New Novel - Read Here
"First thing first, I need to see how many levels I can reach in these two days."
Yesterday, as soon as everyone had hit Level 1, we were forced to return so I didn’t get to try out much, and anyone remotely curious, saving those who felt appalled at killing monsters, would've wanted to continue, no?
Of course, it was a case of life and death for me, so it wasn't even a question of curiosity. I'd decided to keep going until the limit today.
"It's really neat to have «Goblin Dungeon» in the neighborhood too. A F-rank huh, just up to my alley. At least it's the one I can enter solo."
Dungeons were classified into the F~S category. Furthermore, D-rank and above dungeons were strictly off-limit for anyone not strong enough as well. Not that I would've thought of entering them ever. It was straight suicide, if not atleast a threat to life for sure, to enter there without proper ability to match up.
"And goblins are also easier to fight with, saving the humanoid aspect."
I thought to myself while holding the ID card—it was the license issued by Adventurer Union—above the entry gate.
*Beep.* The machine echoed a beeping sound, and like the entrance to the metro station, the door opened to allow entry.
"I have to say, the dungeons sure have a coherent structure."
When the word Goblin Dungeon prop up, it might be inevitable to imagine some sort of cave structure. But defying all those imaginations, the Goblin Dungeon was instead a neatly constructed stony passages with approx 4m width, and 5m height.
I cautiously explored my way, keeping an eye on traps. But despite searching for ten odd minutes, I didn't find the shadow of a single goblin. Instead, I only encountered other adventurers in the passing.
They're here for the same reason—money and leveling, so I guess nearby goblins were already dealt with by them.
Hmm, I could technically visit the 2nd floor, since it had more goblin appearance rate, but that would be a fool's errand to do at Level 1, so I decided not to think about it for the time being.
I just hope there's some turning point. The last thing I wanted was a wasted dungeon trip. Atleast, let me get to Level 2.
In yesterday's training course, the staff member located the monster for us to allow an efficient level up for everyone, and also made sure we get to experience 1 vs. 1 fight. I didn't have any scouting skill, so for me, I had to do it the old fashioned way. It's really annoying.
"Uh-huh, where in the world are you, my goblins—"
I sighed, feeling a little out of focus due to mindless searching. Perhaps due to that, I didn't pay much attention when I reached a turning point, and bumped against someone.
"—Ah."
"Gobuu."
It was a goblin.
Other people dreamt of a romantic encounter in the dungeon, but here I was, where even my encounters were monsters.
"Wah—?!"
"Gigahh?!"
Goblin soon took notice of me after the bump, and raised the wooden stick it was carrying. I hurriedly took a pose with my wooden sword.
Hmm? What the hell I was doing with a wooden sword of all things in a monster filled dungeon? There might be some doubts, but there was a proper reason! «Goblin Dungeon», as its name implies, only had goblin monsters and technically they could be easily dealt with wooden weapons too.
...Though the main reason is I am broke.
"Gubaa—!"
Goblin jumped at me, flailing the wooden stick in its hand. I tackled it with a horizontal sweep, trying to swat away the wooden stick out of its hand.
Goblin was merely the height of an elementary schooler, and perhaps just as strong. My sweep easily knocked away the wooden stick out of its hand, hurling it into the distance.
"Take it!"
With the weapon no longer being a threat, I swung my sword in a downward swing.
"Gugah!? Ga...hhh...!"
Then I continued to bash it over and again. I kept swinging my sword until it had completely ceased any movement, then I carefully approached it, and stabbed the knife in its neck.
"Go...buu......"
"Haa... haa... haa..."
Really, it felt so unpleasant to kill a living creature. Yesterday's experience didn't dampen this feeling even a bit. Though, I wasn't going to give up here. I wouldn't have come today otherwise after yesterday's experience.
I did hear there were quite a good chunk of people who often give up the idea of adventuring after unable to kill the living creature, even if it was a monster.
"......Haa. It sure exhausted me."
If only I'd had a proper weapon, I could've skipped all that bashing and delivered the final blow in one blow. Oh well, no crying over what I couldn't afford.
The defeated goblin turned into particles of light and disappeared, and in the spot where the goblin was, there was a small magic stone.
"I believe one of them is worth 500 yen. I wonder if it's a good deal, or maybe a bad one?"
It took me 20 minutes to find one target, so from the timing aspect, it doesn't sound bad, but the labour it went to acquire one, though, made me question it.
"Whatever. I am here to level up, not money."
I sorted out my breathing as I set aside my thoughts and set my eyes to search for the next target.
The next find was also not an easy one. But I guess, compared to the other 9 floors—Goblin Dungeon had a total of 10 floors—where they appear in groups, the 1st floor was still the most friendly floor for beginners.
At the end of the day, after 8 hours of strolling—I started at 8:00 AM, and the clock was ticking 4:00 PM then—I only managed to defeat 9 goblins.
Perhaps, that was the limit of the first floor. Another reason was adventurers. A majority might be diving into 2nd and onward floors, but if goblins jumped into their way, it was obvious they would deal with them. In the floor where they're already sparse, this only aggravates the situation, to no one's fault.
"I am also at my limit... alright, one more and then I will call it the day."
Nevertheless, I continued my goblin hunt, and soon stumbled on one. This one had its back turned in my direction, so I stealthily closed the distance. ...Though, to be honest, I felt like a criminal doing that.
No, does it matter if I could make it easier for me? I tried to tell myself, and slammed my wooden sword against it. I continued to bash my sword against it like earlier, and then stabbed it to death.
......Yep, this was definitely psychopath-ish behaviour.
If there was a bystander, I wouldn't have put it past them to see me as some sort of unhinged psychopath.
As I was ruminating over my action, and the goblin had disappeared into light particles, an unexpected trigger pulled me out of my thoughts.
—*Beep*. You've leveled up.
Alongside the level up notification, the status board suddenly jumped into my perspective.
For a moment, I couldn't help but wonder how it would've been annoying to have the status board cover half of the vision at the level up while caught in battle. But any and all thoughts disappeared like smoke when I saw change in certain section.
"S-Skill changed?!"