Chapter 3

We decided to part ways since we had already defeated a slime.

“Let’s play again tomorrow.”

“I don’t want to.”

I shook my head.

“Is there an appointment?”

“There isn’t, but I don’t feel like playing for now. I’ve played two days in a row and I’m exhausted. I’ll be resting at home for a while.”

“Thursday or Friday then?”

“I said I’m taking a break.”

“What about the weekend?”

“I’ll likely be tired then too. Don’t come over on the weekend.”

Doyugeon complained that I was going to lock myself at home during such an important time, but I ignored him. It was strange he was being so persistent, knowing that I usually take a few days off after playing for a day. Or was he just that eager?

Though the current situation where slimes are popping up can be troubling, I certainly don’t want to run around exhausted. If I stay home and keep searching online, someone will surely investigate and summarize everything.

It has been three days since the exams ended, and now the weekend arrived.

I’ve been searching, but the experience points discussion seems to be split between “it affects level-ups” and “it doesn’t.” Some people are even claiming they’ve seen a status window pop up. It seems like the discussions have become a chaotic mix of jokes and serious talk. For now, it’s probably best to stop searching and wait until the situation calms down before starting again.

Current Sky was lying on the living room sofa, flipping through a book. I have a study, but I prefer the sofa for reading.

After reading for a while, my wrist started to feel sore. When I clenched and unclenched my hand, it felt awkward.

…Maybe I should read e-books.

I checked the page I was on and got up from the sofa. Whether it’s a tablet or a smartphone, reading on an electronic device would be lighter and easier on the wrist than a book.

As I was about to head to the study, the videophone rang. It was from the security office.

“Hello. What’s the matter?”

“It’s the security team. Doyugeon is here to see you. Should I let him up?”

We didn’t have any plans.

“Please tell him to go back.”

“Understood.”

I wondered what he’d discovered to suddenly show up without a call.

I entered the study and placed the book back on the shelf. Though I intend to read e-books, I need to decide which device to use.

A smartphone would be convenient, but after reading, it feels like nothing sticks in my head, so I’m not very drawn to it. On the other hand, a tablet is relatively inconvenient for reading.

My smartphone rang. It was him.

“Why?”

“Let me in.”

“Go back yourself.”

“It’s cold out here. I feel sorry and… a bit lonely too… and uh…”

“Stop whining.”

Still, I told the security guard to let him up. When I opened the door, he walked in wearing a short-sleeve t-shirt.

“It’s cold outside, so why are you wearing short sleeves?”

“It’s not cold, just a bit chilly. It’s unseasonable for May, making global warming quite noticeable?”

“You’re just whining. Dress warmly or you’ll catch a cold.”

“Colds go away in a day.”

“You heard me, take care.”

As he entered, he looked around.

“Where’s your mom?”

“Out.”

I went to the kitchen and took out cookies and orange juice. When I came back to the living room, Doyugeon was turning on the console game system.

Could he have found something slime-related to show me?

“What are you doing?”

We’re going to play a fighting game. His place doesn’t have a console, and I only play fighting games when he comes over, so our skills are about the same.

Though, I’m a little better.

Doyugeon picked a character focused on long-range defense, one that shoots a gun. Though their abilities are weak, blocking all their attacks, then countering, gives me an easy win.

The first round, I lost. Blocking everything isn’t as easy as it sounds for our skill level, though it might just about be possible.

I played another round. Lost again. Ah, damn it, so frustrating.

“Hey, stop using that cheap trick.”

He laughed and nodded, but picked the same character. Hmm.

I lost again using the same strategy. Is he intentionally picking something after telling me not to use it? Is he teasing me?

The idea of getting frustrated over a game is silly, so I took a deep breath.

That’s when he said:

“Still, my skill is better.”

“You won by using a cheap trick, so what?”

“Nah, it’s all about skill. You’re using a weak character and still doing good on long-range control, right?”

“Control? It’s the cheap trick.”

