Chapter 4

After the lone death of the Slime, it decided to rest and visit a cafe. As soon as he sat down, Doyugeon turned on his laptop.

“Though we couldn’t fully capture it, we made some progress.”

“Yeah, we did. But first, let’s order. What do you want to eat?”

“Whatever you choose is fine.”

Without looking up, the guy opened a Slime detection website.

“Then how about mango juice?”

“Yeah.”

He ordered mango juice, cappuccino, and cheesecake. Doyugeon was currently writing a verification post about Slimes appearing in the area he had been exploring.

“Without a photo, will it be verified?”

“I’m an honorary member of this site. I’ve been certified to catch and take pictures of Slimes ever since this site started.”

He brags. I wonder how long this site has existed to have an honorary membership category. Everyone sure is active.

Not long after, a comment appeared:

– Please do not post verification posts without photos or videos. The accuracy of the detector decreases.

When I glanced at Doyugeon, he avoided my eyes. Embarrassed, he deleted the post.

Just then, the order bell rang, so I sent him to get the menu.

My feet hurt, so I quietly took my shoes off and placed my feet on them. Though I haven’t walked for very long today, due to my usually low exercise level, the soles of my feet are burning.

At this rate, I’ll be as tired as I was on Tuesday. I got a bit short-tempered with Doyugeon after being exhausted from looking for Slimes. It might be okay if it happened once or twice, but judging by his enthusiasm, it seems like this cycle will continue, so this is no trivial matter.

I wiggled my toes to loosen them up.

I need to come up with a plan. A plan to hang out with him while conserving my stamina.

Why am I getting tired?

Because I’ve been walking a lot. If that’s the reason, then just walking less will be fine, right? Even if the location detected by the detector is close, there’s no need to necessarily walk there, right? Of course, after reaching the location, some walking is unavoidable.

Hmm. Instead of walking, I’ll just take a taxi. That should do.

As he returned with the ordered items, I tried to start a conversation.

“I’ve been thinking… We don’t really have to walk…”

But suddenly I stopped. This way, the taxi fare would be quite expensive. Such costs would be hard for this guy to handle.

I hesitated for a moment, and Doyugeon handed me the cappuccino.

“You’re thinking of something weird again, aren’t you?”

“What are you talking about? Not really.”

“Then why did you stop talking? Keep going.”

Suddenly, this guy acts all smart.

“That, a bike. Yeah, I was going to suggest that we go back to my place and bring the bike.”

“Bike?”

He took a sip of his cappuccino.

“Yeah, a bike. There’s a bike at my place. It’s my dad’s. I think you saw it last time. He bought it for commuting as a form of exercise. But soon after, winter came, and now it’s been parked in the storage. Looking at how the weather hasn’t really picked up, I think he gave up because of the fine dust. Though the bike might be a bit big, I think it can be adjusted, and it should be rideable.”

The guy replied.

“But you don’t know how to ride a bike, right?”

“I’m not riding it. You are.”

“Me? If my legs hurt, what are you going to do?”

Of course, I was going to take a taxi – no.

“I’ll ride at the back.”

So we went back home to get the bike.

Doyugeon rode the bike, the size of which was adjusted, and tested it by riding around the apartment complex.

“It’s a bit large, but it’s rideable.”

“Isn’t it?”

He checked the rear rack.

“Try it out.”

“Hold on.”

I adjusted the shoulder strap of the laptop bag that had been slung around one shoulder and sat lightly on the rear rack. It’s kind of rough and hurts my butt.

“You might fall off if you sit sideways while riding.”

“Is that so?”

I adjusted my position forward. Doyugeon started pedaling.

“How’s it feel? Is it okay to pedal?”

“Let’s accelerate a little first.”

After riding straight ahead for a while, we stopped. Doyugeon nodded.

“At first, it’s a bit heavy, but once you pick up speed, it’s fine. Is it okay for you to sit at the back? It might be uncomfortable.”

