Chapter 6
West Gate, City of Beginnings.
Hans, the NPC in charge of guarding this gate, was facing some difficulties lately.
“The number of slimes has increased. If we don’t deal with them soon, the land could become desolate.”
The West Gate had always suffered from a chronic issue—slimes.
The region itself was naturally suited for slime habitation. No matter how many were defeated, more would spawn over time.
Still, it hadn’t been a major problem until now.
That was because the City of Beginnings always had an influx of new adventurers.
As long as Hans gave them a small reward, they would take care of slimes without issue.
But recently, things had changed.
“I can’t believe the number of new adventurers has dropped this much…”
The once overflowing stream of fresh adventurers had slowed.
Two years ago, they came pouring in like a waterfall. But over time, fewer and fewer showed up at the city.
They still came, but the numbers were nowhere near what they used to be.
Now, the number of slimes was growing beyond what could be controlled.
So naturally…
“Guard, sir!”
“Oh, a new adventurer! Perfect timing. We’ve got a real slime problem at the West Gate right now!”
Hans welcomed the new adventurer’s arrival with great enthusiasm.
“Take down 20 green slimes for me! Bring me 20 slime core shards, and I’ll reward you with a bit of gold!”
“Understood.”
Twenty slimes wasn’t much, but even that would ease the burden.
For now, Hans was managing by asking each new adventurer to help, but at this rate, they’d soon be overwhelmed.
He was even considering proposing to the captain that they stop relying on adventurers and form a dedicated slime suppression squad.
Right as he was thinking that…
“I’ve taken care of them.”
“…Huh? Aren’t you the new adventurer who just took the quest?”
“Yes.”
Hans stared in disbelief at the adventurer who had returned so soon.
It was an absurd speed.
But Hans had been guarding this gate for over two years, and had seen countless new adventurers. He quickly guessed the situation.
“Ahh, you must’ve misunderstood! It was twenty slimes, not two!”
It was probably a mix-up—he thought twenty was two.
Otherwise, the speed made no sense.
Even two slimes would be fast for a beginner.
However…
“Yes, twenty. Here are the slime cores.”
“W-What…?”
The adventurer held out twenty green slime cores.
He had completed the quest. For real.
But Hans wasn’t so easily fooled.
He’d dealt with enough adventurers to see through their tricks.
“Haha, looks like you hunted them in advance! That’s fine, I’ll still pay you. A bit out of order, but it’s all the same.”
It made sense if the adventurer already knew about the quest and came prepared.
That happened fairly often these days.
So Hans kept calm and carried on.
“Next, can you take down twenty yellow slimes? Just bring me their cores, same as before.”
“Sure.”
“Be careful. Yellow slimes are tougher than green ones. Don’t take them lightly.”
“Got it.”
After green slimes came yellow slimes.
They had a hardened surface and could bounce like balls, delivering powerful body slams. They weren’t easy to take down…
“Here are the yellow slime cores. All twenty.”
“Wait, you hunted them in advance too? You’re well-prepared!”
“Huh? No, not really…”
“Don’t tell me you’ve already got red slime cores too!”
“No, of course not.”
“Then, I’ll ask you to hunt twenty red slimes next! Be careful—red slimes have high acidity and are tricky to defeat!”
“Understood.”
…Or so he thought.
But soon enough, the adventurer returned again with the cores.
Hans figured he must’ve prepared them in advance again.
But he said he didn’t have red slime cores.
That meant he couldn’t bring them right away…
Still, the confident look in the adventurer’s eyes was unsettling.
He looked ready to return instantly again.
Was he lying? Had he actually prepared them and just denied it?
Hans hated being lied to.
Suspicious, he decided to follow the adventurer.
“He’s headed straight for the red slime habitat.”
So he wasn’t lying?
But something was still strange—the adventurer was fast.
Most new adventurers got lost trying to find the red slime area.
But this one moved like he already knew the exact path.
That alone was strange. But even more bizarre was his speed.
He was fast—unusually so for a newbie. Hans was struggling just to keep up.
Finally, they arrived at the red slime habitat.
