Chapter 46

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 46

Chapter Title: Director - Complete

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All names that have been given carry meaning.

What does it mean to be lazy?

It means refusing to do what must be done and indulging in sloth.

There was no grand task worthy of being called a duty for mere slimes, but as monsters, they had their expected behavioral patterns.

Attacking humans, destroying buildings, seizing territory, and expanding their range of activity.

In that sense, this slime was exceedingly lazy.

"It doesn't seem to attack unless you approach first. Its movements are sluggish too."

"It's not aggressive, so how did your hand end up frozen?"

"It's so huge that even slight movements cause major damage to nearby buildings. But if you get close, it emits chilling air from its scales with every touch..."

Slimes from the forest have no particular attributes and attack by sticking their jelly-like bodies and using weak acid.

True to its name with "Ice" in it, this slime possessed an ice attribute, freezing bodies with cold air—an effective attack for a slime.

If Sua had joined the subjugation, it would have been simple. But with no one here knowing magic, even procuring fire had become quite a hassle.

"It's a King Slime, so we can't just attack recklessly."

"If we're not careful, the split slimes could scatter all over the village. It'd be best to trap it so it can't escape and then deal with it."

Its massive size was proof of it being a Large Slime or even a King Slime.

A Large Slime was tricky because the core was deep inside the outer layer, making it hard to damage. A King Slime added the ability to split.

Killing it instantly without giving it a chance to split would solve everything, but Koon and Delion lacked the skill for that.

If I handled it, I'd steal the spotlight they needed as guards.

Annoying as it was, we decided to go with the straightforward method.

"First, let's get some fire."

"Even if we start now, it'll take a while to get a proper blaze going."

"There's one place where we can light a fire right away."

Given my recent oversleeping, Harman probably hadn't started work early this morning.

But blacksmiths always cover and preserve a small ember for the next day.

Completely burned-out charcoal is hard to reignite.

We could light a fire quickly at the forge.

"I'll go get it."

"Delion, you?"

"Keep that thing from sticking to the building walls while I'm gone. Just getting near it makes my arms ache— I need to thaw myself by the fire first."

Delion dashed off to Harman's forge. Until he returned with fire, Koon and I had to buy time.

"Earthbound Spirit! The slime's heading toward the inn!"

As Ellie had explained, the slime's lower half was encased in ice scales, like it was wearing thin armor.

To inflict proper damage, we needed to target the upper part.

Conversely, to push it back without damage, just touching the lower part was enough.

Even lightly pressing the sword's flat against the ice scales sufficed.

Thanks to the sword's special effect, the slime didn't spew cold air at me and instead retreated hesitantly in the opposite direction.

It was a shame the protective effect didn't extend to those around me.

"E-Earthbound Spirit! Doesn't it feel cold to you?"

"Hang in there. All I can do is cheer you on."

"Just touching it frosts the armor...!"

While Koon struggled against the cold, Delion came running back, clutching a burning log in his left hand.

A bunch of firewood was tucked under his right arm.

"Here, take one each."

"We can't risk setting the buildings on fire here, so let's herd it out to an open area."

Press the corner of Delion's log against mine to make improvised torches.

Bringing the hot flames near the slime's body made it flee to the opposite side in a panic.

It wasn't mere fear—it was an instinctive struggle for survival.

We herded it to the center of the wide-open park.

Delion tossed the firewood around the slime in a circle on the ground.

It was low enough for anyone to jump over, but once the flames spread, the slime couldn't escape.

Now it was just a matter of merciless sword strikes.

"Is it because of the fire? The King Slime isn't splitting as much as expected."

"Anyway, the quicker we finish, the better. Thanks to you, I might get a bit more sleep."

They'd shown what needed showing, so we wrapped up the cleanup swiftly.

I precisely stabbed the cores of the splitting slimes, ending them in one breath before they could divide further.

As the firewood flames died down, a charred black ground and beads of various sizes remained.

The King Slime had split, dividing its core as well.

"Freshly split cores like these... if you gather them back up like this..."

They recombined into one large core.

While I picked up the core in front of the charred ground, Koon and Delion chatted with the director.

Judging by the director's satisfied expression, he preferred capturing dramatic scenes over boring patrol footage.

Sua was like that, and so was Seo Ji-woo—the difference between having a camera and not was stark.

They maintained a professional demeanor when in front of an audience.

"Do you two guards protect the village from threats like this every time?"

"It doesn't happen often. But we're always vigilant for the village's safety."

"That's truly impressive."

"Well... it's just what we've always done."

His sharp tone from earlier was gone, leaving only a gentle interview scene.

Of course, it helped that before filming, we'd instructed him to approach residents respectfully.

Koon was flustered by the excessive praise.

After a few more questions and reactions, the director ended the recording.

"Trying to fit three people into one scene at once is three times harder."

"We took down the slime, so why are you the one complaining?"

"Following you around isn't easy either. Anyway, let's head back to the request office and wrap this up with the receptionist."

Koon returned to the forest entrance to finish his shift, while Delion, half-dead from drowsiness, vanished toward his bed.

Considering he'd have to wake up in a few hours for night duty, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it showed how a single emergency could devastate a guard's condition.

The Lazy Ice King Slime core—such a mouthful, hard to even say.

Anyway, I returned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to Ellie with the subjugation trophy.

"Ah! You're back! Did you handle the monster alright?"

"Thanks to whoever guided us so well on its traits, we dealt with it without issue."

"Haha, glad to hear that!"

As I went to hand the core to the receptionist, Seo Ji-woo blocked it with his hand.

"Hold on. We haven't even set up for filming yet—how can you finish the request?"

There really wasn't much left.

I hand over the slime core as proof of subjugation, Ellie gives the reward.

End with the standard thank-you phrase we hear every time we complete a daily request?

"And my shoot wraps up too?"

"Yeah."

The director set the angle and hit record.

"Adventurer! You subjugated the Lazy Ice King Sli─, ah. The slime!"

Ellie's tongue tripped once.

The name was so long, slip-ups were bound to happen.

"Here's the Lazy Ice King Slime core."

"Yep! Request complete! The re, re-reward. Reward of 1500 Coins!"

This feels ominous.

Ellie's breathing visibly quickened.

"Thanks to you, the vil, uh. Ah. Village, the village is more...!"

"......"

"The village is sa, safe. Ah. Ahh... "

"......"

"Sorry. Total mess..."

The fumbling returned.

The director clutched his forehead with a sigh.

"No, you were fine earlier? Why again?"

"While waiting, I kept thinking about what to say when Earthbound Spirit returned, and I started overthinking the camera..."

"Ah, damn."

We somehow finished Ellie's shoot after much ado, and a few more days passed.

Excluding those who opted out, we'd filmed all the residents' lives.

"Can't upload right away. Editing takes time, and suddenly changing content themes would be weird. I'll roll them out gradually once other villages are ready, before the 61st-floor broadcast."

"That's fine. As long as it's out before the next group arrives."

"First one's done—everything resolved that we could. Now, let's hear the next request. Still two left, right?"

The first request was for the director role for the village.

Seo Ji-woo's value as director ended here.

The second request would target what he possessed.

- ｢Director - Complete｣