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After leaving the Adventurer’s Guild, I stopped by the blacksmith for the first time in a while to prepare for hunting.

Ding-a-ling, the sound of the bell ringing again after so long.

“Uncle~ we’re here~”

“What’s up, are you still alive? I thought you were dead since you didn’t come by for a while.”

“Come on, if I die, the world would end, wouldn’t it?”

Honestly, the guy possessed by Arthur is an idiot, and I think if he follows the original story, the Empire has a greater than 90 percent chance of falling.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re so great. You’ll be an S-Rank Adventurer in no time.”

“Geez. I’m still in the C-Rank promotion quest.”

“W-What? You little brat, you’re already C-Rank?!”

“Talented people rise quickly.”

S-Rank? If I get my hands on it, SS-Rank wouldn’t be a problem.

Though there’s no such thing as SS-Rank.

“By the way, it seems like you’re gathering more girls every time you come.”

“It’s just my fate that girls flock to strong men, right?”

“You’ve gotten even more obnoxious since we last met…”

Isn’t it kind of a small number of girls for a guy like me?

“The shop is still gathering dust, huh?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Oh, come on, I’m secretly glad to be here, but I have to act indifferent.

“Luna, don’t you want to buy anything?”

“Not really.”

Saving money for hunting isn’t a very good choice.

True hunters say they use every means and method when hunting, right?

“Then Yui, how about you?”

“M-Me?”

“Yeah. You.”

Maybe it’s because she was a shut-in until recently, but her eyes sparkle with curiosity whenever she goes somewhere.

Just like now.

“I don’t think I need anything here as a mage.”

Yui, that’s a stereotype.

It’s a very dangerous thing that devours people’s imagination.

Couldn’t a mage swing a staff and burst a monster’s head?

There are magical girls who throw magical punches too.

Being a magic fighter could be considered pretty normal.

These days, there are even healers who smash monster skulls with their maces.

“Then I guess I need it alone.”

I pulled out the arms of the Iron Golem I caught last time from my inventory.

“Uncle, could you make a round plate out of this?”

“What have you brought this time?”

“It’s an Iron Golem.”

“An Iron Golem… Looks like a lot has happened while I wasn’t watching…”

“Not really?”

There’s been a lot, but if you ask if it was hard, not really.

Everything I did was easy.

Is possession always this easy? It feels so different from what I knew it would be that it’s almost bizarre.

Possessors usually go through all kinds of hardships, but since I possessed, I’ve just been fighting with everyone like crazy and haven’t had any real hardships.

“It’s easy to make, but why a weapon and not something good for it?”

“What’s the point of having a lot of weapons if we can’t use them?”

Honestly, I’m satisfied with the weapon I’m using now.

“If I’m going to change weapons, I’ll switch to something better later.”

The weapon I’m currently using was something I had no choice but to make at the beginning of my possession, and it felt beneath my dignity to make it with a mere C-Rank monster.

I’ll break the head of an S-Rank monster later and use those materials to make something good.

“I suppose that makes sense. So how should I make it?”

“Just make it as wide and big as possible.”

“It’s easy to make, but what would you use something like that for?”

“I need it for a C-Rank promotion quest.”

“Is that so… I still can’t grasp what you’re planning. Fine. I’ll make it, so come pick it up tomorrow.”

“Deal.”

*

The next day.

As soon as we received the items from the blacksmith, we got on the cart and headed to our destination.

Our destination was Slime Hill, far away from the Empire.

The name Slime Hill sounds hilarious, but I wondered why such a dangerous monster was near human settlements instead.

I always thought slimes were monsters that could be found easily in nearby grasslands.

Even with all the knowledge I had from my previous life, this reality was so different that I couldn’t find the words.

Clunk.

As the cart moved on the unpaved road, I thought to myself.

‘I’m bored.’

Even back then, when I had to travel long distances, I’d take a bus or a car for hours.

But at that time, I had a smartphone; now, the ride is uncomfortable, and I can see nothing but fields and trees.

“Yui. I’m bored.”

“W-What can I do for you?”

“I don’t know. Just do something.”

“Even if you say so…”

If the master is bored, I need to make something up.

“I feel like killing you would be fun.”

Hunting is the most fun, after all.

Even if I’m not awakened, as a vampire queen, I should be able to level up to at least 5 easily, right?

Just imagining it makes me drool.

“Hi, hi…! I’ll do it! I’ll do anything! So please don’t kill me!”

As I licked my lips, Yui was startled and hurriedly formed a blood sphere with both palms.

It was a technique using blood magic.

Soon, the blood sphere took on a human shape and began to fight on Yui’s palm.

The soldier in the left hand fought with a sword and shield, while the one in the right hand fought with a spear.

It was quite an epic battle scene, and it felt like watching a small play.

“Yeah! This is it! Why didn’t you do this sooner?”

“Y-Yeah! I’ll do my best!”

“……”

*

“We have arrived, guests.”

Having enjoyed Yui’s miniature play for a while.

The driver stopped the cart near the visible Slime Hill and let us down.

When I asked why we stopped before arriving, it was said that the driver doesn’t go near where monsters are for safety reasons.

‘What’s the big deal about a slime?’

If a slime pops out, we could just run away; I don’t get why the people in this world are so afraid of slimes.

We watched as the driver turned back.

Since it’s not a monster that can be caught in just a few minutes, I couldn’t even ask him to wait this time.

The driver didn’t seem too keen on waiting here anyway, so I just let him go.

Since I had brought a tent, planning to camp on the way back, it didn’t really matter.

I took in the scene of the field before me.

A green sea of grass with sporadic trees and rocks.

Even from afar, the slime shimmered in a way that would make anyone mistake it for water.

Despite being called Slime Hill, the area had only slimes in sight.

