Chapter 7
“A-Amazing! Truly amazing! I’ve seen countless new adventurers over the past two years, but never one as skilled as you!”
“Uh… thank you? So, what’s the next quest?”
“Of course, I’ve got one for you! I’m counting on you! The next target is twenty blue slimes! Their habitat is over… no, follow me! I’ll guide you personally!”
“Wait, aren’t you supposed to be guarding the West Gate?”
“Come now! You’ll wipe them out in a flash anyway! It’s faster for me to lead you than for you to wander around!”
“Well… I appreciate the help.”
And just like that, I ended up tagging along with the gatekeeper.
Not that I minded.
So far, I’d been moving based on my memories from First, but the geography and monster placement in Second could have changed unexpectedly.
Sure enough, the location of the blue slimes was slightly different from what I remembered.
If the gatekeeper hadn’t led me, I might’ve gotten lost for a moment.
As soon as we arrived…
Fwip—!
Splat!!
I began shooting arrows.
Once again, every shot hit the mark.
For someone who once shot through the reverse scale of a Golden Dragon, hitting the core of a blue slime was as easy as pie.
And each time—
“Ooh! Incredible! It’s as if I’m witnessing the reincarnation of a divine archer! No, you must have the blood of a divine archer in you! There’s no way this is possible otherwise!”
He kept gushing in awe from behind.
A bit annoying, sure, but hey, it had its perks.
Thanks to him following me, I didn’t need to collect and return with the slime cores, and my favorability with him was rising fast.
And in Second, higher favorability meant all kinds of benefits. So, there was no downside for me.
“Luke, if you would.”
— “Please, allow me the honor, Master.”
Whoosh!
[Luke has consumed a ‘Blue Slime’.]
[Luke’s stats have increased by 5.]
Once again, Luke absorbed the monster’s corpse and retrieved its core.
Just consuming slimes raised his stats by 5?
It might sound broken, but sadly, stats only increase that much for the first type of monster Luke absorbs.
If he keeps eating the same monster, his gains are barely fractional.
Still, even with that limitation, Luke’s ability was basically overpowered.
“Next up—Purple Slimes!”
[Chain Quest ‘Slime Hunt 5’ has been generated.]
Grade: Intermediate
Description: The West Gate of the Starting City is plagued by an ever-growing slime infestation.
Objective: Hunt Purple Slimes and retrieve 20 ‘Purple Slime Cores’ to deliver to the Gatekeeper.
“Come this way! The road to the purple slime habitat is tricky, so I’ll show you the quickest shortcut!”
The gatekeeper enthusiastically took the lead.
Though I wondered… is it okay for him to keep abandoning his post like this?
If he ends up getting reprimanded, that’s on him—not my problem. I just followed him along obediently.
The layout really has changed.
While following him, I took note of the altered terrain.
The overall layout was the same, but the details were quite different.
That thought brought me back to what I’d speculated earlier—Could Second be the future of First? That seemed more and more likely.
Thanks to the shortcut, we quickly arrived at the next hunting ground.
“Be careful with the Purple Slimes! They’re no joke! Every hit releases a poisonous miasma—quite dangerous for new adventurers…”
Splat-splat-splurt!
“Heavens! Their outer shell is so tough that most archers can’t pierce their cores with just a few arrows!”
I started hunting purple slimes.
Tough exterior?
Doesn’t matter.
Do you know what my stats are right now?
Add in the attack power of the Windy Breeze Bow, and even the toughest shell doesn’t stand a chance.
As soon as I finished them off—
[Achievement Unlocked: Critical]
Condition: Land 100 consecutive hits on monster weak points
Reward: Increased Critical Damage
An achievement popped up.
One I already knew about.
Since the quest required me to kill 100 slimes anyway, I’d made sure to aim only for their weak points to trigger this achievement.
Looks like the achievements are still the same. Maybe they’ve even added more?
Might as well aim to collect every achievement I already know about.
At first, the bonuses seem minor, but when stacked, they can increase your combat power severalfold.
“Here are the Purple Slime cores.”
“You hunted them down so quickly?! You truly were born with the gift of a divine archer!”
[Chain Quest ‘Slime Hunt 5’ completed.]
[Your level has increased.]
With that, I finished all five chain quests.
Thanks to the experience from both hunting and the quests, I was now level 10.
That was by design—the slime quests alone were meant to bring you exactly to level 10.
Normally, the next step would be to choose a class.
But I knew something more.
If you performed well on the chain quests and built up enough favor with the gatekeeper—
“You there—have you heard of the Big Slime?”
