Chapter 11

How dangerous will the slimes I’m about to catch be? The first slime I caught in the city would die with a casual kick, but the slimes in this forest will presumably be more dangerous.

The crucial thing is the degree of danger. Internet rumors say things like they melted weapons with acid, that they’re 150cm tall and swallowing them means the end, or that there’s no physical way to kill them, and so on.

However, while such rumors exist, they aren’t very credible. Probably because there aren’t many people who’ve reached level 5, there are few credible accounts about them.

People’s leveling speed is slower than expected. While Doyugeon and I hunt two to three times a week, albeit rather lazily, we still seem to level up faster because we know where the prey is using magic power and move efficiently. It seems similar to those who quit their jobs and joined the Exploration Guild.

There might be talented geniuses who have leveled up faster and know more, but they don’t seem to be on the internet, so we can’t know. It would be great if we could get their help. It’d be awesome if talented people would stop being so secretive and leak some information on the internet once in a while.

Because there was a lack of reliable internet information, I wasn’t really planning to fight slimes yet. But it seems Doyugeon kept insisting we catch one. I was worried he would go catch one recklessly by himself, and I also directly experienced that wounds from the game disappear upon logout when a scratch from a branch healed, so I decided to catch one.

We also have the magic book, so I should be able to buy time until logout. The magic book stores dozens of times more magic power than what I usually use, so it should be able to help in an emergency. Though, whether I have the focus to unleash that much magic power all at once is another question.

Eventually, we reached where we could see a slime. It was a large slime as tall as me, translucent and blue.

As the slime slowly slid past a tree, the tree melted and fell, making a sound in the forest.

…

Isn’t it a bit too much to have to deal with acid too?

“Wow, this is amazing!”

“What’s amazing?”

“This is what proper adventure and hunting looks like. Let’s go!”

I want to do things properly as well, but I just want an easy life.

As I followed the excited Doyugeon who was rushing forward quickly, I said,

“If it’s dangerous, we’ll log out.”

“Okay, okay.”

“Are you listening? If it’s dangerous, what do we say?”

“Log in.”

We approached the slime to a certain degree. Doyugeon glanced around the ground and picked up a large rock. Then he handed me his sword.

“What should we do with this?”

“Just wait a second.”

Doyugeon took a stance and threw the rock at the slime. It was an unexpected and risky action considering the distance. Does he really know how the slime will respond and provoke it already?

Caught off guard, Doyugeon hid behind a tree while holding onto me.

The rock flew, was swallowed by the slime, and dissolved. Even though it was a pretty large rock, it had no effect.

The slime moved towards us. Its movements were pretty slow, so it feels like we could escape on foot. The fact that it’s only approaching without attacking or showing any signs of a ranged attack suggests it might not be able to.

Doyugeon let out a groan.

“Poking it with a sword probably won’t work… How do we catch this thing?”

“Don’t do any dangerous stuff. What you did just now was dangerous, even if it turned out okay.”

“Yeah…”

His answer was unsatisfactory. Further arguing about it might not help, so it’s probably better to think about how we can actually catch the slime.

“To me, using a sword will be hard, but it’ll probably be easier with magic.”

“If you’re the only one who can use magic, it doesn’t really make sense. The point is I need to be able to catch it.”

“You’re so picky.”

By any chance, is there a way to catch it with a sword? Actually, from what I can sense, there seems to be a core filled with a large amount of magical power in the center of the slime. When I mentioned this to him, he concluded it to be the slime’s nucleus. Really, a very fantasy-like theory and conclusion.

“Since this is a fantasy, let’s assume it’s really a slime nucleus. But how do we target it with a sword when it moves around so much each time the slime moves, and it’s around 70 cm deep?”

“Get close and stab it. The sword’s length should be enough.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Of course it is.”

Would it really be that easy when the nucleus moves around unpredictably as the slime moves? It would also be dangerous.

When Doyugeon moved forward, I grabbed the hem of his clothes and stopped him.

“Let’s try this with the next slime. For this slime, let’s just safely catch it with magic.”

The boy thought for a while and agreed. We moved further away from the slime and hid behind a tree together.

As I gathered magical power while cradling the magic book, he asked,

“You’re about to unleash magical power, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Why don’t we catch it with another type of magic since we’re going to catch it anyway?”

“Sure, why not? Hmm…”

What other magic? The magic I usually use just processes and fires off magical power. Regardless of how I process the magical power, it’s the same magic in the end because it’s determined only by proficiency, no? To be called a different kind of magic, there needs to be an extra factor beyond mere processing.

Let’s try using the laws of magic, then. I haven’t experimented to see if calling them laws is appropriate, but simple laws do exist in magic.

One of these laws is that the more magical power you try to compress, the harder it gets. In different terms, magical powers resist each other. Or do we call it the physical law of magical powers? Perhaps the amount of compressed magical power is proportional to the ability to manipulate it?

I’m not a science person, so I don’t know the appropriate way to phrase it. Let’s just say magical powers don’t get along. And trying to make them reconcile just tires me out.

Since magical powers don’t get along, many actions are restricted, and magic becomes simple. But this time, let’s use their lack of compatibility.

What happens if we leave magically power that we forcefully compressed at a certain moment? Since they don’t get along, they will try to separate from each other, right? That’s a magical power explosion.

Explosion. It’s new and intriguing. Let’s try it.

I boldly gathered surrounding magical powers. The wind blew, and my clothes fluttered following the magical power. I compressed the magical power into a spherical form several times larger than what I usually fire. It’s now the size of a fist. The last time I experimented with this level of compression, I gave up because it was too exhausting, but now it feels easy. Have my abilities grown in this time? Let’s try gathering even more.

