Chapter 10
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Beginner - 3
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To catch slimes, you have to head to the Damp Forest.
Rien, who had rushed out of the request office without a plan, had no idea which way to go.
"I guess I should just follow those people?"
All the adventurers were walking in the same direction.
They were people setting off to hunt slimes according to the strategy guide.
No beginner would ignore the laid-out route, so those walking along the path with a sword drawn in hand must naturally be headed for the Damp Forest.
As expected, trailing the group of adventurers brought her to the forest entrance.
Standing in front of it was a single guard clad in sturdy armor.
"This is a forest inhabited by dangerous slimes."
He blocked the path of the adventurers trying to enter.
"What danger from slimes? Even beginners can take down slimes."
"Out of the way. We're already late—how much longer do we have to wait?"
The adventurers' patience had already hit its limit.
They had waited endlessly just to pick up the request, and that delay made them feel behind everyone else.
They needed to charge into the forest and hunt slimes right now, but this guard blocking the way was infuriating.
"I'm sorry. But for the adventurers' safety, there are precautions I must relay without exception."
"Then hurry up and explain."
"Understood."
The precautions were straightforward.
Remember that the forest is far larger than it seems.
Don't venture too deep to avoid getting lost.
Be sure to return to the entrance before sunset.
Don't steal other adventurers' prey.
"Finally—"
Don't attack other people.
"That's all."
They were all standard warnings, nothing out of the ordinary.
The grumbling adventurers headed straight into the forest without a word.
With all the precautions explained, the guard had no reason to stop them anymore, so he simply stepped aside.
"Uh, um..."
Somehow, Rien was left standing awkwardly, making eye contact with the guard.
"Th-thank you."
"Hunt safely."
Rien offered a quick greeting and crossed the entrance.
The forest interior was a total mess.
Literally, there were more people than slimes.
Correction.
There were hardly any slimes at all.
Only three in sight.
Ah, now two.
The numbers floating overhead made everything even more chaotic.
They were all just 1s anyway, and since the trait was always active, she couldn't toggle it off to rack up kills freely.
"Hey! I was hunting that one first! Why steal it?!"
"What? I put in all the damage myself."
"It's the one I marked!"
"You have to hit it to claim it. Just staring doesn't make it yours."
The entrance area was already full of shouting matches.
There were adventurers overflowing with the desire to catch slimes, but the actual slimes were finite.
In this imbalanced environment, friction between adventurers was inevitable.
"Don't even think about hunting today. I'll tail you all day and steal everything."
"What a psycho."
It felt like watching the first day of an online RPG server launch, but in real life.
"I won't catch even one here."
Finding an unclaimed monster was tough enough, and with so many people, comfortable hunting was impossible.
If she picked a fight like those guys, she'd just waste her limited time.
Rien decided to push a little deeper.
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There were noticeably fewer people than before.
The surroundings felt more comfortable as a result, but no slimes were in sight.
All that remained were sticky green globs of mucus clinging to the ground.
"Nothing here either?"
Hunting near the entrance was impossible.
The other adventurers had realized that too.
The early arrivals had pushed deeper, sweeping up every slime in their path.
Latecomer Rien was left chasing the trails of slime carcasses.
She scanned the area carefully, hoping for any slimes the others might have missed—
"Ah! There's one!"
A real missed slime!
She spotted one hiding behind a massive tree.
"Ah..."
She missed it.
Lost it right in front of her eyes.
"How's a first-floor monster this tough? I only got five."
"My... my slime..."
Unfortunately, the slime she'd worked hard to find was already in the middle of being hunted by someone else.
Impaled on the adventurer's sword, it split into mucus and core.
"Wh-whatever, I only need five anyway. Missing one doesn't matter!"
Rien psyched herself up with some self-delusion to keep her nerves steady.
It would all be solved if she found a slime pack.
Rien decided to push a little deeper.
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She ran into adventurers heading back to the request office after completing their quests.
Heading the opposite way from the entrance, they spoke to her first.
"Looking for slimes? You'll need to go way deeper."
"This area's already been cleaned out. We walked another ten minutes from here just to find some."