—you’d unlock a hidden, final chain quest.
The Big Slime.
I knew it well—it’s the boss variant of the slime monsters.
But with the gatekeeper’s eyes sparkling like that, I couldn’t exactly say “Yeah, I know. Just give me the quest already.”
“The Big Slime?”
“Yes! The leader of the slimes! It’s far too powerful for new adventurers, but you—you just might be able to take it down!”
“If you’ll entrust it to me, I’ll do my best.”
“Thank you so much!”
As I agreed, the quest window appeared.
[Hidden Quest ‘Slime Hunt 6’ has been generated.]
Grade: Advanced
Description: The West Gate of the Starting City is plagued by an ever-growing slime infestation.
Objective: Hunt the Big Slime and retrieve the ‘Big Slime Core’ for the Gatekeeper.
A hidden quest.
You can only get it by meeting specific conditions.
Thankfully, the conditions were the same as they were in First.
“Come this way!”
“You’re going to guide me again?”
“The Big Slime is incredibly dangerous! Even you might be at risk. I must guide you myself!”
Once again, the gatekeeper led the way.
Even if my hunting speed was fast, quite a bit of time had passed by now.
Was he really okay just abandoning his post like this?
Anyway, I—
“Luke, can you show me the items?”
— “Yes, Master.”
I walked while checking the inventory stored in Luke’s subspace.
As we walked, the gatekeeper kept talking—“In my two years as a gatekeeper, I’ve never seen an adventurer like you…”—and I offered appropriate responses while memorizing the route.
With Second’s map potentially changed, I needed to commit every detail to memory.
“This is it!”
Before long, we arrived.
No special monsters in sight.
In fact, compared to the slime-infested areas I’d seen before, this place was eerily empty.
For good reason.
This is a zone where monsters won’t spawn unless you’ve accepted the quest.
A.k.a., a boss zone.
Even if you know where the Big Slime is, unless you’ve triggered the hidden quest, you won’t be able to see it.
Sure enough, the gatekeeper pulled something from his coat.
“That’s the item to summon the Big Slime?”
“Correct. It’s called a ‘Slime Core Crystal,’ made by compressing slime cores.”
“I see.”
“For a while now, we’ve had new adventurers collect cores to prepare this item and defeat the Big Slime. The problem was—no one strong enough to take it down.”
He placed the core crystal on the ground.
“But I believe in you. Please—take it down. The Big Slime reacts to this crystal, but it also randomly appears and devours soldiers and adventurers alike.”
With those words—
Grrruuughh…
Moisture rose from the earth beneath the crystal.
No, not moisture.
A viscous liquid oozed up, soaking the ground.
Much bigger than expected.
The slime engulfed the crystal and, as if delighted, wobbled up and revealed its full form.
There it was—
[Big Slime]
Hidden Boss Monster of the Starting City.
Big Slime.
And defeating it is the only way to get the Gatekeeper’s Seal.
The Gatekeeper’s Seal.
That’s the key.
To get it, I must defeat the Big Slime.
Glurg…
The Big Slime was massive.
It looked capable of swallowing whole trees or boulders.
And yet, its core was tiny—thumb-sized—constantly shifting within its center.
Its springy outer membrane was tough to pierce, and even if you did, hitting the moving core was almost impossible.
That’s why many gave up, even if they knew of the quest.
Even at the city’s level cap of 10, a full party would struggle with this boss.
“Be careful. I believe in your power, but the Big Slime is strong enough to make even our guards tremble. Your arrows are fast and strong, but hitting its core is nearly impossible.”
The gatekeeper warned from behind.
Kind advice.
But I shook my head.
“I won’t be using a bow this time.”
“What?! A divine archer like you, not using a bow?! Then how will you fight it?”
“I was never an archer to begin with.”
“No way—someone like you, not an archer? Anyone would say you’re a god-gifted marksman!”
I wasn’t an archer.
The only reason I’d used a bow was because it was the most efficient way to hunt slimes.
“Luke.”
— “Yes, Master.”
Dark flames ignited in my hand.
I’d already decided which weapon to use.
As the flame vanished, it revealed a weapon with a bright red shaft and a wicked blade—something that looked like it could tear through flesh with ease.
It was—
[Spear of Agony, Gáe Bolg]
(Untradeable)
Type: Spear
Grade: Epic
Requirements: Level 750+, Agility 1000+, Spear Mastery Lv.75+
Description: A bloody harpoon made from the bones of the sea beast Kinhen. A cursed spear that tears enemies apart and makes blood gush like a fountain.