Seeing bones and melted flesh scattered around, it looked like some unfortunate monsters or wild animals had been eaten.

On Slime Hill, aside from the common slime, there were also metal slimes with a dark gray hue that I had seen in past quests, along with various other strangely colored slimes, and there were a considerable amount.

I could guess there were easily over a hundred without even counting.

“Seriously… Just looking makes my motivation drop.”

A prospective C-Rank Adventurer comes to hunt mere slimes.

“Uh… Luke, even though it sounds funny for a vampire like me to say this, slimes are surprisingly fearsome creatures!”

Yui, who was just about to cry, moved her arms wide, looking like a girl in dinosaur pajamas shouting “Rawr!”

She was obviously trying to raise awareness, but incredibly, she didn’t look scared at all.

It actually seemed to reduce the tension.

“Listen well, Yui. There’s only one reason humans should fear slimes.”

“Acid rain.”

If you get hit, you’ll go bald.

Honestly, living as an ordinary person in Korea, I wouldn’t have the chance to see anything that could cause problems like acid rain.

Things like bleach can just be washed off with water if they touch the skin.

‘Originally, slimes have countless uses, but here, there’s only one thing they can be used for. Tsk.’

If it were a love-making slime, it could be used as a pleasure item or a condom, but since the slimes here are made of acid, they can’t be used that way.

Even apart from love-making slimes, there are slimes designed to melt clothes that provide enjoyment to readers.

In other worlds, there are settings for taming slimes to make them the strongest, too.

Comparing those to the slimes here, they truly are trash.

Neither are they minions nor are they useful at all.

“Luke, how are we going to hunt today? You have nothing except that mysterious plate you picked up this morning, right?”

“That’s enough; what more do I need?”

What, do you think I need a nuke or something?

“But I don’t see a King Slime?”

“Yeah, true. Adela shouldn’t have given us wrong information.”

It’s said to be several meters in size.

So, shouldn’t it be visible from this open plain no matter how far away it is?

But even after searching around with my eyes wide open, none of the monsters that could be called King Slime were in sight.

“If it’s not here, can’t we lure it out?”

“How?”

“If we start killing the slimes in front of us, it should show up, right?”

“Oh… that’s a great idea.”

I don’t know much about King Slime, but isn’t it likely the parent of the slimes in front of us?

Whether it’s a dad or a mom, if it’s lurking around somewhere, it wouldn’t just watch its children die.

“To lure it out by killing the children in front of their parent, huh. Luna, you’re finally starting to get as smart as me.”

“……”

Wow, but while the method of luring is really good, isn’t the Demon God crying from unemployment right now?

How could anyone propose beating children in front of their parent so nonchalantly?

But if that’s the only way, there’s no choice.

“Alright, let’s lure it out right away.”

We immediately got to work.

I handled the metal slimes that could be hurt by physical attacks, while Luna and Yui took care of the remaining slimes.

I could also take down slimes by setting fire to my club, but…

Yui and Luna could just shoot one magic and kill them, so why would I want to do such an inefficient and tedious thing?

We hunted for a while.

Each of us caught about 20 slimes, totaling nearly 60.

By the way, for some reason, my level hasn’t increased at all.

At first, I thought the slimes, which looked so cool, were just trash and provided no experience, but I quickly learned the answer to that question.

Just when I thought of laying down a mat to have a meal and continue, suddenly the slimes started gathering together in one spot and began merging as if they had always been one.

“Oh, oh wow…”

As all the slimes gathered, their number was substantial.

The more the slimes merged, the bigger their mass grew.

Eventually, a giant slime reaching 5 meters in size was formed.

Is this the feeling of Pikachu gazing at the Gigantamax?

Even though it’s just a slime, the pressure of it growing bigger in front of my eyes is no joke.

If I feel this way as a human, how must it feel to Pokémon?

If I were in their place, I’d use Iron Tail on that wretched training that looks like rubbish.

‘So that’s why I wasn’t leveling up—it was part of King Slime all along.’

The things I’ve been catching were merely splits, so even after all I caught, my level didn’t go up.

If the main body were intact and I was trying to level up by catching the splits, then I could have just cut off a finger or toe from other monsters and leveled up.

“I thought I was dealing with children… Looks like it’s the parent that showed up?”

It’s like cutting off fingers right in front of them.

Honestly, I thought slimes would lack emotion, but it seems like that’s not entirely true.

How do I know?

Because it was once colorless, but now it’s starting to turn red. If that’s not anger, what is it?

“Here it comes, Hans!”

“Hans…?”

“Yeah. He’s an officer in the Demon Lord’s army.”

“……?”

-Bubbling.

Just then, bubbles started rising up from within King Slime, and it spat out liquid from its body.

This act was done in three separate spurts.

We sure as hell weren’t about to take such liquid head-on and easily dodged it.

—Sizzle…

Thus, the trees, soil, and rocks behind us started to melt away.

It must contain very potent acid.

Maybe the more it gets angry, the lower the pH level goes.

Before coming here, I thought about hugging it with fire since it was said that fire is its weak point, but now it seems like if I did that, there’d be nothing left, not even bones.

I pulled out popcorn from my inventory and tossed it toward the slime.

Just as expected. The popcorn disappeared in an instant, leaving no crumbs.

“With that level of capability, it might as well be the Guinness record holder for catching snacks thrown at it, right?”

As a joke, I threw another piece, and this time, it spat acid.

“Oh shit, is this slime crazier than a rabid dog?”

“What will you do now, Luke?”

What will I do?

“Listen well, Luna. It’s slow. It’s not moving from its spot, which is proof.”

“Yeah.”

“We need to use legs it doesn’t have.”

“What do you mean by that?”

The way is…

 

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