Warning: Contains graphic content
—1st Floor—
I moved carefully through the dungeon and soon spotted a goblin. Slowly closing the distance, I drew my sword and raised my shield.
It seemed to notice me, screeching, 「Gya! Gyaa!」 and flailing about.
(Let’s start with a warm-up… I’ll block with the shield and counter.)
As I approached, the goblin lunged at me, swinging a wooden club. It charged in a straight line—easy enough to parry.
(The moment the club hits the shield, deflect it left!)
—Crack!
The wooden club made a dull sound as it snapped in two.
Spotting an opening, I drove my foot into its exposed side, channeling magic into the strike.
「Buggya!」
I could feel the crunch of breaking bone through my boot.
The goblin was sent flying several meters, landing in a crumpled heap.
Green blood oozed from its mouth as it wobbled to its feet, desperately trying to crawl away.
「You’re not getting away!」
I caught up to it and swung my sword at its neck, severing its head in one clean strike.
The goblin’s head rolled to the ground with a brief death rattle.
「Phew… My body’s moving better than I expected. Oh, right—better collect the proof of kill first.」
I crouched down and sliced off the goblin’s ear, dropping it into the plastic bag I’d brought along.
Next, I pried a small magic stone from its chest.
「Magic stones probably aren’t used much in this world since there’s no magic gear, but it doesn’t hurt to hold onto them…」
After pocketing the magic stone, I wiped off the goblin’s green blood with a worn-out rag.
As I cleaned up, the goblin’s body slowly disintegrated into ash, fading into the dungeon floor.
Monsters killed inside dungeons dissolve into ash and return to the dungeon’s ecosystem.
If they’re killed outside, though, the body remains—and you have to burn it or dispose of it somehow, which is a hassle.
「Alright, onto the next one…」
I pressed on through the brightly lit corridor, lit by glowing moss.
For a while, I didn’t encounter any other monsters, and before long, I spotted a staircase leading to the next floor.
「It’s… 6:30 PM now, huh? Only one goblin so far…」
Grumbling to myself, I descended the stairs to the next level.
—2nd Floor—
Even after reaching the second floor, I still hadn’t run into any enemies.
「Weird… Where are the monsters…?」
Normal dungeons usually have a decent number of enemies.
And low-tier mobs tend to respawn quickly—but I hadn’t seen a single one.
(If there’s nothing here, I might as well head down to the next floor.)
Picking up the pace, I made for the lower levels.
The upper floors of this dungeon were relatively straightforward, so there wasn’t much risk of getting lost.
(Maybe someone just cleared this floor recently…? But for an entire floor to be empty… that’s strange.)
Lost in thought, I spotted the stairs to the third floor.
With no monsters in sight, I had cleared the second floor in just fifteen minutes.
—3rd Floor—
The moment I stepped onto the third floor, I immediately ran into two goblins—one armed with a knife and the other with a spear.
「Weapons are pretty rough for a beginner to deal with…」
To regain my rhythm, I started banging my sword against my shield as I approached.
The goblins turned toward me, readying themselves for battle.
「Gyau, gyau…」
「Gya, gya!」
The spear-wielding goblin jabbed wildly, clearly lacking any real sense of range.
I deflected the attack with my shield and slid my sword into the goblin’s exposed neck.
「Gyauu!?」
My blade slid in easily, severing its head, which rolled to the floor.
Without losing momentum, I charged toward the knife-wielding goblin, throwing my weight behind my shield and infusing it with magic.
The goblin flew about three meters before crashing to the ground.
「Haaah!」
As the goblin scrambled to get up and flee, I snatched up the fallen knife and hurled it.
The blade whistled through the air and embedded itself in the back of the goblin’s head, snuffing out its life.
After confirming both goblins were dead, I collected their ears and magic stones, then retrieved the goblin’s knife.
Having extra throwing weapons never hurts.
(That makes four knives on hand now… Might as well test them in the next fight.)
As I moved forward, I spotted two more goblins walking ahead—one with a spear and the other with a club.
(At this range… this should work.)
I charged magic into two knives and threw them.
One knife struck cleanly into the goblin’s head, while the other stabbed into its eye.
「As expected, aiming gets shaky when I throw in quick succession…」
I threw another knife at the surviving goblin, delivering a fatal blow.
After confirming they were both dead, I collected my knives, magic stones, and proof of kill.
「Alright, time to move on—」
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed through the corridor.
It sounded like someone was running.
「Damn it! We were doing fine up to this floor!」
「Just shut up and run!」
Two people rushed past me, looking panicked.
Moments later, five goblins appeared from deeper in the corridor, giving chase.
(Five of them… Might be a good chance to try that.)
I took a deep breath, stretched to avoid straining my muscles, and let magic flood through my body.
This was a basic physical enhancement spell, strengthening my entire body.
「Over here!!」
I launched myself forward like an arrow loosed from a fully drawn bow.
The nearest goblin barely had time to react before a knife pierced its head, sending it flying from the impact.
Switching to my sword mid-air, I twisted my body and leapt into the middle of the remaining four goblins.
I intended to cut them all down in a single sweeping strike—
—But it didn’t quite go as planned.
「Ah, damn… Guess I missed one.」
Three goblins were cleanly cut down, but one was left half-severed, its body twitching and gurgling.
「Gugigi… Gobbu…」
「…Sorry about that.」
「Guhi…」
Without hesitation, I pulled my sword free and finished it off.
The goblin let out a short death rattle before collapsing to the ground.
「Hmm… Back in the other world, I could take down seven or eight cleanly in one strike…」
My technique—or more accurately, my level of refinement—had definitely deteriorated.
Judging from the cut marks, the third goblin’s wound was ragged.
「Gotta train more…」
After collecting the goblins’ ears and magic stones, my stomach growled.
「I’m starving… What time is it?」
Checking my watch, I saw it was 7:30 PM.
Since I hadn’t eaten anything but a light snack before diving in, hunger was starting to hit hard.
I decided to head back.
On the way out, I took down any goblin I ran into with a single blow, using it as physical enhancement training.
After collecting magic stones and proof of kill, I reached the dungeon exit by 8:30 PM.
-0-
At the guild outpost, a different man was working the reception desk this time.
「I’m back. Here’s the proof of kill.」
I handed over the plastic bag filled with goblin ears.
The clerk looked stunned—it seemed like taking down that many goblins solo on the first day was unheard of.
「We offer free showers if you’d like to use one.」
「Ah, thank you. I appreciate it.」
After borrowing the shower at the facility, I packed my sweat-soaked clothes into my bag.
Then I stopped by a family restaurant for dinner before heading home.
-0-
Since the room was hot and humid, I switched on the air conditioner.
「Ugh… I’m all sticky. Guess I’ll take another shower…」
If Hikari was here, she’d probably have the bath ready for me by now…
「…Huh? Now that I think about it, isn’t that kinda…」
A slow heat crept up my face.
「Damn, it’s hot…」
I cranked up the air conditioning and took a shower.
When I got back to my room, I found a message from Tsuzuri.
『Hey, Yuuki-kun! About that exam I mentioned before—it’s set for three weeks from now! Details about the location and travel arrangements will probably be settled about a week beforehand. 』
「Three weeks, huh… First, I need to focus on training my body…」
As soon as I collapsed onto the bed, exhaustion from both physical and magical exertion pulled me under.
「…Zzz…」
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