It’s a bit uncomfortable for my butt and hard to maintain balance, but…

“It’s rideable.”

From there, we started a more serious search for Slimes. It was certainly faster than walking, allowing us to quickly visit multiple locations.

But it was all for nothing. Given that finding Slimes consecutively was purely out of luck, it wasn’t surprising. At this rate, it would be easier just to search from home.

During the exploration, I developed some helpful tricks, and also devised ways to entrust the search entirely to Doyugeon.

When we arrived at a new location, I’d get off the bike and say,

“I’ll check here while you ride around and look. Call me if you find something.”

In this way, I delegated a large area to him. He figured out my intention and protested, but objectively, it was a way to explore more areas quickly, so he eventually agreed.

By evening, after a long search with no significant results, I was considering whether to send Doyugeon home after feeding him dinner, when he called.

“Hey! Found it.”

When I went to look, there was a Slime crawling inside a fence by the road.

Doyugeon, standing there staring at the Slime, reached his hand out to ask for the rubber hammer.

“Hammer, hammer.”

I subtly passed him the hammer from my bag, then quickly pulled it back. He turned around.

“What?”

“I was wondering… Is it safe to absorb this gold powder again?”

“That’s why we’re confirming, isn’t it?”

“I just feel uneasy. We’re acting too much like we’re in a game. Honestly, the current situation feels more like cosmic horror.”

“Cosmic horror?”

“Like, what if this gold powder is some kind of virus that came from outer space? Something like an incurable infectious disease.”

“Hmm…”

He alternated his glance between the Slime and me, then smiled.

“In that case, let’s confirm!”

Doyugeon rushed to the Slime and kicked it. The Slime exploded, turning into gold powder.

He turned back to me.

“If things go wrong, clean up for me.”

This is exasperating.

The gold powder was absorbed into Doyugeon.

At that moment, I felt a strange sensation unfamiliar to the five senses. It felt like when you’ve pulled an all-nighter for several nights in a row and your senses start to feel alien.

As everything feels a bit different, I pressed on my temples. Maybe I’m tired from walking all day. It’s time to head home.

“Hey! Look, look!”

Doyugeon suddenly screamed. The excited guy seemed to be pointing at nothing in the air. Following his finger, I saw the usual sky.

“What?”

He pointed forward.

“Not the sky, this!”

There was nothing in front of him.

“What’s what?”

“The status window!”

Status window? Isn’t that just some internet meme joke?

I swept my eyes over the empty air in front of him, but naturally, there was nothing.

“I don’t see it.”

“Here?”

“Yeah, I don’t see it.”

He continued looking directly at the spot where there was seemingly nothing.

Looking more closely, there is nothing there. Is it just because I’m tired and my senses are acting up?

Doyugeon made hand motions as if swiping the air in front of him.

“Other people can’t see it either.”

“Is it really there?”

“It is.”

Honestly, it seems more plausible that he’s hallucinating due to being affected by the gold powder than that some status window exists, since Slimes could just be natural disasters. But a status window would imply some intelligent entity’s involvement.

“What’s written on it?”

“Two windows. One says condition met, and the other says system connection successful.”

“And?”

“That’s all.”

“Hmm.”

Doyugeon pondered for a moment, then shouted.

“Status window!”

Suddenly, I felt something moving around. Another strange sensation.

“Level 1! Level 1!”

He cheered, swinging his arms wildly. Honestly, he looks kind of crazy right now.

“Relax.”

“You get one too! Catch one more slime, and the status window will appear!”

“Sure, sure. Got it. But first, calm down.”

Doyugeon pulled out his phone to take a picture.

“Does it show up?”

“Hmm… no, it doesn’t.”

Clearly, it’s a hallucination.

“Then besides the status window, do you feel anything else?”

“What kind of feeling?”

“Like sounds or other sensations.”

I mean, like an auditory hallucination.

“There’s nothing like that. Maybe it’ll change when I level up.”

Other than hallucination, nothing unusual. Phew.

