The Level-Up Junkie Uses 《Berserk》

Pain I can take.

Thinking about it though, dropping 5 《HP》 from a single Goblin hit might be a problem.

Keep eating shots like that and I'm out of the fight in no time. At which point I might as well stay on Floor 1 and grind there for efficiency.

"…No, I've got the feel of it now. Next one I'll handle better."

That last fight gave me the read on this floor's Goblins. Next time around, I should be able to position better and avoid getting hit.

Even so — if it takes multiple swings to drop one, I'm going to keep getting surrounded.

A few more levels would solve the problem, but…

"Let's try it, then."

The Skill that came with the Title — 《Berserk》.

The effect: 《STR》 up at the cost of 《INT》 down, plus damage taken ×1.2 — on paper, the downsides outweigh the upside. But for me, who has zero magic-type Skills, dropping 《INT》 isn't a real downside.

And at this Skill Level the damage increase is only ×1.2, so practically, on that previous hit, the damage would've gone from 5 to 6. Nothing major.

…Granted, the 《STR》 boost at this level is also only +4. Still — +4 isn't nothing, is it?

On top of that, 《Berserk》 doesn't consume 《HP》 or 《MP》 to activate. Plenty of Skills do — this one being free is a real advantage.

"Okay, let's try it. If it sucks I'll just retreat to Floor 1."

So, to actually try a fight with 《Berserk》 on, I pushed deeper down the corridor.

Ideally a two-Goblin pack.

Walking with that in mind, my prayer ascended to heaven and was answered — I ran straight into a Goblin pack.

"GUGYAH!" "GUGYAAH!!" "GYALULULAAAAAH!!!"

Of three Goblins.

"Tch. Cowards…!!"

Need to gang up to do anything, do you? — I'd love to fire that off as an insult. There's only one of me, you know. Take some lessons from your Floor 1 cousins.

Running crossed my mind. But if I run here, I'll never be able to fight a 3+ pack. Goblins at this floor's level — another two or three levels up and three-packs will be manageable. But the deeper floors have stronger monsters in bigger packs, and if I run from this one I'll be running every time I meet one of those.

And above all: running, repeatedly, is bad for level grinding.

"— I'll KILL youuuuuuuuu!!"

I screamed myself into commitment.

At the same time — I activated 《Berserk》.

A quick Status check: 《STR》 up from 20 to 24, 《INT》 down from 6 to 5. Looks like fractional changes round to nearest. Or maybe just truncated. Either way: 《HP》 and 《MP》 unchanged.

Per the Skill description, damage taken should now be increased — but if it doesn't connect, it's nothing!!

"OOOOOOOOOH!!"

Closing distance — the Goblins doing the same at terrifying speed.

I drove the sword down on the lead Goblin without slowing.

"GUGYAH!?"

It blocked with the cudgel — but my 《STR》 and bodyweight are well past this thing's. The momentum of the swing wasn't even close to being absorbed; the Goblin's stance broke wide open.

I exploited the gap and hammered home with full force.

"OOOOORAAAAAAAAH!!"

Two strokes.

Last time it took me three; this time it went down in two.

So 《Berserk》 is doing what it says on the tin.

The Goblin collapsed and dissolved into particles of light. I turned to the next one —

"Right! Next — ow ow ow!?"

The other two had naturally swung wide left and right, and I caught a beating from both cudgels.

I managed to take most of it on my arms and shoulders, so it wasn't as savage as the flank-shot earlier. But staying in this exchange, my 《HP》 would evaporate.

So —

"Tactical retreat!!"

"GUGYAH!?"

I spun on my heel, turned my back on the Goblins, and ran.

"GUGYAAH!!"

"GUGYALAAAAAAH!!"

The Goblins came after me, raging at my back. I checked over my shoulder — and —

"FOOLS! THE RETREAT WAS A FEEEINT!!"

"GUGYAH!?"

