The various parties and explorers began their DungeonTube streams.
After finishing their opening greetings and giving the viewers a brief explanation of the surrounding forest, the Professor spoke up.
"Well then, shall we begin our exploration? Sage-kun, please lead the way."
"Umu, leave it to this one, I say."
Saito-san nodded to the Professor and took the lead, marking the start of the trek.
I followed behind the trio of Saito-san, the Professor, and Kurage-chan-san, along with the rest of our group.
"One knows not what lies ahead from here, I say. Naturally, monsters may set upon us at any moment. I wish for everyone to remain sufficiently cautious, I say."
Saito-san was right. Even though it didn’t look like a typical dungeon, we were already inside one. There was no telling where a monster might spring from.
We nodded at Saito-san’s warning and advanced, keeping a sharp eye on our surroundings.
Shortly after, a monster appeared up ahead.
Saito-san was the first to notice and raised his voice.
"Mu! A monster, I say!"
At that shout, everyone brandished their weapons and braced themselves.
However, once we confirmed the identity of the monster in question, the tension drained out of us. I had wondered what it could be since Saito-san sounded so wary, but—it was just a slime. Moreover, judging by its color, it was a Normal Slime, the kind that appeared on the first floor of every dungeon.
"Hey, hey, you're freaking out way too much over a mere slime."
One of the members of the Dungeon Pickup-Artist Association said with an exasperated look.
While I didn't intend to let my guard down, I felt the same way. Judging by its size, that slime was no different from a Level 1 slime. Considering the monster trait where they grow larger as their level increases, I didn't think there was any need for such high alert.
Despite that, Saito-san, the Professor, and Kurage-chan did not lower their guard.
"This is no ordinary dungeon, I say. That being the case, there is no guarantee that it is a mere slime."
"Indeed. I agree with Sage-kun. I'm sure you all have your own thoughts on the matter, but could you step back a little and leave this to us?"
Told that by the two of them, we had no choice but to retreat.
"Then, I will try defeating it."
Kurage-chan-san raised her staff and activated a spell. A water orb about the size of a thumb formed at the tip of the long staff; it shot out at blinding speed and impacted the slime.
Pop! With a sharp, high-pitched sound, the slime was blown to smithereens.
It was an entirely expected conclusion with nothing noteworthy about it. The pulverized slime dissolved into particles of light, and immediately afterward, a magic stone appeared in mid-air and dropped to the ground with a thud.
"How is it, Sage-kun?"
"Umu. I have confirmed it, I say. That is a mere magic stone. Kurage-chan-dono, how many experience points did you receive?"
"Mm. Experience points, five."
"Which means that was a slime equivalent to Level 1, I say. Since a magic stone dropped, it seems safe to assume it is no different from slimes in other dungeons."
"So it's just as Ms. Hitokata said. That’s a relief for now."
I felt a slight sense of dissonance at the words of Saito-san and the Professor. Their conversation sounded as if they knew of slimes that were far from normal.
"It seems we were over-cautious. My apologies. Let us move forward."
While I was debating whether to press for answers, the Professor spoke up and began walking ahead. We followed after them.
However—I recalled the Dungeon Master saying that monsters equivalent to at least Level 30 would appear. Was the slime an exception? Now that I think about it, did he say "aside from some exceptions"?
In any case, slimes appeared frequently after that, but Saito-san and the others never showed that same level of caution again.
●◯●
After traveling through the forest for a while, we found that every encounter along the way had been nothing but slimes. Perhaps because of that, the initial tension had faded, and a somewhat relaxed atmosphere had settled over the group.
"Eek!"
That was when we encountered a monster other than a slime for the first time.
I turned my gaze toward Hinata-san, who had let out a shriek.
"Are you okay, Hinata-san?"
"Ah, yeah. Sorry for shouting. It’s just, there was a huge centipede over there..."
Hinata-san pointed to the trunk of a massive tree growing right next to us. Looking closer, there was indeed a centipede there. However, its body was about as thick as an arm, and it was nearly one meter long.
"Ugh..."
Mayurin-san groaned with a grimace.
It was an absurdly large centipede.
『It's a Large Centipede.』 『Judging by the size, its level isn't that high.』 『Hey, hey, what happened to the "minimum Level 30" talk?』
The viewers commented through the drones filming the centipede. Just as the comments said, this monster was a Large Centipede. They frequently appeared in insect-type dungeons.
And just as the viewers said, at this size, its level should have been around 2 or 3.
"Hmph."
I thrust my sword into the centipede crawling along the tree trunk. I mean, if I left it alone and something like this suddenly leaped at me, I'm confident I’d be the one screaming.
Regardless, the centipede was easily defeated with that one strike. Pierced by my sword and pinned to the great tree, the centipede squirmed for a moment before vanishing into particles of light.
