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A week had passed since my last level up, and skill change, and yet I didn't see any other level up in all this time.
I would visit the dungeon everyday—it had almost become my second routine—and hunt goblins. I should've defeated at least 30 of them, but nothing changed.
"Wait, I levelled up by 1 after defeating one monster, then level 2 by defeating 10 goblins... don't tell me I have to defeat 100 goblins this time?"
Seeing as how my desperate effort yielded no result, I couldn't help but feel jittery premonition.
At my current pace, It would take me 2 weeks to hit the 100 goblins count. But what after? If I guessed it right, then it would be whooping 1000 monsters to hit level 4. And I somehow could feel my skill wasn’t going to see any change anytime soon. So long... I feel energy sapping away from me just at the thought of it.
Let's not delve into it right now. I shook my head to throw encroaching pessimism, and continued my exploration. Soon, I found another goblin unaware of my presence. Promptly, I threw the dagger at it.
"Gigyah?!"
The dagger lodged itself into the goblin's leg, but that was it. It didn't even seal the goblin's movement.
"Gi, gya......"
Still, a vague, pained expression covered the goblin's face, just what I needed. Without giving it a moment to think, I closed the distance, and slammed the wooden sword with all my strength.
"Gigyaahhh?!"
"Phew. It didn’t take long this time. It's getting easier to handle these goblins at least. I wonder if leveling up enhanced my physical strength?”
Unlike how I had it initially, I could now incapacitate goblins with a few swings of my sword. I might not even need to bother switching weapons after another level up and straight up finish these goblins in one go.
With such thoughts in the corner of my mind, I picked up the dagger and delivered the finishing blow to the goblin. The dagger was a rare item I had obtained from «Friend Gacha», it was called «Poison Dagger». I had been mindlessly spinning the Friend Gacha when it suddenly dropped among rare drops.
I was a bit worried it might violate rules, so I also had it checked out at Adventurer Union. Well, they said something of this caliber wasn't a threat. You could always find adventurers in the public with their weapons, so oftentimes it wasn't really a problem.
I wonder if it's just me, but... aren't there judgement bits too lax?
Anyway, the «Poison Dagger» had the effect of putting poison debuffs on the target, and dull their movements. However, it wasn't a permanent effect, and eventually wore off with the passing of time. So, I couldn't do, like, stab the target and let poison do its work while dodging the monster.
I wasn’t going to rely on it either. There must be some monsters on whom poison was ineffective after all.
"Still, just throwing it to poison the target, and then slamming my sword seems to work fine."
The weapons, like my dagger, were referred to as magic items here and they're sold at Adventurer's store. They also sell drop items like potions from monsters. I had a feeling I could make 30,000 yen if I tried to sell it.
While I was engrossed in my thoughts, goblin scattered into light particles, and alongside a familiar notification echoed.
—*Beep*. «You have levelled up.»
It was a level up notification. However, the status board didn't jump up automatically like before.
"...So no changes again huh. I expected that."
I checked my status, and in a predictable way, the only change was in some digit, but nothing about skill.
"Oh well. At least I don't have to defeat 1000 goblins to hit level 4. This is consolation."
Aside from some values, I could also feel changes in my movement. It was like when I levelled up last time, I felt I could exert more strength now. Though there was no way to confirm it since the status board didn't have a Strength value. The only way to test it out was against a goblin.
"Alright, that means I just have to keep hunting goblins. Let's see how it goes, and maybe it's about time I try out the 2nd floor too."
I picked up the magic stone, and immediately began seeking out another goblin.
Fortunately, I found the next one just in close proximity. I used the same tactic as earlier; I threw «Poisonous Dagger» at it first, and then bashed it with my wooden sword.
"Huh?"
To my astonishment, it only took me two hits to defeat the goblin this time despite following the same action as earlier.
"Before, I had to hit them at least 5~6 times. Hmm, I think I should be able to face two of them together now.”
After dealing with the goblin—increasingly, I was feeling like my action was resembling delinquents the way I smashed it—I decided to take a peek at the 2nd floor.
The maps for the dungeon were available from the Adventurer Union to purchase. I had it downloaded on my smartphone, so finding the stairs to the 2nd floor didn't take any effort.
"Hopefully, being solo doesn’t become a problem."
It was a new floor, so I couldn't help but feel anxious. As I was dealing with my thoughts—
"My words, it's the worst."
"I, I am really sorry......"
"Hey, Takashi. I don't know about you, but I definitely can't handle this crap anymore."
"Same here. Sure, fighting gets your clothes dirty and all, but this is too much......"
I come across a party coming down from the stairs. They're of my age, two of them were girls, and two boys.
For some reason, they were huffing as they walked, and even more bizarre was their equipment—clothes to be precise. They're in tattered state, but the strange part was it wasn't simple tears or so from some monster attacks. And the lack of any visible scratches or bruises on their skin made it an even more surreal image.
As much as I felt their situation to be weird, I quietly walked past them and took the stairs to the 2nd floor.
"Maybe it was a trap? I need to be more careful."
I presumed, but soon that turned out to be needless worry when I finished dealing with a group of two goblins with ease. Affirming it wasn't a danger, I set the 2nd floor as my hunting area onwards.
T/N - Heya, everyone. How do you do? Sorry for yesterday’s lack of update. It was kind of blackout here due to the weather. Though then I realised, I forgot to add the update schedule as well.
First week - 2 chapters/day.
Second Week - 1 chapter/day.
Third week onward - 4 chapters/week.
Well, since I missed the last update, I will be updating three chapters today and tomorrow.