I just wanted to reset the engagement.

I planted my feet, spun, gave a "FNGH!!" and hammered the sword down on one Goblin, knocking it clean off its feet.

In the same beat I lunged at the other one.

Two enemies left. Same shape as the previous fight. Slam the sword into the cudgel raised in defence, full force, then strike at the broken stance!

I dropped this one in two strokes too, recovered my footing, closed in, and somehow blocked the third Goblin's incoming cudgel with the sword.

"Aaaand — that just leaves you, hmm…?"

"G-GUGYAH!?"

I addressed the lone surviving Goblin.

A solo, even at this floor, isn't going to give me trouble.

"BECOME EXP FOR ME!!!"

"G-GUGYAAAAAAAAAH!?"

And just like that, the last Goblin went down too.

Then —

"Hah, hah — huh!?"

While I was still trying to even out my breathing, that mysterious surge of pow-er ran through me.

Then — the inorganic voice, addressing me directly inside my head.

Your Level has risen.

H-here it comes…!! HEEERE WE GOOO!!!

"NGEE-BLEH-DEE-S-S-S-SHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Twitch — twitch — twitch!!

I rode it out at full volume — and —

"Phew…! (Post-bliss clarity.)"

— once I'd settled, I picked up the Goblins' magic stones and got down to allocating Stat Points.

Pulling up the Status, in that one fight 《HP》 had dropped from 27 to 17. Net 10 damage. Three hits taken — so each hit was 3-to-4 damage.

From the EXP gained, one of them must have been Lv.3, which means even with 《Berserk》 active, a Lv.2 Goblin only dings me for 3. Hard to say if that's actually any bigger than before.

But then — what was that 5 I took earlier?

Maybe that was a critical hit.

Either way, given how minor the damage is, I can probably run 《Berserk》 with effectively no downside.

Still — even allowing for a three-pack fight, taking that much damage every encounter is a problem. I need to bear that in mind for stat allocation.

So this is where I am.

————————————————————————

【Name】Samejima Takeo

【Level】『4』   To next level: EXP 『245』

《HP》17/37 (5 up!)

《MP》18/18

《STR》25 (5 up!)

《VIT》12

《INT》6

《MND》12

《AGI》17

《DEX》12

【STP】『0』

【SP】『0』

【Skill】《Bladed Weapon Damage Up Lv.4》《Berserk Lv.1》

【Title】《Madman》

《Bladed Weapon Damage Up Lv.4》 — When attacking with a bladed weapon, damage dealt to the enemy is ×1.8. No effect with non-bladed attacks.

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Bumping 《VIT》 a tiny amount probably isn't going to do anything meaningful — better to push 《STR》 instead. Offence is the best defence.

That said, pushing 《STR》 any further might cause the problem we talked about, so next time I'll probably allocate to 《DEX》.

Anyway — this should mean I can one-shot a Lv.2 Goblin now, no?

After all, 《Berserk》 takes 《STR》 to 30, and I bumped 《Bladed Weapon Damage Up》 a level, so my attack output should be way up.

If I can one-shot them, even a three-pack stops being scary.

To test the level-up dividend, I went looking for a Goblin.

Almost immediately, I found a Mr Goblin walking by himself.

I activated 《Berserk》 and jogged up to him with a wave.

"Mr Gobliiiin!!"

"GUGYAH? GUGYAAAAAAAAH!!"

"— Die already — ORAAH! ORAAAAAAAH!!"

《AGI》 hadn't changed, so the first stroke got blocked by the cudgel as usual — but I forced the cudgel back and split open the shoulder.

The next stroke ended it.

The feel of the swing said: if it weren't blocked, the first stroke alone would've been enough. Combat time is way down. With this, I can engage up to two simultaneously without taking hits.

"Okay. I can work with this…!!"

Confident now that I could handle Floor 2 just fine, I scooped up the magic stone and pushed deeper, in high spirits.