Doyugeon stared into the empty air in front of him, tilted his head, and mumbled.

“Login.”

Again, a strange sensation, and Doyugeon disappeared.

Uh…

I looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen. What’s happening?

“Hey, where’s Doyugeon?”

Suddenly, I felt like he was coming from where he disappeared. Moments later, he popped out of thin air and landed.

A standing Doyugeon approached and grabbed my shoulder, shouting.

“Totally cool! It’s completely a fantasy world! Fantasy!”

“Huh?”

The world turned into a fantasy. Common sense is collapsing, and fantasy is rushing in. Reports are overflowing, and it’s hard to distinguish between jokes and reality.

Where does reality end, and where does delusion begin?

I don’t know.

It would be nice if the world were a bit more rational.

For dinner, I simply ate a convenience store bento. Since catching two Slimes would bring up the status window, I decided to catch two today. A plan that would’ve been impossible before became doable, thanks to an impending innovative search method.

At that moment, on my way to the convenience store, I had a strange feeling and looked up at the distant sky. Watching for a moment, a Slime inexplicably popped out of the sky and fell. It must’ve died upon landing, considering how high it was. I even had a definite feeling that the Slime had died.

It seems this unidentifiable new sense can detect Slimes. With this certainty, I decided to use it.

First, I go to a spot predicted by the Slime detector and intuitively check whether there’s a Slime. If not, I move to the next location. This method saves both physical and mental energy, except for Doyugeon who’s pedaling.

Besides producing remarkable results, within an hour, we found both Slimes.

The second Slime approached.

Current Sky struck down with the rubber hammer. The Slime burst and died, and the gold dust was absorbed.

Now the system kicks in.

[Condition Met]

A holographic window appeared in front of my eyes. Suddenly, I felt an unpleasant sensation, like an intruder rummaging through my room.

[System Connection – Success]

“See? I told you!”

“Hmm? Yeah, you were right. Just didn’t tell me it would feel so unpleasant.”

“Unpleasant?”

Doyugeon looked confused.

“It’s unpleasant.”

“What is?”

“When the system connects.”

“Why?”

After stopping my response and looking at him, it seemed like our conversation was slightly misaligned. Could it be that this guy didn’t feel anything?

“Nah, it’s nothing. But try inviting me to a party.”

During the hour of searching, we took breaks and explored the system. I found out several things, one of which was parties. Parties seem to have functions like experience point distribution and system visualization.

“Party invitation. Target: Current Sky.”

Even though Doyugeon said it while staring at the empty air, nothing happened.

[Shout ‘Login’ to start the adventure.]

An irrelevant message.

Doyugeon approached and lightly poked my forehead.

“Her.”

[Party Invitation Received]

Leader: Doyugeon

Objective: Adventure

Members: 1/10

Condition: None

System: Party Open

Experience: Divided among members

“Ac…”

I hesitated to say ‘Accept,’ thinking it might be embarrassing and unnecessary to say it out loud.

“Accept. Accpt. Agree. Acagree.”

Doesn’t work.

“Accept.”

[Joined the Party.]

“Great! Let’s go! Log…”

“Hold on.”

“What now?”

“Check the status window first.”

“Status window.”

[Status Window]

Level: 1

He glanced at the window.

“Same as mine.”

“Not much to see. Fine, let’s go.”

Doyugeon raised his arms and shouted.

“Fantasy! Here I come! Login!”

He disappeared.

Seems I have to go along…

“Login.”

A feeling of awkwardness came over me as the scenery changed. Now, I was inside a white building. When I looked forward, I saw doors. Looking behind, there were racks filled with weapons.

Is this the fantasy?

Surprisingly, it’s pretty normal.

Doyugeon, somehow wielding a sword he had picked up, swung it around, striking all sorts of poses while marveling at it. He even asked for photos.

If only this guy wasn’t here, everything would be fine. It’s a bit embarrassing to be with him.

Still, I took the photos for him.

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