but based on the number of monster room laps I'd done on various floors, I could calculate a rough estimate.
Even just counting the monster room grinds, the number would be very close to 100,000.
So, there was likely no mistake.
'For real!? The already broken Goblin Genocider evolved!?'
'Lol, 100,000 kills is insane!!'
'Hearing it again, that's a terrifying number...'
'He's basically a modern-day King of Carnage lol.'
'You don't even see 100,000 kills in games that often!'
'In a mobile game, maybe as a total lifetime count, but...'
'Everyone, calm down! Let's remember the difference between games and reality!'
'Wait, you're right! Leveling Junkie Bro killed 100,000 of them in less than two months!!'
'That's even worse in real life lololol.'
'When you distinguish between games and reality, reality turns out to be way more terrifying!'
'So what's the deal!? Does the new title boost stats even more? Does it give more experience!?'
'Junkie Bro! Tell us what it is!'
"Well..."
I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should really say it—or if it was even safe to say it.
There was a skill similar to Goblin Genocider called Lust Murder. It had the same stat buffs and damage multipliers, but the experience multiplier was 2.4x, higher than Goblin Genocider's.
Furthermore, at skill level 1, it was easy to guess that the multiplier would increase by 0.4x with each level, likely capping at 4x.
If Goblin Genocider was going to evolve, I had assumed it would become a skill similar to Lust Murder.
But...
"Actually, Goblin Genocider didn't evolve. A new title and skill appeared alongside it..."
Goblin Genocider remained unchanged. Those titles and skills were still there, and a completely separate title and skill had manifested.
'Seriously!?'
'So Goblin Genocider didn't evolve, huh...'
'As a fellow explorer, I feel a strange mix of disappointment and relief.'
'But you got a new skill, right?'
'Yeah, what kind of skill is it?'
'Judging by his reaction, maybe it's not a very good one?'
"No, it's not that..."
I thought about it for a while and decided to just go public with it.
I was going to be using it constantly, so it was bound to be discovered eventually. If I wanted to hide it, I would have had to stop streaming my dungeon dives almost entirely.
The new title and skill on my status were as follows:
———————————————————— 【Title】 Goblin Taker — You have taken many things from many goblins. Their lives, their wealth, their families, their companions, their hope, and their future... Having taken so much from their kind, you are now capable of taking whatever you desire from any goblin as you see fit.
【Skill】 Goblin Taker — Designate one member of the goblin race and one item that the designated goblin has a possibility of dropping. Upon the death of the designated goblin, the chosen item is a guaranteed drop. This skill has a 120-hour cooldown. ————————————————————
This is absolutely insane!!!
To be blunt, this is on a completely different level of broken compared to Goblin Genocider!
The description of the title was more than a little unsettling... but right now, I didn't even care about that.
I didn't even care that it didn't have a skill level, just like Equanimity.
The sheer power of the skill was staggering.
With this... I could finally make "that" a guaranteed drop.