"By now, even the spot we hunted's probably wiped..."
Rien decided to push a little deeper.
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How many minutes had passed?
Passing identical trees over and over, she couldn't even gauge how far she'd come.
The guard's warning not to venture too deep into the forest came to mind.
"I... I can make it back, right?"
No slimes in sight, and hardly any people.
Rien decided to push a little deeper.
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She walked further and spotted a person.
The man was running straight toward her position.
His speed didn't slow at all.
"M-mo-move!"
"Eek!"
He shoulder-checked her and barreled past.
"What the—? You could've gone around!"
The guy who crashed into her was already vanishing into the distance.
Why was he sprinting full-tilt like that? So many weird people around.
"...Blood?"
An ominous scent lingered where the man had passed.
It had been just a glimpse, but his sword seemed coated in blood.
Blood droplets from the blade trailed along the ground like a line.
She followed the trail back to where the man had come from.
"Ugh... urk..."
A woman was groaning in agony.
Her abdomen was pierced through, and one leg had a deep gash nearly severing it.
The air reeked of blood.
"...Didn't see him?"
"Huh? What?"
"Didn't you see the bastard who stabbed me and ran?"
Unlike the stunned Rien, the victim was glaring with wide eyes.
"Ah, he just ran off that way!"
"Fucking dog. Ugh, hurts like hell."
"A-are you okay? Your leg—!"
The woman couldn't walk.
Slumped on the ground, bleeding out, all she could do was curse the fleeing man.
Of course, beginner Rien had no ability to heal wounds.
No useful trait for that, no worthwhile skills either.
Even if she piggybacked the woman and ran, she'd bleed out before reaching the village.
"Crazy bastard... Steals a few slimes and stabs a person?"
The woman pointed at Rien's sword.
"Kill me with that. Can't do it myself."
"What? Kill you? What do you mean?!"
"Better to die quick."
"Ah—."
【Floor 1 - On the Beginner Protection Zone】
The entire first floor is designated as a tutorial area.
The following effects are always active in this beginner protection zone:
Injury Recovery: Upon death, all injuries are healed at the clinic before revival. Recovers from all injuries, including bleeding, severing, poisoning, and curses.
+ Physical defects from before entering the tower are not recovered.
Pain Mitigation: Pain from combat and environmental factors is reduced. Actual damage is not lessened.
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This information has been verified through repeated empirical research.
May differ somewhat from phenomena within the tower.
"You really come back to life, right?"
"It's not fake info. My leg hurts less than it should for being half-cut off."
"But earlier you said it hurt a lot..."
"This is 'less.' Without pain mitigation, I'd be passed out from shock already."
The sword tip trembled.
This sword hadn't even struck a slime yet, and now its first thrust would be into a person.
"You sure you're really okay with this?"
"This'll hurt less too. I'll die before the pain hits."
"......"
"Dying slow like this is more painful."
The woman was calmly requesting her own murder.
"Once I revive, I'll hunt that bastard down first. Slash him just enough not to die—make him live crippled forever."
"......"
She didn't sound so calm after all.
Her mind was brimming with revenge.
Rien closed her eyes.
She gripped the hilt with both hands and thrust forward.
"Krgh... uk."
The sensation of flesh parting transmitted through her hands.
Dead.
This was definitely death.
When Rien opened her eyes again, nothing was left in front of her.
No dying woman, no blood that should have stained the sword, no blood droplets from the man's escape trail.
Proof that she'd fully died and revived at the clinic.
"Hoo... fuu..."
Waking up to find it all gone felt like a relief, almost like a dream.
Better if the memory faded quickly.
These protections vanished once you climbed to the second floor.
Up there... did humans really die this easily?
"Slimes. Gotta go find slimes."
Heading off to complete the request right away felt strangely detached from herself.
Maybe mental pain fell under the mitigation too.
Or maybe she'd always been this kind of person.
Objective: Slimes defeated (0/5), Slime Cores (0/5)
Reward: 500 Coins, 200 EXP
She still hadn't caught a single one.
Had to hurry.
Rien decided to push a little deeper.