“Hahahaha, that’s the loser’s excuse.”

Ugh… I sat there crumpling a cushion when he asked,

“Did you eat lunch?”

“Lunch? Not yet.”

“Then let’s order it now.”

“Okay, let’s have chicken.”

“Chicken? Well… I’m broke right now.”

He scratched his cheek.

In the end, we ordered a hamburger. While waiting for the delivery, we started another game. He changed his character.

So I picked that character instead.

“Hey?”

“What?”

Just as expected, he couldn’t block my attacks and I easily won. After being told to switch characters several times, I agreed after winning four rounds.

“I’m still better.”

“Isn’t that the same cheap trick?”

“Even cheap tricks require skill.”

“Then, can I use it too?”

“I’m tired of playing too much today. Let’s play something else.”

Though he seemed confused, I turned off the game anyway. If he has any complaints, let him bring it up.

While we were choosing another game, the hamburgers arrived and I went to get them.

When I returned from the entrance to the living room, Doyugeon was gone. I put the burgers on the table and followed the sound to the room where he was.

He was looking around the room. What was he doing in someone else’s room?

“What are you searching for?”

“Where did you put your notebook?”

“It’s probably in the study.”

I was reading and casually shopping for books, leaving the laptop in the study while it charged. Completely forgot about it when Doyugeon came over.

I went back to the living room, placed the hamburger, and as I did, he brought the laptop over.

“What will you do with the laptop?”

“I found something amazing this morning.”

“Is it related to slimes?”

“Yeah.”

I thought he just came over for fun while he was quiet playing games, but it seems he had a specific reason for coming.

As he started searching, he explained.

“You said before that to confirm the nature of the gold powder or the existence of level-ups, we need to discover more slimes. The problem was we didn’t know where slimes would appear.”

Yes, we did talk about that while walking to and from school. I also mentioned I don’t want to wander around a lot in response to his suggestion to do so.

“But?”

“Turns out, there’s a way to detect slimes.”

“Hm? Is there a pattern to the areas they appear in? Besides secluded areas.”

“Not exactly.”

Doyugeon opened a website called “Slime Detector.”

[Slime Detector]

At the top of the site, it says “Slime Detector,” and in the center, a Google map is displayed. When Doyugeon zoomed in, red dots appeared on the map. It seems less like Google is providing it and more like the site owner has overlaid the data on top of the map.

Doyugeon pointed to the screen with his hand in a show-offy manner.

“Ta-da!”

I stared blankly and bit into my shrimp burger. It’s delicious. Even after drinking cola, Doyugeon remained silent, so I asked first.

“There’s no pattern to slime appearance areas, but how do you know they can be detected? Are the red spots where no people are?”

“No. I don’t know everything, but apparently, it selects SNS sighting reports and compiles them, then uses a computer to predict future appearance locations.”

“Hmm… is it some kind of AI?”

“Nah, it’s different from that.”

I bit into the hamburger again. It’s delicious. Doyugeon also opened the burger packaging and took a bite.

“So, these are places where they’re predicted to appear?”

“Yeah.”

Doyugeon nodded, and I followed suit.

“I see.”

He stared at me intently.

“…Don’t you have any other thoughts?”

“About what?”

“You know, something like ‘wow, surprising,’ or whatever.”

“Wow, surprising.”

I said that and took another bite of the hamburger. It’s delicious. Meanwhile, I noticed he looked disheartened and asked him,

“What more do you want?”

“Not much, really.”

Doyugeon still looked disheartened as he bit into the hamburger. His words and his expression were contradictory.

Why is he acting this way? Is he upset because I didn’t react properly?

I approached him and asked,

“Are you mad?”

“What? No, I’m not.”

Despite saying no, his gaze was on the laptop. When he moved the mouse pointer, it touched a red dot, and a probability number appeared.

3%

“Does 3% mean there’s a 3% chance of a slime appearing?”

“Yup.”

Though they calculated the probability, it’s probably less accurate in real life and will likely be lower.