However—
"Huh?"
I tilted my head.
The viewers must have noticed the same anomaly I did. Puzzled comments began to flow from the drones.
『Wait, a magic stone didn't drop?』 『Eh? No way.』 『Isn't it lying around somewhere?』
"No... it really looks like a magic stone didn't drop."
I searched the area, but it was nowhere to be found.
When you defeat a monster in a dungeon, a magic stone is supposed to be a guaranteed drop. I mean, okay, the split Metaslas didn't drop them, so there are exceptions—but I've never heard of a Large Centipede being one of them.
It was strange, but since it wasn't there, I gave up and moved on.
However, that wasn't the only strange thing.
(What does this mean? Wasn't that Large Centipede Level 3?)
My estimate of it being around Level 3 didn't feel far off. And the experience points obtained from a Level 3 Large Centipede should have been fifteen. In my case, it’s always doubled thanks to Awakened One, so the acquired experience points should have been thirty.
Yet, the experience points I actually gained were sixty. Excluding the effect of Awakened One, the base experience points were thirty. In other words, that would imply that was a Level 6 Large Centipede.
That was practically impossible. Just as Normal Goblins only appear up to Level 3, Large Centipedes are also only supposed to appear up to Level 3.
Well, considering this was a special dungeon, it wasn't entirely inconceivable... but even so, that thing didn't seem like it was Level 6. If it were Level 6, it should have been much larger and stronger.
Well, I had no complaints about getting more experience points.
Though I found it strange, I accepted it as a quirk of this special dungeon.
After that, we encountered monsters one after another.
This forest seemed to have a diverse ecosystem, as we came across various monsters like Large Centipedes, slimes, Dart Birds, Ivy Treants, Scavenger Foxes, Large Ants, and Chameleon Frogs.
To briefly explain each monster...
A Dart Bird is a small bird with a sharp beak. It’s a dangerous little thing that flies at you like an arrow and tries to stab you. However, if you hold up a shield, it will just collide with it and die from the impact, making it easy to defeat. If you don't have a shield, parrying with a sword blade also works.
Next is the Ivy Treant. This is a plant monster that looks like a mass of tangled vines in a humanoid shape, and it can walk slowly. It’s troublesome if you get restrained by its vines, but you can defeat it easily by crushing the bulb-like core in its torso.
Then there's the Scavenger Fox, which is just a hungry fox.
The Large Ant is a giant ant.
The Chameleon Frog is a large frog that can freely change its body color, roughly the size of a Shiba Inu.
To be blunt, every single one of these monsters was weak—the kind of creatures that only appeared on shallow floors.
The explorers, myself included, were buzzing over the massive discrepancy between what we had been told and reality.
"Hey, hey, seriously, what’s going on?"
"Forget Level 30, only small fry are showing up."
"Does this mean the Dungeon Master lied? Is it... a trap?"
"What kind of trap would that be?"
"The Dungeon Master’s great conspiracy, huh? Heh, fine by me. I shall burn it all to cinders with my flames."
Meanwhile, after defeating several monsters and activating Indomitable Spirit, I had become certain of two things.
"Hinata-san, it seems the monsters here don't have levels."
"No levels? Is that even possible?"
"I tried activating Seeker and Indomitable Spirit, but my status didn't go up."
"That means..."
Hinata-san murmured as if something had occurred to her. It had occurred to me as well. Or rather, there was only one thing it could be.
"Yes. It’s the same feeling as with the Dungeon Terrorism Old Man."
It wasn't that their levels were low; it was that they had no levels at all.
And yet, experience points were still awarded normally—in fact—
"The experience points we get are actually higher than usual, for some reason."
"Yeah, we confirmed that too, so I think you're right about that part..."
Ikegami-san nodded.
In fact, along the way, I had asked for the cooperation of Ikegami-san and the others to check the experience points they were gaining from monsters.
The results showed that even excluding the effect of Awakened One, the experience points Ikegami-san and his group were getting were higher than in a normal dungeon, just like mine.
"But even so, why is there such a variance in experience points even for the same type of monster?"
"I thought it was because their levels were different~."
Tamaki-san and Ashitaba-san also spoke up, looking puzzled.
It was true. For example, even if we defeated the same type of Large Centipede, the acquired experience points ranged from thirty to about ninety—a considerable gap.
If this came from a difference in levels, it would be understandable, but if they didn't have levels to begin with, it was a different story.
Additionally—
"It’s also bothering me that they almost never drop magic stones," Hondo-san said.
Just as he noted, the monsters we defeated along the way—aside from the slimes—almost never dropped magic stones.
For some reason, only slimes were a guaranteed drop for magic stones, but for other monsters, the drop rate was about one in ten. The same applied to drops other than magic stones.