Thump. Thump.
There they were—red slimes bouncing through the bushes.
Unlike ordinary slimes that sluggishly consumed random debris, red slimes actively hunted using acid and body attacks.
Now things were serious.
From red slimes onward, you could call them proper “monsters.”
Especially dangerous to face alone.
Then it happened.
Swish.
A bow?
The adventurer drew a hidden weapon.
There seemed to be a brief flicker of black flame, but it was probably a trick of the light.
Hans didn’t expect much. Handling a bow without class-changing to archer was no easy feat.
Then…
Thunk!
“Whoa!”
The arrow hit dead center—right into the red slime’s core.
Before the creature could do anything, it melted away.
A fluke?
No.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
Arrow after arrow struck, each one a direct hit to the core.
Not a single miss.
A perfect, flawless series of shots.
It was as if the arrows had eyes.
“Unbelievable!”
Hans couldn’t help but shout in awe, completely forgetting he was tailing the adventurer.
At first, I swung my sword.
My stats were so high that even half-hearted swings exploded the slimes.
Even without that, I was confident I could hit their cores with my control alone.
But…
“Too slow.”
I didn’t like how slow it was.
Running around just to kill slimes felt like a waste of effort.
So, I brought out an item.
“Luke, give me the best bow available for my level.”
– “Understood, Master.”
“And a quiver with arrows.”
Whoosh.
Here it was.
[ Breeze Bow ]
(Untradeable)
Type: Bow
Grade: Rare
Requirement: Level 1+, Agility 15+
Description: A simple bow imbued with the power of a cool breeze.
The Breeze Bow—the best available rare-grade bow for level 1s.
Paired with the Breeze Quiver and a full set of arrows.
The bow specialized in attack speed.
Thwip! Thwip!
I could fire at rapid speed.
I had no bow-related skills yet, but—
“Groan…”
Hitting a slime core was child’s play.
Back in First, I’d used bows for long-range sniping.
Thanks to the high speed and range, I quickly cleared twenty slimes.
Normally I’d have to loot their drops now, but—
“Luke.”
– “Yes, Master.”
“Time for a meal.”
– “Much appreciated.”
Whoosh!
Monster corpses erupted in black fire.
[ Luke has consumed Green Slimes. ]
[ Luke’s stats have increased by 5. ]
That’s Luke’s ability.
He consumes the corpses of monsters I’ve defeated and boosts his stats.
Later, using Black Flame Fusion, I can transfer those stats to myself.
I had hoped some of Luke’s old stats from First had carried over, but no such luck.
Then I picked up—
[ Green Slime Core ]
Twenty, exactly what I needed for the quest.
Luke didn’t destroy the corpses—he absorbed the stats and handed me the items.
This was why I chose the Black Flame Contract as my returnee bonus.
“I’ve completed the mission.”
[ Linked Quest: Slime Hunt 1 – Complete ]
[ Level Up! ]
With the slime cores, I completed the quest and leveled up. Earned some gold too.
And this was just the beginning.
I immediately took on the next quest.
[ Linked Quest: Slime Hunt 2 – Complete ]
[ Level Up! ]
With my bow skills, rare-grade equipment, and Luke’s item collection ability…
The time it took to travel to slimes was longer than actually hunting them.
[ Linked Quest: Slime Hunt 3 Created ]
Grade: Intermediate
Description: The West Gate of the City of Beginnings is struggling with rapidly multiplying slimes.
Objective: Hunt Red Slimes and bring 20 Red Slime Cores to the guard.
Following my memory, I located the red slimes.
Thankfully, the path hadn’t changed from First, and I found them quickly.
Thwip! Thwip!
Red slime cores, collected instantly.
With my enhanced stats from returnee buffs and elixirs, I was already beyond newbie level.
Every arrow pierced their cores, downing them in one shot.
Once I had twenty red cores—
“Unbelievable!”
“…?”
A familiar voice from behind.
The West Gate guard.
Why had he followed me here?
I didn’t know.
But—
“As you can see, this mission’s complete too. Can I take the next one right away?”
Shorter quest routes were always welcome.