“Then hurry up and finish eating. We should go.”

“Where?”

Doyugeon turned to look at me. I smiled and tapped the red dot on the screen with my finger.

“Here.”

His expression brightened.

He’s so simple.

*

Before heading to the target location, we stopped at Daiso to buy a rubber hammer. Doyugeon forgot to bring the one he used last time. When I asked why he didn’t bring it from home, he said he didn’t think he’d need it.

Did he anticipate that I wouldn’t be interested and pouted because of it? With his childish behavior, I don’t know how far to indulge him.

All the probability rates for the red dots were single digits, and the numbers were all similar. So, we decided to start by checking the red dots near my home in the residential area.

The red dots may appear small on the map but in reality, they cover quite extensive areas, overlapping multiple blocks. However, there were fewer places where you’d actually find a slime. Each block was tightly packed with buildings and open roads separating block from block, leaving little space within them.

As I realized while walking around on Tuesdays too, the possible places to find slimes were too few. The best places to check within reach are the parking spaces where cars are parked.

We looked around the open parking areas, but no slime was found. Doyugeon walked back along our route and pointed to a corner blocked by wire fences between houses.

“Let’s go over.”

Glancing at it, there was a sign that said “No Dumping Cigarette Butts,” and there was a CCTV camera in the corner.

“If you want your parents to come get you, then sure.”

“Ugh… Where else should we look?”

“In my opinion, there are probably no slimes here”.

Even though I gave a reasonable answer, Doyugeon looked hesitant. After examining further under the cars and giving up, he pointed to a house.

“What about this one?”

The front yard of the houses we saw through the gate holes was a general overview. The house he pointed to had a gate without gaps we skipped earlier. Moreover, this house not only has no gaps but also a very high fence with plants growing on it.

“How can we see over it?”

“I’ll lift you up using a stool, check it out once.”

“That probably won’t be enough.”

Approaching the fence, I realized the height would be too much for a stool. Even standing on a stool, extending my arm with my smartphone out wouldn’t work because of the plants in the way.

While pondering, Doyugeon looked at a car parked next to the fence and clapped his hands with excitement.

“I’ve figured it out.”

And he tried to climb onto the car.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

Just before he climbed up, I grabbed and pulled him down.

“What.”

Do you even know what you’re trying to do?

“Climbing up, the tire marks could lead to basic car washing costs at the very least; worse, if anything gets damaged, there might be repair costs. The black box records everything, so if the car owner catches you, it could get quite complicated.”

“Ah.”

The realization dawns on his face. Doyugeon looked at the car with a mutter. He seems disappointed.

“If you really have to look, I can climb up for you. Would that work?”

“Uh?”

Honestly, car washing or repair costs could be burdensome for Doyugeon, but I can cover it within my allowance range. Leaving my number should be enough to resolve any issues smoothly. It’s not like the car is that expensive anyway.

He looked at me strangely for a moment and then said,

“No. Let’s forget it.”

Huh? Oh, did I sound like I was showing off my wealth? Oops, another slip-up.

In real life, my economic perception is off, and I often make such mistakes. Like when I visited his house the first time after entering elementary school and said, “Why do you watch such a crummy TV?” and made the atmosphere awkward. Since then, I’ve tried to fix it, but I can’t get it completely right.

What should I say to fix this as I hesitate? Doyugeon suddenly spoke up.

“Hey, look over there.”

“Huh?”

I looked where he was pointing and saw a blue slime crawling on the roof of the villa. It was there all along.

“That’s great. Let’s get it.”

Doyugeon raised his rubber hammer. True, catching it would be great, but how?

“How?”

It’s the villa’s roof, not the terrace, so there might not be stairs to climb up, and the villa door is likely locked too.

“Hmm…”

Just then, the slime hesitated and slipped off the roof. The slime crashed to the ground and disintegrated under the force of gravity.

“Ah.”

The remains of the slime turned into golden dust before disappearing.

“Ah.”

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