"Is this a dungeon with high experience points in exchange for few drops?"
If so, it was practically a God Dungeon.
"If we had someone who could use Appraisal, we might find out something."
Just as Hinata-san said that.
"Did someone call for this one, I say?"
Having overheard our conversation, Saito-san left the front to the Professor and approached us.
"This humble one possesses the Appraisal skill, I say."
"Ah, that’s right."
I nodded. It was well-known that Saito-san possessed Appraisal-type skills. He frequently used them during his streams, after all.
"Umu. So, you seemed to be troubled by something, I say?"
"Actually..."
I explained various things to Saito-san. How the monsters we encountered so far—except for the slimes—seemed to have no levels. How I confirmed this using the Seeker and Indomitable Spirit skills. How the experience points were strangely high despite the lack of levels, and how there was a large variance in experience points even for the same species. And how, except for slimes, magic stones weren't a guaranteed drop, and the probability for other drops was also strangely low.
After hearing all that, Saito-san nodded, saying, "Ah, so that is the matter at hand, I say."
"In truth, this one has also been using Appraisal on the monsters encountered along the way, I say. As a result, I have confirmed that the monsters here have no levels, just as Junkie-niki-dono suggested."
"Oh, really!?"
So my hypothesis was correct.
The viewers on Hinata Channel also started typing surprised comments, their belief in the theory strengthened now that Saito-san had confirmed it.
『For real!?』 『They really don't have levels!?』 『So it wasn't just another one of Leveling Junkie Bro's crazy guesses...』 『Honestly, I don't even get what "monsters without levels" means...』 『Well, if someone of your caliber says so...』
"Umu. In fact, it is not just their levels, I say," Saito-san continued.
"This one also possesses the Greater Appraisal and Analytical Appraisal skills, I say, and yet I could not see their status at all, let alone their levels."
『Wha!?』 『Wait, what does that mean???』
"Likely, they do not have a status itself, I say."
『Is that even possible!?』 『No status???』 『I have no idea what you're talking about anymore.』
"Nay, even we did not have a status until we entered a dungeon and touched a Black Obelisk, I say? If you think of it as the same thing, it is not particularly strange. For it seems there is currently no Black Obelisk in this dungeon, I say."
『Does that Obelisk give statuses to monsters too?』 『But if the Dungeon Master’s words are true, they aren't any weaker just because they don't have statuses, right?』
"And as for the reason for the variance in experience points... one can deduce the reason if you recall what the Dungeon Master-dono said in his video, I say."
"...Ah, I see. That’s what it was."
I nodded at Saito-san’s words. So that's the reason, I thought.
『No, no, no! Don't lie, Leveling Junkie Bro!!』 『He's definitely just nodding along pretending he understands, lol.』 『Stop trying to act smart!』 『Lmao, literally no one believes him.』
How rude.
I felt internally indignant at the viewers' comments as I answered.
"I mean, the Dungeon Master said that in this dungeon, monsters grow stronger by fighting other species... didn't he? In other words, they don't have levels, but they can still become stronger as if they had leveled up, right? And I assume that a monster that has grown stronger provides that much more experience points... am I right, Saito-san?"
"Ho, as expected of Junkie-niki-dono. This one also believes that is likely the case, I say. Individuals that grew stronger by defeating something provide more experience points, while those that did not remain low... is that not so, I say?"
"And even considering that, the reason the base experience points are high... is probably related to the drop rate after all, isn't it?"
"Umu. At present, it is only natural to think so, I say. Instead of magic stones and such being guaranteed drops, those resources are allocated to experience points... or so one might say."
"I see. Just as I thought."
Hmph. It was still just a hypothesis, but there seemed to be no flaws in this assumption.
『Wh-What...!?』 『Are you really Leveling Junkie Bro!?』 『Could it be an impostor...!?』 『My Leveling Junkie Bro can't possibly be this smart!!』
Seriously, how rude.
I checked the reactions of those around me. Surely everyone else didn't think I was an idiot.
"Leveling Junkie Bro-kun...?"
Mayurin-san?
"Hey, hey, what happened to you, Takeo-kun...?"
Ikegami-san?
"Did you hit your head!?"
"I have a potion, want one?"
"No, it might be a fever."
Tamaki-san, Ashitaba-san, and Hondo-san. Everyone?
Finally, I looked at Hinata-san. She smiled gently and nodded at me.
"Takeo-kun, you really do get smart when it comes to experience points. I knew you could do it."
"!! Heh, I knew you'd say that, Hinata-san...!!"
As expected of Hinata-san. The others are no good. They're all laboring under the delusion that I'm an idiot.
............Wait? The way Hinata-san said that... she was praising me, right?