I took a big lump of magical power out of the magic book and compressed it down to the size of a fingernail. This is starting to feel tough.

Looking at the slime, it’s still quite far. Even though we created some distance, it’s moving slowly. The sight of trees collapsing and the accompanying sounds as the slime engulfs them are quite intimidating, but from a distance, it doesn’t feel dangerous.

I launched the condensed ball of magical power and hid properly behind the tree with my eyes closed. As magical power becomes harder to control the farther it gets, I need to concentrate so that it remains compressed in front of the slime.

The ball of magical power passed through the trees, the grass, and even hit some leaves but kept its form until it finally met the slime.

Collision, expansion, explosion.

The slime burst, and the trees were blown away. Dirt flew into the air, and a strong wind shook the forest.

I covered my ears as a loud sound echoed. I should have done that sooner.

Before long, experience points appeared. It’s dead. There’s a brief moment of tension to check if it will respawn since it’s a slime.

“Your magic is overpowered.”

The boy peeked out and observed the situation before speaking.

“I can’t deny that.”

Catching an acidic slime around 150 cm tall so easily, it is overpowered.

Looking at the aftermath of the magic, a several-meter-wide crater has formed, and the surrounding area is in disarray with fallen trees and dirt. If someone with proper talent can do this, I can’t even imagine what a real genius could achieve.

“Now it’s my turn, right?”

“Are you sure you can catch it? Wouldn’t it be better if I just catch it with magic?”

Though we easily caught it with magic, it still doesn’t make sense to me how Doyugeon wants to catch it with a sword.

“Don’t worry, I’m a genius; I can do it.”

He’s extremely overconfident. Still, since he has talent, is it possible? I don’t know.

Come to think of it, how do other people catch slimes if he does things his way based on talent? When I asked him, his answer was simple.

“Maybe they use spears.”

“Thinking about it, that could be it… No, how can you stab a small nucleus with a spear you’re not proficient in?”

“They’ll figure it out somehow.”

We moved towards the next slime.

Upon encountering the second slime, Doyugeon truly demonstrated his theory and easily caught the slime by approaching it and stabbing the core.

However, during the process, some slime acid splattered onto his hand, causing mild burns. Should I buy him some gloves?

…

After logging out, I took the subway. We usually eat fast food or delivery food, considering Doyugeon’s budget when we play together, but this time, since Doyugeon made a wish for a free meal, I booked a hanjeongsik restaurant. However, now thinking about it, it’s quite amusing that his sole wish was just for a meal.

“Why?”

When I glanced at him, he asked with a look of curiosity.

“It’s nothing. Anyway, let me see your injured hand.”

“It’s healed.”

I examined his hand. Though the burn disappeared upon logging out, I wonder if it’s truly healed.

“Make a fist with that hand and open it.”

Doyugeon clenched and opened his fist.

“Jam-jam-jam.”

I guess it’s normal.

“Shouldn’t you go to the hospital for a check-up?”

“I get your concern, but it’s excessive. It healed upon logging out.”

“That’s what I mean.”

“I know what you’re thinking, don’t explain. Isn’t it like a cosmic horror scenario? That’s what you’re worrying about, right? But I think it’s an excessive worry. We’ve been fine so far, so there’s no need to worry unnecessarily, right?”

“We don’t have any guarantees it’ll stay fine moving forward.”

“In that case, we’ll deal with it if a problem arises.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at how hopeless his response was. ‘Talent,’ huh?

To be honest, I’ve been thinking that my recent worries might be excessive. There’s the possibility of cosmic horror, but it hasn’t happened yet, so it might end up being just a delusion. Instead, I’ve been wondering if I need to take active risks to adapt to this kind of fantasy phenomenon. If this kind of fantasy is the tide of the times, don’t I need to keep up with it? Now that my Dad’s been busy trying to predict the effects of the system, I’ve been feeling more confused than ever.

Doyugeon shrugged.

“Besides, it’s a weekend, and the hospital is closed.”

The fact that it’s a weekend isn’t really an issue, though.

We arrived at the hanjeongsik restaurant and followed the staff into a private room, where we took seats. I stretched out.

I’m tired. Even though leveling up has made my body better and the excursions for hunting amount to good exercise, improving my physical condition significantly, I feel mentally exhausted.

Life outside and adventures like hunting are damaging to the spirit. If I could just give up on hunting and read books at home, everything would be so much easier. If magic would allow me to read while lying down, that would be the icing on the cake.

As Doyugeon looked around the room, he spoke up.

“Are we really eating here?”

“It’s close by.”

Though this place isn’t particularly famous for great food, it’s close, so it’s convenient to visit.

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Hmm?”

“… Was there anything specific you wanted to eat?”

He just shrugged.

…

I’m feeling the limits of magic. Sure, manipulating and applying magical power might be called magic, but it’s woefully insufficient.

Can’t I perform truly magical abilities? Like throwing fireballs or teleporting, maybe? Since the log-in process includes teleportation, it doesn’t seem impossible to imagine that, but I haven’t figured out the key yet. Have the geniuses better than me already found the answer, or have they also hit a wall here? If anyone knows, it would be great if they could share their knowledge.

Still, I found a lead through Doyugeon when he got burnt and logged out. After logging out, wounds heal. Observing the process, I saw that the magical power is arranged regularly around the wound, changing its nature, which leads to a healing effect.

Eureka! The arrangement and transformation of magical power. If this isn’t the key, then what is?

I rummaged through the house and found a needle.

…

*

---